His eyes were shining as he thought about it. Elzbietka-Elzbietka, he kept repeating. She heard me sound the trumpet in a different fashion from the way I usually sound it, for tonight I did not stop the Heynal upon the broken note, but played several notes more. She ran through the night alone to Jan Kantys and he aroused the city watch. I just met him at the foot of the stairs, and he told me the whole story. Bless the girl, said the father, tears rising to his eyes. And you, my son, how did you get free? I feared-- The man who was dragging me toward our home heard the watch marching through the street, and when he realized that they were going toward the church he took himself off like lightning into the darkness, without another thought for me. But Elzbietka is at the scholars dwelling, in the university building, waiting. I must go to her quickly and tell her all, and thank her that we are alive this night. Pan Andrew was busy with his own thoughts when the watch finally marched away with their prisoners. The Great Tarnov Crystal! The Great Tarnov Crystal! That was what the Tartar said he had come for. Was it possible that the man had been telling the truth? For what other reason could he- have surprised him thus in the tower? For what other reason the hurried expedition into the town with the boy, Joseph, and the instructions he had left with his men? If it had been revenge alone that the man was seeking, then he and Joseph would never have remained alive until now. But if the man had not obtained the crystal on the night of his attack upon his lodgings, then what in the name of heaven and earth had happened to it on that night, and where was the crystal now? 13. THE GREAT TARNOV CRYSTAL It was late one evening in April, a few weeks after the unsuccessful attack of Peter upon the tower, that the alchemist Kreutz and the student Johann Tring were sitting upon rude stools in the loft above the alchemists lodging, arguing with much heat some question that had arisen between them. The day had been sultry for early spring, and the sun was setting red over the distant hills, flooding with its crimson the high mound, called the Krakus Mound, over beyond the river on the road to Wieliczka and the salt mines. Tring sat where he could see the sunshine through the little window, but the alchemist sat within the gathering darkness of the room. Above their heads on the slanting walls, vials and glass tubes of the alchemists craft gleamed like precious stones, and every now and then some substance lying upon the hot coals of the braziers would hiss up into a little flame and smoke, for all the world like a serpent suddenly raising its slender head and coils above a quiet patch of grass. I tell you that I have had enough, the alchemist replied to some remark of the students. I am ready to forswear this scientific experiment into which we have so boldly launched and go back to my old studies, which are much better suited to a God-fearing man. Tring laughed, low but maliciously. So that is where your courage lies, he answered. That is the crown of valor that you boast in exploring the wonders of the unknown world. Come, he added after a minute, as if changing his tactics in dealing with this man who was now thoroughly in his power, or so he thought, come and put a better complexion upon things; we are already past the hardest stretch of the road-- if there is to be found the solution to that problem upon which we both have spent so much time, it will be found so much the more readily now because of the sacrifices that we have already made for it. Are the trances tiring you beyond endurance? The alchemist let his head sink into his hands. I am tired --I am tired, was all that he could say. Tring regarded him with disgust, but held back the angry words, which sprang to his lips and expressed himself more gently. Then, if there is a fault, it must lie with you, Pan Kreutz, he said. It is beyond my understanding that such a man as you should find exhaustion in these simple experiments that I have performed. Many another person I have put into trances similar to yours, and for longer periods of time, too, and there has been no harm, nay, nor physical exhaustion from it. Alas, the alchemist moaned as if making a confession, I have been in trances other than those of your making, and almost continually, too. What? Tring leaped to his feet in astonishment. What do you say? You have been in trances induced by others? Other men share our secrets, then? Who may it be that is also a master of this rare craft? I had thought that no others, save I, in this town were able to bring about such trances. He glared at Kreutz with open hatred and let his fingers stray as well to the handle of a short knife that he carried in his belt, for although he was but a young man, he took his occult powers very seriously. There was as well an element of fear in his emotions, since the civil authorities of that day dealt usually in short and severe fashion with persons brought before magistrates on the charge of indulging in dark or occult practices. Death even was prescribed as punishment for some, although disfiguring, whipping, stocks, and banishment were the most common penalties. Trings powers, though mysterious in those days, could be easily explained in ours. The so-called trances into which certain persons have the power to send others we call in these times merely hypnotic sleep. Hypnotism in the days when all men and women were to an extent superstitious was looked upon as one of the very worst works of a malignant devil upon earth. Tring possessed to some extent the ability to summon hypnotic sleep to a willing patient, and the alchemist had become a too willing patient in his endeavor to discover the secret that Tring had made appear so desirable. And as is the case with most practitioners of hypnotism and their subjects, the hypnotist had gained, little by little, more and more power over his co-worker, until in a few months the alchemist had become merely a tool in the hands of Tring, who, knowing his ability and scholarly accomplishments, did not hesitate to use them for his own ends. He did this, however, with great caution, and enjoined ever upon the alchemist the need for the utmost secrecy, for if it had become known that such tricks were being practiced, the law would make short shrift of both. No man, answered the wretched alchemist, no man, but perhaps--devils! Devils? Tring stood motionless, thunderstruck. Was the alchemist losing his mind? Yes, devils. I can stand it no longer. The alchemist rose from his stool and turned upon Tring. You, who have powers greater than man, know most of what is passing in my soul. The secrets of my craft, the sciences of actions and re- actions-- all these you know. But I hold from you one secret, one great secret which has bowed my shoulders with care and blackened my heart with crime. Come, watch, I will show you something that has powers beyond those of which you dream. See.... His accents became wilder and his voice trembled. He shuffled about the attic as if making preparations for some experiment. He set up a tripod in the very middle of the room and linked the top with chains as if he were to set a bowl upon it; he unlocked a great chest that stood in one corner under the eaves and took from it some object wrapped in black cloth, and this object he placed upon the tripod. Now let us have a light, he said. He shook some powder into a brazier full of coals, which suddenly leaped into flame. As the whole room burst into existence with the illumination, there appeared most prominently in it the tripod, which bore the covered mystery. The alchemist whipped the cloth covering away. It was as if he had uncovered a diamond of the finest water! Upon the brass top of the tripod gleamed in that instant a very miracle of color and light; the object itself was about the size of a mans head. Upon this exquisite thing no artificial effort of man had been expended; it was as nature had fashioned it in the depths of some subterranean grotto where drops of water falling in steady succession for thou- sands and thousands of years had slowly created it. The outer layers were clear like the water of a mountain spring; as the eye fell farther and farther within the surface, a bluish tint was perceptible, and at the very center there was a coloring of rose. Such was its absolute beauty that whoever looked into its depths seemed to be gazing into a sea without limit. In the name of Heaven, shrieked Tring, what is this? The alchemist spoke in a low voice, as one might speak in a church: The Great Tarnov Crystal. The Great Tarnov Crystal! repeated Tring. The Great Tarnov Crystal! ... Why, that is the stone for which al- chemists and workers of magic have been searching these hundreds of years. The Great Tarnov Crystal! He shouted it almost, in high excitement. Why, man, we have here the greatest scientific treasure of all ages. He began to skip about in transports as the possibilities of the treasures possession leaped into his mind. And now I understand, he continued. Indeed you have been under the hand of a devil if you have been gazing into that thing. Why, do you know that this stone can send a man into a trance in which all manner of truths will be divulged? Do you know that we can learn now for a certainty the very secret that we have been seeking? And going close to the stone, he gazed into its depth as a thirsty man might gaze into a well of water. There was this curious property of the Great Tarnov Crystal, and perhaps of all great crystals in the worlds history, that it never presented the same vista twice to the man who looked within its depths. Now, this may have been due to many things, to the fact that the lights surrounding it were never twice the same, and also perhaps to this: that the crystal had the strange property of reflecting back to the observer the very thoughts that were tucked away deeply in his head. What drew men to the Tarnov Crystal in the beginning was, of course, its beauty, its color, its light, its constantly changing vistas, and besides these, there was that indefinable fascination that all such stones have. Diamonds, as well, possess this fascinating power to a high degree, though the diamond is, of course, a small stone, and not large enough to hold the concentrated focus of two eyes for a very long time; the crystal by reason of its size possesses this quality according to its fineness. The Tarnov Crystal was the finest crystal known to the magicians of the Middle Ages. And although magic was frowned upon by scholars and men of science, such as astronomers and alchemists, still there was no distinct line between science and magic, with the result that many of these men found themselves practicing magic when they had intended only to make scientific investigations. It was even so with Pan Kreutz, who ordinarily had but little use for magic or the black arts in any form--until now he had come entirely under the domination of the student Tring, whose enthusiasm had carried him away. I tell you that I have had enough, the alchemist repeated now. I have perjured my soul to obtain this stone, and I am ready to return it to its rightful owners. This stone is a thing of wickedness and blood and it has a woeful history, as old perhaps as the world itself. Return it! shouted Tring. Return it! Why, Pan Kreutz, listen to my reasoning. I know not how you have come by this thing--I do not ask at present-but you would be scarce the man I took you for did you not use it for the purpose that we need it. After that we may return it--if indeed it has been stolen--or if it sticks within your conscience to retain it now, then perhaps I-- Nay, nay, Johann Tring, exclaimed the alchemist emphatically, to its rightful owners it shall go. Here I have kept the secret to myself, knowing that the knowledge would tempt you--and indeed you would not have known now unless the secret had burned so heavily in my brain. As you will, said Tring, humoring the alchemist with his concession, though the purpose in his eyes was of different intent, but first let us learn from it at once how to transmute baser metals into gold; this I am sure we shall do, then we can be independent of these smirking dogs who rule the universities. Then let our experiments be brief, said the alchemist. I have looked too long upon this glittering thing. You should have told me before. Tring again adopted the attitude of a kindly adviser. But, in truth, went on the alchemist, I doubt if we can wring that secret from the crystal. I have now an opinion, though perhaps a wrong one, that the crystal only gives us back our own thoughts. We may not call upon it as upon some friendly spirit to tell us what we do not know--we may not wish and have our wishes fulfilled. I began to doubt it all. Here he rose to his feet and began to stride about the door. It is already having a bad influence upon me. I can- not see straightly in the world of men as once I did. When I have looked into it for minutes and minutes my thoughts come back to me crookedly, and while I have taken much interest in such contemplation, I find that there is too deadly a fascination in gazing into those crystal depths. I have, as I said, found much of interest, and were I alone in the world, I might even pursue these studies to the very limits of human thought, but I sometimes feel as if my very soul were getting caught in the rays of that bright thing. Might I ask, inquired Tring, unable to restrain his curiosity longer, how the crystal came into your possession? It was like this--the alchemist willingly relieved his mind of the secret that he had been bearing alone. That night when the thieves came here some time ago I entertained them for a bit with some Greek fire and niter. Yes? It seems that the crystal was at that time in the possession of the family in the rooms below ours. What! Tile trumpeter and the boy who bear the name Kovalski? Yes, though that is not their name. They are Charnetskis and lived formerly ill the Ukraine. I see--and the thieves? Tartars and Cossacks who followed them perhaps from the Dnieper country? Yes, the crystal was actually in the hands of the leader when I surprised him with an explosive powder. In the surprise and pain occasioned by my attack he dropped the crystal-the powder blazed about his face and burned his hair-- the crystal rolled upon the floor, and I pounced upon it. But how had it come into the possession of the Charnetski family? asked Tring eagerly. It was in this fashion. When the Tartars devastated the Polish country in the thirteenth century the village that stood where now is Tarnov was inhabited by the Charnetskis, among others, of course. It was Andrew Charnetski of that day who performed heroic feats in the defense of the city against the Tartars, and to him was presented for safekeeping the great crystal, which has come to be known as the Great Tarnov Crystal. It was the chief ornament of the old town, and even kings had come there to see it. For, besides its qualities as a thing of rare value and beauty, it had those reputed properties you have mentioned: that a man who looked into it might there read the secrets of the past and the future; that he might find out the intimate thoughts of other men and women; that he might learn to overcome the elements, to fly through the air like a bird, to walk invisibly, to transmute base metals into gold. In those times no man was allowed to look more than three minutes upon it, for even in three minutes a man might find his head swimming and curious thoughts coming into his brain. But how did the Charnetskis save it from the Tartars? They fled with it to the Carpathian Mountains and remained there until Batu the Tartar was forced to return to the land of the Golden Horde. Then, as it passed from eldest son to eldest son, it went to an ancestor of this Andrew Charnetski who settled in the Ukraine after the country had been put under Polish dominion in the days of Vladislas Jagiello. Of course the name Andrew Charnetski is by no means an uncommon one throughout Poland, so little did I think when this man came into the humble lodgings below that he belonged to the Charnetski family which had possession of the Tarnov Crystal. Did he tell you his story? Yes. On the day after the crystal disappeared, he made a confidant of me, as one already acquainted with his name and a part of his history. But you had heard of the crystal before? What alchemist has not? he answered. I knew that it was brought in early days to Egypt from somewhere in the East, and there it stood in a temple for many centuries. When the Romans conquered Egypt, the crystal was taken to Rome. During the years when the Romans were colonizing the lands around the Black Sea a certain Roman officer fell in love with a woman of Transylvania, and being sent there with a legion, stole for her this crystal from a temple in Rome. When his crime was discovered, the emperor sent a detachment of soldiers to bring him back, but he fled to the district which is now Halicz, but which went then under the Roman name Galicia. There he lived with his wife under an assumed name, in a remote village later known as Tarnov, and there the crystal remained up to the time that it passed into the hands of the Charnetskis. Around it grew up a sect of sorcerers, magicians, practicers of the black art, astrologers, and alchemists--some sincere, others mere charlatans. Surely there have been many attempts to steal the crystal from the Charnetskis? Only one. It seems that men, even alchemists and astrologers, lost for a time the thread of its history, and it was only when a runaway servant of Andrew Charnetski spread the news in the East that it was in his possession that an attempt was made to find it. That attempt, as you know, cost Pan Andrew his house and property in the Ukraine. Who it is that is inciting these robbers I know not, but I have no doubt that the leader of the band was in the pay of some per- son in high authority. Would the robbers taken prisoners say nothing? No, they did not know all, I believe. And like most Tar- tars they would rather die than betray a secret. Torture could not wring it out of them. Does Pan Andrew suspect that you have the crystal? Pan Andrew considers me his friend. And at heart I am ashamed and sick that I have not restored it before now. But think. If it had not been for you, the Cossack would have escaped with the crystal and it would have been lost forever. I know it. Yet that is no justification for me. I stole it if a thief ever stole anything. When I first saw it that night on the floor of Pan Andrews lodging I would have exchanged my chance of Heaven for its possession. When I had obtained it, and the attention of the crowd in the court below was turned to the robbers and to the man escaping over the roofs, I brought it here to the loft, under my coat. You did well, said Tring, the wildest impulses of excitement leaping within him. Look--look at the crystal. It glows and dances and quivers like a thing alive, ready to tell its secrets. Quick, draw your chair near to it as you used to draw your chair to me when I was the master of your trances. Gaze deeply into it--he fixed the hesitating alchemist with his eyes as a serpent might fix a helpless bird-and now let us try the greatest experiment of all. The alchemist pulled his chair close to the crystal as he was bid, and fixed his eyes upon it. Tring watched him closely from a distance. One minute--two minutes--three--the alchemist still looked at the crystal and Tring regarded him as a cat might regard a mouse that it was playing with. Four minutes--five. The alchemist still sat motionless, but his posture in the chair was changing slightly. His arms and neck seemed to be stiffening, his face was taking on the look of an entirely different person; his breath came regularly, but in longer and deeper draughts than was his wont. His eyes became wide open and staring. Listen.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 07:41:23 +0000