CHAPTER LVIII.
Morley Ernstein had not been alone in watching with eager terror the progress of the storm, and the wreck of the Sicilian polacca, on the night, with the events of which, we have lately been busy. Helen Barham, also, had seen the first effects of the squall, with terror the more intense, because she knew, not only that Juliet must be at that very time upon the waters, but also because she was aware that she must be within a few leagues of the shore of Sorrento, upon which the wind was blowing with such dreadful vehemence. Juliet had written her a note from Capri, where they had paused for an hour or two to see the island, and had even so accurately described the vessel, that Helen had seen and recognised it before the storm began. Each howl of the gale, when it first commenced, made her heart sink with apprehension; and though there be some people in the world, unfortunately, who may dream that thoughts would come across Helen's mind to check if not to mitigate her anxiety for her friend, yet be it said, most truly, that Helen only remembered Juliet at that moment as one who had ever been tender and kind, who had been a sister to her when the ties of kindred failed, who had loved her with disinterested love, and soothed her in the time of sorrow and mourning.
As soon it was possible, notwithstanding the fury of the wind, she went out to the highest point of the coast, though it required all the strength of Harry Martin, and another strong man, to steady her steps. But Helen could not resolve to remain within, while one whom she so dearly loved was perishing amidst the waves; and on the top of the promontory she found a number of Italians, gazing out likewise, with their eyes all fixed upon that vessel--now mastless and abandoned to the fury of the waters--which was growing dimmer and more dim to their sight, as the beams of day were fading away from the sky. Then came the signals of distress, and all those terrible moments, ere the polacca was totally hidden by the night. But Helen, though powerless, remained not inactive; she endeavoured, though in vain, to induce the fishermen to put off a boat; she enquired fruitlessly for any persons more venturous than the rest; she offered sums that seemed of incredible magnitude to the poor Sorrentines, for any one who would go forth to give aid to the vessel in distress. None would undertake it; and as the night went on, one by one the people who had been assembled dropped away, and left her standing there, still gazing out into the darkness, but unable to tear herself from the spot.
At length, the same idea struck Harry Martin, which had occurred to old Adam Gray. "In half an hour from this time, madam," he said, "that ship will be upon these rocks. Will it not be better to get a number of men, with torches, all ready to help and save as many of the crew as possible?"
"Oh, yes, yes!" cried Helen; "fly, by all means, fly, and collect as many as possible. Pay them well, and promise a large reward for every life that is saved. Go quick, my good friend, go quick! I will return to the villa with the courier. I fear I can do no good here. Never mind me, Martin, but gather the people together, as fast as possible."
According to her orders, Harry Martin left her; and after remaining for about ten minutes more, Helen was turning to go back to her own dwelling, when one of the servants of the villa came up seeking for her in the darkness to tell her that some people had been sent over to Sorrento by Sir Morley Ernstein, who entertained some apprehensions regarding her safety. Scarcely had the man spoken, when the dim forms of two or three other persons were seen sauntering up the rocky road, and Helen, somewhat alarmed at what she heard, and not liking their appearance, hastened her steps. She passed another and another, without being able in the obscurity to discern their faces; and the sound of footfalls following, made her heart beat strangely. At length four men presented themselves, linked arm in arm, and at the same moment a loud whistle was heard from those behind. At that signal an immediate rush was made upon Helen, and those who were with her. The two men were knocked down in an instant; and Helen, caught up by arms which it was in vain to resist, was borne away, shrieking, and calling for help in vain.
"This way, Eccellenza, this way!" cried a voice, in Italian, while the speaker apparently ran on before; "round by this wall, and the back of the houses, or we shall be stopped. Once on the road to Vico, and we are safe. The house you bade us get, is that way--the other men will take care we are not pursued. Here, round to the right, sir."
Helen ceased not, however, to cry for help, as long as strength remained, but it was in vain, and for two miles the man who carried her bore her on with a rapidity that made his own breath come thick and hard. At length as they were entering what seemed a wilder, and less cultivated part of the country, where the walls of the vineyards and gardens had ceased, and nothing was before them but the hills covered with their odoriferous plants, he paused, saying--"I must stop for a minute. Bid the men make a circle round us."
"Oh!" cried Helen; "for pity's sake let me go. What have I done to injure you? If you will let me go, you shall have any ransom that you name."
"Ransom!" he replied, speaking in English and in a voice too well known; "half a world should not ransom you, till you become a thing that you yourself loathe and hate. You scorned my love in England, you scorned it still more bitterly at Rome, but now I have you amongst these wild hills, and the God that delivers you, will be a God indeed! Come on, my men, come on;" he continued, "see, the moon is breaking through the clouds, and the wind is going down, we are still too near the houses.--Come on, quick, I say; I think I hear a horse's feet."
Helen heard the same sound, and shrieked aloud for aid, but help did not come; they hurried her on: the echo of the horse's feet died away, and Lieberg said, in a bitter tone--"He hears not the sweet music; or, like the deaf adder, he stoppeth his ear to the song of the charmer. Your mode of journeying is unpleasant, perhaps; it will soon be over, lady, so content yourself for a time."
When he had gone about a quarter of a mile farther, however, a distant noise met the ears of the whole party, not like the noise of one horse's feet, but as if there were many, coming up at the full gallop by the same path which they were pursuing. Helen found her persecutor's arms clasped more tightly round her, while his pace grew still more rapid; and, confirmed by these signs in the faint hope she entertained of assistance being near, she again called aloud for help.
"Tie this over her mouth," cried one of the men, giving Lieberg a handkerchief; "they cannot trace us here, unless her screams bring them up."
"That accursed moon will betray us," exclaimed Lieberg. "Cannot we get down into the hollow way?"
"They will hem us in there," cried the man. "By the body of Bacchus, they have got round, and are before us! Bend down, Eccellenza, bend down!--Curse that screaming! I will drive my knife into her!"
"Here, take her," cried Lieberg. "We shall have to fight them.--Call up some of the men from behind.--Tie her, and keep her here; they cannot be so many as we are. We will soon disperse them.--Here come three, right down upon us--call up some of the men from behind, I say!"
The man to whom he spoke uttered the same loud whistle that Helen had heard before, but at that moment were heard two or three shots from the ground which they had just passed over, and then a whole volley, while the three horsemen, who had galloped on and intercepted Lieberg's farther progress, caught sight of him, by the clear moonlight and were coming down at full speed.
"Huzza! we have them--we have them!" cried the voice of Harry Martin.--"In God's name, leave him to me, Sir Morley.--You look to the lady."
But as he spoke, two of Lieberg's hired ruffians rushed up, in that picturesque, and never-to-be-mistaken costume which the Italian bandits have affected, with the ribands on their hats floating wildly in the gale, and their long guns carried easily in their hands.
"We cannot help you," they cried--"we cannot help you, they are too many for us. Bertolo is down, and so is Marino."
"But strike one stroke," exclaimed Lieberg, furiously; "here are but three before us."
"But there are twenty behind," answered one of the men. "However, here goes;" and raising his gun to his shoulder, he fired.
His companion followed his example the very moment after, and instantly one of their opponents went down, horse and man together. Another horse reared and plunged, but darted forward again with a staggering pace, and the horseman finding that the beast was wounded, sprang to the ground, and cast away the rein. The other man, who had fallen also, started up, and two of Lieberg's companions each taking a separate way, turned and fled. The man who still remained mounted, was turning his rein to pursue them, but the voice of Morley Ernstein stopped him, exclaiming--"This way--this way! There stands the villain himself. I know him but too well."
"This for you, Sir Morley Ernstein," shouted Lieberg, levelling a pistol, and firing at the same moment.
Morley staggered back, but the ball, discharged from too great a distance, only hurt him slightly, and the next moment he darted forward again.
"Shall I kill her?" cried the Italian, who stood beside Lieberg.
His master paused for a single instant, then caught Helen up again in his arms, asking "The cliff is near, is it not?" and without waiting a reply, he ran with the swiftness of lightning up the side of the hill. The moon was now shining clear, as I have said, and the whole party beheld and followed him. The man on horseback contrived to turn him once, as a greyhound does a hare, but neither Morley nor Harry Martin, though by their companion's manœuvre they gained upon him considerably, dared to fire for fear of hitting Helen.
At length Lieberg paused, but it was only on the very verge of the rock overlooking the sea; and there he stood, laughing aloud with the peculiar mocking laugh, which always marked that he thought he had won the day. His tall, magnificent form was seen clear and distinct by the moonlight, and Morley and those who were with him, not three paces distant, could even distinguish his features and the look of dark and savage triumph by which they were animated.
"Keep back, Sir Morley Ernstein," he cried, "and hear a word or two! When first we met, I felt that the fate of one of us depended on the other. You have me at bay, but I have my advantage too. If you drive me over this precipice, you not only destroy a woman who loves you, but you kill your own brother--Ay! your father's son, Sir Morley, by a lady of higher rank than your own low-born dame. Have you any scruples of paternal tenderness?--I have none!" and at the same moment he clasped Helen tightly round the waist with his left arm, and stretched out his right with a second pistol in the act to fire.
Ere he could draw the trigger, however, with a bound, which cleared the intervening space in an instant, Harry Martin was upon him. One powerful arm was cast round Helen tearing her from her persecutor; the other pressed a pistol right into Lieberg's ear. The cock fell--there was a flash and a report; and, reeling back, with Helen in his arms, from the edge of the precipice over which he had nearly fallen in his effort to rescue her, the hardy Englishman exclaimed--"I have saved you--by God, I have saved you!"
And where was Lieberg? He had disappeared; and though Sir Morley Ernstein caused long and diligent search to be made for his body under the cliffs upon the following morning, it was nowhere to be found. The sea did not approach near enough to have washed it away; none of the peasants or fishermen had seen or heard of it; and the only thing that could give any indication of his fate, was a drop or two of blood on the spot where he had stood.