William Stearns Davis

“ Then the maid, reckless through youth and love, caused Jerome to be tempted of the Devil.
“Oh! it will not be so very wrong! even if angels come each night to kiss you! I must kiss you too.”
And so she did, putting her arms about him, and kissing his shaggy lips, and saying all the cooing tender things which spring from the heart of a child. Jerome did not thrust her back. He told himself that here was a last test sent from heaven, to see if he could endure the kiss of a maid, and never yearn for worldly joys thrust by. ”

“ All the clouds above the western hills were painted rose and gold, the gold fading, the rose deepening. Above the eastern Drachenstein rode three pale stars—nigh blotted by a broad white moon. The wind had sunk to a [23] whisper, to which the woods were answering. The stream purled slumbrously as Jerome emerged from the Dragon’s Dale; from the clearing he sent one glance westward and north to the Wartburg, where Ulrich’s blood-red banner still trailed to a redder sky, then with swift, strong strides he plunged into the heart of the forest. Blind was the path, and ever darkening ”

“ He rushed from the hut, his heart torn by demons, its fire a maddening pain.
“He, he—Jerome of the Dragon’s Dale—had bestowed a kiss on a maid!”
Jerome had resolved not to sleep that night. He must battle back the fiends, as became a holy soldier. The terror lest he had fallen utterly; lest by this one lapse the credit laid up with God by years of austerity was forfeit,—this was omnipresent. He would have scourged himself, but the whip lay under the bed of the little maid, and now he was most certain that in approaching Agnes he approached a form of Satan. ”

“ Agnes bore all more steadfastly than one might dream. There was a ritter’s red blood in her veins if she had been reared in the Bamberg convent. She protested stoutly that she was Graf Ludwig’s child, until Dame Gerda began to believe there was some fire behind so much smoke. So leaving Agnes to Wolf and the girls, she drew Fritz beyond earshot.
“She does not lie. She is the Graf’s own child. And Ulrich of the Wartburg is back of her plight, I am bound.” ”

“ I have heard the Abbess call him ‘The Old Man,’ too, yet I think Baron Ulrich would never fear the Devil.”
“Hush, daughter!” ordered the hermit, groaning gently at the manifold tribulations he saw awaiting; “my name is Jerome of the Dragon’s Dale. Your poor mind wanders after all the griefs of the day. Now how were you christened?”
“Agnes; and my father is Graf Ludwig of the Harz.” ”

“ Jerome assured her with a nod.
“He never harms.”
“But wolves are evil beasts;” and Agnes still shrank, as Harun laid his trophy at his master’s feet.
“The only evil beasts are men.”
“I forget that he is a saint,” said Agnes, under breath, “and all things of the forest must obey him.”
So the partridge broiled beside the trout, whilst Harun dutifully waited for the bones. Jerome brought forth bread and cheese,—the simplest meal in Agnes’s life. What would my Lady Abbess at Bamberg think to have a beech leaf in her lap, in lieu of a fair white napkin from Flanders? ”

“ Still the hermit bore on, fearless, tireless, no forest beast more certain of his way, until the blind path circled upward, the trees again were opening, and upon the sheer height against the gloaming reared the grim Wartburg, defiant, scarce approachable, but shooting from loophole and window red shafts of light, whilst on the soft night air drifted the scream of coarse song and coarser revel.
“I go to fiends, not men;” so spoke Jerome, and halted a moment to pray, [24] then boldly moved forward. ”

“ Late in the afternoon Fritz came in with a long face.
“Men and hounds are out in the forest. They are beating up all the coverts. Ulrich has ordered a boar hunt. We must lie close.”
“‘Back to witch Martha; back! Fly fast, as you love me.’”
So Agnes perforce, crouched with the rest, in a cavern up the rock-slope, until the clear hunting-horns died away in the distance, and Gerda began to thank the saints. As the gloaming fell, Wolf returned, and whispered to his mother that the Hebrew would set forth at dawn, and would be glad to haggle. ”

“ WHEN the attackers moved once more on their prey they entered the great court of the Wartburg, and never a sword flashed forth to halt them. But as Freiherr Gustav at their head bade his men scatter through dungeon and attic, to drag the victims forth, lo! he and the three hundred at his back halted, then stood awed and reverent, as the figure of Jerome of the Dragon’s Dale moved to meet them. Then some doffed their basinets, some even fell on their knees, but all besought his blessing, for they knew that here was the saint of the Thuringerwald. ”

“ After the feast was over, Harun shambled away into the wood, and Agnes looked at the hermit, questioning.
“What am I to do?”
[43] “Go where you will; follow down the stream, but stop when you come to the close gorge of the Dragon’s Dale. If you never quit the brook, you can never get lost. When you are weary, come back.”
So she kissed him once more, and clambered down the hillslope, whilst Jerome straightway took out the scourge as antidote for earthly imaginings.
But Agnes found all the groves and hills one kingdom of delight; for what bad sprites dared dwell so near a saint? ”

“ From the helmet Johann took a silver piece,—a strange coin current amongst the Orient infidels. However, silver was silver; it came from a holy hermit, and Johann’s chief need was a swift gait home; so home he flew, his teeth a-chattering.
For long after his going, absolute silence held the glade; then seemingly out from the precipice emerged a man who walked straight to the basket and lifted it so easily as to convince a grave crow—the sole onlooker—that here was a mortal of wondrous strength. The new-comer moved in long strides which did not belie the mighty proportions of thigh and limb. ”

“ Maid Agnes, the Graf’s daughter? She has vanished. You have stolen her. Oh! may the curse of God light swift on you!”
He was nigh crazed, and a mere madman was not very terrifying. So they plucked up courage, and stood their ground.
“Hark you, greybeard,” warned the Baron, roughly; “it is for the wench we are come ourselves. Do you think we would rout you out of your accursed den without fair cause? The maid we will have, or by the Trinity,—” he broke off, the threat unfinished, and glared on the hermit, who appeared utterly unstrung. ”

“ The power of the Landgraf had sunk to a shadow, and Ulrich and his crew had held the Wartburg for a decade. But there was a new kaiser now who had begun to end the merry dance of devils. Rumours blew north,—how in Swabia Kaiser Rudolf had beaten down castles and hanged many a reckless “ritter” on the pine tree facing his own smoking keep. And Graf Ludwig, the Imperial Vicar, had come to Thuringia with a goodly force to do the very same deeds; therefore My Lord Ulrich had his food for thought.
“How many men will the Graf bring?” ”

“ Had any eyes pierced through the dark, they might have seen a form—a human form—thrusting across the thickets. Witch Martha seemed to need no eyes; if eyes she had, they were those of an owl or [102] of an angel who saw the hidden things of the night. On her shoulders sat the two ravens, and once when she stumbled over a rotted bough the twain croaked out together, but she bade them “silence” in so sharp a voice that Zodok and Zebek kept their wisdom shut within their heads. Once Martha’s little body ceased its gliding, and she laid her head down to the ground and listened. ”

“ Harun had prowled away into the forest. Presently Jerome arose, cast a fresh branch on the fire, and stole into the hut. “I must see if she is safe and warm.”
Through the doorway crept a silver-sandalled moonbeam. It touched on something round and white,—the face of the little maid. All Jerome’s veins seemed turned to fire, yet all that fire was ineffably sweet. [57] He knew the glow and ecstasy of the soul born into highest heaven. A power not sprung of self compelled him. ”

“ Martha looked on the hermit more keenly than ever. “Hark you, Jerome of the Dragon’s Dale; the prisoner is no man to put to ransom, or to meet his doom with brave brow. Ulrich has taken a little maid.” ”

“ Only two, slyer than the rest, had crept through the besiegers, and into the postern, with a tale which made Priest Clement’s teeth chatter,—how Ludwig was at the gates with nigh three thousand men.
Ulrich had felt hard knocks from the Devil ere now, but this was the hardest. The Wartburg was a very Emperor of castles,—provisioned and garrisoned by eight hundred, it could hold Kaiser Rudolf at bay. But inside the walls the Baron could barely count on twenty men fit to strike a blow, and the sluttish women were good for nought save screaming. ”

“ The solitary went onward, heedless of gloom, until, after following this uncanny path for nigh two hundred yards, the rocks sprang apart, and as by art-magic the long-prisoned sun burst forth, and shot his glory over the greenwood. Instantly all the beeches’ leafy clusters were glistering with diamonds, the sheen of the grassy slopes grew dazzling, the brook flashed on its way, with a rainbow in every ripple, whilst right over the massy Wartburg hung a true “Bow of the Promise” in full splendour.
The stranger mounted the slope, till castle [8] and hills were clear in view ”

“ Ulrich was pulling his great carcass up into the chair and squinting round the room.
“The maid? where?” he demanded.
“The prisoner?” asked Michael, his vizier.
“The same;” and Ulrich’s eyes went over into a dark corner behind the fireplace, then his orders sounded sharp as a cracking lash.
“He! Franz-of-the-Ram’s-Pate, bring her this way.”
A great man-at-arms, whose strength lay in muscle not in wits, bestirred himself and dragged from the shelter a girl whose slender form seemed sinking from his hands as from the touch of flame. In the wavering torchlight few might look upon her face ”

“ Where hide you Agnes the maid?”
Jerome vouchsafed no reply. Ulrich was clutching the mallet and sliver when Franz-of-the-Ram’s-Pate burst into the prison. Even in the gloom his face shone white as a ghost’s.
“Up, for the love of Christ! Horses and men are all about! The Wartburg is surrounded.” ”

“ Agnes scarcely saw the glimmerings of moonlight under the matted trees. She heard the noise of hidden beasts, the whirl of hidden waters. Then her guide [36] felt the hand drag heavy in his own, and he bent over her.
“What is it? Why do you draw back?”
“Pixies are here. I am afraid.”
“There are no pixies here; yet if there were, they are not for dread. A Christian maid need only fear the wrath of sinful men. So say ‘Our Father’ and be brave. Yet you grow weary?”
“Yes.”
The strong frame bowed. The hermit lifted his prisoner in his mighty arms. How light the form! ”

“ I command that you surrender the castle at dawn, that especially you deliver up to me, instantly and unharmed, my daughter, the Lady Agnes, likewise the holy hermit Jerome, whom your men say you hold prisoner. Your naked state is known to us. Escape is impossible. ”

“ She saw the stars blink down at her. There was a clearing, and the traced outlines of a tiny hut. And Witch Martha stopped and looked about her.
No glow of embers from the door; no stir of human life. The long boughs above moaned out her only welcome. But of a sudden there was a stealthy footfall from the thicket, and then a whining cry, low and plaintive as a child in pain, but ending with a wild and brutish wail; and Martha turned quickly toward the sound, whilst the two ravens flapped and cawed again.
[103] “Harun!” cried Martha ”

“ But die I dare not, for I must redeem your soul, my Sigismund, my son.”
He looked longingly upon the bit of bread. The fast had been long, even for that man of iron. Nevertheless, he shook his head.
“Man may not live by bread alone. Let me first reward my evil memories with the lash that they may fear to return to torture me.”
He hastened inside the hut. A bed of pine boughs and of furze, a coarse blanket, a water-pot, and above the bed a great silver crucifix and a brazen plate, whereon some Byzantine had graved a stiff Madonna and the Blessed Child—this seemed all the furnishing. ”

“ There are more bands who ‘live by the stirrup’ betwixt Goslar and Bamberg to share the suspicions.”
[31] “But you dogs will wag your tongues in the Eisenach taverns,” frowned his lord. “Stories will fly; the Graf swoop down.”
“Then the wench is best—” but here Michael drew a big finger across his thick throat and laughed.
“Back with her, Franz!” thundered Ulrich, losing temper. “She is too white now even to whimper. I will question her more in the morning, when my crown does not buzz. Fill me the tallest horn, and you, Priest Clement, roar out a tune to hearten us!” ”

“ Whereupon two men-at-arms, who had been loudest and bravest for a fierce defence, became of a sudden thoughtful.
“And finally,” wound up the Graf, “I do counsel that you kindle no torch nor fire upon the battlement; for I have placed Jack, Hodge, and Giles with twelve more picked English bowmen under your walls. Their eyes are like cats’, and their cloth-yard shafts are the swiftest messengers to the Devil.” ”

“ Then with the ruddy glare of dawn pouring through the eastern casement, those four wild men plumped on their knees before him.
“What do you wish?” said Jerome, opening his eyes.
“Oh, holy hermit, beloved of God,” prayed Clement, catching at the anchorite’s sheepskin, “absolve us, for we are nigh to death. ”