CHAPTER 14
A Night Outside the Castle
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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