 Chapter 16 of Anne of Geyerstein by Sir Walter Scott. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Dion Giants, Salt Lake City, Utah. For a summer set off with his guilty head, third part of Henry VI. The governor of La Fourette stood on the battlements of the eastern entrance tower of his fortress and looked out on the road to Bale when, first, the vanguard of the Swiss mission, then the center and rear, appeared in the distance. At the same moment, the van halting, the main body closed with it, while the females and baggage and mules in the rear moved in their turn up to the main body, and the whole were united in one group. A messenger then stepped forth and winded one of those tremendous horns, the spoils of the wild bulls, so numerous in the canton of Urie, that they are supposed to have given rise to its name. They demand admittance, said the Esquire. They shall have it, answered, surpassable the Hagenbach. Mary, how they may pass out again, is another and a deeper question. Think yet a moment, noble sir, continued the Esquire. Be-think you, these Swissers, are very fiends in fight, and have, besides no booty, to repay the conquest, some paltry chains of good copper, perchance, or adulterated silver. You have knocked out the marrow. Do not damage your teeth by trying to grind the bone. Thou art a fool, Killian, answered the Hagenbach, and it may be a coward, besides the approach of some score, or at most some score, and a half of Swiss partisans, makes thee draw in thy horns like a snail at a child's finger. Mine are strong and inflexible, as those of the Urus, of whom they talk so much, and on which they blow so boldly. Keep in mind, thou timid creature, that if the Swiss deputies, as they presume to call themselves, are permitted to pass free, they carry to the duke stories of merchants bound to his court, and fraught with precious commodities specially addressed to his grace. Charles has them at once to endure the presence of the ambassadors whom he condemns and hates, and learns by them that the governor of La Fouret, permitting such to pass, has nevertheless presumed to stop those whom he would full gladly see. For what prince would not, blithely, welcome such a casket as that which we have taken from yonder strolling English peddler? I see not how the assault on these ambassadors lament your excellencies plea for dispoiling the Englishman, said Killian. Because thou art a blind mole, Killian, answered his chief, if Burgundy hears of a ruffle between my garrison and the mountain churls whom he scorns and yet hates, it will drown all notice of the two peddlers who have perished in the fray. If after inquiry should come, an hour's ride transports me with my confidence into the imperial dominions, where, though the emperor be a spiritless fool, the rich prize I have found on these islanders will ensure me a good reception. I will stick by your excellency to the last, return the Asquire, and you shall yourself witness that if a fool I am at least no coward. I never thought these such when it came to hand blows, said the Hagenbach, but in policy thou art timid and irresolute. Hand may mine armor, Killian, and beware thou brace it well. The Swiss pikes and swords are no wasp stings. May your excellency wear it with honor and profit, said Killian. And according to the duty of his office, he buckled upon his principal the complete panel play of a night of the empire. Your purpose of assaulting the Swiss then holds firm, said Killian, but what pretext will your excellency assign? Let me alone, said Archibald the Hagenbach, to take one or to make one. Do you only have Schoenfeld and the soldiers on their stations? And remember the words are burgundy to the rescue. When these words are first spoken, let the soldiers show themselves. When repeated, let them fall on. And now that I am accoutered away to the churls and admit them, Killian bowed and withdrew. The bugle of the Swissers had repeatedly emitted its angry roar, exasperated by the delay of nearly half an hour without an answer from the guarded gate of Brissac. And every blast declared by the prolonged echoes which it awakened the increased impatience of those who summoned the town. At length the portcullis arose, the gate opened, the drawbridge fell, and Killian, in the equipage of a man at arms, arrayed for fight, rode forth on an ambling pulfry. What bold men are ye, sirs, who are here in arms before the fortress of Brissac, appertaining in right and seniority to the thrice noble Duke of Burgundy and Lorraine, and garrisoned for his cause and interest by the excellent Sir Archibald, Lord of Hagenbach, Knight of the Most Holy Roman Empire? So please you, Sir Esquire, set the landmen, for such I conjecture you to be by the feather in your bonnet. We are here with no hostile intentions, though armed, as you see, to defend us in a perilous journey, where we are something unsafe by day and cannot always repose by night in places of security. But our arms have no offensive purpose. If they had such, our numbers had not been so few as you see them. What then is your character and purpose, said Killian, who had learned to use in his master's absence the lordly and insolent tone of the governor himself? We are delegates, answered the landmen, in a calm and even tone of voice, without appearing to take offense at or to observe the insolent demeanor of the Esquire, from the free and confederated cantons of the Swiss states and provinces, and from the good town of Soler, who are accredited from our deities of legislature to travel to the presence of his grace, the Duke of Burgundy, on an errand of high importance to both countries, and with the hope of establishing with your master's lord, I mean with the noble Duke of Burgundy, a sure and steadfast peace, upon such terms as shall be to the mutual honor and advantage of both countries, and to avert disputes and the effusion of Christian blood, which may otherwise be shed for want of timely and good understanding. Show me your letters of credence, said the Esquire. Under your forgiveness, Sir Esquire replied the landmen, it will be time enough to exhibit these when we are admitted to the presence of your master, the governor. This is as much as to say willful will to it. It is well, my masters, and yet you may take this advice from Kilian of Kursberg. It is sometimes better to rail backwards than to run forwards. My master and my master's master are more ticklish persons than the dealers of bail to whom you sell your Jesus. Home, honest man, home, your way lies before you, and you are fairly warned. We thank thee for thy counsel, said the landmen, interrupting the banneret of Bern, who had commenced an angry reply, supposing it kindly meant. If not, an uncivil jest is like an overcharged gun which recoils on the canineer. Our road lies onward through Brissac, and onward we propose to go, and take such hath as that which we may find before us. Go onward then, in the devil's name, said the squire, who had entertained some hope of deterring them from pursuing their journey, but found himself effectually foiled. The switzers entered the town and stopped by the barricade of cars which the governor had formed across the street at about 20 yards from the gate. They drew themselves up in military order with their little body formed into three lines. The two females and the fathers of the deputation being in the center. The little flanks presented a double front, one to each side of the street, while the center line faced so as to move forward, and only waited for the removal of the barricade in order to do so. But while they stood thus inactive, a knight in complete armor appeared from a side door of the great tower under the arch of which they had entered into the town. His visor was raised, and he walked along the front of the little line formed by the Swiss with a stern and frowning aspect. Who are you, he said, who have thus far intruded yourselves in arms into a Burgundian garrison? With your excellencies' leave, said the landman, we are men who come on a peaceful errand. Though we carry arms for our own defense, deputies we are from the towns of Bern and Soler, the cantons of Jury, Swiss, and Unterwalden, come to adjust matters of importance with the gracious Duke of Burgundy and Lorraine. What towns, what cantons, said the governor of Laforet, I have heard no such names among the free cities of Germany burn truly when became burn, a free state. Since the 21st day of June, said Arnold Biedermann, in the year of grace, 1339, on which day the battle of Loppen was fought. Away, vain old man, said the knight, thinkest thou that such eye of both can avail thee here? We have heard, indeed, of some insurgent villages and communities among the Alps, and how they rebelled against the emperor, and by the advantage of fastnesses, ambiosquades, and lurking places, how they have murdered some knights and gentlemen sent against them by the Duke of Austria. But we little thought that such paltry townships and insignificant bands of mutineers have the insolence to turn themselves free states and propose to enter into negotiation as such with a mighty prince like Charles of Burgundy. May it please your excellency, replied the lendman with perfect temper. Your own laws of chivalry declare that if the stronger wrong the weaker or the noble does injury to the less gentle, the very act levels distinctions between them, and the doer of an injury becomes bound to give condine satisfaction of such kind as the wrong party shall demand. Hence to thy hills, churl, exclaimed the haughty knight, there comb thy beard and roast thy chestnuts. What, because a few rats and mice find retreat among the walls and wainscotting of our dwelling houses, shall we therefore allow them to intrude their disgusting presence and their errors of freedom and independence into our personal presence? No, we will rather crush them beneath the heel of our iron shod boots. We are not meant to be trodden on, said Arnold Viederman calmly. Those who have attempted it have found us stumbling blocks. Lay, sir knight, lay aside for an instant this haughty language which can only lead to warfare and listen to the words of peace. Dismiss our comrade, the English merchant, Philipson, on whom you have this morning laid unlawful hands. Let him pay a moderate sum for his ransom, and we who are bound instantly to the duke's presence will bear a fair report to him of his governor of Lafaret. You will be so generous, will you, said sir Archibald, in a tone of ridicule, and what pledge shall I have that you will favor me so kindly as you propose? The word of a man who never broke his promise answered the historical lendamen. Insolent hind replied the knight, dost thou stipulate, thou offer thy paltry word as a pledge betwixt the duke of Burgundy and Archibald the Hagenbach. Know that ye go not to Burgundy at all, or you go thither with fetters on your hands and halters round your necks. So hope, Burgundy, to the rescue. Instantly as he spoke, the soldiers showed themselves before, behind, and around the narrow space where the Swiss had drawn themselves up. The battlements of the town were lined with men. Others presented themselves at the doors of each house in the street prepared to selly, and at the windows prepared to shoot, as well with guns, as with bows and crossbows. The soldiers who defended the barricade also started up and seemed ready to dispute the passage in front. The little band encompassed and overmatched, but neither startled nor disheartened stood to their arms. The center rank under the lendamen prepared to force their way over the barricade. The two fronts stood back to back, ready to dispute the street with those that should issue from the houses. It could not fail to prove a work of no small blood and toil to subdue this handful of determined men, even with five times their number. Some sense of this, perhaps, made Sir Archibald delay giving the signal for onset, when suddenly behind arose a cry of treason, treason. A soldier, covered with mud, rushed before the governor and said in hurried accents that as he endeavored to stop a prisoner who had made his escape some short time since, he had been seized by the burgers of the town and well-nigh drowned in the moat. He added that the citizens were even now admitting the enemy into the place. Killian said the night, take two score of men hastened to the northern Salliport, stab, cut down, or throw from the battlements whomsoever you meet in arms, townsmen or strangers, leave me to settle with these peasants by fair means or fowl. But Air Killian could obey his master's commands, a shout arose in the rear, where they cried Baal, Baal, freedom, freedom, the day is our own. Onward came the youth of Baal, who had not been at such a distance, but that Rudolph had contrived to recall them. Onward came many Swiss who had hovered around the embassy, holding themselves in readiness for such a piece of service. And onward came the armed citizens of La Fourette, who compelled to take arms and mount guard by the tyranny of D'Hottembach had availed themselves of the opportunity to admit the Baalys at the Salliport through which Philipson had lately made his escape. The garrison somewhat discouraged before by the firm aspect of the Swiss, who had held their numbers at defiance, were totally disconcerted by this new and unexpected insurrection. Most of them prepared rather to fly than to fight, and they threw themselves in numbers from the walls as the best chance of escaping. Kilian and some others, whom Prie prevented from flying and despair from asking quarter, fought with fury and were killed on the spot. In the midst of this confusion, the landman kept his own bands unmoved, permitting them to take no share in the action, save to repel such violence as was offered to them. Stand fast all, sounded the deep voice of Arnold Biedermann along their little body. Where is Rudolf? Save lives that take none. Why, how now, Arthur Philipson? Stand fast, I say. I cannot stand fast, said Arthur, who was in the act of leaving the ranks. I must seek my father in the dungeons. They may be slaying him in this confusion while I stand idle here. By our lady of Ensedlan, you say well, answered the landman, that I should have forgot my noble guest. I will help thee to search for him, Arthur. The Afray seems well-nigh-ended. Ho, there, Sir Benaret, worthy Adam Zimmerman, my good friend, Nicholas Bunstetten, keep our men standing firm. Have nothing to do with this Afray, but leave the men of Baal to answer their own deeds. I return in a few minutes. So saying, he hurried after Arthur Philipson, whose recollection conducted him with sufficient accuracy, to the head of the dungeon stairs. There they met an ill-looking man, clad in a buffed jerken, who bore at his girdle a bunch of rusted keys, which intimated the nature of his calling. Show me the prison of the English merchant, said Arthur Philipson, or thou dyest by my hand. Which of them desire you to see? answered the official, the old man, or the young one. The old, said young Philipson, his son has escaped thee. Enter here, then, gentlemen, said the jailer, undoing the spring bolt of a heavy door. At the upper end of the apartment lay the man they came to seek for, who was instantly raised from the ground and loaded with their embraces. My dear father, my worthy guest, said his son and friend at the same moment, how fares it with you? Well, answered the elder Philipson, if you, my friend and son, come as I judge from your arms and countenance as conquerors and at liberty. Ill, if you come to share my prison house, have no fear of that, said the landmen. We have been in danger, but are remarkably delivered. Your evil lair has benumbed you. Lean on me, my noble guest, and let me assist you to better quarters. Here he was interrupted by a heavy clash, as it seemed, of iron, and differing from the distant roar of the popular tumult, which they still heard from the open street, as men hear the deep voice of a remote and tempestuous ocean. By St. Peter of the Fedders, said Arthur, who instantly discovered the cause of the sound, the jailer has cast the door to the staple, or it has escaped his grass. The spring lock has closed upon us, and we cannot be liberated, saving from the outside. Ho, jailer, dog, villain, open the door, or thou dyest. He is probably out of hearing of your threats, said the elder Philipson, and your cries avail you nothing. But are you sure the Swiss are in possession of the town? We are peaceful occupants of it, answered the landmen, though without a blow given on our side. Why, then, said the Englishman, your followers will soon find you out. Arthur and I are paltry ciphers, and our absence might easily pass over unobserved, but you are too important a figure not to be missed, and looked after when the sum of your number is taken. I well hope it will prove so, said the landmen, though me thinks I show but scurvelly shut up here like a cat in a cupboard when he has been stealing cream. Arthur, my brave boy, dost thou see no means of shooting back the bolt? Arthur, who had been minutely examining the lock, replied in the negative, and added that they must take patience, perforce, and arm themselves to wait calmly their deliverance, which they could do nothing to accelerate. Arnold Bederman, however, felt somewhat severely the neglect of his sons and companions. All my youths, uncertain whether I am alive or dead, are taking the opportunity of my absence, doubtless for pillage and license, and the politic Rudolph, I presume, cares not if I should never reappear on the stage, the Bannerette, and the white-bearded fool Bonsteaden, who calls me his friend. Every neighbor has deserted me, and yet they know that I am anxious for the safety of the most insignificant of them all, as dearer to me than my own. By heavens it looks like stratagem, and shows as if the rash young men desired to get rid of a rule too regular and peaceful to be pleasing to those who are eager for war and conquest. The landman fretted out of his usual serenity of temper and afraid of the misbehavior of his countrymen in his absence, thus reflected upon his friends and companions, while the distant noise soon died away into the most absolute and total silence. What is to do now, said Arthur Phillipson, I trust they will take the opportunity of quiet to go through the roll call and inquire them who are amissing. It seemed as if the young man's wish had some efficacy, for he had scarce uttered it before the lock was turned, and the door set ajar by someone who escaped upstairs from behind it, before those who were set at liberty could obtain a glance of their deliverer. It is the jailer, doubtless, said the landman, who may be apprehensive, as he has some reason that we might prove more incensed at our detention in the dungeon than grateful for our deliverance. As they spoke thus, they ascended the narrow stairs and issued from the door of the gatehouse tower, where a singular spectacle awaited them. The Swiss deputies and their escort still remained standing fast and firm on the very spot where Hagenbach had proposed to assail them. A few of the late governor's soldiers disarmed and cowering from the rage of a multitude of the citizens, who now filled the streets, stood with downcast looks behind the phalanx of the mountaineers as their safest place of retreat. But this was not all. The cars so lately placed to obstruct the passage of the street were now joined together and served to support a platform or scaffold which had been hastily constructed of planks. On this was placed a chair in which sat a tall man with his head, neck, and shoulders bare. The rest of his body clothed in bright armor. His countenance was as pale as death, yet young Phillipson recognized the hard-hearted governor, Sir Archibald Hagenbach. He appeared to be bound to the chair on his right and close beside him stood the priest of St. Paul's muttering prayers with his greviary in his hand. While on his left and somewhat behind the captive appeared a tall man attired in red and leaning with both hands on the naked sword, which has been described on a former occasion. The instant that Arnold Biederman appeared and before the landman could open his lips to demand the meaning of what he saw, the priest drew back. The executioner stepped forward. The sword was brandished. The blow was struck and the victims had rolled on the scaffold. A general acclamation and clapping of hands like that by which a crowded theater approves of some well-graced performer followed this feat of dexterity while the headless corpse shot streams from the arteries which were drunk up by the sawdust that strewed the scaffold. The executioner gracefully presented himself alternately at the four corners of the stage, modestly bowing as the multitude greeted him with cheers of approbation. Nobles, knights, gentlemen of free-born blood and good citizens, he said, who have assisted at this act of high justice, I pray you to bear me witness that this judgment have been executed after the form of the sentence at one blow and without stroke missed or repeated. The acclamations were reiterated. Long live our sharp gorector, Steiner and Hertz and many a tyrant may he do his duty on. Noble friends said the executioner with the deepest obeisance. I have yet another word to say and it must be a proud one. God be gracious to the soul of this good and noble knight, Sir Archibald the Hagenbach. He was the patron of my youth and my guide to the path of honor. Eight steps have I made towards freedom and nobility on the heads of free-born knights and nobles who have fallen by his authority and command. And the ninth by which I have attained it is upon his own in grateful memory of which I will expend this purse of gold, which but an hour since he bestowed on me in masses for his soul. Gentlemen, noble friends, and now my equals, Lafaret has lost a nobleman and gained one. Our Lady be gracious to the departed knight, Sir Archibald the Hagenbach, and bless and prosper the progress of Stephen, Steiner and Hertz, Von, Bloodsucker, now free and noble of right. Without he took the feather out of the cap of the deceased, which soiled with the blood of the wearer lay near his body upon the scaffold, and putting it into his own official bonnet, received the homage of the crowd in loud huzzas, which were partly in earnest, partly in ridicule of such an unusual transformation. Arnold Biedermann at length found breath, which the extremity of surprise had at first denied him. Indeed, the whole execution had passed much too rapidly for the possibility of his interference. Who has dared to act this tragedy, he said indignantly, and by what right has it taken place? A cavalier richly dressed in blue replied to the question, the free citizens of Bale have acted for themselves as the fathers of Swiss liberty set them an example, and the tyrant, the Hagenbach, has fallen by the same right, which put to death the tyrant Gaisler. We bore with him till his cup was brimming over, and then we bore no longer. I say not but that he deserved death, replied the lendman, but for your own sake, and for ours, you should have foreborn him till the Duke's pleasure was known. What tell you us of the Duke? answered Lawrence Nipper, the same blue cavalier whom Arthur had seen at the secret rendezvous of the Baileys youth in company with Rudolph. Why talk you of Burgundy to us, who are none of his subjects? The emperor, our only rightful lord, had no title to pawn the town and fortifications of La Fourette being as it is a dependency of Baile to the prejudice of our free city. He might have pledged the revenue indeed, and supposing him to have done so, the debt has been paid twice over by the exactions levied by Yonder Oppressor, who has now received his due. But pass on, lendman of Unterwalden, if our actions displease you, abjure them at the footstool of the Duke of Burgundy. But in doing so, abjure the memory of William Tell and Stoffaker of First and Meltal, the fathers of Swiss freedom. You speak truth, said the lendman, but it is in an ill-chosen and unhappy time. Patience would have remedied your evils, which none felt more deeply, or would have redressed more willingly than I. But oh, imprudent young man, you have thrown aside the modesty of your age and the subjection you owe to your elders. William Tell and his brethren were men of years and judgment, husbands and fathers, having a right to be heard in council and to be foremost in action. Enough. I'd leave it with the fathers and senators of your own city to acknowledge or to reprove your actions. But you, my friends, you, Bannerette of Verne, you, Rudolph, above all you, Nicholas Bunstetten, my comrade, and my friend, why did you not take this miserable man under your protection? The action would have shown Burgundy that we were slandered by those who have declared us desirous of seeking a quarrel with him or of inciting his subjects to revolt. Now all these prejudices will be confirmed in the minds of men, naturally more tenacious of evil impressions than of those which are favorable. As I live by bread, good gossip, and neighbor, answered Nicholas Bunstetten, I thought to obey your injunctions to a tittle so much so that I once thought of breaking in and protecting the man when Rudolph Donarhugel reminded me that your last orders were to stand firm and let the men avail and serve for their own actions, and surely said I to myself, my gossip, Arnold, knows better than all of us what is fitting to be done. Ah, Rudolph, Rudolph, said the landman, looking on him with a displeased countenance, worked thou not ashamed thus to deceive an old man? To say I deceived him is a hard charge, but from you, landman, answered the Bernese with his usual deference, I can bear anything. I will only say that, being a member of this embassy, I am obliged to think, and to give my opinion as such, especially when he is not present, who is wise enough to lead and direct us all. Thy words are always fair, Rudolph, replied Arnold Biedermann, and I trust so is thy meaning. Yet there are times when I somewhat doubt it, but let disputes pass, and let me have your advice, my friends, and for that purpose go we where it may best profit us, even to the church where we will first return our thanks for our deliverance from assassination, and then hold counsel what next is to be done. The landman led the way accordingly to the church of St. Paul's, while his companions and associates followed in their order. This gave Rudolph, who as youngest, suffered the others to precede him, an opportunity to beckon to him, the landman's eldest son, Rutiger, and whisper to him to get rid of the two English merchants. Away with them, my dear Rutiger, by fair means if possible, but away with them directly. Thy father is besotted with these two English peddlers, and will listen to no other counsel, and thou and I know, dearest Rutiger, that such men as these are unfit to give laws to freeborn switzers. Get the trumpery they have been robbed of, or as much of it as is extant, together as fast as thou canst, and send them a traveling in heaven's name. Rutiger nodded intelligently, and went to offer his services to expedite the departure of the elder Philipsin. He found the sagacious merchant as desirous to escape from the scene of confusion now presented in the town, as the young Swiss could be to urge his departure. He only waited to recover the casket of which de Hagenbach had possessed himself, and Rutiger Biedermann set on foot a strict search after it, which was the more likely to be successful than the simplicity of the Swiss prevented them from setting the true value upon its contents. A strict and hasty search was immediately instituted both on the person of the dead de Hagenbach, on which the precious packet was not to be found, and on all who had approached him at his execution, or were supposed to enjoy his confidence. Young Arthur Philipsin would gladly have availed himself of a few moments to bid farewell to Anne of Geyerstein, but the grey wimple was no longer seen in the ranks of the Swissers, and it was reasonable to think that in the confusion which followed the execution of de Hagenbach and the retreat of the leaders of the little battalion, she had made her escape into some of the adjacent houses, while the soldiers around her no longer restrained by the presence of their chiefs had dispersed, some to search for the goods of which the Englishmen had been despoiled, others doubtless to mingle with and join in the rejoicings of the victorious youths avail, and of those burgers of la ferrette by whom the fortifications of the town had been so gently surrendered. The cry amongst them was universal, that Brissac, so long considered as the curb of the Swiss Confederates, and the barrier against their commerce should henceforth be garrisoned as their protection against the encroachments and exactions of the Duke of Burgundy and his officers. The whole town was in a wild but joyful jubilee, while the citizens vied with each other in offering to the Swiss every species of refreshment, and the youths who attended upon the mission hurried gaily and in triumph to profit by the circumstances which had so unexpectedly converted the ambuscade so treacherously laid for them into a genial and joyous reception. Amid this scene of confusion, it was impossible for Arthur to quit his father, even to satisfy the feelings which induced him to wish for a few moments at his own disposal. Sad, thoughtful, and sorrowful, amid the general joy, he remained with the parent whom he had so much reason to love and honor to assist him in securing and placing on their mule the various packages and bales which the honest Swissers had recovered after the death of the Hagenbach and which they emulated each other in bringing to their rightful owner. While they were with difficulty prevailed upon to accept the gerdan which the Englishman from the means which he still had left upon his person was disposed not merely to offer but to force upon the restorers of his property and which in their rude and simple ideas seemed greatly to exceed the value of what they had recovered for him, this scene had scarcely lasted 10 or 15 minutes when Rudolph Donnerhugel approached the elder Philipsson and in a tone of great courtesy invited him to join the council of the chiefs of the embassy of the Swiss cantons who he said were desirous of having the advantage of his experience upon some important questions respecting their conduct on these unexpected occurrences see to our affairs Arthur and stir not from the spot on which I leave you said Philipsson to his son look especially after the sealed packet of which I was so infamously and illegally robbed its recovery is of the utmost consequence so speaking he instantly prepared himself to attend the Bernese who in a confidential manner whispered as he went arm in arm with him towards the church of St. Paul's I think a man of your wisdom will scarce advise us to trust ourselves to the mood of the Duke of Burgundy when he has received such an injury as the loss of this fortress and the execution of his officer you at least would be too judicious to afford us any further the advantage of your company and society since to do so would be willfully to engage in our shipwreck I will give my best advice answered Philipsson when I shall be more particularly acquainted with the circumstances under which it is asked of me Rudolph muttered an oath or angry exclamation and led Philipsson to the church without further argument in a small chapel adjoining to the church and dedicated to St. Magnus the martyr the four deputies were assembled in close conclave around the shrine in which the sainted heroes stood armed as when he lived the priest of St. Paul's was also present and seemed to interest himself deeply in the debate which was taking place when Philipsson entered all were for a moment silent until the landman addressed him thus senior Philipsson we esteem you a man far traveled well versed in the manners of foreign lands and acquainted with the conditions of this Duke Charles of Burgundy you are therefore fit to advise us in a matter of great weight you know with what anxiety we go on this mission for peace with the Duke you also know what has this day happened which may probably be represented to Charles in the worst colors would you advise us in such a case to proceed to the Duke's presence with the odium of this action attached to us or should we do better to return home and prepare for war with Burgundy how do your own opinion stand on the subject said the cautious Englishman we are divided answered the banner at a burn I have borne the banner of burn against her foes for 30 years I am more willing to carry it against the lances of the knights of annalt and Lorraine than to undergo the rude treatment which we must look to meet at the footstool of the Duke we put our heads in the lion's mouth if we go forward said Zimmerman of Soler my opinion is that we draw back I would not advise retreat said Rudolph Donner-Hughel were my life alone concerned but the landman of Unterwalden is the father of the united cantons and it would be parasite if I consented to put his life in peril my advice is that we return and that the Confederacy stand on their defense my opinion is different said Arnold Biedermann nor will I forgive any man who whether in sincere or feigned friendship places my poor life in the scale with the advantage of the cantons if we go forward we risk our heads be it so but if we turn back we involve our country in war with a power of the first magnitude in Europe worthy citizens you are brave in fight show your fortitude as boldly now and let us not hesitate to incur such personal danger as may attend ourselves if by doing so we can gain a chance of peace for our country I think and vote with my neighbor and gossip Arnold Biedermann said the laconic deputy from Schwartz you hear how we are divided in opinion said the landman to Phillipson what is your opinion I would first ask of you said the Englishman what has been your part in this storming of a town occupied by the dukes forces and putting to death his governor so help me heaven said the landman as I knew not of any purpose of storming the town until it unexpectedly took place and for the execution of the Hagenbach said the black priest I swear to you stranger by my holy order that it took place under the direction of a competent court whose sentence Charles of Burgundy himself is bound to respect and whose proceedings the deputies of the Swiss mission could neither have advanced nor retarded if such be the case and if you can really prove yourselves free of these proceedings answered Phillipson which must needs be highly resented by the Duke of Burgundy I would advise you by all means to proceed upon your journey with the certainty that you will obtain from that prince a just and impartial hearing and it may be a favorable answer I know Charles of Burgundy I may even say that our different ranks and walks of life considered I know him well he will be deeply incensed by the first tidings of what has here chanced which he will no doubt interpret to your disfavor but if in the course of investigation you are able to clear yourselves of these foul imputations a sense of his own injustice may perhaps turn the balance in your favor and in that case he will rush from the excess of censure into that of indulgence but your cause must be firmly stated to the Duke by some tongue better acquainted with the language of courts than yours and such a friendly interpreter might I have proved to you had I not been plundered of the valuable packet which I bore with me in order to present to the Duke and in testimony of my commission to him a paltry fetch whispered Donner-Hughel to the bannerette that the trader may obtain from us satisfaction for the goods of which he has been plundered the landman himself was perhaps for a moment of the same opinion merchant he said we hold ourselves bound to make good to you that is if our substance can affect it whatever loss you may have sustained trusting to our protection I that we will said the old man of Schwitz should it cost us 20 seconds to make it good to your guarantee of immunity I can have no claim said Phillipson seeing I parted company with you before I sustained any loss and I regret the loss not so much for its value although that is greater than you may fancy but chiefly because that the contents of the casket I bore being a token betwixt a person of considerable importance and the Duke of Burgundy I shall not I fear now that I am deprived of them receive from his grace that credence which I desire both for my own sake and yours without them and speaking only in the person of a private traveler I may not take upon me as I might have done when using the names of the persons whose mandates I carried this important packet said the landman shall be most rigorously sought for and carefully redelivered to thee for ourselves not as Swiss of us knows the value of its contents so that if they are in the hands of any of our men they will be returned of course as bubbles upon which they set no value as he spoke there was a knocking at the door of the chapel Rudolph who stood nearest to it having held some communication with those without observed with a smile which he instantly repressed lest it had given offense to Arnold beaterman it is Sigismund the good youth shall I admit him to our council to what purpose poor simple lad said his father with a sorrowful smile yet let me undo the door said Phillipson he is anxious to enter and perhaps he brings news I have observed landman that the young man though with slowness of ideas and expression is strong in his principles and sometimes happy in his conceptions he admitted Sigismund accordingly while Arnold beaterman felt on the one hand the soothing compliment which Phillipson had paid to a boy certainly the dullest of his family and on the other feared some public display of his son's infirmity or lack of understanding Sigismund however seemed all confidence and he certainly had reason to be so since as the shortest mode of explanation he presented to Phillipson the necklace of diamonds with the casket in which it had been deposited this pretty thing is yours he said I understand so much from your son Arthur who tells me you will be glad to have it again most cordially do I thank you said the merchant the necklace is certainly mine that is the packet of which it formed the contents was under my charge and it is at this moment of greater additional value to me than even its actual worth since it serves as my pledge and token for the performance of an important mission and how my young friend he continued addressing Sigismund have you been so fortunate as to recover what we have sought for hitherto in vain let me return my best acknowledgments and do not think me over curious if I ask how it reached you for that matter said Sigismund the story is soon told I had planted myself as near the scaffold as I could having never beheld an execution before and I observed the executioner who I thought did his duty very cleverly just in the moment that he spread a cloth over the body of de Hockenbach snatched something from the dead man's bosom and huddled it hastily into his own so when the rumor arose that an article of value was amissing I hurried in quest of the fellow I found he had bespoke masses to the extent of a hundred crowns at the high altar of Saint Paul's and I traced him to the tavern of the village where some ill-looking men were joyously drinking to him as a free citizen and a nobleman so I stepped in amongst them with my partisan and demanded of his lordship either to surrender to me what he had thus possessed himself of or to try the weight of the weapon I carried his lordship my lord hangman hesitated and was about to make a brawl but I was something peremptory and so he judged it best to give me the parcel which I trust you senior Phillipson will find safe and entire as it was taken from you and and I left them to conclude their festivities and that is the whole of the story thou art a brave lad said Phillipson and with a heart always right the head can sell them be far wrong but the church shall not lose its dues and I take it on myself ere I leave Laforette to pay for the masses which the man had ordered for the sake of the Hagenbach soul snatched from the world so unexpectedly Sigisman was about to reply that Phillipson fearing he might bring out some foolery to diminish the sense which his father had so joyously entertained of his late conduct immediately added hi away my good youth and give to my son Arthur this precious casket with simple exultation at receiving applause to which he was little accustomed Sigisman took his leave and the council were once more left to their own privacy there was a moment silence for the landmen could not overcome the feeling of exquisite pleasure at the sagacity which poor Sigisman whose general conduct warranted no such expectations had displayed on the present occasion it was not however a feeling to which circumstances permitted him to give vent and he reserved it for his own secret enjoyment as a solace to the anxiety which he had hitherto entertained concerning the limited intellect of this simple minded young man when he spoke it was to Phillipson with the usual candor and manliness of his character senior Phillipson he said we will hold you bound by no offer which you made while these glittering matters were out of your possession because a man may often think that if he were in such and such a situation he would be able to achieve certain ends which that position being attained he may find himself unable to accomplish but I now ask you whether having thus fortunately and unexpectedly regained possession of what you say will give you certain credence with the Duke of Burgundy you conceive yourself entitled to mediate with him on our behalf as you formerly proposed all bent forward to hear the merchant's answer landmen he replied I never spoke the word in difficulty which I was not ready to redeem when that difficulty was removed you say and I believe that you had no concern with this storming of la ferrette you say also that the life of the Hagenbach was taken by a judica sure over which you had no control and exercised none let a protocol be drawn up a varying these circumstances and as far as possible proving them entrusted to me under seal if you will and if such points be established I will pledge my word as a as a as an honest man and a true born Englishman that the Duke of Burgundy will neither detain nor offer you any personal injury I also hope to show to Charles strong and weighty reasons why a league of friendship the Twix to Burgundy and the united cantons of Helvetia is on his gracious part a wise and generous measure but it is possible I may fail in this last point and if I do I shall deeply grieve for it in warranting your safe passage to the Duke's court and your safe return from it to your own country I think I cannot fail if I do my own life and that of my beloved and only child shall pay the ransom for my excess of confidence in the Duke's justice and honor the other deputies stood silent and looked on the land of men but Rudolph Donner-Hughel spoke are we then to trust our own lives and what is still dearer to us that of our honored associate Arnold Biedermann on the simple word of a foreign trader we all know the temper of the Duke and how vindictively and relentlessly he has ever felt towards our country and its interests me thinks this English merchant should express the nature of his interest at the court of Burgundy more plainly if he expects us to place such implicit reliance in it that Signor Rudolph Donner-Hughel replied the merchant I find myself not at liberty to do I pry not into your secrets whether they belong to you as a body or as individuals my own are sacred if I consulted my own safety merely I should act most wisely to part company with you here but the object of your mission is peace and your sudden return after what has chanced at Laforet will make war inevitable I think I can assure you of a safe and free audience from the Duke and I am willing for the chance of securing the peace of Christendom to encounter any personal peril which may attach to myself say no more worthy Phillipson said the landman thy good faith is undoubted on our part and ill luck is his who cannot read it written on thy manly forehead we go forward then prepared to risk our own safety at the hand of a despotic prince rather than leave undischarged the mission which our country has entrusted us with he is but half a brave man who will risk his life only in the field of battle there are other dangers to front which is equally honorable and since the wheel of Switzerland demands that we should encounter them not one of us will hesitate to take the risk the other members of the mission bowed in ascent and the conclave broke up to prepare for their farther entrance into burgundy end of chapter 16 chapter 17 of Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Dion Giants Salt Lake City, Utah upon the mountain's heathery side the day's last luster shone and rich with many a radiant hue gleamed gaily on their own selfie the english merchant was now much consulted by the swiss commissioners in all their motions he exhorted them to proceed with all dispatch on their journey so as to carry to the Duke their own account of the affair of Brissac and thus anticipate all rumors less favorable to their conduct on the occasion for this purpose phillipson recommended that the deputies dismissing their escort whose arms and numbers might give umbrage and suspicion while they were too few for defense should themselves proceed by rapid journeys on horseback towards Dijon or wherever the Duke might chance to be for the time this proposal was however formally resisted by the very person who had hitherto been the most ductile of the party and the willing echo of the landman's pleasure on the present occasion notwithstanding that arnold bederman declared the advice of phillipson excellent nicolas bonsten stood in absolute and insurmountable opposition because having hitherto trusted to his own lens for transporting himself to and fro on all occasions he could by no means be persuaded to commit himself to the discretion of a horse as he was found obstinately positive on this subject it was finally determined that the two englishmen should press forward on their journey with such speed as they might and that the elder of them should make the duke acquainted with so much as to the capture of la ferrette as he had himself witnessed of the matter the particulars which had attended the death of the Hagenbach the landman assured him would be sent to the duke by a person of confidence whose attestation on the subject could not be doubted this course was adopted as phillipson expressed his confidence of getting an early and private audience with his grace of burgundy my best intercession he said you have a good right to reckon upon and no one can bear more direct testimony than i can to the ungovernable cruelty and rapacity of the Hagenbach of which i had so nearly been the victim but of his trial and execution i neither know nor can tell anything and as duke charles is sure to demand why execution was done upon his officer without an appeal to his own tribunal it will be well that you can either provide me with such facts as you have to state or synth forward at least as speedily as possible the evidence which you have to lay before him on that most weighty branch of the subject the proposal of the merchant created some visible embarrassment on the countenance of the swiss and it was with obvious hesitation that arnold bederman having led him aside addressed him in a whisper my good friend he said mysteries are in general like the hateful myths which disfigure the noblest features of nature yet like myths they will sometimes intervene when we most desire their absence when we most desire to be plain and explicit the manner of the Hagenbach's death you saw we will take care that the duke is informed of the authority by which it was inflicted this is all that i can at present tell you on the subject and let me add that the less you speak of it with anyone you will be the more likely to escape inconvenience worthy landman said the englishman i also am by nature and from the habits of my country a hater of mysteries yet such is my firm confidence in your truth and honor that you shall be my guide in these dark and secret transactions even as amongst the myths and precipices of your native land and i rest contented in either case to place unlimited confidence in your suggestivity let me only recommend that your explanation with charles be instant as well as clear and candid such being the case i trust my poor interest with the duke may be reckoned for something in your favor here then we part but as i trust soon to meet again the elder phillipson now rejoined his son whom he directed to hire horses together with a guide to conduct them with all speed to the presence of the duke of burgundy by various inquiries in the town and especially among the soldiers of the slain the Hagenbach they at length learned that charles had been of late occupied in taking possession of Lorraine and being now suspicious of unfriendly dispositions on the part of the emperor of germany as well as of sigisman duke of austria had drawn a considerable part of his army together near strawsburg in order to be prepared against any attempt of these princes or of the free imperial cities which might interfere with his course of conquest the duke of burgundy at this period well deserved his peculiar appetite of the bold since surrounded by enemies like one of the nobler animals of the chase he yet astounded by his stern and daring countenance not only the princes and states we have mentioned but even the king of france equally powerful and far more politic than himself to his camp therefore the english travelers bent their way each full of such deep and melancholy reflection as perhaps prevented his bestowing much attention on the other state of mind they rode as man deeply immersed in their own thoughts and with less intercourse than had been usual betwixt them on their former journeys the nobleness of the elder phillips since nature and his respect for the landamans probity joined with gratitude for his hospitality had prevented him from separating his cause from that of the swiss deputies nor did he now repent his generosity in adhering to them but when he recollected the nature and importance of the personal affairs which he himself had to dispatch with a proud imperious and irritable prince he could not but regret the circumstances which had involved his own particular mission of so much consequence to himself and his friends with that a person's likely to be so highly obnoxious to the duke as arnold bederman and his companions and however grateful for the hospitality of geierstein he regretted nevertheless the circumstances which had obliged him to accept of it the thoughts of arthur were no less anxious he found himself a new separated from the object to which his thoughts were almost against his own will constantly returning and this second separation had taken place after he had incurred an additional load of gratitude and found new as well as more mysterious food for his ardent imagination how was he to reconcile the character and attributes of ann of geierstein whom he had known so gentle candid pure and simple with those of the daughter of a sage and of an elementary spirit to whom night was as day and an impervious dungeon the same as the open portico of a temple could they be identified as the same being or while strictly alike in shape and liniment was the one attendant of the earth the other only a phantom permitted to show itself among those of a nature in which she did not partake above all must he never see her more or receive from her own lips an explanation of the mysteries which were so awfully entwined with his recollections of her such were the questions which occupied the mind of the younger traveler and prevented him from interrupting or even observing the reverie in which his father was plunged had either of the travelers been disposed to derive amusement from the country through which their road lay the vicinity of the Rhine was well qualified to afford it the ground on the left bank of that noble river is indeed rather flat and tame and the mountains of Alsace a ridge of which sweeps along its course do not approach so near as greatly to vary the level surface of the valley which divides them from its shores but the broad stream itself hurrying forward with dizzy rapidity and rushing around the islets by which its course is interrupted is one of the most majestic spectacles in nature the right bank is dignified at once and adorned by the numerous eminences covered with wood and interspersed with valleys which constitute the district so well known by the name of the black forest to which superstition attached so many terrors and credulity such a variety of legends terrors indeed it had of a real and existing character the old castles seen from time to time on the banks of the river itself or on the ravines and large brooks which flow into it were then no picturesque ruins rendered interesting by the stories which were told about their former inhabitants that constituted the real and apparently impregnable strongholds of that robber chivalry whom we have already frequently mentioned and of whom since Gerda an author born to arouse the slumbering fame of his country has dramatized the story of Gerda's of Berlökingen we have so many spirits stirring tales the danger attending the vicinity of these fortresses was only known on the right or german bank of the Rhine for the breath and depth of that noble stream effectually prevented any foray of their inhabitants from reaching Alsace the former was in possession of the city's or free towns of the empire and thus the feudal tyranny of the german lords was chiefly exerted at the expense of their own countrymen who irritated and exhausted with their rapine and oppression were compelled to erect barriers against it of a nature as interesting and extraordinary as were the wrongs from which they endeavored to protect themselves but the left bank of the river over great part of which Charles of Burgundy exercised his authority under various characters was under the regular protection of the ordinary magistrates who were supported in the discharge of their duty by large bands of mercenary soldiers these were maintained by Charles out of his private revenue he as well as his rival Louie and other princes of the period having discovered that the feudal system gave an inconvenient degree of independence to their vessels and thinking of course that it was better to substitute in its place a standing army consisting of free companies or soldiers by profession italy furnished most of these bands which composed the strength of Charles's army at least the part of it in which he most trusted our travelers therefore pursued their way by the banks of the river in as great a degree of security as could well be enjoyed in that violent and distracted time until at length the father after having eyed for some time the person whom Arthur had hired to be their guide suddenly asked of his son who or what the man was Arthur replied that he had been too eager to get a person who knew the road and was willing to show it to be very particular in inquiring into his station or occupation but that he thought from the man's appearance he must be one of those itinerant ecclesiastics who travel through the country with relics pardons and other religious trinkets and were in general but slightly respected accepting by the lower orders on whom these vendors of superstitious wares were often accused of practicing gross deceptions the man's appearance was rather that of a lay devotee or palmer bound on his pilgrimage to different shrines than of a mendicant friar or questionary he wore the hat script staff and coarse dalmatic somewhat like the military cloak of the modern hussar which were used by such persons on their religious peregrinations st peter's keys rudely shaped out of some scarlet rag of cloth appeared on the back of his mantle placed as herald say saltire wise this devotee seemed a man of 50 and upwards well made and stout for his age with a cast of countenance which though not positively ugly was far from being well favored there was shrewdness and an alert expression in his eye and actions which made some occasional contrast with the sanctimonious demeanor of the character he now bore this difference betwixt his dress and physiognomy was by no means uncommon among persons of his description many of whom embraced this mode of life rather to indulge roving and idle habits than from any religious call who art thou good fellow said the elder philipson and by what name am i to call thee while we are fellow travelers Bartholomew sir said the man brother Bartholomew I might say Bartholomew's but it does not become a poor lay brother like me to aspire to the honor of a learned termination and wither does thy journey tend good brother Bartholomew in whichever direction your worship chooses to travel and to require my services as guide answered the palmer always promising you allow me leisure for my devotions at such holy stations as we pass on our route that is thine own journey hath no professed or pressing object or end said the Englishman none as your worship says peculiar said the itinerant or I might rather say that my journey good sir embraces so many objects that it is matter of indifference to me which of them I accomplish first my vow binds me for four years to travel from one shrine or holy place to another but I am not directly tied to visit them by any precise rule of rotation that is to say thy vow of pilgrimage does not prevent thee from hiring thyself to wait upon travelers as their guide replied Phillipson if I can unite the devotion I owe to the blessed saints whose shrines I visit with a service rendered to a wandering fellow creature who desires to be directed upon his journey I do maintain replied Bartholomew that the objects are easily to be reconciled to each other especially as a little worldly profit may tend to cement the two duties together if otherwise incompatible said Phillipson it pleases your honor to say so replied the pilgrim but you yourself may if you will derive from my good company something more than the mere knowledge of the road in which you propose to travel I can make your journey more edifying by legends of the blessed saints whose holy relics I have visited and pleasing by the story of the wonderful things which I have seen and heard in my travels I can impart to you an opportunity of providing yourself with his holiness as pardon not only for the sins which you have committed but also granting you indulgence for future errors these things are highly available doubtless replied the merchant but good Bartholomew when I desire to speak of them I apply to my father confessor to whom I have been uniformly regular in committing the charge of my conscience and who must be therefore well acquainted with my state of mind and best accustomed to prescribe what its case may require nevertheless said Bartholomew I trust your worship is too religious a man and to sound a catholic to pass any hallowed station without endeavoring to obtain some share of the benefits which it is the means of dispensing to those who are ready and willing to deserve them more especially as all men of whatever trade and degree hold respect to the holy saint who patronized his own mystery so I hope you being a merchant will not pass the chapel of our lady of the ferry without making some fitting orison friend Bartholomew said Phillipson I have not heard of the shrine which you recommend to me and as my business is pressing it were better worth my while to make a pilgrimage hither on purpose to make mine homage at a fitter season than to delay my journey at present this God willing I will not fail to do so that I may be held excused for delaying my reverence till I can pay it more respectfully and at greater leisure may it please you not to be Roth said the guide if I say that your behavior in this matter is like that of a fool who finding a treasure by the roadside omits to put it in his bosom and carry it along with him proposing to return from a distance on a future day of express purpose to fetch it Phillipson something astonished at the man's pertenacity was about to answer hastily and angrily that was prevented by the arrival of three strangers who rode hastily up from behind them the foremost of these was a young female most elegantly attired and mounted upon a Spanish genet which she reigned with singular grace and dexterity she wore on her right hand such a glove as that which was used to carry hawks and had a Merlin perched upon it her head was covered with a Montero cap and as was frequently the custom at the period she wore on her face a kind of black silk wizard which effectually concealed her features not withstanding this disguise Arthur Phillipson's heart sprang high at the appearance of these strangers for he was at once certain he recognized the matchless form of the Swiss maiden by whom his mind was so anxiously occupied her attendance were a falconer with his hunting pole and a female both apparently her domestics the elder Phillipson who had no such accuracy of recollection as his son manifested upon the occasion saw in the fair stranger only some dame or damsel of eminence engaged in the amusement of hawking and in return to a brief salutation merely asked her with suitable courtesy as the case demanded whether she had spent the morning in good sport indifferent good friend said the lady I dare not fly my hawk so near the broad river lest he should soar to the other side and so I might lose my companion but I reckon on finding better game when I have crossed to the other side of the ferry which we are now approaching then your lady ship said Bartholomeu will hear mass in Han's chapel and pray for your success I were a heathen to pass the holy place without doing so replied the damsel that noble damsel touches the point we were but now talking of said the guide Bartholomeu for no fair mistress that I cannot persuade this worthy gentleman how deeply the success of his enterprise is dependent upon his obtaining the blessing of our lady of the ferry the good man said the young maiden seriously and even severely must know little of the rhyme I will explain to the gentleman the propriety of following your advice she then wrote close to young Phillipson and spoke in Swiss for she had hitherto used the German language do not start but hear me and the voice was that of Anne of Geierstein do not I say be surprised or at least show not your wonder you are beset by dangers on this road especially your business is known your lives are laid in wait for cross over the river at the ferry of the chapel or Han's ferry as it is usually termed here the guide drew so near to them that it was impossible for her to continue the conversation without being overheard at that same moment a woodcock sprang from some bushes and the young lady threw off her Merlin in pursuit Saho Saho Woha hollowed the falconer in a note which made the thicket ring again and away he rode in pursuit the elder Phillipson and the guide himself followed the chase eagerly with their eyes so attractive was the love of that brave sport to men of all ranks but the voice of the maiden was a lure which would have summoned Arthur's attention from matters more deeply interesting cross the Rhine she again repeated at the ferry to Kirchhoff on the other side of the river take your lodgings at the golden fleece where you will find a guide to Strasburg I must stay here no longer so saying the damsel raced herself in her saddle struck her horse lightly with the loose reins and the metal animal already impatient at her delay and the eager burst of its companions flew forward at such a pace as if he had meant to emulate the flight of the hawk and of the prey he pursued the lady and her attendants soon vanished from the site of the travelers a deep silence for some time ensued during which Arthur studied how to communicate the warning he had received without awakening these suspicions of their guide but the old man broke silence himself saying to Bartholomew put your horse into more motion I pray you and ride onward a few yards I would have some private conference with my son the guide obeyed and as if with the purpose of showing a mind too profoundly occupied by heavenly matters to admit a thought concerning those of this transitory world he thundered forth a hymn in praise of saint Wendolin the shepherd in a strain so discordant as startled every bird from every bush by which they passed there was never a more unmelodious melody whether sacred or profane than that under protection of which the elder Phillipson thus conferred with his son Arthur he said I am much convinced that this howling hypocritical vagrant has some plot upon us and I had well nigh determined that the best mode to baffle it would be to consult my own opinion and not his as to our places of repose and the direction of our journey your judgment is correct as usual said his son I am well convinced of yonder man's treachery from a whisper in which that maiden informed me that we ought to take the road to Strasburg by the eastern side of the river and for that purpose cross over to a place called Kirchhoff on the opposite bank do you advise this Arthur replied his father I will pledge my life for the faith of this young person replied his son what said his father because she sits her pulp free fairly and shows a faultless shape such is the reasoning of a boy and yet my own old and cautious heart feels inclined to trust her if our secret is known in this land there are doubtless many who may be disposed to think they have an interest in barring my access to the Duke of Burgundy even by the most violent means and well you know that I should on my side hold my life equally cheap could I discharge my errand at the price of laying it down I tell thee Arthur that my mind reproaches me for taking hitherto over little care of ensuring the discharge of my commission owing to the natural desire I had to keep thee in my company there now lie before us two ways both perilous and uncertain by which we may reach the duke's court we may follow this guide and take the chance of his fidelity or we may adopt the hint of yonder damsel errant and cross over to the other side of the Rhine and again repass the river at Strasburg both roads are perhaps equally perilous I feel it my duty to diminish the risk of the miscarriage of my commission by sending thee across to the right bank while I pursue my proposed course upon the left thus if one of us be intercepted the other may escape and the important commission which he bears may be duly executed alas my father said Arthur how is it possible for me to obey you when by doing so I must leave you alone to incur so many dangers to struggle with so many difficulties in which my aid might be at least willing though it could only be weak whatever befall us in these delicate and dangerous circumstances let us at least meet it in company Arthur my beloved son said his father in parting from the I am splitting my own heart in twain but the same duty which commands us to expose our bodies to death as peremptorily orders us not to spare our most tender affections we must part oh then replied his son equally let me at least prevail in one point do thou my father cross the Rhine and let me prosecute the journey by the route originally proposed and why I pray you answered the merchant should I go one of these roads in preference to the other because said Arthur eagerly I would warrant yonder maiden's faith with my life again young man said his father and wherefore so confident in that young maiden's faith is it merely from the confidence which youth reposes in that which is fair and pleasing or have you had further acquaintance with her than the late brief conversation with her admitted can I give you an answer replied his son we have been long absent from lands of knights and ladies and is it not natural that we should give to those who remind us of the honored ties of chivalry and gentle blood the instinctive credence which we refuse to such a poor wretch and this itinerant monta bank who gains his existence by cheating with false relics and forged legends the poor peasants amongst whom he travels it is a vain imagination Arthur said his father not unbefitting indeed an aspirant to the honors of chivalry who draws his ideas of life and its occurrences from the romances of the minstrels but too visionary for a youth who has seen as thou hast held the business of this world is conducted I tell thee and thou will learn to know I say truth that around the homely board of our host the landmen were ranged truer tongues and more faithful hearts than the core pleniere of a monarch has to boast alas the manly spirit of ancient faith and honor has fled even from the breast of kings and knights where as john of france said it ought to continue to reside a constant inhabitant if banished from all the rest of the world be that as it may dearest father replied the younger phillipson I pray you to be persuaded by me and if we must part company let it be by your taking the right bank of the rine since I am persuaded it is the safest route and if it be the safest said his father with a voice of tender reproach is that a reason why I should spare my own almost exhausted thread of life and expose thine my dear son which has but begun its course nay father answered this son with animation in speaking thus you do not consider the difference of our importance to the execution of the purpose which you have so long entertained and which seems now so nigh being accomplished think how imperfectly I might be able to discharge it without knowledge of the dupes person or credentials to gain his confidence I might indeed repeat your words but the circumstances would be wanting to attract the necessary faith and of consequence your scheme for the success of which you have lived and now are willing to run the risk of death would miscarry along with me you cannot shake my resolution said the elder phillipson or persuade me that my life is of more importance than yours you only remind me that it is you and not I who ought to be the bearer of this token to the duke of burgundy should you be successful in reaching his court or camp your possession of these gems will be needful to attach credit to your mission a purpose for which they would be less necessary to me who can refer to other circumstances under which I might claim credence if it should please heaven to leave me alone to equip myself of this important commission which may our lady in her mercy for then understand therefore that should an opportunity occur by which you can make your way to the opposite side of the Rhine you are to direct your journey so as again to cross to this bank at Strasburg where you will inquire for news of me at the flying stag a hostelry in that city which you will easily discover if you hear no tidings of me at that place you will proceed to the Duke and deliver to him this important packet here he put into his son's hand with as much privacy as possible the case containing the diamond necklace what else your duty calls on you to do continued the elder phillipson you well know only I conjure you let no vain inquiries after my fate interfere with the great duty you have there to discharge in the meantime prepare to bid me a sudden farewell with a heart as bold and confident as when you went before me and courageously led the way amid the rocks and storms of Switzerland heaven was above us then as it is over us now adieu my beloved Arthur should I wait till the moment of separation there may be but short time to speak the fatal word and no I save thy own must see the tear which I now wipe away the painful feeling which accompanied this anticipation of their parting was so sincere on Arthur's part as well as that of his father that it did not at first occur to the former as a source of consolation that it seemed likely he might be placed under the guidance of the singular female the memory of whom haunted him true it was that the beauty of Anne of Geyerstein as well as the striking circumstances in which she had exhibited herself had on that very morning been the principal occupation of his mind but they were now chased from it by the predominant recollection that he was about to be separated in a moment of danger from a father so well deserving of his highest esteem and his fondest affection meanwhile that father dashed from his eye the tear which his devoted stoicism could not suppress and as if afraid of softening his resolution by indulging his parental fondness he recalled the pious Bartholomew to demand of him how far they were from the chapel of the ferry little more than a mile was the reply and when the Englishman required further information concerning the cause of its erection he was informed that an old boatman and fishermen named Hans had long dwelt at the place who gained a precarious livelihood by transporting travelers and merchants from one bank of the river to the other the misfortune however of losing first one boat and then a second in the deep and mighty stream with the dread inspired in travelers by the repetition of such accidents began to render his profession an uncertain one being a good Catholic the old man's distress took a devotional turn he began to look back on his former life and consider by what crimes he had deserved the misfortunes which darkened the evening of his days his remorse was chiefly excited by the recollection that he had on one occasion when the passage was peculiarly stormy refused to discharge his duty as a ferryman in order to transport to the other shore a priest who bore along with him an image of the virgin destined for the village of kerchhoff on the opposite or right bank of the Rhine for this fault Hans submitted to severe penance as he was now disposed to consider as culpable his doubt of the virgin's power of protecting herself her priest and the bark employed in her service besides which the offering of a large share of his worldly goods to the church of kerchhoff expressed the truth of the old man's repentance neither did he ever again permit himself to interpose any delay in the journey of men of holy church but all ranks of the clergy from the mitered prelate to the barefooted friar might at any time of day or night have commanded the services of him and his boat while prosecuting so laudable a course of life it became at length the lot of Hans to find on the banks of the Rhine a small image of the virgin thrown by the waves which appeared to him exactly to resemble that which he had formerly ungraciously refused to carry across when under charge of the sacristan of kerchhoff he placed it in the most conspicuous part of his hut and poured out his soul before it in devotion anxiously inquiring for some signal by which he might discover whether he was to consider the arrival of her holy image as a pledge that his offenses were forgiven in the visions of the night his prayers were answered and our lady assuming the form of the image stood by his bedside for the purpose of telling him where for she had come hither my trusty servant she said men of Belial have burned my dwelling at kerchhoff spoiled my chapel and thrown the sacred image which represents me into the swollen Rhine which swept me downward now I have resolved to dwell no longer in the neighborhood of the profane doers of this deed or of the cowardly vessels who dared not prevent it I am therefore compelled to remove my habitation and in spite of the opposing current I determined to take the shore on this side being resolved to fix my abode with thee my faithful servant that the land in which thou dwellest may be blessed as well as thou and thy household as the vision spoke she seemed to ring from her tresses the water in which they had been steeped while her disordered dress and fatigued appearance was that of one who has been buffeting with waves next morning brought intelligence that in one of the numerous feuds of that fierce period kerchhoff had been sacked the church destroyed and the church treasury plundered in consequence of the fisherman's vision being thus remarkably confirmed hawns entirely renounced his profession and leaving it to younger men to supply his place as ferrymen he converted his hut into a rustic chapel and he himself taking orders attended upon the shrine as a hermit or daily chaplain the figure was supposed to work miracles and the ferry became renowned from its being under the protection of the holy image of our lady and her no less holy servant when Bartholomew had concluded his account of the ferry and its chapel the travelers had arrived at the place itself end of chapter 17