Maugis, ye sorcerer from ye ancient French : a wonderful tale from ye writings of ye mad savant of ye Maison Maugis in ye olde citie of Mouzon, France
yield there can be no more said. I regret only that our humble prayers
for thy pardon have not prevailed. We never would deliver Renaud to
you, because our honor is opposed to it, and because there never was
yet an Aymon who would purchase peace at the price of infamy and
cowardice.”
Maugis and his brothers, then saluting the emperor with the most
profound respect, withdrew.
Charlemagne, now giving himself up entirely to his vindictive feelings,
his rage for vengeance now paramount, summoned his council of state and
outlined the course he had decided to follow; he ordered preparations
to be made immediately for a general assault. The troops were to be
assembled completely armed, under the walls of Montaubon, and the
machines of war for hurling stones, catapaults and battering rams, were
to be at once transported thither.
Maugis, on his part, knowing what was coming, was not inactive; he
placed his soldiers behind the ramparts to the best advantage to resist
attack.
The next day at sunrise the assault occurred, made with great vigor.
Maugis allowed them to approach, place their scaling ladders, and
even to commence to mount them, then at a given signal they by united
effort created great havoc and carnage among them by pouring upon them
boiling oil, and by burying them beneath a quantity of enormous stones;
still the enemy persisted and the assault continued fiercely; but such
was the awful slaughter of his troops, that at the end of an hour,
the emperor, dismayed by his losses, ordered a retreat and re-entered
the camp, followed by his depleted legions. He had suffered not only
defeat, but disaster.
This experience taught the emperor that Montaubon could never be
taken by assault, and he thereupon determined to blockade the château
so vigorously, and by famine reducing its inhabitants to the last
extremity, force them to capitulate. In fact, hunger had already
commenced to worry them, and only a short time after this siege began
the awful specter of starvation stared them in the face, and soon
thereafter, men, women, and children were lying around exhausted with
hunger, and striving to prolong their existence by eating the buds and
roots of the trees.
Famine, with all its horrors, was upon them, but still the impenetrable
cordon remained encircling them, and the conspirators heard with
vindictive glee of the terrible straits of the inhabitants of the
castle.
The situation of the people behind the ramparts of Montaubon was truly
desperate. They were forced to devour all kinds of living animals and
even insects, and at a point where everything seemed exhausted, to add
to the horror, a pest followed, which threatened to decimate completely
the miserable population.
Some appealed to Maugis once more to exercise his magic power to
deliver them, but he firmly refused, saying:
“I have already incurred the wrath of God by such efforts; not only did
I violate solemn oaths that I made, by practices condemned by the wise
and the good, but instead of relief, it brought only new misfortunes. I
will have no more of it; rather than that I would prefer death, but I
will never yield.”
The majority of his captains supported Maugis in his determination not
to surrender. They were undismayed by the horrors surrounding them.
Said Maugis:
“If I were the only victim demanded by the emperor, to save you I would
gladly surrender; but you know that if we yield we shall all be put
to the sword. We have no quarter to expect from Charlemagne; we must
continue to resist.”
These words encouraged his men and caused them to be resigned to
further suffering.
The awful suffering and carnage occurring within the château of
Montaubon moved the hearts of all of Charlemagne’s court. All the
lords, with the aged Duke d’Aymon at their head, went to demand grace
for the besieged from Charlemagne, but he peremptorily refused, and
when they supplicated him he answered by ordering an assault.
Thus to the horrors of siege and famine was added the horrors of war.
Great masses of rock, hurled into the château by the catapaults and
besieging machines, crushed out the lives of many of its inhabitants.
In the midst of these adversities Maugis was ever sustained by his
noble wife, who always preserved her serenity and courage.
Richard, who realized that each day rendered their power of resistance
less possible, urged that they surrender.
“No,” replied Maugis, “let us continue to resist. Something within me
tells me that we yet shall be saved.”
Charlemagne, now seeing the weakened condition of his enemy, resolved
to end it all by a single blow. Taking some of his choicest troops, a
determined assault was made upon the fortress, but once more he met
defeat. The feeble garrison, gathering all the force that remained in
them, repulsed the besiegers victoriously; and hurled them into the
castle moat.
Meantime the situation had become so desperate that Maugis, usually
so resigned and patient, even commenced to despair; but he would not
think of surrendering, death rather than that, and he made the resolve
to retreat to the citadel of the fortress with his brothers and those
belonging to him; then set it on fire and perish in the flames, first
giving the inhabitants their liberty to surrender, or do otherwise, as
it might seem best to them.
“Loved one,” said Yolande, “what thou deemest best is best. I have
followed thee in life. I will follow thee in death, for life without
thee would be death; and here, embracing her two sons, her mother’s
heart nearly succumbed; that they should perish was indeed a cruel
blow, but choking back her tears she said, in firm tones:
“Let it be so!”
The three brothers of Maugis, and Renaud likewise, agreed that to
perish was the only thing left for them.
At this juncture an aged man was ushered to their presence. Said he:
“Most noble lord! many years ago, ’tis said, there stood a fortress
upon this mountain, even where Montaubon now stands, and methinks I
have heard my father’s father tell how in the old days there did a
subterranean passage exist which led from hither and opened into the
forest of the Serpante yonder, beyond the lines of Charlemagne. Find
this and we are saved.”
“Knowest thou where the opening is?” demanded Maugis.
“Alas!” responded the old man sadly, “I know not; it be only one of the
forgotten memories of the tales of my youth, renewed in my mind by much
suffering.”
At these words the hopes that were raised in the hearts of all who
heard were dashed to the earth.
“Did such a passage exist, where could it be found?” It was more than
probable that, choked by _débris_, it had been built over by the solid
walls of the new château, and even if it had ever existed was now
thoroughly hidden.
“Use thine occult powers!” whispered Yolande.
Then Maugis and the little company proceeded to make a thorough
exploration of the castle, visiting in succession all of its towers and
subterranean parts.
In every underground passage and room Maugis would pause, and standing
erect, with arm outstretched, slowly sweep a circle about him, when it
was complete only to drop his hand and bow his head, saying:
“I find nothing.”
Hope seemed to have left them, there was only one more place to visit,
one of the towers at the northeast part of the ramparts, known as “Tour
de la Bellevue.” Here, in its subterranean depths, the little company
assembled for the last trial, pausing breathless with expectancy, while
Maugis closed his eyes and slowly made the mystic circle around the
torch-lighted room. When half-complete, he paused and a look of hope
stole over his face; once more he swept the circle and again paused at
the same point; a third time did he repeat this motion, then opening
his eyes, with joy lighting his face, he said:
“It is here.”
Tools were hurriedly brought, digging commenced, and at the end of
an hour the passage opening stood revealed. Richard went forward to
explore it, while the rest hastened upward to make preparations there
for immediate departure. Nearly overcome with joy, to think not only
would they succeed in escaping from Charlemagne, but in mystifying him
as well.
In the meantime, Richard having returned with the joyful news that the
passage was all clear, Maugis summoned his people, and distributed
torches among them, and giving the stronger the more precious objects
to carry, started them under the leadership of Richard on their journey
though the passage.
Maugis hastened to his tower, where in the hurry and excitement of his
departure, Yon, his brother-in-law, was lying forgotten, confined to
his bed by a sickness which had affected him ever since his treason.
Maugis was about to lift him in his arms to bear him away, when Alard
said:
“Let him lie. He is the cause of all our misfortunes.”
“He is culpable, that is true,” replied Maugis, “but he is miserable,
and that is claim enough upon us not to abandon him;” and with these
words he took the suffering king and bore him away among the others.
At sunset they had made the passage of the tunnel safely and came out
into the forest. A little later they entered another forest called
“D’Arsene,” under the leadership of the old man, who conducted them to
the abiding place of an old hermit, whose store of food illy sufficed
for the wants of the famished people, and who, exhausted, here stopped
all further progress and ate whatever they could find. The soldiers
threw themselves upon the surrounding foliage and devoured it. By great
good fortune they then encountered some shepherds with their flocks,
and Maugis having bought sheep to feed the famished people, and having
fully satisfied their voracious hunger, they rested during the whole of
the succeeding day and the day following.
Maugis, with an escort, then rode on in advance to the city of
Dordogne, where, when they learned of his arrival, the inhabitants
came out to meet him, with cheers and cries of joy. The enthusiasm
soon penetrated throughout the city and its environs, and that day, at
least, everybody was rejoicing. The next day Maugis received the oaths
of fealty of the lords from all the surrounding country.
For eight days nobody had appeared on the ramparts of Montaubon,
visible to the camp of Charlemagne. The emperor decided that everyone
must have succumbed, that the fortress could be entered without
danger, and when a short time afterward Roland, Olivier, and the
Duke de Naimes rode in, having battered down the great gate, they
were greeted everywhere with silence. Everywhere in the city and the
fortress decaying bodies were lying about, unburied, emitting the most
pestilential odors, which finally became so great they were forced to
retreat. In vain they searched for Maugis and his brothers. It was
impossible to find them.
Maugis was very soon apprised that Charlemagne had occupied Montaubon
and was sorely tempted to besiege him in retaliation and submit him to
the same tortures he had suffered. But in this he was deterred by the
conscientious Yolande, who said:
“While thine oath of fealty might permit thee to defend thyself, if
attacked by him, it will surely be a violation of it if thou dost
attack him.”
Meanwhile, the principal lords of the court could not conceal their joy
at the escape of the sons of Aymon, and later, when the scouts sent in
all directions to discover their whereabouts reported to the emperor
that they had retired to Dordogne, where they had raised a formidable
army, the emperor at once gave orders to raise the camp.
He directed the march of his army to Montorgueil, a few leagues from
Dordogne, persisting in his vindictiveness in attacking the sons of
Aymon anew.
Learning of this movement, Maugis would not this time suffer himself