The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, Alain René le Sage [most read books .txt] 📗
- Author: Alain René le Sage
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tale. The day I left you in the cave, and went with my troop to
Mansilla, for the purpose of selling the mules and horses we had
taken the evening before, we met the son of the corregidor of
Leon, attended by four men on horseback well armed, following his
carriage. Two of his people we made to bite the dust, and the
other two ran away. On this the coachman, alarmed for his master,
cried out to us in a tone of supplication — Alas! my dear
gentlemen, in God’s name, do not kill the only son of his worship
the corregidor of Leon. These words were far from softening my
comrades; on the contrary, their fury knew no bounds. Good folks,
said one of them, let not the son of a mortal enemy to men like
us escape our vengeance. How many ornaments of our profession has
his father cut off in their prime! Let us repay his cruelty with
interest, and sacrifice this victim to their offended ghosts. The
whole troop applauded the fineness of this feeling, and my
lieutenant himself was preparing to act as high priest at this
unhallowed altar, when I interdicted the rites. Stop, said I; why
shed blood without occasion? Let us rest contented with the
youth’s purse. As he makes no resistance, it would be against the
laws of war to cut his throat. Besides, he is not answerable for
his father’s misdeeds; nay, his father only does his duty in
condemning us to death, as we do ours in rifling travellers.
Thus did I plead for the corregidor’s son, and my intercession
was not unavailing. We only took every farthing of his money, and
carried off with us the horses of the two men whom we had slain.
These we sold with the rest at Mansilla. Thence we returned to
the cavern, where we arrived the following morning a little
before daybreak. We were not a little surprised to find the trap
open, and still more so, when we found Leonarda handcuffed in the
kitchen. She unravelled the mystery in two words. We wondered how
you could have overreached us; no one could have thought you
capable of serving us such a trick, and we forgave the effect for
the merit of the invention. As soon as we had released our
kitchen wench, I gave orders for a good luncheon. In the mean
time we went to look after our horses in the stable, where the
old negro, who had been left to himself for four-and-twenty
hours, was at the last gasp. We did all we could for his relief,
but he was too far gone; indeed so much reduced, that, in spite
of our endeavours, we left the poor devil on the threshold of
another world. It was very sad; but it did not spoil our
appetites, and, after an abundant breakfast, we retired to our
chambers, and slept away the whole day. On our awaking, Leonarda
apprized us that Domingo had paid the debt of nature. We carried
him to the charnelhouse where you may recollect to have lodged,
and there performed his obsequies, just as if he had been one of
our own order.
Five or six days afterwards, it fell out that one morning, on a
sally, we encountered three companies of the Holy Brotherhood, on
the outskirts of the wood. They seemed waiting to attack us. We
perceived but one troop at first. These we despised, though
superior in number to our party, and rushed forward to the onset.
But while we were at loggerheads with the first, the two others
in ambuscade came thundering down upon us; so that our valour was
of no use. There was no withstanding such a host of enemies. Our
lieutenant and two of our gang gave up the ghost on this
occasion. As for the two others and myself, we were so closely
pressed and hemmed in, as to be taken prisoners: and, while two
detachments convoyed us to Leon, the third went to destroy our
retreat. How it was discovered, I will briefly tell you. A
peasant of Luceno, crossing the forest on his way home, by chance
espied the trap-door of our subterraneous residence, which a
certain young runaway had not shut down after him, for it was
precisely the day when you took yourself off with the lady. He
had a violent suspicion of its being our abode, without having
the courage to go in. It was enough to mark the adjacent parts,
by lightly peeling with his knife bark from the nearest trees,
and so on, from distance to distance, till he was quite out of
the wood. He then betook himself to Leon, with this grand
discovery for the corregidor, who was so much the better pleased,
as his son had been robbed by our gang. This magistrate collected
together three companies to lay hold of us, and the peasant
showed them the way.
My arrival in the town of Leon was as good as that of a wild
beast to the inhabitants. Even though I had been a Portuguese
general made prisoner of war, the people could not have been more
anxious to see me. There he goes, was the cry; that is he, the
famous captain, the terror of these parts. It would serve him
right to tear him piecemeal with pincers, and make his comrades
join in the chorus. To the corregidor, was the universal cry; and
his worship began insulting me. So, so! said he, scoundrel as you
are, the powers of justice, worn to a thread with your past
irregularities, hand over the task of punishment to me as their
delegate. Sir, answered I, great as my crimes may have been, at
least the death of your only son is not to be laid at my door.
His life was saved by me; you owe me some acknowledgment on that
score. Oh! wretch, exclaimed he, there are no measures to be kept
with people of your description. And though it were my wish to
save you, my sacred office would not allow me to indulge my
feelings. Having spoken to this effect, he committed us to a
dungeon, where my companions had no time to lament their hard
fate. They got out of confinement, at the end of three days, to
expatiate with tragic energy at the place of execution. For my
part, I took up my quarters in limbo for three complete weeks. My
punishment seemingly was deferred only to render it more
terrible; and I was looking out for some refinement on the
ordinary course of criminal justice, when the corregidor, having
summoned me before him, said: Give ear to your sentence. You are
free. Had it not been for you, my only son would have been
assassinated on the highway. As a father, my gratitude was due
for this service; but not being competent to acquit you in my
capacity of a magistrate, I have written up to court in your
favour; have solicited your pardon, and have obtained it. Go,
then, whithersoever it may seem good to you. But take my advice;
profit by this lucky escape. Look to your paths, and give up the
trade of a highwayman for good and all.
I was deeply impressed by this advice, and took my departure for
Madrid, in the firm determination of mending my ways, and living
quietly in that city. There I found my father and mother dead,
and what they left behind them in the hands of an old kinsman,
who administered duly and truly, as all trustees of course do. I
saved three thousand ducats out of the fire; scarcely a quarter
of what I was entitled to. But where was the remedy? There was no
standing to the quirks and evasions of the law. Just to be doing
something, I have purchased an alguazil’s place. My colleagues
would have set their faces against my admission, for the honour
of the cloth, had they known my history. Luckily they did not, or
at least affected not to know it, which was just as good as the
reality; for, in that illustrious body, it is the bounden duty
and interest of every member to wear a mask. The pot cannot call
the kettle hard names, thank heaven. The devil would have no
great catch in the best of us. And yet, my friend, I could
willingly unbosom myself to you without disguise. My present
occupation is much against the grain; it requires too circumspect
and too mysterious a conduct; there is nothing to be done but by
underhand dealings, gravity, and cunning. Oh! for my first trade!
The new one is safer, to be sure; but there is more fun in the
other, and liberty is my motto. I feel disposed to get rid of my
office, and to set out some sunshiny morning for the mountains at
the source of the Tagus. I know of a retreat thereabouts,
inhabited by a numerous gang, composed chiefly of Catalonians;
when I have said that, I need say no more. If you will go along
with me, we will swell the number of those heroes. I shall be
second in command. To make your footing respectable at once, I
will swear that you have fought ten times by my side. Your valour
shall mount to the very skies. I will tell more good of you than
a commander-in-chief of a favourite officer. I will not say a
word about the runaway trick, that would render you suspected of
turning nose, therefore mum is the word. What say you to it? Are
you ready to set off? I am impatient to know your mind.
Every one to his own fancy, said I then to Rolando, you were born
for bold exploits, and your friend for a serene and quiet life. I
understand you, interrupted he; the lady whom love induced you to
carry off still preserves her influence over your heart, and you
doubtless lead with her that serene life of which you are
enamoured. Own the truth, master Gil Blas, she is become a thing
of your own, and you are both living on the pistoles carried off
from the subterraneous retreat. I told him he was mistaken; and,
to set him right, related the lady’s adventures and my own while
we sat at dinner. When our meal was finished he led back to the
subject of the Catalonians, and attempted once more to engage me
in his project. But finding me inflexible, he looked at me with a
terrific frown, and said seriously — Since you are dastard
enough to prefer your servile condition to the honour of
enlisting in a troop of brave fellows, I turn you adrift to your
own grovelling inclinations. But mark me well, a lapse may be
fatal. Forget our meeting of to-day, and never prate about me to
any living soul; for if I catch you bandying about my name in
your idle talk … . you know my ways, I need say no more. With
these words he called for the landlord, paid the reckoning, and
we rose from table to go away.
CH. III — Gil Blas is dismissed by Don Bernard de Castil Blazo,
and enters into the service of a beau.
As we were coming out of the tavern, and taking our leave, my
master was passing along the street. He saw me, and I observed
him look more than once at the captain. I had no doubt but he was
surprised at meeting me in such company. It is certain that
Rolando’s physiognomy and air were not much in favour of moral
qualities. He was a gigantic fellow, with a long face, a parrot’s
beak, and a very rascally contour, without being absolutely ugly.
I was not mistaken in my guess. In
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