"Perhaps you will explain, Dr. Wharton, why you are willing to withhold
from your friends that which they would give much to know," she asked.
"Why should I wish to tell?" I asked her in return. "I have no interest
in Bharbazonian politics. Neither have I any friends in this country who
would be benefited by my information. But I tell you frankly that, if
there were any way by which I could prevent you from continuing this
dreadful masquerade, I would gladly make use of it."
My answer staggered her. But I wished her to understand me thoroughly.
"Why?" she gasped.
"Because I pity you."
It was a tense moment for me. If I had read this girl aright she was a
womanly woman and her heart had often rebelled against her lot. If I
was to convince her of my sincerity, I must show her that I understood;
that I knew how much she detested playing the part of a man; that I
sympathized with her. Knowing that I felt this interest in her, she
must appreciate that I would be the last man in the world to make the
performance harder for her to bear.
She looked at me in wonder, while her assurance in herself vanished.
Her knees became weak and she suddenly sat down. But it seemed as if
fate were against me. Just when I needed her undivided attention most,
there came a knock upon the door that startled us both. Solonika
recovered her composure instantly, remembering the business in hand.
"Who's there?" she called, watching me for any move to escape. But I
made no sign.
"Your Highness rang,"--it was the voice of Therese, the maid.
"Tell my father to come here instantly," ordered the Princess. She was
determined to carry out her original plan of submitting everything to
her father. Therese ran upon her errand, for there was that in
Solonika's voice which lent the maid the wings of fear. The Duke would
soon be here; there was not much time left me.
"Your friends will miss you," smiled the Princess.
"Yes," I returned, although I knew that I was wasting time on the wrong
track, "and they know that I came here. They will search for me in the
right place."
"But with little success," she replied; "Dhalmatia knows how to keep its
secrets."
"Nicholas will not rest until he has found me," I said.
"But David will never find his Jonathan. They left you in the roadway.
No one saw you enter the castle and no one will see you leave. You
mayhap were captured by highwaymen. Bharbazonia is full of them."
"You forget Dajerak. He let me in."
"He is incorruptible. He will say he never saw you."
"But my friends will not rest until they have found me."
"We will invite them to search the castle if they become insistent, but
they will not find you."
"This is idle talk," I said, "beside the purpose. I knew when I placed
myself in your power that I ran this risk. If it be necessary to pay
such a price, I will pay it. But one of these days I will convince you
that I mean it when I say that your secret is safe with me."
"You said a while back you pitied me," she suggested, and my heart
jumped that she had not forgotten. "Perhaps you will tell me why."
The Duke would be here any moment. I had come to my last stand.
"You have asked for an explanation. I will give it to you," I said. "I
pity you because you do not enter into this masquerade of your own free
will, nor because you like it, but rather because you love your father
and desire to further his ambition. So far, am I not right?"
"I love my father," she replied, soberly, "he is all I have in the
world."
"And to that affection you have sacrificed everything in life that makes
life worth the living. Where are the girl friends who should be yours?
You dare not bring them here for fear of discovery. The young nobles of
this country cannot come to see you. Here you live in loneliness, you
who were made for better things. You had a taste of happiness when you
were away at the English schools, and you know what you are sacrificing.
And for what? To gratify an old man's whim."
"No, no," she cried, as if she would not hear.
"Have you stopped to look at the future? To me that will be worse than
the past. The time will come when you may no longer be a woman but must
ever be a man. Once you have taken up the sceptre the door is shut
behind you. You can never marry; you can never have a lover and a
husband; you can never have children. All this to gratify an evil
ambition."
A look of deep agony drove the light of battle from the poor girl's
eyes. She followed each word until her pent-up feelings could no longer
be restrained.
"Stop, stop! for God's sake!" she cried, beating upon her breast with
her clenched fists. "Don't, don't talk so. I cannot bear it. Haven't
I known all this? Oh, haven't I seen it often in the night? Sleep flees
from me and these thoughts come and will not let me rest. The years
that are past have been unhappy enough, but the years to come will be
worse. To be always watchful lest I betray myself! to go on
acting--acting--ever acting, never able to be just myself--"
"Never to love as other women love," I said, gently.
"Oh, you don't know," she cried, vehemently, "you don't know all the
agony I have suffered. I have seen peasant women in the streets of
Nischon suckling their dirty babes; I have seen the love in their eyes
for the stalwart men at their sides, and I have hated them. Hated them,
do you hear? I could have killed them for daring to be happy while I am
so miserable--I, a princess of Bharbazonia. They point me out to their
little ones and hold them up to see the great lady riding by--they envy
me--me!--me! Oh, God, how little they know that I would give everything
to change places with the humblest of them."
Sob upon sob seemed wrung from her soul by the grief that was deeper
than I ever suspected. She was totally unconscious of my presence when
I placed my hand upon her head in a gentle caress. She rested against me
with a sigh.
"I have thought about it so much of late. I think my heart is breaking.
I try to tell father, but he cannot understand. But you can, you do
understand."
"Yes," I said, "I do understand. And I know that the worst is still
before you."
"Oh, no, nothing can be worse," she cried, as if she would ward off a
blow.
"Your father is old. He must some day leave you."
"Alone! I shall be alone?" she cried. "I cannot go on alone. I cannot
do it, I tell you! When he is gone I shall die also. I shall be old
then, and I shall welcome death when he tardily comes."
It was awful to hear a young woman with all of life before her talking
like this. I permitted her to weep until her tears ceased to flow of
their own accord. When she became quieter she looked up in my face, and
wonder was written on her countenance.
"You understand!" was all she said, but there was something like awe in
her voice.
"It was because I understood that I would do all in my power to prevent
you sacrificing yourself. It was because I understood that I would not
escape, when I could, to give you additional cause for worry. It was
because I understood that I will keep your secret forever. Now, do you
understand at last?"
"But, how do you know all these things? You have read my very soul and
made me say that which I never dreamed I should say to any one."
"It is because--I am your friend," I said.
In a voice full of excitement the Red Fox, pounding upon the outer door,
demanded admittance. Like the knocking on the door in the play of
Macbeth, the interruption brought us back to a realization of the things
of the world without. We sprang to our feet and faced each other.
"Do you believe me, Solonika?" I whispered.
Noiselessly she pushed the curtains aside at the head of the couch upon
which her large French hat and red parasol were lying. Behind the
curtains a door stood open, revealing a pair of stone steps leading down
into the darkness.
"Go, go!" she whispered in turn. I knew how much she was risking in
thus giving me my freedom.
"Good-bye, Solonika," I said, pausing upon the top step.
She held out her hand and I pressed it reverently against my lips.
"Good-bye, my--friend," she said.
The curtain fell, shutting off the light, but I did not go down the
steps. I waited behind the curtain and heard her open the door to the
Red Fox.
"What is the matter?" he cried, rushing into the room. "Therese said
something had happened to you."
"Nothing is wrong, father," said she. "I needed you because--I am
afraid to be left alone."
"Now, daughter, control yourself. You will be in a nervous condition
during the coronation if you permit yourself to go to pieces thus. Son
of my soul, you will soon reign as King in Bharbazonia, then you will
forget these womanly weaknesses!"
"Yes, I shall be King and forget my womanhood," she replied, listlessly.
I had heard enough and crept away. The stone steps were very dark and,
for fear of making a noise, I removed my shoes. The Duke must not know.
Presently, by feeling my way along the wall at the side, I came
noiselessly to the end of the steps and found that I was in a narrow
underground passage. Judging from the interminable number of steps, I
was deep under the castle foundations. The tunnel led away from the
castle, if I was any judge of direction.
I followed it slowly, still feeling my way along the wall and watching
for pitfalls under my feet. Subterranean passages I knew were always
full of dangers. I might even now be in the dungeon with which Solonika
threatened me, where my friend would never be able to find me. Not that
I doubted her, but she might have sent me here to protect me from her
father, and her father from me.
The passage kept continually dipping downward as if it were going far
under the earth, but it also led me further and further from the castle.
Of that I was sure. Its sides were beginning to drip with water, and I
put on my shoes after stepping into a puddle. My progress was slow and,
although I listened, I heard no sound from the castle. At last my
outstretched hand came in contact with a wooden door. Softly I felt for
the knob and cautiously turned it. What was I to find at the end of the
passage? Was sudden death lurking there? The door was unlocked and
yielded to the pressure of my hand. I opened it slowly outward and was
greeted with a flood of light.
A tall Japanese screen was the first object that met my view. Beside it
was a picture of Solonika standing on the tips of her dainty toes in the
midst of a Bharbazonian dance. Close to it was another picture of
Solonika in the costume of the Prince. There was her easy chair close to
the flowers by the windows--I was standing in the summer-house--free!
Solonika was trusting me!
*CHAPTER XII*
*THE RENUNCIATION*
Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour,
I've seen my fondest hopes decay;
I never loved a tree or flower,
But 'twas the first to fade away!
--_Moore: Lalla Rookh_.
When I returned to Castle Framkor that evening and joined Nicholas and
the General my difficulties began. No longer was I the care-free youth
who had come to Bharbazonia in search of recreation. I shared another's
secret now and it weighed heavily upon me. How it was to bear me down,
and make my life unhappy while I remained in this cursed country, I was
soon to learn.
The General was delivering a lecture to Nick on the heedless folly of
youth, referring to his "unseemly conduct" in the gardens of the palace
of the King. Nick refused to take him seriously and the old man, who
felt that the subject was full of grave possibilities, was very angry.
"What is Teskla to you," he said, "that you should kiss her before all
the world? I could forgive you, my son, if you expressed any affection
for the girl who truly loves you. But you are simply playing with her."
"What makes you think the Princess cares for me?" asked Nick.
"Good heavens, man! can't you see it? Does a woman lie for a man unless
she loves him? Yes, sir, lie is the word. Don't you contradict me,
sir; I will not stand it."
"Well, what if she did tell a little fib?" returned Nick. "She saved
herself from her father's wrath. There is no occasion for so much heat,
Godfather. Can't a fellow kiss a pretty girl in Bharbazonia without all
this fuss?"
"But, the consequences! Have you figured them out?" said the General.
"The King believes that he saw Prince Raoul embrace the Princess in
public, before witnesses. And he was pleased. Hark you, pleased!"
"He certainly was. A blind man could have noticed it."
"A cloud no bigger than a man's hand; but the storm will break. You
know the King's dearest wish is to see his daughter married to Prince
Raoul. He is up to something. That scene in the garden meant more to
him than appears on the surface. He has figured out some way to effect
his purpose and, when the denouement comes, and the Prince denies he was
in the garden, where will you be, facing the royal wrath?"
"I hope it will not come to that," said Nick, gravely. He knew the
General well enough to feel that the old man did not jump at
conclusions, and that he was almost always right in his judgment. My
entrance at that moment was grateful to Nick for it broke up the
lecture.
"I am glad to see you back, Dale," said Nick, putting his arm around my
neck in the old affectionate manner. Then came the shock of the feeling
that something had happened to me. I resented Nick's friendliness!
"How about the boar hunt?" he continued, not appearing to notice how I
avoided his arm and drew away from him. "When do we start?"
His question brought back the memory of my original purpose in visiting
the castle. Was it only two hours ago that I had left them in the
automobile to walk to the summer-house? So much to change my life had
happened in such a short time that I could scarcely believe it possible.
It seemed as if a month had elapsed. I had forgotten all about the boar
hunt.
"I do not know," I replied, truthfully enough. "I saw the Princess but
did not see the Prince."
The boar hunt did not materialize for many days and in the interim all
three of us found plenty to occupy our attention. The General and Nick
frequently left me alone now, when they went to meetings at the Turk's
Head Inn and to Nischon. Although they often invited me to accompany
them I always refused. Most of my time was spent in the summer-house
with Solonika.
How I worried when she did not appear for the next two days! I haunted
the vicinity of the little den and even went as far as the clearing in
the hope that she would again see me and send me word by her maid. I
dared not go to the castle until I knew how it stood with the Red Fox.
If she had reconsidered her action and told him, he might not view my
escape in the same light as she did, and in that case I was safer out of
his hands. But, on the third day, I found her sitting in her easy chair
looking pale and ill. She seemed more than pleased to see me.
"I shall have to ask you to prescribe for me, Dr. Wharton," she smiled.
"I never went to pieces like this before. I have been in bed for two
days and I cry a great deal. What is wrong with me?"
"I cannot prescribe for Your Highness," I replied, "because you will not
take my medicine."
"You haven't given me any yet."
"Then here is my prescription. It will make you whole again; of that I
am positive. Go this very hour to your father and tell him that you
cannot continue this deception. Tell him that it is killing you and ask
him, for the sake of the love he bears you, to permit you to go away out
of this country at least for a year."
"You are a good physician,"--she laughed a little and shook her head;
"but I cannot take your medicine. If, after all these years, I refused
to go on, what would my father do? How the nobles would ridicule him!
He would die of grief and shame. No, no, there is no escape; I must go
on--forever!"
The light and the bright sunshine soon brought her spirits back, and she
became the old happy Solonika. That morning she was like an April day,
alternating between showers and sunshine with astonishing rapidity.
"Do not imagine, sir," she said, "that there is nothing but woe in the
situation. Let us talk of something more pleasant. Do you recall the
time when you were permitted to see both the Prince and the Princess in
the castle?"
"Yes," I said, "and I have often wondered since how you deceived me so
cleverly."
"We all had a good laugh after you were gone. You see there are
compensations. Shall I tell you how we did it?"
"If you will."
"It began when you hurt me shaking my hand. I knew that you were
studying me and that you were suspicious. Your friend Nicholas did all
the talking and you listened and watched. I had nothing to fear from
him, but I knew I had from you. That evening I talked it over with
father. He was positive that Palmora had poisoned your mind against us
and that it was time we prepared an antidote. We waited for your
expected visit, but you did not come. I was watching you when you
appeared at the top of the hill and turned back, and I understood that
your pride would not permit you to knock again at our door. I sent
Therese and you fell into the trap."
"'Will you come into my parlour said the Spider to the Fly,'" I said.
"Exactly. Dajerak brought you to the Prince's room where father and I
were pretending to play cards. Oh, it was hard not to keep from
laughing at you. You looked at the Prince so suspiciously, and how
gently you hinted that you would like to see the Princess! Father
enjoyed it immensely. It had been a long while since we had done
anything of the kind. Not since King Gregory called to see the twins."
Her laughter was not easy to bear.
"Then Dajerak, the slow old Dajerak, took you all around the inner court
in order to give me time to dress. I only had to put on this long
hair--its my own anyhow--slip a loose dressing gown over my boy's
clothes and I was ready for you. My, what a long time you were in
coming. I was afraid you would shake hands with me again. That's why I
did not lay down my sewing. You did not notice that my blue slippers
and my black stockings--I had no time to change them--were not
altogether in keeping, did you?"
"I did not notice."
"I was afraid you would."
"The tunnel to the summer-house was also part of the game?" I asked.
"Yes, that was to enable me to entertain visitors there and appear
before them afterward in the guise of the Prince in the castle. You
must not think that we allayed the suspicions of Bharbazonia without a
struggle. It was by means of the underground passage that we won over
the Grand Duke of Marbosa. Palmora poisoned his mind, too, and he paid
us a visit. He saw me in the summer-house and asked for the Prince,
then he rode off to the castle. I had to run with all my might to get
there in time. You should have seen his face when he met the Prince.
You see there is lots of fun and excitement in the life. I should die
of _ennui_ without it."
"I suppose it is full of innocent fun now, Solonika," I said, "but after
you are king it will be serious. Did you ever think of the sacrilege
your coronation in the Cathedral will entail?"
"I have thought of it," she replied, gravely.
"If you are found out now, people will laugh, after the first blush of
excitement is over; but if you are found out then--"
"They will put me to death," she said, simply.
There was something sublime about her courage. Everything that I could
suggest as a future possibility she had thought out before me. Nothing
was left unconsidered. As I talked with her day after day, always upon
the same fascinating subject, my respect for her loyalty to her father
increased. So absorbing was her love for him that she was ready, aye,
willing to lay down her life to further his ambitions.
She knew full well the meaning of the vengeance of the Church. I could
not frighten her with the story of the fate of the Witch of Utrepect.
While the fire was still alight around the body of that unfortunate
woman, Solonika, as if impelled by a terrible fascination, had ridden
over to the village on her black horse and watched the dying embers
complete their fiendish work.
She could think; she could feel. And how dreadful must have been her
thoughts if she permitted herself to believe that in case of discovery
her fate might be similar. If the Church, backed by the peasantry,
would punish blasphemy in such mediaeval fashion, what would they not do
to one who defiled the altar?
As frequently as we talked of these things, we always arrived at the
same conclusion; but we always returned to the discussion, when we were
alone. When Nick came along, which he did as often as he could, we hid
our feelings, and Solonika shone at her best. I could see with some
dismay that she enjoyed his society. He was bright, cheerful, smiling,
while I was inclined to be gloomy.
"Something is the matter with Dale," said Nick to her one afternoon.
"He is preoccupied and moody. Every night he goes to bed early, leaving
the General and me to our arguments. What do you suppose is wrong with
him?"
"You should know better than I," she replied, banteringly; "perhaps he
is pining for the girl he left behind him."
"How about it, Dale?" said Nick.
But on these occasions I found no ready answer. I was not as adept in
the art of intrigue as the Princess. I could only leave the
summer-house abruptly, with Nick watching my strange action in
open-mouthed astonishment. Rebel against it as I would, I could see the
breach widen between Nick and me day by day. We had never had a
misunderstanding in our lives before.
As if the secret I was hiding were not enough for any man to bear in
silence, Solonika insisted upon flirting outrageously with Nick, always
in my presence. But I felt that she relied upon me for the true
companionship which had always been denied her. Once or twice she
unconsciously called me by my first name, and she clung to my arm in a
tantalizing way at parting. Why she acted with Nicholas as she did I
could not understand. But what man ever did fully fathom the heart of a
woman? Never once did she reprove me when I called her Solonika. She
seemed to like it. So, one day I ventured to bare my inmost feelings to
her. It was at the close of one of our most intimate talks, when I was
urging again the necessity of throwing up the whole dangerous business.
"Solonika, why will you not go away from here and leave all your worries
behind?" I said.
"Where shall I go?" she returned.
"Anywhere. Only go; surely you have friends in England where you went
to school."
"I have no friends anywhere but here."
"Don't say that. You have me. I am your friend."
"Surely you do not urge that I fly with you?"
My feeling got the better of me. I determined to make an attempt to
save her, even against herself. There was nothing to bind her to her
country except the great love she bore her father. It was worth the
try.
"Solonika, we must come to an understanding. You surely have guessed how
I feel toward you. I do not want to give offence; neither do I care to
appear absurd in your eyes. You are a Princess. You 'sit upon a joyless
height, too high for hope; too great for happiness.' I am an American
lacking title and position. But what I have is yours to command. If a
love that shall live forever can do aught to make your life happier, and
lead you away to a humble home full of peace and happiness, it stands
ready at your bidding."
She understood as I knew she would. I could feel it in the light hand
that rested on my arm; in the sad, gentle look within the depth of her
brown eyes. She could not bear to face me and turned away, apparently
to watch the setting sun of the dying December day as it sank amid the
thousand colours of a glorious finality.
Even as I watched her I knew there was no hope and that she was forever
removed from me. Her feet were set in the pathway she was destined to
tread before she was born. She must go her way and I mine until the
end. She would continue acting the boy before the world. She would be
crowned and reign as King in Bharbazonia. In spite of all I could do
she would live her unsexed life, guarding her secret carefully until
death released her. I was powerless to save her even from herself. The
love she had for her father was greater than any affection she might
have even for me.
"We will not talk of it any more, my--friend," she said. And thus did
she sacrifice me also upon the altar of her devotion.
It was Nick who brought about the boar hunt which was fraught with such
important events, and which had not been spoken of since the day I
stumbled upon the skeleton in Dhalmatia's closet.
"What has become of the Prince, Your Highness?" he asked Solonika when
one day we were taking our leave together.
"He does not look with favour upon you two young men," she replied.
"You have not accepted his invitation to hunt with him."
"That was Dale's fault," Nick replied; "he forgot all about it. Tell
the Prince we will be glad to hunt with him any time."
"He will be delighted," said she. "I do not believe he has left the
house for ten days. After the coronation he will be very much occupied.
The air in the woods will do him good."
"Four days more and he will be King. Tell him he had better make the
most of his freedom," Nick said.
"Very well," said she, "be ready in the morning and he will come over to
Framkor for you."
Thus easily did Solonika plan to appear in the Prince's clothes and
forget her womanhood.
*CHAPTER XIII*
*THE RIVALS*
He is a fool who thinks by force or skill,
To turn the current of a woman's will.
--_Tuke: Five Hours_.
The winding of the hunting horn and the barking of dogs upon Castle
Framkor's lawns the next morning told me that Solonika had kept her
word. We were at breakfast. Looking through the long low windows of the
dining room, I saw the Prince, in all the gaiety of a red hunting
costume and high-top, varnished boots, dismount among his pack.
What argument Solonika had used with her father to procure his
permission to go abroad in the character of the Prince four days before
the coronation, I could not imagine. I had told her of the coming and
going of the black-cloaked men; the Red Fox knew that some plot was in
the wind and shrewdly suspected that it was directed against the Prince.
For that reason Solonika had left off going abroad as the Prince for the
past ten days. It was easy for her to pass the time with me in the
summer-house. Once, while riding out in my company and Nick's, she met
the cloaked men. They recognized Solonika and let us pass with scarcely
a glance in our direction.
All this, I say, the Red Fox knew; but I suppose he found it impossible
to control the girl. He indeed is "a fool who thinks by force or skill
to turn the current of a woman's will." When Solonika made up her mind
to do a thing she generally did it. But the Duke had recorded his
protest in the number of men he sent with her. Twenty-five well-mounted
retainers from the Red Fox's retinue surrounded the Prince, holding the
dogs in leashes of four, and twenty-five more, I soon learned, had
preceded us to the hunting grounds.
Solonika turned her horse over to one of her men and entered the
breakfast room. Both Nick and the General stood upon their feet to
their Prince as he entered. They urged the Prince to join them at
table, but the Prince insisted that he had already partaken of food and
could eat nothing. He, however, took the chair which the General
courteously drew up for him and accepted a cup of coffee.
I was glad that Solonika did not look in my direction for my agitation
would have made it hard for her. It was the first time I was present
when she was under the fire of the General's sharp eyes, and I trembled
for her. I felt myself grow hot and cold by turns, overcome by the fear
that she would betray herself. Although she was attired in the Prince's
hunting raiment, how different she looked to me now. It seemed
impossible that the astute General could not tell that Solonika and not
the Prince sat before him.
But the daring girl had the confidence born of years of success. As I
became accustomed to the novelty of the situation, I began to take
pleasure in watching her superb acting. She carried it off with so much
relish and in such a high-handed manner. Never once did she forget the
quaint little burr in her English speech. Knowing how perfectly she
could speak it, I marvelled she did not sometimes forget. But I also
realized why she elected to make the Prince talk brokenly; it gave the
Prince a difference in character which disarmed suspicion and kept the
individuality of Solonika and the Prince apart, not only in the minds of
her hearers, but also in her own mind; for the difference in dialect
acted as a constant reminder that she was no longer a woman but a man.
"I am deeply sensible of the honour which you have bestowed upon Castle
Framkor by your presence to-day," said the General, humbly. "Bharbazonia
has seen but little of her future king."
"I have been taking my ease against the great day not far distant,"
replied the Prince. "It will be a long time before I may again enjoy
the pleasure of a hunt."
"I wish to apologize, Your Highness, for my seeming discourtesy in not
accepting your invitation two weeks ago," said Nick. "The truth of the
matter is that I did accept with pleasure, but my messenger failed to
mention the matter when he arrived at your castle. He is not usually
forgetful, so I imagine he was well entertained."
Nick's remark brought back the remembrance of the day when I left the
automobile and discovered the secret of Dhalmatia. The Prince also
remembered the occasion but did not betray the slightest emotion.
"You refer to Dr. Wharton as your messenger," said the Prince. "I have
not seen him except on the single occasion when he visited my father and
me. But I understand that he and my sister Solonika have become great
friends."
"Ah, ha," laughed Nick, "and so the cat is out of the bag. He and I are
now rivals."
The General permitted his fork to fall heavily upon his plate as he
stared at Nick, remembering that young man's flirtation with Princess
Teskla, and something akin to a groan escaped him. But Nick only
laughed.
"I know nothing of any cat," said the Prince, gravely, with well acted
simplicity.
"It is an idiom," explained the General, "which means that you have
betrayed your sister's secret."
I straightened up in my chair at the old man's solemn words. Had he
purposely touched upon the thing which was making me miserable, or did
he do it unconsciously? The Prince's nerve was of iron. He sipped his
coffee unmoved, but his eyes never wavered from the General's face as he
asked innocently:
"What secret, General Palmora?"
"The secret that Dale, here, is much interested in Solonika."
"Is he?" he asked, sweeping me with his half closed eyes. I was forced
to drop mine while I felt the colour rise to my cheeks.
"I do not know," said the General. "Nicholas has just said so."
"A man is beginning to fall in love when he shows signs of
forgetfulness," said Nick. "He is most forgetful of late."
"I warn you, Dale," he continued turning to me, "that a woman will come
between us yet. If I am not mistaken the Princess Solonika will be that
woman."
"The Princess can never be anything to me," I replied.
"She is the brightest woman I have ever met," said Nick to the Prince.
"Why don't you travel, Your Highness, and acquire her gift of languages.
Your English, for example, is not as good as hers."
"No?" smiled the Prince through his nose, like a Frenchman's "_Non_."
"Wherein is my English not perfect?"
"It is good enough for Bharbazonia, Your Highness," said the General,
pushing back his chair. "After you become king you will never speak such
a useless language. Your French is all you need at court and you speak
that perfectly."
"Thank you, General Palmora," said he. Then, turning again to Nicholas,
he added: "Are you serious in saying you admire Solonika? Pray, what do
you find to admire in her? To me she seems like an ordinary girl."
Oh, Solonika, deliberately fishing for a compliment, the eternal
feminine being ever present! I could scarcely believe my ears; but this
was my first day under fire and I lacked her confidence.
"Ordinary girl?" echoed Nick. "She is in the first place
extraordinarily handsome. I have travelled all over the world, and seen
all kinds of women; some were beautiful and some were clever, but few
were both handsome and bright, as she is. I mean to become better
acquainted with her when you are king."
"But my sister thinks of going away after I am crowned," he said.
"Going away?" Nick returned. "Very good; the world is small; I can
readily find her. I trust that you will speak well of me to her."
"But you haven't told me wherein lies her wonderful charm which seems to
have captivated both you and Dale--Wharton, I think you said your
friend's name was?"
"How about it, Dale?" cried Nick, "has she bound you to her chariot
wheels, too?"
"To me she is the most wonderful woman in the world," I made answer,
looking straight into her eyes. Solonika flushed a little and gave me a
quick sign of _camaraderie_ that made me very happy.
"A woman has come between David and Jonathan," said Nick.
"The woman has come," I replied, and for the first time I realized as I
gazed in his face that Nick was not joking. I, who knew him, could read
there plainly the intensity of his feeling, and I suppose he could read
my heart as well. The spirit of contest was lit in our eyes. We looked
at each other like two young animals meeting face to face in the
spring-time. Yet there was a note of regret in Nick's voice when he
slowly repeated:
"The woman has come."
"But, wherein is her charm? You have not told me," reiterated the
Prince.
"Your Highness has never been in love, it is plain to see," said Nick,
"else you would not ask such a question. Her particular charm is that
she is she. A man goes through the world meeting many women. Although
he may not know it, he carries an ideal within his heart. How his ideal
is formed, who can tell? But it is there, nevertheless. Unconsciously,
he measures all women by this ideal; one after another falls before it,
until as time goes by he loses hope of ever finding her. But one day he
meets the woman. He may not recognize her immediately, but after the
meeting his thoughts follow her. They meet again and after her
departure comes loneliness which is a part of him except when she is
near. One cannot put it into words; it lies below, too deep for
utterance. Why she is she I cannot tell. I only know the Princess
Solonika affects me so."
"I cannot sit here and listen to his fool talk any longer," exclaimed
the General, rising from the table in some heat. "If you boys are going
to stir up the game it is time you were about it. Princess Teskla would
be delighted to hear your definition of love, Nick."
"Life's fires burn low in the aged," smiled Nick, looking at me.
"So?" said the Prince, whom nothing escaped, "why should Teskla be
interested?"
"We have reason to believe that the King's daughter is suffering from
loneliness, such as young Nicholas describes," said the General grimly.
"Why should she?" said the Prince. "She is surrounded by the court at
Nischon. If any one is lonely I should think it would be my sister.
She has often complained of living in the country, seeing no one. How
can one be lonely in the city? Teskla has all the gentlemen of the
world's consulates to help her while away the time; she may travel at
will; while my sister must always be by my father's side; she may not
travel; she may not see any one."
The Prince either purposely refused, or actually failed, to see the
import of the General's words and the General was too loyal to make them
clearer. So, drifting from one subject to another, we followed the old
man to the castle door where the hunters and their dogs were idling away
their time.
While waiting for their young master, the large army of hunters had been
amusing themselves at their own discretion. They were dark-eyed,
handsome Bharbazonians, the finest horsemen in the world, riding with
all the ease and abandon of their Cossack brethren. For the saying in
Bharbazonia is, "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Cossack; scratch
a Cossack and you will find a Bharbazonian." They were all dressed
alike in the favourite green cloth of the country, and all carried
clusters of long-handled spears or pikes, by which the wild boar was to
be killed as he broke cover and charged the horse and rider.
The Prince, unaided, mounted the black which had thrown him at sight of
our automobile. He waited for Nick and me to mount the animals which
the groom had saddled while we breakfasted. Our horses were apart from
the rest and Nick and I were out of ear-shot of the Prince when we met.
"What chance have you with Solonika?" he said, in a low voice. "She is
a Princess and you are only an American."
"None whatever, Nick," I said. "You are right; Princesses of reigning
houses do not wed Americans."
"But you have not given up hope?"
"I never had any."
"Dale, old chum," said Nick, "you have beaten me at chess; I have beaten
you at billiards. It's a draw with the gloves. But, after every defeat
or victory, we have always shaken hands. It was always a fair game. I
know you, Dale. You never give up without a struggle. Therefore there
will be a battle. We are older now and we strike harder. But, here's my
hand on it--that no matter which way this may end it will make no
difference between us. As far as I am concerned a woman can never come
between David and Jonathan."
"As far as I am concerned she never can either, Nick," I said.
The grip of friendship we exchanged was sincere. Whatever of
disappointment the future has in store for me, Nick's place in my heart
would always remain as fixed as Polaris. And I know that nothing could
alter his feeling for me.
It was plain that his position in his own country was such as would
enable him some day to aspire to the hand of a Princess, a privilege
denied to me, a plain American. By the accident of birth, then, he had
an advantage over me; but in one thing I had the advantage over him.
When we mounted to follow the pack, he rode after the Prince while I
rode after the Princess.
*CHAPTER XIV*
*THE ABDUCTION*
He thought at heart, like courtly Chesterfield
Who, after a long chase o'er hills, dales, bushes,
And what not, though he rode beyond all price,
Asks next day, "if men ever hunted twice?"
--_Byron: Don Juan_.
Hunting foxes with a pack of hounds is an English and American pastime;
hunting wolves with borzoi dogs is a Russian amusement; hunting the
boar, the national entertainment of Bharbazonia. The alacrity with which
the men started, when we were at last in the saddle, revealed their
impatience at the delay.
"Keep an eye on the Prince, Nick," called the General from the castle
door. "Remember Marbosa's oath. Only three days are left."
"All right, Godfather," Nick replied. But he did not offer any
explanation to me as to what the Duke proposed to do, and deftly changed
the subject. All he would say was that the General was talking politics
and that one is wise who does not bother his head about what does not
concern him.
Nevertheless, I secretly concluded that it would be just as well for me
to keep as near the Prince as possible during the day. Some political
plot was coming to a head of which I knew nothing. What this danger was
that seemed to threaten I could not imagine, but I connected it with the
horsemen who rode in the early hours of the dawn, and who loitered
around the summer-house in their long Spanish cloaks.
The Prince, riding at the head of the pack as perfectly erect as a
cavalryman, was surrounded by his father's retainers, and close under
the eye of the Master of the Hounds, when we joined him. Like the
good-natured boy he seemed to be, he was enjoying the ride to the full.
His cheeks were flushed with the healthy outdoor exercise and his eyes
were bright with excitement. It was an ideal day with just enough of
the brisk cut of winter in the air to keep the blood a-moving.
"It is good to be alive," he said, darting a quick look over his
shoulder as we came up.
"Where have you planned to hunt, Prince?" asked Nicholas, ranging on one
side of the black horse while I took the other.
"In the Forest of Zin."
"On the Framkor side of the river, or on Marbosa's?"
"My camp is pitched beside the Big Spring."
"Then we hunt on Marbosa's estate," said Nick, and I could see that he
was not pleased at the prospect.
The Prince seemed highly amused at Nick's reply, and laughed as if he
deemed he had made an important discovery.
"For an American, Mr. Fremsted," he smiled, "you know the Forest well."
Nick was nettled. He realized that he had almost committed himself. I
saw him covertly glance at the Prince under his eyebrows as if he
wondered how this slow-brained, broken-English-speaking youth had found
the wit to trap him. But he was equal to the occasion.
"Oh," he replied, easily, "General Palmora during the past ten years has
often had me hunting with him in this forest. I should know it well."
"So?" said the Prince, and the subject was dismissed for a time.
The Forest of Zin, as I soon found, was not far distant. In fact it
began at the rear of the Framkor estate and extended, so they said, for
some fifty miles to the north. All the nobles who owned the adjoining
land had established a game preserve over the entire territory and the
peasantry was not allowed within its sacred precincts. According to the
Prince, many of them had broken the law and, when caught, were
"bastinado'd"--severely beaten on the soles of the feet, a method of
punishment inherited from the Turks.
So great was the density of the forest when we plunged into it along a
narrow bridle path, and so magnificent the height of the trees, that the
light of the sun filtered through with difficulty. The resulting gloom
was like that of a cloudy day and had its necessary effect upon my
spirits. Long narrow roads opened vistas of wide clearings, beyond,
which never materialized. All about was the mystery of silence as if
the wild things watched in awe the human destroyer march by. Even the
dogs, held firmly in leashes of four, lolled their red tongues from
their mouths and ceased to give voice to their impatience.
The further we progressed the denser became the growth until at times we
were compelled to bend over our horses' heads to avoid the wide arms of
the giant oaks, gnarled and twisted, which hung low over our path.
Speed at times was impossible and our progress was necessarily slow.
The Forest of Zin was no place for a careless rider.
The Big Spring, of which the Prince had spoken, was the fountain head of
a little brook that issued from the roots of the largest oak in the
forest. We found a score of the Red Fox's men there, preparing a
hunter's meal over many wood fires. The odour of the cooking was
pleasant to the nostrils. When we dismounted I found that it was nearly
eleven o'clock and that it had taken the forenoon to arrive at the
hunting grounds.
Squirrels, rabbits and wild birds broiled on revolving spits before the
fire, or baked in clay coverings in the heart of the embers, formed the
body of the meal. We sat upon a bed of dry leaves and ate with good
appetites. Nick and the Prince were in the best of spirits. They
examined the spears and talked of the coming hunt with considerable
enthusiasm. The black locks and the red curls were frequently
commingled and my jealous heart again suffered many pangs at the sight.
The Prince had not forgotten the episode of the morning, and it was not
long before he again trapped Nick. This time the Prince asked him a
quick question in the language, and Nick replied quite naturally before
he realized what he had done. When he found himself caught he laughed
at his own discomfiture as heartily as did the Prince.
"You are a most interesting man to me," the Prince said gayly. "You
have been everywhere; you know so much. You speak so many languages.
But why have you learned Bharbazonian? You speak it like a native."
"It is second nature to one who knows the Russian of the south," he
replied. "After all, it is only a Slav dialect. I have been perfecting
it during my visit here.
"Mysterious man," the Prince replied, "not to have permitted me to know
before. Here I have been talking with difficulty in your tongue when I
might have been using my own speech all the time."
Thus the Prince broke down Nick's reserve and they ran off into the
dialect where I could not follow. To my disgust they seemed to be
growing more interested in each other through the medium of the common
language, and I was glad when the bush-beaters with their dogs left the
party to commence the hunt. But it was a half hour after the hounds had
gone that the Keeper of the Spears began his distribution of the
weapons. After presenting one to the Prince and Nicholas, he gave me
one. The spear was about twelve feet long with a sort of bayonet at one
end. It was exceedingly strong and well made, and I marvelled at its
lightness. Where the steel met the stock there was a cluster of flowing
ribbons, which lent a festive appearance to our band when the riders
rested the stock in their stirrups and held their spears vertically in
air. Each man seemed like a standard bearer.
Trained to precision of action by experience, the hunters rode to the
appointed clearing in the forest whither the bush hunters were tending,
and spread out in a long line. Nick and I, with the Prince between us,
formed the centre of the line and the rest were placed so that each man
could see his neighbour and thus both could watch the woods between for
the fleeing quarry. I suppose our party thus covered a distance of two
miles and each person in the line was practically alone.
We had not long to wait before the faint baying of the hounds reached
our ears from the forest in front. The noise came gradually nearer and
nearer. The horses became restive at the sound. The hunt was on in
earnest. The first boar broke cover so far away that we had no part in
it. We could only sit silent and listen to the chase and the squeal of
the boar when the lance pierced him. Similar sounds drew our attention
to other parts of the line and then our turn came.
The first wild pig I had ever seen in his native woods trotted swiftly
out of the bushes in front of Nicholas and the Prince. It was a large
black fellow with wicked-looking yellow tusks that curled up at the
ends. When it saw the horsemen it was not afraid, but stopped with
curiosity and grunted softly to itself in a familiarly domestic fashion.
At sight of the boar, however, the horses began rearing and plunging, so
that it was some moments before Nick, who was nearest, could urge his
mount to the charge. The Prince's black was ill-behaved also, but the
rider had no difficulty in keeping his seat.
Nick, I suppose, must have been an adept in the use of the spear at one
time, but he was badly out of practice then. When he came on with his
swift rush he missed the vital spot behind the foreleg, or in the centre
of the chest, and succeeded only in inflicting a wound along the
animal's spine, which let much blood but only angered the beast. His
horse carried him some distance beyond before Nick could force him to
turn, and in the meantime the Prince with lowered lance entered the
fray.
With a sure hand he guided his terror-stricken black after the boar,
which, squealing with pain and rage, was charging Nick. The hilt of the
Prince's lance rested in the leather socket of the saddle under his
knee; the sharp point raced over the ground, its ribbons whipping in the
wind. Out of the corner of its wicked little eye the boar saw the
approach of its new enemy and wheeled to the attack. If it could gore
the horse and unseat the rider, it might easily dispose of the enemy on
foot.
But the Prince's stroke was swift and sure. Before the boar had
gathered speed the point took him full in the centre of the broad chest.
If the Prince's aim was to strike the little white spot there it could
not have been more perfect. The force of the blow caused the horse to
swerve suddenly in his course, nearly throwing the rider, but the boar
stopped in its tracks. The lance came free as the horse leaped over the
game, which reached up in a faint effort to strike. With his life blood
following the lance, the victim sank slowly to its knees and filled the
woods with its dying squeals.
"Well done, Your Highness," shouted Nick in high glee, "'twas a master
stroke."
"I am ashamed of you," cried the Prince with an eye on the struggling
quarry.
The bush-rangers had evidently done their work well. The game was
plenty. Everywhere all along the line came the sound of the chase, the
shouts of riding men, the squeals of dying pigs and the barking of dogs
let loose to bring a fleeing animal to bay so that the horsemen
following slowly might kill it. It seems that only the most intrepid
horseman will take his life in his hands attempting to ride at full
speed under the trees.
A wild-looking animal darted under the horse Nick was riding and set off
at a rapid pace for the other side of the clearing. With a shout Nick
started in hot pursuit. At the same moment my turn came. The boar
showed in front of me so suddenly that I pulled my horse's head sharply
to keep from stepping on it. The animal rushed by while I stupidly
stared, making no motion to stop it.
"I am ashamed of you, too," cried the Prince at my elbow as he dug the
spurs into his black's side and sped away like the wind.
"Solonika, be careful," I cried, but she was beyond the sound of my
voice. As quickly as I could I followed to watch her in action. I had
no desire to try my hand with the lance. It required a better training
than I possessed.
The boar had a good start and was not long in reaching the sheltering
trees on the far side of the clearing. Solonika bent low over her
black's neck, and without hesitation followed the game where cooler
riders would not dare go.
"Stop," I shouted, but I knew that she would not heed me even though she
heard. The excitement of the chase had entered her blood.
There was nothing left for me to do but try to keep her in sight. When
I reached the place where she rode in I could still see her going at the
top of her speed through the trees. Her lance point pursued the fleeing
pig whose speed was incredible. Do what she could the boar kept just a
little ahead. Deeper and deeper we went into the forest. The sound of
the hunters, the baying of the dogs and the squeals came fainter and
fainter to our ears and finally ceased altogether. We were alone.
My horsemanship was not as excellent as Solonika's, and she gradually
outdistanced me. I almost despaired of keeping her in sight. Finally,
when I was about to give up, when my horse was blowing hard and I was
well-nigh spent, I saw her suddenly rein in, throw up her head and look
to one side as if she heard someone calling.
While she stood thus intent, four horsemen in black Spanish cloaks,
coming from behind the trees, rode up to her side. One wrenched the
lance from her hands, another threw his cloak over her head and arms,
rendering her powerless, while the third grasped her horse by the bridle
and the three set off at a gallop with their prisoner. The fourth drew
his sword and waited for me to come up.
I stared in amazement at this extraordinary scene; my heart stopped
beating with fear as its full significance burst upon me. I
convulsively pulled my horse to a standstill, not knowing what I did.
Only my grip on the saddle horn kept me in my seat.
Oh, if Nick were only here; but he was far away with the hunters. It
would be hours before they would miss us. What was I to do? Was it
better that I should ride back and tell him, or follow the Princess? My
brain was stunned. I could not think clearly.
But stay! these were not ordinary highwaymen. Of this I felt sure. I
remembered seeing them, or men like them, on the road in front of the
summer-house. Were they trying to kidnap the Prince then? Were they
members of that mystic band, the Order of the Cross? Nick and the
General belonged to that. What good would it do to ride back and tell
Nick of something which he, perhaps, already knew, or at least expected?
Deserted by both Nick and the General, I felt suddenly alone. My God,
alone; with Solonika in the hands of her enemies. What would they not
do to her? How could she keep her secret from them? I must save her.
I must act quickly.
"Solonika," I shouted, hoping that she might hear and know that she was
not deserted.
As I uttered the shout I spurred my horse furiously and he leaped
forward to do my bidding. My boar lance was my only weapon; but surely I
was better armed than the lone rear guard. He seemed to have only his
short sword. Solonika and her captors were still in sight, although far
ahead. I must ride fast and free if I would overtake her.
I rode high and recklessly watching the young noble put his horse in
motion toward me so as to avoid my spear and make the attack more
difficult. I bore down upon him with all speed, shouting as I came. He
took hold of his weapon with both hands, preparing to cut my wooden
shank with one bold stroke as I made to pierce him.
But, before I reached him, I received a violent blow on the forehead.
The branches of the trees hung low about my upraised head. The heavens
seemed to have fallen. My enemy vanished as if by magic amid a field of
glowing shooting stars darting hither and yon in a field of purple
night. A great weakness seized me. The saddle slipped from between my
knees, the reins from my nerveless fingers.