Part 24 (1/2)

With these last words the fire darted fro this occasional handle for reconciling hiainst the treacherous Fathom, and observed, that he should not, in point of honour, wish to die, until he should have sacrificed that traitor to the manes of the beauteous Monimia This incite the blood to circulate with fresh vigour, and encouraging hith, and repair the dae which his health had sustained

His sister assiduously attended hi his sorrow at the saious weapons, as well as with arguments drawn fro already expended, he became so tractable as to listen to his re the joint endeavours of all his friends, a deep fixed melancholy remained after every consequence of his disease had vanished In vain they essayed to elude his grief by gaiety and diversions, in vain they tried to decoy his heart into soement

These kind attempts served only to feed and nourish that melancholy which pined within his bosom Monimia still haunted him in the midst of these amusements, while his reflection whispered to hiht have relished with her participation” That darling idea led in all the fe their attractions, and enhancing the bitterness of his loss; for absence, enthusiashtened the char supernatural and divine

Time, that commonly weakens the traces of rehtly, in his dreams, did he converse with his dear Monihtful stream, where he breathed, in soft murmurs, the dictates of his love and adrove, his arm encircled and sustained her snowy neck, whilst she, with looks of love ineffable, gazed on his face, invoking Heaven to bless her husband and her lord

Yet, even in these illusions was his fancy oft alar on the brink of a steep precipice, far distant fro the boisterous tide, i his assistance, then would he start with horror from his sleep, and feel his sorrows more than realised; he deserted his couch, he avoided the society of e his melancholy; there his ination becaes of death; it conteradual decline of Moniined cruelty; he saw, through that perspective, every blossom of her beauty wither, every sparkle vanish from her eyes; he beheld her faded lips, her pale cheek, and her inanimated features, the symmetry of which not death itself was able to destroy His fancy conveyed her breathless corse to the cold grave, o'er which, perhaps, no tear huned to dust, where she was dished out a delicious banquet to the unsparing wor anguish, until he becaer resist the desire that coe to the dear hallowed spot, where all his once gay hopes lay buried; that he htly visit the silent habitation of his ruined love, embrace the sacred earth hich she was now compounded, moisten it with his tears, and bid the turf lie easy on her breast Besides the prospect of this glooer desire of taking vengeance on the perfidious Fathoations he owed in that kingdom, to those who had assisted him in his distress He therefore communicated his intention to Farrel, ould have insisted upon attending hie Renaldo's affairs in his absence Every previous step being taken, he took leave of the Countess and his sister, who had, with all their interest and elocution, opposed his design, the execution of which, they justly feared, would, instead of dissipating, aug him determined, they shed a flood of tears at his departure, and he set out from Vienna in a post-chaise, accompanied by a trusty valet-de-chambre on horseback

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

RENALDO MEETS WITH A LIVING MONUMENT OF JUSTICE, AND ENCOUNTERS A PERSONAGE OF SOME NOTE IN THESE MEMOIRS

As this do all the proper dispositions, and adjusting every necessary article on the road, Renaldo totally abstracted hi on that theme which was the constant subject of his contemplation He was blind to the objects that surrounded him; he scarce ever felt the importunities of nature; and had not they been reinforced by the pressing entreaties of his attendant, he would have proceeded without refreshreat part of Germany, in his way to the Austrian Netherlands, and arrived at the fortress of Luxeed to tarry a whole day on account of an accident which had happened to his chaise

Here he went to view the fortifications; and as he walked along the ramparts, his ears were saluted with these words: ”Heaven bless the noble Count de Melvil! will not he turn the eyes of compassion on an old fellow-soldier reduced to race?”

Surprised at this address, which was attended with the clanking of chains, Renaldo lifted up his eyes, and perceived the person who spoke to be one of two ether, who had been sentenced for some crime to work as labourers on the fortifications His face was so covered with hair, and his whole appearance so disguised by the squalid habit which he wore, that the Count could not recollect his features, until he gave him to understand that his nanised his fellow-student at Vienna, and his brother-volunteer upon the Rhine, and expressed equal surprise and concern at seeing hi renders the soul so callous and insensible as the searing brands of infa the least symptoms of shame or confusion, ”Count,” says he, ”this is the fate of war, at least of the war in which I have been engaged, ever since I took leave of the Imperial ar life to that original genius! If he is not unhappily eclipsed by some unfortunate interposition, before his terrene parts are purified, I foresee that he will shi+ne a star of the first nitude in the world of adventure”

At an to throb with indignation; yet he suppressed the e of that splendid encomium which he had bestowed upon his confederate ”It would be quite unnecessary,” replied Ratchcali, ”for a uise the truth The nature of race is perfectly well known I am condemned to hard labour for life; and unless some lucky accident, which I cannot now foresee, shall intervene, all I can expect is soentles of your fellow-creatures In order to engage your benevolence the , faithfully inform you of so my old acquaintance Ferdinand Count Fathom, whose real character hath perhaps hitherto escaped your notice”

Then he proceeded to give a regular detail of all the strokes of finesse which he, in conjunction with our adventurer, had practised upon Melvil and others, during their residence at Vienna, and the cans they had made upon the Rhine He explained the nature of the robbery which was supposed to have been done by the Count's valet, together with the manner of their desertion He described his separation fro at London, the traffic they carried on in copartnershi+p; and the misfortune that reduced Ferdinand to the condition in which he was found by Melvil

”After having gratified the honest lawyer,” said he, ”with a share of the unfortunate Fathom's spoils, and packed up all my own valuable effects, my new auxiliary Maurice and I posted to Harwich, embarked in the packet-boat, and next day arrived at Helvoetsluys; froaieties of the place, and exercise our talents at play, which is there cultivated with universal eagerness But, chancing to meet with an old acquaintance, whom I did not at all desire to see, I found it convenient to withdraw softly to Rotterda made a tour of the Austrian Netherlands, set up our rest at Brussels, and concerted a plan for laying the Fles under contribution

”From our appearance we procured admission into the most polite assemblies, and succeeded to a wonder in all our operations; until our career was unfortunately checked by the indiscretion ofa card, was iistrate And this hted, that Count Maurice, finding it impossible to elude his penetration, was fain to stipulate for his own safety, by giving up his friend to the cognisance of the laas accordingly apprehended, before I knew the cause ofunhappily known by souard, my character turned out so little to the approbation of the inquisitors, that all my effects were confiscated for the benefit of the state, and I was by a formal sentence condemned to labour on the fortifications all the days of my life; while Maurice escaped at the expense of five hundred stripes, which he received in public from the hands of the common executioner

”Thus have I, without evasion or iven a faithful account of the steps by which I have arrived at this barrier, which is likely to be the ne plus ultra of enerous Count de Melvil will deign to interpose his interest in behalf of an old fellow-soldier, who may yet live to justify his mediation”

Renaldo had no reason to doubt the truth of this story, every circuence he had already received touching the character of Fathom, whom he now considered with a double portion of abhorrence, as the h Ratchcali did not possess a her place in his opinion, he favoured him with marks of his bounty, and exhorted him, if possible, to reform his heart; but he would by no means promise to interpose his credit in favour of a wretch self-convicted of such enor upon this rencontre, which inspired hireat contempt for human nature And next day he proceeded on his journey with a heavy heart, ru on the perfidy of mankind, and, bethiles, transported with the prospect of revenging all his calamities upon the accursed author

While he rapped up in these reveries, his carriage rolled along, and had already entered a wood between Mons and Tournay, when his dream was suddenly interrupted by the explosion of several pistols that were fired a the thickets at a little distance from the road Roused at this alar fro close followed by his valet, who had alighted and armed himself with a pistol in each hand About forty yards fro, where they saw a singlekilled one of their coround

Melvil seeing this odds, and i theh the heart of one whose hand was raised to sed with the rest in front At the same time the valet disabled another by a shot in the shoulder; so that the nu now equal on both sides, a furious coonist, and each having recourse to swords, as all their pieces had been discharged Renaldo's adversary, finding hiradually aether into the thickest of the wood; and his two coreat ease, the valet-de-chaer so much exhausted by the wounds he had received before Renaldo's interposition, that, when the young gentleratulate hi to erass

The Count, with that warmth of sympathy and benevolence which was natural to his heart, lifted up the wounded cavalier in his arms, and carried him to the chaise, in which he was deposited, while the valet-de-chambre reloaded his pistols, and prepared for a second attack, as they did not doubt that the banditti would return with a reinforceaged him from the wood, and in less than a quarter of an hour they arrived at a village, where they halted for assistance to the stranger, who, though still alive, had not recovered the use of his senses

After he was undressed, and laid in a wareon examined his body, and found a wound in his neck by a sword, and another in his right side, occasioned by a pistol-shot; so that his prognostic was very dubious Meanwhile, he applied proper dressings to both; and, in half an hour after this adave some tokens of perception He looked around hiht himself in the hands of the robbers by whom he had been attacked But, when he saw the assiduity hich the bystanders exerted the his head from the pillohile another exhorted him to s a little hich ar looks of all present, and heard himself accosted in the most cordial terms by the person whom he recollected as his deliverer, all the severity vanished from his countenance; he took Renaldo's hand, and pressed it to his lips; and, while the tears gushed froenerosity are still to be found a the sons of men”