University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

The Outlaws' cave. Enter Theobald.
Theo.
(looking round).
Here is a place in which some traces are
Of late inhabitants. In yonder nook
The embers faintly gleam, and on the walls
Hang spears and ancient arms: I must be right
A figure through the gloom moves towards me.
Ho! there! Whoe'er you are: Holla! good friend!

Enter an Outlaw.
Out.
A stranger! Who art thou, who art thus bold,
To hail us here unbidden?

Theo.
That thou shalt shortly know. Thou art, I guess,
One of the outlaw'd band who haunt this forest.

Out.
Be thy conjecture right or wrong, no more
Shalt thou return to tell where thou hast found us.
Now for thy life!

[Drawing his sword.
Theo.
Hear me, I do entreat thee.

Out.
Nay, nay! no foolish pleadings; for thy life
Is forfeit now; have at thee!

[Falls fiercely upon Theobald, Who also draws and defends himself bravely, when another outlaw enters and falls likewise upon him. Theo. then recedes fighting, till he gets his back to the wall of the cavern, and there defends himself stoutly.
Enter Franko.
Franko.
Desist, I charge you! Fighting with a stranger,
Two swords to one—a solitary stranger!

1st out.
We are discover'd; had he master'd me,
He had return'd to tell his mates above
What neighbours in these nether caves they have.
Let us despatch him.

Franko.
No, thou hateful butcher!
Despatch a man alone and in our power!
Who art thou, stranger, who dost use thy sword
With no mean skill; and in this perilous case
So bold an air and countenance maintainest?
What brought thee hither?

Theo.
My name is Theobald of Falkenstein;
To find the valiant captain of these bands,
And crave assistance of his gen'rous arm:
This is my business here.

Franko
(struck and agitated, to his men).
Go, join your comrades in the further cave.
[Exeunt outlaws.
And thou art Falkenstein? In truth thou art.
And who thinkst thou am I?

Theo.
Franko, the gen'rous leader of those outlaws.

Franko.
So am I call'd, and by that name alone
They know me. Sporting on the mountain's side,
Where Garva's wood waves green, in other days,
Some fifteen years ago, they call'd me Albert.

Theo.
(rushing into his arms).
Albert; my playmate Albert! Woe the day!
What cruel fortune drove thee to this state?

Franko.
I'll tell thee all! but tell thou first to me
What is the aid thou camest here to ask.

Theo.
Ay, thou wert ever thus: still forward bent
To serve, not to be serv'd.
But wave we this.
Last night a lady to the castle came,
In thraldom by a villain kept, whom I
E'en with my life would rescue. Of armed force
At present destitute, I come to thee
Craving thy aid in counsel and in arms.

Franko.
When didst thou learn that outlaws harbour here,
For 'tis but lately we have held these haunts?

Theo.
Not till within the precincts of the forest,
Following the traces of that villain's course,
One of your band I met, and recogniz'd
As an old soldier, who, some few years back,
Had under my command right bravely serv'd.
Seeing himself discover'd, and encouraged
By what I told him of my story, freely
He offer'd to conduct me to his captain.
But in a tangled path some space before me,
Alarm'd at sight of spearmen through the brake,
He started from his way, and so I miss'd him,
Making my way alone to gain your cave.

Franko.
Thou'rt welcome here: and gladly I'll assist thee,
Though not by arms, the force within the castle
So far out-numbering mine.
But other means may serve thy purpose better.

Theo.
What other means, I pray?

Franko.
From these low caves, a passage under ground
Leads to the castle—to the very tower
Where, as I guess, the lady is confin'd.
When sleep has still'd the house, we'll make our way.

Theo.
Ay, by my faith it is a noble plan!
Guarded or not, we well may overcome
The few that may compose her midnight guard.

Franko.
We shall not shrink from that.—But by my fay!
To-morrow is St. Michael's eve: 'twere well
To be the spectre-huntsman for a night,
And bear her off, without pursuit or hindrance.

Theo.
I comprehend thee not.

Franko.
Thou shalt ere long.
But stand not here; an inner room I have,
Where thou shalt rest and some refreshment take,
And then we will more fully talk of this,
Which, slightly mention'd, seems chimerical.
Follow me.
[Turning to him as they go out.
Hast thou still upon thine arm
That mark which from mine arrow thou receiv'dst
When sportively we shot? The wound was deep,
And gall'd thee much, but thou mad'st light of it.

Theo.
Yes, here it is.

[Pulling up his sleeve as they go out, and Exeunt.