第175章

Am I not a Greek, full of honour and sensibility? Would you have the cooks of Sceira and Stambul submit to be insulted here in Spain by the sons of counts rushing into the temple with manchets of bread.Non, non, mon maitre, you are too noble to require that, and what is more, TOO JUST.But we will talk of other things.Mon maitre, I came not alone; there is one now waiting in the corridor anxious to speak to you.

MYSELF.- Who is it?

ANTONIO.- One whom you have met, mon maitre, in various and strange places.

MYSELF.- But who is it?

ANTONIO.- One who will come to a strange end, FOR SO ITIS WRITTEN.The most extraordinary of all the Swiss, he of Saint James, - DER SCHATZ GRABER.

MYSELF.- Not Benedict Mol?

"YAW, MEIN LIEBER HERR," said Benedict, pushing open the door which stood ajar; "it is myself.I met Herr Anton in the street, and hearing that you were in this place, I came with him to visit you."MYSELF.- And in the name of all that is singular, how is it that I see you in Madrid again? I thought that by this time you were returned to your own country.

BENEDICT.- Fear not, lieber herr, I shall return thither in good time; but not on foot, but with mules and coach.The schatz is still yonder, waiting to be dug up, and now I have better hope than ever: plenty of friends, plenty of money.See you not how I am dressed, lieber herr?

And verily his habiliments were of a much more respectable appearance than any which he had sported on former occasions.His coat and pantaloons, which were of light green, were nearly new.On his head he still wore an Andalusian hat, but the present one was neither old nor shabby, but fresh and glossy, and of immense altitude of cone: whilst in his hand, instead of the ragged staff which I had observed at Saint James and Oviedo, he now carried a huge bamboo rattan, surmounted by the grim head of either a bear or lion, curiously cut out of pewter.

"You have all the appearance of a treasure seeker returned from a successful expedition," I exclaimed.

"Or rather," interrupted Antonio, "of one who has ceased to trade on his own bottom, and now goes seeking treasures at the cost and expense of others."I questioned the Swiss minutely concerning his adventures since I last saw him, when I left him at Oviedo to pursue my route to Santander.From his answers I gathered that he had followed me to the latter place; he was, however, a long time in performing the journey, being weak from hunger and privation.At Santander he could hear no tidings of me, and by this time the trifle which he had received from me was completely exhausted.He now thought of making his way into France, but was afraid to venture through the disturbed provinces, lest he should fall into the hands of the Carlists, who he conceived might shoot him as a spy.No one relieving him at Santander, he departed and begged his way till he found himself in some part of Aragon, but where he scarcely knew.

"My misery was so great," said Bennet, "that I nearly lost my senses.Oh, the horror of wandering about the savage hills and wide plains of Spain, without money and without hope!

Sometimes I became desperate, when I found myself amongst rocks and barrancos, perhaps after having tasted no food from sunrise to sunset, and then I would raise my staff towards the sky and shake it, crying, lieber herr Gott, ach lieber herr Gott, you must help me now or never; if you tarry, I am lost; you must help me now, now! And once when I was raving in this manner, methought I heard a voice, nay I am sure I heard it, sounding from the hollow of a rock, clear and strong; and it cried, `Der schatz, der schatz, it is not yet dug up; to Madrid, to Madrid.

The way to the schatz is through Madrid.' And then the thought of the schatz once more rushed into my mind, and I reflected how happy I might be, could I but dig up the schatz.No more begging, then, no more wandering amidst horrid mountains and deserts; so I brandished my staff, and my body and my limbs became full of new and surprising strength, and I strode forward, and was not long before I reached the high road; and then I begged and bettled as I best could, until I reached Madrid.""And what has befallen you since you reached Madrid?" Iinquired."Did you find the treasure in the streets?"On a sudden Bennet became reserved and taciturn, which the more surprised me, as, up to the present moment, he had at all times been remarkably communicative with respect to his affairs and prospects.From what I could learn from his broken hints and innuendoes, it appeared that, since his arrival at Madrid, he had fallen into the hands of certain people who had treated him with kindness, and provided him with both money and clothes; not from disinterested motives, however, but having an eye to the treasure."They expect great things from me," said the Swiss; "and perhaps, after all, it would have been more profitable to have dug up the treasure without their assistance, always provided that were possible." Who his new friends were, he either knew not or would not tell me, save that they were people in power.He said something about Queen Christina and an oath which he had taken in the presence of a bishop on the crucifix and "the four Evangiles." I thought that his head was turned, and forbore questioning.Just before taking his departure, he observed "Lieber herr, pardon me for not being quite frank towards you, to whom I owe so much, but Idare not; I am not now my own man.It is, moreover, an evil thing at all times to say a word about treasure before you have secured it.There was once a man in my own country, who dug deep into the earth until he arrived at a copper vessel which contained a schatz.Seizing it by the handle, he merely exclaimed in his transport, `I have it'; that was enough, however: down sank the kettle, though the handle remained in his grasp.That was all he ever got for his trouble and digging.Farewell, lieber herr, I shall speedily be sent back to Saint James to dig up the schatz; but I will visit you ere Igo - farewell."