VI.
THE LEGEND OF GUERNACHE.--Chap. IV.
THE DUNGEON AND THE SCOURGE.
Being the continuation of the melancholy Legend of Guernache.
The absence of Guernache from his usual place of meeting withMonaletta, brought the most impatient apprehension to the heart ofthe devoted woman. As the time wore away--as night after night passedwithout his coming, she found the suspense unendurable, and graduallydrew nigh to the fortress of the Huguenots. More than once had hecautioned her against incurring a peril equally great to them both. Buther heart was already too full of fears to be restrained by such dangersas he alone could have foreseen; and she now lurked about the fort atnightfall, and continued to hover around long after dawn, keeping watchupon its walls and portal. So close and careful, however, was thiswatch, that she herself remained undetected. One day, however, to hergreat satisfaction, one of the inmates came forth whom she knew to be afriend and associate of Guernache. This was one Lachane, affectionatelycalled _La Chere_[13] by the soldiery, by whom he was very much beloved.Lachane was a sergeant, a good soldier, brave as a lion, but with astender a heart, when the case required it, as ever beat in human bosom.He had long since learned to sympathize with the fate of Guernache,and had made frequent attempts to mollify the hostile feelings of hiscaptain, in behalf of his friend. To the latter he had given much goodcounsel; and, but for _his_ earnest entreaties and injunctions, he wouldhave revealed to Albert the true reason for the absence of Guernachefrom his post. But Guernache dreaded, as well he might, that therevelation would only increase the hate and rage of his superior, and,perhaps, draw down a portion of his vengeance upon the head of theunoffending woman. Lachane acquiesced in his reasoning, and was silent.But he was not the less active in bringing consolation, whenever hecould, to the respective parties. He afforded to Monaletta, whoseapproach to the fort he suspected, an opportunity of meeting with him;and their interviews, once begun, were regularly continued. Day by dayhe contrived to convey to her the messages, and to inform her of thecondition of the prisoner; to whom, in turn, he bore all necessaryintelligence, and every fond avowal which was sent by Monaletta. Butthe loving and devoted wife was not satisfied with so frigid a mode ofintercourse; and, in an evil hour, Lachane, whose own heart was tootender to resist the entreaties of one so fond, was persuaded to admither within the fort, and into the dungeon of Guernache. We may censurehis prudence and hers, but who shall venture to condemn either? Thefirst visit led to a second, the second to a third, and, at length,the meetings between the lovers took place nightly. Lachane, oftenentreating, often exhorting, was yet always complying. Monaletta wasadmitted at midnight, and conducted forth by the dawn in safety; andthus meeting, Guernache soon forgot his own danger, and was readilypersuaded by Monaletta to believe that she stood in none. The hourspassed with them as with any other children, who, sitting on the shoresof the sea, in the bright sunset, see not the rising of the waters, andfeel not the falling of the night, until they are wholly overwhelmed.They were happy, and in their happiness but too easily forgot that therewas such a person as Captain Albert in their little paradise.
[13] The names are thus written by Laudonniere in Hakluyt. But in Charlevoix there is only one given to this personage, and that is "Lachau."
But the pitcher which goes often to the well, is at last broken. Theywere soon destined to realize the proverb in their own experience.Something in the movements of Lachane, awakened the suspicions of PierreRenaud, whose active hostility to Guernache has been shown already.This man now bore within the fortress the unenviable reputation ofbeing the captain's spy upon the people. This miserable creature, hissuspicion's once awakened, soon addressed all his abilities to the taskof detecting the connection of Lachane with his prisoner; and it was notlong before he had the malignant satisfaction of seeing him accompanyanother into the dungeon of Guernache. Though it was after midnight whenthe discovery was made, it was of a kind too precious to suffer delayin revealing it, and he hurried at once to the captain's quarters,well aware that, with such intelligence as he brought, he might safelyventure to disturb him at any hour. But his eagerness did not lessen hiscaution, and every step was taken with the greatest deliberation andcare. Albert was immediately aroused; but, unwilling, by a prematurealarm, to afford the offenders an opportunity to escape, or to placethemselves in any situation to defy scrutiny, some time was lost inmaking arrangements. The progress of Albert, and his satellites, goingthe rounds, was circuitous. The sentries were doubled with singularsecrecy and skill. Such soldiers as were conceived to be mostparticularly bound to him, were awakened, and placed in positions mostconvenient for action and observation;--for Albert and Renaud, alike,conscious as it would seem of their own demerits, had come to suspectmany of the soldiers of treachery and insurrection. These, perhaps, arealways the fears most natural to a tyranny. Accordingly, with everythingprepared for an explosion of the worst description, Captain Albert, incomplete armor, made his appearance upon the scene.
Meantime, however, the proceedings of Renaud had not been carried onwithout, at length, commanding the attention and awakening the fears ofso good a soldier as Lachane. Having discovered, on his rounds, that theguards were doubled, and that the sentinel at the sally-port had notonly received a companion, but that the individual by whom Monaletta hadbeen admitted was now removed to make way for another, he hurriedaway to the dungeon of Guernache. Here, whispering hurriedly hisapprehensions, he endeavored to hasten the departure of the Indianwoman. But his efforts were made too late. He was arrested, even whilethus busied, by the Commandant himself, who, followed by Renaud and twoother soldiers, suddenly came upon him from the rear of the building,where they had been harboring in ambush. Lachane was taken intoimmediate custody. An uproar followed, the alarm was given to thegarrison, torches were brought, and Guernache, with the devotedMonaletta, were dragged forth together from the dungeon. She was wrappedup closely in the cloak of Lachane, but when Renaud waved a torch beforeher eyes, in order to discover who she was, she boldly threw aside thedisguise, and stood revealed to the malignant scrutiny of the astonishedbut delighted despot. Upon beholding her, the fury of Albert knew nobounds. The secret of Guernache was now apparent; and the man whosevanity she had outraged, by preferring another in the dance, was now infull possession of the power to revenge himself upon both offenders. Inthat very moment, remembering his mortification, he formed a resolutionof vengeance, which declared all the venom of a mean and malignantnature. He needed no art beyond his own to devise an ingenious torturefor his victim. A few words sufficed to instruct the willing Renaud inthe duty of the executioner. He commanded that the Indian woman shouldbe scourged from the fort in the presence of the garrison. Then it wasthat the sullen soul of Guernache shuddered and succumbed beneath histortures. With husky and trembling accents, he appealed to his tyrantin behalf of the woman of his heart.
"Oh! Captain Albert, as you are a man, do not this cruel thing.Monaletta is innocent of any crime but that of loving one so worthlessas Guernache. She is my wife! Do with me as you will, but spareher--have mercy on the innocent woman!"
"Ah! you can humble yourself now, insolent. I have found the way, atlast, to make you feel. You shall feel yet more. I will crush you to thedust. What, ho! there, Pierre Renaud! Have I not said? the lash! thelash! Wherefore do ye linger?"
"Do not, Captain Albert! I implore you, for your own sake, do not laythe accursed lash upon this young and innocent creature. Remember!She is a woman--a princess--a blood relation of our good friend,King Audusta. Upon me--upon my back bestow the punishment, but spareher--spare her, in mercy!"
But the prayers and supplications of the wretched man were met only bydenunciation and scorn. The base nature of Albert felt only his ownmortification. His appetite for revenge darkened his vision wholly. Hesaw neither his policy nor humanity; and the creatures of his will werenot permitted to hesitate in carrying out his brutal resolution. Armedwith little hickories from the neighboring woods, they awaited but hiscommand,
and with its repeated utterance, the lash descended heavilyupon the uncovered shoulders of the unhappy woman. With the firststroke, she bounded from the earth with a piercing shriek, at once ofentreaty, of agony, and horror. Up to this moment, neither she, nor,indeed, any of the spectators, except Renaud, and possibly Guernachehimself, had imagined that Albert would put in execution a purpose soequally impolitic and cruel. But when the blow fell upon the almostfair and naked shoulders of the woman--when her wild, girlish, almostchildlike shriek rent the air, then the long suppressed agonies ofGuernache broke forth in a passion of fury that looked more like theexcess of the madman than the mere ebullition, however intense, of asimply desperate man. He had struggled long at endurance. He had borne,hitherto, without flinching, everything in the shape of penalty whichhis petty tyrant could fasten upon him--much more, indeed, than theordinary nature, vexed with frequent injustice, is willing to endure.But, in the fury and agony of that humiliating moment, all restraintsof prudence or fear were forgotten, or trampled under foot. He flunghimself loose from the men who held him, and darting upon the individualby whom the merciless blow had been struck, he felled him to the earthby a single blow of his Herculean fist. But he was permitted to do nomore. In another instant, grappled by a dozen powerful arms, he wasborne to the earth, and secured with cords which not only bound hislimbs but were drawn so tightly as to cut remorselessly into the flesh.Here he lay, and his agony may be far more easily conceived thandescribed, thus compelled to behold the further tortures of the woman ofhis heart, without being able to struggle and to die in her defence. Hisown tortures were forgotten, as he witnessed hers. In vain would hisears have rejected the terrible sound, stroke upon stroke, whichtestified the continuance of this brutal outrage upon humanity. Withoutmercy was the punishment bestowed; and, bleeding at every blow from thebiting scourge, the wretched innocent was at length tortured out of thegarrison. But with that first shriek to which she gave utterance, andwhich declared rather the mental horror than the bodily pain whichshe suffered from such a cruel degradation, she ceased any longer toacknowledge her suffering. Oh! very powerful for endurance is thestrength of a loving heart! The rest of the punishment she bore with thesilence of one who suffers martyrdom in the approving eye of heaven; asif, beholding the insane agonies of Guernache, she had steeled herselfto bear with any degree of torture rather than increase his sufferingsby her complaints. In this manner, and thus silent under her own pains,she was expelled from the fortress. She was driven to the margin of thecleared space by which it was surrounded. She heard the shouts whichdrove her thence, and heard nothing farther. She had barely strength tototter forward, like the deer with a mortal hurt, to the secret cover ofthe forest, when she sank down in exhaustion;--nature kindly interposingwith insensibility, to save her from those physical sufferings which shecould no longer feel and live!
With the morning of the next day, Guernache was brought before thejudgment-seat of Albert. The charges were sufficiently serious underwhich he was arraigned. He had neglected his duty--had permitted, ifnot caused, the destruction of the fort by fire--had violated the laws,resisted their execution, and used violence against the officer ofjustice! In this last proven offence all of these which had been allegedwere assumed against him. He was convicted by the rapid action ofhis superior, as a traitor and a mutineer; and, to the horror of hisfriends, and the surprise of all his comrades, was condemned toexpiate his faults by death upon the gallows. Few of the garrison hadanticipated so sharp a judgment. They knew that Guernache had beenfaulty, but they also knew what had been his provocations. They feltthat his faults had been the fruit of the injustice under which hesuffered. But they dared not interpose. The prompt severity with whichCaptain Albert carried out his decisions--the merciless character of hisvindictiveness--discouraged even remonstrance. Guernache, as we haveshown, was greatly beloved, and had many true friends among his people;but they were taken by surprise; and, so much stunned and confounded bythe rapidity with which events had taken place, that they could onlylook on the terrible proceedings with a mute and self-reproachfulhorror. The transition from the seat of judgment to the place ofexecution was instantaneous. Guernache appealed in vain to the justiceof Ribault, whose coming from France was momently expected. This denied,he implored the less ignoble doom of the sword or the shot, in place ofthat upon the scaffold. But it did not suit the mean malice of Albert toomit any of his tortures. Short was the shrift allowed the victim;--tenminutes for prayer--and sure the cord which stifled it forever. In deephorror, in a hushed terror, which itself was full of horror, his gloomycomrades gathered at the place of execution, by the commands of theirpetty despot. There was no concert among them, by which the incipientindignation and fury in their bosoms might have declared itself inrescue and commotion. One groan, the involuntary expression of a terrorthat had almost ceased to breathe, answered the convulsive motion whichindicated the last struggle of their beloved comrade.[14] Then it wasthat they began to feel that they could have died for him, and mighthave saved him. But it was now too late; and prudence timely interposedto prevent a rash explosion. The armed myrmidons of Albert were aboutthem. He, himself, in complete armor, with his satellite, Pierre Renaud,also fully armed, standing beside him; and it was evident that everypreparation had been made to quell insubordination, and punish therefractory with as sharp and sudden a judgment as that which had justdescended upon their comrade.
[14] Says Charlevoix:--"Il pendit lui-meme un soldat, qui n'avoit point merite la mort, il en degrada un autre des armes avec aussi peu de justice, puis il l'exila, et l'on crut que son dessein etoit de le laisser mourir de faim et de misere, etc." But we must not anticipate the revelations of the text.
The poor Monaletta, crouching in the cover of the woods, recovered fromher stupor in the cool air of the morning, but it was sunset before shecould regain the necessary strength to move. Then it was, that, with thenatural tendency of a loving heart, curious only about the fate of himfor whom alone her heart desired life, she bent her steps towards thatcruel fortress which had been the source of so much misery to both. Veryfeeble and slow was her progress, but it was still too rapid; it broughther too soon to a knowledge of that final blow which fell, with worseterrors than the scourge, upon the soul. She arrived in season to beholdthe form of the unfortunate Guernache, abandoned by all, and totallylifeless, waving in the wind from the branches of a perished oak,directly in front of the fortress. The deepest sorrows of the heart arethose which are born dumb. There are some woes which the lip can neverspeak, nor the pen describe. There are some agonies over which we drawthe veil without daring to look upon them, lest we freeze to stone inthe terrible inspection. There is no record of that grief which seizedupon the heart of the poor Indian woman, Monaletta, as she gazed uponthe beloved but unconscious form of her husband. She approached it not,though watching it from sunset till the gray twilight lapsed away intothe denser shadows of the night. But, with the dawn of day, when theFrenchmen looked forth from the fortress for the body of their comrade,it had disappeared. They searched for it in vain. From that dayMonaletta disappeared also. She was neither to be found in theneighboring woods, nor among the people of her kindred. But, longafterwards they told, with shuddering and apprehension, of a voiceupon the midnight air, which resembled that of their murdered comrade,followed always by the piercing shriek of a woman, which reminded themof the dreadful utterance of the Indian woman, when first smitten uponthe shoulders by the lash of the ruffian. Thus endeth the legend ofGuernache, and the Princess Monaletta.
The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in Florida Page 8