The Sword Maker by Robert Barr

R >> Robert Barr >> The Sword Maker

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

"He and the Count Palatine went out together about an hour since. I
think they were somewhat disturbed at the unusual commotion, and desired
to know what it meant. Do you want to consult my guardian after all?"

"Not unless you desire me to do so?"

"I wish only what you wish, Roland."

"I am glad his Lordship is absent. Let us to the garden, Hilda, and
discover a quiet exit if we can."

A stout door was found in the wall to the rear, almost concealed with
shrubbery. The bolts were strong, and rusted in, but the prowess of
Roland overcame them, and he drew the door partially open. It looked out
upon a narrow alley with another high wall opposite. Roland looked up
and down the lane, and saw it was completely deserted.

"This will do excellently," he said, shoving the door shut again, but
without thrusting the bolts into position. He took her two hands in his.

"Dearest, noblest, sweetest of girls! I must now leave you. Await me
here at half-past one. I go out by this door, for it is necessary I
should know exactly where the alley joins a main street. It would be
rather embarrassing if you were standing here, and Father Ambrose
looking for us in the chapel, while I was frantically searching for and
not finding the lane."

Some time in advance of the hour set, the impatient young man kept the
appointment he had made, and when the Countess appeared exactly on the
minute, he held open the door for her, then, drawing it shut behind him,
they were both out in the city of Frankfort together. Roland's high
spirits were such that he could scarcely refrain from dancing along at
her side.

"I'd like to take your hand," he said, "and swing it, and show you the
sights of the city, as if we were two young people in from the country."

"I am a country girl, please to remember," said the Countess. "I know
nothing of Frankfort, or, indeed, of any other large town."

"I am glad of that, for there is much to see in Frankfort. We will make
for the Cathedral, that beautiful red building, splendid and grand,
where we should have been married with great and useless ceremony if I
had been crowned Emperor. But I am sure the simple chapel in the working
town of Sachsenhausen better suits a sword maker and his bride."

Now they came out into the busy street, which seemed more thronged than
ever. In making their way to the Cathedral, the mob became so dense that
progression was difficult. The current seemed setting in one direction,
and it carried them along with it. Hildegunde took the young man's arm,
and clung close to him.

"They are driving us, whether we will or no, towards our old enemy, the
Archbishop of Mayence. That is his Palace facing the square. There is
some sort of demonstration going on," cried Roland, as cheer after cheer
ascended to the heavens. "How grim and silent the Palace appears, all
shuttered as if it were a house of the dead! Somehow it reminds me of
Mayence himself. I had pictured him occupying a house of gloom like
that."

"Do you think we are in any danger?" asked the girl. "The people seem
very boisterous."

"Oh, no danger at all. This mob is in the greatest good-humor. Listen to
their heart-stirring cheers! The people have been fed; that is the
reason of it."

"Is that why they cheer? It sounds to me like an ovation to the
Archbishop! Listen to them: 'Long live Mayence! God bless the
Archbishop!' There is no terror in those shouts."

Nevertheless his Lordship of Mayence had taken every precaution. The
shutters of his Palace were tightly closed, and along the whole front of
the edifice a double line of soldiers was ranged under the silent
command of their officers. They stood still and stiffly as stone-graven
statues in front of a Cathedral. The cheers rang unceasingly. Then,
suddenly, as if the sinister Palace opened one eye, shutters were turned
away from a great window giving upon the portico above the door. The
window itself was then thrown wide. Cheering ceased, and in the new
silence, from out the darkness there stepped with great dignity an old
man, gorgeous in his long robes of office, and surmounting that splendid
intellectual head rested the mitered hat of an Archbishop. After the
momentary silence the cheers seemed to storm the very door of the sky
itself, but the old man moved no muscle, and no color tinged his wan
face.

"By the Kings," whispered Roland, during a temporary lull, "what a man!
There stands power embodied, and yet I venture 'tis his first taste of
popularity. I am glad we have seen this sight, both mob and master. How
quick are the people to understand who is the real ruler of Germany! I
wish he were my friend!"

Slowly the Archbishop raised his open hands, holding them for a moment
in benediction over the vast assemblage. Once more the cheers died away,
and every head was bowed, then the Archbishop was in his place no
longer. Unseen hands closed the windows, and a moment later the shutters
blinded it. The multitude began to dissolve, and the two wanderers found
their way become clearer and clearer.

Together they entered the empty, red Cathedral, and together knelt down
in a secluded corner. After some minutes passed thus Roland remembered
that the hour of two had struck while they were gazing at the
Archbishop. Gently he touched the hand of his companion. They rose, and
walked slowly through the great church.

"There," he whispered, "is where the Emperor is crowned. The Archbishop
of Mayence always performs that ceremony, so, after all, there is some
justification for his self-assumed leadership."

Again out into the sunshine they walked to the Fahrgasse, and then to
the bridge, where the Countess paused with an expression of delight at
the beauty of the waterside city, glorified by the westering sun.
Crossing the river, and going down the Bruckenstrasse of Sachsenhausen,
Roland said:

"Referring to people who are not Emperors, that is my room at the
corner, where I lived when supposed to be in prison."

"Is that where you made your swords?" she asked.

"No; Greusel's workshop and mine is farther along that side street. It
is a grimy shop of no importance, but here, on the other side, we have
an edifice that counts. That low building is the Benedictine monastery,
and this is its little chapel."

The Countess made no comment, but stood looking at it for a few moments
until her thoughts were interrupted by the solemn tones of a bell
striking three. Roland went up the steps, and held open the door while
she passed in, then, removing his hat, he followed her.

XXII

LONG LIVE THEIR MAJESTIES

The most anxious man in all Frankfort was not to be found among the
mighty who ruled the Empire, or among the merchants who trafficked
therein, or among the people who starved when there was no traffic. The
most anxious man was a small, fussy individual of great importance in
his own estimation, cringing to those above him, denouncing those
beneath; Herr Durnberg, Master of the Romer, in other words, the Keeper
of the Town Hall. The great masters whom this little master served were
imperious and unreasonable. They gave him too little information
regarding their intentions, yet if he failed in his strict duty towards
them, they would crush him as ruthlessly as if he were a wasp.

Unhappy Durnberg! Every morning he expected the Electoral Court to be
convened that day, and every evening he was disappointed. It was his
first duty to lay out upon the table in that great room, the Kaisersaal,
a banquet, to be partaken of by the newly-made Emperor, and by the seven
potentates who elected him. It was also his duty to provide two huge
tanks of wine, one containing the ruby liquor pressed out at
Assmannshausen; the other the straw-colored beverage that had made
Hochheim famous. These tanks were connected by pipes with the plain,
unassuming fountain standing opposite the Town Hall in that square
called the Romerberg. The moment an election took place Herr Durnberg
turned off the flow of water from the fountain, and turned on the flow
of wine, thus for an hour and a half there poured from the northward
pointing spout of the fountain the rich red wine of Assmannshausen, and
from the southern spout the delicate white wine of Hochheim. Now, wine
will keep for a long time, but a dinner will not, so the distracted
Durnberg prepared banquet after banquet for which there were no
consumers.

At last, thought Herr Durnberg, his vigilance was about to be rewarded.
There came up the broad, winding stair, to the landing on which opened
the great doors of the Kaisersaal, two joyous-looking young people,
evidently lovers, and with the hilt of his sword the youth knocked
against the stout panels of the door. It was Herr Durnberg himself who
opened, and he said haughtily--

"The Romer is closed, and will not be free to strangers until after the
Election."

"We enter, nevertheless. I am Prince Roland, here to meet the Court of
Electors, who convene at midday in the adjoining Wahlzimmer. You,
Romer-meister, will announce to their august Lordships that I am here,
and, when their will is expressed, summon me to audience with them."

Herr Durnberg bowed almost to the polished floor, and flinging open both
doors, retreated backwards, still bent double as he implored them to
enter. Locking the doors, for the Electors would reach the Wahlzimmer
through a private way, to be used by none but themselves, the bustling
Durnberg produced two chairs, which he set by the windows in the front,
and again running the risk of falling on his nose, bowed his
distinguished visitors to seats where they might entertain themselves by
watching the enormous crowd that filled the Romerberg from end to end,
for every man in Frankfort knew an Election was impending, and it was
after the banquet, when the wine began to flow in the fountain, that the
new Emperor exhibited himself to his people by stepping from the
Kaisersaal out upon the balcony in front of it.

"Do you feel any shyness about meeting this formidable conclave?
Remember you have at least two good friends among them."

The girl placed her hand in his, and looked affectionately upon him.

"When you are with me, Roland, I am afraid of nothing."

"I should not ask you to pass through this ordeal were it not for your
guardian. His astonishment at the announcement of our marriage will be
so honest and unacted that even the suspicious Mayence cannot accuse him
of connivance in what we have done. Of course, the strength of my
position is that I have but carried out the formal request of their
three Lordships; a request which has never been rescinded."

Before she could reply the hour of twelve rang forth. The deferential
Herr Durnberg entered from the Wahlzimmer, and softly approached them.

"Your Highness," he said, "my Lords, the Electors, request your presence
in the Wahlzimmer."

"How many are there, Romer-meister?"

"There are four, your Highness; the three Archbishops and the Count
Palatine."

"Ah," breathed Roland, relieved that Mayence had not called up his
reserve, and assured now that the seventh Elector had not arrived. With
a glance of encouragement at his wife, Roland passed into the presence.

Herr Durnberg, anxious about the outcome, showed an inclination to close
the door and remain inside, but a very definite gesture from Mayence
wafted the good man to outer regions.

Mayence opened the proceedings.

"Yesterday I received a communication from your Highness, requesting me
to convene this Court. I am as ignorant as my colleagues regarding the
subjects to be placed before us. I therefore announce to you that we are
prepared to listen."

"I thank you, my Lord of Mayence," began the Prince very quietly. "When
first I had the honor of meeting your three Lordships in the Castle of
Ehrenfels, I signed certain documents, and came to an agreement with you
upon other verbal requests. I am not yet a man of large experience, but
at that time, although comparatively few days have elapsed, I was a mere
boy, trusting in the good faith of the whole world, knowing nothing of
its chicanery. Since then I have been through a bitter school, learning
bitter lessons, but I am nevertheless encouraged, in that for every man
of treachery and deceit I meet two who are trustworthy."

"Pardon me," said Mayence suavely, "I did not understand that the
discourse you proposed was to be a sermon. If your theme is a lecture on
morality, I beg to remind you that this Wahlzimmer is a place of
business, and what you say is better suited to a chapel or even a
church, than to the Election Chamber of the Empire."

"I am sorry, my Lord," said Roland humbly, "if my introduction does not
meet your approval. I assure you that the very opposite was my
intention. My purpose is to show you why a change has come over me, and
in order--"

"Once more I regret interrupting, but the reason for whatever change has
occurred can be of little interest to any one but yourself. You begin by
making vague charges of dishonesty, treachery, and what-not, against
some person or persons unknown. May I ask you to be definite?"

"Is it your Lordship's wish that I should mention names?"

Cologne showed signs of uneasiness; Treves looked in bewilderment from
one to another of his colleagues; the Count Palatine sat deeply
interested, his elbows on the table, massive chin supported by huge
hands.

"Your Highness is the best judge whether names should be mentioned or
not," said Mayence, quite calmly, as if his withers were unwrung. "But
you must see that if you hint at conspiracy and bafflement, certain
inferences are likely to be drawn. Since the time you speak of there has
been no opportunity for you to meet your fellow-men, therefore these
inferences are apt to take the color that reference is made to one or
the other of the three personages you did meet. I therefore counsel you
either to abstain from innuendo or explain explicitly what you mean."

"I the more willingly bow to your Lordship's decision because it is
characterized by that wisdom which accompanies every word your Lordship
utters. I shall therefore designate good men and bad."

Mayence gazed at the young man in amazement, but merely said:

"Proceed, sir, on your perilous road."

"I am the head of a gang of freebooters. When this company left
Frankfort under my command we appeared to be all of one mind. My gang
consisted entirely of ironworkers, well-set-up young fellows in splendid
physical condition, yet before I was gone a day on our journey I found
myself confronted by mutiny. A man named Kurzbold was the leader of this
rebellion; a treacherous hound, whom I sentenced to death. The two who
stood by me were Greusel and Ebearhard, therefore I told you that when I
met one villain I encountered two trustworthy men."

"When did this happen?" asked Mayence. "And what was the object of your
freebooting expedition?"

"High Heaven!" cried the Archbishop of Cologne, unable longer to
restrain his impatience when he saw the fatal trend of the Prince's
confession, "what madness has overcome you? Can you not see the effect
of these disturbing disclosures?"

The Prince smiled, and answered first the last question.

"'Tis an honest confession, my Lord, of what may be considered a
dishonest practice. It is information that should be within your
knowledge before you sit down to elect an Emperor.

"When did this happen, my Lord of Mayence?" he continued, turning to the
chairman. "It happened when you thought I was your prisoner in
Ehrenfels. Never for a day did you hold me there. I roamed the country
at my pleasure. I examined leisurely and effectively the defenses of
nearly every castle on the Rhine from the town of Bonn to your own city
of Mayence. The object of our expedition, you ask? It was to loot the
stolen treasure of the robber castles, and incidentally it resulted in
the destruction by fire of Furstenberg. The marauding excursion ended at
Pfalz, where I lightened the Pfalzgraf of his wealth, and liberated the
Countess von Sayn, unlawfully imprisoned within that fortress."

"By the Three Kings!" cried the Count Palatine, bringing his huge fist
down on the table like the blow of a sledge hammer, "you are a man, and
I glory that it is my privilege to vote for you."

"I agree with my brother of Cologne," said Treves, speaking for the
first time, "that this young man does not properly weigh the inevitable
result of his terrible words. I vote, of course, with my Lord of
Mayence, but such a vote will be most reluctantly given for a
self-confessed burglar and incendiary."

"Be not too hasty, gentlemen," counseled Mayence. "We are not met here
to cast votes. Your Highness, I complained a moment ago of lack of
interest in your recital; I beg to withdraw that plea. After having
heard you I agree that the Countess was unjustly imprisoned. She was
accurate in her estimate of your character."

"I think not, my Lord, I do not regard myself as burglar, incendiary,
thief, or robber. I call myself rather a restorer of stolen property. I
shed no blood, which in itself is a remarkable feature of action so
drastic as mine. The incendiarism was merely incidental, forced upon me
by the fact that the Red Margrave tied up eighteen of my men, whom he
proposed presently to hang. I diverted his attention from this execution
by the first method that occurred to me, namely, the firing of his
Castle. In my letter to you yesterday, my Lord, I promised to clear away
certain obstacles from your path. I therefore remove one, by saying that
an object of this conference is my own renunciation of the Emperorship,
thus while I thank my Lord Count for his proffered franchise, I quiet
the mind of my Lord of Treves by assuring him his defection has no
terror for me. And now, my Lord of Mayence, will you listen carefully to
my suggestion?"

"Prince Roland," replied his Lordship, almost with geniality, "I have
never heard so graphic a narrator in my life. Proceed, I beg of you."

"When our band of cut-purses set out from Frankfort, they supposed the
gold was to be shared equally among us. Mutiny taught me to use the arts
of diplomacy, which I despise. I hoped to attain such influence over
them that they would agree to abjure wealth for the benefit of
Frankfort. I am happy to say that I accomplished my object, so that
yesterday and to-day you have witnessed the results of my efforts; the
relief of a starving city. I merely removed the wealth of robbers to
benefit those whom they robbed. Knowing the dangerous feeling actuating
this town against your Lordships, I caused proclamation to be made
crediting this relief to the Archbishops.

"My Lord of Mayence, when yesterday I saw you appear on your own
balcony, the most stern, the most dignified figure I ever beheld; when I
heard the ringing cheers that greeted you; when I realized, as never
before, the majesty of your genius, I cursed the stupid decree of Fate
that denied me your friendship. What could we not have accomplished
together for the Fatherland? I, with my youth and energy, under the
tutelage of your wisdom and experience. You tasted there, probably for
the first time in your life, the intoxicating cup of popularity, yet it
affected you no more than if you had drunk of the fountain in the
Romerberg.

"Now, my Lords, here is what I ask of you, and it will show how much I
would have depended upon you had I been chosen to the position at first
proposed to me. I request you, my Lord of Treves, to remove your three
thousand troops to the other side of the Rhine."

"I shall do nothing of the sort," blurted Treves, amazed at the absurd
proposal.

Roland went on, unheeding:

"I ask you, my Lord of Cologne, to march your troops to Assmannshausen."

"You indeed babble like the boy you said you were!" cried the indignant
Cologne. "You show no grasp of statesmanship."

A faint smile quivered on the thin lips of Mayence at his colleagues'
ill-disguised fear at leaving him the man in possession so far as
Frankfort was concerned. The naive proposal which angered his two
brethren merely amused Mayence. This young man's absurdity was an
intellectual treat. Roland smiled in sympathy as he turned towards him,
but his next words banished all expression of pleasure from the face of
Mayence.

"I hope to succeed better with you, my Lord. Of course I recognize I
have no standing with this Court since my refusal of the gift you
intended to bestow. I ask you to draft into this city seven thousand
men;" then after a pause: "_the seven thousand will not have far to
march, my Lord._"

He caught an expression almost of fear in the Archbishop's eyes, which
were quickly veiled, but his Lordship's tone was as unwavering as ever
when he asked:

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that the city of Mayence is nearer to Frankfort than either
Cologne or Treves."

"Your geographical point is undeniable. What am I to do with my ten
thousand once they are here?"

"My Lord, I admire the rigid discipline of your men, and estimate from
that the genius of organization possessed by your officers; a genius
imparted, I believe, by you. No one knows better than I the state of
confusion which this effort at relief has brought upon the city. I
suggest that your capable officers divide this city into cantons,
proclaim martial law, and deliver to every inhabitant rations of food as
if each man, woman, and child were a member of your army. Meanwhile the
merchants should be relieved of a task for which they have proved their
incapacity, and turn their attention to commerce. This relief at best
must be temporary. The vital task is to open the Rhine. The merchants
will load every barge on the river with goods, and this flotilla the
armies of Treves and Cologne will escort in safety to the latter city.
In passing they will deliver an ultimatum to every castle, demanding a
contribution in gold towards the further relief of Frankfort, until
commerce readjusts itself, and assuring each nobleman that if this
commerce is molested, his castle shall be forfeited, and himself
imprisoned or hanged."

"Quite an effective plan, I think, your Highness, to which I willingly
agree, if you can assure me of the support of my two colleagues, which I
regret to say has already been refused."

His Lordship looked from one to another, but neither withdrew his
declaration.

"Prince Roland," continued Mayence, "we seem to have reached a deadlock,
and I fear its cause is that distrust of one human being toward another
that you deplored a while ago. I confess myself, however, so pleased
with the trend of your mind as exhibited in your conversation with us,
that I am desirous to know what further proposals you care to make, now
that our mutual good intentions have led us into an impasse."

"Willingly, my Lord. I propose that you at once proceed to the Election
of an Emperor, for the delay in his choosing has already caused an
anxiety and a tension dangerous to the peace of this country."

"Ah, that is easier said than done, your Highness. Having yourself
eliminated the one on whom we were agreed, it seems to me you should at
least suggest a substitute."

"Again willingly, my Lord. You should choose some quiet, conservative
man, and, if possible, one well known to the citizens of Frankfort, and
held in good esteem by the people everywhere. He should be a man of
middle age--" Mayence's eyes began to close again, and his lips to
tighten--"and if he had some experience in government, that would be all
to the good. One already married is preferable to a bachelor, for then
no delicate considerations regarding a woman can arise, as, I need not
remind your Lordship, have arisen in my own case. A man of common sense
should be selected, who would not make rash experiments with the ideals
of the German people, as a younger and less balanced person might be
tempted to do. That he should be a good Churchman goes without saying--"

"A truce, a truce!" cried Mayence sternly. "Again we are running into a
moral catalogue impossible of embodiment. Is there any such man in your
mind, or are you merely treating us to a counsel of perfection?"

"Notwithstanding my pessimism," said Roland, "I still think so well of
my countrymen as to believe there are many such. Not to make any
recommendation to those so much better qualified to judge than I, but
merely to give a sample, I mention the Grand Duke Karl of Hesse, who
fulfills every requirement I have named."

For what seemed to the onlookers a tense period of suspense, the old man
seated and the young man standing gazed intently at one another. Mayence
knew at once that in some manner unknown to him the Prince had fathomed
his intentions; that his Highness alone knew why the Election had been
delayed, yet the Prince conveyed this knowledge directly to the person
most concerned, in the very presence of those whom Mayence desired to
keep ignorant, without giving them the slightest hint anent the actual
state of affairs.

The favorable opinion which the Archbishop had originally formed of
Roland in Ehrenfels during this conference became greatly augmented.
Even the most austere of men is more or less susceptible to flattery,
and yet in flattering him Roland had managed to convey his own sincerity
in this laudation.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26