The Headsman - James Fenimore Cooper
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As they ascended, the air became purer and less impregnated with the
humidity of its lower currents; changing, by a process as fine as that
wrought by a chemical application, the hues and aspect of every object in
the view. A vast hill-side lay basking in the sun, which illuminated on
its rounded swells a hundred long stripes of grain in every stage of
verdure, resembling so much delicate velvet that was thrown in a variety
of accidental faces to the light, while the shadows ran away, to speak
technically, from this _foyer de lumiere_ of the picture, in gradations of
dusky russet and brown, until the _colonne de vigueur_ was obtained in the
deep black cast from the overhanging branches of a wood of larch in the
depths of some ravine, into which the sight with difficulty penetrated.
These were the beauties on which Adelheid most loved to dwell, for they
are always the charms that soonest strike the true admirer of nature, when
he finds himself raised above the lower and less purified strata of the
atmosphere, into the regions of more radiant light and brightness. It is
thus that the physical, no less than the moral, vision becomes elevated
above the impurities that cling to this nether world, attaining a portion
of that spotless and sublime perception as we ascend, by which we are
nearly assimilated to the truths of creation; a poetical type of the
greater and purer enjoyment we feel, as morally receding from earth we
draw nearer to heaven.
The party rested for several hours, as usual, at the little mountain
hamlet of Liddes. At the present time, it is not uncommon for the
traveller, favored by a wheel-track along this portion of the route, to
ascend the mountain and to return to Martigny in the same day. The descent
in particular, after reaching the village just named, is soon made; but at
the period of our tale, such an exploit, if ever made, was of very rare
occurrence. The fatigue of being in the saddle so many hours compelled our
party to remain at the inn much longer than is now practised, and their
utmost hope was to be able to reach the convent before the last rays of
the sun had ceased to light the glittering peak of Velan.
There occurred here, too, some unexpected detention on the part of
Christine, who had retired with Sigismund soon after reaching the inn, and
who did not rejoin the party until the impatience of the guide had more
than once manifested itself in such complaints as one in his situation is
apt to hazard. Adelheid saw with pain, when her friend did at length
rejoin them, that she had been weeping bitterly; but, too delicate to
press her for an explanation on a subject in which it was evident the
brother and sister did not desire to bestow their confidence, she
communicated her readiness to depart to the domestics, without the
slightest allusion to the change in Christine's appearance, or to the
unexpected delay of which she had been the cause.
Pierre muttered an ave in thankfulness that the long halt was ended. He
then crossed himself with one hand, while with the other he flourished his
whip, among a crowd of gaping urchins and slavering cretins, to clear the
way for those he guided. His followers were, in the main of a different
mood. If the traveller too often reaches the inn hungry and disposed to
find fault, he usually quits it good-humored and happy. The restoration,
as it is well called in France, effected by means of the larder and the
resting of wearied limbs, is usually communicated to the spirits; and it
must be a crusty humor indeed, or singularly bad fare, that prevents a
return to a placid state of mind. The party, under the direction of
Pierre, formed no exception to the general rule. The two old nobles had so
far forgotten the subject of their morning dialogue, as to be facetious;
and, ere long, even their gentle companions were disposed to laugh at some
of their sallies, in spite of the load of care that weighed so constantly
and so heavily on both. In short, such is the waywardness of our feelings,
and so difficult is it to be always sorrowful as well as always happy,
that the well-satisfied landlady, who had, in truth, received the full
value of a very indifferent fare, was ready to affirm, as she curtsied her
thanks on the dirty threshold, that a merrier party had never left her
door.
"We shall take our revenge out of the casks of the good Augustines
to-night for the sour liquor of this inn; is it not so, honest Pierre?"
demanded the Signor Grimaldi, adjusting himself in the saddle, as they got
clear of the stones, sinuosities, projecting roofs, and filth of the
village, into the more agreeable windings of the ordinary path, again.
"Our friend, the clavier, is apprized of the visit, and as we have already
gone through fair and foul in company, I look to his fellowship for some
compensation for the frugal meal of which we have just partaken."
"Father Xavier is a hospitable and a happy-minded priest, Signore; and
that the saints will long leave him keeper of the convent-keys, is the
prayer of every muleteer, guide, or pilgrim, who crosses the col. I wish
we were going up the rough steps, by which we are to climb the last rock
of the mountain, at this very moment, Messieurs, and that all the rest of
the way were as fairly done as this we have so happily passed."
"Dost thou anticipate difficulty, friend?" demanded the Italian, leaning
forward on his saddle-bow, for his quick observation had caught the
examining glance that the guide threw around at the heavens.
"Difficulty is a meaning not easily admitted by a mountaineer, Signore;
and I am one of the last to think of it, or to feel its dread. Still, we
are near the end of the season, and these hills are high and bleak, and
those that follow are delicate flowers for a stormy heath. Toil is always
sweeter in the remembrance than in the expectation.--I mean no more, if I
mean that."
Pierre stopped his march as he ceased speaking. He stood on a little
eminence of the path, whence, by looking back, he commanded a view of the
opening among the mountains which indicates the site of the valley of the
Rhone. The look was long and understanding; but, when it was ended, he
turned and resumed his march with the business-like air of one more
disposed to act than to speculate on the future. But for the few words
which had just escaped him, this natural movement would have attracted no
attention; and, as it was, it was observed by none but the Signor
Grimaldi, who would himself have attached little importance to the whole,
had the guide maintained Ins usual pace.
As is common in the Alps, the conductor of the travellers went on foot,
leading the whole party at such a gait as he thought most expedient for
man and beast. Hitherto, Pierre had proceeded with sufficient leisure,
rendering it necessary for those who followed to observe the same
moderation; but he now walked sensibly faster, and frequently so fast as
to make it necessary for the mules to break into easy trots, in order to
maintain their proper stations. All this, however, was ascribed by most of
the party to the formation of the ground, for, after leaving Liddes, there
is a long reach of what, among the upper valleys of the Alps, may by
comparison be called a level road. This industry, too, was thought to be
doubly necessary, in order to repair the time lost at the inn, for the sun
was already dipping towards the western boundary of their narrow view of
the heavens, and the temperature announced, if not a sudden change in the
weather, at least the near approach of the periodical turn of the day.
"We travel by a very ancient path;" observed the Signore Grimaldi, when
his thoughts had reverted from their reflections on the movements of the
guide to the circumstance of their present situation. "A very reverend
path, it might be termed in compliment to the worthy monks who do so much
to lessen its dangers, and to its great antiquity. History speaks often of
its use by different leaders of armies, for it has long been a
thoroughfare for those who journey between the north and the south,
whether it be in strife, or in amity. In the time of Augustus it was the
route commonly used by the Roman legions in their passages to and from
Helvetia and Gaul; the followers of Caecinna went by these gorges to their
attack upon Otho; and the Lombards made the same use of it, five hundred
years later. It was often trod by armed bands, in the wars of Charles of
Burgundy, those of Milan, and in the conquests of Charlemagne. I remember
a tale, in which it is said that a horde of infidel Corsairs from the
Mediterranean penetrated by this road, and seized upon the bridge of St.
Maurice with a view to plunder. As we are not the first so it is probable
that we are not to be the last, who have trusted themselves in these
regions of the upper air, bent on our objects, whether of love or of
strife."
"Signore," observed Pierre respectfully, when the Genoese ceased speaking,
"if your eccellenza would make your discourse less learned, and more in
those familiar words which can be said under a brisk movement, it might
better suit the time and the great necessity there is to be diligent."
"Dost thou apprehend danger? Are we behind our time?--Speak; for I dislike
concealment."
"Danger has a strong meaning in the mouth of a mountaineer, Signore; for
what is security on this path, might be thought alarming lower down in the
valleys; I say it not. But the sun is touching the rocks, as you see, and
we are drawing near to places where a miss-step of a mule in the dark
might cost us dear. I would that all diligently improve the daylight,
while they can."
The Genoese did not answer, but he urged his mule again to a gait that was
more in accordance with the wishes of Pierre. The movement was followed,
as a matter of course, by the rest; and the whole party was once more in a
gentle trot, which was scarcely sufficient, however, to keep even pace
with the long, impatient, and rapid strides of Pierre, who,
notwithstanding his years, appeared to get over the ground with a facility
that cost him no effort. Hitherto, the heat had not been small, and, in
that pure atmosphere, all its powers were felt during the time the sun's
rays fell into the valley; but, the instant they were intercepted by a
brown and envious peak of the mountains, their genial influence was
succeeded by a chill that sufficiently proved how necessary was the
presence of the luminary to the comfort of those who dwelt at that great
elevation. The females sought their mantles the moment the bright light
was followed by the usual shadow; nor was it long before even the more
aged of the gentlemen were seen unstrapping their cloaks, and taking the
customary precautions against the effects of the evening air.
The reader is not to suppose, however, that all these little incidents of
the way occurred in a time as brief as that which has been consumed in the
narration. A long line of path was travelled over before the Signor
Grimaldi and his friend were cloaked, and divers hamlets and cabins were
successively passed. The alteration from the warmth of day to the chill of
evening also was accompanied by a corresponding change in the appearance
of the objects they passed. St. Pierre, a cluster of stone-roofed
cottages, which bore all the characteristics of the inhospitable region
for which they had been constructed, was the last village; though there
was a hamlet, at the bridge of Hudri, composed of a few dreary abodes,
which, by their aspect, seemed the connecting link between the dwellings
of man and the caverns of beasts. Vegetation had long been growing more
and more meagre, and it was now fast melting away into still deeper and
irretrievable traces of sterility, like the shadows of a picture passing
through their several transitions of color to the depth of the
back-ground. The larches and cedars diminished gradually in size and
numbers, until the straggling and stinted tree became a bush, and the
latter finally disappeared in the shape of a tuft of pale green, that
adhered to some crevice in the rocks like so much moss. Even the mountain
grasses, for which Switzerland is so justly celebrated, grew thin and
wiry; and by the time the travellers reached the circular basin at the
foot of the peak of Velan, which is called La Plaine de Prou, there only
remained, in the most genial season of the year, and that in isolated
spots between the rocks, a sufficiency of nourishment for the support of a
small flock of adventurous, nibbling, and hungry goats.
The basin just alluded to is an opening among high pinnacles, and is
nearly surrounded by naked and ragged rocks. The path led through its
centre, always ascending on an inclined plane, and disappeared through a
narrow gorge around the brow of a beetling cliff. Pierre pointed out the
latter as the pass by far the most dangerous on this side the Col, in the
season of the melting snows, avalanches frequently rolling from its crags.
There was no cause for apprehending this well-known Alpine danger,
however, in the present moment; for, with the exception of Mont-Velan, all
above and around them lay in the same dreary dress of sterility. Indeed,
it would not be easy for the imagination to conceive a more eloquent
picture of desolation than that which met the eyes of the travellers, as,
following the course of the run of water that trickled through the middle
of the inhospitable valley, the certain indication of the general
direction of their course, they reached its centre.
The time was getting to be that of early twilight, but the sombre color of
the rocks, streaked and venerable by the ferruginous hue with which time
had coated their sides, and the depth of the basin, gave to their
situation a melancholy gloom passing the duskiness of the hour. On the
other hand, the light rested bright and gloriously on the snowy peak of
Velan, still many thousand feet above them, though in plain, and
apparently, in near view; while rich touches of the setting sun were
gleaming on several of the brown, natural battlements of the Alps, which,
worn with eternal exposure to the storms, still lay in sublime confusion
at a most painful elevation in their front. The azure vault that canopied
all, had that look of distant glory and of grand repose, which so often
meets the eye, and so forcibly strikes the mind, of him who travels in the
deep valleys and embedded lakes of Switzerland. The glacier of Valsorey
descended from the upper region nearly to the edge of the valley, bright
and shining, its lower margin streaked and dirty with the _debris_ of the
overhanging rocks, as if doomed to the fate of all that came upon the
earth, that of sharing its impurities.
There no longer existed any human habitation between the point which the
travellers had now attained and the convent, though more modern
speculation, in this age of curiosity and restlessness, has been induced
to rear a substitute for an inn in the spot just described, with the hope
of gleaning a scanty tribute from those who fail of arriving in season to
share the hospitality of the monks. The chilliness of the air increased
faster even than the natural change of the hour would seem to justify, and
there were moments when the dull sound of the wind descended to their
ears, though not a breath was stirring a withered and nearly solitary
blade of grass at their feet. Once or twice, large black clouds drove
across the opening above them, resembling heavy-winged vultures sailing in
the void, preparatory to a swoop upon their prey.
Chapter XXII.
Through this gap
On and say nothing, lest a word, a breath,
Bring down a winter's snow, enough to whelm
The armed files that, night and day, were seen
Winding from cliff to cliff in loose array,
To conquer at Marengo.
_Italy._
Pierre Dumont halted in the middle of the sterile little plain, while he
signed for those he conducted to continue their ascent. As each mule
passed, it received a blow or a kick from the impatient guide, who did not
seem to think it necessary to be very ceremonious with the poor beasts,
and had taken this simple method to give a general and a brisker impulsion
to the party. The expedient was so natural, and so much in accordance with
the practice of the muleteers and others of their class, that it excited
no suspicion in most of the travellers, who pursued their way, either
meditating on and enjoying the novel and profound emotions that their
present situation so naturally awakened, or discoursing lightly, in the
manner of the thoughtless and unconcerned. The Signor Grimaldi alone,
whose watchfulness had already been quickened by previous distrust, took
heed of the movement. When all had passed, the Genoese turned in his
saddle, and cast an apparently careless look behind. But the glance in
truth was anxious and keen. Pierre stood looking steadily at the heavens,
one hand holding his hat, and the other extended with an open palm. A
glittering particle descended to the latter, when the guide instantly
resumed his place in advance. As he passed the Italian, however, meeting
an inquiring look, he permitted the other to see a snow-drop so
thoroughly congealed, as to have not yet melted with the natural heat of
his skin. The eye of Pierre appeared to impose discretion on his
confidant, and the silent communion escaped the observation of the rest of
the travellers. Just at this moment, too, the attention of the others was
luckily called to a different object, by a cry from one of the muleteers,
of whom there were three as assistants to the guide. He pointed out a
party which, like themselves, was holding the direction of the Col. There
was a solitary individual mounted on a mule, and a single pedestrian,
without any guide, or other traveller, in their company. Their movements
were swift, and they had not been more than a minute in view, before they
disappeared behind an angle of the crags which nearly closed the valley on
the side of the convent, and which was the precise spot already mentioned
as being so dangerous in the season of the melting snows.
"Dost thou know the quality and object of the travellers before us?"
demanded the Baron de Willading of Pierre.
The latter mused. It was evident he did not expect to meet with strangers
in that particular part of the passage.
"We can know little of those who come from the convent, though few would
be apt to leave so safe a roof at this late hour," he answered; "but,
until I saw yonder travellers with my own eyes, I could have sworn there
were none on this side of the Col going the same way as ourselves? It is
time that all the others were already arrived."
"They are villagers of St. Pierre, going up with supplies;" observed one
of the muleteers. "None bound to Italy have passed Liddes since the party
of Pippo, and they by this tine should be well housed at the hospice.
Didst not see a dog among them?--'twas one of the Augustines' mastiffs."
"'Twas the dog I noted, and it was on account of his appearance that I
spoke;" returned the baron. "The animal had the air of an old
acquaintance, Gaetano, for to me it seemed to resemble our tried friend
Nettuno; and he at whose heels it kept so close wore much the air of our
acquaintance of the Leman, the bold and ready Maso."
"Who has gone unrequited for his eminent services!" answered the Genoese,
thoughtfully "The extraordinary refusal of that man to receive our money
is quite as wonderful as any other part of his unusual and inexplicable
conduct. I would he had been less obstinate or less proud, for the
unrequited obligation rests like a load upon my spirits."
"Thou art wrong. I employed our young friend Sigismund secretly on this
duty, while we were receiving the greetings of Roger de Blonay and the
good bailiff, but thy countryman treated the escape lightly, as the
mariner is apt to consider past danger, and he would listen to no offer of
protection or gold. I was, therefore more displeased than surprised by
what thou hast well enough termed obstinacy."
"Tell your employers, he said," added Sigismund, "that they may thank the
saints, Our Lady, or brother Luther, as best suits their habits, but that
they had better forget that such a man as Maso lives. His acquaintance can
bring them neither honor nor advantage. Tell this especially to the Signor
Grimaldi, when you are on your journey to Italy, and we have parted for
ever, as on my suggestion. This was said to me, in the interview I held
with the I rave fellow after his liberation from prison."
"The answer was remarkable for a man of his condition, and the especial
message to myself of singular exception. I observed that his eye was
often on me, with peculiar meaning, during the passage of the lake, and
to this hour I have not been able to explain the motive!"
"Is the Signore of Genoa?"--asked the guide: "or is he, by chance, in any
way connected with her authorities?"
"Of that republic and city, and certainly of some little interest with the
authorities;" answered the Italian, a slight smile curling his lip, as he
glanced a look at his friend.
"It is not necessary to look farther for Maso's acquaintance with your
features," returned Pierre, laughing; "for of all who live in Italy, there
is not a man who has more frequent occasions to know the
authorities; but we linger, in this gossip. Urge the beasts upwards,
Etienne--presto!--presto!"
The muleteers answered this appeal by one of their long cries, which has a
resemblance to the rattling that is the well-known signal of the venomous
serpent of this country when he would admonish the traveller to move
quickly, and which certainly produces the same startling effect on the
nerves of the mule as the signal of the snake is very apt to excite in
man. This interruption caused the dialogue to be dropped, all riding
onward, musing in their several fashions on what had just passed. In a few
minutes the party turned the crag in question, and, quitting the valley,
or sterile basin, in which they had been journeying for the last half
hour, they entered by a narrow gorge into a scene that resembled a crude
collection of the materials of which the foundations of the world had been
originally formed. There was no longer any vegetation at all, or, if here
and there a blade of grass had put forth under the shelter of some stone,
it was so meagre, and of so rare occurrence, as to be unnoticed in that
sublime scene of chaotic confusion. Ferruginous, streaked, naked, and
cheerless rocks arose around them, and even that snowy beacon, the glowing
summit of Velan, which had so long lain bright and cheering on their path,
was now hid entirely from view. Pierre Dumont soon after pointed out a
place on the visible summit of the mountain, where a gorge between the
neigh boring peaks admitted a view of the heavens beyond. This he informed
those he guided was the Col, through whose opening the pile of the Alps
was to be finally surmounted. The light that still tranquilly reigned in
this part of the heavens was in sublime contrast to the gathering gloom of
the passes below, and all hailed this first glimpse of the end of their
day's toil as a harbinger of rest, and we might add of security; for,
although none but the Signor Grimaldi had detected the secret uneasiness
of Pierre, it was not possible to be, at that late hour, amid so wild and
dreary a display of desolation, and, as it were, cut off from communion
with their kind, without experiencing an humbling sense of the dependence
of man upon the grand and ceaseless Providence of God.
The mules were again urged to increase their pace, and images of the
refreshment and repose that were expected from the convent's hospitality,
became general and grateful among the travellers. The day was fast
disappearing from the glens and ravines through which they rode, and all
discourse ceased in the desire to get on. The exceeding purity of the
atmosphere, which, at that great elevation, resembled a medium of thought
rather than of matter, rendered objects defined, just, and near; and none
but the mountaineers and Sigismund, who were used to the deception, (for
in effect truth obtains this character with those who have been accustomed
to the false) and who understood the grandeur of the scale on which nature
has displayed her power among the Alps, knew how to calculate the
distance which still separated them from their goal. More than a league of
painful and stony ascent was to be surmounted, and yet Adelheid and
Christine had both permitted slight exclamations of pleasure to escape
them, when Pierre pointed to the speck of blue sky between the hoary
pinnacles above, and first gave them to understand that it denoted the
position of the convent. Here and there, too, small patches of the last
year's snow were discovered, lying under the shadows of overhanging rocks,
and which were likely to resist the powers of the sun till winter came
again; another certain sign that they had reached a height greatly
exceeding that of the usual habitations of men. The keenness of the air
was another proof of their situation, for all the travellers had heard
that the Augustines dwelt among eternal frosts, a report which is nearly
literally true.