"Better take a bath and ye'll feel more like a mon," he said. "I know
there be na bath tubs in that one horse country, but that is na excuse.
They ha' water."
He drew the water in the tub for me and helped me into it. Then he got
out his medicine chest and patched me up where I had been wounded. He
opened my trunk and helped me dress.
"There, my lad," he observed after I was shaved and ready, "the best gal
won't know ye now."
"May I go on deck?" I asked.
"Go anywhere ye please," he smiled. "Oh, I forgot. Here's a letter for
ye. It came by our rural free delivery over the automobile route."
It was in Nick's familiar handwriting. I broke the seal eagerly.
Perhaps there was news of Solonika.
"Dear Dale," it read, "I am sorry I cannot keep my promise to return
with you, but, as you know, fate has otherwise ordained it. My place is
here in Bharbazonia. My life work is cut out for me. How I shall work
for the good of my people, you know full well. The time will come when
it will be more like your own United States in prosperity and freedom of
education.
"I have done the best I could for you. Forgive me for not coming to see
you. If you ever are a king, you will know why I could not find time.
Wishing you happiness in your new-found joy I am as ever,
"Your friend,
"LASSIE."
Dear old Nick. I knew that his heart bled for me. I knew that he had
long since conquered that bitter jealousy which had been our undoing. I
sat down upon the bed and re-read the letter several times.
"I wish you happiness in your new-found joy." What could he mean by
that? What happiness did the future hold for me? When the yacht
touched Naples I would come back as surely as there was a sun in the
sky. Happiness! The word had a mocking sound. Nick would not do that.
Surely he would not make a jest of such a matter.
"Going on deck?" asked the Captain with a curious smile.
"Yes," I answered.
"All right," he replied, "but first ye must promise me not to spoil that
brand new shirt by jumping overboard."
We went up the steps and came to the railing. There was nothing but the
black night overhead and the deep-running sea beneath. In the east,
over the darkening waters the first rosy flush of the coming day was
beginning to appear. Twenty miles away were the high hills of
Bharbazonia, their tops faintly visible. Behind those hills I pictured
the long white highway, the ancient city of Nischon, the Palace of the
King, and Solonika, my poor, doomed Solonika, lying forsaken in her
dungeon.
The Captain was no longer at my elbow. He had softly crept away. I
heard him chuckling as he went forward in the darkness. I walked
moodily to the stern where the busy propeller was cutting the water into
swirling eddies. I could not swim that distance. There was nothing
left to do but watch the hated country fade from sight.
As I came to the end of the deck cabins a woman arose from her chair and
threw herself into my arms.
"Dale," she cried, "Dale, my beloved!"
It was Solonika!
*CHAPTER XXIV*
*L'ENVOI*
But Friendship, like a noble river,
Rolls its stately waters by,
Tempest tossed and troubled never,
Gliding to eternity.
--_Bohn: Mss_.
There is little left to tell. When we arrived at Naples, the Captain
"stood up" with us at the nearest church and kissed the bride even
before the "meenister." Our honeymoon we spent on board the ocean liner
that brought us back to the United States. And what a warm reception
Solonika received when she arrived at Spruce street to find my mother
awaiting us at the door. How the poor girl wept upon that good lady's
broad bosom, Solonika, who had never known a mother's gentle caress
before.
Our first news from Bharbazonia came by letter from General Palmora.
The affairs of that little Kingdom are going smoothly and well. For
reasons of state it has been decided to unite the two reigning houses
and very shortly the wedding bells will ring for King Novgorod and
Princess Teskla, an arrangement, the General slyly adds, "which is not
at all disagreeable to Nicholas, who, as you may have guessed, always
fancied the girl."
The King has made his peace with the Patriarch by paying a considerable
sum of money to the Church. Every contending faction has been united
and every one looks forward to a prosperous reign for the young ruler.
"You would be surprised to see how steady and earnest Nicholas has
become," continues the General. "He will be the best king Bharbazonia
has ever had. He is taking the advice of his elders now, and never once
has he broken away as he did the night I brought him your message from
the dungeon.
"'Are you sure, godfather,' he said to me, 'that Dale used those
words--"as sure as there is a God in heaven I'll come back?"'
"I assured him that you had spoken thus.
"'Then,' said he, 'something has to be done.'
"Something was done that very night. The King himself put Solonika
aboard the yacht, getting her out of the palace by stealth. No one but
that rascally profane Japanese boy knew anything about it. The next
night, following his instructions, I had you taken aboard, and you know
the rest."
When Solonika read this part of the General's letter she was very much
surprised. During that entire ride to Bizzett Nick had never made his
identity known to her. They had bound her hand and foot and chained her
to the car while he rode forward with Okio.
Another piece of news which makes Solonika very happy is that plans are
under way to procure the release of the Duke of Dhalmatia. We hope to
have the old man with us in the near future.
"I am sorry to say," adds the General in concluding, "that Nicholas is
not as good a member of the Secret Order of the Cross as he used to be,
and the Turks are still in possession of Constantinople."
Heigh-ho! how quickly time flies when one is supremely happy! Since we
were married the autumn leaves have turned to yellow and gold and the
summer birds are making their southern flight. But the roses are coming
back to Solonika's cheeks.
As I write in my quiet library it is her sweet voice I hear singing in
the room below my favourite song, "The King and the Pope." How well the
words fit the adventure I have been through. It would almost seem that
the poet who wrote them must have had a similar experience. I little
thought, when my friend Megarge gave me his adaption of the original
from the German, that one day it would have such meaning for me.
Listen and you may hear her singing. How clearly she pronounces each
word,--
"The King and the Pope together,
Have sent a message to me;
It is signed with the Royal Signet;
It is sealed with the Papal Key.
The King wants me out of his eyesight
And the Pope wants me out of his See.
"The King and the Pope together,
Own thousands of acres of land;
While I do not own the foot of ground,
On which my two feet stand.
But the prettiest girl in the Kingdom
Walks with me--hand in hand.
"The King must marry a lady,
Of exceeding high degree;
The Pope can never a true love have,
So a cardinal pours his tea.
Very few stand 'round me at table.
But my sweetheart sits by me.
"The King hath scores of soldiers,
Who will fight for him any day,
The Pope hath Priests and Bishops,
Who for his soul will pray.
I have one little sweetheart,
But she'll kiss me when I say.
"And the King with his Golden Sceptre,
And the Pope with Saint Peter's Key,
Can never unlock the one little heart,
That is open alone to me.
For I am the King of a Realm!
And I am the Pope of a See!
In fact I'm supreme in the Kingdom
That frequently sits on my knee."