Part 8

Nanette had more influence over him than either his father or mother. She was a very bright and sensible young woman, and had helped to take care of Rick ever since he was a baby. Although he would not mind Nanette unless he pleased, he was more willing to obey her than any one else; and as she was a very good story-teller, and had a particular gift at telling fairy-stories, she could often persuade him to do as she wished, by the promise of one of her wonderful tales. The fairies she told about were generally old women who lived in the woods, and could make persons rich and beautiful, or poor and ugly, and tell what would happen to any one, and make every thing turn out to suit themselves.

Rick had sometimes asked Nanette if there were any fairies about the castle, and she had told him she knew of no better place for them than in those wild mountains; but as they never came near houses, that she knew of, and she did not go into the mountains, she had never seen any herself.

One day Rick had a bright idea. Why did he always ride up and down the river-road which he knew so well, instead of striking off across the mountains, at one of the many lanes which he had sometimes followed a little way until he found they led into the forests? What might there not be beyond those hills that was new and strange?

Beyond those mountains must he go, and that right speedily.

He at first told his mother of his intention, not expecting any worse opposition than that she might insist upon his being accompanied by the groom. But his mother, for once, replied "No," with some decision: it was a wild region, she said; there was nothing behind the mountains but other mountains, which ended she knew not where. She never had crossed those mountains herself; his father had never crossed them; no one would think of attempting it. Sometime, when he was older, his father would take him around to the other side of the mountains, by the cars or some other conveyance; but even a grown man would not try to cross them.

Rick made no reply, but simply resolved to investigate for himself. He had sometimes known his mother to represent dangers far worse than he knew them to be, in order to keep him away from them: he thought, as likely as not, it was a far more easy and common thing to cross those mountains than she had represented.

So, what did this venturesome youth do but start off the very next day, ostensibly for a ride up the river, but with the real intention of penetrating into the mountains by one of the mysterious paths, to test the correctness of his mother's statement.

Gayly he rode along the beautiful river-road; and his mother, from the castle-window, watched him until he was out of sight.

"How well he rides!" she said to Nanette. "He looks exactly like a little lord."

Nanette made no reply: she was thinking to herself, "But he can neither read nor write with any decency, and he is not mannerly nor obedient."

On rode the "little lord," over the winding road, until many a turn, and at least two good miles, had separated him from the castle.

There were several narrow roads leading into the wooded district which bordered the river-road. Beyond these woods rose the mountains, some near, some distant, blue and purple against the fleecy sky.

A delightful sense of novelty took possession of Rick as he entered one of these unknown paths. He felt as an explorer feels when he comes into a strange country. How stupid he had been, he thought, always to be riding up and down the river-road. It was a shady forest-lane: little brooks winding down the hills and ledges made a pleasant sound, and sometimes a swollen stream ran directly across the road. The pony, as well as Rick, liked to go splashing through the water.

After riding about a mile through the woods, a narrow path diverged from the lane. The lane itself had been a gradual ascent, but this path evidently led up a much steeper hill. Rick wondered very much where this narrower path would lead: he was inclined to think it was the way to some castle. In that castle, perhaps there was another boy. There were no children living near the Lordelle castle, except the children of the servants and peasants.

No sooner did it enter Rick's mind that he might find a playmate by following the smaller path, than he turned his pony out of the lane, thinking he would come back and follow that at some other day.

The new path wound upwards constantly; but, as it was seldom very steep, neither Rick nor the pony minded that. It was a very pleasant path; and after Rick had given up the hope that it led to a castle, he was so curious to know where it ended, that he still kept on.

After a while this path branched off, by several other paths, still narrower,--one of them to the left, one to the right, and another between these two, but yet not in a direct line to the main path.

Rick concluded to go a little way on one path, and then come back and go a little way on the others, so as to get an idea of each. Accordingly, he took the middle path. But he had scarcely entered this path, before it divided into two other paths. As one of these was wider than the other, he took that. After riding on a little way, Rick and the pony came suddenly out into an open level space.

This space was a clearing, where many noble trees had been felled, and which was surrounded by a majestic wall of beautiful pines still standing. It was a circular opening, and Rick took it into his head that it would be fun to ride around the edge of it, as he had seen men ride around the mile circle at a horse-race.

Skip was as tired as Rick was of going up hill all the time; and she at once pricked up her ears, and started off, jumping over the stumps, and frisking generally.

Whether Rick went around the circle of the clearing more than once or not, he was never certain; for when he looked for the path by which he had entered, he could not find it, or, if he found it, he did not recognize it. There proved to be a number of small paths leading into the clearing, and one larger path leading out of it, down which the timber had evidently been carried.

After trying in vain to find the path by which he had entered, Rick, who was by this time getting a little anxious, concluded to follow the main path, which would be likely, at any rate, to take him out of the woods.

To his delight, he found the path led down hill. He concluded he was going down the hill he had come up, at another point, and should now easily find the road by which he had entered the woods.

He rode down hill for some time, most of the way through an open district, which had long been cleared of trees, and at length came upon more level land, and another path running at right angles with that which had led down the declivity.

Rick was now sadly perplexed. His head was so much turned that he had no idea of the points of compass. It was impossible for him to retrace his steps, on account of not knowing by what path he had entered the first clearing.

Far ahead of him, to the left, however, there was smoke curling up above the trees. At the right, the path seemed to lead along the edge of a quarry and to end there.

Turning to the left, Rick rode along until the road ended in a clump of low woods. There was nothing to be done but to follow the direction in which he had seen the smoke rise. But, now he had entered the woods, he could no longer see the smoke; and, worse still, the underbrush was so thick, and the ground so swampy, that Skip could not make her way, but soon became entangled in the thicket, the bog, and the brambles.

To add to Rick's troubles, it was getting late in the afternoon, the sun had become clouded over, and there were signs of rain. His only hope was to get to the place where the smoke came from, and inquire his way. With a heavy heart, he dismounted, and after leading Skip into a clearer place, near the entrance to the wood, hugged her around the neck, told her he would be back by and by, and started out on foot, in the direction in which he had seen the smoke as nearly as he could judge of it.

As he disappeared, he heard Skip neighing after him, and he felt very lonely and downhearted indeed.

He pushed his way through the briers and underbrush, sometimes sinking into the mud, and sometimes going splash into the water, without coming to any signs of a habitation, or any thing which could have caused the smoke. Finally, he was not sure that he was going in the direction of the smoke at all, as the trees hid it from his sight, and he resolved to return to Skip: perhaps, by trying again, they could find their way home, either by the paths they had come, or some other.

But now that he was resolved to go back to Skip, Rick was not sure of that direction either; and he had gone so far that he could not possibly hear the faithful creature neigh for his return.

Brave as the boy was, this dilemma, together with weariness, overcame him so much, that he sat down upon a rock and began to cry: perhaps he could never find his way out of this miry, tangled wood, and would die there alone. He thought of the babes in the wood, and that they were better off than he, since they could share each other's woes. If only Skip were with him! "Oh, dear!" he said, "if some one would only come and find me!"

"You have your wish, and what now?" said a rather cracked and sharp voice.

Rick took his hand from his eyes, and looked up. Directly in front of him was a thin, oldish woman, with gray hair, and very black eyes, dressed in what seemed to Rick a yellow satin skirt, richly embroidered, a red satin waist, and a sort of red turban. She was a very bright object in the dusky woods.

At another time Rick would have been frightened at such an apparition, alone in the woods; but, under the circumstances, he was more relieved than frightened at hearing a voice, and seeing what at first appeared to him to be a human form.

"You have your wish," she repeated, "and what now?"

"I want you to tell me how I can find my way home."

"The idea! Was Rick Lordelle ever willing to do any thing he was told to do, before he got into this scrape? Since you would never take good advice until this day, Master Rick, you may now do the best you can without it. Has not Nanette told you about the fairies in the woods?"

"Yes," said Rick, so frightened that he was hardly able to speak the word.

"You see one now, and little comfort will you get from her. Fairies have better business than helping headstrong young gentlemen out of their scrapes. I know very well that you never told your mother and Nanette that you were going wandering about in the woods, and a pretty fright they are in now! So help yourself, if you can!"

"But I don't know which way to go to get home," sobbed Rick.

"You'd better start off somewhere in a hurry, if you don't want to spend the night in these woods. Boys that have their own way must go by their own way, and suffer the consequences. So get up, and make your way across the mountains the best way you can; for you've gone up one hill, and come down another."

"I thought I came down the same side I went up."

"And so you would go and travel off in this direction, and leave the castle farther and farther behind, you? A fine fellow to have your own way! Come with me, and I will show you the mountain that lies between you and the castle; for I would have a boy of your stamp out of my woods as soon as possible. Nanette has told you, many a time, that fairies have no liking for folks who are no better disposed than you are. Come along, in a hurry, and stop your babyish crying! If Nanette and your mother could see their fine young gentleman now!"

Rick followed the fairy, sobbing more quietly to himself, until she brought him out of the woods, into a green open space with a brook flowing through it. Just before them was a mountain, sharply defined against the sky.

"Across that mountain you must go; and now let the young gentleman who likes his own way so well, take it as he chooses," said the austere fairy.

"Thank you," replied Rick, with more politeness than he had ever exercised before; and he started across the meadow, beyond which there was another wood at the foot of the mountain.

"How shall I get across the brook?" he asked, stopping suddenly, but not daring to look around at his stern guide.

"Go to the brook first: you cannot cross it until you get to it. When you reach it, a bridge will grow across it."

"And I cannot see any path in the woods, across the meadow, at the foot of the mountain."

"If no path opens before you in those woods, my fine young gentleman, say that the fairies have bewitched it."

Rick dared ask no more questions, and so he walked on towards the brook. When he reached it, sure enough, there was a foot-path across it, which looked like soft green moss, but was formed by an old tree-trunk overgrown with lichens. Rick ventured upon it very cautiously, but he found it firm; and, when he came to the woods, quite a broad path opened directly before him.

As he entered the path, he ventured to look back. The bridge over the brook had disappeared, but there stood the fairy, where he had left her; and, as he looked back, she called out with a laugh,--

"Ten to one, you'll come across the old man of the mountains with a big whip in his hand; but tell him that Zenia is near, and he will not touch a hair of your head."

Rick was now in great distress. The stern fairy was behind him, and, possibly, a man of the mountains before him. The best he could do, however, was to keep on towards the castle. Fearful as he was, he was consoled to find the path opening steadily before him up the mountain. It at length led him out upon a rocky spur, and here a narrow foot-path began to trace a winding line up and around ragged precipices. Without this path, he could never have made his way among the many ledges about him.

After toiling up this rocky ascent, very fearful regarding "the old man of the mountains," and hoping he would be away from home that afternoon, Rick at length stood upon the summit, and, still following the little winding path that seemed to creep along just before his feet, came suddenly upon the brink of a great precipice. Down, down, hundreds of feet below him, lay the river-road, and, yes, the castle itself: he could see its tower and ivied sides. And here was he on a rocky height that went sheer down a dizzy wall of ragged bowlders and ledges, to rough, rocky hills below.

Just as a dreadful conviction came upon him that he should never see his mother and Nanette again, but should die in sight of his home, a great figure arose close before him over the brink of the precipice. Two brilliant circles surrounded the giant form, and a yellow halo encircled his head. Bright-colored rays shot out from the figure on all sides. In his hand, the strange, airy giant held a long, shining whip; and he was moving towards Rick in an ominous manner.

The poor boy was so terrified, that, although he tried to shout, he only began to sob frantically.

"Ho! ho!" said the man of the mountains, "Ho! ho!"

"Zenia is near!" Rick tried to say, but it was hardly more than a faint, wild shriek.

As soon as he spoke those words, however, the giant began to look less brilliant, and the figure itself to grow less distinct and farther away, until it disappeared, leaving the clear air, the sky, and the valley below, just as they had been before.

When the giant had disappeared, a voice behind Rick said,--

"I thought he would appear to you. Do you know what it means to see the old man of the mountains, with that long stick in his hand?"

Rick recognized the sharp voice, and, turning around, saw the fairy seated upon a low crag behind him, fanning herself with a bough laden with green leaves, and flowers just the color of her skirt.

She repeated the question again, in a louder voice; for Rick was so frightened and confused that he made no reply.

"No, ma'am," he faltered.

"Well, I'll tell you what it means, my fine young gentleman: it means that it is high time for the person who sees that sight, to make a change in his ways. Do you know what change you had better make in your ways?"

"No, ma'am," responded Rick meekly.

"Perhaps you don't know what you're coming to, my fine young gentleman. You're coming to be an ignorant man, more ignorant than many a peasant's son, as ignorant as a gypsy. And it's a bad man you're going to make,--a spendthrift, a drunkard, a sluggard, a ne'er do well, a villain, like enough. No one will respect you, no one trust you, no one love you, except your father and mother and Nanette, whose hearts you have crushed, and whose names you have disgraced."

Although Rick did not understand all the words she used, his imagination pictured even a worse prophecy, if possible, than their true meaning. He felt as if his future was pronounced, and was a terrible doom, which also involved his parents and Nanette in disgrace and ruin.

He fell upon his knees, and burst into a fresh flood of tears. Though he tried to speak, and beg the fairy to take back the dreadful words, he was so frightened and grief-stricken that he could utter nothing but convulsive sobs.

"What is the matter?" asked the fairy.

"Oh! oh!" sobbed Rick. "Don't let it happen to me! don't let it happen to my father and mother and Nanette!"

"How can I help it, silly boy? No one can help it but yourself. You might prevent it, if you would, but there is no use in supposing you ever will: you would rather have your own way, and go to destruction, than cross your own wishes, and come to a good end. I could tell you how you could change your fortune, and, instead of all this, grow up a good and noble man, of whom your father and mother would be proud. But to do that, you would have to change your present course entirely; and that you would not do."

"Oh, yes, I will! I will!" cried Rick eagerly. "Tell me how I can change my fortune!"

"Very well, I can tell you, although it will be only a waste of words. But you sha'n't have it to say it wasn't told you, and so you will have no one to blame but yourself, for going to destruction. There's Herr Schuler, in the village, who has taught many a peasant's son more than you are ever likely to know, and taught many a gentleman's son besides; so that it's been well said that the boy who has begun to learn under Herr Schuler never can grow up a dunce. If you will give up your play and nonsense from morning to night, and your lazy, lounging ways, and go over to Herr Schuler's, to learn to read, write, and cipher, to talk like a well-educated young gentleman, and to get a dressing with his long whip once in a while, to mend your ways and your manners, there'll be a chance for you yet."

"I'll go to-morrow!" cried Rick joyfully.

"A likely story, that! If I show you your way home, when you get there, safe and sound, that'll be the last you'll think of Zenia, and the good advice she gave you."

"No! no!" cried Rick. "I truly will go to Herr Schuler and learn!"

"If there's man enough in you to keep to that mind, my young gentleman, what will your lady-mother say to your going to Herr Schuler to learn? She'll say it's not the place for a fine gentleman's son like you."

"I sha'n't care what she says," replied Rick, conscious that he could have his own way with his mother. "I shall certainly go, let my mother say what she will."

The fairy laughed, and began to look upon Rick rather more graciously.

"It's not a likely story. But it's a good turn you'll do your mother and yourself, if you do as you say. And mind you, you'll need the long stick, and don't you be afraid of it: there'll be a power of good in every stroke; it'll help to make a man of you, and it'll be the best medicine that ever you had. But one thing's sure: if you tell your mother and Nanette, or any one else, of your meeting me in this wood, and receiving this advice from me, there'll be an end of your changing your fortune. Tell no one a word, but get your own way, and go to Herr Schuler to-morrow. Tell him you're coming every day, to take lessons, as long as you stay at the castle."

"I'll do it!" cried Rick, "I'll do it!--and if I do, the bad things won't come to pass, will they?"

"Never a one of them, my lad, never a one of them; but if you don't keep your promise, mind you, they'll every one of them come true, you may depend upon it. Get up now, and go ahead of me. I'll show you how paths will open before you that you'd never have found without Zenia behind you. And with Herr Schuler behind you, there'll open a way that it will pay you well to walk in. So, go ahead, my laddie!"

Rick was very much comforted and re-assured by the pleasanter tone of Zenia's voice, as well as by the prospect of avoiding the awful future she had described, under the guidance of Herr Schuler; and he went on before her with a springing step. He wanted to look behind very much, now and then, but was afraid to do so: neither did he dare address her, but he followed her directions very obediently and promptly.

Her first direction was to go to the left. Now, at the left, there was apparently nothing but a thick growth of briers and bushes. But he had no sooner reached this thicket, in the way indicated, than a narrow but distinct path opened before him, which wound down the hill by the side of a little rivulet.

At the bottom of the hill, there was a swamp, in which Rick sank at every step, until the fairy said,--

"Let me go before you, and follow in my footsteps."

So Zenia took the lead; and, to Rick's surprise, he found that, by following directly in her steps, he had a perfectly firm footing in the midst of the swamp.

On the other side of the swamp rose another line of high hills, and it made Rick's tired limbs ache harder to think of having to climb over them.

But as they approached these hills, the two directly in front of them appeared to move apart, disclosing a very good, grassy road.

The fairy followed Rick along the winding road between the mountains, singing to herself in a low, monotonous tone, and not deigning to speak to Rick until they came out into a meadow, whose farther end seemed to rest against the sky. But to Rick's surprise, they had gone only a little way before they stood upon the verge of a hill, and below him Rick saw the familiar river-road again, lying, a white, winding streak, as far as he could see on either hand, and, not far to the right, half hidden by the trees, was the castle, its windows burning with the sunset glow shining beneath a mass of clouds that had just lifted from the horizon.

Rick's heart leaped with joy and thankfulness. Never before had his mother and Nanette and the castle seemed so dear.

"Hurry home now, as fast as you please; but don't forget all that Zenia has told you," said the fairy.

Rick ran down over the long, slanting fields of the descent before him as fast as he could go. He had turned to thank the fairy for her kindness; but she had suddenly disappeared, leaving him alone upon the brow of the hill.

His mother and Nanette had grown so anxious about him, that they had sent Peter, the groom, off on horseback to look for him. They were astonished enough to see Rick coming into the yard on foot, with torn and soiled garments. But as soon as they found he was sound and well, although exhausted by fatigue and excitement, Nanette said,--

"What has become of Skip?"

Rick had been so frightened, and so taken up with his strange situation and the fairy's presence, that he had, until that moment, forgotten all about poor Skip.