The Count of Nideck.

by Ralph Browning Fiske.

CHAPTER I.

THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE.

Towards Christmas time, in the year 1780, as I lay soundly sleeping in my room at the Swan Tavern, in Tubingen, old Gideon Sperver burst suddenly into my room, crying, "Gaston, my boy, I have come to take you back with me to the Castle! You know Nideck, twenty miles from here,--the estate of my master, the Count of Nideck!"

My failure to respond was perhaps due to the fact that I had not seen my worthy foster-father for twenty years, that in this time he had grown a full beard, and that now, in my half-aroused condition, he appeared before me thus, with a huge fur cap pulled down over his ears, and holding an ill-smelling lantern just under my nose.

"In the first place," I replied, "let's take up things in their proper order. Who are you?"

"Who am I?" repeated the good fellow, with such genuine surprise and distress in his tones that I felt a somewhat embarra.s.sing sense of ingrat.i.tude. "What! Don't you remember your foster-father, Gideon Sperver, the General's old ranger who saved your life as a child, in the swamp of the Losser?" And his voice became so husky that he stopped and cleared his throat.

"Ah, my dear Gideon, I know you now, indeed! Give me your hand!" We gripped each other's hands, and Sperver, pa.s.sing his sleeve across his eyes, continued, "You know Nideck?"

"Of course, by reputation. What are you doing there?"

"I am the Count's steward."

"And how did you happen to come hither?"

"The young Countess Odile sent me to fetch you."

"Very good. When are we to start?"

"At once. It is an urgent matter; the old Count is very ill, and his daughter begged me to lose no time. The horses are waiting for us below."

"But, my dear Gideon, just look at the weather; it has been snowing for three days!"

"Pshaw! We are not starting on a boar hunt. Put on your fur coat, fasten on your spurs, and we are off! Meanwhile, I will order a bite for you to eat."

He disappeared, and, as I never could refuse the chosen companion of my childhood anything from my youngest days, I hurriedly dressed myself, and lost no time in following him into the dining-room.

"Ah, I knew you would not let me go back alone!" he cried delightedly.

"Swallow down this slice of ham and drink a stirrup-cup, for the horses are growing impatient. I have strapped your valise to the saddle."

"What is that for?"

"You will be needed for some days at Nideck; that is indispensable. I will explain everything to you on the way."

We went down into the inn yard. At that moment two hors.e.m.e.n arrived.

They seemed exhausted, and their horses were white with lather.

Sperver, who was a great lover of horses, exclaimed in surprise, "What beautiful animals! They are Wallachians; fine and swift as deer. Come, make haste and throw a blanket over them, my lad," he continued, addressing the hostler, "or they may take cold!"

The travellers, enveloped in white astrakhan greatcoats, pa.s.sed close to us just as were putting foot in the stirrup. I could only distinguish the long brown moustache of one, and his dark eyes that were singularly bright. They entered the inn. The groom released our bridles and wished us a safe journey. We set off at a gallop.

Sperver rode a pure Mecklenberg, and I was mounted on a spirited horse of Ardennes; we fairly flew over the snow. In ten minutes we had left the outskirts of Tubingen behind us. It was beginning to clear up. All trace of our road had become obliterated by the considerable fall of snow. Our only companions were the ravens of the Black Forest, spreading their great hollow wings above the drifts, lighting for an instant here and there, and crying in discordant notes, "Misery! Misery! Misery!"

Gideon, buried in his coat of wild-cat skin and fur cap, galloped on ahead. Suddenly he turned in the saddle and called, "Hey, Gaston! This is what they call a fine winter's morning."

"So it is; but a bit severe."

"I like the clear cold weather; it makes you tingle. If old Parson Toby had the courage to start out in such weather, he would never feel his rheumatism again."

I smiled as well as my stiff cheeks would let me. After an hour of this furious pace Sperver slowed down and let me catch up with him. "Gaston,"

he said in a serious tone, "you ought to know the circ.u.mstances of the master's illness."

"I was just thinking of that."

"The more so, as a great number of doctors have already visited the Count."

"Indeed."

"Yes; they have come from Paris, Berlin, and even Switzerland, and have made a most careful study of their patient and employed all their skill, but to no purpose."

As no answer seemed called for, I remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"The Count's disease is a terrible affliction somewhat akin to madness.

It returns every year on the same day and at the same hour; his eyes grow red as fire, he shudders from head to foot, and he mutters incoherently."

"The man has undoubtedly become unbalanced through trouble and adversity."

"No! Not so! He possesses power and wealth and untold honors,--everything, in short, that other people most desire; but the most singular part of it is that he fancies if his daughter would only consent to marry, it would effect his cure; and she as strangely refuses even to entertain the idea, maintaining that she has consecrated her life to G.o.d. The Count cannot bear to think that the ancient race of Nideck must perish with her."

"How did his illness first declare itself?"

"Suddenly, twelve years ago."

As he spoke my companion seemed to be trying to recall something. "One evening," he began, after a moment, "I was alone with the Count in the armory of the Castle. It was about Christmas time. We had been hunting wild boar all day in the gorges of the Rhethal, and had returned at nightfall bringing with us two poor hounds ripped open the length of their bellies. It was just such weather as this, cold and snowy. The Count was striding up and down the room, his head upon his breast and his hands clasped behind his back, like a man who is deep in thought.

From time to time he paused, and looked at the high windows that were fast becoming veiled in snow, while I sat in the chimney-corner warming myself, thinking of my dogs, and silently cursing all the wild boar of the Black Forest. For fully two hours everybody in the Castle had been asleep, and there was no sound to break the silence, save the noise of the Count's heavy spurred boots on the flagstones. I distinctly recall how a raven, doubtless borne along by a gust of wind, came flapping against the panes with a discordant cry, and how the sheets of snow fell from the windows. The cas.e.m.e.nts on that side of the house were suddenly changed from white to black."

"Have these details any bearing on your master's illness?"

"Let me finish. You shall see for yourself. At the raven's cry, the Count suddenly halted; his eyes became fixed, his cheeks ashy pale, and he bent his head forward like a hunter who hears the game approaching. I went on warming myself, thinking meanwhile, 'Won't he go to bed soon?'

For, to tell the truth, I was dropping with fatigue. I can see it all, Gaston; I am sitting there now! Scarcely had the raven uttered its harsh croak above the abyss, when the old clock struck eleven. At the same moment the Count turned on his heel; he listened; his lips moved; I saw him totter like a drunken man. He stretched out his hands, his teeth tightly clenched, and his eyeb.a.l.l.s shining like fire. 'My lord,' I cried, 'what is the matter?' But he burst into mad laughter, stumbled, and fell upon the floor, face downwards. I called for help immediately; the servants hurried to the room. Sebalt and I raised the Count and moved him to the bed near the window; but just as I was about to cut my master's cravat with my hunting-knife,--for I believed it was a stroke of apoplexy,--the Countess Odile entered, and threw herself upon the body of her father, uttering such piteous cries that I tremble yet when I think of it. From that hour, Gaston, a pall has hung over the Castle, and Heaven only knows when it will be lifted. Every year, at the same day and hour, the Count is seized with these strange convulsions. The attacks last from a week to a fortnight, during which he howls and cries in a most terrifying manner. Then he slowly recovers. He is pale and weak, and moves about steadying himself on the chairs of his chamber, and turning fearfully to look, at the slightest sound, seemingly afraid of his own shadow. The young Countess, the sweetest creature in the world, never leaves him; but he cannot bear the sight of her at these times. 'Go! Go!' he cries, stretching out his arms before him. 'Leave me! Haven't I suffering enough as it is, without your hated presence?'

It is abominable to hear him, and I, who am always at his side in the chase, and would readily risk my life to serve him,--I could throttle him at these moments, when I witness his monstrous treatment of his own daughter!"

Sperver, whose swarthy face had a.s.sumed a gloomy look, set spurs to his horse, and we continued at a gallop. I had become thoughtful. The cure of such a malady seemed to me exceedingly doubtful, if not indeed impossible. It was evidently some moral disease. In order successfully to combat it, it would be necessary to trace it back to its origin, and this origin was doubtless lost in the vagueness of the past. These reflections tended to increase my apprehension. The old steward's story, far from inspiring me with confidence, had depressed me,--a doubtful state of affairs to insure success.

It was about three o'clock when we descried the ancient Castle of Nideck on the furthest horizon. In spite of the vast intervening distance, we could distinguish the high turrets suspended like baskets from the angles of the edifice. It was as yet but a mere outline, hardly distinguishable from the blue sky; almost imperceptibly the red granite peaks of the Vosges appeared. At that moment Sperver slowed up and cried, "Gaston, we must get there before night shuts in. Forward!"

But it was in vain that he plunged his spurs into his horse. The animal remained motionless, with his fore legs planted firmly before him, his mane bristling up with fear, and emitting two streams of bluish vapor from his nostrils.