Chapter 8. Sir Archie's Flight

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_ CHAPTER VIII. SIR ARCHIE'S FLIGHT

Elsalill came into the tavern wrapt in her long cloak and went straight to a table where Sir Archie sat drinking with his friends. A crowd of customers sat about the tables in the cellar, but Elsalill took no heed of all the wondering glances that followed her, as she went and sat down beside the man she loved. Her only thought was to be with Sir Archie in the few moments of freedom which were left to him.

When Sir Archie saw Elsalill come and sit by him, he rose and moved with her to a table that stood far down the room, hidden by a pillar. She could see that he was displeased at her coming to meet him in a place where it was not the custom for young maids to show themselves.

"I have no long message to bring you, Sir Archie," said Elsalill; "but I would have you know that I cannot go with you to your own country."

When Sir Archie heard Elsalill speak thus he was in despair, since he feared that, if he lost Elsalill, the evil thoughts would again take possession of him.

"Why will you not go with me, Elsalill?" he asked.

Elsalill was as pale as death. Her thoughts were so confused that she scarce knew what answer she made him.

"It is a perilous thing to follow a soldier of fortune," she said. "For none can tell whether such a man will keep his plighted troth."

Before Sir Archie had time to answer, a sailor came into the tavern.

He went up to Sir Archie and told him he was sent by the skipper of the great gallias which lay in the ice behind Klovero. The skipper prayed Sir Archie and all his men to make ready their goods and come aboard that evening. The storm had sprung up again and the sea was clearing far away to the westward. It might well be that before daybreak they would have open water and could sail for Scotland.

"You hear what this man says?" said Sir Archie to Elsalill. "Will you come with me?"

"No," said Elsalill, "I will not go with you."

But in her heart she was very glad, for she thought: "Now belike it will turn out so that he may escape ere the watch can come and seize him."

Sir Archie rose and went over to Sir Philip and Sir Reginald and spoke to them of the message. "Get you back to the inn before me," he said, "and make all ready. I have a word or two yet to say to Elsalill."

When Elsalill saw that Sir Archie was coming back to her, she waved her hands as though to prevent him. "Why do you come back, Sir Archie?" she said. "Why do you not hasten down to the sea as fast as your feet may carry you?"

For such was her love for Sir Archie. She had indeed betrayed him for her dear foster sister's sake, but her most fervent wish was that he might escape.

"No, first will I beg you once more to come with me," said Sir Archie.

"But you know, Sir Archie, that I cannot come with you," said Elsalill.

"Why can you not?" said Sir Archie. "You are a poor orphan, so forlorn and friendless that none will care what becomes of you. But if you come with me, I will make you a noble lady. I am a powerful man in my own country. You shall be clad in silk and gold, and you shall tread a measure at the King's court."

Elsalill was shaking with alarm at his delaying while flight was still open to him. She could scarce calm herself to answer: "Go hence, Sir Archie! You must tarry no longer to importune me." "There is something I would say to you, Elsalill," said Sir Archie, and his voice became more tender as he spoke. "When first I saw you, my only thought was of tempting and beguiling you. In the beginning I promised you riches in jest, but since two nights ago I have meant honestly by you. And now it is my purpose and desire to make you my wife. You may trust in me, as I am a gentleman and a soldier."

At that moment Elsalill heard the march of armed men in the square outside. "If I go with him now," she thought, "he may yet escape. If I refuse, I drive him to destruction. It is for my sake he tarries here so long that the watch will lay hands on him. But how can I go with the man who has murdered all my dear ones?"

"Sir Archie," said Elsalill, and she hoped her words might startle him, "Do you not hear the tramp of armed men in the square?"

"Oh, yes, I hear it," said Sir Archie; "there has been some alehouse brawl, I doubt not. Let it not fright you, Elsalill; it is but some fishermen that have come to clapper-claws over their cups."

"Sir Archie," said Elsalill, "do you not hear them stand before the town hall?"

Elsalill was trembling from head to foot, but Sir Archie took no note of it; he was quite calm.

"Where else would you have them stand?" said Sir Archie. "They must bring the brawlers here to lay them by the heels in the watch house. Listen not to them, Elsalill, but to me, who ask you to follow me over the sea!"

But Elsalill tried once more to put fear into Sir Archie. "Sir Archie," she said, do you not hear the watch coming down the steps to the cellar?"

"Oh, yes, I hear them," said Sir Archie; "they will come here to empty a pot of ale, since their prisoners are safe under lock and key. Think not of them, Elsalill, but think how tomorrow you and I will be sailing the wide sea to my dear native land!"

But Elsalill was pale as a corpse, and she shook so that she could scarce speak. "Sir Archie," she said, "do you not see them speaking with the hostess yonder at the bar? They are asking her whether any of those they seek is within."

"I'll wager they are charging her to brew them a warm, strong drink this stormy night," said Sir Archie. "You need not quake and tremble so mightily, Elsalill. You can follow me without fear. I tell you that if my father would have me wed the noblest damsel in our land, I should now say her nay. Come with me over the sea in full security, Elsalill! Nothing awaits you there but joy and happiness."

More and more of the pikemen had collected about the door, and Elsalill was now beside herself with terror. "I cannot look on while they come and seize him," she thought. She leaned toward Sir Archie and whispered to him: "Do you not hear, Sir Archie? They are asking the hostess whether any of Herr Arne's murderers is here within."

Then Sir Archie threw a glance across the room and looked at the pikemen who were speaking with the hostess. But he did not rise and fly as Elsalill had expected: he bent down and looked deeply into her eyes. "Is it you, Elsalill, who have discovered and betrayed me?" he asked.

"I have done it for my dear foster sister's sake, that she might have peace in her grave," said Elsalill. "God knows what it has cost me to do it. But now fly, Sir Archie! There is yet time. They have not yet barred all doors and lobbies."

"You wolf's cub!" said Sir Archie. "When first I saw you on the quay I thought I ought to kill you."

But Elsalill laid her hand on his arm. "Fly, Sir Archie! I cannot sit still and see them come and take you. If you will not fly without me, then in God's name I will go with you. But do not stay longer here for my sake, Sir Archie! I will do all you ask of me, if only you will save your life."

But now Sir Archie was very angry, and he spoke scornfully to Elsalill. "Now, mistress, you shall never go in gold-embroidered shoes through lofty castle halls. Now you may stay in Marstrand all your days and gut herrings. Never shall you wed a man who has castle and lands, Elsalill. Your man shall be a poor fisherman and your dwelling a cabin on a cold rock."

"Do you not hear them setting guards before all the doors to bar the way with their pikes?" asked Elsalill. "Why do you not hasten hence? Why do you not fly out upon the ice and hide yourself in a ship?"

"I do not fly because I have a mind to sit and talk with Elsalill," said Sir Archie. "Are you thinking that now there is an end of all your joy, Elsalill? Are you thinking that now there is an end of my hope of atoning for my crime?"

"Sir Archie," whispered Elsalill, rising from her seat in her terror; "now the men are all posted. Now they will catch and seize you. Make haste and fly! I shall come out to your ship, Sir Archie, if only you will fly."

"You need not be so frightened, Elsalill," said Sir Archie. "We have some time left to talk together. These fellows have no stomach to set upon me here, where I can defend myself. They mean to take me in the narrow stair. They think to spit me on their long pikes. And that is what you have always wished me, Elsalill."

But the more her terror gained on Elsalill, the calmer became Sir Archie. She never ceased praying him to fly, but he laughed at her.

"You need not be so sure, mistress, that these fellows can take me. I have come through greater dangers than this. I'll warrant I was harder put to it some months since in Sweden. Some slanderers had told King John that his Scots guard was disloyal to him. And the King believed them. He threw the three commanders into dungeon and sent their men out of his realm, and had them guarded till they had passed the border."

"Fly, Sir Archie, fly!" begged Elsalill.

"You need not be troubled for me, Elsalill," said Sir Archie with a hard laugh. "This evening I am myself again, my old humour is come back. I see no more the young maid that haunted me, and I shall hold my own, never fear. I will tell you of those three who lay in King John's dungeon. They stole out of the tower one night, when their guards were drowsy with liquor, and ran their ways. And then they fled to the border. But so long as they were in the Swedish king's land they durst not betray themselves. They had no choice, Elsalill, but to make themselves rough coats of skin and give out that they were journeymen tanners travelling the country in search of work."

Now Elsalill began to mark how changed Sir Archie was toward her. And she knew he hated her, since he had found out that she had betrayed him.

"Speak not so, Sir Archie!" said Elsalill.

"Why should you play me false, just when I trusted you most?" said Sir Archie. "Now I am again the man I was. Now none shall find me merciful. And now you'll see, Fortune will favour me, as she has done hitherto. Were we not in bad case, I and my comrades, when at last we had walked through all Sweden and come down to the coast here? We had no money to buy us honourable clothes. We had no money to pay for our shipping to Scotland. We knew no remedy but to break into Solberga parsonage."

"Speak no more of that!" said Elsalill.

"Yes, now you must hear all, Elsalill," said Sir Archie. "There is one thing you know not, and it is that when first we came into the house we went to Herr Arne, roused him, and told him he must give us money. If he gave it freely, we would not harm him. But Herr Arne resisted us with force, and so we had to strike him down. And when we had dispatched him, we had to make an end of all his household."

Elsalill interrupted Sir Archie no more, but her heart felt cold and empty. She shuddered as she looked upon Sir Archie, for as he spoke a cruel and bloodthirsty look came over him. "What was I about to do?" she thought. "Have I been mad and loved the man who murdered all my dear ones? God forgive my sin!"

"When we thought all were dead," said Sir Archie, "we dragged the heavy money chest out of the house. Then we set fire about it, that men might think Herr had been burnt alive."

"I have loved a wolf of the woods," said Elsalill to herself. "And him I have tried to save from justice!"

"But we drove down to the ice and fled to sea," Sir Archie went on. "We had no fear so long as we saw the flames mounting to the sky, but when we saw them die down we took alarm. We knew then that neighbours had come and put out the fire, and that we should be pursued. So we drove back toward land, for we had seen the outlet of a stream where the ice was thin. We lifted the chest from the sledge and drove forward till the ice broke under the horse's hoofs. Then we let it drown and sprang off to one side. If you were aught but a little maid, Elsalill, you would see that this was bravely done. We acquitted ourselves like men."

Elsalill kept still; she felt a sharp pain tearing at her heart. But Sir Archie hated her and delighted to torment her. "Then we took our belts and fastened them to the chest and began to draw it. But as the chest left tracks in the ice, we went ashore and gathered twigs of spruce and laid them under the chest. Then we took off our boots and went over the ice without leaving a trace behind us."

Sir Archie paused to throw a scornful glance at Elsalill.

"Although we had prospered in all this, we were yet in bad case. Wherever we went our bloodstained clothes would betray us and we should be seized. But now listen, Elsalill, so that you may tell all those who would be at the pains to give us chase, that they may understand we are not of a sort to be lightly taken! Listen to this: As we came over the ice toward Marstrand here, we met our comrades and countrymen, who had been banished by King John from his land. They had not been able to leave Marstrand because of the ice, and they helped us in our need, so that we got clothes. Since then we have gone about here in Marstrand and been in no danger. And no danger would threaten us now, if you had not been faithless and played me false."

Elsalill sat still. This was too great a grief for her. She could scarce feel her heart beating.

But Sir Archie sprang up and cried: "And no ill shall befall us tonight either. Of that you shall be witness, Elsalill!"

In an instant he seized Elsalill in both his arms and raised her off her feet. And with Elsalill before him as a shield Sir Archie ran through the tavern to the doorway. And the men who were posted to guard the door levelled their long pikes at him, but they durst not use them for fear of hurting Elsalill.

When Sir Archie reached the narrow stair and the lobby, he held Elsalill before him in the same way. And she protected him better than the strongest armour, for the pikemen who were drawn up there could make no use of their weapons. Thus he came a good way up the steps, and Elsalill could feel the free air of heaven blowing about her.

But Elsalill's love for Sir Archie was changed to the most deadly hatred, and her only thought was that he was a villain and a murderer. And when she saw that her body shielded him, so that he was likely to escape, she stretched out her hand and took hold of one of the watchmen's pikes and aimed it at her heart. "Now I will serve my foster sister, so that her mission shall be fulfilled at last," thought Elsalill. And at the next step Sir Archie took up the stairs, the pike entered Elsalill's heart.

But then Sir Archie was already at the top of the stairway. And the pikemen fell back when they saw that one of them had hurt the maid. And he ran past them. When Sir Archie came out into the market-place he heard a Scottish war cry from one of the lanes: "A rescue! A rescue! For Scotland! For Scotland!"

It was Sir Philip and Sir Reginald, who had mustered the Scots and now came to relieve him.

And Sir Archie ran toward them and cried in a loud voice: "Hither to me! For Scotland! For Scotland!" _

Read next: Chapter 9. Over The Ice

Read previous: Chapter 7. Unrest

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