HOW HARRY FINDS HIMSELF VERY MUCH OVERESTIMATED, AND AFTERWARD LIGHTS
UPON A GLOOMY MYSTERY.
On the day after the departure of Russell, Harry was invited to an
interview with the chief. A guard of six Carlists escorted him to the
hall. Here there was an imposing scene. All along the walls were
lines of armed men in strange wild costumes; overhead rose the
vaulted roof, crusted over with the mould of ages; while at one end
there hung a canopy formed of the gorgeous banner of Castile. Under
this stood a figure in the uniform of a general officer, and as Harry
drew near he recognized in him the Carlist chief. At the same moment
a shout rang through the hall, a hundred rifles fell with a crash
upon the stony pavement, and then followed a loud, long cry, "Viva el
Rey!"
Harry's familiarity with Spanish had already been made known to the
chief, who now addressed him in that language. What, however, was the
amazement of Harry at learning the astounding fact that the chief
claimed to be no less a person than Don Carlos himself, and assumed
the airs and claimed the honors of royalty. In addition to this,
while the chief claimed such honors, his rude followers bestowed them
with readiness and even enthusiasm. That this could be anything else
than a pretence--that this rude chief could really be the courtly and
gallant Bourbon seemed to Harry an utter absurdity; and in addition
to this, the descriptions which he had heard of the real Don Carlos
did not at all accord with the appearance of this man. Yet, if the
claim was a false one, its very audacity showed him the possible
peril that surrounded his party; for if their captor was so
unblushing and unscrupulous a villain, what hope could they have of
escape?
Speaking then in this way as though he were Don Carlos, and assuming
at the same time the manner and style of a king, the Carlist chief
said much about his sorrow at being forced to detain them, and also
expatiated upon the difficulties of his own position. Finally, he
informed Harry that a tax had been imposed on all foreigners to help
pay the expenses of the war.
To this Harry listened attentively, and was not surprised to find
that the chief expected a money payment. Whether he called it a tax
or any other name, it amounted to the same thing, and became a ransom
for their lives. If he and his party were thus held as prisoners to
ransom, the act amounted, of course, to nothing else than brigandage,
and this Carlist chief was nothing better than a brigand. Against
being seized and held as a prisoner on such terms Harry could have
offered no end of arguments, of course, together with protests,
objections, and threats; but he had far too clear a head to think of
such a thing. He knew well the uselessness of mere arguments in a
case like this, where he had nothing stronger behind, and therefore
he sought to find out just what his position was. So, first of all,
he asked what might be the amount of his own ransom.
The answer to this question almost took his breath away. To his
amazement and horror, the ransom named for him was no less a sum than
ten thousand pounds.
"Will 'Your Majesty' pardon me," said Harry, with great
obsequiousness, and giving to his captor the royal honors which he
claimed--"will 'Your Majesty' pardon me if I assure 'Your Majesty'
that the amount of my ransom is so enormous that it is utterly
impossible for me to pay it?"
At this "His Majesty" smiled, and proceeded to tell Harry the ransoms
fixed for the others: these were--for Russell and his party thirty
thousand pounds, and for Ashby one thousand. The name "Lord Russell"
which "His Majesty" applied to that worthy sounded strange to Harry,
but this was a trifle compared with other things, and so, without
making any reference to this, he replied:
"Thirty thousand pounds! I assure 'Your Majesty' that Russell has not
the fourth part of that in all the world."
"His Majesty" looked incredulous, and told Harry that "Lord Russell"
had himself put his own wealth at two hundred thousand, and that of
his ward at fifty thousand.
At this Harry's heart quaked within him for fear of Katie. Now he
began to see more clearly the danger that there was. Russell, he
thought, had been indulging in some foolish gasconade about himself,
and had let out the secret of Katie's fortune. He wondered why Ashby
had been let off on so small a sum; and thinking that he might not
have heard correctly, he asked again about this. The reply confirmed
what he had heard, and Harry could not help making a remark about the
strange injustice of exacting ten thousand from him and only one
thousand from Ashby. This at once was noticed by "His Majesty," who,
however, proposed, not to lessen the ransom of Harry, but to raise
that of Ashby. He eagerly asked Harry about the wealth of his friend.
"Oh, I don't know," said Harry, who saw that it would not help
himself to have Ashby's ransom raised. "All I do know is this, which
I assure 'Your Majesty' is truth, that to me a ransom of ten thousand
pounds is an impossible sum, and means simply death."
"His Majesty" smiled, assenting at the same time to the statement
that non-payment was equivalent to death.
"In that case," said Harry, "may I ask one favor?"
"His Majesty" graciously assented.
"I should like," said Harry, "to have my valise. There's nothing in
it that I care about except some cigars--"
"His Majesty" interrupted with a wave of the royal hand, and granted
his request. After this Harry was informed that one week was allowed
for time in which to procure the ransom, and that if it were not
forth-coming at the end of that time, he and his friends would all be
shot.
After this Harry was dismissed to his own apartment.
The dread sentence and its possible result interfered neither with
the digestion nor the sleep of the light-hearted Harry. That night he
went to bed and slept the sleep of the just. He had the bed and the
room now all to himself, and would have slept till morning had he not
been roused by a very singular circumstance.
As he lay sleeping, it seemed to him that there was a touch on his
forehead of something like a hand, and a murmur in his ear of
something like a voice, and, what is more, a woman's voice. In a
moment he was wide awake, and had started up and was staring around.
The moonbeams streamed through the narrow windows into the room and
fell in broad strips of light upon the stony floor, diffusing a mild
and mellow lustre in some parts, yet leaving the rest of the great
room in obscurity. And here, across those strips of light and through
those moonbeams, Harry plainly discerned a figure which was gliding
swiftly along. It was a female figure, and it was light and fragile,
while long dusky drapery floated around it. So completely overwhelmed
was Harry with amazement and bewilderment at this sight, that for
full five minutes he sat without moving and stared full before him.
Then he put his feet out on the floor, and, sitting on the side of
the bed, slowly ejaculated:
"Well, by Jove!"
Suddenly he started up and sprang toward the place where he had last
seen the vision. But now there was nothing visible: the figure,
whatever it was, had disappeared. Now, Harry had a strong, robust,
healthy nature, a good digestion, tough nerves, and he was not in the
least superstitious; yet this event certainly made him feel as he had
never felt before. It was the suddenness of it, as well as the
incomprehensibility. He had to assure himself over and over again
that he was really awake, and then he had to repeatedly recall the
vague and indistinct impressions that had been made.
It was certainly most puzzling. How had any one contrived to enter?
And why should a woman come? Was it a woman, then--that figure--with
its noiseless motion, its strange fragility, its flowing, floating,
cloud-like draperies? Or was it some affection of his own disordered
senses that had wrought out an apparition from his own fancy? It
reminded him of those weird and grisly scenes in the old romances
which he had read in his boyhood, such as the "Mysteries of Udolpho,"
the "Romance of the Forest," or the "Castle of Otranto." This castle
might well be the scene of such a mystery. Perhaps the late incident
was the revival of some dormant memory, arising out of that
half-forgotten reading in the old romances. It may have been a dream,
projecting itself forward into his waking hours.
In this way Harry puzzled his brain for some time, sitting on the
side of the bed, mystified, and quite at a loss what to do. But, as
he was essentially a man of action, he soon grew weary of idle
speculation, and determined to search more actively into the mystery,
and if possible sift it to the bottom. So he drew a match and lighted
his torch. The flame flared up brightly and flung a lurid glow all
around. Holding this high above his head, Harry walked about, peering
into the darkness, and scanning every nook and corner of the large
apartment. But he could see nothing. It was empty. The shuffling
noise of his own footsteps as he moved along was the only sound, and
no living thing met his eye. It was plain that he was alone, and that
no other could be there with him.
But that figure? Where was it? Whither had it gone? Going back again
to the bed, he marked the line of its motion, and perceived that it
had been directed toward the great fireplace: at that spot it had
faded away from his view. What had been the cause of this?
Back again he went to the great fireplace and examined it carefully.
The very reading of the old romances to which he had attributed this
apparition now served to give him a valuable suggestion; for,
according to those important writings, wherever there is a ghost
there is also a mysterious subterranean passage, or secret chamber,
or concealed door. It was for this that Harry now searched, to see if
any of the machinery of the castle of Udolpho might be found existing
in a castle in Spain.
He looked all over the floor, but found nothing. He examined the back
and the sides of the fireplace, but nothing was visible save the
stony surface, which everywhere had the same massive exterior. At
length his attention was arrested by those stones already mentioned
which projected one above the other from the side of the chimney. At
first it seemed to him as though they might be movable, for he was on
the lookout for movable stones or secret doors, which might slide
away in the "Udolpho" fashion and disclose secret passages or hidden
chambers. He therefore tried each of these in various ways, but found
them all alike, fixed and immovable.
But now, as he stood trying the topmost stone, with his torch held
aloft, the glare of the light shone upon the sides of the chimney and
disclosed that very opening which Russell had already discovered. At
first he thought that it might be a side flue, or a ventilator, or a
contrivance to help the draught; but immediately after, the thought
flashed upon him that the mysterious figure might be concealed here.
In an instant he began to clamber up the stones, full of eager
excitement. On reaching the top he found, to his amazement, that he
was in a deep niche which ran into the wall several feet, and was
high enough for him to stand in. Into this he peered eagerly,
thinking that he might discover his mysterious visitant, but he saw
nothing. But as he thus stood gazing into the niche with sharpest
scrutiny, he saw something white lying on the floor only a few feet
from him. He stooped forward and picked it up. It was a parcel,
wrapped up in stiff paper, about twelve inches long, six wide, and
one in thickness. It was evidently a collection of documents of some
sort. Full of wonder at this strange discovery, Harry now forgot all
about the mysterious apparition, and thought no more about the
strangeness of the place where he was. He was only eager to learn the
contents of the package, and to investigate them without being seen.
Although he did not believe that any eye could behold him in that
dark recess, yet he felt afraid, nevertheless, that some spy might be
lurking near--some one like his late visitant--and therefore he
descended once more to the room, where he felt safer. Here, after
going all around, and peering out of every window, and looking also
and listening at the door, he felt satisfied that he was unobserved.
He now went into a corner of the room at the head of the bed and
knelt down, facing the corner in such a way that he could conceal the
package while examining it. Here, with eager hands, he tore it open,
and the contents lay before him.
These contents consisted of a number of printed documents, all folded
up so as to be of uniform size. One of these he took up and opened.
It was in Spanish, with formidable flourishing signatures and immense
seal. One glance was enough to show him what it was. It was a bond,
in which the Spanish Government offered to pay one thousand pounds
English sterling money at the end of thirty years, to the bearer; and
at the bottom was a great array of coupons for semi-annual interest
on the above, the rate of interest being six per cent., and
consequently each coupon being for thirty pounds.
A great light now flashed in upon Harry's mind. Hastily he counted
the documents, and found them to be thirty in number. The amount
represented was therefore thirty thousand pounds. He understood it
all. This was Katie's money, of which he had heard. Russell had been
carrying it about his person, as he had said, and had been afraid of
losing it. He had refused to make Harry his confidant as to his
intentions. He had found out that niche somehow, and had hidden there
the precious package. It was all Katie's, and had now by a strange
chance fallen into his own hands. It struck Harry as at once very
strange, and very pleasant, that all Katie's fortune should thus be
placed in his care, and that he had thus become its guardian. He
remembered all that Ashby had said about Russell's designs to obtain
Katie's money for himself; and although he had not altogether
believed Ashby, still he thought that the money was all the safer
from being out of Russell's possession. Russell was not altogether
trustworthy, while he himself would be loyal in this trust, and guard
it with his heart's-blood.
At length he once more folded up the papers, and then, as he held the
package in his hands, there arose the great and important
question--what was he to do with it? To carry it about on his person
was, of course, not to be thought of. He had already been examined
once, and had no security that he would not be examined again. This
made it necessary to find some place where they might be concealed
until it should be safe to reclaim them. As for concealment, it could
not be found in the room. He could not thrust it into the straw of
the bed, for it would be sure to be found. Since he had been here the
bed had already been examined twice. There remained, then, only the
chimney, and to this place he once more directed his steps in search
of a place of concealment.
He climbed up and advanced a few paces to the end of the niche. On
reaching this he found, to his amazement, that it was not a niche,
but a passage-way which ran on for so long a distance that, as he
peered down into it, he could see no end. This passage-way served
also to lessen the mystery of his late visitant. He now thought that
this visitant had been one of the Carlist band, who had come in,
while he was asleep, on a reconnoitring expedition. Yet, however this
may have been, it did not prevent him from searching for a place of
concealment in this passage-way. It might not be a good place, the
hidden documents might still be liable to discovery, yet it was the
only place, and so there was no choice in the matter.
As Harry looked along this passage-way he came to a huge projecting
stone, which seemed as though it had been dislodged in some way. So
large was this stone, and so peculiar was its dislocation, that Harry
could only think of an earthquake as an adequate cause. It was about
eight feet in length by four feet in height, and one end jutted
forth, while the other end was sunken in, behind the surface of the
wall, in a corresponding manner. At the end where the stone jutted
out there was a crevice a few inches in width, which seemed well
adapted for a place of concealment, and upon this he at once decided.
But to prevent the possibility of discovery it was necessary to
thrust the package far in, while at the same time it must be arranged
in such a way that it could be drawn forth again. This could be done
by means of the string with which it was bound up. This he took off,
and tying one end to the package, he thrust it into the crevice as
far as he could, quite out of sight, leaving the end of the string
hanging out about one inch, in such a way that it was discernible to
no one except himself.
[Illustration: "He Stooped Forward And Picked It Up."]