The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete
in a post-chaise, accompanied by a trusty valet-de-chambre on
horseback.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
RENALDO MEETS WITH A LIVING MONUMENT OF JUSTICE, AND ENCOUNTERS A
PERSONAGE OF SOME NOTE IN THESE MEMOIRS.
As this domestic was very well qualified for making all the proper
dispositions, and adjusting every necessary article on the road,
Renaldo totally abstracted himself from earthly considerations, and
mused without ceasing on that theme which was the constant subject of
his contemplation. He was blind to the objects that surrounded him; he
scarce ever felt the importunities of nature; and had not they been
reinforced by the pressing entreaties of his attendant, he would have
proceeded without refreshment or repose. In this absence of mind did he
traverse a great part of Germany, in his way to the Austrian
Netherlands, and arrived at the fortress of Luxemburg, where he was
obliged to tarry a whole day on account of an accident which had
happened to his chaise. Here he went to view the fortifications; and as
he walked along the ramparts, his ears were saluted with these words:
“Heaven bless the noble Count de Melvil! will not he turn the eyes of
compassion on an old fellow-soldier reduced to misfortune and
disgrace?”
Surprised at this address, which was attended with the clanking of
chains, Renaldo lifted up his eyes, and perceived the person who spoke
to be one of two malefactors shackled together, who had been sentenced
for some crime to work as labourers on the fortifications. His face was
so covered with hair, and his whole appearance so disguised by the
squalid habit which he wore, that the Count could not recollect his
features, until he gave him to understand that his name was Ratchcali.
Melvil immediately recognised his fellow-student at Vienna, and his
brother-volunteer upon the Rhine, and expressed equal surprise and
concern at seeing him in such a deplorable situation.
Nothing renders the soul so callous and insensible as the searing
brands of infamy and disgrace. Without betraying the least symptoms of
shame or confusion, “Count,” says he, “this is the fate of war, at
least of the war in which I have been engaged, ever since I took leave
of the Imperial army, and retreated with your old companion Fathom.
Long life to that original genius! If he is not unhappily eclipsed by
some unfortunate interposition, before his terrene parts are purified,
I foresee that he will shine a star of the first magnitude in the world
of adventure.”
At mention of this detested name, Renaldo’s heart began to throb with
indignation; yet he suppressed the emotion, and desired to know the
meaning of that splendid encomium which he had bestowed upon his
confederate. “It would be quite unnecessary,” replied Ratchcali, “for a
man in my present situation to equivocate or disguise the truth. The
nature of my disgrace is perfectly well known. I am condemned to hard
labour for life; and unless some lucky accident, which I cannot now
foresee, shall intervene, all I can expect is some alleviation of my
hard lot from the generosity of such gentlemen as you, who
compassionate the sufferings of your fellow-creatures. In order to
engage your benevolence the more in my behalf, I shall, if you will
give me the hearing, faithfully inform you of some particulars, which
it may import you to know, concerning my old acquaintance Ferdinand
Count Fathom, whose real character hath perhaps hitherto escaped your
notice.”
Then he proceeded to give a regular detail of all the strokes of
finesse which he, in conjunction with our adventurer, had practised
upon Melvil and others, during their residence at Vienna, and the
campaigns they had made upon the Rhine. He explained the nature of the
robbery which was supposed to have been done by the Count’s valet,
together with the manner of their desertion. He described his
separation from Fathom, their meeting at London, the traffic they
carried on in copartnership; and the misfortune that reduced Ferdinand
to the condition in which he was found by Melvil.
“After having gratified the honest lawyer,” said he, “with a share of
the unfortunate Fathom’s spoils, and packed up all my own valuable
effects, my new auxiliary Maurice and I posted to Harwich, embarked in
the packet-boat, and next day arrived at Helvoetsluys; from thence we
repaired to the Hague, in order to mingle in the gaieties of the place,
and exercise our talents at play, which is there cultivated with
universal eagerness. But, chancing to meet with an old acquaintance,
whom I did not at all desire to see, I found it convenient to withdraw
softly to Rotterdam; from whence we set out for Antwerp; and, having
made a tour of the Austrian Netherlands, set up our rest at Brussels,
and concerted a plan for laying the Flemings under contribution.
“From our appearance we procured admission into the most polite
assemblies, and succeeded to a wonder in all our operations; until our
career was unfortunately checked by the indiscretion of my ally, who,
being detected in the very act of conveying a card, was immediately
introduced to a magistrate. And this minister of justice was so
curious, inquisitive, and clear-sighted, that Count Maurice, finding it
impossible to elude his penetration, was fain to stipulate for his own
safety, by giving up his friend to the cognisance of the law. I was
accordingly apprehended, before I knew the cause of my arrest; and
being unhappily known by some soldiers of the Prince’s guard, my
character turned out so little to the approbation of the inquisitors,
that all my effects were confiscated for the benefit of the state, and
I was by a formal sentence condemned to labour on the fortifications
all the days of my life; while Maurice escaped at the expense of five
hundred stripes, which he received in public from the hands of the
common executioner.
“Thus have I, without evasion or mental reservation, given a faithful
account of the steps by which I have arrived at this barrier, which is
likely to be the ne plus ultra of my peregrinations, unless the
generous Count de Melvil will deign to interpose his interest in behalf
of an old fellow-soldier, who may yet live to justify his mediation.”
Renaldo had no reason to doubt the truth of this story, every
circumstance of which tended to corroborate the intelligence he had
already received touching the character of Fathom, whom he now
considered with a double portion of abhorrence, as the most abandoned
miscreant that nature had ever produced. Though Ratchcali did not
possess a much higher place in his opinion, he favoured him with marks
of his bounty, and exhorted him, if possible, to reform his heart; but
he would by no means promise to interpose his credit in favour of a
wretch self-convicted of such enormous villany and fraud. He could not
help moralising upon this rencontre, which inspired him with great
contempt for human nature. And next day he proceeded on his journey
with a heavy heart, ruminating on the perfidy of mankind, and, between
whiles, transported with the prospect of revenging all his calamities
upon the accursed author.
While he was wrapped up in these reveries, his carriage rolled along,
and had already entered a wood between Mons and Tournay, when his dream
was suddenly interrupted by the explosion of several pistols that were
fired among the thickets at a little distance from the road. Roused at
this alarm, he snatched his sword that stood by him, and springing from
the chaise, ran directly towards the spot, being close followed by his
valet, who had alighted and armed himself with a pistol in each hand.
About forty yards from the highway, they arrived in a little glade or
opening, where they saw a single man standing at bay against five
banditti, after having killed one of their companions, and lost his own
horse, that lay dead upon the ground.
Melvil seeing this odds, and immediately guessing their design, rushed
among them without hesitation, and in an instant ran his sword through
the heart of one whose hand was raised to smite the gentleman behind,
while he was engaged with the rest in front. At the same time the valet
disabled another by a shot in the shoulder; so that the number being
now equal on both sides, a furious combat ensued, every man being
paired with an antagonist, and each having recourse to swords, as all
their pieces had been discharged. Renaldo’s adversary, finding himself
pressed with equal fury and skill, retreated gradually among the trees,
until he vanished altogether into the thickest of the wood; and his two
companions followed his example with great ease, the valet-de-chambre
being hurt in the leg, and the stranger so much exhausted by the wounds
he had received before Renaldo’s interposition, that, when the young
gentleman approached to congratulate him on the defeat of the robbers,
he, in advancing to embrace his deliverer, dropped down motionless on
the grass.
The Count, with that warmth of sympathy and benevolence which was
natural to his heart, lifted up the wounded cavalier in his arms, and
carried him to the chaise, in which he was deposited, while the
valet-de-chambre reloaded his pistols, and prepared for a second
attack, as they did not doubt that the banditti would return with a
reinforcement. However, before they reappeared, Renaldo’s driver
disengaged him from the wood, and in less than a quarter of an hour
they arrived at a village, where they halted for assistance to the
stranger, who, though still alive, had not recovered the use of his
senses.
After he was undressed, and laid in a warm bed, a surgeon examined his
body, and found a wound in his neck by a sword, and another in his
right side, occasioned by a pistol-shot; so that his prognostic was
very dubious. Meanwhile, he applied proper dressings to both; and, in
half an hour after this administration, the gentleman gave some tokens
of perception. He looked around him with a wildness of fury in his
aspect, as if he had thought himself in the hands of the robbers by
whom he had been attacked. But, when he saw the assiduity with which
the bystanders exerted themselves in his behalf, one raising his head
from the pillow, while another exhorted him to swallow a little wine
which was warmed for the purpose; when he beheld the sympathising looks
of all present, and heard himself accosted in the most cordial terms by
the person whom he recollected as his deliverer, all the severity
vanished from his countenance; he took Renaldo’s hand, and pressed it
to his lips; and, while the tears gushed from his eyes, “Praised be
God,” said he, “that virtue and generosity are still to be found among
the sons of men.”
Everybody in the apartment was affected by this exclamation; and
Melvil, above all the rest, felt such emotions as he could scarcely
restrain. He entreated the gentleman to believe himself in the midst of
such friends as would effectually secure him from all violence and
mortification; he conjured him to compose the perturbation of his
spirits, and quiet the apprehensions of his mind with that reflection;
and protested, that he himself would not quit the house while his
attendance should be deemed necessary for the stranger’s cure, or his
conversation conducive to his amusement.
These assurances, considered with the heroic part which the young
Hungarian had already acted in his behalf, inspired the cavalier with
such a sublime idea of Melvil, that he gazed upon him with silent
astonishment, as an angel sent from heaven for his succour; and, in the
transport of his gratitude, could not help exclaiming, “Sure Providence
hath still something in reserve for this unfortunate wretch, in whose
favour such a miracle of courage and generosity hath interposed!”
Being accommodated with proper care and attendance, his constitution in