The Headsman | Page 6

does the animal no more than justice, he hath not been an idle cur
among the snows."
"He hath been the instrument of saving seven Christians from death."
answered the monk, beginning again to regard his mastiff with friendly
looks, for at first there had been keen reproach and severe displeasure
in his manner--"not to speak of the bodies that have been found by his
activity, after the vital spark had fled."
"As for the latter, father, we can count little more in favor of the dog
than a good intention. Valuing services on this scale, I might ere this
have been the holy father himself, or at least a cardinal; but seven lives
saved, for their owners to die quietly in their beds, and with opportunity
to make their peace with heaven, is no bad recommendation for a dog.
Nettuno, here, is every way worthy to be the friend of old Uberto, for
thirteen drowning men have I myself seen him draw from the greedy
jaws of sharks and other monsters of deep water. What dost thou say,
father; shall we make peace between the brutes?"
The Augustine expressed his readiness, as well as his desire, to aid in
an effort so laudable, and by dint of commands and persuasion, the
dogs, who were predisposed to peace from having had a mutual taste of
the bitterness of war, and who now felt for each other the respect which
courage and force are apt to create, were soon on the usual terms of
animals of their kind that have no particular grounds for contention.
The guardian of the city improved the calm produced by this little
incident, to regain a portion of his lost authority. Beating back the
crowd with his cane, he cleared a space around the gate into which but
one of the travellers could enter at a time, while he professed himself
not only ready but determined to proceed with his duty, without further
procrastination. Baptiste, the patron, who beheld the precious moments
wasting, and who, in the delay, foresaw a loss of wind, which, to one of

his pursuits, was loss of money, now earnestly pressed the travellers to
comply with the necessary forms, and to take their stations in his bark
with all convenient speed.
"Of what matter is it," continued the calculating waterman, who was
rather conspicuously known for the love of thrift that is usually
attributed to most of the inhabitants of that region, "whether there be
one headsman or twenty in the bark, so long as the good vessel can
float and steer? Our Leman winds are fickle friends, and the wise take
them while in the humor. Give me the breeze at west, and I will load
the Winkelried to the water's edge with executioners, or any other
pernicious creatures thou wilt, and thou mayest take the lightest bark
that ever swam in the bise, and let us see who will first make the haven
of Vévey!"
The loudest, and in a sense that is very important in all such discussions,
the principal, speaker in the dispute, was the leader of the Neapolitan
troupe, who, in virtue of good lungs, an agility that had no competitor
in any present, and a certain mixture of superstition and bravado, that
formed nearly equal ingredients in his character, was a man likely to
gain great influence with those who, from their ignorance and habits,
had an inherent love of the marvellous, and a profound respect for all
who possessed, in acting, more audacity, and, in believing, more
credulity than themselves. The vulgar like an excess, even if it be of
folly; for, in their eyes, the abundance of any particular quality is very
apt to be taken as the standard of its excellence.
"This is well for him who receives, but it may be death to him that
pays," cried the son of the south, gaining not a little among his auditors
by the distinction, for the argument was sufficiently wily, as between
the buyer and the seller. "Thou wilt get thy silver for the risk, and we
may get watery graves for our weakness. Nought but mishaps can come
of wicked company, and accursed will they be, in the evil hour, that are
found in brotherly communion, with one whose trade is hurrying
Christians into eternity, before the time that has been lent by nature is
fairly up. Santa Madre! I would not be the fellow-traveller of such a
wretch, across this wild and changeable lake, for the honor of leaping

and showing my poor powers in the presence of the Holy Father, and
the whole of the learned conclave!"
This solemn declaration, which was made with suitable gesticulation,
and an action of the countenance that was well adapted to prove the
speaker's sincerity, produced