menu_book Chapter 29

book three chapter twenty nine of lisbeth a tale of the dutch by h rider haggard this libivox recording is in the public domain chapter twenty nine adrian comes home again they landed on the island wading to it through the mud which at this spot had a gravelly bottom all of them except elsa who remained on the boat to keep watch following otter paths through the thick rushes they came to the centre of the islet some thirty yards away here at a spot which martha ascertained by a few hurried pacings grew a dense tuft of reeds in the midst of these reeds was a duck's nest with the young just hatching out off which the old bird flew with terrified quackings beneath this nest lay the treasure if it were still there at any rate the place has not been disturbed lately said foy then even in his frantic haste lifting the little fledglings for he loved all things that had life and did not wish to see them hurt he deposited them where they might be found again by the mother

nothing to dig with muttered martin not even a stone thereon martha pushed her way to a willow bush that grew near and with the smaller of the two axes which she held in her hand cut down the thickest of its stems and ran back with them by the help of these sharpened stakes and with their axes they began to dig furiously till at length the point of foy's implement struck upon the head of a barrel the stuff is still here keep to it friends he said and they worked on with a will till three of the five barrels were almost free from the mud best make sure of these said martin help me master and between them one by one they rolled them to the water's edge and with great efforts elsa aiding them lifted them into the boat as they approached with the third cask they found her staring white-faced over the tops of the feathery reeds what is it sweet asked foy

the sail the following sail she answered they rested the barrel of gold upon the gunwale and looked back across the little island yes there it came sure enough a tall white sail not eight hundred yards away and bearing down straight upon the place martin rolled the barrel into position i hoped that they would not find it he said but martha draws maps well too well once before she married she painted pictures and that is why what is to be done asked elsa i don't know he answered and as he spoke martha ran up for she also had seen the boat you see he went on if we try to escape they will catch us for oars can't race a sail oh said elsa must we be taken after all i hope not girl said martha but it is as god wills listen martin and she whispered into his ear

good he said if it can be done but you must watch your chance come now there's no time to lose and you lady come also for you can help to roll the last two barrels then they ran back to the hull whence foy and adrian with great toil had just dragged the last of the tubs for they too had seen the sail and knew that time was short here adrian said martin you have the cross-bow and the bolts and you used to be the best shot of all three of us will you help me to hold the causeway now adrian knew that martin said this not because he was a good shot with the cross-bow but because he did not trust him and wished to have him close to his hand but he answered with all my heart as well as i am able very good said martin now let the rest of you get those two casks into the boat leaving the juffrouw hidden in the reeds to watch by it while you foy and martha come back to help us

lady if they sail round the island call and let us know so martin and adrian went down to the end of the little gravelly tongue and crouched among the tall meadow-suite and grasses while the others working furiously rolled the two barrels to the water edge and shipped them throwing rushes over them that they might not catch the eye of the spaniards the sailing boat drew on in the stern sheets of it sat ramiro an open paper which he was studying upon his knee and still slung about his body the great sword silence before i am half an hour older reflected martin for even now he did not like to trust his thoughts to adrian either i will have that sword back again or i shall be a dead man but the odds are great eleven of them all tough fellows and we but three and two women just then ramiro's voice reached them across the stillness of the water down with the sail he cried cheerily for without a doubt that is the place there are six islets in a line there in front the other island shaped like a herring

and there the little promontory marked landing-place how well this artist draws to be sure the rest of his remarks were lost in the creaking of the blocks as the sail came down shallow water ahead senor said a man in the bows sounding with the boat-hook good answered ramiro throwing out the little anchor we will wade ashore as he spoke the spanish soldier with the boat-hook suddenly pitched head first into the water a quarrel from adrian's crossbow threw his heart ah said ramiro so they are here before us well there can't be many of them now then prepare to land another quarrel whistled through the air and stuck in the mast doing no hurt after this no more bolts came for in his eagerness adrian had broken the mechanism of the bow by overwinding it so that it became useless they leaped into the water ramiro with them and charged for the land when of a sudden almost at the tip of the little promontory from among the reeds rose the gigantic shape of red marten

clad in his tattered jerkin and bearing in his hand a heavy axe while behind him appeared foy and adrian why by the saints cried ramiro there's my weathercock son again fighting against us this time well weathercock this is your last then he began to weigh towards the promontory charge he cried but not a man would advance within reach of that axe they stood here and there in the water looking at it doubtfully for although they were brave enough there was none of them but knew of the strength and the deeds of the red frisian giant and half starved as he was feared to meet him face to face moreover he had a position of advantage of that there could be no doubt can i help you to land friends said martin mocking them no it is no use looking right or left the mud there is very deep an arquebus shoot him with an arquebus shouted the men in front but there was no such weapon in the boat for the spaniards who had left in a hurry and without expecting to meet red martin had nothing but their swords and knives

ramiro considered a moment for he saw that to attempt to storm this little landing-place would cost many lives even if it were possible then he gave an order back aboard the men obeyed with alacrity out oars and up anchor he cried he is clever said foy he knows that our boat must be somewhere and he is going to seek for it martin nodded and for the first time looked afraid then as soon as ramiro had begun to row around the islet leaving martha to watch that he did not return and rush the landing stage they crossed through the reeds to the other side and climbed into their boat scarcely were they there when ramiro and his men appeared and a shout announced that they were discovered on crept the spaniards as near as they dared that is to within a dozen fathoms of them and anchored for they were afraid to run their own heavy sailing cutter upon the mud lest they might be unable to get her off again also for evident reasons being without firearms and knowing the character of the defenders they feared to make a direct attack

the position was curious and threatened to be prolonged at last ramiro rose and addressed them across the water gentlemen and lady of the enemy he said for i think that i see my little captive of the red mill among you let us take counsel together we have both of us made this expedition for a purpose have we not namely to secure certain filthy lucre which after all would be of slight value to dead men now as you or some of you know i am a man opposed to violence i wish to hurry the end of none nor even to inflict suffering if it can be avoided but there is money in the question to secure which i have already gone through a great deal of inconvenience and anxiety and to be brief that money i must have while you on the other hand are doubtless anxious to escape hence with your lives so i make you an offer let one of our party come under safe conduct on board your boat and search it just to see if anything lies beneath those rushes for instance

then if it is found empty we will withdraw to a distance and let you go or the same if full that is upon its contents being unladen into the mud are those all your terms asked not quite all worthy here of angoerl among you i observe a young gentleman whom doubtless you have managed to carry off against his will to wit my beloved son adrian in his own interests for he will scarcely be a welcome guest in leyden i ask that before you depart you should place this noble cavalier ashore in a position where we can see him now what is your answer that you may go back to hell to look for it replied martin rudely while foy added what other answer do you expect from folk who have escaped out of your clutches in haarlem as he said the words at a nod from martin martha who by now had crept up to them under cover of his great form and of surrounding reeds let go the stern of the boat and vanished plain words from plain uncultivated people not unnaturally irritated by the course of political events with which although fortune has mixed me up in them i have nothing whatever to do answered

but once more i beg of you to consider it is probable that you have no food upon your boat whereas we have plenty also in due course darkness will fall which must give us a certain advantage moreover i have reason to hope for assistance therefore in a waiting game like this the cards are with me and as i think your poor prisoner adrian will tell you i know how to play a hand at cards about eight yards from the cutter in a thick patch of water-lilies just at this moment an otter rose to take air an old dog-otter for it was grey-headed one of the spaniards in the boat caught sight of the ring it made and picking up a stone from the ballast threw at it idly the otter vanished we have been seeking each other a long while but have never come to blows yet although being a brave man i know you would wish it said red martin modestly

senor ramiro will you do me the honour to overlook my humble birth and come ashore with me for a few minutes man against man the odds would be in your favour for you have armour and i have nothing but a worn bull's hide also you have my good sword silence and i only a woodman's axe still i will risk it and what is more trusting to your good faith we are willing to wager the treasure of hendrik brant upon the issue so soon as they understood this challenge a roar of laughter went up from the spaniards in the boat in which ramiro himself joined heartily the idea of anyone voluntarily entering upon a single combat with the terrible frisian giant who for months had been a name of fear among the thousands that beleaguered haarlem struck them as really ludicrous but of a sudden they ceased laughing and one and all stared with a strange anxiety at the bottom of their boat much as terrier dogs stare at the earth beneath which they hear invisible vermin on the move

then a great shouting arose among them and they looked eagerly over the gunwales yes and began to stab at the water with their swords but all the while through the tumult and voices came a steady regular sound as of a person knocking heavily on the further side of a thick door mother of heaven screamed some one in the cutter we are scuttled and they began to tear at the false bottom of their boat while others stabbed still more furiously at the surface of the mere now rising one by one to the face of that quiet water could be seen bubbles and the line of them ran from the cutter towards the rowing boat presently within six feet of it axe in hand rose the strange and dreadful figure of a naked skeleton-like woman covered with mud and green weeds and bleeding from great wounds in the back and sides there it stood shaking in axe at the terror-stricken spaniards and screaming in short gasps paid back paid back ramiro now sink and drown you dog or come visit red martin on the shore

well done martha roared martin as he dragged her dying into the boat while he spoke lo the cutter began to fill and sink there is but one chance for it cried ramiro overboard and at them it is not deep and springing into the water which reached to his neck he began to wade towards the shore push off cried foy and they thrust and pulled but the gold was heavy and their boat had settled far into the mud do what they might she would not stir then uttering some strange frisian oath martin sprang over her stern and putting out all his mighty strength thrust at it to loose her still she would not move the spaniards came up now the water reached only to their thighs and their bright swords flashed in the sunlight cut them down yelled ramiro at them for your lives sake the boat trembled but she would not stir too heavy in the bows screamed martha and struggling to her feet with one wild scream she launched herself straight at the throat of the nearest spaniard

she gripped him with her long arms and down they went together once they rose then fell again and through a cloud of mud might be seen struggling upon the bottom of the mere till presently they lay still both of them the lightened boat lifted and in answer to martin's mighty efforts glided forward through the clinging mud again he thrust and she was clear climb in martin climb in shouted foy as he stabbed at a spaniard by heaven no roared ramiro splashing towards him with the face of a devil for a second martin stood still then he bent and the sword cut fell harmless upon his leather jerkin now very suddenly his great arms shot out yes he seized ramiro by the thighs and lifted and there was seen the sight of a man thrown into the air as though he were a ball tossed by a child at play to fall headlong upon the casks of treasure in the skiff prow where he lay still martin sprang forward and gripped the tiller with his outstretched hand as it glided away from him row master row he cried and foy rowed madly until they were clear of the last spaniard clear by ten yards

even elsa snatched a rollock and with it struck a soldier on the hand who tried to stay them forcing him to loose his grip a deed of valor she boasted of with pride all her life through then they dragged martin into the boat now you spanish dogs the great man roared back at them as he shook the water from his flaming hair and beard go dig for branch treasure and live on ducks eggs here till don frederick sends to fetch you the island had melted away into a mist of other islands no living thing was to be seen save the wild creatures and birds of the great lake and no sound was to be heard except their calling and the voices of the wind and water they were alone alone and safe and there at a distance towards the sky-line rose the church-towers of leyden for which they headed juffrouw said martin presently there is another flagon of wine in that locker and we should be glad of a pull at it elsa who was steering the boat rose and found the wine and a horn mug which she filled and handed first to foy

here's a health said foy as he drank to the memory of mother martha who saved us all well she died as she would have wished to die taking a spaniard for company and her story will live on amen said martin then a thought struck him and leaving his oars for a minute for he rode too against foy's and adrian's one he went forward to where ramiro lay stricken senseless on the kegs of specie and jewels in the bows and took from him the great sword silence but he strapped the spaniard's legs together with his belt that crack on the head keeps him quiet enough he said in explanation but he might come to and give trouble or try to swim for it since such cats have many lives ah seor ramiro i told you i would have my sword back before i was half an hour older or go where i shouldn't want one then he touched the spring in the hilt and examined the cavity why he said here's my legacy left in it safe and sound no wonder my good angel made me mad to get that sword agin

no wonder echoed foy especially as you got ramiro with it and he glanced at adrian who was labouring at the bow oar looking now that the excitement of the fight had gone by most downcast and wretched well he might seeing the welcome that as he feared awaited him in leyden for a while they rode on in silence all that they had gone through during the last four-and-twenty hours and the seven preceding months of war and privation had broken their nerve even now although they had escaped the danger and won back the buried gold capturing the arch villain who had brought them so much death and misery and their home which for the present moment at any rate was a strong place of refuge lay before them still they could not be at ease where so many had died where the risks had been so fearful it seemed almost incredible that they four should be living and hale though weary with a prospect of continuing to live for many years that the girl whom he loved so dearly and whom he had so nearly lost should be sitting before him safe and sound ready to become his wife whensoever he might wish it seemed to foy also a thing too good to be true

too good to be true was it moreover that his brother the wayward passionate weak poetical-minded adrian made by nature to be the tool of others and bear the burden of their evil-doing should have been dragged before it was over late out of the net of the fowler have repented of his sins and follies and at the risk of his own life shown that he was still a man no longer the base slave of passion and self-love for foy always loved his brother knowing him better than any others knew him had found it hard to believe that however black things might look against him he was at heart a villain thus he thought and elsa too had her thoughts which may be guessed they were silent all of them till of a sudden elsa seated in the stern sheets saw adrian suddenly let fall his oar throw his arms wide and pitch forward against the back of martin yes and in place of where he had sat appeared the dreadful countenance of ramiro stamped with a grin of hideous hate such as satan might wear when souls escape him at the last

recovered and sitting up for to his feet he could not rise because of the sword strap in his hand a thin deadly-looking knife habhet he said with a short laugh habbes weathercock and he turned the knife against himself but martin was on him and in five more seconds he lay trust like a fowl in the bottom of the boat shall i kill him said martin to foy who with elsa was bending over adrian no answered foy grimly let him take his trial in leyden oh what accursed fools were we not to search him ramero's face turned a shade more ghastly it is your honour he said in a hoarse voice you have one thanks to that dog of a son of mine who i trust may linger long before he dies as die he must ah well this is what comes of breaking my oath to the virgin and again lifting my hand against a woman he looked at elsa and shuddered then went on it is your honour make an end of me at once i do not wish to appear thus before those boers gag him said foy to martin lest our ears be poisoned

and martin obeyed with good will then he flung him down and there the man lay his back supported by the kegs of treasure he had worked so hard and sinned so deeply to win making as he knew well his last journey to death and to whatever may lie beyond that solemn gate they were passing the island that many years ago had formed the turning-post of the great sledge race in which his passenger had been the fair leyden heiress lysbeth von haught ramiro could see her now as she was that day he could see also how that race which he just failed to win had been for him in augury of disaster had not the hollander again beaten him at the post and that hollander lysbeth's own son by another father helped to it by her son born of himself who now lay there death-stricken by him that gave him life they would take him to lysbeth he knew it she would be his judge that woman against whom he had piled up injury after injury whom even when she seemed to be in his power he had feared more than any living being

and after he had met her eyes for the last time then would come the end what sort of end would it be for the captain red-handed from the siege of haarlem for the man who had brought dirk von goorl to his death for the father who had just planted a dagger between the shoulders of his son because at the last that son had chosen to be true to his own people and to deliver them from a dreadful doom why did it come back to him that horrible dream which had risen in his mind when for the first time after many years he met lysbeth face to face there in the jvangenhoos that dream of the pitiful little man falling falling through endless space and at the bottom of the gulf two great hands hands hideous and suggestive reaching through the shadows to receive him like his son adrian ramiro was superstitious more his intellect his reading which in youth had been considerable his observation of men and women all led him to the conclusion that death is a wall with many doors in it

that on this side of the wall we may not linger or sleep but must pass each of us through his appointed portal straight to the domain prepared for us if so what would be his lot and who would be waiting to greet him yonder oh terrors may attend the wicked after death but in the case of some they do not tarry until death they leap forward to him whom it is decreed must die forcing attention with their eager craving hands with their obscure and ominous voices about him the sweet breath of the summer afternoon the skimming swallows the meadows starred with flowers within him every hell at which the imagination can so much as hint before he passed the gates of leyden in those few short hours ramiro to elsa's eyes had aged by twenty years their little boat was heavy laden the wind was against them and they had a dying man and a prisoner aboard so it came about that the day was closing before the soldiers challenged them from the water gate asking who they were and whither they went

foy stood up and said we are foy von goorl red martin elsa brant a wounded man and a prisoner escaped from haarlem and we go to the house of lysbeth von goorl in the brie straat then they let them through the water-gate and there on the further side were many gathered who thanked god for their deliverance and begged tidings of them come to the house in the brie straat and we will tell you from the balcony answered foy so they rowed from one cut and canal to another till at last they came to the private boat-house of the van goorls and entered it and thus by the small door into the house lysbeth van goorl recovered from her illness now but aged and grown stern with suffering sat in an arm-chair in the great parlour of her home in the brie straat the room where as a girl she had cursed montalvo where too not a year ago she had driven his son the traitor adrian from her presence at her side was a table on which stood a silver bell and two brass holders with candles ready to be lighted

she rang the bell and a woman-servant entered the same who with elsa had nursed her in the plague what is that murmuring in the street lysbeth asked i hear the sound of many voices is there more news from haarlem alas yes answered the woman a fugitive says that the executioners there are weary so now they tie the poor prisoners back to back and throw them into the mirror to drown a groan burst from lysbeth's lips foy my son is there she muttered and elsa brant his affianced wife and martin his servant and many another friend oh god how long how long and her head sank upon her bosom soon she raised it again and said light the candles woman this place grows dark and in its gloom i see the ghosts of all my dead they burned up two stars of light in the great room whose feet are those upon the stairs asked lysbeth the feet of men who bear burdens open the large doors woman and let that enter which it pleases god to send us

so the doors were flung wide and through them came people carrying a wounded man then following him foy and elsa and lastly towering above them all red martin who thrust before him another man lysbeth rose from her chair to look do i dream she said or son foy hath the angel of the lord delivered you out of the hell of haarlem we are here mother he answered and whom she said pointing to the figure covered with a cloak do you bring with you adrian mother who is dying then son foy take him hence alive dying or dead i have done with here her eyes fell upon red martin and the man he held martin the frisian she muttered but who martin heard and by way of answer lifted up his prisoner so that the fading light from the balcony windows fell full upon his face what she cried juan de montalvo as well as his son adrian and in this room then she checked herself and added foy tell me your story

in few words and brief he told it or so much as she need know to understand his last words were mother be merciful to adrian from the first he meant no ill he saved all our lives and he lies dying by that man's dagger lift him up she said so they lifted him up and adrian who since the knife pierced him had uttered no word spoke for the first and last time muttering hoarsely mother take back your words and forgive me before i die now the sorrow frozen heart of lysbeth melted and she bent over him and said speaking so that all might hear welcome to your home again adrian you who once were led astray have done bravely and i am proud to call you son though you have left the faith in which you were bred here and hereafter may god bless you and reward you beloved adrian then she bent down and kissed his dying lips foy and elsa kissed him also in farewell before they bore him smiling happily to himself to the chamber his own chamber where within some few hours death found him

adrian had been borne away and for a little while there was silence then none commanding him but as though an instinct pushed him forward red martin began to move up the length of the long room half dragging half carrying his captive it was as if some automaton had suddenly been put in motion some machine of gigantic strength that nothing could stop the man in his grip set his heels in the floor and hung back but martin scarcely seemed to heed his resistance on he came and the victim with him till they stood together before the oaken chair and the stern-faced white-haired woman who sat in it her cold countenance lit by the light of the two candles she looked and shuddered then she spoke asking why do you bring this man to me martin for judgment lysbeth van goorl he answered who made me a judge over him she asked my master dirk van goorl your son adrian and hendrik brandt their blood makes you judge of his blood i will have none of it lysbeth said passionately let the people judge him

as she spoke from the crowd in the street below there swelled a sudden clamour good said martin the people shall judge and he began to turn towards the window when suddenly by a desperate effort ramiro wrenched his doublet from his hand and flung himself at lysbeth's feet and grovelled there what do you seek she asked drawing back her dress so that he should not touch it mercy he gasped mercy look son and daughter this man asks for mercy who for a many a year has given none well juan de montalvo take your prayer to god and to the people i have done with you mercy mercy he cried again eight months ago she said i uttered that prayer to you begging of you in the name of christ to spare the life of an innocent man and what was your answer juan de montalvo

once you were my wife he pleaded being a woman does not that weigh with you once he was my husband being a man did that weigh with you the last word is said take him martin to those who deal with murderers then that look came upon montalvo which twice or thrice before lysbeth has seen written in his face once when the race was run and lost and once when in after years she had petitioned for the life of her husband lo it was no longer the face of a man but such a countenance as might have been worn by a devil or a beast the eyeball started the grey moustache curled upwards the cheek-bones grew high and sharp night after night he gasped you lay at my side and i might have killed you as i have killed that brat of yours and i spared you i spared you god spared me juan de montalvo that he might bring us to this hour let him spare you also if he will i do not judge he judges and the people

and lysbeth rose from her chair stay he cried gnashing his teeth no i stay not i go to receive the last breath of him you have murdered my son and yours he raised himself upon his knees and for a moment their eyes met for the last time do you remember she said in a quiet voice many years ago in this very room after you had bought me at the cost of dirk's life certain words i spoke to you now i do not think that it was i who spoke juan de montalvo and she swept past him and through the wide doorway red martin stood upon the balcony gripping the man ramiro beneath him the bronze street was packed with people hundreds and thousands of them a dense mass seething in the shadows save here and again where a torch or a lantern flared showing their white faces for the moon which shone upon martin and his captive scarcely reached those down below as gaunt haggard and long-haired he stepped upon the balcony they saw him and his burden and there went up such a yell as shook the very roofs of leyden

martin held up his hand and there was silence deep silence through which the breath of all that multitude rose in size like the sign of a little wind citizens my leyden my masters the frisian cried in a great deep voice that echoed down the street i have a word to say to you this man here do you know him back came an answering yell of i he is a spaniard went on martin the noble count juan de montalvo who many years passed forced one lisbeth von haught of this city into a false marriage buying her at the price of the life of her affianced husband dirk van goorl that he might win her fortune we know it they shouted afterwards he was sent to the galleys for his crimes he came back and was made governor of the gevangenhoos by the bloody alva where he brought to death your brother and past burgomaster dirk van goorl

afterwards he kidnapped the person of elsa brant the daughter of hendrik brant whom the inquisition murdered at the hague we rescued her from him my master foy foy van goorl and i afterwards he served the spaniards as a captain of their forces in the siege of haarlem yonder harem that fell three days ago and whose citizens they are murdering to-night throwing them two by two to drown in the waters of the mere kill him cast him down roared the mob give him to us red martin again the frisian lifted his hand and again there was silence a sudden terrible silence this man had a son my mistress lysbeth van goorl to her shame and sorrow was the mother of him that son repenting saved us from the sack of haarlem yea through him the three of us foy von goorl elsa brant and i martin roos their servant are alive to-night this man and his spaniards overtook us on the lake and there we conquered him by the help of martha the mare martha whom they made to carry her own husband to the fire we conquered him but she

she died in the fray they stabbed her to death in the water as men stab an otter well that son the heer adrian he was murdered in the boat with a knife blow given by his own father from behind and he lies here in this house dead or dying my master and i we brought this man who to-day is called ramiro to be judged by the woman whose husband and son he slew but she would not judge him she said take him to the people let them judge so judge now ye people and with an effort of his mighty strength martin swung the struggling body of ramiro over the parapet of the balcony and let him hang there above their heads they yelled they screamed in their ravenous hate and rage they leapt up as hounds leap at a wolf upon a wall give him to us give him to us that was their cry martin laughed aloud take him then he said take him ye people and judge him as you will and with one great heave he hurled the thing that writhed between his hands far out into the centre of the street the crowd below gathered themselves into a heap like water above a boat sinking in the heart of a whirlpool

for a minute or more they snarled and surged and twisted then they broke up and went away talking in short eager sentences and there small and dreadful on the stones lay something that once had been a man thus did the burghers of leyden pass judgment and execute it upon that noble spaniard the count juan de montalvo chapter twenty nine