For The White Christ Part 42

Olvir was staring straight before him, intent on the words of the royal speaker. It was evident that his doubts were not yet satisfied, and so, after a moment's pause, Karl spoke on: "What more need I say, Olvir?

You have seen how the heathen hedge in my kingdom on three sides,--how within my borders the ma.s.s of my own folk drag upon my skirts with the weight of their ignorance and sinful living. Even I must at times bend and smile,--must swallow the gibe, and stoop to some landed lordling whose benefice was bestowed upon his father by my father, yet which he now makes pretence of holding by the new and unlawful claim of heritage.

Does the son of Thorbiorn believe that I am one to eat with pleasure a dish so seasoned? Yet I smile and bide my time. My thought is other than of kingly dignity. Before all else I have set my task to bring about peace and order and enlightenment; and there, by G.o.d's grace, shall it stand, until my realm has pa.s.sed out of the night of ignorance into the full day of bright learning,--until justice reigns throughout my kingdom, as for these four years past it has reigned in Vascon Land."

"By Thor!" cried Olvir, "now do I see! You, sire, are even such a king as was sought by Socrates the Greek,--a golden king, a king who loves wisdom."

"I have heard of that Greek. You shall tell me of his words another time. Now I seek to justify my deeds. Already you give praise, yet I will speak further. Weigh well what I have said,--the task I would work out; the dangers I must withstand. I have not named all which threaten my realm. There is yet another looming in the future,--one which I should have no need to name to you. Beyond the forests and fens of Saxon Land I see rising a cloud black with menace to Christendom. Am I blind, my Dane hawk? Have I not watched with a heedful eye the bearing of your sea-wolves? Have I not measured in battle the shock of those fierce warriors who follow Wittikind from Sigfrid's realm? Your folk are at home both on land and sea. Where your own s.h.i.+ps have come, others will follow, and there will not always be king's daughters to turn their crews from harrying. I foresee a great peril in the North. My sons will have enough to defend the long coast lines of Neustria and Frisia, without the open door of a heathen Saxon land for your wild Dane folk to enter. Therefore I press upon the rebellious Saxons with my whole power, that I may crush out the last spark of their savagery and heathenism. I have been mild,--I have sought to win them by kindness. But they have rebelled many times, and, not content with bowing to their fiend-G.o.ds, they have harried my borders with fire and sword. Must I then forgo vengeance because the oath-breakers come before me to seek pardon, their hands yet red with the blood of priests and babes? No, by the King of Heaven! I have wreaked fitting vengeance upon the murderers. Once for all time I have crushed the forest-wolves. Now, what says my bright Dane?"

Olvir stood silent for a while, tapping the jewelled hilt of Al-hatif.

Then he answered deliberately: "I have weighed well your words, sire, and now wish to remain your liegeman. Already I knew you a world-hero; you have proved yourself yet more,--a king who seeks first the welfare of his people. Yet do not mistake me, lord king. Though, in the eyes of men, your task and the ruthless harrying by your foe may justify that b.l.o.o.d.y deed, I still hold that nowhere can you find justification in the words of the White Christ. Yet more, I hold that by this deed you have also failed in kingcraft."

"How then?" demanded Karl. "If it cow the forest-wolves, there will be more saved in blood and woe--"

"But will it daunt those sons of Odin?" broke in Olvir. "The Saxon is no soft Aquitanian or Romanized Lombard. Does the she-wolf run when her young are struck? Rather, she turns and rends the hunter. So shall the forest-dwellers rush to attack you."

"G.o.d forbid! If such be the fruit of Verden, I will freely own myself at fault. But such shall not be. The stiff-necked heathen are broken.

And now, enough of that which is past. I again hold you to be what you have proved yourself these four years gone,--a friend and a helper in my lifework."

"I cannot pledge my followers, lord king. They are free vikings, not henchmen. They may go, or they may stay. But I can pledge myself. In the days to come, it will be fair cause for boasting that one has had a hand with Karl the King in the uplifting of men."

"True, lad; and I welcome your learning and keen wit even as I welcome the wisdom of yonder scholar. Ho, Brother Alcuin, come forward with your fellows! Come, greet my bright Dane!"

At the bidding, the thin-faced deacon advanced before the counts and abbots and saluted Olvir gravely.

"In the name of our Lord Christ," he said, "I greet joyfully the high earl who in deed, if not in word, has ruled his earldom as a true Christian."

"Yet I am no Christian," answered Olvir. "The sayings of the White Christ are hard to live. I follow such as lie within my strength. In time I may gain strength to follow more; but he who has been reared to manhood with a bared sword in his hand is slow to forget the joy of battle. At the least, I shall never fetter the wit which G.o.d has given me, nor stoop from my freedom to the yoke of your church. If you Christian priests can read the words of the White Christ, so can I. But I would not contend. You have come with the lamp of learning to lighten the gloom of our lord king's broad realm. I rejoice with him at your coming, and whatever of power lies within me, I give it freely and gladly in aid of the good work."

"Young man," interposed Abbot Baugulf, "before you offer your aid, you should first seek to know whether such would be acceptable in the sight of G.o.d. Has He need of heretics to do His holy work? We hope the charge may prove untrue; but I grieve to say that many times word has come from the Southland of how you made a scoff of Holy Church, and of the first bishop of Christ's fold, His Holiness the Pope; how, with sacrilegious force, you went so far as to drag from holy sanctuary--from the very altar of G.o.d's temple--one who had thrown himself upon the mercy of our Heavenly Father."

"That is a lie, lord abbot," answered Olvir, coolly. "I and my men sat down around the church, and after a time the slayer crept out to meet his doom. If one may not enter a wrongdoer's house to force out the guilty owner, much less should one force the nithing from G.o.d's house.

I did not break sanctuary; you have given ear to a lie."

"Lie or not, it would be fitting for you first to bow to the vicar of our Lord Christ before you thrust yourself into Christ's service."

"Brother," interposed Fulrad, "what do we eat,--the kernel or the husk?

The learned Alcuin has spoken of Count Olvir's righteous deeds in Vascon Land; you speak of the false tales sent out by those who sought to withstand the justice of their lawful ruler. Count Gerold and myself have searched closely into the affairs of the Vascon Mark. I need only mention the year of famine, when Count Olvir sold a fourth of the gems of his Saracen treasure, and gave the price in alms to the poor of his mark. He may be unorthodox in name, but his deeds were surely Christian."

"If Father Fulrad speaks for peace, I will also seek to curb my tongue,"

said Olvir.

"And none shall goad you, my son. We will stand together in good acts, and avoid the strife of tongues."

"My bright Dane is free to speak at all times," interposed Karl, quickly. "None the less, the thought is good. Our searchings for truth shall be without bitterness. The land is now at peace, and we go to Thionville, to set about the great task of order and learning."

"G.o.d speed the good work!" cried Abbot Baugulf, and all around echoed the prayer.

CHAPTER IV

Green go the ways Toward the hall of Guiki, That the fates show forth To those who fare thither; There the rich king Reareth a daughter.

LAY OF REGIN.

The most subtle courtiers.h.i.+p could not have gained for Olvir half the honors which his bold stand for truth had won for him by confirming the esteem and friends.h.i.+p of the king. But Karl, like all great leaders, looked for unstinted service in turn for unstinted honors. And so it was that even before the Frankish host moved Rhineward, he singled out the young Northman to go with Gerold and Abbot Fulrad as special _missi_ to Italy.

To Rome and back was no short journey. After a tedious delay over the affairs of Pope Hadrian, there were months to be spent aiding old Barnard in settling the administration of the new Kingdom of Italy. So that summer and autumn had pa.s.sed, and the December snows lay white on the banks of the Moselle, when at last the three came back from the Southland.

They had lain over-night at Metz, and as the roads were fair, the sixteen miles which made up the last stage of their long journey was covered with ease during the forenoon. A little short of Thionville, they stopped at an inn for the noon meal. Then, after Olvir had groomed Zora, and all three had looked to their dress, they rode on quietly toward the villa.

The first to greet the wayfarers were a party of vikings who had been hunting up the Moselle. At their head stalked Floki the Crane, and beside him rode Pepin Hunchback and young Karl, to whom the tall giant had been teaching woodcraft.

It was a question who were most delighted over the unexpected meeting,--the king's sons or their Norse guard. All crowded around the _missi_, with shouts of welcome, so that it was some little time before the party could move on. Then Gerold and Abbot Fulrad rode ahead with the king's sons, and Olvir followed in the midst of his overjoyed warriors. The young earl's own face was aglow; but, true leader as he was, he lost no time in learning the condition of his men. He had no need to ask twice. At the first question, Floki pointed down the Moselle bank to the s.h.i.+p-sheds and the high-peaked Norse hall in the midst of the viking huts.

"All's well with your sea-wolves, ring-breaker," he croaked. "We have thatched enough roofs to shelter every head, and the Frank king gives with an open hand."

"Good! Now I will ride on with my fellow heralds, to speak our tidings to the king. But I will be with you by nightfall, old Crane," replied Olvir; and, at a word, Zora leaped forward to the side of Abbot Fulrad's ambling mule.

There were none but house-slaves at the villa gate to greet the _missi_.

The greater number of the courtiers were sleeping after the noon meal.

Gerold would have called the doorward; but Pepin and young Karl ran ahead to their father's chamber, and themselves announced the wayfarers.

As the three paused at the curtained doorway, the king's voice, clear and resonant with pleasure, called upon them to enter.

Fulrad at once thrust aside the curtains and stepped within the chamber, followed closely by his journey mates. Karl, who had been lying upon a fur-heaped couch, was already on his feet, gathering his long cloak about his half-clad shoulders. As Fulrad and Gerold advanced to kiss his extended hand, Liutrad, who had been alone with him in the room, reading from Augustine, flung down the book, and ran to meet Olvir.

"Welcome, ring-breaker!" he cried; "thrice welcome, in the name of our Lord Christ!"

"Greeting, lad, in the name of Truth and Life," rejoined Olvir, and, gripping the young giant in his arms, he lifted him clean off his feet, in the sheer joy of friends.h.i.+p. As they parted, an eager question as to Rothada sprang to his lips; but the answer was interrupted by the king's imperious call: "You, too, my bright Dane! I would look again into those eyes of starlit darkness."

"It would seem that your Majesty has been studying skald-craft," replied Olvir, and he sprang forward, his black eyes sparkling.

Karl's powerful hands closed upon his shoulders, and the clear grey eyes gazed down into his face, aglow with friendliness.

"Welcome, Olvir, in the words of Liutrad," he said. "Christ is Truth and Life, and you have both in good share. What says Father Fulrad?"

"His deeds, sire, abound in the spirit of Christ. If only he would bend his stiff knee to Christ's vicar!" murmured Fulrad, regretfully. "Even the very presence of the Holy Father failed to move him to reverence."

A slight cloud shadowed the king's face; but soon a smile again brightened it, and he answered confidently: "Give him time,--give the lad time, father. He has found the true kernel; the rest will follow.

I look for yourself and Alcuin to win him over before the springtime.

And now to the matters of your mission. The school hour is drawing near. Go, my sons; hold watch in the hall to warn us, lest we keep the learned deacon waiting."

"First, a word to the bairns, lord king," interposed Olvir, and he sprang to catch young Karl as the active boy was darting past, in lead of his crook-backed brother.

"Say out," answered the king, smiling in response to the gleeful shout of the boy as Olvir swung him arm's length overhead. Olvir lowered the boy, to place one hand on his tawny head. The other he rested on Pepin's glossy locks, so like the chestnut tresses of his sister.

"Listen, lads," he said. "Yule-tide draws near, and my vikings will be having games. It is fitting that the king's sons should prove themselves skilled in weapon-play. Come to me in the morning, that I may see how well the grey Crane has trained you in our Norse games."