CHAPTER V

When Jean-Claude Hullin went the next morning in his shirt-sleeves to open his shutters, he saw all the neighbouring mountains--the Jaegerthal, the Grosmann, the Donon--covered with snow. There is always something striking in this first aspect of winter, come upon the earth in our sleep; the old firs, the moss-covered rocks, still decked in verdure the evening before, and now sparkling with hoar-frost, fill the soul with an indefinable feeling of sadness. "Another year gone," we say to ourselves; "another rough winter to go through, before the return of the flowers!" And people hasten to provide their winter clothing, and lay in their store of fuel. While your humble dwelling is pleasant inside with warmth and light, you hear out of doors, for the first time, the sparrows--the poor sparrows--chirruping mournfully, as they nestle, with ruffled plumage, under the thatch, "No breakfast this morning--no breakfast!"

Hullin put on his strong iron-bound and doubled soled shoes, and his thick overcoat.

He heard Louise walking about in her little room overhead.

"Louise!" he called out; "I am off!"

"What! are you going out again to-day?"

"Yes, my child, I must: I have not finished my business."

Then, having put on his large, slouched hat, he went halfway up the stairs, and said, in a low tone:

"You will not expect me very soon, my child: I have a good distance to go, so do not be anxious about me. If anyone asks you where I am gone, you can say, 'To Cousin Mathias's, at Saverne.'"

"Won't you have your breakfast before you go?"

"No! I've put a crust of bread, and a little flask of brandy, in my pocket. Farewell, my child. Be happy. Dream of Gaspard."

And, without waiting for fresh questions, he took his stick, and quitted the house, directing his steps towards the hill of the Bouleaux,[6] to the left of the village. After about a quarter of an hour's brisk walking, he had passed it, and gained the footpath of the Three Fountains, which winds round by Falkenstein, with which a low stone wall runs parallel.

The first snows of winter, which are never long able to resist the damp of the valleys, were already beginning to melt away, and trickled slowly down the footpath. Hullin mounted the wall to make his footing surer, and as he chanced, by accident, to cast his eyes down on the village, at a distance of within two gun-shots, he saw the housewives busily engaged in sweeping the snow away from the front of their houses, whilst some old men, standing by, wished them good morning as they smoked their first pipe in their doorways. This profound calm, in presence of the thoughts that were stirring within him, moved him deeply; he continued on his way in a thoughtful mood, saying to himself: "How quietly and tranquilly their life flows on! They have no doubts and fears for the future; and yet, but a few days, and what clamour, what strife, may rend the air!"

As the first thing necessary was to procure the powder, Catherine Lefevre had very naturally cast her eyes upon Marc Dives, the smuggler, and his virtuous spouse, Hexe-Baizel.

These people lived on the other side of the Falkenstein, under the very shadow of the old ruinous _burg_. They had hollowed out for themselves in the rock a very convenient cavern which had only one entrance, and two apertures to admit light; but which, if report spoke true, had another outlet, leading to old subterranean passages of great extent. This the custom-house officers had never been able to discover, in spite of numberless visits paid with that object in view. Jean-Claude and Marc Dives had known each other from childhood--had rambled together as boys in search of hawks' and owls' nests, and, in after life, they met each other at least once nearly every week, at the great sawpits of the Valtin. Jean-Claude, therefore, believed himself sure of the smuggler, but he was not quite so certain of Madame Hexe-Baizel, a very discreet person, and who would not, perhaps, be greatly taken with the prospect of strife and warfare. "At any rate," said he, as he jogged steadily along, "we shall soon see."

He had lit his pipe, and from time to time he turned slowly round to gaze upon the broad landscape, whose limits kept growing wider and wider.

Nothing more beautiful in nature than these wooded mountains, rising one above the other in the pale heavens--these vast plains, stretching out of sight, all white with snow--these black ravines, half hidden among the woods, with their sluggish streams gurgling slowly over the smooth pebbles at the bottom.

And then the silence--that grand solemn silence of winter--the half-melted snow falling noiselessly from the tops of the tall firs on to the lower branches, gently bending beneath their weight; the birds of prey whirling in pairs over the forest, uttering their shrill war-cry. All this must be seen, for it cannot be described!

About an hour after he had left the village of Charmes, Hullin, climbing the summit of the steep mountain, reached the foot of rock of the Arbousiers. All around this huge mass of granite extends a sort of rocky terrace, three or four feet wide. This narrow footway, canopied by the tall tops of the slender mountain firs, looks dangerous, but it is safe; unless attacked by giddiness, you can walk along it without risk. Above rises the rocky and ruinous archway of the cavern.

Jean-Claude drew near the smuggler's retreat. He stopped a few moments on the terrace, put his pipe back in his pocket, then advanced along the path, which describes a half circle, and ends on the other side by a sudden gap.

At the very end, and almost on the edge of this gap, he perceived the two lattices of the cave, and the half-opened doorway, in front of which an immense heap of dung was piled.

At the same moment Hexe-Baizel made her appearance, sweeping the dung into the abyss with a large besom made of green broom. She was a little, withered woman, with red tangled locks, hollow cheeks, sharp nose, small eyes sparkling like stars, pinched mouth, amply furnished with very white teeth, and a ruddy complexion. As to her costume, it was composed of a very short and very dirty woollen petticoat, a coarse chemise, tolerably clean; her small, muscular arms, covered with a sort of yellow down, were bare to the elbows, in spite of the excessive cold of the atmosphere at this height. To complete her costume, the only coverings to her feet were a pair of old worn-out shoes, down at the heel.

"Ah! good morrow, Hexe-Baizel," exclaimed Jean-Claude, in a tone of mocking good humour. "You are as fat and comely as ever--I see, happy and contented! It does one good to see you."

Hexe-Baizel had started at the first sound of Jean-Claude's voice like a weasel caught in a trap; her red hair seemed to stand on end, and her little sparkling eyes flashed fire; but she instantly recovered herself, and exclaimed, in a short, sharp tone, as if speaking to herself:

"Hullin! the shoemaker! what does he want?"

"I have come to see my friend Marc, fair Hexe-Baizel," replied Jean-Claude; "we have some business to settle."

"What business?"

"Ah! that is our affair. Come, let me go in, that I may speak to him."

"Marc is asleep."

"Well, then, he must be awakened, for time presses."

So saying, Hullin stooped under the doorway, and entered a cavern, whose vaulted roof, instead of being round, was formed in irregular curves, furrowed with crevices. Quite close to the entrance, and two feet from the ground, the rock made a sort of natural hearth; on this hearth a few lumps of coal and some juniper branches were burning. All Hexe-Baizel's cooking utensils consisted of a copper saucepan, an earthenware porringer, two cracked plates, and three or four pewter spoons; all her furniture of a wooden bench, a wood-cutter's hatchet, a salt-box hung against the rock, and her large besom made of green broom. To the left of this kitchen was another cavern, with an uneven-shaped door, larger at the bottom than the top, and which shut by means of two planks and a cross-beam.

"Well, where is Marc?" said Hullin, as he seated himself beside the hearth.

"I've told you already he is asleep. He came home very late yesterday. My man must have his rest; do you understand?"

"I understand very well, Hexe-Baizel; but I've no time to wait."

"Begone, then."

"It's very easy to say 'Begone,' only I don't want to go. I've not come a whole league to go back with my hands in my pockets."

"Is that you, Hullin?" broke in a rough voice, issuing from the inner cave.

"Yes, Marc."

"Oh! here I am."

A sound like the rustling of straw was heard, then the wooden outworks were withdrawn, and a huge frame, three feet broad from one shoulder to the other, lean, bony, bent, the neck and ears of the colour of brickdust, and with thick, stubbly, brown hair, appeared, stooping through the opening, and Marc Dives, yawning and stretching his long arms with a stifled sigh, stood before Hullin.

At first sight, the aspect of Marc Dives seemed pacific enough; his broad and low forehead, short, curly hair, which came down in a point almost to his eyebrows, leaving his temples bare, his straight and pointed nose, and long chin, and, above all, the calm expression of his brown eyes, would have caused him to be classed rather among the ruminating than a fiercer tribe of animals; but those who so thought would have done wrong. Reports ran throughout the country that Marc Dives, in the event of an attack by the revenue officers, did not scruple to make use of his hatchet or carbine in case of need, and many serious accidents that had befallen the excise collectors were laid to his charge; but the proofs were always wanting, the smuggler, thanks to his profound knowledge of all the defiles of the mountain, and of every cross-road from Dagsburg to Sarrebrueck, and from Raon-L'Etape to Bale, in Switzerland, always contriving to put himself at fifteen leagues' distance from the place where an unlucky encounter had taken place. And then he had such a simple manner about him, and those who spread those evil reports were always sure to come to a bad end, which proves the justice of Providence in this world.

"If you'll believe me, Hullin," said Marc, after he had come out of his hole, "I was thinking of you only yesterday evening, and if you had not come I should have gone straight to the sawpits of the Valtin on purpose to meet you. Sit down; Hexe-Baizel, give Hullin a chair."

He then seated himself on the hearth, with his back to the fire, and his face to the open door, through which breathed the gales of Alsace and of Switzerland. Through this opening, too, a magnificent prospect might be enjoyed; you would have styled it a regular picture, framed in the rock, but still an immense picture, embracing the whole valley of the Rhine, and beyond that the mountains dissolving far in the hazy distance. And, to crown all, there was the fresh breeze of the mountain, and the bright fire, which, flickering and dancing in this owls' nest, was a pleasant sight to turn to, with its ruddy glow, forming such a striking contrast with the pale blue tinge of the distant scenery.

"Marc," said Hullin, after a moment's silence, "may I speak before your wife?"

"She and I are only one."

"Well, then, I have come here to buy of you powder and shot."

"To shoot hares, I suppose," said the smuggler, with a knowing wink.

"No; to fight the Germans and Russians."

There was a moment's silence.

"And you will want a great deal of powder and shot?"

"All you can supply me with."

"I can supply you to-day with three thousand francs' worth," said the smuggler.

"I will take it."

"And as much more in a week's time," added Marc, with the same calm tone and thoughtful eye.

"I will take it."

"You will take it!" exclaimed Hexe-Baizel; "you will take it! No doubt; but who's to pay for it?"

"Be silent!" said Marc, in a harsh tone; "Hullin shall have it; his word is enough for me."

Then, extending his huge hand, with a cordial expression:--"Jean-Claude, here is my hand; the powder and shot are yours; but I should like to have the spending of my share of them, you understand?"

"Yes, Marc; and one thing more. I purpose paying you at once."

"He is going to pay!" said Hexe-Baizel; "you hear?"

"Yes; I'm not deaf! Baizel, go and fetch us a bottle of _brimbelle-wasser_; that'll warm our hearts a bit. I am rejoiced at what Hullin has just told me. Those beggars of _kaiserliks_ will not have it quite so much their own way as I thought. It seems we are going to defend ourselves, and with a good will."

"Yes, with a right good will."

"And there are those who will pay for it?"

"It is Catherine Lefevre who will pay for it, and it is she who has sent me," said Hullin.

Then Marc Dives rose, and in a solemn voice, and with his hand extended towards the summits of the steep mountains, he exclaimed:--"She is a woman as grand and as firm as that rock down below there, the Oxenstein, the largest I ever saw in my life. I drink to her health. Drink you, too, Jean-Claude."

Hullin drank, as did also the old woman.

"And now there is nothing more to be said," exclaimed Dives; "but, hark ye, Hullin; you must not fancy this will be an easy matter; all the hunters, all the _segares_,[7] all the _schlitteurs_, all the woodcutters of the mountain, will not be too many for the work that is to be done. I have just come from the other side of the Rhine. There are Russians, Austrians, Bavarians, Prussians, Cossacks, Hussars. There are--why, the country swarms with them. They blacken the face of the land; they camp in the plains, in the valleys, on the heights, in the cities, in the open air, everywhere; they are everywhere."

At this moment a sharp cry resounded through the air.

"It is a buzzard on the wing," said Marc, interrupting himself.

But at the same moment a dark shadow passed over the rock. A cloud of greenfinches flew over the abyss, and hundreds of buzzards and hawks were seen taking their rapid, angular flight overhead, uttering harsh cries to frighten their prey, while the whole seemed struggling together in a compact mass that looked motionless by reason of its density. The regular movement of these thousands of wings produced in the stillness a sound like that of dead leaves stirred by the north wind.

"That is the flight of the greenfinches of Ardennes," said Hullin.

"Yes; it is their last passage. The earth is covered with snow, and the seed lies buried in its bosom. Well, look now; there are more men down below there than those birds can number. No matter, Jean-Claude, we will beat them, provided everyone puts his shoulder to the wheel. Hexe-Baizel, light the lantern; I will show Hullin our stores of powder and shot."

Hexe-Baizel, at this information, could not restrain a grimace.

"No one, for twenty years," said she, "has ever entered the cave. He can surely believe us on our word. We take his word that he is going to pay us. I shall not light the lantern, no!"

Marc, without a word, stretched out his hand, and seized a thick cudgel from the wood pile close by; then the old woman, bristling with rage, disappeared into the inner hole like a ferret, and came a few seconds after with a great horn lantern, which Dives quietly lit at the blazing hearth.

"Baizel," said the smuggler, replacing the stick in the corner, "you should know that Jean-Claude is the old friend of my childhood, and that I put a deal more trust in him than in you, old polecat; for if you were not afraid of being hung the same day as me, I should have dangled at the end of a rope long ago. Come, Hullin, follow me."

They went out, and the smuggler, turning to the left, went straight towards the gap which was yawning on the very edge of the Valtin, at the height of two hundred feet in the air. He put aside the foliage of a small oak growing up from below, strode over it, and disappeared as if suddenly launched into the abyss below. Jean-Claude shuddered; but almost immediately afterwards he saw, against the ledge of the rock, the head of Dives, who called to him:

"Hullin, place your hand to the left, you will find a hole; put your foot out boldly, you will feel a step, and then turn upon your heel."

Master Jean-Claude obeyed, not without trembling; he felt the hole in the rock, he encountered the step, and taking a half-turn, he found himself face to face with his companion, in a sort of arched niche, abutting formerly, no doubt, on some postern gate. At the bottom of the niche was a low vault.

"How on earth did you discover that?" exclaimed Hullin, quite thunderstruck.

"While looking for nests, thirty-five years ago. I was one day on the rock, and I often noticed, coming in and out of this nook, a _grand duke_ and its mate, two magnificent birds, the head as large as my fist, and the wings six feet across. I heard the cry of their little ones, and I said to myself: 'They are near the cavern, at the end of the terrace. If I could take just one turn a little beyond the gap, I should have them!' By means of looking and leaning over, I managed to see the corner of a step just above the precipice. I found a strong holly tree beside it. I grasped the tree, put out my leg, and there I was! What a fight, Hullin! the old bird and his mate were ready to tear my eyes out. Luckily, it was daylight. They flew at me like fighting-cocks, pecking at me, and screaming horribly all the while; but the sun dazzled them. I kicked them with all my might. At last they fell down stunned over the top of that old fir tree down below there; and all the jays round about, the thrushes, the greenfinches, the tomtits, kept flying round about them till night-time, to strip them of their feathers. You can't imagine, Jean-Claude, the heap of bones, of skins of rats, leverets, of skeletons of all sorts, that I found in this nook. It was a regular pest-house. I lost no time in clearing it all out, and discovered this narrow passage. I must tell you there were two young ones. The first thing I did was to wring their necks, and stuff them into my bag; that done, I entered very quietly, and you shall see what I found. Come on."

They then crept along beneath the narrow and low vault formed by enormous blocks of red stone, and through which the lantern they carried cast a flickering light.

At the end of about thirty feet, a vast cavern of circular form, hollowed out of the solid rock, appeared before Hullin. At the bottom were ranged in pyramids about fifty little barrels, and at the sides a great number of bars of lead and bags of tobacco, with the strong odour of which the air was filled.

Marc left his lantern at the entrance of the vault, and now stood looking proudly on his den, while a smile curled his lips.

"This is what I found," said he; "the cave was empty, only in the middle of it there was the carcase of a beast as white as snow--no doubt some fox who had died there of old age--the beggar had found out the passage before me. He slept here soundly enough; who the devil would ever have thought of following him? At that time, Jean-Claude, I was only twelve years old. The thought instantly struck me that some day or other this hiding-place might be useful to me. I did not then know for what; but, in after-times, when I had my first bouts of smuggling at Landau, Kiel, and Bale with Jacob Zimmer, and when all the custom-house officers were at my heels, the idea of my old cavern began to haunt me day and night. I had made the acquaintance of Hexe-Baizel, who was at that time servant at the farm of Bois-de-Chenes, where Catherine's father then lived. She brought me twenty-five louis as her marriage portion, and we came and settled ourselves in our cavern of Arbousiers."

Dives was silent, and Hullin, after musing a moment, said: "You are very fond of this hole, then, Marc?"

"Fond of it? I'll tell you what, I wouldn't change it for the finest house in Strasburg, with two thousand livres a year to boot. For twenty-three years have I hidden my merchandize here; sugar, coffee, gunpowder, tobacco, brandy, all finds its way here. I have eight horses always on the road."

"But you don't enjoy yourself."

"I don't enjoy myself! You think, then, it's nothing to trick the gendarmes, the custom-house officers, the excise; to spite them, gull them, hear them say everywhere, 'That beggar of a Marc, what a cunning rogue it is! what a dance he leads you! he sets the law and all its agents at defiance;' and so on, and so on. He! he! he! I'll answer for it, that it's the greatest pleasure in life. And then, the people all round adore you; I sell them everything at half-price. You can afford to be good to the poor, and keep your own belly warm."

"But what danger, what risks!"

"Bah! not an exciseman in the world will ever think of passing that gap."

"I believe you!" thought Hullin, as he reflected that he should have to make his way back over the precipice.

"But for all that," continued Marc, "you are not altogether wrong, Jean-Claude. In the beginning, when I had to come here with one of those little barrels on my shoulder, I used to sweat great drops of perspiration; but I am used to it now."

"And if your foot were to slip?"

"Well then all would be over. As well die spitted on a fir-tree as lie coughing whole days and nights upon a mattrass."

Dives then held up his lantern, and, by its light, the barrels of gunpowder, piled one upon another up to the roof of the vault, were plainly seen.

"It is the best English gunpowder," said he; "it flows like grains of silver over the hand, and makes a splendid charge. You don't want much of it; a thimbleful's enough. And here's some lead without the smallest particle of tin. From this very evening, Hexe-Baizel shall begin to cast bullets; she's a good hand at that--you will see."

They were preparing to return the same way they came, when all of a sudden they were startled by a confused humming sound of talking at no great distance from them. Marc blew out his lantern, and they remained plunged in darkness.

"There is some one walking above there," whispered the smuggler; "who the deuce has managed to climb up the Falkenstein this snowy weather?"

They listened in breathless silence, and with their eyes fixed on a pale streak of light which streamed through a narrow fissure at the end of the cavern. Around this cleft grew some shrubs sparking with hoar-frost, while higher up might be perceived the top of an old wall. As they stood thus anxiously watching in the most profound silence, there suddenly appeared at the foot of the wall a huge head covered with long matted hair, the sharp, lean face ending in a red pointed beard, the sharply-cut profile standing out in strong relief against the white wintry sky.

"It is the King of Diamonds," said Marc, with a laugh.

"Poor devil!" said Hullin, in a grave tone; "he has come to ramble about his castle, with his bare feet on the ice, and his tin crown on his head! Stay! see! he is speaking; he is giving his orders to his knights, to his court; he extends his sceptre to the north and to the south--all is his; he is lord of heaven and earth! Poor devil! only to see him with his thin drawers and his old sheepskin on his back, makes me shiver with cold."

"Yes, Jean-Claude, and me, too; it makes me feel like a burgomaster, or mayor of a village, with his round paunch and fat puffy cheeks, who says to himself: 'Me, I am Hans-Aden; I have ten acres of beautiful meadows, I have two houses, I have a vine, my orchard, my garden, hum! hum! I've this, and I've that!' The next day a little touch of colic carries him off, and--good bye! Ah, the fools! the fools! who is there that is not a fool? Come along, Hullin, the very sight of that poor fellow babbling to the wind, and his raven, who croaks of famine, makes my teeth chatter."

As they came out into the open day, Hullin was almost dazzled by the sudden change from the thick darkness. Fortunately, the tall stature of his companion, standing upright before him, preserved him from an attack of giddiness.

"Step firmly," said Marc; "imitate me--your right hand in the hole, the right foot forward on the step, one half turn round--here we are!"

They returned to the kitchen, where Hexe-Baizel told them that Yegof was in the ruins of the old _burg_.

"We know it," replied Marc; "we have just seen him taking the air up above there; every one to his taste."

At the same instant, the raven, Hans, hovering over the abyss, passed in front of the door, uttering a hoarse cry; they heard the rustling of the frost-covered bushes, and the fool appeared before them on the terrace. His looks were wild and haggard, and, casting a glance at the hearth, he exclaimed:

"Marc Dives, you must give up this place as soon as possible. I warn you; I am weary of this disorder. The fortifications of my domains must be free. I will not suffer vermin to harbour in them."

Then perceiving Jean-Claude his brow grew clear.

"You here, Hullin!" said he. "Can it be, that you are at length wise enough to accept the proposals I have deigned to make you? Do you feel that an alliance such as mine is the sole means of saving you from the total destruction of your race? If it be so, I congratulate you; you have shown more good sense than I expected of you."

Hullin could not help laughing.

"No, Yegof, no; Heaven has not yet enlightened me enough," said he, "for me to accept the honour you wish to do me; besides, Louise is not yet of an age to marry."

The fool had grown grave and gloomy again. Standing on the edge of the terrace, with his back to the abyss, he seemed on his own territory, and his raven, fluttering from right to left, had no power to disturb him. He raised his sceptre, knit his brow, and exclaimed:

"Then now, for the second time, Hullin, I reiterate my demand; and for the second time you dare to refuse me! Now I will renew it yet once more--once more, do you hear? and then let destiny be fulfilled!"

And so, turning gravely on his heel, his head high and erect, in spite of the extreme rapidity of the descent, he vanished quickly from their sight.

Hullin, Marc Dives, and even Hexe-Baizel herself, uttered loud peals of laughter.

"He is a great fool," said Hexe-Baizel.

"I think you are not altogether wrong," replied the smuggler. "That poor Yegof is certainly out of his mind. But never mind that now. Baizel, listen well to me; you must begin to cast bullets of all sizes; for my part, I am going to set out for Switzerland. In a week at the latest, the rest of our ammunition will be here. Give me my boots."

Then tying round his neck a thick red woollen comforter, he took down from the wall one of those cloaks of dark green such as shepherds wear, threw it over his shoulders, pulled his old slouched hat over his brows, took a stout cudgel, and exclaimed:

"Do not forget what I have just told you, old woman, or beware. Forward, Jean-Claude!"

Hullin followed him out upon the terrace without saying good-bye to Hexe-Baizel, who, for her part, did not even deign to come to the door to see them depart. As soon as they had arrived at the foot of the rock, Marc Dives stopped, and said:

"You are going into all the villages of the mountain, are you not, Hullin?"

"Yes, that is the first thing to be done; I must warn the woodcutters, the charcoal-burners, the bargemen of what is going on."

"Without doubt. Do not forget Materne of Hengst and his two boys, Labarbe of Dagsburg, Jerome of Saint-Quirin. Tell them that there will be powder and ball; that we are in it heart and soul, Catherine Lefevre, I, Marc Dives, and all the honest people of the country."

"Make your mind easy, Marc; I know my men."

"Then good-bye for the present."

They wrung each other's hands and parted.

The smuggler took the path to the right, towards the Donon, Hullin that to the left, towards the Sarre.

They were both proceeding on their way at a good pace when Hullin called to his comrade:

"Halloo! Marc, as you pass Catherine Lefevre's, tell her that all goes well, and that I am gone to the villages in the mountain."

The other answered by a sign of his head that he understood, and then both continued their way.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 6: The Birch Trees.]

[Footnote 7: Workers in a sawpit.]