A SERVIAN STORY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 50, 12 December 1891, Page 675

A SERVIAN STORY.

X the year 1732, two Englishmen were overtaken at the small Servian village ‘ m a Meduegna, l*y a courier riding post, (Wit* sent by the British minister at the BWS> 1 .Sultan s court, desiring them to wait in whatsoever place the order might find them, until the arrival of important 1 dispatches to be placed in the hands of 1 the home government. The courier having overtaken them was to continue on liis way to Belgrade, and there cause to be prepared for their use a swift boat, well provisioned, to speed them up the Danube on their way to Vienna. The halt at Meduegua was exceedingly vexatious to these travellers. The village was at no great distance from Belgrade where detention would have been less wearisome; that city being then for a brief period in the hands of the Austrians, who were making considerable additions to its fortifications. One of our gentlemen was a young nobleman, who had been attached to the British embassy at Constantinople. He was now out of health and on his way to England. He had attached to his service, as medical adviser and friend, an older man named Dugan, a sort of surgical Dalgetty. Duoan came originally from the ‘ North Countree. He had gone out to India as a ship’s surgeon, had been in the employ of one of the native princes, had served the lurks in Eoypt, could speak a variety of Oriental languages (all with his native bnrr), had had innumerable adventures, and -could recount them to perfection. Lord Loftus had met him in Constantinople. He was an enthusiast in medicine and had seen much Eastern practice outside of the common range of a medical education, in which, however, he had taken his regular diploma in some Dutch university. In this vexatious halt upon the plains of Servia, he showed the useful qualities of an old campaigner. He made his lordship comfortable in the best house (bad was that best) in the village ; that of the nachalnik or titular head grandfather of the community. That agirl, fresh, pretty, shapely, and in picturesque costume waited upon them was .a point in favour of their quarters. Their travelling commissariat was not a bad one ; the doctor was skilled in cookery, and, like Mark Tapley, was jolliest in adversity. He represented the life and energy of the partnership, for Lord Loftus was dejected, hypochondriac, and vaiiable. There were Roman ruins in the neighbourhood, and after dinner, on the second day, the doctor proposed to visit them. Lord Loftus was indifferent to Roman ruins, but rather than be left to his own society, he consented to go and look at ■them. Oui Englishmen soon stood among broken masonry upon some rising ground overlooking wide, green plains, bounded by illimitable forests, through which roved countless herds of savage Servian swine. They picked up some bits of Roman pottery, and weie tuining to go home, when they heard voices. ’ The doctor, who felt responsible for the safety of his lordship, motioned him back with bis hand, while he, himself, creeping along the base of a broken wall, -drew near enough to the speakers to overhear them. There was nothing to alarm him. The voice was that of their handmaiden, Sterna, but it was well to ascertain what she was saying, as she might be giving information about them to some heyduc, klept, or robber. The doctor drew out his horse pistol, and felt for the hilt of his Persian sabre. It was not long, however, before he made out that the young man by her side was but a harmless lover. He would have "retired at once, or have summoned his friend to look with him on the handsome couple standing side by side, had he not noticed a mysterious figure lying at full length in the grass with eyes that glittered as they were fixed on the lovers. , . ‘ Sterna,’ said a young man s voice, ‘ how long do these Englishmen remain with you ?’ * They do not know, Anton ; at least so I heard the kavass, who is in attendance on them, tell my uncle.’ ‘Sterna, is it not for admiration of thy blight eyes that they linger here at Meduegua'' One would think that English gospodars would push on to Belgrade.’ • Oh, Anton, no I They do not even notice me. They have nothing to say to me. What am I but a poor girl ?’ The doctor smiled. He knew that the little coquette was not telling the simple truth to her lover. Some little innocent passages of mutual admiration had already been exchanged with her by both Englishmen. * You have no right, Anton—’ she resumed. •No ! I have no right!' he said, vehemently. ‘We are not betrothed, my Sterna, but I am jealous of every man who looks at thee. O! my beloved, I am so unhappy. I dare not ask thee for thy love. I dare not speak to thy uncle. 1 am even hurting thy good name, my Sterna, by these meetings. I cannot ask you to share the trouble I dread daily. I walk under a cloud of darkness. I have a sorrow that thou must not share.’ • I am willing to shaie it, Anton, could that help thee. lam poor and an orphan, but I am true and strong. You have known me since we were children and kept the goats together.’ , , , ‘ And loved thee, Sterna, and hoped to marry thee—aye, rowed to marry thee—until my sorrow came. It was three years ago, O Sterna !’ Here his voice sank. ‘ Thine uncle, our nachalnik, thought I was too fond of thee and sent me away to Kassova. I served there six months. There was a visitation in Kassova : the vampires. Many people died. And, Sterna, one night a vampire came up to the loft in which 1 slept and sucked my blood. I woke, all weak and dazed. I think I never since have been the same. It was the heyduc Milloc, who, in life, had been my friend. He had been dead thiee weeks. I cursed him, Sterna. 1 denounced him. 1 ate dirt oft’ bis grave. I had him dug up from the church yaid. I smeared my body with his blood. He was fresh and undecayed. He bled when they cut into him. When they drove a sharp stake through his breast, he gave a groan. They burned him to ashes, Sterna, and they wanted to deal with me for sorcery.’ The doctor here could hear the poor girl sob. * Oh’ Anton,’ she said at last, ‘did he give you any wound

when lie sucked you ?’ ‘ No, Sterna. Vampires give no wounds. Not one was given in Kassova. Are you shrinking away from me, my

Sterna? I tied. You know I joined a band that raided on the Turks. The people of Kassova diet! like murrained sheep. They dug up many bodies. All were like that of Milloc. My comrades of our band said I was very brave. I only wanted to find lawful death in battle. They said, at last, I had a “ horned skin.” That is, that no lead or steel could enter me. I came home last year to my father's farm, now mine, since he is dead. I saw thee—thee so beautiful, my little love. If thou hadst had a dower. Sterna, I should have found thee married. There was still hope for me, for lam rich. “But no!” I said; “ Sterna shall never give herself to one over whose head there trembles such a curse. One who, unless the curse runs out, may prove a vampire.” And yet lam so jealous. Sterna ! I am jealous of Black Stefan. lam jealous of the Englishmen. I suffer the torments of the damned when any lover speaks to thee.'

‘Oh no, Auton, be not jealous. The strangers will soon go away. God send their horses wings. As to Black Stefan —couldst thou think it ? Stefan never shall marry me. My uncle willingly would give me to thee —’ ‘ Come, my lord,’ said Dugan ; ‘ I have heard enough, and what I heard is very curious. I will tell you about it as we walk back. I must know more upon the subject they were speaking of In the interests of science and humanity, it is my duty to investigate a degrading superstition.’ As they turned to go away, he called out, loudly :

‘ Good-night, Sterna ! I have heard what Anton told you. Let him come to me to-morrow, and I will give him a Frank spell which will keep him in all safety. And, Sterna,’ he added, • have a care. A man of your own |ieople has been watching you as well as I.’ After this, the doctor and Lord Loftns went down the hili side, crossed the plain, passed through some plum orchards, now a ma«s of snowy blossoms, and went home to try plum brandy and the native wine, which they pronounced well worthy of exportation. ‘ That vampire superstition is a very queer thing,’ said the docter meditatively, when, over their wine, he told Anton’s story. ‘ I thought vampires are big bats,’ said Lord Loftus, indifferently. ‘So they are in natural history. But these vampires are ghosts of the most malignant kind. All other ghosts are harmless. These are the remnant of a belief among the Greeks and Romans. The harpies were some kin to them. The Dark Ages, of course, took all the poetry out of the Greek superstition. Every man who dies a vampire has a mania for coming back to earth of nights and biting the back of the neck of his bestfriend, whodies in what I suppose to be a fit, a few weeks later. After which, so long as the corpse is fresh, he bites, sucks and bewitches others. About five years since, they had an awful experience of vampires at Kassova. I should like to ride over there and ask some questions.’ ‘ I could not spare you even for one day,’ answered his lordship. ‘ Our route may come at any moment. And as to biting and sucking, any man might dream he was bitten by a big bat, who sleeps in Servia.’ Before going to rest, the doctor cut a slip of parchment from a MS. he was taking to England, and set himself to remember an old school spell :

A. 11. R. A. C. A. D. A. B. B. A. B K A. C. A. D. A. B. R. It A. C. A. I». A. B. A. C. A. 11. A. C. A. D. A. Then he folded it, wrapped it in Persian silk, and suspended it by a string. ‘ It must be worn around the neck and never parted with,’ he said to Anton, the next morning. ‘lf you wish to get rid of it, it must be burned and its ashes flung into running water. Which ever way we take it, ‘he added inEnglish, showing it to Lord Loftus,’ across, down one side, up the other, across any line beginning with the first letter and running up to the last, it forms the magic word, “ Abracadabra.” ’ The delight of Sterna was extreme. She was ready to fall at the doctor’s feet and kiss his slippers. It was early summer. The haying season was at its height, and Anton was afield before day break. About noon, the hay-cart, with its wide horned oxen, was seen coming into the barn yard of Sterna’s uncle. Anton stood on the load, waving his cap at Sterna. The Englishmen were sitting under a plum-tree, there being few attractions in a Servian cottage for anyone who can find fresh air and quiet ont of doors. Suddenly the oxen jerked the cart into a rut; they saw Anton waver; then he lost his balance and fell under the wheels.

Before the doctor could reach the spot, there was a little crowd around the fallen man. They cairied him insensible into his own cottage. They undressed him to find a wound when, round his neck, they found a mysterious bag that was not a scapulary. Black Stefan mingled with the crowd, and whispered, ‘Sorcery.’ He reminded his fellow-villagers of what had well nigh been forgotten: that Anton Vrosh bad been in Kassova during the vampire days. ‘ And that,’ he added, pointing to the package, ‘ is witchcraft. It is a spell given to him yesterday by the Frank hakim. Do not let that man approach his corpse.’ Here Doctor Dugan, eager to succour the poor man, was hustled with angry looks out of the cottage. Long after dark, the doctor, reading in his room, was roused by a low tap against his shutter. It was Sterna. She told him that Black Stefan had been with her, threatening to repeat every word of Anton’s confession on the hillside, unless she promised to be his wife before St John’s Eve. ‘ If he tells them,’ she exclaimed, • my Anton will have a stake thrust through his heart ! He will be burnt toasties '. He will be refused Christian buiial !’

• What cruelty !’ cried the doctor, ‘ they most not do that I lam not sure that the man is dead. Has any doctor seen him !’

• No,’ she said, ‘ there are no doctors nearer than Belgrade. There are none in our distiict.’ • Then send to Belgrade without loss of time,’ he said, ‘ or insist that I must see him.’

Sterna hurried away eageily. The village magnates laughed her to scorn. The doctor had followed her, and stood among them.

‘ I believe,’ he said, ‘ the man is in a trance, caused by cerebral excitement. It is a case of suspended animation. I have seen such things befoie. Once, in India—’

Here the assembly interrupted him. All the effect the doctor's speech produced was to make them think him a dangerous magician. The sooner Anton V roc h’s corpse wa~ disposed of, the better for everybody. The doctor took Sterna by the hand, and was leading her away, when the men gathered round them and barret! their |>assage. The corpse had been put into the bell tower, a structure apart from the church, standing on a knoll beyond the village. There, it was decreed that the doctor and Sterna should also be shut up for the night, while a guard, under Black Stefan, kept watch outside.

In vain Dr. Dugan begged to communicate with Lord Loftus. No favours were shown him.

The corpse lay on a board. Its colour was but little changed, and the usual stiffness of death was only in the feel and fingers. Sterna crouched from it as far as possible. The doctoi bent over the dead man and examined him carefully. He applied his lancet, and a drop of blood came. ‘Sterna,’ he said, ‘get up. Take wood and light a blazing fire on the hearth. She did so. The employment mused her. For an hour the doctor laboured over the dead man. At last a quiver came over his evelids. ‘He lives ! Behold, Sterna, he lives !' the doctor cried. To his surprise, instead of joy, her feelings seemed of terror. ‘Oh ! what will become of him—of me?’ she cried. ‘ They will not let us live among them. Whither shall we go? Men, when afraid become so cruel. We had better both be dead !’ That this would be the tragic end of their love story had never crossed the doctor's imagination. ‘Oh !’ she ciied, ‘ they will say it is all witchcraft 1 We shall lie burned for sorcery 1’ At this moment, a noise above them attracted their attention. At one of the high windows appeared a human head.

‘ I see a ladder yonder ; put it up and get me down.’ said Lord Loftus, roused to energy. ‘Go away, my lord !’ cried Dugan. ‘ This is a more serious scrape than you suppose.' • Sterna, put that ladder here, or I shall jump, and break my bones !’ said the youn« nobleman. ‘ Now, let me help you, he said, as he stood beside the doctor. ‘ Scrape or no scrape, lam in it, too. Make haste and bring the man to himself. Assistance, I hope, is close at hand. Our guards are snoiing. I emptied all our laudanum into their plum brandy.’

The rest is soon told. Within half an hour there was a sound of horses’ feet. Lord Loftus ran up the ladder and waved a lighted firebrand. The troop halted. Lord Loftus directed his own harass, whom he had sent to hurry up the escort with his dispatches, where to find Black Stefan, who lay stupified, and in whose pocket were the keys. The door was thrown open. Two horses, with empty saddles, were led up. ‘ Come, doctor,’ cried Lord Loftus, ‘ pick up your dead man. I presume, in your profession, you are not afraid to ride into the daik with a corpse before you.’ Anton wrapped in the kabanitza, or warm peasant's coat of the harass, was lifted on a horse, and held there till the doctor mounted and put his arms about him. Then Sterna was lifted to Lord Loftus's arms, tiff and away. The men were janissaries, who hated Servian peasants, and entered with spirit into the joke of carrying off a Servian girl and her half dead lover. The party were pursued and nearly overtaken before they reached Belgrade, but they clattered over the draw-bridge and the men who pursued them weie left, outside the city. However, at Vienna, it proved difficult to get Anton ami Sterna married. The former had completely lost, what is called in France, his ctat civil. In Austria, then mistress of Servia, he was, to all intents and purposes, a dead man, and as such, not marriageable. The best that could be done was to have them married by the chaplain of the English embassy.

They could not stay in Vienna. Lord Loftus and the doctor found them a serious encumbrance to their journey until they reached a Dutch port and found a ship in which they embarked them, provided with ample means, for their settlement in America.

In due season they reached the Chesapeake. There they landed. Anton Vrosh became Anthony Rosh, as soon as his name appeared upon a list of Maryland taxpayers. His decendants are called Ross There are a good many of them on the eastern shore.