University of Virginia Library

11. XI.

They went to a spot more secluded in the forest,
and there they found an old abbey church, which
Rodolph did not remember ever to have seen before.
With every spot of it, however, his companion
seemed familiar; he talked of this family burial
place and of that, and began to give a long
history of the knight whose crossed legs in marble
they were then sitting upon, and he might
have gone into details of a thousand years — for
he betrayed a strange familiarity with past events
— had not Rodolph, with a more selfish object,
hurriedly interrupted him. Conrade laughed
heartily at the impatience of his companion, and
his pale features were full of a pleasantly satirical
expression, and his eyes danced with a wild, strange
glare, as he looked quizzingly upon the feverish
restlessness of the lover; but he saw that it would
not do to tax the youth's temper too far, and so
he proceeded quietly to his purposed explanation.

“You have heard of the late Count Oberfeldt
of Manfrein?” he demanded.

“The late Count Oberfeldt? What! is he
dead?” responded Rodolph.

“Died last night,” was the reply.

“Why, he was quite well — I saw him on the
edge of the forest, riding with a stranger, only
two days ago. He must have died suddenly.”

“Quite — as suddenly as a sharp knife, such as
that you were about to use an hour ago, could
carry him off, hurriedly applied to the carotid.”

“Murdered?”

“No; he committed suicide.”

“Is it possible? He was always a bad man!”
remarked Rodolph, quite thoughtlessly and innocently.

“Ahem!” responded the other. “Bad or good,
I say not. He was a wild, irregular, strange sort
of person, whose pleasures and pursuits differed
materially from those of the rest of the world. It
is not for us to say whether he was right or wrong
in their adoption. His accountability is not to
us, and so far the subject is foreign to our discourse.
You knew him, Rodolph?”

The question was answered affirmatively.

“You know that his wealth was great?”

“Yes.”

“A dozen different castles — fine domains every
where — well provided; retainers in abundance;
good wines and wealth in profusion. These were
his, and, strange to say, though living a profligate

life, he died having them all in his possession.”

“Stranger still,” remarked Rodolph, “that,
having them in possession, he should voluntarily
have given them up.”

“Perhaps not. Satiety is a worse death than
the knife. It is the death of that necessary provocative,
without which life must always stagnate.
Wise men pray that they should never have all
their desires satisfied. Oberfeldt was not a wise
man. His desires were narrowed to his animal
propensities, and he was unfortunate enough to
grasp and gain all that he desired. They tired him
out in the end, and grew into a fatigue, so he cut
the carotid, and got rid of them.”

“The d—l has him!” said Rodolph, coolly.

“That's none of our business,” said the other,
warmly; “and let me advise you, that to speak
of persons with whom our own acquaintance is
imperfect, is not always to do them justice. You
may discover that truth for yourself in time; for
the present, let us talk of your own affairs, and
then of Oberfeldt's, so far as they may concern
you.”

“But how can the affairs of Oberfeldt concern
me? I see not that,” said Rodolph, impatiently.

“But you shall see, when you have heard. The

great wealth of Oberfeldt is to be divided, and you
are, if you desire it, one of his legatees.”

“If I desire it!” exclaimed Rodolph, hastily;
“speak out, my friend. Wealth to me is every
thing at this moment; and though I see not why
Oberfeldt should have left me any of his, I am not
unwilling to avail myself of his bequest. I should
not reject one from the d—l himself.”

“You are only too accommodating,” said the
other, gravely. “But hear. You are one of his
heirs, if you desire it. He was a singular creature,
and has made a singular disposition of his
property. He has left it subject to division,
among any dozen men who will pledge themselves
to follow his example —”

“What! cut their throats?”

“Even so; but after a peculiar plan. He does
not desire them to cut their throats on the instant,
or together. He requires only one amateur at a
time. Once a year, the anniversary of his own
suicide, is to be celebrated by a selection from
among his followers — his college, as he calls them
— and the martyr is to be chosen by lot.”

“Monstrous idea!” said Rodolph.

“Very!” responded the other.

“And what then?” said Rodolph.

“Why, only this,” was the reply; “I have determined

to avail myself of all the advantages of
Oberfeldt's will. I will become one of his devisees.
I will get one of his fine castles. I will
get his manors and retainers, his stock and his
treasure. I will take all that the bequest bestows.
I am fond of money, for its power and its purposes.
I have none of my own. It matters not to
me whether I die by my own hand, the hand of
my enemy, or the worst of all hands, that of starvation.
Life is not life, unless for what it yields
us. I do not deprive myself of life, if I lose nothing
when I perish; and at present I have nothing
to lose. I go to-night, with others, to Manfrien
castle. I swear to the performance of all the
conditions exacted by the will; I jump into my
new possessions, and hasten to their enjoyment.
I will begin to live from that hour; heretofore I
have not lived — it is high time that I should. I
counsel you to do likewise. Go with me to-night;
swear with me to the conditions; avail
yourself of the wealth they give you, and be happy
while you may.”

“Great heaven!” exclaimed the other: “How
can you advise me thus, Conrade? how can you
determine thus yourself? What! pledge myself
to commit suicide?”

“What were you but just now about to do,”
demanded the other, with a sneer, “when I came

up so happily, and held back your hand? Is the
present plan worse? Is it not better; far better,
in all respects? You get something now for the
commission of the act, when, before, you could
have derived no advantage from it. You get the
very wealth you wanted; you get the woman you
love, who else would be lost to you for ever. Can
you hesitate?”

Rodolph bent down his head. It sank on his
bosom despondingly. The thick drops of perspiration
stood upon his brow, for a great mental
strife was going on within.

“Think,” said the tempter, “think what you
will gain — wealth, Bertha. Think what you
will lose — Bertha, wealth — all that would be
worth living for.”

Rodolph was silent; the other continued:

“And she will be the victim, not less than
yourself; the old baron with the long name will
bear her off in triumph. She will be immured in
his castle; her arms will enfold him in their embraces;
his coarse lips will riot upon the sweet innocence
of hers; he —”

“No more — no more,” exclaimed the desperate
youth, tossing his hands toward heaven; “I
will go with you to-night; I will swear to the
conditions. Bertha shall be mine, and mine only.

I cannot live without her; I cannot bear that she
should be the bride of another.”