This brave young man, who, I see, is both a Swiss and a soldier,
is doubly welcome among us,--in the two characters just named, and as one
that hath done thee and us so great a service."
Sigismund received the compliments which he so well merited with modesty.
The bailiff, however, not content with making the usual felicitations,
whispered in his ear that a service like this, rendered to one of its most
esteemed nobles, would not be forgotten by the Councils on a proper
occasion.
"Thou art happily arrived, Herr Melchior," he then added, aloud; "come as
thou wilt, floating or sailing in air. We have thee among us none the
worse for the accident, and we thank God, as Roger de Blonay has just so
well observed. Our Abbaye is like to be a gallant ceremony, for divers
gentlemen of name are in the town, and I hear of more that are pricking
forward among the mountains from countries beyond the Rhine. Hadst thou no
other companions in the bark but these I see around us?"
"There is another, and I wonder that he is not here! 'Tis a noble Genoese,
that thou hast often heard me name, Sire de Blonay, as one that I love.
Pages:
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219