Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1899 — THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE

By CAPT FREDERICK WHITTAKER

CHAPTER IV. | Count Stephen the elder was not fated ( to reaeh his son ns soon as he hod antiei- ; pated when he rode out of the castle sates, followed by his vassals, intent on bring- ■ Ins back the boy. The distance from * Vaueluse to the plains of Avignon, where | tlie children had been encamped, was a twenty-four hours' journey, for light j horses; while the train of the count, com- 1 posed of men in heavy armor, who had , to carry all the food their horses would , need ou the saddles of the animals, could not move fast enough to catch the young crusaders. The warriors toiled on, hearing frequent j reports of the progress of the Children’s Crusade, which hnd attracted the interest and help of the whole country round. Every one they met hud done something to help it on, according to his own account; for the young crusaders, with a simple ' reliance on the promises of Hildebrand, j only possible in that age, had departed on j their journey, gathering recruits at every castle and village, taking no heed what j they should eat or drink, hut relying sole- j ly on charity. It is, indeed, one of the strangest things j in history, hardly to be believed, did we j not know it to be true, that the children in that wonderful crusade did not all starve j to death before they hud gone across the , breadth of Franco. Their numbers fluctuated as they went, the feebler ones dropping out on the way, j some of them never to see their homes again; others, more fortunate, being re-! claimed by their parents. But still the \ march proceeded; and, dny by day, the j children neared the end of the journey . they hnd set themselves, at Marseilles, , where they confidently expected that they i should find ships to take them to the Holy Land, in some way. The boy count, Stephen, with his little ’ train of friends, hnd reached the camp on the morning of the day after he galloped away from his father’s castle, the horses of his little party completely exhausted, the riders tired out, hungry and ready to j drop, but as full of ardor for the crusade as ever. They had been welcomed by a boy culled Nicholas, supposed to be in command of the crusade, who received them in a lordly manner, as if be had been the king of the country. Nicholas was a very different boy from Stephen; stout and strong, with a great Idea o' his own importance and a habit of enforcing obedience to his orders by blows, if any one disputed them. He had led the children from Vendome, and assumed the title of "Captain of the Crusade.’’ ,which, to Stephen, who imagined himself appointed to that ottlcc, caused great disappointment, till the arrival of Hildebrand in the camp, when the old monk, in a public sermon, deposed Nicholas from the office of leader on the score of his violent temper and made the boy count “Captain of the Crusade’’ iu his turn. The real reason for the elunge Hildebrand said nothing about, but it aas none the weaker. Count Stephen, coming of an old family, was one well calculated to win the respect and admiration of the children who had come on the crusade, while Nicholas, who was ignorant of reading and writing and a peasant by birth, had only his talents to win him the ascendency. In those days talent, without descent from a noble family, was useless in the world, save in the church, where alone peasants could rise to the highest offices. Therefore, when Hildebrand proclaimed Stephen as the captain of the crusade, there was no murmuring voice among the children, and even. Nicholas, though he felt his‘deposition keenly, had to hide his chagrin; for, in the camp of the cross, the vow made all brothers, and forbade quarrels. But what neither that vow, nor any that has been invented since, could present, was the existence of envy and jealousy, which burned os fiercely in the breasts of the children of that memorable crusade gs in those of their elders who had fought each other in sight of Jerusalem, with the same hatred they showed the Turks. Stephen do Vaux could not help swing that Nicholas, who had been the head of the army of children before he came, hated him, and had hard work to restrain his feelings; but the boy count with the enthusiastic notions he had imbibed from Hildebrand, iu whom he believed firmly, strove to hope for the best, and made Nicholas his second in command, in order to appease him and make him satisfied with his position. But the peasant boy, with keen jealousy born of a sense of his inferior advantages to those of the young noble, while he felt himself Stephen’s equal iu everything but birth and fortune, kept a sullen face, and encouraged murmuring among the boys who had followed him from Vendome, the majority of whom were of the same dans as himself. Thus it came to pass, as they journeyed •n toward Marseilles, that there was a division among the children who had been nnited in enthusiasm and hope up to the day when Stephen joined them; and they had divided into two bodies by the time they had reached the sight of the blue Mediterranean; one headed by Stephen, the other by Nicholas; the latter of the two traveling several miles behind the other, ana already talking of taking a different route. And it was with this body that Count Stephen de Vaux, as he rode with his soldiers behind him, came up five days after he castle, and, addressing the leader, demanded: "Where la the bay they call Stephen de Vaux, the captain If the croaaiWT I an hk father."

He addressed the question to Nicholas, who was inarching ahead of a great crowd of children who carried banners, like the Sunday school processions of our own days. The peasant boy, with a haughty toss of his head, replied: '“I am the captain of this crusade, and I know nothing of Stephen. They say he is somewhere in the army; but this I know, that he can never reach the Holy Land. He is but a singer of songs, and we are soldiers who can fight.” The old count looked at the tumultuous mob of boys of all ages who followed the young leader, and a smile of some amusement crossed his lips as he observed: “Ye are all mad together. What can boys like you do? One Turk with his cimeter aud bow would scatter yon like chaff.” Nicholas tossed his head still more disdainfully, as he retorted, with a look of contempt at the old count: “You know nothing about it. The hermit Hildebrand has promised us that the Lord will work a miracle for us. The sea will divide and we shnll march to Palestine on dry ground. The angels will fight for us against the foe, and lightnings will strike them. Leave us, and begone to thy castle. As for the boy Stephen, if thou wilt take him with thee, it will be all the better for this crusade. We of Orleans have resolved to separate from him and march through Italy if he is to be our leader.” Old Count Stephen saw that the boy was fully persuaded of the truth of his mission and boastings; but the-dislike he showed to young Stephen struck the old man as a circumstance in his favor, as he thought of bringing back his son. Therefore he said, quietly: “I think thou art right, friend. My son is not fit to go to the war, while thou seemest a stout lad. Tell me where I shall find him, and 1 will give thee this piece of gold.” He saw that Nicholas was a peasant, and hoped that the sight of gold would render him eager to serve him. But he had uot calculated on the influence of the crusade. Nicholas showed no enthusiasm for gold, but simply said: “Give it to the almoner behind me, the boy with the bag. We take nothing for ourselves. The Lord taketh can* of us. As for thy son, I tell thee he is somewhere before us with the other body of the crusade, and I know not where. Ride on aud And him, and leave us to our hymns.” Without noticing the old knight any farther, he made a signal to the children behind him, which they seemed to understand, for they at ouec struck up one of the grand old Latin hymns common in the middle ages, and from which some of our most popular ones have come down by translation. The sweet strains of “Veni, Creator, Spiritus,” now known ns “Come. Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,” were the favorite of the child crusaders; and in spite of his anxiety and anger at the loss of his son, the old warrior could not help bang affected and moved by the great burst of childish voices ns they swelled cut in the anthem with ns much cheerfulness as if they were going to a festival instead of marching, as he knew they must he. to their deaths, or to a slavery more cruel than death. Without trying to question Nicholas any farther, the old count spurred his horse aud rode on along the great mass of children, seeing, the farther he got, that there was something very strange in the whole spectacle. Thousands on thousands of children of all ages, from the white-headed youngster of eight or ten to the boy of sixteen, who was tall and strong for h : .s age. strayed along, singing the hymns to cheer them, aud seeming to catch strength and spirit therefrom to endure fatigues thnt would have moved older people to despair. They were dusty and travel-worn; many haggard and thin; but still they marched cheerfully on, aud from all the country round the peasants were thronging to look at the spectacle aud bring them food in baskets. Hundreds of the simple fo|k were to l»e seen trudging contentedly By the column, carrying their baskets aud wuiting till the children should halt to feed them. The old count noticed that the friends of the crusade were all peasants, and that if a party on horseback, composed of rich people, passed by, they turned away from the spectacle as if it were a disagreeable one and galloped away with many a sneer and laugh. Without knowing how it came about, he found himself, as he rode along, more ahd more impressed with the spirit of the children, and wishing them well; though hia determination to get back his son was as strong as ever. As he began to near the head of the column in which Nicholas was marching, he saw, some little distance ahead, the rear of a second column. Realizing that Stephen must be with it, he urged his horse on and came up with the leading body of children. He had no sooner done so than he was impressed with the fact that they marched in much better order and seemed to be better provided than the wandering rabble that stuck to Nicholas. The children under Stephen’s order seemed to be of all classes, but they were older and stronger, and there were no little boys and little girls among them, while many had horses and seemed to be officers, who kept the rest in the ranks. The old warrior turned to his wife, who was with him, and said in a tone that he tould net help being proud: “Blood will tell, my lady. Our boy knows something of war already, young as he ia. See, some of his children am

Be?”’ But the countess only ahnfi&fanfl mm ste replied: “Oh, my lord, toy lard, «hst wiill income of them? Xj(4 ns Innfton an! aurite the poor deluded boy come Ihnilt- T» think that all these tender beings fib milt! be going to their death JinJS mane tte sttgf them! It is a monstrous thing!! Ksfit am hasten onward.” They rode past the column, ffintt the country people were gMfhwr'mg Arum all round thicker than but owe. tU3 ttoy caught sight of a while inmner An- iin ad vance, and almost at the same aunnson heard the long, sweet note -Of a amjte sounding a signal which brmjjfiil Ac dren to a hah at once. The moment they hatted, dhe ipmniinn*. who bad followed them, came m> adtth their baskets, and the children, nitth am eagerness that showed ibuw hungry and tired they really were, he-gan to struggle for the food Which was tirou#tt tte them and carry it off to any plane they find where they could sit on the- jgsuss, rest and cat. The old count, glad of the Built, trsfleon. and soon saw. Inside the wihhe tiamnr.. which had been set up at the head of Sfbe column, the well-known form off life sum. sitting on his ]«iny and snrwsimg the scene with the air of at general sdhn knows his business. The young count did not 'Offer tt« stir when he saw the glittering train ms amur-ut-arms coming up, though he must Ihmve suspected the cause. Beside him Stood the emaciated form of the hermit Btllfbbrand, and Touud him ware grouped the friends whom he had persuaded tte ffidDuw him. Conspicuous among these was fisnbel Durance, who hud assumed a sum off armor, with a crown of gold round her light helmet of -steel. . Even the old count, who wnedHyomofl On feel nngry with every one who had aapythinglo do with the flight nfhissoa,*ffliTiilD not help a slight -sense iff hesitation, though he Tode UP to the young siliHff off the crusade, followed lty his mien, amO saluted him with grave severity, -saying: “This is not well dime, fLtahua. TOty mother and Blanche -should hawe tbwm enough to beep thee at home, -even 91 hive for thy father had been a thing amt otauitl ed in these days.” The hoy count averted his owes 4rom those of his father, and his tone wus osilil and haughty as he answered: . “1 have taken the cross for wmrr -siUe nnd thnt of my family. I have -sworn to drive the heathen from Herusalant. otnil when I come hack S will pray that wrnrr sins may be forgiven yon. Tempt tme not. but return home. This holy man will mill you that it is impossible for me to hoik hack now that I have taken the .cross." The count was nettled fa the tone in which the hoy spoke, and rammed tint, augrily: “How is this, malapert® Dost thon outt respect thy fat bet ? 3 toll thee that 1 forbid thee to go on any such mad osjpedition. As for this mad priest who lints tempted ye all from your duty. Ste-rfhouifl have his frock «tripj«*d from him Bjy this bishop, and bo scourged in diroad tdi®tligirt through every market plnce wihere B*e lints enticed the children off nobles to (destruction.” He had hardly spoken the words, when the old monk, who had stood a dtttle.-qium watching his pupil curiously, to -see if the appeal of the count would have toty eflkfit, called out, solemnly: “Get th<*c ltohind me, #Uttan. for then savorest of this world! He -flint mill] nSt leave father and mother for the erttss. hath no part in it. Depart, thon cncwd one, or it will be worse for thee”” The old count instantly turned an him fiercely, and shouted: “This to a Count of Proven ee” 3»owin' our Lady of Vaueluse, 3 will tate'Hrflmwith thee if thou speakest another wuriL Thy! is *ny son, and I say that be skull not he carried away, to perish rlw the sword of the Turks! fbephen, mi thine obedience I command this' to fallow me. or I will have thee taken Lome tied to ;a horse! Dost thou hear me, toter- Tlfefe not child's play, I toll thee. 3 am a man and thy father. "Who dares hid rflme flisohey me?" Yonng Stephen hesitated, and seemed moved by the apjical; for he looked at the monk as if asking help. Did Hildetrrond instantly < ame forward to dte side -iff ffite old count's horse and. raised his thin irmis menacingly, saying: “Away with thee, rash man, mid strive not to stay the march of the cross! Beware the wrath of heaven and the nurse of the i linreh’ I tell this'thon 'hast ito authority over a warrior of the crimsT' The old count laughed aloud diut sawage! y nnd fiercely, as he roared out, gs tflse full strength of his limps: “What ho, vassals iff de Vans, resone your young master, and bring him away from this camp of madmen and 'babies!” Tile moment he said it, Hildebrand iffiiiafl iu answer: “Warriors of the cross, defend y nnr captaiu! Drive hence these mien iff Belial!" Immediately, with n shrill -cty, tell the boys sprang toward the old count. (To l»e eoirtmnedj) Copyright. -