Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany by Oliver Optic (best book club books for discussion .txt) 📕

and kiosks, for the convenience of visitors, which afford the best views of the cataract. One of these balconies projects out over the fall, and the party gathered on this, and beclouded with mist and spray, gazed at the wild rush of waters. Two rocks on the precipice separate the cataract into three divisions. Below is a semi-circular basin, whose waters are lashed into a heavy sea by the plunging torrent which falls into it. Boats ply between the foot of the rock on which the Castle of Laufen stands and a square tower on the opposite shore. These light craft make heavy weather of it, but with ordinary caution they are safe enough.

There was nothing else to see at Schaffhausen, and the excursionists took the train for Constance. The last portion of the trip was on the banks of the Unter See, separated from the main body of the lake by a peninsula. The ride was less than two hours, and the party reached the "Goldener Adler" in time for dinner. Most of the Swiss hotels serve two or three dinners, table d'hôte, every day, the first being at one, and the last at five o'clock, the prices of which are from three to five francs.

"Young gentlemen, in what country is Constance?" asked Professor Mapps, when the party had assembled to visit the objects of interest in the town.

"In Switzerland."

"No."

"We certainly crossed the Rhine on an iron bridge, when we came into the place," replied one of the students.

"That is very true, but Constance belongs to the Grand Duchy of Baden. It was formerly a free city, but was annexed to Austria in 1549, and ceded to Baden in 1805. It once had forty thousand inhabitants, but now has only eight thousand. It is a very old city, as you may judge from the buildings you have already seen, many of which are just as they were four hundred years ago. The town is of great historical interest."

"What was the Council of Constance, sir?" asked one of the students.

"I will tell you when we visit the Kaufhaus," replied the professor.

Attended by several guides, the excursionists walked to the minster, a Gothic structure founded in the eleventh century, but rebuilt in the sixteenth. The guides indicated the spot where Huss stood when sentenced to be burned to death. From this church the party went to the Kaufhaus.

 

CHAPTER XIV.

THE STORM ON LAKE CONSTANCE.

The Kaufhaus is situated near the border of the lake. It was built for a warehouse in 1388. The party were conducted immediately to a large room with wooden pillars.

"This is the Kaufhaus, and this apartment is the one in which the Council of Constance held its sessions," said Mr. Mapps.

"What's a Kaufhaus?" asked one of the boys who did not study German.

"What does Kaufen mean?"

"To buy."

"Then it is a buy-house. It is a company's hall, like Goldsmiths' Hall, Fishmongers', and others in London. The Council of Constance assembled in 1414, and continued its sessions for three years and a half. It was called to regulate the affairs of the Catholic Church, especially in regard to the schism caused by some of the popes taking up their abode in Avignon, France. Gregory XI. went from the residence of his immediate predecessors to Rome in 1377, where he died the next year. The Romans wanted a native of their own city to be pope. An Italian—Urban VI.—was elected by the cardinals; but, as he was not a Roman, there was much dissatisfaction. The French cardinals protested against the election, and created Robert of Geneva pope, under the title of Clement VII., who established himself at Avignon. Urban had three successors, the last of whom was Gregory XII. The Avignon pope was followed by Benedict XIII., who maintained his claim to the papal chair till his death in 1424.

"There were two popes: the church was divided, and in doubt as to which was the rightful successor of St. Peter. Gregory declared, at his accession, that he would resign if Benedict at Avignon would do the same. An attempt was made to get rid of both of them, so that they could agree upon a third. The Council of Pisa deposed both, and elected Alexander V. Benedict refused to vacate his chair; and Gregory retained his position because his rival refused to compromise. Instead of getting rid of one, the church had now three popes who claimed the chair. Alexander died in 1410; and his successor, John XXIII., called the Council of Constance. It was not a meeting of bishops merely, but was attended by cardinals, archbishops, ambassadors of kings, knights, and delegates from universities. John presided at the first session, and was invited to resign the pontifical office. He promised to do so if Gregory and Benedict would do the same; but the next night he fled secretly to Schaffhausen, and from thence to Freiburg. After much trouble, negotiations were opened with him, and he resigned his office. He was afterwards thrown into prison with Huss. Gregory was a good man, and gave the council no trouble, and for the sake of peace yielded up his high office. But Benedict was obdurate to the end, claiming to be pope, even after all his followers had forsaken him. The council attempted to make terms with him; but when he refused to yield, it condemned and deposed him, electing Martin V. to the papal chair.

"The council also gave its attention to the heresy of Wycliffe, whose doctrines it condemned, commanding that his books should be burned, and decreeing that his remains should be disinterred and burned. Huss was condemned to the stake; and his disciple, Jerome of Prague, having retracted his anti-Catholic doctrines, and then relapsed, shared his fate a year afterwards."

In the hall are the chairs occupied, at the sittings of the council, by the Emperor Sigismund and by the pope; a model of the dungeon in which Huss was confined, with the real door and other parts which had been preserved, and the car on which the reformer was drawn to the place of execution. The house in which he lodged is pointed out in one of the streets. The field wherein he suffered, with the spot where the stake stood, is shown to those who are curious enough to visit it.

The students examined the quaint old buildings in the town with much interest. In the middle of the afternoon, they embarked in the steamer for Friedrichshafen. The weather had been warm and oppressive, for the season, for the last two days; and there were strong indications of a change. A barometer at the hotel in Constance indicated an unusual depression. The students dreaded a storm of long continuance, they were so impatient to see the wonders which were yet in store for them; and the idea of being shut up in a small hotel, for two or three days, was not pleasant in the anticipation, whatever it might prove to be in reality.

By the time the steamer was half way to her destination, the wind began to come in fitful gusts, increasing in force, till the captain of the steamer wore a rather anxious expression on his face. The young salts laughed at the idea of a fresh-water tempest; and if anybody else was alarmed, they were not. The steamer began to tumble about; but nothing serious occurred, though some of the lady passengers were sea sick. Others, who had never seen a storm at sea, were frightened, and screamed every time the boat gave a heavy lurch.

"Do you think there is any danger, Commodore Kendall," asked Grace, thrilled by the cries of the females.

"I don't see how there can be. If this boat is good for anything, she ought to ride out one of these freshwater gales," replied Paul.

"It is going to be a fearful storm."

"I should think it would be, from the indications of the barometer."

"Do you see that boat, Paul?" said Shuffles, pointing to one of the Swiss small craft, which was laboring heavily in the billows.

"She is making bad weather of it," added Paul, as he examined the position of the storm-tossed craft.

"The boatman don't seem to know what he is about," continued Shuffles, who had for some time been studying the movements of the boat. "She lowered her sail a while ago, and she seems to be rolling at the mercy of the waves."

The steamer was headed towards her, and the party on board of her soon discovered that the boatman was trying to put a reef in his sail. Besides himself, the boat contained a lady.

"I suppose that is a Swiss boatman," said Shuffles. "If he is, he knows no more about a boat than a mountaineer who never saw one."

"That's so," added Paul, anxiously.

"He has put her before the wind, and is trying to hoist his mainsail."

A fierce gust struck the canvas, as he began to hoist it, carrying out the boom, and whirling the boat up into the wind. Certainly the person on board of her had pluck enough; for he stuck to the halyards, though he was nearly jerked overboard by the sudden pitching and rolling of the craft. Recovering the sheet which had run out into the water, he took his place at the helm. He flattened down the sail, when the flaw had spent its force, and headed his boat towards Friedrichshafen. The next gust that struck the sail carried her down so that the water poured in over her lee rail by the barrel. The lady screamed lustily; and the tones of her voice indicated that she did not belong to the Swiss peasantry.

"Help! Help!" she shrieked; and her voice thrilled the souls of all on board the steamer.

"Cannot something be done?" cried Grace.

"I don't see what can be done," replied Paul.

"The boatman is a fool!" said Shuffles, impatiently. "Why don't he let out his sheet, or luff her up?"

"Can't you do something?" pleaded Grace, earnestly, as she clung to the railing over the cabin ladder.

"Help! Help!" shouted the boatman, in good English; and it was plain that he was not a Swiss.

Indeed, the lady and gentleman could now be seen plainly enough to ascertain that they were English or American. Both of them were well dressed, and both were quite young.

"We can launch the steamer's boat, if the captain will let us," suggested Paul.

The wind threw the boat round at this moment, and the sail shook violently in the blast. Then it filled again, and drove her directly into the path of the steamer, which was now close aboard of her.

"Stop her! Stop her!" shouted several persons, in French and German.

The captain gave the order to stop the engine; but it was doubtful whether it was given in season to save the unfortunate couple in the boat. Paul and Shuffles rushed to the bow of the steamer, and the latter climbed upon the rail just as the mast of the boat swayed over against the stem. He seized it, and nimbly slid down into the craft. As the steamer was running nearly against the wind, her headway was easily checked by a turn or two of the wheels backward; though the boat bumped pretty hard against the steamer once or twice.

Shuffles evidently believed that skilful management alone could save the sail-boat, and the lives of those who were in her. His mission, as he understood it, was to supply this needed skill. The steamer had only a single boat on deck, which was so dried up by the sun, that none of the salt-water tars believed it would float. She had only a single pair of oars, and it would be impossible to make any headway against the gale in it. The captain declared that he could only save the imperilled voyagers by running alongside their boat, and taking them out of it: he could do nothing by sending his jolly-boat after them.

By excellent good fortune, the steamer was checked at the right moment; though Shuffles supposed the