The Midnight Bell/Volume II/Chapter XI
CHAPTER XI.
When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
Hamlet
The Hermit's Tale.
"In me you behold the victim of a supposed crime; suffering where I had never erred, and denied the justification which, after years of misery, I was tantalised by having placed fruitlessly in my view.
"My father was a man of some small rank and eminence in the city of Berne, in Switzerland: he had been twice married; my sister was the fruit of his first marriage, myself of his second; and we were his only children.
"My sister was adorned with every beauty and grace that is captivating in a female form: a German count, to whom she by accident became known, grew enamoured of her, asked her hand of my father in marriage, and, as you may readily suppose, was not denied his request.
"About a year after the marriage of my sister, my father died: my mother I never had known; I succeeded to the property of my father, and, in a letter of condolence written me on his death by count Harden (for such was the name of my brother-in-law), he earnestly entreated me to pass over into Germany, and visit my sister.
"The property which had devolved on me by my father's death, being sufficient to maintain me in a comfortable though not in an affluent style of life, I had not turned my thoughts to any vocation, and consequently had no bar to my accepting the kind invitation of the count.
"I accordingly wrote to him, with thanks for his kind remembrance of me, and informing him that I should with pleasure visit my sister at her new abode.
"A few days after, I set out on my intended journey, having resolved to travel on a favourite steed I possessed, for the benefit of the better enjoying the fineness of the country through which I should pass; and, strange as it may seem to you, this resolution was the foundation of a series of misery which has known no abatement.
"You will doubtless think my tale an improbable one;—oft do I myself look back on past occurrences, hardly able to convince myself they could ever be: but I have learnt, from sad experience, that the most trivial accidents may carry in their train a complicated and inexplicable string of misery.
"Let the words which I shall now relate, teach mankind not rashly to fix the stamp of guilt upon that brow on which unproved suspicion hangs, nor to shut the ear of compassion against the voice of him that is accused, because he may seem guilty.—Let my tale be known to all: to the wretched it will teach that he has a brother in affliction; and he on whom fortune has smiled, may gather from the misfortunes of another, a lesson of thankfulness and content.
"My first day's journey was prosperous; on the second, towards evening, when I was within two leagues of the village where I meant to pass the night, having carelessly let my bridle hang upon the horse's neck whilst I eagerly gazed at the delightful prospects which the country afforded, the animal having set his foot on a rolling stone, fell, and so severely wounded his knee, as to render it impossible for him to proceed.
"Perceiving at a short distance from me a neat mansion, I dismounted, and repaired towards it; the door was opened by a man who appeared to be between forty and fifty years of age; I told him the accident that had befallen me, and requested him to direct me to some person who might give assistance to my horse. He immediately called to him a lad of about fourteen years of age, who was working in a garden adjoining to the house, and ordered him to lead the horse to the stable. I was too much in need of assistance, to be very particular in my apologies, and thus willingly accepted his offer.
"It required much persuasion, and even force, to conduct the animal to the stable which had been so kindly offered for his reception.
"Having safely lodged him, my kind inviter himself administered to the wound, and then requested me to follow him into the house. A neatly dressed woman, who, he informed me, was his niece, rose at our entrance, and welcomed me, as did two beautiful little girls, her daughters.—My late accident served to commence our conversation; and the natural questions of whence I came, and whither I was journeying, with their subsequent answers, followed.
"The lad, whom I had left in the stable with my horse, presently entered, and, shaking his head, said, 'Ah, sir! this is a bad job; it will be some time, I doubt, before your beast will be able to set a foot to the ground.'
"I looked melancholy;—my host, whose name was Dulac, observed it, and thus addressed me:—'Nay, sir, don't let this account of your horse distress you; I hope the boy may be mistaken in his conjecture: at all events; if you can pass a few days with comfort to yourself in this humble dwelling, your company will be very acceptable to its inhabitants.'
"I bowed a look of thanks, for an offer by which I felt myself obliged, but hardly thought myself entitled to encroach upon the politeness of a stranger by accepting.
"'Well, well,' continued Dulac, clearly perceiving, I believe, what passed within my breast, 'I must insist on your staying with us to-night; and to-morrow we will talk farther on the subject.—Come, let us step into the stable, and see if our opinion coincides with Peter's.'
"I rose to follow him out, but he stepped back from the door, and, with an inclination of the head, waved his hand for me to precede him; I returned his salutation, and passed on as he directed me: he was then behind, and I heard his niece rise, and call him back. I entered the stable, and found, on examining the condition of my steed's wound, what Peter had said to be but too true. In a few minutes Dulac joined me; smiling, he said, 'My niece, sir, was fearful we should not be able to give you accommodation that you would like; for we have only one unoccupied bed, and my nephew Bertrand is gone to the next town, where he expects to meet his wife's sister and her husband, who are coming back with him to pass a few days here: but I told her not to be uneasy about that, for you were my guest, and if you would condescend to accept half of my pallet, you were heartily welcome to it.'
"I thought this a bad time to apologise for my intrusion; for if I did, it might seem as if I was dissatisfied with my accommodation; and I accordingly accepted his offer with as great warmth as he had made it.
"My frankness seemed to please him; and I could not fail being gratified with his kindness; as his words and actions plainly showed themselves to be such as proceeded from a warm and benevolent heart.
"In about an hour's time, Bertrand and his friends arrived; and Dulac presented me to his nephew, who welcomed me as cordially as his uncle had done. Shortly after, we sat down to supper: good humour presided, and I was happy to see that the party appeared by no means displeased with my society.
"At a late hour we parted; I believe, with mutual regret.
"From their conversation, I learnt that Dulac rented the farm on which he lived, and superintended the management of it himself; while Bertrand and his two sons performed the offices of tillage and husbandry.
"My first business in the morning was to visit my horse; and I was happy to find it in a much more salutary condition than my fears had led me to expect I should.
"Breakfast ended, Dulac invited me to walk with him; an invitation which the beauty of the surrounding country made me eager to accept. Through the most romantic scenery imagination can figure, my host, whose conversation was at once entertaining and instructive, led me to the margin of a small lake, on whose bosom the sun shining in its meridian of splendour, cast the most vivid gilding I had ever beheld; on the other side of the lake, a forest of various trees presented itself to our notice; on our right hand lay the ruins of an ancient monastery, with its decayed bridge, forming a hazardous pass over a bubbling rivulet; on the left, the open country afforded a prospect of many leagues in extent, speckled at intervals with clusters of trees; straggling cottages, easy hills, and browsing cattle; add to this, that the ground on which we rested was the extremity of a gentle declivity of greensward, on whose summit nodded tall and majestic pines, and that, as we reclined on the velvet turf, the falling of a neighbouring cascade met our ears; and you will not wonder that I was entranced by the scene.—At that moment I felt sensations of the most exquisite happiness; or, perhaps, I think them the greatest I ever experienced, because they were the last pleasing moments my heart ever knew.—With the setting of that sun, whose glories I then admired, set my felicity on earth.
"I left the spot of enchantment with regret; on our return home, I expressed in the warmest terms the delight I had experienced in the ravishing scenes I had just been beholding. Bertrand seemed to enjoy the praises I had bestowed on his situation; and promised he would in the evening accompany me to the same place, which he doubted not, he said, that I should view with increased pleasure, as the scene would be in some measure varied by the hour. I gladly accepted his offer, and about sun-set we reached the lake, a short time before the glories of nature in their full perfection had drawn forth my admiration.—A part seemed now to be vanishing, for the ingenious purpose of fixing the attention more strongly on that which was visible.—Bertrand threw himself on the grass; I stood by his side, gazing at the rising moon, who, courting splendour from the departing sun, faintly silvered those waves her rival orb had before deeply gilded, and listened with a melancholy pleasure to the falling of a neighbouring cascade, the view of which I had now so placed myself as to command, till the scene softened me into that ecstasy of sorrow, which must be exquisite if felt at all, and must be felt to be described.
"I had often indulged similar sensations on spots equally inviting, but they had never produced in me feelings so refined as I that evening felt:—how often have I since thought they were too surely the sorrowing omens of my future hapless lot!
"Bertrand made the signal for our departure, and I reluctantly complied with it.
"The exercise I had that day taken had somewhat fatigued me; Dulac observed it, and producing a skin of his old vintage, I drank with pleasure of the cup as it went round, and found myself refreshed and exhilarated.
"The evening passed off with the same harmony and satisfaction that the former one had done: at about the same time as the preceding night, we retired to rest, and sleep quickly overcame me.
"During the day, the heat of the weather had been unusually great; and the warmth of our chamber was oppressive, insomuch that, waking towards the dawn of the morning, I found it had caused me to bleed violently at the nose; I endeavoured in vain for some time to stop the flowing blood; and my restlessness awoke my companion, who, learning my situation, advised me to go and wash at the well, in a small yard adjoining to the garden: I immediately rose, and, having slipped on some of my clothes, was leaving the chamber, for the purpose of following his directions, when he called to me, asking me 'If I had ever opened the door which led out of the house into the garden?' I answered, 'that I did not recollect that I ever had.'—'Then,' said he, 'take this pocket-knife,' drawing one as he spoke from the pocket of his waistcoat which lay by his bed-side, 'and stick the blade under the latch with one hand, while you lift it up with the other, or you will find a difficulty in getting out.' I thanked him for his attention to me, and taking the knife from his extended hand, ran down stairs, and found it of much service to me in opening the door, the latch of which seemed to have been broken, and not yet mended; I then entered the yard, and, having drawn up a bucket of water, the cold soon produced the desired effect of stopping the blood; and having washed myself, I returned to the chamber. Dulac, who heard me come up, asked me, 'If I had shut the outward door?' I told him I had; and having got into bed, I turned on my side, and was quickly composed to sleep.
"On waking, I found Dulac was risen; I accordingly dressed myself, and went down, where I found the family assembling at breakfast. After the usual salutation of the morning, Bertrand inquired of me for his uncle: I told him, I had not seen him that morning; 'No more have I,' replied Bertrand; 'he has probably strolled down to the lake.'
"'He will return, I dare say, before we have finished our meal,' added Martha; (for so was Bertrand's wife called) 'it is a very usual custom with him to walk early in a morning.'
"Bertrand's two daughters, the one about eleven, and the other about nine years of age, had finished each her cup of milk, before we had completed our meal, and immediately went up stairs, as Martha informed us, to attend to the duties of the house.
"Dulac did not return.—Bertrand began to wonder that he exceeded his accustomed time, and Peter went out to look for him,—as the family now conjectured he had mistaken the hour.
"In a few minutes the girls came running down stairs, with terror painted on their countenances, and the elder of them exclaimed,—'that her uncle's bed was all over blood!'
"Bertrand and his wife cast a look of surprise at each other—I blushed, and began immediately to apologise for what had happened; informing them also, that I had risen, by the advice of Dulac, and gone to the well, where washing had proved the remedy of my complaint.
"'I saw a stain of blood upon the side of the well this morning,' said Bertrand, 'as also in the passage leading to the garden; but I had forgotten to inquire into the cause.'
"'All my uncle's clothes are lying by the bed-side,' said one of the girls.
"'How!' exclaimed Bertrand, and immediately ran up stairs.
"A general silence prevailed till Bertrand returned.
"'What Nicola told us is too true!' said he. 'All his clothes, except his waistcoat, are in the chamber;—in that, he always wore his purse,' added he, at the same time darting at me a look of suspicion and scrutiny.
"Bertrand went on: 'He received thirty louis-d'ors for his trees the day before yesterday: did he give them to you'—looking at Martha—'to lock away?'
"'No,' answered Martha: 'he was counting them to me, when this stranger knocked at the door; and being interrupted, put them all into his pocket again.'
"'This is a strange event!' said Bertrand, again looking at me.
"Astonishment prevented my utterance, and my silence, I believe, strengthened Bertrand in the suspicion of my guilt, which I afterwards found had immediately flashed on his mind.
"Bertrand, his brother-in-law, and the women, now began to converse together, in low voices, throwing, as I observed, at intervals, the most significant glances at me.—I felt confused beyond what I can express, and, had not a false shame prevented me, I should have fallen on my knees to pray for the return of Dulac, and to declare my innocence.
"In a short time, Bertrand's brother-in-law, Laval, left the house, and Bertrand, then turning to me, charged me with being one of a banditti, that had for some time, he said, infested that part of the country, and that having by some means gained intelligence that Dulac was to receive a large sum of money the day before, had planned the stratagem by which I had entered the house, for the purpose of plundering him of it. 'Not satisfied,' added he, 'with robbing him who kindly became your benefactor in an hour of pretended distress, you have endeavoured to shelter one crime by the commission of a blacker enormity: but tremble, young man; for offended justice is diligent in detecting the breakers of her law.'
"The terror I experienced at this open declaration of his sentiments, though I had before read them in his countenance, overpowered me so much, that it was with difficulty I kept myself from sinking on the floor; and my agitation, I am certain, confirmed Bertrand and his wife in thinking me guilty.
"The door was now locked upon me, to prevent my leaving the house, and I was given to understand that Laval was gone to the neighbouring town to fetch the officers of justice.
"In a short time, however, I gained courage from reflecting on my innocence, and I besought Bertrand to hear my vindication; he did not seem to attend to me, nor I believed listened, whilst I laid down at length all the particulars I recollected relative to the preceding night.
"Every sound that met my ear,—every footstep that I heard fall,—made my heart flutter with the hope and expectation of seeing Dulac enter; and oh! how forcibly did every new disappointment add to the load of anxiety that weighed down my heart!
"Presently after, Peter returned from his search of Dulac. 'He had,' he said, 'looked for him in vain.' Bertrand seemed to receive the intelligence he expected.—Martha began in a low voice to communicate to her son what had passed in his absence; and I could not help bursting into tears, as my thoughts continued to dwell on my unhappy situation.
"In about two hours after, the officers of justice arrived, and, on the accusation of Bertrand, Laval, and their wives, bound me their prisoner.—Bertrand then requested that I might be searched: when,—with what words or feelings shall I relate it?—one of them drew from my pocket—open, and bloody—the knife which Dulac had lent me for the purpose of opening the door. In my agitation the circumstance had entirely fled from my mind. Thus I had not related that part of the night's occurrences to Bertrand: no one would now hear me explain it; and it was decided by all, that it had been the instrument of Dulac's death.
"Deaf to my remonstrances, they led me to the next town, and I was thrown into prison, there to lie, till the period at which I was destined to take my trial, should arrive.
"I apprised my brother-in-law of what had happened: he immediately set out for my prison, and having learnt my unhappy story from my own mouth, he, without delay, began to exert such interest as he could command in my favour, against the day of my trial.
"Dulac returned not:—every possible inquiry was made after him by my advocates, but they all proved in vain; and the fatal day arrived, without any one circumstance having occurred which tended in the slightest degree to convince the world of my innocence. The well, it is true, had been searched, and no body found in it; but still that was not reckoned a circumstance sufficiently strong to operate against that of a bloody knife having been found upon my person.
"My trial was short, and I heard myself condemned to die: that sentence was the death-blow to my sister; for, as I have since heard, she never recovered from the shock given her on receiving the tidings of my condemnation. I was taken back to prison, and a confessor was ordered to attend me: my situation moved him; he began, I believe, from my unshaken firmness at the approach of death, to think me innocent, and promised to use his influence in my behalf. His entreaties, joined to what degree of weight my brother count Harden possessed in the city, obtained for me life, on the terms of becoming a galley-slave for the remainder of my days.
"Death would surely on such a condition have been preferable, had I not hoped that something unforeseen might still occur to prove me guiltless, and restore me to my country.
"I pass over the agonising separation from my beloved sister, and my tedious journey, to the moment when I was chained to the oar.
"Ten years' service in the island of Corsica, for to that king had I been sold, inured me to the hardships I experienced, but did not abate the anxiety of my mind. Oh! what a sensation is that of an innocent heart, struggling amidst the most complicated and severe trials, without the means of proving how distant it is from meriting the load it labours under!
"At the end of this period a war broke out between the power to whom I was subject, and the emperor of Morocco. In the course of a year the emperor obtained a great victory over the Corsicans, and I, amongst other prisoners, became the property of the grand vizier: here it became my office to cultivate the gardens belonging to the vizier's palace: my labour was less, but I was still a slave; and the task-master was more severe than he to whom I had before been subservient.
"Thus did I pass on twelve more years, void of comfort either for my mind or my body, when, by an exchange of slaves, with the cause of which I was unacquainted, I was sent to work in a garden belonging to the palace of the emperor.
"On the third day after my removal to my new situation, I observed an old man in a slave's habit, whose countenance I thought was familiar to me. He observed me not at first, but as I passed nearer him, the better to examine his features, he no sooner cast his eyes on me, than he pronounced my name; and his voice instantly convinced me, that it was no other than Dulac who stood before me!
"After our mutual expressions of surprise were ended, I began to inform him of all that had befallen me since our separation,—and with eagerness I then inquired of him, by what means it had been effected.
"'Oh!' said he, 'what hardships have I not suffered since we parted!—what misery have I not undergone!—But I will not murmur; for the decree of heaven is just, and unchangeable till its due time ordains a revocation of it.
"'Not long after you had returned to bed, on the morning on which I last beheld you, I imagined I heard some one enter the house, by the door from the garden; I immediately drew on my waistcoat and slippers, and running down stairs, I beheld in the kitchen, attempting to open the door which led to my private closet, wherein I kept such bonds, papers, and money, as I possessed, two of my nearest neighbours, whom I had long known to be of suspicious characters, from their being connected with a set of smugglers, who resided on the coast of France.
"'Their astonishment at seeing me you may well conceive; they immediately seized and gagged me, and having some moments concerted how they should dispose of me, to prevent my appearing in evidence against them, which by signs I endeavoured to convince them I would not do, if they would depart, and suffer me to remain unmolested, they resolved on carrying me to what they called their cave.
"'Without the house there were two other men, their accomplices, whose countenances I knew not, waiting to assist them in carrying off such booty as they might chance to obtain; they were not a little disappointed at seeing me only brought out to them: but, as I afterwards found that they made a point of securing all who might be liable to act towards their discovery, they dragged me on between two of them, muttering curses on me for having interrupted their plunder, and sourly smiling as they vowed vengeance against me.
"'The cave they had mentioned, was dug out of the earth, some three leagues distant from the spot where I resided, and served for the purpose of concealing their contraband goods. Thither they conducted me; and having searched my pockets, in which was unfortunately a sum of money I had two days before received for some elms, they set by me a pot of water, and some dry crusts of bread, and left me.
"'My prison was shut from the faintest glimmering of light; the air admitted into it was so confined that I found a difficulty in breathing, and its scent was most nauseous; to which, add the agonies my mind was undergoing from the knowledge of my being in the power of these wretches, and torn from those I alone regarded, together with my anxiety for their concern at my unexpected and extraordinary disappearance, and you will easily picture to yourself the agonising feelings of my heart.
"'In the dusk of the evening two other men entered the cave, and having gagged me, led me forth; after some hours' walking, we came up with a body of men, who I soon found were colleagues of those who now conducted me: along with them were fifteen other prisoners, bound and gagged in like manner as myself, and who had been taken in similar caves by these inhuman robbers.
"'After some additional hours' travelling, we arrived at another cave, much resembling that in which I had been confined during the former night; and here the other prisoners, together with myself, were led down, and deposited in an inner division: the outer one, we found, was inhabited by the smugglers themselves.
"'Many were the conjectures we formed with regard to our situation; and though it was impossible we should assign any degree of certainty to any one of them, we could not still forbear drawing them.
"'The next night we were again led forth as before, and after several hours' travelling each night, for six successive nights, and being lodged by day in caverns similar to those I have already mentioned, we found ourselves on the sea coast: we were immediately put on board a vessel lying a short distance out at sea; and we soon understood that its master bargained with these smugglers for slaves, which he sold in Morocco, chiefly to the emperor.
"'There is but one sure friend in misfortune,—resignation to the divine power, and confidence in its will to convert all we suffer here to our glory in a state hereafter: I armed my heart with this cheering thought; and my communication of my feelings had, I believe, much weight on the minds of my fellow-sufferers.
"'After a passage of fatigue and hardship, we arrived where you now find me; here have I dwelt a slave ever since;—and if providence has decreed me here to end my unfortunate days, I bend to its almighty will.'
"With what sorrow did I behold him who had been my kind protector, in the unhappy situation I now saw him, and reduced to it, as I could not help thinking, partly by my means; as, had I not on that fatal night arisen from my bed and broken his repose, he in all probability would never have heard the entrance of those ruffians to whom he had now fallen a prey.
"I imparted to him my thoughts, and the anxiety they occasioned me; but he kindly chid me for forming my judgment from events, and declared that my lot, from the probability of its enduring so many years longer than the natural course of nature threatened him with a painful existence, was his greatest cause of disquietude.
"From the first moment of my finding Dulac, every nerve of thought was unremittingly on the stretch to devise some plan of effecting our escape, fondly anticipating the triumph I should enjoy, were I ever allowed to be the means of restoring him to his country and relatives.
"Whilst my mind was thus employed in forming various stratagems, all of which, however, appeared ineffectual, an occurrence, as unforeseen as unexpected, and which then appeared to me the happiest of my existence, took place: this was no other than intelligence being brought to Morocco, that a French nobleman, lately dead, had left by will, as an expiation of some crime he had committed, a sufficient sum of money for the liberation of fifty European slaves who had been the longest in captivity. And it is, I think, needless for me to relate to you the joy experienced by Dulac and myself, on being informed that we were of the happy number.
"Our slaves' habits were exchanged for European garments; and in a few days we embarked on board a French vessel, which was to transport us to the coast of Languedoc, whence we were each to be conveyed to our respective country.
"Our voyage for the first six days was prosperous: on the seventh, towards sunset, the wind, which had blown freshly through the day, became extremely violent; the angry clouds rolled over each other, producing tremendous claps of thunder, and the flashes of lightning, reflected on the expanse of water, appeared alarmingly vivid. The ship was tossed in an uncertain course by the foaming billows, which at intervals washed over the deck, and then again yielded to the dividing bow of the ship. A general consternation seized every one on board; and, with a silence that increased the awfulness of the scene, each seemed to await the next moment as his last. At length, driven upon the side of a rock obscured by the rolling waves, the vessel split into two equal parts, and an universal cry seemed to announce instantaneous destruction.
"The boat was lashed to that partition of the ship on which Dulac and myself were standing: a sailor instantly ran to it; and, having launched it into the deep, sprang into it. I hesitated not an instant to follow him; and, having gained the boat, I received Dulac from the side of the ship, in my extended arms. Immediately the foaming billows dashed us to a considerable distance from the ship; and in a few moments after we saw her swallowed up in a whirlpool.
"We beheld the sight with horror, and knew not, as yet, whether to be thankful that we had not shared the fate of the unhappy sufferers. In the space of an hour the wind began to abate, but the billows still rolled mountain-high; and it was with extreme difficulty that we could by any means balance our little bark. For some hours we contrived to effect it; till our limbs becoming benumbed by the wet and cold we were enduring, a wave dashed over us, and overset our boat. I could swim; and immediately raising myself in the water, I caught the boat, and exerting strength which was called forth by the urgency of the moment, I managed again to place myself in it. I immediately looked round for Dulac: he had vanished from my sight. An arm was now raised from the water; I seized it, and lifted from the deep the sailor who had been the means of effecting my escape from the ship:—Dulac was gone for ever.
"This was the completion of my misery; but as the preservation of life, when threatened with danger, is always the predominant idea in the breast of man, however his mind may be clouded with sorrow, I did not at that moment feel in its full force the loss I had sustained.
"Towards the break of morning, a small vessel, bound to Villa-Nuova in Spain, perceived our situation; and having sent out to us its boat, we were taken on board, and such accommodation as the vessel would afford kindly bestowed on us: and not till then, when the recollection of the horrors I had lately been exposed to began to subside, did I feel how much more miserable and destitute a being, than I had even before been, the loss of Dulac had rendered me.
"The sailor who had been my companion in the boat, a very short time after our entering the vessel, fell a victim to what he had undergone. Oh! why was I, with so great cause to loathe the world, spared from sharing his fate?
"On the following day the Spanish vessel gained her destined port, and I landed on a country where I was an entire stranger, and possessed neither of the means of purchasing my subsistence, nor of earning it, as I understood not the language of the kingdom.
"Fortunately for me, the captain of the vessel was conversant with the French language; and, being a man of generous disposition, he at my request furnished me with the habit of a seaman; and having given me a piece of gold, I set forward, thinking, in my present disguise, I might reach count Harden's mansion in the vicinity of Ulm, unknown.
"Seven weeks served to complete my journey: when, conceive my disappointment!—on reaching the spot where I had hoped to meet the warm embraces of an affectionate sister, I learned that she had but two months survived my exile; and that count Harden had also some years paid the debt of nature.
"I inquired whether my sister had left any offspring. I was informed, that she had never borne but one child, a daughter, and that she was also dead.
"I believe I had already been wounded so deeply by affliction, that an added pang was imperceptible to my grief-worn heart. I can no other way account for the firm composure with which I heard this defeat of my last and only hope.
"In my way to Ulm I had passed this cell; I had found it was deserted; its late possessor having been some years dead. I had no interest in the world, but rather a wish to secrete myself from it, lest I should be recognized by any of Dulac's relatives; and I possessed nothing in the world, for my property had been confiscated on my receiving sentence of banishment. I accordingly determined to make it my dwelling: and having found that I had sufficient money left, from what I had collected on my journey from the charitable, under the disguise of a shipwrecked sailor, to purchase me a woollen robe, a scrip, staff, and flagon, I immediately repaired hither, and have resided here ever since, indebted for my subsistence to the peasantry round about, in addition to the fruits and berries I collect in the surrounding wood.
"I have now dwelt here fifteen years; and, save the little intercourse I hold with the peasantry, you are the first whose conversation has cheered my solitary dwelling.—I am now fourscore and two years old: may you attain my years, without the sorrows that have numbered mine! and may you await the hour of your death, my now only consolation, with a heart like mine, full of forgiveness towards those who may have injured you."
Here the hermit concluded; and Lauretta, wiping away the tear from her eye, which had been drawn forth by the sufferings of her benefactor, thanked him for the confidence he had reposed in her, and of her own accord promised to be the faithful guardian of his sad tale.
To dwell on the sorrows of others, when the mind is agitated by misfortune, tends only to depress the already sinking spirits. Thus Lauretta now felt a gloom cloud her mind, which she found herself unable to shake off; and her attempts to appear cheerful only added to the depression which in reality weighed down her spirits, while the tears stole insensibly from her downcast eyes.
The old man perceived the melancholy which had seized upon his fair guest, and began to converse on various topics, which he hoped might engage her attention from the gloomy subjects on which he well saw they were dwelling: but finding his endeavours to be in vain, he again heated for her a cup of his balsamic cordial; and having bathed with a mollifying ointment her head and arm, which were now in a healing condition, he prevailed on her, as night was rapidly shutting in, to seek relief for her agitated mind in the composure of sleep.
On the following morning, Lauretta arose at the moment the old man returned from fetching his accustomed measure of water; and he joyed to find that the refreshment of sleep had dispelled the gloom of sorrow which had on the preceding evening clouded her brow.
The hermit had also been to a neighbouring cottage, where he was constantly supplied with bread, and had brought from thence a bunch of fresh-gathered grapes, as a present to Lauretta.
During the course of the day, Lauretta expressed to her host her astonishment at Theodore's never having visited her during her late confinement; as, had he conveyed her thither from the love he bore her person, it was natural to suppose he would have immediately followed her, and by force have rendered her subservient to his base desires. The hermit bade her be contented with the knowledge of having escaped the evil she had dreaded, nor sink her spirits with dwelling on a gloomy retrospect, now a smiling prospect of hope was placed in her view.
"But should it vanish," cried Lauretta, "should the wicked Theodore have by any means cut me off from again beholding my Alphonsus"——she paused, and the tears started in her eyes.
"Why thus unnecessarily afflict thee, by visionary phantoms of distress?" exclaimed the solitary man. "From the evils experienced in this life of probation no one is exempt: it is a chequered scene, wherein the most submissive to their fate endure the less affliction here, and ensure to themselves the greater reward hereafter: whereas, to anticipate misfortune, is to double our earthly calamities, while we endanger our future felicity, in drawing upon us the displeasure of him who alone can bestow it, by our want of confidence in his will and ability to protect us."
Lauretta felt the force of his words; but she felt also, that it was easier for a man, dead to every connexion with the world, to give philosophic counsel, than for her to cease to be anxious for the fate of him whom alone she loved.
Towards evening, a sprightly fire cheered the hermit's cell, and various discourse wasted the hours pleasantly, till the hermit gave the signal of retiring for the night; and Lauretta having joined him in fervent prayer, they each betook themselves to their respective pallet.
About midnight Lauretta awoke, and Alphonsus immediately becoming the subject of her thoughts, she lay ruminating on what might have befallen him since their separation, when a faint sigh caught her ear; somewhat startled, she raised herself upon her couch and listened; but instantly recollecting the near situation of her host, she smiled at her vain apprehensions, and turning on her pallet, fell insensibly into a second sleep.
On waking in the morning, she called to the hermit, inquiring the hour; and receiving no answer to her demand, she concluded him gone to the spring; she accordingly rose, and entered the outward division of the hermitage, when, what was her astonishment on beholding her venerable benefactor stretched lifeless on his mossy couch!
She uttered a loud shriek, and sunk upon the ground; but there was no one near to hear, or to raise her: at length, with tottering steps she ventured to approach the clay-cold corpse,—she gazed upon it awhile in silent anguish; then, bursting into a flood of tears, she exclaimed—"Hard, when I had found a friend to soothe the loss of those from whom the base designs of villainy have for a while exiled me, that the hand of death should, at that needy moment, have wrested him from me!—Oh! that I had flown to him when I first heard that passing sigh! his last breath, doubtless, then hung lingering on his lips, and my timely aid might have recalled it!—Oh! preserver of my life, pardon my unwilling neglect of thine: and if, after death, exalted saints (for, surely, such thou art) have influence here on earth, unseen by man, Oh! cast a thought on the unhappy wretch thou didst not here disdain to succour."
Weeping, she cast herself upon the bench which had not long before supported the old man and herself in cheerful conversation over the crackling embers;—a dead silence now reigned, broken only by her sighs.—Three tedious days and equal nights were before her, to be passed in solitude, irksome in itself, and which she yet feared to see interrupted by any unwelcome visitant, before the time would elapse, at the expiration of which the hermit had taught her to expect the return of her messenger.
Day was nearly closed ere she awoke from the lethargy of grief and reflection into which she had fallen; and having then eaten a small quantity of bread, and drank a cup of water, she cast a look of sorrow at her deceased friend; and having prayed fervently, she cast herself upon her pallet, relying for protection on that being who, in the trials to which he subjects us in this transient state, consults only our welfare, by fixing our thoughts more forcibly on the blissful scenes of an endless futurity.