-
Articles/Ads
Article THE DOOMED ONE AND THE EXECUTIONER. ← Page 6 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Doomed One And The Executioner.
indignant Florian ; " if you are innocent , it will be better for us both ; " but he continued , after a hasty look around him , " the danger I alluded to still hangs over you ; I trust , however , that , with God ' s help , I yet may shield you from it . I will deal candidly with you , " said the old man : " when you rode by my house this evening—"
" Who and what are you r" said Florian , in new astonishment . " Have a little patience , " replied the old man , while his features relaxed with a good-humoured smile , " and you shall know ; do you recollect the archway under an old house , where a toll of a sous was demanded from you : that house is mine , and I was sitting at the window as you threw an alms into the box for the condemned criminals ; had you looked upwards you would have seen a naked sword and a bright axe suspended over the door . "
At these words the youth shuddered , and drew several paces from his companion , " I see by your flinching , " sternly resumed the old man , " that you guess who is before you ; you are right , I am the town executioner , but an honest fellow withal , and inclined to render you a service ; now mark me—when you stopped beneath the broad blade , it quivered and jarred against the axe . Whoever is thus greeted by the headsman ' s
sword , is inevitably doomed to come in contact with it . I heard the boding jar which every executioner in France knows how to interpret , and I came hither to warn you of your fate . " The unhappy youth , who had listened to this strange communication , now yielded to a sense of ungovernable terror ; covering his pallid face with his hands , he exclaimed , " Heaven in its mercy save me !" " Ah ! " said the headsman , sternly , "have I then roused your slumbering conscience—alas ! that one so young should have dipped his hand in blood ; fly , and save yourself . "
" By all that is sacred , " exclaimed Florian , with trembling eagerness , " I am innocent of murder ; listen to my story , and then , in mercy , give me aid and counsel . " He now unfolded to the executioner the extraordinary chain of circumstances which had caused him to seek security in flight . The rigid features of the old man relaxed , as he proceeded , into a cheerful and even cordial expression . " Well , well , I see how it is ; ' tis true the broad blade has denounced
you , and my grandfather and myself have frequently traced criminals by its guidance ; but I know that the sword will speak alike to master and victim ; you have yet to learn that , in this life , every man is either an anvil or a hammer , a tool or a victim ; briefly , I feel a regard for you—I have no sons—but I have a young and lovely daughter ; marry her , and I will adopt you as my successor ; you will then fulfil your destiny by coming in contact with the sword , and if you clutch it
firmly , I will be your pledge that you shall never fall by it . " At this strange proposal Florian started to his feet with indignation . " Hold ! " continued the executioner , coolly , " the night is long and favourable to reflection ; remember that your head is in peril ; that all your prospects in life are blasted , and that an unsuspected asylum like mine can alone save you from an ignominious death . " He emptied his glass as he spoke , and , with a friendly nod , left the kitchen . " I become an " he muttered indignantly , but could not utter the fatal word— " Never ! " He felt that he should never have resolution to grasp the sword which was to save him from being numbered among
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Doomed One And The Executioner.
indignant Florian ; " if you are innocent , it will be better for us both ; " but he continued , after a hasty look around him , " the danger I alluded to still hangs over you ; I trust , however , that , with God ' s help , I yet may shield you from it . I will deal candidly with you , " said the old man : " when you rode by my house this evening—"
" Who and what are you r" said Florian , in new astonishment . " Have a little patience , " replied the old man , while his features relaxed with a good-humoured smile , " and you shall know ; do you recollect the archway under an old house , where a toll of a sous was demanded from you : that house is mine , and I was sitting at the window as you threw an alms into the box for the condemned criminals ; had you looked upwards you would have seen a naked sword and a bright axe suspended over the door . "
At these words the youth shuddered , and drew several paces from his companion , " I see by your flinching , " sternly resumed the old man , " that you guess who is before you ; you are right , I am the town executioner , but an honest fellow withal , and inclined to render you a service ; now mark me—when you stopped beneath the broad blade , it quivered and jarred against the axe . Whoever is thus greeted by the headsman ' s
sword , is inevitably doomed to come in contact with it . I heard the boding jar which every executioner in France knows how to interpret , and I came hither to warn you of your fate . " The unhappy youth , who had listened to this strange communication , now yielded to a sense of ungovernable terror ; covering his pallid face with his hands , he exclaimed , " Heaven in its mercy save me !" " Ah ! " said the headsman , sternly , "have I then roused your slumbering conscience—alas ! that one so young should have dipped his hand in blood ; fly , and save yourself . "
" By all that is sacred , " exclaimed Florian , with trembling eagerness , " I am innocent of murder ; listen to my story , and then , in mercy , give me aid and counsel . " He now unfolded to the executioner the extraordinary chain of circumstances which had caused him to seek security in flight . The rigid features of the old man relaxed , as he proceeded , into a cheerful and even cordial expression . " Well , well , I see how it is ; ' tis true the broad blade has denounced
you , and my grandfather and myself have frequently traced criminals by its guidance ; but I know that the sword will speak alike to master and victim ; you have yet to learn that , in this life , every man is either an anvil or a hammer , a tool or a victim ; briefly , I feel a regard for you—I have no sons—but I have a young and lovely daughter ; marry her , and I will adopt you as my successor ; you will then fulfil your destiny by coming in contact with the sword , and if you clutch it
firmly , I will be your pledge that you shall never fall by it . " At this strange proposal Florian started to his feet with indignation . " Hold ! " continued the executioner , coolly , " the night is long and favourable to reflection ; remember that your head is in peril ; that all your prospects in life are blasted , and that an unsuspected asylum like mine can alone save you from an ignominious death . " He emptied his glass as he spoke , and , with a friendly nod , left the kitchen . " I become an " he muttered indignantly , but could not utter the fatal word— " Never ! " He felt that he should never have resolution to grasp the sword which was to save him from being numbered among