King Eric and the Outlaws, Vol. 1 Read online

  CHAP. VIII.

  Sjoeborg castle, which in the latter months of the year 1295 washonoured by the presence of royalty, and had been the theatre of suchimportant events, stood desolate and deserted on the morning of thefollowing new year. The gate was shut, and the floating bridge removed.The sentinel was no longer on guard on the battlement over the gate;within, no sounds of gaiety and occupancy were heard; without thesouthern rampart and the narrowest part of the lake which insulated thesite of the castle stood a gallows, at the end of what was called theking's garden, where the roads met from Esrom and Gilleleie. On thegallows hung a lifeless corpse in a short sheep-skin coat, and with apair of shaggy boots on the legs. A pair of ravens flapped their wingsover the sinner's head, and around the stiff frozen body fluttered aflock of screaming crows.

  The aged Jeppe, the fisherman from Gilleleie, who on fast days wasaccustomed to bring fish to Esrom, and to the kitchen of Sjoeborg, wasreturning at day-break from the ferry, opposite the closed castle gate,with his flat fish basket at his back, and stood almost under thegallows ere he was aware of it. His servant, a young fisherman,followed him also with a basket at his back.

  "It was true then, after all," said the old man; "they have made quickwork of it here. The bird hath flown, and the cage stands empty. Ouryoung king hath been wroth in earnest--by my troth, he does nothing byhalves. We may now carry our cod to Elsinore. But what the devil ailsthe birds to-day?"

  "Look, look, master!" shouted the lad; "there he hangs."

  "Our Lady preserve us!" exclaimed Jeppe, and stopped. "Ay, there hehangs, indeed, in his old sheep's skin, and in the boots I brought himfrom Skanor fair, those he squeezed out of me for the freight and thesixteen marks. Why, the soles are whole as yet! I told him not to wearthem out with his courtier-like scrapings. Faugh! he looks ugly in theface. 'Tis no wholesome sight on a fasting stomach. Let's take a sup,Ole." He took a little wooden flask out of the basket, drank, andreached the flask to the lad, while they gazed with mingled curiosityand dread on the corpse.

  "By our Lady! a foul human carcass is truly soon provided for," resumedthe old man, clearing his throat after the strong drink, while hecrossed himself, and put up the flask. "Well, I say now what I saidbefore; paid as deserved. He who deals against law shall be dealt withwithout law. One should otherwise, it is true, speak well of the dead;and this I _must_ say, Jesper Mogensen was in some sort a pious man; heneglected neither mattins nor mass; he went to confession every otherday. That we none of us do. But the crow is never the whiter, let herwash herself ever so often, and I would not have given a rottenherring's head for all his piety. What said I the other day to boatmanSoren? 'Mark,' said I, 'that craft will one day run aground under thegallows.' That one could see with half an eye. We will pray an honestprayer for his soul, however, Ole, although he _hath_ haggled many ashining piece from us, and cheated the king out of more pecks of silverpieces than the ravens have now left hairs on his sinful head. Would itmight fare somewhat better with him where he now is than it fared withhis prisoner at Sjoeborg! _Much_ better it were a shame to ask, for apitiless master he ever was, and graceless rulers are shut out from theLord."

  "True, master," answered the young fisherman; "but might one not almostsay the same of our young king himself, to say so with all reverenceand respect?"

  "Of the king? Art thou mad, Ole?" exclaimed the old man, with warmth;"art thou clean devil-blinded and possessed? Is that the Christianitythou learn'st in the monastery? Thou art a pretty fellow, truly!"

  "Be not wroth, master!" answered the lad; "but truth is truth,nevertheless, whether it be sour or sweet, or whether it tweak the noseof high or low, says Pater Gregor, and we Danes are a free folk whodare to speak out in council[14], whether it be against great or small;that you know as well as I, master. The king, by my troth, is not theman to put mercy before justice where the outlaws or their kindred andfriends are concerned. Now, there, are Marsk Stig's pretty daughters;he has pent them up in the maiden's tower at Vordingborg, only becausetheir father was an outlawed man; that's not very merciful. Thenthere's the bishop they have so long plagued and tortured; that's a badbusiness, says Pater Gregor. Whether or not he was leagued with theoutlaws or the Slesvig Duke no one knows or can prove; but, howeverthat may be, he was a mighty man of God, whom none but the Lord and thepope could condemn, says Pater Gregor."

  "Ay, indeed! He talks too much, that Pater Gregor," muttered the oldman, seating himself thoughtfully on his fish basket. "Those pious sirsof the cloister may say what they will; but this I know, that a morejust-dealing king we have never had in Denmark. As to his stringing upthat fellow----"

  "It was a good deed, master, that I will never deny," interruptedthe lad. "If the steward did not exactly help the bishop on hisroad,--which, no doubt, was what he was hung for,--he still richlydeserved the halter for many other things. The king did him no wrong;but that poor turnkey Mads, and his nephew, I am sorry for them. Theyare pent up, under bolt and bar, at Flynderborg, only because the alewas a little too strong for them that night-watch in the tower. He whohelped the bishop but," he added, with a rather sinister roll of theeye, "was surely none other than that gallows bird, Morten the cook. Itwas both boldly and piously done, says Pater Gregor, and thereforedoubtless hath holy St. Martin saved his life, and helped him out ofthe country; but he is an outlawed man not the less for that, and ifthe Devil hath not an eye on his soul I am no honest Dane."

  "Hark, Ole!" resumed the old man, in a stern voice, and rising from hisseat; "take care what thy beardless mouth utters, especially when thouspeak'st of the Devil, or of our Lord, or of the king! Touching Mortenthe cook, I have also a word to say to thee; but first, of the king.'Tis a bad hand that will not protect its head, they say; the king isthe people's head, see'st thou, and when the head aches all the limbsache also; that hath every true Danish man in our time learnt soonenough. Our young King Eric hath gone through much trouble, from thetime he was no higher than my knee, but our Lord hath been with himtill this hour, and preserved both his soul and his body, despitearchbishop, and pope, and clergy. We are a free folk, 'tis true; eachman may speak out the truth boldly and freely, whether it be againsthigh or low; but he who speaks an ill word of the king shall accountfor it to me, as surely as I have a tongue in my mouth and fists to myoar. Thou art a greenhorn, Ole; thou knowest but little of what passedin the country while thou wert in thy swaddling clothes. Had theoutlaws murdered thy father when thou wert riding thy stick thouwould'st hardly have taken them to thy arms when ye rode with a troopof horse."

  "There, by my troth, you are right, master!" answered the youth,eagerly. "Life for life! I would say, and strike off their headswherever I met them; it were an honest deed and righteous wrath. But,nevertheless, 'Vengeance is our Lord's,' and a king should be somewhatcooler headed and wiser than any of us; he should rather sufferinjustice than put state and country in peril, by standing up sostiffly for his right."

  "Old woman's chatter," interrupted Jeppe; "would the egg teach the hen?Justice shall stand, though all the earth should perish. Thus should aking think. He should not bear the sword in vain."

  "But, dear master! there is Pater Gregor, and all the pious monks atEsrom, and many wise men in our town, they all of them think the kingpushes his zeal and obstinacy too far, and only brings himself and thewhole country into trouble; for this he hath now fallen under thearchbishop's ban; yet he still will kick against the pricks, and goesjust the same to mattins and mass as heretofore."

  "That defiance and ungodliness our Lord will pardon him, I think," saidthe old man, with a nod of the head; "there is, besides, surely nobishop in the country who would shut the church door against himbecause Master Grand hath excommunicated him at Sjoeborg. When thatquarrelsome lord was laid by the heels, folks said directly that allchurches were to be shut in the country; but, look you, _was_ it so? Iften commands to shut them were sent from the pope in Rome, may I be aflounder if he would be obeyed. But now the archbishop is free, soth
ere is no great need for it. At any rate we have seen before that aDanish king may be under a ban, and yet bear sceptre and crown to hisdying day."

  "Things may go wrong enough yet, master," answered the lad. "Withoutthe pope's permit he can never wed, and he may have long to wait for itwhile he deals in this fashion by every canon and priest who sided withthe archbishop. There is the rich Hans Rodis in Copenhagen; he hathlost all he owned because he sent a file and tools to the archbishop inthe tower. Master Peter in Lund hath not fared a hair better, and allthe archbishop's church property is seized. The like of suchpresumption hath never been heard of in Christendom before, says PaterGregor."

  "In this matter the king will follow the advice of his bestcounsellors, and neither thine nor Pater Gregory's," muttered the oldman. "He and the state council must answer for what hath been done.Folk have tried him rather too much, and there are bounds to everything, even to piety and patience. 'Beware of a brawl!' said mydeparted father, God rest his soul! 'but if thou meddlest in one, carryit through like a man.' It avails but little to cast butter againststones. No; hard against hard."

  "By your leave, master, so said the Devil, when he leant his backagainst a thorn bush," interrupted the young fisherman, smiling; "butit is said he repented it when he found what it did for him. I alsohave heard a wise old saying at times: 'If thou canst not step over,then creep under,' said my aunt to me. Had our king learnt that wisdomof the proud Drost Hessel, who taught him to flourish lance and spear,it would have been better for state and country, says----"

  "Pshaw!" interrupted the old man, placing his basket again on his back;"such wisdom may do well enough for thee, and thy aunt, and PaterGregor, who speak out all ye think; but what is fitting for rats andmice would ill beseem the falcon and eagle. Humility is precious asgold; but where a king would pass he should sooner burst the gate openthan creep under it through the mire." So saying, he cast anotherglance at the solemn witness of the king's stern and speedy executionof justice, and then, silent and thoughtful, strode forward on the roadto Gilleleie.

  "But, since you side with the king in every thing, master," asked theyouth, "how can you then defend mad Morten the cook, or think he will'scape the gallows? He hath ever sided with the outlaws. That he helpedthe bishop out of Sjoeborg you know as well as any of us. I saw he waswith you on Christmas eve, ere he put out to sea again in that blackpilgrim ship."

  "If thou would'st keep in a whole skin, jackanapes, let that be betweenus two," exclaimed the old man, in wrath, turning menacingly towardshim. "However Morten may have sinned, he now doth penance for it; hewho puts out to open sea at Christmas, to serve his Lord and Saviour,is no bad Christian, according to my notion, and therefore no traitorto his country."

  "But every one knows----"

  "Gossip! we know enough! What Morten hath to do either with the bishopor the outlaws concerns not thee or me; but this I know for certain,since he hath seen our young king himself, and taken money at his hand,he hath been true as steel to him in his heart. That Master Grand gotloose was perhaps a God's providence," he added. "In this matter I eventhink myself our brave king hath set rather too boldly to work. IfMorten hath had a finger in the game it may cost him dear; but that heneither meant ill to country or king I will stake my neck upon."

  "A juggler and a godless churl he is, nevertheless; and an outlawedvagabond and sure gallows bird to boot, if he sets foot again on Danishground," said the young fisherman, eagerly. "'Tis both sin and shame,master! that your young pretty Karen will weep her blue eyes red forhis sake."

  "Ha, indeed! hath that come out?" said the old man; "thou would'strather, I warrant, she should weep them red for thy sake, if weep shemust. Drive these fancies out of thine head, Ole! If Morten come backere St. Hans day, as he promised Karen and me, and can give account ofhimself, thou shalt have leave to dance at his wedding; but if ye wouldspeak ill of him to me or to Karen, thou may'st pack up and pack off.Now thou knowest my manner of thinking." So saying, the old man marchedforward with rapid strides. The youth followed him, crest-fallen and insilence, till they drew near the shore, where Jeppe unmoored a fishingboat for the purpose of sailing up the coast with the fish he could nolonger dispose of at Sjoeborg.

  "You must not suppose I would speak ill of Morten," resumed the youngfisherman, as he set down the basket in the boat, and stepped over thegunwale after his master. "'Twould be of no use either; you and Karenare now so bewitched by that gallows bird. I must own myself he is acomely, sharp-witted jolly fellow, although he begins to get somewhatinto years; indeed, as for that matter he might almost be her father.If he helped the bishop to flee out of piety and Christian charity, hehath perhaps done a good deed, but folk will hardly say it was for theLord's sake. Your pretty little Karen would be better mated with ayoung fellow than with an outlawed and almost aged vagabond, and--"

  "Thou beardless greenhorn! what is thy head running upon?" exclaimedthe old man angrily, and stamping as he spoke. "Think'st thou it needsbut a smooth chin, and a milk-sop look, to cut out an honest fellowwith my daughter? Out of sight out of mind, say many young folknow-a-days; but that shall none say of me and _my_ daughter. If I heara word more of this matter from thy mouth, Ole! it shall be the last weexchange together. But what devil is this?" he exclaimed, in surprise,as he perceived there were three in the boat; "whence came thatfellow?"

  "Will you carry a passenger across to Skanor, for fair words and fairrecompense, good people?" asked a tall man, suddenly rising from underone of the rowing benches, where he appeared to have concealed himselfunder the sail. He wore a dirty peasant's cloak, but it fitted ill, anda knight's shoulder scarf peeped from under it, together with therichly gilded hilt of a sword. He seemed to strive in vain to conceal alarge scar on his forehead under the goat's-skin cap; his pale andfrigid countenance, and furtive glances from under his rusty-colouredmeeting eyebrows, inspired a feeling of distrust; he spoke Danish, butwith something of a Norwegian pronunciation, which, however, seemed notto be natural to him, but assumed for the occasion.

  "What have _you_ to do here in my boat?" growled forth Jeppe, measuringthe intruder with a bold look. "If you would cross to Skanoer, why go yenot to the ferry?"

  "The king hath stopped the ferries on account of the archbishop,"answered the stranger. "Every man knows Grand hath escaped hence bysea, and yet the stupid dullards hunt after him here, both by day andnight. Not a cat can leave the country, and there is now hardly a woodor morass left where a friend of the pious archbishop may hide himself.I see you take me for a deserter. It avails not to withhold the truthfrom you. I am a persecuted man; save my life, and bring me to a seaport from whence I may escape; I will richly repay you for it."

  "Well!" said the old man, and his stern look relaxed. "No doubt anhonest man may get into trouble, as hath chanced ere now; _he_ is oftenforced to quit the country in disguise who afterwards can return withhonour. The wind is fair, my yawl will weather the trip bravely; but Imust first know who you are, and wherefore you are outlawed?"

  "Outlawed!" repeated the stranger, with a start; "who says I amoutlawed, with law and justice, because I fly from lawlessness andshameful injustice? I am a kinsman of the great Archbishop Grand, whomthey have here so shamefully and unjustly maltreated. If I would notexpose myself to the same tyrannical treatment, from which our Lord andpious men have freed him, I am now forced to seek safety by flight."

  "But your name?" resumed the fisherman, as he suddenly placed the oaragainst a stone, and pushed the boat out to sea, with such force thatboth the stranger and the astonished young fisherman tumbled over thebench. "You will not call yourself outlawed, then?" he continuedcalmly, while the stranger stood up, and cast an anxious look on thewide space between the boat and the shore. "I should incline to thinkye were so, nevertheless. Are ye not called, because of a littlemistake, Squire Kagge with the scar? Were ye one of those who slew theking's father in Finnerup barn? and if it be you who lately sought totake the king's life, I should be a rascal if I stirred a hand to bringyou
to any other free port than the gallows."

  The stranger's countenance had become fearfully distorted; he thrusthis hand as if convulsively under his cloak, and drew forth a longglittering knight's sword. "You must either set me instantly on shorehere, or bring me to Skanoer harbour; no matter who the devil I may be,"he cried. "The squire whom Denmark's greatest man dubbed a knight letshimself not be carried to market with cod and flounders by a vilefisherman."

  "Big words and fat flesh stick not in the throat," answered Jeppe,quietly brandishing the heavy iron-tagged oar like a lance over hishead. "Here I stand on my own ground, and here I am master. Cast yourdyrendal[15] from you, Sir Malapert! or you shall feel one upon yourskull which will make you forget the stroke of knighthood you got fromthe greatest man. If that man be Stig Anderson,"--he added, "you neednot mention your fair name or your fair deed--for in that case you wereas certainly with Marsk Stig and the grey friars in Finnerup barn asyou are now with Jeppe the fisherman on the road to judgment and thegallows."

  "We shall see," shouted the stranger, like a madman, and rushed on himwith his drawn sword, but at the same moment he fell back senseless inthe boat, while the hat flew from his head before a stroke of Jeppe'siron-tagged oar.

  "Take the dyrendal from him, and bind him, Ole, while I loose thesails," said the old fisherman calmly, as he threw down the oar, andbegan to unfurl the sails. "That blow he dies not of. If the king willgive him his life, that's _his_ affair; but none shall say that oldJeppe the fisherman sided with such like outlaws, and let a regicideslip whole skinned from Gilleleie."

  The young fisherman obeyed his master. The sails were soon unfurled,and the fishing yawl sailed swiftly along the coast.

  Jeppe was not mistaken. His captive was the renowned Aage Kagge who hadbeen outlawed with all those who had taken a personal share in themurder of Eric Glipping. He had entered the service of the King ofNorway, but had ventured to Denmark to bring Marsk Stig's daughtersfrom thence; and also, as it appeared, with other less peaceableintentions. That he had been a party to the murderous attack of thecrazed Jutlander upon the king the Drost's huntsmen had borne witness,and there seemed also every probability that it was he who hadattempted the assassination of Drost Aage, as he was riding with MarskStig's daughters into the gate of Vordingborg castle. Every burgomasterand all commandants of castles throughout the country had receivedorders to trace and to seize him, wherever he was found. As an outlaw,besides, every one who met and knew him was empowered to slay him onthe spot. Although in general he, like all those outlawed regicides,was held in great detestation, there was still one heart which throbbedfor him with love and sympathy,--the wayward, restless heart of thecaptive Lady Ulrica.