CHAPTER XIII

The night train steamed swiftly through the darkness, the cars swaying

from side to side of the track, and the couplings clanging and jolting.

It was warm inside the compartments and the air made a thick steam on

the windows, hiding the snowfields and the station as the train rushed

thundering past. In one of the third-class compartments two gypsies

sat together with their heads close to the window, peering out.

"Half an hour now, Velasco."

"Twenty-two minutes, Kaya."

"Now, only twelve."

"Are the passports ready, Velasco?"

"They are here, little one. There is Virballen now in the distance;

can you see the roofs and the eagle floating? In another moment,

another second--!"

The two gypsies sat quiet, straining their eyes through the steam; then

the dark one rose suddenly and adjusted the strap of his knapsack,

taking his violin in his hand.

"The train is slowing up now, Kaya, come! Follow me close, and look

neither to the right nor the left."

The two sprang from the train, and hurrying into the customs-room of

the station were soon lost in the crowd. The minutes dragged slowly.

"Do you see that paling, Kaya? The other side of it is Germany--is

freedom."

"I know, Velasco--I know!"

"Your heart is beating and throbbing, Kaya; your jacket tosses like a

ship in a storm. Fold your arms over its fluttering, little one, that

the guards may not see. They are coming now."

"Pray--Velasco!"

"To whom should I pray? The Tsar perhaps--or the Icon over yonder?"

The gypsey laughed, holding out the passports. He was swaggering with

his hands in his pockets, and when the official spoke to him, he

shrugged his shoulders and answered in dialect.

"Bohemian!" he said, "Yes--gypsies! We earn our living on the road, my

comrade and I--eh, Bradjaga?" With that, he clapped Kaya on the

shoulder, showing his white teeth and laughing: "No baggage, Bárin,

no--no, only this--and that!"

He pointed to the knapsack swung from his shoulder and the violin in

his hand.

"What does this ragamuffin do?" demanded the official, looking narrowly

at Kaya, "He is fair for a gypsey."

The girl started back for a moment, her shoulder brushing the shoulder

of Velasco; then she lifted her blue eyes to the official, and her

heart seemed to leap and bound like a wild thing caged. She began to

stammer, shrinking back against her companion. A bell sounded suddenly

in the office behind them and the official started:

"A telegraph despatch!" he said, "Ha--I must go!"

The girl sprang forward and clutched his sleeve: "Don't go!" she said,

"You ask what I can do--I can dance! We will show you, my comrade and

I. In a moment the doors will be unlocked; wait until the doors are

unlocked! We will give you a performance now, a special performance

such as the Tsar himself has heard and seen--Play!"

She waved Her hand to Velasco, and in a moment the violin was out of

its wrappings and held to his cheek. He was playing a wild, strange

rhythm and Kaya was dancing. The crowd made a circle about them, and

the official stood in the centre transfixed, open-mouthed.

The violin was like a creature alive, it sobbed and laughed; and when

it sobbed, the little figure of the dancer swayed slowly, languidly,

like a flower blown to and fro by the breeze; and when it laughed, the

rhythm quickened suddenly in a rush like an avalanche falling, and the

figure sprang out into the air, turning, twisting, pirouetting; every

movement graceful, intense, full of feeling and passion.

The crowd about the gypsies stood spell-bound; the official never

stirred. The bell rang again and again. Every time it rang, a new

impetus seemed to seize the dancer. Her feet in the heavy boots seemed

scarcely to touch the ground; the green of the velveteen was like the

colour of a kaleidoscope, and the gold of her curls glittered and

sparkled under the cap. The crowd swayed with the rhythm; they grew

drunk with it and their bodies quivered as they watched. The minutes

passed like a flash.

Suddenly there came a creak in the lock; the key turned and the great

doors opened, the doors towards Germany. Beyond was the long line of

paling; the flag with the eagle floating; the sentinels with their

muskets over their shoulders. A step and then--

The dancer made a little rush forward, gave a spring in the air and

then bowed, snatching off the cap.

"Messieurs--Mesdames!"

She held the cap in her two hands, eagerly, pleadingly, and the silver

fell into it. Copecks--ten--twenty--hundreds of them, and roubles,

round and heavy; they clinked as they fell.

"I thank you!" cried the gypsey, "Good-bye, Messieurs--Mesdames! Au

revoir!"

She bowed again, backing towards the door, the cap still held between

her hands, the Violinist following.

"Adieu! Au revoir!"

The crowd clapped noisily, cheering until the great, bare station of

the customs rang and re-echoed.

"Au revoir! Adieu!"

The gypsies backed together, smiling, bowing; they passed through the

door. They reached the paling--the sentinels; the flag with the eagle

floated over their heads; then a click, and the gate closed behind them.

They were on German soil. They were free--they were free.

"Kaya!" said Velasco.

The room at the inn was small and very still. The shades were down,

and over in the corner, beyond the couch, a single candle was burning.

"Are you awake, Kaya?" said Velasco softly, bending over the couch

until his curls brushed hers, and his lips were close to her rosy cheek.

"I have watched so long for your eyes to open, Kaya! My--wife."

The girl moved uneasily on the pillow.

"My wife--Kaya!"

He put his arms about her and she lay still for a moment, scarcely

breathing. Then she spoke:

"I am not your wife, Velasco. Take your arms away."

"Your cheek is so soft, Kaya; the centre is like a red rose blushing.

Let me rest my cheek against it."

"Take your cheek away--Velasco."

"Your lips are arched like a bow, so red, so sweet! When I press

them--I press--them!"

"Velasco--Velasco! Take your lips--away!"

The girl half rose on her pillow, pushing him back; striking at him

feebly with her bare hands; "Go--don't touch me! I have been asleep--I

am mad! I am not your wife--Velasco! We must part at once--I tell

you, we must part!"

Velasco laughed: "Part!" he said, "You and I, Kaya?--Part? Have you

forgotten the church, the priest in his surplice, the dark nave and the

candles? We knelt side by side. You are my wife and I am your

husband. Kaya, we can never part in life or in death."

The girl put her hand to her breast: "It was only a 'Nihilistic

marriage,' Velasco, you know what that means! A mere form for the sake

of the certificate, the papers--just to show for the passport that we

might go together." Her voice came through her throat roughly as if it

hurt her.

Velasco laughed again shortly: "What is that to me?" he said, "We were

married; you are my wife. Put your hands down, Kaya--let me take you

in my arms. You know--throughout the journey, when we were tramping

through the snow and the cold, I treated you as a comrade, for your

sake. You asked it. You know--Kaya? And now--now we are in Germany;

we are gypsies no longer. You are the Countess and I am Velasco--your

husband, Kaya, your--husband."

He stretched out his arms to her, and his eyes were like sparks of

light under his brows, gleaming. His hands trembled: "Look at me,

Kaya, look at me. Why do you torment me?"

The girl thrust her hand slowly into the breast of her jacket and drew

out a paper. "You lost it," she said, "in the prison. I found it on

the floor. The--the certificate of our marriage. I swore that

night--if we reached the frontier I would--Velasco, don't touch me!--I

would destroy it!"

She held it away from him and her eyes gazed into his.

"You would never destroy it, Kaya!" He looked at her and then he gave a

cry: "Stop--Kaya!"

She had torn the paper across into strips and was flinging the pieces

from her; she was laughing. "You, my husband, Velasco? Are you mad?

The daughter of General Mezkarpin marry a musician! Our family is one

of the oldest in Russia and yours--!" She laughed again wildly,

clasping her hands to her throat. "You are mad--Velasco!"

He looked at her steadily. "Tell me the truth," he said, "Do you love

me, or do you not love me? Yes, or no."

"No, Velasco. You were kind to me--you saved my life; I am grateful.

If it had not been for you--" Then she laughed again, staggering to

her feet. "Love you? No--no! A thousand times--no!"

"That is a lie," said Velasco. "You are trembling all over like a

leaf. Your cheeks are ashy. The tears are welling up in your eyes

like a veil over the blue. You are breathless--you are sobbing."

He flung his arms around her and pressed her head to his breast,

kissing the curls. "Lie still, Kaya, lie still in my arms! The gods

only know why you said it, but it isn't the truth! You love me--say

you love me! You said it in the sleigh when I was stunned, half

conscious! Say it again--Kaya! The certificate is nothing. Does love

need a certificate?" He laughed aloud. "Say it, Kaya--let me hear

you, my beloved!"

She was silent, clinging to him; she had stopped struggling. Her eyes

were closed and he kissed her fiercely on the lips again and again.

Presently he was frightened, and a chill of terror and foreboding stole

over him.

"Look at me, Kaya--open your eyes! Have I hurt you--was I too rough?

Are you angry? I love you so! The whole world is nothing; art is

nothing; fame is nothing. I would sell my Stradivarius for the touch

of your fingers in mine, Kaya! I would give my soul for a look in your

eyes! Ah, open them--dearest!"

His voice shook and was hoarse, and he held her away from him, gazing

down at her face and the panting of her breast. "Tell me you love

me--Kaya!"

Suddenly she stiffened until her body was straight and unbending as

steel, and the strength came back to her slowly. She opened her eyes

and the veil was gone; they were flashing and hard. "You use your

strength like a coward, Velasco," she said. "Can you force love? I

told you the truth."

She pointed to the fragments of paper on the floor with her finger,

scornfully: "There lies the bond between us," she said, "See--it is

shattered; it lies at our feet. You will go on your way from here

alone, to fill your engagements, and I--" She hesitated and stopped

again, as one who is afraid of stumbling.

Her arms stiffened, and her hands, and her whole body; and she drew

away from him, avoiding his eyes, and looking only at the fragments of

paper on the floor.

"Good-bye now--Velasco," she said.

He looked at her, and he was trembling and shaking from head to foot,

like one in a chill. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were

bloodshot; the pulses beat in his temples.

"My God!" he cried, "If it is true--if you don't love me! If--"

Kaya stretched out her hand to him, catching her breath. "Good-bye,

Velasco--"

He turned on her fiercely, and raised his arm as if he would have

struck her: "You are cruel!" he said, crying out, "You are not a

woman!" He caught her by the shoulders and held her, looking down into

her eyes, with his face close to hers.

"Swear it!" he cried, "Swear it if you can--if you dare! Swear you

don't love--me."

She looked at him and her lips trembled.

"Swear it!"

She nodded.

A cry burst from his throat, like that of an animal, wounded, at bay.

His blood-shot eyes stared at her for a moment, and then he flung her

from him with all his strength and turning, dashed from the room.

The door slammed.

The girl reeled backward, putting her hands to her face. Then, as the

echo of his footsteps died away on the stairs, she fell on her knees,

crouching and sobbing.

"He is gone!" she cried out, the words coming in little moans through

her clenched teeth. "He is gone! Velasco is gone!"

Her form shook in a torrent of weeping, and she took her hands from her

face and wrung them together. "I love him!" she said, "I love him! If

he had stayed! No--no, I am mad! I am cursed--cursed by the Black

Cross. There is blood on my hands!"

She held them out before her, and they trembled and shook. "Blood!"

she cried, "I see it--red--dripping! It fell from his wound on my hand

and nothing will wash it away! Nothing!" Her voice died away to a

whisper and she knelt, staring at her hands with eyes wild and dilated:

"Not even his love," she said, "not even his love could wash it away.

It would spread--he too would be cursed. He--too!" Then she flung

herself on the floor and buried her head against the side of the couch,

clinging to it, with her body convulsed:

"Come back, Velasco!" she stammered, "I am weak--come back! Put your

arms around me--kiss me again! Don't be angry. Don't look at me like

that! Velasco--I won't leave you! I--I love you! Come back!"

She lay still, shuddering.

Outside, in the street, came the clatter of wheels passing and the

cries of a street vendor; far off came the whistle of a locomotive.

Kaya dragged herself to her feet slowly, stumbling a little. She

passed her hands over her eyes once or twice, as if blinded; then

feebly, like one who has just recovered from a long illness, she

tottered towards the door and opened it.

Her head was bare and her curls covered it in a tangle of gold; her

jacket and trousers were old and faded, patched at the elbows, torn at

the knees. The tears had dried on her cheeks. She gazed ahead

steadily without looking back; and the blue of her eyes was like the

blue of the sky at night-fall, darkened and shadowy.

At the bend of the stairway she stumbled, half falling; then she

steadied herself, clinging to the balustrade with her hands--and went

on.

It was day-light, and the cocks were all crowing when Velasco returned.

When he opened the door the candle burned low in its socket, and the

sun-rays came filtering in through the windows. The room was deserted.

He was muddy and footsore; his face looked haggard and old, and it was

lined with deep furrows. His dark eyes were listless and weary, and

his cheeks colourless.

"Kaya," he said, "are you here? Kaya!"

He looked on the couch, but it was empty; behind the curtains, but

there was nothing; out of the windows, but there was only the street

below. His eyes had a dazed look.

"Kaya!" he cried.

On the floor lay a boy's cap, torn, rakish, faded with the sun and the

snow of their wanderings--a little, green cap. Velasco stared at it

for a moment.

Then suddenly he snatched it to his lips with a sob, and buried his

head in his arms.

THE BLACK CROSS

PART II

CHAPTER XIV

Ehrestadt lies in a plain.

The walls of the old city have been leveled into broad promenades,

shaded with nut-trees, encircling the town as with a girdle of green.

Beyond, a new city has sprung up, spreading like a mushroom; but within

the girdle the streets are narrow and crooked, and the houses gabled;

leaning to one another as if seeking support for their ancient

foundations, with only a line of sky in between.

At the corner of the promenade, just where the old city and the new

city meet, is a tumble-down mill. It is called the Nonnen-Mühle, and

it has been there ever since Ehrestadt first came into existence, as is

evident from the bulging of the walls, and the wood of the casements,

rotten and worm-eaten. The river winds underneath it, and the great

spoked wheel turns slowly, tossing the water into a cloud of yellow

foam, flinging the spray afar into the dark, flowing stream, catching

it again; playing with it, half sportive, half fierce, like some

monster alive.

As the wheel turns, the sound of its teeth grinding is steady and

rhythmical, like a theme in the bass; and the river splashes the

accompaniment, gurgling and sighing in a minor key, as if in complaint.

It was Johannestag.[1]

The citizens of Ehrestadt were walking on the promenade, dressed in

their best; the men strutting, the women hanging on their arms, the

children toddling behind. In the square a band was playing; the nut

trees were in full leaf, and the air was warm and sweet with the scent

of the rose buds. The wheel of the mill had stopped.

Just under the peak of the roof was a small window gabled, with a broad

sill, and casements that opened outwards, overlooking the promenade.

The sill was scarlet with geraniums, and the window itself was grown

partly over and half smothered in a veiling of ivy. Behind the window

was a garret, small like a cell; the roof sloping to the eaves.

There was nothing in the garret excepting a pallet-bed in the corner,

under the eaves, and in the opposite corner a box on which stood a

pitcher and basin; the basin was cracked; the pitcher was without a

handle. On the wall hung a few articles of clothing on pegs; and the

slope of the roof was grey and misty with cob-webs. Otherwise the

garret was bare.

Sitting by the window with her elbows on the sill, framed by the ivy

and the geraniums, was a girl. Her head was propped in her hands, and

her hair glittered gold in the warm sun-light against the green and the

scarlet. She was gazing eagerly over the throngs on the promenade, and

her blue eyes were alert as if searching for some one.

She was young and slim, and her gown was shabby, turned back at the

throat as if she suffered from the heat; and her hair was cropped,

lying in little tendrils of gold on her neck, curling thickly about her

ears and her brow. Her cheeks were quite pale, and there was a pinched

look about the lips, dark shadows under the eyes. She gazed steadily.

"If I could only see him," she murmured to herself, half aloud, "just

once--if I could see him!" Her lip trembled a little and she caught it

between her teeth: "It is seventeen weeks--a hundred and nineteen

days--since we parted," she said, "At daybreak on Thursday it will be a

third of a year--a third of a year!"

She moved her head uneasily on her hands, and hid her eyes for a moment

against the leaves of the ivy, as if blinded by the sun-beams; "Sooner

or later he was sure to come here," she murmured, "All musicians come

here; but when I saw his face on the bill-board to-day--and his

name--!" She crouched closer against the sill, and the leaves of the

ivy fluttered from the hurried breath that came through her lips,

shaking them as with a storm.

"If he were there on the promenade," she said, "and I saw him walking,

with his violin, his head thrown back and his eyes dreaming--Ah!" She

drew in her breath quickly and a little twist came in her throat, like

a screw turned. She half closed her eyes.

"Ah--Velasco! My arms would go out to you in spite of my will; my lips

would cry to you! I would clinch my teeth--I would pinion my arms to

my side. I would hide here behind the casement and gaze at you between

the leaves of the geraniums--and you would never know! You would

never--know!"

She put both hands to her bare throat as if to tear something away that

was suffocating, compelling; then she laughed: "He is an artist," she

said, "a great musician, fêted, adored; he is rich and happy. He will

forget. Perhaps he has forgotten already. It would be better if he

had forgotten--already." She laughed again strangely, glancing about

the garret with its low eaves, and the cob-webs hanging; at the pallet,

and the cracked basin, and the pitcher with its handle missing.

The doves came flying about the mill, twittering and chirping as if

seeking for food on the sill; clinging to the ivy with their tiny, pink

claws, looking at her expectantly out of their bright, roving eyes,

pruning their feathers. The girl shook her head:

"I have nothing for you," she said, "No--not a crumb. The last went

yesterday. Poor birds! It is terrible to be hungry, to have your head

swim, and your limbs tremble, and the world grow blind and dim before

your eyes. Is it so with you, dear doves?"

She rose slowly and a little unsteadily, crossing the garret to the

pegs where the clothes hung.

"There may be a few Pfennigs left," she said, "without touching that.

No--no, there is nothing!"

She felt in the pockets of the cloak, pressing deep into the corners

with the tips of her fingers, searching. "No," she repeated

helplessly, "there is--nothing; still I can't touch the other--not

to-day! I will go out and try again."

She took down the cloak from the peg and wrapped it about her, in spite

of the heat, covering her throat. There was a hat also on the peg; she

put it on, hiding her yellow curls, and drew the veil over her face.

"If I could only get a hearing!" she said to herself, "There must be

someone in Ehrestadt, who would listen to my voice and give me an

opening. I will try once more, and then--"

She buttoned the cloak with her fingers trembling, and went out.

"Is the Herr Kapellmeister in?"

"Yes, Madame."

The rosy cheeked maid hesitated a little, and her eyes wandered

doubtfully from the veil to the cloak and the shabby skirt.

"Kapellmeister Felix Ritter, I mean."

"He is in, Madame, but he is engaged."

"May I come in and wait?"

The maid hesitated again: "What name shall I say, Madame?"

"My name," said Kaya, "is Mademoiselle de--de Poussin."

The German words came stumbling from her lips. She crossed the

threshold and entered a large salon, divided by curtains from a room

beyond. There was a grand piano in the corner of the salon, and about

the walls were shelves piled high with music; propped against the piano

stood a cello.

Kaya looked at the instrument; then she sank down on the divan close to

the piano, and put out her fingers, touching it caressingly. From the

next room, beyond the curtain, came the sound of cups rattling, and a

sweet, rich aroma as of coffee, mingling with the fragrance of cigars

freshly lighted.

The girl threw back her veil, scenting it as a doe the breeze when it

is thirsty and cannot drink. She smiled a little, still caressing the

keys with her fingers. "It is strange to be hungry," she said, "The

Countess Mezkarpin was never hungry!" Then suddenly she started and

turned white to the lips, swaying forward with her eyes dilated.

From behind the curtain came voices talking together; one was harsh and

rather loud, and the other-- Kaya's eyes were fixed on the curtain;

she rose slowly from the divan and crept forward on tip-toe, a step at

a time. The other!--She listened. No, it was the harsh voice talking

rapidly, loudly in German, and what he was saying she could not

understand; then came the clatter of cups again, and silence, and a

fresh whiff of cigar smoke floating, wafted through the curtain.

She crept closer, still listening, her hands clasped together, the

cloak flung back from her shoulders.

"The other--there!"

She put out her hand and touched the curtain, pulling it aside

slightly, timidly, and pressing her face, her eyes to the opening. She

was faint for a moment and could see nothing; there was a mist before

her eyes and the smoke filled the room; then gradually, out of the

mist, she saw a grey-haired man with his back to the curtain, and he

was bending forward with a coffee cup to his lips. Beside him, facing

her, leaning far back in his chair, with his cigar poised and his eyes

half closed, his dark head pressing restlessly against the cushion was--

"Oh, my God!" she breathed, "My God, it is Velasco!"

For a moment she thought she had screamed; and she covered her eyes

waiting, sick, frightened, her heart throbbing. Then she forgot where

she was and thought only of him, and a strange little thrill went over

her; she shivered slightly, and it seemed to her as if already she was

in his arms; and when she heard his voice, it was calling to her,

crying her name.

"Yes--yes, it is Kaya!--I am here!" she was saying, "Come to

me--Velasco! Velasco!"

Already she was stumbling into his arms; she was clinging to him--and

then she awoke. Her brain cleared suddenly and she knew that she had

not moved; no sound had come from her lips. She was standing like a

statue, dumb, with her hands clasped, gazing; and Velasco lay back in

his chair with his eyes half closed, blowing a wreath from his cigar,

watching it idly as it floated away, listening as the harsh voice of

his host talked on--not five feet away! If she stretched out her hand,

if she sighed--or moved the curtain--Ah!

She struggled with herself. She was faint; she was weak with hunger;

she was alone and desolate--and he loved her. She fought madly,

desperately. It was as if two creatures were within her fighting for

life; and they both loved him.

When the one grew stronger, her eyes brightened and her pulses

quickened; it was as if she would leap through the curtain, and her

heart was sick for the touch of his hand. Then she beat down the

longing and stifled it, and the other self came to the front and

gripped her scornfully, pointing to her hands with the blood on them,

her soul with its curse. Was her life to mingle with his and ruin it,

and bring it to shame?

"Never," she breathed, "Never! So long as I live!" And the self of

her that loved him the most crushed the other self and smothered

it--strangled it.

She gazed at him through the curtain, and it seemed to her that

something within her was gasping and dying. And suddenly she turned

and ran from the curtain, clasping her cloak to her bosom and running,

stumbling, out of the room, the house, the street.

The promenades were gay with people and crowded. The men strutting

along in their Sunday clothes, the women hanging on their arms, the

children toddling behind. The band was playing on the square. It was

warm and the sun was shining; the air was sweet with the scent of the

rose buds.

Kaya fled past them all like a wraith. They turned and stared after

her, but she was gone. She climbed the stairs of the mill to the roof,

and opened the door, and shut it again, and fell on her knees before

the box. The pitcher was there without a handle, and the basin

cracked. She lifted them away and opened the box.

In it lay a velveteen jacket folded, a scarf, scarlet and spotted.

Inside the scarf lay a mass of coins, copecks, ten, twenty--hundreds of

them, and roubles round and heavy. She fingered them tenderly, one

after the other, then thrust them aside.

"To-morrow--" she said, "I have come to that--to live on a gypsey's

wages! I can sing no longer; I can only dance and pass the cap--and

give the copecks for bread--for bread! I thought some day when I was

old,--when we were both old, I would show them to--Velasco, and he

would remember and laugh: 'Ah, that was long ago,' he would say, 'when

I was a boy, and you were a boy, and we tramped together through the

cold and the snow--and I loved you, and you--loved me! Ah--it was

sweet, Kaya! I have lived a long life since then, with plenty of fame,

and success, and happiness--and the years have been full; but nothing

quite so sweet as that! Nothing--quite so sweet--as that!'"

She was sobbing now and staring into the box: "To-morrow," she said, "I

will buy some bread and feed the doves--and soon it will be gone!" She

began to count the coins rapidly, dropping them through her fingers

into the scarf; and as she counted she smiled through her tears.

"We earned it together--he and I!" she said, "He played and I danced.

He would like me to live on it as long as I can, and then--after

that--he will not--blame me!"

Her body swayed slightly and she fell forward against the box. The sun

shone on the geraniums; and on the sill, the doves pecked at the

worm-eaten casement, clinging to the ivy with their tiny claws, gazing

about with their bright, roving eyes and cooing.

Below, the water splashed against the wheel; but it was silent.

[1] St. John's day.

CHAPTER XV.

The stage of the Opera House was crowded with the chorus. It was ten

o'clock in the morning, but the day was rainy and the light that came

from the windows at the back of the proscenium was feeble and dim, and

the House itself was quite dark. The seats stretched out bare and

ghostly, row after row; and beyond a dark cavern seemed yawning,

mysterious and empty, the sound of the voices echoing and resounding

through spaces of silence.

In the centre of the stage stood the Conductor, mounted on a small

platform with his desk before him; and around him were the chorus,

huddled and watchful as sheep about a shepherd. He was tapping the

desk with his baton and calling out to them, and the voices had ceased.

"Meine Herren--meine Damen!" he cried, "How you sing! It is like the

squealing of guinea-pigs--and the tenors are false! Mein Gott! Stick

to the notes, gentlemen, and sing in the middle of the tone. There

now, once more. Begin on the D."

Kapellmeister Ritter glanced over his chorus with a fierce, compelling

motion of his baton. He was like a general, compact and trim of figure

with a short, pointed beard, and hair also short that was swiftly

turning to grey. The only thing that suggested the musician was the

heaviness and swelling of his brows, and the delicacy of his hands and

wrists, which were white, like a woman's, of an extraordinary

suppleness and full of power; hands that were watched instinctively and

obeyed. The eyes of the entire chorus were fixed on them now, gazing

as if hypnotized, and hanging on every movement of his beat.

"Na--na!" he cried, "Was that F, I ask you? You bellow like bulls!

Again--again, I tell you! On the D and approach the note softly.

"Hist-st!--Pianissimo!"

He stamped his foot in vexation and the baton struck the desk sharply:

"Again--the sopranos alone! Hist! Piano--piano I say! Potztausend!"

The chorus glanced at one another sheepishly and a flush crept over the

faces of the sopranos. The Kapellmeister was in a bad mood to-day;

nothing suited him, and he beat the desk as if he would have liked to

strike them all and fling the baton at their heads.

"Sheep!" he said, "Oxen--cows! You have no temperament, no

feeling--nothing--nothing! Where are your souls? Haven't you any

souls? Don't you hear what I say? Piano! P-i-a-n-o! When I say

piano, do I mean forte?"

He shrugged his shoulders, and his eyes flashed scornfully over the

stage and the singers. "Now ladies, attention if you please! Look at

me--keep your eyes on my baton! Now--piano!"

The voices of the sopranos rose softly.

"Crescendo!" They increased.

"Donnerwetter! May the devil take you! Crescendo, I say! Crescendo!

Do you need all day to make crescendo?" He shrieked at them; and then,

in a tempest of rage, he flung the baton down and leaped from the

platform.

"Enough!" he said, "My teeth are on edge; my ears burn! Sit down.--Is

Fraulein Neumann here?"

A stout woman in a red blouse stepped timidly forward.

"Oh, you are, are you? Well, Madame, you haven't distinguished

yourself so far; perhaps you will do better alone. Have you the score?"

"Yes, Herr Kapellmeister."

"Begin then."

The soprano took a long breath and her cheeks grew red like her blouse.

She watched the eyes of the leader, and there was a light in them that

she mistrusted, a reddish glimmer that boded evil to any who crossed

him.

She began tremulously.

"Stop."

She started again.

"Your voice quavers like a jews'-harp. What's the matter with you?"

"I don't know, Herr Kapellmeister, it was all right when I tried it

this morning."

"Well, it's all wrong now."

The soprano bit her lips: "I am doing my best, Herr Kapellmeister," she

said, "It is very difficult to take that high A without the orchestra."

Her tone was slightly defiant, but she dropped her eyes when he stared

at her.

"Humph!" he said, "Very difficult! You expect the orchestra to cover

your shake I suppose. Go home and study it, Madame. Siegfried would

listen in vain for a bird if you were in the flies. He would never

recognize that--pah!" He waved his hand:

"Where is the Fraulein who wanted her voice tried?" he said curtly, "If

she is present she may come forward." He took out his watch and

glanced at it. "The chorus may wait," he said, "Look at your scores

meanwhile, meine Herren, meine Damen--and notice the marks!

"Ah, Madame."

A slim figure with a cloak about her shoulders, bareheaded, approached

from the wings; her curls, cut short like a boy's, sparkled and

gleamed. The Kapellmeister surveyed her coldly as she drew nearer, and

then he turned and seated himself at the piano.

"Your voice," he said shortly, "Hm--what?"

"Soprano, Monsieur."

"We have enough sopranos--too many now! We don't know what to do with

them all."

The girl shivered a little under the cloak.

"Oh!" she faltered, "Then you won't hear me?"

"I never said I wouldn't hear you, Madame; I simply warned you. If you

were alto now--but for a soprano there is one chance in a thousand,

unless--" He struck a chord on the piano.

The chorus sat very still. The trying of a new voice was always a

diversion; it was more amusing to watch the grilling of a victim than

to be scorched themselves; and the Kapellmeister in that mood--oh Je!

They smiled warily at one another behind their scores, and stared at

the slight, girlish figure beside the pianoforte.

She was stooping a little as if near-sighted, looking over the shoulder

of the Conductor at the music on the piano rack.

"Can you read at sight, Madame?"

"Yes," said Kaya.

"Have you ever seen this before?"

"I studied it--once."

"This?"

"I studied that too."

"So," he said, "Then you either have a voice, or you haven't, one or

the other. Where did you study?"

The girl hesitated a moment; then she bent lower and whispered to him:

"St. Petersburg, Monsieur, with Helmanoff."

"The great Helmanoff?"

"Yes, Monsieur."

"You are not French then, you are Russian? They told me Mademoiselle

Pou--Pou--"

"That is not my real name."

"No?"

Kaya quivered a moment: "I am--Russian," she said, "I am an exile.

Don't ask, Monsieur--not here! I am--I am afraid."

The Kapellmeister went on improvising arpeggios on the piano as if he

had not heard. He seemed to be pondering. "That name--" he said,

"Pou--Poussin! Someone called on me the other day of that name. I

remember it, because when I came in she was gone. Was it you?"

The girl stood silent.

He turned suddenly and looked at her: "You are young," he said, "and

too slim to have a voice. Na--child! You are trembling as if you had

a chill, and the House is like an oven. Come--don't be frightened.

The chorus are owls; they can stare and screech, but they know nothing.

Sit down here by me and sing what you choose. Let your voice out."

"Shall I sing a Russian song, Monsieur?"

"Very well."

The Kapellmeister leaned back in his chair with his arms folded. He

gave one fierce glance at the chorus over his shoulder. "Hush!" he

cried, "No noise if you please. Attend to your scores, or go out.

Now, Fraulein--sing."

Kaya pushed the chair to one side and moved closer to the piano,

leaning on it and gazing out into the darkened House, at the rows of

seats, ghostly and empty, and the black cave beyond. A Volkslied came

to her mind, one she had heard as a child and been rocked to, a peasant

song, simple and touching. Her lips parted slightly.

For a moment there was silence; then the tones came like a breath, soft

and pianissimo, clear as the trill of a bird in the forest wooing its

mate. It rose and fell, swelling out, filling the spaces, echoing

through the vault.

"On the mountain-top were two little doves;

Their wings were soft, they shimmered and shone.

Dear little doves, pray a prayer--a prayer

For the son of Fedotjen, Michäel--Michäel,

For he is alone--alone."

With the last word, repeated, half whispered, the voice died away

again; and she stood there, still leaning against the piano and

clasping her hands, looking at the Kapellmeister with her blue eyes

dark and pleading, like two wells. "Will it do?" she said with her

voice faltering, "Will you take me, Herr Director--in the chorus?"

The Kapellmeister shrugged his shoulders: "You have no voice for a

chorus," he said roughly, "Try this."

"I know," said Kaya, "My voice is not as it was. Helmanoff--" she

laughed unsteadily, "He would be so angry if he heard me, and tell me

to study, just as you told the Mademoiselle who went out; but I will do

better, Monsieur, believe me. I will work so hard, and my voice will

come back in time after--" She gazed at him and a mist came over her

eyes. "Do take me," she said, "I beg you to take me--I beg you."

The Kapellmeister passed his hand over his face: "Tschut, child!" he

said, "What are you talking about? Be quiet now and sing this as I

tell you. You have heard it before?"

"Yes, I have heard it."

"And sung it perhaps with Helmanoff?"

"Yes--Monsieur."

He handed her the score, running his fingers over the bird motive of

'Siegfried,' giving her the key. Then he leaned back again and folded

his arms.

Kaya gave her head a little backward movement as if to free her throat,

and threw off the cloak, standing straight.

[Illustration: Fragment of "Siegfried"]

The tones came out like the sound of a flute, high and pure; they rose

in her throat, swelling it out as she sang, pouring through the arch of

her lips without effort or strain.

"Bravo!" cried the Director, "Um Himmel's Willen, child, you have a

voice like a lark rising in the meadows, and you sing--Bravo! Bravo!"

He put out his hands and took the girl's trembling ones into his own.

"You will take me?" she said, "You see, when I am not so nervous it

will go better."

The Kapellmeister laughed and took a card out of his pocket: "Write

your name here," he said, "Your real one. I won't tell--and your

address."

Kaya drew back suddenly: "I live in the mill," she said, "You know, the

Nonnen-Mühle by the promenade? You won't let any one know, will you,

Monsieur, because--"

"Are you afraid of spies, child? Tut, the chorus can't hear. I won't

tell a soul."

"No one?"

"On my honour--no one. Now, your name?"

She looked away from him a moment; then she took the pencil and wrote

on the card in small, running letters: "Marya Pulitsin."

"So that's your real name, is it?"

Her eyes were clear and blue like a child's. "No," she said, "--no."

And she glanced back over her shoulder with her finger to her lips.

"Never mind," said the Kapellmeister. "You are white, child, what are

you afraid of? There are no spies here! Give me the card. That is a

strange place to live in--the Nonnen-Mühle! I didn't know anyone lived

there, excepting the old man who takes charge of the mill. Well, in a

day or so--perhaps towards the end of the week you will hear from me."

He waved to the chorus.

"Stand up, meine Herren, meine Damen!" he said, "Get your scores ready.

Good-bye now, Fraulein.--Donnerwetter! What ails you?"

"If you want to try my voice again," said Kaya timidly, "Would you

mind, sir, trying it to-day?--This afternoon, or even this evening?"

"Now by all that is holy, why, pray? I have the solos to-night, and

this afternoon a rehearsal for 'Siegfried.'" The Kapellmeister

frowned: "Do you think I have nothing on earth to do, child, but run

after voices?"

"Oh!" cried Kaya, "I didn't mean that! I beg your pardon. It doesn't

matter--I do beg your pardon, Herr Director." She flushed suddenly,

and started away from him, as if to put the piano between them and flee

towards the door.

He looked at her narrowly, and the harsh lines came back to his face.

"A pest on these singers!" he muttered under his breath, "They are all

alike--they want coddling. She thinks perhaps she is a Patti and is

planning for her salary already. Potztausend! Bewahre!" He turned on

his heel curtly and mounted the platform, taking up the baton.

"Now," he cried, "The D again--all together! Pia--no!"

Kaya stole across the stage swiftly on tiptoe, threading her way

through the scenery that was standing in rows, one behind the other, in

readiness for the performance that night, and disappeared into the

wings. It was dusty there and deserted. An occasional stage-hand

hurried by in the distance bent on some errand, and from the back came

the sound of hammering. The chorus was singing forte now, and the

sound filled the uttermost corner, drowning the noise of the hammer.

Kaya stood still for a moment, clinching her hands: "My God," she

said, "I have tried the last and it has failed! The end of the week!"

she laughed to herself bitterly. "I know what that means. Helmanoff

used to get rid of new pupils that way: 'You will hear,' he would say;

but they never heard."

She took a coin out of her dress and looked at it. "The gypsies' wages

are gone," she said, "Only this left to pay for my roof and my bed!"

She laughed again and glanced about her stealthily as if fearful of

being seen, or tracked. Then she began to breathe quickly:

"_Without weakness_," she said, "_without hesitation, or mercy, by mine

own hands if needs be_. I have done it to another: I will do it

again--to myself. Atone, atone--wipe out the stain! A life for a

life! That is right." She swayed and caught one of the scenes for

support. "That is--just! God, how my throat burns, and my head, it is

dizzy--and my eyes have gone blind! Ah, it is passing--passing! Now I

can see. I can--walk!"

She clung to the scenery for another second, and then pushed it away

and moved to the door, staggering a little like one who is drugged.

It was evening. The rain had ceased, and the moon rose full and pale

with a halo about it. In the distance clouds were gathering, and the

waters under the mill were speckled with light.

Kaya sat by the window, leaning on the sill with her arms and gazing

down at the wheel: "It is deep there," she said, "A moment of falling

through the air--a splash, and it will be over. I am not--afraid."

She shuddered a little, and her eyes were fixed on the flashes of

silver as if fascinated. She could not tear them away. "How black it

is under the wheel!" she murmured, "If I fell on the spokes--" Then

she shuddered again.

"Perhaps I shall not die," she said, "Perhaps I shall live and be

crippled, with my body broken. Oh, God--to live like that! I must--I

must aim for the pool beyond, where the water lies deep and the

moonlight freckles the--surface."

Then she dropped her head on her arms and the words came again: "I have

tried my best, Velasco, but the heart is gone out of me. Don't be

angry and call me a coward. I tried--but I am weak now and I am

afraid. My voice is gone, and there is so little for a woman to do. I

tried everything, Velasco, but my strength--is--failing. If I could

walk, I would go to you and say good-bye; but I don't know where you

are. They say you have gone and I don't know where."

She leaned a little further forward on the sill, still hiding her eyes.

"He won't know," she whispered under her breath, "He will never know.

Velasco! Velasco--good-bye."

Her body lay across the sill now, and she opened her heavy lids and

gazed downwards, half eagerly, half fearfully. The water was dark and

the moon-light on the surface glittered. The wheel was below, huge and

gaunt like a spectre; silent, with its spokes dipping into the pool.

CHAPTER XVI

"Fräulein, Fräulein--open the door! There is a gentleman here who

would speak with you!--Fräulein!"

The blows redoubled on the stout oak, growing louder and more

persistent. "Fräulein! It is very strange, Herr Kapellmeister. I saw

her go in with my own eyes, some two hours back, and she has not come

out, for I was below in the mill with my pipe and my beer, sitting in

the very doorway itself, and no flutter of petticoats passed me, or I

should have heard."

The old miller rubbed his wizen cheeks and smoothed the wisps of hair

on his chin, nervously as a young man does his mustache.

"Na--!" said the Kapellmeister. "It is late and she may be asleep. I

came after rehearsal and it must be nine, or past. Knock louder!"

The miller struck the oak again with his fist, calling out; and then

they both listened. "There is no light through the key-hole," said the

miller, peeping, "only the moon-rays which lie on the floor, and when I

hark with my hand to my ear, I hear no sound but the water splashing."

The Kapellmeister paced the narrow corridor impatiently.

"Donnerwetter!" he exclaimed, "The matter is important, or I shouldn't

have come. I must have an answer to-night. Try the door, and if it is

unlocked, open it and shout. You have a voice like a saw; it would

raise the dead."

The miller put his hand to the latch and it yielded: "Fräulein--!" The

garret was in shadow, and across the floor lay the moonbeams

glittering; the casement was open, and the geraniums were outlined dark

against the sky, their colour dimmed.

"There is something in the window!" said the miller, peering; and the

door opened wider. "There is something black across the sill; it is

lying over the geraniums and crushing them, and it looks like a woman!

Jesus--Maria!"

He took a step forward, staring: "It is the Fräulein, and she is--"

"Get out of the way, you fool!" cried the Kapellmeister sharply, and he

pushed the man back and strode forward: "The child has fainted! She

lies here with her head on her arms, and her cheek is white as the moon

itself."

He lifted her gently and put his arm under her shoulders, supporting

her: "Get some Kirsch at once," he cried to the miller, "Stop gaping,

man! She's not dead I tell you--her heart flutters and the pulse in

her wrist is throbbing!" He slipped his hand in his pocket, and tossed

the miller a gulden. "Now run," he said, "run as if the devil were

after you. The Rathskeller is only a square away! Brandy and

food--food, do you hear?"

The old man caught the gulden greedily between his fingers, and

examined it for a moment, weighing it. "I will go," he mumbled,

"certainly I will go. Kirsch--you say, sir, and bread perhaps?"

"Be off, you fool!"

The Kapellmeister watched the door grimly as it shut behind the miller,

and then he glanced about the garret. "Poor," he said, "Humph! A

place for a beggar!" His eyes roved from the pallet in the corner to

the pitcher and the basin, the clothes on the pegs, the cobwebs

hanging, the geraniums crushed on the sill.

Then he lifted the girl's head and held it between his hands, looking

down at her face, supporting her in his arms. The lashes lay heavy on

her cheeks and the tendrils of hair, curly and golden, lay on her neck

and her forehead. Her throat was bare; it was white and full. The

Kapellmeister held her gently and a film came over his eyes as he gazed:

"How young she is!" he murmured, "like some beautiful boy. Her chin is

firm--there is will power there. Her brows are intelligent; her whole

personality is one of feeling and temperament. It is a face in a

thousand. What is her name, her history? How has she suffered? Why

is she alone? There are lines of pain about the mouth--the eyes!"

He raised her suddenly in his arms and started to his feet; and as he

did so, she opened her lids slowly and gazed at him. "Velasco--" she

murmured.

Her voice was low and feeble, and the Kapellmeister bent his head

lower: "What is it, child?" he said, "I can't hear you. In a moment

you will have some brandy in your throat and that will rouse you. I

will carry you now to that pallet over yonder, a poor place, no doubt,

and hard as a board."

He strode across the floor and laid the girl gently on the bed,

smoothing the pillow, and covering her lightly with the blanket. Kaya

opened her eyes again, and put out her hands as if seeking someone.

"I was falling," she said, "Why did you bring me back?"

The Kapellmeister sat down by the edge of the bed and began to whistle

softly; he whistled a theme once, and then he repeated it a semi-tone

higher. "I suspected as much," he said, "Was it because you had no

money?"

Kaya turned her face away.

"Were you starving?--Tschut! You needn't answer. Your eyes show it.

I might have seen for myself this morning, if I had not been in a

temper with the chorus, and my mind absorbed in other matters. Be

still now, here is the miller--the dotard!"

The Kapellmeister went over to the door, and took from the old man a

small flask and a newspaper wrapping some rolls. "So," he said grimly,

"Now go, and keep the rest of the gulden for yourself. No thanks!

Pischt--be off! Go back to your doorway and finish your beer, do you

hear me? I will look after the Fräulein; she is conscious now, and I

have business with her." He motioned the old man back from the door

and closed it behind him; then he returned to the pallet. "I'm not

much of a nurse," he said, "You will have to put up with some

awkwardness, child; but there--raise your head a little, so--and lean

on my shoulder! Now drink!"

Kaya swallowed a few drops of the brandy. "That is enough," she said

faintly.

"No.--Drink!"

He held the glass to her lips, and she obeyed him, for his hands were

strong and his eyes compelled her. Then he broke the roll, and dipped

it into the brandy, and fed her piece by piece. When she tried to

resist him, he said "Eat, child--eat! Do as I tell you--eat!" and held

it to her mouth until she yielded.

She thought of Velasco and how he had fed her in the studio, and the

pulse in her wrist beat quicker. When she had finished the roll, he

put down the glass and the newspaper, and she felt his eyes searching

hers, keen and sharp, two daggers, as if they would pierce through her

secret.

"Don't speak," he said curtly, "Listen to me and answer my questions:

Why were you discouraged? I told you this morning you would hear from

me; why didn't you wait?"

The tears rose slowly into Kaya's eyes, and she hid her face in the

pillow.

"You didn't believe me," said the Kapellmeister, "but you see I was

better than my word--I have come myself. Why do you suppose I have

come?"

She lay silent.

"If I hadn't come," he said grimly, "You would be lying in that pool

yonder, by now, broken to pieces against the wheel; and I should have

sought for my bird in vain." He saw how the pillow rose and fell with

her breath, and how she listened.

"I wanted a bird for my Siegfried on Saturday," he went on, "Some one

to sit far aloft in the flies and sing, as you sang this morning, high

and pure, in the middle of the tone. Helmanoff has trained you well,

child, you take the notes as if nature herself had been your teacher.

Neumann is gone; she screeches like an owl! Elle a son congé!" He

continued to look at the pillow and the gold curls spread across it.

"Will you come and be my bird, child? I suppose you can't act as yet;

but up in the flies you will be hidden, and only your prototype will

flutter across the stage on its wires. When I heard you this morning,

I said to myself: 'Ha--my bird at last! Siegfried's bird!'"

He laughed softly, and bent over and stroked the curls: "I came

to-night because the Neumann went off in a huff. She made a scene at

rehearsal, or rather I did. I told her to go and darn stockings for a

living, and she seemed to resent it!" He paused for a moment.

"Saturday is only day after to-morrow--and we have no bird!"

The girl lay motionless, and the Kapellmeister went on stroking her

curls. "If you sing, you will be paid, you know!" he said, "and then

you need not try to kill the poor bird for lack of a crumb. Why didn't

you tell me this morning, little one?"

Kaya raised her head feebly and gazed at him: "My voice is gone!" she

said, "My voice is--gone!"

"Bah!" said the Kapellmeister, "With a throat like that! It is only

beginning to come. The Lehmann's voice was as yours in her youth,

light at first and colorature; and it grew! Mein Gott, how it grew and

deepened, and swelled, and soared!--Get strong, child, and your voice

will ripen like fruit in the sun."

He stooped over the pillow and looked into her eyes: "Come, child," he

said, "Will you be my bird? Promise me! You won't think of that

again--I can trust you? If I leave you now--"

Kaya put out her hands and clung to him suddenly, clasping his arm with

her fingers. "I won't," she said, "I will live, and study, and do my

best--and some day you think I shall be a singer? Oh, tell me truly!

That is just what Helmanoff said, but when I asked them to hear me--I

went to so many, so many!--they were always engaged, or--" She caught

her breath a little, stumbling over the words: "You think so--truly?"

"I think so truly," said the Kapellmeister, "You must come to see me at

the Opera-House to-morrow and rehearse your part, and I will teach you.

You shall have your honorarium to-night in advance; and you must eat

and grow strong."

"I will," said Kaya.

There was a new resolve in her tone, fresh hope, and she put her hand

to her throat instinctively, as if to imprison the voice inside and

keep it from escaping.

"Has the miller gone?" she asked.

"Yes," said Ritter, "He is gone and the door is closed; we are alone."

"Then put your head lower," whispered the girl, "and I will tell you.

Perhaps, when you--know!"

"Go on," said the Kapellmeister, "I am here, child, close to you, and

no one shall hurt you. Don't tremble."

"Do you see my hands?" said the girl, "Look at them. They are stained

with blood--stained with-- Ah, you draw away!"

"Go on," said Ritter, "You drew away yourself, child. What do you

mean? What could you do with a hand like that, a rose leaf? Ha!" He

laughed and clasped it with his own to give her courage: "Go on."

"You are not Russian," said the girl, "so you can't understand. When

one is not Russian--to be an anarchist, to kill--that is terrible,

unpardonable! But with us--My father is Mezkarpin," she whispered,

"You have heard of him--yes? The great General, the friend of the

Tsar! And I am the Countess Kaya, his--his daughter!"

Her voice broke, and she was silent for a moment, leaning against the

pillow. Then she went on:

"There is a society," she whispered, "in St. Petersburg. It is called

'The Black Cross'; and whosoever is a member of that order must obey

the will of the order; and when they pass judgment, the sentence must

be fulfilled. They are just and fair. When a man, an official, has

sinned only once, they pass him by; but when he has committed crime

after crime, they take up his case and deliberate together, and he is

judged and condemned. Sometimes it is the sentence of death, and

then--" she hesitated, "and then we draw lots. The lot fell to--me."

She shut her eyes, and as the Kapellmeister watched her face, he saw

that it was convulsed in agony, and the boyish look was gone.

"He was warned," she whispered, "three times he was warned, according

to rule, and I--I killed him." The lines deepened in her face, and she

half rose, leaning on her elbow, staring straight ahead of her as

though at a vision, her lips moving:

"_In the name of the Black Cross I do now pledge myself an instrument

in the service of Justice and Retribution. On whomsoever the choice of

Fate shall fall, I vow the sentence of death shall be fulfilled, by

mine own hands if needs be, without weakness, or hesitation, or mercy;

and if by any untoward chance this hand should fall, I swear--I swear,

before the third night shall have passed, to die instead--to

die--instead._"

She struggled up on the bed, kneeling.

"I killed him!" she cried in a whisper, "I killed him! I see him lying

on the floor there--on his face! There--there! Look! With his arms

outstretched--and the blood in a pool!"

She was leaning forward over the edge of the bed, staring with her eyes

dilated, pointing into the shadows and shuddering:

"Don't you see him--there?"

The Kapellmeister was white and his hands shook. He took her strongly

by the shoulders. "Lie down," he said, "You are dreaming. There is

nothing there. Look me in the eyes! I tell you there is nothing

there, and your hands are not stained. Lie down."

Kaya gazed at him for a moment in bewilderment: "Where am I?" she said,

passing her hand over her eyes. "Who are you? I thought you were--

Why no, I must have been dreaming as you say."

"The hunger has made you delirious," said the Kapellmeister: "Look me

in the eyes as I tell you, and I will smooth away those lines from your

forehead. Sleep now--sleep!"

The girl sank reluctantly back on the pillows and the Kapellmeister sat

beside her, his gaze fixed on hers with a strained attention,

unblinking. He was passing his hand over her forehead slowly and

lightly, scarcely touching her: "Sleep--" he said, "Sleep."

Her lids wavered and drooped slowly, and she sighed and stirred against

the pillows, turning on her side.

"Sleep--" he said.

The garret was still, and only the moonbeams danced on the floor. The

doves in the eaves slept with their heads tucked under their wings, and

the spiders were motionless in the midst of the webs; only the water

was splashing below.

The Kapellmeister watched the girl on the pallet. He sat leaning back

with his arms folded, his head in the shadow, and his face was grim.

"She will sleep now," he said to himself, "sleep until I wake her. She

is young and strong, and there is no harm done; but she has had some

fearful shock, and it has shaken her like a slender birch struck by a

storm. I will send my old Marta, and she will look after her--poor

little bird!"

Kaya lay on her side with her face half turned to the pillow; her cheek

was flushed and her breath came gently through the arch of her lips.

Her curls were like a halo about her, and her right hand lay on the

blanket limp, small and white with the fingers relaxed.

"I am getting to be an old man," said the Kapellmeister to himself,

"and my heart is seared; but if I had a daughter, and she looked like

that--I would throw over the Tsar and all his kingdom. The great

Juggernaut of Autocracy has gone over her, and her wings are bruised.

It is only her voice that can save her now."

He rose to his feet slowly, and in the dim light of the moon his hair

was silvered, and he seemed weary and worn. He stood by the pallet,

looking down at the slim, still figure for a moment; and his hand stole

out and touched a strand of her hair. Then he covered her gently.

"Sleep," he said, "Sleep!" And he turned and went out, closing the

door.

CHAPTER XVII

"Is it only a week that I have been ill, Marta? It seems like a month."

"A week and a day, Fräulein; but you are better now, and to-morrow, the

Doctor says you shall go out on the promenade and smell of the rose

buds."

Kaya was half lying, half seated on the pallet, with her hands clasped

behind her head; she was dressed in a blue gown, worn and shabby but

spotlessly neat, and her throat and her arms were bare. "But how soon

can I sing, Marta? Did he say when? Did you hear him?"

The old nurse sat by the bed-side, knitting and counting her stitches

aloud to herself from time to time.

"One--two--four--seven!" she mumbled, "Sing, Fräulein? Ah, who can

tell! You are weak yet."

"No," said Kaya, "I am strong; see my arms. I can stand up quite well

and walk about the room with the help of your shoulder; you know I can,

Marta."

The old woman gave her a glance over her spectacles: "Seven--ten!" she

repeated, "If it were your spirit, Fräulein, you would be Samson

himself; but your body--" She shook her head: "Na, when the master

comes, ask him yourself. It is he who has talked with the Doctor, not

I."

"He is coming now," said Kaya. "I hear his step on the stairs, quick

and firm like his beat. Don't you hear it, Marta?--Now he has stopped

and is talking with the miller." She leaned back on the pillows and

her eyes watched the door.

"Eh, Fräulein! Nein, I hear nothing! What an ear you have--keen as a

doe's when the wind is towards her! At home, in the forest, where the

deer run wild and they come in the dawn to the Schneide to

graze--whischt! The crackle of a leaf and they are off flying, with

their muzzles high and their eyes wild. Na! I hear nothing but the

wheel below grinding and squeaking, and the splash of the water."

"He is coming up the stairs," cried Kaya, "Open the door for him,

Marta, and let the Kapellmeister in."

The old woman rolled up her knitting slowly: "It was just at the turn

of the chain," she grumbled, "and I have lost a stitch in the counting.

The master can come in by himself."

Kaya gave a gleeful laugh like a child, and slipped her feet to the

floor: "Oh, you cross Marta, you dear humbug!" she cried, "As if you

wouldn't let the master walk over you and never complain! Go on with

that wonderful muffler of his, and I will let him in myself. No, don't

touch me! Let me go alone and surprise him."

She steadied herself with her hand to the bed-post, then caught at the

chair: "Don't touch me--Marta! I am quite strong--now, and able

to--walk!"

A knock came on the door, and she made a little run forward and opened

it, clinging to the handle.

"Du himmlische Güte!" exclaimed the Kapellmeister, "If the bird isn't

trying its wings! Behüte, child!" He put a strong arm about her,

looking down at her sternly and shaking his head: "Do you call this

obedience?" he said grimly, "I thought I told you not to leave that

couch alone--eh?"

"Don't scold me," said Kaya, "I feel so well to-day, and there is

something leaping in my throat. Herr Kapellmeister--it is begging to

come out; let me try to sing, won't you?" She clung to his arm and her

eyes plead with him: "Don't scold me. You have put 'Siegfried' off

twice now because you had no bird. Let me try to-day."

The Kapellmeister frowned. Her form was like a lily swaying against

the trunk of an oak.

"Tschut--" he said, "Bewahre! Marta, go down and bring up her soup.

When your cheeks are red, child, and the shadows are gone from under

your eyes, then we will see."

Kaya pushed away his arm gently, and there was a firmness about her

chin as of a purpose new-born. "You have paid for my lodging and my

food, Herr Kapellmeister," she said proudly, "You have sent me your own

servant, and she has been to me like a foster mother. You have cared

for me, and the Doctor and the medicines are all at your cost." She

steadied herself, still rejecting his hand, "And I--" she said, "I have

earned nothing; I have been like a beggar. If you will not let me

sing, Herr Kapellmeister, then--"

He looked at her for a moment in a wounded way and his brow darkened:

"Well--?" he said.

"Then you must take away your servant and the Doctor, and--and your

kindness," said Kaya bravely, "and let me starve again."

"You are proud--eh? You remember that you are a Countess?" The

Kapellmeister laughed harshly.

"I am not a Countess any more," said Kaya, "but I am proud. Will you

let me sing?"

"When you are strong again and your voice has come back," he returned

dryly, "you can sing, and not before. As for paying your debts--

There is time enough for that. Now will you have the goodness to

return to the couch, Fräulein, or do you prefer to faint on the floor?"

Kaya glanced at the stern face above her, and her lip quivered: "You

are angry," she said, "I have hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"The Doctor will be in presently," continued Ritter coldly, "I daresay

he can restore you, if you faint, better than I. Perhaps you will obey

his orders as you reject mine." There was something brutal in the tone

of his voice that stung the girl like a lash. She turned and tottered

back to the couch, the Kapellmeister following, his arms half extended

as if to catch her if she fell; but she did not fall. He was still

frowning, and he seemed moody, distraught. "Shall I cover you?" he

said.

Kaya put out her hand timidly and touched his: "You have been so kind

to me," she whispered, "Every day you have come, and when I was

delirious I heard your voice; and Marta told me afterwards how you sat

by the bed and quieted me, and put me to sleep.--Don't be angry." All

of a sudden she stooped and put her lips to his sleeve.

He snatched his hand away roughly. "You have nothing to be grateful

for," he cried, "Pah! If a man picks up a bird with a broken wing and

nurses it to life again for the sake of its voice, is that cause for

gratitude? I do it for my own ends, child. Tschut!" He turned his

back on her and went over to the window. "If you want to know when you

can sing, ask the Doctor. If he says you may--"

"You are still angry," said Kaya, "Don't be angry. If you don't want

me to sing, I will lie here as you tell me and--try to get stronger."

She moved her head restlessly on the pillow, "Yes--I will!"

Ritter began to strum on the window-panes with his strong fingers: "The

Doctor is here," he said, "ask him. I don't want you breaking down and

spoiling the opera, that is all. The rest is nothing to me. Come in!"

There was a certain savageness in his tone, and he went on strumming

the motive on the panes. "Come in, Doctor."

The door opened and a young man came forward. He was short of stature,

and slight, with spectacles, and he stooped as if from much bending

over folios.

"My patient is up?" he said.

"Walking about the room!" interrupted the Kapellmeister curtly.

The Doctor sat down by the pallet and took the girl's wrist between his

fingers: "Why does it throb like this?" he said, "What is troubling

you?"

"I want to sing," persisted Kaya defiantly, "If I sit in the flies with

cushions behind me, and only a small, small part--couldn't I do it,

Doctor?"

The young man glanced at the Kapellmeister's rugged shoulders, and

shrugged his own: "Why should it hurt you?" he said, "You have a throat

like a tunnel, and a sounding board like the arch of a bridge. Your

voice should come tumbling through it like a stream, without effort.

Don't tire yourself and let the part be short; it may do you good."

Kaya's eyes began to glisten and sparkle: "It is only the bird's part!"

she cried, "and I am hidden in the flies, so no one can see me. Ah--I

am happy! I am well, Doctor--you have made me well!"

Presently the old woman brought in the soup and the Doctor rose: "Will

you come with me, Herr Kapellmeister?" he said, "We can smoke below in

the mill, while the Fräulein eats. I have still a few minutes."

Then the Kapellmeister left the window, and the two men went out

together.

"Marta!" cried the girl, "I can sing! Did you hear him say it? Give

me the soup quickly, while it is hot. I feel so strong--so well!"

She began taking the soup with one hand, and rubbing her cheek with the

other: "Now, isn't it red, Marta? Look--tell me! Nurse, while you

knit, tell me--did you see how angry he was, and how he went out

without a word? It is he himself who asked me to sing, so why should

he be angry now?"

The old woman clicked her knitting needles: "How do I know!" she said,

"He lives alone so much, and he is crusty and crabbed, they say. I

nursed him when he was a child, just as I nurse you now. He has a

temper--Jesus-Maria--the master! But his heart is of gold. His

wife--" she hesitated, "She was a singer, and she ran away and left

him. They say she ran away with the famous tenor, Brondi, who used to

sing Tristan. Since then the master has been soured-like!"

"That is strange," said Kaya dreamily, "to run away from some one you

love, when you can be with him night and day and never leave him!

Sometimes there is a curse, and you are torn by your love, whether to

go or stay. But if you love him enough, you go--and that is the best

love--to save him from the curse and suffer yourself alone. Perhaps

there was a curse."

"What are you saying?" cried the old woman, "When you were delirious,

it was always a curse you raved of, and stains on your hands. Mein

Gott! My blood ran cold just to hear you, and the Kapellmeister used

to come--"

Kaya turned white: "He came?" she said, "and he heard me? What did I

say, Marta, tell me! Tell me quickly!" She caught the old woman's

hands and wrung them between her own.

"Jesus-Maria! My knitting!--What you said, Fräulein? How do I

remember! Stuff and nonsense mostly! You were crazy with fever, and

your eyes used to shine so, it made me afraid. Then the Kapellmeister

would come and put you to sleep with his eyes.--Let go of my hands,

Fräulein, you are crushing the wool! Is it the fever come back?-- Oh

Je!"

"No," said Kaya, "No. You don't remember, Marta, whether I said any

name--any particular name? I didn't--did I?"

The nurse pondered for a moment, then she went on knitting: "I can't

remember," she said, "There was something you used to repeat, over and

over, a single word--it might have been a name. Won't you finish your

soup, Fräulein?"

"No," said Kaya, "I am tired. Will you go down, Marta, and ask the

Kapellmeister if he will come for a moment? I have something to ask

him."

The nurse rose: "They are smoking still," she said, "Yes, I smell

their cigars! If you have finished the soup, I will take the tray.

Jesus-Maria! You are flushed, Fräulein, and before you were so white!

You are sure it is not the fever come back?"

"Feel my hands," said Kaya, "Is that fever?" Then she shut her eyes.

She heard clumsy footsteps descending the stairs, and then a pause; and

after a moment or two steps coming back, but they were firm and quick,

and her heart kept time to them.

"What did I say in my ravings?" she cried to herself, "What did he

hear?"

"Nun?" said the Kapellmeister.

"I see now what hurt you," said Kaya, without raising her eyes, "You

thought I wanted to repay your kindness that can never be repaid; that

I was narrow and little, and was too proud to take from your hands what

you gave me. Forgive me."

The Kapellmeister crossed the room and sat down on the chair that the

nurse had left. He said nothing, and Kaya felt through her closed lids

that he was looking at her. "How shall I ask him?" she was saying to

herself, "How shall I put it into words when perhaps he understood

nothing after all?"

"If you think your voice is there," said the Kapellmeister, "fresh, and

not too strained for the high notes, why you can try it now. If it

goes all right, I daresay we could announce 'Siegfried' for the end of

the week."

"Will you give me the note?" said Kaya, "Is it F#, or G, I forget?"

"I will hum you the preceding bars where Siegfried first hears the

bird." Ritter began softly, half speaking, half singing the words in

his deep voice, taking the tenor notes falsetto. "Now--on the F#. The

bird must be heard far away in the branches, and you must move your

head so--as it flutters from leaf to leaf."

Kaya lifted herself from the pillows until she sat upright, supporting

herself with one hand. She began to sing, and then she stopped and

gave a cry. "It is there!" she said pitifully, "I feel it, but it

won't come!--I can't make it come! It is as if there were a gate in my

throat and it was barred!"

Tears sprang to her eyes. She opened her lips farther, but the sound

that came was strange and muffled; and she listened to it as if it were

some changeling given to her by a mischievous demon in exchange for her

own.

"That isn't my voice," she said, "You know as well as I--it never

sounded like that before! What is it? Tell me--"

The Kapellmeister laughed a little, mockingly: "I told you, child," he

said, "I warned you. Don't look like that! When you are stronger, it

will come with a burst, and be bigger and fresher than ever before.

Siegfried must wait for his bird, that is all."

Kaya clasped her throat with both hands as if to tear away the

obstruction: "I will sing--I will!" she cried, "It is there--I feel it!

Why won't it come out?" She gave a little moan, and threw herself back

on the pillows.

The Kapellmeister stooped suddenly; a look half fierce, half pitying

came in his face. He bent over her until his eyes were close to hers,

and he forced her to look at him:

"What is that word you say? When you were raving, you repeated it

again and again: 'Velasco--Velasco.' There is a violinist by that

name, a musician."

"A--musician!" stammered Kaya. She was staring at him with eyes

wide-open and frightened.

"His name is Velasco."

"Ve--las--co?"

The syllables came through her lips like a breath. "No--no!" she cried

suddenly, hoarsely, "I don't know him! I--I never saw him!"

She struggled with the lie bravely, turning white to the lips and

gazing. "It was some one I knew in Russia; some one I--I loved." She

sat up suddenly and wrung her hands together: "You don't believe me?"

"No," said the Kapellmeister, "You can't lie with eyes like that."

Kaya gazed at him desperately: "Don't tell him," she breathed,

"Ah--don't let him know--I implore you!"

Ritter gave a sharp exclamation and caught the little figure in his

arms. "She has fainted!" he cried, "Potztausend, what a brute I was!"

He laid her back on the pillow and stood staring down at her, breathing

heavily and clenching his hands.

"If I were Velasco!" he muttered, "Ah Gott--I am mad! Marta--Marta!"

CHAPTER XVIII

The day was very warm and sultry, and the visitors, who flocked to

Ehrestadt for the opera season, fanned themselves resignedly as they

sat in the shaded gardens, drinking beer and liqueurs, and gossiping

about the singers. The performance of 'Siegfried' was to be given that

night for the second time, and they discussed it together.

"The tenor--ah, what a voice he had, and what acting, but

Brünnhilde--bah!" They shook their heads. "The Schultz was growing

old, and her voice was thin in the upper register; it struck against

the roof of her mouth when she forced it, and sounded like tin. In the

love-scene, when Brünnhilde wakes from her sleep--Tschut! What a pity

a singer should ever grow old; and a still greater pity--a Jammerschade

that she should go on singing!"

"The Conductor was in despair, and so were the Directors; but the

contract was signed, it was too late. Ach bewahre, poor Ritter! He

was in such a pique," they said, "der Arme! The bird--that was poor

too, shrill and cheap! Die Neumann, who was she? Someone out of the

chorus perhaps. But the Mime was splendid."

And then they went back to the great Siegfried again and praised

him--"Perron! He was worth the rest of the performance together, he

and the orchestra; but when he had sung it with the Lehmann last year,

ach--that was a different matter. He had gone through the part like a

Siegfried inspired, and she--ah divine! There was no Brünnhilde to

compare with her now. What a night it had been! Do you recall it?"

they said--"Do you remember it?" And then the opera-goers closed their

eyes ecstatically.

"The season before was better, far better!--Tschut!" And then they

went on drinking their beer and liqueurs, and fanning themselves

resignedly. "If the heat did not break before night-fall there would

be a thunder-storm." The clouds were gathering far in the West, and

the insects were humming. The air was heavy with the scent of

blossoms; and the waitresses ran to and fro, dressed in Tyrolese

costume; the prettier they were the more they ran.

"One beer!--Three liqueurs!" "Sogleich, meine Herren!" The garden was

shady, and the glasses clinked; the tongues wagged.

"You are not afraid; you are comfortable, child, swung up there in the

tree-tops?"

Kaya's eyes shone like two stars down from the green. "My heart

beats," she said, "but it is only stage fright; it will pass. Is the

House full?"

"Packed to the roof!"

"I am only a bird," said Kaya softly, "They won't think of me. It is

Siegfried they have come to hear, and Brünnhilde. How glorious to be a

Brünnhilde!"

The Kapellmeister took out his watch: "I must go," he said, "Good-bye,

little one; remember what I told you, and let your voice come out

without effort; not too loud, or too soft! When your part is over, one

of the stage-hands will let you down again."

Kaya nodded, swinging herself childishly. "It is sweet to be a bird,"

she said, "I think I shall stay here always, and Siegfried will never

find me."

"No--he shall never find you!" said the Kapellmeister suddenly and

sharply. Their eyes met for a moment. "Are you all right?" he

repeated, "You are pale."

Kaya shrank back into the leaves that were painted, and they trembled

slightly as if a breeze had passed; and the great drop-curtain blew

out, bulging.

"Keep the windows shut," called the voice of the stage manager,

"Quick--before the curtain goes up. A storm is coming, and the

draughts--oh Je!" He went hurrying past.

Ritter glanced at his watch again mechanically; then he crossed the

stage to the left, and hurried down a small, winding stair-case to the

pit, where the orchestra waited. A sharp tap of the baton--a glance

over his men--then the second Act began.

Kaya sat very still under the leaves with the painted branches about

her. She was perched on a swing, high aloft in the flies; and when she

looked up, she saw nothing but ropes, and machinery, and darkness; and

when she looked down, there was Mime below her, crouched by a stone;

the sun was rising, the shadows were breaking, and Siegfried lay

stretched at the foot of the Linden. He had long, light hair and fur

about his shoulders, and he was big and splendid to look at in his

youth and his wrath. He was threatening Mime, and the dwarf was

muttering and cursing. Beyond was the pit with the orchestra, the

footlights, the House.

Kaya listened, and her thoughts went back to St. Petersburg and the

class of Helmanoff. She was singing to him, and when she had finished,

he had taken her hands. "If you were not a Countess," he said, "you

could be a Lehmann in time, another Lehmann." Kaya leaned her curls

against the rope of the swing dreamily. "How long ago that seems," she

said to herself, "before--before I--"

Then she thought of the weeks since her illness, and how her voice had

come back suddenly, over night as it were, only bigger and fuller; and

how she had worked and studied, day after day, rehearsing with Ritter.

Her brow clouded a little as she remembered. He had been severe, the

Kapellmeister, caustic, even irritable. How hard he was to satisfy!

When she sang her best, he shrugged his shoulders; when she sang badly,

he was furious. Occasionally he was kind as to-day, but not

often. . . . Siegfried was alone now, carving his reed, trying to

mimic the song of the wood birds. . . . The Kapellmeister had said

nothing of Lehmann; perhaps she had lost her voice after all. Her

thoughts rambled on as she waited for her cue. . . .

Siegfried's horn was to his lips and he was blowing it; a splendid

figure, eager, expectant. . . . Kaya stretched her throat like a bird:

"If it should be barred," she said to herself, "as it was before, and

the orchestra began with the theme, and I couldn't sing!" She trembled

a little.

So the first scene passed; and the second.

The Dragon was on the stage now, and Siegfried was fighting him. The

hot breath poured from the great, red nostrils; the sword flashed. The

battle grew fiercer. . . . Kaya leaned over, stooping in the swing,

and gazing. "Siegfried has wounded him," she whispered,--"in a moment

the sword will have reached his heart. . . . Ah, now--it has struck

him--he is dying! As soon as he is dead! As soon as he is--dead."

The orchestra was playing passionately, and she knew every note; the

bird motive came nearer and nearer. Already her prototype was being

prepared in the flies, and the wires made ready. She clung to the

rope, swinging. . . . Ah, how good the Kapellmeister had been to her;

how good! It was his very interest in her that had made him severe,

she knew that. She must sing her best, and not wound him by failure.

The motive came nearer.

Siegfried was standing just below her now. She took a deep breath and

her lips parted. He was peering up at her, searching through the

leaves, and the bird on its wire fluttered across the stage. . . . She

was singing. The notes, high and pure, poured out of her throat. The

bird fluttered past.

[Illustration: Fragment of "Siegfried"]

She swayed, with her head leaning back against the ropes, and sang--and

sang. Her throat was like a tunnel and her voice was like a stream

running through it, clear and glorious. Siegfried looked up and

started. The orchestra played on.

"Has the Fräulein gone home?"

"No," said Marta, yawning, "She is in one of the dressing-rooms. I

begged her to come, but she wouldn't."

The Kapellmeister laid his hand on her shoulder carelessly: "If you are

sleepy," he said, "go back to the mill; I will bring her myself

presently. The House is dark now, and the people are going." He gave

a curt nod, dismissing the old woman, and strode on through the wings.

One person after another stopped him: "Ha, Kapellmeister, where did

that nightingale hail from?"

"I snared it for you, Siegfried; were you satisfied?"