The Man-at-Arms; or, Henry De Cerons. Volumes I and II. G. P. R. James
by clasps and mountings of fine filigree-work, were cast promiscuously together with a thousand articles of high price which I have now forgotten.
Our business was soon explained to the Jew; and, taking the Turkish dagger, he looked at it, saying that he would give ten crowns for it, after he had touched a part of the haft with a touchstone.
"Ten crowns!" exclaimed my Scottish companion. "By Abraham's beard, Solomon Ahar, thou art more a Jew than the rest of thy tribe. See you not that the stones are real?"
"Nay?" exclaimed the Jew, with a look of surprise, "is it so?" And, drawing near to the window, he examined it again by the faint light that entered the chamber through the manifold tall courts and stacks of chimneys behind.
"As true as thou art a son of Israel," replied the Scotchman. But, ere he could say more, the Jew himself exclaimed, "Blessed be Heaven! it is so indeed. Here are--let me see--six, seven, nine, fourteen fine stones. Nay, then, I will give the gentleman an hundred crowns an he choose to leave it with me, as what the people of Lombardy call a pignus or pledge; and if he will sell it outright, I think I could venture to go as far as an hundred and fifty or two hundred."
"Which means that it is worth three."
"On my honour, on my conscience!" cried the Jew; and was beginning to bargain upon the worth of the thing, when I cut short the discourse by exclaiming, "I have no intention of selling the dagger: it is but for a temporary need that I want the money, and trust to pay it back full soon."
"He shall give thee an hundred and fifty for it at least," exclaimed the Scotchman. "I know how to deal with the tribe of Israel. Look ye, Master Solomon, the haft of the dagger is worth three hundred crowns or more. If the youth lives, returns, and claims it, you gain your interest of fifteen hard per cent. If he gets himself killed, as is a thousand chances to one, or dies a natural death, or never finds a crown to spare to pay thee, all of which are very probable, the dagger is yours at the end of six months or a year, and then you gain double for the loan."
"I cannot give it," replied the Jew; "I cannot give it. It is too much. It would be my ruin. How often am I a loser! What taxes have I not to pay! No, I cannot give it, I will not give it. There is your dagger, young gentleman."
I hesitated whether I should take the weapon; but the Scotchman gave me a nod, saying, "Take it, take it; there are more Jews in Bordeaux than he." And I was taking it back into my hand, when the girl suddenly left off her sport with the shawls, and, plucking the old man by the robe; she said. "Give it him, my father; give him the money. He seems as if he would fain have it. He wants it, and thou dost not."
The Jew still was silent, only putting the child away with his hand, and saying, when she urged him farther, "Silence, prattler, what is it to thee?"
The girl, turning away from him, looked up in my face; and I laid my hand upon her jetty locks, saying, "I thank thee, my pretty maiden. He will not yield to thee, but thou art kind, however."
"Nay," said the Jew; "I will yield something. You shall have a hundred and twenty-five."
"No!" said the Scot, turning towards the door; "We shall get a hundred and fifty for it from Moses Levi."
The Jew hesitated for a moment longer; but when my companion laid his hand upon the lock of the door as if to go out, he said, "Stay, stay: thou shalt have it, though I vow it is the full value of the thing."
He carried an inkhorn at his button, and soon wrote down upon two pieces of vellum a mutual acknowledgment between him and me; the one was drawn up in his name, acknowledging the receipt of the dagger, specifying every stone it contained, and promising its restitution on the payment of the sum of a hundred and fifty crowns, together with interest at the rate of fifteen per cent. The other was on my part, acknowledging the receipt of the hundred and fifty crowns, and promising to return it within the space of twelve months, paying an interest of fifteen per cent.
As soon as this was concluded, the money was paid down, and the weapon, with its glittering hilt, surrendered. I still wanted a leathern bag to carry the money in; but in the store of the Jew all things were to be found; and, having taken one from a cabinet in the room, he made me pay about double the value, and thus we departed; I far richer than I had expected to be for many a year, but feeling yet a degree of regret and disquietude at having suffered the last gift of my father to pass out of my own hand, which, for the time, more than counterbalanced the pleasure of receiving the money, even though it was to furnish me with the means of pursuing that profession for which he himself had destined me.
When we had quitted the Jew's house, my companion laughed aloud in his peculiar clear, merry, careless way.
"These sons of Israel," he said, "These sons of Israel, it needs a long acquaintance to deal with them wisely: for they always take their chance of those who traffic with them being fools, in order to cheat them, if it be possible. The old sinner knew that those were real jewels in the dagger from the first moment he set eyes on it; but he hazarded offering a small sum, in case you should not know the fact. I took my chance the other way, and swore they were real jewels, though I knew nothing about it; being very sure that, if they were not, he would not suffer me to deceive him. However, you are now not only master of enough to arm you from head to heel as a proper man-at-arms, and to buy you a horse, but to arm half a dozen others lightly to follow you; and, if you will take my counsel, I think I can set you off on a plan by which you may gain both fame and fortune, or lose your life, remember!--for that must always be put at stake. Come to the inn, however: come to the inn, and we will talk more."
I followed him through the streets meditating on what he had said, and inclined very strongly to trust him, but feeling that want of confidence in myself which was produced by a knowledge of my own inexperience, and which prevented me from being at all sure whether I was dealing with an honest man or a knave. He had certainly put me in a way of obtaining money, which I could not have done myself, and he had, as yet, asked me for no share in the sum thus obtained. There was a frankness too in his whole demeanour, which produced a strong impression in his favour; and, though I was still upon my guard, yet I was well inclined to receive any advice that he might give me under a favourable view.
"Come, Master Jacques," he said, speaking to the landlord, whom we met upon the stairs of the inn, "let us have a bottle of your best wine, for we were interrupted in our draught to go away upon business."
The landlord bowed low at orders which landlords are always willing to hear; and the stranger led the way to the same room where we had before sat, humming away the time till the aubergiste returned. Ensconced at length in that room, with the bottle and glasses before us, he began, in somewhat of a consequential tone, and with a look of superior knowledge, to direct my proceedings.
"You have now," he said, "the opportunity of making or marring your own fortunes. You have but very little experience, I have a great deal; and, were I placed exactly as you are, I would do as I am going to tell you to do. I would, in the first place, buy myself arms and horses here in Bordeaux, where you will get them cheaper than either at La Rochelle or at Charenton, where they are in more request. I would arm myself completely at all points with a plain, good suit, which may be had at a low price, of just as strong materials as if you paid two or three thousand livres for it. Then buy the armour of a demi-lance for that stout youth whom I saw with you below. Two horses may be had for you cheap enough if you can ride well; for there is a Maquinon, called Pierrot, has got a troop of wild devils from the Limousin, for which he can find no sale here among the merchants and citizens, and soft-boned gentry of Bordeaux."
I smiled, replying, "We will ride them if they can be ridden."
"I advise you," he continued, "To do this rather than to furnish yourself at the army, both because you will find it cheaper, and because it always looks better, and gives a higher opinion of a man when he joins his leader fully prepared. Besides, you have a chance of some little adventure on the road, which may take off the freshness of your arms, and give you some little reputation. Such things are as common in these days as they were in the times of the knights-errant. Now what I propose for you to do, when you have joined the army, is, not for you to put yourself in this troop or that, as a simple man-at-arms--for that is the way to get yourself killed speedily, without