Joseph Balsamo (4 page)

The silence of admiration and of assent followed the words of this dark prophet ; he had obtained the sympathy of the representatives of the hopes of Europe who surrounded him.

The great Copt enjoyed for some minutes his triumph ; then, feeling that it was complete, he went on :

“Xow, brethren, now that I am going to devote myself to our cause to beard the lion in his den to risk my life for the freedom of mankind now, what will you do

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for that to which you say you are ready to give up life, liberty, and fortune ? This is what I am here to de-mand.”

A deeper silence fell on the assembly than when he last ceased to speak ; it seemed as if the motionless phantoms around him were absorbed in a fateful thought, which, when expressed, should take twenty thrones.

The six chiefs conversed for a moment apart, and then returned to the president. The president spoke:

” In the name of Sweden, I offer for the overthrow of the throne of Vasa the miners who established it, and one hundred thousand crowns.”

The great Copt made an entry in his tablets.

Another on the left spoke.

” I, sent by Scotland and Ireland, can promise nothing from England our firm opponent but from poor Scotland, from poor Ireland, I shall bring three thousand men and three thousand crowns yearly.”

He wrote again.

” And you ? ” said he, turning to one whose vigorous frame and restless spirit seemed wearied by his phantom robe, and who replied :

” I represent America, whose stones, whose trees, whose waters, whose every drop of blood are vowed to rebellion. Whilst we have gold we will give it, while we have blood we will shed it let us but be free first. Though now divided, marked, and disunited, we are the links of a gigantic chain, and could some mighty hand join two of them, the rest will unite themselves. Begin, then, oh, great master, with us ! If thou wouldst rid France of royalty, free us from a foreign yoke first.”

” It shall be so,” replied the master ; “yon shall first be free, and France shall help you. Wait, brother, but I promise thou shalt not wait long ‘

Then he turned to the Swiss deputy, who replied to his look:

” I can promise nothing. Our republic has been long the ally of the French monarchy, to which it sold its blood at Marignan and Pavia ; its sons are faithful they

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will give that for which they have been paid ; for the first time, I am ashamed of their fidelity.”

” So ; but we shall conquer without them, and in spite of them. And you, representative of Spain ?”

” I am poor ; I can only offer three thousand of my brothers, with a contribution of a thousand reals yearly. Our Spaniards are indolent ; they sleep on a bed of pain provided they sleep, they care not.”

” Good ! And you ? ” said he to another.

” I represent Eussia and Poland. My people are either discontented nobles or wretched serfs. The serf, who owns not even his life, can offer nothing ; but three thousand nobles have promised twenty louis d’ors each annually.”

Then all the representatives in turn declared what those from whom they came would give for the great cause. Some were deputies from small kingdoms, some from large principalities, some from impoverished states, but all declared that they would add something to what had been offered. Their promises were written on the tablets of the great Copt, and they were bound by an oath to keep them.

“Now,” said he, “you have seen and recognized the initials of our watchword let it be placed on your hearts, and in them ; for we, the sovereign lord of the east and west, have decreed the downfall of the lily. Hear it, then, brethren LILIA PEDIBUS DESTRUE.”

Loud was their shout at this explanation of the mysterious letters so loud that the gorges of the mountains re-echoed to it.

“And now, retire,” said the master, when silence had succeeded, ” retire by those subterranean passages which lead to the quarries of Mont Tonnerre. Disperse before the rising of the sun. You shall see me once more, and it will be on the day of our triumph ! Go “

His words were followed by a masonic sign, understood only by the six heads of the assembly, so that they remained around him when the rest had disappeared.

” Swedenborg,” said he, ” thou art truly inspired. God thanks thee by me for thy efforts in His cause. I

DCMAS VOL. VI. B

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shall give thee an address to which them shalt send the promised money to France.”

The president bowed, and departed, full of astonishment at that intelligence which had discovered his name.

” I grant thee, Fairfax,” continued the master, “thou art worthy of thy great ancestor. “Remember me to Washington when next thou writest to him.”

Fairfax bowed, and followed Swedenborg.

“Come, Paul Jones,” said the Copt, “thou spokest bravely ; thou shalt be the hero of America. Let her be ready at the first signal.”

The American thrilled in every nerve, as if the breath of some divine being had passed over him, and retired also.

” And now, as to thee, Lavater, abjure thy theories ; it is the time for action. Study no longer what man is, but what he may be. Go ! Woe to thy countrymen if they rise against us ; for our people will devour in its wrath as the wrath of God devours.”

The trembling Swiss bowed and departed.

” Here, Ximenes,” he went on, addressing the Spaniard, ” thou art zealous, but distrustful. Thy country sleeps, but it is because none awakes her. Go ! Castile is still the country of the Cicl.”

The last of the six was advancing, but by a gesture the Copt forbid him.

” Scieffort of Russia, before a month thou wilt betray our cause, but in a mouth thou shalt be no more.”

The Russian envoy fell on his knees, but a threatening movement of the master made him rise, and with tottering steps he also departed.

And now this singular man, whom we have introduced” as the hero of our drama, left alone, looked around the empty, silent hall, buttoned up his black velvet coat, fixed his hat firmly on his head touched the spring of the great bronze gate which had closed behind him, and sallied out into the defiles of the mountain. Though he had neither guide nor light, he went on rapidly, as if led by an invisible hand.

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Having passed the thick belt of trees, he looked for his horse ; but not seeing him, he listened, and soon thought he heard a distant neighing. He whistled with a peculiar modulation, and in a moment Djerid could be seen coming forward like a faithful and obedient dog. The traveler sprang to the saddle, and quickly disappeared in the darkness, which spread over the heath extending from Mont Tomierre to Danenfels.

CHAPTER I.

THE STORM.

EIGHT days after the scene just related, about five in the evening, a carriage with four horses and two postilions, left Pont-a-Mousson, a small town between Nancy and Metz. It had taken fresh horses at an inn, in spite of the recommendation of an attentive hostess who was on the lookout for belated travelers, and continued on its road to Paris. Its four horses had scarcely turned the corner of the street, when a score of children and half a score of gossips, who had watched the progress of their being put to, returned to their respective dwellings with gestures and exclamations expressive in some of great mirth, in others of great astonishment.

All this was because nothing like that carriage had for fifty years passed the bridge which good King Stanislaus threw across the Moselle to facilitate the intercourse of his little kingdom with France. We do not except even those curious vehicles of Alsace, which bring from Phalsbourg to our fairs two-headed wonders, dancing bears and the wandering tribes of harlequins, and gypsies.

In fact, without being either a child or a curious old gossip, surprise might have arrested one’s steps on seeing this primitive machine, on four massive wheels, roll by with such velocity that every one exclaimed :

” What a strange way of traveling post ! “

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As our readers, fortunately for them, did not see it pass, we shall describe it.

First, then, the principal carriage we say principal, because in front it was a sort of cabriolet the principal carriage was painted light blue, and bore on its panels a baronial scroll, surmounting a J and a B iutwined. Two windows large windows, with white muslin curtains gave it light, only these windows, invisible to the profane vulgar, looked frontwise into tne cabriolet. A grating covered them through which one might speak to the inhabitants of the carriage.

This carriage, which was eight feet long, had no light but from the windows, and no air but from a ventilator on the top ; and then, to complete its oddity, a chimney rising about a foot above thereof offered to the passers-by the pleasant sight of a cloud of smoke lengthening into a bluish trail behind it. At the present day we should only have thought it a new invention combining the power of steam with that of horses.

This would have seemed so much the more probable that the carriage, preceded, as we have said, by four horses and two postilions, was followed by one horse, fastened to it by his bridle. His small head, slender legs, narrow chest, and silky mane and tail bespoke him of Arab race. He was ready saddled, which indicated that one of the travelers shut up in this Noah’s ark sometimes enjoyed the pleasure of riding beside the carriage.

At Pont-a-Mousson tlie postilion who left had received, besides the pay for the horses, a double gratuity, presented by a strong but white hand, slipped through the leather curtains of the cabriolet, which shaded it as imperviously as the muslin ones did the carriage.

” Many thanks, my lord,” said the astonished postilion, quickly taking off his cap and bowing low.

A sonorous voice replied in German for at Nancy German is still understood though no longer spoken , ” Schnell! Schneller ! ” which means ” Fast ! faster! “

Postilions understand nearly all languages ; above all, when accompanied by the sound of certain metals, of which

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it is said they are rather fond. So the two new postilions did their utmost to keep to a gallop, but after efforts which did more honor to their arms than to the powers of their horses, wearied out, they fell into a trot, getting on at the rate of two and a half or three leagues an hour.

Toward seven they changed at St. Mihiel ; the same hand passed through the curtains payment for the last stage, and the same voice uttered a similar injunction.

There is no doubt the strange vehicle excited there the same curiosity as at Pont-a-Mousson, for as night was fast approaching, its appearance was still more fantastic.

Beyond St. Mihiel there is a steep hill, and travelers must be satisfied to let the horses walk. It took half an hour to proceed a quarter of a league.

On the top the postilions stopped a moment to breathe their horses, and the travelers in the carriage, by withdraw-ing the curtains, might have gazed on a wide prospect, had not the mists of evening begun to veil it slightly.

The weather had been clear and warm until three in the afternoon toward evening, however, it became oppressive. A great white cloud from the south seemed as if intentionally to follow the carriage, threatening to overtake it before it reached Bar-le-Duc, where the postilions resolved at all risks to pass the night.

The road, shut in between the hill and a rugged declivity, descended to a valley, in which was seen the winding Meuse, and was so steep that it was dangerous to allow the horses to do anything but walk, which prudent plan the postilions adopted. The cloud advanced, and as it brooded over and almost touched the ground, continually extended its limits by drawing the vapors arising from the soil ; so was it observed in ill-boding whiteness to overwhelm the bluish clouds which seemed to take up their station to windward, like ships preparing for an engagement. Soon, with the rapidity of the flood-tide, it spread until it hid the last rays of the sun. A dim gray light struggled through upon the scene, and although no breeze swept along, the leaves shivered, and put on the dark tinge which they assume in the deepening twilight succeeding sunset.

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Suddenly a flash illuminated the cloud, the neavens burst into sheets of flame, and the startled eye might penetrate the immeasurable depths of the firmament. At the same moment the thunder rolled from tree to tree, shaking the earth, and hurrying on the vast cloud like a maddened steed. On went the carriage, sending forth its smoke, now changed in color by the changes of the atmosphere.

In the meantime, the heavens grew darker and darker, but a purple light appeared from the carriage, as if the per-son within, careless of the storm, had lighted a lamp and went on with some work which he had to accomplish. The vehicle was now on a level part of the mountain, and when about to begin the descent, a peal of thunder more violent than the first rent the clouds, and the rain fell at first in large drops, then thick and smarting, like arrows darted from the heavens.

The postilions seemed to consult together, and then stopped.

” Well ! ” cried the voice which had before spoken, but now in excellent French. ” “What the devil are you doing?”

” We were consulting whether we should go on,” replied the postilions.

” I think you ought to ask me not one an other. On with you ! “

The postilions obeyed, for there was that in the voice which forbade all thought of disobedience, and the carriage began to descend.

” Good ! ” said the voice, and the leather curtains, which had been half opened, fell between the traveler and the postilions.

But the road had become so slippery from the torrents of rain, that the horses stopped of themselves.

” Sir,” said the leading postilion, ” it is impossible to go any further.”

” Why ?” asked the voice within.

“Because the horses only slip they cannot get on they will fall.”

” How far are we from the next place where we change ? “