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 THE 
 
 MAGICIAN 
 
 LEITCH RITCHIE 
 
 THREE VOLUMES 
 VOL. I 
 
 LONDON 
 JOHN MACRONE ST. JAMES'S SQUARE 
 
 MDCCCXXXVI
 
 J. Haddon and Co. Doctors* Commons,
 
 
 
 ,^ 
 
 
 TO 
 
 MY BROTHER JOHN 
 
 I DEDICATE THESE TOLUAIES, 
 
 V 
 
 It 
 
 1 LEITCH RITCHIE.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In the year of our Lord one thousand four 
 hundred and thirty-seven, the famous city of 
 Paris presented the spectacle of a royal entry far 
 more interesting than the usual pomp of kings. 
 For fifteen years before, a stranger had sat on the 
 throne of France. For fifteen years, the foot of 
 an English monarch had been on the neck of 
 the French people ; and Henry V., with the usual 
 insolence of a conqueror, instead of humouring 
 the writhings of his prostrate enemy, had only trodc 
 
 VOL. T. B
 
 2 THE MAGICIAN, 
 
 the fiercer at every throe. But the spirit of the 
 Nation was now fairly re-awakened. Heaven itself 
 had fought on her side; and by signs, and portents, 
 and miracles, rendered holy the cause of Liberty. 
 The apostle, and martyr, of the new revolution, 
 was not a warrior, but a woman ; not the scion of 
 royalty, but a peasant girl. The mission of this 
 illustrious Virgin was now fulfilled ; the French 
 people had risen up like a strong man from 
 slumber ; their enemies had been swept out of 
 the metropolis ; and^ on the day on which our 
 narrative commences, their wandering Prince, 
 crowned with the diadem of his ancestors, was 
 about to enter in triumph the gates of Paris. 
 
 Among the vast multitudes that rolled like a 
 torrent through the streets, there was a single 
 individual, who, although in some slight measure 
 connected with the business of the scene, appeared, 
 like ourselves, to be nothing more than an idle 
 spectator. This was a young Scottish knight, who 
 belonged to a party which had been sent forward 
 to announce the coming of the king, but who had 
 now, with the curiosity of a stranger, and the love
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 6 
 
 of foreign sights inherent in his nation, sallied forth 
 alone to engulf himself in the crowd. He had 
 lately fought, in the breaches of Monte reau, against 
 his ancestral enemies, the English ; and a little 
 earlier had pranced through the city of Tours, in 
 the train of the princess Margaret of Scotland, 
 who had gone thither to wed the boy-dauphin : 
 but never before had he beheld, or even imagined, 
 so much splendour and confusion on so vast a 
 scale. 
 
 As he elbowed his way from the island called 
 the Cite, which formed the central portion of Paris, 
 towards the wilderness of houses and palaces on 
 the right bank of the river, he paused in astonish- 
 ment on gaining the m-iddle of the bridge — it was 
 the Pont-aux-Changeurs — to look round upon the 
 scene. Behind him, after his eye had traversed 
 the Cite, the visible horizon was formed by the 
 thousand dark roofs of the University ; and before, 
 at the end of the bridge, his passage seemed to be 
 barred by the stern towers of the Chatelet, although 
 surmounting and surrounding these, the turrets of 
 almost innumerable palaces attracted, irresistibly, 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 the curiosity. On either side the view was shut 
 in by the ranges of shops and houses which hned 
 the bridge hke a parapet; and if sometimes an 
 opening afforded a peep beyond, another bridge 
 loaded in hke manner, was seen at a few hundred 
 paces distance. 
 
 The first thought of the strans^er was of the 
 enormous number of human beings which this 
 densely packed mass of dwellings must contain. 
 
 " In God's name, messire," said he to a passer- 
 by, " how many may there be of you here ?" 
 
 '' The first city in Europe," replied the bourgeois, 
 pompously, "reckons within her walls three hun- 
 dred thousand souls." The Scot stared in aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 '^ Then, by our Lady's might," said he, '* there 
 are enough of you to eat up all Perth at one meal \ 
 — that is, if we would let you." 
 
 "I doubt," rejoined the citizen, *' whether the 
 capital of Scotland could afford us even a single 
 meal ; else why do so many hungry mouths cross 
 the ocean almost daily, to eat and drink at the 
 cost of France ?"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 5 
 
 " Because they are bidden," replied the Scot, 
 lowering his voice, and compressing his lips, like a 
 man who would not lose his temper. '^ If France 
 could fight her own battles, there would be no 
 need of our Scottish spears. But away! you are 
 only a peddling churl, for all your embroidered 
 doublet; and to-morrow I shall see you in the 
 depths of some dusky warehouse, haggling for 
 deniers, in a dress of serge and leather !" 
 
 *' I am an echevin of the town !'* cried the in- 
 sulted dignitary. 
 
 " Were you the prevot himself, I say you are 
 only a peddling churl i" 
 
 *' Masters, will you hear this ?" said the echevin, 
 turning to the crowd, some of whom had stopped 
 to listen to the dialogue ; " do you see my badge ? 
 Be there none here who follow the banner of Saint 
 Luce ?'' But most of those whom he addressed 
 walked away out of the row, and not a few of the 
 others laughed outright. As for the Scot, whom 
 the name of the banner had informed that his 
 antagonist was a member of the confrerie of tailors, 
 he turned indignantly away; and the inhospitable
 
 b THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 echevin, alternately appealing to the passers-by, 
 and tugging at his unwilling sword, was soon left 
 behind. 
 
 The young knight pursued his way, rather less 
 disposed to admire than before this adventure. 
 The Chatelet, however, through the arch-way of 
 which he passed, although no longer the Roman 
 tower of Julian the apostate, appeared to him to 
 be a fortress of incomparable beauty as well as 
 strength ; and the immense line of the Rue Saint 
 Denis beyond, although he had heard that the 
 Rue Saint Martin was still wealthier, seemed to 
 contain in its countless shops and warehouses the 
 riches of a whole kingdom. But every thing on 
 this day had an aspect peculiar to the occasion. 
 The street was hung in its w hole length with cano- 
 pies of rich cloth and carpeting, and here and 
 there stages were erected for the performance of 
 music, shows, and mysteries. The members of 
 the different confreries of trades were seen hurry- 
 ing along to their rendezvous, gorgeously dressed, 
 and bearing the banners of their patron-saints ; 
 while justling these, successive gioups of minstrels,
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 7 
 
 jugglers, players, and above all, devils, hoofed and 
 homed, elbowed their way to their various posts. 
 
 Not" were the women wanting in the spectacle. 
 The caps alone of the ladies, made in the form of 
 a sugar loaf, half an ell high, from the peak of 
 which a white veil flowed forth, and descended to 
 the feet, would have made them sufficiently re- 
 markable ; but the effect of this portion of the 
 dress was heightened by the fantastic richness of 
 the rest. They wore, no longer, indeed, the arms 
 of their husbands emblazoned on their gowns ; 
 nor did their garments, like those of their great 
 grandmothers, in the fashion of the open tunics of 
 the Spartan girls, display their naked sides : but 
 gold and silver, satin and velvet, combined to fur- 
 nish figures calculated to adorn the festival of 
 the gayest prince in Christendom. 
 
 Among the vast crowd of strange figures and 
 costumes, the knight was surprised to find none 
 belonging to the Hebrew nation. He did not 
 know, or had forgotten, that, although still spread- 
 ing its branches in other parts of Europe, the tree of 
 Judah was not only cut down in France, but rooted 
 up out of the soil. The Jews, in fact, had been
 
 8 
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 
 
 banished so strictly from this most Christian king- 
 dom, by an edict of the last prince, that if one of 
 them had been found to-day among that multitude 
 of his fellow-creatures, he would in all probability 
 have been burnt alive. 
 
 But, mingling with the peculiarities of the day, 
 the common business of life went on as usual ; 
 and the stranger was almost stunned with the 
 thousand discordant noises of a Parisian morning. 
 Every article in daily use, from a roasted goose to 
 a tallow-candle, had its crier ; and every crier vied 
 with his neighbours as to who should bawl the 
 loudest. The commissioners of the baths were 
 flying about informing the public that their water 
 was hot, and, looking eagerly in the face of the 
 passer-by, shouted, "Make haste ! make haste !" 
 The venders of wine were clamorously inviting 
 the crowd to taste ; the restaurateurs tempting the 
 appetite with a catalogue of their meats ; and in 
 the midst of all, some men in black issuing from 
 the houses, or the cross streets, ringing a mourn- 
 ful bell, called upon all who heard them to pray 
 for the souls of the dead. 
 
 The number of beggars, especially, was so great,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 9 
 
 and their endless litanies so loud, that they raight 
 almost be said to give the prevailing character to 
 the scene. Besides the common poor who go to 
 and fro upon the earth to this day v^ith artificial 
 wounds and stories of imaginary distress, there 
 were shoals of vagabonds calling themselves Bohe- 
 mians, distinguished from the rest by their shorn 
 heads — so despoiled by the mandate of govern- 
 ment, A still greater number of bald crowns 
 belonged to the various orders of mendicant 
 monks ; and these were farther distinguished by 
 the chin as well as the scalp being destitute of 
 hair. The most remarkable of this class were the 
 Jacobins, a colony of Dominicans, so called from 
 officiating in the chapel of St. Jacques. One of 
 these flogged St. Louis to his heart's content in 
 the quality of his confessor ; another assassinated 
 Henri III. ; and another canonized the assassin : 
 but notwithstanding this illustrious fortune, they 
 all begged in the streets of Paris. Then came 
 the cordeliers, so celebrated for their dissolute 
 manners ; and then the Grands Augustins, the 
 Celestines, the Carthusians ; while, jostled by 
 
 b3
 
 10 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 these bold and libertine monks, some bands of 
 Beguines, and Socurs Sachettes, raised here and 
 there their shrill voices among the crowd. 
 
 All these, however, were beggars by profession, 
 and excited therefore but little of the knight's 
 pity, although they drew some small coins from 
 his pocket ; but it was with a start of surprise and 
 concern that he saw, mingling with the clamorous 
 crowd, and crying like the others for bread, some 
 students of the university, habited in their black 
 gowns and cowls. This common spectacle ap- 
 peared extraordinary to him ; for the university 
 was associated in his mind only with ideas of 
 power, and grandeur, and the most prodigious 
 audacity. But this was the university as a body ; 
 this was the rector, the advocates, the regents of 
 the colleges : he had now to learn how happily the 
 students united to their clerical character that of 
 the ruffian and the mendicant. The spirits of the 
 Scot were depressed, as he thought how many 
 high-minded, chivalrous adventurers had left and 
 were still leaving his own country, to pursue the 
 path of honour and fortune at this famous semi-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. tl 
 
 nary ; and in particular a cloud settled upon his 
 brow as he speculated upon the fate of an early 
 friend, whom it was to be his business that evening 
 to seek out in the city of colleges, on the left 
 bank of the river. 
 
 On approaching the end of the street, which was 
 terminated by the gate of St. Denis, on the same 
 spot which it occupies to-day, the crowd became 
 so dense, that sometimes a halt of several minutes 
 at a time took place in the moving mass. On 
 such occasions the principal confusion was occa- 
 sioned by the valets, who enjoyed the reputation 
 of being, next to the students, the greatest black- 
 guards in Paris. So obnoxious, in fact, had they 
 become to the authorities, that those who were out of 
 place were forced to quit the city instantly, if they 
 could not find some respectable person to become 
 responsible for their conduct. Their costume was 
 as various as that of their descendants of the 
 present day ; but many wore only a single sleeve 
 of their master's livery. On the present occasion 
 their delinquencies were confined to certain manual 
 jokes played upon the lower class of women, and
 
 12 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 some less innocent conversations which they held 
 with the speaking birds, hung out almost at every 
 vvindow. And in these household favourites of 
 the Parisians of the age, it must be said, they met 
 with their match. Leading the public life they 
 did, in which they were exposed to every sort of 
 society, the natural morality of the birds was so 
 far lost, that they had become fluent in every term 
 of insult and indecency; and thunders of laughter 
 were elicited among the crowd by the aptness of 
 their repartees. 
 
 When the Scottish knight at length reached the 
 gate of St. Denis, a scene took place which formed 
 a strange prelude to the approaching ceremony. 
 In those days the English were not the only 
 ravagers of France. Famine, as usual, had fol- 
 lowed the steps of protracted war; and troops of 
 starved wolves, unable to live in their forests, came 
 prowling, not only to the gates, but in the very streets 
 of Paris. Women as well as children, if we may 
 believe contemporary authors, were in some in- 
 stances killed by these hungry and ferocious beasts ; 
 and not a few of the more daring citizens went
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 13 
 
 forth to combat the destroyer, in the same chival- 
 rous spirit which inspired the heroes of the ro- 
 mancers, in their duels with giants and dragons. 
 
 At this moment a slain wolf of extraordinary 
 size was brought in, as a trophy, by a party of 
 these adventurers ; and when the cortege reached 
 the gate, in order to give greater effect to the ex- 
 hibition, the tremendous brute was raised upon 
 his legs, with his dead eyes and dripping jaws 
 directed towards the street. The spectacle was 
 hailed by the rabble with a universal shout ; but 
 the noise died away with unusual suddenness. It 
 seemed as if the show had been taken as an evil 
 augury ; and this strange avant-courier of a 
 monarch was ordered to make his entrance by 
 another avenue. The wolf-hunters, however, were 
 now anxious to become the spectators of a new and 
 more splendid pageant ; and the gaunt carcase 
 was thrown down by the way-side, to remain till 
 the living hero of the day had passed by. The 
 incident was called to mind soon after, when the 
 burdens which the necessities of Charles VII. 
 compelled him to impose, were characterized
 
 14 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 by the selfishness of the Parisians, not as the 
 demands of a lawful king, but as the ravages of a 
 
 wolf. 
 
 The whole of the space at the porte St. Denis, 
 was taken up by the authorities of the city, lining 
 each side of the way, with those in the middle 
 appointed to receive the king. Above the gate 
 was hung a shield, with the representation of 
 France supported by three angels, and the follow- 
 ing inscription : — 
 
 Tres excellent roy et seigneur, 
 Les manans de votrc cite 
 Vous ref oiuent en tout honneur, 
 Et en tres grande humilite. 
 
 The ground was kept by the arbalatriers and 
 archers of the town, arrayed in coats of arms ; 
 which, being of the livery colours of the city, red 
 and blue, gave them the appearance of wearing a 
 uniform, although this improvement in the dress 
 of soldiers is of much more modern introduction. 
 
 The approaching cortege, which had been some 
 time in sight, at length gradually reached the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 15 
 
 ground ; and file after file, as they arrived, took up 
 their position on either side of the way, till King 
 Charles himself was seen through the long vista, 
 approaching slowly and majestically, seated on a 
 white horse, the emblem of royalty. At this 
 sight the breath of the vast multitude, hitherto pent 
 up, as it were, by curiosity and expectation, found 
 simultaneous utterance, and the cry of ^' Noel ! 
 Noel !" burst from every lip. The expression is a 
 contraction of Emanuel, *' Lord be with us !" and 
 was used at that time as a cry of joy by the 
 French people, instead of " Vive le Roi !" It was 
 echoed from mouth to mouth, from street to 
 street. The women and children in the most 
 distant quarters of the metropolis gave back the 
 sound; the sick and the dying put aside their 
 curtains, to gaze towards the window, and swell 
 the shout with their feeble voices ; the clock- 
 towers of every church in the city gave forth at 
 the signal a joyful peal ; and even the great bell 
 of the palace, whose hammer stirred only on 
 extraordinary occasions, rang " Noel! Noel !" 
 On the approach of the king, the prevot of the
 
 16 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 merchants — for the prevot of Paris was a royal 
 and not a municipal officer — presented the keys 
 of the city; while a canopy of violet-coloured 
 velvet was held by the echevins (answering in 
 some respects to our aldermen), over the royal 
 head. The city dignitaries then marshalled the 
 way of their master into his metropolis. 
 
 The prevot of Paris was attended by his ser- 
 geants on foot in great numbers, each wearing a 
 green and red hood ; and after these came a long 
 line of notaries, procureurs, commissioners, ad- 
 vocates, and counsellors, followed by the lieu- 
 tenant and guard of the governor, or, as he was 
 termed in the grandiloquence of the age, the ki/tg 
 of the Chatelet. 
 
 After this civic cortege, there followed one of a 
 more extraordinary nature, or at least, one that 
 few would have looked for in the triumphant 
 march of a king. It consisted of Faith, Hope, 
 Chanty, Justice, Prudence, Courage, and Tem- 
 perance, all on horseback, and all sumptuously 
 dressed in character. Together with these, how- 
 ever, perhaps to redeem in some measure the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 17 
 
 inconsistence, the Seven Deadly Sins came plung- 
 ing on in terrible array. Treading on the heels of 
 the latter, the gentlemen of the Parliament and 
 Requests then made their appearance, attired in 
 red robes ; and after them, a body of eight 
 hundred archers, led on by the Count d' Angou- 
 leme, a Prince of the blood, of the house of 
 Orleans. 
 
 Montjoye, king of arms, came next; a grave 
 and august personage, shrouded in an immense 
 robe of violet-coloured velvet, studded all over 
 with golden fleurs-de-lys, and large pearls. After 
 him rode the Grand Esquire, carrying the royal 
 helmet, which was closed with a double fleur-de- 
 lys of gold. So sumptuously were this personage 
 and his horse arrayed, that he might have been 
 mistaken for the hero of the scene himself; but 
 following next in order appeared the white steed, 
 which, in the processions of that age, denoted the 
 royal rank of the rider. This superb animal was 
 covered with velvet housings of celestial blue, 
 planted with golden fleurs-de-lys, and trailing to 
 the ground. His foreht^ad was covered with a
 
 18 THE MAGICIAN.' 
 
 plate of polished steel, and surmounted by a 
 magnificent plume of ostrich feathers. 
 
 Nor was the rider unworthy of the steed. 
 Whatever may have been the defects of Charles's 
 person, none were visible on the present occasion. 
 The disproportionate shortness of his legs, which 
 caused him, it is said, to introduce the fashion of 
 long garments, was now hidden by his dress; and 
 his lofty and soldier-like bearing, at a moment 
 like this, so full of pride and triumph, partook, no 
 doubt, still more than usual of a graceful haughti- 
 ness. Clothed in gilded armour, with a rich coat 
 of arms over the cuirass, and shaking to the 
 motion of his steed a cord of glittering gems, 
 which hung upon his hat, onward pranced the hero 
 of the day, bowing and smiling to the enthusiastic 
 greetings of his people, and looking ^' every inch 
 a king." 
 
 After the principal personage had passed by, 
 the interest of the Scottish strano-er seemed to 
 increase rather than diminish ; and he gazed at 
 the next in order with an earnest and critical eye. 
 This was a young lad of fourteen, armed, dressed,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 19 
 
 and mounted in all respects like Charles himself. 
 It was the dauphin, the husband of the Princess 
 of Scotland; of that beautiful, amiable, sensitive 
 little girl of eleven years, whom the knight had 
 assisted in transplanting from her native home at 
 so early an age. The spectator sighed, and shook 
 his head, as he had often done before, on perusing 
 the features of the boy ; and the gloom that settled 
 on his brow told how deeply he regretted that the 
 royal Scot had not matched his daughter in her 
 own country. 
 
 The knight followed the young dauphin with 
 his eye, till the pages of both king and prince, 
 coming closely after, intercepted his view. The 
 Bastard of Orleans then appeared, armed from 
 head to heel, and both himself and horse blazing 
 with jewels. This splendid warrior led on the 
 "battle" of the king, consisting of a thousand 
 lances, all armed to the teeth, both man and horse. 
 The long array was closed by an Esquire of the 
 Stable, bearing a vermilion lance, spangled with 
 gold stars, at the head of which there hung a 
 standard of red silk, with ornaments like those
 
 20 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 of the staff surrounding a portrait of St. Michel. 
 After him there rolled an immense multitude of 
 lords, knights, and bourgeois, with the peasantry, 
 as it seemed, of the whole province ; all dressed to 
 the extent of their means, and in the fashion of 
 their degree. 
 
 The official part of the procession having now 
 passed, the young knight pushed lustily on after 
 the principal personages ; but not before exa- 
 mining, with a glance of curiosity, the appearance 
 and costume of the various classes of the people 
 before him. The profusion of gold and silver in 
 the dress surprised him much, and the hoods of 
 black or red cloth worn by the high bourgeois did 
 not appear to his judgment to be far inferior in 
 richness to the silk and velvet of the nobility. 
 Short coats, although disliked by the king, wei'e 
 worn by many of his subjects, and were embroi- 
 dered with silk, and often with pearls, both be- 
 fore and behind. The longer dresses were gene- 
 rally of two colours, called lobes mi-parties, and 
 produced, in the eyes of the knight, an odd and 
 fantastic eflect. The countrymen were usually
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 dressed in brown coats and breeches, with spatter- 
 dashes bound with iron, and slouching hats, 
 ornamented with a leaden medal of the Virgin. 
 
 Our adventurer, who endured a squeeze with 
 incomparable patience, speedily found himself once 
 more within view of the persons who were sup- 
 posed to form the most interesting portion of the 
 procession. He reached the fountain of the Pon- 
 ceau, which he found surmounted by a large 
 vessel, covered with a fleur-de-lys spouting from 
 its three points, "pro bono publico, hypocras, wine, 
 and water. Two dolphins (in compliment, no 
 doubt, to their brother Louis) were swimming in 
 the well — at least, so saith the " Ceremonial de 
 France." A triumphal arch was then passed 
 through, painted of an azure colour, and sprinkled 
 with the ever-recurring fleur-de-lys. An image of 
 Saint John the Baptist, pointing to an Agnus Dei, 
 adorned the summit, with a choir of good fat 
 angels, of the confrerie of Saint Julien, flapping 
 their wings, and playing their fiddles with all 
 their might. 
 
 At the hospital of the Holy Trinite, the patent
 
 22 T.HE MAGICIAN. 
 
 theatre of Paris, a stage was erected, on which 
 the mystery of the Passion was performed in pan- 
 tomime ; the recollection of which, however, was 
 almost immediately effaced by other stages, and 
 other pantomimes, which presented themselves as 
 the procession advanced. When the Chatelet was 
 at length gained, a great rock had grown out of 
 the Place before it, on which a number of shep- 
 herds, tending their sheep, were in the act of re- 
 ceiving the news of the nativity, and singing 
 Gloria in excelsis. At the bottom of the rock 
 reclined three personages, whose costumes unfor- 
 tunately have escaped our research ; but their 
 names were, the Law of Grace, the Written Law, 
 and the Law of Nature. The Scottish knight, 
 however, was more edified by a spectacle opposite 
 the Boucheries, which represented Paradise, Pur- 
 gatory, and Hell ; with Saint Michel weighing 
 souls in a balance. 
 
 At the bridge, Saint Margaret and a dragon 
 were the gate-keepers (in honour, perhaps, of poor 
 little Margaret of Scotland, and the hereafter Louis 
 XL); while the baptism of our Saviour, by Saint
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 23 
 
 John, was going on. But after entering the cite 
 from the broad avenue of Saint Denis, the specta- 
 tors could hardly move with the procession through 
 the narrow streets ; and by the time the king had 
 reached IN'otre Dame, our knight could see little 
 more than a multitude of black hoods, inter- 
 spersed with mitres, and shaven crowns. The 
 proprietors of these articles were, the Ruler of 
 the University, the archbishop, bishops, abbots, 
 monks, regents of colleges, monitors, sub-monitors, 
 and students. 
 
 Here Charles took the customary oath, between 
 the hands of the bishop of Paris, to maintain the 
 privileges of the chapter, and was then permitted 
 to enter the church. Tliis majestic edifice — where 
 you see at least the memory of old Roman and 
 Lombard taste through its Gothic romanticism — 
 was illuminated by thousands of tapers, although 
 it was still day-light. The glimpse which the in- 
 defatigable Scot was able to catch of the interior, 
 showed him three arcades running up the nave, 
 all thickly planted with tapers, and terminating 
 nobly with the majestic forms of the master altar.
 
 24 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 The treasury of the church was opened on this 
 occasion, and numberless relics presented to the 
 eyes of the people, holy enough to redeem a soul 
 from sin by the veiy sight. Among them was the 
 identical crown of thorns purchased by Saint Louis 
 for one hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hun- 
 dred livres of the money of to-day ; and also the 
 scourge of iron links with which the same pious 
 monarch loved to chastise himself. 
 
 After prayers and thanksgivings were offered, 
 Te Deum was given forth by the choir, assisted by 
 thousands of worshippers. The whole atmosphere 
 vibrated with the lofty music. As the sound rolled 
 forth like thunder over the heads of the vast mul- 
 titude assembled round the cathedral, all sank 
 upon their knees. The neighbouring churches 
 joined in the majestic strain, and those beyond 
 heard and repeated it, like an echo ; till the same 
 voice, the same song of triumph and adoration 
 arose from every altar in the city, and every knee 
 in Paris bent to the earth, while every heart re- 
 peated, We praise thee, O God ! The Scottish 
 knight, brave and reckless as he was; "daring in
 
 THE MAGICIAN^ 25 
 
 love, and dauntless in war" — rose up trembling. 
 A tall, black, sinister-looking object, elevated near 
 the church, met his eye at the moment, and 
 divided his feelings between the terrors of heaven 
 and earth. It was a gallows, denoting the right 
 of 'Miaute justice" exercised by the bishop. 
 
 The great business of the day was now almost 
 over, and Charles VII. had nothing more to do 
 than to repair to the Palace of the Cite, and exer- 
 cise the duties of hospitality to all, indiscrimi- 
 nately, who chose to favour him with their com- 
 pany. The street leading to this ancient edifice — 
 famous long before Paris became a metropolis — 
 was narrow and tortuous, crowded with shops, and 
 in every way unlike the avenue to a royal dwell- 
 ing. Nor was the aspect of the Palace itself a 
 great improvement to the picture. Two sombre 
 and narrow gates admitted the now disordered 
 procession into the Cour du Mai, where the space 
 was too small comparatively to afford any definite 
 idea of the immense pile of buildings in front. 
 Two outside staircases conducted to a great door, 
 which seemed the principal mark of the struggling 
 
 VOL. r. c
 
 26 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 and panting multitude ; and our knight, attacked 
 at once by curiosity, and a most savoury and gene- 
 rous dinner-smell, allowed himself without reluc- 
 tance to be carried on by the tide. 
 
 If disappointed outside, all in the interior 
 was enchantment. The hall into which he en- 
 tered was so vast and so lofty, that it seemed 
 only fit for the dwelling of giants. It was paved 
 with white and black marble j and the roof, en- 
 tirely of wood, was elaborately carved, and sup- 
 ported by wooden pillars of azure and gold. All 
 round the walls were seen the statues of the 
 French kings, with the hands raised, if the reign 
 had been fortunate, but hanging disconsolately 
 by their sides, if otherwise. At the further end 
 was a prodigious table of marble, occupying 
 almost the whole breadth of the hall, and so large, 
 indeed, that it was sometimes used as a stage for 
 the performance of farces and mysteries. At this 
 table were seated the king and princes of the 
 blood ; while humbler boards^ disposed throughout 
 the room, received the other dignitaries — care 
 having been taken to provide separate accom-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 27 
 
 modation for the Town and University. Immense 
 as was the company, the repast was brought up 
 from the kitchens underneath with far less con- 
 fusion than might have been expected ; for here 
 every thing was on so vast a scale, that the stairs 
 of communication, which were two in number, 
 were broad enough to allow the whole army of 
 cooks to march up side by side at one time. 
 
 When our young knight, who had eaten nothing 
 since the morning, had done abundant honour to 
 his royal entertainer, and taken more than one 
 hearty draught of wine, which was served in 
 proportion, he bethought himself that his wan- 
 derings for the day were not yet over. Taking- 
 advantage, therefore, of the noise and confusion 
 incidental to a popular toast, he got up and made 
 his exit, sincerely praying that the king might live 
 long enough to give many more such feasts, and 
 that he himself might be one of the company. 
 
 On descending into the Cour du Mai, he found 
 that its whole area was filled with tables, crowded 
 with company, many of whom were the very 
 lowest of the populace. Near the stairs, however, 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 there were numerous individuals of a higher rank 
 who had found the tables full in the interior ; and 
 he listened for a moment, as he passed, to a 
 voice which seemed to be familiar to his ear. 
 
 " I tell you, masters," said the speaker, " it was 
 nothing to this; the English hogs like eating 
 too well themselves to give generously to another. 
 Henry V. deserved to lose the first city in Europe, 
 were it only for his hungry feast. Why, I'd as 
 lief dine with a beggar under a hedge, as sit here 
 and eat the cold scraps of a king, with hardly a 
 cup of wine to wash them down ! The very poor 
 of the Hotel Dieu cried shame of it. Down with 
 the English ! say I. Come, my masters, pledge 
 me to this toast, * Down with the English, and up 
 with the banner of St. Luce !' " 
 
 *' Bravo, my friend," cried the Scot, as he passed 
 by, "' Down with the English, and up with the 
 banner of St. Luce !" 
 
 "What, is it thou? Hast thou eaten, ha? 
 Hast filled thy belly ? Art satisfied ?" 
 
 " Abundantly." 
 
 " And wilt thou still talk of Perth in the same 
 day with Paris ?"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 29 
 
 " Never, never," answered the knight, who was 
 now in excellent humour. 
 
 ** Sit down then, in God's name,'^ said the molli- 
 fied echevin^ ** Sit down ; here is more to eat, and 
 wine without stint." 
 
 "Another time, friend echevin; although a Scot, 
 I would not eat you up at one meal!" And in 
 the midst of the laugh which this little sally 
 occasioned, he made his escape from the house of 
 feasting.
 
 30 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The streets were still crowded ; and the stranger, 
 calculating that the students would not betake 
 themselves to their colleges for some time yet, 
 amused himself with wandering about the precincts 
 of the palace and Notre Dame. The Sainte Chap- 
 pelle more particularly attracted his attention, the 
 relics of which, collected by St. Louis alone, cost 
 more than a hundred thousand livres tournois. But 
 this price will not be thought extravagant, if it is 
 recollected, that among the valuables there was 
 not only a piece of the true cross, but a portion 
 of the identical iron which pierced the side of 
 Christ. 
 
 Around the cathedral there were grouped so 
 many churches that one might have imagined 
 himself, on such a spot, to be altogether free from
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 31 
 
 the intrusion of sin ; but besides the gallows of 
 the bishop, which spoke eloquently of crime and 
 suffering, there were other objects calculated to 
 drag the thoughts of the passer-by from heaven 
 to earth. In passing through a certain street, the 
 knight was accosted by females, whose shameful 
 trade was evident by their want of the customary 
 hood, denied to them by statute. This place, 
 existing from time immemorial in the holy ground 
 of the Cite, was called the Val d' Amour ; and the 
 inhabitants formed a female confrerie with St. 
 Magdalen for patroness, whose f^te they cele- 
 brated with religious festivities. But not only was 
 the Venus Vaga thus converted to Christianity, 
 but the repentant members of the sisterhood were 
 received as nuns under the name of the Filles 
 Dieu ; and the knight had seen distributed, during 
 the procession, at the door of their convent in the 
 Rue St. Denis, a silver goblet-full of wine to all 
 who passed by and chose to drink. 
 
 As the evening closed in, the tumult of the 
 streets began to die away ; and the noise of the 
 waters of the Seine, as they boiled and whirled
 
 32 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 among the wheels of the Pont-aux-Meuniers, rose 
 above the lessened din, and seemed 
 
 Imposing silence "with a stilly sound. 
 
 Even without inquiring, the stranger easily found 
 
 his way to the bridge which led to the university, 
 
 by the crowd of black figures bending thither, 
 
 from all quarters, their sometimes unsteady steps. 
 
 When at length he had reached the left bank 
 
 of the river, he found himself in altogether another 
 
 town, differing from the one he had left in every 
 
 characteristic, both moral and physical. Few 
 
 shops, few merchants, few tradesmen were to be 
 
 seen — few even of the omni-coloured nondescripts 
 
 who belong, one knows not how, to a city. But 
 
 instead, there was a population of black figures, 
 
 black cloaks, black cowls, and a mass of black 
 
 houses, more resembling public buildings, than 
 
 private dwellings. Yet, on nearer inspection, the 
 
 same inequalities were observable which are seen 
 
 in every large collection of human habitations. 
 
 Some of the houses were old, some new ; some 
 
 mean, some majestic : and their occupiers, in the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 33 
 
 same way, exhibited, in the outward man, all the 
 varieties of sublunary fortune. 
 
 The knight, in inquiring his way, addressed 
 himself like a prudent stranger, to the more re- 
 spectable class of the passers-by — to those whose 
 substantial-looking tabards, worn over their college 
 dress, showed that they were at least graduates of 
 the university ; but after some time he found him- 
 self involved in a labyrinth of mean and narrow 
 streets, where the appearance and manners of the in- 
 habitants were but little calculated to inspire con- 
 fidence. Groups of students rolled along, quarrell- 
 ing and fighting as they went ; screams, mingled 
 with laughter, were heard from every opening; ; 
 and the clash of weapons, often more sonorous than 
 cudgels, made the stranger at last bethink himself, 
 whether he had not made some odd mistake — 
 whether he was in reality traversing the Jerusalem 
 of science, the holy city of priests and scholars ? 
 
 While hesitating for a moment as the idea oc- 
 curred to him, he was suddenly and violently 
 pushed by a party of students, who appeared to 
 have been skulking behind him -, and the Scot, not- 
 
 c 3
 
 34 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 with standing his good humour, instantly collared the 
 nearest offender. This, of course, produced a roWf 
 which seemed to be all that the black gowns wanted ; 
 and in an instant, three or four cudgels were 
 whistling about liis head at the same time. Still 
 he did not draw his sword, for the weapon in its 
 sheath was hard and heavy enough almost to make 
 up for the odds against him ; while the hauberk 
 beneath his coat of arms defended his body from 
 serious injury. In other respects, however, he was 
 not more than upon a par with the enemy. His 
 coat was merely an ornamental garment, em- 
 blazoned with the arms of his family ; his immense 
 spurs, made in the fashion of the age, as large^ as 
 a man's hand, somewhat impeded his pedestrian 
 motions ; and on his head he wore only the com- 
 mon pointed cap of the time, protected from spi- 
 rits rather than men, by a sprig of the holy rowan 
 tree, or mountain-ash. 
 
 But his forbearance, attributed, in all probability, 
 to a dread of the University — which learned body 
 would have hung, without mercy, a much more 
 distinguished man for sheddinsj the blood of a
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 35 
 
 scholar in any quarrel— ^nly increased the violence 
 of his assailants. While wondering whether this 
 was anything more than an ebullition of the 
 blackguardism of the most turbulent youth in 
 Europe, his doubts were at once dissipated by an 
 exclamation which mingled with the shouts and 
 yells accompanying the attack. 
 
 " Down loith the false Scot!" cried one of the 
 students ; and the young knight, perceiving at 
 once that he was in danger of assassination, stood 
 no longer upon ceremony, but drew his sword. 
 His enemies were, no doubt, some of the English 
 who had been permitted, out of respect to the 
 University, to remain at their colleges ; and such 
 were the feelings which existed at that time be- 
 tween the two nations, that the energies of the 
 Scot were now still more roused by national hate 
 than by the instinct of self-preservation. 
 
 His new position, however, was only calculated 
 to accelerate his fate ; for at the same time three 
 of the students threw down their cudgels, and 
 drew a short two-edged sword, concealed under 
 their gowns ; and which, strange as it may seem, 
 under such circumstances, they had probably been
 
 36 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 prevented from using before, by certain feelings of 
 honour. At the sight of this weapon, forbidden 
 to their order, our adventurer perceived that the 
 case was now become very serious indeed ; and 
 having an excessive repugnance to the idea of being 
 thus put to death in a corner, he began to shout 
 lustily for help, and at the same time to help him- 
 self with redoubled energy. 
 
 *' Shame upon you, ye pock-puddings !" cried a 
 voice at this juncture, from a window above their 
 head, " to fall like a pack of hounds upon a single 
 man ! Who is it ye are slaughtering now ? One of 
 yourselves I trust," — for by this time the day- 
 light was almost entirely gone, and the speaker, 
 who had been attracted to the window by the 
 shouts, could not at first distinguish colours. 
 
 ^* It is a knight, ye false loons !" continued he, 
 in a tone of greater interest, as he bent out of the 
 window, "a belted knight! and, holy saints! a 
 Scot — and his cognizance — O Christ !" At these 
 words the speaker suddenly disappeared from the 
 window, but the next moment his voice was heard 
 soundinsf like distant thunder throujrh the house. 
 
 *' Bauldy, Nigel, 4-»dre\v/' shouted he, ** clubs.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 37 
 
 ye villains ! hurry for your lives ! What ho ! to 
 the rescue ! It is a kindly Scot, and a Douglas to 
 boot — Saint Bride for the Bleeding Heart !" and 
 with this cry he darted out of the doorway, 
 followed by three wild uncouth-looking figures, 
 who rushed in pell-mell among the students, 
 dealing right and left such sudden and tremendous 
 blows, that each individual had floored his man 
 almost before their presence was observed by the 
 beUigerents. 
 
 The knight, having now more elbow-room, se- 
 conded his friends so stoutly that blood began to 
 flow in great abundance ; and the tread of a body 
 of horse being heard at the same time in the dis- 
 tance, denoting the approach of the night guard, 
 the English, if English they were, at length fairly 
 took to flight. 
 
 " Not a step !" cried the leader of the rescue, 
 as the knight was about to follow in pursuit, '' not 
 a step for your life ! And know, messire, that 
 however well off" you may think yourself at this 
 blessed moment, that red puddle which you have 
 spilt upon the street, may yet cost you your neck !
 
 38 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 But come, these English cut-throats, it must be 
 allowed, have some indistinct notions of propriety, 
 after all ; they will give and take whole skinfuls 
 of broken bones over night, but are not the lads, 
 like some other nations I wot of, to go groaning 
 and blubbering to the rector in the morning." 
 
 " And yet," said the knight, '* notwithstanding 
 the boasted virtues of the English, I am happy 
 that I owe life and limb to my own countrymen.'' 
 
 " Spoken like a true Scot !" cried the rescuer: 
 '' but come, there is no wisdom in standing here 
 in the dark, till the guard come up ; and so, messire, 
 you must just step into the college, and let us 
 have a crack till the jaw go by." 
 
 The stair was in utter darkness, and so ruinous, 
 that the ascent took some time. In the mean- 
 while, the conductor continued to be the spokes- 
 man of the party. 
 
 " Don't be in a hurry,'' said he, ^* for in a case 
 like this — I should say a stair-case-haste is not 
 the father of speed. You must know, I am a 
 Douglas myself, by the mother's side ; and that is 
 the reason why my heart warmed to the cognizance
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 39 
 
 of the house, when I saw it on your coat of arms. 
 But mind the next step— there — hoot ! I should 
 have said the hole where the step was ; but I hope 
 you are not much hurt. We collegians, you see, 
 are a thought-wild at times, and besides, the stair 
 is older than our day ; and Bauldy there, and Nigel, 
 and Andrew, some whiles contrive, God knows 
 by what luck they manage it, to get their mouths 
 to the wine-flask ; and then they come triumphing 
 home in a way that no stone and lime can stand. 
 And now we are in the schoolroom. Cedant arma 
 togse. I always put my stick where it can be found 
 in the dark. Bauldy, my man, will you not have 
 the decency to light the candle ? that is, if there 
 be any of it left : if not, we can easily rive a piece 
 off this bench, and make a fire, which will answer 
 the purpose as well ; and when the regent sees 
 the damage in the morning, it is easy laying it 
 upon the rats." 
 
 Bauldy, however, after much rummaging, found 
 a small dirty bit of tallow candle, and at length 
 succeeded in lighting it. While this operation 
 was going on, the knight, who had stood for
 
 40 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 some time in profound silence, suddenly grasped 
 the arm of his rescuer, and demanded, in a voice 
 neither very clear nor very steady, '^ Am I really 
 in what is called the Scottish college? Speak!" 
 
 " Take off your lingers from my arm, then, my 
 man," replied the scholar ; *' I can speak without 
 the screws. Truly, are you in the Scottish 
 college; and, although I say so who should be 
 silent, there is not a college like it in the whole 
 university !" At this moment the light gave a 
 sudden flare, and was as instantaneously extin- 
 guished by the awkwardness of Bauldy. 
 
 "God be gracious to me!" exclaimed the 
 scholar — " What is this ? My heart leaps to mv 
 mouth ; the tears rise into my eyes ; old times, 
 and old places, and old friends, and old by- gone 
 dreams come »ack, as if conjured by a spell I 
 Speak ! Who are you? But need I ask? ' You 
 are a Douglas ; you are — " 
 
 " David !" cried the knight, opening his arms us 
 the flame of the candle re-appeared. 
 
 "Archibald !" and the two friends fell on one 
 another's necks ; the one struggling with his tears,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 41 
 
 and the other, less acquauited with the customs of 
 society, weeping aloud. 
 
 " And you, that I thought were never to have 
 left home !" said David, when they had recovered 
 breath ; " more especially, after the connexion of 
 your name with France had ceased, or at least, had 
 become nothing more than a name, by the death 
 of your chief, Earl Archibald, duke of Touraine ! 
 Tell me, friend and comrade of my young- 
 days, and cousin five times removed — tell me, 
 Archibald of the Braes, what made you leave 
 your father's fireside ?" 
 
 " War — woe — want," replied Sir Archibald ; 
 ^^ my father is dead in a border foray ; my patri- 
 mony is eaten up by the creditors ; and, as a 
 baillie of the tailors most truly, but most impu- 
 dently, cast up to me to-day, I have come to 
 France, that I may continue, as heretofore, to eat 
 of the wheaten bread, and drink of the red wine." 
 
 "Alas, the day!" ejaculated his friend; "he 
 was a worthy man, your father, and my mother's 
 near cousin ! It is no wonder I did not know you, 
 for you are a head taller, and your voice is like a 
 drum. But you bleed, Archibald !"
 
 42 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " It is nothing." 
 
 " No more it is : and if otherwise, we know 
 nothing here of the art of the leech, which Messire 
 Walter of Metz justly casteth into contempt, as 
 having only to do with the perishing body. It 
 has no part in our clergy, formerly termed the 
 trivium and quadriviumj and which consisteth 
 only of the noble arts and sciences of astronomy, 
 music, geometry, logic, natural philosophy, and 
 grammar. When these lads are wounded, which 
 happens to them, poor fellows, seven times a week — 
 Set down the candle, Bauldy, and don't hold it 
 at us, as if we were world's wonders ; and wipe 
 your eyes, and shut your mouth, my man : he is 
 come, Douglas, of gentle kin, and is every inch 
 of him a kindly Scot. And there is Nigel, with a 
 headful of fieiy hair like a comet, he is a cousin 
 not far removed of my own ; and Andrew at his 
 back, who counts lineage with the Kerrs of 
 Cessford. Away with ye now to bed, sirs. Fye, 
 I heard the bell of the ignitegium, or couvre-feu, 
 an hour ago ; and besides, I have a long crack to 
 get over with Sir Archibald : for you already 
 know, my friends, that, although an Armstrong by
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 43 
 
 name and by nature, I have the blood of the 
 Douglases in my veins." 
 
 The Scottish students, who appeared to be 
 entirely under the management of David Arm- 
 strong, took the hint promptly ; and, after shak- 
 ing hands roughly and warmly with Sir Archibald, 
 retired to find their way to bed in the dark. 
 
 " And mind me, lads,'' cried David, bawling 
 after them before he shut the door, "it will hardly 
 be worth while to take off your clothes so late ; 
 but keep your cudgels within arm's length at the 
 least, in case of call ; and above all things, 
 commend your souls to the care of God and the 
 Blessed Virgin before ye dare to close an eye !" 
 
 " Not that I would have you think, Archi- 
 bald," continued he, after he had fastened the 
 door, " that they are likely to forget their prayers, 
 poor lads; or, in fact, for all my jokes upon the 
 stair, that they are more ebriosi, or, in the vulgar 
 speech, given to drink, than most of the other 
 students : but enough of this for the present ; you 
 will know them better, if you remain long in 
 Paris."
 
 44 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 '* I have cause to know them already," said 
 Douglas, " and to remember them all my life ; 
 but as for how long I shall remain in Paris, >or 
 whither I may bend my steps when I leave it, or 
 what I am to be about ; these are questions, my 
 dear friend, that I cannot answer, seeing that I am 
 in profound ignorance upon the subject myself.'' 
 
 " Well, if that is not amazing ! So near a 
 kinsman, and a godson to boot, of the Earl Archi- 
 bald of Douglas, duke of Touraine, whose soul 
 may heaven assoil ! Why, I should have thousjht 
 you might have put forth your hand at will 
 among the loaves and fishes. But it is the way 
 of the world, I suppose. The Earl is dead on the 
 field of battle ; and so is his son ; and so are most 
 of the five thousand brave Scots they brought 
 over with them ; and the English are flying the 
 country, bewitched even by the ashes of that 
 wonderful wench Jean ; and Charles VII. is the 
 little king of Bourges no more, but the master of 
 lordly France. Well ! well ! well !" 
 
 '' Yoiir thoughts fly too fast, good David, and 
 overshoot the mark. I have been received by
 
 , THE MAGICIAN. 45 
 
 king Charles with a distinction due to the name 
 I bear; and I have reason to believe, that my 
 chance at court is far higher than my personal 
 deserts. But yet, I know not how it is ; I feel, as 
 it were, unsettled. I — ," and the knight paused, 
 and observed that the candle wanted snuffing. 
 
 While Armstrong was performing this operation, 
 slowly and methodically, by taking out the candle- 
 end from its socket with one hand, and decapitating 
 the burnt wick with the finger and thumb of the 
 other, he threw a keen glance of observation upon 
 his friend, between his half-closed eye-lids. His 
 expansive and sagacious brow then began to curl 
 towards the nose; he sucked in his cheeks; and 
 his mouth twisted itself awry; but having sub- 
 dued these indecorums of features usually cha- 
 racterized by a kind of good-tempered solemnity, 
 he turned gravely to the knight. 
 
 "Archibald of the Braes," said he, " I was for- 
 getting to ask after the health of Margaret Leslie 
 of the Lynhead." 
 
 '^ Alas, poor girl ! she is dead of consumption 
 long ago."
 
 46 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " May her soul find srace ! But it was rather 
 the young Agnes of the Holmes who was in my 
 thoughts ; she for whom you may remember you 
 fought so bitterly with the kniglit of Lochmahow, 
 when as yet you were both pages." 
 
 " Agnes of the Holmes," replied Sir Archibald 
 composedly, " is now the wife of the knight of 
 Lochmahow." 
 
 "A-hem ! And Mary Elliot ? whom in our wild 
 days, may the Lord forgive us! we used to call 
 the Virgin Mary, because of her pride and fierce- 
 ness to the young men." 
 
 " Tush ! her golden hair has turned as red as 
 NigePs." 
 
 *' God's will be done ! I have nothing to say to 
 it." 
 
 At this moment the candle sunk to the bottom 
 of the deep socket, whence it emitted only a fitful 
 glare. The apartment was vast, and solidly 
 built ; but time and neglect had defaced and 
 injured the massive walls, which they could not 
 altogether ruin. Some benches seemed to be the 
 only furniture ; and these were formed of rough
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 47 
 
 planks, which had experienced at divers times the 
 fate so recently threatened them : but a dusky 
 object, also, appeared in the distance, which 
 might have been a pulpit, or other seat of 
 honour, consecrated to the service of the regent. 
 The fire-place was a vast gulf, which contained 
 the dust and litter of the school, for aught we 
 know, from the time of St. Louis ; but the damp, 
 unwholesome air of the room proclaimed, that fuel 
 was not considered an object of necessity in the 
 Scottish college. 
 
 When the knight had gazed for some moments 
 at this scene, by the dying light of the candle, he 
 withdrew his eyes, to fix them on the face of his 
 friend. David Armstrong's features were all 
 decidedly handsome ; but taken collectively, they 
 formed a portrait more full of what is called 
 character, [than manly beauty. His expansive 
 forehead was intersected by several small hori- 
 zontal wrinkles ; his eyes, glowing rather than 
 sparkling with a steady light, were set deep in his 
 head, and overhung by dark eyebrows, delicately 
 pencilled, but somewhat fuller than became his
 
 48 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 age ; liis nose, arched, massive, and firmly placed, 
 conveyed an idea of decision and determination ; 
 while his mouth and chin, divested of the beard, 
 expressed a degree of benevolence amounting to 
 softness ; and his head was surmounted by a 
 small, round, black cap, almost the shape of 
 the skull; from the sides and back of which, 
 a mass of dark matted hair fell down to his 
 shoulders. His gown, open in front, and betray- 
 ing every possible mark, both of neglect and 
 strife, disclosed a strong square-built, yet sym- 
 metrical, figure of the middle height ; while the 
 hood, or cowl, falling in absolute rags upon his 
 back, threw an air of poverty and desolation over 
 a portrait which, otherwise, would have been only 
 striking and picturesque. 
 
 As Sir Archibald looked, the embarrassment 
 which had been visible in his manner wore off, 
 and an expression of kindness, tinged with pity, 
 took its place. 
 
 " My dear friend," said he, grasping the hand 
 of his old comrade, *' it wds to answer all your 
 questions ; to tell you all I know ; and to crave
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 49 
 
 the counsel, and, if need be, the aid, of one who 
 is wise and true, as well as brave ; it was for this 
 that I am here to-night. But there is now no 
 time for a story like mine ; it is late, and we shall 
 soon be in the dark ; and, to say the truth, David, 
 I feel that I ought not to speak to you here of any 
 affairs but your own." David's eyes followed 
 those of his friend round the room. 
 
 "It is well-sized," said he, "that you must allow; 
 and yet not so well cared for as it might be. The 
 truth is, we students, as I said before, are a thought 
 wild, as it were ; and although, in this individual 
 college, owing to the war, and accidents, and de- 
 sertions, our whole number, at the present blessed 
 moment, amounts to no more thanfour ; yet Bauldy, 
 and Nigel, and Andrew, poor fellows, will have a 
 break out at times, and then stone and wood can- 
 not hold them ! Man ! I have seen them battle 
 their way home, with a train of friends and ene- 
 mies at their heels, till within these four walls we 
 were seven score of us poor scholars, all fighting 
 pell-mell, like so many devils !" 
 
 ^' Poor scholars indeed !'' 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 "And then, you see, Archibald, the luxuries of 
 the world, in whole furniture, and evenly-plastered 
 walls, and swept floors, and darned gowns, and 
 such like vanities, would ill become the vocation 
 to which we are called — " 
 
 " Hold ! what vocation may that be ?" 
 
 " What vocation may that be ?" exclaimed the 
 student with heat, '* was there ever such ignorance 
 heard tell of? Do you not know that we are the 
 clerks of the University ? Do you not see the sa- 
 cred tonsure ?" and snatching off his cap, he 
 showed his scalp bare about a hand's-breadth. 
 The knight stared in amazement — he even felt the 
 bald crown of his friend, with something like the 
 infidelity of St. Thomas. 
 
 " Yes, Archibald of the Braes," continued Da- 
 vid with solemnity, "we are priests before the 
 Lord, every mother's son of us ! But we are not 
 monks, my dear friend ; on the contrary, we hate 
 with a religious hatred all such lazy and luxurious 
 vagabonds. We are not brethren of this or that 
 order, but brethren of the whole Gospel ; we 
 are aspirants of the holy ministry, whereof the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 51 
 
 ministers are the canons regular of the church of 
 Christ !" 
 
 " You must allow, notwithstanding," said 
 Douglas, when he had recovered from his surprise, 
 " that the church takes but little carnal care of 
 her nursery.'' 
 
 " Too much ! too much !" rephed his friend, 
 " our privileges unite in one those of the clergy 
 and nobility. And is it nothing to belong to a 
 body which controls the very state ? which gives 
 its sanction, sometimes, even to a treaty of peace ? 
 which cites the very magistrates before its tribunal ? 
 which excommunicates the officers of government 
 themselves, when they put forth their tax-gathering 
 fingers upon the carnal wealth of a scholar?" 
 
 " But touching this carnal wealth — " 
 
 '' Why, it is but a few years, as I may say, since 
 messire de Savoisy, the chamberlain of the king, 
 was dismissed from his office, and banished the 
 kingdom, because some of his people rode through 
 our procession on its way to St. Catherine of the 
 Val des Ecoliers, thereby compelling the poor 
 
 D 2
 
 52 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 students to break the heads of the intruders with 
 stones !" 
 
 " That is excellent," exclaimed the knight, 
 rubbinf his hands ; " but I would fain know by 
 what means the University exercises a power so 
 extraordinary, and, no doubt, so reasonable/' 
 
 " By means of a humble remonstrance and peti- 
 tion, imploring the government with tears and 
 groans, as it were, not to drive it to the cruel ne- 
 cessity of exiling itself from a city where such 
 outrages could be perpetrated with impunity. 
 Supposing the document, for instance, to be ad- 
 dressed to the king, it shall commence thus, 
 * Vivat rex ! vivat rex ! vivat rex ! May he live 
 corporeally ; may he live spiritually ; may he live 
 civilly ; may he live spiritually, lastingly, and rea- 
 sonably. This beautiful salutation is offered and 
 proposed by the daughter of the king, by the fair 
 clear sun of France, and of all Christendom — ' "' 
 
 *' By whom, in the name of the saints ? " 
 
 " By ' the daughter of the king,' I say, * the 
 fountain of all science, the light of our faith, the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 53 
 
 beauty, the ornament, the honour of France and 
 of the world— the University of Paris.' " 
 
 " Excellent, wonderful ! " 
 
 '* Or, supposing the rector petitions in behalf 
 of his suffering mother, as in the aforesaid affair 
 of messire de Savoisy, — * In exposing to you,' 
 says he, * messeigneurs,' — for, you see, we were at 
 that time even as a helpless orphan, because of 
 the lunacy of king Charles VI., and were there- 
 fore obliged to address the parliament — * In ex- 
 posing to you, messeigneurs,' — and a slight snuliie, 
 but so slight as to be hardly observable, gave a 
 richness to the scholar's voice, — ' the pitiful and 
 very miserable complaint of the daughter of the 
 king, my mother, the university of Paris, I shall 
 commence by a suitable saying of Scripture : 
 Estote misericordus ! ' " 
 
 - " Good ! good ! ha ! ha ! ha ! " shouted the 
 knight ; and his hearty laugh, which had been 
 preparing while the student spoke, rung through 
 the room. David Armstrong, however, continued 
 with imperturbable gravity, and without noticing,
 
 54 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 even by the slightest expression of feature, the 
 mirth of his friend. 
 
 " As for carnal wealth, Archibald," said he, 
 '* seeing that we are but seekers after wisdom, and 
 fore-destined ministers of the sanctuary, what end 
 would it serve ? In general, we are bursars ; and it 
 is only lately that they have begun to throw open 
 the colleges to boarders and day-scholars. If 
 stipendiaries of the school, the regent, who is but 
 human after all, tries, no doubt, to turn the penny 
 by us as well as he can ; if martinets — for so we 
 term those who are able to flit about, like swallows, 
 from teacher to teacher — the Lord have mercy upon 
 us, when it comes to argumentations and examina- 
 tions ! " 
 
 '* That is to say, you are as badly oif in one case 
 as in the other." 
 
 ''Not so: the bursars are educated, and sup- 
 posed to be fed at the expense of the founders of 
 the bursary ; while the martinets must feed them- 
 selves, and pay besides a matter of four sous a 
 month, for leave to learn ni the college.'*
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 55 
 
 "That accounts/* said Douglas with emotion, 
 "for the spectacle I witnessed with horror and 
 disgust to-day in the public streets/' 
 
 " They were not Scots ! " cried the student 
 quickly, and he withdrew his face into the shade. 
 "But what matters it?'* added he, after a mo- 
 ment's pause, " poverty is the badge of the 
 scholar, and will be so to the end of time ; and if 
 there be among us those who cry in the highways 
 for bread rather than die like wolves, without a 
 howl — why, Archibald," and he leant forward once 
 more, and allowed the light to stream full on his 
 untroubled brow — " why, man, they are but 
 dunces in philospphy, that is all that needs be 
 said." 
 
 " Scholarship, David," said the knight, " who 
 no longer felt any desire to laugh, " is with you 
 a profession. Tell me, what are your hopes? 
 What are your prospects ? The church is a lucra- 
 tive and noble field." 
 
 " Truly is it, Archibald," replied the student, 
 " the church is indeed a lucrative and noble field ; 
 lucrative to the rich, and noble to the high-
 
 O^ THE. MAGICIAN. 
 
 descended ! But besides the small number of rich 
 and noble, besides the protegees of the rector, and 
 the cousins, and cater-cousins of the eighty re- 
 gents, there are thirty thousand of us here who 
 are neither rich nor noble, who call not the rector 
 friend, nor the regents cousin. To read my for- 
 tune, you must calculate the chance of these thirty 
 thousand hi the mass, and then divide, that chance 
 into thirty thousand parts — one whereof is mine." 
 
 At this ominous conclusion, the flame of the 
 candle flashed suddenly up, illumining for a moment 
 with a dull imperfect glare^ the dreary room, and 
 bringing out, in Rembrandt lights and shadows, 
 the remarkable head of the student, and the mar- 
 tial hgure of the young knight. It then sunk 
 
 as suddenly in the socket, and disappeared in utter 
 darkness. 
 
 ''And now, Archibald," said David Armstrong, 
 continuing to speak as if an eclipse of the kind 
 had been of too common an occurrence to be 
 worthy of remark, '^ You will ask why I continue 
 to waste my life in so hopeless a pursuit ? Yoi' 
 will ask—"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. o7 
 
 "Ask !" interrupted the knight with indigna- 
 tion, as he started up from the bench, and floun 
 dered out into the middle of the room, where his 
 voice sounded amidst the obscurity Hke the voice 
 of one crying in the wilderness, '^ I will ask, indeed, 
 why Philip Armstrong's son chooses to sit starv- 
 ing of hunger, and shivering with cold, in a den 
 of wild beasts, rather than buckle harness on his 
 back, like his ancestors before him, and carve out 
 his way to fortune with his father's sword I Why, 
 man, thou art bewitched ! They have thrown a 
 spell over thee with their hellish gibberish, which 
 has benumbed thy faculties. What ho ! Awake ! 
 Come with me into the hght of day, and let us be 
 comrades in arms, as we once were brother imps in 
 mischief! Trust me, this night-mare of the soul 
 will vanish at one blast of the war-trumpet !" 
 
 " It would, it would !" cried the student, rising, 
 " I know that it would ; even I, who see, although 
 afar off, the glories of science, and who feel by 
 anticipation the pride, the power, the O Archi- 
 bald, you cannot comprehend me. I eat of the 
 Qoarsest, and drink of the thinnest : my bed is of 
 
 d3
 
 68 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 straw, my apparel of rags, my habitation of ruins ; 
 and think you that I look for my reward in the 
 gown of a cure or a cure's vicar? No: I have 
 an aim far higher than your eye can reach, or even 
 your soul understand ! But this is not the time 
 to be more explicit. My struggles on one hand, 
 and misgivings on the other, have of late been 
 severe ; but the hour approaches quickly which 
 shall determine my fate." Douglas could hear 
 the unquiet step of the speaker in the remotest 
 corners of the apartment, and the labouring sighs 
 with which he was delivered of these words ; and 
 for a moment the idea entered his mind that his 
 friend was insane ! 
 
 ** David/' said he, '* will you accompany me to 
 my lodgings ? It is cold here as well as dark, 
 and the breath of heaven will do us both good." 
 
 " Of a surety," repHed David, in his usual tone. 
 '* I will not leave you to your own guidance on 
 the hill of Sainte Genevieve. Come, where are 
 you now ! You are not the first who lost his 
 way in the grove of Academus. There, take hold 
 of my cowl— but not so, as if it was a banner
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 59 
 
 which you were wresting from the enemy. The 
 dress of a student, I assure you, costs money, and 
 the tailor^s account, besides, is written in Latin : 
 'Pro capucio,' so much ; 'pro corneta cum farci- 
 tura,' the Lord knows how much more. And now, 
 being at the middle of the stair, you will make a 
 wide straddle to get over the hole, whose depths 
 you would needs explore in coming up ; and there 
 is no need for starting as if you heard unexpected 
 thunder, when it is only Bauldy, and Nigel, and 
 Andrew, poor fellows, slumbering like babes in 
 the next room. We are now in the street. It 
 must be late indeed, for all is quiet." 
 
 The friends pursued their way, guided more by 
 the local knowledge of Armstrong, than by the 
 lamps that burned dimly, here and there, before 
 statues and pictures of the saints. As they ap- 
 proached the side of the river, they met more than 
 one passenger, coming on with a lantern in one 
 hand and a sword in the other ; but the strangers 
 always took to flight on seeing two persons wan- 
 dering along in the dark. They at length reached 
 the bridge leading to the palace, where Sir Archi- 
 bald had been assigned a lodging.
 
 60 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 *' You are now at home," said the student, " I 
 shall be with you to-morrow, if I am a living man, 
 after the first class ; and in the mean time, go 
 straight to your bed, without turning to the right 
 or to the left, and the blessing of the saints go 
 with you !"
 
 61 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The student stood gazing' for some time after his 
 friend, till his form had disappeared in the dark- 
 ness, and the echo of his tread died away. He 
 then tightened his leathern belt, drew his gown 
 more closely round him, pulled the tattered cowl 
 over his brow, and crossing his arms upon his 
 bosom, walked slowly homeward, like a man 
 plunged in the deepest meditation. The great 
 city slept. The night wind sighed along the streets, 
 as if they had been ruins ; and the river answered 
 with its stilly voice, to the sound. It was the hour 
 when spirits were supposed to be permitted to 
 walk the earth ; and when the noises of winds and 
 waters were easily syllabled into their mystic 
 speech, by the imaginations of men.
 
 62 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 David, however, seemed either free from the super- 
 stition of the time, or his preoccupied mind afforded 
 no room for its fantastic creations. He walked 
 slowly on, without raising his eyes from the ground, 
 till he had almost reached the Scottish College ; 
 he then turned suddenly into a lane to the right ; 
 his footsteps became both swifter and lighter ; and 
 if his dark figure had been seen gliding thus 
 quickly and noiselessly through the gloom, he 
 might have been taken himself for one of the su- 
 pernatural beings who haunt the night. 
 
 From one long and tortuous lane, he glided into 
 another, till it might have seemed that he was 
 walking for exercise, or for the purpose of counting 
 every turning and winding on the peopled hill of 
 Saint Genevieve. At length he stopped before a 
 mean and ruinous-looking house, in the darkest 
 part of a dirty and almost deserted street. This, 
 apparently, was his destination. After looking 
 round for a moment, as if to make sure that he was 
 not observed, he plunged into a miserable gateway, 
 the door of which, unnecessary as it seemed to the 
 poverty of the inhabitants, was unfastened. He
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 63 
 
 crossed the silent court; entered the door of what 
 seemed in former times to have been a kitchen, 
 and found himself beyond in a labyrinth of roof- 
 less walls, and ruined apartments. Here the 
 student, after looking round once more, with 
 hardly necessary caution, entered a low and narrow 
 opening, where the gloom of the night was at 
 once converted into utter darkness. 
 
 After groping his way for some time, the path 
 was shut by a strong door, which he opened by 
 means of a concealed spring ; and having entered, 
 he closed it carefully behind him. Another, 
 another, and another barrier of the same kind were 
 passed, the level of the ground always sinking as he 
 proceeded, till he appeared to have descended into 
 the very bowels of the hill of the University. At 
 length his art seemed to be at fault : a door of 
 treble strength, which he tried like the others, re- 
 fused to yield ; and, after listening for a moment, 
 he struck three blows with a stone upon the 
 massive frame. The summons was answered 
 speedily from within, in a voice which sounded 
 distant and indistinct.
 
 64 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " Whom seekest thou ?" was the challenge. 
 
 " Trismegistus," rephed the student. A rum- 
 bling noise of bolts and locks then succeeded ; and 
 the heavy door began to revolve upon its hinges, 
 till, having opened to the width of a few inches, 
 its progress was suddenly checked by a strong 
 iron chain. 
 
 " Is it thou ?" said the voice querulously ; "Art 
 thou come at last ?" and before David could open 
 his eyes, blinded by the glare of a lamp, the chain 
 fell, and he found himself drawn impatiently, but 
 feebly, into the room. 
 
 *' Stand not," said his host, whispering tremu- 
 lously, while he performed this operation, '^ but 
 come hi at once ! Hush ! Not a word above thy 
 breath ! What ! — thou wert not observed ? Art 
 sure ? Silence ! Not a syllable till the door is 
 fast. Now speak: no, waste not time in words ; 
 but come, for the great work stands, and I have 
 need of the strength of thy young arm." 
 
 The apartment had the appearance of a \'ast 
 and lofty oblong cavern, cut with tolerable 
 regularity at the sides, but roofed by the unhewn
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 65 
 
 rock. At the farther end there was a great fur- 
 nace, on which a large open cauldron bubbled 
 audibly ; and near it stood a table covered with 
 manuscripts and writing materials. There were, 
 also, disposed in various parts of the chamber, 
 huge piles of different substances, chiefly of a 
 mineral nature ; and here and there, a smaller 
 furnace and crucible awaited the need of the 
 operator. At the sides of the oblong area were 
 several dark vaulted recesses, used apparently as 
 storehouses, and bearing a sort of rude resem- 
 blance to a series of lateral chapels opening from 
 the nave of a Gothic church. This idea would, 
 no doubt, have been further assisted, in the mind 
 of an imaginative spectator, by the ground rising 
 towards the farther end of the cavern, so as to 
 look like a chancel ; and by the huge and massive 
 table near the wall beyond, occupying the place 
 of the master-altar. 
 
 When the high-priest of this strange temple of 
 Science, where the deity was as yet an idol, and 
 the worship a blind and mystic superstition, had 
 ran, rather than walked, up to the table, he seated
 
 66 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 himself with the feverish haste which cliaracterized 
 all his motions, and began to turn over the papers 
 with a tremulous hand. His dress was mean and 
 common; but a cap of unusally large dimensions, 
 and made of faded velvet, falling over his brow 
 till it overshadowed the eyes, gave him, upon the 
 whole, rather a singular appearance. About his 
 face there was nothing common-place. His dark 
 eyes still sparkled through the films of age ; and 
 looked up at the person he addressed with an 
 eager, watchful, and suspicious glare, from be- 
 neath an overhanging canopy of brows as white as 
 snow. A hooked nose, a well-formed mouth, 
 and a flat and individually unmeaning chin com- 
 pleted the inventory of his features ; while these 
 were set off by a long white beard, that would 
 have looked venerable if clean. He was evidently 
 a foreigner in France, but of what nation it would 
 have been difficult to tell ; and yet, his was pre- 
 cisely the physiognomy which excites, while 
 puzzling, the curiosity. 
 
 " Why hast thou tarried?" said he, suddenly, 
 as if reverting to an idea which had escaped him
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 67 
 
 in the hurry of his thoughts ; and pausing in 
 his occupation, he fixed a glance of intense 
 scrutiny upon the student's face. David Arm- 
 strong was standing beside the table, with his 
 hands folded across his bosom, and engaged in 
 perusing the features of the old man with such 
 undisguised earnestness, that the latter withdrew 
 his eyes as suddenly as he had raised them. 
 
 '* Did you make a remark, doctor?" said David, 
 awaking from his abstraction. 
 
 "I asked a question," replied the doctor angrily, 
 ** why hast thou tarried ? It is not thy wont : 
 thou lovest not the lean commons of thy college ; 
 and the time of our evening meal is long past.'* 
 
 " I care not for warm meats at night,'^ said 
 David ; " if the fare be good, it will not be the 
 worse for standing. But as for the delay, which 
 seems to you so remarkable, it was caused by the 
 visit of a friend." 
 
 " Of a friend ! What friend ?" 
 
 "A foreigner." 
 
 "A foreigner! What foreigner ? A traveller? 
 Whither have been the steps of his pilgrimage ?
 
 68 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 To the East ? My God ; and these things are to 
 be kept from me ! What did he tell thee? Does 
 he know more than 1 ? Good David ! am 
 not I thy friend ? thy best friend ? thy only 
 friend ? And thy supper, cold though it be — 
 for I know thou lovest it cold — hath it not 
 tarried even till now for thy coming ? Ho ! 
 daughter !" and he opened a chink of a small 
 door behind him ; " the meal of the young man, 
 even of the good young man, David ! and a pint 
 of wine, daughter ; yea, a whole pint ! Come 
 David Strongarm, let us commune together. Are 
 we not brethren ? Are we not father and son i 
 Do we not seek, hand in hand, the hidden place 
 of the Ter Maximus, yea, of the Great Inter- 
 preter? Who was this visitor, this stranger, this 
 traveller? Speak!" 
 
 At this moment the door opened, and David's 
 supper appeared ; whereupon the student, who 
 had hitherto waited patiently, found an oppor- 
 tunity of replying to his categorist, which he did 
 in a voice so cold and sedate, as to contrast 
 strangely with the feverish tones of the other.
 
 THE MAGICIAXN. 69 
 
 " He is a man of war," said he^ and he knows 
 hardly tlie names of the seven metals." 
 
 The meal, not cold, but luxuriously warm, and 
 set out with peculiar neatness on a wooden salver, 
 was then placed before the hungry Scot ; and a 
 gleam of sunshine seemed to steal over the still 
 features of David Armstrong as he dipped his 
 fingers in a bason of water, held to him by the 
 Hebe of the feast. This was a young woman, 
 who bore what is called a striking resemblance to 
 the doctor, and yet, was as absolutely unlike him as 
 one human being can be to another. Her eyes were 
 singularly bright ; and her eyebrows full, like her 
 father's, but exquisitely pencilled; her nose, too, 
 was arched, but so delicately modelled, that it 
 would not have seemed out of place on a Greek 
 statue ; her mouth, half pouting with a beautiful 
 seriousness, appeared to reprove the wishes it 
 inspired ; and a chin, broad and unmeaning in the 
 old man, when filled up in her with the rich ripe 
 plumpness of youth, redeemed with a dash of 
 voluptuousness a certain virgin-severity of ex- 
 pression, which characterized the rest of the 
 ,)ortrait. Her hair was as black as night, and so
 
 70 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 luxuriant, that the simple head-gear she wore was 
 hardly able to confine it within the customary 
 bounds ; while, owing perhaps in part to the 
 effect of contrast, her complexion seemed abso- 
 lutely colourless. That her mother had been a 
 native of some foreign, perhaps some Eastern, 
 clime, like her father, was evident. David could 
 have believed that she was a Spaniard, had the 
 paleness of her cheek exhibited any tinge of 
 sallowness. 
 
 '* It is a fine night, mademoiselle," said he, 
 blushing with the effort, while his fingers lingered 
 in the water, thrilling with its coolness, and his 
 eyes were fixed bashfully on the beautiful face 
 before him. — " It is a fine night in the upper 
 world, mademoiselle, only dark, and cold ; and in- 
 clining to wind and dampness." The damsel 
 smiled deumrely at this almanack information, 
 and bent her head. 
 
 " You will not have been up stairs to-night, 
 perhaps?" persisted the student. She shook her 
 ringlets, and attempted to withdraw the bason 
 suddenly. 
 
 ''Thanks to you— it is a great refreshment *'
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 71 
 
 continued he, holding fast ; '* O mademoiselle, 
 what a lonely life you must lead here ! One would 
 think you would be glad to open your lips to a 
 Christian man, and a clerk of the University to 
 boot, an Armstrong by name, and a Douglas by 
 the mother's side ! " 
 
 '' My God ! what is all this ?" cried the father, 
 raising his head: '* What planet were you born 
 under, that you will stand with your hands in cold 
 water, while on one side the savour of the meat 
 escapeth, and on the other, the great work stand- 
 eth still ? " 
 
 " Chide him not, father," said the damsel, sud- 
 denly ; " the young man means kindly and speaks 
 kindly — and God knows such accents are strange 
 enough to our ears to be welcome when they 
 come ! *' David heard her voice for the first time ; 
 and for the first time her eyes met his, in a full, 
 frank, confiding, yet melancholy look. The stu- 
 dent's heart throbbed wildly, and his brain 
 began to swim : the next moment the damsel was 
 gone. 
 
 It was a property of this girl to come and go
 
 72 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 like an apparition. Summoned by her father's 
 voice, she was accustomed to stand before them as 
 suddenly as a spirit called up by enchantment ; 
 and when the wondering scholar was in the very 
 midst of his gaze, and perhaps turning over in his 
 mind the most potent spell to make her speak, 
 even so would she vanish. Her stature was above 
 the middle size, and her form neither slight nor 
 spare ; yet her footfall gave no sound to his ear ; 
 and her approach was only made sensible by the 
 waving of her garments, and by a strange faint- 
 ness, as David averred to himself, which came over 
 his heart. 
 
 He had thus beheld her every night for several 
 years ; he had watched her ripening beneath his 
 eye, till her spring of youth had began to warm 
 and brighten into summer ; he had seen the clear 
 transparent paleness of her cheek grow richer and 
 richer every month, yet not less pale ; and by de- 
 grees, the heart that had followed with surprised 
 delight the fairy motions of the ^irl, be^an to 
 quake and tremble at the approach of the young 
 woman.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 73 
 
 In vain had he tried again and again to engage 
 her in conversation, or even to elicit a single mono- 
 syllable from her lips : she answered with an in- 
 clination of the head, a smile, a look as quick as 
 thought; and if he persisted, she either vanished 
 like a spirit, or, if her brief duties were not over, 
 took refuge at her father's side. In vain had he 
 tried to draw even from her eyes something more 
 than a mere assent : he could not fix them for an 
 instant. When they encountered his, they sought 
 the ground, the roof, the distant entrance of the 
 cavern, and always returned more sad, yet more 
 high and proud, from the excursion. She said, as 
 plainly as silence could speak : " Between thee 
 and me, there is an impassable barrier t" and 
 David Armstrong would have given every drop of 
 the Douglas blood in his veins to know what it 
 was, or that it gave her grief to say so. 
 
 On the present occasion, as soon as she had 
 disappeared, he sat down to a meal which, judging 
 by the celerity and avidity with which he dis- 
 patched it, hud probably caught some fascination 
 from her hands ; if these symptoms did not rather 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 indicate an excellent appetite produced by the 
 economy of the regent, some of whose brethren, 
 it is said, considered the expenditure of a sous a 
 day sufficient to keep up the carnal man of a 
 student. David, after eating neither like a lover 
 nor an alchemist, seized the goblet with the haste 
 of one who would make up for lost time. 
 
 " Here's to it /" said he, nodding gravely to his 
 companion, and he emptied the measure at a 
 draught. *' And now, doctor (it is but thin drink, 
 that !), let us to work in earnest." He fastened 
 his cloak in such a manner as to prevent its im- 
 peding his motions, furled up his sleeves to the 
 elbows, and stretched forth his muscular arm for 
 a paper which contained, we suppose, the recipe 
 of the night. His brow, in the mean time, re- 
 sumed the wrinkles which had been chased away 
 by the damsel ; the sunny smile which in her pre- 
 sence had decorated his staid features, vanished ; 
 and a deep shade of care and study descending 
 upon his countenance, added at least a dozen years 
 in appearance to his age. 
 
 As the doctor handed him the paper across the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 75 
 
 table, the old man stopped suddenly short, and 
 looked towards the entrance of the vault with a 
 wild and terrified expression. His assistant's 
 eyes sought the same quarter, and both listened 
 for some time without breathing. The silence, 
 however, was like that of the grave. The upper 
 world, whose business and turmoil might have pro- 
 duced some vibration which perhaps could be heard 
 even here, was drowned in sleep ; and the cavern 
 was far beyond the approach even of those ani- 
 mals that burrow deeper than man in the earth. 
 
 David, smitten with the contagion of a fear, of 
 which he knew not the object, looked around him, 
 as if for the first time. The tall piles that rose 
 here and there like spectral figures, and to which 
 the unstable flame of the furnace gave an appear- 
 ance of life and motion ; the smaller openings, 
 gaping like vaulted tombs at the sides ; and the 
 descending distance, overhung with black shadows 
 as with a pall — all the strange, fantastic circum- 
 stances of the scene, with their adjuncts of time, 
 place, occupation — and even the countenance of 
 the high-priest of Hermes, with its ashy com^ 
 
 E 2
 
 76 THt MAGICIAN. 
 
 plexion, its white, trembling lips, its staring eyes, 
 its singularly lofty brow, from which the cap was 
 thrownback,and where the damps of mortal terror 
 were gathering in large drops : every thing con- 
 curred to fill the student with a species of awe, to 
 Avhich his mind had been hitherto a strano-er. 
 
 " In the name of the ever-Virgin, doctor," said 
 he in a whisper, " what is it ?" 
 
 "Silence! name not the woman !" 
 
 " What r 
 
 " That is, speak not — hush ! It is nothing !'' 
 and the doctor drew down his cap, with a sigh of 
 relief, although his hand still trembled, and, turn- 
 ing to his pupil, he writhed his lips into a smile 
 that would have been ludicrous if it had not been 
 ghastly. 
 
 "It was perchance a dog," said he, "yea, it 
 was a dog, even a houseless cur, that wandered 
 for shelter into the passage; for I heard with mine 
 ears the touch of a living thing upon the first 
 door." 
 
 " Messire Jean of Poitou, and doctor of I know 
 not what!" said David, cnrniied with his master
 
 THE MAGICIAN. il 
 
 for. having made him afraid, and excited besides 
 with a rehgious suspicion ; '' even if it had been 
 no dog, but a true spirit of the abyss, which you 
 heard, methinks there was all the more occasion 
 to speak reverently of the blessed Mother of God !" 
 
 " I speak reverently ! My good young man — my 
 worthy David Strongarm, thou didst not hear : 
 as thy soul liveth, thou didst not hear!" 
 
 "You forbade me to name her." 
 
 "I did, my excellent friend ; for even holy names 
 will betray those who hide from the face of the 
 seeker." 
 
 **• But you called her — " 
 
 " What ? A woman ! My good David, wouldst 
 thou have had me call her a dog ? Dost thou 
 dream ? Art thou drunken with wine ? Hast thou 
 forgotten the torture of fire to which two of our 
 brethren were so lately exposed, in order to make 
 them declare the secrets of their science ? Is 
 thy own young life of less value to thee than are 
 these few and miserable white hairs to me?" 
 David looked as sour as a controversalist who is 
 staggered in argument, and yet believes, that after
 
 78 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 all he may be right: he had nothing to reply, 
 however; and turning doggedly forth, he stretched 
 his hand once more for the paper. It dropped, how- 
 ever, from the extended fingers of the adept, and 
 floating away to some distance, its fall upon the 
 earthen floor was distinctly heard amidst the pro- 
 found silence of the moment. 
 
 " There, there !" cried the old man, growing 
 again as pale as a corpse, '* I was right, it is no 
 dog ! Daughter — " and his voice rose to a shrill 
 shriek as he called instinctively upon the minister- 
 ing spirit of the place. She was by their side 
 before David could turn his eyes to the small 
 door, to watch her coming ; and in another instant, 
 darting like a moonbeam through the gloom, her 
 form was lost amons^ the shadows near the en- 
 trance of the vault. A pause of intense anxiety 
 ensued, during which a sound from without, 
 hardly louder than the fitful sighing of the wind, 
 reached even the unaccustomed ears of the 
 student. The young woman was then seen 
 gliding out of the darkness, like an apparition ; 
 and when she stood suddenly beside them, David
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 79 
 
 looked at her almost with awe, so tall, so still, 
 so majestic she appeared. 
 
 " It is the footstep," said she slowly, and after 
 having fixed her eye for some moments on her 
 father, as if to give him time to recollect himself; 
 '^ it is the footstep of one to whom the secrets of 
 the passage are known !" 
 
 " Secrets/* whispered the adept hoarsely, 
 while a gleam of fierceness shot through the 
 terror in his eye, " secrets that are known only to 
 us three, and to the dead! What am I to think ?'' 
 and his hand slipped, with an imperceptible mo- 
 tion, into the folds of his cloak, as he turned to 
 his pupil. 
 
 " Think that the dead have risen again," said 
 Armstrong haughtily, " if it be necessary to solve 
 the problem." The young woman grasped her 
 father's arm with one hand, and with the other 
 caught up a small lamp from the table, which she 
 held to the face of the student. When the lioht 
 
 O 
 
 had played for a moment upon the disdainful curl 
 of his lip, upon his bold and open brow, and upon 
 the deep bright eyes that were turned half re-
 
 Sd THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 proach fully, half bashfully, upon hers, she withdrew 
 her hand from the old man's arm, and set down 
 the lamp. 
 
 *' I will answer for him with my life,'' said she. 
 
 ''And I will defend you with mine !" exclaimed 
 David, in an under-tone, and with a thrill of de- 
 horht. 
 
 The sound of knocking was now heard dis- 
 tinctly at the door of the cavern. 
 
 " God of our fathers !" cried the adepts ''what 
 is to be done ? We will escape by the dw elling- 
 house; we will hide among the niins ; we will 
 take the wings of the morning, and flee awav from 
 this city of destruction. No; I will not leave 
 thee !" and he extended his arms wildly towards 
 the cauldron. " As the Lord liveth, I will not 
 leave thee. Here have I travailed by day and 
 by night; here hath my life glided by, like a cloud 
 and a shadow ; and here w ill I be slain, even as it 
 were at the horns of the altar ! I tell thee, dausjh 
 ter, I will not stir! Let them come ; the pincers 
 are ready, yea, in mine own furnace ; and here is 
 the flesh !" and he bared his shrivelled arm to the
 
 .THE MAGICIAN. 81 
 
 shoulder, "tear your fill, ye idolatrous dogs, for I 
 will die in silence!" 
 
 "Thou must open to him that knocketh," said the 
 daughter, calmly, after her father had exhausted 
 himself. "If our enemies are upon us, the en- 
 trancemust be beset, or an individual would never 
 trust himself alone ; if only one man cometh upon 
 his own adventure, lo ! there be here two of you." 
 
 " Thou art right, thou art right," said the alche- 
 mist, while a gleam of hope passed across his ashy 
 face. 
 
 " And if the sea," continued she, " hath indeed 
 cast up her dead — " 
 
 " Name it not !" interrupted her father with 
 horror, " the bond is cancelled by his death ; and 
 rather than give up my soul again to the dominion 
 of hell, I would — I would part with my last — with 
 half — yea, with a tithe of my gold, and sacrifice — 
 all else save the sure and certain hope of the stone 
 of Hermes 1" The knocking became louder, 
 longer, and more impatient. 
 
 " I must be alone," said the adept, who seemed 
 to have fairly turned to bay ; retire thou, and 
 
 e3
 
 82 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 David Strongarm, out of hearing, but yet within 
 call." 
 
 " Not so, father," said the damsel, " a stranger 
 may not enter our private dwelling ; but the 
 young man will bestow himself in one of yonder 
 distant cells, where thy voice cannot reach him, 
 unless perchance thou call aloud for aid." 
 
 "Again thou art right," said the father; and, 
 drawing from beneath his cloak a long two-edged, 
 sharp-pointed knife, or dagger, he put it into the 
 hand of the student. ^^ Thine arm is strong, good 
 David," said he, *^ as thy name truly implies, and 
 thy spirit is valiant ; remember, the danger that 
 comes threatens us both ; and if otherwise, I know 
 thou wouldst not see the old man slain, thy father 
 in the spirit, thy brother in the great search. Go, 
 my daughter shall conduct thee ; and be ready to 
 come forth, even like a man of war, when thou 
 shalt hear the cry of my lips, ' To your tents, O 
 Israel !' " 
 
 David's fingers twisted themselves instinctively 
 round the hilt of the knife, as he followed the 
 young woman towards the entrance of the cavern. 
 
 " Remember," said he to her, in a low voice,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 83 
 
 " that what I shall do this night is for your 
 sake !" 
 
 '' For the sake of any one thou wilt," said she, 
 when they had gained the farthest of the lateral 
 vaults, " thou shalt do — nothing. If our visitor 
 be one of the authorities of the city, surrounded 
 as our dwelling must be by his comrades, re- 
 sistance would only be a waste of blood ; if it be 
 he whom I fear it is, thy interference will do 
 harm, but cannot possibly do good. Promise me, 
 that thou wilt not go^ forth, whatever cry thou 
 hearest, unless thine eyes see that my father's life 
 is in danger." 
 
 The damsel spoke as one having authority ; but 
 David hesitated. 
 
 "If you think," said he, "because I am a 
 student, and a sort of embryo priest (or rather, I 
 should say, a neophyte, seeing that, as yet, I am 
 under no vows), that I am unable to cope with 
 the best sword in France, you know but little of 
 the Armstrongs, to say nothing of the Douglas 
 blood that runs in my veins T' 
 
 '*l know that thou art strong and brave,"
 
 84 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 replied the damsel, "and good, and kind, and 
 true! Wilt thou promise? It is my first request, 
 and it shall be my last." 
 
 " No, not the last— recall that word, and I will 
 do your bidding to the death ! There ! the 
 knocking becomes louder, and your father ap- 
 proaches with the lamp : speak !" 
 
 ''The last! the last ! the last!" and she dided 
 swiftly away, and whispering a word to her father 
 as she passed, disappeared from the cavern. 
 
 As the adept went by, with a quick jerking 
 step, which, however, cleared as little ground as 
 possible, he motioned to his pupil to retire farther 
 into the recess ; and then, taking leave of him 
 with a piteous and imploring gesture, he pro- 
 ceeded to the entrance door. The knocking was 
 now mingled with the tones of a human voice 
 without; but so massive was the material through 
 which the sounds had to pass, that nothing more 
 was heard than an indistinct noise, like the 
 muttering of thunder. The old man's heart seemed 
 to die within him; his step became slower; and 
 when, on gaining the door, he turned round and
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 85 
 
 looked towards the recess, as if to sustain himselt' 
 with the idea that help was near, David could 
 see that his face was shrunk and livid, like that of 
 a corpse. He at length put his mouth close to 
 the timber, and with a mighty effort called out, in 
 a voice that resembled a shriek : 
 
 ^^ Whom seekest thou?" David could not 
 hear the reply j but the adept, who had placed 
 his ear to the door, staggered back. It was 
 evident, by the motion of the lamp, that he 
 trembled in every joint ; yet, with the haste of 
 one who seeks to admit a welcome visitor, he 
 instantly undid the bolts; the chain fell with a 
 heavy clank; the door swung open; and a per- 
 sonage entered the cavern, touching whom the 
 reader, if he hath any curiosity on the subject, 
 may consult the following chapter.
 
 86 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " Messire Jean of Poitou," said the stranger, in 
 a rich deep voice, and at the same time throwing 
 off the alchemist, who fawned upon him like a 
 spaniel — "this methinks is but tardy greeting to 
 so dear and intimate a friend, and benefactor to 
 boot, after an absence of years ! " 
 
 " Let me look at him ! " cried mesi^ire Jean, in 
 an ecstasy, which, however, did not restore the 
 blood to his cheeks; "let me touch his raiment 
 so that I may be sure it is no shadow from the 
 grave, come to mock me with the form of my lost 
 Prelati I And is it really thou ? And hath tlie 
 ravenous sea truly given up her dead ? Come, 
 let us be merry. Ho [ my man-servants and my 
 maid-servants, bring hither the fatted calf and
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 87 
 
 kill it ! Let us put a garment upon him, yea, a 
 new garment, and a ring upon his finger, and 
 shoes upon his feet ! — Alas ! joy maketh me forget 
 that I am a beggar. My household is scattered 
 like dust upon the four winds of heaven ; we have 
 drunken our water for money, and our wood is 
 sold unto us, but we have no more any gold and 
 silver to buy withal ! " Thus rejoicing and la- 
 menting, with terror in his eyes, and a smile on 
 his wan lip, the alchemist hung upon the heels of 
 the stranger, as he strode up the cavern, now ven- 
 turing to fondle his arm, and now starting back, 
 like some caressing hound at an impatient gesture 
 of his master. 
 
 The student, in the meantime, burning with 
 curiosity to obtain a view of the object of all this 
 dread and adulation, could hardly restrain himself 
 till they had passed by. When they were fairly 
 beyond his lurking-place, however, he put forth 
 his head, but could see only a tall and stately 
 form marching on gravely and sedately, and by 
 the force of contrast making the spare figure and 
 feverish motions of the alchemist appear mean and
 
 88 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 ridiculous. David crept out of his vault almost 
 unconsciously, and followed the ill-assorted pair 
 till he had gained the next recess ; whence, encou- 
 raged by success, he made another, and another 
 sortie, till, thus hanging upon their skirts, he found 
 himself securely niched within a few yards of the 
 table. This proceeding seems more natural than 
 honourable ; but the student had in reality no 
 object but that of obtaining a distinct view of the 
 stranger ; and it was not till retreat had become 
 impossible, that he remembered the anxiety of 
 Messire Jean, and even of his daughter, to prevent 
 his overhearing what might pass at the inter- 
 view. 
 
 " And so, old friend," said the stranger, as he 
 threw down his ponderous sword upon the table, 
 with a noise which made the cavern ring, and the 
 adept leap from the ground — '' still burrowing 
 under the earth? still at the great work? still 
 striving to cut off the raven's head ? Ha ? " He 
 turned full round as he spoke ; and David, who 
 liad expected to behold a Gorgon's face, was sur- 
 prised to see instead, a handsome and noble phy-
 
 THE MAGICIAN* 89 
 
 siognomy, where the traces of five or six-and- 
 forty years only served to give precision to features 
 that in a woman would have been called beautiful. 
 His plain cloak, falling open, showed a black 
 cuirass beneath, uncovered by a coat of arms ; and 
 his hat, unfashionably low in the crown, and 
 strengthened by plates of steel, proved its wearer 
 to be a man who cared more for safety than show. 
 The symmetry of his form, however, his well-knit 
 limbs, and soldierly bearing, proclaimed at the 
 same time that he had as little need as any knight 
 of the age of artificial defences ; and David Arm- 
 strong acknowledged to himself — for it would not 
 have become his border blood to have acknow- 
 ledged more— that if he could venture to disobey 
 the damsel's command; and answer to the scrip- 
 tural battle-cry of her father, he would need all 
 the liule diversion which the latter could give to 
 make up for the difference in the length of their 
 weapons. 
 
 '^ I am here, even as thou seest,'' said the adepts 
 in reply to Prelati's questions, *' but for how long, 
 who can tell ? I have wasted my substance, till I
 
 90 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 have no longer wherewithal to live ; I have molten 
 my gold and my silver in yonder cauldron, and the 
 product hath been smoke and ashes. My daughter 
 crieth for bread, and behold there is none in the 
 house ! Truly, I am sore vexed because of mine 
 iniquities. What saith the Scripture? * He hath 
 also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath 
 covered me with ashes !' " 
 
 "I am sorry for you," said Prelati, mildly. 
 " Do you believe that I am one whose words, for 
 good or for evil, are sure to come true ?" 
 "Yea, I believe, even as the angels.'' 
 '^ Or rather as the devils — for, while believing, 
 you tremble. Well ; I will assist you ;" and 
 nodding his head mysteriously, he sunk his voice 
 to a whisper, as he repeated, " I will assist you !*' 
 The eyes of the adept dilated as he heard? 
 his face was lighted up with wonder and joy, and 
 seizing the cloak of his friend, he kissed the hem. 
 " Then thou hast succeeded ?" cried he ; this 
 comes of thy wanderings in foreign lands, where 
 hidden things may be gathered from the boughs 
 like unto the fruit of the tree of knowledge ! O
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 91 
 
 wonderful man, how the nations will honour thee ! 
 And thou, thy head is still calm, thy heart still 
 true ,• thou hast not forgotten thy servant in the 
 midst of thy glory ; but comest in the night-time, 
 to bring comfort to the desolate cave of him who 
 first launched there in quest of that mystic stone 
 which thou alone hast had the strength and skill 
 to discover. Go to, why should we lose time ? 
 there are still some trifles left of my substance. 
 Must it be gold? Come, how many bags shall I 
 bring ?" and, seizing the bellows, he began to blow 
 the furnace with a dexterity which had already 
 procured for his fraternity, among the profane, the 
 name of soiiffleurs, 
 
 ^'Your thoughts gallop, my good friend," said 
 Prelati, speaking slowly, " I have given up the 
 search." 
 
 " God of Jacob !" cried the stunned adept, as 
 the bellows fell from his hand. 
 
 " But never look so dismal," pursued the other; 
 there are things in nature, — or out of it, for that 
 matters not, — more high, more grand, more mighty 
 than the Philosopher's Stone !" Messire Jean
 
 92 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 groaned and shook his head, and bit, till the 
 blood sprang, the infatuated tongue that had 
 named the name of gold to the ears of Prelati. 
 
 " Listen," continued his friend, '* and leave off 
 your grinnings and chatterings. Do you remem- 
 ber the nucleus of your wealth ? of that same 
 gold of which you vaunt so proudly? of those 
 heavy bags that cumber the closet on the left 
 hand of your subterranean parlour ; to the door 
 of which, by the same token, you turn vour face, 
 when you would persuade yourself you are prayins: 
 to Jehovah ?" 
 
 " I do, I do," replied the adept, growing paler 
 than ever, '* but God hath forgotten ray trans- 
 gression, because of my prayers and alms, and 
 why should man remember it ?" 
 
 " Then you remember,'' persisted Prelati, ^' the 
 noble Gilles de Laval, lord of Retz, and of a bun- 
 dled other lordships besides, whom, under pretext of 
 guiding in his research after the Hermetic stone — " 
 
 "As God is my judge," interrupted the adept, 
 " it was no pretext. But he was wild, and wilful, 
 and impious, given to strange women, and a con-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 93 
 
 temner of holy things. What could come of such 
 fellowship? What booted my fastings and 
 prayers ? I tell thee, I led him not astray, although 
 I left him by the way side." 
 
 " Right/' said Prelati with composure, '^ he 
 was impious, he was unfit to be your associate in 
 the holy work, and therefore you robbed and for- 
 sook, him." 
 
 " It was my wages — it was my wages — as thy 
 soul liveth, it was my wages ! And yet, never- 
 theless, I have prayed until the Lord hath heard 
 me; I have fasted till my bones pierce my 
 flesh; and to this day I continue to give alms 
 ■every year to the amount of the interest of the 
 moneys. Wait a little while, and I shall pass by 
 like a cloud. What would it avail thee to betray 
 a man like me ?" 
 
 "Fool," exclaimed Prelati, with a growl like that 
 of a tiger, ^^ if I wanted to betray you, why 
 should I take so much trouble ? Were you even 
 as immaculate as you are dishonest, were you 
 even a seeker of God instead of gold, what more 
 have I to do than name your name, or even point 
 ■with my finger, to have you and your daughter
 
 94 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 torn to pieces, the fragments Vjurnt with fire, and 
 their ashes scattered upon the winds of heaven ?" 
 
 The interest which David Armstrong took in 
 the conference, became at this point so strong, 
 that he could hardly restrain himself from rushing 
 out of the recess to compel Prelati, at the point of 
 the knife, to explain what was the strange and 
 awful fate which seemed to envelope, not only the 
 alchemist, but even so fair and innocent a being as 
 his daughter. Messire Jean himself seemed to be 
 moved by some feeling different from the abject 
 fear which had hitherto paralysed him. Instead 
 of wringing his hands, he now ground and crushed 
 his fingers within each other ; his chattering teeth 
 were firmly locked ; his eye emitted a baleful 
 glare, which seemed to illumine the whole face; 
 and he looked round the cavern with the half 
 fierce, half terrified, air of a hunted beast who 
 contemplates turning to bay. The student ex- 
 pected every instant to hear the war-signal burst 
 from his lips; but David's heart had sworn to the 
 damsel, and he was determined religiously to keep 
 the oath. 
 
 The adept's courage, however, proved to be not
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 95 
 
 in action, but in endurance ; or else his policy 
 suggested that it would be better to sacrifice, if 
 need were, a portion of his gold, than to risk 
 every thing on the doubtful issue of a battle. He 
 withdrew his eyes from the distance, where the 
 young Scot, doubtless, appeared in his imagination, 
 with the dagger ready in his grasp ; his hands 
 fell lifeless by his side; his jaw collapsed; and 
 his head dropped upon his bosom. 
 
 *'Thou sayest it," exclaimed he, in a tone of de- 
 spair, " T and mine are in the palm of thine hand !" 
 ^'Then why," said Prelati, " will you doubt a 
 friendship which is proved by the very fact of your 
 standing there, at this moment, safe and sound ?" 
 He had watched the changes in his manner with 
 the interest which an angler bestows upon the 
 struggles of a fish which he has hooked ; and now 
 that all was calm, he glided without an effort into 
 his usual mildness of tone, 
 
 "Gilles de Laval,'' continued he, "deserted by you, 
 and baffled by the wa^tof virtue of which you justly 
 complain, has abandoned a search which only the 
 pure and religious can prosecute with advantage;
 
 96 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 and in lieu tliereof he vvas taken to a hitjher and 
 mightier study, in which a trifle of the kind is no 
 obstacle. Gold is a means with liim, not an end, 
 as with you ; and he has fallen upon another mode, 
 more easily attainable than the philosopher's stone, 
 of obtaining riches, grandeur, honour, leno;th of 
 days, and dominion over the minds and fortunes 
 of men. In this sublime science, his master is — " 
 
 ^' Prelati," cried the adept. 
 
 "No— a friend." 
 
 ''Then, as my soul liveth, it is the Evil One — 
 the Adversary — yea, Satanas himself!" Prelati 
 emitted a Sardonic lauoh at this sallv, which 
 writhed his fine features into an expression of 
 mockery instead of mirth. 
 
 " Call him by what name you w^ill," said he, 
 "that matters little to my errand. A certain 
 length has been gained, and at a vast expense ; 
 but more gold is wanting, and the ready money 
 of the lord de Retz is exhausted. Now hearken, 
 lor the assistance I promised to render you is this. 
 Lend — mark me — lend the sum that is necessary ; 
 and you sluill not only have good interest, but a
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 97 
 
 free pardon from the lord de Retz, and permission, 
 through his interest with his sovereign, the Duke 
 of Brittany, to settle at Nantes (whither all your 
 family have gone) when it shall become necessary 
 for your safety to leave Paris." 
 
 The alchemist heard this proposal with less dis- 
 may than might have been expected from his cha- 
 racter; but it was only what he had anticipated, 
 and his mind was the more easily made up to the 
 sacrifice, as it seemed to open out to him a possi- 
 bihty of leaving Paris with safety, which he had 
 determined to do the instant he knew that his 
 tormentor was alive. When his friend, however, 
 mentioned a sum, really very considerable, but 
 enormously extravagant to the imagination of the 
 adept, he emitted a cry, like a wild beast struck 
 by the hunter. 
 
 " Think of it," said Prelati coolly, *^ there is no 
 hurry : I shall come again to-morrow at mid-day, 
 and, to prevent any risk of discovery, I shall enter 
 by your dwelling, upon the surface of the earth." 
 
 *' Come not in the day-time," gasped the adept, 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " come at night, and even here, if thou wouldst 
 not destroy me utterly !" 
 
 " Before night I leave Paris." Messire Jean 
 again wrung his hands. 
 
 *^ Besides the money," continued Prelati, " I 
 want something else, with which I know you can 
 supply me. I want a youth who understands the 
 operations of chemistry, and who is also daring 
 and enthusiastic. Know you such a one V* 
 
 " I did," said the adept, with a look of horror, 
 ** I knew two ; I gave them to you, one after the 
 other ; and I have heard that they are both dead !" 
 
 **Why, that is precisely the reason that another 
 is wanted. Of what use are the dead to me? 
 come, will you serve me ? will you pleasure me ?" 
 
 *' My money ! my soul !*' cried messire Jean, 
 " Let the day perish wherein I was born ! Good 
 friend, what is this you require of me ? Doth my 
 dead wife still bring forth male children, that, like 
 Saturnus, I may devour them up, one by one? 
 Lo, I am here a solitary beggar, and you say unto 
 me, Where be your moneys ? where be your young 
 men ?"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 99 
 
 " You were not wont to drink wine at night,'* 
 said Prelati drily, pointing to the cup, " nor to 
 address commands and cautions to yourself," 
 taking up the recipe from the floor. " But why 
 this distrust ? A pupil of yours must be skilful 
 in his business, and he must also possess a portion 
 of that daring enthusiasm which is indispensable 
 to me. In the service to which I destine him, a 
 youth like this cannot fail to rise to wealth and 
 distinction. Come, we shall be better friends 
 to-morrow ; we shall once more have a confidential 
 talk in your subterranean parlour, and the little 
 Hebe — zounds ! your daughter must by this 
 time have grown quite a young woman ! Has 
 her beauty kept its promise ? Does love begin 
 yet to peep out of her dark infidel eyes ?" 
 
 "My money! my soul ! my daughter !" groaned 
 the adept, tossing up his arms wildly. His eyes 
 began again to glare, his teeth to clench, and his 
 maddening look to wander round the cavern. 
 
 " Will you serve me ? will you pleasure me ?" re- 
 peated Prelati. 
 
 '^ What is it thou demandest," said messire Jean 
 
 F 2
 
 100 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 lioarsely, " My money for thy need ? — the gold 
 that I have gathered with the sweat of my brow, 
 with the vigils of the weary night, and the hunger 
 of the dreary day ! I say unto thee again, what 
 is it thou demandest? My young man for thy 
 bondman — the staff of 'my feeble age, and the 
 lamp of my feet ; aye, even the young man David," 
 and he raised his voice so as to be heard at the 
 extremity of the cavern, " the true and the brave, 
 who, were he here, would smite thee where thou 
 slandest! And yet a third time I say unto thee. 
 What is it thou demandest ? My daughter for 
 thy bed — the virgin hope of my house for thy 
 concubine ! Man of Belial ! if thou hast neither 
 shame nor remorse, art thou yet a fool as well 
 as an incarnate fiend ? Knowest thou not 
 that the trodden worm will writhe up again ? and 
 am I less than a worm that creepeth on his belly ? 
 Thou shalt have no gold — no young man — no 
 daughter ! Challenge, and I will answer; strike, 
 and I will strike thee again ; back, robber, mur- 
 derer, ravisher ! I spit at, and defy the !" and 
 darting like hghtning upon the sword of Prelati,
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 101 
 
 which lay upon the table, he whirled it away with 
 preternatural strength, while his shout rang hke a 
 trumpet through the cavern, "To your tents, O 
 Jacob ! To your tents, O Israel J" 
 
 Prelati looked like a man amazed by a show, 
 rather than a reality. The adept had seized a 
 hammer, and stood upon his defence, glaring upon 
 his enemy, with eyes dilated so widely, as to take in 
 at the same time the whole area of the place, 
 while he waited, in fearful suspense, for the ap- 
 pearance of his ally. Some moments passed — 
 all was silence ! 
 
 " You are not accustomed to drink wine at 
 night," said Prelati, calmly, — "'you are feverish. 
 Or is this a trick, a jest? Are we to be merry ? 
 Ha?" 
 
 "Verily it is a jest,'* answered the adept, "yea, 
 verily ;" and the hammer dropped from his hand, 
 and he staggered against the wall of the furnace, 
 and broke into a hollow laugh, which shook him 
 like a convulsive fit, without changing a single 
 muscle of his countenance. 
 
 " But it is not all a jest,'^ added he, regaining
 
 102 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 his presence of mind, before his physical energies 
 were sufficiently recovered to enable him to stand 
 upright ; " Good friend, thou didst try me sorely, 
 and my spirit wandered, and a dream of deliver- 
 ance came upon my soul ; and, like the woman 
 of old, I saw, as it were, gods ascending out of the 
 earth. But alas ! it was all a lie and a mockery ; 
 the Holy One is departed from me, and answereth 
 me no more, neither by prophets nor by visions. 
 Thou hast conquered, and I yield — lo ! I am the 
 captive of thy bow and of thy spear. Come to 
 me to-morrow as thou wilt, at the noon of day or 
 of night, eitlier on or under the earth ; and show 
 unto me thy commands, that I may make haste to 
 obey.'' 
 
 " Be it so,'' said Prelati, " take the lamp, and 
 show me to the door." He lifted up his fallen 
 weapon as they went, drew forth the blade, and 
 followed the trembling; alchemist sword in hand. 
 On reaching the last of the lateral vaults, to which 
 his keen eye had no doubt traced the glance of the 
 seer during his vision of deliverance, he took the 
 lamp in his own hand, and went in ; leaving mes-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 103 
 
 sire Jean at the entrance in a state of mind more 
 easy to conceive than describe. When he emerged 
 again, to the inexpressible wonder of his friend, 
 there was neither blood upon his sword, nor fury 
 in his looks; and immediately conceiving that 
 David must have found some means of escape, the 
 adept ventured the question — 
 
 " Whom seekest thou ? " 
 
 " Your gods, old heathen ! " replied Prelati, 
 retracing his steps up the cavern, in order to search 
 the vaults seriatim. 
 
 The student, in the meantime, had witnessed the 
 foregoing stormy scene with varying emotions. 
 The character of the old man, it appeared, was 
 anything but immaculate ; but yet the extremity 
 of his wrongs, and the unexpected spirit he had 
 at last displayed, invested him with a species of 
 dignity, which covered the rags of his unright- 
 eousness as with a cloak. David's feelings, how- 
 ever, were so far divided, that when he saw there 
 was no risk of his sustaining bodily injury, he 
 watched with a pleasure, not very different from that 
 of a mischievous boy, the new suspense and con-
 
 104 the' MAGICIAN. 
 
 stemation into which he was thrown. But when 
 it appeared to be Prelati's intention to search the 
 whole cavern, our student had something else to do 
 with his thouglits. 
 
 Sorely was he tempted to stand the hazard of 
 the die. It would be no transgression of the 
 damsel's commands ; for in this case the battle 
 would be forced upon him by the enemy, an alter- 
 native highly agreeable to the bellicose propensities 
 of one who was at the same time a student of the 
 university, and a border Scot. But on the other 
 hand, there was the risk of being beaten — of which, 
 however, he persuaded himself the chance was 
 not great ; since, without the smallest scruple, he 
 had determined, in the event of a conflict, to run 
 in upon his better armed opponent, before he could 
 be kept at bay with his mighty sword, and stab 
 him in the embrace. If beaten, however, the 
 fruits he should reap from the struggle would be 
 disgrace, if not death; and even if he gained the 
 day, his opima spolia would be at best but the 
 arms of the conquered ; for the death of Prelati, 
 instead of unveiling, would seal, perhaps for ever,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 105 
 
 the mystery which enveloped the adept and his 
 daughter. Upon the whole, David Armstrong, 
 after weighing the pros and cons maturely, al- 
 though in less time than we take to state them, 
 determined that it would be his wisest plan to 
 embrace the opportunity now offered him of enter- 
 ing without rudeness the penetralia of the house. 
 There he would no doubt meet with something to 
 solve the enigma which perplexed him ; and there, 
 at any rate, he would be able to demand the 
 thanks of the damsel for having obeyed her com- 
 mands. 
 
 In pursuance of this resolution, he no sooner 
 perceived that Prelati was fairly engulfed in 
 another of the recesses, than, darting from his 
 ambush, he flew as swiftly, but as stealthily, as a 
 cat, to the small door, and made his escape from 
 the cavern unobserved. 
 
 He found himself in a kind of vestibule, from 
 which there were several openings, and one steep 
 ladder-like stair, ascending till it was lost in 
 darkness. The place was dimly lighted by a 
 lamp fixed to the wall, and the adventurer having 
 
 F 3
 
 106 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 no means of guiding his steps, plunged at random 
 into one of the gulfs beside him, the entrance of 
 which liad somewhat more the appearance of a 
 doorway than the others. This proved to be a 
 passage leading into a room, which was, no doubt, 
 the parlour spoken of by Prelati ; and here, by 
 the light of a silver lamp which hung from the 
 ceiling, the wondering student beheld a scene of 
 magnificence, such as he had never heard of, 
 except in the tales of the minstrels and fabliers. 
 
 The earthen floor was covered with a stuff 
 which might have served for the coat-of-arms of 
 a prince; and the walls were hung, on one entire 
 side, with cloth of gold, and on the others, with 
 carpets and tapestries of the richest description. 
 Here there was a mirror, so extravagantly large for 
 the period, that it might have shown the entire 
 bust ; and there a portrait on velvet, the frame oi 
 which glittered with gold and gems. Some of 
 the stools were square, in the form of a chest, and 
 covered with silk and embroidery ; others were 
 supported on pillars carved and gilded. The 
 benches, from five to twenty feet long, were orna-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 107 
 
 merited with figures, in carved work, representing 
 the heads of various birds and beasts ; and one vast 
 bed, more than twelve feet square, and ascended by 
 a carpeted flight of steps running its entire length, 
 was covered with a counterpane, silk on one side, 
 and precious fur on the other. 
 
 These articles, however, amazed the student 
 more by their number than their rarity ; and he 
 was not altogether confounded, till he observed 
 the princely luxury of an arm-chair ; an invention 
 which he had lately heard of as the ne pins ultra 
 of modern voluptuousness; and which was still very 
 rarely seen out of royal palaces. It was covered 
 with vermilion leather, ornamented with golden 
 roses; and its fringes of silk were fastened with 
 gold nails. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this display of wealthy 
 however, there reigned throughout the apartment 
 a kind of incongruity which struck David, unac- 
 customed as he was to such sights, with surprise. 
 The furniture did not match. The articles seemed 
 individual specimens, rather than sets ; and he 
 asked himself, whether he was in the private
 
 108 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 dwelling of a man of princely fortune; or in a 
 warehouse, appropriated to everything most rare 
 and costly ? He had no time, however, to con- 
 sider of the question ; for at the moment the 
 voice of the adept in the vestibule made him 
 start like a man threatened with detection in the 
 midst of a crime. For one moment he was 
 determined to confront the master, into whose 
 secrets he was plunging so recklessly, and, with 
 with such explanation as he could give, demand 
 a safe conduct to the upper world ; but the next, 
 as the idea flashed upon him, that what he had 
 already done might be the means of dissolving 
 finally his connexion with the family, he stepped 
 suddenly behind a screen, with some indefinite 
 view of obtaining speech of the damsel before 
 departing. This movement was hardly completed 
 when messire Jean entered the room. 
 
 *' And take care," said he, continuing to speak, 
 '* that thou withdraw the bolt before thou de- 
 scendest. Perchance some son of a dog may be 
 prowling about, even now, for our destruction ; 
 and so, when he thinketh to climb down upon us.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 109 
 
 he will surely fall into the pit. And haste thee, 
 my daughter, for it is now the middle watch of 
 the night ; and verily, mine eyelids are as heavy 
 as my heart, and my hmbs bend beneath my 
 body, even as my spirit fainteth under its troubles. 
 The unbeheving villain!" he went on aloud, after 
 having shut the door, and drawn a strong breathy 
 like a fugitive who finds himself in an accustomed 
 place of safety ; '^ Be there still whales within the 
 deep, to swallow up, and spue forth again, their 
 prey upon the dry land ? Why did I throw away 
 his sword ? Why trust to the arm of a stranger, 
 when I might have stabbed him where he stood ? 
 But a day shall come round — the day of the 
 Lord is at hand ! No more, indeed, the lion of 
 the tribe of Judah goeth up from the prey ; but 
 Dan is still a serpent by the way, an adder in the 
 path !" The old man's face grew calmer and 
 paler as he spoke; the perspiration dried upon his 
 brow ; and he walked several paces up the room 
 with a noiseless but determined step. 
 
 Soon, however, his mind seemed to revert to its 
 usual occupations. He was evidently preparing
 
 no THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 to retire for the night ; and, after having opened 
 the door of a closet, where his bed appeared to 
 be placed, he sank down upon his knees to pray. 
 In his prayer, which was delivered with energy 
 and deep devotion, the student joined mentally ; 
 and as the form of supplication was not peculiar 
 to the personages of our history, but common to 
 many of those who were in that day engaged in 
 similar pursuits, we think it well to present the 
 reader with the following copy : 
 
 *' O God ! almighty, eternal, from whom cometh 
 every good thing, and every perfect gift! Grant 
 me a knowledge, I beseech thee, of that universal 
 wisdom which is around thy throne ; which 
 created all things, and which sustaineth and pre- 
 serveth all things. Deign to send it unto me 
 from heaven, which is thy sanctuary, and the 
 throne of thy glory, to the end that it be in, and 
 work in me. For it is that divine wisdom which is 
 mistress of all celestial and occult arts, and of 
 the science and understanding of all things. By its 
 spirit may I possess the true intelligence! May I 
 proceed infallibly in the noble art to which I have
 
 THE MAGICIAN. Ill 
 
 consecrated myself, even in the search of the 
 miraculous secret which thou hast hidden from 
 the world, in order to reveal it to thine elect! 
 May I commencej pursue, and achieve the great 
 work which I have to do here below, and enjoy it 
 for ever! In fine, O God, grant me, I beseech 
 thee, the celestial Stone, angular, miraculous, and 
 eternal !" 
 
 When the adept had finished his supplications, 
 he took took up a book, the binding of which, in 
 the gorgeous fashion of the day, was studded with 
 gold and gems ; and, laying it upon a small table, 
 near the screen, drew in a stool, and began to read 
 some portion inwardly, apparently as a sequel to 
 the religious service of the night. David would 
 fain have raised his head over the screen, to look 
 what the manuscript was ; for a strange misgiving, 
 he hardly knew of what nature, had been gradually 
 stealing upon his mind. The book, he could say 
 with certainty, was not a church missal, neither 
 had it any resemblance to a religious homily. The 
 very characters in which it was written, from the 
 single and distant glance he had obtained, were
 
 112 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 strange — nay, suspicious to bis eye ! But in the 
 midst of this new dilemma, the door opened, as if 
 by a spring ; his eyes dazzled ; and he knew by 
 the beating of his heart, and by his thickening 
 breath, that the damsel was in the room. 
 
 She stood motionless upon the floor, her head 
 reverently bowed, and her hands drooping at her 
 sides. David forgot the vague suspicions that 
 had begun to gather like a kind of horror upon his 
 soul, and he enjoyed, for the first time in his life, 
 a full and uninterrupted gaze at this phantom shape 
 which had haunted him so long. The serene 
 gravity, just touching upon melancholy, which was 
 the habitual character of her face, tinged at this 
 moment by religious feeling, acquired an air 
 almost of subhmity, without losing any of its 
 sweetness ; and her pale and placid features looked 
 as if they were shone upon by a stream of sun- 
 light. The youth felt his pity and admiration 
 mingled with awe while he gazed ; and when the 
 old man at length raised his head, and his daugh- 
 ter bowed herself almost to the earth before him, 
 in the form of salutation peculiar to the oriental
 
 THE MAGICIAN. ] 13 
 
 nations, David could have fancied that the whole 
 scene, so strange in locality and expression, and 
 so touching in sentiment, was but the fragment of 
 a dream. 
 
 " And now, my child," said the alchemist, *' get 
 thee to bed at once, and may the God of our 
 fathers be thy guard ! But yet another word. 
 The young man— verily I am worn out with strife 
 and watching — even the young man Strongarm, 
 he no doubt escaped by thy means, when the 
 heathen dog was exploring the vaults. Thou 
 leddest him up the stair without permitting him 
 to enter here, where the sight even of this holy 
 book might give our bodies to the fire, and our 
 ashes to the winds of heaven ?" At these ques- 
 tions the damsel appeared for a moment to be 
 ready to sink to the ground, overwhelmed with 
 surprise and dismay. 
 
 " All is safe," said she at last, and in a voice 
 steady enough to deceive her father in the present 
 exhausted state of his faculties. 
 
 *'It is well," he rejoined, '^ thou art brave and 
 quick-witted, but thou hast a woman's pity, and a
 
 114 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 woman's trust, and even if he had made the dis- 
 covery, I fear thou wouldst have permitted him to 
 hve." During this speech David could see, through 
 the minute chink which had hitherto served hira, 
 that the damsel's eyes were rivetted upon the 
 screen with a glance of mingled threatening and 
 terror. Enough, however, had occurred to stimu- 
 late his curiosity and suspicion to a pitch of mad- 
 ness ; and when the old man was in the act of 
 extinguishing the lamp, giving way to the natural 
 recklessness of his character, he suddenly raised 
 his head over the screen, and fixed his eyes upon 
 the volume. The next moment all was dark ; and 
 as the scene fled from the scholar's vision, he 
 leaned back against the wall, and was only pre- 
 served from fainting by the iron strength of his 
 constitution. 
 
 The reader has perceived long ago, that the 
 alchemist and his daughter were of the Hebrew 
 nation; thus exhibiting a knowledge of national 
 character which it was impossible for the scholar to 
 possess. Among a people at once simple and poor 
 a Jew could not exist, to say nothing of the shrewd
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 115 
 
 sagacity attributed to our countrymen ; and ac- 
 cordingly, the weary foot of Israel had found little 
 or no resting place, on the barren mountains and 
 desolate heaths of Scotland. In France, a law 
 had passed during the last reign, which banished 
 the entire tribe from the kingdom, on pain of in- 
 stant death ; and thus, David had in all proba- 
 bility never seen, to his knowledge, a descendant 
 of the patriarchs in his life. The seclusion and 
 mystery observed by messire Jean, as he thought 
 proper to call himself, were easily accounted for, 
 by the persecutions to which philosophers of his 
 mystic school were liable ; and the oriental form of 
 his phraseology was perhaps calculated rather to 
 lull than excite suspicion, familiar as it had become 
 to the student's ear, in its association with his 
 theological studies. David, brave and ardent as 
 he was himself, could form no conception of the 
 species of enthusiasm which impelled the 
 alchemist thus to buiy himself alive, rather than 
 break off in the midst the mysterious search to 
 which he was devoted, and which, every day, ap- 
 peared on the eve of being crowned with success.
 
 116 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 The feelings, therefore, which had beset him this 
 night, were of so indefinite a nature, that he was 
 probably not aware himself, of the nature of his 
 suspicions, till they were confirmed by the in- 
 stantaneous glance he had caught of the Jewish 
 Talmud . 
 
 His sickness of heart, accompanied by *'an horror 
 of great darkness," continued for some time, and he 
 had not yet been able to collect his bewildered 
 senses," when he felt himself drawn out from his 
 lurking place by a small, cold, but steady hand. 
 David trembled at the touch. He felt as if his 
 soul was in the grasp of a demon, but he had no 
 power to struggle. When they had gained the 
 vestibule, the damsel took down the lamp from 
 the wall, and pointing to the steep stair, rudely 
 cut out of the living rock, she motioned him to 
 ascend, while she lighted his steps. 
 
 They went on for some considerable space in 
 silence, till they reached a kind of landing-place. 
 Here the stair ended, and from this, the commu- 
 nication with the world above was by a suspended 
 ladder ; upon which David was about to step
 
 THE MAGICIAN. J 17 
 
 mechanically, when he was withheld by his con- 
 ductress. 
 
 " First swear/' said she, " that thou wilt not 
 reveal even to thy bosom friend, what hath this 
 night come to thy knowledge." 
 
 " Tempt me not," answered the student, hardly 
 knowing what he said, " I will not swear." 
 
 " Swear," repeated the damsel, sinking her voice 
 to a whisper, ^' swear, if thou wouldst live ! My 
 father's life is in the palm of thine hand ; were it 
 mine own I would trust thee without an oath." 
 
 " I swear," said the student. 
 
 " By Him whom thou namest thy Redeemer?" 
 
 ^' By Him crucified !" said David bitterly; and, 
 bowing his head, he maide the sign of the cross 
 upon his bosom. 
 
 "Then go in peace, and may the God of the 
 Jew and the Christian go with thee !" David 
 grasped the ladder with an unsteady hand, and 
 mounted the first step ; when the damsel touching 
 a spring concealed in the wall, the portion of the 
 landing-place on which he had just stood gave 
 way, and swung, by means of hinges, in what
 
 118 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 t 
 
 appeared to be an unfathomable abyss. David 
 looked for a moment at the danger from which his 
 oath had saved him ; and then, bestowing upon 
 the Jewess a parting glance, in which admiration 
 and despair struggled with religious horror, he 
 ascended the ladder into the dwelling-house above, 
 and, groping his way to the door, staggered out 
 into the night.
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 We are told by certain philosophers that the 
 human body undergoes a perpetual process of 
 change, and that a man, at different epochs of 
 his Ufe, so far as the materiel is concerned, is 
 thus absolutely a different individual. The 
 revolutions of the mind, on the other hand, 
 although they are much more apparent, do not 
 affect its individuality. We may receive a new 
 bone or a new muscle, without perceiving the trick 
 which nature puts upon us ; but when one set of 
 sentiments takes the place of another, we are con- 
 scious that it is merely a change and not a renewal. 
 
 We may illustrate this by the example at the 
 present moment nearest at hand. When David 
 Armstrong went to bed after parting with the
 
 120 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Jewess, he felt as if the world had passed away 
 from him like a scroll, and as if he himself was a 
 single solitary atom, dancing unseen and unknown 
 in immeasurable space. When we meet with him 
 again in the morning, he is calculating whether it 
 will be worth his while to pursue his search after 
 the philosopher's stone with his present master, 
 seeing that this individual was an unbelieving 
 Jew, such as God would, in all probability, con- 
 sider unworthy of success. Yet David is all the 
 time the same intellectual being. 
 
 His air and manner on this morning were so 
 slightly different as to evoke no observation on the 
 part of his college companions ; and the deliberate 
 yet energetic pace with which he usually traversed 
 the hill of St. Genevieve, was as deliberate and 
 energetic as ever. There was, notwithstanding, 
 some change, though slight, as well in the outward 
 as in the inner man of the scholar. His face 
 was a shade paler, and his ragged hood hung over 
 his shoulders with even move of blackguardism 
 than yesterday. In his whole person, in fact, he 
 might be said to have somewhat more the look of
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 121 
 
 a desperado than heretofore ; while throughout the 
 day there was exhibited a kind of exaggeration 
 even in his most ordinary feehngs which some- 
 times both surprised and annoyed Sir Archibald 
 Douglas, 
 
 The knight had given due reflection to the case 
 of his friend, and had arranged a plan for bringing 
 huTi forward in the career of arms, besides turning 
 his present services to account in a very important 
 matter which related to himself. Their new^ meet- 
 ing, besides, was in the morning and in a palace, 
 not in a ruin and in the dark ; and it is not won- 
 derful, therefore, that the gaze which he bestowed 
 upon the student's figure, was as full of mirth as 
 of renewed astonishment. David, whose satis- 
 faction, in ordinary cases, was expressed by what 
 may be called a brightening of the face rather 
 than a smile, and who was never, on any occasion, 
 provoked to laugh outright, suffered, himself wath 
 great gravity to be turned round by his friend, and 
 surveyed from head to heel. 
 
 "And now, Archibald," said he, "if your curi- 
 osity is satisfied, let us hear at once the newest 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 gibes on the dress of a poor scholar, and then we 
 may proceed at once to the purpose of our confer- 
 ence without more grimaces." 
 
 " Let me laugh, then, once for all," replied his 
 friend, " and then I shall be as solemn as yourself. 
 O what a sight were this for the old wives of the 
 Border, whose fire-side stories are still warm with 
 the deeds of Philip Armstrong! Off, ye rags !" — 
 and he tore down suddenly a large fragment of 
 the hood. "Away with your spider's webs, for here 
 are steel and leather in exchange !" 
 
 " Permutatio Diomedis et Glaucis," said the 
 scholar ; " it would be the exchange of golden 
 armour for brass. Yet, nevertheless, I am in 
 nowise bigotted to a particular garb. As for the 
 hood — let it go ; although I will not say that it 
 might not have been becomingly worn for some 
 while yet. Neither, Archibald, was it anything 
 like the weavings of that Lydian lass, Arachne, to 
 which you liken it, as many a tug and haul which 
 it bore in its day, will testify. You must know it 
 was the true epitogium, and was absolutely indis- 
 pensable ad loquendum in iiiiiversitate ; without it
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 123 
 
 I could not have opened my mouth. In the day- 
 time it was a garment ; in the night-time a blanket ; 
 and whatever rents it had vs^ere received in defend- 
 ing my skin. Well, v^^ell, old friend, fare thee well 
 in God's name ! " 
 
 " A most moving epitaph ; and now for the in- 
 terment in yonder heap of ashes in the fire- 
 place." — 
 
 " Hold ! " cried the scholar, " It may still serve 
 to mend the gown it once ornamented ;" and, fold- 
 ing up the rag carefully, he put it into his 
 pocket. 
 
 " I have said," continued he, " that I care not 
 for the form of a garment, and it is even so : yet 
 the profession of a student affords me certain pri- 
 vileges which are useful ; and above all things, it 
 is an ostensible employment which draws off, from 
 my goings out and comings in, the prying eyes of 
 the world. But for these circumstances I should 
 prefer a steel jacket to a scholar's gown." 
 
 ** And what harm are you about that you should 
 dread the eyes of the world ? " 
 ' " The greatest harm imaginable. I am about 
 G 2
 
 J24 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 surpassing the rest of the world, or at least at- 
 tempting to do so, in a species of knowledge which 
 would make me at once the envy and the victim 
 of my fellow-men. But you cannot comprehend 
 me. You are ignorant of the progress of science 
 and discovery. The affinities, the attractions, the 
 antipathies which exist in physical objects, you 
 either pass unobserved, or attribute them to the 
 power of magic. The influence of the stars, felt 
 by all nature, both animate and inanimate, you 
 confine to the vast ocean. You believe what you 
 sec, but will believe nothing on even the most 
 direct and infallible deduction." 
 
 " I believe this, my dear friend, that you are 
 talking very learnedly ; but, for the life of me, I 
 cannot tell on what subject." 
 
 " You believe," continued the scholar, " that 
 what exists was made ; and you must therefore 
 believe that there is an art of making it. To the 
 ordinary species of knowledge we are permitted 
 an easy access ; but to the higher and more sub- 
 lime, we can only attain throuoh the intermediate 
 steps of science, and by the direct favour of God.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 125 
 
 111 natural history, for instance, we know that 
 sulphur and quicksilver are the bases of all the 
 metals ; while astrology teaches us that the forma- 
 tion of each is presided over by a particular planet : 
 that of gold, by the sun ; of silver, by the moon; of 
 copper, by Venus ^ of tin, by Jupiter; of lead, by 
 Saturn ; of iron, by Mars ; and of quicksilver, by 
 Mercury. We know these things, not as possi- 
 bilities, but as sure and certain facts ; and the 
 necessary deduction is, that when natural phi- 
 losophy and astrology are completely understood, 
 the man who is permitted by heaven to attain ta 
 such divine knowledge will be able to convert the 
 baser into the more precious metals at will." 
 
 '^ Then you are an alchemist?" said the knight, 
 with some surprise. 
 
 " I am a humble chemist, striving to attain to 
 the perfection of his art, which is called alchemy. 
 Still another grimace ? What, may I ask, do i/ou 
 believe?" 
 
 " I believe that the precious uietals were given 
 to the world merely to stimulate valour and in- 
 dustry. The artizan labours for them with his
 
 126 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 hands ; the merchant, with his peddhng craft ; and 
 the knight, with his good sword : and God will 
 never permit so wise a system to be overturned by 
 the alchemists. As for the stars, I believe, ac- 
 cording to Scripture, that they were intended for 
 nothing else than lamps to enlighten the earth." 
 
 " According to Scripture, O ignorance ! * Canst 
 thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose 
 the bands of Orion V But to argue is vain. Astro- 
 logy is a science built entirely upon experience, 
 and must therefore be cast down by facts, not dis- 
 putations. It existed in the days of Job, and it 
 exists in ours. Nothing can be simpler, and yet 
 more incomprehensible. Why a planet beino[ at 
 one distance from the zodiac rather than another, 
 or why entering a house or region of one sian 
 rather than another, it should influence or fore- 
 tell certain fortunes to him at whose birth it pre- 
 sided, it is impossible to understand. Astrology, 
 however, by a series of experiences carried down 
 from age to age, establishes the fact ; and with 
 this wc must be satisfied. * Knowest thou the 
 ordinances of heaven V saith the Scripture, ' Canst
 
 . THE MAGICIAN. 127 
 
 thou set tlie dominion thereof on the earth ? Hast 
 thou entered into the springs of the sea ; or hast 
 thou walked in the search of the depth ? By 
 what way is the light parted which scattereth the 
 east wind upon the earth?' — Alas! the very 
 utmost heio^ht to which even the alchemist can 
 hope to attain, is the substratum of knowledge, 
 composed of facts, the meaning and origin ot 
 wdiich are hidden in impenetrable darkness. Be- 
 yond this, all the learning of Ts[igidius Figulivs 
 himself would be foolishness." 
 
 " As for Niofidius Fio^ulus, " said the vouno- 
 knight, who now foresaw the demolition of his 
 plans by means of the stars, ^^ he bears but a hea- 
 thenish name, and I thank the Virgin I know 
 nothing about him — although I can readily believe 
 his learning to be foolish enough," 
 
 " Hold ! " cried the scholar indignantly, ^' Nigi- 
 dius Figulus was the most learned man in the most 
 learned age of the world ; he was the superior 
 even of the prodigious Varro — the friend of Cicero, 
 and the first natural philosopher and astrologer of 
 the time ! It was he who read in tlie stars the
 
 128 The magician, 
 
 fate of Octavius, and foretold that he should be 
 master of the empire. But what avails all this to 
 such as you ? Can pearls be appreciated by " 
 
 "Swine. Never mince the word. Were you a 
 soldier, it might be dangerous ; but a moping stu- 
 dent, who passes his life in dreaming of the stars, 
 and reading Nigidius Fig-fiddle, — what is his 
 name? — may use any pearls of eloquence he 
 pleases." David's lip grew^ as rigid as marble, 
 and he strode through the room with the air of a 
 moss-trooper ; while his long black gown, soiled 
 and torn, and the remaining rags of the hood 
 streaming down his back, gave a touch of the 
 ridiculous to his anger. 
 
 " Archibald of the Braes," said he, stopping 
 suddenly short, and confronting his friend, " you 
 have yourself assisted to unfrock me. Beware 
 that I do not complete the work, and thus throw 
 aside altogether the protection of my scholar^ 
 garb !" 
 
 "Over God's forbode !'* cried the knight, "for, 
 judging of the under by the upper garments, the 
 exposure would be something less than decent.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 129 
 
 But what is the matter, man ? My only offence 
 is, having otiered you a dress of steel and leather 
 instead of these miserable rags — having endea- 
 voured to turn you from a starving student into a 
 roystering soldier — having desired to convert you 
 from heathenism to Christianity—" 
 
 ** Hold !" interrupted the scholar eagerly, ^* it is 
 a base, vulgar, and abominable error, to suppose 
 that the sciences we talk of are included in the 
 anathemas of the church. They are neither vain, 
 conjectural, nor erroneous, but essentially founded 
 on experience and calculation ; and in the synodal 
 statute to which you refer, De Sortilegiis — " 
 
 " Bah ! I know nothing of such trumpery ; I 
 only say that this Nigulus Figforus — But, holy 
 St. Bride, what noise is that? Have tlie English 
 rallied, and retaken the city, or are the poor stu- 
 dents at it again ?" 
 
 ** Touching the statute De Sortilegiis," persisted 
 David ; but his voice was drowned in a shout 
 which burst from an immense crowd now floodin^j 
 the street opposite the windows; and, following 
 his friend, who had bounced out of the room 
 
 g3
 
 130 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 without ceremony, he took hold of his arm^ and 
 while they shouldered their way through the mass, 
 continued a defence of the orthodoxy of the sublime 
 sciences, of which the knight heard not one sylla- 
 ble. 
 
 The crowd consisted, not only of the usual 
 rabble of the street, but also of persons of the 
 upper ranks, who lent their voices like the others, 
 to swell the din. In the middle a line of horse- 
 men — if men they could be called — broke slowly 
 through the living surge, singing, shouting, leap- 
 ing, and discharging squibs, crackers, and other 
 fire-works. Most of them were in the garb of 
 beasts, stuffed, as it were, into the skins of the 
 animals they represented ; bat instead of the head, 
 some hideous and extravagant face grinned from 
 their shoulders, and was surmounted by a pair of 
 enormous horns, which proclaimed the wearers to be 
 devils. Mingling with these, several personages ap- 
 peared with cowls and tonsured crowns ; but instead 
 of the robes of priests, their dress was white ; their 
 heads were ornamented with asses' ears, and in one 
 hand they held a green or yellow conical cap,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 131 
 
 %vhile in the other they flourished a bauble deco- 
 rated with bells, 
 
 " It is an announcement of the brotherhood of 
 the Passion," said David, ^' It is thus the citizen.- 
 are invited to attend their representations at the 
 hospital of the Trinity.'* 
 
 " Accepted for two," cried the young knight 
 joyously, " See what it is to travel ! By St. Bride, 
 they will hardly believe me in Scotland, when J 
 tell them of these doings !" 
 
 " The cost is two sous," said David, with a sigh, 
 
 ^' It matters not." 
 
 "Each!" 
 
 " Were it twice the sum, you and I shall make 
 two of the company." 
 
 " Well, you will need a friend at your elbow ; 
 and it may be, that you will find me worth the 
 money. But take notice, Archibald, that I go 
 entirely upon your invitation, and for your behoof; 
 and that the said amount is to be set down to me 
 neither as a loan nor as a gift. And in troth," 
 continued he, rubbing his hands when the affair 
 was settled, " you say well, that the folks of the
 
 132 
 
 THE MAGrCIAN. 
 
 Borders would hardly believe you ! Why, it was 
 only in the reign of Charles's father, — poor de- 
 mented creature, whom God can hardly condemn, 
 since he did not vouchsafe him reason for a guide, — 
 that the brotherhood of the Passion became what 
 they are to-day. Before that time, some miserable 
 farces were played upon the streets by the jong- 
 leurs, with fiddles, and bells, and drums, and 
 shouting of profane songs ; but to-day we have a 
 regular theatre, and magnificent scenery, where the 
 most sublime mysteries are performed by a whole 
 convent of actors, most of them sworn eccle- 
 siastics." 
 
 '^ I have seen that same brotherhood," said the 
 knight, " I have seen whole waggon loads of them, 
 and their scenery, passing from one town to 
 another, drawn by oxen ; and I could desire no 
 better refreshment for a wayfaring man, than to 
 ride by their side, and listen to the songs with 
 which they beguiled their journey, taken from the 
 mystery of the Nativity, or of the Canaanean. 
 
 "Those, my friend, were but strolling players; 
 and, although each troop calls itself the Confrerie
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 133 
 
 of the Passion, not one of them has any right to 
 the name. The original Confrerie was transferred 
 from St. Maur to Paris, in the second year of this 
 century, authorized by letters patent ; and so de- 
 votedly attached to the divine art did the Parisians 
 become, that it was feared the theatre would 
 eclipse the church, and that men would go to kneel 
 and pray before the scenes of the mimic Passion, 
 instead of attending to the service of the altar. 
 For this reason the hour of vespers was changed, 
 in order that it might not be interfered with by the 
 hour of the play ; and if you are devoutly disposed, 
 as I trust you always are, before going totheTrinity, 
 we can take our ghostly comfort at the new tem- 
 ple of St. Julian of the Minstrels, where the mass 
 will not be the worse for good music." 
 
 " Agreed, David,'' said Sir Archibald, " provided 
 you will enjoy with me, in the first place, the car- 
 nal comfort of a good dinner in the palace, for it is 
 now mid-day." 
 
 " I am not accustomed to dine so early," replied 
 the scholar, " howbeit, as it will cost nothing to 
 either of us, I may as well sit dowm with you. At
 
 134 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 the same time, Archibald, if your allowance of 
 vivres should not be fairly enough for both, I charge 
 you do not balk your appetite, seeing that it is my 
 wont to fast till midnight ; and while you eat, 
 I can entertain you with some brief account of the 
 origin, scope, and tendency of the synodal statute 
 De Sortilegiis." • 
 
 David's misgivings were not confirmed ; for the 
 allowance being proportioned, not to the supposed 
 appetite, but to the knightly rank of the guest, it 
 turned out to be amply sufficient for two men. 
 With an entertainer of inferior station, the student 
 must certainly have had recourse to the expedient 
 proposed, of filling his mouth with hard words ; 
 but as it was, he did not utter a single syllable 
 during the meal. 
 
 " It were a shame," said he, at length, restini: 
 upon his elbows from sheer fatigue, although his 
 knife still maintained its perpendicular, with a 
 threatening edge towards the remains of a couple 
 of roasted fowls, " it were a shame that the ouest>5 
 of a king should not do their devoir, with such 
 truly royal fare before them; but if the cirCum-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 135 
 
 stance reach th&ear of Charles, I trust that most 
 gracious prince will, so far as I am concerned, 
 take the will for the deed ; seeing that I am only 
 a poor clerk and scholar, and more accustomed to 
 fast than to feast." David, however, did so won- 
 derfully well for a person of abstemious habits, 
 that the knight amused himself with admiring the 
 prowess of his friend, long after he himself was 
 hors de combat. The fare, to say the truth, was 
 of a quality which our student was but little ac- 
 customed to. A few eggs, when their price did 
 not exceed six sous a hundred, or a salted herring 
 in lieu thereof, formed the larger share of his daily 
 comforts at the university^ and even his subterra- 
 nean supper, though so well dressed, and so 
 agreeably served, rarely afforded anything better 
 than beef, which (together with pork) was the 
 common food of the artizans. On the present 
 occasion, mutton, veal, and fowl graced the board ; 
 and even a small portion of game — a dainty ap- 
 propriated exclusively by the nobles. 
 , "Come, my friend," * cried the knight, with 
 that exulting feeling of after-dinner comfort,
 
 136 TllK MAGICIAN. 
 
 whicli in persons of an active, out-of-doors life, 
 betokens good health ; and in others, the ap- 
 proach of paralysis or apoplexy — '* Come, David, 
 since we have at least done onr best to do honour 
 to the king, let us now drink a cup to the health 
 of our ladies ! " David winced as if he had been 
 wounded; his jaw fell; and a look, not only of 
 sadness but dismay, clouded suddenly the bright- 
 ness which had risen into his face. 
 
 " It is a custom," said he slowly, " at least of 
 doubtful orthodoxy. In the more ancient authors 
 we find no trace of drinking to the health, 
 although persons sitting together were in the 
 habit of inviting, or challenging one another to 
 the potation — a practice, by the way, forbidden 
 in the capitulaires of Charlemagne. As for drink- 
 ing the health of the absent, it belongs, I fear me, 
 rather to heathenism than Christianity; for has 
 not toasting; the saints themselves been strictly 
 interdicted by the church ? It is indeed a super- 
 stition of the fancy, a libation, as it were, to some 
 spiritual form seen by the eyes of the soul — " 
 
 '* On what look you ?" interrupted the knight ;
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 137 
 
 for David had turned his head, as if to gaze at 
 some object on the wall. 
 
 " Afar of," continued he, '* lonely, and bright, 
 and beautiful — rising, like a star, in the desert 
 and impassable waters, a Venus Anadyomene of 
 the heart !" 
 
 " Alas ! " said the knight with feeling, ^^ you are 
 a priest, and you may not love without sin," 
 
 " I am yet unsworn ! " replied the student, 
 starting ; '' and even were it otherwise, it is lawful 
 to doubt upon the subject. Not to talk of the 
 example of many of the disciples and apostles, the 
 marriage of priests was legalized by the great Coun- 
 cil of Nicea; and after that time, the names of 
 Carterius, Sydonius, Simplicius, and a multitude 
 more — all bishops, and all married, give warrant 
 for the practice. Was not the famous and holy 
 St. Gregory the son of a bishop ? and in the 
 throne of St, Peter itself, has there not been an 
 Osius, a Boniface, a Felix, a John, an Agapet, a 
 Silvester, all children of ecclesiastics V * Having 
 
 * Eneas Silvias, afterwards Pope Pius II., during tlie life- 
 time of our friend David Armstrong, but a little later than
 
 138 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 finislied this speech, David emptied a mighty 
 goblet at one pull, and then filled again. 
 
 " Come," cried he, starting wildly from his seat, 
 " Where there is so much room for controversy, 
 of what advantage is it to be scrupulous? Though 
 we may not drink to the saints, angels are not in- 
 cluded in the interdict ! Here, then, to our lady- 
 loves ! Here, to the very dregs — were poison at 
 the bottom !" and emptying the measure at a 
 draught as before, he set down the sjoblet, look- 
 ing pale and horror-stricken. The knight stared 
 at the vehemence of his friend ; but as love is a 
 subject on which all sorts of extravagances both 
 in speech and action are permitted, his surprise 
 did not continue more than a moment. A reaction, 
 however, appeared to take place in David's man- 
 ner; his spirits sunk ; and the generous juice 
 which he had swallowed in an unusual quantity, 
 seemed to have no effect either in opening his 
 
 the present date of tlic story, defended the marriage of 
 priests ; declaring eligible to the papal chair, not only a man 
 who had been, but a man uho actually was, married — "Xon 
 solum qui uxorcm habuit, sed uxorem habens, potest as- 
 sumi."
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 139 
 
 heart or his lips. It was already too late for 
 vespers, but they got up soon after to go to the 
 theatre ; the knight not a little disappointed that 
 the turn which he had purposely given to the 
 conversation had not led to the mutual confidence 
 he desired. 
 
 The street St. Denis was crowded by persons of 
 all ranks, whose destination was, like their own, 
 the hospital of the Trinity ; and more especially 
 at the openings leading from the great churches or 
 convents, the thoroughfare was almost choked up 
 by tributary streams of population flooding from 
 vespers. The knight and his friend, however, 
 made good their passage' with very little delay; 
 David, who recollected his office of guardian and 
 conductor, leading the way with great strides. 
 With his clasped knuckles before him, to serve for 
 a prow, his elbows close to his ribs, and his gown 
 inflated by the wind, he bore steadily on through 
 the crowd, like a ship under full sail. They at 
 length reached the door, and having paid their 
 money, passed through a region of noise, where 
 the spectacle was announced by the beating of
 
 140 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 drums, and by men bawling at the pitch of theii 
 voices, and entered the house. 
 
 Sir Archibald, who was thrown into a tumult 
 of wonder and delight by the novelty and 
 magnificence of the scene, overpowered his friend 
 with questions. 
 
 '^ In the name of God," cried he, '^ what are 
 those vast paintings, that are ranged round the 
 walls ?" 
 
 "That is the temple of Solomon,'' replied David, 
 whose 'spirits seemed to rise with the hurry and 
 excitation around him; "that is the palace of 
 Herod; that is the house of Caiaphas. But 
 hush ! hush ! there thev come : hold vour 
 tongues, will ye? Hurra!" and he and the 
 young knight joined lustily in the general shout, 
 with which the appearance of the actors was 
 hailed by the audience. The whole strength of 
 the troop presented itself upon the floor at one 
 moment ; amounting perhaps to a hundred and 
 fifty individuals ; but of these a good many were 
 seated, indicating that on this occasion they were 
 not to take any share in the scene. Having thus
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 141 
 
 presented themselves to the company, the pro- 
 logue was spoken, which finished by requesting 
 silence ; and they all withdrew to allow the piece 
 to commence. 
 
 The scenery consisted of paradise, hell, and 
 purgatory ; as well as numerous earthly habita- 
 tions : and the personages, besides Jesus and 
 the disciples, Pontius Pilate, Sec, included a 
 goodly company of devils, angels, doctors of law, 
 scribes, pharisees, priests, kings, saints, virgins, 
 knights, shepherds, clowns, and thieves. The 
 gates of hell were represented by immense gaping 
 jaws, by which the devils made their entrance and 
 exit, surrounded by smoke and flames. The 
 clowns were habited like those they had seen on 
 the streets, and their jests were frequently di- 
 rected against the clergy themselves, and couched 
 in language so indecent as would have been tole- 
 rated nowhere else than on the staoe. The actors 
 being chiefly priests, it is needless to say, that the 
 female parts were performed by boys. 
 
 The audience seemed to take the most intense 
 interest in the piece, and to identify themselves
 
 142 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 completely with the actors. They knelt, they 
 wept, they shouted, they screamed, they beat their 
 breasts, they joined in the chorus, they emitted 
 thunders of laug,hter and applause. A bad actor, 
 or even a bad action, was received with hisses and 
 groans ; but when pleased, the cry of Be ! Be ! 
 (bis — encore) resounded through the theatre. The 
 clowns especially received a full portion of the 
 public patronage, but above all — the devils ; and 
 at one time almost every individual in that vast 
 multitude mioht have been heard ioinins; in the 
 burden : 
 
 *' Saulcc d'cnfcr, saulcc d'cnfer, 
 Aux scrvitcurs dc Lucifer !" 
 
 The knight was in particular surprised by the 
 intimate acquaintance which the audience seemed 
 to possess, not only with the events, but even with 
 the words of the drama. The Parisians, however, 
 were accustomed to see the mysteries peiformed 
 at processions, and on other public occasions, as 
 well as in the theatre; and even in the provinces, 
 when the number of actors chanced to be short,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 143 
 
 it was often filled up instantaneously from among 
 the spectators. It was a common occurrence, 
 indeed, either in town or country, when any actor 
 happened to be too slow, or to have altogether 
 forgotten a sentence, for a hundred voices at once 
 either to prompt or anticipate him. 
 
 The knight for a considerable time was too 
 much occupied with the actors and the story, to 
 bestow any attention upon the audience ; but all 
 on a sudden, his eye appeared to catch some 
 object among the latter, which rivetted his gaze, 
 as by a spell. David, absorbed in the interest of 
 the scene, had hitherto answered his friend's ques- 
 tions, and responded to his acclamations, rather 
 mechanically, than as fully comprehending them ; 
 but when these all on a sudden ceased, his mind 
 bestowed that cognizance upon the negative inter- 
 ruption, which it had failed to do upon the positive. 
 
 " Will you not look, man ?" said he, jogging his 
 companion, 'Svill you not listen? Fye, Archibald ! 
 do you reverse the custom of the Lamia? of Plu- 
 tarch, and shut up your eyes when you come 
 abroad ? See to that ill-favoured goblin with the
 
 144 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 flame-coloured beard ! Hark I thwack ! thwack ! 
 These were wallops like the echoes of a listed 
 field : and faitli, no wonder, for the chiel's shoul- 
 ders are cased in iron under his leopard's skin. 
 Hear to him now— what a sublime roar ! Heard you 
 ever the like of that ? Now off, ye villain ; vanish, 
 good Lucifer; jump into yonder fiery jaws, and 
 make room for your comrade, Hashmodai, who 
 will by and by bounce out before us from the 
 cinders of hell like a roasted chestnut. There — 
 did I not tell you ? VrifJif, he goes out ; silent 
 ininestrelliy the music ceases ;" and a momentary 
 pause in the action taking place, David had time 
 to follow the direction of his companion's eyes. 
 
 *'Is it thereabouts, you are ?" said ho, " A comely 
 lass, as I am a sinner! — with blue eyes that look 
 down kindly yet loftily upon the earth, and hair 
 like an ancient Gaul, whose locks, as Pliny relates, 
 were died by artifice of a still brighter blond than 
 nature had painted. What saith the Lai de 
 Lanval?" and he suns: the followins: lines from 
 that popular romance so loudly and so well, as to 
 attract the attention even of the lady concerned :
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 145 
 
 Flor de lis^ et rose novele, 
 Quant ele pert on tans d'ete, 
 Trespassoit elle de biaute. 
 
 When the lady had turned her eyea towards 
 the group whence the voice proceeded, she ap- 
 peared to be suddenly agitated by some deeper 
 iiseiing than modesty or bashfulness, for her blush 
 did not merely illumine her cheeks, but overspread 
 both brow and neck. The knight at the same 
 moment pressed his companion's arm fiercely, in 
 token to be silent, while he endeavoured to with- 
 draw his own person into the shade. 
 
 " Take away your fingers, Archibald," said the 
 scholar; ''it is an evil custom you have— and I 
 would strongly beg of you for the future to express 
 your wishes by word of mouth. But if you still 
 retain the faculty of human speech, tell me, 1 
 beseech you, who is he beside the damsel — that 
 tall old man, with the brilliant and benevolent 
 eyes, and beard as white as the drifted snow. 
 The face gleams upon me like some spectral head 
 I must have seen in my dreams ; for sure I am it 
 never before appeared to my waking eye« " 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " That," replied the knight, **is the famous Oros- 
 niandel, an Arabian philosopher, who has travelled 
 ten times farther than Marco Paulo, or Sir John 
 Mandeville, and to whom, in learning, yourNigulus 
 Fio'uhis is a fool. He is, besides, the friend, confi- 
 dant, and instructor of that magnificent nobleman, 
 the Lord de Retz— " 
 
 ** Of whose daughter and heiress, the damsel of 
 Laval, I have just now sung the praise ?" demanded 
 the scholar. 
 
 "Even so; but speak out, man; I cannot read 
 your face, although it is written over with signs 
 as black and deep as the new characters of Gut- 
 temburg." 
 
 " Anon, anon," replied David, with another 
 meditative gaze at the objects of his curiosity; 
 " but here comes Hashmodai ! Look to the 
 stage, Archibald, if you would know what acting 
 is, and what a devil can do !" 
 
 The student speedily forgot, not only the Ara- 
 bian philosopher and the damsel of Laval, but 
 his companion beside him, and he became once 
 more conipletely absorbed in the interest of the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 147 
 
 scene. His gestures at length were so extravagant 
 as to attract the notice of Sir Archibald, whose 
 thoughts and eyes were busy enough in another 
 quarter ; and unacquainted with the things which 
 had so recently agitated his friend to the very 
 centre, the young knight made the mistake of 
 attributing entirely to wine, effects which were 
 in reality produced by a variety of concurring 
 causes. 
 
 The actor who personated Hashmodai was either 
 unwell, or imperfect in his part ; and the voices of 
 the audience were loud both in prompting and 
 condemning him. Among these, the smooth sono- 
 rous tones of the students, capable, as one would 
 have thought, of any degree of expansion, were 
 predominant; and at length the pas of criticism 
 seemed to be surrendered to him by universal 
 consent, and his accents were heard, lofty and 
 alone, above the suppressed murmur which filled 
 the theatre. The unhappy performer, confused 
 and alarmed, soon lost all presence of mind ; and 
 at the precise point which required the greatest 
 energy, he stopped suddenly in his speech, and 
 
 H 2
 
 148 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 stood stock still. The noise was now deafening:, 
 some voices prompting, some hissing, some groan- 
 ing ; when, in the midst of all, David Armstrong 
 suddenly bounded through the crowd, leaped upon 
 the stage, tore oft' the dress from the foundered 
 actor, and clapping his prodigious horns upon his 
 own head, went on with the "maimed rites" of 
 the part, shouting in a voice that rang like thunder 
 through the house: — 
 
 " Devils of hell, horned and horrible, 
 Great and small^ with eyes of basilisks, 
 Infamous dogs ! wliaL has become of you ? ""' 
 
 The astonishment with which Sir Archibald 
 beheld this scene was lost in delight ; and he joined 
 the loudest of the loud, in the applauses which 
 filled the house. David went on with the part 
 with admirable spirit; and in the passages which 
 
 * Diables d'enfer, horrible et cornus, 
 Gros et menus, aux regards basiliques, 
 Iiifamcs chiens, qu' etes vous devcnus ? 
 
 ]\[i/stertt of the Conception.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 149 
 
 actors were accustomed to interpolate of their own 
 authority, he seemed to take the opportunity of 
 ^=* easing his heart of a whole load of bitterness. 
 The state, the clergy, and above all, the university, 
 were by times the object of his sarcasms; and in 
 the closing scene, when he bounded into the jaws 
 of hell, and disappeared in smoke and fire, the 
 cheers which echoed through the theatre were the 
 most enthusiastic ever remembered. 
 
 When all was over, the spectators, according 
 to a very general custom, rose like one man to 
 demand the re-appearance of the successful actor; 
 and cries of '^ Hashmodai ! Hashmodai ! " re- 
 sounded on all sides. But Hashmodai was gone. 
 He had thrown down his horns behind the scenes, 
 and continued his run till he escaped from the 
 house, and engulfed himself in the crowd of the 
 street St. Denis. The audience at length retired, 
 jn some doubt as to whether the o'oblin-like fio'ure 
 they had seen was not Hashmodai himself, come 
 express from hell to amuse the inliabitants of the 
 first city in Europe.
 
 150 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The disclosure which our young knight had 
 intended to pour into the ear of his selected con- 
 fidant, is perhaps familiar, by personal experience, 
 to all our readers ; but in this instance, it was 
 marked by circumstances peculiar to the age, and, 
 in fact, to the epoch, when, owing to intestine dis- 
 sensions, and the presence of a foreign enemy at 
 the same time, the wildest confusion reigned 
 throughout the country. These circumstances, 
 however, will of necessity be so amply developed 
 in the course of the following narrative, that at 
 present we shall content ourselves with declaring 
 what is necessary to be known, in as few pages as 
 possible. 
 
 When Sir Archibald Douglas of the Braes
 
 THE MAGICIAN. '151 
 
 found himself, at the death of old Sir x4rchibalcl, 
 the inheritor of little more than a sword, which 
 had been long famous in the border wars, he de- 
 termined, like a youth of sense and spirit, to go 
 forth into the world, to push his fortune. At that 
 time, and for centuries before and after, France 
 was the Canaan of the Scots ; and all those who 
 were driven forth by fate or folly into the w^ilder- 
 ness, turned their faces toward this land of pro- 
 mise. These adventurers being, without exception, 
 brought up to arms from their infancy, and being? 
 generally speaking, distinguished for military faith 
 as well as valour, never failed to find a welcome 
 from their warlike hosts. The two countries, be- 
 sides, had been bound together by alliances, or 
 treaties, from time immemorial ; and thus when a 
 Scot descended from his mountains, and betook 
 himself to the fertile fields of France, he found 
 that he had only changed his home. 
 
 But Sir Archibald had another inducement, 
 already known to the reader. That gallant earl 
 of Douglas (his godfather, near kinsman, and 
 chief), who had led over five thousand Scots to
 
 1.52 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 the aid of Charles VII., then in the extremity of 
 his distress, had been created, in the year 1424, 
 in testimony of royal gratitude, duke of Touraine. 
 The duke, indeed, was slain in the same year, and 
 so was his son ; but the barren title at least re- 
 mained in the family, and the recollection of such 
 important services could hardly have been oblite- 
 rated from the mind of the king in the course of 
 thirteen years. 
 
 Whatever the knight's resolution, iiowever, 
 might have been, it was his fate to go to France. 
 His outfit was no sooner completed — and, truth to 
 say, it was too slender to require much time — than 
 he was summoned by the influence of his friends to 
 attend the princess Margaret in her journey. This 
 little bud of Scottish royalty, the eldest daugh- 
 ter of James I., had been betrothed to the Dauphin 
 when she was only three years of age ; and now, 
 althouLrh not more than eleven, she was consi- 
 dered old enouoh to be married to a lad of thir- 
 teen. Sir Archibald, it need hardly be said, obeyed 
 the call with the most joyful alacrity ; and, no 
 longer a solitary knight-errant, set out for the land
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 153 
 
 of adventure, in the suite of a princess, the daughter 
 of his king. He would have preferred, no doubt, 
 a couniiand in the military succours which accom- 
 panied the expedition, as the dowry of the young 
 bride ; but his powerful friends willed it other- 
 wise, and the knight consoled himself with the 
 idea that at a juncture like this, there must be 
 abundance of fighting even in the most peace- 
 able offices, at the court of Charles VII. In 
 explanation of the policy of his friends in this 
 respect, so different from what might have been 
 expected from the house of Douglas, it may 
 be added that it was the singularly handsome 
 person of Sir Archibald, which induced them to 
 choose the court for the scene of his adventures 
 rather than the field. 
 
 The circumstances of the journey have nothing 
 to do with our narrative, till the bridal party 
 arrived within a few leagues of the city of Tours, 
 where the royal family of France then resided. 
 Here the little princess was met by numerous 
 groups of the nobility and bourgeois, who came, 
 either by command or to show their zeal, to escort 
 
 II 3
 
 154 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 her into the town ; and Douglas, with the curiosity 
 of a wandering Scot, set himself to gaze with all 
 his eyes at the strangers. Among the parties who 
 successively approached, there was one which 
 more particularly interested him ; consisting of a 
 young lady, attended by a knight clothed from 
 head to foot in complete armour, who did not 
 raise his vizor the whole time. 
 
 The female, in the eyes of the young knignt, 
 was distinguished from all the rest of her sex, by a 
 peculiar elegance of form and demeanour such a^ 
 he had never beheld before. The riding dress of 
 ladies of distinction, in that age, as we see in the 
 Colbert manuscript of Monstrelet, was not greatly 
 different from that of the present day. It dis- 
 played the shape of the body, and muffled up 
 the feet ; but at the neck, instead of rising to the 
 chin, it allowed the rich stomacher to be seen, and 
 the fall of the shoulders to be guessed at. If Sir 
 Archibald's opinion, therefore, was erroneous, it 
 was not for want of opportunity of judging. 
 
 The face of the stranger possessed the character 
 of loveliness which is termed majestic ; although
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 155 
 
 this appeared to exist more in the expression than 
 the features, which were rather petite than other- 
 wise. Her eyes were of the darkest blue, bright, 
 and yet of that meditative cast which is rarely con- 
 joined with remarkable brilliance ; while her com- 
 plexion being at the same time delicately fair, and 
 her hair of the beautiful blond, celebrated by al- 
 most all the poets and fabliers of the three pre- 
 ceding centuries, she presented altogether those 
 contrasts and contradictions in female beauty, 
 which are, perhaps, still more exciting to the 
 imagination, and dangerous to the heart, than 
 regular perfection. 
 
 Her dress, although sufficiently common when 
 seen at a little distance, appeared on nearer view 
 to be of a quality so rich, that Douglas conceived 
 her to be at the very least a princess. The veil 
 which descended from the lofty cone of her hat, 
 and, although supported on her left arm, reached 
 the stirrups, was of a texture far more delicate than 
 that of the dauphin's bride; her stomacher was of 
 cloth of gold, studded with gems ; and surmount- 
 ing it, in a kind of frill which encircled the neck,
 
 156 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 appeared a portion of her chemise, as fine as the 
 two which Isabella of" Bavaria possessed, and 
 which were esteemed by her age as luxuries 
 worthy of a queen. The purse at her girdle, 
 called an ausmoniPre, perhaps, from its original 
 destination, was peculiarly elegant in form, and 
 the paleiiioster (a chaplet of beads) which hung 
 beside it was of pure gold. 
 
 The Scot looked long at this gracious appari- 
 tion ; and yet, but for a circumstance about to be 
 mentioned, he would have had to describe her to his 
 friend David, only as one of those phantoms, who 
 pass us by in the crowd of the world, and are no 
 more seen : — 
 
 One of those forms which flit by us ■wlien we 
 Are young, and fix our eyes on every face ; 
 
 And oh ! the loveliness at times we see 
 In momentary oliding, the soft grace, 
 
 The youth, the bloom, the beauty which agree 
 In man}' a nameless being we retrace, 
 
 Whose course and liome wc know not, nor shall know. 
 
 Like tlie lost Pleidad, seen no more below ! 
 
 The young imagination of ^largaret of Scotland 
 was greatly touched by the appearance of the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 157 
 
 lady; and when, in answer to her inquiries, she 
 was announced as the damsel of Laval, the guar- 
 dians of the princess hastened to advise her to 
 receive, with some mark of peculiar courtesy, the 
 daughter of one of the most distinguished men of 
 the time. Sir Archibald Douglas, who chanced 
 to be standing near, was accordingly despatched 
 to invite her to approach ; and all on a sudden, 
 he found himself thus thrown in contact with the 
 object of his admiring gaze. 
 
 The damsel, with her knight, and an escort of 
 four men-at-arms, had in the meantime fallen 
 behind ; and Douglas, as he rode up to them, 
 observed her companion extend his hand hastily 
 towards the young lady's bridle, as if to prevent 
 her advance. The Scot, however, delivered his 
 message, and Pauline de Laval accepted the invi- 
 tation promptly. 
 
 "It will displease your father," said the armed 
 knight, hastily, in a low voice, " there are power- 
 ful reasons 5 and being here in his stead, I entreat 
 -n;,y, I-" 
 
 " Sir !" exclaimed the damsel in a tone of sui-
 
 158 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 prise, as she turned her eyes upon his iron-veiled 
 face. 
 
 " Tarry, and I will explain," said he, in one of 
 those deep, full, melodious voices, which captivate 
 the ear, and win the confidence ; " or at least 
 return promptly, and I will show my meaning, a^ 
 we follow the procession." On this understanding 
 they parted ; and the damsel, with a radiant smile 
 to Douglas, put her palfrey to a pace which com- 
 pelled him to use his long spurs in order to keep 
 his ground by her side. 
 
 The interview with the bride lasted but for a 
 moment. As the young lady drew near, Margaret, 
 either prompted by her naturally affectionate dispo- 
 sition, or counselled by her guardians, opened her 
 arms, and would have embraced her ; but ^lade- 
 moiselle de Laval, leaping lightly from her horse, 
 bent her knee half way to the ground, and kissed 
 the little princess's hand. She then regained the 
 saddle as suddenly as she had descended, but not 
 before the ready Scot had had time to render her 
 such assistance as at least convinced him that she 
 was a being of earth's mould ; and, with a glance
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 159 
 
 and bow, wliich he appropriated entirely to him- 
 self, she bounded back to her attendants. 
 
 A turning of the road soon after concealed her 
 party from his view ; but Douglas had observed, 
 just before they disappeared, that the same kind 
 of debate which he had witnessed, appeared to be 
 still going on. The knight was evidently attempt- 
 ing, as his gestures showed, to dissuade the damsel 
 from advancing in the path of the royal cortege ; 
 while her manner betrayed much more reluctance 
 to comply than could be accounted for, even by 
 girlish curiosity to see the princess's reception 
 at Tours. Added to this, he had perceived the 
 knight, during the brief absence of his charge, 
 in closer and more confidential conference with the 
 men-at-arms, than their respective stations, and 
 the hght nature of their present duty, seemed to 
 warrant ; and these circumstances, which at the 
 present day, if marked at all, would leave no trace 
 upon the mind, filled the observer in the wild and 
 disjointed times of which we write, with anxiety 
 and suspicion. 
 
 This, we allow, may be traced in part to the
 
 160 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 interest which the singularly beautiful person with 
 whom his thoughts were busy had inspired, and 
 to the natural disappointment he felt at losing 
 sight of her so suddenly ; but Douglas, besides, 
 brought up as he had been, in comparative seclu- 
 sion, was deeply imbued with the feelings of that 
 romantic chivalry which was already little more 
 than a tale of the olden time, and perhaps any 
 woman, in similar circumstances, would have pro- 
 duced the same course of thouy^ht and action. 
 After lingering for an instant, he disengaged him- 
 self quietly from the procession, and followed by 
 four men-at-arms, whom he had whispered, rode 
 back briskly, though without any appearance of 
 violent haste, to the turn of the road. 
 
 The line of road beyond was visible for several 
 miles without interruption, and yet was utterlv 
 deserted. Douglas and his followers instantly 
 dashed into a side path, near which the objects of 
 their pursuit had been last seen ; and on reaching 
 an eminence, observed the four men-at-arms, 
 without their chief, scouring hastily away in 
 another direction, through the thicket. More
 
 THE MAGICIAN. I6l 
 
 than ever astonished at this spectacle, the Scot 
 continued to follow in the path at a headlono' 
 gallop ; till at length a succession of shrieks in the 
 distance confirmed all his suspicions. 
 
 The knight and the damsel were soon in view ; the 
 former grasping the bridle of the palfrey, and urging 
 the animal on to the pace of his own magnificent 
 horse ; while Pauline de Laval, struggling with 
 her ravisher, rent the air with her screams as they 
 flew. Maddened by this sight, the young Scot 
 put his charger to his utmost speed, and gained 
 rapidly upon the ruffian knight. By dint of whip 
 and spur he was soon near enough to make his 
 voice heard ; which he did in the usual terms of 
 reproach and defiance, making known at the s"feme 
 time in the gallant spirit of the age, the challenger's 
 name, by the shout of " Douolas to the rescue !" 
 
 The knight at first disregarded this salutation, 
 but on the sound coming nearer, he halted sud- 
 denly, leaped to the ground, tied the forelegs of 
 the palfrey, and, regaining his seat in an instant, 
 put his lance in rest, and awaited the pursuer. 
 At this time one of the Scottish men-at-arms was
 
 162 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 in sight ; and before Sir Archibald had approached 
 within the length of a cross-bow shot, or in other 
 words, near enough to allow the unknown to com- 
 mence advantageously his career, a second ap- 
 peared in view. Nothing daunted, however, by 
 the odds, even of three to one, the ravisher coolly 
 poised his lance, and awaited the proper moment 
 to spring. But before this came, the third and 
 fourth men-at-arms were in sight ; and the knioht, 
 after an instant's hesitation, shook his arm threat- 
 eningly towards the damsel of Laval, and spurred 
 into the thicket. 
 
 " You are in safety, Madam," cried Douglas, 
 whose border blood was now runnin^c in a whirl- 
 pool; ''the royal cortege is at hand; and under 
 the escort of my trusty followers, no harm can 
 befall you. Permit me to ride after yonder re- 
 creant, and teach him — " 
 
 " Hold !" cried Mademoiselle de Laval, for the 
 knight was already commencing his ride as he 
 spoke; "come hither — hither;" and with a ges- 
 ture of her finger, which was irresistibly com- 
 manding, from the mere absence of all doubt as
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 163 
 
 to its power of command, she drew him to her 
 side. 
 
 " I must desire of you, Sir Knight," continued 
 she, quietly, " to add to the service you have 
 already rendered, by escorting me yourself in 
 person into Tours. It is a duty which, doubtless, 
 you feel to be at once more agreeable and more 
 honourable than that of pursuing a flying enemy." 
 
 " As to the pleasure and the honour," replied 
 Sir Archibald, " they are only greater and richer 
 than I deserve ; but, ruffian as he is, the fugitive 
 appears, in all respect of arms, to be worthy of 
 my sword ; and neither can he be said to have 
 been fairly vanquished, seeing that he only fled 
 from a force of five men — " 
 
 " And a woman." 
 
 " Permit me, at least," said Douglas, compelled 
 to smile in the midst of his chagrin, " to inquire 
 the name and lineage of this recreant; that on 
 some future occasion I may finish the feud which 
 I hereby take upon me, most noble lady, in your 
 behalf, and in the name of St. Michael the arch- 
 angel." 
 
 " At the court of king Artus," replied the
 
 164 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 damsel, " he is recognised as the Unknown— no, 
 as the Black Knight. May I venture to ask in 
 turn the style of his challenger ? Have I the 
 honour of having obtained for a servant Sir Tristan. 
 Sir Meliadus, or Sir Lancelot ? — Sir Lanval, or Sir 
 Gruelan tlie faithful and beloved ? — or, in fine. 
 Sir Gauvain, he who dared the terrors of the 
 Enchanted Sword for the sake of a kiss ?" 
 
 " I am none of these," said the young knight, 
 blushing and smiling, as, notwithstanding his 
 little acquaintance with the popular fabliaux of 
 the time, he could not help feeling he was quizzed. 
 *' I am not even one of the worthies of the court 
 of king James, or of king Charles. Mv name is 
 Archibald; I am of a younger branch of the 
 Scottish house of Douglas ; my domain consists 
 of a few acres of brown heath, called, in our 
 homely tongue, the Braes, with a border tower 
 rising from the banks of Tweed ; and, for fault of 
 fortune and occupation at home, I have brought 
 my father's sword to the wars of France, and to 
 tlie service of the most amiable and lovelv of her 
 daughters." 
 
 " Thanks, noble stranger," said the young lady.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 165 
 
 dropping suddenly her tone of raillery, and blush- 
 ing^ in her turn, as she bestowed a momentary 
 glance of surprise and interest upon the ingenuous 
 countenance of the Scot, — ' Here you have found 
 but a distracted country, and a wilful maiden, for 
 the exercise of your chivalry ; but, if men say 
 true, even the meanest feud will furnish a field of 
 honour for the Bleeding Heart." Douglas bowed, 
 even to his horse's neck, as with a flushing cheek 
 and glistening eye, he replied to this compliment 
 to his family. 
 
 '' I feel," said he, '' that the name of my clan 
 will receive no stain at my hands : more espe- 
 cially," he added, after an abrupt pause, and in 
 the spirit of an almost by-gone chivalry ; *' more 
 especially, if Pauline de Laval will deign to 
 inspire me ! yet, I pray you to observe, and there- 
 upon I take you strongly to witness, that I am of 
 a younger branch — that I am poor and alone — 
 and that thus no discredit can reasonably attach 
 to the house, even if it should be the fate of 
 Archibald Douglas to fight undistinguished, and 
 fall unhonoured and unknown."
 
 166 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 While thus conversing, they were rapidly gain- 
 inof upon the procession ; but when just about 
 to mingle with the last of the crowd, Pauline 
 hung back. 
 
 "Touching the knight," said she, "of" whom 
 you have inquired, it would be bootless for you to 
 know his name, and worse than bootless to pursue 
 the feud. Powerless himself, he is protected by 
 a power with which it would be madness to 
 contend. Let it suffice to know — if indeed you 
 take more interest in the subject than concerns 
 your own fame — that I am safe for the future, 
 and that, so far from renewing his attempt, he 
 will never more dare even to meet the eye of 
 Pauline de Laval." 
 
 They had now gained the town, the streets of 
 which displayed, on a small scale, the same sort 
 of confusion and magnificence described in the 
 opening chapter of this work. The bride was 
 mounted on a white horse, whose bridle, studded 
 with oems, was held on each side by a distin- 
 ouished noble of the French court. After her 
 came a brilliant train of ladies, likewise mounted,
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 167 
 
 and dressed uniformly, with hats of extraordinary 
 height, and long white veils depending from the 
 crown. Then followed two chariots filled with 
 ladies j and then a troop of gentlemen of the 
 French and Scottish courts. 
 
 The procession stopped at the chateau, on the 
 banks of the river, which was the royal residence ; 
 and Margaret, dismounting, was led in by the Count 
 de Vendome and a Scottish earl, and met in the 
 great hall by the queen of France, the queen of 
 Sicily, the princess Radigonde, natural daughter 
 of the king, the Countess de Vendome, and other 
 distinguished persons. Immediately after, the 
 boy-dauphin entered, and the future Louis XI. 
 kissed his little wife, when the ceremonial of the 
 scene was at an end. 
 
 During the whole of this time the pertinacious 
 Scot had remained by mademoiselle de Laval ; 
 and as soon as the reception was over they pro- 
 ceeded together to her father's house. This 
 mansion, though but rarely occupied by the lord 
 de Retz, was little inferior in magnificence to the 
 royal chateau ; and Sir Archibald's heart sunk 
 within him at the view — he knew not why.
 
 168 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 '^Alas!" thought he, gazing, as if unwillingly, 
 at the palace-walls before him, with their rich and 
 vast gardens swelling on the one side, and the 
 broad and beautiful Loire rolling its silver tide on 
 the other. *'Alas, my poor little border-tower, and 
 its heather hills, and the brawling Tweed below!'' 
 
 When they had dismounted, and were just 
 about entering the house, a clatter of horses' 
 hoofs was heard behind them, and an old man, 
 wholly unattended, spurred into the court. Doug- 
 las's heart beat, for he thought, by the sudden 
 emotion displayed by Pauline, that this must be 
 the lord de Retz; but a single glance, when the 
 horseman had dismounted, served to banish the 
 idea. He was a man apparently not under 
 seventy years of age; although the keen expres- 
 sion and extreme brightness of his eyes, indicated 
 an unabated freshness and vigour, both of mind 
 and body. Surmounting the ordinary habili- 
 ments, he wore a garment resembling the oriental 
 kaftan. The colour was black, but the material 
 of the richest silk, and minutely figured with such 
 antique and unintelligible devices, as showed that 
 the fabric belonged to another country, and per-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 169 
 
 haps to another age. The most remarkable 
 appendage of the wearer, however, was a beard of 
 extraordinary length, and so intensely white as to 
 give an unworldly air to the whole figure. The 
 damsel of Laval bent before him with what seemed 
 to be habitual reverence, mingled with astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " I am happy," she faltered, " yet surprised — " 
 
 " To see thine ancient friend," said the old man, 
 with a benign smile, " a hundred miles from where 
 you supposed him to be ? This morning, however, 
 I discovered a neglect which might have led thee 
 into danger." 
 
 " This morning !" 
 
 '* Ay, or yesterday, or a week ago — what matters 
 it ? and I am here, in time, I find, to congratulate 
 thee on thy escape, and to present my fervent 
 thanks to thy deliverer." 
 
 " Had the damsel of Laval permitted me," said 
 Douglas, " 1 should indeed have deserved your 
 thanks, by avenging her quarrel on the ruffian. 
 
 " She was wiser than thou. In the hands of 
 that ruffian thou wouldsthavebeenbutasa wand." 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 "Even so, messire, to chastise him withal/' 
 said the Scot, reddening : " but, methinks the 
 neglect you acknowledge, since you could not 
 have known of my timely presence, would have 
 been best remedied by sending before you some 
 trusty followers of the Lord de Retz, to the relief 
 of his daughter." The young lady looked dis- 
 tressed, and even alarmed at this taunt, but the 
 old man did not appear even to have heard it. 
 
 " The neglect," said he, in a tone almost of soli- 
 loquy," was natural. How could I have thought 
 of suspecting danger? He was the lineal de- 
 scendant of my sister — he is the only being who 
 can count kindred with me upon earth. Howbeit, 
 were he my own son, he shall pay the forfeit of 
 his crime. He loves thee, lady. It was his pur- 
 pose to carry thee off by force to a far island in 
 the midst of the sea— farther still than Madeira, 
 and beyond even the uttermost cape of Bojador : 
 and there, untrammelled by the distinctions of 
 wealth and rank, to have made thee his for ever. 
 Fool ! he thought to fly from 7ne ! as if my eye 
 could not see him, and my hand reach him, were
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 171 
 
 he in the depths of ocean itself ! But his life is 
 forfeit. Speak the word, Pauline de Laval, and 
 he dies in thy presence." 
 
 " I demand not his death," said Pauline, '' nay, 
 I beg his life of you, as a boon. Let him go, if 
 he lists, to the regions of that far island. Such as 
 he will be received with welcome by prince Henry 
 of England ; and in the service of that explorer of 
 unknown seas, his rank and adventurous spirit may 
 yet win for him honour and renown. 
 
 '* So be it," said the old man, " my unworthy 
 kinsman shall set forth for Sagres, by the light of 
 this day's sun, to seek the English prince." 
 
 Such was Douglas's first adventure in France, 
 or rather, we ought to say, its commencement. 
 Had Pauline de Laval appeared to him all on a 
 sudden as the daughter of one of the greatest lords 
 in Europe, it is probable that the wandering knight 
 would have regarded her as ''some bright particular 
 star," fit only to be worshipped at the distance of 
 that impassable space interposed between them. 
 But the fame even of the lord de Retz had as yet 
 hardly penetrated to the Ultima Thule of the Scot- 
 
 i2
 
 172 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 tish' border ; and Pauline was beloved as a wo- 
 man before Douglas knew that in rank and fortune 
 she was only beneath a queen. 
 
 There had been something so dazzling about the 
 career of the lord de Retz, that most men imagined 
 his constant good fortune to be more than natural. 
 Left an orphan heir at twenty years of as^e, brave, 
 generous, accomplished, and the handsomest of the 
 handsome, there would have been nothing extra- 
 ordinary in a moderate portion of prosperity. But 
 the favours of that destiny which is called acci- 
 dent, descended upon him in a continuous shower ; 
 and, as in the case of King Midas, everything he 
 touched seemed to be turned into gold. In addi- 
 tion to his own large fortune, the beautiful Ca- 
 therine de Thoual*s brought him a queenly dowry 
 when he was only twenty-four ; and by the death 
 of relations, one after another, he inherited estate 
 after estate, till his possessions extended over 
 several provinces in France and Brittany. 
 
 As a soldier, he was equally brave, skilful, and 
 fortunate. Besides his other almost daily exploits, 
 Charles VII. was indebted to him for the chateau
 
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 173 
 
 of Lude, which he captured with great valour, slay- 
 ing the commandant ; and he chased the English, 
 unassisted by the king^ from the fortress of Renne- 
 fort, and that of Malicorne on the Maine. In 1 429 
 he was the principal ally of the Maid of Orleans, in 
 throwing supplies into the city ; and he was one of 
 the great chiefs who, in the midst of this mighty 
 revolution, solemnly anointed Charles at Reims. 
 Count and marshal of France, and privy-counsellor 
 and chamberlain of the king, and afterwards lieu- 
 tenant-general of Brittany, his native country, 
 under John V., the possessor of more estates, 
 as the historians of the time relate, than his 
 memory served him to reckon by their names — 
 Gilles de Retz, at the commencement of our story, 
 was still in the very flower of life, being httle 
 more than forty years of age. 
 
 It was only by degrees the Scottish stranger 
 learnt the true rank of his mistress; and not until 
 certain passages had taken place between them — 
 imperceptible indeed to the world, but O, how im- 
 portant in the journals of the heart ! — v^^hich 
 would have made it equally base and impossible
 
 174 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 to retract. As for Pauline, ever since the alx)ve 
 adventure, her young heart was in such a flutter 
 of fear and delight, that she had no time to in- 
 quire into the nature of the spell which bound 
 her. Hitherto her admirers had been the rude and 
 ignorant barons of her own country, or those hired 
 mercenaries whose trade was not noble war, but 
 blood and plunder. Douglas, in the midst of 
 such men, appeared like some phantom knight 
 whom her fancy had conjured up from its stores of 
 tradition and romance. At first she could hardly 
 comprehend him ; and her heart, already drilled 
 into the cold forms of the world, almost distrusted 
 an enthusiasm so new to her outward senses, yet 
 so familiar in her dreams. Even when she fully 
 understood his character, he remained separated 
 in her imagination from the breathing mass of 
 mankind ; and in those moments when the mind 
 is accustomed to flee away from the realities of 
 life into the regions of poetry and fiction, it was 
 he who was the genius of the song, the hero of 
 the tale — an impersonation of the brave, the gene* 
 rous, and the beautiful. Let us add, although the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 175 
 
 observation is trite, that the very difference in 
 their fortunes must have presented something 
 piquant to the fancy of Pauline ; and that the 
 vista along which her spirit looked, must have 
 been not the less tempting for those obstacles in 
 the way, which the heart of eighteen knows to be 
 impossibilities, yet hopes to surmount. 
 
 Douglas was not long of discovering, that the 
 old man was a very important person in the family 
 of the lord de Retz. 
 
 " Make Orosmandel your friendj^ was the con- 
 stant injunction of the damsel; but to her lover's 
 simple question, "Why?" she could give, no 
 satisfactory answer. 
 
 " Is he noble ? is he wealthy ? is he high in 
 office ? has he an army of vassals at his beck ? 
 has he the ear of the kings of the time ?'*^ 
 
 " No, no, no. He has no rank, no command — 
 he is moneyless, landless, and alone. He is an 
 Arab, and his name is Orosmandel, and that is all 
 even my father knows. He is kind, gentle, and 
 humane ; but his resolves are as irrevocable as 
 destiny. I do not comprehend him. He appears
 
 176 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 to do nothing, yet everything is done according to 
 his desire. He rarely stirs from our chateau, on 
 the banks of the Erdre, yet there are traces of him 
 everywhere. My father, who would not brook a 
 haughty glance from a throned king, is his obe- 
 dient, revering, helpless child ; and I, a spoiled 
 and wilful maid, although I love more than fear 
 him, feel as if I only existed by his permission." 
 
 *' Then," said Douglas, " he is either a sorcerer 
 or a man of genius, and I shall try to make Oros- 
 mandel my friend." 
 
 The knight passed a considerable portion of a 
 year at Tours, and then accompanied tlie king to 
 the siege of Montereau, while the damsel returned 
 to her accustomed home in the city of Nantes. 
 As this was previous to the commencement of our 
 story, the reader will not demand a detailed ac- 
 count of the parting of the lovers. That Douglas, 
 however, was still sustained by some kind of wild 
 and indefinite hopes, may be inferred from the 
 fact, that his chief purpose, in seeking out his 
 friend at Paris, was to invite the student to ac- 
 company him on a journey into Brittany, which
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 177 
 
 he meditated. The sudden apparition of his mis- 
 tress at the theatre, atte nded by the good or evil 
 genius of the family, bewildered him so much, 
 that at first he could form no plan of action ; but 
 at length, with the cus tomary frankness of his 
 nature, determining that the boldest was the best 
 policy, he watched the moment of their leaving 
 the boxes, and joined them in the street. The 
 result of this interview must be given hereafter, 
 for we have only too long delayed inquiring into 
 the consequence of Philip Armstrong's playing the 
 devil. 
 
 I 3
 
 178 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 On the morning after David Armstrong's ex- 
 hibition at the theatre, the first faint glimmering 
 of the dawn disclosed him and his three comrades 
 lying, as usual, in one room, buried in sleep. 
 Their beds were four heaps of straw, covered 
 with a ragged woollen cloth, and for a pdlow 
 each had under his head a bundle of straw bound 
 with thongs, which the students of the university 
 were in the habit of carrying with them to the 
 class to sit upon. The apartment was large, but 
 dreary and desolate ; the floor was covered with 
 litter ; and every here and there the large stones 
 of the wall were seen bare, and rough, denuded 
 of the plaster which had adorned them in the 
 days of yore.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 179 
 
 Three of the four sleepers seemed to have but 
 one character among them. They had fair hair, 
 clear skins, and a ruddy complexion. Their fore- 
 heads were broad and massive ; their noses firmly 
 set; and their mouths, though pencilled in the 
 rounded lines of youth, exhibited a certain rigidity, 
 expressive of firmness and determination. Two 
 of them were tall rather than otherwise, and 
 strongly built ; but Nigel was almost a giant. 
 They all three slept as if soul and body had been 
 alike unconscious. David, who was the hand- 
 somest of the four, was also the palest, owing, no 
 doubt, to his midnight vigils ; his brow was loftier 
 than the others, and the whole head more intel- 
 lectual. His sleep was troubled; his breath came 
 thick and unequal ; and his lips moved uneasily. 
 At length, starting as a stronger beam of light 
 touched his eyelids, he awoke and sat up in his 
 bed. 
 
 " And am I here after all ? " said he, " and was 
 it nothing more than a trick of the enchanter 
 Morpheus, the 'figurae formator,' as Ovid truly 
 describeth him? Here!— and for the last time!
 
 180 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 No more shall the tiptoe visits of Aurora find me 
 on this straw, a too reluctant Cephalus! No 
 more shall 1 tread these venerable walks of 
 Cadmus — * In sylvis Academi quaerere verum ! ' 
 And ye, my comrades, or, rather, my children — 
 my babes, as I may call them, for whom my heart 
 yearns, even like the heart of a mother — what 
 will become of you ? Well may you groan, 
 Bauldy, a sure sign that you are nigh the waking; 
 well may you hitch up your leg, Andrew, like a 
 demoniac in the spasms ; well may you shrink, 
 my huge Nigel, like Tityus from his vultures, 
 when he lay in hell, covering with his body nine 
 acres of the burnt orouud ! What had I to do 
 with Hashmodai ? What was it to me if he had 
 repeated the forty thousand verses of the De- 
 struction of Troyes, and had been wrong in every 
 verse ? But yet it was indeed a torment to hear 
 the dunce; and to do the citizens justice, tliey 
 proved that they could appreciate talent, as well 
 as condemn stupidity. Oh, it was a grand mo- 
 ment ! — Hem ! 
 
 ** Devils of lioU, homed and horrible ! — '*
 
 ^ THE MAGICIAN. 181 
 
 " The Lord save us ! " cried Bauldy, and Nigel, 
 and Andrew, with one voice, as they started from 
 their sleep at this invocation, and sat up in their 
 beds. 
 
 "Is it clubs, David?" cried Nigel, swinging 
 round his arm, so as to grasp conveniently a huge 
 weapon of the kind, which lay within reach. 
 
 *' Who named the name of the Evil One ?" 
 demanded Bauldy in dismay. 
 
 "And at this blessed time of the morning," 
 added Andrew. 
 
 "It was I,— Hashmodai the damned!" and 
 David sprung from his couch, threw himself into 
 a true demoniac attitude, and went on with the 
 quotation : 
 
 " Devils of hell, horned and horrible ! 
 Great and small, with eyes of basilisks ! 
 Infamous dogs, what has become of you?'^ 
 
 " Excellent ! excellent !'^ cried the awakened au- 
 dience : "Bis! Bis! Hashmodai! Hashmodai!" 
 
 " It is enough, my sons," said the master 
 student ; " Hashmodai has played his part, and so 
 
 •o
 
 182 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 let him rest. Now up witli ye, sirs, one and all, 
 and shake yourselves well ; and dash your heads 
 into the water-pail ; and put your fingers through 
 your hair; and draw your cloaks evenly upon 
 your shoulders ; and so look seemly and respect- 
 able. And now, countrymen and lovers, lend me 
 your ears !" 
 
 As David went on gravely and methodically 
 with an account of the circumstances of the pre- 
 ceding evening, the three young men testified the 
 amusement they received by shouts of mirth ; and 
 more especially, when he repeated the bitter jokes 
 he had taken the liberty of introducing on the 
 subject of the University, they laughed till the 
 tears ran down their cheeks. But when all was 
 concluded, they became suddenly silent, and 
 looked inquirmgly into one another's faces; while 
 a kind of dismay seemed to creep over their minds, 
 as the reflection forced itself upon them, of what 
 must be the consequence of their friend's exploit. 
 
 ''And now, my friends," continued David, "you 
 are aware that in our days the scholastic discipline 
 has suffered at least a partial relaxation. We no
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 183 
 
 longer, for instance, stand at our tasks naked 
 from the waist upwards, that we may receive more 
 feelingly the regent's stripes. But what of that ? 
 These were honourable inflictions, and left no 
 shame behind. The penal laws, however, of the 
 University, are the same to-day as formerly; and, 
 as the statutes describe, for acting immodest pieces, 
 or impugning on the stage the character of the 
 Light of the Faith, the offending scholar must 
 suffer publicly, * supra dorsum nudum, pulsante 
 campana.' Think of that — on his bare back, to 
 the tolling of their infernal bell!" 
 The audience groaned. 
 
 " And now, sirs," he went on, " as for such a 
 degradation befalling me, who am an Armstrong, 
 as you well know, and a near cousin of the name 
 of Douglas by the mother's side, it is of course out 
 of the question : but being so, it behoves me to take 
 the wings of this blessed morning, and flee away." 
 " Whither ?" cried the three in one breath. 
 "Whither the Lord willeth," answered David, 
 looking upwards, "for I am even as a straw let 
 loose upon the wind, to go wheresoever the wind 
 shall carry it/'
 
 184 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 '^ Let there be four straws of us then," cried 
 Bauldy, *' and let us all go where the Lord 
 willeth/' 
 
 " By no means/' said Nigel. ** Let us thrash 
 the witnesses till we turn their tongues inside 
 out." 
 
 " Nay, nay," suggested Andrew, *' we know not 
 what even an hour may bring forth. Let us wait 
 till the last moment, and then either fi^ht or flee, 
 as occasion may require." 
 
 ** Hold your tongues, sirs, I desire you !" said 
 David, *' How dare you speak of such a thing to 
 me ? Is it likely, think you, that I should consent 
 to take you from under the maternal wings of the 
 University, when, as God shall judge me, I know 
 not where this night to lay my own head ? The 
 days of knight-errantry are past and gone, or we 
 might even sally forth, and take our share with the 
 rest, of anything that was going, blow s or pudding ; 
 but for decent men's sons, and students of polite 
 learning to boot, to turn themselves into ruffians, 
 who fight for an hire, it is a thing I would 
 neither permit nor countenance. And, in what
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 185 
 
 other way would ye propose to get your living ? 
 Do you know the mysteries by heart, like me, so 
 that you might enter into some strolling brother- 
 hood of the Passion? Or are ye qualified to en- 
 list under the banner of the King of the Minstrels? 
 Or would ye sing litanies in the streets of Paris, for 
 your miserable bread, and he at night, higgledy 
 piggledy, under the bridges, with the thieves and 
 ill women of the profane side of the river — the 
 Transtiberian bank, as I may stigmatize it, seeing 
 that it is there such offensive trades are carried on ? 
 No, no, Bauldy — no, Nigel — no, Andrew, ye must 
 still continue, lads, to live decently, and cultivate 
 humane learning ; and, if it should be the fate of 
 David Armstrong to sink in the whirl of that 
 world on which his fate or follies have cast him, 
 he will sink alone, and so his moan will be the 
 sooner made." 
 
 A deep silence followed this oration ; during 
 which, David arranged his cloak upon his shoulders, 
 looked at the window, which was now brightening 
 in the early sun, and turned ever and anon a fur- 
 tive glance at his companions. As the moment of
 
 186 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 his exodus drew near, the four friendless lads felt 
 the ties that had bound them togetlier in a foreign 
 land, drawn tighter and tighter over their hearts. 
 At last a sudden sob was heard, though manfully 
 smothered in a clearing of the throat ; and the 
 youthful giant Nigel strode foinvard with an un- 
 steady step, and looking down upon the castaway, 
 addressed him in these words. 
 
 ** It is of no use, daddy David ; you have more 
 sense than us all three put together, and if you 
 withdraw your counsel, we shall only get brained 
 some night by the other students, or hanged some 
 morning by the University. Besides, if any of us 
 have a chance of getting on in this kind of priest- 
 craft, it is you ; and to lose the labour of years for 
 a joke, is not to be thought of. Touching the 
 matter of the public flogging, it is no doubt a sore 
 thing both for soul and body, but what of that ? 
 My father, honest man, though a kinsman of 
 yours, was little better than a reiver himself ; and 
 it may be, that I am some whit thicker in the 
 mind, as well as skin, than you. My shoulders, too, 
 are broad enough to bear the burden of a still
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 187 
 
 greater transgression ; and in short, sit you down 
 at your ease, cousin, and do not throttle yourself in 
 that fashion with your cloak. The whole three of 
 us will make oath that you are as innocent of 
 Hashmodai as the babe unborn ; and, for your 
 sake, David, I will take all upon myself, devil, 
 whip, and bell !'' 
 
 " Shame upon you !'' said David, in strong agi- 
 tation, **and you a kinsman of the Armstrongs, 
 and a kindly Scot ! Away, I have done with you ! 
 begone ! And to think that I would let them tear 
 your young flesh and crush your proud spirit to 
 save my own, when you knew well I would lay 
 down my life for yours ! Fye, lad, fye ! Come 
 here, you overgrown whelp. Nigel ! May the 
 Lord bless and preserve you for ever !" and Davids 
 unable to struggle longer with his feelings, hid 
 his face on his friend's bosom, and lifted up his 
 voice, and wept. In the midst of the sobs of the 
 whole party, there were heard, at some distance, 
 the ominous sounds of a bell. 
 
 " It is enough," said David, disengaging himself 
 from the Herculean clasp of his cousin, " You
 
 188 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 have betrayed me into a girl's weakness, Nigel ; 
 but since I see we are all pot and kettle in the 
 business, it is the less matter. It was my purpose, 
 lads, to have said a parting word for your benefit; 
 but, as time presses, I can do little more than bid 
 you remember, in all your outgoings and incomings 
 in the world, that you are Scottish and Christian 
 men. For yourselves, individually, take no 
 thought ; but bear constantly in mind, that you 
 belong to your race and nation, and that your con- 
 duct may reflect either honour or discredit upon 
 your fathers before you, and your children after 
 you. Abstain from the cup, except in so far as 
 decency and good manners permit. If you are 
 offered a drink in moderation, take it without 
 grudging, as one who is willing to make a due 
 return when circumstances permit. But it is 
 always a thriftless expenditure to buy wine for a 
 man's own mouth ; which is a subject, however, on 
 the which I need not enlarge, seeing that you are 
 not likely often to have the price of a bottle in 
 your purse. Of that other and more fatal cup, 
 drugged with the Circeean enchantments of beauty.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 189 
 
 I say unto you, beware ! If you have left behind 
 you a fair and innocent mistress, or, if you bear 
 enshrined in your fancy some lovely Vision, of 
 which you hope to fall in with the reality on earth, 
 invoke that saving angel in the hour of temptation ! 
 Avoid evil company ; or if that is impossible, look 
 upon it even as mariners look upon a beacon on 
 the shore — a sign to warn and deter, not to invite. 
 Fail not, night and morning, to address yourselves 
 to God, and the Blessed Virgin, at your lying 
 down, and rising up ; and finally, my dear friends, 
 at some odd moments now and then, in those 
 pauses of life when the wearied heart retires into 
 the past, think — kindly if you can — of David 
 Armstrong ! " The bell was now heard nearer 
 and nearer ; and the young men wrung one 
 another's hands, while silent tears were raining 
 down their cheeks. David stepped upon the ledge 
 of the window^ ; but it was not till the tread of the 
 authorities was heard ascending the stairs, that he 
 sprang into the back court below, and disappeared 
 among the buildings of the college. 
 
 He had truly said, that he knew not where
 
 190 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 that night to lay his head ; and yet it must not 
 be supposed that David, even in so sudden and 
 unforeseen an emergency, was without his plans 
 and purposes. The stranger, whom messire Jean 
 had called Prelati, was perhaps not precisely the 
 sort of person whom, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, he would have chosen for a patron ; but 
 still, even before his self-expulsion from the uni- 
 versity, he had balanced withm himself as to 
 whether he might not try his service for a while. 
 This man was without a single mean or cruel trait 
 in his countenance ; and the only gleam of fierce- 
 ness he had exhibited was when virtually accused 
 by the adept of contemplating an ungenerous 
 action. Was it not possible that the latter, when 
 he regarded him as an incarnate demon, was 
 under the influence of the worse demon of avarice ? 
 And might not the great bulk of Prelati 's trans- 
 gressions amount to the fact — which David did not 
 consider a very heavy matter — of his being as 
 ready as his neighbours to redeem the spoil of the 
 Egyptians on every feasible occasion, from the 
 fangs of the Jew.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 191 
 
 If such bad been bis reflections before his 
 fateful visit to the theatre, it may be supposed that 
 this favourable hypothesis w^as strengthened, if 
 not altogether confirmed, by the appearance of 
 the Arabian philosopher. Orosmandel was doubt- 
 less the " friend " alluded to as the master of the 
 lord de Retz, in some science still more sublinie 
 than alchemy ; and well might Prelati smile at 
 the Jew's mistake, in connecting such a man with 
 the idea of the prince of darkness ! A mild dig- 
 nity was the chief characteristic of his face — a 
 dignity arising, not from external, but intellectual 
 grandeur ; and David recognised, through all 
 their disparity of years and figure, a sort of 
 family resemblance between him and the subter- 
 ranean visitor, which, without derogating from 
 the former, exalted the latter to a tenfold pitch in 
 his imagination. 
 
 But, even supposing his favourable opinion to 
 be founded in error, David, whose nerves were 
 good, considered that, with the sense both of 
 mind and body open, he should run but little risk. 
 Something good might befall him. The lord de
 
 192 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Retz, however short of ready money at the present 
 moment, had the character of being both wealthy 
 and generous. On the spot he would have an 
 opportunity of serving his friend, Sir Archibald, 
 either by furthering his love plans— for he had 
 read the histoiy in a glance — or by detaching him 
 at once from a hopeless pursuit. And as for 
 danger, if such should prove to exist, he was per- 
 fectly ready to trust to a quick eye, a ready hand, 
 and, if need were, a clean pair of heels — always, 
 over and above, the protection of the most holy 
 Virgin, and the blessed St. Bride. " The Marma- 
 ridae," concluded he, with a quaint erudition, 
 which in his time was not the small pedantry of a 
 village schoolmaster, " the Marmaridee, as we find 
 in the verses of Caius Silius Italicus, lived among 
 serpents, and were poison-proof ! " 
 
 Such were his reflections on his way home from 
 the theatre ; where, in all probability, his exploit 
 was proximately caused by that sort of reckless 
 desperation, which sometimes prompts a hesitating 
 climber to end the debate, by kicking the support 
 from under him. Till then he had an idea almost
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 193 
 
 equally strong, of continuing, as usual, his re- 
 search after the philosopher's stone; in the hope 
 that the demerits of the Jew would be overlooked 
 out of regard to the merits of the Christian. But 
 now the thins; was settled. The university was 
 as sharp as the law in looking after its victims ; 
 and unless he was content to dwell for life with 
 his unbelieving master, " borrowing," as he said 
 " in dens and caves, like the Troglodytae," he 
 must quit Paris instanter. As for Douglas's pro- 
 posal, that he should turn a military adventurer, 
 he knew very well that dry blows were, as often 
 as otherwise, the lot of such desperadoes, whom 
 every body was anxious to get rid of the moment 
 their services could be dispensed with. This pro- 
 fession would by no n-.^. ans do for one who sought 
 fortune as a means of omfort and independence ; 
 and the student had (etermined, rather than em- 
 brace it, to enlist ;i ong those explorers of un- 
 known seas and far-away lands, whose fame was 
 now beginning to ring throughout Europe ; and 
 so give himself a chance of falling in with some 
 new Pactolus, whose tide rolled over golden sands. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 The Hebrew maid, whose sudden appearance in 
 her own character, was the real cause of the com- 
 motion which had taken place in his mind, and 
 the change, as it appeared, in his destinies, was a 
 subject on which he had not permitted himself to 
 dwell. It was enough that a barrier existed be- 
 tween them which hope itself could not overleap ; 
 and even when contemplating the possibility of 
 his still remaining her father's assistant, he looked 
 upon hei' as on some disembodied shape that 
 might haunt him like a spirit, but whom he must 
 never more think of as a woman. Still, when seek- 
 ing his way, as he did now, by by-paths, to her 
 dwelling, with almost the certainty of seeing her — 
 if, indeed, he saw her at all — for the last time, he 
 experienced a sensation more painful than it had 
 ever before been his lot to endure. A portion of 
 this might, no doubt, be accounted for by the 
 parting scene he had just undergone, and by 
 the loneliness and desolation of heart he must 
 have felt in his present outcast situation ; but, 
 however this may be, when he reached the ruined 
 buildings, and was about to enter tlie door, and to
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 195 
 
 breathe the atmosphere where she livedo and moved, 
 and had her being, he felt as if he would have 
 fallen to the pround. 
 
 At this hour he knew it would be necessary to 
 make his descent by the dwelling-house, and, 
 lifting the latch softly, he entered the humble and 
 ruinous abode. All was so still, and had so dreary 
 an aspect, that he began to hope painfuUi/y that 
 the mysterious family had vanished; but the next 
 moment the daughter of messire Jean stood before 
 him in her usual ghost-like fashion. 
 
 *^ Thou hast tarried," said she, while a slight 
 colour rose into her cheek, '* my father hath 
 watched all night for thy coming." 
 
 " Damsel — " replied David. 
 
 " My name is Hagar." 
 
 " Hagar ! It is the name of the bondwoman 
 who wandered of old, fainting, in the wilderness of 
 Beer-sheba. It is the name of an Eo;yptian;" 
 and the scholar seemed to derive some satisfaction 
 from the idea. 
 
 " It is a type of our nation ! Even so wander- 
 
 K 2
 
 196 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 eth Israel to this day, cast forth, and forsaken of 
 God and man — weary, heavy in heart, and way- 
 sore !" 
 
 *' It is you who forsook and were not forsaken. 
 Turn again, O daughter of Jacob, and God and 
 man will receive thee ! " 
 
 "It may not be. We await, like Hagar, the 
 coming of One who will show unto us a well in 
 the wilderness, saying, ' Fear not ; for I will make 
 of thee a mighty nation ! ' Pass on, stranger to 
 our race, and take no thought of the daughter of 
 the desert !" She turned away, as she spoke, and 
 led the way into the interior; but when just about 
 to descend the ladder which conducted to the sub- 
 terranean chambers, she again spoke, approaching 
 a step nearer to the listener. 
 
 " David," said she. David started, and an in- 
 describable thrill shot through his frame. 
 
 " My father, thou knowest, is sorely beset, and 
 his judgment is clouded by reason of the dangers 
 that encompass him. Accept not of the ad- 
 vancement he will offer thee. Tarry with him, if
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 197 
 
 thou wilt, till he is able to flee away from this city 
 of death ; but follow not his footsteps, neither go 
 thou before — not for a king's ransom ! " 
 
 " And you ?" said David, in a tone of breathless 
 interest. 
 
 " As for me," she replied, smihng sadly, '* I 
 am accustomed to wander alone in the wilderness. 
 Take no thought of Hagar ; — but heed well her 
 words, which concern thy life — peradventure thy 
 soul !" and stepping upon the ladder, she disap- 
 peared in the abyss. David followed, like a man 
 in a dream. 
 
 Messire Jean was sitting, as usual, at his table, 
 but from habit, as it seemed, more than business : 
 for that furnace was now cold, which was wont 
 to be watched as religiously as the sacred fire of 
 the Parsees. When David went in, announced 
 by his daughter, the old man did not at first raise 
 his head ; and when he spoke, there was a hesita- 
 tion, amounting even to timidity, in the tone of 
 his voice. 
 
 " Thou hast tarried, my son," said he, " but thy 
 fortune waiteth. Behold, our fire is out; and that
 
 198 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 shall let thee know that a voice of no little 
 potency hath called me, and that I must perforce 
 turn back, even with my foot upon the last step, 
 and go forth again into the world. Without me, 
 thou canst not continue the search, for thou hast 
 neither means nor instruction ; but I have cared 
 for thee, even in the midst of my travail, and I 
 have found thee a new friend, and according to 
 the calculation of men, fairer prospects. What 
 sayest thou? Art thou content? Wilt thou 
 forth, even this night, in the path I shall 
 show ? " 
 
 "Show it me, and I shall answer: If I am to 
 go forth, tell me whither ; and if I am to serve — 
 for I guess it is not to command — say who is to 
 be my master, and what my wages." 
 
 *' How ! Art thou in a condition to make terms r 
 Where be thy lands, and thy moneys ? Is thy 
 cloak whole, that thou shouldst stand up, and say 
 unto me, Do this, and this ?" 
 
 "t have no land, nor money,'' replied the stu- 
 dent ; " my garments are no longer new ; and I 
 am this morning an outcast from the University.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 199 
 
 Speak, for the time passes j and ere the coming of 
 the night, I have to provide myself with a shelter 
 from my pursuers, and with a place whereon to 
 lay my head." 
 
 " These things will I provide," said the Jew 
 eagerly, while his constraint was replaced by an 
 air of visible satisfaction ; " Is it not our duty to 
 be a father to the fatherless, and to take the wan- 
 derer in ? If harm comes of it, is it the fault of 
 the benefactor ? These things are in the hands of 
 the Almighty ; but thou, valiant David, who wast 
 born when the Sun was in the sign of the Lion, 
 thy planet is stationary, and thou needest fear no 
 evil." 
 
 '* In other words, I may escape destruction, pro- 
 vided my hand can protect my head." 
 
 " Destruction ! Is it destruction to serve in the 
 laboratory of a philosopher, who is protected by 
 the greatest lord in Europe ? Go to, thou art 
 still a boy. And yet I bid thee not slumber, as if 
 thou wert in thy mother's cradle — that were a 
 counsel unworthy of my age, since it is written 
 that ^ years should speak, and multitude of days
 
 200 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 teach wisdom." Are not the watchful and the 
 bold more likely to succeed than the heedless and 
 timid ? I will give thee a sword, good David 
 Strongarm, and a dagger which thou wilt wear in 
 thy girdle, and a suit of new raiment; and in the 
 family of the lord de Relz thou wilt flourish ex- 
 ceedingly — and yet never cease to be war^-. But 
 what wilt thou do in turn for me, thou who hast 
 eaten of my bread, and drank of my cup? Lo, I 
 demand of thee but a very little thing. Stand 
 back, daughter — silence, for I will not hear thee ! 
 Get thee gone, and prepare the morning meal. I 
 am even as a stranger here, good David ; for while 
 tarrying in this place, year after year, absorbed in 
 the great work, the world hath passed by, and 
 forgotten me. I have no one to whom I can say, 
 Do this, and he doth it ; and to you alone, of all 
 the myriads of mankind around me, can I open 
 my lips. The task, I know, is unfit for thy years ; 
 but thou art wise and sober-minded, as well as 
 faithful and brave ; and wert thou none of these, 
 thou art my only stay, and I must trust thee. 1 
 have a daughter—"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. '^01 
 
 David started. 
 
 '* Tarry, for I will be brief. I mean the young 
 woman who was wont to bring in thy supper, she 
 who was here even now — didst thou mark her ?" 
 
 The student flushed to the roots of the hair; 
 but he replied only by a calm inclination of the 
 head. 
 
 " It is needful that she set out this day, towards 
 the dusk of the evening, for the city called Nantes, 
 where our kinsfolk dwell ; tarrying as little as 
 possible by the way, more especially till she hath 
 passed the frontiers of France. Now the service 
 I have to beg of thee is this i to permit the girl 
 to travel so far in thy company, and, if need be, 
 under thy protection. What! thou refusest? 
 Verily, it is on the road to the chateau of the lord 
 de Retz ; it will not put thee out thy way an 
 inch ; and Hagar — I would say the young woman 
 — is mod,est in her speech. She will be no more 
 trouble to thee than a spaniel dog, who foUoweth 
 his master without being called or driven. Verily, 
 it is but a little thing !" David, to whom an 
 idea like this had never occurred as witliin the 
 
 k3
 
 202 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 range of mundane possibilities, was in a profuse 
 perspiration. 
 
 *' It is not a little thing, it is a weighty matter," 
 stammered he at last, "young women, I have heard, 
 are uncanny gear ; but, nevertheless, I will do 
 your bidding ; and the Virgin grant I get well 
 over it !" 
 
 On hearing this acquiescence, a weight seemed 
 to be taken off the old man's mind ; and, untying 
 a bundle, he produced an entire suit of clothes, 
 including a hat, and a serviceable, if not a hand- 
 some cloak ; for which David exchanged upon the 
 spot such remnants as still remained upon his 
 back of his scholar's apparel. The alchemist then 
 presented him with a sword and dagger, the latter 
 of which he fastened with his own hands, in such 
 a way that it was entirely concealed; and the 
 student remarked, as an unusual circumstance, that 
 his clothes and belt were expressly adapted for 
 this purpose. 
 
 He was now better dressed than ever he had 
 been in his life ; his hand grasped a sword which 
 was his own ; and steady as the mind of the ex-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 203 
 
 scholar usually was, a flush of youthful confidence 
 rose to his brow, and he walked several paces 
 down the cavern^ with a step so elastic that he 
 seemed to tread on air. 
 
 *' Have you nothing else to ask of me ?" said 
 he, returning, '^ for, by St. Bride, this were goodly 
 payment, were the service to transport even the 
 fury Megsera to Nantes, of whom, as Annseus 
 Lucanus testifies, Hercules himself was afraid. 
 What will become of you when we are gone ? 
 You will doubtless follow, for so I predicate from 
 the extinction of the furnace, as soon as you are 
 able. Do you want no assistance — no strong and 
 trusty arm ?" 
 
 " For what ? Have I not given up the Search ? 
 And what else should make secrecy desirable ?" 
 
 " I spoke not of secrecy,'' replied David, his lip 
 curling with disdain at the Jew's dissimulation, 
 ^' but be it even as you will." 
 
 '''And yet, is there anything better than 
 secrecy," resumed messire Jean, " in troubled 
 times like these? When I said unto thee. Be 
 watchful, and be bold, I should have said like-
 
 204 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 wise, Be secret! Thou art the son of a people 
 who, as men relate, are all three. Be there more 
 of you, good David, at the University ?" 
 
 " Go, seek at the Scottish college," answered 
 David, who would not lose the opportunity of 
 serving his friends, ^* and take the first you meet, 
 for you cannot go wrong : but more especially, if 
 you meet first with one who shall remind you of 
 a poplar tree, or a cedar of Lebanon, or a church 
 steeple, you may think that you have fallen in 
 with as true and brave a fellow as ever cried 
 * clubs !' at a friend's need." 
 
 '^ Then let him come to me/' said the alchemist 
 eagerly, " for I know not how my eyes may serve 
 me in the unwonted light of day. Let him come 
 to-morrow night to the upper dwelling. Shall it 
 be so without fail ?'* 
 
 '' Without fail." 
 
 "Then fare thee well, good David Strongarm, 
 When thou returnest in the twilight, thou shalt 
 find my daughter awaiting tliee at tlie door, and 
 alone. Remember the words of my mouth : Be 
 secret, bold, and watchful ! Now go." But he
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 205 
 
 still continued to grasp the young man's hand, 
 while he looked in his face with an expression, in 
 which David, instructed as he was, was able to 
 read at once, affection, pity, and remorse. At 
 length he undid the convulsive pressure ; and, 
 repeating in a tone of solemn warning the word. 
 Remember ! he pushed him towards the door, and 
 turned away. 
 
 Hagar was waiting in the vestibule ; and they 
 both ascended the stairs without exchanging a 
 word. When they reached the door, and were in 
 the light of day — 
 
 " You see," said David, with an attempt at 
 gaity, which was almost ludicrous in the relation 
 in which they stood at that moment with each 
 each other, " You see that I am now somewhat 
 better fitted to be the esquire of dames!" 
 
 " I know not," replied she coldly ; " I am a 
 Jewess, and understand not the needs of chi- 
 valry." 
 
 '' Then, adieu, till the evening." 
 
 " Stay, 1 meant not to hurt thee : but — no 
 matter. A single word, lest I may not have
 
 206 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 opportunity again to speak it. Thou bearest a 
 dagger at thy girdle : it is a talisman which will 
 protect the life of the wearer just so long as it is 
 worn concealed upon the person, and ready to the 
 han d. Remember !"
 
 207 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Soon after David Armstrong had made his 
 escape from the Scottish college, the three forsaken 
 students received a visit from Sir Archibald Doug- 
 las. The knight was not now so ignorant of the 
 character of the university, as to be much sur- 
 prised at the turn affairs had taken ; neither, 
 indeed, was he at all sorry that anything had 
 occurred to detach his friend from the pursuit, 
 either of the thin, cold gown of a cure's vicar, or 
 of that ignis fatuus of science, the philosopher's 
 stone. The absence of the scholar, however, at 
 this particular juncture, was annoying in the ex- 
 treme ; for Douglas had determined to set out the 
 next morning for Brittany, and to take his early 
 friend with him, as an ally in the adventure, if his 
 powers of persuasion could bring it about.
 
 208 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 After some fruitless inquiries as to the probable 
 quarter to which their comrade had retired, he at 
 length left Bauldy, and Nigel, and Andrew to 
 their studies ; and then returned to his own apart- 
 ments, in the hope that by this time David might 
 have found his way thither. The day, however, 
 wore on in idle expectation ; and the knight had 
 determined, with a heavy heart, to set out on his 
 journey alone ; when he received a note from his 
 friend, he knew not by whose hand, appointing; a 
 meeting, in the dusk of the evening^, at a well- 
 known inn and tavern, called the Pomme-du-Pin, 
 for the purpose of exchanging farewells. 
 
 Sir Archibald's impatience did not allow him to 
 wait till it was actually dark ; but as soon as the 
 broader light of day began to fade, he sallied forth 
 from the palace, and sought out his rendezvous. 
 The Pomme-du-Pin was a laroe buildino- which 
 stood, as the modern French express it, ** entre 
 cour et jardin." Around the court were placed at 
 regular distances sundry montoirs, or horseblocks, 
 of different heights; so as to allow the guests, 
 whether men, boys, or women, to mount their
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 209 
 
 mules or horses without inconvenience. In the 
 middle was a post, surmounted by a large lamp, 
 whose yellow flame already began to mingle with 
 the posthumous rays of the sun. 
 
 The walls of the house were brilliantly white ; 
 while the wooden posts or joists, which intersected 
 them, were painted with the colours of the sign, 
 green and vermihon. The sign itself was hung 
 from the peak of the gable, which fronted the 
 street. An air of comfort and substance over- 
 spread the whole picture ; which was not dimi- 
 nished by the clean and jolly appearance of the 
 host, who happened to be standing at the door, 
 dressed in bonnet, doublet, and breeches, all as 
 white as the walls of the hotel; with his snowy 
 apron tucked up on one side, so as to disclose a 
 long knife stuck in his girdle, with a handle of 
 burnished copper. This costume showed that the 
 Pomme-du-Pin was not a mere tavern, where the 
 citizens assembled to drink ; but also an inn, 
 where travellers were sure of finding a dinner 
 suited to their means and inclination. The inn- 
 keepers—as is still the case in the provinces— 
 were always cooks.
 
 210 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 When the knight entered the salle, or traveller's 
 room, he thought within himself that king James 
 was not better provided with a banqueting-hall. 
 The walls were handsomely wainscotted to the 
 very ceiling, and adorned with engravings, laid 
 upon velvet, and well framed. One of these re- 
 presented Noah's ark, with a selection of the ani- 
 mals it inclosed, looking out at the^ windows. 
 Another contained the patriarchs, dressed like 
 substantial burghers, with their paternosters hang- 
 ino^ on their arms. Another showed forth the 
 tower of Babel, with its ramparts defended by 
 cannon ; and another, the twelve months of the 
 year, sowing, pruning, reaping, feasting, or killing 
 a pig, according to the individual character. 
 
 Stools and benches were ranged along the walls ; 
 and sideboards groaning under piles of trenchers 
 and porringers, some of wood, some of earthen- 
 ware, but most of bright pewter. In the middle 
 of the floor, stood a long, narrow table for the 
 public dinner, or table d'hote ; and at the sides, 
 some smaller ones for the convenience of excom- 
 municated persons, or other guests who might 
 choose to eat by themselves. The fire-place, since
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 211 
 
 it was not cold enough for a fire, was ingeniously 
 hidden by wainscoting, going upon hinges, and 
 carved on both sides, so as to appear part of the 
 wall, either when open or shut. 
 
 Douglas, who continued to lounge about the 
 room for some time, indulging his curiosity, was 
 set down by the drawers as an unproductive guest ; 
 and even, when at length he seated himself upon 
 a stool which commanded a view of the door, and 
 at the same time permitted him to lean his back 
 against one of the sides of a kind of box, re- 
 sembling the subdivisions of a modern coffee-room, 
 he was left entirely to his own reflections. These 
 were frequently disturbed by the entrance of various 
 groups of guests ; for it seemed now to be the 
 time of evening, when both travellers and citizens 
 were accustomed to refresh themselves after the 
 labours of the day, and more especially for those 
 of the mercantile profession, to sanctify their bar- 
 gains by drinking healths to each other in full 
 measures of wine. 
 
 He at length observed a person enter, substan- 
 tially and genteelly dressed, in a traveller's cloak
 
 212 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 and boots, with a pointed hat adorned with a plume 
 of feathers, signifying that the wearer either as- 
 sumed, or was entitled to, the rank of a gentleman. 
 A sword of formidable dimensions huno- at his 
 girdle, while an escritoire, or ink-horn, beside it, 
 proclaimed that the stranger was something more 
 than a mere military adventurer. Douglas started, 
 and looked like a man who cannot believe his own 
 senses ; but the next moment his eyes were fixed, 
 with overpowering curiosity, upon a female who 
 leant upon the stranger's arm. She too, was in 
 traveller's costume, and her face was completely 
 concealed by her hood ; a circumstance which 
 somewhat relieved the knight, for a disgraceful 
 suspicion had risen unconsciously in his mind. 
 But, although furred and cinctured like the re- 
 spectable women of the time, she had neither the 
 agnus nor the jet chaplet, without which, they 
 rarely went abroad ; these things, like the others we 
 have mentioned, being among the articles of orna- 
 ment or apparel, forbidden by statute, to the vo- 
 taries of the Venus Vaga. 
 
 The lady and gentleman were earnestly engaged
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 2]3 
 
 in conversation, and seated themselves within the 
 box, w^ithout having observed the curiosity they 
 had excited. 
 
 '^ Why hast thou entered here ?" said the former, 
 looking round anxiously from under her hood, 
 " would it not have been wiser to have tarried near 
 the stables till our horses were ready ? But, per- 
 adventure the clerks of the University are forbidden 
 to frequent such places as this.*' 
 
 " Truly, you may say so," answered her com- 
 panion ;" and even if the statutes were silent, it is 
 not likely that we should run much risk of meeting 
 them where the wine, I will be bold to say, is as 
 much as two sous. No, no, you must go to the 
 cabarets for such gentry, or to the Val d'Amour — 
 hem ! I would say the Val des Ecoliers. But, 
 mademoiselle, I will crave permission to leave you 
 alone for a while. I expect a friend here, who is 
 also, I may say, a far-off kinsman, and on no account 
 must he see you. He is a decent youth, and his 
 morals, I doubt, would be shocked at the mys- 
 tery that is between us ; and since you will not 
 untie my tongue — "
 
 214 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " What is this place wherein thou leavest me r 
 Methinks I am more likely to attract observation 
 here, than if seated in the open room." 
 
 " Be satisfied that no one will enter, of his own 
 will, beside you — not if he has room elsewhere 
 in the broad lands of France. This is the table 
 of the—" 
 
 " Of the what ? " 
 
 " Of the excommunicated. But be of good 
 cheer. Turn away your head when you see my 
 friend join me ; and the moment he is gone, we 
 shall mount and away — where our voices will be 
 lost in the burthen of the Seine, and our figures 
 hidden in the bosom of the night." He rose up 
 to leave the box, and, at that moment, encoun- 
 tered the eyes of the knight ; who, leaning both 
 hands on the partition, was staring down with 
 unceremonious wonder, upon the mysterious pair. 
 
 '* A good even to you, Archibald," said the 
 scholar, after looking solemnly at his friend for 
 nearly a minute, *' You are before your time, rather 
 than behind ; but this calls for no especial com- 
 mendation, since the trysting-place is a tavern. I
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 215 
 
 am here, however, to drink healths neither to saints 
 nor angels — a custom to which I grieve to observe 
 you are too much addicted : I pray you avoid it 
 for the future. In a word, the University will not 
 hear the truth, even from the father of lies ; and 
 as Hashmodai was banished to Upper Egypt by 
 the angel Gabriel, even so I, his unworthy repre- 
 sentative, have received a hint to travel — whither 
 think you, Archibald ? " 
 
 The knight glanced at Hagar, who sat without 
 moving, her hood hanging far over her face, and 
 then answered as distinctly as eyes could speak — 
 " To the devil ! " 
 
 " You are wrong, my friend," said David, " my 
 destination is the chateau of La Verriere, on the 
 banks of the Erdre ; where I am to be the servant 
 in science of the Arabian philosopher, Oros- 
 mandel. 
 
 " Holy Mary ! is this a jest? or have you been 
 musing again upon your Venus Dominie, and 
 drinking her health till you fancied there was 
 poison in the draught, and saw spectral castles on 
 the wall ? "
 
 216 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 *' Come, mademoiselle," said David, in huge 
 dudgeon, " the night blackens apace, and our 
 horses no doubt wait." 
 
 "* Stay, 1 meant no harm : but if you can show 
 me anything in the affinities of physical objects 
 move curious than this coincidence, I shall re- 
 nounce Christianity, and become an alchemist 
 myself. Why, man, I spent this whole day in 
 searching you out, that I might beg of you, for 
 the sake of old friendship, to accompany me on 
 that very journey. Even now, my horse is sad- 
 dled, and my leave taken, and although it was 
 not my purpose to have departed till the early 
 morning, let us away, in God's name ! " 
 
 " That may not be, for I have other company 
 whose need is greater than yours. Howbeit, if 
 we travel the same road, it is not unlikely that we 
 may meet at the end. In the mean time, fare you 
 well, Archibald." 
 
 *' And this, then, is all ? Why, what a fool of 
 imagination I have been ! But go ! — I only regret 
 that a woman who travels alone with a young man 
 in the middle of the night, and chooses a public
 
 THK MAGICIAN. 217 
 
 wine-house for her starting place, has no likeli- 
 hood of being able to make up to her victim or 
 seducer, whichever he may be, for the loss of a 
 friend. Farewell, my heretofore comrade — I wish 
 you more fortunate in your trust than Archibald 
 Douglas !" and the knight turned indignantly 
 away. 
 
 "A word, messire," said David, following him, 
 and speaking in a stern but low voice. " You 
 know I am a man of peace : nevertheless, when 
 we meet again, if, on my rendering such explana- 
 tion as I may see fitting, you do not make in- 
 stant amends for the wrong you have done the 
 lady, who is now under my protection, 1 vow to 
 the blessed St. Bride, I will make you feel the 
 weight of the sword wherewith her father has en- 
 trusted me to defend his daughter ! " On this 
 address, Douglas, already chafing with disap- 
 pointment, turned round like a lion touched by 
 the hunter's spear ; but, at the moment, the ob- 
 ject of their contention, throwing back her hood, 
 glided in between them. 
 
 " Sir Knight," said she, "the indelicacy thou 
 
 VOL. 1. L
 
 21S THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 hast SO well and so sharply reproved is no fault of 
 ours, however appearances may be against us. 
 Thy friend will tell thee — and thou canst not 
 doubt his word — that however low and mean I 
 may be held in the estimation of the world, I am 
 yet a virgin of unblemished character. If thou 
 knowest of any respectable lady about to travel to 
 Nantes, and wilt recommend me to her protection 
 so far, even in the quality of a handmaiden, thou 
 wilt relieve thy friend from an irksome and unpro- 
 fitable task, and so far as regards myself, perform 
 an action worthy of the calling to which thou art 
 devoted by oath." Douglas gazed for a moment 
 upon the face of the young woman, and then 
 bowed with reverence. 
 
 " I have wronged you, damsel," said he, " and I 
 cannot better make amends, than by procuring you 
 the advantage of travelling in the suite of a family 
 of distinction, who leave Paris for Nantes to-mor- 
 row morning. A single line which I shall now write 
 — if, in token of forgiveness, David, you will lend 
 me your ecritoire — provided you can deliver it into 
 her own hands, will ensure you a good reception
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 219 
 
 from the lady. Am I pardoned, my old com- 
 rade V 
 
 " Provided you will pardon me first/' said David, 
 and the two friends shook hands. 
 
 While Sir Archibald was writing, her protector, 
 apparently relieved of a load of care, took the op- 
 portunity of assuring Hagar, in a whisper, that he 
 was a man of delicacy and honour, and of the 
 best blood in Scotland to boot ; — whereof he him- 
 self, David Armstrong, unworthy as he was indi- 
 vidually, had a certain portion in his veins, thanks 
 to his mother, of blessed memory. 
 
 " You have no time to lose," he added, '' and at 
 any rate, it is always better, as we say, to take 
 Occisio by the forelock: so we will both escort 
 you to the house this blessed moment, and the 
 affair will be arranged one way or other, on the 
 instant." 
 
 " Not so,'* replied Hagar, as the knight put the 
 missive into her hands — " I know the address, 
 which is not far distant, and I will go alone." 
 
 " That is impossible," said Douglas, " at such 
 an hour." 
 
 l2
 
 220 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " Not to me. I have already tarried too long 
 with you? as the eyes of the company intimate ; 
 and thy friend, Sir Knight, knoweth that I am 
 wont to come and go without making more noise, 
 or attracting more observation, than the shadow 
 on the wall." 
 
 "It is even so," said the student, *Met it be as 
 she wills, Archibald, for she is wise beyond women." 
 "Then await me here, even till the eighth horn*; 
 and if I come not then, think that I am in safety, 
 and that the wandering maid is praying to the 
 All-good for her protectors !" She turned round 
 as she spoke, and piloted her way so dexterously 
 through a party of entering guests, and vanished 
 so instantaneously at the door, that even the 
 knight, who knew her less than David, was satis- 
 fied of her safety. 
 
 The scholar continued looking towards the door,^ 
 in an attitude of intent listening: while Douolas 
 regarded him with a look half of curiosity, half 
 of such ridicule as the most serious passion in the 
 world provokes even from those who feel most its 
 power.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 221 
 
 *' Do you hear her footfalls still ?" said he at 
 last. 
 
 "Hear her footfalls?" replied David starting, 
 '* as well might you listen for the music of Aspen- 
 dius, who touched his lyre so lightly that the tones 
 were inaudible to human ears ! Truly, she is none 
 of the dauo;hters of Zion, who * walk with 
 stretched-forth necks, and wanton eyes, walking 
 and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling 
 with their feet.' " 
 
 " Bravo, my friend ! Ever while I live I shall 
 have more confidence in devils ; for, by my faith, 
 Hashmodai is the very god of love !" 
 
 " You are nearer the mark, Archibald, than 
 might be predicated^ of your ignorance as a man 
 of war. Hashmodai does indeed resemble in 
 some sort the infernal Cupid — not the son of the 
 celestial Venus — but he who was born of Erebus 
 and Nox. They say he loved Sarah the Ecbata- 
 nean woman so violently, as to strangle her seven 
 husbands, out of jealousy, one after the other. 
 
 " And how may a man guard himself against 
 the visits of so terrible a deity ? "
 
 222 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 *'0n that subject there is some difference of 
 opinion among the learned. Many are for broiling 
 the heart and hver of a fish on live coals, accord- 
 ing to the advice given by the angel Raphael to 
 Tobias ; while others are more inclined to put 
 their faith in the smoke of sulphur, notwithstand- 
 ing the adverse testimony of Ovidius : 
 
 ' Nee fugiat vivo sulphure victus amor.' " 
 
 '' I am of the opinion of that same Ovidius, if 
 it be against sulphur. I abominate the article, 
 which serves for nothing else than fuel to the 
 devil and his philosophers. But come, let us 
 wash our mouths of the subject with a cup of 
 wine. Ho ! mine host !" 
 
 " Hush, Archibald ; you forget you are not now 
 at the king's cost. We can say we are waiting 
 for a friend, and that is God's truth, you know — 
 Well, if it must be so ; but I cannot say I approve 
 of such extravagance when we are by ourselves." 
 
 A flagon of wine, and some walnuts, were set 
 down by the knight's orders, and, in compliment 
 to their genteel appearance, a small silver cup 
 was placed between them. This pocillum, how-
 
 THK MAGICIAN. 223 
 
 ever, as he called it, David insisted upon his friend 
 appropriating to his own use, while he contented 
 himself with one of pewter. 
 
 '* And now, Archibald," said he, *' if we had 
 the day before us, I would willingly listen to 
 what you are willing to tell, if you could set 
 about it. But at this hour of the night, it behoves 
 me to render you such assistance as may be in 
 my power in opening your heart ; for if Hagar — 
 that is, the hooded maiden — return disappointed, 
 it may be some days before we meet again. You 
 love the damsel of Laval, that is the sum of your 
 secret. 
 
 *' If a man may be said to love a star !" 
 
 " And why not ? The poets feign that Cynthia 
 herself descended to the summit of mount Latmus 
 to kiss Endymion. Passion knows not space, nor 
 time, nor rank. Impossibilities are its sport : 
 yea, if the lover cannot soar high enough, the 
 mistress descends, and so they meet, like the 
 Latmian shepherd and the moon, between* heaven 
 and earth." 
 
 "Thanks, David, your words stir me like a
 
 224 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 herald's trumpet. But I would not have my love 
 descend. For one kiss of her eyelids, I would 
 climb that same Latmus, were it ten times higher 
 than Ben-nevis, whose head is hidden in the 
 clouds. And why indeed should I despair .' I 
 have an arm^ a sword, a heart ; my veins are 
 filled with the blood of a hundred sires; and I 
 walk abroad encircled by the brightness of a 
 name, which, although it may not be made more 
 bright, shall never be tarnished by me. O my 
 friend, if you felt the thrill which ran through my 
 soul, when she told me that even * the meanest feud 
 would furnish a field of honour for the Bleeding 
 Heart!' Methinks I was a coward till ^' that 
 moment !" The knight started up as he spoke, 
 as if to obtain room to breathe ; and he strode 
 across the room with a step which made the other 
 guests start. His burning cheek and flashing eye 
 contrasted strongly with the pale, haggard, and 
 dispirited look of his companion. 
 
 " Your love is virtuous," said David, in a hollow 
 tone, when he had resumed his seat, ** and there- 
 fore it is possible."
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 225 
 
 "I never loved but her since I was a boy; no 
 maiden have I betrayed ; the name of woman was 
 as something holy in my imagination ; and to 
 support, cherish, and defend her, I have ever con- 
 sidered a part of my honour as a gentleman, my 
 oath as a knight, and my religion as a Christian." 
 
 "Then love on without fear: for your mistress 
 shall not assume in your dreams the form of 
 a fiend, commissioned to waylay and destroy 
 you !" 
 
 " How r 
 
 " You will not see blood and tears drop from 
 the crucifix when you pray !" 
 
 " David ! your mind wanders !" 
 
 " Love which is inconsistent with honour and 
 religion is unholy, were its object an angel — and 
 there's an end! Now, Archibald, what are your 
 designs?" 
 
 " I obtained speech of the damsel of Laval last 
 night for only an instant, and she whispered 
 something, which fills me, in spite of myself, with 
 alarm. You must know that, at the commence- 
 ment of our acquaintance, I had the gpod fortune 
 
 l3
 
 226 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 to rescue her from the hands of a villain, who is 
 some relation to Orosmandel, and who_, the old 
 man believes, is now by his commands on a 
 voyage of discovery in the African seas. This 
 wretch the damsel saw, or imaorines she saw, 
 either in body or spirit, on the streets of Paris ! 
 To-morrow she returns to Brittany; and it is my 
 purpose to watch over her unseen, till it be ascer- 
 tained, whether the apparition was an illusion or 
 a reality— if indeed it was not the spirit of her 
 enemy.'' 
 
 "A relation of Orosmandel I Describe him, I 
 pray you." 
 
 " I cannot. When I saw him, he was cased in 
 black armour from head to foot, and his vizor 
 closed." The scholar mused for some time. 
 
 " It is strange," said he, at length, " how your 
 affairs and mine, Archibald, appear to be woven 
 •together. It is my fate to reside under the very 
 same roof with the damsel of Laval, where I may 
 serve you even like a familiar spirit ; while the 
 information you have just now given involves 
 matter which, perhaps, concerns my life. Lupus
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 227 
 
 in fabula ! O holy St. Bride ! — look you there, 
 Archibald !" and, catching his friend's arm as in 
 a vice, he motioned him to follow the direction 
 of his eyes. 
 
 Two guests, whom they had not observed before, 
 were about leaving the room, one an elderly, and 
 one a middle-aged man ; the former in the show- 
 iest dress of a bourgeois, and the latter without 
 any thing in his air or habiliments which could 
 draw observation of one kind or other. 
 
 " Let the lord de Retz be whom he may," said 
 the bourgeois doggedly, "his debt is now large 
 enough for a king to think worth paying ; and, in 
 short, I must have my money." 
 
 " Your money is safe," replied the other mildly; 
 " but if you will take the counsel of a plain man, 
 you will execute the magnificent order I have now 
 given you, and then solicit payment for all to- 
 gether. I know you come sometimes to Nantes. 
 Why not bring the things under your own convoy ? 
 Nay, why not bring your daughter with you — I 
 think you have a daughter — and combine pleasure 
 with business } She would find the damsel of
 
 228 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Laval every thing that is kind and condescending; 
 and as for you, taken notice of by the lord de 
 Retz, perhaps even residing for a day or two at 
 tlie chateau, till the nioney was ready (I could 
 contrive myself to keep it back), the echevins of 
 the town would not know how to pay you honour 
 enough." 
 
 "Then you think I should be sure?" 
 
 " Absolutely. What is it to me ? I am paid 
 to perform my employer's business, not to deceive." 
 
 "Well, it is a heavy outlay; but I can aftbrd 
 it : it shall be done." 
 
 " T knew you were wise as well as wealthy ; I 
 am not accustomed to throw my pearls to swine. 
 Good night." 
 
 " Good night — and with my humble commen- 
 dation to my honourable lord." When the agent 
 of the lord de Retz was gone, David relaxed his 
 gripe of his friend's arm, and, fixing his eyes on 
 his face, whispered mysteriously. 
 
 " Who is that, think you, Archibald ? ' 
 
 " It is a baillie of the tailors," replied the 
 knight with a look of surprise, " and a special
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 229 
 
 friend of my own. Good even to you, inessire ; 
 here is a gentlemen would be glad to make your 
 acquaintance." 
 
 " Ha, my sprig of mountain ash ! do we meet 
 again ? What, still munching ? still guzzUng ? 
 wilt never have done ? But hold ! your brewing, 
 I see, is something of the weakest ; and that men 
 say, however it may be otherwise convenient, is 
 not overly agreeable to the Scottish palate. Ar- 
 genteuil, I grant you, still maintains at least a 
 memory of its reputation ; but in general the 
 wines of the capital may be considered misfits. 
 Here, mine host ! " 
 
 " The emperor Julian/' said the scholar, " ad- 
 mired the wines of Lutecia; and if we are even 
 now wetting our lips with them, it is for the sake 
 of their classic reputation, not from motives of 
 economy. Although I will not say but the drink 
 is somewhat wersh as it were, and not just so com- 
 fortable to the stomach as would give a conscien- 
 tious man the warrant for swallowino- it of St. 
 Paul's advice to Timothy." 
 
 " As I live, I knew the face, although the cloak
 
 230 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 was strange to mine eyes I And is it even thou, 
 my sou in the outer man ? — or rather, son that 
 was, for I see you have renounced your father." 
 
 " I have neitlier renounced my father nor my 
 cloak ; but the latter, after some years of faithful 
 service, I grieve to say it, has renounced me." 
 
 " What, the epitogium ab loquendum — or ad lo- 
 quendum — for I never could tell the difference r 
 But why not come to me to replace it ? It was 
 honestly paid for, as it was honestly made ; and 
 you know I was never a man in that case, to dis- 
 tress a scholar for the amount of his bill.'' 
 
 ^' You misapprehend. The epitogium, though 
 none of the newest, was still nothing less than 
 respectable ; and if Sir Archibald, here, (whose 
 trade, as I may say, is destruction) had kept his 
 hands off it, there would have been no need, for 
 some while yet, either to try the depth of your 
 patience or of my purse. In a word, I am no 
 longer a scholar; and my business calls me, per- 
 haps, in some half-hour hence, to the city of Nantes. 
 As for my present habiliments, to be frank with 
 you, I know not the name of the fashioner ; but I
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 231 
 
 will say this for him, that he is as good a work- 
 man as ever followed the banner of St, Luce ;" 
 and David, stretching forth his leg beyond the end 
 of the table, so as to display as much of his figure 
 as possible, looked with great complacency upon 
 his flowing cloak, his coat of double cloth padded 
 throughout with wool, and his inexpressibles dou- 
 ble-stitched, and fortified with leather. 
 
 "As for the workmanship — hum! — the mere 
 needle and thread affair — I do not say that the 
 garment will let in hailstones bodily : but do you 
 tell me that it would take an ell of cloth, of five 
 quarters breadth, to make two such breeches as 
 these ? If not, your fashioner cuts neither by con- 
 science nor by the statute. As for the coat, it 
 merits condemnation, inasmuch as the inner fold 
 is evidently of old cloth, a thing strictly forbidden 
 by law — and, for that matter, by Scripture too, as 
 a priest once told me, under the parable of old wine 
 and new bottles. Then, if the silk with which it is 
 bordered has not already been on the back of a 
 noble-~a fraud common to the whole confrerie ex-
 
 232 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 cept myself — say that Jacquin Houpelande knows 
 not his trade !"* 
 
 " God forbid that I should say anything of the 
 kind," replied the ex-student — "for it is well 
 known that Jacquin Houpelande — although, in 
 making out his accounts in Latin, for the univer- 
 sity, he will sometimes confound the accusative 
 and ablative prepositions — ought to be considered 
 the king of the tailors. This, however, I will say, 
 after an adagium, or proverb, we have among our 
 border riders, that it is neither wise nor civil to ex- 
 amine too curiously the mouth of a gift-horse." 
 
 "There are confreries of less substance that 
 have their king, as for example, the minstrels, and 
 why not the tailors ? 1 am the richest man of ray 
 trade, if the lord de Retz be as good as his word ; 
 I am an echevin of the city. Good youth, you 
 
 * This was not a fraud thirty years later ; for the Letters 
 of the King, dated 24th June, 1467, relating to the pour- 
 pointiers of Paris, expressly permit this application of old 
 silk to the coats of bourgeois ; the regulation setting forth, 
 that silk which had been used by gentlemen was not too 
 much worn for the purpose.
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 233 
 
 are too complimentary, although no one can deny 
 that you are passing wise withal ; and I am glad 
 to my very linings, to hear that this is an ominous 
 suit." 
 
 " Anonymous, perhaps?" 
 
 " Well, be it so : and one which you did not be- 
 speak, but receive as a gift. And now, as touching 
 the wine, I was minded to order the boy to bring 
 us a flagon of the Orleanais ; but, although still 
 somewhat in vogue, this is no more like what men 
 say it was in the days of Louis le Jeune. As for 
 Rochelle, you have plenty of it in Britain ; what 
 do you say if we try the brewings of Anjou, or 
 Provence, or Burgundy ? Come, in a word, let us 
 have a leathern bottle of Bordeaux, one of the 
 most ancient, as it is one of the best of the wines 
 of France." 
 
 *^We have already drunken," interfered the 
 knight, *^ and it waxes late." 
 
 " It is indeed not very far from the eighth hour," 
 said the student, " and for my part, although be- 
 holden to you for the offer, I am not Xenagoras, nor 
 yet Xenarchus — if these be indeed two persons — to
 
 234 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 swallow either nine or twelve gallons at a sitting. 
 But for the wine of Bordegala, or in the vulgar 
 tongue Bourdeaux, it is indeed an ancient drink ; 
 being celebrated in the following verses of the 
 poet Decimus Magnus Ausonius, who flourished 
 in the fourth century of our era — " 
 
 " Hold !" cried the echevin, " You could drink 
 the wine in less time than you will take to praise 
 it in poetry; or if you must needs recite, methinks 
 a cup will be all the more necessary to wash down 
 the Latin. And here it comes in good time. 
 What say you, sir knight ?" 
 
 "The wine, by all means, if we are to have the 
 Latin." 
 
 " Come then, sir student, will you pledge me.'' 
 
 "That will I, Jacquin, were it in the measure of 
 Novellus, surnamed Tricongius — a matter of three 
 gallons ! The custom of pledging, Archibald, is de- 
 rived from the pledges or securities offered in matters 
 of law. When a man committed any of the lesser 
 crimes, he escaped imprisonment previous to trial, 
 by getting another to become his pledge ; or in other 
 words, to undertake to endure in his stead, what-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 235 
 
 ever punishment might be awarded, in the event 
 of the criminal absconding. Again, when the 
 queen of St. Louis, in danger of shipwreck^ vowed 
 to St. Nicholas a silver boat, she satisfied the 
 saint he should not be defrauded, by getting 
 Joinville to become her pledge. In like man- 
 ner, when a man was challenged to drink, if 
 he found himself a weak brother, he was allowed 
 to obtain a pledge, and so drink by proxy." 
 
 " And is it thus you would pledge me ? By the 
 holy Saint Luce, I were unworthy to be the first 
 man in the confrerie of tailors, and an echevin of 
 the city to boot, if I could not drink for myself ! 
 and so, messire, I empty this measure to your 
 prosperity ; touching which, I see the knight is 
 busy consulting the dregs of his cup." 
 
 *' I was thinking,'' said Sir Archibald, starting, 
 *' of another toast.'' 
 
 " And yet divination," remarked the student, 
 " is a thing more to be condemned than despised, 
 since, before it was forbidden by Moses, in the 
 book of Leviticus, it was practised by Joseph in 
 Egypt, who was an augur, and had a divining cup.
 
 236 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 In our time, the manner of the ceremony is to turn 
 towards the east, and pronounce the words, 
 * Abraxa, per dominum nostrum?' when the con- 
 tents of the vessel will straightway show forth 
 the inquirer's destiny." 
 
 " It is a pagan error," said the knight, setting 
 down the cup hastily; *^and if Joseph practised it, 
 it was because he was a Jew and no Christian ! " 
 
 " You are right," cried the master-tailor, whose 
 voice began to wax loud, " if Joseph was indeed 
 a Jew, he could be no Christian, say I. But 
 since there is sin in the dregs of a cup, let us fill 
 the faster. Come, shall we sing ? there is no 
 harm in that. If you love me, sir scholar, let 
 us have one of the priestly chants of the uni- 
 versity:" whereupon David, to his friend's sur- 
 prise, began without more solicitation, and in his 
 usual grave and methodical manner, the following 
 strain — 
 
 " Beuvons d'aultant au soyr et au matin 
 
 Jiisqu' a cent sols, 
 
 Et ho ! 
 
 A notre liotesse ne payons point d'argent 
 
 Fors ung credo, 
 
 Et ho!"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 237 
 
 " Archibald," said he suddenly, in the midst of 
 the echevin's plaudits, " what was the other toast 
 of which you were thinking ? " 
 
 " The Venus Dominie" replied the knight, " it 
 is past eight o'clock." 
 
 Come, sir Bourgeois, the bottle is out, and we 
 thank you for your hospitality, which at another 
 time we shall be proud to repay. Tell me, in the 
 meantime, who is that man to whom you talked 
 even now when my friend called you ? " 
 
 " Plague on it, are you gone already ? Never 
 talk of payment except in the case of an epito- 
 gium ab — ad — no, ab loquendum. But as for the 
 man, he is a confidential agent of the lord de 
 Retz, and that is all I know about him." 
 
 " God be with you — we shall meet again, if my 
 auguries do not deceive me," and so saying, 
 David drained his glass, even to the sinful dregs, 
 and hurried away, followed by Sir Archibald. 
 
 " The decent man ! " said he, in a low voice, 
 when they had left the house — " I should not 
 wonder if that wine stood him a matter of three 
 sous ! "
 
 238 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 They walked on for some time in silence, the 
 knight leading the way, till they reached a very 
 large and very handsome house, dimly seen in 
 the moonlight. 
 
 '* This is strange," said the conductor, " all is 
 dark, and the gate is shut : they must have 
 changed their intention, and set out this^ evening 
 instead of to-morrow ; I cannot comprehend it." 
 
 "Of whom talk you?" 
 
 " Of Orosmandel and the damsel of Laval.** 
 
 " Holy St. Bride ! And it was to them you 
 recommended Hagar ? Archibald, the man 
 concerning whom I even now questioned the 
 echevin, if I have any understanding within me, 
 was your enemy — and mine !" The knight was 
 thunderstruck. They made every inquiry that 
 was possible in the neighbourhood ; but of the 
 very few inhabitants whose houses were still 
 open, not one had observed the departure of the 
 travellers. They then resolved to follow on the 
 instant; and Sir Archibald, felicitating himself 
 on possessing a friend who felt for him in the 
 dilemma, precisely the same as if the case had
 
 THE MAGICIAN. ' 239 
 
 been his own. They soon found themselves, lato 
 as the hour was, without the walls of Paris, and 
 progressing at a steady trot on the road towards 
 Brittany.
 
 240 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 At this period Brittany was under the sway of 
 John v., a prince remarkable for neither courage 
 nor talents, yet, who had contrived, for some time 
 past, to preserve his duchy in comparative tran- 
 quillity in the midst of all the storms which 
 agitated the west of Europe. The Bretons, from 
 time immemorial, were a bold and turbulent race., 
 engaged in almost perpetual wars and rebellions ; 
 and if, by some miracle of chance, there occurred 
 a moment's breathing time at home, their youth 
 were accustomed, like the Scots, to turn soldiers 
 of fortune, and carry their swords to foreign 
 broils. Many of them, for instance, followed the 
 Bastard into England ; and were not forgotten 
 when that famous brigand divided his booty.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 241 
 
 Norfolk and Suffolk fell to the lot of Raoul de 
 Gael ; York to Alain Leroux ; and other rich 
 morsels of the opima ^polia to their com- 
 panions. 
 
 The same fierce and factious spirit animated the 
 peasants ; and it is a curious circumstance, and 
 one not adverted to by any historian we remember, 
 that in this country of heroines the signal for the 
 servile wars was given by a woman. In the 
 eleventh century, when duke GeofFroi was hunt- 
 ing, his falcon stooped unbidden upon a chicken ; 
 when the amazon to whom it belonged instantly 
 caught up a stone, and whirled it at the head of 
 the prince. The blow was fatal to the duke, and 
 had nearly been so to the whole body of the 
 nobles ; for a general rising of the peasants took 
 place immediately after ; which the widow of the 
 murdered prince, who, according to the Breton 
 custom, led on the nobles in person, found much 
 difficulty in putting down. 
 
 If the national character of the Bretons resem- 
 bled that of the Scots, the history of the two 
 countries, in like manner, presented various points 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 of resemblance. From the year 1340, the little 
 state was torn asunder by two powerful fdmilies, 
 one wearing the ducal crown, and one seizing 
 every opportunity to grasp at it. The Montforts 
 and Penthievres of Brittany, were the Stuarts and 
 Douglases of Scotland ; with this difference, that 
 in the latter country the heroes of the two parties 
 were men ; in the former, women. Jane of 
 Flanders, commonly called the Countess de Mont- 
 fort, and her rival, Jane de Penthievre, with the 
 exception, perhaps, of the illustrious Virgin of 
 Dom-Remi, were no doubt the most remarkable 
 of all the warrior-women mentioned in modern 
 history. 
 
 France and England took part in this bloody 
 feud ; the former on the side of the pretending, 
 and the latter on that of the reigning house. 
 Brittany therefore became the battle-field of these 
 two great powers ; and the centre, in consequence, 
 to which military adventurers and ruffians of all 
 kinds flocked from the rest of Europe. Even 
 when a truce took place in 1354, between the two 
 rival kings, it was stipulated, strangely enough, that
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 243 
 
 the struggle of the Montforts and Penthievres was 
 to go on as usual ; and thus the country, when no 
 longer the seat of national war, was torn in 
 pieces by petty convulsions, and ravaged by ban- 
 ditti instead of armies. Marauders of all nations 
 traversed the soil from end to end, leaving the 
 print of their footsteps in blood and ashes; and, 
 whether in the pay of France or England, when 
 compelled by the truce to relax their gripe from 
 each other's throats, they threw themselves, shoul- 
 der to shoulder, upon the natives. An outrage 
 committed by one of these brigands was event- 
 ually the cause of the famous Battle of the Thirty ; 
 a duel fought on foot between the English and 
 Bretons ; and decided in favour of the latter by one 
 of their combatants betaking himself to his horse — 
 a treason for which, in the purer times of chivalry, 
 he would have lost his head. 
 
 Jane de Penthievres' husband at length died; 
 peace was proclaimed ; and Brittany remained the 
 vassal of France. Duguesclin relieved the country 
 of many of the brigands, who were now called 
 the Great Companies, by carrying them off to 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 attempt the conquest of Spain ; but some new 
 contentions began between France and- England, 
 and, in consequence, new troubles in Brittany, 
 new massacres, new burnings ; and at the sound of 
 the first trumpet of war, new banditti arose as 
 suddenly in the land as the host of Rhoderick 
 Dhu. Among them, perhaps, should be reckoned 
 the famous, or rather infamous, Olivier de Clisson, 
 who carried fire and sword through the country on 
 his own account. 
 
 At the beginning of the fifteenth century, John V. 
 ascended the ducal throne, vacant by the assassi- 
 nation of his father ; and for many years his 
 reign was as calamitous as those of his ancestors. 
 At one time he was himself carried off bodily by 
 the Penthievres ; but his party getting the upper 
 hand, this powerful family was at length crushed. 
 His friendship, it may be supposed, was now 
 courted by the French as well as English, the 
 atfliirs of both in France being in a very critical 
 state. But John, taught by experience, and per- 
 haps benefiting even by a want of strength in his 
 character, treated with both, and acted as little as
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 245 
 
 possible for either. At the epoch of our story, 
 therefore, the curious spectacle was presented ot 
 this little state, which had so long been the 
 shuttlecock of two mighty nations, playing the 
 coquette between them ; and of John V., who 
 possessed nothing in his character remarkable in 
 one way or other, setting the example to succeed- 
 ing sovereigns of that subtle species of policy which 
 since his time has so frequently been practised on 
 a larger scale. 
 
 Sometimes the ostensible ally of England, and 
 sometimes of France, Brittany was the place of 
 refuge both for French and English ; and the 
 recruiting officers of both nations might be seen 
 plying their trade in the same villages. As for the 
 system of brigandage, although not put down, it 
 it was at least kept in check ; and altogether, the 
 country, if not quiet, was at least as much so as 
 could be expected where so many elements of dis- 
 order existed. 
 
 Douglas and Armstrong found little difficulty 
 in traversing the French territory, through which 
 their road lay ; for, since the victory of Monte-
 
 246 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 reau, all this part of the country was in the hands 
 of Charles VII. But they had no sooner crossed 
 the frontiers, than the scene changed. Sometimes 
 they were challenged as they passed a solitary 
 chateau, and sometimes even detained to answer 
 questions, the real drift of which was, probably, 
 nothing else than to discover whether they were 
 worth robbing. Their appearance in the villages 
 excited suspicion and distrust ; and occasionally 
 they found that they were dogged by one of the 
 peasants till he had seen them fairly out of the 
 district. 
 
 The two friends, however, were ** canny Scots.** 
 They took things as quietly as they could, talking 
 companionably to the men, and making them- 
 selves at home in the cottages ; where David joked 
 m scholar-like fashion with the young women, 
 and, like King Alfred, helped the old wife to toast 
 her cakes. When all this would not do, they made 
 no scruple of taking by force what was necessary 
 for their own and their horses* subsistence ; for 
 the laws of Black Archibald of Douglas were no 
 more attended to in cases of necessity, on the
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 247 
 
 Scottish borders than on the borders of Brittany. 
 It would have been hard to tell, indeed, for which 
 mode of " living on the road " the friends were 
 best calculated, since they were at once courteous 
 and brave, gentle, social, and good-tempered, yet 
 
 " Steady of heart, and stout of hand. 
 As ever drove prey from Cumberland ! " 
 
 They had been able to preserve the whole way 
 the track of the damsel of Laval, which they had 
 found soon after leaving Paris ; and David's mind 
 was relieved by the certainty that Hagar was of 
 the party, while Prelati was not. Soon after en- 
 tering the Angevine territory, they had found 
 themselves in the midst of the endless estates of 
 the lord de Retz ; and the hopes of the youn^- 
 knight, as he gazed around him, grew colder and 
 colder at every step. They passed Champtoce, 
 one of the most celebrated strongholds of the 
 family, the gaunt ruins of which still look down 
 upon the road between Angers and Nantes. They 
 traversed the town of Ingrande, one half of which 
 was in Anjou, and the other half in Brittany; and
 
 248 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 yet still found that evei-y thing around them — 
 town and country — belonged to the lord de Retz. 
 After entering Brittany, his possessions still con- 
 tinued to present themselves, one after another ; 
 and almost every question they asked respecting 
 fhe ownership of a tower or fortress was answered 
 with the words, " a domain of the lord de Retz." 
 
 It may be supposed that the progress through 
 the country of the daughter of a house like this, 
 attended by an escort of two hundred men at 
 arms, excited no small sensation. All Brittany, 
 in fact, seemed to be astir; the motions of the 
 fair traveller were as publicly known as those 
 of the sun in full day ; and our two adventurers, 
 receiving fresh information at every step, were 
 able to continue their course at the exact distance 
 of the small number of miles which they judged 
 it proper to leave between them and the object of 
 their espial. 
 
 By carefully comparing notes, Sir Archibald 
 and his friend had come to the unavoidable con- 
 clusion, that the Black Knight, as Pauline had 
 proposed to style him — and whom David, in his
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 249 
 
 own mind, identified with Prelati — was actually 
 in the country, and by the connivance of Oros- 
 mandel himself. He was employed in the confi- 
 dential affairs of the lord de Retz; he was even 
 in the habit, as might have been gathered from 
 his conversation with the echevin-tailor, of residing 
 at the chateau. It was impossible, however, that 
 the lord de Retz could know that he was the same 
 individual who had attempted to carry off his 
 daughter ; and the philosopher, therefore, was 
 guilty of at least culpable deceit towards his 
 employer. On a former occasion, this old man 
 had suffered himself to be led into a dangerous 
 mistake, by the amiable prejudices of blood and 
 family. Might not this be the case again ? The 
 knight, who was one of those men who may be 
 said to be constitutionally generous, made the 
 inquiry doubtfully ; but the suspicions of David, 
 who had received through his companion new 
 materials lor speculation, without being at liberty 
 to give his own in exchange, was not disposed to 
 view the affair so favourably. He came at once 
 to the conclusion, that wise as the philosopher 
 
 M 3
 
 250 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 might be, he, and through him the lord de Retz, 
 were the dupe* of Prelati ; and the scholar's own 
 mission to the chateau was now no longer to 
 extend his acquisitions in science, but to serve his 
 friend, and arrive at promotion, credit, perhaps 
 fortune, by baffling the designs of a villain. 
 
 But this fine dream was occasionally disturbed 
 by conversations they heard on the road respecting 
 the lord de Retz ; and David, who was only su- 
 perstitious in matters of science, was at once pro- 
 voked and amused by the supernatural causes 
 assigned for the natural, however uncommon, cir- 
 cumstance of a prodigious fortune. 
 
 "Wait, wait," said an old peasant — '^ it will not 
 last. Ill gotten, ill gone." 
 
 " But how was it ill gotten ?" demanded the 
 scholar ; ^* dowries, and legacies, methinks, go 
 frequently enough with marriages and deaths.'' 
 
 ** You are right," replied the old man; ** in our 
 time the devil rarely works miracles : it is the 
 common accidents of life that are his tools." 
 
 " Hold there," interposed another ; *' if the devil 
 does not work miracles, what say you to the ad-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 251 
 
 venture of old Christine, who picked up the 
 pieces of silver which Gilles de Retz threw among 
 the crowd ? For fear of losing them, she laid 
 them carefully by in a stocking, and going to the 
 fair to buy a cow, brought the owner home with 
 her for the money. Instead of silver coins, she 
 found in her stocking only a few withered leaves ; 
 and the man, who had lost the chance of selling 
 his cow, and been taken many miles out of his 
 way, thinking that it was a cheat, beat her so se- 
 verely that to this hour she keeps her bed !" 
 
 " 111 gotten, ill gone !" repeated the first pea- 
 sant. 
 
 " Then I presume, my friends," said David, 
 " that if the lord de Retz were to throw his money 
 among us here, it would lie untouched upon the 
 ground." 
 
 " I would say an ave before I looked at it,*' re- 
 plied one. 
 
 "I would take it straightway to the church,'' 
 said another, " and dip it in holy water." 
 
 " Does he often practise liberality ? Does he 
 live agreeably to his fortune ?"
 
 252 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 *' He gives away his gold (if gold it be), as 
 freely as men give withered leaves. No king in 
 Europe keeps half his state ; and the prince of 
 Brittany himself, arrayed in scarlet and fur^, would 
 show by his side like one of his hired retainers." 
 
 " 111 gotten, ill gone !" groaned the first peasant 
 again. 
 
 "For that matter," said a man who had joined 
 the group in the middle of the conversation, ** it 
 begins to go already. I am just from Xantes, 
 where it is all the talk that Gilles de Retz is sell- 
 ing his estates to the duke, league by league, and 
 that the thing gives sore displeasure to the whole 
 family of Laval." 
 
 This intelligence was the most interesting part 
 of the conversation to our two travellers ; the rest 
 being set down as nothing more than the exagge- 
 rations and delusions of ignorance. David thus 
 knew that the lord de Retz was at one and the 
 same time in debt to his tradesmen, borrowing 
 money from the Jews, and selling his estates 
 piecemeal. Could this ruin — for such it was — be 
 occasioned by nothing more than the usual extra-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 253 
 
 vaofances of a man of rank ? Would not the sale 
 even of asinole estate have been sufficient, to cover 
 any probable embarrassment ? Was it certain that 
 Prelati had authority to extort a loan from messire 
 Jean? mio'ht he not have done this on his own ac- 
 count, thou2:h in the name of his lord ? — and might 
 he not, in the same way, have embezzled the 
 money destined to pay Houpelande, and, perhaps, 
 many others ? If it was still his purpose to carry 
 off the damsel of Laval — behold her dowry ! 
 
 With regard to Orosmandel, they were more and 
 more perplexed at every step. The peasants were 
 not ignorant of the existence of such a person, but 
 they declined speaking of him, except in the most 
 i^eneral terms ; a thing that was the more extra- 
 ordinary, as no one seemed to have anything but 
 oood to tell. They never pronounced his name 
 themselves ; but as soon as it was mentioned, has- 
 tened to say a few words of commendation, and 
 then shrunk from the subject. On one occasion, 
 in the parlour of a village inn, David, determined 
 to gratify his curiosity, was so pointed in his ques- 
 tions, that the company, consisting of peasants and
 
 254 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 travellers of humble condition, unable longer to 
 evade them, got up hastily and left the room in a 
 body. 
 
 " Will you not speak !" he said, seizing a rustic 
 beauty by the arm, as she was vanishing at the 
 door, " why do you fly ?" The girl turned towards 
 him a face which he had selected from the rest on 
 account of its more than common intelligence, and 
 with terror and warning in her eyes, replied in a 
 whisper : 
 
 " Imitate our silence, if you be wise ! Ask not 
 questions which we cannot answer if we would, 
 and would not if we could ; — but above all things, 
 name not a name which we know by experience 
 the very winds of the desert can carry more than a 
 hundred miles." 
 
 Musing on these things, the two friends pursued 
 their journey, at the slow pace which was necessary 
 in order to keep them from coming within sight of 
 the procession. They had, hitherto, travelled with 
 a circumspectness sufficient to have concealed them 
 even from the ken of a wizard ; avoiding, since 
 they had crossed the frontiers of Brittany, not onlv
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 255 
 
 the castles, but the monasteries, although these, 
 generally speaking, were the only places of harbour 
 which answered the purpose of inns to travellers 
 of their rank. As they now entered further and 
 further into the country of the lord de Retz, it 
 was proper, if possible, to be still more cautious ; 
 and on the present occasion, when it was necessary 
 at twilight to halt till the following morning, find- 
 ing no shelter at hand of the kind they wished, 
 they did not hesitate to encamp for the night under 
 a tree. 
 
 The spot was on one of those magnificent co- 
 teaux which sweep suddenly, yet hardly precipi- 
 tously, down to the brink of the Loire. The sha- 
 dows of evening hung heavily upon the river ; and 
 its numerous islands and sand banks rose dimly 
 through the mist. The world was steeped in a 
 kind of dreamy silence, only interrupted by the 
 distant sound of the waters, rising indistinctly and 
 brokenly upon the ear, like the murmur of one who 
 sleeps. On a neighbouring eminence, surrounded 
 by tall trees, stood a fortress, keeping guard^ as it 
 might have seemed, over the enchanted scene. It
 
 256 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 was there that the damsel of Laval reposed for the 
 night ; and on that dusky, grim, and threatening 
 object, were the eyes of her lover fixed, like those 
 of a mariner, who watches the star which guides 
 him over the deep. 
 
 It may be supposed that neither Douglas nor 
 his friend were much inclined to sleep under such 
 circumstances ; for the fortress contained a cynosure 
 for David, as well as the knight, although gleam- 
 ing, as our scholar dreaded, with more unholy 
 splendour. Of the two, however, he of the hau- 
 beik was more vigilant in his watch ; and long 
 afj,er his friend was fast asleep. Sir Archibald con- 
 tinued to gaze and to dream. 
 
 He at length rose up in that slight de<^ree of 
 fever which attends unwonted sleeplessness, and 
 began to pace slowly the plateau of the hill. By 
 degrees, and almost unconsciously, he extended 
 his walk in the direction of the fortress, till he 
 could see its turrets clearly defined against the 
 sky. 
 
 At such an hour, there was little risk of obser- 
 vation, and yet he hesitated to advance needlessly
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 257 
 
 from the trees which covered the side of the hill 
 into the unsheltered plain that lay between him 
 and the eminence whereon the castle stood. He 
 remained, therefore, in the black shadow of the 
 grove, leaning against the trunk of an oak, of 
 which he himself might have seemed to form a 
 portion, even the parti-coloured emblazonments 
 on his coat of arms resembling, in the obscurity, 
 some of the thousand tints of autumn by which 
 he was surrounded. 
 
 His eyes were fixed upon the fortress, and his 
 thoughts were busy with her it contained ; while 
 the idea of the black knight flitted ever and anon, 
 like a spectre, across his dream. 
 
 '' Oh ! " said he, almost aloud, ^' that it were 
 my fate to meet with him again ! If unable to 
 cope with him in mortal strife, I should be unfit 
 to wear the prize for which we contend, and the 
 sooner I hid my dishonoured head in the grave 
 the better. But what are his advantages? Neither 
 in name nor blood, neither in strength nor courage : 
 and for that magical prestige which is said to 
 surround him in his connexion with Orosmandel,
 
 268 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 I could well trust to a Christian's mass, and a 
 soldier's sword. Come, skulking traitor, even if 
 backed by all the fiends in the abyss ! In her 
 cause I defy thee and them — Appear ! I summon 
 thee ! '' 
 
 The invocation, as is usual with such bursts of 
 youthful enthusiasm, was spoken aloud towards 
 the close, and in a tone of the same earnestness 
 with which a man summons an enemy who is 
 within hearing. When he had finished, Douglas, 
 after gazing breathlessly for a moment, pressed his 
 hands upon his eyes, like one who would drive 
 away some illusion called up by the enchant- 
 ments of imagination ; but on looking again 
 towards the distance, the object of his wonder 
 had not passed away. It was a human figure, 
 standing in the middle of the small, lonely plain, 
 which, but a few minutes before, he had himself 
 been withheld from traversing by the fear of being 
 observed from the battlements of the distant for- 
 tress. 
 
 A momentary thrill of terror passed through 
 the blood of the young knight ; but, crossing
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 259 
 
 himself devoutly, and calling in one breath upon 
 his saint and his lady, he unsheathed his sword, 
 and stood upon his defence. In another instant 
 his recollection returned, and he dropped the point 
 of his weapon. Why should he suppose this to 
 be a supernatural visitation ? The ghostly enemy 
 did not confront him, when invoked, face to face, 
 as was the regular process ; but made his appear- 
 ance at a considerable distance, and seemed to 
 approach gradually like an ordinary man. Some 
 dark clouds were sailing sluggishly across the sky : 
 might not their shadow, although unobserved by 
 him, have concealed this wanderer of the night 
 till he had gained the middle of the plain ? Nay, 
 could he even tell how long his pre-occupation of 
 mind had lasted, or that it had not been strong 
 enough to prevent his taking cognizance of such 
 an object, when actually present to his eyes ? 
 
 While these ideas passed rapidly through the 
 knight's mind, the figure continued to approach in 
 a direct line. It was, as might have been ex- 
 pected, that of an armed man ; for none else would 
 venture out at such an hour. It was at length
 
 260 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 near enough to be seen distinctly. It was the 
 figure of a tall man, sheathed in armour from 
 head to foot. It was the Black Knijrht ! 
 
 Douglas's first impulse was to advance from the 
 shadow of the trees, in order to meet his chal- 
 lenged foe in the open plain ; but the sword of the 
 latter was still in its scabbard, and his attitude was 
 not that of a man prepared to encounter an enemy. 
 
 '^ It may be after all," thought the Scot, who 
 would rather have attacked a whole army than a 
 single opponent offered to him by magical art, *' it 
 may be after all, that this is nothing more than a 
 coincidence. Let me, in the first place, watch what 
 is his errand. If it be to me, I am ready. My 
 challenge has been given ; and, if he heard it, he 
 will answer." At the moment the sable figure, 
 who vvas now near enough to have been struck by 
 a lance thrown from the hand, stood suddenly still. 
 Douglas felt that his eyes were fixed upon him ; 
 but neither party moved. At length the stranger, 
 raising his arm above his head, with a gestuie 
 which might have been either of menace or invi- 
 tation — for he was now half hidden in the dark
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 261 
 
 shadow of the trees — turned abruptly away, skirt- 
 ing with a quick but noiseless step, the confines 
 of the wood. Sir Archibald, at this spectacle, 
 had much difficulty to repress a shout of defiance 
 which rose to his lips ; but, calling to mind his 
 purpose of watching the motions of the enemy, 
 he muttered anew an invocation to his patron 
 saint, and glided after him with a pace as stealthy 
 as his own. 
 
 They coasted for some time round the involu- 
 tions of the wood, which at length became so 
 numerous that Sir Archibald began to be in doubt 
 as to whether it would be possible for him to find 
 the way back to his sleeping comrade. He quick- 
 ened his step, but did not gain upon the retreating 
 knight. He called out to him to turn, in the 
 usual terms of challenge ,• but the dark figure 
 continued gliding dimly before him, like a phan- 
 tasm seen in a dream. Our adventurer at length 
 stood still in amazement, not unallied to super- 
 stitious terror ; and at that moment the figure 
 stopped also, and, turning round, made another 
 sign with the arm.
 
 262 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Douglas renewed his pursuit, but more slowly J 
 for the ground was here broken and uneven, and 
 at any rate, he perceived that he whom he followed 
 now awaited his approach. The inequalities of 
 the soil were not greater than those in which 
 antiquarians sometimes discover tlie vestiges of 
 a Roman camp ; and as the space was open for a 
 considerable distance, he could see distinctly 
 enough, notwithstanding the growing obscurity of 
 the hour, the form of the sable knight standing 
 tall and lonely in the midst. Sir Archibald 
 stepped forward more quickly, for he was now 
 close to the object of his pursuit; arranging his 
 dress as he advanced, and loosening his sword in 
 the scabbard, like a man who prepares for an 
 immediate and desperate encounter. These ope- 
 rations, however, could not have withdrawn his 
 eyes from the motionless figure before him for 
 more than a few seconds : and yet, on raising his 
 Jiead to address his enemy, he found that the spot 
 whereon he had stood was vacant. No rock, no 
 stone, no bush, no tree, large enough to conceal 
 the figure of a man was within many hundred
 
 TJIE MAGICIAN, 263' 
 
 yards ; a deep silence reigned on the desert place ; 
 and as Douglas gazed wildlv around him, the idea 
 took possession of his mind, that he had all the 
 time been walking in his sleep, and had just 
 awakened from a dream. 
 
 No process of reasoning could account for what 
 he had seen. If the figure had been in bodily 
 presence that of the Black Knight, was it likely 
 that this desperado, who had not shrunk from his 
 sword even when it was backed by those of two 
 of his followers, would have declined meeting 
 him on an equal field ? If a phantom presented 
 to him by magical art, and this seemed the more 
 rational supposition of the two, was it commis- 
 sioned express from hell for the doughty purpose 
 of leading him a short distance out of his way ? 
 He had heard of men who had been unhorsed and 
 wounded by spectre-knights ; but, on the present 
 occasion, his antagonist's triumph appeared to 
 consist in causing him to extend a little his mid- 
 night walk, in order to leave him suddenly alone 
 on a desert plain ! 
 
 At all events, it was necessary to regain his
 
 264 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 camp with as little delay as possible; otherwise, 
 he should have to enter on the morrow, and its 
 increasing chance of adventure, after a 'sleepless 
 nio-ht. The place could not be far distant, nor 
 very difficult to find ; for it was on lofty ground, 
 which would doubtless present itself after he had 
 walked on for a few minutes in any direction. 
 The night was hazy, but could hardly be called 
 dark ; for the moon was at least dimly visible 
 through the film which overspread the sky. 
 
 Sir Archibald walked on, thoughtful and per- 
 plexed, directing his steps towards the nearest 
 eminence. A little way beyond this he saw, 
 without much surprise, the main road ; and 
 entering it with alacrity he proceededjat a brisk 
 pace in search of the opening where he and his 
 friend had left it to seek an encampment for the 
 night. He had not gone far, however, when the 
 appearance of a low roofed hut, built against a 
 bank which lined the ridit-hand side of the hiorh- 
 way, convinced him that he was beyond the 
 place ; for a shelter of this kind, had they been 
 aware of its existence, would have seemed to our
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 265 
 
 travellers greatly preferable to the open air. After 
 standing undecided for a moment, he was about to 
 turnback, with a hearty anathema directed against 
 the phantom-knight, when the door of the cottage 
 opened, and a female, putting forth her head, 
 enveloped in a hood, beckoned him to approach, 
 
 " Is it you at last, messire?" said she in a low 
 voice, "I had given up all hope of seeing you ; al- 
 though, there being no nearer shelter even for a dog, 
 I could not conjecture what had become of you." 
 
 '' For whom do you take me, my pretty maid ?" 
 demanded Douglas, paying this compliment to au 
 extremely handsome face, which he saw dimly, 
 peeping from under the peasant's hood. 
 
 ^' For a foreign knight, by your garb and 
 tongue ; and for a friend to the damsel of Laval, 
 by your brightening glance and flushing cheek, 
 when we talked of her this morning in the 
 hostelrie." 
 
 *' By my faith, you have a keen eye for such 
 matters," said the knight ; " but does its ken 
 extend no further? Why have you sat up so late 
 by this hazy moon, which seems fitter to light a 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 spectre through the church-yard, than to serve as 
 the lamp of love ?" 
 
 ** Where is your friend ?" demanded the young 
 woman impatiently, without regarding this ad- 
 dress ; " why tarries he ? In this country, Sir 
 Knight, you should be aware, fellow-travellers are 
 only too happy to have the advantage of one 
 another's protection even in daylight." 
 
 " It is a country, I allow, where a man may 
 meet with strange comrades under the beams of 
 the moon. But as to my friend, I trow he is fast 
 asleep on a hill side, somewhere about two miles 
 off; for you shall know that he and I came from 
 a land where weary travellers are not nice about 
 their lodgings." 
 
 " I am sorry for it ; for I would trust more to 
 his keen eye and ready tongue, than to the sharp 
 sword of ere a knight of you all ! " 
 
 " Nay, as for that," said the knight, who had 
 no touch of envy in his disposition, " my friend 
 lacks not a sharp sword to boot, nor yet a stout 
 heart and strong arm to use it. But come, the 
 time flies apace : let me know your trouble ; and •
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 267 
 
 if your quarrel be good, this poor weapon of mine 
 may even stead you as well as another." 
 
 " I would there had been two ! " said the young 
 woman; "and yet, against odds of at least a 
 score, what matters it?- Come on, Sir Knight, 
 follow me, in the name of God, and for the sake 
 of your lady love !" and, gliding away from the 
 hut, she pressed up the steep bank beside it, with 
 an agility which cost the knight, cumbered as he 
 was with thirty or forty pounds' weight of armour, 
 no little exertion to emulate. 
 
 " I call you to notice," said he, when they had 
 gained the summit, ^' that the odds you mention, 
 although they may possibly be held at bay for a 
 moment in the melee till rescue comes up, cannot 
 be opposed, with the slightest chance of eventual 
 success, by a single sword. I am willing, in terms 
 of my knightly oath, to attempt in your behalf all 
 that man may attempt ; but still, I pray you to 
 remember, I can do no more than man may do." 
 
 " Listen," replied the girl, " and waste not time 
 in speaking. This is not the first time I have 
 committed myself to the protection of the most 
 
 N 2
 
 268 THE MAGIC I AX. 
 
 holy St. Julian. Last year 1 made another journey, 
 in the course whereof I was overrun, and trampled 
 on the ground by a furious horseman. On that 
 occasion, my life was preserved by the damsel of 
 Laval ; who, forgetting the meanness of my rank 
 in the greatness of my misfortune, caused me to 
 be carried into one of her father's castles, where 
 she tended me, even like a young mother nursing 
 her sick child." 
 
 " Weep not, good wench," said the knight, 
 touching the corners of his eyes wth his gloves ; 
 " weep not, but say on ; for I already take upon 
 me the adventure you have to propose." 
 
 "The times have now turned round," continued 
 she ; " I am well and safe ; and the damsel herself 
 is this night in sorer peril than that from which 
 she rescued me." 
 
 " St. Bride of Bothwell ! " cried Douglas, " what 
 is this ? Why, trifler, did you not speak at once ? 
 .S7/e in peril ! Say on, thou jirating fool." 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! I thought — " and she shook 
 her head — "I thought from the first that the 
 other would have been the better man ! But
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 269 
 
 still, even a mere warrior is better than nobody at 
 all ; and the moment is now come when something 
 must be done. Sir Knight, it was known to-day 
 in this country-side, that there was some mischief 
 brewing for the house of Laval. The lord de 
 Retz is said to be stripping his house-tree, branch 
 by branch, by the sale of his estates to the sove- 
 reign duke. The remonstrances of his kindred 
 have been listened to with coldness by the buyer, 
 and with haughty and indignant surprise by the 
 seller ; and it is thought that the end will be 
 nothing less than a civil war in Brittany. Now if 
 you are astonished that such an event could 
 be brought about by the quarrels of a single 
 family — " 
 
 ** Tush ! I am astonished at nothing of the 
 kind : — it is our way over the water. Go on, in 
 the name of God V 
 
 " There is something more, however, than the 
 mere sale of the estates. Gilles de Retz is a man 
 of such prodigious pride, that the heavens them- 
 selves do not seem to him to be high enough for 
 a canopy for his head. More than one bold baron,
 
 270 THE MAGICiAN. 
 
 claiming kindred with himself, has already de- 
 manded his daughter, and been scornfully refused ; 
 and it is now believed that lie looks far over the 
 crests of them all for a husband for the heiress of 
 Laval. If this be true, whatever may be the cause 
 which sets them to loggerheads, the damsel will 
 be snatched at in the confusion by more than one 
 gauntleted hand : and this very hour, it will be 
 debated among the malcontents, whether she shall 
 not be seized upon her journey, and detained as a 
 hostage, till all questions are settled between them 
 and the lord de Retz." 
 
 "How know you this?" demanded Douglas, 
 " and who are you who speak above your seeming 
 rank V 
 
 " My rank is what it seems ; although, beino^ 
 the favourite niece of a priest — whose soul be 
 happy ! — I received better instruction than I have 
 use for. My real insignificance, and apparent 
 ignorance, united with accident, have allowed to 
 come to my knowledge w4iat I have told you. 1> 
 this enough ? Am I right in guessing you to be 
 one who would venture life and limb in the service
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 271 
 
 of the Damsel of Laval ? Am I right in supposing 
 that the principal, if not only purpose, of your 
 journey has direct reference to her?" 
 
 " You are right,'' replied Douglas. 
 
 *' Then, messire, since I have gathered this from 
 words and looks marked by no one else, and pro- 
 bably unconscious even to yourself, I demand of 
 you credit for more quickness of wit than you 
 would expect to find under a peasant's hood ! 
 Now listen. In yonder ruined castle, once a pow- 
 erful stronghold of the family of Laval, and now 
 not altogether the ruin it might seem to be, the 
 malcontents meet within an hour, for the purpose 
 of receiving certain information from Nantes, and 
 debating on what is to be done in consequence. 
 Their number will be unknown to themselves ; 
 and they will repair to the rendezvous at this 
 dead hour, cased in armour, and probably vizor- 
 closed, distrusting even one another, until they 
 absolutely ascertain that it will be prudent or ne- 
 cessary to form the league in contemplation. Go 
 thou too, sir Knight! — go boldly in among the 
 rest, and observe what is said and done ! Having
 
 272 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 learnt this, take what steps may seem wisest to 
 to you as a practised soldier, for the rescue — if it 
 be necessary — of the damsel. As for me, my part 
 is fulfilled ; and if the very worst happen, I shall 
 be able to weep without self-reproach." 
 
 " What is the worst ?" said Douglas, in a con- 
 strained whisper — '' Even if a captive, will she not 
 be in the hands of her own kinsmen, and those 
 who wooed her for their bride ?" 
 
 *' Ask me not ! ask me not 1" replied the dam- 
 sel, drawing her hood over her face — ** This is a 
 wild country, and these are fearful times. No 
 mntter with whom the Damsel may be a cap- 
 tive :— she will find herself in the hands of a bri- 
 gand, ready to commit any crime that might serve 
 to secure his prize !" 
 
 ** Enough. Yonder ruined turret is the place, 
 scarcely taller than the trees that surround it ? 
 But stay — the name which you this morning for- 
 bade—" 
 
 " Stay not for names. Away, if you be a 
 man !" 
 
 " I would but ask, if timely notice given to
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 273 
 
 Orosmandel — " but at the word, the young 
 woman dived down the steep of the bank; and 
 Douglas, turning away with an exclamation less 
 courteous than was his wont, pursued his way 
 towards the ruin. 
 
 n3
 
 274 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 As Sir Archibald approached the spot, he 
 found that although the turret, when seen at a 
 distance, certainly gave the idea of a place long 
 since abandoned to the owls, there were other 
 parts of the building in better preservation. It 
 seemed to have been one of the strongest of those 
 strong castles for which Brittany was once re- 
 nowned ; and although now in ruins, and alto- 
 gether deserted, except by a keeper of humble 
 rank, its fortifications and outworks, as well as 
 a portion of the interior, were in the taste of the 
 last century. 
 
 The edifice stood upon the steep of a thickly- 
 wooded hill, the sides of which were broken, and
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 275 
 
 rendered of difficult access by rocks, ravines, and 
 precipices. The faint light of the moon only re- 
 vealed the outlines of the loftiest towers, while 
 the rest of the building was enveloped in doubtful 
 shadow. An air of dusky and mysterious gran- 
 deur presided over the whole object; and as 
 Douglas, after crossing the moat by a permanent 
 bridge, approached the gate, he half expected his 
 summons to be answered by one of those goblin 
 forms of which he had heard in the tales of the 
 minstrels. 
 
 The gateway, however, was open, and the door 
 half embedded in the earth. The arch was 
 ornamented with heads of wolves and wild 
 boars grinning down upon the visitor: it was 
 flanked at either corner by turrets, where the 
 warders once kept their ceaseless watch ; and sur- 
 mounted, in the middle, by a lofty corps-de- garde. 
 Three ditches he thus passed, and three walls, 
 from six to eight feet thick ; and while traversing 
 the dreary courts between, our traveller, it must 
 be said, trode softly, rather from feeling than
 
 276 THE MAGICIAN, 
 
 policy, as if thinking that even the sound of his 
 armed heels upon the ground was there an intru- 
 sion and an impertinence. 
 
 He at length found himself in the great square 
 court, surrounded by the buildings of the castle. 
 LFnderneath were the cellars, the subterraneans, 
 and the prisons ; above these, on the ground stor^', 
 the habitable apartments, as well as the stables, 
 fowl-houses, and dovecotes, to the right and left of 
 the gate ; and on the upper story, the stores, 
 larders, and arsenals. The whole of the roofs of 
 this grand square were bordered by parapets 
 macheconlis, chemins-de-ronde, and turrets. In 
 the centre of the court was the lofty donjon, rising 
 like an enormous tower from the midst of the 
 surrounding buildings, and containing the state 
 apartments, and the treasury. This, which might 
 be called the heart of the fortress, was encircled 
 by a deep ditch ; and although its walls, like 
 those of the other parts of the edifice, were at 
 least six feet thick, it was further strengthened by 
 a shirt, or second wall of equal thickness, formed
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 277 
 
 of solid blocks of cut stone, and rising to one half 
 the height of the donjon itself. 
 
 The prodigious strength of the donjon, as might 
 have been expected, had withstood more success- 
 fully than the rest of the building the effects of 
 neglect and time. The sides of the square of 
 which Douglas made the complete tour, were in 
 some places open to the weather, and in all, ruined 
 and desolate. Sometimes, by the uncertain light 
 of the moon falling through the broken roofs of 
 the chambers, many of which were vaulted, he 
 could see the remains of the stained glass with 
 which their ogive windows had been adorned. In 
 some apartments, the floor was paved in squares 
 of different colours ; in others, the pillars which 
 supported the joists were still encrusted with 
 fillets and flowers of tin ; in others, the walls still 
 showed the remains of paintings, representing 
 figures as large as life, holding scrolls in their 
 hands, on which it was the custom, in great 
 houses, to inscribe moral sentences for the edifi- 
 cation of the guests.
 
 278 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Having ascertained that the meeting could be 
 held in none of the ordinary apartments of the 
 castle, our adventurer now proceeded with a firm 
 step, but an anxious heart, to the donjon ; and 
 having crossed the moat by a drawbridge, em- 
 bedded in the earth, and long since become a per- 
 manent avenue, he struck with the hilt of his 
 sword upon the mouldering door. When the 
 hollow echoes of the sound had died away, he 
 heard a voice within, followed by the efforts of 
 some feeble or unsteady hand to withdraw the bolt. 
 
 "There is the last !" said the voice, in a cracked 
 treble, *' By St. Gildas ! there hath scarce been 
 such a jubilee in my time ; no, not since the mur- 
 ther of the young lord in the Devil's Chamber.* 
 he ! he ! he ! What, art sleep old Raoul ? Put 
 thy pith to it, man, as if feigning thou wast flesh 
 and blood, instead of a dried skinful of rottinir 
 
 In Camera Diaholorum — in Camera Viride, and simi- 
 lar names taken either from tlic colour of tlie tapestry, or 
 the representations it contained, occur in the manuscript in- 
 ventories of the fourteenth century.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 279 
 
 bones. 'Slife ! I must help thee myself, although 
 I am the seneschal, and thou only my valet. Now, 
 stand on one side, and hold thy skeleton erect 
 while he enters, for the credit of the house of 
 Laval !" 
 
 Douglas was received with a profound bow by 
 the personage calling himself the seneschal ; a 
 little withered man, at the very verge of human 
 life, with a beard as white as snow, who leant on a 
 stick of the same colour, taller than himself, and 
 resembling the rod of a gentleman usher. The 
 appearance of the valet was in nowise different 
 from that of his master, except in dress, and 
 also by his skeleton being rounded at the back like 
 a bow, whereas, that of the other was as straight 
 and ofiicial-looking as his wand. 
 
 "There be no more of you, I trow, messire?" 
 said the seneschal, in the tone of asking a question, 
 of which he knew the answer, while the valet 
 shut and bolted the door. 
 
 " I know not," replied Douglas, " are there 
 many before me }"
 
 2 80 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 '* A round dozen ! twelve, as I am a sinner I Is 
 it not thus, Raoul V 
 
 " Yea : he is the thirteenth." 
 
 *' He ! he! he! said I not so? Go to: it is 
 not a man who hath kept a house hke this for 
 fifty years, that thou wilt find napping. I knew 
 his tread the moment he entered the inner sate : 
 tramp, tramp, tramp, it went round the square — 
 and thou, like a superannuated fool, would have 
 called him in, as if he wanted bidding of ours ! 
 Wait, said I, wait, old Raoul ; have but a grain of 
 patience, tor those feet will cany him here, were 
 his eyes shut, and a tombstone on his back. Said 
 I not so ? — the very words ?" 
 
 " Yea," answered Raoul," " I will not gainsay 
 it.'» 
 
 ** He ! he ! he ! See what it is to be a fellow 
 of experience ! Tramp, tramp, tramp, came the 
 footsteps again by the other side of the square ; 
 and knock ! knock ! knock ! went the hilts against 
 the door ! Thou art the thirteenth, sir knight, 
 and there's an end !"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 281 
 
 " That was the number then expected !'* 
 
 " Nay — twelve," interposed Raoul. 
 
 * Thou wilt talk ! God sain thee, neighbour ! 
 Alas, old Raoul ! And in troth, sir knight, it was 
 twelve, as this poor man says — but when will the 
 devil be left out of such a reckoning ? Now, the 
 twelfth man, you must know, was to have been the 
 victim !" 
 
 ^'How!" 
 
 "It is gospel -true. Have I lied, old Raoul? 
 Speak up, if thou yet hoardest a morsel of tongue 
 for the worms !" 
 
 ** It was the twelfth man — I will not gainsay it : 
 and moreover — " 
 
 "Moreover! Moreover what? Over twelve? 
 Why, that would give thyself the lie; for, over 
 twelve is thirteen. And so, messire, it being a dark 
 moon, like this of to-night, and one of the com- 
 pany, whose heart failed him, slipping behind the 
 tapestiy to be out of the mischief, the twelfth 
 man, entering with vizor closed like the rest, was 
 counted for the eleventh. Thus did he escape.
 
 282 THE MAGICIAN, 
 
 surrounded by ten hands, each grasping its 
 misericorde."^ But even as St. Abraham was 
 tricked by the devil, who caused him to sacrifice 
 his own flesh and blood, instead of a good fat 
 buck ; even so was foiled that day the lord de 
 Retz. For, lo you now, sir knight ! who should 
 enter thereupon, unwished for, and unbidden ? 
 Who, I say, should mount those very stairs, 
 against the will of those who kept them ? Who 
 should force himself, head and shoulders, into an 
 affair with which he had no more business than 
 thou ? Who, but the young lord himself ? I 
 tell you, Sir, there were ten daggers clashed in his 
 body in the same instant ; and his father's clashed 
 the loudest ! Is it not so, old Raoul ? Answer, if 
 there be anything but mere bones within thy skin? 
 Hold up thy defunct face, and tell me, whether 
 I have lied !" 
 
 "Thou hast spoken truly; I will not gainsay 
 
 * The small 'dagger which the knights made use of to 
 dispatch the enemies they had overthrown ; so called, from 
 the exclamation for " mercy," with which tlie vanquished 
 could avert the blow.
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 283 
 
 it : and, by the same token, the castle from that 
 day was suffered to fall into ruin ; being deserted 
 by all but you and me, who were left in charge, 
 and—" 
 
 " And another ! He ! he ! he ! Well said, old 
 Raoul ! Well said, i'faith ! And so, sir knioht, 
 being the thirteenth, as I have said, we bid you 
 heartily welcome 1'" 
 
 The entrance hall was not deep enough to 
 require much time to traverse it; and yet the 
 thirteenth visitor — although appearing disdainful 
 and impatient — did not reach the farther end, till 
 the last words of this ominous tale had fallen 
 upon his ear. He then, partly deceived by the 
 want of light — for the place was only illuminated 
 by a single lamp fixed to the wall — and partly, 
 from pre-occupation of mind, instead of mounting 
 the great staircase, struck into a dim opening 
 beside it. He discovered his mistake after ascend- 
 ing two or three steep and narrow steps, and 
 returned hastily. The two old men were looking 
 eagerly towards the spot, with a ghastly smile on
 
 284 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 their faces ; but when the knight made his ap- 
 pearance again at the opening, the merriment of 
 the seneschal broke forth in a shrill, cracked, 
 *' He ! he! he!" and was joined, for the first 
 time, by the laugh of his comrade, which sounded 
 as if it came from a coffin. 
 
 " That is the way thou must go," said he of the 
 wand, "for it is the stair of the Thirteenth ; and, 
 being wiser to-day than we were fifty years ago, 
 we will not try to stay thee. Tell me, old Raoul, 
 for thou wert by ; did not the young lord dart 
 into that door, when we held him off from mount- 
 ing the great stair with the point of our weapons ? 
 Open thy jaws and answer, if thou hast anv 
 dregs of life in thee." 
 
 " He did so ; I will not gainsay it. Yet never- 
 theless, it was by the great stair he returned.'' 
 
 " Well said, old Raoul, well said, i' faith ; now 
 answer me again ; unclose thy lips once more, if 
 they be any thing else than musty parchment, 
 damp with mouldiness, and worm-eaten like a 
 coffin that hath served two corses,— after what
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 285 
 
 manner came he down the great stair ? Expound, 
 as thou be'st a true valet ! Ha ?" 
 
 *' He ! he ! he ! Heels foremost ! He ! he ! 
 he !" 
 
 *' He ! he ! he ! By St. Gildas, thou art a rare 
 companion, all that is left of thee ! I tell thee 
 what. Sir Knight, it is of no use to stand shilly- 
 shallying. About face, and away with thee, for 
 thou canst not choose." 
 
 The feelings may be conceived with which 
 Douglas listened to such ominous discourse, be- 
 tween two creatures who, although dressed like 
 living men, and standing on their legs, looked as if 
 a winding-sheet was their usual costume, and the 
 grave their abiding-place. Their laugh, however, 
 although it had chilled his blood more than their 
 words, sounded so much like a taunt that his 
 knightly pride was at length roused. He remem- 
 bered that the secret passage was the best and 
 safest avenue he could take in his present cha- 
 racter; and controlling as well as possible, the 
 kind of horror which crept through his blood, he
 
 286 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 turned round, as the seneschal directed ; and, 
 without uttering a word, began anew^ to ascend 
 the steep staircase. He was pursued for some 
 time, as he chmbed, by the ghastly laugh of the 
 old men; but, praying fervently to every saint 
 whose name he could recollect in the confusion ot 
 the moment, he at length found himself out of 
 hearing. 
 
 He was in utter darkness; and the stair, besides 
 being so steep and irregular that, in more than one 
 place, he was obliged to use hands and knees in 
 the ascent; was so close and damp that he might 
 have fancied himself in a burying vault. Tlie 
 idea again occurred to him, that he was walking 
 in his sleep ; and the wild legend he had just 
 heard, relating, as it appeared, to an ancestor — 
 perhaps the grandfather — of the present lord 
 de Retz, seemed only a natural sequel to his 
 dream. 
 
 At length, however, he was once more on even 
 ground. The floor felt smooth beneath his feei, 
 as if it was of marble, or polished tiles : and he
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 287 
 
 heard a sound as if of the silence of a group of 
 human beings close at hand. He was no doubt 
 in the Devil's Chamber ; although still in utter 
 darkness, because of the tapestry, which he felt 
 hanging before him. He did not venture to touch 
 the fold of the cloth, which he knew must be 
 opposite the staircase, in order to admit secret 
 visitors into the room ; but speedily a faint gleam 
 of light conducted him to a place where there 
 were several circular holes, the size of a man's 
 head, and about the same distance from the 
 ground. These were, of course, for the purpose 
 of espial, and enabled the hidden spectator to 
 substitute his own face for that of the fio^ure 
 wrought on the tapestry. Here, therefore, our 
 adventurer took his stand ; and here he beheld a 
 picture which might have afforded worthy mate- 
 rials, even for the skilful needle that had adorned 
 the walls. 
 
 The room was lofty ; and, from the gracefulness 
 of its Gothic ceiling and windows, would have 
 looked light and elegant but for a single enor-
 
 288 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 nious pillar in the midclle, as thick as a full-grown 
 oak, which supported the vault, beginning to 
 mingle gradually with the nave of the arches 
 when little more than midway from the ground. 
 This gave a stern and heavy aspect to the hall, 
 well befitting the appearance and purpose of its 
 present guests ; who consisted ofabouta dozen men, 
 clothed in iron from head to foot, some leaning 
 against the pillar, half hidden in its shadow; 
 some standing motionless with crossed arms ; and 
 sonie resting, with their hands clasped] on the 
 hilts of their mighty swords, breast high. The 
 room was completely hung with tapestiy, repre- 
 senting devils in a thousand grotesque yet terrible 
 attitudes; and as the faint and flickering beams 
 of the moon, now glanced upon the armour of 
 the mailed figures, and now touched with myste- 
 rious light the spectral forms upon the wall, they 
 seemed to bind together even the inconorruities of 
 the scene, and confer upon the whole a kind v.( 
 unijy of character which made the kniiiht hi>ld his 
 breath for awe.
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 289 
 
 The stillness of the assembly continued un- 
 broken for several minutes ; but by degrees some 
 symptoms of impatience manifested themselves. 
 Here a hoarse sound from the throat startled the 
 silence of the room like a blasphemy, and there a 
 foot grated harshly and heavily upon the floor. 
 Two or three of the reclining figures raised them- 
 selves up erect, their armour rattling as they 
 moved ; others stepped lightly, and, as it were, 
 cautiously, tovi^ards the windovv^, endeavouring to 
 look down into the court ; and by and bye, one 
 Herculean figure began to pace through the hall, 
 his armed tread increasing gradually in force and 
 rapidity, till the noise shook the vaults. All were 
 now astir. Impatient mutterings and angry male- 
 dictions were heard rumbling in every casque ; 
 the iron-clad figures approached nearer and nearer 
 to each other; and the gigantic warrior, halting 
 suddenly in the midst, and glaring round upon the 
 group, as if he would read their physiognomies 
 through their helmet-bars, addressed them in a 
 fierce and disdainful voice.
 
 290 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 " By the holy mother of God ! " said he, " one 
 would think we were a company of truant boys^ 
 about to conspire, if we could muster courage 
 enough, to rob an orchard by moonlight! Are 
 we so unused in Brittany to execute either right 
 or wrong by the strong arm ? — or do we doubt, 
 that on the present occasion we are upheld by the 
 laws of the country, and the privileges of our 
 rank? When, only a few years ago, as I may 
 say, we rescued John V, from the dungeons of the 
 Penthievres, and set him firmly on his throne, it 
 was that he might preserve order in the country, 
 not at his own will, but as the president of the 
 nobles. We gave him no charter, to add to his 
 domain the estates of his vassals, and cripple the 
 body of the nobility, by lopping off its fairest and 
 strongest limbs. For what do we wait ? It ap- 
 pears to me that this subordinate agent whom we 
 employ binds us all, as with a spell ; since we 
 cannot commence even our deliberations without 
 his sanction. Hitherto we have ascertained one 
 another's sentiments at second hand. We have
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 291 
 
 now met to deliver them face to face ; and since 
 the emissary has not made his appearance at the 
 appointed time, I see no reason why we should 
 not proceed without him. Away with this mys- 
 tery, which can serve no purpose, but to harbour 
 and conceal treason. Here for one is a face — if 
 you can see it by this corpse-candle of a moon — 
 which was never hidden before, either from friend 
 or foe ; and I give all who are short-sighted to 
 wit, that it stands on the shoulders of Claude 
 Montrichard !" The grim warrior raised his vizor 
 as he spoke, and was cheered by most of the 
 company, all of whom followed his example. 
 
 " Be it understood," said one, who was slower 
 than the others, " that I am here, by appointment, 
 to receive information on a point nearly touching 
 the peace of Brittany; and not to enter into a 
 cabal, without knowing why or wherefore. Who, 
 I demand, is the leader in this affair ? By whose 
 summons are we here ? Your name, Claude 
 Montrichard, was mentioned to me by the mes- 
 senger, and yet you seem to know no more of the 
 matter than the rest of us ! " 
 
 o2
 
 292 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 *' By St. Brieuc!" said Montrichard, "it was 
 your name that was mentioned to me ; and, know- 
 ing your caution, I believed the envoy the rather 
 that it came only in a hint." 
 
 "What matters it?" cried a brawny, thickset 
 man, in a strong German accent, " what matters it 
 by whom invited, so that we are here ? It seems 
 to me that you have as pretty a cause of quarrel 
 before you as could be desired, if you will only 
 let it alone ; and as for waiting for more infor- 
 mation, all I can say is, that as neither I nor my 
 fifty lances are inclined to eat our horses, we must 
 be up and doing on one side or other, before this 
 moon is many days older." 
 
 Loud murmurs now arose among the company, 
 most of whom seemed dismayed at the idea of 
 being so nearly afloat in such an aflair, without 
 either pilot or commander. 
 
 "Where is the agent?" cried they, tumultu- 
 ouslyj " how do we know that he is not doubly a 
 traitor ? ** 
 
 " He is here ! " answered a stern and command- 
 ing voice ; and the Black Knight, making his
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 293 
 
 appearance at the door, strode into the midst of 
 the group. 
 
 "Who doubted my honour?" demanded he, 
 looking round. 
 
 " That did we all," replied the German. 
 
 " And I first," added Montrichard. 
 
 " Then you, Claude Montrichard, on fitting 
 time and field, I shall hold responsible. It would 
 be sheer folly to defend my character otherwise 
 than with my sword. If my face is not uncovered, 
 my actions, so far as you are concerned, are so. 
 I have hitherto told you nothing but what was 
 confirmed afterwards by public report ; and if you 
 will not trust me from your own experience of my 
 fidelity, it would be a waste of words to attempt 
 to sway you by reason or argument." 
 
 ^' I accept your defiance," said Montrichard, 
 '^ were it only to see of what stuff you are made 
 of in the field — you who are so hardy in the closet, 
 and so valiant in the council. But come, let us 
 to business. I seek not to pry into the motives 
 of your actions ; and I allow that you have
 
 294 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 hitherto dealt fairly with us. Now, open your 
 budget!" 
 
 "The duke, who seems bent upon humbling the 
 whole of the nobility in the person of Laval, is 
 still determined to take advantage of the madness 
 of the lord de Retz. Roger de Briqueville, and 
 other friends of this house, are working strenu- 
 ously upon the mind of their infatuated friend ; 
 but the probability is, that all will be in vain, and 
 that in a little while the fairest portion of his 
 estates, St. Etienne de Malmont, will be in the 
 grasp of John V. You will receive intelligence 
 from me the moment this is decided upon ; which 
 will justify any measures you may take, in the 
 eyes of the whole country. I advise that it should 
 be the signal for action." 
 
 •* Then we are still to rest upon our arms ?" said 
 the German, sullenly, "you told me that at this 
 meeting something was to be done as well as said.'* 
 
 " I propose that the Damsel of Laval, who is 
 now journeying to La Verriere, should be seized, 
 and detained in all honour, as a hostage."
 
 THE MAGICIAN, 
 
 295 
 
 "That, sir Knight," said Montrichard, " would 
 be to commence the struggle at once." 
 
 '' It would, if done by brute force : but my plan 
 is this. I have friends within the fortress where 
 she lodges to-night, who will open the wicket 
 when I command. Fall suddenly upon the gar- 
 rison before to-morrow's dawn, upon pretext of 
 delivering the Damsel from the hands of those 
 whom sure information leads you to know are 
 her enemies. Her, in the meantime, will I per- 
 suade to take to flight in the midst of the bustle, 
 and by an avenue only known to myself. You 
 will charge her friends with the abduction ; they 
 will charge you ; time will be lost in recrimina- 
 tions; and messengers must go and come between 
 this and La Verriere. Before the true nature of 
 the affair is discovered, the question will be de- 
 cided, peace or war? and according to the an- 
 swer, I shall cause the Damsel to be delivered up 
 either to her father, or to him who may be looked 
 upon as the chief of the insurgent nobles." 
 
 Had the ambushed knight been struck with less
 
 296 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 amazement by the prodigious audacity of this pro- 
 posal, he must have betrayed himself; but as it 
 was, his faculties, both mental and corporeal, ap- 
 peared to be paralyzed, and he stood breathless 
 and motionless. Nor did the rest of the audience 
 appear to be less capable of feeling the sublime 
 of impudence ; for the speech was followed by pro- 
 found silence. At length some appeared to re- 
 collect themselves; and, withdrawing, as if un- 
 willingly, from the speculations of individual 
 advantage in which they were plunged, cried out 
 — "He is a stranger! The plan is good — but 
 what security have we that he will render up his 
 prize ?" They then began to talk eagerly to 
 one another, separating into small committees. 
 
 The Black Knight, in the meantime, took ad- 
 vantage of the temporary confusion to glide from 
 one to another ; here interposing a word in the 
 dispute, and there whispering something in the 
 ear of an individual. The nature of these secret 
 communications Douglas learnt from a broken 
 sentence which he heard addressed to Mont-
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 297 
 
 richard, who happened at the moment to stand 
 near his loop-hole. 
 
 " Support me, if you be not mad — the girl will 
 be ostensibly in my hands, but really in yours — a 
 word to the wise — hush !" By this time, our ad- 
 venturer had determined, at any personal hazard, 
 to burst into the midst of the conclave ; and he 
 only waited for some still better opportunity of 
 detecting and confounding the machinations of the 
 Black Knight. The conspirators, secretly swayed 
 by their own personal feelings or policy, had evi- 
 dently reasoned one another into a general ap- 
 proval of the proposed plan ; although they con- 
 tinued to debate fiercely ai.d tumultuously about 
 the details :- — willing, as it appeared, to throw the 
 whole onus upon the Black Knight, yet anxious 
 to repose in him as little confidence as possible. 
 
 But a new turn was given to the discussion by 
 a speaker whose voice had not been heard before. 
 This, as well as Douglas could discover in the 
 imperfect light, was a young and handsome man, 
 who even while raising his vizor like the others, 
 
 o3
 
 298 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 liad continued to lean against the pillar, and to 
 gaze in half listless, half haughty silence upon 
 the throng. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, in one of those low, 
 quiet, distinct voices, which the ear turns from 
 louder tones to listen to — " I at length gather 
 something from your debate which is needful for 
 me to understand. I hear on all sides, as the 
 sole objection to the plan, as described by its 
 proposer — ' He is a stranger in Brittany ! ' Now 
 if this means that a foreigner is not eligible to 
 pretend to the hand of the Damsel of Laval — the 
 real prize, notwithstanding all your attempts to 
 conceal it, for which we contend — I, for one, shall 
 have nothing to do with the enterprise. I have 
 not seen the lady, it is true, but I like her dowry 
 — a thing which does wonders in reconciling us in 
 matters of taste ; and I fancy a branch of the 
 Beauchamps of England, transplanted into this 
 soil, would hardly be overtopped by the fairest 
 oaks of Brittany." 
 
 " Methinks," messire, " replied tlie Black
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 299 
 
 Knight, with a slight expression of impatience, 
 " you are somewhat premature. The question 
 before us is not how to match the damsel of 
 Laval ; but how to deliver her from the extrava- 
 gant pride of her father, and thus place her, as 
 the object of honourable contention, before you 
 all." 
 
 " So far, so well," said the Englishman, we 
 have all, therefore, an equal stake in the safety of 
 the damsel, and her honourable treatment ; and 
 why her fate should be committed to the hands 
 of one man, and that one man the least known 
 of us all, I am at a loss to conceive. You appear 
 to entertain a very friendly solicitude, that we 
 should not commit ourselves before the proper 
 time ; and, doubtless, we are all very much 
 beholden to you : but still, if we choose to take 
 any portion of risk upon ourselves, you will 
 naturally feel happy in being relieved from so 
 heavy a responsibility. I propose accordingly, 
 that the abduction — or deliverance, as you. Sir 
 Black Knight, more happily phrase it — of the
 
 300 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 Damsel of Laval, be conducted by a force, com- 
 posed of an equal number of men contribnted by 
 all of us wlio desire it ; the said force to be under 
 your command, with such restrictions as the 
 wisdom of the present meeting may prescribe." 
 
 This proposal was received with a shout of ap- 
 probation ; and when the Black Knight attempted, 
 as before, to address himself to individuals, his 
 voice was drowned in the general uproar. At 
 length all was silent, and every face was directed 
 towards him in expectation. When at length he 
 spoke, and this was not for some time, it was in a 
 cold, haughty, and indifferent tone. 
 
 "It was my desire to serve you,*' said he, " and, 
 if the detention of the Damsel were essentially 
 necessary to our ultimate success, I would do so 
 still. Her being allowed, however, to fall once 
 more into the hands of her fiithcr, will, at the 
 worst, only render her deliverance more tedious and 
 difficult ; and I decline submitting, in order to 
 avoid this, to the new insult which the wisdom of 
 the meeting has thought proper to offer me. In
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 301 
 
 furtherance of my own plans, notwithstanding, I 
 shall still pursue the adventure as zealously as 
 heretofore. It is myself I serve, not you ; and, 
 for my own sake, not yours, will I give you due 
 tidings of the event which must bring you to a 
 decision either to submit or resist. In the mean- 
 time, only advising you to take no step whatever 
 till you hear farther from me, I leave you in the 
 holy keeping of your own wits," and so saying, 
 the knight strode out of the room. 
 
 Douglas would instantly have withdrawn for 
 the purpose of following his mysterious enemy ; 
 although, even then, in some doubt as to the pos- 
 sibility of his seizing a man who appeared to have 
 the faculty of vanishing like a spirit. He was de- 
 tained for a moment, however, by some expressions 
 he heard amidst the tumult occasioned by the 
 haughty exit of the stranger, which raised power- 
 fully his curiosity. 
 
 " Follow him not," said the more cautious per- 
 sonage, whoso name iiad not transpired, " and take 
 no heed of his disrespect. Draw near, and I will
 
 302 THE MAGlCfAN. 
 
 tell you why. Closer, for I will not trust my 
 voice to the echoes even of this deserted room." 
 Douglas stretched his head forth out of the open- 
 ing, and listened with soul and sense to the whis- 
 per of the old man, but without being aWe to catch 
 an intelligible word. At the moment he fancied he 
 heard something stir near him ; and putting out 
 his hand, he felt that a man in armour stood close 
 by his side. 
 
 " Sir," whispered he, " you are here on espial as 
 well as I : move not, or I drag you into the hall. 
 When they are gone, you and I go hand and hand 
 into the moonlight!" and seizing the hand beside 
 him, he grasped it like one who would give earnest 
 of his power to enforce any threat of the kind. 
 The stranger, on his part, did not answer in words, 
 but returned the pressure with such goodwill, that 
 Douglas heard the steel splints of his gauntlet 
 crackle, and felt the blood spring from beneath his 
 finger nails. They stood in this cordial attitude 
 for some minutes, without overhearing a syllable 
 that could have been of interest to either ; and at
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 303 
 
 length the meeting broke up without coming to 
 any conclusion, and they saw the last of its mem- 
 bers disappear at the door. 
 
 " And now, sir Black Knight," said Douglas, 
 *' for I know you by instinct, even in the dark, 
 you will either settle with me in the court beneath, 
 certain accounts that have been long; outstanding; 
 between us, or you will accompany me on the 
 instant to yonder fortress, where lodge Orosmandel 
 and the Damsel of Laval. Choose !" 
 
 *' I should prefer the former alternative," said 
 the stranger, " if I did not perceive, by the 
 hardness of your gripe, that it would take more 
 minutes than I can well spare just at present to 
 chastise your folly. We shall go, therefore, to the 
 fortress, and the rather, that t have still more press- 
 ing business there than you." Groping their 
 way to the secret door, which was the readiest 
 egress, they commenced their descent, still hand 
 in hand ; but the narrowness of the rude staircase 
 making this attitude impossible longer, Don2;las 
 gave precedence to his enemy, keeping close be-
 
 304 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 hind him, so that he might reacli the bottom at 
 tlie same moment. 
 
 He reached the bottom alone ! 
 
 " Who passed ?" cried the knight, drawing his 
 sword, "tell me on your lives V 
 
 " Who passed ?" repeated the seneschal, in 
 evident surprise. " Why, the twelve men, to be 
 sure, not five minutes agone. And what makest 
 thou, sir knight, by the secret stair, and head, 
 instead of heels, foremost ?" 
 
 "It is glamour! or I am in a dream! and 
 these be no living men, but shadows and phan- 
 tasms ! Open the door, ye unholy shapes, and 
 then sink in the ground and disappear !" 
 
 "The thirteenth man !" mused the seneschal, as 
 his valet slowly obeyed ; " What thinkest thou of 
 this, comrade ?" 
 
 ** That we are even well rid of him !" replied 
 old Raoul sulkily : " New times are not like old 
 times ; and a man now-a-days can laugh at his 
 very doom. Death itself seems to be dead : or, 
 wherefore are you and I here ? Ah ! what a night
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 305 
 
 we should have made of it ! with old rhymes, and 
 old stories, and the corpse-streaked east and west 
 between us !" 
 
 Douglas escaped as quickly as he could from 
 the ill-boding voices of the old men ; and when he 
 had cleared the precincts of the castle, rushed, 
 rather than ran, down the steep on which it stood. 
 While passing the hut by the roadside he threw a 
 glance at the door; but all was still. Soon after, 
 he reached the opening by which his friend and 
 he had left the highway; and in a few minutes 
 more he stood by the side of David Armstrong, 
 who was still fast asleep. 
 
 Although the dawn was not yet perceptible, 
 Douglas knew, by the appearance of the sky, and 
 the position of the moon, that it was no longer 
 night ; and he laid himself quickly down, deter- 
 mined, in the midst of all his dilemmas, to snatch 
 an hour's rest, before the daylight should call him 
 to its busine>s and adventure. Sleep came at his 
 bidding, but not rest. Long he tumbled, and 
 tossed, and groaned. He imagined at length that
 
 306 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 he was actually laid out as a corpse, with the 
 seneschal watching at his head, and old Raoul at 
 his feet. The Black Knight presently entered 
 upon the scene ; and stooping down, endeavoured 
 to cut the fastenings of his helmet with his 
 misericorde. Unable to stir hand or foot, he felt 
 those diabolical fingers fumbling at his throat ; 
 and, overpowered with horror, the sleeper shrieked, 
 and awoke. 
 
 His dream was partly true; and he caught hold 
 of the intruding hand with convulsive energy. 
 
 "Villain !" he cried, "let me up! Give me a 
 chance of life; and let me die by fiair fighting !" 
 
 "Get up, then, in the name of God!" said 
 David. " It is that I have wanted this half hour; 
 and I have even now been fain to cut your helmet 
 ties, lest you should be strangled.'* 
 
 *' O my friend, I have had such a dream !" 
 
 " You may well say so, Archibald ; for truly 
 you have had a troubled night.' 
 
 " Why, what in heaven's name do you know of 
 my troubles?"
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 307 
 
 " More, perchance, than your wakmg hps could 
 tell me. But the Black Knight has been busy 
 with you since we lay down ; and those two lean 
 and wizard spectres, whose eldritch laugh you 
 might well dread to hear." 
 
 "David ! Was it all a dream ? Only convince 
 me of that — but no — it is impossible." 
 
 " You have truly passed a troubled night ; and, 
 indeed, as I may say, you might as well not have 
 slept at all. But you men of war, whose minds 
 are not so alert as they might be, are unable to 
 struggle with dreams, which are in general a 
 casualty depending upon the state of the body. 
 With such, the stomach carries it over the brain ; 
 and your valiant knight lies groaning under the 
 blows of an ideal victor, whom the poor scholar, 
 disciplined by his watchings, and fastings, and 
 meditations, would throw off like a cumbersome 
 cloak. For mine own part, I awoke every now 
 and then of express purpose to drive away a great 
 black fly, which kept buzzing and buzzing around 
 your head; and once, on raising my eyes, there was 
 a damsel standing beside us— a young woman—"
 
 308 THE MAGICIAN. 
 
 "The Damsel of Laval!" 
 
 " No, the young- woman Hagar ; and she told 
 me that she was an Egyptian, and not a — hem ! — 
 but, behold ! this was a dream." 
 
 " And so was not mine," said Douglas, starting 
 up, " Not a word ! Listen, and then speak ;" 
 and he related in a succint and coherent manner 
 the adventures of the night. During the course 
 of the recital, although David said nothing, he 
 maintained for a considerable time his own private 
 opinion, that it was all a dream ; but by degrees 
 the conviction forced itself upon his mind, that 
 the knight had not even been sleep-walking, but 
 broad awake. 
 
 "In this country," said he, after some moment's 
 meditation, " the great houses were formerly pro- 
 vided, not only with private passages, the doors of 
 which appeared, both to the sight and touch, to 
 form part of the wall, but also with subterranean 
 avenues, extending far out into the country. This 
 is already an antique fashion ; and the remains 
 of such contrivances, if skilfully used, might give 
 an appearance of the supernatural to feats of mere
 
 THE MAGICIAN. 309 
 
 dexterity and ingenuity. If the Black Knight be 
 a creature of flesh and blood, you may be assured, 
 that out of some such substantial materials arose 
 the glamour of to-night. At all events, if I am 
 not far mistaken, we shall become better ac- 
 quainted with magic as we get on ; and so, let us 
 up and away, for the sun is already high in the 
 heavens. The time may soon come — adsit modo 
 dexter Apollo — when we shall teach him, in turn, 
 a few of the tricks of the north !" 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 London : Haddon and Co., Doctors' Commons.