MAURUS 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD 
 
1 Stay, Constable, I want to see what you put into that 
 fire pot open it" 
 
TOLD BY THE 
 DEATH'S HEAD 
 
 A ROMANTIC TALE 
 
 BY 
 
 MAURUS JOKAI 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 S. E. BOGGS 
 
 Translator of Prof. Haeckel's "India and Ceylon," Maurus Jokai's 
 "The Nameless Castle," etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 THE SAALF1ELD PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 CHICAGO AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK 
 
 1908 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1902, 
 
 BY 
 THE SAAI^FlEIyD PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 MADE BY 
 THE WERNER COMPANY 
 
 AKRON, OHIO 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In Part II, Vol. 2, of the Rhenish Antiquarius, I 
 once came across a skull that is said see page 612 
 to swing, enclosed in a metal casket, from an iron bar 
 in the foundry of Ehrenbreitstein fortress. Distinction 
 of this order does not fall to an ordinary mortal. Yon 
 empty shell of human wisdom once bore the burden 
 of no less than twenty-one mortal sins the seven 
 originalia trebled. Each crime is noted. The crimi- 
 nal confessed to the entire three-times-seven, and yet 
 the death sentence was not passed upon him because 
 of the twenty-one crimes. His fate was decided by the 
 transgression of a military regulation. 
 
 What if this skull could speak? What if it could 
 defend itself? relate, with all the grim humor of one 
 on the rack, the many pranks played the mad follies 
 committed, from the banks of the Weicfisel to the delta 
 of the Ganges ! 
 
 If my highly esteemed readers will promise to give 
 me their credulous attention, I will relate what was 
 told to me by the death's head. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 281672 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 By Charles Hope Provost 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "Stay, Constable, I want to see what you put into that 
 
 fire pot open it *' Frontispiece 
 
 w I took my lamp, descended to the crypt " 167 
 
 " I could read in her radiant countenance how overjoyed 
 she was to be with me again ; and I was enrap- 
 tured to clasp her once more in my arms " 252 
 
 ''* Thus I managed to propel my body slowly, painfully 
 
 toward the stable earth " 296 
 
PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE "FIRE-POT." 
 
 The hero of our romantic narrative, or better, narra- 
 tives, was a constable. Not one of that useful class 
 appointed, in our day, to direct the vehicles which pass 
 over the two approaches to the suspension-bridge in 
 Budapest; rather, he was the chief of a body whose 
 task it is to provoke disturbance, who win all the more 
 praise and glory the greater the havoc and destruction 
 they create. In a word : he was a gunner. 
 
 The chronicle of his exploits gives only his Christian 
 name, which was "Hugo." 
 
 In the year 1688, when the French beleaguered 
 Coblentz, Hugo had charge of the battery in the outer- 
 most tower of Ehrenbreitstein fortress the "Monta- 
 lembert Tower." 
 
 Coblentz and Ehrenbreitstein are opposite one 
 another on the banks of the Rhine, as are Pesth and 
 Ofen ; and the Blocksberg looks down on us, as does 
 the citadel of Ehrenbreitstein on Coblentz. 
 
 The city, which is strongly fortified on all sides, had 
 become accustomed to being beleaguered now by the 
 
 (5) 
 
6 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 French, now by the Prussians ; today by the Austrians, 
 tomorrow by the Swedes. 
 
 On the occasion of which I write, Coblentz was 
 under a terrible fire from the French guns, which 
 created great havoc in that portion of the city known 
 as the "Old Town." 
 
 Specially memorable and remarkable was the man- 
 ner in which the "fire-balls" seemed to know just 
 where to find the abodes of the duke, and the com- 
 mandant of the fortress. It mattered not how often 
 they changed their quarters, the Frenchmen would 
 always discover them, and aim accordingly though 
 it was impossible to see into the city from outside the 
 walls. There certainly must have been some witch- 
 craft at work. Hugo's Montalembert tower was on the 
 side of the fortress most exposed to the assaults of the 
 enemy ; its successful defense, therefore, was all the 
 more worthy of praise. 
 
 The management of ordnance in those days was not 
 the comparatively simple matter it is today, with the 
 Krupp and the Uchatius guns. It was a real science 
 to fetch from the furnace a white-hot cannon-ball, ram 
 it into the long, slender culverin, and if, after the dis- 
 charge, the ball remained sticking in the throat of the 
 gun, to remove it with the various forceps, nippers, 
 and tongs ; and, after every shot, to examine with a 
 curious implement resembling Mercury's caducens, 
 the interior of the culverin to learn whether the dis- 
 charge had caused a rupture anywhere. 
 
 However, it is not necessary to be a great genius in 
 order to master all the intricacies and technicalities of 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 7 
 
 a gunner's trade. An ordinary man might even learn, 
 after some practice, how to handle an "elephant ;" and, 
 if he were intrusted with the quadrant, he might also 
 manage to discharge the heavier bombs with satisfac- 
 tory result. It must be remembered, though, that a 
 gunner needs to possess considerable skill as well as 
 experience in order to hurl successfully against the 
 approaching foe a "fire-shield," which discharges 
 simultaneously from every one of its thirty-five holes 
 as many bullets; and the "storm-tub" requires even 
 more dexterity. This implement of warfare runs on 
 two wheels. The axles are spiked with keen-edged 
 knives, and the wheels are filled with gunpowder, 
 which ignites and explodes when the machine is set in 
 motion. If the powder ignites promptly in both 
 wheels at the same instant, the infernal thing dashes 
 like an infuriated bull into the ranks of the enemy, 
 burning the eyes of some, scorching the beards of 
 others, and hacking and slashing everything with 
 which its revolving knives come in contact. If the 
 powder in only one of the wheels explodes, the 
 machine spins around on the motionless wheel like a 
 top, and scatters an entire company; if the second 
 wheel explodes only half a second after the first, then 
 those who have the management of the demon will do 
 well to take to their heels with all speed possible. 
 
 It is not necessary to explain at length the advan- 
 tages of the chain-shot. Anyone will be able to under- 
 stand its operation if he will but remember that, when 
 two balls connected by a chain are discharged toward 
 the enemy, and one of the balls strikes a man, the other 
 
8 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 ball will, naturally, circle around the unfortunate until 
 the entire length of chain is wound tightly about him ; 
 the circling ball, meanwhile, will strike with various 
 results : the head, the nose, the ear, or some other por- 
 tion of the bodies of the soldiers within its radius. It is 
 greatly to be regretted that the use of the "handle-ball" 
 has been discontinued. This weapon was shaped very 
 much like two pot-ladles, bound together at the han- 
 dles by an iron ring. The man who chanced to be 
 caught between the two ladles might congratulate him- 
 self that he escaped with nothing worse than a chok- 
 ing ; while the two soldiers on his right and left, whose 
 heads had been caught in the bowls of the ladles, would 
 remember, to the end of their days, the peculiar and 
 disagreeable sensation experienced. There were two 
 more wonderful implements of warfare : one a German, 
 the other a French invention. The former, which was 
 an emanation from Hugo's brain, was called a "Bom- 
 benjungen-werfer."* It was a huge mortar, the central 
 cavity capable of holding a bomb of fifty pounds 
 weight; surrounding this cavity were eight smaller 
 bores, each holding a five-pound bomb. The same 
 charge hurled every one of the nine bombs in rapid 
 succession from the mortar ; and one can imagine the 
 astonishment of the Frenchman when, after hearing 
 but one report, the eight "babies" followed, one after 
 the other, the mother bomb. 
 
 This was a diversion Hugo prepared for the belea- 
 guerers, who in return invented an amusement for him. 
 
 *Anglice: "Hurler of baby-bombs." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 9 
 
 It was a "fire-pot," was shaped exactly like the earthen 
 water-jug the Hungarian reaper carries with him to 
 the harvest field to preserve his drinking-water fresh 
 and cool. The machine was made of iron, and filled 
 with a diabolical mixture. It had four spouts pre- 
 cisely like our water-jug from which the fire would 
 hiss and sputter ; it was intended to set fire to every- 
 thing combustible where it fell. 
 
 The Germans also had what are called "fire-balls," 
 which hiss and spit, and set fire to everything about 
 them ; and other bombs which explode the moment 
 they touch the earth. The French fire-pot, however, 
 combined these two properties: it set fire first, and 
 exploded afterward. 
 
 The beleaguered understood very well how to man- 
 age a fire-ball. Like Helene Zrinyi, the heroine who 
 defended the fortress of Munkacs, the Germans had 
 learned, so soon as a fire-ball fell inside the walls, to 
 cover it with a wet bullock's-hide, which would at once 
 smother the fire-spitting monster, and render it harm- 
 less. 
 
 But the fire-pot was not to be treated so summarily. 
 If the Germans attempted to smother the fire-demon, 
 to prevent the air from reaching his four noses, he 
 would burst, and woe to him who chanced to be in the. 
 way of the flying splinters ! He, at least, would have 
 no further desire to sport with a fire-pot. 
 
 It happened one day that a fire-pot, which had fallen 
 inside the fortress, did not explode after it had hissed 
 and spit out its fury. When it became cool enough it 
 was taken to Hugo. 
 
10 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "Now I shall find out what is inside this dangerous 
 missile," remarked the constable ; "then I'll make some 
 like it and send them to our friends over yonder." 
 
 Over the neck of the fire-pot was a sort of hat, 
 shaped like those covering the necks of the Hungarian 
 wooden bottles (esutora). This hat, of course, could 
 be removed. After this discovery Hugo invited the 
 commandant, the grand-duke, the governor and mayor 
 of the city, the syndic, and the duke's alchemist to be 
 present at the opening of the fire-pot. 
 
 Now each one of the invited said to himself: "It 
 will be enough if the others are there why should I 
 go? The infernal machine may explode when they 
 are opening it." 
 
 And so they all stopped bravely at home and Hugo 
 alone found out what was in the fire-pot. 
 
 After it was opened, and Hugo had convinced him- 
 self of the nature of the diabolical compound it con- 
 tained, he proceeded to cast several fire-pots like 
 the French one ; and, in the presence of the command- 
 ant and the grand-duke, shot them into the enemy's 
 camp. The two distinguished gentlemen, who were 
 peering through their telescopes, were highly delighted 
 when they saw the bombs, which' flew through the air 
 like dragons with tails of fire, reach the points at which 
 they had been aimed, ignite everything inflammable, 
 and afterward explode. Now and again it would hap- 
 pen that one of Hugo's fire-pots would fail to explode 
 in the Frenchmen's camp, just as theirs would some- 
 times fail to do what was expected of them. But Hugo 
 always collected the enemy's unexploded bombs, and, 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 11 
 
 after opening and refilling them with fresh explosives, 
 would hurl them back whence they came. 
 
 Oh, I tell you war was conducted in those good old 
 days on economical lines! 
 
 As late even as the year 1809 Napoleon had his men 
 collect 28,000 of the enemy's cannon-balls on the bat- 
 tle-field of Wagram, and shot them back at the Aus- 
 trians; and had the fight continued two days longer, 
 the opposing armies would have ricocheted the same 
 balls back and forth so long as the cannonading made 
 it necessary. 
 
 The grand-duke, as was proper, rewarded the con- 
 stable for his discovery by an increase of pay from 
 sixteen to twenty thalers a month ; and in addition 
 made him*a present of a barrel of strong beer, which 
 gave offence to the commandant, who was obliged to 
 quench his thirst with a weaker brew. 
 
 Hugo had many enviers, but none of them ventured 
 to pick a quarrel with him. He had the frame of an 
 athlete; his face, with its luxuriant red-beard, resem- 
 bled that of a lion. He was always in a good humor ; 
 no one had ever seen Hugo angry, embarrassed, or 
 frightened. There were no traces of trouble and 
 grief on his countenance. He was perhaps forty years 
 of age, was somewhat disfigured by small-pox pits, but 
 wherever there was a pretty girl or woman to be won, 
 Hugo was sure to attract her. He was fond of good 
 living liked everything to be of the best, consequently 
 his money never remained long in his pockets. 
 
 The constable's epicurean tastes irritated the mayor, 
 who, as chief of the city militia, outranked the artiller- 
 
12 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 ist. But Hugo managed on all occasions to out-do his 
 superior officer. Rieke, the trim little suttler-wife, 
 would slap the militia captain's fingers if he ventured 
 to give her a chin-chuck, but a hearty hug from the 
 smiling constable never met with a repulse. In con- 
 sequence of the siege prices for the necessaries, as well 
 as for the luxuries of life, had become exorbitant in 
 both cities. Three thalers was the unheard-of price 
 asked; at market for a fat goose. The mayor's wife 
 haggled for a long time about the price without suc- 
 cess, when along came pretty Rieke. 
 
 "How much for your goose?" she asked. 
 
 "Three thalers." 
 
 "I'll take it." 
 
 She paid the money and marched away with the 
 goose. 
 
 By some means the mayor learned that Hugo had a 
 baked fat goose for his dinner. 
 
 "Look here, constable," he said next day to the 
 artillerist, "how comes it that you can afford to feast on 
 fat goose while I, the mayor, and your superior officer, 
 must content myself with lean herring, cheese and 
 bread? Your pay is only twenty thalers a month; 
 mine is three florins a day. Pray tell me how you 
 manage it?" 
 
 To which Hugo made answer : 
 
 "Well, mayor, if I wanted to deceive you, I should 
 say that the money for all the good things I enjoy does 
 not come from my pocket ; that Rieke, who is infatua- 
 ted with me (how I managed that part of the business 
 I shouldn't tell you), supplies me with whatever I want. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 13 
 
 But I'll be honest with you and tell you the truth but 
 pray don't betray my secret, for I don't want to have 
 anything to do with the priests. What I tell you is in 
 strictest confidence and must not go any farther: I 
 have a magic thaler, one of those coins, vulgarly called 
 a 'breeding-penny,' that always returns to my pocket 
 no matter how often I may spend it " 
 
 "You don't say so ! And how came you by such a 
 coin, constable?" 
 
 "I'll tell you that, too, mayor, only be careful not to 
 let the Capuchins hear of it. I got the thaler in the 
 Hochstatt marshes, from a bocksritter "* 
 
 "I hope you didn't bond your soul to him for it?" 
 interrupted the mayor. 
 
 "Not I. I outwitted the devil by giving the ritter 
 an ignorant Jew lad in my stead." 
 
 "You must keep that transaction a secret," cautioned 
 the mayor ; then he hastened to repeat what he had 
 heard to the grand-duke. 
 
 "Would to heaven every thaler I possess were a 
 breeding-penny !" exclaimed the high-born gentleman. 
 "It would make the carrying on a war an easy matter/ 
 
 From the day it became known that Constable Hugo 
 possessed that never-failing treasure, a magic coin, and 
 was in league with the all-powerful bocksritter, he rose 
 in the esteem of his fellows. 
 
 Meanwhile Ehrenbreitstein and Coblentz continued 
 under bombardment from the Frenchmen. The 
 enemy's fire-pots never failed to find the grand-duke's 
 
 'Satyr. 
 
14 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 quarters, notwithstanding the fact that he changed 
 them every day. This at last became so annoying that 
 treason began to be suspected, and the duke offered a 
 reward for the detection of the spy who gave the infor- 
 mation to the enemy. That a spy was at work in the 
 German camp was beyond question, though the outlets 
 of both cities were so closely guarded that it would have 
 been impossible for a living mortal to pass through 
 them. Nor could the treason have been committed by 
 means of carrier-pigeons, for, whatever of domestic 
 fowl-kind had been in the cities had long since been 
 devoured by the hungry citizens. The mayor, ever on 
 the alert for transgressors, had his suspicions as to who 
 might be the spy. Every man but one in the be- 
 leaguered cities fasted, lamented, prayed, cursed, wept, 
 as the case might be, save this one man, who remained 
 constantly cheerful, smiling, well-fed. 
 
 When one of the Frenchmen's fiery monsters came 
 hissing and spitting into the fortress this one man, 
 instead of taking to his heels and seeking the shelter 
 of a cellar, as did the rest of his comrades, would coolly 
 wait until the fire-pot fell to the ground, and, if it failed 
 to burst he would dig it out of the earth into which it 
 had bored itself and carry it to the foundry. 
 
 Surely this was more than foolhardiness ! 
 
 The constable always opened the enemy's unex- 
 ploded fire-pots in his subterranean work-room; re- 
 filled them there, then hurled them back without delay. 
 There was something more than amusement behind 
 this. 
 
 One day, when Hugo came up from his subterra- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 15 
 
 nean workroom, he encountered the mayor, who said 
 to him : 
 
 "Stay, constable, I want to see what you put into 
 that fire-pot open it." 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation Hugo unscrewed the 
 lid and revealed the explosives wrapped in coarse 
 linen ; at the same time he explained how much gun- 
 powder, hazel-wood charcoal, sulphur, resin, pitch, sal- 
 ammoniac, borax and acetate of lead were necessary to 
 make up the amount of- unquenchable fire required for 
 the bomb. 
 
 "Very good," quoth the city functionary, "but what 
 beside these is there in the bottom of the pot?" 
 
 "Under this earthen plate, your honor, is more gun- 
 powder. When the explosives on top are burnt out 
 this plate, which has become red-hot, explodes the 
 powder and bursts the bomb that is the whole secret 
 of the infernal machine." 
 
 "I should like to see what is under the earthen 
 plate." 
 
 As the mayor spoke these words the constable gave 
 a sudden glance over his shoulder. In the glance was 
 expressed all the temerity of the adventurer, mingled 
 with rage, determination and alarm. But only for an 
 instant. The mayor's bailiffs surrounded him, closing 
 every avenue of escape. Then he burst into a loud 
 laugh, shrugged his shoulders, and said : 
 
 "Very well, your honor, see for yourself what is 
 under the earthen plate." 
 
 The mayor forced open with the blade of his pocket- 
 knife the earthen plate. There was no powder in the 
 
16 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 bottom of the bomb, only some ordinary sand ; but in 
 it was concealed a folded paper that contained a minute 
 description of the situation in the German camp. 
 
 "Bind him in chains !" exclaimed the mayor in a 
 triumphant voice. "At last we have the proofs of your 
 treachery, knave! I'll give you a pretty Rieke! I'll 
 serve up a fat goose for you !" 
 
 Hugo continued to laugh while the bailiffs were 
 placing the fetters on his hands and feet. 
 
 As if to complete the evidence against him, there 
 came hissing at that moment a fire-pot from the 
 French camp. When it was opened and the earthen 
 plate removed it was found to contain two hundred 
 Albert thalers ! 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 The hand with the two lines under it signifies, in 
 the court records (for the sake of brevity), that at 
 this point in the trial, the chief of the tribunal gave the 
 signal to the executioner for another turn of the wheel. 
 When this had been done, the notary would take down 
 the confession until the prisoner on the rack would cry 
 out: 
 
 "Have mercy ! compassion !" 
 
 The prince was seated at a separate table, on a black- 
 draped throne-like arm-chair with a canopy. 
 
 The mayor occupied the inquisitor's chair. 
 
 First question addressed to the accused : 
 
 "What is your name?" 
 
 "My name, in Podolia, is 'Jaroslav Tergusko;' in 
 Zbarasz it is 'Zdenko Kohaninsky;' in Odessa it is 
 'Prater Hilarius ;' in Hamburg, 'Elias Junker ;' in 
 Minister it is 'William Stramm ;' in Amsterdam, 'Myn- 
 heer Tobias van der Bullen ;' in Singapore, 'Maharajah 
 Kong;' on the high seas, 'Captain Rouge;' in The 
 Hague, it is 'Ritter Malchus ;' in Lille, 'Chevalier de 
 
 (17) 
 
18 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Mont Olympe ;' in Pfalz, 'Doctor Sarepta ;' here, I am 
 called 'Hugo von Habernik.' 
 
 "Have you any more names?" inquired the chair. 
 
 At this question everybody began to laugh the 
 prince, the judges, the prisoner, even the skull on the 
 table. The chair alone remained grim and dignified. 
 
 "I can't remember any more of my names," was the 
 prisoner's reply. 
 
 SECOND QUESTION: 
 
 "What is your religion?" 
 
 "I was born an Augsburg Confession heretic. When 
 I went to Cracow I became a Socinian ; in the Ukraine 
 I joined the Greek church; afterward I became an 
 orthodox Catholic ; later, a Rosicrucian ; then a Qua- 
 ker. I have also professed the faith of Brahma; and 
 once I was a member of the community of Atheists 
 and devil-worshipping Manichees, called also Cain- 
 ists." - 
 
 "A fine array, truly!" commented the chair, as the 
 notary entered the list in the register. 
 
 THIRD QUESTION: 
 
 "What is your occupation, prisoner?" 
 
 "I have been ensign ; prisoner ; slave ; robber-chief ; 
 parasite ; ducal grand-steward ; mendicant friar ; 
 recruiting sergeant ; sacristan ; knight ; shell-fish 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 19 
 
 dealer;' stock-jobber; ship-captain; viceroy; pirate; 
 teacher; knacker's assistant; conjuror; bocksritter; 
 hangman; pikeman; quack-doctor; prophet; consta- 
 ble" 
 
 "Stop! Stop!" interrupted the chair. "The notary 
 cannot keep up with you." 
 
 Again the court-room resounded with laughter ; the 
 prisoner on the rack, as well as the skull on the table, 
 again joined in the merriment. Everybody seemed in 
 a good humor that is, everybody but the mayor. He 
 alone was grave. 
 
 After the signal to the executioner the fourth ques- 
 tion followed: 
 
 "Of what crimes are you guilty?" 
 
 (For the purpose of greater perspicuity the chair 
 dictated to the recording secretary the Latin nomen- 
 clature of the crimes confessed.) 
 
 Prisoners : "I was a member of a band of robbers 
 and incendiaries." 
 
 "Primo, latrocinium" dictated the chair. 
 
 Prisoner: "I won the affections of my benefactor's 
 wife." 
 
 Chair : "Secundo , adulterium. ' ' 
 
 Prisoner: "I robbed a church." 
 
 Chair: "Tertio, sacrilegium" 
 
 Prisoner: "I masqueraded as a nobleman under a 
 false name." 
 
 Chair : " Quarto , larvatus. ' ' 
 
 Prisoner : "I committed a forgery." 
 
 Chair: "Quinto, falsorium." 
 
 Prisoner : "I killed my friend in a duel." 
 
20 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Ohair: "Sexto, homicidium ex duello" 
 
 Prisoner: "I cheated my partners in business." 
 
 Chair: "Septimo, stellionatus " 
 
 Prisoner : "I betrayed state secrets confided to me." 
 
 Chair: "Octavo, felonia." 
 
 Prisoner: "I used for my own purpose money be- 
 longing to others." 
 
 Chair: "Nono, barattaria" 
 
 Prisoner : "I worshipped idols." 
 
 Chair: "Decimo, idololatria." 
 
 Prisoner: "I married a second wife while the first 
 was still living." 
 
 Chair : ' * Undecimo , bigamia. ' ' 
 
 Prisoner: "I also took a third, fourth, fifth and 
 sixth wife." 
 
 Chair: "Eodem numero trigamia, polygamia." 
 
 Prisoner: "I murdered a king." 
 
 Chair : ' ' Decimo secundo , regicidium . ' ' 
 
 Prisoner : "I have been a pirate." 
 
 Chair : "Decimo tertia, pirateria" 
 
 Prisoner : "I killed my first wife." 
 
 Ohair : * ' Decimo quarto , uxoricidium . " 
 
 Prisoner : "I practiced conjuring." 
 
 Chair: "Decimo quinto, sorcellaria" 
 
 Prisoner: "I have been in league with Satan." 
 
 Chair: "Decimo sexto, pactum diabolicum impli- 
 citum. 
 
 Prisoner : "I have coined base money." 
 
 Chair: "Decimo septimo, adulterator monetariurn" 
 
 Prisoner: "I preached a new faith." 
 
 Chair : "Decimo octavo , h&resis schisma . ' ' 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 21 
 
 Prisoner : "I have been a quack doctor." 
 
 Chair: "Decimo nono, veneficus." 
 
 Prisoner: "I betrayed a fortress intrusted to my 
 guardianship." 
 
 Chair: "Vigesimo, crimen traditorum." 
 
 Prisoner: "I have eaten human flesh." 
 
 Chair: "Vigesimo primo, anthropophagia. Can- 
 nibalismus!" cried the mayor in a loud tone, bringing 
 his fist with considerable force down on the pandects 
 lying before him on the table. The perspiration was 
 rolling in great beads over his forehead. 
 
 The prisoner on the rack laughed heartily ; but this 
 time no one laughed with him. The executioner had 
 mistaken the chief's wink for a signal to turn the 
 wheel, which he did, and the sound which came from 
 the victim's throat was a strange mixture of merriment 
 and agony as if he were being tickled and strangled 
 at the same moment. 
 
 W'hat the chief's dictation was really intended to 
 signify was that the proceedings were concluded for 
 the day ; that the accused should be released from the 
 rack and taken back to his dungeon. 
 
 It was a most unusual case unique in the annals of 
 the criminal court. Never before had a prisoner 
 acknowledged himself guilty of, or accessory to, so 
 many crimes. It was the first time such a combination 
 of misdemeanors had come before the tribunal. The 
 accused would certainly have to be tried without 
 mercy; no extenuating circumstances would be 
 allowed to interfere with justice. 
 
 The prince was extremely interested in the case. 
 
22 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 He was curious to learn the coherence between the 
 individual transgressions, in what manner one led to 
 the other, and gave orders that the trial should not be 
 resumed the next day until he should arrive in court. 
 
 The prisoner had cause for laughter. Before his 
 confession reached its conclusion, before he could 
 relate the history of his one-and-twenty crimes, the 
 Frenchmen would capture Coblentz and release him 
 from imprisonment and death. 
 
 But one may laugh too soon ! 
 
 What was to be done with this fellow? 
 
 That the death penalty was his just desert was un- 
 questionable ; but in what manner should it be 
 imposed? Had he confessed only the crime for which 
 he was now under arrest treason the matter might 
 be settled easily enough : he would be shot in the back. 
 But with so many transgressions to< complicate the 
 matter it was going to be difficult exceedingly to pro- 
 nounce judgment. 
 
 For instance : the wheel is the punishment for rob- 
 bery; the polygamist must be divided into as many 
 portions as he has wives; the regicide must be torn 
 asunder by four horses. But how are you going to 
 carry out the last penalty if the accused has already 
 been carved into six portions? Also, it is decreed that 
 the right hand of a forger be cut off ; the servitor of 
 Satan must suffer death by fire. But if the accused 
 has been consumed by flames, how will it be possible 
 to bray him to pulp in a mortar for having committed 
 uxoricide? or, how carry out the commands of the law 
 
TOLD BY 7 HE DEATH'S HEAD. 23 
 
 which prescribes death by starvation for the wretch 
 who is guilty of cannibalism? 
 
 After much deliberation the prince, with the wisdom 
 of a Solomon, decided as follows : 
 
 "The prisoner, who is arraigned at the bar for trea- 
 son, having confessed to twenty-one other trans- 
 gressions, shall relate to the court a detailed account 
 of each individual crime, after which he shall be sen- 
 tenced according to the crime or crimes found by the 
 judges to be the most heinous." 
 
 This decision was perfectly satisfactory to the 
 mayor ; and the judges gave it as their opinion that, as 
 the accused would require all his strength for so pro- 
 longed an examination, it would be advisable to sub- 
 stitute the torture by water for that of the rack, as was 
 first decided. 
 
 "No! no!" objected the prince. "The man who is 
 forced to drink nothing but water is not in the mood 
 to relate adventures (I know that by experience!) 
 Let the prisoner be subjected to mental torture. Sen- 
 tence him at once to death, and when he is not before 
 the tribunal let him be shut up in the death-cell. The 
 hours spent in that gloomy hole are a torture sufficient 
 to bring any criminal, however hardened he may have 
 become, to repentance. Besides, it will be a saving of 
 expense to the city. The curious citizens, who like to 
 gape at a condemned prisoner, will, out of compassion, 
 supply this one also with food and drink. When he 
 has eaten and drunk his fill, we will have him brought 
 to the court-room. The man who has had all he wants 
 to eat and drink is talkative !" 
 
24 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The judges concurred with his highness; but the 
 mayor growled in a dissatisfied tone : 
 
 "This knave, who confesses to having committed 
 twenty-one crimes in addition to the treachery in which 
 we detected him, will, by the decision of his highness, 
 fare better than his judges, who have learned during 
 the siege what it is to hunger and thirst." 
 
 To which the syndic responded consolingly : 
 
 "Never mind, god-father ! Let the poor wretch gor- 
 mandize between the rack and the gallows. Remem- 
 ber the old saw : 'Today, I tomorrow, you/ >: 
 
PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 WITH THE ROBBERS THE PRSJAKA CAVES. 
 
 I was ensign in a regiment under command of 
 General Melchior Hatzfeld of the imperial forces. 
 (Thus Hugo began his confession the next day when 
 he had been brought to the court-room from the death- 
 cell.) My conduct at that time was exemplary; I 
 acquired so much skill in handling fire-arms that, at 
 the siege of Cracow, I was advanced to the position of 
 chief gunner of a battery. 
 
 Cracow at that time was in the hands of George 
 Rakoczy, prince of Transylvania, who had leagued 
 with Sweden to subdue Poland; and he would most 
 likely have succeeded had not the imperial army come 
 to the assistance of the Poles. 
 
 I shall not dwell long on the siege of Cracow lest I 
 awake in the minds of the honorable gentlemen of the 
 court a suspicion that, by relating incidents not imme- 
 diately connected with my transgressions, I am pur- 
 posely prolonging my recital. I shall therefore speak 
 only of those occurrences which it will be necessary to 
 mention in order to explain why I committed the 
 crimes of which I am guilty. While with the army 
 
 (25) 
 
26 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 before Cracow I made the acquaintance of the daughter 
 of a Polish noble. The young lady, who took a great 
 fancy to me I wasn't a bad-looking youth in those 
 days, your honors was a charming creature of sixteen 
 years, with the most beautiful black eyes. If I remem- 
 ber rightly her name was Marinka. She taught me 
 how to speak her language and something else, too : 
 how to love the fatal passion which has all my life 
 been the cause of much of my trouble. 
 
 During the siege my general frequently sent me to 
 reconnoiter among the Hungarian camps; and -as I 
 was a fearless youth, I would venture to the very gates 
 of the manor-houses in the neighborhood of Cracow. 
 At one of these houses I met my sweetheart ; and after 
 that, you may guess, honored sirs, that it was not for 
 the general's "yellow boys" alone I risked my neck 
 night after night. No, my little Marinka's spark- 
 ling eyes were as alluring as the gold pieces ; and I 
 knew when I set out on my nightly tour that my sweet- 
 heart would be waiting for me at the gates of her 
 father's place. But our secret meetings were at last 
 discovered. There was an old witch of a housekeeper 
 who ferreted out her young mistress' secret, and in- 
 formed the old noble. One moonlight night Marinka 
 was teaching me in her own little cozy chamber how to 
 say : "Kocham pana z calego zersa" which is "Mistress, 
 I love you with my whole heart," when we heard her 
 father's heavy footsteps ascending the staircase. I 
 tell you I was frightened and said to myself, "This is 
 the end of you, my lad !" but Marinka whispered in my 
 ear; 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 27 
 
 "Nebojsa! (don't be afraid), go into the corridor, 
 walk boldly toward my father, and to whatever he may 
 say to you, do you reply 'God is One/ ' 
 
 Then she softly opened the door, pushed me into 
 the corridor, closed and locked the door behind me. 
 The old gentleman was coming up the stairs very 
 slowly because of a lame leg which he had to drag after 
 him step by step. He had a square red face which I 
 could see only indistinctly above the burning lunt he 
 carried in one hand, blowing it continually to prevent 
 it from going out. In the other hand he held a mus- 
 ket. The blazing lunt must have blinded him, for he 
 did not see me until the muzzle of the musket came in 
 contact with my breast. Then he stopped and cried 
 in a stern voice: 
 
 "Ktotam? Stoj! (Who are you? Stand!) 
 
 "God is One," I made answer. What else could I 
 have said? The old gentleman's aggressive mien 
 changed at once. He became quite friendly; he 
 extinguished the lunt by stamping on it with his foot, 
 tapped my shoulder in a confidential manner and called 
 me little brother. Then taking me by the arm he led 
 me down the stairs to a room where a huge fire was 
 blazing on the hearth. Here he bade me seat myself 
 on a settee covered with a bear skin and placed before 
 me an English flagon of spirits. After he had arranged 
 everything for my comfort he fetched from a secret 
 cupboard a small book it was so small I could have 
 hidden it in the leg of my boot and began to read to 
 me all manner of heretical phrases such as "There is 
 no need for a Holy Trinity, because the little which is 
 
28 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 done on earth in the name of God can easily be done 
 by One alone." 
 
 My hair stood on end as I listened to the sinful 
 words and I found what a trap I had fallen into. My 
 Marinka's father was a Socinian, a leader of the here- 
 tical sect, and he was trying to make a proselyte of me. 
 
 The doctrines of Blandrata had spread extensively 
 throughout Poland, but, owing to the persecution of its 
 adherents, they could meet and work only in secret. 
 The old noble's manor was one of their retreats, where 
 recent converts were received for instruction. When 
 the old gentleman believed he had enlightened me 
 sufficiently he produced a heavy volume, bade me lay 
 my right hand on it and repeat after him the vows of 
 the society. 
 
 You may believe I was in a dilemma ! 
 
 If I refused to repeat the vows I should have to 
 confess that I had come to the manor for Marinka's 
 sake, then the old noble would fetch his musket and 
 send me straightway to paradise. If, on the ther 
 hand, I repeated the vows, then I was sure to journey 
 to hades. Which was I to choose? 
 
 Should I elect to travel by extra-post, direct, with- 
 out stopping, into the kingdom of heaven, or should 
 I journey leisurely by a circuitous route, with frequent 
 halts, to hades? 
 
 I was a mere lad ; I was sorry for my pretty curly 
 head I chose the latter alternative ! 
 
 From that time I became a daily visitor in the 
 retreat of the followers of Socinus. Being a neophyte 
 I was permitted to take part in their meetings only 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 29 
 
 during the singing ; when the sermon began I was sent 
 to the gates to guard against a surprise. This was a 
 welcome duty ; for, once outside the house, all thought 
 of taking up my station at the gates would leave me 
 and, instead, I would climb the tree which grew close 
 to my Marinka's window, swing myself by a branch 
 into her room, in which she was kept a prisoner by her 
 father to prevent our meeting; and there, while the 
 sages below-stairs expounded the dogma of the unity 
 of God, we two ignorant young people demonstrated 
 how two human hearts can become as one. 
 
 One day our little community received an unex- 
 pected addition to its membership. There arrived 
 from Cracow a troop of Hungarian soldiers who an- 
 nounced themselves as followers of Socinus. They 
 received a hospitable welcome from the old noble, 
 whom they overwhelmed with joy by telling him the 
 prince of Transylvania had become an adherent of 
 Socinus ; that his highness had averred that, were he 
 the King of Poland, all persecution pf the heretics 
 should cease at once and that some of the churches 
 should be given over to them for their worship. 
 
 When I repeated this piece of news to my general 
 he became so excited he sprang from his seat his 
 head almost struck the roof of the tent -and shouted : 
 "It is perfectly outrageous how those Hungarians will 
 stoop to base methods in order to win allies ! If they 
 succeed in inveigling the Polish Socinians to their 
 ranks then we may as well stop trying to get them out 
 of Poland !" 
 
 Fortunately, however, there arose dissensions 
 
SO TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 between the Hungarian and the Polish adherents of 
 Socinus. I must mention here, in order to explain 
 how I became cognizant of the facts I am about to 
 relate, that Marinka's father had begun to suspect me. 
 Instead of sending me to stand guard at the gates 
 when the sermon began, I was permitted to hear it and 
 take part in the disputations. 
 
 The Hungarian troopers maintained that it was 
 the duty of all pious Socinians to commemorate, at 
 every one of tEeir meetings, the death of the Savior by 
 drinking wine ; and they were so extremely devout that 
 an entire quarter-cask of their host's best Tokay was 
 emptied at every celebration. , After the meetings, 
 when the old noble would lift and shake the empty 
 wine-cask, I could read in his countenance signs that 
 heterodoxy was gradually taking root in him. At first 
 he contented himself with remonstrating against the 
 frequency of the celebration ; surely it ought to satisfy 
 the most devout member of the sect to observe the 
 ceremony on Sundays, and holy days. But the troop- 
 ers met his arguments with scriptural authority for 
 their practices. 
 
 Then the old gentleman, finding his remonstrances 
 of no avail, made an assault upon the dogma itself. 
 He delivered an impassioned address in which he 
 sought to disprove the divinity of Jesus. To this blas- 
 phemous assertion the Magyars made reply : 
 
 "If what you say be true, then He was the son of 
 an honest man, and a good man Himself. Therefore, 
 it is meet and right for us to show Him all honor and 
 respect." And another quarter-cask was brought from 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 31 
 
 the cellar. The old noble became daily more fanatical 
 in his assaults upon the tenets to which he had so 
 devoutly adhered before the accession to his little con- 
 gregation of the Hungarian troopers ; and, at last 
 declared that Jesus was a Jew ; that He deserved to be 
 put to death, because He had promulgated the unjust 
 law of taxation. But not even this fearful blasphemy 
 deterred the Hungarians from their frequent celebra- 
 tions. They said : 
 
 "If the Nazarene is so unworthy, then it is our plain 
 duty to shed His blood, the symbol of which is wine " 
 
 "Tremendously clever fellows, those Magyars!" 
 here interrupted the prince. 
 
 "They were impious devils!" exclaimed the mayor 
 reprovingly. "Impious devils !" 
 
 "Habet rectum" responded his highness. Then to 
 the prisoner : "Continue, my son." 
 
 Hugo resumed his confession : 
 
 When the last cask was brought from the cellar the 
 old noble declared to his congregation that the entire 
 story of the Divine birth was a myth invented by the 
 priests 
 
 "And you took part in those blasphemous meet- 
 ings?" sternly interrupted the mayor. 
 
 No, indeed, your honor! That is a crime of which 
 I am guiltless. I never said one word ; and escaped 
 from the meetings whenever I could manage to do so. 
 I had determined to flee with Marinka from the sinful 
 community. Our plan was: I was to steal from the 
 meeting on a certain night, assist my pretty Marinka 
 to descend from her room by means of the tree outside 
 
32 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 her window and then set fire to the sheep-stables. The 
 conflagration would scatter the blasphemers; every- 
 body would run to the stables to release the horses, 
 and in the general confusion Marinka would hastily 
 secure as many of the family jewels as could be packed 
 into a portmanteau. Then she and I would mount 
 two of the freed horses and gallop straightway to my 
 camp, where I would introduce her as my wife 
 
 "A pious idea, certainly," commented the prince. 
 
 "How can your highness say so !" in a tone of re- 
 proof, exclaimed the mayor. "It was incendiarism 
 pure and simple : Incendarii ambitiosi comburantur; 
 and further: raptus decent juvencis puniatur, and 
 rapina palu affigatur." 
 
 "Very well, then," assented his highness. "My son, 
 for the incendiarism you shall be burned at the stake ; 
 for the rape of the maid you shall pay a fine of ten 
 calves; for the theft of the jewels, the punishment is 
 impalement. Continue." 
 
 Unfortunately, resumed the prisoner, our plans 
 miscarried, .through the intermeddling of the old 
 housekeeper I spoke of. Her suspicions had been 
 aroused by Marinka's preparations for flight; she in- 
 formed the old noble, who set spies to watch me. I 
 was caught in the act of firing the stables and was 
 flogged with hazel rods until I confessed that I was a 
 spy from the enemy's camp. The old noble wanted 
 to bind me to the well-sweep; but one of the Hun- 
 garian troopers took compassion on me and offered 
 to buy me for sixteen Polish groschen. His offer was 
 accepted ; I was sold to him and taken to Cracow. I 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 33 
 
 should not have had such a hard time as a slave had I 
 not been compelled to grind all the pepper used in the 
 Hungarian army. I ground enormous quantities, for 
 the Magyars like all t'heir food strongly seasoned with 
 the condiment. My eyes were red constantly; my 
 nose was swollen to the size of a cucumber. The only 
 other complaint I had to make was that my master 
 compelled me to eat everything that was set before me. 
 He would say, when he placed before me enough for 
 three men: 
 
 "You shall not be able to say that you hungered 
 while you were my slave." 
 
 When I had eaten until I could not swallow another 
 morsel, my master would seize me by the shoulders, 
 shake me as one shakes a full bag in order to get more 
 into it, and he would repeat the operation until the 
 contents of every dish had been emptied into me. I 
 used to sicken at the approach of meal-times, and 
 whenever I saw the huge spoon twice the size of my 
 mouth with which the food was ladled into me. 
 Your honors will hardly believe that there is no greater 
 torture than to be stuffed with food 
 
 "We have never tried that method," remarked the 
 prince. 
 
 "Nor are we likely to test it very soon," supple- 
 mented the mayor, with a grim expression on his coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 I yearned to be released from my unpleasant situa- 
 tion, resumed the prisoner. For the first time I 
 realized the enormity of the transgression I had com- 
 mitted in joining the Socinian Community. Now I 
 
34 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 had no one to intercede for me with the Supreme Ruler 
 of the earth. Had I become a Mussulman I should 
 have had Mohammed ; had I adopted the Jewish faith 
 I should have been able to call to my aid Abraham, or 
 some one of the other fathers in Israel. But I had no 
 one. However, my desire to be released from the tor- 
 tures of food-stuffing and pepper-grinding was at last 
 fulfilled ; I was captured, together with the entire Hun- 
 garian army, by the Tartars 
 
 "Hold ! hold !" interrupted the chair. "You must not 
 tell untruths. You forget that you were in Poland. 
 The Tartars could not have fallen from the sky." 
 
 I was about to explain how they came to be at 
 Cracow when your honor interrupted me. It was this 
 way: His Majesty, the Sultan of Turkey, who had 
 become angry because his vassal, George Rakoczy, 
 prince of Transylvania, had presumed to aspire to the 
 crown of Poland, had commanded the khan of Crim- 
 Tartary to attack the Hungarians with 100,000 cavalry. 
 The khan obeyed. He devastated Transylvania in his 
 march, surrounded the Hungarian army in Poland and 
 captured every man jack of them 
 
 "The explanation is satisfactory," enunciated the 
 prince. "It was easy enough for the Tartars to appear 
 at Cracow." 
 
 Yes, your highness ; but I wish they hadn't, con- 
 tinued the accused. No one regretted it more bitterly 
 than did I. After the capture of the Transylvanian 
 army by the Tartars the victors divided the spoils as 
 follows : The commanding officers took possession of 
 all the valuables ; the under-officers took the prisoners' 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 35 
 
 horses ; the captives themselves were sold to the com- 
 mon soldiers, each of whom bought as many slaves as 
 he had money to spare. 
 
 My former master was sold for five groschen; my 
 broad shoulders brought a higher price nine gros- 
 chen. The same Tartar an ugly, filthy little rascal 
 for whom I would not have paid two groschen 
 bought my master and me. 
 
 The first thing our Tartar master did was to strip us 
 of our good clothes and put on us his own rags. He 
 couldn't talk to us, as we did not understand his lan- 
 guage; but he managed in a very clever manner to 
 convey his meaning to us. He examined the material 
 of which our shirts were made the Hungarian's was 
 of fine, mine of coarse homespun linen, and concluded 
 that one of us was a man of means the other a poor 
 devil. 
 
 Then he took from his purse a gold coin, held it in 
 his open palm toward the Hungarian, while with the 
 other hand he hung a rope of horse-hair around his 
 captive's neck. Then he closed his fingers over the 
 coin, opened them again, at the same time drawing 
 the rope more tightly about the captive's neck. 
 
 This pantomime signified: "How many coins like 
 this gold one will your friends pay to ransom you?" 
 
 The Hungarian closed and opened his fist ten times 
 to indicate "one hundred." 
 
 The Tartar brought his teeth together, which was 
 meant to say, "not enough." 
 
 Then the Hungarian indicated as before, "two hun- 
 dred/' whereupon the Tartar placed the end of the rope 
 
36 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 in the captive's hand he was satisfied with the ran- 
 som. Then came my turn. How much ransom 
 would be paid for me? I shook my head to indicate 
 "nothing ;" but in Tartary, to shake one's head means 
 consent. The little fellow smiled, and wanted to know 
 "how much?" 
 
 Not knowing how else to express my meaning, I 
 spat in his palm, which he understood. He put the 
 gold coin back into his purse, took out a silver one and 
 held it toward me. I treated it as I had the gold coin. 
 Then he produced a copper coin ; but I indicated with 
 such emphasis that not even so small a sum would be 
 paid for me that he raised his whip and gave me a 
 sound cut over the shoulders. The Tartars then set out 
 on their return to Tartary. My former master and I 
 were bound together and driven on foot in front of our 
 owner. 
 
 How forcibly my sainted grandmother's words, 
 "He that reviles his Savior will be turned into an ass," 
 came home to me when I was given dried beans to 
 eat the sort we feed to asses at home. Dried beans 
 every meal, and my Tartar master did not think it nec- 
 essary to stuff into me what I could not eat. What 
 were left at one meal were served up again the next. 
 Still more forcibly were my grandam's words im- 
 pressed on my mind when, the fifth day of our journey, 
 I became a veritable beast of burden. My Hungarian 
 yoke-fellow declared his feet were so sore he could go 
 no farther. His was certainly a weighty body to drag 
 over the rough roads, especially as he had never been 
 accustomed to travel on foot per pedes apostolorum. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 37 
 
 The little Tartar became alarmed ; he feared he might 
 lose the ransom if he left his rich captive behind, so 
 he alighted from his horse, examined the Hungarian's 
 feet and ordered him to get into the saddle. Then my 
 feet were examined, and I imagined I too was to be 
 given a mount. But I was mistaken. Before I could 
 guess what he intended the little Tartar was seated 
 astride my shoulders, with his feet crossed over my 
 breast, and his hands clutching my hair for reins. 
 
 Luckily for me it was a lean little snips, not much 
 heavier than the soldier's knapsack I was accustomed 
 to carrying. It would have been worse had the Hun- 
 garian been saddled on my shoulders. That gentle- 
 man was greatly amused by the turn affairs had taken, 
 and from his seat on our master's horse made all 
 manner of fun of me. 
 
 He ridiculed my prayers, said they were of no avail 
 where the enemy was concerned ; that a hearty curse 
 would give me more relief. I tell you he was a master 
 of malediction ! There was an imprecation he used to 
 repeat so often that I remember it to this hour. I will 
 repeat it for you it is in that fearful Magyar lingo : 
 "Tarka kutya tarka magasra kutyorodott kaeskaring6s 
 farka!"* 
 
 "Hold !" commanded the prince. "That sounds like 
 an incantation." 
 
 "Like 'abraxas/ or 'ablanathanalba; " added the 
 mayor, shuddering. "We must make a note of it ; the 
 
 *The imprecation is really quite harmless, as are many other of 
 the dreadful things attributed to the Magyars. It is, literally: "The 
 spotted dog's straight upright spotted tail." Translator's observa- 
 tion. 
 
38 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 court astronomer may, with the assistance of the pro- 
 fessors, be able to tell us its portent." 
 
 When the notary had taken down the imprecation, 
 his highness, the prince, said to the prisoner: 
 
 "Continue, my son. How long were you compelled 
 to remain in that deplorable condition of slavery?" 
 
 One day, resumed the accused, while I was 
 fervently praying that heaven, or Satan, would relieve 
 me from my ignominious situation, we turned into an 
 oak forest. We had hardly got well into it, when, with 
 a fearful noise, as if heaven and earth were crashing 
 together, the huge trees came toppling over on us, 
 burying the entire vanguard of the Tartar horde, 
 together with their captives, under the trunks and 
 branches. 
 
 Every one of the trees in the forest had been sawn 
 clear through the trunk, but left standing upright, thus 
 forming a horrible trap for the Tartars. The first tree 
 that toppled over, of course, threw over the one against 
 which it fell, that one in turn throwing over the next 
 one, and so on until the entire wood was laid low. 
 
 My Tartar rider and I were crushed to the earth by 
 the same tree. It was fortunate for me that I had him 
 on my back, for he received the full force of the falling 
 tree ; his head was crushed, while mine was so firmly 
 wedged between his knees I couldn't move. The 
 horrible noise and confusion robbed me of my senses ; 
 I became unconscious. It is, therefore, impossible for 
 me to tell how I escaped with my life. I only know 
 that when I came to my senses I found myself in the 
 camp of the "Haidemaken," a company of thieves and 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 39 
 
 murderers, made up of all nationalities, the worst of 
 all the robber bands that infested the country. The 
 members were the outcasts of every land the flower 
 of the gallows. When inflamed with wine, they fought 
 each other with axes ; settled all disputes with knife 
 and club. He who had become notorious for the worst 
 crimes was welcomed to their ranks ; the boldest, the 
 most reckless dare-devil, became their leader. They 
 would release condemned criminals, often appearing as 
 if sprung from the earth at the place of execution, bear 
 away the miscreants, who, naturally, became members 
 of the band. 
 
 Was a pretty woman condemned to the stake for 
 violation of the marriage vow or for witchcraft, the 
 haidemaken would be on hand before the match was 
 applied to the faggots, and bear away the fair culprit. 
 In a word, the haidemaken were the hope, the comfort, 
 the providence of every miscreant that trembled in 
 shackles. 
 
 The band claimed no country as fatherland. Every 
 wilderness, every savage ravine, from the Matra moun- 
 tains to the Volga, offered them a secure retreat. 
 They knew no laws save the commands of their leader, 
 which were obeyed to the letter. None kept for him- 
 self his stealings ; all booty was delivered into the hands 
 of the leader, who divided it equally among the mem- 
 bers of the band. 
 
 To him who, through special valor, deserved special 
 reward, was given the prettiest woman rescued from 
 the stake, the dungeon, the rack. 
 
 Where the haidemaken set* up their camp, the 
 
40 TOhD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Roman king, the prince of Transylvania, the Walla- 
 chian woiwode, the king of Poland, the hetman of the 
 Cossacks, ruled only in name. The leader of the 
 robbers alone was the law-giver ; he alone levied taxes, 
 exacted duties. 
 
 The trading caravans passing from Turkey to 
 Warsaw, if they were wise, paid without a murmur the 
 duty levied by the haidemaken, who would then give 
 the traders safe conduct through all the dangerous 
 forests, over suspicious mountain passes, so that not 
 a hair of their heads would be hurt or a coin in their 
 purses touched. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the caravan leaders were 
 unwise, they would employ a military escort. Then, 
 woe to them ! The robbers would lure them into 
 ambush, scatter the soldiers and plunder the caravan. 
 He who resisted would be put to death. 
 
 There was constant war between certain nobles and 
 the robbers. If the band, however, could be brought 
 to seal a compact of peace with an individual or a 
 community, it was kept sacred, inviolable, as we shall 
 see later. 
 
 The haidemaken never entered a church unless they 
 desired to secure the treasures it contained. Yet, they 
 numbered several priests among their ranks. They 
 were such as had been excommunicated for some 
 transgression. 
 
 The band never set out on a predatory expedition 
 without first celebrating mass, and receiving a blessing 
 from one of these renegades. If the expedition proved 
 to be successful, the priest would share the spoils, and 
 dance with the robbers to celebrate the victory. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 41 
 
 When one of the band took unto himself a wife, a 
 renegade would perform the marriage ceremony. The 
 haidemaken were as great sticklers for form as are the 
 members of good society. To abduct a maid, or a 
 woman, was not considered a crime ; but for one 
 member to run away with the wife of another was 
 strictly prohibited. 
 
 They did not erect strongholds, for they knew where 
 to hide in mountain caverns and in morasses, from 
 which no human power could drive them. 
 
 In their various retreats they had stores of food, 
 enough to stand a siege for many months. How great 
 was their daring is best illustrated by the plot which 
 threw me into their power. The prince of Transyl- 
 vania had invaded Poland with an army of 20,000 
 men. This army was captured by the Tartar khan 
 with his 80,000 men. Four hundred of the robbers 
 laid in wait for this combined force, and slaughtered 
 the vanguard of 2,000 men in the oak forest, as I have 
 described. 
 
 When I opened my eyes after the catastrophe, I was 
 lying on a bundle of faggots on the bank of a purling 
 brook. By my side stood a gigantic fellow, with a 
 hideous red face compared to him the Herr Mayor, 
 there, is a very St. Martin! his beard and eyebrows 
 were also red, but of a lighter shade. His nose was 
 cleft lengthwise a sign that he had had to do with the 
 Russian administration of justice. He had the muscles 
 of a St. Christopher. 
 
 At a little distance apart stood a group of similar 
 figures, but none was so repulsive in appearance as the 
 
42 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 giant by my side. He was leaning on his sword, 
 looking down at me, and when he saw my eyes open 
 he said, or rather bellowed, for his voice was more like 
 the sound that comes from the throat of a bull : 
 
 "Well, young fellow, are you alive? Can you get 
 up on your knees? If so, swear that you will join our 
 band, or I'll fling you out yonder whence I brought 
 you, to perish with the rest of your comrades." 
 
 I had heard many fearful tales of the dreaded haide- 
 maken, and knew them to be capable of any atrocity. 
 Moreover, I was indifferent as to what became of me, 
 so I said I would join the band if my life were spared. 
 
 "What are you?" then asked the red one, who was 
 the leader of the band, "peasant or noble?" 
 
 I was not lying when I answered that I was as poor 
 a devil as ever caught flies to satisfy a craving for food. 
 
 "That is well," returned the leader, "we have no 
 use for nobles in our ranks. You shall stand the test 
 at once." He blew a whistle, and two sturdy ruffians 
 dragged from a cave nearby the loveliest maid I had 
 ever set eyes on. Her complexion was of milk and 
 roses ; every virtue beamed in her gentle countenance. 
 I can see her now, with her golden hair falling to her 
 ankles and she was very tall for a woman. 
 
 "Now lad," continued the leader, "we shall see how 
 you stand the test. You are to cut off this maid's 
 head. She is the daughter of a noble, whom we stole 
 for a ransom ; and, as her people have seen fit to ignore 
 our demands, she must die. Here, take this sword, 
 and do as you are bid." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 43 
 
 He handed me his sword, which was so heavy I 
 could lift it only by grasping it with both hands. 
 
 The maid knelt in the grass at my feet, bent meekly 
 forward, and parted her beautiful hair at the back of 
 her snowy neck, so that I might the more easily strike 
 the fatal blow. 
 
 But I didn't do anything of the sort ! 
 
 Instead, I flung the sword at the feet of the leader 
 and cried: 
 
 "Go to perdition, you red devil ! You may devour 
 me alive I won't harm a hair of this" pretty child's 
 head." 
 
 "Ho-ho," bellowed the red one, "you have betrayed 
 yourself, my lad ! Were you a peasant you would cut 
 off the girl's head rather than lose your own. You 
 are a noble you would rather die yourself than harm 
 a woman. Very well ; so be it ! On your knees ! The 
 maid will show you how to cut off a head at one blow. 
 She is my own daughter." 
 
 He handed the sword to the maid, who had risen to 
 her feet and was laughing at me. She took the heavy 
 weapon in one hand and swung it as lightly as if it 
 had been a hazel rod, several times about her head. 
 I have always been fortunate enough to be able to 
 command my feelings, no matter what the situation; 
 no matter how extreme the danger, I never allow 
 myself to yield to fear. 
 
 I looked at the wonderful maid confronting me with 
 mocking eyes, her white teeth gleaming between her 
 red lips, her beautiful hair shining like gold. 
 
44 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "Kneel !" she cried, stamping her foot. "Kneel and 
 say your prayers." 
 
 A faint-hearted fellow would, most likely, have lost 
 courage; but, as I said before, I had never made the 
 acquaintance of fear. So I laughed, and said : "I am 
 not going to kneel ; and I am not going to pray. I 
 don't want to part with my head, I have too much 
 need of it myself." Then I turned boldly toward her 
 father, and addressed him : "Captain, I want to marry 
 your daughter," I said. "Let me serve under you for 
 one year, and, if at the end of that time I have not 
 proved myself worthy to be your son-in-law, you may 
 cut off my head, and welcome !" 
 
 The robber chief received this daring speech with a 
 grin that was like the grimace of a hungry wolf pre- 
 paring to devour a lamb. 
 
 "Fellow, do you know what you ask?" he bellowed. 
 "The suitor for the hand of my daughter is tortured to 
 death by that hand if he fails to perform the tasks she 
 sets for him." 
 
 "All right!" I returned jauntily, "you needn't give 
 yourself any trouble about me." 
 
 He held out his hand ; I gave him mine, and the 
 pressure it received in the powerful grasp was so 
 severe that the blood spurted from under the finger- 
 nails. But I did not betray by look or sign how badly 
 it hurt me. Nay, I even gave a playful pinch with the 
 crushed ringers to the cheek of the golden-haired maid 
 and received from her in return a sound slap on my 
 hand. 
 
 I could see that my behavior won favor in the eyes 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 45 
 
 of the robbers. But we had little time for merry- 
 making. The main body of the Tartar army now drew 
 near, and we were face to face with an infuriated 
 enemy outnumbering our band a hundred to one. 
 
 In face of the extreme danger which threatened, our 
 leader remained calm. At a signal from him, his men 
 with lightning speed set fire in fifty different places to 
 the fallen trees, among which a considerable number 
 of the vanguard, who had not been crushed to death, 
 were hiding. 
 
 Of course the poor wretches, Tartars and captives 
 alike, were consumed in the flames ; we could hear 
 their shrieks of agony when we were half way up the 
 mountain, to which we had made our escape. 
 
 The Tartar army not being able to follow us, 
 because of the burning forest, made our escape easy; 
 and, by the time the trees had been reduced to ashes, 
 we were far enough away, and in a place of safety. 
 
 Instead of giving me weapons to carry, I was com- 
 pelled to continue in the role of beast of burden ; a 
 heavy bag of treasure was strapped on my back. We 
 marched until the next morning. The haidemaken 
 travelled only by night, consequently they were 
 familiar with all roads and mountain passes. 
 
 When day broke we~halted to rest and partake of a 
 scanty meal. While we were eating, the leader asked 
 me my name, and I gave him the first one that came 
 into my head: "J aros ^ aw Terguko," which was the 
 name of Marinka's father. If I couldn't steal any- 
 thing else from him I could at least steal his name? 
 
 Late in the afternoon we set out again on our 
 
46 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 journey, which led us over rugged paths and through 
 savage gorges where no signs of human life were to 
 be seen. At last we entered a deep defile between two 
 mountain spurs. The walls of rock on either side 
 seemed, with their projections and hollows, as if they 
 might once have been joined together. They were 
 nearer together at the top than at the base, and when 
 I looked up at the narrow strip of sky far, far above 
 me, I had a sensation as if the two walls were coming 
 together. In this almost inaccessible defile was the 
 chief retreat of the haidemaken. It was a stronghold 
 that could successfully defy all human assaults. 
 
 In the south wall, about twenty yards from the base, 
 yawns the mouth of a huge cavern. 
 
 At that point the wall is so steep, and inclines for- 
 ward to such a degree, that access to the cavern can- 
 not be gained by means of a ladder. The robbers, 
 however, had contrived a clever hoisting apparatus. 
 
 From the top of the opposite wall a mountain brook 
 had once leaped into the defile, to continue its way 
 over the rocky bed into the valley. 
 
 When the haidemaken first established themselves 
 in the cavern, it happened frequently that they would 
 be blockaded in their retreat by the nobles and their 
 followers, who had pursued the predatory band to the 
 defile. 
 
 At such times the robbers suffered greatly from the 
 scarcity of fresh water, especially if they chanced to be 
 out of wine. Therefore, they conceived the plan of 
 conducting the brook from the opposing wall into the 
 cavern through a stout oaken gutter, and the water at 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 47 
 
 the same time served to turn a series of wheels. Over 
 one of the wheels ran a stout iron chain, to which were 
 securely attached several large baskets ; and so skill- 
 fully was the apparatus manipulated that the entire 
 band might be hoisted into, or let down from, the 
 cavern in the short space of two hours. It was a most 
 admirable contrivance for the robbers, but not so 
 admirable for the dwellers in the valley. The inter- 
 cepted brook now flowed into the cave, and, as the 
 water did not fill the cave, the most natural conclusion 
 was that it found an outlet through various subter- 
 ranean fissures. 
 
 The turning of the water from its original channel 
 caused Prince Siniarsky considerable inconvenience, 
 in that all his saw-mills, flour-mills and leather factory 
 were left without a motor ; while the inhabitants of the 
 surrounding hamlets, who were dependent on their 
 looms for a livelihood, were compelled to remove to 
 another region, because they now were unable to 
 bleach the linen. 
 
 Still greater was the misfortune which had over- 
 taken Count Potocky. He was the owner of extensive 
 salt mines on the further side of the mountain, which 
 contains an illimitable deposit of the saliferous sub- 
 stance. The haidemaken were unable to drink the 
 water of the lakelet in the bottom of their cavern, 
 .because of its saline character. 
 
 After the course of the brook had been changed, the 
 worthy Count Potocky discovered one day that innu- 
 merable springs of fresh water were bursting from his 
 side of the mountain, and flooding his most profitable 
 
48 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 mines. If he attempted to obstruct the flow of water 
 in one place it would break out in another. 
 
 At last the two magnates discovered the cause of the 
 mischief, and determined to oust the thievish haide- 
 maken from their retreat by fumigation. So long as 
 the band confined their depredations to the trading 
 caravans they might be tolerated; but, when they 
 became insolent enough to interfere with the comfort 
 and convenience of the magnates, it was high time to 
 put a stop to their pestiferous conduct ! 
 
 And so an expedition against the cavern was 
 planned. Before it could be carried out the war 
 against the Transylvanians and Swedes broke out, and 
 the noble gentlemen were compelled to march with 
 their followers toward the invaders; but when hostili- 
 ties ceased and the succoring Tartars had returned 
 home, a formal blockade of the robbers was consti- 
 tuted. 
 
 The entrance to their cavern, which is about as large 
 as the door of the cathedral at Coblentz, was fortified 
 by a double parapet furnished with loop-holes. The 
 intercepted brook did not pour its waters into the main 
 entrance, but into a side opening, underneath which 
 was the hoisting wheel. This wheel also turned the 
 mill-stone, which ground the rye used by the robbers. 
 
 The band included a miller as well as a smith, a 
 shoemaker and a tailor. As it is dark in the cave, all 
 work was performed by torchlight. Where all the 
 torches used in the cavern were procured I learned 
 afterward. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 49 
 
 The fore part of the cavern, into which the rays of 
 the blessed sun penetrate as far as the opposite wall 
 permits, is like a vaulted hall. In it were stored the 
 weapons : all manner of fire-arms, all patterns of cut- 
 ting, thrusting and hurling implements, which had 
 been purloined from the armories of noble castles. 
 Here, for the first time, I saw an old-time culverin, 
 rusty with age and for want of care. In this part of 
 the cavern were stored also the provisions in huge 
 stone receptacles enough to feed four hundred men 
 during a long siege. 
 
 From the provision chamber a low, narrow passage 
 leads to the mill-cave, but, as I never entered it, I 
 cannot tell you just what it contained. 
 
 The main cavern is spacious as a church. When the 
 entire band were assembled in the vast hall they were 
 as lost in it. The arched roof is so high above the 
 floor it is invisible in the gloom, which not even the 
 light of many torches can dispel. 
 
 From this hall numerous narrow passages and 
 corridors lead to smaller caves, in which the artisans 
 of the band performed their labors. These unfortu- 
 nates certainly must have been captives ; for it is 
 hardly possible that any man would, of his own free 
 will, consent to pass his life toiling in so gloomy a 
 hole. When we arrived at the cavern the leader asked 
 me if I had a trade, and, as I could truthfully reply that 
 the only one I was perfectly familiar with was that of 
 bombardier, I did so. 
 
 "Very good ; you shall soon have an opportunity to 
 prove that you understand your trade as thoroughly as 
 
50 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 you say," he growled. "It is not safe to boast here, my 
 lad, and not be able to perform as you shall soon 
 learn." 
 
 Meanwhile the robbers had hoisted to the cavern the 
 booty taken from the Tartars. It was stored in one of 
 the smaller chambers, into which I merely got a 
 glimpse, as they rolled the huge slab of granite from 
 the entrance, but that fleeting glance was enough to 
 dazzle my eyes. There were heaps on heaps of costly 
 articles : robes, mantles, vestments, richly embroidered 
 with gold and precious gems, gold and silver chalices, 
 shrines, ciboria, pastoral staffs, and a host of valuables 
 too numerous to remember. Had the haidemaken 
 only decided to disband then, every one of them would 
 have received a fortune as his share of .the plunder. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that such stores of gold 
 and silver had accumulated. The robbers never had 
 occasion to need money. 
 
 The provision chamber was rilled with food and 
 drink. Such quantities of meat and bread were served 
 that every man had all he wanted to eat, while casks of 
 metheglin were constantly on tap. 
 
 The secret of this inexhaustible food supply was 
 known only to the leader and his daughter. No matter 
 how much was taken from the provision chamber, no 
 decrease was ever noticeable. 
 
 The first evening of our return, the successful expe- 
 dition was celebrated by a feast. After the robbers had 
 eaten their fill, they lighted a huge fire and danced 
 wildly around it ; and when they had drunk all they 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 51 
 
 wanted, they gathered about their leader and his 
 daughter, who had taken their seats on an estrade 
 draped with purple cloth. 
 
 Then a pale-faced young man was dragged into the 
 hall and placed in front of the leader. 
 
 I saw now that a sort of trial was about to be held, 
 a singular tribunal, where the judge and the jury first 
 get tipsy ! 
 
 "Jurko," said the leader to the youth, "you are 
 accused of cowardice of having run away at the 
 approach of the enemy; also, of having neglected to 
 give warning of the coming of the Tartars." 
 
 "I am not guilty," responded the youth in defence. 
 "You placed me on guard to watch for the Tartars. 
 Instead of the Tartars came wolves. Ten of the 
 beasts attacked me maybe there were fifty. If I had 
 allowed the wolves to eat me, how could I have 
 signaled to you? I didn't run away I hid in a hollow 
 tree to defend myself one against fifty! I call that 
 brave, not cowardly." 
 
 "Silly chatter!" bellowed the leader. "No matter 
 what happened, you should have obeyed the command 
 of your leader. If you are not the coward you are 
 accused of being, then prove it by standing the test." 
 
 "That I will!" cried the youth, striking his breast 
 with his fist. 
 
 The leader rose, took his daughter's hand, stepped 
 down from the estrade, and, bidding his comrades 
 follow, moved with the maid toward the rear of the 
 cavern, which, until now, had been buried in midnight 
 gloom. 
 
52 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Here the ground slopes steeply downward, and I 
 could see by the light of the torches that we were on 
 the verge of an abyss, at the bottom of which was 
 water. 
 
 The leader held a wisp of straw to a torch, then 
 tossed it into the abyss, which was lighted for a few 
 seconds by the circling wreath of blazing straw ; but it 
 was quite long enough for me to see the terrible 
 grandeur of the yawning gulf. 
 
 After tossing the straw into the abyss, the leader 
 snatched the red and yellow striped silken kerchief 
 from his daughter's neck, leaving the lovely snow- 
 white shoulders and bosom uncovered, and flung it 
 also into the abyss. 
 
 "There, Jurko," he cried, "you have often boasted 
 that you are the bravest of our band, and you have 
 aspired to the hand of my daughter Madus. If you are 
 what you pretend to be, fetch the bride's kerchief from 
 the lake down yonder." 
 
 The youth stepped boldly enough to the rim of the 
 yawning gulf, and every one believed he was going to 
 dive into it. But he halted on the edge, leaned for- 
 ward and peered down at the water far below. After 
 a moment's survey, he drew back, rubbed his ear with 
 his ringers and made a wry face. 
 
 "Why don't you jump?" cried his comrades, taunt- 
 ingly. 
 
 Jurko cautiously thrust one leg over the edge, bent 
 forward and took another look ; then he drew back his 
 leg and rose to his feet. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 53 
 
 "The devil may jump into this hell for me!" he 
 exclaimed ; "there's no getting out of it again for him 
 who is fool enough to enter it !" 
 
 "Ho, coward ! coward !" derisively shouted his com- 
 rades, rushing upon him. They disarmed him and 
 dragged him by the hair toward a cleft in the wall of 
 the cavern, wide enough only to admit the body of a 
 man. This opening was closed by a block of granite 
 that required the combined strength of six men to 
 move it. A lighted candle was placed in the trembling 
 youth's hand ; then he was thrust into the rock-tomb, 
 and the granite door moved back to its place. The 
 wild laughter of his comrades drowned the shrieks of 
 the victim who had been buried alive. 
 
 Then followed the "dance of death," and I never wit- 
 nessed anything more terrifying. The lovely Madus 
 feigned death and looked it, too! and every member 
 had to dance a turn with her. When it came my turn, 
 the leader said to me : 
 
 "Hold, lad, you may not dance with Madus until 
 you have become really one of us until you have 
 stood the test. Moreover, you, too, presume to aspire 
 to the hand of my daughter." 
 
 "Yes, I do !" I replied, "and I will do whatever I am 
 bid." 
 
 "Very good; the bride's kerchief lies down yonder 
 in the lake ; let us see if you are courageous enough to 
 go after it." 
 
 "You surely did not undertake so foolhardy a task?" 
 here interrupted the prince ; and the chair dictated to 
 the notary as follows : 
 
54 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "Sinful tempting of providence, prompted by crimi- 
 nal desire for an impure female.'' 
 
 "Yes, your highness, I performed the task," con- 
 tinued Hugo, "but I beg your honors not to register 
 the leap as an additional transgression. I am not 
 responsible for it. I was compelled to jump or be 
 buried alive in the wall of the cavern. Besides, I knew 
 the danger was not so great as it appeared. When a 
 boy, I once visited a salt mine. I had seen by the light 
 of the blazing straw that the walls of the abyss were 
 formed of the dark blue strata peculiar to salt mines, 
 and guessed that the lake was strongly impregnated 
 with salt. I had also noticed on the further wall of the 
 abyss a flight of steps hewn in the rock, and concluded 
 that I had nothing to fear from drowning in the 
 buoyant water, if I reached it in safety. But, before I 
 proceed farther, I desire to enter a formal protest 
 against the chair's designating my beloved Madus an 
 'impure female.' She was pure and innocent an 
 angel on earth, a saint in heaven. He that defames 
 her must do battle with me my adversary in coat of 
 mail, I in doublet of silk. The weapons: lances, 
 swords, or maces whatever he may select ; and I 
 positively refuse to proceed with my confession until 
 his honor, the mayor, has given me satisfaction, or 
 amended the protocol." 
 
 "Well, mayor," said the prince, addressing the chair, 
 "I think the prisoner is justified in his protest. Either 
 you must amend the protocol, or fight him." 
 
 The former expedient was chosen, and the notary 
 erased the latter clause of the protocol. It read, when 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 55 
 
 corrected : "Sinful temptation of providence by chaste 
 affection for a respectable maid." 
 
 "Now, my son, you may jump." 
 
 Hugo thanked the prince and resumed his confes- 
 sion : 
 
 I pressed my ankles together, bent forward, and 
 sprang, head foremost, into the abyss. As I sped 
 swiftly downward, there was a sound like swelling 
 thunder in my ears, then I became stone deaf, and the 
 water closed over me. My eyes and mouth told me it 
 was salt water, and whatever apprehension T had had 
 vanished. The next moment I was floating on the 
 surface, my head and shoulders above the water. I 
 soon found the kerchief, which I tied about my neck, 
 amid the acclamations and cheers of my comrades, 
 which were multiplied by the echoing walls to the 
 most infernal roaring. The torches held over the 
 mouth of the abyss gleamed through the darkness like 
 a blood-red star in the firmament of hades. 
 
 A few vigorous strokes propelled me to the steps 
 leading from the lake to the upper gallery of the abyss, 
 which is really an abandoned salt mine. 
 
 There are one hundred and eighty steps, but by 
 taking two at a time I reduced them to ninety; and 
 three minutes after I had taken my leap, I stood, 
 encrusted from head to foot with salt like a powdered 
 imp ! before my blushing Madus. 
 
 She received me with a bashful smile when the rob- 
 bers carried me on their shoulders to her, and I was 
 about to kiss her, when the leader seized me by the 
 collar and drew me back. 
 
56 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "Not yet, lad, not yet !" he cried. "You have only 
 been through the christening ceremony. Confirma- 
 tion comes next. You must become a member of our 
 faith before you can become my daughter's husband. 
 Every man that marries a princess must adopt her be- 
 lief." 
 
 Now, as your honors may have guessed, the ques- 
 tion of religion was one I did not require much time to 
 answer. I consented without a moment's hesitation 
 to adopt my Madus' faith. The leader then signed to 
 one of the band to prepare for the ceremony of confir- 
 mation. It was one of the priests of whom I have 
 spoken I had taken particular notice of him during 
 the feast, because he ate and drank more than any one 
 else. 
 
 "He that becomes a member of our society" the 
 leader informed me "must take a different name from 
 the one he has borne elsewhere. I am called 
 'Nyedzviedz,' which signifies either 'the bear,' or 
 'without equal.' What name shall we give you?" 
 
 Some one suggested that, as I was an expert swim- 
 mer, I should be called "Szczustak" (perch) ; another 
 thought "Lyabedz" (swan), more suitable and prettier, 
 but I told them that, as I excelled most in hurling 
 bombs, "Baran" (ram), would be still more appropri- 
 ate ; and Baran it was decided I should be called. 
 
 In the meantime the robber priest had donned his 
 vestments. On his plentifully oiled hair rested a tall, 
 gold-embroidered hat; over his coarse peasant coat 
 he had drawn a richly decorated cassock ; his feet were 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 57 
 
 thrust into a pair of slippers, also handsomely embroid- 
 ered relics, obviously, of some gigantic saint ; for the 
 robber priest's feet, from which he had not removed his 
 boots, were quite hidden in them. In his hands he 
 held a silver crucifix; and as I looked at him, the 
 thought came to me that he had, without a doubt, 
 made way with the original wearer and bearer of the 
 rich vestments, and the crucifix. 
 
 He ordered me to kneel before him. I did so, and 
 he began to perform all sorts of hocus-pocus over 
 me. I couldn't understand a word of it, for he spoke 
 in Greek, and I had not yet become familiar with that 
 language. I learned it later. 
 
 After mumbling over me for several minutes, he 
 smeared some ill-smelling ointment on my nose ; then 
 he fumigated me with incense until I was almost suffo- 
 cated. In concluding, when he bestowed on me my 
 new name, he gave me such a vigorous box on the 
 ear, that it rang for several seconds, and I almost fell 
 backward. The blow was not given with the hand of 
 the priest, but with the sturdy fist of the robber. 
 
 This is carrying the joke too far, I said to myself; 
 and, before the ruffian could guess what I intended, I 
 was on my feet, and had delivered a right-hander on 
 the side of his head that sent his gold hat spinning 
 across the floor, and himself, and his slippers after it. 
 
 "Actus major is potentiae contra ecclesiastic am per- 
 sonam!" dictated the mayor to the notary; while his 
 highness, the prince, held his stomach, and laughed 
 until the tears ran down his cheeks. 
 
58 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "I should like to have seen that performance!" he 
 exclaimed when he had got his breath again. "Did 
 the padre excommunicate you?" 
 
 Not much, he didn't, your highness! From that 
 moment I became a person of consequence among the 
 haidemaken. The leader slapped me heartily on the 
 shoulder, and said approvingly : 
 
 "You're the right sort, lad we need no further 
 proof." 
 
 After a bumper all 'round, to celebrate my entrance 
 to the community, every man wrapped himself in his 
 bear-skin, and lay down on the floor of the cavern. 
 Although the torches had been extinguished I could 
 see, by the faint light which penetrated from the 
 entrance, that Madus ascended a rope ladder to a deep 
 hollow high up in the wall, and drew the ladder up 
 after her. 
 
 In a very few minutes the snores from the four 
 hundred robbers proclaimed them oblivious to this 
 work-a-day world. 
 
 At day-break the watchman's horn brought every 
 man to his feet ; at the same moment the leader 
 appeared from an adjoining chamber, and gave to each 
 one his task for the day. 
 
 After we had breakfasted, Nyedzviedz conducted 
 me, in company with Madus and several of the band, 
 to the armory. 
 
 "Here Baran," he said, thrusting his foot against 
 the culverin I mentioned before "you claim to be a 
 skilled bombardier. Let us see if you understand how 
 to manage a thing like this. We stole it from Count 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 59 
 
 Potocky's castle, and brought it here with great diffi- 
 culty. Sixteen men would carry it two hundred steps, 
 then other sixteen would relieve them, and so on. We 
 didn't find out until we had got it up here that it would 
 be of no use to us. The first time we tried to fire it 
 off it lay oil the ground as now four men sat astride 
 of it, as on a horse, to steady it. I, myself, directed the 
 shot toward the mouth of the cavern, and three men 
 stood behind me to observe operations. When I 
 applied the fuse, the infernal thing sprang into the air 
 flinging the four men astride it to the roof of the cave ; 
 while the ball, instead of going where I had aimed 
 out of the entrance imbedded itself in the wall over 
 yonder, where it still sticks." 
 
 I laughed heartily at his amusing description of the 
 gun's behavior ; whereupon he said soberly : 
 
 "Oh, you may laugh, but it was no laughing matter 
 I can tell you ! I made a second attempt. I tied a 
 rope around the rascal's neck to prevent him from 
 kicking again, and fastened the ends securely to two 
 stout pegs driven into the ground. 'There, sir,' I said, 
 'now kick if you want to!' I lighted the fuse the 
 demon didn't kick this time; instead he rushed back- 
 ward dragging both pegs with him ; broke the right 
 leg of one of the men, the left of another, and both legs 
 of the third ; and the ball bored itself into the corner 
 over there. Now let us see if you can do any better." 
 
 "Oh, you stupid bear!" I exclaimed, unable to re- 
 strain my mirth, "you may thank your stars that the 
 rusty old gun didn't burst into flinders and kill every 
 one of you ! as you deserved ! The first thing to be 
 
60 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD, 
 
 done with the culverin is to clean and polish it until 
 it shines like a mirror. Then who ever heard of 
 laying a cannon on the ground to fire it off? it must 
 have a sort of platform on wheels so it can be moved 
 about." 
 
 The leader immediately gave orders to the smith and 
 the wagon-maker of the band to obey my instructions 
 and complete as quickly as possible the sort of gun- 
 carriage I should describe to them, and I set about at 
 once to clean and scour the old culverin which, with 
 the accumulated rust of years, was no light task. 
 
 There was no time to lose, for the Tartars, with their 
 Hungarian captives, having vacated Poland, the 
 Polish magnates returned to their castles, and prepared 
 to carry out the plans for punishing the insolent haide- 
 maken, which had been interrupted by the war. Those 
 members of the band who were sent on various errands 
 into the regions adjacent to the Prsjaka Gorge, 
 brought back, instead of booty, bloody heads, and the 
 startling news that the roads leading to the Gorge 
 were filled with armed troopers. 
 
 The two despoiled magnates had combined their 
 forces, and were prepared for a regular siege of the 
 plundering haidemaken. 
 
 The latter, however, merely laughed at the warlike 
 preparations. They were not afraid of a siege! 
 Nyedzviedz, on learning of the approach of the beleag- 
 uerers, instead of curtailing our rations,, doubled them, 
 mystifying all of us by the seemingly illimitable sup- 
 plies in the provision chamber. We received, every 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 61 
 
 day, double rations of fresh goats' meat and mutton, 
 and yet there was not in any of the caves even the 
 sign of a living animal. 
 
 Meanwhile the beleaguerers advanced steadily. 
 
 There was a stratagem the robbers had frequently 
 resorted to in order to vanquish a beleaguering foe. 
 They opened an underground sluice through which 
 the water of the salt lake in the bottom of the abyss 
 would rush into the defile and drown the enemy. But 
 Prince Siniarsky's troopers had become familiar with 
 this trick ; and one morning, when we awoke, we found 
 that a stone wall had been built across the gorge while 
 we slept. An arched opening in the center of the base 
 would give egress to all the water we might choose 
 to let out of the lake. 
 
 This was bad enough, but worse came later. 
 
 The wall increased in height every night. I told 
 Nyedzviedz at the beginning what would be the out- 
 come of such a proceeding; when the top of the wall 
 should have reached to the height of the wooden gutter 
 which conveyed the brook into the cavern, Siniarsky's 
 men would fling a line over it, attach a stout chain to 
 the line, and when they had drawn it over the gutter 
 it would be easy enough to pull it down. 
 
 "In that case we shall die of thirst," growled the 
 leader, "for there isn't any other water in the cavern 
 fit to drink. But a still greater danger, of which you 
 know nothing, threatens us." 
 
 He did not tell me what it was, but he became so 
 morose and ill-tempered, that no one but his daughter 
 ventured to speak to him. 
 
62 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The haidemaken made several assaults on the wall, 
 but the troopers returned the fire with such volleys 
 from the numerous loop-holes in it, that our men were 
 always forced to retreat. 
 
 All hopes were now centered in me, and on the 
 culverin, which I had polished until it shone like gold. 
 The carriage for it had been completed, and balls cast 
 under my directions. 
 
 The wall grew higher and higher, until at last the 
 top was on a level with our conduit. Its comple- 
 tion was celebrated in the enemy's camp by the blaring 
 of trumpets, and beating of drums, and what I had 
 foretold came to pass ; the arquebusier mounted to the 
 top of the wall, adjusted his arquebuse on its forked 
 rest, and prepared to take aim at our water conduit. 
 
 "Now, watch me I" said I to Nyedzviedz, pointing 
 the culverin's muzzle toward the cornice of the wall. 
 
 Two shots sounded simultaneously, and when the 
 smoke had cleared away, there was neither arquebuse, 
 nor arquebusier nor yet the cornice of the wall, to be 
 seen. All three had vanished. 
 
 I took aim a second time this time at the base of 
 the wall ; and at the sixth shot, the entire structure of 
 solid masonry tumbled down with a deafening crash, 
 burying under it the musketeers who were at the loop- 
 holes. Not one of them escaped alive. 
 
 The haidemaken, with loud cries of triumph, now 
 hastily descended from the cavern in their baskets, and 
 flung themselves on the enemy, and while the combat 
 raged in the defile below me, I wheeled my culverin to 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 63 
 
 the mouth of the cavern, and hurled shot after shot 
 toward the troopers who were hurrying to the aid of 
 their comrades. 
 
 The enemy was completely routed, and our men 
 returned to the cavern richly laden with spoils. 
 
 , So all-powerful is a cannon when its management is 
 thoroughly understood. 
 
 "That will do for today;" at this point observed 
 the prince. "The confession will be continued to- 
 
 THE VISZPA OGROD. 
 
 The next morning Hugo resumed his confession: 
 
 When the haidemaken, after having put to flight the 
 troopers returned with their booty to the cavern, the 
 leader said to me: 
 
 "Well, Baran, you certainly earned your name 
 today, by proving yourself a most effective 'ram.' To 
 your assaults with the culverin we owe our victory. 
 Here is the treasure we took from the vanquished foe 
 take of it what you want, you have the first choice." 
 Gold and silver galore lay before me, but I answered : 
 "Thank you, Nyedzviedz, you know very well I have 
 no use for money ; instead, I want your daughter for 
 her alone I have served you ; she is the reward I 
 desire." 
 
 To this reply the leader shook his head irritably, and 
 said: "I am disappointed in you, Baran. You are, 
 after all, only a tender-hearted dove that wants to bill 
 and coo. The man who has a wife is only half a man. 
 The true haidemak embraces his sweetheart, then slays 
 
64 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 her of better : slays her first. Why do you desire to 
 marry? Be wise, lad, and remain a celibate. If you 
 will think no more of Madus I will make you my 
 second in command." 
 
 "But I can't, and won't think of anything but 
 Madus," I returned, stubbornly; "and if you don't 
 give her to me, you are not a man of your word. 
 
 "You don't know what you are asking, Baran," 
 again said the leader. "If you persist in your demand 
 you will compel me to send you the way all our mem- 
 bers have gone who proved themselves to be soft- 
 hearted doves. The man who wants to bill and coo 
 cannot remain with us. If you marry Madus you must 
 leave us." 
 
 I told him I would manage somehow to endure such 
 a calamity, which made him laugh heartily. 
 
 "I know very well, Baran, my lad, that it would not 
 grieve you to leave us, if you were allowed to depart 
 with Madus to the outside world. But that may not 
 be. The man we pronounce a 'dove,' must go a differ- 
 ent route. The youth who refused to leap into the 
 abyss the day you arrived, was a dove. You saw what 
 became of him. A hundred and more love-lorn 
 swains, and cowards have gone the same way. You 
 will find in every crevice the skeletons of the unfortu- 
 nates. Do you still desire to join the ghastly com- 
 pany?" 
 
 It did not sound very alluring to celebrate one's 
 nuptials among cadavers; but when I looked at 
 Madus, who was standing by her father's side, the 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. G5 
 
 glance which met mine from her beaming eyes ban- 
 ished from my thoughts everything but her beautiful 
 image, and I said: 
 
 "It matters not whither I go if my Madus goes with 
 me be the journey to hades itself !" 
 
 When Madus also declared she had no dread of 
 undertaking the journey with me, her father summoned 
 a priest the same bearded rascal that had performed 
 the ceremony of confirmation over me. 
 
 His vestments this time were even more magnificent 
 ('acquired,' I have not the least doubt, from some 
 wealthy cathedral by my respected father-in-law and 
 his comrades) and with all manner of unintelligible 
 mummery he performed the ceremony, which united 
 me and my beloved Madus in the holy bonds of matri- 
 mony. 
 
 When the marriage ceremony was concluded, my 
 wife and I each received from her father a costly, gold 
 ornamented cap, and a richly embroidered mantle ; a 
 bag of provisions, and a jug of wine were also given 
 to us. Then we were conducted to the same cleft in the 
 wall of the cavern, in which the unfortunate Jurko had 
 been entombed. 
 
 When the heavy rock had been removed from the 
 opening the robbers, one after the other, shook hands 
 with us. The leader was so deeply affected he 
 embraced both of us. After a lighted taper had been 
 placed in my hand, we were thrust into the narrow pas- 
 sage which was immediately closed behind us. 
 
 The noises in the cavern sounded like the low mur- 
 mur one hears in a sea-shell held close to the ear. By 
 
66 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the faint light from our taper I could see a smile f 
 encouragement on my Madus' face, and obeyed wii- 
 out a question when she bade me follow her. 
 
 We had forced our way through the narrow pacsae, 
 which was hardly wide enough for one person, a cn- 
 siderable distance, when we suddenly came to a s 
 chamber about the size of a room in a pleasant col 
 Here, Madus said, we should have to rest and pass le 
 night. 
 
 "Night?" I repeated. "We can easily bring ic 
 blackness of midnight upon us in this hole ! We 
 only to extinguish the .candle. But we shall : 
 know when it is morning. Daylight never enters lire. 
 Xo cheerful cock-crow ever reaches this tomb. Hre, 
 no one will come to rouse us, and say: 'Rise, EC! 
 morning, beauteous morning, is come.' ; 
 
 "Fie, fie, Baran," chided my Madus. "Do ou 
 already regret the step you have taken? Should ou 
 be sorry never again to see daylight now that ou 
 have me with you?" 
 
 "No, no," I answered, promptly, ashamed ofmy 
 momentary regret. "No, no," and I set about pr 
 ing for our night's rest. We spread our bear -.ins 
 on the floor of the cave, sat down on them, an ate 
 our supper, becoming quite cheerful as the wine ped 
 with pleasurable warmth through our veins. 
 
 Suddenly Madus turned toward me and aske 
 
 "Where do you imagine we are, Baran?" 
 
 "In paradise," I made answer, kissing her. 
 
 Thereupon she roguishly blew out the liglr and 
 asked again : "Can you see me?" 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 67 
 
 "No," I answered, for I could see nothing at all. 
 "Look again, Baran, and repeat after me what I say." 
 
 I fixed my eyes where I believed her to be, and 
 repeated after her, word for word, the Lord's Prayer, 
 the Ave Maria and the Credo, and as I did so, it 
 seemed to me as if the dear child's countenance came 
 into view, gradually growing brighter and brighter, 
 until the gloom disappeared, and the subterranean 
 grotto became irradiated as with the sunlight of noon. 
 I did not tell her so, though, for women are so easily 
 made vain ; but from that moment I became convinced 
 that Madus was my guardian angel. 
 
 Never, in all my life, have I been so happy as I was 
 with my beloved Madus in that underground cave, and 
 I should have been content to stop there with her 
 until the end of time! I would not have inquired if 
 ever a morning would dawn again for us, had not 
 Madus roused me from a sound slumber, and lighted 
 the taper. 
 
 "What do you imagine will become of us?" she 
 asked, and I replied : 
 
 "I believe the haidemaken are playing a trick on 
 us, and that they will fetch us away from here after a 
 while." 
 
 "No, you are mistaken, Baran, we shall never again 
 return to the cavern. The haidemaken do not expect 
 to see us again." 
 
 "But, surely, Nyedzviedz will not allow his only 
 daughter to perish miserably in this hole?" I ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 "Alas, you don't know him, my poor Baran," 
 returned Madus sorrowfully. "My father's heart is 
 
68 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 impervious to pity. Those whom he banishes, as we 
 have been banished, can never return to the cavern." 
 
 I now became alarmed in earnest. Until that 
 moment I had entertained a suspicion that the haide- 
 maken were only trying to frighten me. 
 
 I was cursing my folly mentally of course for hav- 
 ing allowed the fascinations of a love-dream to lure 
 me to so wretched a fate, when Madus rose from her 
 bear skin couch, and bade me follow her. I remem- 
 bered her radiant countenance of the preceding even- 
 ing, and my confidence in her was restored. 
 
 We passed onward, through the narrow corridor 
 which traversed numerous caves, larger and smaller 
 than the one in which we had rested. I kept glancing 
 furtively, right and left, expecting every moment to see 
 the helpless skeletons with which Nyedzviedz had tried 
 to intimidate me. 
 
 On, on we pressed, occasionally passing the entrance 
 to a cave that was stored with all manner of plunder. 
 At last I noticed that the corridor began to widen, and 
 suddenly my soul was rejoiced to discover, far ahead, 
 a faint gleam of light- that became brighter and 
 brighter as we approached. It was daylight ! 
 
 "Hurrah !" I shouted aloud, in my ecstacy clasping 
 Madus to my heart. "We are free! We are free!" 
 
 "Free? No, my Baran, far from it!" she returned 
 gently and sadly. "We are approaching our life- 
 prison. You will soon see it." 
 
 The passage was now wide enough for the two of 
 us to walk side by side. We did not need the taper 
 now, for we had sunlight from the strip of blue sky 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 69 
 
 we could see overhead. I pressed eagerly forward to 
 see more of it. I could have drunk in at one long 
 breath the entire heaven. 
 
 At last we arrived at the end of the passage between 
 the two tall walls of rock, and there below us lay the 
 Viszpa Ogrod, which means : "Island Garden." 
 
 And it is a veritable island ; only, instead of water, it 
 is encompassed by rocks rocks so high, and so steep, 
 that nothing wingless can ever hope to escape over 
 them into the world outside. 
 
 Heaven-towering walls of basalt, naked cliffs, sheer 
 inaccessible, dome-shaped, and truncated, ranged one 
 against the other in a compact mass like the facade of 
 a vast cathedral, environ the Viszpa Ogrod, which, with 
 its verdant fields, forest, fruit and vegetable gardens, 
 lies like a gleaming emerald in a setting of rock, at the 
 bottom of the deep crater. 
 
 From the dizzy heights of the cavern wall leaps a 
 stream, that is transformed to iridescent spray before 
 it reaches the valley, there to pursue its sinuous course 
 amid the fields, gardens, and tiny white dwellings 
 upon which we looked down as through a misty veil. 
 
 "That is our future home," whispered Madus. "Our 
 life-prison from which there is no escape. To this 
 island garden is banished all those haidemaken who 
 prove too tender-hearted for their cruel trade, or tire 
 of their adventurous life ; also those who refuse to 
 desert the women they love. Here, the banished dwell 
 together and till the ground they will never again 
 see any other portion of the globe than this little 
 valley." 
 
70 TOLD By THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The Viszpa Ogrod revealed the secret of the haide- 
 ,maken's power to defy a siege. This island garden 
 made it possible for them to defy all the troops sent 
 against them, for it contained an inexhaustible supply 
 of provisions. When the robbers discovered it, it was 
 a wilderness of stunted fir trees. No living creature 
 could exist in it, for there was no water until the brook, 
 conducted into the cavern from the opposite side of the 
 defile, found an outlet into it, thence, through the 
 ground, into Prince Siniarsky's salt mines. 
 
 The water very soon wrought a wonderful change 
 in the aspect of the valley. A portion of the stunted 
 forest was cleared, and the ground planted with rye, 
 vegetables, and various shrubs and plants which throve 
 luxuriantly in this "garden" sheltered from the cold 
 winds by the wall of rock. The firs left standing put 
 forward new growth, and became stately trees every- 
 thing, even the human beings that came to dwell here, 
 underwent a complete transformation. 
 
 True, those whom the haidemaken sent to the valley 
 had already become tender-hearted, or, weary of the 
 wild life of the robbers ; but, no matter what the life of 
 a man had been before he became a member of the 
 little community in the island garden, there he would 
 forget the entire world, become an entirely new being. 
 
 I speak from experience, for I, who have enjoyed a 
 full share of this world's pleasures everything that 
 can rejoice the king in his palace, and the dreams of 
 the prisoner in his dungeon I never was truly happy 
 until I went to dwell with my beloved Madus in the 
 Viszpa Ogrod. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 71 
 
 A narrow path winds from the outlet of the rock- 
 corridor down into the valley. Madus, who was per- 
 fectly familiar with the path, led the way, recognizing, 
 while still at a distance from them, each occupant of 
 the little cottages. The children ran to meet us, and, 
 on hearing from Madus who I was, seized our 'hands, 
 and with shouts of joy drew us toward the village. 
 
 A bell was rung to announce our arrival. Later I 
 learned from the inscription on this bell that It 'bad 
 formerly swung in the tower of Bicloviez monastery. 
 Like everything else in the valley, it had been stolen. 
 Everything, even the beautiful cloth and silk garments 
 which clothed the women nay the women themselves, 
 were plunder. 
 
 Robber and robbed dwelt together amid plunder in 
 harmony, happy as Adam and Eve in Eden. They 
 ploughed, planted, and gathered the harvest in perfect 
 contentment. They shared their abundance with the 
 cavern, and received in return plunder from all parts 
 of the world. 
 
 As I have said before, there were no animals in the 
 Viszpa Ogrod when the robbers discovered it, and as 
 it was impossible to convey full-grown cattle through 
 the narrow passage from the cavern, calves, goats, and 
 lambs instead were brought to the valley, which had 
 become so well stocked with everything necessary to 
 sustain a large army, that no potentate on earth could 
 have reduced the haidemaken to starvation, no matter 
 to what length the siege might have been extended. 
 
 The only danger which threatened the cavern was 
 the stoppage of their water supply. Were that cut off a 
 
72 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the luxuriance and fruitfulness of the valley would 
 vanish, and it would become again an arid wilderness 
 uninhabitable for man and beast. This was the 
 danger dreaded by Nyedzviedz when the troopers be- 
 gan to build their wall in the defile. 
 
 The dwellers in the Viszpa Ogrod lived together 
 like the family of Father Abraham in the promised 
 land. The eldest of the men was the patriarch. He 
 made all the. laws; issued all the commands; allotted 
 to each one his task and share of the harvest, giving 
 to everyone as much as was required for the needs of 
 himself and his household. 
 
 There was no priest in the valley. There was no 
 Sabbath. The pleasant days were working-days; 
 when it rained everybody rested. 
 
 There was no praying, no cursing, no quarreling. 
 There, where every head of a household had once been 
 a thief, no disputing about mine and thine was ever 
 heard. There, every woman and not one of them 
 had been given an opportunity to vow fidelity to her 
 mate before the altar, but had been forcibly conveyed 
 to the valley was so faithful, so modest, that no 
 stranger could have told what was the color of her 
 eyes. 
 
 When Madus and I arrived in the valley, Zoraw, the 
 patriarch, prepared for us a feast, to which were invited 
 the rest of the community to the number of eighty. 
 After the feast, Zoraw conducted us to the brook, 
 where we drank with everyone the pledge of fraternity 
 from a wooden bottle of fresh water that being the 
 only beverage in the valley. At the conclusion of this 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 73 
 
 ceremony, the bottle was broken in pieces, to symbol- 
 ize unalterable alliance. 
 
 Then Zoraw measured off and assigned to us our 
 plot of ground. The entire community lent a hand, 
 and in two days our cottage ,was under roof, modestly 
 furnished, and ready for occupancy. In the stable 
 stood a cow and a goat for the housewife. When we 
 were comfortably settled in our new home I was asked 
 by the patriarch what manner of tools he should give 
 me ; and finding that I should be compelled to work 
 something I had never learned at school, or in the 
 field I chose the trade of smith, which would at least 
 give me the handling of iron, without which I never 
 felt contented. 
 
 I became accustomed in a very short time to my new 
 mode of life. I would work at my trade the allotted 
 time every day, then go home to my wife, who would 
 tell me how the ducklings had got smothered in the 
 shell, how the milk had turned sour, and such like 
 prattle. And one day she whispered blushingly in my 
 ear the secret which makes the husband's heart beat 
 faster with joy and pride. In listening to it, I forgot 
 everything else in the world. The thought that I was 
 to become the father of a family, that would grow up 
 to know no other home but this peaceful valley, filled 
 my soul with joy and content. This thought became 
 to me what roots are to a tree; it attached me so 
 securely to my little plot of ground, that I felt as if no 
 power on earth could tear me away from it. My 
 beloved Madus, and our little home, became doubly 
 dear to me. Had all the wealth, all the splendor that 
 
74 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 came to me later, been offered me then in exchange for 
 my Madus and the humble little home she filled with 
 her joyous presence, I should have refused with scorn, 
 
 THE KOLTUK-DENGENEGI. 
 
 I had become perfectly satisfied with my peaceful 
 and uneventful existence. My entire world now lay 
 within the rocky rim of the Viszpa Ogrod. My entire 
 happiness lay in the beaming smile with which my 
 Madus greeted my home-coming every day. My 
 labors in the smithy were always over by noon; the 
 afternoons were devoted to work required to be done 
 at home. 
 
 One day I was siting in the hall-way of our cottage 
 busily employed fashioning, from some crimson willow 
 withes, a pretty basket-cradle, when a shadow suddenly 
 shut out the sunlight from me. I looked up and was 
 startled to see Nyedzviedz standing in the door-way. 
 
 "You here!" I exclaimed. "Have you, too, been 
 relegated to the Viszpa Ogrod because of the softened 
 heart? Or have you come here to hide from an 
 enemy? Which?" 
 
 "Neither, my good Baran," answered the leader. 
 "I am not come to stop in this happy valley, but to 
 fetch you away from it. We need you in the cavern. 
 We cannot get on without you. We are planning a 
 most important expedition, and need your assistance. 
 A rich caravan is on the road to Mohilow ; it is made 
 up of Russian, Turkish and Jew traders, and is accom- 
 panied by a military escort. We propose to capture 
 this caravan, and take possession of all the treasure 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. ? 
 
 and valuables, after which, we shall proceed to Ber- 
 diczov and loot the monastery. As the monastery is 
 strongly fortified, and garrisoned, we shall have to 
 batter down the walls ; therefore we must take you with 
 us, as you are the only one who understands how to 
 handle our field gun. I shall appoint you second in 
 command of the expedition." 
 
 Madus had come from the kitchen while 'her father 
 was speaking. She was not in the least glad to see 
 him ; on the contrary, she greeted him with a frown, 
 and demanded angrily: 
 
 "Why do you try to lure my gentle-hearted Baran 
 away from me? He does not need your stolen treas- 
 ure. He has all he wants here in his humble home. 
 You buried us here we are dead to you, therefore 
 leave us here in peace." 
 
 To which Nyedzviedz made answer by saying: 
 "Baran, does the father or the husband control the 
 wife? If you, the husband, don't know how to control 
 your wife, I, her father, will show you what to do with 
 the woman who speaks when she is not spoken to." 
 
 I well knew what a hasty temper was the leader's, 
 and persuaded Madus to come with me to the kitchen, 
 where I gently argued away her opposition to my 
 leaving home. I assured her it would be for our good ; 
 that when I had got together enough money to keep 
 us in comfort I should return, and find a way to escape 
 with her from the valley to some large city, where we 
 should be safe from the haidemaken, and where she 
 might sweep the dusty streets with a long-tailed silk 
 gown, and be addressed as "gracious lady." 
 
76 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 This had the desired, effect. She wept bitterly ; but 
 she bade me go with her father. When I turned to 
 cast a last look into the valley, before we entered the 
 rock-corridor, I could see my poor little wife's red 
 kerchief still gleaming in the doorway of our cottage. 
 Her favorite dove had flown after me to the entrance 
 of the corridor ; there it settled down on my shoulder 
 and began to coo into my ear. I had to fling it away 
 from me quite forcibly in order to frighten it back to 
 its mistress. My former comrades greeted me with 
 loud cries of welcome, and celebrated my return by a 
 tremendous drinking-bout. 
 
 When, after my long abstention from it, I again 
 tasted wine, I forgot the Viszpa Ogrod and every- 
 thing connected with it as one will, when awake, 
 forget even the most enchanting dreams. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that the wine-drinker who 
 abstains for a long period from his favorite beverage, 
 then yields again to the temptation, becomes a more 
 inveterate drunkard than before he resisted the fasci- 
 nations of the cup. The haidemaken drank only 
 Tokay ; they made a point of selecting from the cellars 
 of the prelates, and magnates whom they plundered, 
 only the best vintages. 
 
 The following night we set out for Mohilow, a 
 twelve days' journey. 
 
 I am almost willing to wager that not a soul, in the 
 region to which we were going, really believed such a 
 band of robbers as the haidemaken was in existence 
 or, if it had ever been heard of, the tales of its mar- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 77 
 
 velous exploits were looked upon as kindred to the 
 fables repeated in the nursery. 
 
 As I said before, the band always traveled by night. 
 During the day we rested, hidden in a dense forest, or 
 in an uninhabited valley. 
 
 We never entered a village to procure food, but 
 carried with us rations of dried meat, varying our diet 
 with mushrooms collected on the way. 
 
 On learning definitely from the scouts we had sent 
 to reconnoiter that the caravan was expected to reach 
 Mohilow on a certain day, we concealed ourselves in a 
 swampy thicket by the side of the road over which it 
 would have to pass. Here we were forced to wait two 
 days, during which our meat gave out, and we had to 
 eat raw frogs and birds' eggs. The peasant carts 
 passing along the road, with pretzels, smoked sau- 
 sages, cheese, mead and wine for the market at 
 Mohilow, were not molested by the hungry robbers, 
 who would only have needed to stretch out their hands 
 to secure the good things for which they languished. 
 But the leader would not allow it. 
 
 "We are here to fight, not feast," he said. 
 
 Our patience was well nigh at an end, when, one 
 day, {he sound of a trumpet and drum announced the 
 approach of the caravan. 
 
 On mules, on horses, camels, and ox-carts, came the 
 fifteen-hundred-odd human souls, their escort, a valiant 
 company of soldiers in coats of mail, and helmets, and 
 armed with halberds, and muskets. It was a motly 
 crowd, outnumbering our band in souls; but; inferior 
 to us in strength. 
 
78 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 When, at a preconcerted signal, our men dashed from 
 the thicket, the entire caravan fell into confusion. 
 The soldiers fired off their muskets, heedless where 
 they aimed; we, on the other hand, sent our shots 
 where they would prove most effective. 
 
 A frightful tumult ensued it was : save himself who 
 can ; while the heavily laden carts and vans were left 
 behind. 
 
 I must admit that the haidemaken behaved atro- 
 ciously. Never, in all my experience on the battle- 
 field, did I witness such a scene of carnage. It made 
 me ill ; I became so faint with horror and disgust I 
 sank unconscious to the ground. 
 
 When I came to my senses, I saw a Turkish mer- 
 chant hobbling on a crutch toward me. He was old, 
 and seemed to have been seriously wounded, for he 
 was covered with blood. He came straight toward me, 
 and, sinking to the ground by my side, said in a plead- 
 ing tone : "My son, I beg you, take my yataghan, and 
 cut off my head." 
 
 Your honors may believe that I was startled by so 
 singular a request. 
 
 "I shan't do any such thing!" I replied promptly, 
 and with decision. 
 
 "Pray do," he urged. "Cut off my head without 
 further parley, and you shall have this koltuk-deni- 
 genegi," which is Turkish for "beggar's staff." 
 
 "No, Baba," I returned, with the same decision as 
 before. "I can't cut off your head, for I have no 
 grudge against you. I am not an assassin though I 
 do belong to the haidemaken; I was forced into this 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. ?9 
 
 band, much as Pilate was thrust into the credo against 
 his will, I'll warrant !" 
 
 "Your countenance tells me, my son, that you are 
 better than your comrades," said the old Turk. "For 
 that reason I ventured to ask a favor of you. Come, 
 hesitate no longer to perform the deed of mercy for 
 which you shall be handsomely rewarded. Decapitate 
 this old body; it will not be assassination; one can 
 murder only a living being so says the Koran, the 
 only truthful book on earth and I cannot strictly be 
 called a living being. I have a deadly wound in the 
 abdomen, and am bound to die sooner or later. Be- 
 sides, I am prepared and desire to die. I can't flee any 
 farther ; and if I fall into the hands of your cruel com- 
 rades I shall be horribly tortured. Therefore, I beg 
 you to release me from further suffering; cut off my 
 head with this beautiful yataghan, which shall also be 
 yours." 
 
 But, not even then could I bring myself to grant his 
 prayer, and relieve him of his sufferings and his bald 
 head. 
 
 "Leave me, Baba," I exclaimed impatiently. "If you 
 want to get rid of your head, cut it off yourself with 
 that beautiful yataghan ; or else, hang yourself on one 
 of those beautiful trees over yonder." 
 
 To this the old Turk responded with pious mien: 
 "That I dare not do, my son. The Koran the only 
 truthful book on earth says, there are seven hells: 
 one underneath the other, and each one more terrible 
 than the one above it. The first hell is for true believ- 
 ers, like myself; the second is for Christians; the 
 
80 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD, 
 
 seventh is for the Atheists. The fourth, Morhut, is for 
 those persons who commit suicide. Were I to take 
 my own life, I should have to descend to the fourth 
 hell, where, as well as in every one of the three hells 
 above it, I should be obliged to remain three-hundred 
 and thirty-three years before I should be permitted to 
 enter paradise. Whereas, if I should lose my life at the 
 hands of an unbeliever like yourself, I should so says 
 the Koran, the only truthful book on earth go 
 straightway to paradise.* 
 
 And still I hesitated ; though it seemed but kindness 
 to grant the old Turk's request, and send him speeding 
 straightway into paradise. But, I remembered that 
 our Bible (really the only truthful book on earth) says : 
 "Thou shalt not kill ;" and thrust the importunate old 
 fellow away from me. 
 
 But he renewed his pleading with increased ur- 
 gency : "See, my son, I will give you this koltuk-den- 
 genegi " "Of what use would that crutch be to 
 me?" I interrupted. 
 
 "If you will screw off the top you will see that the 
 crutch is rilled with gold pieces," he replied; and to 
 prove that he spoke the truth, he unscrewed the shoul- 
 der rest and shook several gold coins into the palm of 
 his hand. 
 
 The yellow metal dazzled my eyes: "The crutch 
 would hold a good many coins," I said to myself, to 
 which added the Turk's pleading voice : 
 
 "You shall have it all, my son, if you will but grant 
 my prayer." 
 
 And still I hesitated. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 81 
 
 "I can't do it, Baba," I said. "Even if you gave me 
 the crutch, I should not be allowed to keep the gold. 
 No member of our band is allowed to keep for his own 
 use alone any valuables that may come into his posses- 
 sion. Everything must be placed at once in the com- 
 mon treasury for the use of the entire band and woe 
 to the haidemak who would dare to keep for himself 
 even a single Polish groschen ! So, you see, Baba, your 
 gold would be of no use to me." 
 
 "Listen to me, my son," again urged the wounded 
 Turk, who was growing visibly weaker ; "you are 
 young ; I can see that this wild life is not suited to you. 
 If you had my gold, you could escape to Wallachia, 
 buy an estate a castle serfs, and marry. Perhaps 
 you already have a sweetheart if so, why shouldn't 
 you live in happiness with her, instead of skulking 
 about in caves and swamps like a wild animal?" 
 
 This suggestion made me thoughtful. It brought 
 back to my mind my dear good Madus. Ah ! if only I 
 might fly with her, far away, to some region where 
 she might become a respected lady. If I had the 
 Turk's gold ! I could easily keep it secreted in the 
 crutch. Some day, when the haidemaken were away 
 on an expedition, I could easily stupefy the few mem- 
 bers of the band remaining in the cavern by drugging 
 their mead with Venice treacle ; and when they were 
 sound asleep I could fetch my Madus from the Viszpa 
 Ogrod and with her escape to a far away land. 
 
 This thought impressed itself so deeply on my 
 mind it became so alluring that, unconsciously, my 
 hand went out toward the beautiful yataghan. 
 
82 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "If I thought I could keep the gold hidden !" I said, 
 unconscious that I had given voice to the thought. 
 
 "That will be easy enough ; just leave it in the 
 crutch," promptly responded the Turk. "When you 
 join your comrades make believe to have taken cold 
 in the swamp yonder, say that the muscles of your leg 
 have contracted and made you lame. That will not 
 only give you an excuse to use the crutch, but it will 
 most likely get your discharge; a hobbling cripple is 
 not a desirable comrade in a band of robbers." 
 
 Without waiting to see how I might take his sugges- 
 tion, the Turk proceeded at once to show me how to 
 bandage my left leg, so that it could not be straight- 
 ened at the knee ; how to keep my ankle against the 
 crutch, and hobble along on the right leg. I thought of 
 Madus, for whom I would have hobbled on one leg 
 to Jerusalem, and let him show me how to transform 
 myself to a cripple. 
 
 "Now, my son," he said, when he had delivered his 
 instructions, "take my yataghan, my beautiful yata- 
 ghan, and cut off my head only don't hack it off as a 
 butcher would with a cleaver. Swing the yataghan, 
 thus, in a half-circle easily, gracefully, as you would 
 the bow of a" violin. I will kneel here at your feet, 
 bend forward, thus; then do you strike just here: be- 
 tween these two segments of the vertebrae. Be sure to 
 keep firm hold on the handle to prevent the blade from 
 slipping" 
 
 He gave me so many directions, kept on talking so 
 long that Satan, who is ever at one's elbow, gave my 
 arm a sudden thrust, and, before I knew what had hap- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. S3 
 
 pened, a body minus a head lay at my feet, while a 
 head minus a body was rolling down the hill 
 
 "Homicidium!" dictated the chair to the notary. To 
 this the prince appended : 
 
 "Under extenuating circumstances. We must not 
 ignore the fact that the deed was committed at the 
 urgent request of the decapitated under approval of 
 the Koran, and instigated, I might say, forced, to the 
 act by the wicked one at the perpetrator's elbow." 
 
 "It was killing a human being, all the same!" said 
 Hugo, "and I had cause soon afterward to repent most 
 bitterly what I had done. After I had committed the 
 bloody deed I set out to overtake my comrades. They 
 had secured much valuable booty which they were 
 carrying on their backs. When I came up with them, 
 hobbling on one leg and leaning on my crutch, they 
 broke into loud laughter: 
 
 "What the devil is the matter with you?" queried the 
 leader. * 
 
 "I am all used up!" I groaned. "I killed an old 
 Turk, whose lame leg prevented him from running 
 away with the rest of them ; and before he gave up the 
 ghost he cursed me and prayed that I might be com- 
 pelled to hobble along on a crutch for the rest of my 
 life. He had hardly got the words out of his throat 
 before my leg became as you see it, and I can't 
 straighten it." 
 
 "That comes of standing in the swamp cold water 
 will affect effeminate fellows like you in that way," 
 observed Nyedzviedz. "But don't worry, we have 
 
84 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 among us one who understands how to cure such 
 maladies. Ho, there ! Przepiorka, come hither." 
 
 I was frightened, I can tell you! If my leg were 
 examined it would be found to be in a sound and 
 healthy condition. But there was no help for it I 
 could not escape an examination. So I drew up the 
 calf of the leg so tightly against the lower part of the 
 thigh that Przepiorka, after he had tried several times 
 in vain to straighten it pronounced it permanently 
 crippled. 
 
 On hearing this decision, I forgot my role and would 
 have straightened the leg to convince myself that it 
 could be done; but, what was my consternation and 
 alarm to find that I was unable to do it. The affliction 
 I had pretended had come upon me in earnest ! God 
 had punished me. I was a miserable cripple, unable 
 to take a single step without the koltuk-dengenegi. 
 
 How I cursed him who had left it to me in legacy ! 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE BERDICZOV MONASTERY. 
 
 "Don't worry," said Nyedzviedz again, when he saw 
 my distress. "Don't worry ! You can still be of great 
 service to us, even if you are lame. We have long 
 wanted to add to our number just such a cripple." 
 
 Then he summoned a sturdy, broad-shouldered 
 robber and bade him take me on his back and in this 
 fashion I journeyed with the band, the stronger mem- 
 bers taking turns in carrying me. 
 
 When we arrived at Oezakover forest, where we 
 halted to rest, the leader said to me : 
 
 "You will leave us here, Baran, and hobble to Ber- 
 diczov as best you can. I want you to spy out the 
 situation there for us and get all the information you 
 can. Then you will return to the cavern and on the 
 news you bring will depend our plans of attack ; I pro- 
 pose to capture the monastery." 
 
 The extraordinary success of the Mohilow expe- 
 dition had made our leader so arrogant that, because 
 he had, with three-hundred men vanquished two- 
 thousand, half of whom were armed, he now aspired 
 to nothing of less importance than a garrisoned castle. 
 
 And the wedge with which he proposed to force an 
 entrance was my crippled leg! 
 
 From near and far from distant lands even, all 
 manner of crippled folk, and invalids afflicted with 
 
 (85) 
 
86 ( TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 divers maladies, journeyed to Berdiczov in search of 
 healing. The indigent limped and hobbled on crutches 
 to the miracle-working spot; the well-to-do rode on 
 mules; the peasant was trundled in a barrow by his 
 sturdy spouse; the tradesman travelled in his two- 
 wheeled ox-cart; and the magnate was borne in his 
 sedan-chair by his servants. 
 
 Berdiczov monastery was the property of the Pre- 
 monstrant monks. It stood on an elevation in the 
 center of a charming valley. It was strongly fortified, 
 and surrounded by thick walls, which were protected 
 outside by a deep moat and palisades. 
 
 A thermal spring at the foot of the hill fed the moat 
 and turned the wheels of a grist mill. The only en- 
 trance to the monastery was over a narrow drawbridge 
 that spanned the moat at its deepest part. The mul- 
 titude of visitors to the healing spring found lodgings 
 in the little village outside the walls of the monastery ; 
 and only one hundred worshippers at a time were per- 
 mitted to enter the chapel inside the gates. If the 
 crowd gathered at the drawbridge at the hour for ser- 
 vices exceeded that number then mass was celebrated 
 all day long, one hundred of the faithful entering at 
 one door, as the hundred that had worshipped passed 
 out by the other. Day and night guards armed to the 
 teeth patrolled the walls and the court-yard; and no 
 visitor was allowed to enter with weapons of any sort, 
 for enormous wealth lay heaped within the walls of the 
 monastery. When I saw the heaps on heaps of valu- 
 ables in the treasure-chamber, I no longer wondered 
 that Nyedzviedz desired to possess it. There was a 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 87 
 
 massive altar of pure silver, the gift of King Stanis- 
 laus ; golden alms basins, engraved with the name and 
 history of the donor, Count Leszinsky; images of 
 saints with mosaics of priceless gems ; golden chalices ; 
 shrines glittering with rubies and diamonds ; gemmed 
 thuribles; antique crowns which had once adorned 
 crania twice the size of the heads of our day; costly 
 reliquaries ; and, amid all this splendor, countless num- 
 bers of crutches and staves, the votive offerings of the 
 afflicted who had found healing in the waters of the 
 spring. 
 
 The crutches and staves were the first objects to 
 attract my eye, and I said to myself: "How gladly 
 would I add to this collection the old Turk's koltuk- 
 dengenegi with all its gold, could I but find healing for 
 my crippled leg." 
 
 When the choral began, I can't describe the feeling 
 which took possession of me as I listened to the beau- 
 tiful melody. I had no thought then for the treasures 
 of gold and silver no glance for anything but the 
 image of the saint above the altar. I could not escape 
 from the reproachful eyes it fixed on me. I felt that it 
 was reading all the wicked thoughts in my breast. 
 But, as I listened to the beautiful music, all the evil 
 intentions I had brought with me to the monastery 
 faded from my heart; and when the last sounds died 
 away, there was not, in all the devout company, a more 
 bitterly repentant wretch than I. When the service 
 was concluded, the worshippers passed in front of the 
 prior to receive his benediction. The prior was a ven- 
 
88 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 arable saint with a flowing white beard; his coun- 
 tenance expressed infinite goodness and benevolence. 
 
 We had been told not to offer any gifts to the monks 
 on entering the monastery; but to leave whatever we 
 might think fit to bestow, on departing. 
 
 The venerable prior dispensed his blessing to all 
 alike. He did not inquire if the recipient were a be- 
 liever, or a heretic. Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, 
 all alike, received the godly man's benediction. 
 
 I quitted the chapel wholly repentant. I had com- 
 pletely forgotten the errand on which I had been sent. 
 Not once did it occur to me that I was there as a spy, 
 to examine the walls, the mortars, to learn the strength 
 of the garrison. 
 
 I took my place in the procession of cripples, and 
 hobbled along with them, mumbling the prayers pre- 
 scribed for us. 
 
 When we arrived at the miracle-working spring, I 
 and my fellow-sufferers were undressed and placed on 
 rafts in the water rich and poor alike, no distinction 
 was made between the magnate and the beggar. 
 
 I can't say exactly how long I remained in the 
 water; but when I came out, the crook had left my leg, 
 it was straight and sound as before I came into pos- 
 session of the old Turk's crutch. 
 
 "Miraculum ! Miraculum !" shouted the entire com- 
 pany ; while I wept like a little child, for joy and grati- 
 tude. 
 
 With my crutch over my shoulder, instead of under 
 it I returned to the prior, who received me with a 
 benignant smile. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 89 
 
 I knelt at his feet and asked him to receive my con- 
 fession. I told him every thing ; that I was there at the 
 behest of the haidemaken leader to spy out the 
 strength of the fortifications and the garrison ; that the 
 band was preparing to assault the monastery, so soon 
 as they should hear from me; that they intended to 
 bring with them a powerful field-gun, with which to 
 force a breach in the walls through which the four- 
 hundred fearless robbers would enter and overpower 
 the soldiery. When I had concluded, and the prior 
 had given me absolution, he said : 
 
 "Now, my son, go back to those who sent you here 
 and tell them what you have learned. Let them come 
 with their field-gun, and do you come with them. 
 When you are ordered to bombard the walls, do you 
 obey" 
 
 "What? father;" I interrupted in astonishment. 
 "You advise me to do that?" 
 
 "Yes. On the bombardier depends the effect of the 
 bombardment ! It rests with him to aim well, or ill ! 
 Better you at the gun than another !" 
 
 I understood the sagacious reply, and said: 
 
 "I shall take good care not to aim well, father." 
 
 "On you, my son, will it depend that the relief troops 
 I shall send for reach here in time to save us from the 
 robbers." 
 
 "And you may rest assured, father, that I shall know 
 how to prolbng the siege !" 
 
 As a pledge that I would keep faith with him I gave 
 him my crutch, gratitude also prompting the gift, for, 
 
90 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 not even a gold-filled crutch is too great a price to pay 
 for a sound leg ! 
 
 "I will keep it for you, my son/' said the benevolent 
 sage. "If you succeed in averting the danger which 
 threatens us you shall have the crutch back, and some- 
 thing in addition something of more value than gold : 
 aid to reform. Take this image of the Holy Virgin to 
 your wife with my blessing." 
 
 A changed man at heart, I returned to the cavern, 
 where, however, I was forced again to tell untruths, in 
 order to deceive the robbers. But it was for a good 
 cause. 
 
 My comrades received me with gratulatory shouts 
 when they saw me walking on two healthy legs. I 
 told them I had been healed by magic by the incan- 
 tations of a witch, and they believed me ! Had I told 
 the truth, and that I had received the blessing of the 
 prior, it would have made them suspicious. 
 
 We now held a council of war, at which I delivered 
 my report. I knew from experience that, to gain cred- 
 ence for a lie, one must invest it with a modicum of 
 truth. Therefore, I described, without deviating one 
 iota from the truth, the treasures I had seen, and even 
 added to them as, for instance : I said there were bar- 
 rels filled with gold and silver, which made the rob- 
 bers' mouths water. Nyedzviedz was full of ambitious 
 plans. He intended, so soon as he got money enough, 
 to combine under his leadership all the predatory 
 bands in the Carpathian region, and with them invade 
 and plunder the wealthy Galician cities, castles, and 
 monastaries. He felt confident that the common peo- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. $1 
 
 pie would be glad to aid in plundering the prelates and 
 nobles. 
 
 I described the fortifications of Berdiczov monastery 
 as almost impregnable, when the truth was, that I 
 could, with the culverin, have battered down the walls 
 the first day while the rusty old mortars would do little 
 damage among the beleaguerers. I ascribed to the 
 prior the strategic talents of a field-marshall. My 
 description of the moat, with the formidable palisades 
 concealed under the water, quite discouraged the rob- 
 bers from the plan they had made to swim across it, 
 and storm the walls. 
 
 Indeed, I told such astounding tales about the 
 powder mines under the walls and moat, that their 
 confidence in me became absolute when I sketched my 
 plan of assault. I proposed to batter the fortifications 
 in such a manner, that the debris would fall into and 
 fill up the moat, which would enable us to cross it with- 
 out injury, and enter through the breaches I had made 
 in the walls. I won the leader's favor and approval to 
 such an extent that he committed the entire conduct 
 of the important expedition into my hands. 
 
 At the conclusion of the council, I asked as a special 
 favor to be allowed to spend a day with my beloved 
 Madus before we set out on the expedition. 
 
 Nyedzviedz at first was unwilling to consent. "I 
 know," he said, "just how women-folk are. It is best 
 for a soldier to have nothing to do with them. Their 
 tears are sure to melt a soft heart." 
 
 But I persisted in my request, and at last received 
 permission to visit the Viszpa Ogrod. 
 
92 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 It was a beautiful autumn afternoon when I de- 
 scended the steep path to the secluded valley. While 
 yet some distance from our little cottage, I heard my 
 Madus singing sweetly I can hear her now, and see 
 her as she came joyfully to meet me. 
 
 How happy she was ! 
 
 The poor child believed I had come to stop, and as 
 I did not want to cloud her joy, I put off until the 
 moment of my departure, telling her that I was again 
 to accompany her father on a distant expedition. 
 
 One day at least I would spend happily. So, I let 
 my Madus tell me all that had happened in the valley 
 during my absence ; I heard also how much dried fruit, 
 how many smoked trout, how many cheeses, she had 
 in store for the winter; how many yards of beautiful 
 linen she had woven from the flax she had cultivated 
 with her own hands. 
 
 Last of all, she exhibited, with blushing cheeks, her 
 little treasures : cunning little caps, and jackets, at sight 
 of which my heart leapt for joy in my bosom. She 
 confided to me in a whisper that, when Christmas 
 should arrive, her Bethlehem crib would have received 
 its occupant. 
 
 Oh, how gladly would I have remained with her! 
 But it could not be. I had more ambitious plans for 
 her. I was bent on escaping with her to the great 
 world, where she should as she deserved become a 
 fine lady. 
 
 After she had told me everything about herself, she 
 asked me to relate what I had done while absent. 
 When I told her how successful the expedition had 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 93 
 
 proved, I found that the Madus who tended her doves 
 and made cheeses in the Viszpa Ogrod, was vastly 
 different from the Madus who had once accompanied 
 the haidemaken expeditions. She grew pale with hor- 
 ror when I described the slaughter of the caravan ; and 
 the occurrence which resulted in my becoming the 
 inheritor of the old Turk's crutch, and a lame leg. She 
 became more composed, however, when I told her 
 about the marvelous cure at the healing spring; and 
 quite recovered her composure when I gave her the 
 image of the Holy Virgin the prior had sent her. Ah 
 me ! that image was her death, as well as her salvation. 
 
 The next morning I told her I had to leave her 
 again. She sought with tears and caresses to dissuade 
 me from going. She clasped her arms around my 
 neck, then flung herself at my feet, and clasped my 
 knees she seemed unable to control her wild despair. 
 
 I have often thought since that the poorchild had 
 a presentiment she would never again behold me in 
 this life. 
 
 I sought in vain to comfort her; in vain I assured 
 her that I would never leave her again after I returned 
 from this expedition, from which I hoped to secure 
 what would enable me to establish a home for her in 
 some large city. She was inconsolable. 
 
 She accompanied me to the entrance to the rock- 
 corridor, and would have gone clear to the cavern, had 
 not her father met us just as we were entering the 
 passage. He frightened her by saying it would be 
 unsafe to venture among the haidemaken in her con- 
 dition, as all robbers entertained the superstitious be- 
 
94 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 lief that the fourth finger from the hand of an unborn 
 babe rendered the possessor invulnerable to bullet and 
 sword. 
 
 Nyedzviedz would not even allow a last embrace, 
 but thrust us roughly apart ; and forced me to precede 
 him into the corridor. I kept looking back from time 
 to time, so long as the entrance remained in sight. My 
 Madus stood, looking after me, in the circular opening 
 of the rocky wall ; she seemed like a saint encompassed 
 by a halo of light, and as the corridor grew darker and 
 more gloomy the radiant image at my back increased 
 in brilliance until a sudden turn hid the beautiful vision 
 from my sight. 
 
 That same evening we set out for Berdiczov four- 
 hundred haidemaken, with the culverin. 
 
 CHRISTMAS. 
 
 It was early Autumn when we began the siege, 
 which I conducted in so skillful from my point 
 of view ! a manner, that December found us still out- 
 side the walls of the monastery. Three times I 
 changed the position of our assaulting forces ; but took 
 good care every time to select a point far enough from 
 the walls to prevent our shots from damaging them to 
 any considerable extent. 
 
 Nyedzviedz kept urging me to a nearer approach: 
 he said we were so distant, that the cannon-balls from 
 the fortifications had to roll over the ground to reach 
 our lines. So, one day, after he had examined the 
 ground, and discovered what he believed to be a more 
 advantageous position, I was forced, in order not to 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 95 
 
 rouse his suspicions, to comply with his request. 
 While superintending the throwing up of intrench- 
 ments the first night I managed to secrete under the 
 earth-works a keg of powder, and in the morning I 
 told the leader that extreme caution would be nec- 
 essary, now that we were so much nearer to the for- 
 tifications, as the monks were having powder-mines 
 laid under our breast-works. I had heard peculiar 
 noises during the night, I told him, and, suspecting 
 what was being done, I had scattered a few peas on the 
 head of a drum standing on the ground. The lively 
 dancing of the peas had convinced me that my sus- 
 picions were correct. 
 
 But the leader was incredulous. He decided to take 
 observations for himself; and would spend the follow- 
 ing night in the trenches, when he could also watch 
 the result of our bombardment. This would make it 
 impossible for me to carry out my plans for exploding 
 the keg of powder hidden in the breast-works. But, 
 I was not to be outdone. I happened to remember an 
 expedient I had once employed with success, and re- 
 sorted to it again: I drew the fuse through a long 
 reed, one end of which I thrust into the keg. 
 
 I had to be very cautious ; for Nyedzviedz had a nose 
 that could smell a match cord at long range ; but with 
 the fuse inside the reed, I could prevent the fumes from 
 getting into the range of his olfactor. 
 
 The powder exploded at the right moment, just 
 when the leader was bending eagerly over the breast- 
 work to peer after a bomb. After the smoke and dust 
 cleared away, I drew him from under the heap of earth, 
 
96 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 from which only his legs protruded. He had not been 
 injured in the least, but all desire to assault the enemy 
 at so close a range had fled, and I was allowed to re- 
 turn to our former position, on the brow of a hill, a 
 considerable distance farther from the fortifications. 
 
 I consoled the dissatisfied haidemaken with the 
 assurance that, when the real cold weather of winter 
 should set in, the moat would freeze over ; then it would 
 be an easy matter to storm the walls at close range. I 
 did not think it necessary to tell them that the warm 
 spring would prevent the water in the moat from freez- 
 ing. In the meantime came Christmas an anxiously 
 longed-for day in many respects. With the dawn of 
 Christmas morning came a furious snow-storm, the 
 north wind flinging down on us such masses of flakes 
 that it was impossible to see ten steps away. 
 
 It was just the sort of weather I had calculated on. 
 The bombardment had to cease, as the monastery was 
 completely hidden from view behind the veil of snow. 
 The haidemaken retired to their tents, and amused 
 themselves, gaming with dice and cards, for what 
 stakes do you imagine? They had no money, remem- 
 ber ! Why, the winner paid, and the loser received, a 
 box on the ear ! I hadn't any fondness for the game 
 myself; but my comrades seemed to enjoy it hugely. 
 
 While gaming, drinking, cursing, were going on in 
 the other tents, I sat in my own, alone, and silent, pon- 
 dering over my past years. I recalled the different 
 anniversaries of the blessed day, beginning with the 
 first I could remember when, held in my mother's 
 arms, I removed from the Christmas-tree my first 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 97 
 
 ginger-bread doll, which I was loath to eat because 
 of its beautiful golden hue. 
 
 Then, my thoughts turned to the humble cot in the 
 Viszpa Ogrod ; and I wondered, with a strange trem- 
 bling in my bosom, if the little Bethlehem crib, my 
 Madus had prepared for the reception of a precious 
 occupant, now held its treasure. 
 
 The monastery bells were ringing for the Christmas 
 service; on the bastion a long procession of monks 
 with innumerable lamps was moving toward the 
 chapel. 
 
 The wind was driving the clouds across the sky, and 
 hundreds of witch-forms rioted above the camp, in the 
 faint light which came from a mist-veiled moon. 
 
 The snow-fall had ceased ; only the wind, which was 
 scattering the storm-clouds, still swept with uriabated 
 vigor across the plain, packing the fine snow more 
 compactly together. 
 
 Suddenly, amid the noise of carousing and shouting 
 which came from the neighboring tents, I heard a 
 sound that made me drop quickly to my knees, 
 and lay my ear close to the ground. At last ! At last ! 
 They were coming ! I could hear distinctly the hoof- 
 beats, when they crossed the rocky road from which 
 the wind had swept the snow. Then, the sound 
 ceased they were come to the plain where the snow 
 muffled the noise of the hoofs. Duke Visznovieczky's 
 dragoons were approaching at a brisk trot to the assist- 
 ance of Berdiczov monastery. 
 
 I did not wait for them to come up. In the dark all 
 cows are black ! I said to myself : "It will be useless 
 
98 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 to try to convince the dragoon who raises his sword 
 against me that I am this one, and not the other one ! 
 So I wrapped myself in my mantle, slipped from the 
 tent, and ran fleetly toward the monastery. 
 
 When I paused to look back, after the relief troop 
 had begun the attack on the robber camp, I saw the 
 witch-dance I had seen earlier, it had descended to the 
 earth, and with it was joined a tumult of demons; of 
 black forms, and white, darting hither and thither ; of 
 furious sword cuts; frenzied cries; mad flight, and 
 swift pursuit ! 
 
 The early morning assault was successful. The 
 dragoons routed the haidemaken- without a shot. 
 What became of my comrades I cannot say, for I con- 
 tinued on my way to the monastery, where I shouted 
 myself hoarse before the draw-bridge was lowered to 
 admit me. 
 
 Early mass had just been concluded. The monks 
 with their tall candlesticks, chanting a psalm of praise, 
 led the procession returning from the chapel; the 
 cripples hobbling in the rear, hummed the antiphony. 
 But, heil didn't the devout company break ranks 
 quickly when I appeared before them with the an- 
 nouncement : 
 
 "Duke Visznovieczky's dragoons are come, and have 
 attacked the haidemaken camp !" 
 
 The psalm-singing ceased at once; and, instead, 
 everybody was shouting: "To arms ! To arms !" 
 
 Even the canopy-bearers left the prior in the middle 
 of the court-yard, and ran to fetch their arms ; while 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 99 
 
 the cripples hopped about on one leg and brandished 
 their crutches and staves. 
 
 By this time we could see that the beleaguerers were 
 fleeing before the dragoons in every direction. The 
 valiant burgers who, at the beginning of the siege, had 
 taken refuge in the monastery, could now no longer 
 repress their heroic feelings. Seizing whatever would 
 serve as a weapon, the brave fellows dashed across the 
 draw-bridge and sped toward the field of battle ; the 
 reverend fathers followed at a more dignified pace ; the 
 cripples brought up the rear, and assisted the worthy 
 burgers to complete the work of destruction begun by 
 the dragoons, by cutting off the feet of those haide- 
 maken who had already been decapitated. 
 
 Whether Nyedzviedz had succeeded in escaping the 
 fate of many of his comrades, I could not learn then ; 
 nor did I care ! I was too thankful that I had been 
 spared from destruction and delivered from the clutch 
 of the robber-band. Therewith ended my career as a 
 haidemak. 
 
 The prisoner here paused in his confession, feeling 
 that he, as well as the court, needed a rest. 
 
 "I am inclined to believe," observed the prince, "that 
 the accused rehabilitated himself through his valiant 
 act. So much as he sinned, so much he made good! 
 He was healed by a miracle of God; therefore, it be- 
 hooves us earthly judges to consider well before we 
 pass sentence where the Heavenly Judge granted 
 absolution." 
 
 To this the chair, with obvious irritation, made 
 
100 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 reply: "If your highness intends to permit this male- 
 factor to extenuate, in a like manner, all the rest of his 
 misdeeds, when he gets to the end of the list we shall 
 feel that he deserves canonization instead of punish- 
 ment." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 IN THE SERVICE OF THE DUKE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MALACHI. 
 
 The next day the prisoner continued his confession : 
 
 My experience at Berdiczov monastery, my deliv- 
 erance from destruction, as well as the miraculous 
 restoration of my crippled limb, decided me to adopt 
 the faith of the holy brotherhood. 
 
 Their solemn ceremonies, their elevating devotions, 
 their piety, made a deep impression on me; but the 
 most comforting to me of all their rites was that of the 
 confessional. 
 
 It was such a comfort to unbosom myself to one in 
 whom I could trust implicitly ; to confide in him all the 
 secrets that tortured my dreams by night, and my 
 thoughts by day. And then, to receive absolution to 
 get back, as it were, the bond I had given to Satan ! 
 
 One day was not long enough for all I had to tell. I 
 could have spent every day of the week in the con- 
 fessional, pouring into the ear of the good Father 
 Agapitus the sins which burdened my conscience. And 
 
 (101) 
 
102 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 one day I confessed, too, that I was becoming weary 
 of the life in the monastery, where there was nothing 
 to do but tend to the sick all day long; and that I 
 wanted to go back to the world if not to my former 
 sinful life. 
 
 After I had confessed, I ventured to ask the worthy 
 father to recommend me to some Polish noble, with 
 whom I should have little work and much amusement. 
 There were many such places, I said, where the ser- 
 vices of a man of my stamp were required. 
 
 "My dear son," returned the worthy father, "I can- 
 not recommend you to a Christian man of the world, 
 for, although I could tell him that you are a pious con- 
 frater now, I could not say that you have always been 
 honest. I know just the contrary, and I cannot give 
 false witness. But I will do what I can for you. Here 
 is the crutch you left with us the gold is still in it. 
 Take it, garb yourself in beggar raiment, and limp to 
 Lemberg, where lives a Master Malachi in the Jewish 
 quarter of the city. You need only to inquire for him, 
 and you will be directed to his house. He is a wicked 
 man, in league with Satan. He deserves to have been 
 sent to the scaffold long ago and he will get there 
 should the Inquisition be established. Malachi is the 
 man for your needs. Tell him what you require, he 
 will understand you especially if you tell him what 
 your crutch contains ! 
 
 I could understand clearly that a pious man like 
 Father Agapitus could do nothing for me so notori- 
 ous a sinner ! He could not give me a letter of recom- 
 mendation, with false dates; it was enough if he 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 103 
 
 directed me where to find an accomplished counter- 
 feiter, who could supply my wants. So, I kissed hig 
 hand in gratitude; bade him farewell, and, with my 
 crutch under my shoulder, set out for Lemberg, 
 begging my way so that no one should suspect that I 
 carried in my crutch the wherewith to pay for food and 
 lodging. 
 
 When I arrived in Lemberg I repaired at once to 
 the Jews' quarter, where the streets are so narrow two 
 wagons cannot pass one another. Directly I entered 
 the principal thoroughfare, which seemed a veritable 
 rag-fair from one end to the other, I was surrounded 
 by a swarm of noisy children. 
 
 I took from my pocket a denarius, held it up before 
 them, and said I would give it to the lad who would 
 conduct me to the house of Malachi, whereupon the 
 youngsters began to quarrel as to which of them 
 should become the possessor of the coin. The largest 
 scamp among them, who succeeded by force of his 
 superior size and strength to vanquish his fellows, 
 offered himself as guide. 
 
 He led me a pretty chase, through numerous by- 
 ways and alleys, where there was hardly room for two 
 persons to pass, to a shop in front of which was sitting 
 an aged dame, with her cap drawn down to her eye- 
 brows. 
 
 Said my guide, after I had placed the denarius in his 
 hand: 
 
 "This woman knows where Malachi lives she will 
 tell you ;" and before I could stop him, the little rascal 
 
104 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 was off down the street as fast as his legs could carry 
 him. 
 
 I turned to the crone, who kept nodding- her old 
 head as if she were assenting to anything I might say 
 to her, took irom my pocket a Marien-groschen, and 
 holding it toward her, said : 
 
 '"Here, mother, this pretty coin shall be yours if you 
 will direct me to Malachi's house." 
 
 She nodded as much as to say "very good;" rose 
 from her chair, shuffled into the shop, where she filled 
 a small vial with red Polish brandy. This she handed 
 to -me with one hand, at the same time extending the 
 other for the money. 
 
 "I don't wan't brandy I want to know where 
 Malachi lives?" I shouted at the top of my voice. 
 
 The dame trotted back into the shop and brought a 
 bottle of green Russian brandy. 
 
 The little scamp had left me to deal with a deaf 
 woman! When I bawled into her ear for the third 
 time the name o! Malachi, she fetched from the shop a 
 packet of insect powder which she offered in exchange 
 for the Marien-groschen. 
 
 Then I bethought me of an expedient which is 
 usually successful in like cases : I took from my pocket 
 a crown and held it toward the dame. This cure for 
 deafness proved effective. 
 
 "Oh, you want to find Malachi?" she said in a cau- 
 tious whisper, nodding understandingly. "Follow 
 me." 
 
 She closed and locked the shop-door, opened a little 
 gate at the corner of the house, led me across a vege- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 105 
 
 table garden hung with soiled clothes; across a 
 second; thence through a narrow passage, between 
 two old buildings, into a wood-shed; from there into 
 a cellar; then over a swinging bridge across an ill- 
 smelling canal ; and, lastly, through a long, seemingly 
 interminable corridor, at the end of which she knocked 
 with her staff at a wooden door, at the same time whis- 
 pering in my ear, and taking the crown from my hand : 
 
 "I can't tell you where Malachi lives; but I have 
 brought you to the thaumaturgus, who knows every- 
 thing ; he will tell you where to find Malachi." 
 
 The door opened, and I saw before me a venerable 
 man with silvery hair and beard. He was blind. His 
 tall form was enveloped in a black silk robe girt about 
 the waist by an oriental sash. From his garb, I con- 
 cluded that a coin of greater value wouU be necessary 
 to procure the information I desired. 
 
 "Are you the man who knows everything?" I in- 
 quired. 
 
 The old gentleman was not in the least chary of 
 words. With great readiness he declared that he 
 understood the language of the birds of the air; the 
 speech of the beasts of- the field ; that he could con- 
 verse with dragons ; could discover subterranean 
 springs ; could tell any man whether or no he was the 
 son of his father; could even understand the tongue 
 in which demons spake " 
 
 "But," I interrupted, "I don't want to know any of 
 these things. If you will tell me where Malachi lives, 
 I will pay for the information." 
 
 "Ah, my son!" he responded, turning his sightless 
 
106 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 eyes heavenward; "that is a difficult question to ans- 
 wer. There are in this world as many Malachis as 
 there are flowers in the field, and stars in the sky. 
 There are seventy-seven in this very city; a Malachi 
 Mizraim ; a Malachi Meschugge ; a Malachi Choschen ; 
 Malachi Pinkas ; Malachi Honnowas How do I 
 know which Malachi you want?" 
 
 "I want the one who is a counterfeiter," I ans- 
 wered, with some hesitation. 
 
 "Ah, my son !" again ejaculated the venerable sage, 
 shaking his head sadly, "how sorry I am to hear that 
 you are on such evil ways ! All the Malachis with 
 whom I have to do are honest, God-fearing men." 
 
 I saw plainly that I should have to assist the old 
 gentleman's memory; I pressed a gold coin into his 
 palm. He turned it over and over in his fingers ; 
 tested it in various ways ; and, after convincing himself 
 that it was genuine, he delivered this apothegmatic 
 solution of the riddle : 
 
 "My son, he whom you seek, I cannot find. I have 
 never seen him I am blind. We will consult the 
 Miracle." 
 
 He stepped back into the room, to the table, where 
 he groped about with his hands among the different 
 objects, until he found a long steel needle. This he 
 thrust between the leaves of a heavy book lying on the 
 table, opened it, and placing his forefinger at the point 
 of the needle, where it rested on the page, said, in a 
 prophetic tone: 
 
 "He whom the Miracle designates is Ben Malachi 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 107 
 
 Peixoto, the Portuguese not I, but the Miracle says 
 so." 
 
 "And where shall I find this Portuguese?" I asked. 
 
 "When you go from the door of my dwelling, you 
 will find his directly opposite. Knock twice, then 
 once, then twice again, and you will be admitted. And 
 now, my son, go your way in peace !" 
 
 A stocky youth, with a candle, conducted me down 
 a dark stairway, opened the door, and I found myself 
 in the same street from which I had started on my 
 quest. Malachi's house was the first one on the cor- 
 ner. I had been led a tramp, for half a day, hither and 
 thither, up and down, through the entire Ghetto, to 
 reach the first house in it ! 
 
 I knocked on the door as I had been directed; it 
 was opened by a quince-colored lad. I cannot say for 
 certain whether it was a lad or a lass, I think, though, 
 it was a lad. I could not understand the language he 
 spoke indeed, I don't believe it was a language at all ! 
 He conducted me up a creaking staircase, into a dark- 
 ened room, in the corner of which crouched a human 
 form with its back to the door. He did not turn at 
 my entrance, but kept his face turned from me all the 
 time I was in the room. 
 
 In front of him was a mirror in which he could see 
 my reflection. The fleeting glimpse I caught of his 
 face in the glass, told me that the mysterious creature 
 had no beard ; his face was quite smooth, which I be- 
 lieve is the fashion among Portuguese Jews; it had 
 been embrocated with orpiment, which eats off the hair 
 
108 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 of the beard a Mosaic law prohibiting the use of 
 metal to remove hair from the face. 
 
 "Is Malachi at home?" I inquired. 
 
 "Malachi is at home; what do you want of him?" 
 
 The man spoke in the third person, so that I could 
 not have sworn that he to whom I addressed my in- 
 quiries was Malachi or not. 
 
 "I will tell you my errand as briefly as possible," 
 said I. "I want to secure a position in the household 
 of Duke Visznovieczky, and require a patent of no- 
 bility to certify to my noble birth. I also want an 
 academic testimonial ; a certificate of baptism and con- 
 firmation in the Roman Catholic Church; and, lastly, 
 I want a letter of recommendation from some grand 
 duke or other, which testifies to my erudition, and 
 skill in all the sciences, as well as to my excellent char- 
 acter. Of course I don't expect you to furnish me 
 with all these documents for nothing. I am willing 
 to pay your price for them. How much do you ask?'* 
 
 The man replied to my reflection in the mirror: 
 "Malachi's answer to your insolent request is: You 
 have applied to the wrong person. Malachi does not 
 meddle with such criminal doings. Moreover, 
 Malachi has nothing whatever to do with ragged beg- 
 gars like yourself. If you desire to become such a 
 knight as you describe, and have the money to pay for 
 the transformation, go to Malachi's cousin, Malchus, 
 the tailor, who sells gentlemen's clothing. He lives on 
 the corner of Bethel street, beside the fountain. From 
 him you can buy all manner of fine raiment. Malchus 
 will transform you to a noble knight if you have the 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 109 
 
 money to pay for it. And now be gone from here, 
 and don't come back again, for Malachi is an honest 
 man whose lips do not utter falsehoods ; his fingers 
 have never been stained with the ink of forgery." 
 
 Firmly believing that he was the Malachi I sought, 
 I departed from his house with a disappointed heart, 
 and betook myself to Bethel street, to the house beside 
 the fountain, where I found Malchus the tailor. I 
 would at least exchange my beggar's garb for the rai- 
 ment of a gentleman. 
 
 "How glad I am to see your lordship again!" ex- 
 claimed the little man, as I stepped into his door. "May 
 I become as the dust of the street, if it doesn't seem a 
 hundred years since I saw you last! But, does your 
 lordship imagine I could fail to recognize the noble 
 knight Zdenko Kochanovszki, who, in fulfillment of a 
 vow, journeyed on foot, and garbed as a pilgrim, to 
 Jerusalem and back? Have not I, Malchus the tailor, 
 eyes to see? I'll wager my head against a button, that 
 nobody but myself would recognize your lordship in 
 those ragged garments. Could the beautiful Persida, 
 from whom your lordship received the magnificent 
 wreath at the tournament, see you now, she would say : 
 'Give this ragged beggar a penny, and drive him away/ 
 She is a duchess now, the wife of the powerful Duke 
 Visznovieczki. But / have not forgotten your lord- 
 ship ; I still have the clothes your lordship left in 
 pledge with me also the embroidered leather-belt 
 with the bag containing the documents. I kept them 
 all, safely concealed, for I knew your lordship, the 
 
110 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 brave and noble Zdenko Kochanovszki, would return 
 from the holy land and redeem his pledge." 
 
 I saw at once that I should have to accept the per- 
 sonality thrust upon me by the loquacious little tailor, 
 and call myself Zdenko Kochanovszki'; and when I 
 found how admirably the puissant knight's cast-off 
 garments fitted me, I no longer hesiated to take pos- 
 session of his name also. 
 
 And that is how I became Zdenko Kochanovszki. 
 When I was completely garbed and a stately mazar, 
 I looked in the knight's habiliments ! I asked Mal- 
 chus what was to pay. 
 
 "Why, surely your lordship remembers the sum I 
 advanced on the clothes? Of course, I did not count 
 in the loan the jeweled clasps your lordship desired to 
 be sent to the beautiful Persida ; so you owe me only 
 a round hundred ducats " 
 
 "A hundred ducats?'' I repeated in consternation. 
 "Why there isn't in all Poland a waywode who can 
 boast of so costly a suit of clothes/' 
 
 Malchus smiled slyly: "That is very true, my lord, 
 and there is not in all Poland a magnate who can boast 
 of more valuable documents than those in the bag 
 attached to your lordship's leather-belt. When your 
 lordship left them with me and charged me to care for 
 them as for the apple of my eye, I knew they must be 
 of great importance. So I have kept them safely con- 
 cealed all these years. I don't know what the papers 
 contain as I can read only what I write with my own 
 hand. I don't understand Latin, or Greek ; and I 
 don't know how to read from left to right; conse- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD 111 
 
 quently your lordship may believe me when I say I 
 have not read the papers. Your lordship will find 
 everything in the bag just as when it was placed in my 
 hands for safe keeping." 
 
 I opened the bag, and, on examining the documents, 
 found to my surprise and delight that they were just 
 what I wanted. There was a patent of nobility, with a 
 Turk's head in the crest (concerning the Turk's head 
 I might justly have appropriated it for my own 
 escutcheon, only I had not come into possession of it 
 on the battlefield !) There was also an academic cer- 
 tificate, from the Rector of Sarbonne, with the bacca-. 
 laureate degree; also certificates of baptism and con- 
 firmation, signed by the bishop of Cracow ; a testi- 
 monial of valor from the imperial commander-in-chief, 
 Montecucculi ; and a pardon from the patriarch of 
 Jerusalem such as are bestowed on pilgrims to the 
 Holy Sepulchre all of which were the property of 
 Zdenko Kochanovszki who I was ! 
 
 Malchus continued to smile slyly while I was exam- 
 ining the documents, and when I had read the last one 
 he said : 
 
 "Doesn't your lordship think these handsome 
 clothes are worth one hundred ducats?" 
 
 I gave him a hearty slap on the back ; then counted 
 out a "round hundred ducats." The clothes were not 
 worth one-tenth that sum, but I was quite satisfied with 
 my purchase. 
 
 I was now fully equipped for my entrance to the 
 ducal palace ; as Zdenko Kochanovszki I might with- 
 out hesitation seek admittance anywhere. 
 
112 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 He to whom the name rightly belonged had disap- 
 peared eight years before, and had most likely lost his 
 life in the Holy Land, or in the battle with the infidels 
 in Hungary. Whoever still remembered the beardless 
 youth, would not wonder at the great change eight 
 years of hardship and danger had made in him ; and 
 would expect to find the man a different looking per- 
 son from the boy. As for my looks I doubt if my 
 own mother would have recognized me. 
 
 The duke was an old man, of a girth so enormous 
 that he was obliged to wear a broad surcingle as sup- 
 port to his rotund paunch. His hair and beard were 
 gray on the right s-ide, but black on the left, which gave 
 him a very peculiar appearance. 
 
 When I presented myself before him, he seized both 
 my hands, and exclaimed : 
 
 "What! Zdenko Kochanovszki back again? The 
 devil ! What a man you are grown ! Do you remem- 
 ber what we did at parting?" 
 
 I was confused for a moment : how was I to remem- 
 ber what I had never known? However, I had to 
 reply, so I stammered what I thought the most proba- 
 ble: 
 
 "We drank to each other, your grace." 
 
 "By heaven, you are right, lad! That is what we 
 did ! But, do you also remember our wager?" 
 
 I ventured another guess, and answered: 
 
 "Each wagered he could drink the other under the 
 table." 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha ! Right right !" shouted his grace, em- 
 bracing and kissing me. "That's what we wagered 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 113 
 
 and the devil fly away with me if I don't match you 
 again this very moment! Ho, there, fetch the bra- 
 tina." 
 
 The bratina is a huge golden beaker that holds two 
 quarts. This was brought to me, filled with Hegyal- 
 janer wine. 
 
 Now, I had fasted for many hours, and was both 
 hungry and thirsty, so that it did not require much of 
 an effort on my part to empty the bratina at a draught 
 to the supernaculum ! 
 
 "The devil fetch me !" roared the jovial duke. "If I 
 had not recognized you already, I should know you 
 now !" 
 
 I had no difficulty drinking his grace under the 
 table ; and from that hour I became an important mem- 
 ber of his household. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 PERSIDA. 
 
 "Cnmen falsi" dictated the chair to the notary. 
 
 "But" the prince made haste to add "But, im- 
 mediatum, not spontaneum. The accused was led to 
 the indirect committal of the act by the instructions of 
 Father Agapitus ; the real criminal is a Jew it is he 
 who deserves the stake. Therefore, the prisoner's 
 transgression may be remitted." 
 
 "If this continues," grumblingly commented the 
 chair, "the prisoner will surely talk himself out of every 
 one of his crimes. Well" addressing himself to the 
 accused "I don't know what to call you, but for the 
 time being Zdenko Kochanovszki, continue." 
 
 Under that name, your honor, resumed Hugo, I 
 lived the most memorable days of my life. I was 
 treated by the duke as a good comrade and familiar 
 friend. We hunted together for days in the ducal 
 forests slaying the wild bulls and bears by the hun- 
 dreds ; and when we returned to the palace the merry- 
 making began. There would be feasting and drink- 
 ing; the most enchanting music by a band of Bohe- 
 mian players ; the court-fools would amuse us with all 
 sorts of buffoonery ; and when any of the jovial com- 
 pany succumbed to the beaker and tumbled under the 
 table the attendants carried them to bed. Not infre- 
 quently it happened that his grace and myself would 
 (114) 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 115 
 
 be the only two left at the table we being able to 
 stand more than the others. 
 
 At times, too, I would entertain the company by 
 relating the most wonderful tales of my pilgrimage, 
 which were listened to with close attention. 
 
 In all this time I had not seen a single woman about 
 the palace. 
 
 The grand-duchess was absent on a pilgrimage to 
 Berdiczov, in fulfillment of a vow. I learned from one 
 of the guests that the duke's marriage had not been 
 blessed with an heir, and this was why the duchess 
 had undertaken the devout journey. As she knew she 
 should be absent several weeks, she took with her all 
 the women servants, as well as her ladies-in-waiting 
 from which I guessed the fair Persida to be a shrewd, 
 as well as a beautiful woman. 
 
 I waited her grace's return with no little apprehen- 
 sion, for, with the exception of the grand duke himself, 
 every one about the palace ]<new that Zdenko Kocha- 
 novszki had been a devoted admirer of the lady before 
 her marriage. Indeed, it was said that her marriage 
 to the rich old duke had sent the youthful Zdenko on 
 his pilgrimage. 
 
 That all this was unknown to his grace was certain, 
 else the reception accorded to me, whom he believed 
 to be his former boon companion, would not have been 
 so cordial. 
 
 There would be some sport when the lady returned 
 home. 
 
 Would she, too, see in me her quondam admirer? 
 What would happen to me if the eyes of a loving 
 
116 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 woman should prove more keen than those of her 
 husband? What would be the result if she saw 
 through my masquerade? If she should say: "Away 
 with this rogue he is a deceiver ! / know what dwells 
 in the eyes of the true Zdenko, for I have looked into 
 them. These are not Zdenko's eyes." 
 
 And again: what would happen if she should be- 
 lieve me to be her one-time lover? and question me as 
 her husband had done : "Do you remember the prom- 
 ise we gave to each other?" And, suppose I should 
 be as lucky in guessing the reply as before ! 
 
 The duke spoke boastfully of his dragoon's victory 
 over the haidemaken before the walls of Berdiczov 
 monastery. The robbers had been mowed down like 
 grain ; only the leader and a few of his men had escaped 
 by the skin of their teeth; their field-gun had been 
 captured and the gunner hanged on one of the tallest 
 trees your honors may guess that I took good care 
 not to deny this statement ! 
 
 I praised the duke's heroism, and listened attentively 
 to his tales about the terrible haidemaken, as if I had 
 never heard of them before. 
 
 At last, one fine day, the pilgrims returned from 
 Berdiczov; and the joyous sound of women's voices 
 was heard in the palace. Master and man hastened 
 to welcome the fair ones. I alone had no one to greet. 
 
 I was very curious to see what manner of woman the 
 beautiful Persida might be she for whose sake the 
 owner of my name had gone out into the wide world. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 117 
 
 The duke hastened to assist her from the carriage on 
 the arrival of the caravan. She was very graceful 
 tall, with a pale face, large, dark languishing eyes, full 
 red lips, and coal black hair. 
 
 When her spouse pressed his moist moustache to 
 her lips, she made a grimace. He was overjoyed at 
 her return. The duke's guests and attendants wel- 
 comed the returned duchess, each in their own fashion ; 
 the former pressed their lips to her hand; the latter 
 kissed the hem of her robe. I did not want my first 
 meeting with her grace to take place in the presence 
 of the entire household ; but the duke called me from 
 the hall, where I had withdrawn, and said : 
 
 "See here, my love, who is this? Look at him, and 
 tell me if you recognize the lad?" 
 
 I was afraid to meet the glance which scrutinized my 
 features I felt that I should be compelled to blurt 
 out: 
 
 "I am Baran, gunner of the haidemaken." 
 
 "You don't recognize him, do you?" again said the 
 duke. "I knew you wouldn't. "Pis our long absent 
 comrade Zdenko Kochanovszki." 
 
 For one single instant I saw into that woman's soul. 
 At mention of my name, a sudden light leapt into her 
 eyes a world of passion flamed for one brief instant. 
 
 Her husband had not seen it, only I. Then the 
 beautiful eyes became cold again, and indifferent, and 
 the queenly head was gravely bent in recognition of 
 an old acquaintance, the slender fingers were extended 
 for the formal kiss of greeting. 
 
 She did not vouchsafe another glance toward me, 
 
118 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 but turned toward the duke, laid her hand on his arm, 
 and said with sudden friendliness : 
 
 "Comment vous portez-vous, mon petit drdle?" 
 Although her grace took no further notice of me, I saw 
 my way clear for the future. 
 
 With the return of the duchess the household regu- 
 lations underwent a complete change. The noisy 
 tipplers received their congt; the nightly carousals 
 came to an end. Quite a different mode of life had 
 been prescribed by the prior of the monastery for the 
 ducal pair, if they wished his blessing to have the de- 
 sired effect. All fast days were to be strictly observed ; 
 they might eat only sparingly of the plainest food 
 only of those dishes which conduce to strength : snails, 
 frogs, and those vegetables which grow under ground. 
 
 This sort of diet, as you may guess, was not suited 
 to the palates of the duke's guests. One after another 
 took his departure, until none remained but myself; 
 and I had become indispensable to his grace, because 
 of my ability to amuse him with adventurous tales. 
 
 Every evening the duchess would send for me to 
 read aloud in a religious book, about saints, until the 
 duke would become sleepy. Her grace continued to 
 treat me with extreme reserve; she never lifted her 
 eyes to mine when she spoke to me, but always kept 
 them lowered, as if she were addressing her remarks 
 to my boots. 
 
 She appeared to be extraordinarily pious ; she would 
 repeat a long prayer before and at the end of every 
 meal. She never called me by name always "Sir." 
 Indeed, the only time she unbent from her frigid re- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 119 
 
 serve, was, when she patted her husband's fat, bearded 
 cheek, or pulled his moustache, to restore him to a 
 good humor ; but these occasions were rare. 
 
 Before the duke retired for the night, the duchess 
 prepared with her own fair hands his slumber draught, 
 the recipe for which she had received from the prior 
 of Berdiczov monastery. It was composed of all sorts 
 of costly spices an enumeration of which I may re- 
 peat later, should I take up the trade of concocting 
 various potations, the efficacy of which may not be 
 doubted. 
 
 The chief ingredient of the duke's sleeping potion 
 was hot, red wine ; and he was wont to smack his lips 
 and exclaim after he had emptied the glass : 
 
 "Ah ! my love, that has quite rejuvenated me." 
 He would spring lightly as a youth from his arm-chair, 
 take his wife's hand, and gallantly conduct her to their 
 private chambers, leaving me to the solitary perusal of 
 the pious volume to learn what had happened to St. 
 Genevieve, when Attila's Huns besieged Paris. 
 
 One evening we were engaged as usual with our 
 instructive reading. The duke and his wife were 
 seated in front of the fire-place ; I, as always, occupied 
 a chair at the table on which rested the ponderous 
 "History of the Saints and Martyrs." I had been read- 
 ing for an hour and more, how St. Genevieve had re- 
 lieved Paris a second time from famine, when the duke 
 suddenly interrupted to say he was so thirsty he must 
 beg that his nightly potion be given to him at once. 
 His wife prepared it for him ; but, instead of rising to 
 retire to his own rooms as usual, after he had emptied 
 
120 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the glass, he settled himself back in his chair, clasped 
 his hands over his paunch, and in a few minutes his 
 powerful snoring again interrupted the reading. 
 
 The duchess looked at him for several moments with 
 an indescribable expression on her lovely face a mix- 
 ture of loathing, rage, and contempt ; then, she sprang 
 to her feef, came swiftly toward the table where I was 
 sitting, and gave it so vigorous a thrust with her foot 
 that it toppled over and fell, together with the Saints 
 and Martyrs, to the floor with a loud noise. His grace 
 did not stir ; his snores continued with unabated vigor. 
 
 Before I had recovered from my astonishment at her 
 grace's behavior, she seated herself on my knee and 
 flung her arms around my neck : 
 
 "So you have come back to me, Zdenko? Tell me, 
 do you still love me?" she asked in a passionate whis- 
 per, at the same time making it impossible for me to 
 reply 
 
 "Stop !" here interrupted the chair : "I don't quite 
 understand how that could be?" 
 
 "I do," promptly, and succinctly interposed the 
 prince. "Continue, prisoner, what happened next?" 
 
 I hardly know how to tell it, your highness. It 
 was like a dream of paradise ! I knew that every kiss 
 I received and returned was deceit, robbery, sacrilege ; 
 I knew I was cheating the house which sheltered me ; 
 the master of the house who fed me ; the unknown man 
 whose name I bore the woman God the devil 
 all all. And yet, were you to ask me what I should 
 do were I to be placed in the same situation again, I 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 121 
 
 should reply : "J ust what I did then and if it cost me 
 my life!" 
 
 "Hardened reprobate !" exclaimed the chair in a tone 
 of reprimand. Then he dictated to the notary: 
 "Adulterium cum stellionatum " 
 
 "But," hastily interposed the prince, "he did not 
 begin it. In this case, as in that of Father Adam: 
 the woman was to blame. The prisoner will con- 
 tinue." 
 
 I know it was a great crime I know it very well, 
 and it oppresses my soul to this day, although I have 
 received absolution for it. In that moment of oblivion 
 to all things earthly, the lovely Persida whispered in 
 my ear: 
 
 "Zdenko, if you could journey to the Holy Land for 
 love of me you could also endure a season of purgatory 
 for my sake, could you not?" 
 
 Without stopping to consider, I answered: 
 
 "Certainly I could 1" 
 
 "Very well, then, do not confess this sin which is 
 half mine. Do not confide it to priest, or saint, for no 
 matter to whom you might confess, misfortune would 
 come to me as well as to you." 
 
 I promised not to confess the sin ; but I went about 
 with it weighting my soul, much as a wounded stag 
 roams the forest with a dart in his vitals. 
 
 The old duke at last became so devout that he com- 
 pelled every member of his household to repair to the 
 confessional in his private chapel, every fast day. 
 There was nothing to be seen of the priest who re- 
 ceived the penitents, but his hand, in which he held a 
 
122 TOLD BY 7 HE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 long ivory wand with which he would touch the 
 penitent as a sign that absolution had been granted. 
 
 The duke confessed first ; after him the duchess ; 
 then I, the house-friend, and major-domo of the ducal 
 household. - When my turn came, I took my place 
 before the lattice and said to the confessor: "Father, 
 will you give me your word of honor that you will 
 never tell what I confess to you?" 
 
 "Don't ask such silly questions, my son," he replied. 
 "Don't you know that the secrets of the confessional 
 are inviolably sacred?" 
 
 "But, suppose you should tell them sometime?" I 
 persisted. 
 
 "Then I should be burned at the stake." 
 
 "Has it never happened that a priest betrayed the 
 secrets confided to him in the confessional?" I asked 
 again. 
 
 "Such a case is not on record, my son. Not even 
 the confession of a murderer may be revealed, though 
 the priest knows that an innocent man will be hanged 
 for the crime. He dare not speak to prevent the law 
 from committing another murder. On the other hand, 
 many a priest has suffered martyrdom rather than be- 
 tray the secrets confided to him. An illustrious 
 example is Saint Nepomuck, of whom I dare say you 
 have heard?" 
 
 "Yes, I have read about John Nepomucene ; but are 
 you a saint of that order?" 
 
 "The vows I have taken, my son, are the same he 
 took." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 123 
 
 "That is not enough, father ; you must swear to me 
 that you will never reveal what I tell you." 
 
 And his reverence had to yield to my importunate 
 request before I would make my confession to him. 
 After he had solemnly sworn never to revea 1 what I 
 should tell him, I made a clean breast of everything 
 and a rare list it was I can tell you ! 
 
 At the last transgression, however, I made a pause. 
 I remembered what Persida had said to me. And yet, 
 the sin I shared with her was the very one that most 
 oppressed my soul. 
 
 The father noticed my hesitation, and said : 
 
 "My son, you are keeping back something. You 
 have not told me everything. It is not likely that a 
 stately young gentleman like yourself lives only on 
 caraway-soup ! There are many handsome w r omen in 
 this city ; every one of them confesses her foibles you, 
 surely, are not the only saint about here ! Remember, 
 if you withhold but a single transgression, your tor- 
 tures in purgatory will be the same as for nine-hundred 
 and ninety-nine." 
 
 The reverend father continued to threaten me with 
 purgatorial fires, until at last I confided in him the 
 secret which was only half mine. I had no sooner 
 done so than I regretted it; I would have given any- 
 thing could I have recalled my words nay, I would 
 willingly have journeyed straightway to purgatory, as 
 I had told Persida I would, rather than betray the 
 secret we shared together. But the secrets of a sinful 
 love have wings they will escape somehow. 
 
 When I bent forward to receive the reverend father's 
 
124 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 benediction, he gave me such a thump on the head 
 with his wand that the spot remained sore to the touch 
 for several days. 
 
 "He absolves one with a will, and no mistake!" I 
 said to myself as I rose to go my way. It occurred to 
 me for an instant, that it would be exceedingly comical 
 if, instead of a priest, it had been the duke who received 
 my confession. I turned to look toward his grace's 
 arm-chair, and was relieved to see that his burly form 
 occupied it, and that he was wrapped in devout slum- 
 ber. 
 
 THE IRON NECKLACE. 
 
 Freed from the burden of my transgressions, I pro- 
 ceeded to do what is usually done by the prodigal sons 
 who have been relieved of their old debts I set about 
 at once to make new ones. 
 
 I looked forward with impatience for evening to ar- 
 rive, for the hour of instructive reading in the book 
 of Saints and Martyrs. 
 
 On this particular evening the duke was even more 
 friendly toward me than usual ; he jested with me, and 
 frequently compelled me to exchange glasses with him 
 as a sign of his cordial friendship. 
 
 When the hour arrived for the duchess to prepare 
 the "rejuvenating sleeping potion," his grace became 
 actually boisterous; his fat face grew crimson, his 
 rotund paunch shook like jelly, with his incessant 
 laughter. 
 
 "See here, comrade," he exclaimed, taking from his 
 wife's hand the goblet in which the hot, spiced wine 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 125 
 
 was steaming, "this is a drink of paradise! When I 
 have emptied it into my stomach, I fly direct to para- 
 dise not the one described by our holy men, where 
 all the men are old, and all the women pious ; where 
 there is neither eating nor drinking- and where there 
 are no amusements save harp-playing and psalm sing- 
 ing no, I fly straightway to the improved paradise of 
 the Mohammedans, where there is wine to drink and 
 women to admire. There an enchanting Greek Hetdre 
 offers you the wine of Cyprus ; the Roman bacchante 
 offers Falernian wine ; the Spanish donna serves 
 Maderia; the Lesbian siren gives you nectar; the 
 Persian bayadere brings Shiraz ; the Wallachian fairy, 
 Tokay; and the negress Abelera dips up sparkling 
 Bordeaux in the hollow of her dusky palm and holds 
 it to your lips each more beautiful than the other, 
 until at last you cannot decide which of the wines is the 
 most delicious. That is 7 cannot, for you have not 
 yet made the journey. But you shall ; for are not we 
 good comrades you and I? Is it not meet that I 
 should let my heart's brother enjoy paradisal delights 
 with me? To be sure it is! Very good! You shall 
 go in my stead this very evening to Mohammed's para- 
 dise but only this once, mind you ! Here, take the 
 glass, empty it to the dregs !" I was exceedingly em- 
 barrassed ; I looked questioningly toward the duchess, 
 who was seated on the arm of her husband's chair. He 
 could not see her nod her head as if to say, "Do as 
 you are bid." 
 
 I took the goblet and emptied it to the dregs. 
 Almost immediately I was overcome by a languor that 
 
126 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 seemed to transform my material body to vapor. I 
 rose from the earth to the clouds which assumed the 
 most fantastic shapes ; on and on the breeze wafted me ; 
 over enchanting regions, amid talking trees and sing- 
 ing fruits ; across a sea of radiant light swept by waves 
 of harmony amid music, and color, and perfumes, 
 the quintessence of sweetness, amid gorgeous flames 
 which became forms of transcendent loveliness: De- 
 lilah ; Bathsheba ; Salome ; La'is ; Aspasia ; Cleopatra ; 
 Semiramis ; Circe ; and the dusky Atalanta. The 
 seductive forms gathered around me; they pressed 
 toward me, smiling alluringly. They thrust on to 
 every one of my fingers rings that glittered with dia- 
 monds, rubies, sapphires, until my hands became so 
 heavy I could not lift them. Their embraces strangled 
 me ; their kisses burned on my face and neck like fire ; 
 the dusky Atalanta's coral lips drew the blood from 
 my veins 
 
 "Are you never going to waken from your satanic 
 dream?" impatiently interrupted the chair. 
 
 "Let him dream it is rather pleasant," interposed 
 the prince ; but Hugo said : 
 
 "I am awake. The place in which I found myself, 
 when I opened my eyes, was not Mohammed's para- 
 dise, but an underground dungeon, the walls of which 
 were dripping with moisture. The flickering light of 
 a small lamp faintly illumined the narrow cell ; and the 
 rings which weighted my hands were heavy iron chains 
 that creaked and clinked every movement I made. 
 The kisses which burned on my face and neck were not 
 from the lips of Delilah, Circe, and the rest ; but from 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 127 
 
 those horrible hundred-legged creatures, scolopendra, 
 which covered my body ; and the dusky Atalanta, who 
 drew the blood from my neck, was nothing less than a 
 hideous vampyre. The embraces which strangled me 
 were not from the white arms of enchantresses, but 
 from an iron band two inches thick and three fingers 
 wide, fastened about my neck, and secured to a ring 
 in the wall by a chain, that was only long enough to 
 allow me to reach and convey to my mouth the mouldy 
 bread and jug of water placed by my side " 
 
 "Served you right, you godless miscreant!" inter- 
 polated the chair in a severe tone. "You got your 
 just deserts at last !" 
 
 At first continued the prisoner I consoled my- 
 self with the foolish thought that I was still under the 
 influence of the sleeping potion. I remembered that 
 those persons who eat the flesh of sharks are said to 
 have such dreams : delightful visions at first, followed 
 by the tortures of martyrdom. 
 
 But the iron neck-band was too painful a reality for 
 me to remain long in doubt as to whether I was awake, 
 or dreaming. The cold, hard, heavy ring betrothed 
 me to death ! 
 
 How long a time I passed in thinking over what had 
 happened I can't say ; there was no night, no day, in 
 that dungeon; nor was I told by sleep and hunger 
 when it was midnight or noon. 
 
 The lamp in my cell was a perpetual one, for the 
 oil did not grow less ; it was there, doubtless, to reveal 
 to me all the horrors of my surroundings. Reptiles, 
 all manner of creeping and crawling creatures moved 
 
128 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 over the stone floor and walls ; vampyres hung in rows 
 from the ceiling, watching me with their garnet eyes, 
 ready to flash down on me the moment I lost con- 
 sciousness in sleep. 
 
 At last a sound roused me from the stupor into 
 which I had fallen ; a key turned in the lock, the iron 
 door opened, and a tall man, whose face was hidden 
 by a capuchin, entered, with a jug of water and a loaf 
 of bread. 
 
 "Well, my lad," he exclaimed, on seeing that I had 
 not touched the bread or the water by my side. "Do 
 you propose to starve yourself?" 
 
 His voice sounded strangely familiar ; I did not have 
 to trouble my brain guessing where I had heard it 
 before ; he pushed back his capuchin, and I recognized 
 the haidemaken priest who had performed the cere- 
 mony of confirmation over me in the cavern. 
 
 "You are the haidemaken pater?" I whispered 
 hoarsely, not trusting myself to speak aloud. 
 
 "Then you recognize me, do you?" he returned, 
 laughing. "I had an idea you would deny all knowl- 
 edge of our former comradeship." 
 
 "Are you the gaoler here?" I asked. 
 
 "The gaoler?" he repeated, laughing again. "Not 
 by a good deal! I am the court-confessor!" He sat 
 down on the stone seat to which I was chained, and 
 continued : "I dare say you are curious to learn how I 
 come to be here? Well, when the duke's dragoons 
 attacked the haidemaken at Berdiczov, I hastily donned 
 my chasuble and capuchin, trusting to the vestments 
 to save my life, which they did ; but I was taken pris- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 129 
 
 oner and brought to the duke. I could not deny that 
 I was a haidemak, but his grace evidently had use for 
 a person like myself, for he said to me : "You deserve 
 to be hanged, reverend father, but I will spare your 
 life on condition that you accept a proposition I shall 
 offer you: I want you to act the part of court-con- 
 fessor for a season, to receive the confessions of those 
 persons I shall send to you. I suspect my wife of 
 infidelity, but cannot find out who is the partner of her 
 guilt. They both confess to the court-chaplain I have 
 no doubt, but he is an honest old saint who would let 
 himself be torn to pieces rather than betray the secrets 
 confided to him in the confessional. Now, you are of 
 a different pattern ; it will not matter to you if the fires 
 of purgatory are heated a few degrees hotter for your 
 purification. If you don't accept my conditions you 
 will have the opportunity at once of testing the tem- 
 perature of purgatory ; if you accept you shall have a 
 respite. What do you say? Will you become my 
 court-confessor ?" 
 
 "You may believe, lad, that I would have acceded to 
 a much more difficult proposition in order to save my 
 neck from the gallows ; so I became confessor to the 
 ducal household. When I saw you coming toward the 
 confessional I recognized you at once, and guessed 
 that you would have some pretty sins to get rid of. I 
 was not surprised when you told me of your sinful 
 dalliance with the beautiful young duchess ; and quite 
 envied your good fortune. I said to myself, 'I will 
 not betray the lad ; but make him do penance for the 
 sin/ so I ordered you to put seven dried peas in each 
 
130 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 shoe and journey on foot to the shrine of the Holy 
 Virgin at Berdiczov. Had you been content to do as 
 I bade you, you would not be here now ; but you 
 began to haggle with me about the peas you urged 
 me to let you boil them before you put them into your 
 shoes ; and, to win my indulgence, you told me of the 
 good turn you had done the monks of Berdiczov by 
 betraying the haidemaken into the hands of the duke's 
 dragoons. Ha ! but didn't I want to fly at your throat 
 when I heard that! I wanted to strangle you, I was 
 so enraged to hear that it was you who had betrayed 
 us and frustrated our fine plans to secure the monks' 
 treasure. However, I contented myself with giving 
 you a sound rap on the head and straightway com- 
 municated to his grace what you had confessed. You 
 have got for your reward the entire ducal property, for 
 you are chained to it so securely you cannot get away 
 from it." 
 
 The next query I put to the cursed haidemaken 
 priest was: "What has been done with the duchess?" 
 
 "You need not trouble yourself about her highness, 
 my son ; the duke is too shrewd a man of the world to 
 make public the disgrace of his house. The beautiful 
 Persida does not know that she has been betrayed. 
 The causes assigned for your incarceration are for- 
 gery; the usurpation of the name of a noble knight; 
 and for being a member of a robber band for all of 
 which you deserve death. That you have been con- 
 demned to suffer a hundred deaths for your dalliance 
 with the lovely Persida, instead of only one for the 
 transgressions assigned, no one will ever know. As 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 131 
 
 for the duchess : one of these fine days she will, after 
 eating a peach or a pear, get a severe colic that will 
 result in her death. The funeral ceremonies in the 
 Vieznovieczky palace will be most imposing and that 
 will be the end of her grace. It might come to pass, 
 however, that the obsequies of his grace might precede 
 those of the duchess. It depends on which of the 
 ducal pair gets the better of the other ! But, you have 
 only yourself to think of, my son. I am here to offer 
 you one of two alternatives : Ask to be tried before a 
 court which will sentence you to immediate death on 
 the wheel unless the duke out of compassion for a 
 good comrade orders your head to be cut off. The 
 other alternative is: Elect to remain in this hole, 
 chained to the wall, battling with vermin while you 
 live, and becoming food for them when the breath 
 leaves your body. Tertium non datur" 
 
 To this I made answer that I preferred to be exe- 
 cuted without delay, even were I to be broiled on a 
 gridiron over a slow fire. I was quite ready to die. 
 
 "Very well, my son, then I will proceed at once to 
 administer to you the last sacraments " 
 
 "Go to the devil !" I cried furiously, when he ap- 
 proached me with the wafer he had taken from his 
 pocket. "I won't have any more of your cursed mum- 
 mery. You are no better than I am you too are sure 
 to go to hell !" 
 
 "That is more than likely, my son," responded the 
 accursed priest composedly. "The only difference 
 between us is in the manner of our journeying thither. 
 You will travel on foot I on wheels. So, don't you 
 
132 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 think it would be well to let me give you a lift on the 
 way? With the heavy pack of sins on your back you 
 might hang on to the tail-board of my wagon !" 
 
 I could not help but laugh at the rascal, so I said: 
 "Very well, if your blessing will help me over the road 
 more quickly, go ahead and let's have it! and may 
 the devil fly away with you !" 
 
 He thrust the wafer down my throat and I had 
 hardly got it comfortably swallowed when I fell into 
 a deep sleep. The wafer contained a powerful nar- 
 cotic. 
 
 THE WHITE DOVE. 
 
 In my death-like sleep I still saw the dungeon walls, 
 still felt the iron fetters on neck, hands and feet. In- 
 stead of the tiny lamp flame, however, which had only 
 dimly lighted the musty cell, a radiant light now filled 
 it a light that came from overhead. When, with 
 great difficulty, I lifted my face toward the ceiling, I 
 beheld an ethereal form bending above me ; her white 
 garments gleamed like snow under brilliant sunshine ; 
 her blue mantle was like the starry sky of evening. 
 The coronet above her brow was like the crescent 
 moon. The face was so radiant I could not look at 
 it my eyes were dazzled as when I gazed into the 
 noon-day sun. The radiant vision held on her right 
 arm an infant; the forefinger of its right hand was 
 pressed against its lips. I believed the Holy Virgin 
 had descended to me ; but when die vision came nearer . 
 to me, kissed me, and called me by name, then I knew 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 133 
 
 that it was my Madus my poor deserted, forgotten 
 Madus ! 
 
 I was so ashamed of the fetters which bound me. If 
 she should ask why I wore them, how could I reply? 
 "I wear them because of the beautiful woman who 
 caused me to forget you/' 
 
 But she did not ask any questions ; she smiled ten- 
 derly, and said in her gentle tones : 
 
 "My poor Baran ! How unhappy you seem ! Cheer 
 up we are come to help you to release you. My 
 home is now in paradise I will tell you how I came to 
 dwell there. On Christmas eve, I was kneeling in 
 front of the holy image you brought to me from Ber- 
 diczov, expecting every minute the arrival of the little 
 guest for my Bethlehem crib, when I heard a familiar 
 step outside the cottage. It was my father. I hur- 
 riedly snatched the blessed image from the table to 
 hide it, for I knew the sight of it would anger him ; but 
 I was seized with such a terrible pain in my heart I 
 had to press the image against it with both hands. I 
 hardly recognized my father. His face was fearfully 
 cut, and mutilated ; one eye was gone. "Your precious 
 Baran betrayed us," he gasped, glaring at me with the 
 remaining eye. I opened my lips to speak for you, 
 but before I could utter a word he said again: "You 
 are his accomplice, you miserable creature ! What are 
 you hiding in your breast?" I could not lie, so I told 
 him it was the image of the Blessed Virgin. "A gift 
 from the Berdiczov monks I'll warrant !" he shrieked, 
 seizing my hair and flinging me on the floor. I heard 
 the keen blade of his cimeter hiss through the air 
 
134 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 then, it seemed as if the sky fell over me. The next 
 instant I found myself in paradise, with every pain 
 changed to bliss. I may not reveal to you the secrets 
 of that blessed realm, my Baran. I may only tell you 
 that our little child is with me he was born in heaven. 
 This is he he is come to save his father from death." 
 
 As she spake these words the child bent toward me 
 and took hold of the chains which bound my feet and 
 hands. They fell asunder at his touch. But the iron 
 band around my neck was too wide for his tiny fingers 
 to clasp; it was impossible for him to break it. But 
 he did what twenty-four horses could not have done : 
 with' one pull he drew from the wall the iron ring to 
 which the neck-band was secured by a chain. 
 
 "My blessed child !" I exclaimed, kissing the little 
 hands. "If your strength is so great, then seize hold 
 of my hair, and bear me with you to your home above 
 the clouds." 
 
 The little one laid his finger against his lips as a sign 
 that he could not, or dared not speak ; but the mother 
 answered for him : 
 
 "No, my good Baran, you cannot come to us. Be- 
 fore that will be possible you will have to endure many 
 more trials in this world of shadows. You will have 
 to abide here until you shall have performed a good 
 deed for which some one will say to you: 'God re- 
 ward you.' One single good deed, my Baran, will do 
 more toward winning paradise than a hundred pilgrim- 
 ages, or a thousand prayers." 
 
 How sinful I am, your honors, is proved by the fact 
 that I am still alive ; and as it is not likely that I shall 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 135 
 
 have an opportunity to perform the deed, which will 
 call down on me a blessing from heaven, I shall never 
 again behold my little angel son, and his mother, my 
 sainted Madus. 
 
 After the vision had spoken she beckoned me to 
 follow her. The child touched the wall of the dungeon 
 with his fingers, the stones parted, and we passed 
 through the opening. The radiant form of my Madus 
 illuminated the passage amid the rocks, the long flights 
 of stairs we ascended. We seemed to thread our way 
 through the catacombs. At last we emerged from the 
 subterranean region into a dense forest. I saw how 
 the shining garments of my conductress swept over 
 the moss, giving to it, to the flowers, the grass, the 
 trees, the same soft radiance that emanated from her 
 form. Gradually the distance between me and the 
 lovely vision widened ; my feet became leaden ; I could 
 hardly move my limbs. Then the radiant appearance 
 lost its human shape, until at last it seemed to me that 
 I was looking down a long avenue between the trees 
 at a faint glimmering light at the further end. The 
 cold air blew across my face, and I awoke. 
 
 I was in the forest of my dream, around me were 
 mammoth trees between which, a long way off, I could 
 see the glimmering light of the open. The same beg- 
 gar raiment I had worn to journey to Lemberg clothed 
 me ; my crutch, emptied of its gold, lay by my side. I 
 made my way toward the light at the edge of the forest. 
 I could see no signs of human habitation anywhere. 
 How far I was from the scene of my -magnificence and 
 disgrace I cannot say. When I looked at my beggar's 
 
136 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 rags, I could easily have believed my Lemberg expe- 
 rience an evil dream, had not the iron band about my 
 neck been too convincing a proof of its reality. 
 
 "Well," here observed the prince, drawing a long 
 breath, "that is a most remarkable story! a miracu- 
 lous rescue of a transgressor through the aid of the 
 Almighty Father !" 
 
 To this the chair added : "I am inclined to believe 
 that the prisoner's escape from the dungeon was 
 effected through earthly, rather than heavenly assist- 
 ance. It is more likely that the haidemaken priest, 
 bribed by the duchess, conveyed the prisoner to the 
 forest, and clad him in the rags which had been pro- 
 cured from the Jew Malchus." 
 
 "I believe the story just as the accused told it," as- 
 severated his highness. "There are a number of simi- 
 lar cases on record of notorious bandits having been 
 released from imprisonment by the hands of an unborn 
 babe." 
 
 "And I assure your highness" Hugo ventured to 
 insist "that everything happened just as I related it. 
 From the moment of my waking in the forest, a white 
 dove nestled on my left shoulder, and accompanied me 
 wherever I went. If I turned to look at it, when it 
 would coo into my ear, it would fly to my right shoul- 
 der ; but it seemed to prefer sitting on my left." 
 
 "Is the white dove sitting on either of your shoulders 
 now?" queried the chair. 
 
 "No, your honor," sadly replied the prisoner; "it is 
 not there now. I will tell you later how I came to 
 lose it." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 137 
 
 The prince announced his decision as follows : 
 "As the prisoner's release from the dungeon was 
 accomplished through a miracle from heaven, it would 
 not be seemly for a human judge to oppose divine 
 favor. This transgression, therefore, may also be 
 .erased from the register." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 WITH THE TEMPLARS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 IN THE HOLLOW TREE. 
 
 With a ragged mantle on my back, a crutch in my 
 hand, an iron band about my neck, and the white dove 
 on my shoulder, where could I have gone? even had 
 I wished to leave the forest. 
 
 The rags and the crutch were fitting equipment for 
 a beggar; but what should I have replied had anyone 
 asked me why I wore the iron band on my neck? I 
 was disgusted with the world and its wickedness. 
 
 Overwhelmed with remorse for the sins I had com- 
 mitted, I resolved to become a hermit and do penance 
 I would remain in the forest and adopt the rigorous 
 life of an ascetic. 
 
 After a brief search I discovered a brook that would 
 supply me with fresh water ; hard by its banks an oak 
 tree, many centuries old, with a large cavity in the 
 trunk, offered the shelter I should require. I collected 
 moss and dry leaves for my bed; for nourishment 
 (138) 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 139 
 
 there was a plentitude of nuts and wild fruits, and 
 edible fungi. Wild bees furnished me with sweets. 
 
 I bound together two dry branches in form of a 
 cross, set it up between two large stones, and per- 
 formed my daily devotions in front of it. 
 
 During the day I roamed through the forest col- 
 lecting stores for the winter ; I laid up a supply of dried 
 fruit, nuts, sow-bread and honey the last I found in 
 the upper part of my tree-house, where a swarm of 
 bees had taken up their quarters. 
 
 Of the raspberries which grew plentifully along the 
 brook, I made a sort of conserve, which I packed into 
 boxes made of the bark of pine trees. All these pro- 
 visions I stored in my tree-house, which I had firmly 
 resolved never to quit. 
 
 But one thought disquieted me. If I remained in 
 the forest how could I perform the good deed Madus 
 had told me was necessary in order to win paradise? 
 If I passed all my days in the hollow tree beside the 
 brook, where no human being ever came near me, how 
 was I to benefit my fellow creatures? How win the 
 "God will reward you" the open sesame to paradise? 
 I pondered this over and over until at last an expedi- 
 ent suggested itself to me, by which I could make 
 known my existence to my fellow-creatures and still 
 remain in my hermitage. I looked about for two broad 
 flat stones ; these I fastened together at one side with 
 a cord made of linden bark and hung them on the lower 
 limb of a tree. With a third stone for a clapper I rang 
 my primitive bell three times daily morn, noon and 
 evening surely, I said to myself, some one will hear 
 
140 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the sound and come to see what is the meaning of it. 
 When the people in the neighborhood learn that a 
 devout hermit is living in the forest, they will visit him, 
 and perhaps bestow alms on him. 
 
 But, in vain I rang three times every day, no visitors 
 came to my hollow tree, save the fawns that came to 
 drink at the brook, and the wild cats that came to prey 
 on them. Many a time I rescued a young deer from 
 the claws of the feline enemy. It was to be regretted 
 that the dumb beasts I rescued could not have thanked 
 me for the good deed. One day I returned later than 
 was my wont from collecting moss and ferns to pro- 
 tect me from the cold of winter (I had already fash- 
 ioned a door of willow withes to keep the snow out 
 of my tree-house). What was my surprise to find the 
 door open, and all my provisions gone ! Not a trace 
 of the nuts remained but the shells ; there was not a 
 vestige of the dried fruit; the boxes of raspberry con- 
 serve were lying about on the ground, broken and 
 crushed, as if they had been trodden under foot by the 
 marauders. Even the tent-shaped honey-comb in the 
 upper portion of my dwelling was gone, the plundered 
 bees were buzzing angrily around the tree outside. 
 
 I could hardly refrain from uttering a malediction on 
 the thief who had despoiled me of my winter store; 
 but I remembered my pious vows, and reproached my- 
 self instead : "Shame on you, pious anchorite," I said, 
 "were you so wedded to earthly possessions that the 
 loss of them rouses your anger? You were too proud 
 of your store. You were going to play the sovereign 
 in the wilderness. Others had an equal right to that 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 141 
 
 which you imagined belonged only to yourself. The 
 truly pious anchorite does not lay up stores for the 
 morrow. He depends on the Master to supply his 
 needs. He must pay heed to nothing save his prayers 
 for the wicked, and praises for the Master. You have 
 been fitly punished for your arrogance." I said further, 
 "Perhaps this has happened for the best. Who can 
 say but the despoiler prayed that God might reward 
 the one who had placed the provisions in the hollow 
 tree. If so be that was the case, it was a fine hunger 
 it took all my store to appease !" 
 
 And again: "Who knows? Perhaps the hungry 
 one is a great prophet St. Peter himself, maybe. I 
 have heard that that distinguished saint occasionally 
 visits a poor man, and eats up a winter's supply of 
 provisions, only to return it an hundred fold. If so be 
 it was St. Peter then he will return tomorrow and so 
 fill your tree with viands and treasure you will never 
 again want for anything and, maybe, he will also 
 bestow on you a passport that will admit you to para- 
 dise whenever you choose to go !" 
 
 Consoling myself with such thoughts, I sounded the 
 bell as usual for vespers ; then I drank heartily of brook 
 water, lay down on my soft bed, and dreamed until 
 morning, of flying hams and kindred paradisal de- 
 lights. At sunrise, I rang the early matin bell; then 
 hurried away, in order not to disturb the prophet when 
 he came to prepare the surprise for me. 
 
 I spent the entire day wandering about the forest, 
 guessing what my benefactor would bestow on me in 
 return for the nuts, fruits and honey he had taken 
 
142 % TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 would it be the widow's oil-cruse with its never-failing 
 contents? or, a pair of bread-supplying ravens? or, 
 a barley loaf from Mount Gilead? or, a swarm of those 
 savory locusts which had served as fare for John the 
 Baptist? 
 
 In my rambling I came across a heap of beech-nuts. 
 I hesitated to gather them. What need to take the 
 trouble? There would be plenty, and to spare, in the 
 hollow tree. However, I filled my pockets with the 
 nuts, then turned my face homeward. 
 
 As I was rather late, I rang for vespers, and told 
 my beads (I had made a beautiful rosary of acorns) 
 before going to my hermitage. A deep growl came 
 from the hollow tree when I approached it. 
 
 "He is here !" I exclaimed joyfully. "He is wait- 
 ing to see me. That he is no ordinary person I can 
 tell by his voice !" 
 
 I crept on hands and knees toward the tree, and 
 peeped into the cavity. The next instant I was on my 
 feet, hurling a million donnerwetters at the shaggy 
 bear, whose monstrous body quite filled the only apart- 
 ment of my dwelling. 
 
 I forgot that I was an anchorite, and cursed the 
 brute roundly 
 
 "Votum violatum," dictated the chair. "Broken 
 vow blasphemy ! Capite plectetur. ' ' 
 
 "By my faith !" interposed the prince with consider- 
 able emphasis. "I would have sworn too ! Qui bene 
 distinquet, bene docet. How goes the paragraph re- 
 lating to blasphemy? 'He that curses his fellowman' 
 and so forth. But, it doesn't say anything about pun- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 143 
 
 ishment for him who curses his 'fellow-bear.' You see, 
 therefore, that the votum ruptum does not fit this 
 crime, for it was not the prisoner who broke the vow of 
 the anchorite, but the bear; consequently bruin is the 
 delinquent." 
 
 "Very good," assented the chair. "Then the bear 
 is the guilty party: ursus comburatur! The robbery 
 of the temple follows : I am curious to hear how the 
 prisoner will clear himself of that! That he will 
 accomplish it I am willing to wager my head !" 
 
 What was I to do? continued Hugo, when the 
 mayor had concluded his remark. My house was 
 occupied by a tenant who would not let me share it 
 with him. I had nowhere else to go. I could not find 
 another hermitage. If I could not be a hermit, I could 
 become a beggar begging was also a way to gain 
 a livelihood, and I possessed the necessary equipment 
 for it. 
 
 In Poland, no one who can say : "Give me bread," 
 needs die of hunger. The iron band on my neck might, 
 after all, be of advantage to me ; it would give me a sort 
 of superiority over other mendicants. If I were asked 
 how I came by it, I should say that it had been forged 
 on my neck by the Saracens, who took me captive 
 when I was in the Holy Land, and because I had made 
 my escape through a miracle, I continued to wear the 
 band as a penance. 
 
 The good people to whom I told this story believed 
 it; it brought me many a groschen and carried me 
 comfortably across Poland. 
 
 I had no sooner crossed into Brandenburg (I was 
 
144 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 on my way to my native city, where I intended taking 
 up the trade of my father, an honest and respectable 
 tanner) than I was surrounded by a crowd of people 
 not a charitably disposed crowd, but inquisitive. 
 
 They wanted to know where I came from, where 
 was I going, who and what was I and how I dared to 
 have the impertinence to beg in their city. 
 
 I replied that I was a pilgrim from the Holy Land ; 
 and that instead of thinking it an impertinence for me 
 to beg from them, they ought to consider it a distinc- 
 tion to have in their community a mendicant with an 
 iron collar around his neck. 
 
 But the Brandenburgers are inclined to believe them- 
 selves more clever than the rest of the world. The bail- 
 iff seized me, dragged me to the market place, where he 
 proceeded to question me for the benefit of the whole 
 city. 
 
 "Who are you?" he inquired. 
 
 "I am hungry," I said in reply. 
 
 "Where do you come from?" 
 
 "From Jerusalem." 
 
 "Don't you attempt to deceive me, sirrah ! I know 
 the way to Jerusalem. Through what provinces did 
 you journey?" 
 
 "Through Marcomannia, and Scythia ; through Bess 
 Arabia, and Arabia Petrsea; through Bactria, and 
 Mesopotamia; and now I come direct from Cara- 
 mania " 
 
 "Stop, stop ! You are saying what is not true," 
 interrupted the bailiff. "Praise be to God ! we Branden- 
 burgers have maps, and know how to get to foreign 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD, 145 
 
 countries. The way to Palestine is through Zingaria, 
 Paflagonia, Cappadocia, and cinnamon-scented India. 
 
 "Well," I explained, "I did travel through those 
 countries too, but it was at night, when I couldn't see to 
 read their names on the guide-boards/' 
 
 "And what means that iron band on your neck?" 
 
 "That, your honor, was fastened about my neck by 
 the black sultan, Zagachrist, who held me captive fifty- 
 two years and three days." 
 
 "You are not yet thirty years old." 
 
 "No, in this part of the world I am not ; but in Abys- 
 sinia, where the sun is so hot, the days contract to such 
 an extent, that one of your years here would be six 
 there." 
 
 "What an unconscionable liar you are!" exclaimed 
 the bailiff. "Heat does not contract. On the contrary, 
 it expands, which accounts for the days being longer in 
 summer than in winter. We Brandenburgers know 
 that very well." 
 
 He seized me by the collar, to drag me to prison, but 
 I held back, and said in a loud voice loud enough for 
 the crowd to hear: 
 
 "I tell you I am right ; heat does contract. Just you 
 sit on a hot stove and see if your leather breeches don't 
 shrivel up under you." 
 
 The crowd was on my side ; but that trial in the mar- 
 ket-place might have resulted disastrously for me, had 
 not a knight just then chanced to ride that way. He 
 wore on his head a plumed helmet ; his body was pro- 
 tected by a coat of mail. From his shoulders hung a 
 crimson mantle, on which was embroidered a large 
 
146 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 white cross. A heart-shaped shield swung from the 
 pommel of his saddle. 
 
 My eyes were at once attracted to this shield, on 
 which were the ensigns armorial: a mounted knight 
 like himself, and on the same horse a ragged pilgrim of 
 a like pattern with myself. 
 
 "Ho, ho!" here interrupted the chair in triumph. 
 "You may have been able to hoodwink the Branden- 
 burg bailiff, but you can't do the same with me ! You 
 needn't try to make this court believe you saw anyone 
 wearing the coat-of-arms of an order that was abol- 
 ished in the 14th century." 
 
 "I know very well, your honor, that the order of the 
 Templars was abolished at the time you mention, but a 
 portion of them took refuge in Brandenburg, where the 
 order exists to this day under the name of 'Dornen- 
 ritter/ " 
 
 Having made this explanation, Hugo continued his 
 confession : 
 
 At sight of the Templar a great commotion arose 
 among the people crowding the market-place; the 
 women pressed toward him to kiss the hem of his man- 
 tle, in their enthusiasm almost dragging him from the 
 saddle. The knight had red hair, and a long beard of 
 the same fiery hue. 
 
 "There is the red monk," said the bailiff to me. "Do 
 you try to make him believe you have been in Pales- 
 tine? He has been there twice once by land and once 
 by sea and he has slaughtered more than two hun- 
 dred heathen and liberated thousands of pilgrims from 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 147 
 
 slavery. Talk to him; he will know how to question 
 you." 
 
 I was in a fix, and no mistake. The knight would be 
 sure at once to detect the errors of my geography. 
 
 He rode quite close to me, passed his hand over his 
 long beard and examined me from head to foot with his 
 keen eyes. 
 
 "Can you prove to me that you come from the Holy 
 Land?" he asked in a voice so stern and deep-toned it 
 made me start and tremble. 
 
 But a lucky thought came to me ; I had a convincing 
 proof under my arm the old Turk's crutch, the shaft 
 of which was closely wound with brass wire in a fan- 
 ciful pattern. 
 
 " Will you examine this, Sir Knight?" I said in reply 
 holding the crutch toward him. "You, who are 
 familiar with the Arabic characters, will find here a rec- 
 ord of my wanderings the entire history of my 
 wretched captivity, and miraculous deliverance." 
 
 It was the knight's turn to start and tremble. I saw 
 at once from his countenance, that he knew no more 
 about Arabic than ah than your honor, and that he 
 was afraid I might betray him, and prove to the multi- 
 tude that he had never trod the sacred soil of the Holy 
 Land. The hand he extended for the crutch trembled, 
 but he preserved a bold front, as he turned the brass- 
 bound shaft around and around in his fingers, and pre- 
 tended to decipher the oriental characters. After sev- 
 eral minutes, he returned the crutch to me and said in 
 an impressive tone : 
 
 "This is indeed Arabic or, rather, Saracenic, the 
 
148 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 language of Turcomania. Your crutch, devout pil- 
 grim, testifies to the truth of everything you have told 
 these good people. Come with me to my castle, where 
 you will be a welcome and honored guest." 
 
 Before he had quite concluded this speech, the bailiff 
 had lost himself in the crowd he was nowhere to be 
 seen. 
 
 I was hoisted to the shoulders of a pair of sturdy citi- 
 zens, and, accompanied by the shouting multitude, 
 borne in triumph to the Templars' castle, situated on a 
 moat-encircled hill, a little distance from the city. 
 
 Here, I was committed to the care of the guards on 
 duty ; they stripped me of my rags ; lifted me into a vat 
 of water, scrubbed me thoroughly, combed and shaved 
 my head, and then put on me a scarlet habit of coarse 
 cloth, which, to judge from its ample proportions, must 
 once have garbed the form of a brother whose condi- 
 tions of life had been more fortunate than mine. 
 
 Attired thus, I was conducted to the refectory, where 
 the red-bearded knight and twelve of his companions 
 were assembled. 
 
 "Quadraginta tonitrua, lad, you please me well!" 
 exclaimed the red-bearded knight, who seemed to be 
 the leader. "Never, in all my life, have I ever heard so 
 glib a tongue at lying as yours ! You must stop here 
 with us. The devil has taken our sacristan that's his 
 habit you've got on he died of small-pox yesterday." 
 
 You may imagine my feelings when I heard that I 
 was wearing the garment of a man that had succumbed 
 to so loathsome a disease ! 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 149 
 
 I made bold to say that I had never learned the 
 duties requisite to the office of a sacristan. 
 
 "Per septem archidiabolos!" merrily exclaimed the 
 knight. "I believe you. But, we will instruct you 
 never fear !" 
 
 Here he noticed the iron band on my neck and 
 added: "Ha, Lucifer te corripiat! Why do you wear 
 that curious band around your neck?" 
 
 In reply I stammered something about a solemn 
 vow, whereupon the entire company burst into hearty 
 laughter. 
 
 "Ut Belsebub te submergat in paludes inferni, tri- 
 furcifer!" bawled the red knight. "Either you wear the 
 band in pursuance of a vow solemn or otherwise or 
 it was forged on your neck in punishment for a theft. 
 If the former, then continue to wear it to the end of 
 your days ; if the latter, then we have an armorer who 
 will relieve you of it in short order.'* 
 
 To this I made answer : 
 
 "Though I wear the iron band because of a solemn 
 vow, the Sir Knights may believe it is in punishment 
 for a theft." 
 
 The merry company laughed again, and the armorer 
 was summoned at once to relieve me of the uncomfort- 
 able collar. 
 
 BAPHOMET. 
 
 I now believed I had ultimately attained what I most 
 desired a comfortable position in a religious house, 
 where I might pass the remainder of my days in peace, 
 and free from care. I should have no further need to 
 
150 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 trouble about providing for food and drink, and the 
 where to lay my head. My duties were light ; I had to 
 ring the bell for prayers three times daily ; keep clean 
 the church vessels, and take care of all the vestments. 
 All my time not occupied with these simple tasks, I was 
 permitted to devote to pious contemplation. I soon 
 won the confidence of Knight Elias, the red-bearded 
 superior. I was named Eliezer. It had taken me six 
 months and more to beg my way through Poland, con- 
 sequently, Passion week began soon after my arrival at 
 the Templars' castle. I was apprehensive that I should 
 not be able adequately to perform the duties requisite 
 for my office during the solemn season, as I was not yet 
 sufficiently familiar with the Roman Catholic service, 
 having only lately become a neophite. But, when I con- 
 fided my doubts to Knight Elias, he replied encourag- 
 ingly : 
 
 "Don't you worry, Frater Eliezer, every night dur- 
 ing the coming week we shall rehearse scenes from the 
 'Passion Play,' which will make you familiar with the 
 services expected of you." 
 
 This assurance gave me confidence, and I looked 
 forward with impatience to Maundy-Thursday, as on 
 the evening of that day the preparations for the devo- 
 tional ceremonies were to begin. 
 
 Maundy-Thursday arrived. In the evening, after I 
 had closed and locked the gates after vespers, Knight 
 Elias bade me take a lamp, go to the chapel, and wait 
 there until the clock struck the hour of midnight, when 
 I should hear three taps on the door of the crypt. I 
 was to open the door without delay, receive with 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 151 
 
 becoming respect the guests who would appear, and 
 obey every order they might give me. I did not betray 
 the astonishment I felt on receiving this very singular 
 behest. I never was what may be termed "faint- 
 hearted." I dare say because my curiosity always was 
 superior to my timidity; and I confess I was most 
 curious to see what manner of guests would come out 
 of the crypt. 
 
 The last stroke of twelve was followed by three raps 
 on the crypt door. I hastened to open it, and was 
 amazed to find the stairway leading to the tomb bril- 
 liantly lighted, and mounting it were a half dozen or 
 more female forms, clad in antique costumes such as 
 are seen only in the canvases adorning the walls of 
 churches and royal palaces. 
 
 All the women were highly rouged and powdered; 
 one had her eyebrows penciled with black; another 
 with minium, and another had hers tinted with gold. 
 All carried in their hands gaily colored wax tapers. 
 They were not in the least like the ghosts I had 
 expected to see ; and I was not in the least frightened 
 of them either ! 
 
 Young blood coursed through my veins then, and it 
 flowed more swiftly when my eyes rested on the beau- 
 tiful visitors even though they were denizens of 
 another world ! 
 
 The ghosts saw at once that it was not the old sacris- 
 tan who had admitted them ; and believed it necessary 
 to introduce themselves. The first one said : 
 
 "I am Jezebel, wife of King Ahab. Fetch the bap- 
 tismal basin, I want to perform my ablutions." 
 
152 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The second announced : 
 
 "I am Salome, daughter of Herodias. Bring me the 
 golden ciborium." 
 
 The third said : 
 
 "I am Bathsheba. Bring the sacred oil, I want some 
 for my hair." 
 
 The fourth : 
 
 "I am Delilah. Bring a chalice, I want a drink." 
 
 The fifth: 
 
 "I am Ashtoreth. Bring the censer, I want some 
 perfume." 
 
 "I am Tamar," announced the sixth. "Bring a 
 lachrymatory, I want to fill it with my tears." 
 
 There were seven in the company.. The seventh had 
 on her head a crown, and was clad in a robe of gold- 
 brocade with a long train. "I am Mylitta, Queen of 
 Sheba," she announced in a voice that sounded like a 
 sweet-toned bell. "Bring me the pyx." 
 
 Now, although the rest of the orders had confound- 
 ed me with their impiety, I had obeyed them, because 
 I had been commanded to do so. This last, however, 
 made me hesitate ; I could not lay sacrilegious hands 
 on so holy a vessel. 
 
 I shuddered, and looked with horrified eyes at the 
 commanding phantom. Suddenly, she lifted her arm, 
 and gave me a sound blow on the back, at the same 
 time screaming : 
 
 "Don't you hear me, dolt? I want the pyx." Feel- 
 ing convinced that further hesitation to obey this visit- 
 ant from another world would not be well for me, I 
 went to the altar, and with a violently trembling hand 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 153 
 
 lifted the sacred vessel from its accustomed place and 
 brought it to the lady. 
 
 "Now, follow us," she commanded; and the proces- 
 sion from the crypt passed on, I following in the rear, 
 out of the chapel, up a winding staircase, to a part of 
 the castle I had not yet been in. We halted in front of 
 a gilded iron door ; it opened in response to three raps, 
 and I saw into a long, magnificently furnished saloon. 
 There were no windows in it; a mysterious radiance 
 shone from the niches in the walk, which were hung 
 with gold-embroidered silk. 
 
 As we crossed the threshold, a heavy curtain across 
 the further end of the saloon parted, and several male 
 figures, garbed in old-time costumes Turkish, Rom- 
 an, Persian, Chaldean and Egyptian came to meet the 
 women, who greeted them thus : 
 
 "Welcome, Ahasuerus !" 
 
 "Baal greets you, Nebuchadnezzar !" 
 
 "Osiris, bless you, Pharaoh !" and so on, to Herod, 
 Pilate, Nero, Sardanapalus in all of whom I recog- 
 nized my sir knights. My red-bearded patron 
 answered to the name of Judas Iscariot. It was a dis- 
 tinguished company ! 
 
 The greetings between the knights and the ladies 
 ever, my patron turned toward me. I was standing 
 near the door and said : 
 
 "Malchus, come hither." 
 
 I looked around to see who Malchus might be, but 
 finding no one near me, guessed that I too had been 
 given a name suitable for the occasion that of the 
 
154 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 chief priests' servant, who lifted his hand against the 
 Savior. 
 
 My patron's next words assured me that I had 
 guessed correctly: 
 
 "If your ears have really been cut off, Malchus 
 which they must have been, since you can't hear, we 
 must ask Ben Hanotzri to fasten them to your head 
 again !" 
 
 I had not yet learned to whom they alluded when 
 they mentioned that name. 
 
 After his last speech to me, my patron took my hand 
 and led me up to the knight they called Nebuchadnez- 
 zar. He had strings of costly pearls wound in his 
 beard and hair as one sees in ancient Persian statues, 
 and pictures. 
 
 "What has Malchus done that he deserves to be ad- 
 mitted to the service of Baphomet?" he inquired. 
 
 My patron answered for me: 
 
 "He has been a heretic, an atheist, a thief, a mur- 
 derer, a counterfeiter, an adulterer " 
 
 "The very man for us !" interrupted Nebuchadnezzar 
 and then I understood why my welcome to the con- 
 ventual residence had been so cordial! 
 
 I was asked to take off my monk's habit, and given 
 the dress of a Roman lictor, in which character my first 
 task was to remove the lid from a sarcophagus that 
 stood in a niche in the wall. 
 
 I was horrified when I saw that it contained a wax 
 image of our Savior, as He descended from the cross, 
 with the five gaping wounds in His body, and the 
 crown of thorns on His head. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 155 
 
 The knights gathered about the sarcophagus, and be- 
 gan a discussion, to which I listened with fear and 
 trembling. They spoke in Latin, and as I am quite 
 familiar with the language I understood every word. 
 
 One of the knights asserted, that Christ was an eon 
 of the God-father, Jaldabaoth, who had sent Him to the 
 earth, as the Messiah of the Pneumatici, and to van- 
 quish his, Jaldabaoth's, arch-enemy, Ophiomorpho; 
 that Christ, having failed for want of courage to 
 accomplish the task, Jaldabaoth had allowed Him to be 
 crucified in punishment ; all of which was satisfactorily 
 proved by Valentinus, the Gnostic. Another of the 
 knights insisted, that Christ was an imposter, as was 
 verified by Basilides of Alexandria, and Bardesane ; 
 and that His true name was Ben Jonah Hanotzri. 
 
 The earth seemed to sink from under my feet as I 
 listened to this blasphemous disputation. Though I am 
 a wicked sinner, my reverence for all things holy is 
 boundless. I held my hands over my ears to shut out 
 the horrible words, but I could not help but hear some 
 of them. 
 
 The third knight maintained that the whole story of 
 Jesus Christ was a myth He had never been born 
 had never died. The entire legend was an emblem, a 
 symbol that, like Brahma, and Isis, had never pos- 
 sessed a material body; and that all images of Him 
 were idols, like those which represented Basal, or 
 Dagon. 
 
 I imagined that blasphemy could go no further ; but 
 the fourth knight convinced me that even hyperbole 
 may possess a superlative. 
 
156 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The fourth speaker was Nebuchadnezzar; he 
 declared he could prove from the Scriptures, that Jesus 
 Christ was that Demiurge, who tortures mankind with 
 laws; renders unhappy and wretched the dwellers on 
 earth ; prohibits all things that are pleasant and agree- 
 able to the senses ; commands man to do what is good 
 for his fellows, though nature's laws prompt him to do 
 that which is best for himself be it good or evil for his 
 neighbor. Consequently, it was the plain duty of every 
 sentient being to defy this Demiurge, to disobey the 
 laws promulgated by him; to practice, instead of 
 refrain from : cheating, robbery, murder, forgery, intem- 
 perance, gluttony, debauchery ; and that whoever it was 
 that had imposed on mankind the yoke of bondage, the 
 so-called virtues were he eon, Demiurge, Ben Jonah 
 Hanotzri, or Jesus Christ, deserved persecution, 
 scourging, and crucifixion. "Who then," he demanded 
 in concluding his sacrilegious harangue, "is the true 
 Messiah?" 
 
 "Baphomet! Baphomet!" shouted the entire com- 
 pany of knights and ladies as with one voice. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar then beat with his fists on a large 
 tam-tam, upon which the curtain at the end of the 
 saloon was drawn back, revealing a platform on which 
 were two statues, life-size. The one on the right was 
 Baphomet, with the two faces, one masculine, the other 
 feminine. A huge serpent was wound twelve times 
 about the statue ; on each of the rings thus formed was 
 engraved one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. One 
 hand held the sun ; the other the moon ; the feet rested 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 157 
 
 on a globe, that rested in turn on the back of a croco- 
 dile. 
 
 The other statue represented Mylitta. She was 
 seated on a wild boar ; a crown of gleaming rubies and 
 carbuncles adorned her brow. The knights and ladies, 
 one after the other, approached the statues, kissed the 
 shoulders of Baphomet, then the knees of Mylitta. 
 
 After this ceremony, they joined hands, forming a 
 circle around the images, and began to dance to a song 
 they chanted in a tongue unknown to me. Before the 
 dance began, I was told to fill all the sacred vessels with 
 the wine contained in several large jars near the 
 entrance. This was drank from time to time in toasts to 
 Baphomet and his companion image. 
 
 If my horror was great, my curiosity was greater. I 
 mastered the former feeling, in order to see what would 
 be the end of the sacrilegious orgy. 
 
 The wine jars were soon emptied, and I was ordered 
 by Iscariot to refill them in the cellar. On my return to 
 the saloon, I found the company seated around the 
 table ; when I approached the Queen of Sheba to refill 
 the chalice, from which she was drinking, she said to 
 me: 
 
 "Malchus, this crown of mine is so heavy ; go down 
 to the chapel and fetch me the one from the head of the 
 woman of Nazareth." 
 
 I went cold from crown to sole at this request. 
 
 There was in the chapel a beautiful image of our 
 Lady, with a crown of pearls and diamonds on her 
 head the gift of a pious princess. To this image the 
 devout folk of the surrounding region made pilgrim- 
 
158 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 ages on holy days; and it was covered with all man- 
 ner of costly gifts from the grateful believers. And this 
 was the "Woman of Nazareth," whose crown I was 
 ordered to fetch for the shameless wanton. 
 
 "Didn't you hear the lady's order?" bawled my 
 rufous-bearded patron, thumping the table with his 
 mailed fist. "Go at once to the chapel and fetch the 
 crown." 
 
 If I had refused to obey I should have been killed ; 
 but I almost fainted with horror while performing the 
 errand. When I returned with the jeweled crown to 
 the hall of the worship of Baphomet, the demon of 
 licentious revelry had been loosed ; the women, as well 
 as the men, were dancing with wild abandon. The 
 Queen of Sheba snatched the crown from my hand, 
 adjusted it on her dishevelled locks, then returned to 
 the Phrygian dance, led by herself and Nebuchadnez- 
 zar; her hair stood almost straight out from her head, 
 as she whirled around and around, so swiftly, that she 
 and her partner seemed but one form with two faces 
 like Baphomet whom they worshipped. After all had 
 indulged in the frantic revelry until they sank ex- 
 hausted to the divans scattered about the hall, I was 
 ordered to collect the sacred vessels and return them to 
 the chapel, and then to go to my rest. 
 
 "He must drink with me before he goes," cried Ash- 
 toreth. 
 
 "Here, Malchus!" she unloosed from her girdle a 
 flask, and held it to my lips. The flask was an exquisite 
 piece of workmanship ; it was made of chased gold and 
 richly set with Turkish fire opals. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 159 
 
 This wine, Malchus," continued the lady, "is the 
 juice of the grape planted by Noah. The stone jar in 
 which it has been preserved for so many centuries 
 stands beside the sarcophagus of my grand-mother 
 Semiramis, in Nineveh drink, it will do you good." 
 
 On my hesitating, she suddenly flung her arm 
 around my neck, drew my head close to her own, took 
 a good pull from the flask, then pressed her lips to 
 mine, and forced me to swallow the wine from her 
 mouth. 
 
 Never have I tasted a sweeter, a more intoxicating, 
 more stupefying liquor ! 
 
 "Now drink," commanded the heathen queen, plac- 
 ing the flask in my hand. I put it to my lips ; but per- 
 ceived at once that the wine had a different taste from 
 that I had received from her mouth. It was bitter, and 
 had a peculiar bouquet. I took only one swallow ; but 
 pretended to send several more after the first one. 
 
 "You may keep the flask as a remembrance/' said 
 the lady when I handed it back to her. She flung it 
 among the church vessels I had collected together in 
 the baptismal basin, the better to carry them back to 
 the chapel. 
 
 I hurried from the saloon with my precious burden ; 
 carefully washed all the vessels through three waters ; 
 then restored them to their proper places in the chapel. 
 When I had reverently placed the crown on our Lady's 
 head, I knelt at her feet, and penitently kissed the hem 
 of her robe. 
 
 "Now what shall I do with this thing?" I inquired of 
 myself, surveying the wine-flask in my hand. "Where 
 
160 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 shall I hide it for safe-keeping? It is worth a deal of 
 money. It would bring me enough to buy an acre of 
 ground, or a mill with five wheels. I'll just fasten it 
 securely, here under my lictor's cuirass for the pres- 
 ent." I did so ; then, without heeding where I was, I lay 
 down, and almost immediately fell into a deep, dream- 
 less sleep. 
 
 I don't know how long I slept ; I was roused by some 
 one shaking me vigorously, and crying: "Wake up! 
 wake up !" 
 
 "Yes, yes, Iscariot," I muttered sleepily, "I'll get up 
 directly." 
 
 "O, Trifurcifer !" exclaimed a familiar voice; "the 
 wretch calls me Iscariot! Just wait, you drunken 
 rogue ! I'll sober you !" 
 
 The thorough drenching I received from the large 
 can of water thrown over me, brought me to my senses. 
 
 "Well, my pious Silenus !" growled the knight. "You 
 are a fine fellow to set on guard, aren't you? I order 
 you to keep watch outside the door of the crypt until 
 midnight, and find you the next morning lying inside 
 the cellar door, with your mouth under an open fau- 
 cet. We were obliged to carry you up here not 
 knowing whether you were alive or dead." 
 
 "Where where is the costly flask Ashtoreth gave 
 me?" I asked, feeling in vain about my body for the 
 souvenir bestowed on me by the heathen queen. There 
 was neither flask nor leather cuirass, only the old 
 coarse habit I had inherited from my predecessor in 
 office. 
 
 "Come come/' angrily exclaimed the knight, shak- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 161 
 
 ing me again. "Stop dreaming, and hasten to the 
 chapel ; it is time to ring the bell for mass." 
 
 I could hardly bring myself to believe that it was 
 only a dream it seemed so real, but I could find no 
 trace of midnight revelry anywhere indeed, I could 
 not find the winding staircase, which I had ascended 
 from the chapel to the hall of the worship of Baphomet. 
 And yet I doubted. 
 
 The chapel was filled at mass with devout worship- 
 pers. A solemn scene was when the knights, garbed in 
 coarse gray habits, and bare-footed, crept on hands and 
 knees to the stone coffin, in which lay a waxen image 
 of our Lord. They kissed the marble steps leading to 
 the platform on which the coffin stood, and when I 
 saw them gather about the holy image, my dream 
 seemed so real that, in my excitement, I would have 
 cried in a loud voice to the kneeling congregation: 
 
 "People ! Christians ! rise rise ! do not kneel in the 
 presence of these blasphemers!" had not the white 
 dove on my shoulder pressed her wings against my 
 lips. 
 
 Then the rich tones of the organ filled the chapel ; 
 and the women's voices chanting the "Miserere" 
 sounded so familiar exactly like those I had heard in 
 my dream, singing bacchanalian songs that I said to 
 myself: "That is Ashtoreth's voice that is Delilah's, 
 and that deep-toned contralto is Jezebel's !" Again I 
 saw the singers emerge from the crypt and move 
 toward the winding stair-case. Ah ! it was a dream after 
 all ! There was no winding staircase. Where I had 
 seen the open door, which gave egress to it, was a 
 
162 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 blank wall; and against it the massive marble monu- 
 ment of the grand master, Arminius, who was repre- 
 sented by a recumbent knight in full pontificals, with 
 hands devoutly crossed on his breast. 
 
 Yes, it was only a dream ! 
 
 My heart was relieved of a heavy weight. It was 
 such a relief to feel certain that I had not taken the 
 jeweled crown from our blessed Lady's head ; and that 
 the Queen of Sheba had not worn it while dancing in 
 adoration of an idol. 
 
 When the services were concluded, and I approached 
 the image of our Lady, to replenish the oil in the per- 
 petual lamp at her feet, the doubts as to my having 
 dreamed the scenes of the bacchanalian revelry came 
 back in full force ; some one had been tampering with 
 the jeweled crown on the head of the sacred image 
 it had been turned around ! 
 
 There was a pearl in front of the diadem, and a ruby 
 in the back both as large as a hazel-nut. Today, the 
 ruby gleamed like a coal of fire, where always before 
 the radiance of the pearl had vied with the pure white- 
 ness of the waxen brow. The crown had been reversed 
 I had not dreamed after all ! 
 
 This day was, as I have mentioned before, Good Fri- 
 day the day of universal fasting. The knights' 
 observance of the day was so rigid that they would not 
 even administer to a dying novice the medicines nec- 
 essary to alleviate his suffering, because they were 
 composed of manna and hydromel, both of which, con- 
 taining nutriment, were considered food. Even I 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 163 
 
 fasted the entire day of a necessity, though, for there 
 was nothing served in the refectory ! 
 
 My elastic conscience would have permitted me to 
 partake sparingly, of course ! of food ; and I regret- 
 ted that I had not possessed the forethought to lay 
 aside from the banquet of the preceding night (if it 
 really had not been a dream) the legs of a three thous- 
 and-year-old quail ! 
 
 But, had I done so, they would doubtless have van- 
 ished with the pretty flask given me by the heathen 
 queen. When I made my duty-rounds as usual on 
 Good Friday evening, I found my red-bearded patron 
 waiting for me in the sacristy. He said to me : 
 
 "This evening, Malchus, you will watch as before 
 at the door of the crypt but see that v.ou stop there, 
 and keep awake ! Don't let me find ^ou again in the 
 cellar tomorrow morning." 
 
 I said to myself: "I shall be very sure not to go to 
 sleep this time !" 
 
 The guests arrived earlier this evening. The clock 
 in the tower had not yet ceased striking eleven, when 
 the three knocks sounded on the crypt door. 
 
 The ancient beauties did not think it necessary to 
 introduce themselves as before, but they gave me the 
 same orders for the sacred vessels. 
 
 When I moved toward the altar, in obedience to the 
 Queen of Sheba's behest, she called after me: "Don't 
 look back, Malchus ; if you do Satan will fly away with 
 you!" 
 
 I did not look backward; I had no need. When 
 I held the gold lid of the chalice in front of me, it 
 
164 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 served the same purpose as a mirror, and in it I saw 
 Jezebel walk up to the Arminius monument, lay her 
 hand against the head of the recumbent statue, and 
 thrust it to one side, whereupon the entire mass of 
 marble swung noiselessly forward, revealing an open- 
 ing in the wall through which I saw a winding stair- 
 case. 
 
 Pretending not to have seen anything, or to notice 
 anything unusual in the opening in the wall, I followed 
 the ladies up the^ stair with the articles they bade me 
 bring after them. 
 
 The long table in Baphomet's hall was again loaded 
 with all sorts of eatables : baked meats, pastry, sweets, 
 fruits. "Meats !" I exclaimed to myself, "meats on 
 Good Friday, when all Christians, even the Calvinists, 
 fast and read their prayer-books to find consolation for 
 their souls and forgetfulness for their stomachs !" And 
 what a feast it was ! One might well have believed 
 that hosts and guests had not eaten anything for two 
 or three thousand years ! Had I been endowed with 
 the hands of an Aegeon I could not have supplied the 
 viands and wine as rapidly as the hungry and thirsty 
 revelers demanded them of me. I seemed to be con- 
 tinually running to, or returning from, the wine-cellar. 
 
 Similar scenes to those enacted the preceding night 
 followed the banquet; only with variations one would 
 hardly believe the human mind capable of inventing. 
 
 The Queen of Sheba was even more reckless and 
 abandoned than before; she ordered me to bring her 
 the mantle from the shoulders of the "Woman of 
 Nazareth." I hesitated again to perform the sacrile- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 165 
 
 gious errand, but a sound blow on my back from 
 Iscariot's fist sent me hurrying to the chapel. 
 
 When I returned with the mantle the queen was in 
 need of it, for she was not to be distinguished from the 
 nude goddess on the back of the wild boar. I was so 
 ashamed for her, I could not lift my eyes when I 
 handed her the mantle. Ashtoreth laughed heartily at 
 me, and exclaimed : 
 
 "Here, Malchus, I will drink to Baphomet from this 
 flask ; then you shall drink to me." 
 
 She drank first, then handed the flask to me ; it was 
 the same one she had presented to me the night before. 
 
 I had learned something since then ! I knew there 
 were trick flasks with two compartments, which might 
 contain two different kinds of liquor without becoming 
 mixed. If the neck of the flask were turned to the 
 right, one of the compartments would be opened ; the 
 contents of the other would flow, were the neck turned 
 to the left. 
 
 When the heathen queen placed the flask to her lips 
 I had watched her closely, and had seen that her wrist 
 turned slightly to ^e right. This movement I took 
 good care to copy when I drank, and, as I had guessed, 
 the wine was deliciously sweet. 
 
 I took a good, long pull before removing the flask 
 from my lips. 
 
 "Very good wine, isn't it?" observed Ashtoreth. 
 
 "A trifle bitter," I replied, making a wry face, upon 
 which she filliped my nose with her finger, and ex- 
 claimed, laughingly : 
 
 "You don't know what is good, Malchus ! The wine 
 
166 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 in this flask is some of that left from the marriage feast 
 at Cana. You may keep this flask, too ; put it with the 
 one I gave you last night." 
 
 This remark set the entire blasphemous crew into a 
 roar of merriment. 
 
 "You may remove these vessels now," said Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, when the laughter had subsided, "and 
 fetch us some spiritus vini." 
 
 I removed the unclean church vessels and brought 
 from the cellar a large stone jug of spiritus vini. The 
 simple juice of the grape was not strong enough for the 
 drunken demons; they wanted the more fiery brandy. 
 
 An idea came into my head as I was going to the 
 cellar. The spiritus vini was made in Russia; the 
 mouths of the jugs containing it were sealed so skill- 
 fully that only those persons who understood the 
 secret could remove the cork. I had learned this secret 
 while with the haidemaken. 
 
 I opened the jug in the cellar, poured out some of 
 the brandy, and filled it up with the drugged wine in 
 the flask intended for me. Then I sealed up the jug 
 and took it to the banquet hall. 
 
 "Did you drink any of it?" demanded the knight 
 whom the rest called Herod, when I set the jug on the 
 table. 
 
 "I swear by Baphomet I did not!" I replied truth- 
 fully. 
 
 "Then open the jug," commanded Pilate. 
 
 I made believe to pull and tug and twist the cork 
 I could not remove it from the neck. At last Ahab 
 snatched the jug impatiently from my hands, and after 
 
"I took my lamp, descended to the crypt" 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 167 
 
 trying in vain for several moments to accomplish what 
 I had failed to do, he set it in a silver basin and struck 
 at the neck with his "sword. The jug was broken, of 
 course, and the liquor filled the basin. Then, Bath- 
 sheba and Tamar flung into it figs, raisins and orange 
 peel ; Delilah took a lighted taper from the candelabra 
 and set fire to the huge dish of crambamboli; at the 
 same moment all the other lights in the hall were 
 extinguished. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar now began to ladle out the burning 
 liquor into goblets which he passed to the rest of the 
 company. The flame dispensing king, with his four 
 horns, the fire-sipping forms around him, their faces 
 blanched to a death-like pallor by the green-blue light 
 of the burning brandy, formed a group that excelled in 
 hideousness every illustration I had yet seen of the 
 danse macabre. 
 
 I fled in horror and disgust from the infernal orgy, 
 fully convinced that I was not dreaming this time. I 
 was determined to make my escape from the abode of 
 demons and idol worshippers. 
 
 I said to myself: "If these human beings that they 
 are not phantoms I am convinced came to the castle 
 through the crypt, then I, another human being, may 
 go out the way they entered." 
 
 I took my lamp, descended to the crypt, and dis- 
 covered that one of the memorials, which lined the 
 walls, had been shoved to one side. An examination 
 of this memento to a deceased knight revealed that it 
 was not a slab of marble, but a sheet of tin painted to 
 imitate the more solid material. Nor was the niche it 
 
168 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 covered a tomb, but the outlet to a narrow stairway 
 that ascended in steep spirals from the crypt, opposite 
 to the one which descended to it from the chapel. 
 
 I mounted seventeen steps, when further progress 
 was barred by a statue that of Saint Sebastian*. The 
 heroic martyr was represented bound to a tree, his 
 body rilled with arrows, f as he had appeared when 
 being tortured to death by the commands of the god- 
 less Diotletian. 
 
 I had seen this statue often enough by day in the 
 reception-hall of the castle; then it stood in its niche 
 face toward the room ; here, at the head of the secret 
 stairway from the crypt, it stood with its face also 
 toward me. "Surely," said I to myself, '"St. Sebastian 
 must know something about the secret outlet." 
 
 And he did. 
 
 I began to examine the niche; then the statue. I 
 noticed that three of the arrows in the breast were 
 brass, and that the one in the middle was brighter than 
 the other two, as if it had been taken hold of frequently. 
 I mounted the pedestal, and, with one arm around the 
 saint to steady myself, I tried to turn the brighter 
 arrow. After a little, it yieWed to the pressure of my 
 hand, and the statue, as well as the niche, began to 
 turn slowly on an unseen axis, and in a few moments 
 I saw the starlit sky above me. 
 
 Then I turned the arrow in the opposite direction, 
 and found myself returned to my prison. I had solved 
 the mystery of the phantoms' appearance in the chapel ! 
 I returned to the chapel and examined the mechanism 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 169 
 
 concealed under the Arminius monument. What 
 would be the result, I asked myself, if I turned the 
 head of the grand master back to its proper position? 
 
 I did so, and the monument swung back to its place, 
 concealing the entrance to the hall of Baphomet. 
 
 By this time the blasphemers in the hall were sound 
 asleep, and heaven alone knew when they would 
 waken ! And when they did, they would not be able to 
 get out of their Satan's temple, for it had neither door 
 nor windows. 
 
 No one would know what had become of them 
 whither they had gone. When they found a way out 
 of their prison if ever I should be far enough away 
 over mountain and valley ! 
 
 I sketched a rapid plan of escape : I would go to' the 
 Archbishop of Aix-la-Chapelle and lay information 
 against the knights of Baphomet ; and, in order to gain 
 credence for my story, I would take with me the dese- 
 crated church vessels. No devout Christian should 
 drink again from the chalice defiled by the lips of 
 Salome and Delilah; should have his offspring chris- 
 tened from the basin polluted by Nebuchadnezzar; 
 should receive the holy water from the aspergill, defiled 
 by being used to stir the infernal mixture concocted by 
 Tamar and Bathsheba; not one of the vessels should 
 be used again, until they had been thoroughly cleansed 
 and re-consecrated by the proper authorities. 
 
 "A most praiseworthy determination ! You proved 
 yourself a true Christian !" exclaimed the prince, deeply 
 incensed by the impiety of the donnenritter, the mere 
 
170 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 hearing of whose licentious conduct made a godly man 
 feel the need of absolution. "You did what any honest 
 and respectable Christian would have done in your 
 place!" 
 
 "Didn't I say so?" 'in triumph exclaimed the mayor, 
 beating the table with his staff. "Didn't I say the 
 rascal would talk himself out of the church robbery? 
 Instead of sentencing him for the crime,, he, is com- 
 mended for it." 
 
 Hereupon the prince and the mayor became involved 
 in so animated a dispute that each sprang from his 
 chair and begun to pound with his fists on the table 
 with such vigor that the candle-sticks, ink-horn and 
 sand-box danced quite a lively jig. 
 
 The argument continued until his highness suddenly 
 remembered what was becoming to his dignity; then 
 he rapped the court to order and announced that the 
 hearing was adjourned until the next day. 
 
 The following morning Hugo resumed his confes- 
 sion: 
 
 I found a stout leather bag in the sacristy, into 
 which I put all the church vessels of gold and silver 
 which had been defiled in the bacchanalian orgies. I 
 did not forget the Virgin's diadem, either. 
 
 My left shoulder ached dreadfully under the heavy 
 load, but, because the white dove I told you about was 
 perched on the other shoulder, I would not shift the 
 bag from side to side, which would have made it easier 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 171 
 
 to carry. The revolving Saint Sebastian enabled me to 
 escape from the castle, but I still had a high bastion to 
 scale. I found the rope ladder by means of which the 
 women had climbed over, and very soon I was on the 
 high road, travelling as swiftly as I could for the heavy 
 bag, toward the harbor 
 
 "Hold !" interrupted the chair, "I've caught you at 
 last ! If what you have told us is true, why didn't you 
 go at once with the bag of church property to the 
 burgomaster of the city, and tell him of your discovery 
 at the castle? The impious revellers might have been 
 taken into custody that same night." 
 
 "Yes yes " the prince made haste to add, "why 
 didn't you do that, instead of thinking it necessary to 
 escape on a ship?" 
 
 "I believe I can explain my action to the satisfaction 
 of the high-born gentlemen," deferentially responded 
 the prisoner. "You will understand at once why I 
 wanted to take a ship, when I tell you the name of the 
 city. It was Stettin. It was in possession, at that time, 
 of Gustavus Adolphus, whose heretic generals cared 
 very little whether the Blessed Virgin or Baphomet 
 were worshipped in the Catholic churches, which had 
 already been desecrated more than once by themselves. 
 Indeed, the relations between the knights and the 
 heretics was most friendly, because the former had 
 joined forces with the Swedes, and had fought bravely 
 against the imperial beleaguerers. They -were loyal 
 comrades in arms with the heretics. That is why I 
 deemed it wiser to escape from the city " 
 
172 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "And you were right quite right !" with unmistak- 
 able approval in histone, commented the prince. "The 
 Swedish heretics were not the proper authorities to 
 settle so sacred and important a matter. The furtum 
 sacrosanctorum may be stricken from the list of indict- 
 ments." 
 
 "As may all that follow!" growled the mayor into 
 his beard. "Now we shall hear how. this innocent 
 criminal disposes of the homicidiuml 
 
PART V. 
 
 THE HOMICIDE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 ON BOARD MYNHEER'S SHIP. 
 
 A convincing proof of my honest and pious inten- 
 tions is, that notwithstanding I was in great need of 
 money I hadn't a penny to my name! it never 
 occurred to me to help myself from the alms-box at the 
 door of the chapel, which, at such seasons like Passion 
 Week, was always well filled. 
 
 I had no "motive" to carry the box with me it had 
 not been defiled by sacrilegious hands. 
 
 I still wore the dress in which I had masqueraded as 
 a lictor: the Roman balten, the leathern caliga, the 
 chalizeh sandals with straps, and the ancient Hebrew 
 pallium. Anywhere else in the civilized world a man 
 garbed as I was would have been arrested as a vaga- 
 bond lunatic ; but I was not molested in Stettin. 
 
 That city, under Swedish domination, was a free 
 port ; the mouth of the Oder was crowded with vessels 
 of all sorts, from all countries. The quay swarmed 
 
 X173J. 
 
174 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 with negroes, Spaniards, Turks, Chinese all nationali- 
 ties, all the costumes of the globe were represented. 
 Consequently no one, however striking may have been 
 his garb, would have attracted special attention. Nor 
 did I, as I passed through the crowd in search of a 
 vessel that was lifting her anchor, preparatory to 
 sailing at once. 
 
 Chance led me to a Dutch ship. 
 
 The owner of the craft, Mynheer Ruissen, paid no 
 attention to me until after we were out of the harbor, 
 and were scudding before a favorable wind. Then, as 
 he was passing along the deck, his eyes fell on me, 
 where I was sitting near the rail, with my bag by my 
 side. 
 
 He stopped in front of me, thrust his hands into the 
 pockets of his coat, and, after a moment's close scru- 
 tiny, addressed me in a language I had never heard 
 before. He tried several different tongues oriental 
 by their sound with the same result. I could only 
 indicate by shaking my head that I did not understand 
 him. At last he became impatient, and exclaimed in 
 Flemish : 
 
 "Potztausend-wetter ! What language does this fel- 
 low speak, I wonder?" 
 
 I understood him then, and told him I could speak 
 Dutch, and that I was not a heathen from the Orient, 
 but a native of Europe, and a Christian like himself. 
 
 "And where are you going, may I ask?" 
 
 "Wherever your ship will take me," I answered. 
 
 "Have you the money to pay for your passage?" 
 
 "Not a solitary batz." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 175 
 
 "Have you anything of value?" 
 
 "I have a beautiful golden flask set with precious 
 gems, which I will give you as a pledge, or in payment 
 as you prefer." 
 
 "Did you come by it honestly?" 
 
 "I will take my oath that I did not steal it A 
 .beautiful woman gave it to me as a s-auvenir. May I 
 sink with this ship to the bottom of the sea, if every 
 word I tell you is not true !" 
 
 "Na, Na, ! you needn't mind swearing in that way," 
 hastily interposed Mynheer. "I don't want my ship to 
 go to the bottom of the sea ! Is the flask worth enough 
 to pay for your passage to Hamburg?" 
 
 "It would fetch more than your whole ship !" 
 
 He paused a moment, then asked again : 
 
 "What have you got in that bag?" 
 
 "Gold and silver vessels, and jewels." 
 
 "Are they souvenirs too? There, there, you needn't 
 mind swearing again ! I won't arrest you it's no 
 concern of mine how you came by them/' 
 
 I told him then that if he would take me to his.pri- 
 vate cabin, I would tell him how I came to have the 
 valuables in my possession. 
 
 He led me to his cabin, where he bade me place the 
 leather bag in the corner. Then he ordered one mug 
 of beer to be brought; filled a porcelain pipe about 
 the size of a thimble with tobacco, thrust the stem 
 between his lips, but did not light it I dare say, 
 because he feared it might burn out before he had emp- 
 tied the beer mug, from which he took an occasional 
 sip while I was telling him my story. 
 
176 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 When I had told him of the scandalous scenes in the 
 castle, and of my escape with the defiled vessels, which 
 I had decided to take to the archbishop, Mynheer 
 removed the pipe from his lips, deliberately knocked 
 the tobacco into the palm of his hand and emptied it 
 into the tobacco-pouch. Then he drained the last sip 
 of beer from the mug, thrust his hands into his pockets 
 and said : 
 
 "Well, my son, you have acted cleverly, and stupidly 
 at the same time. To fetch the things away with you, 
 was clever very! But, to decide that you by your- 
 self a poor unknown devil, would be believed by the 
 archbishop, when you accused so powerful an order as 
 the Dornenritter of blasphemy and sacrilege, was stupid' 
 in the extreme. Nobody will believe your story; you 
 will be ridiculed, and told that you dreamed all these 
 things." 
 
 "But," I interposed, "how could I have dreamed 
 things, no living being ever saw with his eyes, or heard 
 with his ears? How could I have dreamed the Bapho- 
 met worship? How could I have dreamed names like 
 Jaldabaoth and Ophiomorpho, and that disquisition 
 around the sarcophagus?" 
 
 "Why, you stupid lad ! Don't you see they will say 
 you have been reading the secret pamphlet which was 
 published by the opponents of the Ancient Order of 
 Templars? But, what was permitted to. King Philip 
 will not be tolerated in you ; you will not be allowed to 
 tell stories about Baphomet idolatry, and serpent wor- 
 ship. And, suppose you are allowed to tell what you 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. Ill 
 
 'saw with your eyes and heard with your ears' you 
 have no witness to prove that what you say is true." 
 
 "Oh, haven't I?" I cried, triumphantly producing 
 from the leather bag the pyx with its contents. "Here 
 is my witness: this sacred wafer, defiled by the idol- 
 worshippers. See ! here in the center of it, is the print 
 of Ashtoreth's slipper heel, where she trod it under 
 foot. You see, it is directly over the banner of the 
 Agnus Dei?" 
 
 Mynheer deliberately adjusted his large spectacles on 
 the bridge of his nose, and scrutinized the wafer. 
 
 "Donnerwetter!" he growled, "you are right, lad, 
 this is the symbol of Baphomet : a half-moon, a double- 
 headed serpent curved to form the figure 8. Hm, hm 
 you have acted in a praiseworthy manner after all ! By 
 bringing this wafer with you, you have saved the souls 
 of many devout Christians from eternal damnation, in 
 that you have hindered them from kneeling in adora- 
 tion today at mass before this symbol of Baphomet! 
 Indeed, half Stettin will owe thanks to you if, instead of 
 damnation, it wins salvation ! Your brave and valiant 
 deed will save from the flames of hell at least twelve 
 thousand souls ! Therein lies the wisdom of your 
 action ; the unwisdom will come to the fore when you 
 ask yourself: 'What shall I do with these desecrated 
 vessels?' 
 
 "You thought to arraign an entire order nay, two, 
 for those wanton females must belong to an order of 
 some sort. To accuse a religious body is always 
 extremely dangerous specially so, if the order be. 
 composed of women. I am afraid it will result in your 
 
178 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 ruin; you will most likely be arrested for stealing 
 church property the punishment for which is death at 
 the stake. What will your word be worth against the 
 denials of the knights? Do you imagine that any trace 
 of their scandalous revelry will be found? Not by a 
 good deal ! You will be pronounced a wicked calumni- 
 ator ; unless you want them to cut off your tongue, you 
 will keep it silent between your teeth !" 
 
 "Then what shall I do with these things?" I asked 
 in perplexity, giving the bag a thrust with my foot. 
 "Shall I take them back to the castle?" 
 
 "That" interrupted Mynheer "would be the stu- 
 pidest thing you could do. The sir knights would, 
 beyond a doubt, have you walled into some corner of 
 the castle, where you might await the resurrection 
 with what patience you could summon !" 
 
 "Then, what would you advise me to do?" I asked 
 again. 
 
 "Well, my son, I say, that what you have in your 
 possession belongs to you; accept it as the gift of 
 heaven though you acquired it from Satan. When 
 we get to Hamburg I will direct you where to find an 
 honest man whose business it is to relieve pious folk of 
 any treasure they may have taken from Satan or, 
 found where it was not lost. I am acquainted with a 
 Christian of that sort ; you need not be afraid to trust 
 him he is honest as a Quaker, and would not cheat 
 anyone on Sunday ! I think I may trust you to dis- 
 pose of your treasure as cleverly as you appropriated 
 it, which, after all, is me chief secret of trade !" 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE MOO-CALF. 
 
 I dare say your highness, and gentlemen of the 
 court, have heard a good many stories about the moo- 
 calf? I shall abstain from expressing just here an opin- 
 ion of the mysterious creature as, by so doing, I should 
 anticipate the denouement of one of my most remark- 
 able adventures. I think almost every dweller in Cob- 
 lentz has heard of the moo-calf's strange doings; for 
 there are numerous records in the chronicles of the 
 city, of its mysterious appearance and behavior. 
 
 The moo-calf ordinarily appears in those cities where 
 the Jews have multiplied excessively, and attained to 
 power. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that a calf is the meekest, the 
 most innocent of animals, that it has never been known 
 to assault anyone, that it would be the least likely of 
 all the animal kingdom to wield a boundless tyranny 
 over an entire community. Therefore, I do not believe 
 all the terrifying tales I have heard about the moo-calf. 
 Do any of the gentlemen here believe them? 
 
 Several members of the court admitted that they 
 believed the tales ; some thought a portion might be 
 true, others were non-committal. So much time was 
 given to the discussion, that the chair was at last 
 
 (179). 
 
180 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 obliged to interfere. He said to the prisoner after 
 rapping impatiently for order : 
 
 "You are not here to ask questions, but to be ques- 
 tioned. Now let us hear what you have to say about 
 the moo-calf?" 
 
 Hugo bowed and resumed his confession : 
 
 When we arrived at Hamburg, Mynheer so man- 
 aged matters, that it was evening when he and I went 
 ashore. With the bag of valuables on my back, I 
 tramped after him to the suburb of St. Paul, to seek 
 in the winding, and zig-zag streets of the "Hamberger 
 Berg," the house of the honest Christian, who would 
 relieve my back, and incidentally my mind, of the load 
 of treasure. 
 
 We pushed our way with whole skins through a con- 
 fusion of menagerie booths, puppet-shows, jugglery 
 and rope-dancing exhibitions, which their proprietors 
 importuned us to patronize, avoided with some diffi- 
 culty the crowds of tipsy sailors, and at last arrived in 
 front of the house we were seeking. 
 
 The name of the owner was Meyer a by no means 
 rare cognomen in Germany ! 
 
 He was a Lutheran, as eleven-twelfths of the resi- 
 dents of Hamburg are. They alone possess the rights 
 of citizenship. 
 
 Mynheer Ruissen took Herr Meyer to one side, and 
 communicated to him what business had brought me to 
 Hamburg, whereupon Herr Meyer without further 
 ceremony invited me to sup with him. 
 
 "I hope" here impatiently interrupted the chair 
 "you don't intend to waste more of our time by an 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 181 
 
 enumeration and description of the various dishes you 
 partook of?" 
 
 "No, your honor, though it would not take long to 
 tell what we had for supper. Herr Meyer placed before 
 me nothing but bread, cheese and water. He could not 
 say enough in praise of the bread and cheese, and he 
 boasted that the water, which he said was from the 
 Elias fountain, possessed the most remarkable proper- 
 ties. While I ate, he examined in turn each of the 
 vessels I had taken from the bag and placed on the 
 table, exclaiming over every piece, and making a 
 peculiar noise with his tongue against the inside of his 
 upper teeth : 
 
 "A baptismal basin ! Tse-tse-tse ! How could you 
 dare to take this? A censer! tse-tse-tse! Young man, 
 did it never occur to you that you were defying Satan 
 when you put this into your bag? A communion-cup ! 
 tse-tse-tse! I should think your soul would be 
 oppressed with its weight of sin ! And actually ! the 
 Holy Virgin's diadem ! Woe-woe-woe, to you, miser- 
 able sinner !" I could listen no longer to his lugubri- 
 ous comments: 
 
 "Oh, hush, Master Meyer," I interrupted, "what use 
 to talk like that? You needn't think to frighten me 
 with your lamentations. I am a Lutheran like your- 
 self rather let us talk about the value of these things : 
 What will you give for the whole lot? But, before we 
 talk business, bring me something more palatable to 
 eat and drink. Your bread and cheese and water are 
 not to my taste." 
 
 "Very good, you shall have something else," with 
 
162 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 sudden alacrity responded Master Meyer, whose opin- 
 ion of me was evidently improving. He hurried to the 
 kitchen, and soon returned with so-me salt fish, and a 
 jug of good cider,, which he placed before me. 
 
 Then he proceeded to appraise the church vessels, 
 and the diadem, telling me the while that I ought to 
 be thankful his dear old friend Mynheer Ruissen had 
 led me to him. How easily I might have fallen into the 
 hands of the papists, who would certainly have im- 
 prisoned me and perhaps put me to death; or into 
 those of the Jews, who had swarmed from Spain into 
 Hamburg, and were ruining all honest tradesmen. The 
 rascally Hebrews would offer only ridiculously low 
 prices for articles they suspected had been acquired by 
 means not altogether legitimate, and would give in 
 payment for them counterfeit money. And, wasn't the 
 cod-fish I was eating most appetizing? 
 
 After he had examined my treasures two or three 
 times, he said he would give me six hundred thalers 
 for the lot and that I might drink all of the cider into 
 the bargain. 
 
 "See here, Master Meyer," I replied, "your fish is so 
 salty it makes one want to drink continually, and your 
 cider is so sour, I would rather not eat your fish than 
 to have to quench my thirst with the cider. And, 
 moreover, I will take my treasures to the Jews' quarter, 
 where I shall no doubt find some one who will give 
 more than a paltry six hundred thalers to a poor ship- 
 wrecked traveller for a lot of articles that are worth at 
 least twenty times the sum you offer." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 183 
 
 At these words my worthy host beat his hands 
 together above his head, and exclaimed : 
 
 "My dear son! how will you find your way to the 
 Jews' quarter at this late hour? It would be very 
 unwise nay, dangerous, for you to attempt it. Don't 
 you know that the moo-calf makes its appearance 
 about this time?" 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders to indicate that I was not 
 afraid of a moo-calf. 
 
 "But, my dear son, you don't know what a terrible 
 creature the moo-calf is. It has become even more 
 terrible and ferocious since the Jews have multiplied 
 to such numbers in Hamburg. These Spanish Jews 
 understand all sorts of witch-craft. It was they who 
 discovered that if a young calf is fed on human blood 
 instead of milk, it will become savage as a lion. This 
 is the sort of moo-calf they have turned loose in the 
 Hamberger Berg. It roams through the streets at 
 night, terrifying to death every person it meets, and 
 scatters the watchmen in all directions. It tears the 
 bells from the house doors ; it has teeth so sharp that it 
 can snap off the pole of a halberd as easily as if it were 
 a pipe-stem; and its tongue is rough as a cloth- 
 shearer's brush. It roars like a lion, bellows like a wild 
 bull, snorts like a whole herd of wild horses ; clatters 
 through the streets like a luggage van, clappers like a 
 fulling-mill, and crows like a cock that is possessed. 
 It takes special delight in pursuing honest men and 
 fathers of families, who suspect their wives and daugh- 
 ters of adventure, and if it chances to catch one of 
 them, he will not very soon forget the moo-calf that 
 
184 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 is if he escapes with his head to remember it ! Another 
 favorite trick with the calf is: to steal upon a pair of 
 lovers, and roar at them with such a terrible voice that 
 they die of fright " 
 
 "And what sort of looking beast is this moo-calf?" 
 I interrupted. 
 
 "Why, no one can tell what it looks like, my son. 
 Those who have been unfortunate enough to encounter 
 it on the street have had a stream of fire blown into 
 their eyes from the beast's nostrils, and they were not 
 able to see for weeks afterward. The man who is brave 
 enough to thrust his head out the window when he 
 hears the moo-calf bellow, will be sure to regret his 
 curiosity, for his head will swell to such a size that he 
 will not be able for several days to get it back through 
 the window. That is why no one is able to tell what 
 the monster is like. I only know that it has the power 
 to stretch its neck to such a length that it can look 
 into the upper windows of a house. Oh, I can assure 
 you, it is a most horrible creature !" 
 
 I had had ample time, while he was descanting on 
 the moo-calf's terrible doings, to replace my treasures 
 in the bag. 
 
 "Then there really is such a monster?" I observed, 
 shouldering my load. 
 
 He swore by all he held dear, that the moo-calf not 
 only existed, but that it roamed the streets of Ham- 
 burg almost every night. 
 
 "Have you any desire to make a bet with me?" I 
 asked. 
 
 "A bet? on what?" 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 185 
 
 "That I can eat a whole calf at a sitting especially 
 when I have a ravenous appetite as now. Fetch me 
 your moo-calf and I'll devour him, hoofs, hide and 
 tail !" 
 
 I dropped the bag from my shoulder to the table, 
 drew forth the short Roman sword, which was part of 
 my lictor's costume, and sharpened it on the steel. 
 
 "Now, fetch on your moo-calf," I repeated, again 
 shouldering the bag and making as if I were going to 
 quit the house. 
 
 "And you really are not afraid of the moo-calf?" 
 exclaimed Master Meyer, placing himself in front of 
 me, believing I intended to pursue my way. "I see you 
 are a headstrong lad, but, as I have taken a fancy to 
 you, I don't want you to run any risks. Come, make 
 up your mind to stop here until morning. We will 
 agree on a price for your treasures ; and then have sup- 
 per together." 
 
 "No, thanks," I returned, my face still toward the 
 street door. "I don't want any more dried codfish. The 
 season of fasting is over besides, I am no priest, and 
 if I were I shouldn't object to wine." 
 
 "You shall have whatever you want, my son. Put 
 down your bag, and make yourself at home." And he 
 hurried into the kitchen to give his orders. 
 
 After several minutes he returned, clad in an entire 
 suit of new clothes; on his arm he carried another 
 handsome suit, which he begged me to accept as a 
 present from him, adding that I would find in the 
 pocket of the coat in a purse the sum he was willing to 
 
186 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 pay for my treasures, and with which he knew I would 
 be quite satisfied. 
 
 When I opened the purse I found in it fifty doub- 
 loons, and a slip of paper. 
 
 "What is this?" I inquired, holding the paper toward 
 him. 
 
 "A promissory note for two-thousand thalers, pay- 
 able in three months." 
 
 I knew very well that a note of hand was as good as 
 money, and was quite satisfied with the trade only, 
 the time of payment was too long distant to suit me. 
 
 "It is a Hamburg custom, my son," replied Master 
 Meyer when I mentioned my objections. "The money 
 must have time to mature." 
 
 I was obliged to be satisfied, besides, fifty doubloons 
 would be quite enough to keep me in food and raiment 
 for three months. 
 
 The supper Master Meyer now placed before me 
 was of a sort I would not have believed his larder capa- 
 ble of supplying judging from the fare he had offered 
 me first. There were pasties of all sorts, game, con- 
 fections and a choice selection of wines. Of the last I 
 took special care not to imbibe too freely. Master 
 Meyer's family joined us at the repast; there were 
 three daughters, comely, and of marriageable age ; and 
 a son. The latter, I was informed, was a student at the 
 university. I thought him rather advanced in years for 
 a student ! 
 
 There was not the least resemblance between the 
 three young women; no one would have taken them 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 18? 
 
 to be sisters. They were merry creatures, sang and 
 played on the harp and the guitar. 
 
 One of them, a blonde, was very pretty. I noticed 
 that she stole frequent glances toward me, and when 
 her eyes met mine she would blush and smile 
 enchantingly. 
 
 I was still young, and not at all averse to a flirta- 
 tion. Moreover, I was a widower. I had had enough 
 experience with the fairer sex, however, to teach me 
 that it would be well to be on my guard. 
 
 Master Meyer had introduced me to his family as 
 "Junker Hermann." The blonde daughter's name was 
 Agnes. She was a sentimental and romantic maid. I 
 sat by her side at supper, and was so flustered by the 
 glances from her blue eyes, I could think of nothing 
 more sensible to say to her than : "that when the dear 
 Lord should bestow on me a family, I would have 
 just such spoons as her father's" with which we were 
 eating the chocolate cream and that my own and my 
 wife's crests should be engraved on the handles. This 
 remark led me to observe further that I thought the 
 initial letters of Hermann and Agnes would form a 
 pretty monogram. My fair neighbor could not see 
 just how the letters might be arranged. I told her it 
 was very simple : the A need only be inserted between 
 the two uprights of the H to make the union perfect. 
 
 I wanted the Meyers to believe that I was a genuine 
 cavalier, so I said to the father after I had emptied 
 my third glass of wine : 
 
 "That ring on your finger pleases me very much. I 
 should like to buy it." 
 
188 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "Well, you see, Junker Hermann," he returned 
 slowly, turning the ring on his finger, "this is a costly 
 piece of jewelry. The carbuncle alone is wbrth fifty 
 thalers; besides, the ring is an heirloom. I wouldn't 
 sell it for seventy thalers." 
 
 "Would you sell it for eighty?" 
 
 "I wouldn't let anyone but you, Junker Hermann, 
 have it at any price ! As you seem to have taken such 
 a fancy to it, then take it, in God's name, for eighty 
 thalers." 
 
 "All right," said I. "Just keep the eighty thalers out 
 of the two-thousand you owe me 
 
 At mention of the two-thousand thalers Agnes 
 helped me to a second dish of chocolate cream. 
 
 "I will draw up a note for the amount/' said her 
 father. "We are only human, and no one can tell what 
 may happen to me." 
 
 "Write whatever you like and I'll scrawl my signa- 
 ture to it," I replied disdainfully. 
 
 When he had quitted the room, Agnes whispered to 
 me: 
 
 "I am very sorry father sold his ring. It is a talis- 
 man in our family, and was given to my mother as a 
 wedding-present." 
 
 "And suppose" I whispered back to her "my buy- 
 ing it does not take it out of the family?" 
 
 "I don't quite understand you," she replied, casting 
 down her eyes, and blushing. 
 
 "I shall make my meaning clearer when I may speak 
 to you alone." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 189 
 
 "That can be arranged very easily, Junker Her- 
 mann ; when the family have gone to their rooms for 
 the night, we can meet in the bow-window chamber 
 then you can tell me what you have to say." 
 
 The father now returned with the note to the dining- 
 room. It was for one-hundred thalers, that being the 
 sum principal and interest I should owe Master 
 Meyer at the expiration of three months. 
 
 I did not think it worth while to waste words over 
 the usurious interest charged; but signed my name 
 with cavalier sangfroid, and the ring was transferred 
 from Master Meyer's hand to my own. As my hand 
 was considerably larger than his, which was exceed- 
 ingly thin and bony, I could only get the ring on the 
 second joint of my little ringer. 
 
 Just at that moment Rupert, the elderly student, 
 must have made a teasing remark to his sister; for 
 the three at once set upon him, and began to belabor 
 him with their fists, and cry out that he should not 
 have any more wine that evening. 
 
 "Very well," he exclaimed, laughing, "then I'll go to 
 the tavern and get some." 
 
 He invited me to accompany him; saying that we 
 should find at the tavern some good company and bad 
 wine. I excused myself on the plea that I was very 
 tired, and wanted to rest. He departed alone, and we 
 heard him singing, and knocking against the doors 
 with his stick, as he staggered down the street. 
 
 Good-nights were now exchanged, and each one 
 went to his or her room. I waited with considerable 
 impatience until the house had become quiet; then I 
 
I!M TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 stole on tip-toe to the bow-window chamber. This 
 apartment is in the top story of the house, and proj'-r ts 
 several feet over the street A bright moon illumined 
 the cozy chamber, so that a lamp was not necessary. 
 
 I had not long to wait; the soft rustle of feminine 
 garments very soon announced the coming of my 
 charming Agnes. 
 
 I met her at the door, took her hand in mine, and 
 di<-\ v her into i IK- bow- window. She asked me without 
 fin t her ceremony, to explain how the ring I had 
 bought from her father could remain in their family 
 now that I was the owner of it. 
 
 "Nothing easier in the world! my dear Agnes/' I 
 made answer. "I need only to slip it on your finger as 
 an engagement ring." 
 
 She understood my explanation, and allowed me to 
 place on the third fm^er of her left hand the rin^ for 
 which I owed one-hundred thalers. After this cere- 
 mony I asked as was natural if I might seal the 
 mi \\iih a kiss " 
 
 "Hal I knew that was coming 1" interrupted the 
 chair; "we don't care to hear that sort of evidence." 
 
 "Why," pacifically interposed the prince. "Why, a 
 kiss is nothing out of the way." 
 
 "One kiss would not be; but it would not stop ;ii 
 one; a second and a third and heaven only knows 
 how many more would follow, and 
 
 "Pray allow me to conti;idi< t your honor/' respe< t 
 fully mtemipied the prisoner. "There was only one. I 
 will .idinit that I was about to help myself to more, but 
 I was hindered " 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. lt>l 
 
 *T>y the white dove on your shoulder, of coin >. 
 interrupted the mayor's ironical tones. 
 
 "No. your honor, not the white dove. Just at the 
 moment 1 \\as going to take the second kiss, there 
 came from the street directly underneath the ho\\ 
 dow, the most unearthly sounds as if a herd of at 
 hams were bellowing for their supper. I IK 
 heard so hideous a noise. It was a mixture of the 
 squealing of a wild boar: the neighing of a horse: the 
 blare of a trumpet, and the clattering of a I 
 over cobbles.*' 
 
 Jesu Maria! the moo-calf!" shrieked my terror- 
 stricken betrothed, tearing herself from my arms. The 
 next instant she had vanished, with my hundred-thaler 
 ring. 
 
 Furious with rage, and not a little fear. 1 sprang to 
 the window, thing back the sash, and thrust out my 
 head never once thinking of the dire result which 
 would follow such action: my head swollen to the 
 of a barrel. 
 
 However, that did not happen to me; hut enough 
 pepper w;is blown into my eyes to prevent me, most 
 effectually, from seeing anything on the earth, or in the 
 heaven! I howled with pain and rage -compared to 
 the sounds which came from my throat, the moo calf> 
 bellowing was the weakly puling of an infant. 
 
 r.ut. such was the fear of my host and hi> daughters, 
 of the fiendish brute, that not one of them ventured to 
 come to my assistance. 1 was obliged to grope my 
 way unaided to my room, and to wash the pepper from 
 my blinded eyes as best I could. 
 
192 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 While I was thus engaged Rupert returned home, 
 and joined his howls to mine; he said the moo-calf 
 had attacked him, and almost done for him. His face 
 and clothes were proof of a rough and tumble 
 encounter with something: the former was scratched 
 and bleeding, and his garments looked as though he 
 had had a scuffle with an enraged eagle. His bed and 
 mine were in the same room, and neither of us slept 
 very much that night. The student was frightfully ill ; 
 he kept muttering constantly something about the 
 moo-calf ; while I sat by the basin until daylight, mop- 
 ping my eyes with water. 
 
 The cursed moo-calf ! Why didn't he bellow before 
 I gave my costly ring into Agnes' keeping? It was 
 not at all likely that I should soon have another oppor- 
 tunity to be alone with her ! 
 
 The next morning Master Meyer gave me to under- 
 stand that the duties of hospitality would not be 
 extended beyond one day; and that I would -better 
 seek a lodging more suitable to the station of a young 
 man of quality. He would be glad to have me visit 
 him frequently ; and if I wanted to be amused Rupert, 
 who was perfectly familiar with all the ways of the city, 
 would be delighted to be my guide. 
 
 I did not see the lovely Agnes again alone; so I 
 made up my mind to write, and tell her how much I 
 thought of her. I question now, whether any of the 
 numerous letters I sent her through Rupert, ever 
 reached her hands. 
 
 From that day, there was no end to amusements. 
 Rupert was the very lad to make me acquainted in 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 193 
 
 the shortest time with all the resorts of entertainment, 
 and many companions of questionable reputation. I 
 was introduced to a Spanish hidalgo; a Scotch laird; 
 a Brazilian planter; a Wallachian boyar that their 
 patents of nobility grew on the same geneological tree 
 with my own I suspected from the very first. They 
 were, individually and collectively, hearty drinkers, 
 reckless gamblers, and fearless fighters. That the 
 money they squandered with lavish hand was not 
 obtained through honest means I was confident, and I 
 was equally confident that the entire crew looked on 
 me as their own special prey. 
 
 But, I taught them a thing or two before very long! 
 
 At our drinking-bouts, I always left them under the 
 table. While with the Templars I learned a valuable 
 secret : how to drink all the wine you wanted without 
 becoming intoxicated. I shall not reveal this most 
 valuable secret here. I have an idea, that when the 
 court sentences me, I may win its clemency by reveal- 
 ing what I learned from the dornenritter the secret 
 which would be of incalculable value to all mankind 
 
 "We shall see about it if the time ever comes when 
 sentence shall be passed on you !" observed the chair. 
 
 To out-drink me, resumed the prisoner, after this 
 digression, was impossible, though they tried their 
 best to do so. Had they succeeded in stupefying me 
 with wine, I am quite certain they would have robbed 
 me of the note for two-thousand thalers, which I 
 always carried with me. I suspected that the series of 
 drinking-bouts had been arranged to enable Rupert 
 to steal the note; had he succeeded, Master Meyer 
 
194 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 would have been relieved of paying what he owed me. 
 But my secret enabled me to frustrate their plans. 
 
 Nor did they succeed in getting hold of any of my 
 doubloons. The first time we engaged in a game of 
 dice, I detected their scheme to cheat me ; the dice were 
 loaded. As I had played that sort of game before, I 
 astonished and discomfited my companions by the fre- 
 quency with which the sixes always came on top when 
 I threw. They, and not I, lost money. If they 
 attempted to quarrel with me about my good fortune, 
 they found that, skilled though they were in the pugi- 
 listic art, I could take care of myself. I learned some 
 wrestling tricks while I was with the haidemaken, and 
 they served me well in my bouts with those notorious 
 fighting-cocks. I was not the one to get worsted. But, 
 no matter how angry I might be, I always took good 
 care not to injure any of them seriously; had I clone 
 so, they would very soon have had me behind prison 
 bars. 
 
 I was also extremely careful in my intercourse with 
 the women I met. My white dove accompanied me 
 wherever I went, but I never spoke of her to anyone. 
 I would tell my companions, after they had dragged 
 me from one den to another -without succeeding in 
 attaching me to any of the alluring nymphs, that I had 
 no eyes for any woman but my charming betrothed, to 
 whom I had vowed eternal fidelity; and that I was 
 obliged to adhere all the more rigidly to my vow, 
 because Rupert, being the brother of my sweetheart, 
 might betray me to her were he to see me paying 
 attention to another girl. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 195 
 
 Then the student would swear that a "whole ditch 
 full of devils" might fetch him (a favorite oath in Ham- 
 berger Berg polite society) if he so much as mentioned 
 my name to his sister. I might flirt with whomsoever 
 I chose, he would not betray me. But, I persisted in 
 turning a deaf ear to the fascinating damsels I con- 
 tinued to meet night after night in the various drinking 
 shops we frequented. I knew very well that a tidy 
 wench would be more apt to get hold of my carefully 
 guarded note of hand than would any of my brawling 
 comrades. 
 
 I wasn't going to let anyone steal it ; I had decided 
 that I would take the money home to my poor old 
 parents. The two-thousand thalers would make of 
 them real gentle folk; father could buy a little fruit 
 farm ; and a fur coat for himself ; and the old mother 
 might promenade to church in a silk mantle, bought 
 with the money her son had given her " 
 
 "And which he obtained by selling stolen church 
 property," sarcastically interjected the chair. 
 
 "The end justified the means/' quickly, but with due 
 respect, retorted the prisoner, whereupon the prince 
 laughed heartily. 
 
 The mayor's face became crimson ; he said in a tone 
 of reprimand: "That phrase was not devised by the 
 pious Jesuits to excuse the man who steals church 
 property, and sells it to obtain money for his family. 
 The prisoner will continue his confession." 
 
 In this manner I passed three months. The day 
 before the one on which my note fell due, I spent in my 
 lodgings sleeping quietly. That night I accompanied 
 
196 TOLD, BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 my friends, as usual, on a round of the different tav- 
 erns we were wont to frequent. We scattered the night 
 patrol; smeared the windows of several professors' 
 houses with wagon grease; sang rollicking ditties in 
 front of the houses in which we knew there were pretty 
 .girls; belabored all the Jews we found abroad at that 
 hour, and kept the entire "Berg" in a state of excite- 
 ment, until long after midnight. We marched arm in 
 arm, forming a line across the street that reached from 
 house to house, to the "Three Apples" a famous tav- 
 ern at that time where, for a wager, we drank all the 
 liquid medicines in the store of an itinerant quack doc- 
 tor, who had stopped there for the night. 
 
 It is just possible it was the medicaments that con- 
 fused my brain though I am convinced they were 
 perfectly innocent of any intoxicants. Rupert became 
 so helpless, he lay like log on the tap-room floor ; the 
 innkeeper ordered the rest of us out of the house. 
 
 As it was too early to go home, the Scotchman sug- 
 gested that, as Rupert was not with us, we should go 
 around to Master Meyer's, where he and the rest would 
 keep watch in the street, while I made a "window-call" 
 on my betrothed. 
 
 "That's a bright idea of yours !" I exclaimed. "How 
 am I to get up to my pretty Agnes' window? Her 
 room is in the top story, in the gable. I am not a moo- 
 calf that can stretch its neck to the luthern." 
 
 "Why are we your friends?" chivalrously demanded 
 the Spanish hidalgo. "Are not we here to help you? 
 We will form a pyramid : three of us will support two 
 others on their shoulders, and you will form the apex. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 197 
 
 You can then rap at your lady-love's window, and we 
 will remain immovable, while you exchange kisses with 
 her." 
 
 The quack's medicaments had, as I said before, con- 
 fused my brain; I agreed to the silly plan suggested 
 by the hidalgo, and we turned our unsteady steps 
 toward the Meyer residence. 
 
 When we arrived in front of the house, the first thing 
 we did was break the lantern which swung from a rope 
 stretched across the street, in order that the darkness 
 might screen us from the sight of passers-by. 
 
 The acrobatic feat of building a human pyramid was 
 easily accomplished ; and I was very soon standing on 
 the shoulders of two comrades whose feet in turn rested 
 on the shoulders of the three forming the base. 
 
 I had no difficulty in reaching to the sill of the bow- 
 window ; that room, I knew, opened into Agnes' sleep- 
 ing-chamber. I had rapped once on the glass cau- 
 tiously, for I did not want to rouse any one in the lower 
 rooms ; and was about to repeat the knock, when the 
 fiendish bellowing I had heard once before made the 
 blood run cold in my veins. 
 
 My comrades under me cried out in terror: 
 
 "The moo-calf is coming!" and the next instant I 
 was hanging by my fingers to the sill of the bow- 
 window, with my legs wriggling like those of a frog 
 caught on a hook. I could hear my valiant comrades 
 scampering for their lives down the street. I did not 
 want to call for help ; for, if old Meyer saw me dangling 
 in front of his window, he would believe me to be a 
 burglar, and shoot me without ceremony. I could not 
 
198 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 swing myself up to the window-sill, for the sash was 
 closed ; so, I hung there, and tried in vain to find a pro- 
 jection below me, on which to rest my toes. 
 
 Meanwhile, the bellowing monster came nearer; I 
 could already hear it snorting under me. I hung 
 motionless as an executed criminal on the gallows, 
 hoping the calf might not notice me. 
 
 It was a vain hope ! The brute came directly toward 
 me, and when I looked down, I saw the hideous 
 horned head stretch upward nearer, nearer. I could 
 feel the rough tongue lick the soles of my shoes then 
 my ankles. I drew up my knees, and lifted myself as 
 high as I could; but the elastic neck stretched out 
 longer the horrible tongue licked higher. I felt as if 
 my trousers were being brushed with a curry-comb, 
 and I thought to myself every moment : "Now the devil 
 will seize me!" 
 
 I wriggled and kicked in vain nearer, and nearer, 
 came the long horns which threatened to spit me on 
 their sharp points. Fiendish laughter seemed to come 
 from the red throat, as the tongue licked higher and 
 higher. It reached my thighs then my waist, and 
 before I could guess what might happen, the little bag 
 hanging from my belt, in which I carried the note for 
 two-thousand thalers, was snapped from its chain, and 
 disappeared down the brute's gullet. 
 
 My fear vanished with the note. Not even Satan 
 himself should take it without a struggle ! 
 
 Heedless of the moo-calf, as well as of the danger 
 to my legs, I let go my hold on the window-sill and 
 dropped. Fortunately my mantle carried me like a 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 199 
 
 parachute through the air, so that I was not even 
 shaken by a too sudden contact with the pavement. 
 
 I now stood face to face with the dreaded moo-calf. 
 It was not a creation of the imagination, but a veritable 
 monster, and a most hideous and frightful one too, at 
 that ! It had four huge legs and feet like an elephant ; 
 a neck two fathoms long, at the end of it an enormous 
 head with horns ; the long red tongue hanging from the 
 open jaws was covered with scales shaped like saw 
 teeth. 
 
 "You may be the devil himself/' I cried, drawing 
 my sword, and stepping up to the monster, "but you 
 must give me back my purse." 
 
 Quick as thought, the long neck was drawn in, and 
 the head thrust at me with a force that sent me stag- 
 gering backward several feet. A faint-hearted man 
 would most likely have taken to his heels, but I was too 
 enraged at my loss to think of seeking safety in flight. 
 
 What ! had I purloined the dornenritter treasures for 
 this? 
 
 They were now in Master Meyer's possession, and 
 the two-thousand thalers were in the stomach of this 
 moo-calf! All this passed like lightning through my 
 brain, as I picked myself up from the pavement, where 
 the brute had flung me, and again approached him. 
 
 "Either you take me with you to hell," I exclaimed 
 hoarsely, "or I'll tear my purse from your entrails !" 
 
 Again the monster drew in his neck, spread his legs 
 apart as if to brace himself, and gave utterance to 
 another marrow-freezing roar. I remembered the dose 
 of pepper I had received from him, and held the corner 
 
200 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 of my mantle in front of my face ; this shielded me also 
 from the sparks of fire he blew from his nostrils. 
 
 I was prepared for the second assault, and when the 
 brute again shot out his head toward me, I dropped 
 nimbly to the pavement, and the head swept over me 
 into the empty air. Before it could be drawn back, I 
 was on my feet, and buried my sword to the hilt in the 
 creature's breast. 
 
 What was my surprise and horror to hear a despair- 
 ing moan not from the moo-calf's throat, from its 
 belly an unmistakably human voice. 
 
 "I am killed murdered!" cried the voice, as the 
 moo-calf fell in a heap to the pavement ; and from the 
 shapeless leather envelope staggered a human form 
 my comrade, Rupert, the student. 
 
 The blood was spurting from a wound in his breast 
 my sword had pierced clean through him ! 
 
 "So, you are the moo-calf?" I exclaimed in amaze- 
 ment, surveying the wounded man leaning, gasping for 
 breath, against the door of his father's house. 
 
 "The devil take you," he groaned. "Why didn't I 
 kill you at once, when you were hanging from the win- 
 dow, instead of fooling with you? Now, the old man 
 may play the moo-calf himself, and scare customers 
 from the Jews' quarter! It's all up with me! Ho, 
 Agnes ! Mettze ! Come quick ! Summon the patrol ! 
 Sound an alarm !" 
 
 I saw a female form appear in the bow-window. It 
 was Agnes. When she recognized Rupert's voice, she 
 began to shriek "Murder ! murder !" 
 
 I turned to fly, but Rupert, who had sunk to the 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 201 
 
 pavement, weak from the loss of blood, seized hold of 
 my leg even in death he thought only of revenge ! I 
 jerked my leg from his grasp with such force, that he 
 fell backward, striking his head against the door-post. 
 
 He did not stir again. 
 
 I did not stop to search in the skin of the moo-calf 
 for the promissory note; I took only time enough to 
 catch up a handful of mud from the street, and fling it 
 into the face of the girl, who was leaning from the 
 window shriekingj- "Murder !" into the night. 
 
 It silenced her for a few moments, and I fled down 
 the street with strides that soon took me a considerable 
 distance from the scene of the tragedy. 
 
 In my terror I imagined that a multitude was pur- 
 suing me, crying : "Catch him !" "Hold him !" "There 
 goes the assassin !" 
 
 I fled through unfamiliar streets and by-ways, across 
 bridges, to the outskirts of the city. There I saw, in an 
 underground den, lights and moving forms ; and heard 
 dance-music and riotous shouting. I tore open the 
 entrance-door, dashed down the steps, and fell into 
 the arms of an overgrown rascal, who was clad in the 
 uniform of the Munster guards. The fellow locked his 
 arms about me, and said laughingly: 
 
 "You are welcome, comrade ! You have come to the 
 proper refuge. You must have been close pressed, I 
 declare ! You are puffing like a porpoise ! But, have 
 no further fear you are safe now. Come, sit and have 
 something to drink." 
 
 He pressed a goblet of wine into my hand, thrust his 
 arm through mine, and drank smollis with me, by 
 exchanging his bear-skin hat for my cloth barret-cap. 
 
202 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "There, my son, now you are one of us. You have 
 drank our wine, and are now under the command of 
 our worthy captain," 
 
 I had stumbled upon a body of recruits for a par- 
 tisan corps. The company was made up of desperate 
 characters, who were glad enough of this chance to 
 escape prison, or the gallows. 
 
 As for myself, I was forced to put a good face on 
 a bad business ! Only twelve hours, before, I had been 
 a distinguished cavalier, was called Junker Hermann ; 
 and had a promissory note for two-thousand thalers in 
 my pocket. Now, I had neither station nor money, and 
 as I had good cause for not wanting to keep the name 
 by which I was known in Hamburg, I gave the recruit- 
 ing sergeant my own irue patronymic. 
 
 After I had been properly registered, I asked the 
 sergeant : 
 
 "What is the name of our captain?" 
 
 "Meyer." 
 
 "There are a good many Meyers in the world. Is 
 the captain related to the Berg-Meyers?" 
 
 "You've guessed it the first time, my son ! The cap- 
 tain's father lives in the Hamberger Berg, and is a 
 well-known receiver of stolen goods. Rupert, the cap- 
 tain's brother, is a pander." 
 
 I dare say many a man in my place would have been 
 frightened at this discovery; but / congratulated 
 myself! If I were pursued I argued the officers of 
 justice would seek for me everywhere else but in the 
 company commanded by the brother of the murdered 
 man ; and if Captain Meyer ever discovered that it was 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 203 
 
 I who had relieved him of the brother with whom he 
 would have been obliged to share his inheritance, he 
 certainly would not reproach me for it! 
 
 This, honored and high-born gentlemen, added 
 Hugo in conclusion, is the true history of the homi- 
 cide for which I am arraigned. I have not added to, or 
 taken from it; but have related the events exactly as 
 they occurred. 
 
 "Que bene distinguit, bene docetT observed . the 
 prince thoughtfully. "We call it murder, when the 
 person committing the deed strikes what he knows to 
 be a human being. But, if the man encounters a fero- 
 cious monster that he believes to be a moo-calf, and 
 kills it as such, and it turns out to be a human being, 
 'murder' is certainly not the term to apply to the deed. 
 Moreover, the person who is so devoid of sense and 
 dignity, as to conceal his human form in the hide of an 
 irrational beast, is himself responsible for whatever may 
 happen to him ! Therefore, this indictment may also 
 be stricken from the register." 
 
 "Perhaps, your highness," observed the chair with 
 a covert sneer, "would like to suggest a reward for the 
 prisoner, for delivering the city of Hamburg from the 
 terrorism of the moo-calf?" 
 
 The prince's reply made it obvious that he had not 
 noticed the chair's sarcasm : 
 
 "I-think-not," he returned slowly. "As the prisoner 
 is likely to be condemned to death for one or more 
 of the other crimes, it would be useless to bestow on 
 him a certainly deserved reward." 
 
 A further hearing was postponed until the next 
 morning. 
 
PART VI . 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE FORGERY. ONE CIPHER. 
 
 I passed an entire year under the command of Cap- 
 tain Meyer, during which time I may say I committed 
 no more nor less, evil than my comrades. I do not 
 hold it necessary to mention the seven mortal sins, of 
 which all soldiers are guilty when in the enemy's coun- 
 try those sins become virtues then. 
 
 Were I to enumerate the pillaging, homicides, con- 
 flagrations, in which I took active part, it would be 
 rather a captatis benevolently than an enforced con- 
 fession. This much, however, I will confess: The 
 regions visited by Captain Meyer's corps never 
 expressed a desire for our return. A whole year of 
 such a life was quite enough for me; and, as I had 
 enlisted for only a twelve-month, at the expiration of 
 that time I asked for my discharge. 
 
 The captain expressed regret at my wanting to leave 
 him; but made no objection when I gave him my 
 reason for quitting the service; I was home-sick, and 
 wanted to see my poor old mother and father. The 
 old folks lived in Andernach, near which we were 
 (204) 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 205 
 
 quartered. I had not seen them for full ten years ; and 
 I decided that I would spend the rest of my days with 
 them. 
 
 The gold and silver I had once counted on taking 
 to them, to solace their old age, was not now in my 
 possession : Satan, through whose aid I had obtained 
 it, had taken it away from me again. 
 
 But, if I could not give my parents curse-laden 
 wealth, I was able to offer them two strong and willing 
 arms which, after so many years of sinful struggling, 
 longed for the honest toil that would call down a bless- 
 ing from heaven. 
 
 I would adopt my father's trade; become a pious 
 believer, and try to be of some use to my fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 Before I could do this, however, I should be obliged 
 to commit a forgery as the world would call it. 
 
 The burgomaster o! Andernach, and the manager 
 of the tannery in that place, were so very scrupulous, 
 that they wanted to know all about my antecedents, 
 before they would consent to receive me as a citizen, 
 and journeyman. 
 
 Not for the world would I have forged an entire tes- 
 timonial for honesty, and respectability; but I did not 
 think, that to add a single cipher to the honorable dis- 
 charge I had received from Captain Meyer was any- 
 thing out of the way. A tiny, innocent, worth-nothing, 
 insignificent cipher, that could harm no one, take 
 nothing from anyone ! And I did not place it in front 
 of the figure 1 either thus giving it the precedence 
 over the more valuable numeral. If the honorable and 
 
206 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 high-born gentlemen will but look at it from a differ- 
 ent point of view from that usually taken, I feel confi- 
 dent they will not think my transgression so heinous 
 after all. Heaven knows ! Ten years' service under 
 Captain Meyer contained sufficient torture to purge 
 the most hardened criminal, and make him fit for citi- 
 zenship in any respectable community ! 
 
 This, your highness, and honorable gentlemen, is the 
 forgery to which I plead guilty. 
 
 "Humph !" ejaculated his highness. "It is not worth 
 mentioning! Who would take the trouble to notice 
 such a trifle? Proceed to the indictment next on the 
 list" 
 
 "On which there is still another crime less !" grum- 
 bled the chair impatiently. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE LEGACY. 
 
 Discharged soldiers travel on foot. It is the more 
 expeditious way if the roads are bad, for a wagon is 
 heavier than a man. The man has only two feet to 
 draw from the mud ; while the wagon has four wheels. 
 Besides to travel on foot is cheaper. 
 
 When I arrived in Andernach I had, remaining from 
 the money I had saved during my year's campaigning, 
 only one thaler ; but my heart was so light, the light- 
 ness of my pocket did not trouble me. 
 
 How glad I was when I caught sight of the familiar 
 towers of the palace, and the ruins on the Templeberg. 
 How often, when a lad, I had clambered among those 
 ruins, in search of hawks' nests, and Roman coins. If 
 I had only broken my neck on one of those innocent 
 quests. Everything was so familiar ; the large mill- 
 stone factory ; the cranes on the quay ; the rafts on the 
 river; the long avenues yes, even the old receivers of 
 customs at the Coblentz gate! I recognized the old 
 fellows at once; but they did not remember me. I 
 might stray through the entire town without hearing 
 a single voice call to me : "Welcome, welcome ! Why 
 that is Hugo !" I was so changed in appearance ! 
 
 But I remembered everybody and everything ! I did 
 not need to ask my way through the narrow streets to 
 
 (207) 
 
208 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the tanneries on the banks of the river. I remembered 
 the names of all the families that lived in those narrow 
 streets. 
 
 At last I came in sight of the house in which dwelt 
 my parents the dear, familiar home of my boyhood ! 
 There it stood; and beside it, the same tall mulberry 
 tree with its branches shading the street. 
 
 Perched among those branches, I had learned to 
 decline the classical formula: "Hie gallus cantans in 
 arbor e sedens, kukuriku dicens!" At the moment of my 
 arrival, however, instead of a gallus, cantans on the 
 tree, an auctioneer's assistant was standing under it, 
 and vigorously beating a cracked drum. 
 
 "What is going on here?" I asked of the man, in 
 whom I recognized an acquaintance of my boyhood. 
 
 "There's going to be an auction, Master Soldier." 
 
 "What is to be sold?" 
 
 "Everything that belonged to the old tanner. You 
 may take a look inside if you like," he added, nodding 
 toward the house. "It won't cost you anything." 
 
 "But why are you selling the old man's property?" I 
 asked again. 
 
 "To get money, naturally!" 
 
 "For whom?" 
 
 "For the numerous Jebucees, Sadducees, and publi- 
 cans, to whom the old man was indebted. If they sell 
 everything to the brood of sparrows under the eaves ! 
 there will not be enough money, by a good deal, to 
 pay all he owes." 
 
 "Why," said I, "the old man was a good manager; 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 209 
 
 and his wife an industrious and thrifty house-wife, 
 when I knew them." 
 
 "And so they were ! The old man was all right, until 
 he took to drinking." 
 
 "Took to drinking? Why did he do that?" 
 
 "Well you see, he had a worthless son, who ran 
 away from home about ten years ago. The scamp 
 joined a band of robbers ; and when he left them, he 
 gave out that he was a Polish count ; played all man- 
 ner of tricks ; broke out of prison ; robbed churches. 
 Every year the news which came to the old man about 
 his Hugo grew worse; until at last he was afraid to 
 venture on the street, for the whole town was talking 
 about his worthless son. So he took to drink had it 
 fetched to the house, and drank harder and harder 
 especially after his wife died " 
 
 "Dead?" I interrupted. "Is the old dame dead?" 
 my heart almost burst because I had to keep back the 
 words "my mother." 
 
 "Yes, Master Soldier, she is dead, and it is a mercy 
 the good old soul did not live to see this sorrowful 
 day ! But, you must excuse me. I have got to beat 
 this drum, so that a good lot of people will come to the 
 sale." 
 
 A dozen or more purchasers came in response to 
 the summons. I took up my station by the open win- 
 dow, and looked into the familiar room, where the 
 buyers were higgling over the various articles to be 
 sold. My mother's Sunday mantle was just then under 
 the hammer the pretty silk mantle with the silver 
 fastening at the neck. How I wished I were able to put 
 
210 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 an end to the disgusting higgling, by shouting in the 
 window : 
 
 "I'll take the whole lot for a thousand thalers !" 
 
 But, alas ! there was only a single, miserable thaler 
 in my pocket. 
 
 The mantle at last became the property of an old- 
 clothes dealer: he flung it around his shoulders, and 
 made believe to promenade to church. It was a revolt- 
 ing sight ! The entire higgling crew laughed uproar- 
 iously, and clapped their hands. I could endure it no 
 longer, my heart was bursting. 
 
 I stepped back to the drummer, and asked: 
 
 "Is it long since the old dame died?" 
 
 "Not so long but you may find her grave if you care 
 to see it. She is buried in the cemetery on the Temple- 
 berg." 
 
 "And where is her husband?" 
 
 "Well" and he scratched his ear "that is a ques- 
 tion I am unable to answer : what was immortal about 
 him, is in heaven, or hell, or purgatory who can say? 
 Flesh, bones and skin, are about to be buried in the 
 earth just where though, I can't tell you." 
 
 "Buried now?" I repeated. "Why, there's no bell 
 tolling for the funeral?" 
 
 "No, Master Soldier, the death bell doesn't ring for 
 such corpses. The poor old man hung himself just 
 here, on this limb above us!" 
 
 "Hung himself?" 1 repeated in horror. 
 
 "Yes, Master Soldier he hung himself on that limb ! 
 You see he couldn't stand it when, after he had been 
 told that his property would have to be sold to pay his 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 211 
 
 debts, he heard that the burgomaster had received 
 from Hamburg a warrant to arrest Hugo, his vagabond 
 son, who had murdered a comrade of his in that city." 
 
 You may imagine my feeling when I heard these 
 words! They banished from my mind all thought of 
 making myself known as the long-lost Hugo, and the 
 determination to keep my identity a strict secret was 
 strengthened by the drummer who, at every beat he 
 inflicted on the cracked calf-skin, exclaimed: "The 
 rascal !" "The vagabond !" "The gallows-bird !" and 
 similar titles of honor ! 
 
 I deemed it wise to join him in execrating the repro- 
 bate, whose evil conduct had forced the honest old 
 tanner to end his life on the green branch over our 
 heads. 
 
 The bloody deed I had committed in Hamburg had 
 driven my poor father to a suicide's grave. I could 
 listen no longer to the monotonous drum-beats, and 
 the call which came from the house: "Who bids 
 higher?" 
 
 I stole away from the house to which I had brought 
 disgrace and death. I stole away to that city of the 
 silent multitude, where there is no higgling, no out- 
 bidding, no "who bids higher?" 
 
 Here, the wooden cross at the head of the grass- 
 grown mound of earth, serves the same purpose, and 
 serves it as well as the majestic marble monument. 
 After a long search among many familiar, and some 
 unfamiliar names, I found, on one of the wooden 
 crosses, the name to which I had a claim. 
 
212 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Underneath that mound, bare of green sod, with no 
 mourning wreath of never-fading flowers adorning the 
 cross, rested the woman who had left behind her on 
 earth nothing but a drunken husband, who drank to 
 forget his shame ; and a worthless son, whose name was 
 a public disgrace in every city in the land 
 
 I flung myself beside the mound. I dared not give 
 vent to my sorrow in moans and tears, for fear a grave- 
 digger, or some passer-by might hear me, and suspect 
 me to be the son of the woman in the grave. 
 
 The Hamburg magistrates had offered one hundred 
 thalers for my arrest ; consequently it behooved me to 
 be very cautious. I pretended I had chosen that spot 
 to rest ; and lay very still ; for, just then, a good many 
 people chattering old women, noisy lads, and all sorts 
 of shabby folk were passing through the cemetery, 
 toward the further wall. 
 
 The crowd seemed to be expecting something an 
 imposing funeral, I said to myself. I soon found out 
 why they were so eager to get to the boundary wall of 
 the cemetery: In the strip of earth just outside the 
 wall was the suicide's grave. 
 
 He is not to rest among the respectable Christians ; 
 but in the strip of unconsecrated ground outside the 
 sacred inclosure. No priest leads his funeral train ; his 
 body comes to its last resting place in the knacker's 
 cart, on a bier made of four rough deals. The coffin 
 is unpainted ; there is no name-plate on the lid. 
 
 The bell on the neck of the knacker's old steed tolls 
 him to the grave. Instead of a solemn funeral dirge, 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 213 
 
 there is the noisy chatter of the curious mob; and in 
 lieu of funeral oration are the knacker's stupid and 
 offensive jokes, which he cracks while he prepares to 
 lower the coffin into the grave. Before he does this, 
 he takes a knife from his pocket, and whittles a few 
 chips from the coffin; and over these the gaping 
 crowd especially the old women quarrel and higgle, 
 gladly giving their last pence for the relics. And these 
 people never suspect that the man who leans heavily 
 against the broken cross, hard-by the new-made grave, 
 might rush suddenly upon them, and with the stump 
 of the broken cross crack the skulls of those whom he 
 chanced to strike ! 
 
 At last the knacker took note of me: 
 
 "Well, Master Soldier," he called, "and how goes it 
 with you? Don't you want to exchange a few pence 
 for a chip from the coffin of the man who hung him- 
 self? There is great virtue in such a bit of wood! 
 It will preserve you from lightning, and " 
 
 "I would rather have a nail out of the coffin," I 
 interrupted, "for iron will attract lightning, which is 
 what I most desire." 
 
 The fellow was ready enough to comply with my 
 request, but he said the nail would be worth a thaler. 
 I gave him the thaler, the last money I possessed in 
 the world ! and received the nail my legacy from my 
 father! 
 
 Later, I had a ring made of the coffin-nail, and I 
 still wear it on the fore-finger of my right hand. 
 
 "Well," enunciated his highness, drawing his hand- 
 
214 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 kerchief from his pocket ; "you certainly were punished 
 for your misdeeds, my son. Your sufferings must have 
 been greater than if you had been tortured on the 
 wheel." 
 
 The chair's comments were inaudible amid the 
 sounds of emotion, which came from behind the 
 prince's handkerchief. 
 
PART VIL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 PEACEFUL REPOSE. 
 
 I was now without a heller in my pocket; and yet 
 I did not feel poor. I thought to myself: I am a man, 
 born this day nothing, and nobody. I am so much 
 better off than the new-born babe, in that I shall not 
 have to be taught how to walk arid talk, need no one 
 to feed me, and rock me to sleep. 
 
 I determined I would not remain longer on German 
 soil. If I remained, only one of two alternatives was left 
 to me : If I desired to associate with respectable folk, 
 I should have to allow them, when they discovered who 
 I was, to cut off my head ; and if I went back to my old 
 life, or into the army, I should have to cut off the 
 heads of my fellow-creatures. I had no desire to do 
 either. 
 
 After my varied, and troublous experiences, I 
 yearned for peace and quiet. My plans were soon 
 formed. There was considerable trade in lumber, 
 between Andernach and Holland. Innumerable rafts, 
 composed of huge tree-trunks for masts, and piles for 
 
 (215) 
 
216 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 dams, were floated down the Rhine ; and to the owner 
 of one of these rafts I hired myself as rower. 
 
 The wage was fair : thirty pfenings a day, with bread, 
 cheese, dried fish, and a jug of beer. I never drank 
 my portion of beer, but sold it for three pfenings; to 
 one of my comrades on the raft, who got thirsty twice 
 daily. I drank only water. 
 
 When my fellow rowers would curse and swear, 
 because a strong wind, or the current, drove the raft 
 against the rocks, I would remonstrate mildly with 
 them ; and assure them that such speech in the mouths 
 of Christian men was displeasing to God; and when, 
 to pass the time, they would sit down to a game of 
 dice, I would withdraw to the further end of the raft. 
 If they urged me to join the game, I would reply: 
 
 "Thou shalt not covet what belongs to thy 
 neighbor." 
 
 After awhile the jeers of my comrades attracted the 
 attention of the owner of the raft. 
 
 "Hello, lad; what's the matter with you? You don't 
 drink, don't gamble, and don't swear you are damn- 
 ably pious, it seems to me! But, you are a first-rate 
 worker; and I shall sell you in Nimeguen for at least 
 three times as much as any of those lazy louts." 
 
 "You are going to sell me and my comrades in 
 Nimeguen?" I exclaimed in amazement. 
 
 ''Why, certainly! What the devil else should I do 
 with you? You can float down stream on the raft ; but 
 I couldn't float you up-stream ! and I couldn't carry 
 you on my back, could I? But, don't you worry. I'll 
 find good places for the lot of you. There will be 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 217 
 
 plenty of buyers for the rowers, as well as for the raft, 
 and the price every fellow brings will be equally 
 divided between me and himself !" 
 
 "What becomes of the men usually?" I ventured to 
 inquire. 
 
 "Well, I don't believe all are chopped into sausage- 
 meat ! The Hollander likes to be a sailor but only a 
 captain, or a pilot. He likes also to be a soldier, but 
 again he prefers to be a captain, or the commandant of 
 a fortress. Therefore, common seamen and private 
 soldiers are in demand; and for this the ignorant 
 stranger is good. Consequently, you need only say 
 which you prefer: to become a sailor, or a land-lubber 
 and take your choice." 
 
 I deliberated a moment, then I said to him : 
 
 "I will tell you the truth, Captain, because I have 
 vowed never again to let a lie pass my lips. I am 
 tired of soldiering. I have shed so much blood on 
 the battlefield, that the remembrance of it oppresses my 
 soul. I don't want to be a soldier ; I would rather go 
 to sea, and be rocked by the waves." 
 
 "Well, you are an ignorant dunce !" he exclaimed. 
 "Don't you know that, if you go to sea, you will get 
 right into the thick of battle? The Dutch fight all their 
 real battles at sea. They keep an army on shore, only 
 that they may have troops to capitulate when a fortress 
 is starved out by the enemy! The soldiers never get 
 any actual fighting. Punctuality, sobriety, irreproach- 
 able conduct these are the Dutch soldier's strong 
 points and, the devil fly away with me, if you don't 
 
218 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 rise to be a corporal in less than a twelve-month, if you 
 join the army! What were you before?" 
 
 "A gunner." 
 
 "Well, you can be a gunner in the Dutch army." 
 
 "But, what have the gunners in the Dutch artillery to 
 do if there is no enemy to shoot at?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, they find enough to occupy their time. On 
 Saturday evenings they have the management of the 
 fire-works, which are set off in the park; and on the 
 other days of the week they prepare the rockets, and 
 other things, for the Saturday evening's display." 
 
 That is why I became a gunner in the artillery, in 
 the goodly city of Nimeguen. Sixty dollars was the 
 price paid for me, the half of which I received. 
 
 I was now in a community that exactly suited me. 
 Here was no mighty uproar, no rioting, no drinking. 
 Here, no vain braggart youths molested the wives of 
 the staid burghers. Here were no conflicts between the 
 military and the citizens. All were at peace with one 
 another. 
 
 On Sunday mornings the armed, and the unarmed 
 residents went together to church ; and in the evening 
 all drank their pints together amicably in the beer- 
 houses. The soldiers were allowed, when not on guard 
 duty, or otherwise engaged in the fortress, to work for 
 the citizens ; the money thus earned belonged to them- 
 selves. And there were many chances to secure 
 employment. The entire city of Nimeguen was a huge 
 flower-garden, in which was grown that most import- 
 ant article of commerce : the tulip bulb. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 219 
 
 It is a well-known fact that not only entire Europe 
 but all the lands under the dominion of the Turkish 
 sultan, would suffer a greater financial loss, were the 
 Dutch tulip-bulbs to remain out 6f the markets for a 
 year, than if all other crops were to fail for the same 
 length of time. 
 
 By saying this, I do not mean that the 'carnation is 
 not also a necessary luxury if I may so term it; but 
 the tulip is, and will remain, the most important article 
 of commerce in the lands I have mentioned. One 
 tulip-bulb is worth as much as a peck of wheat. But 
 it is of different values according to the color. There 
 are tulips which only kings and sultans can afford to 
 have bloom in their gardens. 
 
 I was fortunate enough to secure employment for 
 my leisure hours, as gardener's assistant, on the estate 
 of a widow who was "tulip-wealthy." 
 
 The lady would visit her tulip beds early every morn- 
 ing, to see them in bud ; and again late in the afternoon, 
 to see the full-blown flowers. At such times I never 
 got a glimpse of her face ; for she always wore a huge 
 cap, from which only the tip of her nose protruded. 
 
 But I decided, after I had been on the estate a week, 
 that the fair owner must be young, for when she 
 addressed a remark to me, which she did occasionally, 
 her voice was so low as if she feared I might hear 
 what she said. 
 
 To judge by the enormous quantities of bulbs she 
 sent to market, the widow must have been very rich ; 
 but the bulbs were not her only treasures. She possessed 
 
220 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 a collection of shells, fresh, and salt-water, that repre- 
 sented a very tidy sum of money. 
 
 In Holland, as well as in England, and France, the 
 shell had also a commercial value ; and wealthy collec- 
 tors vied with one another to secure the finest examples 
 of the spordihis regiits; the "sun-ray" mussel ; the rain- 
 bow-hued "venus-ear" ; the "queen's cap" ; the "tower 
 of Babylon" ; and "Pharaoh's turban," and would pay 
 as high as two hundred dollars for a perfect specimen 
 of the shell they wanted. I have known a perfect 
 scalaria preciosa to bring one hundred zequins. This 
 shell is more valuable than the pearl; and my fair 
 employer possessed a whole drawerful of them. Her 
 sainted husband had collected them; and they would 
 have sold for more than would a three-master loaded 
 with grain. 
 
 More than one nabob had offered fabulous sums for 
 the collection ; and it was said that a British peer, who 
 was devoted to the study of conchology, had even gone 
 so far as to offer his hand and title to the widow, in 
 order to gain possession of the much coveted treasure. 
 
 The widow who hesitates loses a title ; while the lady 
 was considering the peer's offer, there was a sudden 
 fall in the price of shells, and my lord sailed away to 
 England. 
 
 What caused this depression in the shell-market you 
 ask? 
 
 Well, as your highness, and the honorable gentle- 
 men, must know, every sea-creature like the scalaria 
 builds its house with the volutions turning to the left. 
 
 One day a sailor, whose home was in Nimeguen, 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 221 
 
 returned from a voyage to Sumatra, and brought with 
 him a large number of scalaria with, the shells turned 
 in just the opposite direction from left to right. Now, 
 a shell of this order was a decided lusus nature?, and 
 the price for the ordinary pattern at once depreciated. 
 The bankers and nabobs, who had formerly vied with 
 one another in their quest for the scalaria preciosa, 
 were now so inflamed with the desire to possess a 
 scalaria retrotorsa, that they willingly paid from two to 
 three thousand thalers for a single specimen. On the 
 other hand, the ordinary scalaria, which had sold read- 
 ily for one hundred ducats, could now be bought for 
 ten, and fifteen thalers. 
 
 This was a heavy blow for my widowed employer, 
 and she soon found that she had not the strength to 
 bear it alone. 
 
 When I heard of her loss, I summoned enough 
 courage to say to her: 
 
 "If this unlucky business about the shells is all that 
 troubles you, my dear lady, I think I can help you. I 
 have a scheme that will in a very short time produce 
 shells which turn to the right and in such quantities, 
 that you can supply all the shell-markets in the 
 country/ 
 
 The widow reflected several moments, then replied : 
 
 "But, I couldn't think of allowing you to employ 
 witch-craft to secure such shells for me. I do not 
 approve of magic. I have always held aloof from 
 sorcery, charms, conjuring, and all such infernal prac- 
 tices ; and, as I hope some time to be united with my 
 beloved husband, who is with the saints, I could not 
 
222 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 bind my soul to the wicked one, by countenancing any 
 sort of magic, or idolatry." 
 
 "There is neither magic nor idolatry connected with 
 my scheme to benefit you, gracious lady," I assured 
 her. "What I have in mind is a purely scientific 
 experiment. It is fully described in a large book writ- 
 ten by the learned Professor Wagner, who was a very 
 pious man, as well as a very clever scholar." 
 
 "The book I allude to, gracious lady, treats of the 
 sympathy and antipathy of plants, and cold-blooded 
 animals ; and is all about creatures made by our Heav- 
 enly Father. It is a noteworthy fact, that the bean 
 vine always twines from left to right around the stake 
 which supports it; while the hop as invariably winds 
 from right to left neither of them ever makes a mis- 
 take. If, however, the bean and the hop be planted 
 close together, then, the two plants being antipathetic 
 one to the other, the bean will twine to the left, and the 
 hop to the right." 
 
 "Quid fuit probation." 
 
 "From such experiments the learned orofessor was 
 led to experiment with living creatures. He found 
 that, when an acaleph which forms its shell from right 
 to left in the flower-beds at the bottom of the ocean, 
 chances to lie in close proximity to a nautilus pompi- 
 liuSy which belongs to the cephalopods, and builds from 
 left to right, the two, because of their antipathy for 
 each other, will reverse the order of their volutions." 
 
 "From this it is clear that those conchologists, who 
 have created a veritable social revolution with their 
 Malaria retrotorsa, and have shaken the foundations of 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 223 
 
 prosperity in the Dutch low countries, have accident- 
 ally come upon such shells which, in consequence of 
 an antipathetic propinquity, have reversed their order 
 of building and by so. doing, my dear lady, have 
 caused you great loss and sorrow. But, you need 
 sorrow no longer, if you will graciously assent to my 
 proposition. It will, I feel confident, bring you a for- 
 tune so enormous that even the queen regent will envy 
 you !" 
 
 "But, what is your proposition?" queried the pious 
 soul, and for the first time, half of her face emerged 
 from the depths of her cap. 
 
 "It is this, gracious lady: Order your agents to 
 bring from the ocean living scalaria, and nautili, which 
 are to be secured with least trouble during the mating 
 season. We will prepare for them here a large basin 
 of sea-water, with sand from the bottom of the ocean. 
 In this we will plant sea-weeds, place our living shells 
 among them, and feed them with star-fish, holothurcs, 
 and other soft-bodied marine creatures. After a season 
 our shell-fish will spawn ; the eggs of the scalaria cling 
 together like a string of pearls; those of the nautili 
 adhere to one another by sixes, in shape of a star. 
 
 "When we shall have secured a number of broods, we 
 will fasten together the ends of a scalaria string, form- 
 ing a circle, in the center of which we will place a star 
 of nautilus spawn; and you will see, when the tiny 
 creatures escape from the eggs, that they will build 
 their houses in a reversed order from the parent shell." 
 
 My plan was quite clear to the fair widow ; she gave 
 her orders at once to her agents, for the scalaria, and 
 
224 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 nautili, and from that moment treated me with great 
 respect and affability. 
 
 Meanwhile, I continued to perform my duties: I 
 polished my guns mornings; inspected the soldiers' 
 coats, to see if any of the buttons had been sewed on 
 wrong side up the lower part of the state's coat of 
 arms uppermost and reported to the captain that 
 everything was in order. Saturday evenings I attended 
 to setting off the fire-works ; and every week-day after- 
 noon I worked in the widow's garden. 
 
 What I earned I laid by. I never touched pipe, nor 
 glass not even when they were offered to me ; and to 
 whomsoever I addressed a remark, I gave the title 
 belonging to him. Thus, I gained the respect of all 
 my fellow-citizens. I had become what I had long 
 desired : a respectable God-fearing man " 
 
 "Now, look out for a special bit of rascality;" sotto 
 voce, interjected the chair. 
 
 I admit it was to win promotion that I conducted 
 myself with such propriety, continued the prisoner. 
 I was extremely desirous of attaining a lieutenancy. 
 
 When the living scalaria, and nautili, arrived 
 together with the creatures which were to serve as food 
 for them, they were placed in the large basin with a 
 wall about it, I had prepared for them in the lower 
 portion of the tr.lip garden ; and in due time the spawn 
 was ready for further operation. 
 
 My gracious employer was greatly surprised to learn 
 that the eggs of the shell-fish have a peculiarity which 
 distinguishes them from the eggs of birds and insects. 
 With the development of the embryonic fish, its envel- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 225 
 
 ope also extends ; one such egg, which at first is hardly 
 as large as a lentil, increases to the size of a hazel-nut. 
 In this condition its outer covering is very thin 
 merely a transparent membrane, through which the 
 now quickened animal may be seen revolving with the 
 celerity of a spinning top. One may even detect the 
 pulsations of its heart. 
 
 'The fellow has actually taken it upon himself to 
 deliver a lecture on malacology!" irritably interposed 
 the chair. "I am sorry to prolong the hearing, your 
 honor," deferentially returned the prisoner, "but, I beg 
 -you will allow me to finish what I have to say on this 
 subject, in order that I may explain why I was accused 
 of conjuring. I desire to prove that what I did was not 
 accomplished by aid of any infernal power ; but through 
 my own intelligence, in discovering, and making use 
 of one of Nature's secrets." 
 
 As I mentioned before, one may perceive, in the 
 embryonic mollusk, the incessant rotary movement 
 from left to right. In order to keep the two anti- 
 pathetic broods constantly in the close juxtaposition 
 necessary to influence their development, I was obliged 
 to handle them frequently, as the eggs would move 
 about 
 
 "Stop !" interrupted the chair, "mollusks have no 
 eyes; how then were those you hatched able to see 
 their antipathetic neighbors, and move away from 
 them?" 
 
 Their antipathetic sensations informed them. 
 Though mollusks have no eyes, they are endowed with 
 other remarkable organs such as are not found in 
 
226 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 warm-blooded animals. However, to cut my story 
 short, the quickened scalaria, and nautili, immediately 
 began to form their shells in the reversed order I had 
 expected, and the secret of fabulous enrichment was 
 solved. 
 
 During the mysterious process of nature while the 
 shell-fish were industriously rearing their priceless 
 houses my patroness daily spent a half hour or more 
 beside the sea-water basin ; and would even, now and 
 then, assist me to restore the creatures to their proper 
 positions. 
 
 At first she would push her sleeves only an inch or 
 two above the wrists; but, after awhile, they were 
 tucked above the elbows, and I could admire as much 
 as I wanted the beautiful white arms a favor no 
 modest woman will allow anyone but her own husband. 
 
 As the work had to be done, and as we did not want 
 a third party to have cognizance of our experiment, the 
 fair widow was obliged to assist me, and the natural 
 result of the bared arms was: I became her legal 
 husband. Therefore, it was neither through magic, nor 
 witch-craft, nor yet through seductive arts employed 
 by myself, that I became the legal protector of the 
 richest, and handsomest young widow in Nimeguen. 
 
 ("The truth of the matter is: the modest Dutch 
 widow bewitched the valiant gunner, and compelled 
 him to marry her!" was the chair's sarcastic interpo- 
 lation.) 
 
 Well, be that as it may, the lady was amply 
 rewarded for marrying me. The scalaria retrotorsa 
 resulting from my experiment, brought her enormous 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 227 
 
 wealth. We did not know, at last, what to do with all 
 the money that kept pouring into our coffers ; but, the 
 larger portion of her reward by far, she found in the 
 conjugal fidelity I vowed to her. I would not have 
 believed that I possessed so many of the attributes 
 necessary to the making of a pattern husband, and my 
 wife would have been entirely satisfied with me, had I 
 been a captain like her first spouse. 
 
 But I was only a gunner! 
 
 My predecessor had been a captain, it is true, but he 
 had never seen a battle ; and when, on Corpus Christi, 
 he commanded the city militia, and gave orders to fire 
 the salute, he always pressed his hands against his ears 
 to shut out the noise. 
 
 Still, his title gave his wife the right to call herself 
 "Fraq, H^uptmannin ;" while, as my wife she was 
 merely "Constablerinn" a degradation intolerable to 
 any proud-spirited woman. 
 
 I tried to purchase at least a lieutenant's comrmV 
 sion ; but there were fifty-six applicants for the position 
 ahead of me ; and there was no telling how many years 
 I should have to wait for my turn. 
 
 My wife at last became so sensitive that, in order 
 to escape being addressed by the inferior title, she 
 ceased to go out of the house; and when she had 
 occasion to make mention of me to any one, she always 
 spoke, or wrote, in this wise: "The husband of the 
 widow of Captain Tobias van der Bullen." That hon- 
 orable and high-born gentlemen, is how I came to be 
 called through no fault of mine ! by my twelfth 
 false name: "Tobias van der Bullen," 
 
228 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 I must confess, it was an extremely dull life. Of 
 what use to us were the hoards of gold in the treasure- 
 chests? We did not know how to spend them. I did 
 not drink wine ; I was not allowed to smoke at home, 
 because it was an unclean habit. And I was always at 
 home, when not at the barracks,, because I had nowhere 
 else to go. 
 
 At the merchants' casino, of which I might have 
 become a member had I so elected, all the conversation 
 was about matters I could not endure. The men were 
 so grave and sedate, there was no fun in trying to play 
 tricks on them ; and the women were virtuous to such a 
 degree, that not one of them would have allowed a 
 barn-yard cock to scratch worms for more than one 
 hen. 
 
 As all married men know, women are peculiar crea- 
 tures. There are times when they become impressed 
 with a desire to possess certain things that so say the 
 sagacious doctors it is unwise, nay dangerous, to 
 refuse to gratify the request. I have heard said, 
 that a woman has been known to long for a dish of 
 shoemaker's paste ; another believed she would collapse 
 if she did not get a frog to devour ; still another, vowed 
 she could not survive, if her husband did not rise from 
 his bed at midnight, and hasten to the nearest grocery 
 for a box of superfine wagon grease ! 
 
 Now, my wife was seized with a longing to possess 
 a sheet of parchment a desire, you will say, that might 
 easily have been gratified. But, the sort of parchment 
 she wanted did not grow on every bush ! A document, 
 engrossed with the words which certified that her hus- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 229 
 
 band was a captain, was what she craved. But, where 
 was I to procure it? 
 
 Chance one day brought me face to face with an old 
 acquaintance, Mynheer Ruissen. He recognized me 
 at once. It would have been useless to deny my iden- 
 tity ; moreover, there had been established between us 
 a certain good-fellowship that justified me in believing 
 I might safely take him into my confidence. 
 
 He told me how zealously the officers of the law were 
 searching throughout Germany for the fugitive, who 
 had substituted tin church-vessels for the gold and 
 silver ones used in the Templars' castle ; and for having 
 caused the wonderful metamorphosis of the Hamburg 
 moo-calf. 
 
 ("Fine phrases for robbery, and assassination I" 
 commented the chair). 
 
 It was fortunate for me that I was known in Hol- 
 land only under the name of my wife's deceased 
 husband; had the worthy Dutchmen known who I 
 was, the German authorities would not have remained 
 long in ignorance as to the whereabouts of the fugitive 
 criminal they were seeking. 
 
 I confided to Mynheer Ruissen my desire to obtain 
 the title of captain in order to prevent my wife from 
 grieving herself to death. 
 
 "Well, my son/' he observed after a moment's delib- 
 eration, "it isn't such an easy matter to get to be a 
 captain on shore. There is no war now. These Hol- 
 landers prefer to look on fighting at a distance. If you 
 want to become a captain, come with me to sea. I am 
 
230 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 on my way to East India, with small arms and cannons 
 for the nabob Nujuf Khan, of Bengal. There's a gen- 
 eral in" his army, who is a countryman of yours a 
 Reinhard Walter. He was an adventurer like your- 
 self when he went to India; and now he is a distin- 
 guished man. He changed his name to 'Sommer/ and 
 the natives out yonder call him 'Sumro/ He is in need 
 of soldiers, especially skilled gunners. If you will come 
 with me who can tell? you may become not only a 
 captain, but a prince within a twelve-month." 
 
 The tales Mynheer Ruissen related of General Som- 
 mer's success in Bengal were so marvelous, they 
 inflamed me with the desire to try my fortune in that 
 distant land; besides, the wearisome dullness of my 
 monotonous existence in Nimeguen was driving me to 
 madness. I decided to accompany the Mynheer, whom 
 I introduced to my wife. She was almost beside herself 
 with delight, when he told her he knew of a land in 
 which there grew a tree, called the banyan, with a 
 thousand branches, every one bearing a hundred figs, 
 in every one of which might be found a captain's com- 
 mission. And these wonderful figs might be had for 
 the plucking, by any one who would take the trouble to 
 journey to that distant land. 
 
 "You must start at once, my dear/' said my wife in 
 urgent tones as if she feared there might not be any 
 of the figs left for me, if I delayed going immediately. 
 "At once ! You must on no account miss the ship !" 
 
 With her own hands she packed everything I should 
 need for the journey not forgetting soap and tooth- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 231 
 
 brushes! And she did not weep at parting with me. 
 You see, the women of Holland become accustomed 
 to having their husbands go away on long journeys, to 
 be absent for years. I confess I was not sorry to go ; 
 for, I knew that, if I stopped at home, when the third 
 member of the family arrived, it would be my task to 
 rock the cradle. I preferred to be rocked myself by 
 the waves on a good ship ! 
 
 Two days later I bade farewell for a time to Europe, 
 and set sail with Mynheer Ruissen for India. A favor- 
 able wind sent us skimming out of the harbor ; my wife 
 waved a farewell with her handkerchief from the 
 shore. 
 
 "Did you commit any crimes on the high seas?" 
 This query from the chair interrupted the voyage for a 
 few moments. 
 
 "Nothing worth mentioning, your honor." 
 
 "Then, just skip over the entire ocean, and don't 
 waste our time with descriptions of flying-fish, and 
 chanting mermaids. Debark without further delay in 
 Bengal, and let us hear what rascalities you perpetrated 
 there?" 
 
PART VIII. 
 
 IN BENGAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 BEGUM SUMRO. 
 
 The next morning Hugo resumed his confession : 
 
 I hope the honorable gentlemen of the court will 
 pardon me, and not imagine I wish to prolong this 
 hearing, if I mention what may seem trifling details. 
 They are absolutely necessary to render intelligible the 
 recital of my most serious transgressions: idolatry, 
 polygamy, and regicide 
 
 "All of which you will prove to have been so many 
 praiseworthy acts !" interpolated the chair. 
 
 To begin with continued the prisoner, paying no 
 heed to the chair's interpolation from one of the 
 upper windows of a tall tower that stands on the left 
 bank of the Ganges, in the neighborhood of Benares, 
 projects a bamboo pole as thick as a man's waist ; and 
 from it depends, by an iron chain, a large iron cage. 
 A man is confined in this cage. His food is conveyed 
 to him from the window of the tower, through a long 
 (232) 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD 233 
 
 hollow pipe of bamboo. The cage hangs over a large 
 pool of water that is fed by an arm of the river, and 
 swarms with voracious crocodiles. 
 
 It is a horrible sight, in the late afternoon, to see 
 these ferocious brutes lift their heads from the water, 
 and grin at the man in the cage. If he should break 
 the iron bars which confine him in his airy prison, and 
 attempt to escape by leaping into the pool, the hungry 
 monsters would devour him skin and hair. 
 
 "Who is the man?" queried the chair. 
 
 "No less a personage than his royal highness, Shah 
 Alum, the heir to the throne of the great Mogul." 
 
 "Why is he confined in the cage?" 
 
 "Because he extended the hospitalities of his roof to 
 his highness, Mir Cossim, the nabob of Bengal, whom 
 the English banished from his territory, after the battle 
 of Patna. Later, after the battle at Buxar, Shah Alum 
 himself fell into the power of the English; and Mir 
 Cossim was obliged to flee to the protection of the 
 nabob of Andh, whose commander-in-chief was the 
 General Sommer, of whom Mynheer Ruissen had told 
 me. The English demanded of the nabob of Andh, 
 that he deliver to them Mir Cossim and Sommer: 
 whom they wanted to cage, and hang beside Shah 
 Alum, to keep him from getting lonely ! But the nabob 
 of Andh allowed Sommer to escape ; and he fled across 
 the Jumna, where he organized another army. He 
 was again defeated by the English, and fled to Jood- 
 poor, where he placed himself under the protection of 
 Prince Radspoota. Here he organized troops after the 
 manner of those in Europe, and vanquished the rajahs 
 
234 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 of Chitore, and Abeil. Again he was compelled by the 
 English to flee but not by the force of arms this time ; 
 his enemies intimidated the prince, his protector; and, 
 in order not to cause his highness any inconvenience, 
 Sommer went to Delhi, the chief city in India, where 
 he sought the protection of Najuf Khan. The full 
 name of this ruler is : 'Mirza Nujuf Khan Ziilfikar al 
 Dowlah, commander-in-chief to the Great Mogul.' 
 From him Sommer received a hearty welcome." 
 
 "This Sommer/' observed the chair, "seems to have 
 been a vagrant like yourself." 
 
 "I consider that a great compliment, your honor, 
 and thank you for it!" returned the prisoner. Then 
 he resumed his confession: Sommer had an oppor- 
 tunity the very first day to prove his gratitude for the 
 friendly reception accorded him by Najuf Khan. The 
 mutinous Mahrattas made a sudden attack that night 
 on the residence of the Khan, and would have assas- 
 sinated him, had not Sommer hastened with the loyal 
 Mahrattas to the rescue, and vanquished the mutineers. 
 And they were fine fellows devilish fine fellows, too 
 those mutinous Mahrattas! The crack troop of the 
 imperial army! They had once compelled a former 
 commander-in-chief, who had failed, for some reason 
 or other, to pay the troops, to sit, bound hand and 
 foot, and with bare head in the scorching sun, until 
 he gave orders to have them paid. 
 
 ("I think it will be well to keep that episode from 
 the ears of our troops," observed the prince with a 
 meaning smile.) 
 
 In gratitude for his rescue, Najuf Khan charged 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 235 
 
 Sommer with the organization of his army ; and in a 
 short time he, Sommer, got together a force of natives, 
 and Europeans, sufficient to conquer a neighboring 
 province, the chief city of which is Agra ; he also cap- 
 tured the so-called impregnable citadel of Drig, in 
 which rock-fortress he imprisoned nabob Nevil Szig. 
 
 In reward for this victorious campaign, the emperor 
 of Delhi appointed Sommer king of the conquered 
 province of Sardhana. Thus, the son of a grocer in 
 Treves became the sovereign of an East Indian 
 province. 
 
 I trust the honorable gentlemen of the court have 
 received this somewhat prolix preface with favor. I 
 believed it necessary, in order to familiarize you with 
 the marvelous changes, which are worked by a myste- 
 rious fate in that tropical clime, where alone such 
 changes are possible. 
 
 If I could but 'elineate approximately the peculiari- 
 ties of that region, of the atmosphere I breathed, the 
 ground I trod, I believe the honorable gentlemen 
 would say : "Arise, and go your way in peace. You 
 are not to blame for what you have done. Your trans- 
 gressions are but the fruits of the soil which produces 
 also the boa and the upas tree." 
 
 The province of Sardhana is ten times as large as the 
 grand-duchy of Treves; and the revenue of its sov- 
 ereign four times that of the grand duke. 
 
 It is a very fruitful country, rich in grain, wool, and 
 tobacco. Sommer built a fort near his residence ; and 
 with the aid of his troops kept the neighboring prov- 
 inces under subjection. He forced a passage through 
 
236 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the forests of Mevas, into which, until then, none of the 
 foreign conquerors had been able to penetrate ; which 
 had formed an impassable barrier for the great Alex- 
 ander on his triumphal march; baffled the hordes of 
 Djingis Khan, whose inhabitants sallied forth only 
 when they desired to levy tribute on a neighboring 
 tribe. 
 
 After vanquishing these savages, Sommer directed 
 his attention toward the inhuman Balluken, who 
 offered the blood of young girls in sacrifice to their 
 gods, and in a very short time succeeded in dislodging 
 them from their rocky retreat. Ultimately, he under- 
 took to subdue the royal Pertaub Singh, which he 
 accomplished but not through the force of arms : by 
 his powers of persuasion, which he possessed to a 
 marvelous degree. 
 
 Sommer's patron, as was natural, wished to bestow 
 on his successful commander-in-chief a new reward for 
 all these conquests. There was a beautiful young girl, 
 named Zeib Alnissa (the Hindoo for "ornament of her 
 sex"), the daughter of one of the most influential 
 princely families in Delhi, and this girl the emperor 
 sought in marriage for his favorite. 
 
 Sommer informed his patron that he would espouse 
 the beautiful Zeib Alnissa if she would adopt the Chris- 
 tian faith. 
 
 "Why," exclaimed the emperor, "can't you love a 
 woman who worships Brahma?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, your imperial highness/' responded Som- 
 mer ; "it is because I should love her very much, that 
 I want her to belong to my faith. I am not a young 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 237 
 
 man any more, and I have a profligate son whom I 
 have been forced to disown. If I should die, my wife, 
 according to the Brahminical custom, would be burned 
 alive with my body. If she becomes a Christian, she 
 will not have to ascend the funeral pyre, but my throne, 
 where she will reign as Begum, and prevent my king- 
 dom from falling into the hands of my worthless son." 
 
 The emperor conceded that Sommer's argument was 
 just ; and permitted the foreign missionaries to convert 
 the lovely young princess to the Christian faith. This 
 was a concession never before granted to a European 
 in India. 
 
 Zeib Alnissa adored her husband. She accompanied 
 him on every expedition he undertook; watched over 
 him ; guarded him from the secret enemies and treach- 
 ery which encompass every East Indian sovereign. 
 The successful commander-in-chief had many enemies 
 and rivals. The English company had long ranked 
 among his opponents. Not infrequently he was rescued 
 as by a miracle from great danger by the watchful care 
 of his devoted wife. 
 
 Ultimately, however, his enemies succeeded in their 
 attempts on his life ; and the brave commander-in-chief 
 succumbed to the poison secretly administered to him. 
 He died in the arms of the faithful Zeib Alnissa, just 
 about the time I arrived in Sardhana, to take com- 
 mand of his artillery. 
 
 His widow, under the title of Sumro Begum, 
 ascended the throne, thus preventing, as her husband 
 had desired, her step-son from inheriting it. 
 
 This son was a truly immoral and wicked fellow. I 
 
238 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 saw him for a few minutes after the Begum's accession 
 to the crown, and after she had confirmed my appoint- 
 ment as commander of the fort. He actually had the 
 effrontery to try to bribe me to betray the Begum into 
 his power ; and, on finding that his efforts were useless, 
 he threatened to revenge himself on me when he should 
 come into possession of the throne. 
 
 "Very well," I retorted. "When that time comes I 
 shall become a regicide." 
 
 How little I dreamed then, that my words were 
 prophetic ! 
 
 Meanwhile, Sumro Begum grasped with a firm hand 
 the reins of government. She increased her army, and 
 added several pieces of ordnance to the artillery. 
 
 Seated on a spirited battle-horse, or elephant, she 
 inspected the manoeuvers in person. 
 
 Her neighbors in the adjacent provinces very soon 
 learned to fear and respect her ; even the emperor gave 
 her credit for great prudence and wisdom. Indeed, so 
 great was the influence she wielded, that her voice fre- 
 quently decided the issue in the discussions at court. 
 
 Those East Indian dignitaries are a jealous folk. 
 When Gholam Kadir found that his influence at the 
 imperial court was secondary to that of Sumro Begum, 
 he mafched with his troops on the capital, and began to 
 bombard the palace. Sumro Begum, however, heard 
 the thunder of the cannonading, and hastily summon- 
 ing her troops, joined her forces to those of Prince 
 Ivan Buk, and drove the jealous Gholam Kadir back 
 to his province. 
 
 The revolt in the interior of his empire concluded, 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 239 
 
 the emperor was at liberty to turn his attention to the 
 foreign invader. Kuli Khan had captured the fortress 
 of Ghokal Gur. This valuable stronghold had to be 
 recaptured; and troops were not lacking, but leaders 
 were. Sommer's loss was most keenly felt ; but Sumro 
 Begum was still to the fore, and she was worth a dozen 
 ordinary generals. 
 
 The imperial troops had been trying for three weeks 
 to recapture the fortress of Ghokal Gur. They had 
 become tired of the continued ill-success of their under- 
 taking, and had abandoned themselves to feasting and 
 carousing. One night, after all tipsy heads had been 
 laid to rest, Kuli Khan, with his Mongolian cavalry, 
 surprised the imperial camp, and began to slaughter 
 the stupefied troops. The enemy in the fortress could 
 see by the light of the burning tents the horrible 
 butchery going on outside the walls, and decided to 
 take a hand in it. The emperor's tent was riddled with 
 bullets ; two of his palanquin bearers were killed, and 
 he was obliged to seek flight on his own feet. But, 
 whither to turn he knew not, as he was in the center 
 of a furious cross-fire. 
 
 It is quite certain that he would have been destroyed, 
 together with his entire army, had not Sumro Begum 
 hastened to the rescue, with her admirably disciplined 
 troops, officered by Europeans. 
 
 On hearing of the emperor's danger the heroic 
 Begum summoned her body-guard hardly one hun- 
 dred men entered her palanquin, and hastened, with 
 the battery under my command, toward the thickest 
 of the fight. 
 
240 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 When she saw that the enemy from the fortress was 
 taking part in the massacre of the half-sober imperial 
 troops, she called to me : 
 
 "Follow my example !" 
 
 Then, she sprang from her palanquin, mounted a 
 horse, and at the head of her body-guard, charged upon 
 the enemy. 
 
 I knew very well what was expected of me ! I placed 
 my battery in such a position that the guns would 
 clear a way for the Begum. 
 
 In a very short time the valiant enemy, who had 
 sallied forth from the fortress to take a hand in slaugh- 
 tering their beleaguerers, were in a wild retreat toward 
 it. Sumro Begum met them at the draw-bridge, took 
 the commander prisoner, and, with him in chains at her 
 side, entered the fort, of which she took possession in 
 the name of the emperor. She left all but ten of her 
 men to guard the fort, and returned to the assistance 
 of the emperor, whose troops, taking courage from the 
 example of the brave Begum, plucked up heart, turned 
 upon their butchers, and after a severe struggle gained 
 the mastery. 
 
 The rising sun witnessed the annihilation of the 
 enemy. 
 
 The fort was again in the possession of the emperor, 
 who, in face of his entire army, embraced Sumro 
 Begum, and called her his "dear daughter." He did 
 not hesitate to declare, in the presence of his com- 
 manding officers, that he owed his life, the lives of six 
 imperial princes, his empire, and the rescue of his 
 army, to the brave woman. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 241 
 
 To this the Begum, with a modest blush, made reply : 
 "Not to me alone is due all this praise, your imperial 
 highness. The greater portion belongs to m y com- 
 mander of artillery. This is he" she drew me forward 
 and presented me to the emperor. "To him must be 
 given a fitting reward for the great service he has done 
 your imperial highness." 
 
 The answer to this was: 
 
 "Let yourself be the brave man's reward !" 
 
 With his own imperial hand he placed the lady's 
 hand in my own, and betrothed her to me with a ring 
 from his own finger. At the same time he appointed 
 me co-regent of Sardhana, under the name of Maha- 
 rajah Kong. Thus, I became not a captain, but a 
 maharajah. 
 
 "And all this really happened?" inquired the chair. 
 
 "Yes, your honor, and more too as you may read 
 in the court chronicles at Delhi." 
 
 "We will hear the rest tomorrow," observed the 
 prince. "It is enough for one day to have heard how 
 the son of an Andernach tanner became assistant sov- 
 ereign of a province in India." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 IDOL WORSHIP. 
 
 The next day the prisoner resumed his confession : 
 
 I was now ruler of a province, with a revenue of 
 twenty lacs of rupees. I had a remarkably handsome 
 and clever wife, with eyes than which no gem was 
 brighter. 
 
 But, there was a thought that troubled me night and 
 day: 
 
 What was to become of my wife in Holland? 
 
 My religion forbade two wives. This thought so 
 troubled me, that at last I confided it to Sumro Begum. 
 
 "I don't see why you considered that necessary," 
 interrupted the chair. "You had already told so many 
 lies, another one would certainly have found room 
 beside the rest !" 
 
 I beg your honor to remember that I vowed at the 
 grave of my poor father to lead a God-fearing life, and 
 to let nothing but the truth pass my lips. The ring 
 made of the coffin-nail, which I wore on my thumb, 
 constantly reminded me of my vow. Therefore, I 
 considered it my duty to tell Sumro Begum that I had 
 a legal wife in Holland ; and that, were I to go back to 
 her, I should find my child on her bosom. 
 
 The Begum was not in the least offended when I 
 made my confession ; on the contrary, she commended 
 (242) 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 243 
 
 me for telling the truth. "He who proves h ; mself 
 faithful to the absent one, will certainly remain loyal 
 to the one at hand," she quoted. Only a religion stood 
 between her and me ; and that might easily be changed. 
 
 "If we remain Catholics, of course two wives are 
 out of the question," decided the Begum, "because that 
 would be bigamy. If we go over to the Brahmans, 
 their sacred books forbid the wife to occupy the throne 
 with her husband, and the widow from marrying again. 
 But, there is the faith of Siva ; it permits a man to have 
 more than one wife ; it acknowledges no difference of 
 rank between man and man as do the Brahman and 
 the Christian religions nor does it consider a woman 
 a soulless animal, men and women are alike human 
 beings. An adherent of the Siva faith may even take 
 a foreigner to wife ; he may eat at the same table with 
 his wife, or wives, after the grace before food, pre- 
 scribed by the Prophet Bazawa, has been repeated. We 
 will adopt this faith, then you may keep your other 
 wife, and I will share with her your love and respect." 
 
 I thought over this suggestion for several days, for 
 the fate of an entire province depended on my decision. 
 
 On the one hand a people whose prosperity 
 depended on how I would settle the question ; a yearly 
 income of several million thalers, a beautiful and clever 
 wife with a heart filled with love for me, with all the 
 delights of paradise on her lips on the other: the 
 Roman pope, with St. Peter's keys in his possession ! 
 
 In my position, your highness, and honorable gen- 
 tlemen, how would you have decided? 
 
 "Get along with you, perversus nebulo!" exclaimed 
 
244 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 his highness, smiling. "You want us to commit our- 
 selves, do you? Fll warrant you suspect what would 
 have been our decision ! I don't in the least doubt but 
 even the mayor here, would elect to kiss a beautiful 
 woman rather than the pope's slipper especially if the 
 choice were submitted to him in the province of Sard- 
 hana ! It is enough : you became an idol worshipper 
 forced to it by circumstances. It is your own affair, 
 and one which you will have to settle with a higher 
 tribunal than this one. This indictment may be erased 
 from the record." 
 
 Not even the mayor objected to this decision. At 
 first, though, he wrinkled his brows and looked seri- 
 ous; but in the end he smiled with the rest; and 
 dictated to the notary, that the transgression last con- 
 fessed might be recorded as condoned by the court. 
 
 Most worthy and honorable gentlemen, resumed 
 the prisoner, I must now tell you something about the 
 customs and manners of that land whither I had been 
 led by the hand of destiny. Even the sky over there 
 is unlike ours. Why, the sun of Holland would not do 
 for a moon in India! Yon flaming heavens heat the 
 blood and brain to boiling; the humid -atmosphere 
 creates phenomena which are like the phantasmagoria 
 of delirium ; triple suns, and wreaths of flame appear in 
 the sky ; when frequently the mysterious Fata Morgana 
 portrays inverted landscapes, and cities ; the vivid cpl- 
 oring of the clouds causes the most brilliant hues on 
 the earth below to appear faded and insignificant. 
 
 Forests, fields, houses, human beings, at times take 
 on an ocherous'hue, as if the world were dead; and 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 245 
 
 when a rain falls, it is a deluge of fire from a sky of 
 brass. And sometimes, the cloud-burst will be like a 
 rain of blood, and the whole earth will glow with the 
 most brilliant crimson hue. 
 
 On very, very hot days, when the native farmers 
 trudge along the high-road (the high caste native never 
 travels on foot, nor appears in public at midday) the 
 dust rising from their feet looks like a fiery mist, and 
 makes one think he is looking on the damned in hades 
 walking amid the flames ! 
 
 And there too the soil is so different from ours. 
 There the plants we grow in pots in our hot houses 
 thrive and luxuriate under the open sky, and form a 
 wilderness, the lurking place of tigers and lions, in 
 which the fragrance of the very air is intoxicating as 
 wine. 
 
 The hundred different varieties of fruits, which ripen 
 in succession throughout the year, explain sufficiently 
 how a people that outnumbers the entire population of 
 Europe are able to subsist on vegetable diet alone, 
 without the nourishment of meats, which their religion 
 prohibits. 
 
 The borasses palm supplies them with honey, oil, 
 wine, and sugar ; another palm yields flour, butter, and 
 milk; and they have a tree on which grow loaves of 
 bread the size of a human head; raw, this vegetable 
 bread is a sweet fruit; baked, it is as palatable as a 
 bakers' loaf and 
 
 "Stop ! stop !" cried the chair, rapping on the table 
 with his stick. "That is going too far ! Of all the lies 
 
246 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 you have told us, this one about loaves of bread grow- 
 ing on a tree is the most outrageously incredible." 
 
 "I am very sorry that your honor refuses to believe 
 there is such a tree. The proof that I am not lying 
 may easily be obtained, if your honor will send a depu- 
 tation to India, to make inquiries concerning the truth 
 of my statements, if it turns out that a single one of 
 them is lacking in truth, then your honor may disbe- 
 lieve all the rest." 
 
 "Oho !" sneered the chair, "you would like to post- 
 pone this trial for a year or more, while a searching 
 commission travelled to the end of the world and back 
 wouldn't you? We prefer to believe that living 
 creatures also hang on trees like fruits." 
 
 "And so they do !" responded the prisoner. "There 
 is a sort of large squirrel, or small dog, that has wings 
 and flies, and at night hangs by its hind legs to the 
 limbs of trees, and looks like a gourd." 
 
 "Didn't I say so?" again interrupted the chair with a 
 choleric laugh. "Flying dogs that sleep hanging by 
 their feet ! Go on with your fables, you reprobate ! 
 this honorable court is sitting for the sole purpose of 
 believing every lie you choose to tell. I am curious to 
 hear how your bread growing on trees, and your flying 
 dogs are going to clear you of the crimes of bigamy 
 and regicide." 
 
 I am coming to that, your honor. The entire world 
 which environs the human being in that distant land, 
 works an irresistible influence on his nature, and the 
 native inhabitant compels, with his peculiar religion, 
 customs, his deeply-rooted prejudices, the foreigner 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 247 
 
 resident to adopt a mode of life antipodal to that he 
 led at home. 
 
 The majority of the natives wear no clothing at all ; 
 while the rest bend under a costly burden of greatest 
 splendor. 
 
 The Indian is a mixture of the ideally perfect, and 
 the grotesquely hideous, heroic at one moment, cow- 
 ardly the next, free as a bird, and restricted as an 
 anchorite. He is to be envied for his paradisal sim- 
 plicity, and admired for his gigantic creations. His 
 cities surpass in magnificence and grandeur those of 
 Europe. His churches are mountains, enormous edi- 
 fices hewn by artist hands from a single rock ; with 
 thousands of majestic columns, and armies of idols; 
 while his huts are more abjectly wretched than the 
 dwellings of our beavers. The Indian, with his thous- 
 and gods, to all of whom he renders service and sacri- 
 fices and of whom not one possesses the power to 
 help him is so gentle-hearted, that he will not take 
 the life of an animal ; allows himself to be devoured by 
 lions and tigers ; crushed under foot by the rhinoceros ; 
 bitten by serpents ; and stung by venomous insects 
 and yet, he considers it no sin to exterminate an entire 
 neighboring folk. 
 
 Oh, that is a strange country : where the aristocrat, if 
 touched by a member of another caste, considers him- 
 self defiled, and possesses the right to cut off the hand, 
 or arm that touched him, arid the mutilated pariah 
 accepts the punishment as his due. Where the wife is 
 burned alive on the funeral pyre of her husband ; where 
 the invalid is placed on the banks of a river, and 
 
248 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 declared to be already dead, so that, should he recover, 
 he may not return to the living, but seek the "com- 
 munity of the dead," which is made up of one-time 
 invalids, recovered like himself. 
 
 Dwelling amid such a people, every idea the Euro- 
 pean entertains when he lands on that shore very soon 
 fades away; for, there, they have different virtues and 
 different sins. 
 
 "This lengthy dissertation I take it," interrupted the 
 chair, "is for the purpose of acquainting the court that 
 bigamy and regicide are permissable crimes among 
 that wonderful people?" 
 
 Bigamy is permissable, your honor, on conditions: 
 if the first wife consents, her husband may marry a 
 second. But, before the consent of the first wife is 
 secured, he may not kiss and embrace his second. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 MAIMUNA, AND DANESH. 
 
 My beautiful Zeib Alnissa was a wonderful woman. 
 On the day of our wedding, which was celebrated 
 with truly Asiatic splendor, when meal-time came, and 
 I took my seat at the head of the table, she could not be 
 induced to sit by my side; but seated herself at the 
 extreme lower end of the board. This custom, she said, 
 we should have to observe, until we received my first 
 wife's consent to our marriage, which would give my 
 second the right to repeat the Bazawa grace before 
 food. Until my new wife was entitled to perform this 
 ceremony we were not allowed to drink from the same 
 cup; were not permitted to clasp hands, or look into 
 each other's eyes. I might not have respected all these 
 rigid laws, which kept me separated from my beautiful 
 bride, had not Zeib Alnissa herself understood how to 
 compel me to respect them. 
 
 The Siva religion prohibits the use of wine, which is 
 to be regretted ; for, in that tropic zone, grow hundreds 
 and hundreds of different sorts of fruits, which would 
 yield nectarious beverages, the taste of which would 
 cause one to forget all about wine, and disgust one 
 with beer. Tons of deliciously sweet and aromatic sap 
 flow from the 'pierced palm, and the agave, and its 
 Affect on the human senses is nothing like the stupor 
 
 (249) 
 
250 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 which results from drinking our liquors ; it is rather a 
 state of exaltation. 
 
 My charming bride understood well how to entertain 
 me with tales of her native palm forests. She related 
 the history of Prince Kamir Essaman, and the Princess 
 Bedur. She told me how the prince, who lived in 
 India, and the princess, whose home was in Persia, 
 were brought together while they slept, by the two 
 friendly genii, Maimuna and Danesh, who bore the 
 sleeping lovers on their pinions to the place of meet- 
 ing, and then back to their homes again. It was an 
 interesting tale, but I grew very sleepy while listening 
 to it. I am convinced that the spicy potion Zeib Alnissa 
 prepared for me caused the drowsiness, and I only 
 remember that, as I sank back on my pillow, she placed 
 the prohibitory unsheathed sword between herself and 
 me. 
 
 The moment I closed my eyes in sleep I quitted this 
 earth. I could hear the rustle of wings as I was borne 
 swiftly through the clouds, which parted with a sound 
 like thunder as when they are rent by lightning. By 
 the light of the stars I could see that I was lying on 
 the wings of the Jinnee, Danesh. 
 
 He was of gigantic form ; his wings, like those of a 
 bat stretched from horizon to horizon ; his hair looked 
 like bamboo rods, and his beard like palm leaves. 
 
 So swift was our flight that the moon changed from 
 full to last quarter above us. A meteor raced to over- 
 take us, but, when it came abreast with Danesh, he 
 thrust out his foot, and gave it a kick that burst it, and 
 sent myriads of sparks flying in all directions. Looking 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD 251 
 
 downward, I saw China, which I recognized by its 
 porcelain towers, and long canals. Then Thibet, with 
 the snow-clad summits of the Himalayan range, and 
 the great Mongolian plain. 
 
 At last we arrived over Mount Ararat. I knew 
 where I was, by the tongues of flame which encircled 
 the mount like a wreath. They were the altars of the 
 fire-worshipping Parsees the source of Baku's eter- 
 nal fires ; and Danesh was one of the great spirits of 
 the flame-adoring heathen. On the summit of Mount 
 Ararat was a magnificent palace to describe its splen- 
 dors is impossible to the human tongue ! Its walls were 
 covered with the names of those persons who have 
 been happy, and have thanked God therefor. The 
 letters in which the names are written are so radiant', 
 they make night as light as day. 
 
 Here, in a sumptuous apartment, with silken hang- 
 ings, and glittering with gems, Danesh laid me gently 
 down on a divan ; and immediately began to laugh in 
 a tone that sounded like thunder. 
 
 In answer to his laughter, there came a sound from 
 the air, as if the balmy south wind were murmuring 
 a complaint. 
 
 "You are the one-hundred-thousandth part of a min- 
 ute late/' called Danesh. 
 
 "And you are three-hundred-thousand eons ahead of 
 time," replied the second Voice ; and the next instant 
 Maimuna descended from the sky. 
 
 This Jinnee was also of giant stature, but of feminine 
 form. Her ringlets were of sea-coral, her wings of 
 
252 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 gleaming mother-of-pearl, and on them she bore a 
 woman whom she laid by my side on the divan. 
 
 Then the two genii suddenly changed to vapor ; one 
 blue, the other yellow ; and while I was staring at them 
 the two columns of smoke sank into two large crystal 
 decanters, which stood on the table among the costly 
 viands and wines. 
 
 Then I turned to look at the woman by my side 
 it was my own wife, the one I had left in Nimeguen, 
 only that she was more beautiful, and garbed more 
 elegantly than I had ever seen her. 
 
 Her voice too was sweeter, her caresses more en- 
 dearing; she seemed more like a celestial being than a 
 woman of flesh and blood. We showered kisses on 
 each other; I could read in her radiant countenance 
 how overjoyed she was to be with me again; and I 
 was enraptured to clasp her once more in my arms. 
 
 We committed a thousand foolish acts; laughed, 
 teased each other like children. We seated ourselves 
 at the bountifully spread board ; I shared every bite she 
 took ; drank out of her glass ; we sat on the same chair, 
 drank of every bottle, and found each one sweeter, 
 more delicious than the last. 
 
 "Let us taste what is in those bottles too," suggested 
 my wife, pointing toward the two decanters one blue, 
 the other yellow. 
 
 "Yes, let us," I assented, and I drew out the .glass 
 stoppers. But, instead of wine, two columns of vapor 
 rose from the decanters, one blue, the other yellow, 
 and rilled the room. The vapor took shape, first the 
 blue then the yellow, and one became Danesh, the 
 
I could read in her radiant countenance how overjoyed she 
 was to be with me again ; and I was enraptured 
 to clasp her once more in my arms " 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 253 
 
 other Maimuna, and we knew that our bliss was at an 
 end that we should have to part. 
 
 We added our names to those gleaming on the walls, 
 to certify that we also had been happy there. 
 
 After I had written my name, it occurred to me that 
 I had something important to tell my wife ; so I said to 
 her: "My love, I must tell you that I have become a 
 king ; and that I have taken a second wife. I want to 
 ask a favor of you ; will you consent to let me kiss and 
 embrace her as I do you?" 
 
 The woman replied : "I do consent." 
 
 That I might have proof of our having spent a bliss- 
 ful hour together, and that she had given me the 
 desired permission to take a second wife, she pressed 
 my hand so tightly in her own, that the wedding ring 
 on my finger the one with which I had espoused her 
 burst asunder. And that she also might possess 
 evidence of our meeting, I gave her the "lingam" the 
 symbol of the Siva faith I wore on my arm attached to 
 a gold bracelet. I also tore from the canopy over our 
 divan a small piece of the material of which it was 
 made crimson silk woven with dragons in gold 
 thread. 
 
 Then the two genii took us again on their wings, 
 and soon I was speeding again amid the clouds, with 
 the glittering stars above me. 
 
 The icy summits of the Himalayas were already 
 gleaming with the rosy hues of dawn, on noting which 
 Danesh increased his speed. I heard the sea murmur- 
 ing below a ray ,of sunlight from the eastern moun- 
 tains pierced through Danesh like an arrow, he 
 
254 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 dropped me and I fell to the earth. Fortunately I had 
 not far to fall only from my bed, in the palace of 
 Sardhana, to the floor ! 
 
 "Was it necessary to tell us what you dreamed?" 
 angrily demanded the chair. 
 
 "Well, your honor, if the court at Nimeguen 
 accepted my dream as evidence, and based its decision 
 on it, I think it may also be recorded here. Moreover, 
 the vision I have related is an important factor in this 
 case/' 
 
 I was so deeply impressed by my dream, that I 
 related it to Zeib Alnissa as an actual occurrence. I 
 assured her I had really been with my other wife, in 
 proof of which I showed her the broken ring on my 
 finger. 
 
 "It is a most wonderful occurrence !" was Zeib 
 Alnissa's comment, when I concluded my recital. 
 "Write out the whole vision, exactly as you related it 
 to me, and we will send it to your wife in Holland. 
 One of my captains shall hasten with the document 
 after the messenger you have sent to her with the letter 
 asking her to consent to our marriage." 
 
 I acted in accordance with the suggestion, and wrote 
 on a long strip of Chinese palm-paper, which is tough 
 as leather, a full account of my vision. The Begum 
 then sent for seven bonzes, who were skilled writers, 
 that they might, by signing their names to the account, 
 certify that what I had written had really occurred; 
 that Maimuna and Danesh were a well known pair of 
 genii, who mantained direct communication between 
 India and other portions of the globe, and that there 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 255 
 
 was on Mount Ararat a magnificent palace for the 
 use of lovers who came from distant parts of the world 
 to meet there. All of which was to prove indubitably 
 that I and my wife from Holland had been together in 
 the palace. 
 
 This document dispatched, I believed the question of 
 the prohibitory sword between me and Zeib Alnissa 
 settled; but I was mistaken; she did not repeat 
 Bazavva's grace at supper. 
 
 "On what are you waiting now?" I asked. "Haven't 
 I asked my other wife for her consent? Haven't I been 
 with her, and given her my lingam?" 
 
 "Yes, but she has not yet given you anything. Until 
 I have her written consent in my hands, I dare not 
 repeat Bazawa's blessing," was Zeib Alnissa's smiling 
 reply. 
 
 "And I shall have to wait at the gates of paradise, 
 content myself with inhaling the perfume of the flowers 
 within the walls, until our messenger has twice trav- 
 ersed the ocean between India and Holland?" 
 
 "He will need to cross only once. I ordered him to 
 take with him several doves, the species with green 
 feathers known as bridegroom's doves. When your 
 wife has written her consent, the messenger will bind it 
 under the wing of a dove, and it will fly from Holland 
 to us here in two days. So, you need reckon only the 
 outward voyage." 
 
 But that would take considerable time too ! I began 
 to wonder how I should have comforted myself had I, 
 instead of becoming art adherent of Siva, adopted the 
 
256 TOLD BY. THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 faith of Brahma, or Vishnu, or any other of the many- 
 handed, many-footed deities. 
 
 "Knave, what about Jehovah?" interposed the chair 
 with just indignation. 
 
 "Jehovah, your honor, does not forbid polygamy. 
 The patriarch Jacob had two wives; David had four; 
 Solomon the wise had one thousand four hundred. But, 
 it would be a pity to waste precious time over dogmatic 
 discussion. Besides, my wondering resulted in noth- 
 ing. One hundred and ten days and nights I passed in 
 the society of my charming bride ; we ate at the same 
 table ; slept under the same canopy ; but not once did I 
 clasp her hand, or kiss her lovely lips." 
 
 "I am curious to know how you managed not to do 
 either," observed the prince. 
 
 "Does your highness desire me to relate what hap- 
 pened on every one of the one-hundred and ten days 
 and nights?" 
 
 "Not by any means !" hastily interrupted the chair. 
 "We want only a summary of your doings out yonder." 
 
 The prisoner bowed, and resumed his confession : 
 
 I determined that I would not again drink the sort 
 of sleeping potion which had sent me speeding among 
 the clouds on Danesh's back, and communicated my 
 decision to Zeib Alnissa. 
 
 "Very well," said she, "then I will prepare a drink for 
 you, that will keep you awake all night." 
 
 That would suit me. 
 
 In India the preparation of elixirs of all sorts has 
 reached a high grade. There is a drug which, if taken 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 257 
 
 by a man of mild disposition, will make him warlike 
 and fierce; it is called "bangue." 
 
 By administering to the peaceable elephants a decoc- 
 tion of the "thauverd," they can be made quarrelsome 
 and ferocious for the combats arranged for the Shah's 
 guests. "Therat" will give one the inspirations of a 
 poet; after taking it, the most unimaginative person 
 will become a romancer, and composer of verses. The 
 "Nazzarani" tax can be collected from the natives 
 only when they have become docile and tractable from 
 having eaten "mhoval" flowers a species of manna. 
 
 Zeib Alnissa gave me some "panzopari" to chew ; it 
 possesses a singular property; it will make even the 
 noisiest tippler so sober and sedate that his brain 
 becomes the seat of all wisdom. Then she began to 
 speak of her plans for the future government of our 
 province, and other equally important matters; con- 
 tinuing to talk to me until morning. And during the 
 whole time I remained quiet, and listened attentively ; 
 but I saw what I had not yet noticed : that my incom- 
 parable bride had a mole in the middle of her left cheek, 
 and I also discovered that she might be alarmingly 
 loquacious if she chose. I could hardly wait until the 
 sun rose. Nothing will so effectually sober a man as 
 advice from his wife; and the remedy is frequently 
 made use of in India as well as in Europe. 
 
 A true Indian Singh that is what a nobleman is 
 called out there undertakes nothing without first con- 
 sulting his wife. Indeed, there are some who never 
 give an answer to a question until they have asked 
 their wives what they shall reply. For instance you 
 
258 TOLD BY 7 HE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 ask : "What sort of weather are we going to have this 
 afternoon, Gholem Singh?" 
 
 "I will consult my wife and tell you," he answers. 
 
 In the afternoon he will say to you and no matter 
 if a deluge of rain begins to fall while he is speaking : 
 
 "We shall have fine weather this afternoon." 
 
 The following day my bride and I set out on a tour of 
 our kingdom a ceremony necessary to my installation 
 as rajah. 
 
 An entire brigade on horses, elephants, and camels, 
 accompanied us as escort. The Begum and I rode on 
 separate elephants, as Indian etiquette does not permit 
 man and wife to occupy the same "sovari" that is 
 what the sedan with a canopy on the back of an ele- 
 phant is called. 
 
 The Begum travelled with the vanguard ; I brought 
 up the rear with a good cannon bound to the back of 
 my beast. A cannon, by the way, is a very convenient 
 travelling appendage to a journey in India, as one is 
 frequently called on to give a warm reception to the 
 legions of predatory bands which infest the highways 
 and byways. 
 
 My bride and I met only when our elephants 
 chanced to come alongside each other at the resting 
 places. We took part in all sorts of festivities. We 
 bore with patience the wearisome ceremonies attendant 
 upon the adoration of the serpent, and Taku-worship ; 
 we even waded to our knees in the sacred waters of the 
 Ganges, at the Moharam pilgrimage ; and permitted the 
 frantic Gusseins and fakirs at the Holiza feast to 
 shower over us the red dust of the highway. At the 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 259 
 
 Ganeza festival we distributed with our own hands the 
 "muzzer," and received in return the "khilla" each 
 word means gifts ; the former is bestowed by the sov- 
 ereigns on their subjects; the latter are given by the 
 subjects to their rulers. Without this exchange of 
 presents, the sovereignty of the rulers would not be 
 recognized by the people. We visited in their turn all 
 the principal towns and cities ; the god-burdened tem- 
 ples and pagodas, which are half church, half tomb 
 the Jaina animal hospital, where the Hindoo takes care 
 of invalid dogs, cats, oxen, as well as crows, ravens, 
 and turkeys. We also honored with our presence the 
 bayadere communities, where only women dwell. These 
 bayaderes are privileged characters, you must know; 
 they are allowed entry to the emperor's presence, to 
 dance and sing before him and his ministers. 
 
 "Not a bad custom, by jove !" muttered the prince ; 
 aloud he asked : "Are the bayaderes pretty?" 
 
 "Enchantingly beautiful, your highness. Their gar- 
 ments are of silk and cashmere, embroidered with real 
 gold and pearls ; their ringers and toes are loaded with 
 rings set with precious gems. Their gowns show a 
 lack of material as do those worn by our women, with 
 this difference: the shoulders and bosoms of our 
 women are left bare; while the bayaderes expose the 
 lower extremities, sometimes even to the " 
 
 "Stop ! stop 1" irritably called the chair. "We don't 
 want a full description of heathen toilets !" 
 
 We also arranged, for the entertainment of our sub- 
 jects, a number of gorgeous spectacles, and tourna- 
 ments, resumed the prisoner, dropping the subject of 
 
260 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 bayadere fashions. There were combats between ele- 
 phants, and combats between elephants and men. (The 
 former are called "Mufti;" the latter "Satmari.") 
 There were also combats between lions and boars, and 
 between tapirs. 
 
 In return for all these festivities,, my bride's relatives 
 entertained us with a feast of lanterns; and games of 
 chess, which were played with living chess-men. We 
 also visited the most remote corners of our kingdom, 
 where dwelt the Thugs, a community whose faith per- 
 mits them to strangle all foreigners; the Bheels, who 
 worship epidemics instead of gods; the colony of the 
 Quadrumans, whose king is called "Dengue," and his 
 subjects "apes." 
 
 Every day of our journey brought something new 
 and interesting. After our visit to the "City of the 
 Seven Sages" we went to the "City of the King's 
 Tombs," where are four magnificent temples, under 
 each of which rest the remains of a king. There are 
 no other inhabitants in this city. 
 
 Then followed the pilgrimage to Buddha's tree ; for, 
 although we were adherents of the Sivan faith, we were 
 obliged, in order to win the favor of the majority of our 
 subjects, to pay deference to their deity. 
 
 Then we journeyed to the "Fountain of Wisdom." 
 There the temple is guarded by bayaderes, who are not 
 permitted to dance anywhere else but in the sacred 
 edifice in adoration of the gods. 
 
 "A respectable temple, I must say !" ironically com- 
 mented the chair, to which the prince appended his 
 good-humored observation : 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 261 
 
 "Their liturgy can't be very tedious !" 
 
 During all this time, I saw my bride only when she 
 was seated on a throne, on an elephant, or in a palan- 
 quin. The opportunities for an exchange of words 
 were rare. On the one hundred and tenth day we set 
 out on our return home. On the morning of that day, 
 Zeib Alnissa sent me a letter in which she gave me the 
 welcome news that - what might be called our "St. 
 Joseph's marriage" would soon come to a conclusion. 
 The carrier dove had returned from Holland with the 
 longed-for consent from my first wife. 
 
 Before leaving our capital, we had arranged for a 
 fitting reception to greet our return. When our 
 cavalcade should approach the city gates, all the most 
 distinguished residents, the raos, the singhs, the sages, 
 bonzes and holy men were to meet us at the head of a 
 gorgeous pageant and greet me as "Rajah," to which 
 title our tour would have given me the right. 
 
 Then would follow a splendid feast, that would con- 
 clude with the "utterpan" ceremony, in which every 
 guest receives from the rajah's own hands a handker- 
 chief perfumed with rose-water. 
 
 The rajah receives the utterpan from his wife, of 
 whom he may demand that the rose-water perfuming 
 be performed in the zenana. 
 
 The zenana is that portion of the palace which only 
 the rajah and his wives may enter. 
 
 I am ashamed to confess it, honorable gentlemen of 
 the court, but I was so rejoiced, so proud of my 
 success, my extraordinary good fortune filled my soul 
 to such a degree, that I never once thought to offer a 
 
262 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 prayer to the god Siva, who had bestowed all the good 
 gifts on me, or to Jehovah, who could take them all 
 from me. 
 
 The fakir, who, in his religious enthusiasm, carries 
 on his head a pot of earth until the orange seed planted 
 in it sprouts, grows to a tree, blooms and bears fruit ; 
 who binds himself to a post, that he may sleep stand- 
 ing so as not to lose his balance and drop the pot from 
 his head that fakir does not suffer half as much as did 
 I those one hundred and ten days and nights, when I 
 was forced to refrain from saying to the most beautiful 
 of women : "O, thou my sweetest one !" 
 
 But the last day of such restraint and torture was at 
 hand. Before us lay the capital ; the gilded roofs of its 
 palaces gleamed through the humid atmosphere. 
 
 Already I could see rising from the market-place the 
 "baoli," under which the three-legged stone cow waited 
 (as all believers know) for the hour of midnight to 
 hobble to her pasture outside the walls. Already I saw 
 the multitude in gala attire press forth from the 
 elaborately carved gates, on horses, on camels, on foot 
 a mingling of gold, gems, beauty, flowers, with rags, 
 filth and unsightly scars. 
 
 Zeib Alnissa, as usual, rode at the head of the caval- 
 cade, and I at the end, separated from her by a cannon 
 shot range. 
 
 When the multitude from the city met the head of 
 our cavalcade, there ensued a tumult of shouts and 
 cries, but I was too far away to distinguish what was 
 occurring. I could see, though, that Zeib Alnissa had 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 263 
 
 risen to her feet in the sovari, and was gesticulating 
 excitedly. 
 
 I was deliberating whether I should ride forward or 
 remain where I was, when a fakir forced his way to my 
 side. He was the most hideous specimen of his class I 
 had yet seen; his appearance indicated that he had 
 vowed not to cut his hair nor his ringer nails for a 
 decade. 
 
 "What do you want?" I called down to him. 
 
 "I want you to let me come up there and sit beside 
 you in the sovari," he made answer. 
 
 One is obliged to comply with any demand these 
 holy men may see fit to make especially in face of 
 such a multitude. I leaned over the side of my beast, 
 seized the fakir by the hair, and drew him into the 
 sovari. 
 
 "Lucky for you that you granted my request," he 
 said, when he was seated by my side. "You have saved 
 your life by so doing, Know that a revolt broke out in 
 the city during your absence. The conspirators de- 
 clared that the Begum forfeited the throne by marrying 
 you, and have proclaimed the valiant Singh Rais, the 
 son of her first husband, Sumro Shah, rajah of Sard- 
 hana. He has taken possession of the city and bribed 
 the army to support him. He has already executed the 
 subjects who remained loyal to you and the Begum, 
 and the same fate awaits you if he captures you." 
 
 Though loath to believe the fanatic's ill tidings, I was 
 forced to credit my eyes, which at that moment saw 
 rude hands lay hold of my beloved Zeib Alnissa, tear 
 her trom the sovari, bind her hands, and, amid the 
 
264 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 taunts and sneers of the shameless nautchnees, compel 
 her to walk to the gates, while a man, wearing the 
 pearl-decorated hat of a sovereign, climbed to the 
 vacated seat in the sovari. 
 
 It was the infamous profligate who, by reason of the 
 honors to which his father had attained, was a prince, 
 but who was, by birth, merely a German nobody, like 
 myself. 
 
 He had deposed the Begum as he had threatened, 
 had laid chains on her the heroic deliverer of her 
 people and this he had been able to accomplish be- 
 cause he had become an adherent of the religion of 
 Buddha, and because the Begum had become a wor- 
 shipper of Siva - 
 
 "The like of that never could have happened in 
 Europe," interpolated the prince. 
 
 My rage and fury were boundless. In one brief 
 moment to lose my kingdom and my bride; to be 
 robbed of power and love ; to be forced to look on help- 
 less while a cowardly knave stole my treasures, chief of 
 which was my beautiful Zeib Alnissa ! 
 
 It was more than Christian patience and Siva humil- 
 ity could endure. 
 
 I unstrapped the cannon at the back of the sovari. 
 The new rajah was haranguing the crowd gathered 
 about his elephant, and gesticulating rapidly with his 
 hands, as he gave his orders. 
 
 I took aim at his majesty Boom ! The next instant 
 there was no head on the rajah's shoulders, but his 
 arms continued to move convulsively. 
 . Then I turned my elephant's head in the opposite 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 265 
 
 direction, and urged him to the swiftest gait he was 
 able to go. 
 
 A troop of horsemen followed me, but I dashed into 
 the jungle, and soon distanced my pursuers. My life 
 was saved, but only my miserable life. I had nothing, 
 was nothing 
 
 "Oh, yes," interrupted the chair, "you were a good 
 deal : the husband of two wives,, and murderer of one 
 king-" 
 
 "Minorem nego, majorem -non concedo," interposed 
 the prince. "As the prisoner's second marriage was 
 as he aptly described it : a St. Joseph's union merely 
 one of form, he cannot be said to have committed 
 bigamy. And concerning the killing of the rajah qui 
 bene distinguit, bene docet\ we would understand 
 thereby that a crime had been committed by a subject 
 against a crowned head. But, if one king kills another 
 one, it cannot be called regicide, but ordinary homi- 
 cide, which, in the prisoner's case, was justifiable 
 manslaughter " 
 
 "I knew it !" exclaimed the chair. "I knew the rascal 
 would talk himself out of the three capital crimes: 
 idolatry, bigamy, regicide, and prove himself as inno- 
 cent as St. Susanna !" 
 
 But, continued the prisoner, even had I not been 
 robbed of my wealth, of what use would it have been 
 to me? I had come to India to win the rank of captain 
 not to become a rajah. It is a deal better to be a 
 pensioned captain than a deposed king. The new 
 rajah of Sardhana set a large price on my head ; had I 
 fled the accursed country then, I should have spared 
 
266 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 myself the terrible misfortunes which overtook me 
 later. 
 
 I joined the Bandasaris, who have no fixed residence, 
 but rove continuously between the Ganges and the 
 Indus. They are a race like our gypsies. I believed 
 I might organize them into an army and win back my 
 kingdom, and liberate my beautiful Zeib Alnissa, but 
 the blessing of God did not rest on my undertaking. 
 
 When I had got my army ready to march to Sard- 
 hana, the chief of the tribe changed his mind about 
 letting me use his people to win back my throne, and, 
 instead, sold me to the English company, which cor- 
 poration had also offered a price for my head. Thus 
 my unfortunate cranium became the property of the 
 powerful East India Company, and there, if nowhere 
 else, a man learns how to pray. 
 
PART IX. 
 
 ON THE HIGH SEAS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE PIRATES. 
 
 The English did not think me of sufficient conse- 
 quence to suspend me in an iron cage over the croco- 
 dile pool. This honor was reserved for the native 
 shahs and rajahs. 
 
 I was transported, with scant ceremony, to Bombay, 
 from which city I was shipped to sea, together with 
 fifty other prisoners, who, like myself, had come to 
 India to seek their fortunes, and whose chief crime was 
 their nationality. They were natives of France, Hol- 
 land, Germany and Spain, and the East India Com- 
 pany believed it had a right to arrest them and ship 
 them in a body to New Caledonia. 
 
 Now, honorable gentlemen of the court, I beg you 
 to tell me which was the pirate? I, in the unseaworthy 
 cutter, bound with chains to a Spaniard, perspiring 
 over my oars, sailing to New Zealand instead of to 
 New Caledonia, where the captain had been ordered 
 
 (267) 
 
268 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 to take us ; having nothing to eat and drink but dried 
 fish and stale water, the captain having again disobeyed 
 orders, for the East India Company had shipped honest 
 biscuit, smoked meat and brandy for the prisoner's 
 food which of us, I ask, was the pirate? the captain, 
 who plundered the helpless prisoners in his power and 
 broke the maritime laws which, I ask, was the pirate ; 
 Captain Morder or I? 
 
 "I say Captain Morder was the pirate " and the 
 prince emphasized his reply by thumping the floor with 
 his cane. 
 
 Many thanks, your highness; I wanted the ques- 
 tion decided, for, against unauthorized force, self- 
 defence is always justifiable. When we poor exiles 
 became aware that our vessel was going farther and 
 farther south, which we were able to judge from the 
 stars ; when, in consequence of the wretched food, the 
 scurvy broke out among us ; and when at last we also 
 got a taste of the scourge, if we made any complaint, 
 we conspired together to release ourselves from our 
 chains ; and to take possession of the cutter. 
 
 My hidalgo comrade was an expert in such matters. 
 He showed us how to get rid of our manacles as easily 
 as if they had been gloves or boots. It is a very pretty 
 trick, but I don't think I could show you how it is done 
 unless I received something in return 
 
 "We don't want to learn the trick," interrupted the 
 chair. "We have no use for it." 
 
 Well, after we had removed our fetters, we bound 
 the sleeping crew, and, without shedding one drop of 
 blood, made ourselves masters of the "Alcyona." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 269 
 
 Now, honorable gentlemen of the court, I ask you : 
 Can what we did be called mutiny? We were not the 
 slaves of the East India Company ; we were not pris- 
 oners of war ; nor were we criminals. The captain had 
 no right to chain us to the oars ; we had done nothing 
 to deserve deportation to a savage country. 
 
 On Captain Morder, however, rested most of the 
 blame. He treated us free men like negro slaves; he 
 gave us nothing to eat for a whole week but dried 
 fish, though not all of us were papists ; and to be more 
 disagreeably contrary, he gave us smoked meat on Fri- 
 days because the majority of our crowd were Catholics. 
 
 "That rascally captain deserved to be hanged to the 
 tallest mast on his ship !" exclaimed the justly indig- 
 nant prince. 
 
 Yes, your highness, he did, but we didn't hang him, 
 because we couldn't get hold of him. While we were 
 securing the crew, he fled discreetly to the powder- 
 room, and threatened to blow up the ship when we 
 went to take him. We had to treat with him for terms. 
 We assured him we did not want to injure him ; we 
 only wanted to leave his ship. To this he replied that 
 we might go to the devil for all he cared. 
 
 Then followed a twenty-four hour truce, and our 
 
 first business was 
 
 it 
 
 "To eat your fill," interposed the chair. 
 
 Yes, your honor, to eat and drink all we wanted. 
 Then we lowered the large boat, supplied it with mast 
 and sails ; loaded it with all the chests of biscuit, and 
 casks of brandy it would hold, also a small cannon. 
 
270 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Then we cut into bits the rigging of the cutter ; threw 
 overboard all the weapons we could find, in order that 
 the captain could do us no injury in case he took it 
 into his head to pursue us; took possession of his 
 charts, compass, and telescope, and sailed away one 
 beautiful moonlight night without saying goodbye to 
 any one. How did Captain Morder reach home with 
 the "Alcyona?" I really forget whether I ever heard. 
 
 There were fifty of us in the boat five different 
 nationalities. As I was the only one who could speak 
 the five different languages, I was elected ship's patron, 
 an office which differs from that of captain in that the 
 latter commands every one on board a vessel, while the 
 former carries out what his companions decide. 
 
 "I see plainly to what this subtle distinction will 
 lead," dryly observed the chair. "Some one else will 
 have to bear the blame for whatever misdeeds the 
 'ship's-patron' committed." 
 
 I am compelled to admire the honorable gentle- 
 man's keen perceptions, returned the prisoner in his 
 most deferential manner. In this case, however, they 
 are at fault ; neither the ship's company nor its patron 
 did anything which deservtd yard-arm punishment. 
 
 Our intention, when we left the ship was to land in 
 Florida, or the Philippines, and there found a new 
 republic. But more than one unlooked-for hindrance 
 prevented us from carrying out the plan. Hardly had 
 the "Alcyona" disappeared from view, when a dead 
 calm settled down on us ; it was so still the sails hung 
 in heavy folds from the yards ; we could make progress, 
 and that only very slowly, when we employed the oars. 
 
TOLD BY I HE DEATH'S HEAD. 271 
 
 The calm continued for two days, during which not 
 a breath of air wrinkled the surface of the ocean. 
 
 "Didn't you say you had taken all the provisions on 
 the ship?'' inquired the chair. 
 
 "Yes, your honor, but 'all' was only the one-half of 
 'many,' and exactly the one-tenth of 'enough/ Even 
 had there been 'many,' we had 'more' hungry mouths, 
 and to take plus from minus is not permissable in 
 Algorithm." 
 
 "And it can't be done," authoritatively interposed the 
 prince. "You can't take eight from seven unless you 
 borrow. From whom did you borrow, prisoner?" 
 
 "From a crab-fisher we met, your highness. "Dur- 
 ing a calm, the large sea-crabs are more easily taken 
 than at other times." 
 
 The honorable gentlemen of the court will have 
 learned from natural history the peculiar characteris- 
 tics of the sea-crab, which is of all living creatures 
 the human being not excepted the most timorous. 
 When a crab hears thunder or cannonading, he imme- 
 diately flings off one of his huge claws, in order that 
 he may escape more quickly. 
 
 Crab-fishers know this, and have made a compact 
 with all warships, by which the latter have agreed to 
 refrain from firing off cannon when in sight of a crab- 
 bing vessel. This is the reason all such vessels have a 
 large red crab painted on their sails. The compact also 
 obliges the fishers to deliver half of their catch to any 
 warship they may meet on the high seas. 
 
 Consequently when we came in sight of the crabber 
 we signalled for our share of his catch. We had 
 
272 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 eaten all our dried fish, and were on half-rations of 
 biscuit. 
 
 "Oho !" called the fisher when he came near enough 
 to distinguish the character of our craft. "How can 
 you demand crabs of me? You aren't a warship." 
 
 "But we are hungry, and have a cannon on board. 
 You know the result of a cannon-shot during a calm !" 
 
 This threat brought the argument to a conclusion; 
 the crabber, according to seaman's custom, shared his 
 catch with us. 
 
 "If," interposed the prince in a thoughtful manner ; 
 "If it was according to seaman's custom it cannot be 
 termed 'piracy.' ' : 
 
 "No, certainly not!" ironically appended the chair. 
 "It cannot be termed piracy only an act of playful- 
 ness a bit of frolic ! But, let us hear what other pranks 
 the band of fifty played with their cannon? I will 
 spread the map here on the table, so that I may follow 
 the course of your boat. I fancy I shall be able to tell 
 from that whether you and your fellows comported 
 yourselves as honest seamen or thievish pirates." 
 
 There was an almost imperceptible twitch of the 
 prisoner's left eyelid when the mayor concluded his 
 remark, and spread the map on the table in front of 
 him. 
 
 In the neighborhood of the Marquesas Islands, 
 honorable gentlemen, we fell in with a Spanish ship 
 loaded with coffee. The captain, in response to our 
 petition, supplied us with coffee, chocolate, and honey. 
 This enabled us to continue our journey; we sailed 
 toward the Aleutians, and met on our way a Russian 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 273 
 
 merchantman, the owner of which took pity on us, and 
 gave us several barrels of good brandy and salted fish. 
 
 When we were near the island of Yucatan our pro- 
 visions again gave out, and we were compelled to bor- 
 row from an Italian trader some sago-palm, flour and 
 several boxes of sultanas. 
 
 "What need had you of sultanas?" inquired the chair. 
 
 Sultanas are not women, your honor, but dried 
 grapes, which are packed in boxes. When a man is 
 starving he will eat anything ! In the neighborhood of 
 Barbados a Turkish vessel very kindly gave us a supply 
 of pickled pork; and the captain of a Chinese junk we 
 fell in with near the Canary Islands, was friendly 
 enough to share his wine with us. 
 
 When off Madagascar, a Greek captain loaded our 
 boat so generously with rahut rakum, it almost foun- 
 dered under the weight; and when near Terre del 
 Fuego we 
 
 "Hold! stop!" screamed the chair thumping with 
 both fists on the map. "If I wanted to make an 
 accurate diagram of your course, I should have to tie 
 a thread to the leg of a grasshopper and let him loose 
 on a blank sheet of paper ! A courier on horseback 
 could not have made such twists and turns !" 
 
 "We did travel in a sort of zig-zag fashion," admit- 
 ted the prisoner deprecatingly ; "but, you see, none of 
 us understood navigation. Besides, our charts were 
 not accurate, and our compass full of whims." 
 
 "Must have been a feminine compass !" jocosely 
 remarked his highness. 
 
 "To tell the truth, honorable gentlemen, I am not 
 
274 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 quite certain if the names I have given you are the 
 ones properly belonging to the portions of the globe 
 we visited. The excellent custom which obtains in all 
 civilized regions, of posting the names of places at the 
 street-corners, had not yet reached those remote cor- 
 ners. I can assure you, however, that we really met 
 all the ships I have mentioned, as we were forced to 
 beg our way over the limitless ocean." 
 
 "Beg your way !" sarcastically interrupted the chair. 
 "It seems to me that fifty determined men, with small 
 arms and a cannon, and a boat as swift as yours might 
 have overtaken almost any other craft afloat." 
 
 "We did overtake a good many, your honor, and all 
 of them very willingly shared their provisions with us 
 when they saw we were in distress." 
 
 "Do you remember meeting a merchantman from 
 Bremen?" 
 
 "Don't I? Don't I remember the generous gentle- 
 man ! We met him near the Cape of Good Hope. That 
 point of land hasn't got its name for nothing! It 
 brought 'good hope' back to us ! We were in tatters ; 
 the stormy weather ; long voyage ; and many hardships 
 had reduced our frames to skeletons, our clothing to 
 rags. When the brave man blessed be his memory ! 
 came up with us, and saw our nakedness, he took off 
 his own coat and gave it to me may heaven's bless- 
 ings rest on him wherever he may be !" 
 
 "He tells quite a different story," responded the 
 chair. "On his return home, he complained to the 
 Hansa League that a boat load of pirates was sailing 
 the high-seas, plundering, and levying contributions, 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 275 
 
 from all vessels it met. He also related how the pirates 
 had taken all his, as well as his crew's clothing. This 
 must be true; for no Bremen trader has ever been 
 known willingly to give coat of his to anyone. Bremen 
 is not far away. We can summon the complainant 
 whose name, I believe, is Schulze and let him tell his 
 story here " 
 
 "May I beg that your honor" quickly interposed 
 the prisoner "will at the same time summon the wit- 
 nesses who will testify for me? They are, the Spanish 
 merchant Don Rodriguez di Saldayeni, from Badajos ; 
 the Russian captain, Bello Bratanow Zwonimir Tschi- 
 nowink, from Kamtschatka ; the Italian, Signer Spara- 
 fucile Odoards, from Palermo ; the Turk, AH Baba Ben 
 Didimi Effendi, from Brusa; the Chinese mandarin, 
 Chien-Tsen-Triping-Van, from Shanghai; the Greek, 
 Heros Leonidas Karaiskakis, from Tricala ; the " 
 
 "Enough ! enough !" roared the mayor clapping his 
 hands to his ears. "I don't want to hear another name. 
 Rather will I believe every word you say ! You were 
 sea-beggars, impoverished voyagers anything but 
 pirates! Will your highness permit us to erase also 
 this indictment from the register?" The prince assent- 
 ing, his honor added: "Now we will hear how the 
 crime of cannibalism will be disposed of." 
 
 "I will first take the liberty to remind the honorable 
 gentlemen of the court, that anthropophagy is not at 
 all times considered a capital crime. The inhabitants 
 of the Fiji Islands look upon it as the only proper 
 method to dispose of a captured foe. The eating of 
 human flesh is a part of the religious cult of the Mexi- 
 
276 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 cans ; and during the Tartar invasion of Hungary, the 
 people as Rogerius proves who had been robbed of 
 the necessaries of life, were forced to eat each other. 
 To such a condition of starvation we were also reduced, 
 a fearful hurricane having compelled us, while on the 
 Pacific ocean, to throw overboard all our stores in 
 order to prevent the boat from sinking " 
 
 "Now you are telling another story-/' thundered the 
 chair. "You say you were on the Pacific ocean. If it 
 is a pacific ocean how is it posible that such a storm 
 as you describe raged there? You shall be bound to 
 the wheel, if you don't confess at once that hurricanes 
 never rage on the Pacific Ocean." 
 
 Your honor is right my memory served me ill 
 there are no such storms on the Pacific Ocean. But 
 there are sharks. The voracious beasts surrounded our 
 boat in such numbers that, in order to prevent them 
 from eating us, we gave them all our provisions, hop- 
 ing to fall in with a kind-hearted captain who would 
 replenish our larder. But we didn't meet a single 
 ship. For two whole weeks we managed to keep alive 
 by eating our boots, and not until the last pair had 
 been devoured, did we decide to resort to the "sailor's 
 lunch/' and cast lots which of us should be served up 
 as such. 
 
 My name was drawn, and I made up my mind to die 
 calmly pro bono publics. But, when I began to 
 remove my clothes, the Spaniard to whom I had been 
 chained on the "Alcyona," and for whom I entertained 
 the affection of a brother, stepped forward and said : 
 
 "You shall not die, brave rajah. You have a wife 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 277 
 
 nay, two of them, to whom your life is valuable. Here 
 am I your brother, who will consider it a privilege, an 
 honor as did the brave Curtius when he galloped into 
 the abyss to save the republic to fling myself into 
 these hungry throats !" 
 
 With these words the noble fellow drew his sword, 
 severed his head from his body and laid it before us. 
 
 "Did you eat any of him?" 
 
 "I was starving, your honor." 
 
 "That establishes your crime. The punishment for 
 eating a body endowed with a human soul is death 
 at the stake, you " 
 
 "Hold," interposed the prince. "What portion of 
 the Spaniard's body did you consume, prisoner?" 
 
 "His foot, your highness." 
 
 "Has the human foot a soul?" 
 
 "Why, certainly," answered the chair. "How fre- 
 quently do we hear : 'His sense or his courage are in 
 his knees' sense and courage cannot exist without a 
 soul. And, don't we say : 'Honest from his crown to 
 his toes' whereby we establish that even the toes 
 possess a soul/ ' : 
 
 "These are merely phrases maxims/' returned the 
 prince. "If the soul extends to the extremities, then 
 the man who has a foot amputated loses a portion of 
 his soul also ; and it might happen, that one-quarter 
 of a human soul would go to paradise, and the other 
 three-quarters to hades which it is absurd to suppose 
 could be the case. To my thinking this is so important 
 a question, that only the faculty of theology is capable 
 of deciding it. Until those learned gentlemen have 
 
278 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 delivered an opinion on the subject, we cannot go on 
 with this case. Therefore, the prisoner is remanded 
 to his cell until such decision shall arrive." 
 
 A week was the time required by the learned faculty 
 to discuss the questions : "Does the soul extend to the 
 extremities of the human body?" 
 
 If not, just where does it terminate? 
 
 The decision was as follows: 
 
 "The soul extends to the knees for this reason man 
 is required to kneel when he prays. Consequently, that 
 portion of the human frame below the knees is a soul- 
 less appendage." 
 
 "Then," decided the prince, when this decision was 
 read to him, "the indictment for cannibalism may also 
 be stricken from the register." 
 
PART X. 
 
 UXORICIDE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE SECUNDOGENITUR. 
 
 Although my crime has been most generously con- 
 doned by your highness, I have not escaped punish- 
 ment for it. I have suffered severely. After partaking 
 of the unnatural food, all in the boat were seized with 
 frightful convulsions, similar to those exhibited by a 
 dog afflicted with rabies. 
 
 The smallest particle of the accursed food is sufficient 
 to make a man experience all the tortures of purga- 
 tory. I dare say the reason my sufferings were not so 
 severe as those of my comrades, I ate only the foot. 
 They foamed at the lips ; their eyeballs burst from the 
 sockets; they bit each other, and rent and tore their 
 own flesh. They bellowed, roared, and whined, as dogs 
 do at the moon. Many of them sprang at once into the 
 water and were devoured by sharks. 
 
 When my worst torture passed, my limbs became 
 cold and rigid as stone ; it was the marasmus. I could 
 see, and hear, but I could neither feel nor move. The 
 
 (279) 
 
280 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 fierce sun beating on my face threatened to burn out 
 my eyes, but I could not lift my hands to cover them. 
 To seize the horizon and draw it up to the zenith would 
 have been an easier task than to close my eyelids over 
 the burning eyeballs. 
 
 Yet, amid all this horrible pain, I had the feeling 
 as if a faint zephyr from fluttering wings were sweeping 
 across my cheek. It was the white dove perched on 
 my shoulder, my beautiful white dove, who was come 
 to me again in my hour of direst need ! She tried with 
 her outstretched wings to shield my face from the 
 scorching sun, and the blessed shadow brought such 
 relief that I was at last able to close my eyes in sleep. 
 
 How long and whither the dismasted and rudderless 
 boat drifted; whether it touched any shore I cannot 
 remember. I don't know what happened during my 
 madness. 
 
 My comrades in misfortune were lost ; some drowned 
 themselves to end their agony; some died a horrible 
 death in the boat. I alone was saved by a heavenly 
 providence for further trials. The drifting boat was 
 found by an Indian merchantman bound for Antwerp, 
 and the noble Christians aboard of her, believing life 
 not yet extinct in my miserable body, worked over me 
 until they brought back the soul to its earthly 
 tenement. 
 
 I forgive every enemy I have in the world ; but my 
 benefactor on that Indian merchantman, who brought 
 me back to life, I never can forgive. Had he cast me 
 into the waves instead of resuscitating me, I should 
 now be ambergris, for, as the honorable gentlemen 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 281 
 
 know, that valuable substance develops in the stomach 
 of a shark, and I should have been devoured by one 
 of those voracious beasts. Instead of a wretched crim- 
 inal on trial for his many misdeeds, I should now, had 
 I been allowed to become ambergris, be swinging in a 
 censer perfuming the altar of a church. The care I 
 received on board the Indiaman fully restored my 
 strength, and when we arrived in the harbor in Holland 
 there was no trace about me of the many hardships I 
 had endured. 
 
 I could hardly wait until I got back to Nimeguen to 
 see my dear wife and child. The child would be run- 
 ning about now perhaps the mother had taught it to 
 call me by name ! 
 
 How happy I should be to be home again ! no cap- 
 tain, no rajah, but a father. 
 
 Not the consort of a Begum, but the husbanti of my 
 wife. I blessed the fate which had delivered me from 
 the land of lions, tigers and serpents. Had not I a tulip 
 garden worth all the wealth of India? 
 
 I turned night to day in order to reach home as 
 quickly as possible, and sent mounted estafets in 
 advance to announce my coming. My wife, who had 
 increased in weight fully twenty-five pounds, had a 
 splendid repast prepared for me; and flung her arms 
 around my neck when I alighted from the carriage. 
 
 After our first transports of joy were over, my first 
 words were : 
 
 "Now, where is my child?" 
 
 "There they come," replied my wife, pointing, with 
 a beaming countenance, toward two nurse-maids who 
 
282 TOLD. BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 were descending the staircase. One of the maids led 
 by the hand a little toddling lad ; the other carried an 
 infant in long clothes on her arm. 
 
 "What what does that mean?" I stammered, point- 
 ing toward the smaller child. 
 
 "That is your second born, you silly fellow !" replied 
 my wife, smiling affectionately. 
 
 "My second born?" I exclaimed in amazement. 
 "Why, I have been absent for nearly three years." 
 
 "Have you forgotten Maimuna and Danesh?" she 
 whispered, hiding her blushing face on my breast. 
 "Have you forgotten our meeting in the palace on 
 Ararat?" 
 
 "Maimuna and Danesh? Himmelkreuzelementl" I 
 exclaimed, unable to suppress the forcible expletive. 
 
 My wife, however, was roused to anger by it. Did I 
 presume to doubt her fidelity? she demanded in no 
 gentle accents. Had she not in her possession ample 
 proof that she was true to me? Had she not my own 
 letter, in which I related at length the circumstances of 
 our meeting on Ararat, whither we had been taken by 
 the two genii? Was a better proof required than the 
 lingam I had given her at that meeting also the frag- 
 ment of stuff with gold dragons woven in it? And, if 
 it was true that I was a king at the time of our meet- 
 ing on the mountain, then the infant on the maid's arm 
 must be a prince ! 
 
 "Woman/' I returned in a severe tone, "this is not a 
 matter for jest. Visions are not real. That I dreamed 
 a delightful dream I admit ; but this squalling brat is no 
 dream ! On the contrary, he is a very disagreeable 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 283 
 
 reality! I'll go at once to the burgomaster! I'll 
 denounce you to the arch-bishop ! I'll summon the 
 consistory! I will not allow myself to be made a 
 fool of!" 
 
 "Very well," retorted my wife, "go to the burgo- 
 master go to the arch-bishop summon the consis- 
 tory, make a tremendous ado, and you will prove your- 
 self a greater fool than I believed you !" 
 
 I carried out my threat and rushed to the burgo- 
 master's residence. He was still asleep, but I dragged 
 him out of bed, and told him the French were coming 
 to attack the town. That drove slumber from his eyes ; 
 and I proceeded to lay my complaint before him. He 
 kept yawning the while so dreadfully that I feared he 
 might swallow me before I got through with my story. 
 
 When I concluded, he deliberated several minutes, 
 then said I should come again the next day he would 
 have to think over the matter. 
 
 I was forced to go back to my wife. I couldn't help 
 myself, for I hadn't a groschen to my name, and the 
 Nimeguen inns will not receive a guest unless he pays 
 in advance for his, entertainment. 
 
 To my shame therefore I was compelled to go home, 
 and now it was my wife who raged and scolded. She 
 said I might complain as much, and to whomsoever I 
 wanted, it would "benefit me nothing. If I did not 
 accept the situation with a good humor, mine would be 
 the loss and so on. 
 
 I bore her taunts, and revilings, in silence, for I felt 
 great need of supper and rest; but I said to myself: 
 "There is a tomorrow I'll have my revenge then !" 
 
284 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The next day I went again to the burgo-master ; he 
 was able to keep awake this time. 
 
 He asked me if be should speak to me as to a Nime- 
 guen gunner, or an East Indian sovereign? 
 
 "As to an Indian rajah," I replied. 
 
 "Very good! also: Sublime Maharajah, nabob, or 
 Shah whichever is the proper title be seated." My 
 title permitted me to put on my hat, while respect for 
 it obliged the burgomaster to remove his office cap. 
 He continued : "Be kind enough to answer the follow- 
 ing questions : How many wives does the law permit 
 an Indian sovereign to marry? How many elephants, 
 camels, rhinoceroses, male and female genii, and other 
 draught cattle, is he allowed to employ in his service?" 
 
 I saw what would be the result if I answered these 
 questions, so I said instead : 
 
 "I beg pardon, your honor, but, on second thought, 
 I believe I would rather have you speak to me as to 
 a gunner of Nimeguen according to European 
 custom." 
 
 "Very good again also. You gunner-fellow, take off 
 your hat this instant!" he commanded, at the same 
 time placing the cap on his head. "As it is contrary to 
 our Christian laws to take a second wife while the first 
 is still alive, I shall pronounce you guilty of bigamy, 
 the punishment for which is the pillory first, and the 
 galleys afterward." 
 
 This did not suit me either, so I interrupted : 
 
 "May I beg that you will speak to me as to an Indian 
 sovereign?" 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 285 
 
 I put on my hat, but the burgomaster did not again 
 remove his cap. He said : 
 
 "You had command of a province, and a pair of 
 flying genii ; therefore, it is quite within the bounds 
 of possibility that you and your first wife were borne 
 through the air to the meeting-place on the mountain 
 you mention. That being settled, what else do you 
 complain of? Have you lost anything?" 
 
 "No, your honor, quite the contrary; I have found 
 something; a son I did not expect." 
 
 "Is the child living?" 
 
 "He is." 
 
 "Well if he is living he is alive. That which is, 
 cannot be denied it is a fact, and that which is a fact 
 cannot be termed fiction " 
 
 This ridiculous un-reasoning angered me, and I 
 interrupted him, whereupon there ensued a war of 
 words that raged furiously until it culminated in an 
 exchange of blows. 
 
 The case was not one for a mere burgomaster to 
 decide ; I would submit it to the consistory. I did not 
 know then what I had undertaken ! 
 
 All Nimeguen is related; its citizens are cousins or 
 brothers-in-law, and withal exceedingly moral. If it so 
 happens that any one of them commits an indiscretion, 
 all the rest take great pains to conceal the misdeed. I 
 don't mean that it is never mentioned in private; but 
 there is not a court of law in the land that could sum- 
 mon a witness who would admit that he, or she, knew 
 
286 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 anything about the matter. In my case, servants, 
 neighbors, citizens, all averred that my wife was the 
 pattern of fidelity; that she had not been known to 
 leave her house, only when she went to confession and 
 to church; that she had not even bought a new cap 
 during my entire absence. 
 
 Consequently, my accusations were ridiculous, and 
 wholly without foundation. 
 
 Her defense had a powerful base to rest on. There 
 was the letter written by my own hand on Chinese 
 palm-paper, describing our meeting in the palace on 
 Mount Ararat, and attested by the bonzes, who, as 
 everybody knows, are learned men, and as worthy of 
 trust as any member of our chapter-house. 
 
 Consequently, there must be such fairies as Maimuna 
 and Danesh, else the bonzes would not have testified to 
 their existence. If there were no such creatures in 
 Europe, it was because the climate was too severe. 
 There are no elephants in Holland, yet no one would 
 deny their existence elsewhere not even the man who 
 had never seen one, would deny that they roamed the 
 jungles of India ! Moreover, is there not mention made 
 in the Holy Scriptures of a chariot of fire journeying 
 with a passenger through the air? And did not Jonah 
 make a voyage on the ocean, in the stomach of a 
 whale? 
 
 If holy men could make such journeys, why should 
 anyone deny that the genii Maimuna and Danesh had 
 carried a man and his wife to the palace on Mount 
 Ararat? especially as both man and wife had desired 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 287 
 
 the meeting, whereas Jonah had never expressed the 
 least desire to enter the whale's belly. 
 
 Added to this evidence, my wife possessed in the 
 lingam absolute proof of my having been with her on 
 Ararat also the fragment of dragon-cloth, the like of 
 which was not to be found in all Europe all irrefrag- 
 able proofs ! 
 
 You may guess that the consistory did not hesitate 
 long to deliver an opinion. 
 
 Although it was almost impossible to believe that so 
 remarkable a journey could have been accomplished 
 a respectable and pious lady had really travelled from 
 Nimeguen on the wings of an East Indian Jinnee, at 
 night, to Mount Ararat, and back in the morning. 
 
 Also : It was not at all likely that the said respectable 
 and pious lady, the former widow of a captain, wife of 
 a gunner, and consort of an Indian rajah, would 
 demean her respectable station, and inflict a stain on 
 her wedded fidelity. Therefore, the woman accused 
 of adultery was guiltless ; and the father of the surculi 
 masculi found at home by the returned gunner, was 
 no other than he, the nuptia demonstrant. And with 
 this decision I was forced to be satisfied, also with 
 my wife and the infant. 
 
 Here, the prince laughed so heartily that he burst a 
 button from his collar. 
 
 "An amusing story, by my word !" he exclaimed. "I 
 would not have missed it for a riding-horse ! Ha, ha 
 to decide that a vision really happened because the 
 dreamer wrote an account of it ha, ha, ha!" 
 
288 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "And did everything really happen as you related 
 it?" inquired the chair. 
 
 Everything I give my word of honor what am I 
 saying? Not by my honor, but by the rope around my 
 neck, I swear that everything happened just as I told 
 you. You may apply to the authorities of Nimeguen, 
 who will substantiate my account. Because of its re- 
 markable character, the case is recorded in the chron- 
 icles of the city. This will explain the deed I was 
 forced to commit afterward. 
 
 "We will hear you confess it tomorrow," said the 
 prince. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE QUICKSANDS. 
 
 My case had been decided by the consistory. I was 
 not the first man who had had such an experience ; and 
 I was philosophical enough to conclude that if other 
 men had survived their disgrace, I might also. 
 
 So, I made up my mind to forgive my wife, and live 
 amicably with her. I acted as if nothing had happened 
 to mar the relations between us, and all would have 
 been well, had not my neighbors tormented me beyond 
 endurance. 
 
 I became furious every time I went into the street. 
 Everybody saluted me as "your majesty." They would 
 inquire how I was getting on with my crowns as if I 
 had a dozen ! One man would ask me if I had seen 
 a Maimuna lately ; another would tell me he had seen 
 a stork with a baby in its bill fly through the air. I 
 received scurrilous letters through the post, and bands 
 of singers would stop under my window and chant my 
 shameful history from beginning to end. In short, 
 everything those Nimeguen citizens could invent to 
 annoy me was done. I boiled with rage, for I was 
 unable to defend myself. 
 
 In any other community I could have defended 
 myself from such persecution. I should have chal- 
 lenged the first one who insulted me, and run him 
 
 (289) 
 
290 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 through with my sword. That is an effective way to 
 silence scurrilous tongues. In Nimeguen, however, 
 it would have been impossible to find a second to 
 deliver a challenge ; and if I had sent it by a messenger 
 the challenged person would have hastened at once to 
 the burgomaster to complain that I had threatened to 
 murder him. 
 
 If I had tweaked the nose of a fellow for reiusing to 
 give me satisfaction, he would have sued me; and I 
 would have been sentenced to pay three marks for a 
 nose-tweak, and six for a slap on the mouth. This 
 would have resulted in my spending nearly all my time 
 in the burgomaster's office, because of the numerous 
 summons to answer the charge of assault and battery, 
 and my wife would have been kept busy paying the 
 fines. 
 
 At last, I could endure it no longer. I told my wife 
 I should have to go away, and she decided that we 
 would go together to Vliessingen, where she would 
 drink the medicinal waters. 
 
 I was glad enough to accompany her. I would have 
 gone anywhere to be rid of my tormenters. But I was 
 mistaken in believing I should be rid of them at Vlies- 
 singen. I received anonymous letters by every post; 
 but I paid no heed to them until one day I received the 
 following : 
 
 "What a stupid fellow y9U are ! Your wife does not 
 need a jinnee to carry her where she wants to go. You 
 are her Maimuna; and Vliessingen is the Ararat 
 whither Danesh has transported her lover. He has 
 sent her a red velvet cap trimmed with gold braid 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 291 
 
 and white lace, and every time she wears it, she signals 
 to him that you will be away from home that day. Oh, 
 stupid dolt that you are !" 
 
 This was more than enough. 
 
 My wife had received just such a cap as was 
 described in the letter; and when she put it on, it 
 always seemed to me that she looked happier. 
 
 I began to find fault with the cap. I begged her not 
 to wear it, or at least not to go out doors when she had 
 it on. But she persisted in wearing it, and ridiculed 
 my anger, until I got to hate the sight of the red cap. 
 
 One day I was obliged to go to Antwerp on business. 
 My wife insisted on accompanying me part of the way, 
 as I should have to walk a considerable distance from 
 the baths to take a conveyance. 
 
 Something my white dove mayhap whispered in 
 my ear not to let her go with me ; that it would be bet- 
 ter for both of us if she remained at home. 
 
 But she had set her head on going, and nothing 
 could prevent it. And she put on the red cap ! 
 
 I remonstrated with her about wearing it, but she 
 laughed at me and said : 
 
 "You silly fellow ! Of whom are you jealous, here in 
 this sandy desert? Of the gulls, perhaps? or the 
 moles?" 
 
 Are the honorable gentlemen of the court familiar 
 with that region? No? 
 
 Then it will be necessary to describe it, in order that 
 what I relate may appear clear to you. 
 
 The entire country thereabout is an arid waste, a 
 
292 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 seemingly illimitable stretch of sand dunes, and brack- 
 ish pools, partly grown with brown reeds, broom and 
 heath, but so stunted that the horns of the cattle graz- 
 ing there are plainly seen. The herders are obliged 
 to wear long stilts. This uninhabited territory is sep- 
 arated by a dike several feet in height from the downs, 
 which is a fearful region. 
 
 There, earth and water are combined against man 
 and beast; the two life-dispensing elements have 
 become agents of death. The sand blown from the 
 shore of the sea settles on the deep pools and dries. 
 No plants grow there, and woe to the man or beast 
 that strays on to the downs from the dike, or the heath 
 beyond. The sand will sink beneath the feet of the 
 incautious wanderer ; if he draws up one foot, the other 
 will sink yet deeper. At first, the instability of the 
 earth amuses him; he fancies that, w r hen he shall tire 
 of the amusement, it will be easy enough to leave the 
 place. 
 
 But the sand into which he is slowly but surely sink- 
 ing is bottomless. Inch by inch the unfortunate victim 
 is swallowed as is the dove in the jaws of the serpent. 
 Not until he has sunk to his waist, does despair seize 
 him, and he realizes that escape is impossible. Every 
 effort to extricate himself is futile he only sinks the 
 deeper into the treacherous sand. 
 
 In vain he shouts for help. No help will come to 
 him, for, he that hears despairing cries from the downs, 
 will flee in the opposite direction to get beyond reach of 
 the sound, knowing well that were he to attempt to 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 293 
 
 rescue the sinking wretch he too would be engulfed 
 in the quicksand. 
 
 When the victim's head has vanished beneath the 
 surface, only a funnel-shaped depression marks the 
 spot where a living creature has met death, and this 
 sign will be obliterated by the first wind that blows 
 across the sands. 
 
 As I have mentioned before, a dike, with a road 
 along its summit, divides the treacherous quicksands 
 and the grazing cattle. 
 
 It was along this dike-road that my wife and I 
 walked arm in arm the morning I started for Antwerp. 
 
 "You see, my love/' I said to her, "how happy we 
 are together when there is no one to disturb us. I 
 should want for nothing else on earth if you would but 
 promise not to wear that red cap again." 
 
 "And I," she returned, "need only to wear this red 
 cap in order to make me perfectly contented and 
 happy." 
 
 "Very well, then wear it wear three red caps, one 
 over the other, only don't wear this one while I am 
 away from you." 
 
 "Well I won't wear it while you are away." 
 
 "Swear that you won't?" 
 
 "No, I will not swear not to wear it, for if I should 
 forget my oath, and put the cap on, then I should per- 
 jure myself and no cap is worth that !" 
 
 "Then the cap is dearer to you than I am?" I asked. 
 
 "Do you hate the cap so much that you hate me 
 because I wear it?" she inquired in turn. 
 
294 TOLD BY TH% DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "I have just cause to hate this cap, and I don't want 
 to hate you for the same reason. Promise not to wear 
 it while I am away." 
 
 "No, I will not promise you must not be so 
 quarrelsome." 
 
 "I will show you why you ought not wear it. Here, 
 read this letter I received from Nimeguen." 
 
 I took the letter from my pocket, and gave it to her. 
 Her face took on the hue of her cap as she read, and 
 when she had finished, she stamped her foot, tore the 
 letter into bits and flung them over the downs, ex- 
 claiming: 
 
 "Now, I shall wear the cap for spite." 
 
 "No, you shall not wear it," I cried, beside myself 
 with rage. 
 
 I tore the cap from her head and flung it after the 
 letter. What followed, the honorable gentlemen of the 
 court will be able to conjecture after I have described 
 my wife's figure and disposition. 
 
 In Holland, as well as in some other portions of the 
 globe, married people occasionally disagree; but I 
 believe that only in Holland is it the husband who goes 
 to a justice of the peace with a blackened eye to sub- 
 stantiate a complaint against his wife. 
 
 My spouse was no exception to her fellow-country- 
 women. Taller by half a head than I, broad-shouldered 
 and with a powerful chest, she could hold at arm's 
 length a small child seated on her hand and it was a 
 hand, too, that would render superfluous a visam 
 repertunif if it came in contact with a human face ! 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 295 
 
 And from this amazon I had dared to snatch a favor- 
 ite cap, and toss it on the quicksands. As I flung the 
 cap away, the woman threw herself against me like an 
 enraged elephant, and sent me staggering backward to 
 the edge of the embankment, where I turned a somer- 
 sault down into one of the bitter, natron-impregnated 
 pools on the heath, in which not even a leech can exist. 
 
 I had fallen with my head in the water ; it sank to 
 the chin in the slimy mud at the bottom, and had it 
 not been for my presence of mind, I should have 
 drowned ; for the most expert swimmer will forget his 
 skill if he finds his eyes, nose, mouth and ears filled 
 with mire and mire, too, that burns and stings like 
 nettles. 
 
 I managed with great difficulty to wriggle out of the 
 pool, but I could see neither sky nor earth for several 
 minutes. It took considerable time to cleanse the 
 mire from my mouth, nose, eyes and ears; and it was 
 hours before I could hear again. 
 
 I felt like one resuscitated from drowning ; my entire 
 body burned as if I were covered from crown to sole 
 with a vesicatory. Then I began to think of what 
 might have happened while I was sitting on the heath 
 ridding myself of* the mire. 
 
 I could not see my wife anywhere on the embank- 
 ment. What had become of her? 
 
 I was compelled to wade through the pools a con- 
 siderable distance, in order to get back to the dike- 
 road, for the embankment where I had fallen over was 
 too steep to be climbed. 
 
296 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Therefore, a half hour or more passed before I stood 
 again on the dike-road looking about for my wife. She 
 was nowhere in sight on the road. Then I turned 
 toward the sands, and what I saw there caused the 
 blood to curdle in my veins the foolish woman had 
 gone after her cap! 
 
 She had it on her head, which, with her two arms, 
 was all that was visible of her body above the sands. 
 It was a horrible sight. Her staring eyes were fixed on 
 me in accusation, her hands battled vainly with the 
 empty air, her lips were open, but no sound issued 
 forth. She was still alive, but entombed. 
 
 I thought of nothing but saving her. I sprang down 
 the embankment, but when the sinking woman saw me 
 coming toward her, she began to beat the sand 
 furiously with her hands, as if she were trying to pre- 
 vent my approach. I could not have saved her. I had 
 made but fifty steps toward her when I too began to 
 sink. Recognizing the futility of further effort on my 
 part, I flung myself face down on the sand, that my 
 entire weight might not rest on my feet, and thus I 
 managed to propel my body slowly, painfully, toward 
 the stable earth. 
 
 A seemingly endless time elapsed before I reached 
 the foot of the embankment, and all the while there 
 was a sound in my ears as of waves dashing against 
 rocks, each wave crying hoarsely: "Curse you!" 
 "Curse you !" 
 
 When at last, dripping with ice-cold perspiration and 
 quivering with horror, I reached the top of the dike, I 
 

 s ; .' 
 
 "oi , . . t : . , -.- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 297 
 
 could see only the red velvet cap on the sands ; and as 
 I looked, a sudden gust of wind sweeping up from the 
 sea, seized it and bore it toward me. 
 
 Overcome by terror I turned and fled like a madman 
 down the road. All day long I continued my flight 
 over pathless wastes ; through withered copses, which 
 had been destroyed by frequent inundations ; across 
 marshes filled with croaking frogs, and nesting storm- 
 petrels; the lurking place of weasels and others, and 
 from every corner I heard voices calling after me : 
 "Murder!" "Murder!" The frogs croaked it from 
 the water, the birds piped it from the air. The withered 
 trees moaned it, and stretched their branches threaten- 
 ingly toward me; and the briars trailing along the 
 ground caught at my feet and cried: "Stop, stop! let 
 me bind you, murderer !" 
 
 All things animate and inanimate joined in accusing 
 me ; and at last a wall rose before me to hinder further 
 flight. 
 
 It was only a broken dike; but to me it seemed a 
 prison. Foot-sore and weary, I lay down amid the 
 stones fallen from the wall. They were covered with 
 thick moss, and it was a relief to stretch my tired limbs 
 among them. 
 
 I began to collect my scattered senses, to think 
 calmly over what had happened, and after awhile I 
 began to excuse myself to the frogs and the petrels, 
 the moles and the sparse-branched withered trees that 
 stood around me staring at me as if they would say : 
 
 "Come, murderer, decide which of us will best suit 
 you." 
 
298 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 I defended myself: "I am not a murderer; I am not 
 going to hang myself. I did not lay a ringer on the 
 woman it was she who thrust me over the dike into a 
 pool where I nearly drowned. She was foolish enough 
 to go where certain death awaited her she alone is to 
 blame !" 
 
 "But, -why did you throw her cap on the sands?" 
 questioned the frogs, the storm-birds, and the moles. 
 "Had not I a right to do it? Hadn't I a right to pre- 
 vent her from wearing the cap which disgraced her and 
 me? Had not she brought dishonor on me once 
 before? Was I to permit it a second time? By throw- 
 ing the cap away I was only defending my honor and 
 her virtue. I did not kill her she alone is to blame for 
 her death !" 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha !" sneered every animate creature. "Ha, 
 ha, ha!" scoffed the breeze sweeping over the moor. 
 No one nothing in the wide world took sides with me. 
 The elements were against me ; every human being on 
 the globe large, small, white, black, olive-hued all 
 were against, me. Cities, towns, villages; houses 
 palaces, huts all were my enemies; I must flee from 
 every human habitation. 
 
 And yet, I am not guilty. All the world will say 
 that I am. My wife will be missed ; she was seen going 
 away in my company ; her cap will be found beside the 
 dike. It will be said that I murdered her, and thrust 
 her body into the quicksands. 
 
 I am not my wife's murderer. Did no one see her 
 thrust me over the dike? Will no one testify for me? 
 
 A fluttering wing brushed my cheek : 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 299 
 
 "Ah, my white dove! Are you there? You will 
 speak for me. You will tell all the world that I am 
 innocent that I did not murder my wife?" 
 
 Filled with hope and joy, I turned my eyes toward 
 my shoulder. The white dove was not perched there, 
 but a coal black raven, and he croaked : 
 
 "Thou didst it!" 
 
 "At last," exclaimed the mayor as he shook the 
 ink from the pen with which he had authenticated the 
 protocol. "At last we have a confession that cannot be 
 rendered invalid by a pharasaical ref errata mentalis! 
 At last the executioner will get something to do! 
 Uxoricidium aequale: quartering, praecedente: the right 
 hand to be severed from the wrist." 
 
 "I don't agree with your honor," interposed the 
 prince. "There is a law that was promulgated by 
 Sanctus Ladislaus rex he was a Hungarian king, to 
 be sure, but he is a saint for all that ; and because he 
 was canonized his law is held sacred by all Christen- 
 dom ; it reads something like this : 'If a man finds his 
 wife guilty of infidelity, and takes her life, he is answer- 
 able to God alone for the deed ' ' 
 
 "Of course !" angrily exclaimed the chair, "I'll war- 
 rant the knave never dreamed that Sanctus Ladislaus 
 rex would drag him by the hair of his head out of 
 limbo ! Let it be added to the rest of the miracles per- 
 formed by Saint Ladislas !" 
 
PART XL 
 
 IN SATAN'S REALM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE SATYRS. 
 
 Not until the shadows of night had settled around 
 me did I learn into what an accursed region I had 
 strayed. It was the notorious "kempenei" the ren- 
 dezvous of witches and all evil spirits. 
 
 When it became quite dark, the jack-o'-lanterns 
 began to flit over the moor as if the witches were 
 dancing a minuet; and suddenly I heard a tumult of 
 shrieks and yells, and looking upward I beheld the 
 most repulsive lot of females it has ever been the lot 
 of man to see. 
 
 They had hairy chins ; and huge warts on their noses. 
 They came rushing through the air, seated on the 
 shoulders of pallid-faced male forms. Each hag" hung 
 her mount by the bridle around his neck to a limb of 
 one of the dead trees, and clapped her heels three 
 times together before she descended to the ground. 
 Then the witches held a council, and each one detailed 
 (300) 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 301 
 
 the evil she had perpetrated the past twenty-four hours. 
 I heard one say boastfully: 
 
 "I sent an angry woman running after her cap, which 
 her husband had thrown on the quicksands, and I 
 let her sink to her death. The man escaped " 
 
 Here her sister-witches fell on her and beat frer with 
 switches, because she had allowed a man to escape from 
 her. 
 
 "Let me alone ! Let me alone !" she shrieked. "I'll 
 find him yet he won't get away from me a second 
 time !" 
 
 Terror seized me anew. I shuddered, and pressed as 
 closely as possible into my mossy bed. 
 
 Then the 'hags began to arrange their plans for the 
 next day. They would send the "Bocksritter" to attack 
 a caravan that was coming to Antwerp. 
 
 I had heard a good deal about the Bocksritter, a 
 mounted band of ferocious robbers, who looked like 
 satyrs, and were in league with Satan. They were even 
 more to be dreaded than the Haidemaken. When the 
 satyrs committed an extensive robbery, they took good 
 care not to let a single one of their victims escape alive 
 not even the infant in its cradle. They left no one 
 to witness against them ; and, as they fled at once to 
 another country, it was impossible to learn anything 
 about them. Where they committed their depredations 
 and the officers of the law failed to find trace of them, it 
 was concluded, and naturally, that the Bocksritter were 
 a myth, and the story of their depredations an idle 
 fable., 
 
302 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 When the witches had decided their plans for the 
 next day, the most hideous of the hideous crew began 
 to peer about her, and sniff the air. 
 
 "I smell something!" she exclaimed; "something 
 that doesn't belong here." 
 
 "It smells like a human being/' said a second, also 
 sniffing around her. 
 
 "Ha, if only it were the fellow who escaped me this 
 morning!" with a snort exclaimed a third. "It 
 wouldn't take me long to prepare him for a bridle" 
 she glanced as she concluded toward the pallid crea- 
 tures hanging on the trees. 
 
 I pressed still further into the moss and ferns; but 
 the raven on my shoulder began to flutter his wings, 
 as if to attract the witches' attention. 
 
 "Some one is hiding over yonder!" they cried as 
 with one voice. "Come on, sisters, let's tickle him !" 
 
 I heard them approach my hiding place, and in my 
 despair I cried out: 
 
 "If God be with me, who can be against me T" 
 
 Hardly had the words left my lips when I received a 
 blow on the ear from the raven's wing that made it 
 tingle, but the witches had scattered in all directions, 
 uttering frightful yells. When I lifted my head to look 
 after them, the wind sweeping over the moor was driv- 
 ing before it the glimmering jack-o'-lanterns, which 
 looked like a fleeing troop of torch-bearing soldiers. 
 
 Just then the moon rose above the horizon. It was 
 in the last quarter, by which I knew it must be an hour 
 after midnight. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 303 
 
 I rose quickly, and prepared to set about perform- 
 ing the good deed I had determined on; I would 
 hasten to meet the caravan travelling to Antwerp, and 
 tell the leaders of the danger which threatened them 
 from the Bocksritter. 
 
 cast from me every fear that prompted me to avoid 
 my fellow-creatures, and rejoiced that it was in my 
 power to serve them a good turn. 
 
 Only after I had proceeded a considerable distance 
 on my errand of mercy did it occur to me that I was 
 unarmed, tha* 1 had nothing to defend myself from 
 the wolves which infest that region, but a knife which 
 I carried in a sheath at my side. 
 
 On my way, I came upon a slender yew tree a 
 straight beautiful stem, and hard as iron. I cut it down 
 with my knife, N and soon had a cudgel that would serve 
 me well in an emergency. I could brain any wolf that 
 might take a fancy to satisfy his appetite with my 
 carcass. 
 
 I found my own hunger growing wolfish toward 
 dawn, and when I came to the highway I looked about 
 for an inn. I saw smoke rising from a chimney not 
 far distant, and made my way toward the house, which 
 proved to be one of entertainment for man and beast. 
 
 The inn-keeper, from whom I ordered some bread 
 and cheese, was busy preparing in a large kettle a 
 savory stew of meat and cabbage. I asked him to 
 give me a dish of it, but he said he could not let me 
 have any, as it was for a crowd of people who were 
 coming with a large caravan that morning. 
 
304 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 It was true then ! I had really seen and heard the 
 witches on the moor. It was not a dream. 
 
 I had not long to wait. A tinkling of bells announced 
 the approach of the caravan while I was eating my 
 breakfast. 
 
 There were vans and vehicles of all sorts, and all 
 manner of traders; lace merchants, carpet dealers, 
 weavers, goldsmiths, on their way to the fair at Ant- 
 werp. They had an escort of soldiers, with red and 
 yellow jackets, and armed with muskets and halberds ; 
 also several dragoons with buff waistcoats. 
 
 Even the traders were armed with pistols and car- 
 bines. All were in high good humor when they entered 
 the inn. The leader of the caravan, a pot-bellied thread 
 dealer, ordered everything that was to be had from 
 kitchen and cellar, and produced from his knapsack a 
 large ham which he shared with some of his compan- 
 ions. Toward the close of the meal, he noticed me, 
 and kindly offered me the gnawed ham-bone. 
 
 "Thank you," said I. "In return for this bare bone 
 I will do you a kindness : Take my advice, and don't 
 go any further today; or, if you cannot delay until 
 tomorrow, send a strongly armed troop in advance of 
 your caravan, and let one guard it in the rear, for you 
 are in danger of an attack from the Bocksritter, who 
 will leave your bones as bare as you have left this one 
 you offer me!" 
 
 Then I repeated to the entire company what I had 
 heard the witches say. But, a curse rested on me ! No 
 one believed me; they laughed at me, ridiculed my 
 "witch-story," said I had dreamed it; and the inn- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 305 
 
 keeper threatened to cast me out of his house for try- 
 ing to bring disrepute on it. 
 
 He averred that robbers were unknown in that 
 neighborhood there were no such disreputable char- 
 acters anywhere but in Brabant and Spain, where they 
 lurked in subterranean caverns like the marmots. 
 Moreover, who was afraid of robbers? Not he! 
 
 The caravan's valiant escort were delighted with the 
 prospect of a skirmish with the notorious Bocksritter 
 let them begin their attack ! Everyone of the rascals 
 would soon find himself spitted on an honest bayonet ! 
 There was so much boasting about the escort's prow- 
 ess that at last I concluded the safest way for me to get 
 to Antwerp would be to join the caravan; which I did. 
 
 All went well with us until late in the afternoon, 
 when, as we were passing through a pine forest, the 
 robbers suddenly fell upon us. 
 
 They appeared so suddenly that one might almost 
 believe they sprang from the earth. They were 
 masked ; their clothing was of black buffalo skin, laced 
 with crimson cord. A black cock's feather adorned 
 every hat. 
 
 The first salvo from their muskets laid low at least 
 half of our company; then the villains fell on us with 
 their swords and began a frightful butchery. The 
 leader of the caravan tumbled from his steed before 
 he received an injury, and had I not been in such haste 
 to save my skin, I should have stopped to say to him : 
 
 "Why don't you laugh at me now, Mynheer Pot- 
 belly?" 
 
 But it was no time for jesting. I ran swiftly toward 
 
306 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 the road, on the further side of which was a dense 
 growth of young firs, and beyond them a stretch o! 
 undulating moorland, where, I imagined, I might ef- 
 fect my escape. The long yew staff I carried served me 
 well; by its aid I could jump from hillock to hillock, 
 and thus make swifter progress than had I been on 
 horseback. 
 
 "Let him run!" cried the robber captain, who was 
 distinguished from the rest by the crimson ostrich 
 plume on his hat. "Let him go ; we will after him when 
 we have finished here. He won't go very far." 
 
 I soon found he was right. I had not gone more 
 than a hundred paces, when I came to a mound from 
 which there was neither retreat, nor advance. It was 
 made up of pebbles, sand and the gravelly soil of the 
 highway, from which a narrow path led to the mound. 
 On all sides were deep ditches filled with stagnant 
 water, rank vines and noxious weeds; so that no one 
 could cross them without risk to life or limb. 
 
 I was caught ! 
 
 Out on the highway, my companions of the caravan 
 were being exterminated to a man. None were allowed 
 to escape. 
 
 When the work of carnage was completed there, the 
 butchers turned their attention to me. 
 
 I was alone, and defenseless on my islet. The demons 
 came toward me, laughing brutally, and in my despair 
 I laughed too. 
 
 I said to myself: "I too will have some fun before I 
 die!" 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 307 
 
 I loosed- the leather belt from my waist, and made a 
 sling of it. Pebbles lay at my feet in plenty for my 
 David's battle with Goliah. 
 
 The robbers soon found they had to do with a skilled 
 bombardier; my shots struck them and their horses 
 with a force and regularity that began to tell on their 
 ranks. Many were thrown from their saddles with 
 skulls and ribs crushed. 
 
 The fun was not all on their side. Finding at last 
 that I was not to be taken alive, they concluded to use 
 me as a target for their muskets. One of them dis- 
 mounted, lifted the musket from his shoulder, thrust 
 the bayonet into the ground, and rested the gun on it. 
 After he had arranged the priming in the pan, he called 
 to me: 
 
 "Surrender, fellow, or I'll shoot you!" 
 
 "Try it," I called back, whirling the sling around 
 my head. "Afterward I'll have a shot at you." 
 
 "Do you throw first," he called again. 
 
 "No, thank you you are the challenger; do you 
 shoot first." 
 
 He fired, and missed me. 
 
 Then I hurled my stone ; it struck him on the jaw, 
 and broke off his teeth. 
 
 Then a second, and a third, had a try at me without 
 effect, but everyone of my shots inflicted serious injury. 
 
 I was not an expert gunner for nothing ; I knew that 
 when one is the target for a gunshot, one has but to 
 watch closely when the match is applied to the prim- 
 
308 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 ing ; if two flashes are seen, then the aim will be faulty, 
 the ball will fly wide of the mark, and it will not be 
 necessary to dodge. If but one flash is seen, then it 
 will be well to step to one side. 
 
 I had the advantage of the robbers; for, while they 
 were preparing their muskets to fire, I could hurl five 
 or six stones, and not one of them missed its mark. I 
 hoped that one of the bullets whistling past my ears 
 might hit the raven on my shoulders ; but he was too 
 shrewd a bird ; he rose in the air, and I could hear the 
 fluttering of his wings above my head. 
 
 At last the robbers were obliged to acknowledge that 
 I had the better of them. Only one of them at a time 
 could approach my islet over the narrow path ; or wade 
 up to his horse's neck through the weed-entangled 
 morass, and that one would fall an easy prey to my 
 sling. 
 
 "Stop !" now cried the wearer of the crimson plume. 
 "This valiant fellow's life must be spared. He will be 
 a valuable addition to our band. Let no one molest 
 him I will talk with him myself," saying which, he got 
 off his horse, and came toward me unarmed. "Have 
 no fear," he called to me. "You are a brave lad, and 
 just the sort we need. We kill only cowards. If you 
 will join us you shall not rue it." 
 
 What could I do? I was a fugitive, excluded from 
 all honest and respectable society. I knew not where 
 to turn. If I refused to join the robbers, I should have 
 to flee from country to country ; I might as well fly in 
 company with others. The desire for revenge also 
 prompted me to accept the leader's offer. I would pun- 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 309 
 
 ish the people who had ridiculed me, and condemned 
 me because of a dream. 
 
 "Who are you?" I asked. "Are you Satan? I will 
 not enter into a league with him." 
 
 "No, I am not Satan ; I am the leader of the Bocks- 
 ritter. If you will join us, you shall be corporal, and 
 in time you may become the leader." 
 
 "Thank you," said I, "but I think I should prefer to 
 remain simply a private. I have heard that the man 
 who leagues himself with the 'satyrs/ binds his body to 
 pain and death ; and that he who becomes their leader 
 must bond his soul to the devil and that I will never 
 do." 
 
 "Very well," he growled in response; "I regret to 
 hear so brave a lad decide thus. Then bind yourself 
 only to pain and death." 
 
 Our compact was sealed, and I was given the horse 
 and outfit of one of the robbers I had killed in defend- 
 ing myself, and when the black mask had been 
 adjusted over my face, I felt that I had ceased to belong 
 to this world. I had no name was nobody. I was a 
 satyr, a foe to society. Whatever I might do thence- 
 forth, whatever crime I might commit, no one would 
 hear of it. The mask did not speak ! The Bocksritter 
 committed their horrible deeds of pillage and murder 
 in the Netherlands ; in Wurtemberg ; along the Rhine ; 
 in Alsace and Lorraine. In which of them, or in how 
 many, I took part who can say? The mask does not 
 speak ! 
 
 Where we roved, what we did, who can say? Not I. 
 Whether the satyrs robbed churches, whether they 
 
310 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 destroyed caravans, burned cities, desecrated convents 
 and routed their inmates, plundered mines, devastated 
 estates who can say? 
 
 Whether I assisted at all the crimes they committed, 
 or at only one or whether I took part in none who 
 can say? 
 
 Was I the satyr that flung back into his burning 
 house the usurious Jew who had escaped from it? or 
 was I the one that rescued a babe from the flames and 
 bore it on his saddle to the mother's arms? 
 
 Was I the satyr who placed the mine under the con- 
 vent and exploded it? or was I the one who warned 
 the nuns in time for them to escape who can say? The 
 mask does not speak. 
 
 "Well," observed the prince, "if you don't know ; 
 and the mask won't tell, then this entire chapter of 
 your confession must be eliminated from the index." 
 
 Then he added further, in order to propitiate the 
 chair : "Why, don't you see, that the prisoner did not 
 become a satyr of his own free will? That he was 
 forced to join the band under pain of death? If, while 
 he was with the robbers, he committed good deeds, or 
 evil, who as he says himself can say?" 
 
 "Aye, who indeed?" satirically responded the chair. 
 "The mystery of the whole affair is so clear that no one 
 will be able to say whether this valiant and pious Chris- 
 tian ought to be hanged, or this conscienceless repro- 
 bate ought to be canonized !" 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 WITCH-SABBATH. 
 
 The satyrs did not ask my name when I joined their 
 band ; but bestowed one on me with the mask. They 
 did not select their names from the calendar, but chose 
 the appellations of distinguished satanic personages 
 as, for instance, there was a Belial ; a Semiazaz ; a Luci- 
 fer; Mephistopholes ; Belzebub; Azazel; Samiel; 
 Dromo; Asmodens, Dopziher, Flibbertigibbet, and 
 so on. 
 
 The leader was Astaroth ; me they called Belphegor, 
 and my "blood-comrade" Behoric. 
 
 The way a blood-comradeship was formed was this : 
 The two men slashed their right arms, and each drank 
 of the blood gushing from the arm of the other. This 
 was an alliance of the first degree. A second com- 
 radeship was formed by two men pricking their names 
 into each other's arms. Both ceremonies were per- 
 formed only on witch-sabbath. 
 
 Great privileges were associated with blood-com- 
 radeship. The comrades shared everything; they be- 
 longed to each other. Mine is thine, and thine mine. 
 
 If one of them said : I want this, or that ; the other 
 had to give it to him. 
 
 Whatever one commanded the other had to obey; 
 
 (311) 
 
312 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 and if one comrade wanted to exchange bodies with 
 the other, the latter was obliged to consent and 
 
 "But that is impossible," here interrupted the prince. 
 
 "No it isn't," spoke up the chair with like decision, 
 "Johann Magus proves conclusively that such ex- 
 changes have been known to take place." 
 
 "Well, if it is possible," returned his highness, "I 
 should like, if your honor and I were 'blood-comrades,' 
 to see how we would manage such an exchange ! 
 There's room enough in my hide for three like you ; 
 but how I could get into yours puzzles me !" 
 
 The prisoner proceeded to explain how it might be 
 accomplished : 
 
 The entire body undergoes a change ; the larger be- 
 comes smaller, and vice versa] so that an exchange 
 is easily effected. It needs only the consent of both 
 parties. All sorts of complications may arise from 
 such an exchange, though. Suppose I were a bride- 
 groom, and my blood-comrade should suggest an ex- 
 change of bodies; or, if I were on my way to the 
 gallows, and I should ask to exchange? 
 
 One day the leader of the band said to me : 
 
 "Belphegor, you must marry. You will not be a 
 genuine satyr until you are mated with a female mem- 
 ber of our band." 
 
 "But where are the ladies? I have not yet seen any 
 of them," I asked. 
 
 "I have a bride ready for you, my youngest sister 
 Lilith. You shall see her very soon." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 313 
 
 I knew that a Lilith had tempted Father Adam to 
 be untrue to Mother Eve; if she and the captain's 
 sister were one and the same, then she must be consid- 
 erably older than I. So I said : 
 
 "Does she wear a mask?" 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 "Then I'll marry her !" 
 
 And so it was settled that I should become the 
 leader's brother-in-law. 
 
 In a subterranean cavern in the Black Forest our 
 wedding was celebrated. The entire company of satyrs 
 were assembled to witness the ceremony, and when the 
 numerous torches were lighted, the cavern looked like 
 an immensely large church with this difference : every- 
 thing was inverted. The images of the saints stood on 
 their heads ; even the crucifix in the chancel was upside 
 down. The organ's base was against the ceiling; the 
 winged cherubs hovered overhead feet upward; the 
 bells swung with the clappers standing upright, and 
 the choir chanted the psalm backward. The priest 
 who performed the ceremony had the most peculiar 
 legs; one was at least a foot shorter than the other; 
 and when an acolyte removed the mitre, the father's 
 head came off with it. Asafoetida instead of incense 
 was burned in the censer. 
 
 My bride, whom I saw now for the first time, was 
 robed in garments far more costly and magnificent than 
 any I had ever seen on my regal wife, Sumro Begum. 
 The fine clothes and gew-gaws concealed the contours 
 of her form, and a heavy gold-embroidered veil com- 
 
314 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 pletely hid her face. The priest made us repeat the 
 marriage service backward ; and when he bade us 
 inscribe our names in the register I took good care to 
 look closely at my wife's hands. They were encased in 
 gloves, but I could see that the finger nails were long 
 and sharp which did not augur favorably for me 
 should there arise any domestic differences between us. 
 
 Her voice was youthful enough ; she did not pro- 
 nounce P like M, from which I concluded that she still 
 had teeth. 
 
 We left the church to the music of the organ. I led 
 my bride on my arm to the wagon waiting for us at the 
 entrance to the cavern. It was a large, heavy vehicle, 
 roomy enough for a dozen persons, and harnessed to 
 it were six stag-beetles. 
 
 "How in the devil's name are these beetles going to 
 drag such a heavy vehicle?" I cried angrily. "Six 
 horses couldn't move it." 
 
 "No, of course they couldn't!" assented my wife. 
 "The axles need greasing. Here, rub some of this oint- 
 ment on them." 
 
 I obeyed, and greased the axles with the contents of 
 an agate box Lilith held in her hand. The entire wed- 
 ding company now sprang on the wagon, leaving only 
 the driver's seat for me and my bride. Lilith took the 
 reins; the six beetles spread their wings, and off we 
 went the heavy wagon with its heavier load flying as 
 swiftly and lightly through the air as thistle-down 
 before a gale. 
 
 I thought^ an excellent chance to get a sight of my 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 315 
 
 bride's face while both her hands were occupied with 
 the reins, and quickly flung back her veil. 
 
 Horror ! the blood froze in my veins. They were the 
 repulsive features of the witch I had heard boast on the 
 kempenei, that she would catch me yet, and prepare 
 me for the bridle. 
 
 Beyond a doubt she was Father Adam's temptress, 
 for there were wrinkles enough on her hideous face to 
 represent the many centuries which had passed since 
 her little affair with the first man ; while, for the devel- 
 opment of such a moustache from the delicate peach- 
 down, which makes a woman's lips so kissable, would 
 require many a cycle of time ! 
 
 "I will jump from the wagon !" I cried in terror. 
 
 "Better put your arms around me to keep from fall- 
 ing out !" laughed my terrible bride, and then I noticed 
 for the first time that we were at least five hundred feet 
 above the earth. 
 
 To force me to adopt her suggestion, Lilith guided 
 the beetles toward the spire of the Cologne Cathedral, 
 against which we struck with such violence that to 
 save myself from tumbling from my seat I had to fling 
 my arm around Lilith's waist, at which the entire com- 
 pany laughed uproariously. 
 
 At last, to my great relief, we descended to the earth, 
 and alighted in a lonely forest, at another of the 
 witches' meeting places, where we were greeted by a 
 weird company that assembled from all quarters of the 
 globe. They came through the air, riding on brooms, 
 on chairs, on benches 
 
316 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S, HEAD. 
 
 "I don't believe a single word of the ridiculous 
 story !" here emphatically exclaimed the prince. 
 
 "I do," with equal emphasis affirmed the chair. 
 "Johannes de Kembach has described witches' jour- 
 neys in almost the same language ; and the learned 
 Majolus testifies to the flying wagon, which a servant 
 in mistake greased with witch ointment instead of axle 
 grease. Moreover, a similar tale is related by Torque- 
 mada, in his Hexameron a recognized authority on 
 such matters." 
 
 The prisoner continued his oonfession : 
 
 The witches, as I said, came through the air accom- 
 panied by their gallants; the demons rose, with their 
 attendants, from the ground. Among the latter were 
 several of the celebrities from whom the satyrs had 
 borrowed the name they bore. 
 
 Semiazaz is the jester of the demon-crew, also the 
 musician ; and when he plays, all the rest have to dance. 
 His nose is a clarionet ; he plays it with his ears instead 
 of his fingers with which he thrums on the skeleton 
 ribs of a cow, as on a harp ; and he beats the drum with 
 his tail. 
 
 Behoric, my blood-comrade's god-father, is a huge 
 fellow with an elephant's trunk, with which he signs his 
 name. That is why N. P. (nasu propria) instead of M. 
 P. (manu propria) is always appended to this demon's 
 signature. Behoric is also an elegant cavalier. He 
 wears his tail jauntily over one shoulder, and fans him- 
 self, when he gets too warm, with the brush at the tip. 
 
 All of the demons, with a single exception, had 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 317 
 
 wings like a bat. My namesake alone differed in this 
 respect from his fellows. His wings were formed from 
 the quills which have been used on earth to sign and 
 write documents worthy of the infernal regions. 
 
 There was the quill used by Pilate to sign the accu- 
 sation against Jesus Christ, and the release of 
 Barabbas ; the -quill with which Aretino indited his 
 sonnets; the quill used by Queen Elizabeth to sign 
 Mary Stuart's death sentence; the quill with which 
 Catharine de Medici ordered the horrors of St. Bar- 
 tholomew's night ; the quill with which -Pope Leo X. 
 wrote indulgences for money; the quill with which 
 Pope Innocent wrote the words: "Sint ut sunt aut 
 nou sint;" the quill with which a distinguished Arch- 
 bishop wTote his ambiguous answer: "Reginam 
 occidere nolite timer e bonum est;" the quill that wrote 
 at Shylock's order the contract for a pound of human 
 flesh ; the quill used by. the mortal foe of the Foscari to 
 write in his book "La Pagata;" the quill with which 
 King Philip signed the death warrant of his son; the 
 quill with which Tetzel scrawled his pamphlet attack- 
 ing Luther and all the rest of the quills which have 
 been used for such like infamous deeds, were to be 
 found in Belphegor's wings. 
 
 They were gigantic wings, too, much longer than 
 those of roc ; and whenever Behoric needed a pen. he 
 would pluck from them the quill which best suited the 
 document he wanted to sign. After all the demons 
 and witches were assembled they began to plan evil 
 deeds ; and my bride being the heroine of the hour, she 
 had the right to offer the first suggestion : 
 
318 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "There is an inn near the 'kempenei,' " she began, 
 "whose owner is in league with the commandant of 
 Bilsen to counterfeit money, and waylay travellers. 
 The counterfeit money is started into circulation by the 
 inn-keeper, who gives it to the caravans which stop at 
 his house for refreshment, in exchange for the genuine 
 money they leave with him. This publican has become 
 repentant, and wants to atone for his misdeeds. He 
 confessed his criminal practices in a letter to the gov- 
 ernor, and told where the commandant fabricated the 
 false coin. This letter I managed to have conveyed 
 to the commandant instead of to the governor, and 
 tonight, the former with his troops is going to pay a 
 visit to the inn. What say you, friends: how many 
 souls shall we send to hell?" 
 
 "All of them! All of them!" yelled the witches. 
 "We will have some fun this night! Ho, Lucifer! 
 We await you !" 
 
 A terrific noise and rumbling was heard, and the 
 ground opened, as when an earthquake cleaves the 
 crust of the globe. From the abyss rose his infernal 
 majesty, the king of evil, before whom the entire com- 
 pany knelt or rather squatted on their heels 
 
 "What was he like?" queried the prince. 
 
 I cannot answer that question, your highness and 
 for a very good reason, as will be learned further on. 
 When Lucifer appeared all the witches disrobed 
 
 "Not to the buff?" again interrupted the prince. 
 
 Yes, your highness, and further. They took off 
 their skins, too; and when their hideous, wrinkled, 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 319 
 
 warty hides were stripped off, they were the most 
 beautiful and fascinating fairies. 
 
 My Lilith was more transcendently lovely than any 
 image of a goddess I ever saw she was perfect beauty 
 idealized! Your highness will understand now why 
 I had no eyes for the prince of darkness. I had lost 
 command of my head for one kiss from Lilith 's 
 ravishing lips I would have bonded my soul to the 
 devil. 
 
 Behoric, the real demon, for whom my blood-com- 
 rade was called, now took a black book from his 
 knapsack, and bade his namesake step forward to be 
 stigmatized. This was accomplished as follows : 
 Behoric plucked a quill from Belphegor's wings, and 
 with the nib made tiny punctures in my comrade's 
 arm, thus forming letters. After making a puncture in 
 the flesh he would make a dot with the bloody quill- 
 point on a page in the black book. When his task was 
 finished, the name "Behoric" gleamed in red letters on 
 my comrade's arm ; and in letters of flame on the page 
 in the black book. 
 
 The demon then presented to his namesake a thaler, 
 as christening gift ; after which, he turned to me, and 
 said I should also receive a thaler if I would allow him 
 to register my name among those of the chosen ones 
 of hell. 
 
 Not for a dozen thalers would I have consented ; but, 
 for one kiss from my fascinating Lilith, I would have 
 done anything asked of me. 
 
 I extended my arm for the stigma; but my blood- 
 comrade stepped up to me and said : 
 
320 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "Comrade, do you see this thaler which I got in 
 exchange for my soul? I want you to give me your 
 bride for it." 
 
 As I have told you, a blood-comrade dare not refuse 
 the request made by his fellow. I pocketed the thaler, 
 placed Lilith's beautiful hand in Behoric's palm, and 
 saw them move away to join the dancers. 
 
 Behoric and Belphegor now seized my collar,, and 
 importuned me to have my name recorded in the black 
 book; but, with the loss of my bride, all desire to join 
 the demon ranks vanished. 
 
 In vain I made all sorts of excuses ; they would not 
 release me. At last, I cried with simulated anger: 
 "To the devil with you ! Not a single member of my 
 family ever was known to sign a contract when sober ! 
 I will eat and drink, then I'll talk business with you !" 
 
 Hardly had the last word crossed my lips, when 
 before me stood a table loaded with delicious viands, 
 and rare wines. The wedding guests seated them- 
 selves around the table, and proceeded to enjoy the 
 repast, but to my extreme disappointment both wines 
 and food were without taste. There was no substance 
 to the former, no savor to the latter. 
 
 I began to quarrel with the demons : 
 
 "I can't eat this food," I exclaimed irritably. "I 
 can't eat meat without salt." 
 
 "Salt?" repeated one of them. "Where should we 
 get salt? There is no ocean in hell." 
 
 "But," I persisted "I must have some salt and 
 if you have to fetch me Lot's wife " 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 321 
 
 "Don't scold so, little man," jestingly interrupted 
 Lilith, pulling my mustache. "Here taste what is 
 on my lips." 
 
 "I don't want honey I want salt/' I yelled, pushing 
 her away. "Donner und Blitz! Give me salt, or I'll 
 skin Lucifer !" 
 
 Now, a curse has the same effect on a demon that a 
 prayer has on an angel. 
 
 The younger devils rushed with all speed possible to 
 Lucifer's palace to fetch the only salt-cellar in the 
 infernal regions ; it is for the sole use of the king of 
 evil. This salt-cellar is a large mussel-shell and looks 
 like a christening bowl; it is filled with salt collected 
 from the tears shed by penitent sinners who delayed 
 their repentance until it was too late. 
 
 Two active little imps dragged the salt-cellar to my 
 side. 
 
 "Here's salt at last God be praised !" I exclaimed 
 in a loud voice. 
 
 The next instant the table with its viands disap- 
 peared amid an unearthly din, and rumbling as of 
 thunder. The demons sank cursing into the earth; 
 the witches flew yelling into the air, and I fell backward 
 to the ground unconscious. 
 
 When I came to my senses, I was lying in a peat 
 bog one hundred and twenty miles from the Black 
 Forest, in which I had celebrated my marriage the 
 night before with the beautiful Lilith. 
 
 "Either you are a madman, or you dreamed all this 
 nonsense," in a stern tone observed the prince, at the 
 
322 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 conclusion of Hugo's recital. "I don't believe a single 
 word of it." 
 
 "Well," commented the chair with less emphasis; 
 "one thing is clear: Among the many lies the rascal 
 has entertained us with for weeks, this last tale is the 
 only one to bear a semblance to the truth. Similar 
 occurrences are related by Majolus, and Ghirlandinus ; 
 also by the world-renowned Boccaccio, whose state- 
 ments no one would think of doubting. / say that, for 
 once, the accused has adhered strictly to the truth." 
 
 "Very good," decisively responded the prince. 
 "Then, as he did not sign the compact with Satan, he 
 cannot be charged with pactum diabolicum implicitum. 
 Consequently, this indictment may also be expunged 
 from the record.'* 
 
PART XII. 
 
 THE BREAD OF SHAME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE MAGIC THALER. 
 
 The most convincing proof that everything 
 occurred as I related it, said the prisoner, continuing 
 his confession the next day, was the thaler I found in 
 my pocket, when I came to my senses in the peat bog 
 near the "kempenel" the thaler my blood-comrade 
 gave me in exchange for Lilith. I remembered what 
 I had heard the witches say about the commandant's 
 visit to the inn-keeper and though I had suffered 
 terribly because I had tried once to perform a good 
 deed at his house, I decided to warn him of the danger 
 which threatened him that night. 
 
 It was very late in the evening when I drew near the 
 inn; but light still gleamed from the windows, and 
 sounds of merriment came from the open door. 
 
 The inn-keeper, who was celebrating his marriage 
 with his fifth wife, recognized me at once. He was 
 not in the least rejoiced to see me again; quite the 
 contrary : (323) 
 
324 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "See !" he called to his friends inside the house, "this 
 is the fellow I told you about the one who predicted 
 what would happen to the Antwerp caravan. Every 
 word he said came true ! He shall not come into my 
 house again. I dare say," he added, speaking to me 
 from the door-way, "I dare say you have another 
 witch-story to tell? Don't you dare to utter one word 
 of your evil prophecies, you bird of evil omen !" 
 
 The entire company seized cudgels and chairs and 
 threatened to brain me if I opened my lips. 
 
 "Just keep your temper, good people," I returned 
 coolly, "I don't intend to tell you what would be of 
 great benefit to you your treatment of me is so 
 unfriendly, I shall not say one word I want nothing 
 from you but some bread and cheese, and a mug of 
 beer: and a bundle of straw in a corner where I may 
 pass the night." 
 
 "Have you money to pay for all this?" demanded 
 the inn-keeper. 
 
 "Certainly I have;" and I handed him my thaler. 
 
 "Ho-ho, fellow, this is a counterfeit," he sneered, 
 tossing the coin to the ceiling and letting it fall on the 
 stone table. 
 
 The clear ringing sound was unmistakable the 
 thaler was genuine. Angered by the insolence of the 
 inn-keeper, I said in a tone, the meaning of which he 
 could not mistake: 
 
 "Look here, beer-seller; I want you to understand 
 that / am not a circulator of counterfeit money !" 
 
 "What !" he roared in a fury ; "do you dare to insinu- 
 ate that 7 circulate counterfeit money? For your 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 325 
 
 impudence I shall keep this thaler, and have it tested 
 in the city tomorrow ; and that you may not run away 
 in the meantime, I shall pen you in my hen-coop." 
 
 The entire company helped him to thrust me into 
 the coop, which was so small I could neither stand 
 upright nor lie down in it. 
 
 And there I crouched, hungry and thirsty as I had 
 come from the witch-wedding. 
 
 Suddenly the early morning quiet was broken by a 
 fanfare in front of the inn. I heard horses' hoofs 
 stamping the earth; loud shouts and curses; and the 
 clank of weapons the commandant of Bilsen had 
 arrived with his troops. 
 
 In a trice the doors were broken open ; the startled 
 wedding guests could neither escape nor defend them- 
 selves. The soldiers cut down all that came in their 
 way: men, women, old and young. From my hen- 
 coop I witnessed the slaughter, which I cannot 
 describe, for I grow faint with horror if I but think 
 of it. 
 
 Not even a dog was left alive about the inn. When 
 the work of butchery was completed one of the soldiers 
 took it into his head to peep into the hen-coop. He 
 saw me, broke the lock with his hatchet, and dragged 
 me out by the hair. 
 
 "Don't kill me, comrade," I begged, "I am only a 
 poor soldier like yourself. The inn people took all 
 my money, and penned me in the coop you can see 
 for yourself that I am not one of them, but a foot-sore 
 wanderer." 
 
 "Did they take all your money?" asked the trooper. 
 
326 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "I had only a thaler; the inn-keeper said it was 
 counterfeit, and kept it." 
 
 "Let's see if you're telling the truth," said the fellow, 
 beginning to search about my clothes. 
 
 "Ha! What's this?" he exclaimed suddenly, hold- 
 ing up the thaler he had found in one of my pockets. 
 "I thought you were lying, you rascal," he added, 
 giving me a blow with his fist, and thrusting my thaler 
 into his pocket. 
 
 At that moment another trooper approached, and 
 said something to the first, about not making 'way 
 with me that the French recruiting officers would 
 give ten thalers for such a sturdy chap. Then he too 
 inquired if I had any money. 
 
 I swore I had none ; but he was as incredulous as his 
 comrade, and also searched my pockets. In one of 
 them he found the thaler which had returned to my 
 possession ; and he too gave me a blow for telling him 
 a lie. 
 
 Then came a third trooper with the same inquiry: 
 "Have you money?" 
 
 I had not yet got used to having the thaler return to 
 me, so I said: 
 
 "No, my friend, I haven't another penny" and he 
 didn't find anything in my pockets; but when, at his 
 command, I drew off my boots, the thaler fell out of 
 one of them. 
 
 From this trooper also I received a vigorous blow 
 for lying. When the fourth, fifth, and sixth troopers 
 followed with the same demand for money, I replied : 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 327 
 
 "Yes, friend, I think I have a thaler somewhere 
 about my clothes just search me and maybe you'll 
 find it." 
 
 And every one of them found the thaler once it was 
 found tucked under the collar of my coat ; another time 
 in the lining ; a third time in my neck-ruff. 
 
 My fun came afterward, when the troopers discov- 
 ered they were minus the thaler they had taken from 
 me. They accused one another of stealing, which led 
 to a scuffle and blows. 
 
 I was sold for ten thalers to the Frenchmen, who, 
 when they stripped me to put me into uniform, also 
 searched my clothes. They found nothing; but when 
 they were shearing my hair the thaler suddenly 
 dropped to the floor. 
 
 The sergeant pounced on it, exclaiming : 
 
 "A thaler profit, comrades ! we'll have a drink at 
 once !" 
 
 Beer was ordered from the inn, in which they were 
 quartered ; and while they were drinking, the sergeant 
 turned to me and said : 
 
 "Are you thirsty lad? You are? Very well, then, 
 go into the yard, lift your face to the clouds, and open 
 your mouth wide it's raining heavily! When you 
 have quenched your thirst from the clouds, stand guard 
 at the gate." 
 
 I had to obey, and stand guard ; but I did not quench 
 my thirst with rain water. 
 
 After a while I heard loud voices in the bar-room. 
 The inn-keeper's wife was accusing the soldiers of 
 
328 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 stealing the thaler given to her by the sergeant for the 
 beer. She said it had been taken from the drawer, 
 while she was attending to her work in the kitchen. 
 
 "Which of you fellows stole the thaler?" angrily 
 demanded the sergeant. 
 
 No one answered; whereupon the sergeant pro- 
 ceeded to flog the men, one after the other, with a 
 bunch of hazef-switches. But the thaler was not 
 found. 
 
 Then the five soldiers seized the sergeant, and paid 
 back what he had loaned them; as each had received 
 six blows, the number delivered to him in payment 
 amounted to thirty. 
 
 "Fine discipline !" I said to myself. "Fine disci- 
 pline, where the sergeant flogs his men, and the men 
 flog the sergeant in turn ! It's a fine service I've got 
 into, I must say." 
 
 I thrust my hands into the pockets of my wide trunk- 
 hose, and what do you suppose I found in one of them? 
 The dangerous thaler! It had not occurred to the 
 Frenchmen to search me ! 
 
 "I don't see how such a thing could happen," in a 
 puzzled tone, observed the prince. 
 
 "There is no mystery about it," returned the chair. 
 "The coin was a 'breeding-thaler' as it is called. A 
 breeding-thaler will return to the pocket of its owner, 
 no matter how often he may spend it. If, however, he 
 bestows it as a gift on any one, it will not return to 
 him ; but to the person to whom he has given it." 
 
 "Ah, had I only known that sooner !" in a tone of 
 deep regret, murmured the delinquent. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE HUSBAND OF THE WIFE OF ANOTHER MAN. 
 
 The breeding-thaler was not of much use to me, for 
 I was in a region where there was nothing I cared to 
 purchase. 
 
 I was with the French camp in front of the city of 
 Lille, where I had been assigned . to the artillery, 
 because I had admitted that I knew something about 
 the management of cannon. 
 
 It was a miserable existence: crouched day and 
 night in the trenches ; or, on the lookout for the gren- 
 ades, which were hurled into our camp from the city 
 we were besieging. 
 
 But I could have endured all the hardships if I had 
 had enough to eat. The French general would not al- 
 low any vivandieres with spiritous liquors to enter the 
 battery ; the gunners, he said, must remain sober ; and 
 that they might not want to drink, they were given 
 very little to eat, as eating promotes thirst. If I sent 
 a sapper with a jug to the canteen for beer, he would 
 invariably return with the empty jug, and swear he 
 had lost the thaler I had given him on the way 
 which was true; for, no matter how often I tried it, 
 the coin would be back in my pocket before the 
 messenger had been gone five minutes. The conse- 
 quence was I was in a continual state of hunger and 
 thirst. (329) 
 
330 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 The officers, on the contrary, had plenty to eat and 
 drink. They were always feasting and making merry 
 in their tents. 
 
 My captain had in camp with him a companion of 
 the gentler sex, who was not his wife, nor was she his 
 sister, daughter, or mother nor yet his grand-mother. 
 This lady would sometimes accompany him on his 
 tours of inspection, riding by his side, in a long silk 
 habit, with a plumed cap on her head. She was a 
 beautiful creature. 
 
 One day the general, who had got tired seeing so 
 many women about, gave orders that every one not 
 having a legal husband among his troops should 
 leave the camp within twenty-four hours. That day 
 my captain came to me, and after making believe he 
 was come on business about the guns, said : "By the 
 way, gunner, you look to me like a chap who was used 
 to something better than loading cannon and sleeping 
 on the ground " 
 
 "And gnawing dry bread," I ventured to append. 
 
 He laughed, and said again : 
 
 "I've half a mind to appoint you my adjutant how 
 would that suit you?" 
 ; "I shouldn't object." 
 
 "Will you do me a small favor in return?" 
 
 "Whatever I can, sir." 
 
 "I should want you to keep a well-supplied table, 
 and invite me to dine and sup. I, of course, will pay 
 .all expenses," 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 531 
 
 'That doesn't sound like a very hard task, sir," I 
 replied. 
 
 "It isn't only there's a condition goes with it. In 
 order to entertain properly an officer of my rank, there 
 will have to be a lady to do the honors of the table." 
 
 "But, where can I get the lady, sir?" 
 
 "I'll find one for you the lady you have seen riding 
 with me. She has long possessed my deepest respect." 
 
 I scratched my head back of the right ear : 
 
 "If you respect the lady so much, sir, why don't you 
 marry her?" 
 
 "Stupid fellow ! because I already have a wife." 
 
 "Look here, sir," I said after a moment's delibera- 
 tion, "I have eaten all sorts of ammunition bread dur- 
 ing my experience as a soldier; I have cheated and 
 stolen ; but I have never occupied a position so low as 
 the one you want me to accept." 
 
 "But, my lad, consider the advantages: Plenty to 
 eat, and drink, and nothing to do that is one alterna- 
 tive; the other: in the trenches night and day, bread 
 and water! I will give you half an hour to think it 
 over; if you refuse I shall offer the position to some 
 one else some one who is not so squeamish as you." 
 
 That was a long half hour ! 
 
 I thought over what I had to lose if I accepted the 
 position : Honor? I had very little left; but, if I had 
 squandered it I had done so with my sword and 
 musket, idled it away in a hundred ways though 
 never in the despicable manner suggested to me by my 
 captain. 
 
332 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 But I had been persecuted and cursed for trying to 
 do good what use to try again? Besides, I hadn't 
 anything to lose : I might as well eat and drink away 
 the little self-respect and honor I still possessed. 
 
 At the end of the half hour, the captain came for my 
 decision. I said : 
 
 "I accept your offer, sir here's my hand on it !" 
 
 I held out my hand, and so did he ; but, before they 
 came together, each of us drew back each prompted 
 by the same thought: "This fellow's hand is more 
 soiled than mine I cannot take it!" 
 
 But, I married the donna that afternoon, bestowing 
 on her one of my numerous names ; and after the chap- 
 lain of the regiment had performed the ceremony, this 
 thought involuntarily suggested itself to me : "Hugo, 
 my lad, you are not the only one cheated in this 
 business." 
 
 From that hour it went well with my body and 
 luckily one's stomach does not possess a conscience ! 
 In addition to a well-filled larder and cellar, I had a 
 title I was called "adjutant." 
 
 I saw my bride only at table; how frequently the 
 captain visited my quarters I cannot say. When he 
 was obliged to absent himself on duty connected with 
 the campaign, he would always try to surprise her by 
 an unexpected return. 
 
 One day she was more than surprised when her lover 
 was brought back to camp minus his head ; he had had 
 the misfortune to get within range of a cannon shot 
 from the enemy's lines. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 333 
 
 My situation now became anything but agreeable. 
 I ceased to be an adjutant, but I was still the husband 
 of my wife a role I found it exceedingly difficult to 
 continue. The woman had been accustomed to every 
 luxury; but, as money does not fall from the sky, I 
 found great difficulty in providing her with the bare 
 necessities of life. One after another of the costly 
 ornaments she had received from the captain were 
 disposed of to supply her numerous demands, until all 
 were gone. Then she began to quarrel with me and 
 accused me with trying to starve her. 
 
 I bethought me of the magic coin I had carried in 
 my pocket all this time, merely as a souvenir of the 
 demon-assembly in the Black Forest. I said to it: 
 "Now, thaler, show what you can do!" and gave it 
 to the woman to buy what was necessary. 
 
 I did not know then that if a breeding-thaler were 
 given away it would not return ; and when I placed it 
 in the woman's hand I believed, of course, I should 
 find it again in a few minutes in my pocket. 
 
 But I never saw the thaler again !' 
 
 When, at the expiration of several hours, it did not 
 return to me, I consoled myself with thinking it must 
 be in th& woman's pocket. But it had not returned 
 to her she had given it to an ensign who had been 
 an admirer of hers for a long time. So, the magic 
 thaler was gone for good, and I had nothing but the 
 woman I had married to please my captain and he 
 was dead! 
 
 What was to be done? Should I run away from my 
 
334 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 wife, and my flag? become a two-fold deserter? I 
 pondered over this question for three days; for three 
 long days I endured the taunts of my wife, and the 
 ridicule of my comrades, and on the third I fled 
 
 "I should have run away the first day !" emphatically 
 exclaimed the prince, giving the table a thump with 
 his fist. 
 
 The mayor's eye twinkled as he added : 
 
 "Consequently, desertion may also be stricken 
 from the register !" 
 
 (Quod dixi dixi) 
 
PART XIII. 
 
 THE EXCHANGE OF BODIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE QUACK DOCTOR. 
 
 "Well, you godless reprobate," began the mayor, 
 addressing the prisoner, when the court was assembled 
 the next day for a further hearing of the remarkable 
 case, "you have come to the last of your crimes ; you 
 have illustrated how the seven mortal sins may be 
 trebled, and how the perpetrator may clear himself of 
 the entire twenty-one, if he possesses a fluent tongue. 
 With your entertaining fables you have understood 
 how to extend the time of your trial five months and 
 two weeks, believing, no doubt, that the Frenchmen 
 would in the meantime seize the fortress and save you 
 from the gallows. But that has not come to pass. 
 Only one more indictment remains on your list 
 Treason. I don't believe you will be able to talk your- 
 self out of that ! But we will now hear you make the 
 attempt." 
 
 The prisoner bowed and summoned to his aid the 
 muse, by whose help he had wrested from death one 
 
 (335) 
 
336 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 day after another, to assist him win yet another twenty- 
 four hours in God's beautiful world. 
 
 As the honorable gentlemen of the court are aware, 
 I entered into service here, after I deserted from the 
 French camp at Lille and I have tried to do my duty 
 faithfully, as becomes a good soldier 
 
 "I must say" interrupted the prince with consid- 
 erable stress "you were the best gunner in my 
 artillery." 
 
 After he had thanked his highness for the compli- 
 ment, the prisoner resumed: 
 
 One day, while I was deeply absorbed in my 
 technical studies, a quack doctor was brought to my 
 quarters. He had announced that he was my messen- 
 ger to the camp of the enemy, and that he had returned 
 with some important information for me. 
 
 He was an imposter ; I had not employed any one to 
 perform such errands for me. I ordered the fellow to 
 be brought before me. He was of low, but vigorous 
 stature, with a crafty countenance, and cunning leer. 
 He had with him an entire apothecary's outfit : a chest 
 filled with all sorts of oils, extracts, unguents, and pills. 
 
 The fellow laughed in my face and said in an impu- 
 dent tone : 
 
 "Well, comrade, don't you know me?" 
 
 "No; I have never before seen your ugly phiz," I 
 replied, a trifle angrily. 
 
 "Nor have I seen yours; but I know you for all 
 that Belphegor." 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 387 
 
 I was startled. "You are Behoric?" I exclaimed. 
 I sent the orderly from the room, then asked : 
 
 "How did you manage to find me? You never saw 
 me without a mask." 
 
 "I will tell you : I have two magic rings ; one I wear 
 on the little finger of my right hand ; the other on the 
 little finger of my left hand, both with the setting 
 turned inward. If I say to the rings: 'I want to find 
 my blood-comrade, Belphegor/ one of them turns 
 around on my finger and the setting shows me the way 
 I must go. If I arrive at a point where two roads 
 meet, the other ring shows me which to take. That 
 is how I came here." 
 
 The explanation did not altogether satisfy me the 
 fellow's face made me doubt the truth of it ; but I could 
 not deny that I was his blood-comrade. Besides, I 
 entertained a sort of affection for him; we had been 
 good comrades, and had not drank each other's blood 
 for nothing. 
 
 "Well," said I, after deliberating a moment, "what 
 brings you here? here, where nothing is to be got but 
 fiery bullets." 
 
 "I came to ask you to exchange bodies." 
 
 'Why do you wish to exchange?" 
 The leader has ordered it." 
 
 'Do you still belong to the satyrs?" 
 
 "Yes and so do you. It is not a disease from 
 which one can recover; nor an office one may resign. 
 It is not a garment one may cast aside ; nor a wife one 
 may divorce. In a word, once a satyr, always a satyr," 
 
338 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 "I pledged only my body, not my soul," I inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 "And it isn't your soul I want, comrade ; only your 
 body. You may carry your soul in my body, and go 
 whithersoever it may please you to wander." 
 
 "But, what shall I do while in your body?" 
 
 "You will do what I should do: sell theriac and 
 arsenic; lapis nephriticus, nostra paracelsi, apoponax, 
 and salamander ointment for all of which you will 
 receive good, hard coin from the credulous fools who 
 will be your customers. It is the easiest life in the 
 world!" 
 
 "But I don't know the least thing about your 
 medicaments, and couldn't tell what any of them would 
 heal or cure." 
 
 "Oh, you need not trouble your head about that! 
 Just take a look into this chest. See here in the 
 different compartments are arranged various bottles, 
 vials and boxes, with the names of their contents above 
 them. These tiny letters under each one, which 
 cannot be read without the aid of a magnifying glass, 
 are the names of the diseases for which the contents of 
 the bottles, vials, and boxes are infallible remedies. 
 When a patient applies to you, listen what he has to 
 say; then, diagnose the disease, consult your micro- 
 scopic directions, and dose him according to his ability 
 to pay." 
 
 "And how long will I have to wear your hideous 
 form and let you occupy my stately proportions?" I 
 asked. 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 339 
 
 "Until we both desire to exchange again. I will give 
 you one of my magic rings and I'll keep the other. If 
 you turn the ring on your finger at the same moment 
 I turn mine, then the exchange will be effected, no 
 matter how far apart our bodies may be. Now, take 
 this ring, and summon your orderly. Bid him escort 
 me to the gate, and give me a glass of brandy before he 
 lets me depart." 
 
 I obeyed these directions and : after a few minutes, 
 the burning in my throat convinced me that I was in 
 Behoric's squat body ; that he occupied my taller shell 
 I found very shortly. 
 
 Hardly had the exchange taken place, when a bom- 
 bardier came to announce that the second cannon in 
 the third battery had burst, whereupon Behoric in my 
 body answered: 
 
 "Boil some glue, and stick the pieces together; then 
 wind some stout twine around the cannon to prevent 
 it from bursting again/' 
 
 At these directions the bombardier and the orderly 
 exchanged glances and snickered. 
 
 "This won't do at all," I said to myself, so I whis- 
 pered to my figure : "Behoric, just change back again 
 for a second, will you?" 
 
 Each turned the ring on his finger, and I was 
 again I. 
 
 "Take the broken cannon to the arsenal," I said to 
 the grinning bombardier, "and put in its place one of 
 the bronze pieces from chamber number IV. Why do 
 you laugh, idiot?" 
 
340 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Then Behoric and I exchanged again, and I found 
 myself trudging in his body down the hill from the 
 fortress, with the medicine chest on my back. I was 
 obliged to pass through the beleaguerer's camp, and, 
 naturally, was commanded to halt. When they spoke 
 to me I could not understand them I, who am per- 
 fectly familiar with French, Latin, English, Polish, 
 Russian, Turkish, Indian, Dutch I, with Behoric's 
 untutored ears, and with his inability to converse in 
 any language but the German, could not understand 
 a word the Frenchmen said to me. The colonel was 
 obliged to send for an interpr eter. 
 
 "Have you been inside the fortress?" I was asked. 
 
 "I have." 
 
 "Did you deliver to the chief gunner what I sent 
 with you?" 
 
 "I did." * 
 
 "Will he do what I ask?" 
 
 "He will." 
 
 Here, to my great surprise for I had done nothing 
 to earn it the colonel pressed fifty thalers into my 
 palm, and motioned me to pass on my way. 
 
 I wandered out into the world, trudged from city to 
 city, selling the contents of my chest, until I came to 
 Madgeburg, where, having accumulated a considerable 
 sum of money, I bought a horse and wagon. I could 
 now travel about with greater convenience and speed 
 than when forced to carry the heavy medicine-chest on 
 my back. I also hired an assistant to blow a trumpet 
 when I wanted to collect a crowd around my wagon. 
 
TdLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 341 
 
 I became so well satisfied with the pleasant life I 
 now led, no thought of changing back to my own 
 body ever occurred to me. My blood-comrade might 
 keep it, and continue to fire cannon from Ehrenbreit- 
 stein I was quite content with my quack-doctoring, 
 and with his anatomy. 
 
 And a wonderfully shrewd and sensible little 
 anatomy it was ! My own did not contain a tenth part 
 the sense that was in his. Therefore, I considered it 
 my duty to bestow the best of care on it. I fattened it 
 with the same attention to details I would have 
 observed had it been my own and I was amply able 
 to supply it with everything that was necessary to 
 increase its bulk. 
 
 I had all the money I wanted. The regular doctors 
 became impoverished; for, to me alone would the 
 people apply for help and I must say the remedies 
 I sold accomplished wonders. 
 
 One day, however, a misfortune occurred to me. I 
 was selling my miracle-cures in the market place in 
 Madgeburg as fast as I and my assistant could hand 
 them out, when some one a wretch hired by the 
 envious doctors, no doubt thrust a piece of burning 
 sponge into the ear of my horse. You may guess the 
 result. 
 
 The horse ran away, the wagon was upset, and my 
 medicaments scattered in all directions. 
 
 My neck was not broken, but what happened was 
 almost as bad. When I came to replace the medica- 
 ments in the chest, I found that I could not remember 
 
342 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S 
 
 just where each bottle, vial, and box properly belonged. 
 However, I made a guess of it, and put them back 
 where I thought they ought to be. I made a good 
 many mistakes, though, judging by some of the very 
 peculiar effects the remedies produced after the acci- 
 dent. 
 
 The syndic, whose right leg was shorter than the left, 
 sent for me to remedy the defect. I was a little fuddled 
 from having emptied a bottle of good French wine 
 just before I quitted my lodgings; and, instead of 
 rubbing the elongating ointment on the shorter limb, 
 I applied it to the longer one; the consequence of 
 which was: the longer leg increased to such a length 
 that the worthy syndic, when he wanted to sit down, 
 had to perch himself on the buffet, and would bump 
 his head against the ceiling every step he took. He 
 threatened to shoot me. 
 
 A second mischance occurred when I was called to 
 attend the president of the Board of Trade. He had 
 the gout in both feet and could not move without 
 crutches. I had a certain remedy for that fell disease, 
 a remedy so powerful that .only a very small portion, 
 about the size of a pea, was required to embrocate an 
 afflicted member. Thinking to hasten the cure, I 
 applied half the contents of a box to each foot, which 
 made the old gentleman so active and nimble, he was 
 forced, for a time, to take the position oi runner for 
 the Elector of Brandenburg, because he could not keep 
 his feet still ; nor could he sit anywhere but at a loom, 
 where he might stamp his feet continually; and at 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 343 
 
 night, when he wanted to go to sleep he had to be 
 bound to a tread-mill. 
 
 Two other wonderfully efficacious remedies were: 
 a wash to force a luxuriant crop of curling hair to grow 
 on a bald head ; the other, if applied to toothless jaws, 
 would cause new teeth to appear. 
 
 The result of getting these two remedies misplaced 
 was : the tooth-wash was used on the bald head of a 
 man ; and the hair-restorative on the toothless jaws of 
 a woman. Instead of hair, two beautiful horns 
 appeared on the man's head ; while the woman grew a 
 mustache that would have roused the envy of a drum- 
 major. 
 
 But these cases were nothing compared to what 
 happened to the wife of the chief justice. She was 
 afflicted with severe paroxysms of hiccoughing, and I 
 was summoned to relieve her. There was in my chest 
 a remedy for such an attack; but, having been mis- 
 placed, I got hold of the wrong box, and administered 
 to the sufferer a dose of pills intended to force 
 obstinate hens to produce eggs. In less than six 
 weeks that unfortunate lady gave birth to seven living 
 children 
 
 "I don't believe it ! I don't believe a single word of 
 it!" interrupted the prince, who had almost burst his 
 belt with laughing. "You are asking too much if you 
 expect us to credit such outrageous fables. 
 
 Here the chair remarked with great seriousness: 
 "Beg pardon, your highness: but there are authentic 
 records of similar cases. In Hungary, the wife of a 
 
344 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 Count Miczbanus gave birth at one time to seven living 
 sons, all of whom lived to grow up." 
 
 "She certainly took some of the prisoner's hen pills," 
 laughingly responded his highness. 
 
 The prisoner continued : 
 
 Naturally mistakes of this sort roused the animosity 
 of the patients ; but, none were so enraged as was the 
 burgomaster. His case, indeed, capped the climax ! 
 I had two miraculous cures : one would cause to disap- 
 pear from the human nose pimples, warts and all other 
 disfiguring excrescences ; the other would transform 
 silver into gold. 
 
 The burgomaster possessed a large silver snuff-box 
 and an exceedingly prominent and highly-colored nose 
 which was covered with unsightly pimples He sent 
 for me in secret and bade me test the efficacy of the 
 two miracle-cures on his snuff-box arid on his nose. 
 
 Like some of the other remedies, these two had also 
 changed places, in consequence of which, the burgo- 
 master's nose turned to gold, while the snuff-box 
 vanished as if from the face of the earth. 
 
 This cure so amused the prince he could hardly 
 gasp: 
 
 "Enough enough ! no more today ! We will 
 hear the rest tomorrow I am faint with laughing." 
 
 The court adjourned until the following day, when 
 the prisoner resumed his confession : 
 
 As might be expected, this last mistake of mine 
 caused a dispute to arise. The burgomaster, however, 
 was not so angry because his nose had changed to 
 
TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 345 
 
 gold ; but nothing would console him for the loss of his 
 snuff-box. He actually accused me of stealing it ! 
 
 Had the worthy man been versed in the science of 
 chemistry, he would have known that there are sub- 
 stances which absorb, and consume, each other. For 
 instance: argentum vivum will dissipate aurum; and 
 aqua fortis will consume silver as will a starving cow 
 barley. This is called occulta qualitas. 
 
 The citizens of Madgeburg, however, are not clever 
 enough to comprehend matters so transcendental in 
 character. I was summoned to appear before the 
 mayor, who, being father-in-law to a doctor, sen- 
 tenced me, out of spite, to be flogged in public. 
 
 This did not suit me at all, so I said to myself: 
 "Now, friend Behoric, I have been content to occupy 
 your carcass without murmuring, so long as nothing 
 more was required of me than to stuff it with liver- 
 pasties and oysters ; but, when it comes to having the 
 hide tickled with a cat-o'-nine tails, then you had better 
 come back into it !" 
 
 I was already bound to the pillory and the execu- 
 tioner had bared my back, revealing the marks of 
 former scourging of which I could remember nothing 
 as they were on Behoric's body. 
 
 When the executioner saw that the whip would not 
 be new to my blood-comrade's hide, he sent for a 
 heavier scourge, the ends of which terminated with 
 barbed nails. 
 
 "Now, Behoric/' I said, "you must take this flogging 
 yourself." 
 
346 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 My hands being bound together, I had no difficulty 
 turning the ring on my little ringer. I had given it 
 but one turn, when, to my great joy, I found myself in 
 my own body, in my casemate in Ehrenbreitstein 
 fortress ; and before me stood his honor, here, with an 
 empty fire-ball in one hand; in the other, what he 
 called the "proofs of my treason." 
 
 I guessed at once what my blood-comrade had been 
 doing, what crime he had committed while occupying 
 my body. 
 
 The Frenchmen, who are leagued with the Bocks- 
 ritter, had sent Behoric to the fortress, to take my 
 place, and inform them what was going on in here, 
 When he found that his crime had been discovered by 
 his honor, the mayor, he said to himself: "It is time 
 for Belphegor to return to his body;" and, as it hap- 
 pened, he turned his ring at the same moment I turned 
 the one on my finger. 
 
 I can imagine his consternation when he found 
 himself in the pillory in Madgeburg, with his back 
 bared for the scourge ; and I have to laugh every time 
 I think of the grimaces he must have made when the 
 barbed nails cut into his scarred hide ! 
 
 This, your highness, and honorable gentlemen ol 
 the court, is the strictly veracious history of my last 
 capital crime. 
 
PART XIV. 
 
 THE WHITE DOVE. 
 
 The decision of the court at the conclusion of the 
 long trial was as follows : 
 
 "Whereas : After hearing all the evidence, it has 
 been found impossible to establish fully the exact 
 nature of twenty-one of the twenty-two crimes, for 
 which the prisoner has been indicted, the court has 
 decided to pronounce him guilty of only the twenty- 
 second and last on the register 'Treason.' 
 
 "But, as the prisoner avers that this transgression 
 was committed by his blood-comrade, who occupied 
 his, the prisoner's, body at the time the crime was com- 
 mitted; and that his, the prisoner's, mind was not 
 cognizant of the blood-comrade's intentions when the 
 exchange of bodies was effected, the court has decided 
 to acquit the prisoner's mind and commend it to the 
 mercy of God ; and, that it may serve as a lesson to all 
 miscreants who contemplate a similar crime, to sen- 
 tence the body to death by a merciful shot in the back 
 of the head." 
 
 The prisoner thanked the court for its clemency and 
 assured the honorable gentlemen that he had no desire 
 to postpone the execution of the just sentence. 
 
 (347) 
 
348 TOLD BY THE DEATH'S HEAD. 
 
 When he was brought to the place of execution he 
 removed his coat and hat, then requested, as a last 
 favor, that his hands might be left free, and not bound 
 behind his back, as he wished to clasp them on his 
 breast in prayer. 
 
 The request was granted. He knelt, and in an 
 audible tone repeated the Lord's Prayer. Then he 
 turned toward the musketeers, who were waiting 
 matches in readiness above the priming-pans, and said 
 earnestly : 
 
 "Comrades, I beg you, when you shoot me, try also 
 to kill the raven which is fluttering on my shoulder" 
 he glanced furtively toward his shoulder and added 
 joyfully: "No! No! it is not the raven it is my 
 white dove my precious white dove ! She has come 
 to bear my soul to the land wherein she now dwells ! 
 My good angel! My Madus my only love!" 
 
 Twelve musket shots rang out on the silent air, and 
 the white dove soared away with the released soul. 
 
 FINIS.) 
 
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