United States or South Africa ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"I have long had my doubts that you blew the flame betwixt Gerard and your father, and set that old rogue, Ghysbrecht, on. And now, here are Gerard's own written words to prove it. You have driven your own flesh and blood into a far land, and robbed the mother that bore you of her darling, the pride of her eye, the joy of her heart. But you are all of a piece from end to end.
The strange glance of hatred the burgomaster had cast on Gerard, coupled with his imprisonment, had filled the young man with a persuasion that Ghysbrecht was his enemy to the death, and he glided round the angle of the tower, fully expecting to see no supernatural appearance, but some cruel and treacherous contrivance of a bad man to do him a mischief in that prison, his escape from which could hardly be known.
The wily Ghysbrecht, suppressing his rage at this remonstrance, sent back a civil message to say that the person he had followed to Sevenbergen was a Tergovian, one Gerard, and that he had stolen the town records: that Gerard having escaped into foreign parts, and probably taken the documents with him, the whole matter was at an end. Thus he made a virtue of necessity.
And the curious thing is, that the mule, the purple housings, and one-half the coin in that plethoric purse, belonged not to Ghysbrecht Van Swieten, but to that faded old man and that comely girl, who sat by a roadside fire to be fed by a stranger.
But presently, as if Satan had come between the two heads, and whispered into the right ear of one and the left of the other simultaneously, they both burst out They went to Ghysbrecht Van Swieten, and he received them at once: for the man who is under the torture of suspense catches eagerly at knowledge. Certainty is often painful, but seldom, like suspense, intolerable.
This done, he took down his wallet, and brought his tinder-box and an iron flask his careful mother had put in. Ghysbrecht Van Swikten, the burgomaster of Tergon, an old man redolent of wealth, came riding by while Gerard was preparing a meal of soup and bread by the roadside. He reined in his steed and spoke uneasily: "Why, Peter Margaret what mummery is this?"
Clement then kneeled and prayed; and when he rose from his knees, he said to Ghysbrecht, with apparent calmness, "My son, confess thy sins." "Ah, father," said the sick man, "they are many and great." "Great, then, be thy penitence, my son; so shalt thou find God's mercy great." Ghysbrecht put his hands together, and began to confess with every appearance of contrition.
It is to be. Lost! lost!" and his years and infirmity now gained the better of his short-lived frenzy, and he sank on the chest muttering "Lost! lost!" "What is lost, master?" asked the servant kindly. "House and lands and good name," groaned Ghysbrecht, and wrung his hands feebly. "WHAT?" cried the servant.
At this moment who should come bounding up but Gerard. He had two straws in his hand, and he threw himself down by the fire and relieved Margaret of the cooking part: then suddenly recognizing the burgomaster, he coloured all over. Ghysbrecht Van Swieten started and glared at him, and took his hand out of his purse.
That cursed Ghysbrecht is still alive: none other would follow me up so bitterly." "Never strike your enemy but to slay him," said Martin gloomily. "I'll hit harder this time, if Heaven gives me the chance," said Gerard. At last they worked through the coppice, and there was an open wood. The trees were large, but far apart, and no escape possible that way.
Word Of The Day