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
heart sank, and finally when the messenger came and the victory of
Maugis became known, her heart was lightened. Then a few days later a
travel-worn monk delivered into her hands a small packet. It contained
a ring and a slip of parchment on which was written:
“I have love for thee that will never die. Sleeping or waking
I think of thee only. Take this ring, shouldst thou ever be in
peril or need me, send it. It shall be a token for me to come that
nothing shall prevent. Pray thou to God that our separation may be
short.
+Maugis.+”
The maiden covered the token with kisses and hid it in her bosom.
Meanwhile, Charlemagne would have made another attack, but Naimes, more
prudent, advised him to await a more favorable opportunity. Then there
came to the emperor, sent by the crafty Ganelon, one who proposed that
he would agree to take the castle and the lords and soldiers therein,
provided he should be given the château and its territories as his
reward.
Charlemagne accepted the proposition and Hernier de la Seine, for that
was the man’s name, accompanied by Guyon de Bretagne, left the camp,
followed by some good soldiers. Hernier de la Seine hid Guyon and his
soldiers nearby and advanced alone to the château.
Under pretext of having quarreled with Charlemagne, whom he said had
driven him from camp, he had come to offer his sword to Maugis. This
lie, delivered with an air of candor, completely deceived Maugis, and
he freely promised him a place in the castle and that all his wants
should be satisfied.
When night came, Hernier, to reward Maugis for his good action, quietly
stole up on the sentinel guarding one of the gates and slew him, then
opened it for the entrance of Guyon and his soldiers. Quietly dividing
their forces into small detachments they advanced in good order to the
principal places. It seemed as if Maugis and his brave brothers were
lost, but the neighing of their horses in the stables awakened them and
a loud noise struck their ears without their being able to imagine the
true cause. In times of war, however, caution is paramount, and acting
on this thought all four arose and went out.
What they saw did not leave them deceived as to the gravity of their
situation. Guyon, now master of the place, guarded all the means of
exit. Other soldiers were engaged in setting fire to various places in
the fortress.
In such a lamentable position there was but one thing to do, that was
to seek to dominate events with courage and coolness.
The four brothers separated after a hasty consultation with some of
their men and each attacked the men guarding the points of issue. They
soon overcame the enemy, who were deprived of assistance from without.
In vain the traitors tried to escape. The four redoubtable brothers
opposed them irresistibly, until the gateways were encumbered with the
dead. Hernier and twelve others were all who escaped the carnage, and
were taken prisoners, and the men were hurled without pity from the
walls of the castle into the moat.
CHAPTER VI.
Maugis now perceived that their position was no longer tenable, as the
flames by this time had made great headway and everything around them
was doomed to destruction. He at once advised his brothers that it
would be best to gather the remainder of their garrison together and
that very night quietly vacate the fortress. When all had assembled,
Hernier de la Seine was brought out, and despite all his excuses and
abject protestations of devotion in the future, he was hurled from the
ramparts to accompany his twelve acolytes.
Having accomplished this act of justice the little band mounted their
horses and quietly rode away without trusting themselves one look
behind at the ruins of their poor castle. Maugis, above all, was
inconsolable, and but for the restraining words of his brother Alard,
would have at one time retraced his steps.
In the meantime the emperor awaited the result of the enterprise of
Hernier de la Seine with impatience, until two wounded soldiers, who
had escaped the massacre, arrived in camp and announced the disaster to
the royal troops.
The emperor, always very violent, could not receive such news without
flying into a fury. He could not regard such a check otherwise than as
a disgrace. He was even more disturbed at the escape of the fugitives,
but hoping to capture them he sent a corps of his army in pursuit.
Guichard was the first to receive the news of this movement from a
friendly peasant, and Maugis promptly combined the forces of the four,
and placing them in a favorable position, turned and suddenly fell
upon the pursuing army, having first placed their impedimenta and
non-combatants in charge of a few trusted men.
The suddenness of this unexpected attack completely demoralized the
enemy, who not being able to withstand the charge retreated. In spite
of the bravery of Charlemagne, who had arrived on the scene, his
soldiers fled for safety.
The king, wild with rage, rushed at Maugis and aimed a furious blow
at him, with all the force of his mighty arm, which Maugis skillfully
parried. Quick as lightning, Hughes, who saw the peril of the emperor,
threw himself between the combatants and fell mortally wounded under
the blow of Maugis that was intended for his chief.
“Forward!” shouted Charlemagne, and the pursuit of the four brothers
commenced anew, without the loss of any time.
The four young men, however, had profited by the stupor caused by the
peril to the emperor, and quickly assembling their men, fled once more,
pursued closely for twelve leagues. During this time Maugis performed
prodigies of valor by hovering in the rear of his command. Man after
man fell under his irresistible sword and he did not lose a soldier
during the entire running fight.
A swollen river was finally reached, and the emperor, exultant, now
thought the end had come. But even this did not stop the intrepid
brothers, for boldly plunging in they gained the other side in safety,
leaving their astonished enemy on the banks of the flood, convinced
this time that it was impossible to vanquish Maugis.
In face of this result in which he had met his match, and which
Charlemagne received with consternation, he abandoned the pursuit and
retraced his steps. Then, disbanding his army, he put off until some
other time the taking of his vengeance.
In passing the ruins of the Château de Montfort, he caused it to be
razed to the ground, tumbling the remaining walls into the moat and
placing it beyond all possibility of repair.
Maugis and his followers now traveled more tranquilly, when, at the
moment, supposing they were beyond all danger, they stumbled on the
troops of their father, the Duke d’Aymon, who, with other lords and
peers of the court, were proceeding to their homes. The duke, holding
his duty to his emperor above all others, summoned his sons to
surrender or to fight.
This the young men refused to do and begged their father to have a
regard for their position and not reduce them to the last extremities.
The duke, however, turned a deaf ear to the prayer of his sons and
ordered his troops to charge, himself riding at their head. The young
men, fearing to wound or kill their parent, were in a most desperate
place. Their men were falling all around them—so rapidly was their
force diminishing, that of five hundred troops they had at beginning of
the conflict only fifty now remained who were capable of fighting.
They must do something to relieve them of their terrible position.
Then it was that Maugis dismounted, and giving his horse, Bayard,
to Alard, who followed him closely, suddenly ran to his father, and
taking him by surprise, threw his muscular arms around him and held him
firmly, Alard having meanwhile struck down Hermanfroi, who would have
prevented them. During the delay this astonishing scene caused they had
traversed with their men a small river that was their last chance of
safety.
When he saw this movement was completed Maugis released his father,
after having begged his pardon, and throwing himself on his horse
behind the waiting Alard, gained the banks of the river in safety, and
was soon on the other side, despite all efforts to bar his passage.
The old duke at once returned to the emperor to acquaint him of his
defeat, but well pleased in his own heart that his sons should have
escaped.
The great Charlemagne well illustrated the contradictory aspects of his
character by his reception of the old duke as he himself possessed a
strong paternal feeling. Said he:
“By the beard of St. Anthony! an unnatural father art thou, who would
destroy his own children. Out of my presence! Come here no more with
falsehoods on thy lips hoping to obtain new favors.”
Honest, and the reverse of all this, the poor old duke bowed his head,
sighed, and departed for his château. There he recounted to his wife
what had occurred and the humiliation he had received. But Edwige,
instead of consoling him, reproached him bitterly for his actions.
“Thou need not,” she cried, “carry thy fidelity to the king to such a
point as to destroy thine own children.”
“I know, I see now!” sighed the poor old duke, holding out his arms to
the sorrowing mother as a sign of reconciliation.
“I promise thee faithfully never again will I do anything against the
interest of my sons,” he cried with tears in his eyes.
CHAPTER VII.
The four sons of Aymon, reduced to the last extremities, without
soldiers, or without any resources whatever, wandered in the forests of
the Ardennes, shelterless and hungry.
Maugis, finally, when their position became unsupportable, suggested
that the only thing left for them to do was to return to the château of
their father. Said he:
“Whether the sentiments of our father are just or not, what right have
we to doubt the devotion of our mother? Has she not always given to us
her love? Do not our own people love us? What is there then to fear?
Nothing! besides, the life we have been living for some time past has
so changed us I doubt if any one will know us.”
Besides the starvation and ruin that stared him in the face, the noble
soul of Maugis was sadly torn by concern for the position of Yolande,
his beloved one, in the court of Charlemagne. He had learned that she
was practically a hostage for the loyalty of her brother, King of Yon,
the ruler of a small principality in the south, though her position at
the court was as lady-in-waiting to the empress.
He knew the persecutions of Ganelon were well-nigh unbearable and that
she could not escape them by leaving the court.
He chafed at the fate that held him bound hand and foot, and longed
for the chance to rescue Yolande—how, he knew not. The case seemed
hopeless. Charlemagne, now thoroughly embittered, would pursue them to
the end, and what would that be?
While these sad reflections were passing through his mind, his brothers
had consulted among themselves and decided to follow his advice, and
the four waited patiently for night to fall, that they might take up
their route home.
They finally arrived in their own province the next day, after a long
and exhausting march, and at a moment when it was most favorable for
them to enter the château.
Their father was away hunting. Nobody recognized them. Their horses
having every appearance of hard usage, every one thought they had
returned from the wars in the holy land, and when they appeared at the
gates of the château they were opened to them willingly, for great
sanctity was attached to those who had been to the holy sepulcher, and