IN WHICH, AFTER A SERIES OF SURPRISES, "HIS MAJESTY" GETS THE
GREATEST SURPRISE OF ALL.
Return must now be made to the castle and the two young men whose
duel had been interrupted. Captured thus, they stood for a time quite
overwhelmed, their intense excitement now followed by a violent
reaction, in the midst of which there was the appalling thought of
the consequences which might flow from this. For Ashby to be found in
Harry's room would surely lead to the discovery of everything--the
secret passage-way, the sliding-door, and, perhaps, their visits to
the ladies. Each one thought of this for himself. Each one had
believed that the Carlists did not know about the secret passages.
But now all was over.
"Well," continued "His Majesty," speaking in Spanish, "business
before pleasure. We will examine you both about this tomorrow. For
the present we will leave a guard in this room. Meanwhile, Senor
Rivers, you may hand over that pistol; or stay--no--you have put it
to such a noble use that you may keep it: one pistol against six men
need not be feared. And now, gentlemen, adieu till to-morrow."
With these words "His Majesty" retired, securing the door behind him,
and Harry and Ashby were left with the guards. They stood apart from
one another, pale, anxious, and each wrapped up in his own thoughts.
For all that had happened each blamed the other, and thus their
mutual hate was only intensified.
The cause of "His Majesty's" appearance upon the scene can be easily
explained. He had been greatly troubled in his mind by the "ghost" in
Mrs. Russell's room, and could not account for it. He had not thought
of any secret communication, for, being a comparative stranger here,
he had not known of any. Thinking, however, that he might get some
light on the subject, he had wandered to the door of Harry's room,
and there the sound of voices had arrested his attention. Knowing
that Harry was placed there in solitary confinement, he felt that the
clue to the mystery might now be here; and so, gathering half a dozen
men, he had come in upon them as above described.
Leaving this room, "His Majesty" now went once more to the room of
Mrs. Russell, in the hope of gaining more light yet. Upon entering,
he was once more nearly overthrown by the impetuous onslaught of the
irrepressible Mrs. Russell, who, at this new and unexpected advent of
her royal lover, overwhelmed herself and everybody else with her
joyous vociferations. This, however, "His Majesty" endured with truly
royal dignity, tempering kindness with firmness, and dealing gently
with her weak woman's nature. Katie was there, but the royal eye, on
wandering about, noticed the absence of Dolores.
"Whativer's become av the senorita?" he asked.
Mrs. Russell gave a startled look around.
"What! Where is she? She's gone!" she screamed; "she's gone! Oh, Your
Gracious Majesty, the ghost! the ghost! Save me!"
"Whisht! Howld yer tung!" said "His Majesty." "The ghost, is it? So
he's come an' carried off the senorita! Well, I've found the ghost."
"Found the ghost!" gasped Mrs. Russell.
"Mesilf has. Begorra, it's the truth I'm tellin'. Do ye know his
name?"
"His name!" gasped Mrs. Russell, once more thinking of her late
terrible fancy.
"Yis, his name; ye can't guess it? No? Well, I'll tell yez. It's
Ashby."
"Ashby! Mr. Ashby!" cried Mrs. Russell. "Why! how could he get here?"
"Oh, well," said "His Majesty," "he did get here, an' that's no loie.
How he got here I'll find out to-morrer. But he did get here, an'
he's been here since, an' by the same token he's sperited off the
senorita. But there's two av thim."
"Two of them!" repeated Mrs. Russell, in wonder.
"Ay, two av thim; an' the other's that young blade Rivers!"
Katie, thus far, had not said a word. She heard of the discovery of
Ashby with surprise, but with no deeper feeling. The moment, however,
that the name of Rivers was mentioned, she gave a gasp, and her head
fell forward on her hands.
"His Majesty" noticed the action. He put his own interpretation upon
it. But he said not a word that had any reference to it; he was too
cautious for that. And surely in this "His Majesty" showed a skill
and a discrimination which was most politic, and well worthy of the
royal ruler of millions. More than this. One glance showed him how
the land lay with Katie; so our monarch, not content with abstaining
from all further allusion to Harry, actually carried his
complaisance--or, if you please, his diplomacy--so far as to try to
appease all possible anxieties that might arise in Katie's mind.
"Shure the two lads meant no harrum at all at all," said "His
Majesty." "They happened to find a way to get here, an' they came
here, an' begorra they'd have been fools if they didn't. Shure to
glory, there's no harrum in life in comin' here on a bit av a visit.
An' there's no wondher that a young man 'ud come here, wid such
charrums as these to invoite him. Shure it 'ud be enough to call the
dead back to loife, so it would. An' if they've run off wid the
senorita, all I can say is, they can't go far, an' the senorita'll
have to come back agin, so she will:
"'Tis to visit my Nancy I go,
Through bushes au' briers an' flucis;
For Nancy has bothered me brains,
An' I've taken French lave av me sinsis.'"
"And wasn't there any ghost at all?" asked Mrs. Russell, to whom this
information had given inexpressible relief.
"Well," said "His Majesty, "there's no knowin'; an' it's best to be
on yer gyard, so it is, for sorra a one av us knows whin a ghost may
be prowlin' round about, an' there ye have it. As for the other
ghosts, Ashby an' Rivers, they won't do yez any more harruum--they're
undher gyard."
"Under guard!" said Katie, and threw an imploring look at "His
Majesty." It was almost the first time that he had fairly caught her
eye, so dexterously had she always avoided his glance.
"Well," said "His Majesty," "they're none the worse for that--not a
bit. Av all r'y'l atthributes none is so thruly majistic as the
atthributes av mercy, an' makeniss, an' magnanimeetee. These are the
shuprame atthributes av r'y'lty, an' iminintly characterize our own
r'y'l chyracter, so they does. So the young lads may whistle for all
av me--an' sorra a harrum shall harrum thim."
At this Katie threw toward "His Majesty" a glance of gratitude
unspeakable, which sank deep into the royal soul.
"An' now, ladies," said he, "I must infarrum yez that afther the
ayvints av this noight I doesn't considher this room safe for yez at
all at all. Shure it's loike a public thoroughfare, an' it's a
gathering-place an' rendezvous for min an' angils, ghosts an'
hobgoblins, an' all manner av ayvil craytures. So the long an' the
short av it is, I have to infarrum yez that I'm going to move yez out
av this the morrer, an' have yez put in another room where there
won't be nothin' in loife to harrum yez, where ye'll have more
comfort comboined with safety thin ye've had here."
This remark made Katie reflect. The worst had already happened--the
discovery and arrest of Harry. After that she could not hope to see
him again. She did not wish to leave the room; but as Harry's visits
were now at an end, she could not see that it would make any
difference. But Mrs. Russell had a great deal to say.
"Oh, how grateful!" she cried, in her most gushing manner. "Oh, how
deeply grateful I am to Your Gracious Majesty! It's so kind, so
thoughtful, so considerate, and so true. Oh, what can I ever say or
do to express my gratitude? Only, Your Gracious Majesty, do not leave
me now! Leave me not--oh, forsake me not! This room is a place of
horrors. It is a haunted chamber. When you are here, I have no fear;
but when you are gone, then I am overwhelmed. Oh, Your Gracious
Majesty, forsake me not! Leave me not! Oh, leave me not,
or--I--shall--die!"
Against such an appeal as this the gallantry of "His Majesty" was
scarcely proof.
He threw a tender glance at Katie, which, however, was not perceived,
and then said:
"Shure to glory, if it's afeared ye are, why that's a different
matther, so it is. I didn't intind to move yez away this noight; but
if yez are afeared, why there's no raison in loife why yez shouldn't
go off now to the other room."
"Oh, take me away!" cried Mrs. Russell; "take me away, Your Royal
Majesty--take me with you!"
"Shure it's mesilf that'll take both av yez, if ye wish it, whiniver
ye say the worrud," said "His Majesty." "An' remimber, there's the
crown av Spain, an' the power, an' the glory, an' the dignity, an'
the pomp, an' the splindor av the Spanish throne, all to be had wid a
wink av one av your lovely eyes, so it is. Remimber that."
"Ah, sire!" said Mrs. Russell, languishingly. "Oh, Your Gracious
Majesty! Ah, what shall I say?"
She had taken it all to herself, and in the most open way; while
Katie didn't take it at all. "His Majesty" saw this, and determined
to be more direct.
"Well," said he, "ye see--"
But at this moment a wild yell sounded forth from without, with
sudden and appalling fury. It burst upon their ears, from the
stillness of midnight, with terrific violence, chilling the very
blood in their veins. Then came the rush of heavy feet, the clatter
of swords, the explosion of firearms, the shouts of many voices:
"Hurrah for the Republic!"
"Down with the Carlists!"
Mrs. Russell gave a long, piercing yell, which drowned every other
sound, and flung herself into "His Majesty's" arms.
"His Majesty" tore himself away.
"What's that?" he cried. "It's an insurrection av the populace, so it
is. We'll so off an' mate thim."
With these words he rushed out of the room.
The ladies were left alone, and listened in terror to the uproar. Up
from every side there came the shouts of men, the tramp of rushing
feet, the clangor of trumpets, and the thunder of firearms. Far on
high from the battlemented roof; far down from the vaulted cellars;
without, from the courtyards; within, from unseen chambers, came the
uproar of fighting-men. There was a wild rush forward, and another
fierce rush backward; now all the conflict seemed to sway on one
side, now on another; at one time the congregated sounds would all
gather apparently in one central point, then this would burst and
break, and with a wild explosion all the castle, in every part, would
be filled with universal riot. Then came the clang of arms, the
volleying of guns, the trampling of feet, the hurrying, the
struggling, the panting, the convulsive screaming of a multitude of
men in the fierce, hot agony of battle.
In the midst of this the door was flung open, and "His Majesty" burst
into the room. His apparel was all disordered; his face and hands
were blackened with powder and stained with blood. He appeared to
have been in the thickest of the fight. He burst in, and instantly
banging to the door, he fastened it on the inside.
"We're betrayed!" he cried. "It's the inimy! We'll be captured! We'll
be executed! All's lost!"
At this Mrs. Russell flung herself into the royal arms. "His Majesty"
had by this time grown so accustomed to this that he accepted it with
resignation as part of the misfortunes of the hour, and merely heaved
a sigh.
But they were roused by thunderous blows upon the door. Massive
though that door was, it would soon be beaten in by such blows as
those.
"We're lost!" cried "His Majesty." "Is there any way out? Shure some
av yez know," he asked, eagerly. "Ye know," he said, earnestly, to
Katie, "the way--the way _he_ came--Rivers!"
"His Majesty's" position was desperate. At such an appeal Katie could
not be unmoved.
"Save me! Show me the way," repeated "His Majesty."
Katie said nothing. She hurried toward the fireplace. "His Majesty"
followed. Mrs. Russell still clung to the royal person.
Katie pointed up the steps to the opening.
"Is it there?--begorra, mesilf never knowed it or suspected it."
He seized a torch that lay in the fireplace, and sprang up into the
opening. Then he lighted it.
"Aren't you going to take me, Your Sacred Majesty? Oh, leave me not!"
"Be jabers!" cried "His Majesty," "I'll baffle thim yet: yis,
ladies--I'll help yez--come along, thin."
Mrs. Russell came first; Katie then followed. Katie's motive in
following was nothing in particular, but several in general. In the
first place, she was afraid of the fighting-men bursting into the
room; in the second place, she naturally clung to the fortunes of her
auntie; and, finally, she had a vague idea of meeting with Harry.
Thus the two ladies followed, while "His Majesty" went ahead,
carrying the torch.
At length he came to a place where the stone opened into the
passage-way. It had been left open by Ashby. This place seemed to
"His Majesty" to lead in a more favorable direction, and accordingly
he turned in here. Then he descended the steps, and finally reached
an opening. He stood here and listened. The room below seemed empty.
He descended, requesting the ladies to wait a few moments. On
reaching the room, he perceived that it was closed. The door had not
been opened.
Ashby was not there, of course, as "His Majesty" knew; but "His
Majesty" was not a little surprised at seeing Dolores. There was no
chance for her to hide, so she stood looking at him. But her face was
pale, and sad, and frightened.
Before a word could be said, Mrs. Russell scrambled down, and came
clinging to "His Majesty." Katie followed, and, in great amazement,
saw Dolores. She at once ran up to her, put her arms around her, and
kissed her.
"I might accuse this senorita of high-traison," said "His Majesty,"
"but what's the use?"
"Oh, sire, spare her!" said Mrs. Russell. "Remember that mercy is
majesty's darling attribute."
"Bedad it is," said "His Majesty." "Who iver says it isn't? And you,
senorita," said "His Majesty" to Dolores, in Spanish--"you seem to
know the secret ways here."
"Yes."
"Why did you come here?"
"I fled here."
"His Majesty" smiled.
"Oh, I understand; but don't fear me. I wouldn't harm you--though
this does look like treason. Still, answer me frankly, do you know
any other secret passages?"
"I know them all."
"Will you help me to escape?"
Dolores hesitated.
"You need not hesitate; if you don't help me I'll kill you. No, I
won't kill you--I'll kill Ashby. He's in the hands of six of my
guards. I've only to give the word, and he'll be shot. Quick,
now--what do you say?"
"Will you let me go free?" asked Dolores.
"Well," said "His Majesty," "under the circumstances, I think I will
consent to let you go free. Oh yes; only show me the way out, and you
may do as you choose."
"Then I will show you," said Dolores. "But, first, will you tell me
in what room Senor Ashby is confined?"
"No," said "His Majesty;" "get me out first, and then I will let you
know all you wish."
"Very well," said Dolores.
She led the way up into the passage which they had left. Mrs. Russell
followed close upon "His Majesty's" heels. As for Katie, she did not
move.
Follow? Why should she? It was quiet here, and the immediate fear of
the armed men no longer impelled her away. Should she leave the
castle? Not she. The castle seemed to be captured by some enemy. This
enemy must be the soldiers of the government. In that case she ought
by all means to stay. Besides, she knew that Harry was still here,
and to escape without him was not to be thought of.
The consequence was that Katie remained behind. It was very dark; but
that made no difference, as she had grown accustomed to the darkness
since she had come here. True, the moonbeams glimmered through the
narrow windows, but the greater part of the room was sunk in gloom.
She thought for a moment of trying to persuade her "Auntie" to
remain; but the next instant she reflected upon the infatuation of
"Auntie" about "His Majesty," and concluded that it would be useless
to say a word. And therefore "Auntie" went off, leaving Katie alone,
seeking the crown of Spain, and the throne, and sceptre, and power,
might, dominion, pomp, splendor, and majesty--will-o'-the-wisps all
of them, my beloved readers, in search of which I'm afraid poor
"Auntie" will come to grief.
Dolores led the way, followed thus by "His Majesty" and "Auntie." At
the top they came to the stone door-way, which was still open. This
Dolores closed carefully.
Then she pressed against a stone which was on the opposite side of
the chamber. It yielded, and opened in just like the other. Passing
through, they all found themselves in a chamber like the last, only
it ran in a different direction. Here Dolores closed this door as
carefully as before.
From this chamber another passage-way led. It is not necessary to
detail here the way by which Dolores led them. Suffice it to say that
it was long, tortuous, and constantly descending by means of many
steps. Several stone doors had to be opened.
To one less familiar than Dolores, all passage through would have
been impossible, and "His Majesty" came to the conclusion that he
could never find his way back, if ever he wanted to come. He said as
much to Dolores.
"It's easy to learn," said she. "The plan on which it is arranged is
so simple that a child can understand it when once it is explained;
but you never could find it out for yourself."
"Very likely," said "His Majesty." "It's the way with most riddles."
They continued on, until at last they came to a place at which
Dolores, after pushing the rock, stood and listened. There was a
sound, outside, of rushing water.
Then, pushing at the rock again, it opened. The torch-light shining
out disclosed a cavern, at the mouth of which this passage-way thus
opened. A brook bubbled along in front. Opposite was a precipice.
Above was the sky, where the moon shone. They were at the bottom of
the deep chasm.