CHAPTER 14
A Night Outside the Castle
It would have surprised the good people of Ruritania to know
of the foregoing talk; for, according to the official reports,
I had suffered a grievous and dangerous hurt from an accidental
spear-thrust, received in the course of my sport. I caused the
bulletins to be of a very serious character, and created great
public excitement, whereby three things occurred: first, I gravely
offended the medical faculty of Strelsau by refusing to summon
to my bedside any of them, save a young man, a friend of Fritz's,
whom we could trust; secondly, I received word from Marshal Strakencz
that my orders seemed to have no more weight than his,
and that the Princess Flavia was leaving for Tarlenheim
under his unwilling escort (news whereat I strove not to be
glad and proud); and thirdly, my brother, the Duke of Strelsau,
although too well informed to believe the account of the origin
of my sickness, was yet persuaded by the reports and by my seeming
inactivity that I was in truth incapable of action, and that my life
was in some danger. This I learnt from the man Johann, whom I was compelled
to trust and send back to Zenda, where, by the way, Rupert Hentzau had him
soundly flogged for daring to smirch the morals of Zenda by staying out
all night in the pursuits of love. This, from Rupert, Johann deeply resented,
and the duke's approval of it did more to bind the keeper to my side
than all my promises.
On Flavia's arrival I cannot dwell. Her joy at finding me up
and well, instead of on my back and fighting with death,
makes a picture that even now dances before my eyes till they grow
too dim to see it; and her reproaches that I had not trusted even her
must excuse the means I took to quiet them. In truth, to have her
with me once more was like a taste of heaven to a damned soul,
the sweeter for the inevitable doom that was to follow;
and I rejoiced in being able to waste two whole days with her.
And when I had wasted two days, the Duke of Strelsau arranged
a hunting-party.
The stroke was near now. For Sapt and I, after anxious consultations,
had resolved that we must risk a blow, our resolution being clinched
by Johann's news that the King grew peaked, pale, and ill, and that
his health was breaking down under his rigorous confinement.
Now a man--be he king or no king--may as well die swiftly
and as becomes a gentleman, from bullet or thrust, as rot his life out
in a cellar! That thought made prompt action advisable in the interests
of the King; from my own point of view, it grew more and more necessary.
For Strakencz urged on me the need of a speedy marriage, and my own
inclinations seconded him with such terrible insistence that I feared
for my resolution. I do not believe that I should have done the deed
I dreamt of; but I might have come to flight, and my flight would have
ruined the cause. And--yes, I am no saint (ask my little sister-in-law),
and worse still might have happened.
It is perhaps as strange a thing as has ever been in the history
of a country that the King's brother and the King's personator,
in a time of profound outward peace, near a placid, undisturbed
country town, under semblance of amity, should wage a desperate
war for the person and life of the King. Yet such was the struggle
that began now between Zenda and Tarlenheim. When I look back on the time,
I seem to myself to have been half mad. Sapt has told me that I suffered
no interference and listened to no remonstrances; and if ever a King
of Ruritania ruled like a despot, I was, in those days, the man.
Look where I would, I saw nothing that made life sweet to me,
and I took my life in my hand and carried it carelessly as a man dangles
an old glove. At first they strove to guard me, to keep me safe,
to persuade me not to expose myself; but when they saw how I was set,
there grew up among them--whether they knew the truth or not--
a feeling that Fate ruled the issue, and that I must be left
to play my game with Michael my own way.
Late next night I rose from table, where Flavia had sat by me,
and conducted her to the door of her apartments. There I kissed
her hand, and bade her sleep sound and wake to happy days.
Then I changed my clothes and went out. Sapt and Fritz were
waiting for me with six men and the horses. Over his saddle
Sapt carried a long coil of rope, and both were heavily armed.
I had with me a short stout cudgel and a long knife. Making
a circuit, we avoided the town, and in an hour found ourselves
slowly mounting the hill that led to the Castle of Zenda.
The night was dark and very stormy; gusts of wind and spits
of rain caught us as we breasted the incline, and the great trees
moaned and sighed. When we came to a thick clump, about a
quarter of a mile from the Castle, we bade our six friends hide
there with the horses. Sapt had a whistle, and they could
rejoin us in a few moments if danger came: but, up to now,
we had met no one. I hoped that Michael was still off his guard,
believing me to be safe in bed. However that might be,
we gained the top of the hill without accident, and found ourselves
on the edge of the moat where it sweeps under the road, separating
the Old Castle from it. A tree stood on the edge of the bank,
and Sapt,silently and diligently, set to make fast the rope.
I stripped off my boots, took a pull at a flask of brandy,
loosened the knife in its sheath, and took the cudgel between my teeth.
Then I shook hands with my friends, not heeding a last look of entreaty
from Fritz, and laid hold of the rope. I was going to have a look at
"Jacob's Ladder."
Gently I lowered myself into the water. Though the night was wild,
the day had been warm and bright, and the water was not cold.
I struck out, and began to swim round the great walls which
frowned above me. I could see only three yards ahead;
I had then good hopes of not being seen, as I crept along
close under the damp, moss-grown masonry. There were lights
from the new part of the Castle on the other side, and now
and again I heard laughter and merry shouts. I fancied
I recognized young Rupert Hentzau's ringing tones,
and pictured him flushed with wine. Recalling my thoughts
to the business in hand, I rested a moment. If Johann's
description were right, I must be near the window now.
Very slowly I moved; and out of the darkness ahead loomed a shape.
It was the pipe, curving from the window to the water:
about four feet of its surface were displayed;
it was as big round as two men. I was about to approach it,
when I saw something else, and my heart stood still. The nose
of a boat protruded beyond the pipe on the other side;
and listening intently, I heard a slight shuffle--as of a man
shifting his position. Who was the man who guarded Michael's invention?
Was he awake or was he asleep? I felt if my knife were ready,
and trod water; as I did so, I found bottom under my feet.
The foundations of the Castle extended some fifteen inches,
making a ledge; and I stood on it, out of water from my armpits upwards.
Then I crouched and peered through the darkness under the pipe, where,
curving, it left a space.
There was a man in the boat. A rifle lay by him--I saw the gleam
of the barrel. Here was the sentinel! He sat very still.
I listened; he breathed heavily, regularly, monotonously.
By heaven, he slept! Kneeling on the shelf, I drew forward
under the pipe till my face was within two feet of his.
He was a big man, I saw. It was Max Holf, the brother of Johann.
My hand stole to my belt, and I drew out my knife. Of all the deeds
of my life, I love the least to think of this, and whether it were
the act of a man or a traitor I will not ask. I said to myself:
"It is war--and the King's life is the stake." And I raised myself
from beneath the pipe and stood up by the boat, which lay moored
by the ledge. Holding my breath, I marked the spot and raised
my arm. The great fellow stirred. He opened his eyes--wide,
wider. He grasped in terror at my face and clutched at his rifle.
I struck home. And I heard the chorus of a love-song from the
opposite bank.
Leaving him where he lay, a huddled mass, I turned to "Jacob's Ladder."
My time was short. This fellow's turn of watching might be over directly,
and relief would come. Leaning over the pipe, I examined it,
from the end near the water to the topmost extremity where it passed,
or seemed to pass, through the masonry of the wall.
There was no break in it, no chink. Dropping on my knees,
I tested the under side. And my breath went quick and fast,
for on this lower side, where the pipe should have clung close
to the masonry, there was a gleam of light! That light must come
from the cell of the King! I set my shoulder against the pipe
and exerted my strength. The chink widened a very, very little,
and hastily I desisted; I had done enough to show that the pipe
was not fixed in the masonry at the lower side.
Then I heard a voice--a harsh, grating voice:
"Well, sire, if you have had enough of my society, I will leave
you to repose; but I must fasten the little ornaments first."
It was Detchard! I caught the English accent in a moment.
"Have you anything to ask, sire, before we part?"
The King's voice followed. It was his, though it was faint
and hollow--different from the merry tones I had heard
in the glades of the forest.
"Pray my brother," said the King, "to kill me. I am dying
by inches here."
"The duke does not desire your death, sire--yet,"
sneered Detchard; "when he does behold your path to heaven!"
The King answered:
"So be it! And now, if your orders allow it, pray leave me."
"May you dream of paradise!" said the ruffian.
The light disappeared. I heard the bolts of the door run home.
And then I heard the sobs of the King. He was alone, as he thought.
Who dares mock at him?
I did not venture to speak to him. The risk of some exclamation
escaping him in surprise was too great. I dared do nothing
that night; and my task now was to get myself away in safety,
and to carry off the carcass of the dead man. To leave him there
would tell too much. Casting loose the boat, I got in. The wind
was blowing a gale now, and there was little danger of oars being heard.
I rowed swiftly round to where my friends waited. I had just reached
the spot, when a loud whistle sounded over the moat behind me.
"Hullo, Max!" I heard shouted.
I hailed Sapt in a low tone. The rope came down. I tied it
round the corpse, and then went up it myself.
"Whistle you too," I whispered, "for our men, and haul in the line.
No talk now."
They hauled up the body. Just as it reached the road,
three men on horseback swept round from the front of the Castle.
We saw them; but, being on foot ourselves, we escaped their notice.
But we heard our men coming up with a shout.
"The devil, but it's dark!" cried a ringing voice.
It was young Rupert. A moment later, shots rang out. Our people
had met them. I started forward at a run, Sapt and Fritz following me.
"Thrust, thrust!" cried Rupert again, and a loud groan following
told that he himself was not behind-hand.
"I'm done, Rupert!" cried a voice. "They're three to one.
Save yourself!"
I ran on, holding my cudgel in my hand. Suddenly a horse
came towards me. A man was on it, leaning over his shoulder.
"Are you cooked too, Krafstein?" he cried.
There was no answer.
I sprang to the horse's head. It was Rupert Hentzau.
"At last!" I cried.
For we seemed to have him. He had only his sword in his hand.
My men were hot upon him; Sapt and Fritz were running up.
I had outstripped them; but if they got close enough to fire,
he must die or surrender.
"At last!" I cried.
"It's the play-actor!" cried he, slashing at my cudgel. He cut
it clean in two; and, judging discretion better than death,
I ducked my head and (I blush to tell it) scampered for my life.
The devil was in Rupert Hentzau; for he put spurs to his horse,
and I, turning to look, saw him ride, full gallop, to the edge
of the moat and leap in, while the shots of our party fell thick
round him like hail. With one gleam of moonlight we should
have riddled him with balls; but, in the darkness, he won
to the corner of the Castle, and vanished from our sight.
"The deuce take him!" grinned Sapt.
"It's a pity," said I, "that he's a villain. Whom have we got?"
We had Lauengram and Krafstein: they lay dead; and, concealment
being no longer possible, we flung them, with Max, into the moat;
and, drawing together in a compact body, rode off down the hill.
And, in our midst, went the bodies of three gallant gentlemen.
Thus we travelled home, heavy at heart for the death of our friends,
sore uneasy concerning the King, and cut to the quick that young Rupert
had played yet another winning hand with us.
For my own part, I was vexed and angry that I had killed no
man in open fight, but only stabbed a knave in his sleep.
And I did not love to hear Rupert call me a play-actor.
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