In a Silver Sea

Chapter II

Eanf and Matjvain 22 CHAPTEE III. Eanf's Experiences in the World . . 44 CHAPTEE IV. Eanf claims Evangeline as his Own . 67 CHAPTEE V. Eanf dedicates his Diary to Evangeline . 105 CHAPTEE VI. Eanf's Diary continued . . . .113

CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III.

44

Chapter VIII

The Testimony in the Bible continued . 141 CHAPTEE IX. Eanf puts the Links of the Chain together 162 CHAPTEE X. The Statue in the Market-place . . 179 CHAPTEE XI. A Perilous Discovery . . . . .198 CHAPTEE XII. Golden Caves 213 CHAPTEE XIII. Eanf completes his Diary .... 234 CHAPTEE XIV. Mauvain returns to the Silver Isle . .

Chapter I. The Record Of Bane The Hunchback

" Come, Ranf, while you have the power, set upon paper a sign that shall remain when you have passed away. While I live no eye but mine shall see what I write. When I am dead, it is Evan geline's, with all that I possess. It is not that I believe I shall die to-night or to-morrow, but it is as well to think of things. It is right that Evangeline should know something of my inner life, so that she may give men the lie who speak ill of me. There are plenty of them ; let them have their way, but do not let them step into mine. A spirit within me might cry ' Strike ! ' and they would not live to rue. " No, I shall not die to-night, but I will be prepared. Only up to a certain point VOL. II. B Iii a Silver Sea. 2 are we our own masters ; though steadfastness and determination will achieve most human desires, we are for ever at the mercy of chance, which at any unexpected moment may snap the mortal thread.

This morning I slipped upon a stone, and fell to a depth of a thousand feet before I recovered myself by catching at a branch of a tree which grew out of the rocks for my preservation. I slid down over the sharp stones which cut my hands when I endeavoured to clutch them, but Death was not waiting for me in the depths below. Scores of years ago a seed was blown into a crevice, and a tree grew and forced the rocks asunder, that I might be saved for my life's purpose. Those who pretend to study the science of Divine things, and who really understand them as well as a beetle, would dispute this, if it paid them to do so. I have my beliefs, and am content with them. If in the world's scheme there is any sort of design, all things possible must be admitted. Even the unseen agencies by which we are surrounded, and whose mysterious power derides our highest efforts, play their direct part in our lives.

Sometimes they drive men mad. Human judgment has passed such a verdict upon me ; but I have long learnt to accept with scorn the judgment of mankind. " I am quite calm, though sorely wounded. Bodily pain does not distress me; I can trifle with it, argue with it, laugh at it, defy it, and conquer it. I have in my time suffered torments, but it has been the anguish of the soul that has conquered me and made me groan. I am bruised and cut, and shall not be able to descend the mountain for two or three days at least. " I saw a flower that shone like gold, with a dusky mellow lustre such as I see in the autumn sunsets as I stand upon the highest peak of this mountain of snow. Its peculiarity was that its inner cup reflected a light of burnished silver. It was not within easy reach, and I could only hope to obtain it by stepping on a large stone which projected from the outer surface of the precipice.

I estab lished a foothold, and with a firm grasp of the earth behind me, leant forward to detach the flower by its root, when the stone slipped from beneath me. I slipped b with it, and was saved by the tree. Wounded as I was, I could not possibly have reached the mountain's top by climbing the surface of the rock, but to my surprise I found in the rear of this tree an easier path to safety. It could not have been made by human hands "I am arrested in the current of my thoughts by a notch. Why could this hidden path not have been made by human hands ? There can be no doubt that the islanders speak the truth when they say that no man but myself has ventured into these strange regious for generations. But two hundred years ago there lived upon the mount a man, self banished, whose life was cursed by love and jealousy.

He grew old here, and passed his days in loneliness, without buman or other visible companionship. The mountain was his then, as it is mine now. He essayed a wonderful task, and may have cut this path to assist in its accomplishment. It is not an unreason able idea. When I am able to move about I will convince myself whether the narrow way has been made by nature or man. " What kind of life did he live upon this Iii a Silver Sea. 5 mount ? He was utterly alone ; not a living being to hold converse with. Separated from the world by an impassable gulf, dreading the future, seeking to propitiate it by tears and supplication, and self abasement. Both fool and coward ! " A handsome man, they say, a hero in form and purpose, wise, and strong, and capable. That is how men judge of others — by outward signs ; so do they judge of me.

But I have taught them something already, and may teach them more. A new character for you to play, Ranf — a braggart. Although you are deformed and a hunchback, although your limbs are at odds with one another and you are in height but half a man, I know under what conditions you could elevate yourself into a god to be worshipped by the crowd. " There is a sound at my door of scratching and tearing, and now as of a body pushing with strength and violence. The door flies open. " It is my dog Leontine. I left her in the lower hut two days ago, and she has sought me out. She lies now at my feet, devoted and tame, as handsome and as strong as a lioness. Had she found me dead, she would have licked my body, and perchance have shed tears over me. She has in her higher qualities than some human beings I. know.

I do not say this because Leontine loves me; I say it out of the depths of my life and experience. " She thought I was in pain ; she looked up at me with her great soft eyes, and, when I smiled at her to assure her that I was at my ease, she nestled down com fortably in satisfaction. What would you do for me, Leontine — fight for me, die for me ? Were you a woman, would you love me ? If you could speak, and answered yes, I would stab you where you lie. " If I had been born straight, Leontine could not love me more. It is perhaps fortunate for me that I came into the world crooked and misshapen. Something is mine. The love of goats and birds and dogs is worth having — when you can't get the love of a woman. " Leontine, I will confess to you. You will not betray me. It is long, long ago in the past since the sunlight, peeping in upon me, stole away to flowers and blades of grass better worth ripening, and left me in the dark to tfirive as best I could.

I was born in the dark, and lived in a forest, in the very depths of it, farther away from men than I am now. I have kept no count of the years. About me was a woman who said she was my mother, and gave me my name, such as no other man ever bore. I had nothing in common with human kind. I was much alone; often for weeks together. We lived in a wretched hut, and I was left to do pretty much as I liked. Certain rules, however, were set for me. I was warned not to wander beyond a defined boundary ; frightful stories were related to me of awful creatures prowling within a mile of our hut, and of what they would do to me if I ventured within their reach. I had no desire to do so ; I made acquaintance with bird and beast, but not with man. I had no reason to believe that there was another child in the world be sides myself.

My mother, who was as hideous as I, and who never gave me a kind word, bade me, on pain of torture and death, not to show myself if any human creature came in view. When she left me, saying she would return to-morrow, or next week, or next month, I felt no regret. Leontine, I kiss you; you are grateful ; you know it is a sign of love. I love you, my dog, else I should not embrace you. I do not remember this woman ever placing her lips upon my face. " It was no loss. I felt no need for kisses. There was enough to eat in our hut ; as a child I learnt to snare birds and prepare them for the table ; we had a bit of land where vegetables grew ; I lived the life of an animal. " It is almost a wonder how I learned to speak ; for this at least I can thank my mother. When she was away I talked to the trees, and fancied I knew their language as their branches bent and their leaves rustled in the wind.

Then I could bark like a dog. I have not done so since I have been on the isle. Listen, Leontine. " Ha ! I startled you. Here is some thing more. I can send my voice out side this hut, and can make you think we are surrounded by your species. Listen again. " I have done a fine thing. Leontine is gone, searching for the bodies that gave forth those sounds. I cannot continue hi a Silver Sea. 9 without her companionship. I will wait till she returns. " She is here, standing by my side, with a listening look in her eyes. I will fool you no more, Leontine. Go, shut the door, and rest in peace. " The voices and songs of birds I also learned to know and imitate. I was entirely a woodland creature, and I cannot say with truth that I was unhappy ; but I was conscious of a void in my life. Define it I could not ; I seemed to be waiting for a sign, and even, at times, to be yearning for it.

That was because I was human. " A task was given me to perform. Beyond the boundary was a forest of deer, which gentlemen amused themselves in hunting. When a deer strayed within our boundary I was to chase it over the border. Of these events I kept a record in a small book, and it was by this means I learnt to form written characters, and, imperfectly, to read. The records were simple, and ran thus : On such a day, in the morning, afternoon, or night, there appeared a deer, of such an age. I knew the age of the deer by its antlers. It was an easy task to frighten these gentle animals away ; but one day a deer turned and evaded me, and, when I hurt it with a stone, attacked me. I was gored and wounded badly, but the victory was mine. Then I knew that I was strong. "My mother was terribly angry with me, and said that if the gentlemen knew I had killed a deer they would take my life.

" ' Or I should take theirs,' I answered. ' I am ready for another fight. It is rare sport.' " ' You are a fool,' my mother said ; ' if you crossed the path of a gentleman, he would kick you aside.' " ' Why would he do that ? ' I asked, in curiosity. " ' Look at yourself in clear water,' replied my mother, shaking her fist at me ; ' you are neither beast nor human.' " I laughed at her anger ; there was nothing in it to frighten me. As to looking at myself in a clear pool, it was a thing I had never thought of doing ; no fair stream of water lay within our boundary. But when my laughter ceased, I became thoughtful and moody, and my mother's words, carrying in them a sting I did not rightly comprehend, rankled in my mind a long time afterwards. " Growing bolder with years, and less willing to be told I must go here and must not go there, and still less willing to obey, I plunged beyond the boundary, and came upon a building of stone, surrounded by a neglected garden.

There were fruit-trees in it, still bearing, and as I ate some of the fruit, I looked admiringly at the stained and painted windows and at the beautiful house, the like of which I had never seen before. " ' Who lives here ? ' I asked myself. ' One of those gentlemen who would kick me from his path if I crossed it ? ' " I knocked at the doors, without receiving an answer; I tried gates and windows, and found them fast. There were pillars in the principal entrance, reaching to a verandah, stretching out from some of the handsomest windows in the building. Determined to see the inside of the house, I climbed up one of these pillars, and stepped on to the verandah. One of the windows was loose; without breaking it I managed to open it, and by that means obtained entrance. The house was entirely deserted ; not a sign of life was visible, with the exception of spider-webs in all the corners.

The walls were hung with beautiful pictures, the furniture was gold and velvet, I could not hear my footfall as I walked on the thick pile-carpets. I strolled through the rooms in a kind of dream, and came to one into which the full sunlight was pouring. It was a bed room, with delicate fripperies in it which I handled with care. There were two pictures in this room which fixed my attention ; one of a gentleman, dressed in c ourt fashion, the other of a lovely young girl. The faces in both the pictures singularly affected me. The features of the girl were faultlessly beautiful ; the hand some mouth of the gentleman was opened, and showed his regular white teeth, his hands were delicately shaped, and there was an air of distinction about him which was new to me. I passed my hand over my face, and was seized by a longing to look at myself in clear water, as my mother had bid me do.

I turned to a table upon which stood a mirror, the first I had ever seen, and in the glass I saw a reflection of myself. " What kind of monster was it that peered eagerly forward to look into my <face ? Could it be the hideous and faith ful likeness of one who was ' neither beast nor human ;' or a juggle created by some fiend to madden me ? I dashed my fist into the mirror, and cut my fingers to the bone. I did not feel the pain of my wounded flesh. My soul was quivering with the keener torture of the indignity which Nature had fastened upon me. Why was I sent into the world in this shape, a horror to all that beheld me ? If I could destroy myself as I had destroyed the re flection of myself, would it not be a good thins: done ? The idea held me for an in stant only. No. Why should I take my life ?

Better to think myself other than I was, transformed to beauty, in the like ness of the handsome gentleman whose portrait I was again examining. Without any absolute direction of my will I aped the graceful posture of this fine gentleman, aped the motion of his dainty hands, aped his smile and the pose of his head. In this disguise I gazed at the portrait of the lovely girl, and kissed my hand to her ; and the next moment, with some sudden notion of the truth, I burst into a passion of tears, and staggered from the room. Down the stairs I stumbled wdth but one thought stirring in my mind — despisal of myself. I found myself now in a room which, but for the dust that lay heavily about it, I might have supposed had been quite recently occupied. Bottles and glasses were there ; in the glasses were the crusted dregs of wine, and thick stains of spilt liquor were on the table ; two chairs lay overturned on the ground, and by their side a rusty rapier.

I was in a paroxysm of rage at my deformity. On a sideboard were some bottles which had not been uncorked. I knocked the necks off two, and pouring the contents into a huge silver goblet with double handles, I drank the wine with greedy enjoyment. It exhilarated me, and changed my mood to one of passionate hope and exultation. I shouted, I sang, I danced, and drank more wine, until I fell to the ground and slept like a log. " I did not awake till early morning, and I opened my eyes to the singing of birds. The sounds came from my own lips, inspired perhaps by a woodland dream. I rose to my feet, and thought of all that had passed ; the wine had not affected me otherwise than to make me sleep ; my head was perfectly clear. " I made a further examination of the deserted house, and walked through the rooms, from the top of the house to the bottom.

The doors that were locked I opened with ease, even the cellar-doors, which led to vaults where rare old wine lay buried, ripening to rarer perfection. " There remained but one room still unexplored; it was locked, and had not yielded easily to my pressure. I returned to it, and using all my strength, forced it open. It was full of books. The walls were lined with them ; pro tected by glass cases from dust, they reached from floor to ceiling. The windows were emblazoned with richly -coloured pictures ; beautiful groups in bronze were set about; the ceiling was carved into quaint faces, whose eyes looked down upon me with solemn import, whose features were instinct with life. Figures of armed men stood in niches, mute guardians of the rich treasures of the room. I approached them in fear; I touched them, and they did not strike me clown ; the armour encased no forms of living flesh.

These figures, the models in bronze, the carvings, the subdued light, the eloquent books, impressed me deeply. In a corner stood a large case of wood, the outer surface of wdrich was inlaid with figures of birds and beasts and objects unfamiliar to me. I raised the lid, and saw a long row of ivory tablets. I pressed my fingers upon them, and a deep voice issued forth, which floated through the walls, and died gradually away in the distance. When the sound fell upon my ears I started back, fearing that I had released a spirit ; but presently, the sound being gone, I touched other keys, and produced notes of sadness, of joy, of solemnity. Now came a peal of wedding bells, now the tolling of a funeral dirge. It was the first time I had heard music different from the natural music of field and forest.

" I was in another world ; I heard voices; I saw visions; a new spirit was born within me. I was no longer Ranf the deformed! I was a human beinar, with a soul to be moved by passion. " Leontine, I believe you have a soul. In another state of being we shall wander side by side in friendly communion, thinking of our life in the Silver Isle. You will be faithful and true, I know ; we shall understand things better then. " Perhaps then, Evangeline, still living, will be reading these lines, and will send a tender thought into the air for the cripple who would yield up his life for her. You see, my dog, there is nothing else that binds me to this world — not even you. I was growing into the spiritual likeness of a savage, my case a fitting one for a world of evil thought, and she brought back to me my better self.

I was ready so to hate myself and all mankind that no deed would have been too black for my mind to con ceive and my hands to perform. It is no slight service, Leontine, to have your sense of self-respect restored to you, to be made to feel, through the love of a little child, that, twisted out of all proportion as you are — through no fault of your own — your nature is in kinship with much that is VOL. II. beautiful and bright in earth and air. The clouds, the flowers, the balmy air, the sweet sounds of forest life, and I, are of one family. The clouds shine upon me, the flowers incline towards me, the balmy air kisses me, the harmony of nature is not less sweet when I am by. It is only man that is unkind. And I, knowing the world, know that to bend and fawn and lick the hand that wrongs you, destroys within you the spirit of manhood, and brings you to the moral level of the snake, that crawls upon its belly and lives in slime.

So I give scorn for scorn, and make the best of what I was not able to avoid. "I took possession of the deserted mansion, and no soul disturbed me for years. During all that time not a human being but myself entered the house. I haunted it in secret, and my mother was not able to discover where I spent the days. She followed me, and I tricked her; led her over marsh and water-field, and through the prickly intricacies of the bush; I ran, and walked, and lingered, with her behind me, and never turned to see; then I led her a dance back to our wretched hut, laughing to myself at the knowledge that I had a palace of my own, whose treasures of art had opened the windows of my soul, and let in Heaven's light. " ' Where do you hide ? ' asked my mother. " ' In a cave,' I answered. " ' Alone ? ' "'No.' " ' With whom, then ? ' she cried sus piciously.

" ' With shadows,' I said, laughing in her face, ' that have life, but cannot speak.' " She asked me whether I was a fool, a knave, or a madman. I asked her in return whether she was really my mother. She aimed a blow at me, that struck the air. " ' You can tell me one thing,' I said composedly ; ' who owns us ? ' " ' A great lord.' " ' A man, do you mean ? ' " ' No ; a gentleman.' " ' A gentleman, and not a man ; then lie is in bad case. And all this land is his ? ' " ' Aye, for miles around.' " ' Why does he not come here ?' " ' You had better ask him when you see him.' c " ' I will. When will he come ? ' " ' When the whim seizes him ; then you will be whipped.' " ' I think not. I would fling the man into the air who dared to touch me with hand or weapon.' " It was her turn to laugh now.

" ' You are a slave,' she said, ' as I am. You do not know what great men can do.' " ' I will wait and learn,' I said calmly. " She regarded me witb curiosity. " 'You are changed, Ranf.' "I glanced over my shoulder at my hump. ' It has grown larger,' I said ; ' it is big enough for a man.' " ' Your are one in years.' " I was glad to hear that. " ' So,' I said commandingly, ' mother or no mother, treat me as a man.' " I compelled respect from her. It was a poor triumph, Leontine, and it shames me now to think I felt proud of it. . . . " I am interrupted. There is a tapping at my door, as of some gentle creature desiring shelter. Leontine's head is in clined towards the door, and her soft eyes are fixed upon mine. Go, my dog, and discover who it is that seeks admittance in manner so gracious. . . .

" It is one of my white doves from the lower hut. What brings you here, my bird ? Have you a message from spirit land tied under your wing ? Am I summoned ? No, my dove, not yet. I shall live my time, I believe. But it is kind of you to come to see your wounded master, though I must have taught you badly that you should come without being bidden. This time I forgive you. Fly to your dovecote and find your mate.

Chapter II. Eanf And Mauvain

" Feom the date of this conversation with my mother my steps were no longer dogged. I was left to do as I pleased with my days, most of which I spent in the deserted house, feasting on old wine and old books. I spared neither, and did not abuse them. The wine created for me an ideal world, in which I performed vainglorious deeds ; the books bore better fruit. There were in the library many manuscripts relating to botanical science, and these were espe cially attractive to me. I became (I have no doubt superficially) learned in the growth and life and affinities of plants, and my studies — which were of infinite value to me in what I choose to call soul development — led me to the discovery of a dream-flower, from which I distilled a liquid the mere inhalation of which is hi a Silver Sea. 23 sufficient to produce sleep, and, often, beautiful and remarkable dreams.

The dream-flower is growing now upon this mountain of snow. ■ " So passed my early life, Evangeline ; for it is to you I am speaking. Your spirit, dear one, seems to be hovering over me in this hut ; you are but a child now ; when you are a woman, love me not less. You will live to hear words of deep devo tion from men's lips, but there is no being who would endure more for your sake than Ranf the deformed. " My mother said to me, — " 'Ranf, the old lord is dead.' " ' Well ? ' I answered. "'A new man reigns — his son. We shall have fine times again.' " ' Is he better than the lord who is dead?' " ' Fresher, younger, with blood not yet ripened. The old lord let things run to waste. He has palaces in which he has not set foot for years. Think of that.' " ' I am thinking of it. What will be done with those palaces now ? ' " They will be inhabited again; the old lord in his youth led a riotous life ; the Iii a Silver Sea. 24 young one will do the same.

There will be hunting and feasting and love-making. Ah, Ranf, I, too, was young once.' " ' Naturally. Is this new lord rich ? ' " ' He could not count his money.' '" Ah ! Others will do it for him.' " ' Ranf,' said my mother, ' you talk as if you knew the world.' " ' One does not need to mix with it to know it.' " She came close to me. ' You are mis taken ; you know nothing ; you wTill be wiser in time.' " ' I hope so. Wisdom shall have a welcome.' " ' It is as bitter as gall ; you will wdsh you were a hind.' " ' Why ? ' " She touched my hump, and pointed to my crooked limbs. ' You are a spoilt man,' she said. " ' Well,' I said, pretending to care nothing for her croaking, ' if I am spoilt for this world, I am not for the next.' " ' There is no next,' she muttered gloomily ; ' this is the end of everything.' " The thought disturbed me : ' How will it be with you, Ranf, when the new lord comes this way ?

Will he leave you your palace, or fill it with his lacqueys ? ' " I consoled myself with the reflection that I had made good use of time and opportunity. " I felt the necessity of being more cautious than hitherto in my visits to the deserted mansion. A curious temptation assailed me. ' If,' thought I, ' I were to meet this lord, and send him into a sleep from which he would not awake, I should be safe, and we both should be happy. I could do so with my dream-flower.' " Since the news of the succession of the new lord, the woman whom I must continue to call my mother had shown a hideous desire to decorate herself with gewgaws and fine clothes, of which, to my surprise, she had a supply. I had no idea that she possessed hidden treasure. " ' Why do you make yourself so gay ? ' I asked. "'Toplease the younglord,' she answered.