Part 29 (1/2)
”Morbleu!” vociferated the other, in a rage; ”do you want to take the trick from your commander, Captain Loffler? For shame, for shame! he is a rebel who dares do that. May my soul be punished, but you want to take the command away from me.” The general, for such he was, frowned furiously, pushed his hat off his ears, and discovered a large red scar on his forehead, which heightened the savage appearance of his look.
”There is no military discipline at play,” General Peter, ”answered the other. You may order us captains to blockade a town, and raise contributions, but at play one man is as good as another.”
”You are mutinous, a rebel against the authorities! Thunder and lightning! were it not against my honour, I would cut you into a hundred pieces;--but play on.”
”There's an ace,” said one. ”Here's a quart,” said another. ”I cut with the ten,” exclaimed a third. ”And here's the knave,--who can take him?”
said the fourth player.
”I can,” cried the large man; ”there's the king,--Morbleu! the trick is mine.”
”Where did you get the king?” said a little thin man, with a cunning face, small searching eyes, and shrill voice, ”didn't I see it at the bottom of the pack when you dealt. He has cheated! Long Peter has cheated, by all the saints!”
”Muckerle, captain of the eighth company! I advise you to hold your tongue,” said the general; ”_Ba.s.sa manelka!_ I don't take a joke,--the mouse should not play with the lion.”
”And I say it again,--where did you get the king? I'll prove you false before the pope and the king of France, thou foul player.”
”Muckerle,” replied the general, drawing his sword deliberately out of its scabbard, ”pray another Ave Maria and a Gratias, for as soon as the game is over you are a dead man.”
The other three men were roused from a state of indifference at these angry words. They sided with the little captain, and gave the general to understand clearly that they thought he was capable of the imputed meanness. He, however, looked big, and full of importance, and swore he had not cheated. ”If the holy Peter, my gracious patron, who I carry on my hat, could speak, he would bear me witness, as true as I am a Christian lansquenet, that I have not played false!”
”He played fair,” said a strange voice, which appeared to issue from the tree. The men crossed themselves to defend them from an evil spirit, the gallant general even turned pale, and let drop his cards; when a peasant stept forward from behind the tree, armed with a dagger, and having a guitar slung over his shoulder with a leathern strap. He beheld the group with an undaunted eye, and said, ”That gentleman did not cheat; I saw all the cards that were dealt to him.”
”Ah! you are a fine fellow,” said the general, much pleased; ”as I am an honest lansquenet, what you say is all right.”
”But how is this?” said the little captain, with a sharp look, ”how did this peasant get here without being announced by the piquet? He is a spy, and deserves to be hung.”
”Don't be astonished, Muckerle, he is no spy; come and sit down by me, my friend, you are a musician, I see, by your instrument hanging over your shoulder, like a Spaniard going to serenade his love.”
”Yes, sir! I am a poor musician; your guard allowed me to pa.s.s when I came through the wood. I saw you playing, and I ventured to look on.”
The commanders of this free corps not being accustomed to hear themselves addressed in such polite terms, took a liking to the peasant, and invited him courteously to seat himself among them; for they had learned in the military service of foreign countries that kings and princes often went about in the guise of minstrels.
The general filled a cup of wine out of a pewter bottle, offered it to the little captain, and said, with a good-natured smile, ”Muckerle, what I drink shall be my death, if I don't forget everything that has pa.s.sed between us! an end to strife and quarrel. We won't play any more, gentlemen: I love a song and the sound of the guitar--what say you to some music?”
The men agreed, and threw the cards aside. The peasant tuned his instrument, and asked what he should sing.
”Give us a song upon card-playing!” cried one of the party.
The musician considered awhile, and sung the following upon the game of lansquenet, which they had just been playing.
”Cinque, quatre, and ace Bring many a man to disgrace; Quatre, and cinque, and tre Make many to cry well-a-day; An ace, a seize, and a deuce Make many an empty house; A quatre, a trois, and cinque Cause many pure water to drink; A cinque, a trois, and quatre Make parents' and children's eyes water; From cinque, and quatre, and seize, Miss Catherine and Miss Elize Must long unmarried remain, Unless from your play you refrain.”
Long Peter and his a.s.sociates praised his singing, and reached him the flask with their thanks. ”May G.o.d bless you!” said the singer, as he returned the bottle; ”I wish you luck in your campaign. If I don't mistake, you are the commanders of the League, and are on your march to the enemy. May I ask who you are going against?”
The men looked and smiled at each other, but the general answered him: ”you are quite in the wrong. We did, indeed, serve the League formerly, but we are now free and our own masters, ready to a.s.sist any one who wants us.”
”This will be a good year for the Swiss, for it is said the Duke will return to his country with their a.s.sistance,” said the peasant.
”May the Swiss be hunted by wolves,” said the general, ”for having treated him so ill! The good Duke set all his hopes upon them, and, _diavolo maledetto_! did they not desert him in Blaubeuren?”