The Daltons Volume II Part 26

"They'll not compromise me before an enemy," thought Frank; "that I may rely on." And with this trustful a.s.surance he mounted and rode slowly forward, deeply sunk in thought, and far less pleasantly than was his wont to be. From all the excitement of his late life, with its flatteries and fascinations, he now fell into a thoughtful mood, the deeper that it was so strongly in contrast to what preceded it The greater interests that now flashed across his mind made him feel the frivolity of the part he had hitherto played. "Ravitzky is not older than I am, and yet how differently does _he_ speculate on the future!

_His_ ambitions are above the narrow limits of selfish advancement, and the glory _he_ aims at is not a mere personal distinction."

This was a dangerous theme, and the longer he dwelt upon it the more perilous did it become.

The snow lay in deep drifts in many parts of the mountain, and the progress of the little party became daily slower as they ascended.

Frequently they were obliged to dismount and lead their horses for miles, and at these times Frank and Ravitzky were always together. It was intimacy without any feeling of attachment on either side, and yet they were drawn towards each other by some strange mysterious sympathy.

Their conversation ranged over every topic, from the great events which menaced Europe to the smallest circ.u.mstances of personal history; and in all Frank found the cadet his superior. It was not alone that his views were higher, more disinterested, and less selfish, but his judgments were calmer and better weighed.

"_You_ want to be a count of the Empire, and a grand cross of every order of Europe," said Ravitzky one day to Frank, at the close of a rather warm discussion. "_I_ want to see my country free, and live an humble soldier in the ranks." This bold avowal seemed to separate them still more widely, and it was plain that each regarded the other with distrust and reserve. It was after some days of this distance that Frank endeavored to restore their intimacy by leading Ravitzky to speak of himself, and at last ventured to ask him how it came that he still remained a cadet, while others, in every way inferior to him, were made officers.

"I have refused promotion some half-dozen times over," said the other.

"As a kaiser-cadet, my time of service will expire in a few months hence; then I shall be free to leave the service. Were I to accept my grade as an officer, I should have to take an oath of fidelity to the Emperor, which I would not, and pledge myself to a course that I could not do."

"Then they probably know the reasons for which you have declined promotion?"

"a.s.suredly they can guess them," was the curt reply.

"You are a strange fellow, Ravitzky, and I scarcely understand you."

"And yet there is nothing less a mystery than my conduct or my motives,"

rejoined he, proudly. "My father is a n.o.ble, high in the service and confidence of the Emperor, and although a Magyar by birth, is Austrian by choice and predilection. My sympathies are with my countrymen. In obedience to his wishes I have entered this service; in justice to myself, I mean to quit it when I can with honor."

"And for what, or where?" asked Frank.

"Who knows?" said he, sorrowfully. "Many of our nation have gone over the seas in search of a new land. Already we are almost as dest.i.tute of a home as the Poles. But why talk of these things, Herr Lieutenant? I may be led to say that which it would be your duty to report; you ought, perhaps, as it is, to denounce me. Have no fears; my life would always be spared; my family's fidelity would save _me_. This is one of the glorious privileges of birth," cried he, scornfully. "The 'fusillade'

will be the sentence for one of those poor fellows yonder; but you and I are too well born for justice to reach."

"a.s.suredly, I 'll not quarrel with the privilege!" said Frank, laughing.

"And yet, if I were as rich and as great as you are," said Ravitzky, "it is exactly what I should do! With your fortune and your rank you want nothing from king or kaiser. Who, then, would not strive for the higher rewards that only a whole nation can confer?"

Frank blushed deeply at the allusion to his supposed wealth, but had not the courage to refute it. He, however, sought an opportunity to turn the conversation to other channels, and avoided, for the future, all mention of every theme of politics or party. The mischief, however, was done. He brooded forever in secret over all the Hungarian had told him; while old memories of fresh wrongs, as narrated by his father long ago, kept recurring and mingling with them, till not only the themes excluded other thoughts, but that he felt the character of his own ambition changing, and new and very different hopes succeeding to his former ones.

CHAPTER XIV. THE SKIRMISH.

At last they reached the summit of the Stelvio, and began the descent of the mountain; and what a glorious contrast does the southern aspect of an Alpine range present to the cold barrenness of the north! From the dreary regions of snow, they came at length to small patches of verdure, with here and there a stunted pine-tree. Then the larches appeared, their graceful feathery foliage checkering the sunlight into ten thousand fanciful shapes; while streams and rivulets bubbled and rippled on every side,--not icebound as before, but careering along in glad liberty, and with the pleasant music of falling water. Lower down, the gra.s.s was waving as the wind moved on, and cattle were seen in herds revelling in the generous pasture, or seeking shelter beneath the deep chestnut-trees; for, already, even here, the Italian sun was hot. Lower again came dark groves of olives and trellised vines; long aisles of leafy shade traversing the mountain in every direction, now curving in graceful bends, now in bold zigzags, scaling the steep precipices, and sometimes hanging over cliffs and crags, where not even the boldest hand would dare to pluck the ruddy bunches.

Beneath them, as they went, the great plain of Lombardy opened to their view,--that glorious expanse of wood and waving corn, with towns and villages dotting the surface; while directly below, at their very feet, as it were, stretched the Lake of Como, its wooded banks reflected in the waveless water. What a scene of beauty was that fair lake, with its leafy promontories, its palaces, and its Alpine background, all basking under the deep blue of an Italian sky; while perfumes of orange groves, of acacias and magnolias, rose like an incense in the air, and floated upwards!

Even the hard nature of the wild Hungarian--the rude dweller beside the dark-rolling Danube or the rapid Theiss--could not survey the scene unmoved; and, dismounting from their saddles, the hussars moved stealthily along, as if invading the precincts of some charmed region.

Frank was in no haste to leave so picturesque a spot, and resolved to halt for the night beneath the shade of some tall chestnut-trees, where they had sought shelter from the noonday sun. Como was at his feet, straight down beneath him was the wooded promontory of Bellagio, and in the distance rose the Swiss Alps, now tinged with the violet hue of sunset Never was there a scene less likely to suggest thoughts of war or conflict If the eye turned from the dark woods of the Brianza to the calm surface of the lake, everything wore the same aspect of peaceful security. Figures could be seen seated or walking on the terraces of the villas; gorgeously decked gondolas stole over the bay, their gold-embroidered ensigns trailing lazily in the water. Equipages and troops of hors.e.m.e.n wound their way along the leafy lanes; not a sight nor sound that did not portend ease and enjoyment.

With all Frank's ardor for adventure, he was not sorry at all this. His orders to fall back, in case he saw signs of a formidable movement, were too peremptory to be disobeyed, and he would have turned away with great reluctance from a picture so temptingly inviting. Now there was no need to think of this. The great dome of the Milan Cathedral showed on the horizon that he was not thirty miles from the Austrian headquarters, while all around and about him vouched for perfect quiet and tranquillity.

Tempted by a bright moonlight and the delicious freshness of the night, he determined to push on as far as Lecco, where he could halt for the day, and by another night-march reach Milan. Descending slowly, they gained the plain before midnight, and now found themselves on that narrow strip of road which, escarped from the rock, tracks the margin of the lake for miles. Here Frank learned from a peasant that Lecco was much too distant to reach before daybreak, and determined to halt at Varenna, only a few miles off.

This man was the only one they had come up with for several hours, and both Frank and Ravitzky remarked the alarm and terror he exhibited as he suddenly found himself in the midst of them.

"Our cloth here," said the cadet, bitterly, "is so allied to thoughts of tyranny and cruelty, one is not to wonder at the terror of that poor peasant."

"He said Varenna was about five miles off," said Frank, who did not like the spirit of the last remark, and wished to change the topic.

"Scarcely so much; but that as the road was newly mended, we should be obliged to walk our cattle."

"Did you remark the fellow while we were talking,--how his eye wandered over our party? I could almost swear that I saw him counting our numbers."

"I did not notice that," said the cadet, with an almost sneering tone.

"I saw that the poor fellow looked stealthily about from side to side, and seemed most impatient to be off."

"And when he did go," cried Frank, "I could not see what way he took.

His 'Felice notte, Signori,' was scarce uttered when he disappeared."

"He took us for a patrol," remarked the other, carelessly; and whether it was this tone, or that Frank was piqued at the a.s.sumed coolness of the cadet, he made no further remark, but rode on to the front of the party. Shortly after this the moon disappeared; and as the road occasionally pa.s.sed through long tunnellings in the rock, the way became totally obscured, so that in places they were obliged to leave the horses entirely to their own guidance.

"There 's Varenna at last!" said Frank, pointing out some lights, which, glittering afar off, were reflected in long columns in the water.

"That may still be a couple of miles off," said Ravitzky, "for the sh.o.r.es of the lake wind greatly hereabouts. But, there! did you not see a light yonder?--_that_ may be the village." But as he spoke the light was gone; and although they continued to look towards the spot for several minutes, it never reappeared.

"They fish by torchlight here," said Ravitzky, "and that may have been the light; and, by the way, there goes a skiff over the water at a furious rate!--hear how the fellows ply their oars."

The dark object which now skimmed the waters must have been close under the rocks while they were speaking; for she suddenly shot out, and in a few minutes was lost to view.

"Apparently the clink of our sabres has frightened those fellows, too,"

said Frank, laughing, "for they pull like men in haste."

"It's well if it be no worse," said the cadet.

"Partly what I was thinking, myself," said Frank. "We may as well be cautious here." And he ordered Ravitzky, with two men, to ride forty paces in advance, while four others, with carbines c.o.c.ked, were to drop a similar distance to the rear.

The consciousness that he was a.s.suming a responsibility made Frank feel anxious and excited, and at the same time he was not without the irritating sense that attaches to preparations of needless precaution.

From this, however, he was rallied by remarking that Ravitzky seemed more grave and watchful than usual, carefully examining the road as he went along, and halting his party at the slightest noise.

"Did you hear or see anything in front?" asked Frank, as he rode up beside them.

"I have just perceived," said the cadet, "that the boat which half an hour ago shot ahead and left us, has now returned, and persists in keeping a little in advance of us. There! you can see her yonder. They make no noise with their oars, but are evidently bent on watching our movements."

"We 'll soon see if that be their 'tactic,'" said Frank, and gave the word to his men "To trot."

For about half a mile the little party rode sharply forwards, the very pace and the merry clink of the accoutrements seeming to shake off that suspectful anxiety a slower advance suggests. The men were now ordered to walk their horses; and just as they obeyed the word, Ravitzky called out, "See! there she is again. The winding of the bay has given them the advantage of us, and there they are still in front!"

"After all," rejoined Frank, "it may be mere curiosity. Cavalry, I suppose, are seldom seen in these parts."

"So much the better," said Ravitzky, "for there is no ground for them to manouvre, with a mountain on one hand, and a lake on the other. There!

did you see that light? It was a signal of some kind. It was shown twice; and mark, now! it is acknowledged yonder."

"And where is the boat?"