Thus mused Roderick, though it was but for an instant, that even the dread of personal danger could divert his thoughts from his friend.
The surgeon, when he probed Edric’s wounds, however, declared to the great joy of the King that they were not dangerous, and that he had only fainted from loss of blood. He was now placed upon a couch in the same tent with that of the King; and Roderick soon after, stretching his fur mantle under him, threw himself upon his bed; if not to sleep, at least to muse upon the eventful occurrences of the day.
In the meantime, Dr. Entwerfen was forcibly dragged by the Spanish soldiers towards a kind of town-hall, in one of the principal squares of Seville, where, on a platform or dais, raised a little above the floor, sat the sapient magistrates of the town. When the prisoner was brought before them, they all put on their spectacles and surveyed him attentively, examining his bald head with the most scrupulous exactness.
“Here is the lump of a spy,” said one.
“And here that of a rogue,” rejoined another.
“Yes, the organs of observation and self-appropriation,” resumed the first, “are strongly developed. That head is enough to hang an angel!”
“Alas! alas!” cried the poor doctor; “would to Heaven that I had not lost my wig!”
“It would have been of no avail if you had retained it,” said one of the judges gravely, “as it would have been forcibly removed; and even if you had worn your own hair, you must have had your head shaved; for, knowing the general corruption and inaccuracy of witnesses, the judges of this enlightened court reject verbal testimony altogether, and form their correct and infallible judgments upon the sure and undeviating basis of that most profound and useful of all sciences—craniology.”
“And happy are the prisoners judged by so wise a rule,” said another.
“Yes,” rejoined a third; “for, though the minds of men are weak, and their judgments liable to err, the broad and general principles of science must ever remain unchangeably the same.”
In this manner they went on, whilst the poor doctor, looking ruefully from one to another, as they severally pronounced their opinions, stood the very image of despair.
“Let us question him,” resumed the first magistrate. “What were you doing when you were taken?”
“I was making gunpowder,” sighed Dr. Entwerfen.
“The wretch!” exclaimed all his judges together; “he acknowledges he was manufacturing weapons for our destruction.”
“And how were you making this gunpowder,” resumed the judge.
“I was boiling it,” moaned the doctor.
“Boiling it!” exclaimed the judges; “what a villain!” and they all shook their wise heads in concert. The poor doctor could not bear this; and throwing himself upon his knees begged stoutly for mercy.
“In my opinion,” said one, “we should be guilty of a crime in letting him escape.”
“I think so too,” cried another.
“I would not have such a sin upon my conscience for the world,” exclaimed a third; whilst the unfortunate doctor, reading his condemnation in their countenances, groaned aloud in the agony of his spirit.
At this moment, the deep awful roar of a cannon was heard, and Dr. Entwerfen leaped from his knees. “Thank God! thank God!” cried he, strutting up and down, and wiping his forehead with his pocket handkerchief, as the continued roar of the cannon rolled awfully along, rebounding from house to house, and shaking the very court in which they stood. The magistrates looked aghast, whilst their pallid lips and trembling limbs told that, however great they might be in the council, their courage was not particularly conspicuous in the field.
The doctor, in the meantime, kept ejaculating, “I’m safe! I’m safe! See what a thing it is to have a friend for a sovereign: no, no! what did I say? a sovereign for a friend, I mean. Aye, aye! that’s it! that’s it!”
Thus did the doctor exult, whilst the citizens crowded round their chiefs, begging for directions, and not knowing whither to fly for safety. In this dilemma, the exclamations of the doctor attracted their attention; and, enraged to see him rejoice at their misery, the magistrates ordered him to prison, whilst they consulted as to what steps it was most advisable to take.
The poor doctor’s joy was thus quickly changed to grief; and he lamented loudly his foolish transports of delight, without which, he might perhaps have passed unnoticed in the crowd. It was too late, however, for repentance; the command had gone forth, and the unfortunate doctor was dragged away to a loathsome dungeon. The assault was, as we have seen, repulsed, and it being too late, when it was over, to think of hanging Dr. Entwerfen that night, the magistrates retired to their beds, determined to have him executed the first thing in the morning.
All was now still; the plain between the camp and the city, which had so lately echoed with the heavy tramp of horses and human beings, now slept tranquilly in the moonlight; undisturbed, save by the groans of some expiring wretch, or by the busy labours of those employed to remove the dead and relieve the wounded. Roderick had thrown himself upon his couch, and dozed, but in a disturbed slumber; whilst Alexis, placed at a table, was writing dispatches from the dictation of Don Alvarez de Ripparda, who had returned from the pursuit, and sat opposite to him; whilst Lord Arthur O’Neil nodded at his side, and Edric lay reclined on another couch, at a little distance, near the opening of the tent.
All was silent, save the whispered voice of the Spanish general, the heavy breathing of Lord Arthur, and the measured steps of the sentinel, as he paced his weary round. Edric listened till he grew tired of the same sounds falling uninterruptedly upon his ear, and turning on his couch, tried to divert his attention by gazing upon the objects before him. The strong light from the
