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The Knight of Malta
The scene in the rocks of Ollioules, where Erebus saw Reine for the first time, is a striking proof of that constant struggle between his natural inclinations and the bad passions that Pog excited in his heart.
The first impulse of Erebus was to hasten to the rescue of Raimond V. and to respond with almost filial veneration to the old man’s outburst of gratitude, – in fact, to believe himself rewarded for his generous conduct by the satisfaction of his conscience and the grateful looks of the young girl; but a bitter sarcasm from Pog, a coarse jest from Trimalcyon, changed these noble emotions into sensual desire and a profound disdain for the courageous action by which he had just honoured himself.
Yet, in spite of the cynical bantering of the two pirates, the enchanting beauty of Reine made a profound impression upon Erebus.
He had never loved, his heart had never taken part in the coarse pleasures which he had sought among the slaves that the hazard of war had thrown into his hands.
Pog and Trimalcyon were not long in perceiving a certain change in the character of Erebus.
Some indiscreet words enlightened Pog as to the powerful influence of this first love upon the young man, and he began to fear the consequences of this passion, in elevating the heart of Erebus, – a love which would make the young man blush for the abominable life he was leading, and awaken in him the most generous sentiments. Pog, therefore resolved to kill this love by possession, and proposed to Erebus to abduct Reine by force.
He encountered a lively resistance in the young pirate. Erebus thought the proposed abduction atrocious; he wished to be loved or to make himself loved.
Pog then suggested another plan. He flattered the self-love of Erebus beyond measure, by proving to him that he must have made a profound impression on the heart of the young girl, but that it was necessary, by mysterious means, to preserve and increase the remembrance that she would necessarily hide from the knowledge of her father. Then, when he was sure of being loved, he was to appear, offer to carry her away, and withdraw if she did not accept his proposal.
This plan, which Pog intended to modify at its conclusion, satisfied Erebus. We have seen how it was partly executed at Maison-Forte.
A Moor who had accompanied the young pirate at sea from his childhood, and who was warmly attached to him, was to introduce himself secretly into the castle of Anbiez.
This man was the Bohemian whom we have seen at Maison-Forte. He had accompanied Erebus at the time of the audacious journey of the three pirates in Provence. When they reached the port of Cette again, where they had left their chebec, they embarked and rejoined their galleys, which were anchored in the islands of Majorca, then open to all the pirates of the Mediterranean.
There, Erebus, Pog, Trimalcyon, and Hadji – such was the name of the Bohemian – contrived their plans.
The day of the adventure in the gorges of Ollioules Hadji had described the old gentleman whom Erebus had just saved, and the young girl, to his hosts in Marseilles, who gave him the name of Raimond V. and his young daughter, for the Baron des Anbiez was well known in Provence.
During his sojourn at Majorca, Erebus, who in his leisure occupied himself in the art of painting, made as a souvenir the miniature of which we have spoken, and a skilful goldsmith enamelled the little dove on some objects intended for Reine. Finally, Erebus added a portrait of himself, which was placed in the medallion ornamenting the guzla of the Bohemian.
These preparations completed, the Moor departed, taking with him, as a means of correspondence with the two pirates, two pigeons raised on board the chebec of Erebus, and habituated to seek and to recognise this vessel, which they regained with a jerk of the wing as soon as they perceived it, at a distance beyond the power of the eye of man.
At the end of fifteen days, the two galleys and the chebec began to cruise and beat about in view of the coasts of Provence.
As we have said, the month of December was Pog’s gloomy month, the period in which his cruel instincts were exasperated to a ferocious monomania.
He had dared present himself under an assumed name to the Marshal of Vitry, only to examine at leisure the state of the coast and the fortifications of Marseilles, as he had the audacious design of surprising and ravaging the city, and burning the port. He counted on his understanding with some Moors established in Marseilles, to make himself master of the boom of the harbour.
However absurd or impossible it may appear, this attack, or rather this surprise, might have been successful. Pog did not despair of it If the arrangements that he had manipulated failed at his signal, he was sure at least of being able to lay waste a coast which was without defence, and the little city of La Ciotat, for reason of its proximity to Maison-Forte, must in this case share the fate of Marseilles.
In the tumult of the battle, Reine des Anbiez could easily be carried off.
We have seen that the manoeuvres of the Bohemian succeeded.
A long time hidden among the rocks which bordered upon Maison-Forte, he had several times seen Reine in the balcony of the window of her oratory, and had observed that this window often remained open. Thanks to his agility, the Bohemian had introduced himself there twice in the evening, – the first time with the crystal vase containing a Persian amaryllis, a bulbous plant which blooms in a few days; the second time with the miniature.
Certain of having established these mysterious antecedents sufficiently well to excite the curiosity of Reine, and thus force her to think of Erebus, Hadji, thinking he could present himself at Maison-Forte without awakening suspicion, was returning to the house of Raimond V., and on the way met the recorder Isnard and his retinue.
Fifteen days after his arrival at Maison-Forte, the chebec, at the setting of the sun, began to cruise at large. Hadji then sent one of the pigeons as the bearer of a letter, informing Erebus that he was loved, and Pog where he could attempt a landing, in case he should be compelled to renounce his intention of surprising Marseilles.
The watchman’s eagle intercepted this correspondence by devouring the messenger. Unhappily, Hadji had another emissary. The next day, at sunset, the chebec appeared again, and a letter carried by the second pigeon announced to Erebus that he was loved, and to Pog that the most favourable moment for a descent upon La Ciotat was Christmas Day, a time when all the Provençals were occupied with their family feasts and merrymaking.
The tempest began to blow the very evening of the day on which Erebus received this intelligence. He rejoined the two galleys which were cruising off the coast of Hyères; the weather becoming more and more violent, the three vessels put into Port Mage, on the island of Port-Cros. As we have said, they had been anchored there since the day before, impatiently waiting for the wind to change, as the celebration of Christmas would occur the day after the morrow. Before attempting anything at La Ciotat, Pog wished to assure himself that his enterprise on Marseilles was not possible.
Now that we are acquainted with the fatal ties which bound Erebus to Pog, we will follow the young adventurer on the galley of Trimalcyon.
He slowly ascended on board the Sybarite and entered the apartment where dinner was being served.
CHAPTER XXVII. CONVERSATION
He wore the simple sailor costume which greatly enhanced his grace and beauty.
“Here comes our bashful lover, our modest wooer,” said Trimalcyon, seeing him.
As a reply, the young sailor, appreciative of this pleasantry, threw off his mantle, embroidered in jet-black silk, gave a kiss to Swan-skin, caressed Orangine’s chin, and, taking up a silver goblet from the table, extended it to Trimalcyon as he exclaimed:
“To the health of Reine des Anbiez, the future favourite of my harem!”
Pog threw a piercing glance on Erebus, and said, in a measured, hollow voice:
“These words come from his lips, his heart will give the lie to his language.”
“You are mistaken, Captain Pog; only land your demons on the beach of La Ciotat, and you will see if the brightness of the flames which will broil the French in their hole will prevent my following Hadji to the castle of that old Provençal.”
“And once in that castle, what will you do, my boy?” said Trimalcyon, with a mocking air. “Will you ask if the beautiful girl has not a skein of silk to wind, or if she will permit you to hold her mirror while she combs her hair?”
“Be quiet, Full-Bottle, I will employ my time well. I will sing for her the song of the emir, a song worthy of Beni-Amer, which that fox, Hadji, made her listen to so well.”
“And if the old Provençal finds your voice disagreeable, he will give you a leather strap, as if you were a badly taught child, my boy,” said Trimalcyon.
“I will reply to the old gentleman by seizing his daughter in my arms, and singing to him those verses of Hadji:
“‘Till sixteen years old, the daughter belongs to her father.
“At sixteen years old, the daughter belongs to the lover.’”
“And if the good man insists, you will give him, for your last word, your kangiar to end the conversation?” “That comes of course, Empty-Cup. Who carries off the daughter, kills the father,” added Erebus, with an ironical smile.
Trimalcyon wagged his head, and said to Pog, who seemed more and more absorbed in his gloomy thoughts: “The young peacock is laughing at us, he is jesting, he will do some shepherd-swain nonsense with that girl.” “Has the French spy returned from the islands?” asked Pog of Erebus.
“Not yet, Captain Pog,” replied the young sailor; “he departed with his stick and his wallet, disguised as a beggar. He will be here, without doubt, in an hour. I waited for him in vain. Seeing that he did not arrive, I came in my long-boat; the barge which landed him on the shore will bring him back here. But shall we attack La Ciotat or Marseilles, Captain Pog?”
“Marseilles, unless the report of the spy makes me change my opinion,” said Pog.
“And on our return, shall we not stop a moment at La Ciotat?” asked Erebus. “Hadji is expecting us.”
“And your beautiful maiden also, my boy. Ah! ah! you are more impatient to see her beautiful eyes than the gaping mouths of the cannon of the castle,” said Trimalcyon, “and you are right, I do not reproach you for it.”
“By the cross of Malta, which I abhor!” cried Erebus, with impatience, “I would rather never see that lovely girl in the cabin of my chebec than not to sound my war-cry at the attack of Marseilles. Captain Pog knows that in all our combats with the French or with the galleys of religion, my arm, although young, has dealt some heavy blows.”
“Be quiet! whether we attack Marseilles or not, you will be able to approach La Ciotat with your chebec and carry off your maiden. I will not allow you to lose this new chance of damning your soul, my dear child,” said Pog, with a sinister laugh.
“My soul? You have always told me, Captain Pog, that I had no soul,” replied the unhappy Erebus, with a bantering indifference.
“You do not see, my boy, that Captain Pog is jesting,” said Trimalcyon, “as far as the soul is concerned; but as for your beauty, by Sardanapalus! we will carry her off; the pains of Hadji and your mysterious gallantries shall not be lost, although, in my opinion, you were wrong to make yourself as romantic as an ancient Moor of Grenada, just to please this Omphale. A few more abductions, my dear child, and you will realise that it is far better to break a wild filly with violence than to tame her by dint of sweetness and petting. But your young palate requires milk and honey yet awhile. Later you will come to the spices.”
“You flatter me, Trimalcyon, by comparing me to a Moor of Grenada,” said Erebus, with bitterness. “They were noble and chivalrous, and not real robbers like us.” “Robbers? Do you hear him, Captain Pog? He is yet not more than half out of his shell, and he comes talking of robbers! And who in the devil told you we were robbers? That is the way they impose upon youth, the way they deceive it and corrupt it. Why, speak to him, I pray you, Captain Pog! Robbers! Give me something to drink, Swan-skin, to help me swallow that word! Zounds! Robbers!”
Erebus seemed very little impressed by the grotesque anger of Trimalcyon.
Captain Pog raised his head slowly and said to the young man, with bitter irony:
“Well, well, my dear child, you are right to blush for our profession. Upon my return to Tripoli, I will buy you a shop near the port, – it is the best mercantile quarter. There you can sell in peace and quietness white morocco-leather, Smyrna carpets and tapestry, Persian silks and ostrich feathers. That is an easy and honest calling, my dear child. You will be able to amass some money and afterward go to Malta, and establish yourself in the Jewish quarter. There you can lend your money at fifty per cent, to the chevaliers who are in debt. Thus you can avenge yourself on those who cut your father’s and mother’s throats, by pocketing their money. It is more lucrative and less dangerous than taking your revenge in blood.”
“Captain!” cried Erebus, his cheeks flaming with indignation.
“Captain Pog is right,” said Trimalcyon, “the vampire that sucks the blood of his sleeping prey with impunity is better than the bold falcon that attacks him in the sun.”
“Trimalcyon, take care!” cried the young man, in anger.
“And who knows,” continued Pog, “if chance may not cause the chevalier who massacred your poor mother and noble father to fall under your usurious hand?”
“And see the avenging hand of Providence!” cried Trimalcyon. “The orphan becomes the creditor of the assassin! Blood and murder! Death and agony! This son, the avenger, at last gluts his rage by making the murderer of his family put on the yellow robe of insolvent debtors!”
At this last sarcasm, the anger of Erebus exceeded all bounds, and he seized Trimalcyon by the throat and drew on him a knife that he had taken from the table. But for the iron grasp of Pog, which held the youth’s hand like a vice, the fat pirate would have been dangerously wounded, if not killed.
“By Eblis and his black wings! Captain, take care! If you are provoked at the blow I was about to give that hog, then I will address myself to you!” cried Erebus, trying to free himself from Pog’s hands.
Swan-skin and Orangine escaped, shrieking with terror.
“See what it is to spoil children,” said Pog, with a disdainful smile, as he released the hand of Erebus.
“And to allow them to play with knives,” replied Trimalcyon, picking up the knife that Erebus had let fall in the struggle.
A look from Pog warned him that he must not push the young man too far.
“Do you wish to kill the one who has brought you up, dear child?” said Pog, sarcastically. “Come, you have your dagger in your belt, strike.”
Erebus looked at him with a surly air, and said, with an angry sneer:
“It is in the name of gratitude, then, that you ask me to spare your life? Then why have you preached to me the forgetfulness of benefits and the remembrance of injuries?”
Notwithstanding his impudence, Trimalcyon looked at Pog in amazement, not knowing how his companion would reply to that question.
Pog gave Erebus a look of withering contempt, as he said to him:
“I wished to test you, when I spoke of gratitude. Yes, the truly brave man forgets all benefits, and only remembers injuries. I offered you the most outrageous insult, I told you that you did not have the courage to avenge the death of your parents. You ought to have struck me at once, – but you are a coward.”
Erebus quickly drew his dagger and raised it over the pirate before Trimalcyon could take a step.
Pog, calm and unmoved, opened his breast without a sign of emotion.
Twice Erebus raised his arm, twice he let it fall again. He could not make up his mind to strike a defenceless man. He bowed his head with a sorrowful air.
Pog sat down again and said to Erebus, in a severe and imperious voice:
“Child, do not quote maxims whose meaning perhaps you may comprehend, but which your weak heart will not let you put in practice. Listen to me, once for all. I received you without pity. I feel as much hatred and contempt for you as I do for all other men. I have trained you to pillage and murder, as I would have amused myself in training a young wolf for slaughter, that some day I might be able to hurl you against my enemies. I have killed all the chevaliers of Malta who have fallen into my hands, because I have a terrible vengeance to wreak on that order. I have taught you that your family was massacred by them, in the hope of exciting your rage, and turning it against those whom I execrate. You have already served my purpose; you have killed two caravanists with your own hand, in one combat. I know you had no pleasure in it, you thought you were avenging your father and mother. I deal with you as a man deals with his war-horse; as long as he serves him, he spurs him and urges him to the fray; when he becomes feeble, he sells him. Do not feel bound in any respect to me; kill me if you can. If you dare not strike before my face, act as a traitor, – you will succeed, perhaps.”
As Erebus heard these frightful words, he seemed to be in a dream.
If he had never been deceived as to the tenderness of Pog, he believed that the man had at least an interest in him, the interest that a poor, abandoned child always inspires in one who has the care of him. The brutal confession of Pog left him no longer in doubt. These detestable maxims he had just uttered were too much in accord with the rest of his life to allow the young man to question their reality.
The feelings of his own heart were inexplicable. He seemed to have fallen into some deep and bloody abyss. The thoughts which rushed upon him drove him to frenzy. His tender and generous instincts thrilled painfully, as if an iron hand had torn them from his heart.
After the first moment of dejection, the detestable influence of Pog regained the ascendency. Erebus wished to vie with this man in cynicism and barbarity. He lifted up his pale face, and said, as a sarcastic smile played upon his lips:
“You have enlightened me, Captain Pog; until now, the hatred of the soldiers of Christ had never entered into my heart; until now, I only wished their death because they had killed my father and mother; if I showed them no mercy, I fought them, sword to sword, galley to galley. But now, captain, armed or disarmed, young or old, fairly or basely, I will kill as many as I can kill, – do you know why, captain? Say, do you know why, captain?”
“He is out of his head!” whispered Trimalcyon.
“No, he says what he feels,” replied Pog. “Ah, well, then, my child, tell me why?” added he.
“Because in making me an orphan, they put me in your power, and you have made me what I am.”
There was in the expression of the features of Erebus something which revealed a hatred so implacable, that Trimalcyon whispered to Pog:
“There is blood in his look!”
Erebus, although exasperated beyond measure by the contemptuous hatred of Pog, did not dare avenge himself, because he was dominated by an involuntary sentiment of gratitude toward the man who had reared him, and with an air of desperation he went out of the chamber.
“He is going to kill himself!” cried Trimalcyon.
Pog shrugged his shoulders.
Some moments after, while the two companions sat in gloomy silence, they heard the sound of oars striking the water.
“He is going back to his chebec,” said Trimalcyon.
Without replying, Pog went out of the chamber and walked to the prow.
It was late. The wind had grown somewhat calm; the galley-slaves were sleeping on their benches.
Nothing was heard but the regular step of the spahis who walked their rounds on the vessel.
Pog, leaning over the guards, looked at the sea in silence.
Trimalcyon, in spite of his depravity, had been moved by this scene. Never had the cruel monomania of Pog shown itself in such a horrible light. He felt a certain embarrassment in engaging in conversation with his silent friend. At last, approaching him with several “Hem – Hems,” and numerous hesitations, he said: “The weather is very fine this evening, Captain Pog.”
“Your remark is full of sense, Trimalcyon.”
“Come to the point now, and shame to the devil! I do not know what to say to you, Pog, but you are a terrible man; you will make that poor starling insane. How in the devil can you find pleasure in tormenting the young fellow so? Some fine day he will leave you.”
“If you were not a man incapable of understanding me, Trimalcyon, I would tell you that what I feel for this unfortunate youth is strange,” said Pog. “Yes, it is strange,” continued he, talking to himself. “Sometimes I feel furious anger rising in me against Erebus, a resentment as implacable as if he were my most deadly enemy. Again I have the indifference of a piece of ice. Other times I feel for him a compassion, I would say affection if that sentiment could enter my soul. Then, the sound of his voice – yes, especially the sound of his voice – and his look awaken in me memories of a time which is no more.”
As he uttered these last words, Pog spoke indistinctly. Trimalcyon was touched by the accent of his usually morose companion. The voice of Pog, ordinarily hard and sarcastic, softened almost to a lamentation.
Trimalcyon, amazed, approached Pog to speak to him; he recoiled in fright as he saw him suddenly raise his two fists toward Heaven in a threatening manner, and heard him utter such a painful, despairing cry that there seemed nothing human in it.
“Captain Pog, what is the matter with you? What is the matter with you?” cried Trimalcyon.
“What is the matter with me!” cried Pog, in a delirium, “what is the matter with me! Then you do not know that this man who stands here before you, who roars with pain, who pushes cruelty to madness, who dreams only of blood and massacre; that this man was once blessed with all, because he was good, kind, and generous. You do not know, oh, you do not know the evil that must have been done to this man to excite in him the rage which now possesses him!”
Trimalcyon was more and more amazed at this language, which contrasted so singularly with the habitual character of Pog.
He tried to enlighten himself by carefully examining the countenance of his old comrade.
After a long silence he heard the dry, strident laugh of the pirate ring through the galley. “Eh, eh! comrade,” said Pog, in the tone of irony natural to him, “it is quite right to say that at night mad dogs bark at the moon! Have you understood one word of all the nonsense I have just uttered to you? I would have been a good actor, on my faith I would; do you not think so, comrade?”
“I have not understood much, to tell the truth, Captain Pog, except that you have not been always what you are now. We are alike in that. I was a servant in a college before being a pirate.”
Pog, without making a reply, made a gesture of his hand commanding silence. Then, listening with attention on the side next to the sea, he said: “It seems to me I hear a boat.”
“Without doubt,” said Trimalcyon.
One of the watchmen on the rambade uttered three distinct cries, the first separated from the two last by quite a long interval; the last two, however, were close together.
The patron of the boat replied to this cry in the opposite manner; that is to say, he uttered at first two short, quick cries, followed by a prolonged cry.
“Those are persons from the chebec, and the spy, no doubt,” said Trimalcyon.
In fact the long-boat was already at the first seat of the rowers. The spy climbed to the deck of the galley.
“What news from Hyères?” said Pog to him.
“Bad for Marseilles, captain; the galleys of the Marquis de Brézé, coming from Naples, anchored there yesterday.”
“Who told you that?” asked Pog.
“Two bargemasters. I entered a hostelry to beg an alms, and these bargemasters were talking about it. Some mule-drivers, coming from the west, heard the same thing at St. Tropez.”
“And what rumour on the coast?”
“They are alarmed at La Ciotat.”
Pog waved his hand, and the spy retired.
“What is to be done, Captain Pog?” cried Trimalcyon. “There are only blows to be gained at Marseilles; the squadron of the Marquis de Brézé protects the port. To attack an enemy unseasonably is to do him good instead of harm; we can do nothing at Marseilles.”
“Nothing,” said Captain Pog.
“Then La Ciotat invites us; the swine, those citizens, are alarmed, it is true, but, Sardanapalus! what does that matter? The little birds tremble when they see the hawk ready to pounce upon them; but do their terrors make his claws any the less sharp, or his beak less cutting? What do you say to it, Captain Pog?”
“To La Ciotat, to-morrow at sunset, if the wind ceases. We will surprise these people in the midst of a feast; we will change their cries of joy into cries of death!” said Pog, in a hollow voice.
“Sardanapalus! these citizens, they say, have hens on golden eggs hidden in their houses. They say that the convent of the Minimes brothers is filled with costly wines, without counting the money of the farm-rent that the farmers bring to these rich do-nothings at Christmas. We will find their cash-box well furnished.”
“To La Ciotat,” said Pog; “The wind may change in our favour. I am going to return on board the Red Galleon; at the first signal, follow my manoeuvre.”
“So be it, Captain Pog,” replied Trimalcyon.
While the pirates, ambushed in that solitary bay, are preparing to surprise and attack the inhabitants of La Ciotat, we will return to Cape l’Aigle, where we left the watchman occupied in drawing up the defence of the coast.
