Seringapatam

“ Agents accompanied the letters of Vizvazypunt, with whom the king concerted, that their master should move with his army to Seringapatam, as if to hasten by intimidation the levy of a large contribution, which the king had privately consented to pay. Hyder Ally supposed, that their approach would, reinstate him in the command of the king's forces to oppose them, and discovered when near, that the Morattoes had engaged to seize his person; on which he mounted in the dead of night, accompanied by some of his horsemen, and left his whole family behind. ”

“ Humiliating notoriety for yourself, calamitous consequences in your own family, certain punishment for me!”
“The consequences at home,” groaned Pocket, “will be bad enough whatever we do. I can’t bear to think of them! If only they had taken Bompas’s advice, and sent me round the world in the Seringapatam! I should have been at sea by this time, and out of harm’s way for the next three months.”
“The Seringapatam?” repeated the doctor. “I never heard of her.”
“You wouldn’t; she’s only a sailing vessel, but she carries passengers and a doctor, a friend of Dr. ”

“ Two of his sons fell into the hands of the victors; his territories were divided between the British and the Nizam. The former retained Seringapatam and the island on which it is situated, and the whole of his territory on the Malabar coast, with Coimbra, and all the rest of his possessions stretching to the Company's territories west and east, thus completing their dominion from sea to sea. The Nizam received equally valuable regions in the interior, and a province was bestowed on the descendant of the Hindoo rajah who had been dispossessed of it by Hyder Ali, Tippoo's father. ”

“ And is not your father the knight Biorn? For surely the bear’s claw on your mantle must be the cognisance of your house.”
Sintram assented to all this, in deep and humble shame.
The Knight of Montfaucon raised him from the ground, and said gravely, yet gently, “We are, then, of kin the one to the other; but I could never have believed that any one of our noble house would attack a peaceful man without provocation, and that, too, without giving warning.”
“Slay me at once,” answered Sintram, “if indeed I am worthy to die by so noble hands. I can no longer endure the light of day.” ”

“ And thereupon Sintram began to relate and to describe all that had passed with the pale man.
“I know him also very well,” said Biorn. “He is half crazed and half wise, as we sometimes are astonished at seeing that people can be. But do thou, my boy, go to rest after thy wild journey. I give you my word that Rolf shall be kindly received if he arrive here; and that if he do not come soon, he shall be sought for in the mountains.”
“I trust to your word, father,” said Sintram, half humble, half proud; and he did after the command of the grim lord of the castle. ”

“ The joyful calm which came over Sintram on this day appeared to be more than a passing gleam. If too, at times, a thought of the knight Paris and Helen would inflame his heart with bolder and wilder wishes, it needed but one look at his scarf and sword, and the stream of his inner life glided again clear as a mirror, and serene within. “What can any man wish for more than has been already bestowed on me?” ”

“ On a sudden old Rolf appeared, returning home from a visit to the chaplain of Drontheim, to whom he had been relating, with tears of joy, how Sintram was softened by the presence of the angel Gabrielle, yea, almost healed, and how he dared to hope that the evil dreams had yielded. And now the sword, as it whizzed round the furious youth, had well-nigh wounded the good old man. ”

“ It went so far that Sintram came to be looked upon as the protector of all those whom his father pursued with relentless fury; but nevertheless sometimes his own wildness would carry the young knight away to accompany his fierce father in his fearful deeds. Then Biorn used to laugh with horrible pleasure, and to say: “See there, my son, how the flames we have lighted blaze up from the villages, as the blood spouts up from the wounds our swords have made! It is plain to me, however much thou mayst pretend to the contrary, that thou art, and wilt ever remain, my true and beloved heir!” ”

“ Then I heard a voice like that of an angel, saying, ‘His son does the most for him! He must this night wrestle with death and with the fallen one! His victory will be victory, and his defeat will be defeat, for the old man and himself.’ Thereupon I awoke; and I knew that all depended upon whom thou wouldst bring with thee. Thou hast conquered. Next to God, the praise be to thee!”
“Gotthard and Rudlieb have helped much,” replied Sintram; “and, beloved father, so have the fervent prayers of the chaplain of Drontheim. ”

“ At length, when the dawn of day was approaching, Sintram broke silence by saying, “Who are those two sitting yonder by the frozen stream—a tall man and a little one? Their own wild hearts must have driven them also forth into the wilderness. Rolf, dost thou know them? The sight of them makes me shudder.”
“Sir,” answered the old man, “your disturbed mind deceives you. There stands a lofty fir-tree, and the old weather-beaten stump of an oak, half-covered with snow, which gives them a somewhat strange appearance. There are no men sitting yonder.” ”

“ Don't you?'
'Aren't you ever taken ill?'
'I taken ill?' Indra repeated in surprise. 'No, I'm never taken ill—never.' He seemed fired by a sudden enthusiasm and said, 'Look here, Srikanta, I'll teach you something. If you take the names of gods and goddesses morning and evening, they will come and stand before you, and you will see them plainly; and then you will never get ill. No one will be able to touch a hair of your head. You will find that it is so. You can go wherever you like, do what you like, just as I do; and nothing will ever happen to you. ”

“ Old Rolf was now scarcely able to leave the stone fortress; and sometimes he said: “I feel it a burden that my life should yet be prolonged; but also there is much comfort in it, for I still think the good God has in store for me here below some great happiness; and it must be something in which you are concerned, my beloved Sir Sintram, for what else in the whole world could rejoice me?”
But all remained as it was, and Sintram’s fearful dreams at Christmas-time each year rather increased than diminished in horror. ”

“ And at a sign from Folko, she offered her tender lips for the new knight to kiss. Thrilling all over, and full of a holy joy, Sintram arose in deep silence, and hot tears streamed down his softened countenance, whilst the shout and the trumpets of the assembled troops greeted the youth with stunning applause. Old Rolf stood silently on one side, and as he looked in the mild beaming eyes of his foster-child, he calmly and piously returned thanks:
“The strife at length hath found its end,
Rich blessings now shall heaven send!
The evil foe is slain!” ”

“ Thus they arrived about midnight at Biorn’s castle. The windows of the hall shone opposite to them with a brilliant light, as though some great feast were kept there, and confused sounds, as of singing, met their ears. Sintram gave his horse hastily to some retainers in the court-yard, and ran up the steps, whilst Skovmark stayed by the well-known horse.
A good esquire came towards Sintram within the castle and said, “God be praised, my dear master, that you are come; for surely nothing good is going on above. But take heed to yourself also, and be not deluded. ”

“ Verena knows all, and she too praises God for thee. I do indeed now dare hope that the time will soon come when thou mayst appear before her. But Sintram, Sir Sintram, there is need of haste; for the old man above requires speedy air, and thou hast still a heavy—as I hope the last—yet a most heavy trial to undergo for his sake. Arm thyself, my knight, arm thyself even with bodily weapons. In truth, this time only spiritual armour is needed, but it always befits a knight, as well as a monk, to wear in decisive moments the entire solemn garb of his station. ”

“ The Knight of Montfaucon, pale and bleeding, was half kneeling against the rock; his right arm, crushed in his fall, hung powerless at his side; it was plain that he could not draw his good sword out of the scabbard. But nevertheless he was keeping the bear and her young ones at bay by his bold threatening looks, so that they only crept round him, growling angrily; every moment ready for a fierce attack, but as often driven back affrighted at the majestic air by which he conquered even when defenceless.
“Oh! what a hero would there have perished!” groaned Sintram, “and through whose guilt?” ”

“ I am no longer worthy to live under the same roof with the noble Baron of Montfaucon and his angelic wife Gabrielle. And you, my aged father, good-night; long not for me. I intend to live in the stone fortress on the Rocks of the Moon, till a change of some kind come over me.”
There was that in his way of speaking against which no one dared to set himself, not even Folko.
The wild Biorn bowed his head humbly, and said, “Do according to thy pleasure, my poor son; for I fear that thou art right.”
Then Sintram walked solemnly and silently through the castle-gate, followed by the good Rolf. ”

“ The chaplain would freely absolve him, after due penance and repentance, and again raise up the broken-hearted youth; but would often say: “Oh, how nearly hadst thou reached thy last trial, and gained the victory, and looked on Verena’s countenance, and atoned for all! Now thou hast thrown thyself back for years. Think, my son, on the shortness of man’s life; if thou art always falling back anew, how wilt thou ever gain the summit on this side the grave?”
*** *** ***
Years came and went, and Biorn’s hair was white as snow, and the youth Sintram had reached the middle age. ”

“ As if with a fearful curiosity, the moon, through a rent in the clouds, cast a beam upon Sintram’s companion, and made clear to the shuddering youth that the little Master stood, by him.
“Avaunt!” cried he, “I will listen no more to thy evil stories about the knight Paris: they would end by driving me quite mad.”
“My stories about Paris are not needed for that!” grinned the little Master. “It is enough that the Helen of thy heart should be journeying towards Montfaucon. Believe me, madness has thee already, head and heart. Or wouldest thou that she should remain? ”

“ Once, just at the beginning of spring, Biorn and his son were hunting in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast, over a tract of country which did not belong to them; drawn thither less by the love of sport than by the wish of bidding defiance to a chieftain whom they detested, and thus exciting a feud. At that season of the year, when his winter dreams had just passed off, Sintram was always unusually fierce and disposed for warlike adventures. And this day he was enraged at the chieftain for not coming in arms from his castle to hinder their hunting ”

“ We have overcome. Oh, how soft and easy does the good God make it to us!” And so it came to pass. He stretched himself back as if weary, and his soul was freed from his care-worn body.
Rolf now gently awoke his young knight, and pointed to the smiling dead. And Sintram smiled too; he and his good esquire fell on their knees, and prayed to God for the departed spirit. Then they rose up, and bore the cold body to the vaulted hall, and watched by it with holy candles until the return of the chaplain. That the pilgrim would not come back again, they very well knew. ”

“ Folko could hardly drive away the fearful suspicion that the lonely young knight was become a wicked magician.
And perhaps, indeed, evil spirits did flit about the banished Sintram, but it was without his calling them up. In his dreams he often saw the wicked enchantress Venus, in her golden chariot drawn by winged cats, pass over the battlements of the stone fortress, and heard her say, mocking him, “Foolish Sintram, foolish Sintram! hadst thou but obeyed the little Master! ”

“ About half a mile to the east of Seringham, and nearer to the Caveri than the Coleroon, is another large pagoda called Jumbakistna: but this has only one inclosure. The extreme veneration in which Seringham is held, arises from a belief that it contains that identical image of the god Wistchnu, which used to be worshipped by the god Brama. Pilgrims from all parts of the peninsula come here to obtain absolution, and none come without an offering of money; and a large part of the revenue of the island is allotted for the maintenance of the Bramins who inhabit the pagoda ”

“ At this moment the good Rolf appeared above on the rampart; a consecrated taper in his lantern shone down into the moat, as he sought for the missing young knight. “In God’s name, Sir Sintram,” he called out, “what has the spectre of whom you slew on Niflung’s Heath, and whom I never could bury, to do with you?”
“Seest thou well? hearest thou well?” whispered the little Master, and drew back into the darkness of the underground passage. “The wise man up there knows me well. There was nothing in thy heroic feat. Come, take the joys of life while thou mayst.” ”

“ In these letters the English were represented as a plodding mercantile people, unacquainted with the art of war, and not fit to appear in the field, opposed to a nation of so martial a genius as the French; and the success at Seringham was totally ascribed to the valour and activity of the Morattoe cavalry. Morari-row having settled his plan, easily persuaded the regent to acquiesce in it, and embassadors were sent to Pondicherry, where a treaty was soon concluded, and war resolved; Mr. Dupleix promising to take Tritchinopoby, and give it to the Mysoreans. ”