The Sword of a Gascon

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 105, 4 May 1900, Page 6

The Sword of a Gascon

By AMEDEE ACHABD.

AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE.

CIIAPTEK XXXVIT. (continued.)

The reader has not forgotten that Montestruc, driving- before him ahorse leaded with some ba.les of merchandise, and which Bright Eyes led by the bridle, had quitted Vienna one morning.

At some days from this time, and after having happily avoided the vagabonds who roved the country, they arrived together in sight of. the Turkish encampment which extends along the Danube.

It was then like an immense city formed of tentft ranged in long files, between which tents more spacious indicated the dwellings of the chiefs. It was easy to lose oneself in these streets of canvas which were guarded in front and at the corners by heavy pieces of artiller.y whose gaping throats were turned toward the plain. Armed men circulated everyhwere.

At limes great cries rose up at one of the barriers which enclosed the camp, and in the midst of waves of dust between two rows of curious men whose savage eyeballs grew inflamed, passed a column of prisoners of both sexes driven along by a troop of Tartar cavaliers.

Nevertheless in spite of these tumults of an hour, the camp had a mourn* ful aspect. A sort of depression pervaded the air. Ennui was depicted upon all faces, lassitude had taken possession of them.

The inaction of a single man was responsible for this.

Since the sacking of Newhausel, Achmet Kiuperii, called to the command of the army, and tip till then so rapid in his strokes, went to sleep in a repose which saved Austria. Invisible in his tent, above which floated the, standard confided to his valiant hands by Die Sultan Mohammed IV., he seemed to forget the war and the mission which he had accepted —a terrible mission which ought to put the seal to the plans conceived by his father. After the bold stroke by which he had penetrated the camp of the enemy, Hugues sought to estimate the stren-g-th of this army and was astonished at its immobility.

At times, while wandering around the camp, Hugues questioned with a g-reat display of prudence the soldiers with whom he had commercial relations and who had some slight smattering of the Italian tongue, either through having- made, war upon the shores of the Adriatic or through having- traversed the Venetian colonies in Dalmatia.

Some threw up their arms murmuring: "Chi lo su!"

Others bowed their foreheads pronouncing the name of Allah.

An accident made him encounter a Neapolitan renegade who had become a captain in the Turkish militia, and with whom an advantageous bargain adroitly accepted by Hugues had the effect of untying the tongue.

"Achmet Kiuperii!" the. Neapolitan said to him, lowering the voice, "corpo di Eaccha! he- neither sleeps nor meditates —he loves!"

"What are you telling me?" exclaimed the false merchant.

"The truth, signor, the truth, as I am a gallant man victim of the machinations of a cardinal."

"And whom does the Grand Vizier love?"

"A Greek slave, they say, who has been sent him from Constantinople, where she was purchased for his harem." "His harem is then at Grau?" "Certes! he has sent for her, and since that time some philter holds him chained to the feet of this Infidel." "She must be very beautiful then?"

"They say that she makes you think of the hotiris of the- paradise of Mahomet. Nevertheless all this beauty does not suffice to explain the fascination which she exercises over the mind of the Grand Vizier. There is some witchcraft at the bottom of it."

"How long has this been going on?" "All winter." "And the winter has puseed without Achmet perceiving it?"

"Allah grant that it may not be thus with the spring and summer."

Hugues did not pray to Allah with that fervor, but on the contrary, he mentally wished that the intoxication of Kiuperii might last long enough to permit the French regiments to join the troops of Montecuculli.

Meanwhile rumours began to agitate the camp; bands of soldiers, cavaliers and men on foot, ran here and there, animating each other and urging on their comrades tv revolt. Soon there emerged from their tents the most ferocious combatants of. Asia, and clamours resounded on all sides. They appealed for u-battle with loud cries.

Finally the agitation gained the quarter of the janizaries and spahis. The most impetuous came iorth, 'brandishing their arms. This select troop, which composed the principal strength of the Turkish army, having been thus stirred up, all the rest followed. It was something in the nature of an uprising. The tide beat against the walls of the palace where the Grand Vizier was shut up. ■'Kiuperii.1' Kiuperii!" cried the crowd. Officers ran to warn the terrible general. He grasped his scimitar and for a moment one might have believed that he was going to fall upon this exasperated multitude at the head of his most faithful servitors.

But with that strength of will, that indomitable energy ot which he had given so many proofs, he suddenly calmed himself, and throwing away the weapon which he had taken possession of in a first ' movement of anger, he made a sign to one of his officers, of whose devotion he was sure, to approach.

"Go," he said, "and warn my soldiers that to-morrow at the moment when the sun shall mark the middle of the day, they must congregate on the outside of the camp, in order of battle, the cavaliers on horseback, the artillerymen with their pieces, all under arms. And if one of them is not in his rank when the noon-day prayer shall have ceased, the sabre of Kiuperii will separate his head from his shoulders. Go—and let them be siienl!"

A minute after the officer appeared.! A great silence prevailed among- this | mass of men who were just now howling and-shaking themselves, liugues, : who had mingled with the soldiers, stepped into the first rank. Tim communication o) the Grand Vizier was made in a loud voice. When the officer had Jinished, there Vi&* something like a murmur. "Order of Kjuperli. Go!" cried the officer in an imperious voice. This dreaded name had preserved : such a power, it was surrounded by such a prestige, that suddenly this agitated crowd ca lined down, and slowly, with perfect docility, the same men who just now threatened to invade the dwelling- of their general,' withdrew to their quarters, silent and; with lowered neads. Hugues followed them some time with his eyes, curious to know what would take place the next. day. The next day at dawn, the camp presented the aspect of an immense hive. There was everywhere an enormous buzzing, j The soldiers were polishing their arms and bandaging their horses. Officers passed hearing orders, and, in propor- ! tion as they formed, the companies j took the way to 'he drilling ground. When the whole army had gathered together, the vast extent of ground on which it was to deploy had Ihe appearance of a gigantic prairie where men in blue yellow, red and green costumes, rolled along like living (lowers. The fever of impatience devoured this multitude. . | At the moment when the rnwzzm, finished the noonday prayer, Achmet ' Kiuperii appeared on horseback, snr- \ rounded by pachas clothed in their | most brilliant costumes. At sight ot , their chief in the magnificent apparel of war a shiver traversed the columns of the' Turkish army, which was seen | to oscillate like a field of ripe wheat | heads. ■~ ~ t Huo-ues, accompanied by lirigni Eyes, had placed himself upon an elevation in order to see better To this first movement, which had shaken the army, and which recalled the quivering of the horse who feels its master coming, succeeded a mo\ernent of surprise. j By "the side of kiuperii, who advanced at a slow pace, pressing the golden reins of a snow-wh,te stnl ion which pranced under the high velvet saddle, walked a hackney bearing a woman enveloped in long white veils. , The eves of the whole army were j fixed upon this unknown woman, invisible in her floating.decorations There was everywhere such a silcne. that you could hear the cries of the little birds in the trees. When the Grand Vizier had reached the centre of his army he ascended at a bound the summit of a ™lo<* from which his looks dominated its unhand from which he could be seen by all the soldiers. There he stopped, having fit. 11 at is side the woman with the white ye. s. The bine sky shone above then-heads The entire army was tn a state , with a quid, gesture, j Achmet took off the veil which coyered the head and shoulders of the ; fair unknown, and there was seen to appear in the full light of clay a face of a, resplendent beauty. . A,cry of admiration burst from a j thousand hearts. Then the Grand Vizier raised his hand, and the army . was silent. . , t "Look at this woman!' keCT.wI: "behold her who holds me attached ■ to her knees. Has anything imn \ beautiful ever struck your eyes? And , do you understand that for her, in j the 'depth of the harem, one forge" ! glory and the army, war and the j sultan?" , ~ ■! A sort of roar came from all these, savage mouths, and a rattling of arms j was heard in all the ranks. _ ■ "Well!" continued Achmet m a | thundering- voice, "since you under- j stand me. you will also understand that as long as this daughter ot , heaven shall shine. T shall be enchain- i ed to her arms! Her lips have a | philter, her hands a talisman. I hat I is why she must die!" 1 A sabre had just shone In his hand, j and it was believed that Tie. was still ; speaking when already with a sweep , of the terrible, weapon he made fly | fox avray that- charming head, object j of a ferocious enthusiasm. A cry of j horror resounded, formidable and ; sudden like a clamour, while a. stream of vermilion blood inundated the white muslin of the dead girl. For ; one moment her body remained immovable in that same attitude which it maintained just now, then suddenly it rolled upon the grass where-it-re-mained extended at the feet of the mare. , .„ .-, "Now the charm, is broken! said Achmet, who coldly dried the blade of his se.hmitar on his horse's mane. But suddenly, standing up m his large stirrups, and whirling in the light the sabre victorious over a female slave: "God is God! and Mahomet is His prophet, And now to Vienna!" he cried. , , • . , Then an exaltation which bordered on delirium, a mad intoxication, a feverish ardour took possession of the army. An immense clamour rose up, all arms shone at the same time, standards were shaken, and all this crowd, seized by the demon of war, moved off. Hugues had never assisted at anything like it. t | What were the little armies of Eu- | rope in comparison with that army; ! in which were mingled all the peoples and all the races of the East? It was j a spectacle which struck the imagin- j ation with fright and made Hugues I believe that a dream had carried him \ into the world of chimeras. Had they j returned to the times when unknown nations emerged from the horizon for falling upon the Roman Empire? j The drums beat, the cymbals clang- | ed, furious fanfares burst forth everywhere, and to the sounds of this savage music the hordes of Turkey in Europe, of Asia Minor, of Syria, of Egypt and of Africa marched off in a disorder in which were confounded all colours and styles of clothing. liugues divided between the sentiment of admiration and of terror, at sight of those innumerable masses in which the axe and sabre, lance and musket, poniard and pistol, the bow and the cannon united their lightnings, thought of the four regiments of Coligny and the little cavalry brigade of Gasson. A grain of sand in, front of a rock! The procession began with the regular regiments of Europe and Asia, commanded by the pashas of Aleppo, Roumella:, Morea, Bosnia, Diachekir, and in the train of which came janizaries and gpahis, admirably armed and equipped. Behind those twelve thousand janizaries, against which it was believed that no resistance was possible, marched the crowd of auxiliaries from Europe and from Asia, the con-

lingenls of the provinces tributary ; to Constantinople, the Albanians of Iletros-IJehi, the Transylvanians of .Michael Apafy, tho. Moldavians led by their prince, Grepario Ghika, the cavalry of the Grand Khan of Tarlary, who had pent bis son with his squadrons, the Arabs bordering' on (he. shores of the Dead Sea, those ! who came from Crimea and from Cir- j cassia, from Georgia and from Tur-| kestati, the Hungarians of the pacha-; lik of Teneswar, the soldiers of the ' Isles of the Archipelago, the warlike savajres formerly camped around the I'aspian or upon the shores of Ihe Black Sea. Uattalions sueceeilod bat- ' talions, without truce ami without, interruption, fatiguing1 the look; behind them, before them, around them rolled the bronze cannons which for- | mcd Iho redoubtable Turkish artil-j lery. When the Grand Vizier himself set out surrounded by his officers, by his] private "■navel, and by his servants, j Hug lies rubbed bis eyes and asked j himself il' be had not been the prey ol! a vision. , _ I But quickly returning to the senti- j ments of the reality: l "To the mule!" he cried to Bright: Kyt's, 'and let us enter on the campaipn with Achmet!" lie knew now the nuttiber of enemies with whom they had to deal, almost one hundred and thirty thousand combatants; bui as yet he knew nothing of Kiuperli's plans. (To be Continued.) I