Hans of Iceland, Vol. 2 of 2; The Last Day of a CondemnedHugo, Victor
General
Hans of Iceland, Vol. 2 of 2; The Last Day of a Condemned
Hugo, Victor
Capital punishment -- Fiction; France -- Fiction; Iceland -- Fiction; Prisoners -- France -- Fiction
For some time the mountaineers had realized that they must perforce
submit to superior numbers; for the Munkholm musketeers had been joined
by the sharpshooters from the forest, and by detachments of lancers and
foot dragoons, who poured in from deep gorges, where the surrender of
many of the rebel leaders had put a stop to slaughter. Brave Kennybol,
wounded early in the fight, was made a prisoner. Hans of Iceland’s
capture deprived the mountaineers of such courage as they still
possessed, and they threw down their arms.
When the first beams of the rising sun gilded the sharp peaks of lofty
glaciers still half submerged in darkness, mournful peace and fearful
silence reigned in Black Pillar Pass, broken only by feeble moans borne
away by the chill breeze.
Black clouds of crows flocked to those fatal gorges from every quarter
of the horizon; and a few poor goat-herds, who passed the cliffs at
twilight, hastened home in terror, declaring that they had seen an
animal with the face of a man in Black Pillar Pass, seated on a heap of
slain, drinking their blood.
XL.
Let him who will, burn beneath these smouldering fires.--BRANTOME.
“Open the window, daughter; those panes are very dirty, and I would fain
see the day.”
“See the day, father! It will soon be night.”
“The sun still lies on the hills along the fjord. I long to breathe the
free air through my prison bars. The sky is so clear!”
“Father, a storm is at hand.”
“A storm, Ethel! Where do you see it?”
“It is because the sky is clear, father, that I foresee a storm.”
The old man looked at his daughter in surprise.
“Had I reasoned thus in my youth, I should not be here.” Then he added
in a firmer tone: “What you say is correct, but it is not a common
inference for one of your age. I do not understand why your youthful
reasoning should be so like my aged experience.”
Ethel’s eyes fell, as if she were troubled by this serious and simple
remark. She clasped her hands sadly, and a deep sigh heaved her breast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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