THE END OF THE QUARREL.
About a quarter of an hour after Lieutenant Tiro had escaped along the
telegraph-wires, the attack on the palace was renewed with vigour. It
seemed, moreover, that the rebels had found a new leader, for they
displayed considerable combination in their tactics. The firing
increased on all sides. Then, under cover of their musketry, the enemy
debouched simultaneously from several streets, and, rushing down the
great avenue, delivered a general assault. The garrison fired steadily
and with effect, but there were not enough bullets to stop the
advancing crowds. Many fell, but the rest pressed on impetuously and
found shelter under the wall of the courtyard. The defenders,
realising they could no longer hold this outer line of defence, fell
back to the building itself, where they maintained themselves among the
great pillars of the entrance, and for some time held the enemy's fire
in check by shooting accurately at all those who put their heads over
the wall or exposed themselves. Gradually, however, the rebels, by
their great numbers, gained the supremacy in the fire-fight, and the
defenders in their turn found it dangerous to show themselves to shoot.
The musketry of the attack grew heavier, while that of the defence
dwindled. The assailants now occupied the whole of the outer wall, and
at length completely silenced the fire of the surviving adherents of
the Government. Twenty rifles were discharged at any head that showed;
yet they showed a prudent respect for these determined men, and gave no
chances away. Under cover of their fire, and of the courtyard wall,
they brought up the field-gun with which the gate had been broken in,
and from a range of a hundred yards discharged it at the palace. The
shell smashed through the masonry, and burst in the great hall.
Another followed, passing almost completely through the building and
exploding in the breakfast-room on the further side. The curtains,
carpets, and chairs caught fire and began to burn briskly; it was
evident that the defence of the palace was drawing to a close.
Sorrento, who had long schooled himself to look upon all events of war
from a purely professional standpoint, and who boasted that the
military operation he preferred above all others was the organising of
a rearguard from a defeated army, felt that nothing further could be
done. He approached the President.
Molara stood in the great hall where he had lived and ruled for five
years with a bitter look of despair upon his face. The mosaic of the
pavement was ripped and scored by the iron splinters of the shells;
great fragments of the painted roof had fallen to the ground; the
crimson curtains were smouldering; the broken glass of the windows lay
on the floor, and heavy clouds of smoke were curling in from the
further side of the palace. The President's figure and expression
accorded well with the scene of ruin and destruction.
Sorrento saluted with much ceremony. He had only his military code to
believe in, and he took firm hold of that. "Owing, Sir," he began
officially, "to the rebels having brought a gun into action at close
range, it is my duty to inform you that this place has now become
untenable. It will be necessary to capture the gun by a charge, and
expel the enemy from the courtyard."
The President knew what he meant; they should rush out and die
fighting. The agony of the moment was intense; the actual dread of
death was increased by the sting of unsatisfied revenge; he groaned
aloud.
Suddenly a loud shout arose from the crowd. They had seen the smoke of
the fire and knew that the end was at hand. "Molara, Molara, come out!
Dictator," they cried, "come out or burn!"
It often happens that, when men are convinced that they have to die, a
desire to bear themselves well and to leave life's stage with dignity
conquers all other sensations. Molara remembered that, after all, he
had lived famous among men. He had been almost a king. All the eyes
of the world would be turned to the scene about to be enacted; distant
countries would know, distant ages would reflect. It was worth while
dying bravely, since die he must.
He called his last defenders around him. There were but thirty left,
and of these some were wounded. "Gentlemen," he said, "you have been
faithful to the end; I will demand no more sacrifices of you. My death
may appease those wild beasts. I give you back your allegiance, and
authorise you to surrender."
"Never!" said Sorrento.
"It is a military order, Sir," answered the President, and walked
towards the door. He stepped through the shattered woodwork and out on
the broad flight of steps. The courtyard was filled with the crowd.
Molara advanced until he had descended half way; then he paused. "Here
I am," he said. The crowd stared. For a moment he stood there in the
bright sunlight. His dark blue uniform-coat, on which the star of
Laurania and many orders and decorations of foreign countries
glittered, was open, showing his white shirt beneath it. He was
bare-headed and drew himself up to his full height. For a while there
was silence.
Then from all parts of the courtyard, from the wall that overlooked it
and even from the windows of the opposite houses, a ragged fusilade
broke out. The President's head jerked forward, his legs shot from
under him and he fell to the ground, quite limp. The body rolled down
two or three steps and lay twitching feebly. A man in a dark suit of
clothes, and who apparently exercised authority over the crowd,
advanced towards it. Presently there was a single shot.
At the same moment Savrola and his companion, stepping through the
broken gateway, entered the courtyard. The mob gave passage readily,
but in a sullen and guilty silence.
"Keep close to me," said Savrola to the Subaltern. He walked straight
towards the steps which were not as yet invaded by the rebel soldiery.
The officers among the pillars had, with the cessation of the firing,
begun to show themselves; someone waved a handkerchief.
"Gentlemen," cried Savrola in a loud voice, "I call upon you to
surrender. Your lives shall be spared."
Sorrento stepped forward. "By the orders of His Excellency I surrender
the palace and the Government troops who have defended it. I do so on
a promise that their lives shall be safe."
"Certainly," said Savrola. "Where is the President?" Sorrento pointed
to the other side of the steps. Savrola turned and walked towards the
spot.
Antonio Molara, sometime President of the Republic of Laurania, lay on
the three lowest steps of the entrance of his palace, head downwards; a
few yards away in a ring stood the people he had ruled. A man in a
black suit was reloading his revolver; it was Karl Kreutze, the Number
One of the Secret Society. The President had bled profusely from
several bullet-wounds in the body, but it was evident that the _coup de
grâce_ had been administered by a shot in the head. The back and left
side of the skull behind the ear was blown away, and the force of the
explosion, probably at close quarters, had cracked all the bones of the
face so that as the skin was whole, it looked like broken china in a
sponge bag.
Savrola stopped aghast. He looked at the crowd, and they shrank from
his eye; gradually they shuffled back, leaving the sombre-clad man
alone face to face with the great Democrat. A profound hush overspread
the whole mass of men. "Who has committed this murder?" he asked in
low hoarse tones, fixing his glance on the head of the Secret Society.
"It is not a murder," replied the man doggedly; "it is an execution."
"By whose authority?"
"In the name of the Society."
When Savrola had seen the body of his enemy, he was stricken with
horror, but at the same time a dreadful joy convulsed his heart; the
barrier was now removed. He struggled to repress the feeling, and of
the struggle anger was born. Kreutze's words infuriated him. A sense
of maddening irritation shook his whole system. All this must fall on
his name; what would Europe think, what would the world say? Remorse,
shame, pity, and the wicked joy he tried to crush, all fused into
reckless ungovernable passion. "Vile scum!" he cried, and stepping
down he slashed the other across the face with his cane.
The man sprang at his throat on the sudden impulse of intense pain.
But Lieutenant Tiro had drawn his sword; with a strong arm and a hearty
good will he met him with all the sweep of a downward cut, and rolled
him on the ground.
The spring was released, and the fury of the populace broke out. A
loud shout arose. Great as was Savrola's reputation among the
Revolutionaries, these men had known other and inferior leaders more
intimately. Karl Kreutze was a man of the people. His socialistic
writings had been widely read; as the head of the Secret Society he had
certain assured influences to support him, and he had conducted the
latter part of the attack on the palace. Now he had been destroyed
before their eyes by one of the hated officers. The crowd surged
forward shouting in savage anger.
Savrola sprang backwards up the steps. "Citizens, listen to me!" he
cried. "You have won a victory; do not disgrace it. Your valour and
patriotism have triumphed; do not forget that it is for our ancient
Constitution that you have fought." He was interrupted by shouts and
jeers.
"What have I done?" he rejoined. "As much as any here. I too have
risked my life in the great cause. Is there a man here that has a
wound? Let him stand forth, for we are comrades." And for the first
time, with a proud gesture, he lifted his left arm. Tiro perceived the
reason of the start he had given when running the gauntlet in
Constitution Square. The sleeve of his coat was torn and soaked with
blood; the linen of his shirt protruded crimson; his fingers were stiff
and smeared all over.
The impression produced was tremendous. The mob, to whom the dramatic
always appeals with peculiar force, were also swayed by that sympathy
which all men feel for those injured in a common danger. A revulsion
took place. A cheer, faint, at first, but growing louder, rose; others
outside the courtyard, ignorant of the reason, took it up. Savrola
continued.
"Our State, freed from tyranny, must start fair and unsullied. Those
who have usurped undue authority, not derived from the people, shall be
punished, whether they be presidents or citizens. These military
officers must come before the judges of the Republic and answer for
their actions. A free trial is the right of all Lauranians. Comrades,
much has been done, but we have not finished yet. We have exalted
Liberty; it remains to preserve her. These officers shall be lodged in
prison; for you there is other work. The ships are coming back; it is
not yet time to put away the rifles. Who is there will see the matter
through,--to the end?"
A man, with a bloodstained bandage round his head, stepped forward.
"We are comrades," he cried; "shake hands."
Savrola gripped him. He was one of the subordinate officers in the
rebel army, a simple honest man whom Savrola had known slightly for
several months. "I entrust a high duty to you. Conduct these officers
and soldiers to the State Prison; I will send full instructions by a
mounted messenger. Where can you find an escort?" There was no lack
of volunteers. "To the Prison then, and remember that the faith of the
Republic depends on their safety. Forward, Gentlemen," he added,
turning to the surviving defenders of the palace; "your lives are safe,
upon my honour."
"The honour of a conspirator," sneered Sorrento.
"As you like, Sir, but obey."
The party, Tiro alone remaining with Savrola, moved off, surrounded and
followed by many of the crowd. While they did so a dull heavy boom
came up from the sea-front; another and another followed in quick
succession. The fleet had returned at last.