The Casque's Lark; or, Victoria, the Mother of the Camps

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER V.

  NEROWEG THE TERRIBLE EAGLE.

  The Frankish chief who stood before me was a man of colossal stature.Due to the use of lime-water, his beard as well as his greasy hair, thatrose in a knot over his forehead, had turned coppery red. His hair, tiedwith a leather thong on the top of his head, fell behind his shoulderslike the flowing crest of a casque. Above each of his bushy red eyebrowsI saw an eagle's talon tattooed in blue, while another scarlet tattoomark, representing the undulations of a serpent, spanned his forehead.His left cheek was also ornamented with a red and blue tattoo thatconsisted of transverse rays. On his right cheek, however, the savageornament disappeared almost wholly in the cavity of a deep scar thatbegan below the eye and was finally lost under his shaggy beard. Heavyand coarsely-wrought gold medals, that hung from and distended his ears,dropped upon his shoulders. A heavy silver chain, wound three timesaround his neck, reached down to his semi-bare breast. Above his clothtunic he wore a jacket of some animal's hide. His hose, of the samequality and as soiled as his tunic, were fastened by a leather belt fromwhich, on one side, hung a long sword, on the other an axe of sharpstone. Wide strips of tanned skin criss-crossed upward over his hose,from the ankle to the knees. He leaned upon a short pike that ended in asharp point. The other kings who accompanied Neroweg were tattooed,clad and armed more or less after the same fashion. The features of allbore the stamp of savage gravity.

  Elwig, who remained on her knees at my side, sought to conceal her facefrom Neroweg. He rudely touched his sister's shoulder with the point ofhis pike, and addressed her harshly:

  "Why did you send for me before boiling the Gallic dog for yourauguries? My flayers have promised me his skin."

  "The hour is not favorable," answered the priestess abruptly with amysterious air. "The hour of night--of dark night is preferable tosacrifice to the gods of the nether world. The Gaul, moreover, says, ohmighty king, that he has a message from Victoria and her son."

  Neroweg drew nearer and looked at me. At first his mien was one ofdisdainful indifference; presently, however, as he examined me moreattentively, his features assumed an expression of hatred and oftriumphant rage; at last he cried as if he could not believe his owneyes:

  "It is he! He is the horseman of the bay steed! It is himself!"

  "Do you know him?" Elwig asked her brother. "Do you know this prisoner?"

  "Off with you!" was Neroweg's brusque answer. "Get you gone!"

  He then proceeded to contemplate me with renewed interest and repeated:

  "Yes, it is he; the horseman of the bay steed!"

  "Did you ever meet him in battle?" again asked Elwig. "Answer me. Doanswer me!"

  "Will you be gone!" repeated Neroweg now raising his pike over the headof the priestess. "I told you before, be gone!"

  My eyes at that moment caught sight of the group of black warriors. Isaw that their captain Riowag could hardly be restrained by his men fromdrawing his sword, and revenging the insult offered to Elwig by Neroweg.

  But so far from obeying her brother, and no doubt fearing that in herabsence I might reveal to the Terrible Eagle both her own fratricidalprojects and the secret of Victoria's presents which she coveted, Elwigcried:

  "No! No! I remain here! The prisoner belongs to me for my auguries. Ishall not go away. I shall keep him--"

  The only answer that Neroweg vouchsafed his sister were several blowswith the handle of his pike, delivered over her back. He thereupon madea sign, and several of the warriors who accompanied him violently drovethe priestess, together with the haggish old assistant, back into thecavern at the mouth of which they posted themselves on guard, sword inhand.

  The black warriors who surrounded Riowag were put to their mettle inorder to prevent their captain from precipitating himself with drawnsword upon the Terrible Eagle. The latter, thinking only of me, failedto notice the fury of his rival, and addressed me in a voice tremblingwith rage, while he kicked me with his feet:

  "Do you recognize me, dog?"

  "I recognize you, rapacious wolf."

  "This wound," resumed Neroweg carrying his finger to the deep scar thatfurrowed his cheek, "do you know who made this wound?"

  "Yes, it is my handiwork. I fought you as a soldier."

  "You lie! You fought me like a coward! You were two against one!"

  "You were making a furious onset on the son of Victoria the Great. Hewas wounded--his hand could hardly hold his sword--I dashed to hishelp--and struck in Gallic fashion."

  "You marked my face with your Gallic sword--dog!"

  Saying this Neroweg struck me repeatedly with the handle of his pike, tothe great amusement of the other kings.

  I remembered my ancestor Guilhern, chained like a slave and supportingwith dignity the cruel treatment of the Romans after the battle ofVannes. I emulated his example. I merely said to Neroweg:

  "You are striking an unarmed soldier who is bound fast and who, relyingupon the truce, came to you on an errand of peace--that is a coward'sact. You would not dare to raise your stick at me if I stood on my feetand sword in hand."

  The Frankish chief laughed, struck me again and said:

  "He is a fool who, able to kill his enemy disarmed, does not exterminatehim. I would like to kill you twice over. You are doubly my enemy. Ihate you because you are a Gaul, I hate you because your race holdsGaul, the country of sunshine, of good wine and beautiful women; thenalso I hate you because you marked my face with a wound that is myeternal shame. I shall therefore make you suffer so much that your painwill be equal to two deaths, a thousand deaths, if I only could--youGallic dog!"

  "The Gallic dog is a noble animal for war and for the hunt," I repliedto him; "the Frankish wolf, however, is an animal of rapine and carnage.But it will not be long before the brave Gallic dogs will have chasedfrom their frontiers this pack of voracious wolves that have comeprowling from the northern forests. Be careful! If you refuse to listento the message that I have for you from Victoria and her valiant son--becareful! Our army is numerous. It will be a war to the death that willbe waged between the Gallic dog and the Frankish wolf--a war ofextermination--and the Frankish wolf will be devoured by the Gallicdog."

  Grinding his teeth with rage, Neroweg seized the axe that hung from hisbelt, and raising it in both hands was about to let it come crashingdown upon my head. I believed my last hour had come, but two of theother kings held the arm of Elwig's brother, into whose ears theywhispered a few words that seemed to calm him. He held a shortconference with his companions and returned to me:

  "What is the message that you bring from Victoria for the Frankishkings?"

  "The messenger of Victorin and Victoria can only speak on his feet,unfettered, his head high--not stretched down on the ground, and boundfast like the ox that expects the butcher's knife. Order my bonds to beremoved, and I shall speak--if not, not. You have heard me, brute thatyou are!"

  "Speak on the spot--unconditionally, you Gallic dog!--or tremble beforemy anger!"

  "No; I shall not speak!"

  "I shall know how to make you speak!"

  "Try it! You will find me unshakeable!"

  Neroweg ordered one of the other kings to fetch a firebrand from underthe brass caldron. I was held down by the shoulders and feet, so as toprevent me from making the slightest motion, while the Terrible Eagleplaced the firebrand upon my iron cuirass and heaped up others about it.The brasier that he thus built upon my body seemed to amuse him greatly.He laughed out aloud and said to me:

  "You shall speak, or be broiled like a tortoise in its shell."

  The iron of my cuirass soon began to heat under the coals which two ofthe Frankish kings kept alive by blowing upon them. I suffered greatlyand cried:

  "Oh! Neroweg! Neroweg! Cowardly assassin! I would gladly endure thesetortures, if I only could see myself once more sword in hand before you,and put my mark upon your other cheek. Oh! You have said it--there isroom only for hatred and death between our two races!"

  "What is Victoria's messag
e?" the Terrible Eagle asked again.

  I remained silent, despite the intense pain that I suffered. The iron ofmy cuirass was growing hot all around.

  "Will you speak?" the Frankish chief cried anew, evidently astonished atmy resistance.

  "Victoria's messenger speaks erect and free," I answered. "If not, not!"

  Whether the Frankish chief considered it desirable to know the messagethat I brought, or whether he only yielded to the suggestions of hiscompanions, who were less ferocious than himself, one of them unbuckledmy casque, raised it off my head, took it to the stream that rippleddown the rocks at the mouth of the cavern, filled it and poured the coldwater upon my heated cuirass. By degrees it cooled off.

  "Free him of his bonds," said Neroweg, "but surround him; and let himinstantly fall under your blows should he try to escape."

  I slowly regained my strength while I was being unbound; the torture Ihad just undergone almost caused me to faint. I drank some of the waterthat remained in my casque, and stood up in the midst of the kings, whosurrounded me so as to cut off my retreat.

  "Give us now your message," said Neroweg.

  "A truce has been concluded between our two armies," I proceeded."Victoria and her son send to tell you: Since you issued from yournorthern forests you have taken possession of the whole territory ofGermany on the right bank of the Rhine. That soil is as fertile asGaul's. Before your invasion it produced an abundance of everything.Your acts of violence and cruelty have driven almost all its inhabitantsto flight. The soil, nevertheless, remains, ready and willing for thehusbandman. Why do you not cultivate it, instead of waging incessant waragainst us and living on rapine? Is it the love for war that sways you?We Gauls, better than anyone else, understand and appreciate the lovefor martial display. We appreciate it, and make this proposition to you.At each new moon, send one or two thousand of your picked warriors toone of the large islands in the Rhine, which is our joint frontier. Weshall expedite thither an equal number of our warriors. The two setswill be free to fight it out at their heart's content. But then, atleast, you Franks, on one side of the river, and we Gauls on the othershall be able to cultivate our respective fields in peace, we shall beable to work, to manufacture and to enrich our countries, without beingforever compelled to keep an eye upon the frontier, and a sword hangingfrom the plow handle. If you refuse our proposition we shall then wage awar of extermination against you, drive you from our frontiers, andchase you back into your forests. When two nations are separated only bya river they should be friends, or one of the two must destroy theother. Choose! I await your answer."

  Neroweg consulted with several of the kings who stood near him, andpresently answered me with marked insolence:

  "The Frank is not one of those races, like the Gallic, who work bycultivating the soil. The Frank loves war; but above all he loves thewarmth of the sun, good wine, fine weapons, brilliant clothes, gold andsilver goblets, rich necklaces, large and well built cities, superbpalaces after the fashion of the Romans, the beautiful Gallic women,industrious slaves who mind the whip and work for their masters whilethese drink, sing, sleep and make love or war. In their gloomy countryof the north, however, the Franks find neither sunshine nor good wine,nor fine weapons, nor brilliant clothes, nor gold and silver goblets,nor large and well built cities, nor superb palaces, nor beautifulGallic women--all these things are to be found among you, Gallic dogs!We purpose and mean to take all that from you--we purpose and mean toestablish ourselves in your fertile country, and enjoy all the goodthings that it contains, while the males of you will work for us underthe whip and the sharp sword that we shall hold over you, and thefemales--your wives, sisters and daughters--will lie in our beds, willweave our shirts and will wash our clothes. Do you understand, Gallicdog?"

  The other kings applauded Neroweg and accentuated their approval withloud laughter and clatter of arms, joined to cries of:

  "Yes--that is what we want--do you understand, Gallic dog?"

  "I understand," I replied, unable to refrain from indulging in railleryagainst such savage insolence. "I understand that you wish to conquerand subjugate us as did the Romans for a time, after our own racedominated and conquered the whole world for centuries in succession. Butyou who so much love the sunshine, the goods, the country and the womenof other peoples, you seem to forget that, despite the universal powerthat they acquired and despite their innumerable armies, even the Romanswere compelled to return to us one by one the rights that we enjoyed, sothat, at this hour, the Romans are no longer our conquerors, but ourallies. Now, then, seeing that you so much love the sunshine, thecountry, the goods and wives of others, listen to my words: We, theGauls, alone and unaided by the Romans, will chase you from ourfrontiers, or we shall exterminate you to the last man if you persist inbeing bad neighbors and in proposing to plunder us of our old Gaul."

  "Yes, we are plunderers!" cried Neroweg. "And, by the snows of Germanywe shall plunder you of your old Gaul! Our army is four times as largeas yours; you have your palaces, your cities, your wealth, your women,your sun, your fertile earth to defend--we have nothing to defend andeverything to gain. We camp in our huts and sleep on the backs of ourhorses; our only wealth is our sword; we have nothing to lose,everything to gain. And we will gain everything, and we will subjugateyour race, you Gallic dog! It will be the end of Gaul!"

  "Go and ask the Romans, whose army was even larger than yours, how manyforeign cohorts the sod of old Gaul has devoured! Even the greatestbattles that they, the conquerors of the world delivered, did not costthem one-quarter the number of soldiers that our fathers, as insurgentslaves, exterminated with their scythes and forks. Take care! Strong andsharp is the sword of the Gallic soldier; trenchant is the scythe, heavythe fork of the Gallic husbandman in the defense of hearth, family andfreedom! Take care! If you persist in remaining bad neighbors, theGallic scythe and fork will be enough to drive you back into yoursnow-bound wilderness, ye people of sloth, of rapine and of carnage, whodesire to enjoy the fruits of the labors of others, who covet theirsoil, their wives and their sunshine, and strive after these by means oftheft and massacre!"

  "Dare you, Gallic dog, hold such language to us!" cried Neroweg grindinghis teeth. "You, a prisoner! You, under the points of our swords! underthe edge of the Frankish battle axe!"

  "The moment seems to me opportune to say the truth to the enemies ofGaul!"

  "And I think the moment is opportune to put you through a thousanddeaths!" cried the Frankish king in a passion as towering as that of hisfellows. "Yes, you shall undergo a thousand deaths--and after that, mysole answer to the audacious message of your Victoria will be to returnyour head to her with the announcement in the name of Neroweg theTerrible Eagle, that, before the sun shall have risen six times, I shallcapture herself in the midst of her own camp, shall take her to my bed,and shall then pass her over to my men, that they may, in turn, enjoyVictoria, the proud Gallic woman!"

  I lost all control over myself at the ribald and ferocious insolenceflung at the woman whom I venerated above all others. I was unarmed, butI picked up one of the now extinguished firebrands that lay at my feetand which the Franks had used to torture me with; I seized the heavylog, and swift as lightning struck Neroweg so sound a blow with it overhis head that he reeled back, stumbled and fell to the groundunconscious.

  Ten swords struck me almost simultaneously. But my casque and cuirassprotected me. In their blind rage the Frankish chiefs struck at random,and cried:

  "Death! Death to the dog of a Gaul!"

  Only Riowag, the captain of the black warriors, did not join in theattempt to avenge upon my person the blow I dealt to his rival, Neroweg.On the contrary, he profited by the tumult to enter the cavern intowhich Elwig had been driven back, the entrance of which was now leftfree, seeing that the two kings, who, sword in hand, mounted guardbefore it, rushed to the assistance of the Terrible Eagle, who layprostrate at a distance from them.

  Immediately after Riowag entered the grotto, the priestess and her twoassist
ant hags rushed out. With streaming hair, haggard looks, and handsraised heavenward they cried:

  "The hour has come--the sun is setting--night approaches--death, deathto the Gaul! He struck the Terrible Eagle--death, death to the Gaul!Bind him fast. We shall consult the subterranean gods in the magic waterin which he is to boil!"

  "Yes--death!" cried the Franks rushing upon me and binding me fastagain. "He shall die under a prolonged agony! Death to the dog of aGaul!"

  "We are the priestesses of the sacrifice!" Elwig and the two hagsprotested in chorus, while they redoubled their bizarre contortions thatby degrees imposed the Frankish warriors with terror.

  "Oh! you who struck my brother, the blood of my blood," Elwig screamed,writhing her arms, and howling furiously she threw herself upon me in areal or feigned transport of rage; "the gods of the nether world havedelivered you into my hands! Come--come--let us drag him into thecavern," she added addressing the old hags, "we must season him for hisdeath with the proper tortures. Vengeance! Let our vengeance bemerciless!"

  The confusion into which the Franks were thrown by the blow that I dealtNeroweg kept them from interfering with Elwig and her two femaleassistants. Several of the kings even joined her in dragging me into thecavern, while the others were hurrying hither and thither or gatheredanxiously around the Terrible Eagle who lay prone upon the ground, pale,motionless and his head bleeding.

  "Our grand chief is not dead," said some; "his hands are warm and hisheart beats."

  "Let us transport him to his hut."

  "If he die we shall draw lots for his five black horses, his fine Gallicsword with the gold handle, and also for his necklace and silverbracelets."

  "The horses and arms of Neroweg belong to the oldest chief!" cried oneof those who were holding up the head of the Terrible Eagle. "I am theoldest. To me belong both horses and arms! To me also his tent andchariots! To me his gold necklaces and silver bracelets!"

  "You lie!" came from one of the chiefs at the feet of Neroweg. "Hishorses, his tent and his arms belong to me as his war companion."

  "No!" cried the others. "No! Everything that belongs to Neroweg must bedrawn lots for."

  From the threshold of the cavern where I then was, I could see and hearthe dispute wax hot and the swords glisten, while Neroweg, who stillremained unconscious, was almost trampled under the feet of the enrageddisputants, as they leaped over his body to get at closer quarters withone another. The conflict threatened to take a bloody turn when, leavingme where I was, Elwig threw herself between the combatants, whom shesought to separate, and shouted aloud:

  "Shame and ill luck to those who contend over the spoils of a king whois neither dead nor revenged! Shame and ill luck to those who contendover the spoils of a brother before the very eyes of his sister! Shameand ill luck to the impious men who disturb the quiet of a place that isconsecrated to the gods of the nether world!"

  And with an inspired and dreadful mien, the priestess drew herself toher full length, and throwing up her clenched fists above her head,cried:

  "My two hands are full of fearful misfortunes. Tremble!"

  At these threats, the frightened barbarians involuntarily lowered theirheads, as if afraid of being struck with the mysterious ills that thepriestess held in her closed hands. They put their swords back intotheir scabbards. Profound silence ensued.

  "Carry the Terrible Eagle to his hut!" Elwig thereupon commanded. "Thesister will accompany her wounded brother. The Gallic prisoner will bewatched by Map and Mob who assist me at the sacrifices. Two of you willremain at the mouth of the cavern, with your swords in your hands. Nightis drawing near. Elwig will presently return with Neroweg. The executionof the prisoner will then begin, and I shall consult the auguries in themagic waters in which he is to boil until death supervenes!"

  My last hope was dashed. In contemplating to return with her brother,Elwig must have doubtlessly renounced the project that her greed hadcaused her to hatch. I had pinned my safety on that project. I wasbound firmly, hands and feet. My arms were pinioned behind my back; abelt was strapped around my legs. I could hardly move a step. I slowlyfollowed the two hags into the grotto, at the entrance of which severalof the kings posted themselves, sword in hand. The deeper I penetratedthe cave, all the darker it grew. After having proceeded a little way,one of the two hags said to me:

  "You may lie down on the ground if you wish; the sun has gone down.While waiting for Elwig's return, my companion and I shall keep the firealive under the caldron."

  Saying this both the hags left me. I remained alone.