A PLAN OF DEFENCE.
It was some time before I could even bring myself to ask Nikolitch for
details of his visit to Gatrina.
“You saw the Princess?” I asked at length.
“I would not come away without. She had been at the Palace, I think.
She received me graciously at first--she does all things prettily--and
listened while I warned her that grave troubles were coming. Then
something I said suggested to her that I had come from you; and her
manner changed suddenly.”
“It would, I suppose,” I interjected, bitterly.
“She put the question point blank, and I admitted it, of course. Then
she refused to hear any more. I said that you were very anxious to
see her; and she got up and was for dismissing me on the spot. But I
hung on and managed to get out the contradiction of the engagement,
as she was hurrying away. At the door she turned, her face very pale,
her manner and tone cold as ice. ‘Under the circumstances, Captain
Nikolitch, your presence is an insult,’ she said. And never in my life
have I felt the lash of a woman’s tongue more keenly. I suppose she was
mad you had told me anything of how matters stood with you. I felt like
a whipped cur as I stumbled out of the room.”
“Well, it’s just a devil of a mess, that’s all, and we’ll have to find
some way of helping her against her will.”
I told him of the result of my visit to Petrosch and of the
confirmation of the news from Elma. His view of the outlook was even
darker than my own; and when I let drop a hint of the suggestion which
Elma had made, he was disposed to freeze to it as the best and readiest
solution of the difficulty.
But I shook my head. “The Princess would never trust herself to them,”
I said. “I know her too well to think that for a moment.”
“She would be safe. Other things would settle themselves afterwards.
The hours of peril will be few, whatever happens; and when they are
once passed, the itch for violence will be appeased.”
“No,” I said again. “I say no, emphatically no. If she believed the
danger were really so acute, she would go to the Queen and stand or
fall with her. She would regard it as cowardly to think of herself
at such a time; and nothing would induce her to set foot inside the
Russian Minister’s house merely to save herself. It would but drive her
into greater peril that if she remained in her own. It is there she
must be protected. Would God I could but learn when the devilment is to
be done?”
“I think I could learn that. Not here, of course, where if I were
recognised I should be clapped straight away under arrest; but at
Jagodina. They will know there.”
“Then for Heaven’s sake get back to Jagodina at once and send me word.
I will do the rest. I begin to see a way at last--if she will but stay
in her own house.”
“What is it?” he asked eagerly.
“No, no. Don’t stay another minute in the city. Get to your regiment
and send me the news I want. Just the time; that’s all; that’s all. It
may not be safe to send more;” and seizing a time table I found there
was a train he could catch at once, and I hurried him off.
“My uniform,” he said. “I’m in mufti.”
“Leave it. It may be useful.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, anxiously.
“If I don’t tell you, you can’t be compromised. Do as I ask; that’s
all. And for Heaven’s sake be off at once.”
I infected him with a degree of my own energy and bundled him off to
the depot, and sent Buller with him with instructions to get him a
special train if he missed the regular one.
Then I gave word that the instant Karasch arrived he was to be shewn
to me; it was close to the hour at which he was accustomed to come for
instructions; and having done that I set to work to think out my plan
as I ate a hasty dinner.
The plan was a very simple one--to raise immediately a band of men
numerous enough to protect Gatrina’s house in case of emergency, and to
find some place close to it where they could remain in readiness under
Karasch’s leadership.
The idea took a more daring form at one time, and I was much tempted
to adopt it. It was to have the men in the uniform of one of the
regiments and to act the part of guarding the house, as if at the
army’s command; but the risk which the men would run if the thing were
discovered was too great. I might not be able to protect them even with
Petrosch’s influence; and I had, therefore, to abandon the notion. But
from it came another idea which I saw at once was practicable.
“There is work for you at last, Karasch,” I said to him as soon as he
arrived; “difficult, and perhaps dangerous; and I am going to trust to
you.”
“I will do my best, Excellency, whatever it be,” he answered, with his
customary directness.
“Ugly things are going to occur in the city; a revolution accompanied
probably with violence is on the eve of taking place; and no one can
say for certain what will or will not happen. But it is very probable
that the Princess--Mademoiselle, you know--will be exposed to great
danger, and I wish you to help me in protecting her. You will do this?”
“With my life, Excellency. Of course you have a plan.”
“Yes. I mean you to get together a strong band of resolute men to be
instantly available to form a guard round her house. They must be men
on whom we can depend; and we will pay them liberally. How many can you
get?”
“I could get a thousand to take your money and promise; and I might
find fifty or less who might keep their promises; and, perhaps, five or
six who would be absolutely reliable. It would depend.”
“On what?”
“On whom Mademoiselle had to be defended against. If against the mob
it would be easy, but not against soldiers, Excellency.”
“It will probably be against the soldiery.”
He shook his head doubtingly. “It would be very difficult,” he said.
“It has to be done, Karasch,” I declared firmly. “The Princess’s life
may depend upon it.”
“Where twenty men would face the sticks and stones of a mob, scarce
one of them would stand before the bayonets or bullets of the troops,
Excellency. Should we be inside the house?”
“No, outside.”
“Ah,” he exclaimed with another very grave shake of the head.
“_You_ would do it?”
“I am different; but I would not do it for money. I have been in
similar troubles before; and for those who resist the soldiers at such
times, there are many roads to death and all short and pretty certain.
Men know this, Excellency. Belgrade is not like the hills in the
Gravenje district. I might count on five or six, as I say; but what are
they against the troops in the city?”
I thought a moment. “Could you trust them absolutely?” I asked.
“Yes; as you may trust me. But, I beg your Excellency’s pardon, why
cannot the Princess remove to a place of safety?”
“She will not, for reasons I cannot explain to you. For one thing she
does not know of her danger, and will not believe in it.”
“Mademoiselle has a strong will, we know,” he said, with a shrug of his
broad shoulders.
“She has, therefore, to be saved despite herself. Stay, I have it,” I
exclaimed as a thought struck me. “You say these five or six men are
to be relied upon. Could you procure half a dozen uniforms for them to
wear?”
“I could get half a hundred, but----”
“This is my plan then. Get the other men, fifty or a hundred of
them--as many as you can--to be available if the only trouble comes
from the mob. The six we will make up as soldiers, and at the worst we
will force our way with them into the house and bring off the Princess
as though she were our prisoner.”
He chewed the notion for a moment and then his grim face relaxed into
one of his rare smiles. “It is good,” he said; and we set to work and
threshed out the plan in as much detail as practicable at that stage.
I decided that the half dozen men who with Karasch and myself were to
take the risk of making the pretended arrest of Gatrina, should wear
the uniform of soldiers and over that loose civilian’s clothes which
could be easily slipped off in case of need. The men would in this way
be available for both parts of the work before us; as civilians to
resist the mob, or as soldiers to mislead the regular troops.
I based my plans on the calculation that in making any attempt on
Gatrina’s house the troops were not likely to be in any considerable
force. The movement would be more in the nature of an arrest; and if
we could manage to get into the house before the soldiers sent to make
the arrest, they would be likely to conclude, if they saw Gatrina in
our hands, that in the confusion some mistake had been made in doubling
the parties told off for the purpose.
I should be in command and should wear the uniform which Nikolitch had
left behind him; and in the event of any complication arising, I should
have to trust to my wits to explain it away.
My intention was to march with Gatrina straight to the house of the
United States representative, where, of course, she would be safe. I
knew him already for a man on whom I could rely implicitly.
Karasch went off to find the men and was to return at midnight to
report progress; and I was to go out into the neighbourhood of
Gatrina’s house to look for a place in which they could be placed.
I was getting ready when my eye fell upon Nikolitch’s uniform and I
tried it on. It was anything but comfortable after the freedom of
civilian’s dress; and as I was much the broader man of the two, it was
an uncommonly bad fit.
But I had to get used to it; so I resolved on a dress rehearsal of the
part, and throwing on a long overcoat, I put a revolver in my pocket
and set out on my quest, with Chris in close attendance at my heels.
The night was fine but moonless; and as the streets of Belgrade were
very badly lighted, there was not much chance of my being recognised.
The restaurants and supper houses were busy enough, and the flare of
their lights streamed across the streets here and there; but they were
easy to avoid; and there were none of them in the neighbourhood of
Gatrina’s house.
As it was of course necessary that I should make myself as familiar
with the entrances to the house as possible, I had a good look at it,
being careful to keep well in shadow.
A massive stone house, it stood by itself at a corner and was almost
surrounded by a high wall. The main door let out on to a broad
thoroughfare; a strong massive door with a deep portico. In the wall
at the side there was a smaller doorway--the servants’ entrance, I
concluded; and this, also, was very heavily and strongly fashioned. All
the lower windows were heavily barred, a custom I had observed to be
general in the large houses in the city.
It was altogether a house capable of offering stout resistance to any
attack; and I saw in a moment that if I could once get inside, with
a few resolute men, it would be possible to hold it for a long time
against either mob or troops; and I concluded that, in common with many
others in the city, it had been strengthened in view of the turbulent
outbreaks which had been frequent enough in Belgrade.
The strength of the house reassured me somewhat until I found a weak
spot. Some fifty yards along the smaller street were the stables; and
I remembered that when I had been in the house on the previous day
waiting in my vain attempt to see Gatrina, I had noticed a newly made
door at the end of the garden, just at the point where, as I could now
see, it would lead to the stables; while from the room where I had
been placed, a French window quite unprotected led down a flight of
steps to the garden path.
That was a weak spot indeed. But if it would render the house open to
attack, it would also provide the means by which I could gain access if
the need arose.
I was weighing all this in my mind most earnestly as I stood opposite
the entrance to the stable, when Chris moved and growled. I silenced
him, laying my hand on his head, and drew back with him into the deep
shadow of a tree which stood in front of the portico of a house, and
listened.
He never warned me without cause; and soon I caught the sound of
approaching footsteps. I had no wish to be seen, so I slipped into the
portico and pressed close against the wall, while I kept watch on the
newcomer. He came along at a quick pace until he reached the stable,
when he paused.
My first idea was that he was a servant who had overstayed his hours
of leave and was puzzling how to get into the house without attracting
notice.
But I was wrong. Presently he came out into the roadway and stared at
the upper windows of the house. Then he went round to the front and
again he paused and stared up at the windows there; and apparently not
seeing what he sought--for the whole house was now in darkness--he
scratched his head as if in perplexity, and came sauntering back toward
the stables.
He was very slow in his movements, and his slowness irritated me.
Presently a light shewed for an instant in one of the top windows at
the back, and was almost instantly extinguished. This was repeated
twice, at short intervals; and I heard the window raised very
cautiously.
It was evidently the signal for which the man in the street had been
waiting, for he whistled, just two notes softly, shewed himself in the
roadway and then stepped back in the shadow of the stables and waited.
A vulgar assignation, I thought then, not without disgust; and I wished
that he and his sweetheart would be quick over their love-making. It
was well past eleven. At midnight I had to be back to receive Karasch’s
report; and yet could not venture to be seen.
But it was no sweethearting. After some minutes, a small door in the
large stable gate was opened and a man looked out. I could see all
that passed by the light of a lamp over the gates. The two whispered
together a moment; and then the man from the house came out, turned the
key in the lock, and put it in his pocket.
They both crossed the road toward where I stood, and I pressed yet
closer against the wall and kept my hand on Chris’s head lest by a
sound he should betray our presence. They did not enter the portico,
but stood in the shadow of the tree where I had first concealed myself.
“This will do,” I heard one of them say; and then strain my ears as I
would I could not catch any other than isolated words. But they were
enough to set me on fire. “Army,” “Arrest,” “Three hours,” “Yes, two
o’clock--” this was louder and in an impatient tone. After that there
was a chink of money passing; and then silence. It lasted so long that,
unable to contain myself, I peered out cautiously and looked at them.
The man who had come from the house was counting a quantity of paper
money, and trying to read the value of each bill by the flicker of the
lamp across the road. It was a tedious business; and his companion
whispered something to him and they both walked away along the street.
My first inclination was to follow them at once and force an
explanation; but I checked the impulse. I resolved to wait for the
return of the servant. He was sure to come back, if I read the thing
aright. I could deal with him alone much more satisfactorily.
I took Chris across to the stable gates and making him understand
that he was on guard and must let no one pass in, I returned to my
hiding-place.
The minutes were leaden as I stood waiting. The man was so long away
that I began to fear I had blundered and to regret I had not acted on
the impulse to follow the two.
But he came at length hurrying from the opposite direction; and he
glanced up at the house windows as he passed, with a gesture of
uneasiness. When he reached the stable gates, Chris received him with
a low growl, and he started back in some dismay at the most unexpected
interruption.
He was trying to pacify the dog with a little coaxing when I crossed to
him and, assuming a tone of authority, asked, at a venture; “You have
seen the sergeant? Why have you been so long?”
He was obviously in much perplexity and some fear, and glanced from
Chris to me. The good dog looked formidable enough to have frightened a
braver man.
“Who are you?” he asked.
I threw back my long coat and shewed my uniform.
“The plan is changed. You are to come with me. We can’t trust you out
of sight again.”
He glanced round as if meditating flight.
“The dog will pull you down if you move,” I said, sternly.
“I must get in,” he murmured. “I shall keep my word.”
“Did you hear what I ordered you?” I rapped back with an oath. “Come,”
and I linked my arm in his to drag him away. He resisted at first; but
at a word from me Chris shewed his fangs and snarled so angrily that no
resistance was left in him. I let go his arm then. “A false step or a
single word, and the dog’s fangs will close on your throat,” I muttered
fiercely.
He came then, keeping pace anxiously with my quick stride and glancing
ever and again over his shoulder at Chris who stalked behind him like a
black shadow.
I got him to my house without trouble; for the streets were now all but
deserted, and I chose a way which avoided the main roads.
I led him into my study, taking Chris with me, and then turned a lamp
full on his face. Then I drew my revolver and held it in his full view
as I considered how best to question him, so as to get the truth out
of him.
It was a vital matter, and they were anxious moments; for upon his
answers Gatrina’s life might depend.
He found them anxious, too. I could see that by his pallor, the nervous
twitchings of hands and features, the sweat that stood on his swarthy
forehead, and the wild look on his fear-filled eyes.