Part 68 (1/2)
”Father, dear father, pray open the door,” shouted the voice again, and somebody shook the door.
Wallner laid down his rifle and hastened to the door. ”May G.o.d protect me if they deceive me, but I believe it is Lizzie.”
He threw open the door; the little Tyrolese lad rushed in, embraced him tenderly, kissed him with his cold lips, and whispered, ”My father! thank G.o.d, I am with you!”
”It is Lizzie!” cried Wallner, in a ringing voice. ”She has come tome through night and storm! It is my daughter, my dear, dear daughter! Oh, joy of my heart, how were you able to get up here in this terrible night? No man would have dared to attempt it.”
”But I dared it, father, for I am your child, and love you.”
”You love me, and I thank G.o.d!” he exclaimed, folding her tenderly and anxiously to his heart; ”I thank G.o.d for saving you, and--”
He faltered and burst into tears, which he did not try to conceal.
He wept aloud and bitterly, and Eliza wept with him, and neither of them knew whether they wept for joy or grief.
Eliza was the first to overcome her emotion. ”Father,” she said, raising her head quickly, ”the enemy is on your track, and early to- morrow morning the French are going to occupy the mountain in order to arrest you. That is the reason why I have come up to you, for you must flee this very hour.”
”Flee?” he cried, mournfully. ”How can I? The first Bavarian or French gendarme on the frontier, who meets me and asks me for my pa.s.sport, will arrest me. I have no pa.s.sport.”
”Here is a pa.s.sport,” said Eliza, joyfully, handing him the paper, ”Siebermeier sends it to you.”
”The faithful friend! Yes, that is help in need. Now I will try with G.o.d's aid to escape. You, Lizzie, will return to mother, and bring her a thousand greetings from me; and as soon as I am across the frontier, you shall hear from me.”
”I must go with you, father,” said Eliza, smiling. ”The pa.s.sport is valid for Siebermeier, the carpet-dealer, and his son. Now you see, dear father, I am your son, and shall flee with you.”
”No,” cried her father, in dismay; ”no, you shall never do so, Lizzie. I must journey through the wildest and most secluded Alps, and you would die in the attempt to follow me, Lizzie.”
”And even though I knew that I should die, father, I should go with you,” said Lizzie, joyfully. ”You cannot flee without me, and I do not love my life very dearly if it cannot be useful to you, dear father. Therefore, say no more about it, and do not reject my offer any longer; for if you do, it will be in vain, because I shall follow you for all that, and no road is too precipitous for me when I see you before the. Therefore, come, dear father; do not hesitate any longer, but come with your little boy. You cannot flee without me; therefore, let us try it courageously together.”
”Well, I will do so, my brave little boy; I believe I must comply with your wish,” exclaimed Wallner, folding her tenderly to his heart. ”You shall accompany me, you shall save your father's life.
Oh, it would be glorious if G.o.d should grant me the satisfaction of being indebted for my life to my dear daughter Lizzie!”
”Come, now, father, come; every minute's delay increases the danger.”
”I am ready, Lizzie. Let me only see if my rifle is in good order and put on my powder-pouch.”
”You cannot take your rifle with you, nor your powder-pouch either.
You are no longer the brave commander of the sharpshooters of Windisch-Matrey, but Siebermeier, the carpet-dealer, a very peaceable man, who does not take his rifle and powder-pouch with him on his travels.”
”You are right, Lizzie. But it is hard indeed to flee without arms, and to be defenceless even in case of an attack by the enemy. And I do not want to let my rifle fall into the hands of the French when they come up here. I know a hole in the rock close by; I will take it there and conceal it till my return. Come, now, Lizzie, and let us attempt, with G.o.d's aid, to escape from the enemy.”
He wrapped himself in his cloak, took the rifle, and both left the hut.
Day was now dawning: some rosy streaks appeared already in the eastern horizon, and the summits of the glaciers were faintly illuminated. Eliza saw it, but she did not rejoice this time at the majestic beauty of the sunrise; it made her only uneasy and sad, and while her father concealed his rifle carefully in the hole in the rock, Eliza glanced around anxiously, murmuring to herself: ”They intend to start at daybreak. It is now after daybreak; the sun has risen, and they have doubtless set out already to arrest him.”
”Now come,” said her father, returning to her; ”we have a long journey before us to-day, for we must pa.s.s the Alps by hunters'
paths up to the Isel-Tauerkamm. We shall pa.s.s the night at the inn there: in the morning we shall continue the journey, and, if it please G.o.d, we shall reach the Austrian frontier within three hours.”
And they descended the mountain, hand in hand and with firm steps, and entered the forest.