Part 13 (2/2)
Here then the King and Queen waited while their beloved daughter (bearing with her the white and silver tablets by means of which she was wont to communicate with others) was told to present herself at the wicket-gate of the Castle. She was moreover given money wherewith to propitiate the much-dreaded Donald--the stern one-eyed guardian of the Enchanter's abode.
It was one of those days in early November when the exquisite ”Indian summer” sometimes casts a perfect halo of beauty over the ”soft”
north-western atmosphere of Scotland. The little group paused on the eminence immediately commanding the tall gaunt building below. In reality, the Castle top was above them; but to gain access to its portals, it was necessary to descend to a considerable depth, and then remount by a narrow cause-way to its frowning door.
The afternoon sun gilded the turrets with golden radiance, beyond slumbered the blue rippling waters, calm and treacherous, giving no sign of their cruel strength. Far in the distance like faint clouds, lay the curving outline of the Highland hills, tipped with snow, and dimly visible as they blushed pink in the parting rays of the monarch of day.
The last farewell spoken, and the afflicted child tenderly pressed to her parents' hearts; the gentle Miranda, with slow footstep, descended the fateful path.
In the meantime Eudaemon, by his consultations with the stars (an art partly taught him by his mother, who had carried away for her child, when she escaped from Valbiorn's terrible dwelling, strange ma.n.u.scripts of astrological and magic lore), had become aware of the impending visit of a being whose fate was mysteriously connected with his own.
He was absorbed in abstruse calculations when Luachan, suddenly p.r.i.c.king up his ears, and impatiently scratching at the door, gave notice that some stranger approached the castle. On his master's unfastening the latch, the fleet animal made one bound, and disappeared down the narrow staircase, while the magician heard old Donald's querulous quavering tones raised high, as if to refuse admittance.
Quick as thought Eudaemon sprang lightly after his dog, and entered the hall, where an astonis.h.i.+ng sight greeted his bewildered eyes.
A maiden of surpa.s.sing beauty had evidently made her way into the Castle when the seneschal was off his guard. She now stood irresolute in the centre of the apartment. Luachan, contrary to immemorial custom (for, as a rule, he was surly to strangers), gambolled around the beautiful unknown with extravagant gestures of affectionate welcome, while the one-eyed Donald, shaking in his h.o.a.ry wrath, poured forth an incomprehensible flood of Celtic indignation.
Eudaemon rushed forward, and signed to the old man to hold his peace, then turning to his fair visitant, he gently asked her will. Miranda, amazed to behold in the dreaded Enchanter no ancient, withered seer, no venerable prophet, as she had antic.i.p.ated, but the dark-haired ideal of her wild dreams about the sea kings of the north, remained rooted to the spot, ashamed of her wilful intrusion and covered with burning blushes.
Eudaemon gazed, like one entranced, on his mysterious guest. Her long golden tresses, and her exquisite beauty of feature and form, startled the recluse of the rock. At first he almost imagined her to be of angelic extraction; but her unmistakeable confusion betrayed mortal birth, and in bolder tones the Enchanter again requested her to make known her wishes.
The Princess, seized with sudden terror, looked towards the door by which she had entered, but it was closed, and Donald stood before it, glaring at her angrily with his solitary orb. In her distress her hand involuntarily sought the tablets, where she now remembered that she herself had written the following explanatory lines, during her long and tedious journey from the south. With a bashful half-smile, therefore, she unclasped the ivory pages from her side, and timidly handed them to the Magician, who there beheld inscribed these lines.
”Hearken mighty seer, Eudaemon, Tamer of the golden Eagle, Aquila the golden Eagle, Hearken, merciful Eudaemon, Measurer of the raging tempest, Of the unseen raging tempest, Hearken to a lowland maiden, To the silent maid Miranda To the sad Princess Miranda.
”I am come from Clutha's waters, From its distant tranquil waters, Where through changing isles of suns.h.i.+ne, Looms the ocean, where the west wind Rustles through the matted foliage, Or, with a delicious s.h.i.+ver, Sweeps along the silver beeches.
I am come to sea-girt Raasay, To the wave-washed island Raasay, To the storm-swept, rugged Raasay, I have braved Kintyre's wild headlands-- Braved its mountain-rising billows, Braved dark Cory-Vreckan's whirlpool, Braved the fortress of Artornish, Braved the fabled Ardnamurchan, s.h.i.+p-engulfing Ardnamurchan, Braved the blasts from Scuir-na-gillean, But to plead with thee for succour, Aid against the fell enchantment, Terrible unknown enchantment, Which hath bound my lips to silence-- Gloomy unresponsive silence.
Maidens' mouths were made for singing, Song and laughter are their suns.h.i.+ne; Cheering thus the world around them, Wakening mirth with voice melodious.
Pity, then! oh, great Enchanter!
Pity the poor spell-bound Princess, Silent, sorrowful, dumb maiden, And with pity give a.s.sistance, Read the tale she cannot tell thee, Charm the woes no sighs can cure.”
Eudaemon perused the tablets with eager attention more than once, then, turning a keen, piercing eye on Miranda, he exclaimed.
”Princess! I do not now hear of your misfortune for the first time. I knew that you and your parents were in search of me and of my castle.
During my researches and observations I have discovered that the conjunction of stars at your birth left one unfavourable moment. This was taken advantage of by Valbiorn to avenge upon your innocent lips a grudge he owed to your father, having been, in days gone by, an unsuccessful suitor for your mother's hand.
”By much careful study of the heavens I have ascertained that the enchantment can only be dissolved by my aid and that under very difficult conditions. Rest a.s.sured, however, that no effort on my part shall be wanting to set you free. But,” continued Eudaemon, bending low before Miranda, ”will your parents consent to remain under my humble roof a while, since what we must go through together will take days, if not weeks, to accomplish?”
The Princess joyfully clasped her hands, and while tears of joy ran down her fair cheeks at the prospect of deliverance, she inclined her head over and over again, to intimate that her parents would thankfully accept Eudaemon's welcome invitation.
The Enchanter now offered his hand to Miranda, and while Luachan testified his delight by bounding around them, led her through the Castle gate and accompanied her in search of the King and Queen. With all the unreasonableness of human nature, these potentates advancing to meet them, half expected to hear their daughter already speaking. They graciously accosted Eudaemon, however, and anxiously listened to his explanations.
It was finally arranged that the Queen and her daughter, with their solitary waiting-maid, (much to Donald's disgust), should be installed in a part of the Castle now never used, but where were still to be seen, when the doors were unlocked, the last traces of the gentle Bragela's feminine occupations. The islanders cheerfully lent what aid they could, and King Murdoch with his attendant was permanently fixed in the small s.h.i.+eling on the hill. It was impossible to accommodate him in the Castle, for though lofty, its proportions were narrow and cramped. Except to sleep therefore he very seldom left the precincts of Eudaemon's dwelling.
For several days and nights the Enchanter shut himself up alone in his high turret, examining dusty old volumes, and reading the heavens, by the aid of an instrument he himself had constructed. At the end of that time he emerged from his solitary chamber, descending with eager rapid step to join his guests at their evening meal. He bore under his arm a small box and a piece of board roughly marked in squares of two colours. His dark features wore an expression of anxious excitement.
No sooner had the last traces of the repast been cleared away than Eudaemon placed his board upon the table. Opening the box he then displayed to the Princess's delighted gaze a number of little men of various sizes and shapes. These were in fact neither more nor less than a set of chessmen which he had laboriously carved in wood with his own hands, and stained in two different colours, having ascertained the mode of using them from the careful study of ancient ma.n.u.scripts.
<script>