by T. Smollett
CHAPTER TWENTY
HE PREPARES A STRATAGEM BUT FINDS HIMSELF COUNTERMINED--PROCEEDS ON HISJOURNEY, AND IS OVERTAKEN BY A TERRIBLE TEMPEST.
In the course of this journey, Ferdinand, who was never deficient in hispolitical capacity, held a secret conclave with his own thoughts, notonly touching the plan of his own future conduct, but also concerning hisassociate, of whose fidelity and adherence he began to entertain suchdoubts as discouraged him from the prosecution of that design in whichthe Tyrolese had been at first included; for he had lately observed himpractise the arts of his occupation among the French officers, with suchrapacity and want of caution, as indicated a dangerous temerity oftemper, as well as a furious rage of acquiring, which might be some timeor other satiated upon his own friends. In other words, our adventurerwas afraid that his accomplice would profit by his knowledge of the roadand countries through which they travelled, and, after having made freewith his most valuable effects, in consequence of the familiaritysubsisting between them, leave him some morning without the ceremony of aformal adieu.
Aroused by this suspicion, he resolved to anticipate the supposedintention of the Tyrolese, by taking his own departure in the same abruptmanner; and this scheme he actually put in execution, upon their arrivalin Bar-le-duc, where it was agreed they should spend a day to repose andrefresh themselves from the fatigue of hard riding. Ferdinand,therefore, taking the advantage of his companion's absence--for theTyrolese had walked abroad to view the town--found means to hire apeasant, who undertook to conduct him through a by-road as far asChalons, and with his guide he accordingly set out on horseback, afterhaving discharged the bill, left a blank paper sealed up in form of aletter, directed to his friend, and secured behind his own saddle a pairof leathern bags, in which his jewels and cash were usually contained.So eager was our hero to leave the Tyrolese at a considerable distancebehind, that he rode all night at a round pace without halting, and nextmorning found himself at a village distant thirteen good leagues from anypart of the route which he and his companion had at first resolved topursue.
Here, thinking himself safely delivered from the cause of all hisapprehension, he determined to lie incognito for a few days, so as thathe might run no risk of an accidental meeting upon the road with theperson whose company he had forsaken; and accordingly took possession ofan apartment, in which he went to rest, desiring his guide to wake himwhen dinner should be ready. Having enjoyed a very comfortablerefreshment of sleep, with his bags under his pillow, he was summoned,according to his direction, and ate a very hearty meal, with greattranquillity and internal satisfaction. In the afternoon he amusedhimself with happy presages and ideal prospects of his future fortune,and, in the midst of these imaginary banquets, was seized with aninclination of realising his bliss, and regaling his eyesight with thefruits of that success which had hitherto attended his endeavours. Thusinflamed, he opened the repository, and, O reader! what were hisreflections, when, in lieu of Mademoiselle Melvil's ear-rings andnecklace, the German's golden chain, divers jewels of considerable value,the spoils of sundry dupes, and about two hundred ducats in ready money,he found neither more nor less than a parcel of rusty nails, disposed insuch a manner as to resemble in weight and bulk the moveables he hadlost.
It is not to be supposed our adventurer made this discovery withoutemotion. If the eternal salvation of mankind could have been purchasedfor the tenth part of his treasure, he would have left the whole speciesin a state of reprobation, rather than redeem them at that price, unlesshe had seen in the bargain some evident advantage to his own concerns.One may, therefore, easily conceive with what milkiness of resignation hebore the loss of the whole, and saw himself reduced from such affluenceto the necessity of depending upon about twenty ducats, and some loosesilver, which he carried in his pocket, for his expense upon the road.However bitter this pill might be in swallowing, he so far mastered hismortification, as to digest it with a good grace. His own penetration atonce pointed out the canal through which this misfortune had flowed uponhim; he forthwith placed the calamity to the account of the Tyrolese, andnever doubting that he had retired with the booty across the Rhine, intosome place to which he knew Fathom would not follow his footsteps, heformed the melancholy resolution of pursuing with all despatch hisjourney to Paris, that he might, with all convenient expedition,indemnify himself for the discomfiture he had sustained.
With regard to his confederate, his conjecture was perfectly right; thatadventurer, though infinitely inferior to our hero in point of genius andinvention, had manifestly the advantage of him in the articles of age andexperience; he was no stranger to Fathom's qualifications, the happyexertion of which he had often seen. He knew him to be an economist ofthe most frugal order, consequently concluded his finances were worthy ofexamination; and, upon the true principles of a sharper, eased him of theencumbrance, taking it for granted, that, in so doing, he only precludedFerdinand from the power of acting the same tragedy upon him, should everopportunity concur with his inclination. He had therefore concerted hismeasures with the dexterity of an experienced conveyancer, and, snatchingthe occasion, while our hero, travel-tainted, lay sunk in the arms ofprofound repose, he ripped up the seams of the leather depository,withdrew the contents, introduced the parcel of nails, which he had madeup for the purpose, and then repaired the breach with great deliberation.
Had Fathom's good genius prompted him to examine his effects nextmorning, the Tyrolese, in all probability, would have maintained hisacquisition by force of arms; for his personal courage was rather moredetermined than that of our adventurer, and he was conscious of his ownascendency in this particular; but his good fortune prevented suchexplanation. Immediately after dinner, he availed himself of hisknowledge, and, betaking himself to a remote part of the town, set out ina post-chaise for Luneville, while our hero was meditating his ownescape.
Fathom's conception was sufficient to comprehend the whole of thisadventure, as soon as his chagrin would give his sagacity fair play; norwould he allow his resolution to sink under the trial; on the contrary,he departed from the village that same afternoon, under the auspices ofhis conductor, and found himself benighted in the midst of a forest, farfrom the habitations of men. The darkness of the night, the silence andsolitude of the place, the indistinct images of the trees that appearedon every side, "stretching their extravagant arms athwart the gloom,"conspired, with the dejection of spirits occasioned by his loss, todisturb his fancy, and raise strange phantoms in his imagination.Although he was not naturally superstitious, his mind began to be invadedwith an awful horror, that gradually prevailed over all the consolationsof reason and philosophy; nor was his heart free from the terrors ofassassination. In order to dissipate these disagreeable reveries, he hadrecourse to the conversation of his guide, by whom he was entertainedwith the history of divers travellers who had been robbed and murdered byruffians, whose retreat was in the recesses of that very wood.
In the midst of this communication, which did not at all tend to theelevation of our hero's spirits, the conductor made an excuse fordropping behind, while our traveller jogged on in expectation of beingjoined again by him in a few minutes. He was, however, disappointed inthat hope; the sound of the other horse's feet by degrees grew more andmore faint, and at last altogether died away. Alarmed at thiscircumstance, Fathom halted in the middle of the road, and listened withthe most fearful attention; but his sense of hearing was saluted withnought but the dismal sighings of the trees, that seemed to foretell anapproaching storm. Accordingly, the heavens contracted a more drearyaspect, the lightning began to gleam, and the thunder to roll, and thetempest, raising its voice to a tremendous roar, descended in a torrentof rain.
In this emergency, the fortitude of our hero was almost quite overcome.So many concurring circumstances of danger and distress might haveappalled the most undaunted breast; what impression then must they havemade upon the mind of Ferdinand, who was by no means a man to set fear atdefiance! Indeed, he had well-nigh lost the
use of his reflection, andwas actually invaded to the skin, before he could recollect himself sofar as to quit the road, and seek for shelter among the thickets thatsurrounded him. Having rode some furlongs into the forest, he took hisstation under a tuft of tall trees, that screened him from the storm, andin that situation called a council within himself, to deliberate upon hisnext excursion. He persuaded himself that his guide had deserted him forthe present, in order to give intelligence of a traveller to some gang ofrobbers with whom he was connected; and that he must of necessity fall aprey to those banditti, unless he should have the good fortune to eludetheir search, and disentangle himself from the mazes of the wood.
Harrowed with these apprehensions, he resolved to commit himself to themercy of the hurricane, as of two evils the least, and penetratestraightforwards through some devious opening, until he should bedelivered from the forest. For this purpose he turned his horse's head ina line quite contrary to the direction of the high road which he hadleft, on the supposition that the robbers would pursue that track inquest of him, and that they would never dream of his deserting thehighway, to traverse an unknown forest, amidst the darkness of such aboisterous night. After he had continued in this progress through asuccession of groves, and bogs, and thorns, and brakes, by which not onlyhis clothes, but also his skin suffered in a grievous manner, while everynerve quivered with eagerness and dismay, he at length reached an openplain, and pursuing his course, in full hope of arriving at some village,where his life would be safe, he descried a rush-light at a distance,which he looked upon as the star of his good fortune, and riding towardsit at full speed, arrived at the door of a lone cottage, into which hewas admitted by an old woman, who, understanding he was a bewilderedtraveller, received him with great hospitality.
When he learned from his hostess, that there was not another house withinthree leagues; that she could accommodate him with a tolerable bed, andhis horse with lodging and oats, he thanked Heaven for his good fortune,in stumbling upon this homely habitation, and determined to pass thenight under the protection of the old cottager, who gave him tounderstand, that her husband, who was a faggot-maker, had gone to the nexttown to dispose of his merchandise; and that, in all probability, hewould not return till next morning, on account of the tempestuous night.Ferdinand sounded the beldame with a thousand artful interrogations, andshe answered with such appearance of truth and simplicity, that heconcluded his person was quite secure; and, after having been regaledwith a dish of eggs and bacon, desired she would conduct him into thechamber where she proposed he should take his repose. He was accordinglyushered up by a sort of ladder into an apartment furnished with astanding-bed, and almost half filled with trusses of straw. He seemedextremely well pleased with his lodging, which in reality exceeded hisexpectation; and his kind landlady, cautioning him against letting thecandle approach the combustibles, took her leave, and locked the door onthe outside.