Engineer Boraeus on his daily stroll to the pier could not fail to
notice the crowds that always gathered nowadays around the little
old man from Ruffluck Croft. Jan did not have to sit all by himself
any more and while away the long, dreary hours in silent musings,
as he had done during the summer. Instead, all who waited for the
boat went up to him to hear him tell what would happen on the
homecoming of the Empress, more especially when she stepped ashore
here, at the Borg landing. Every time Engineer Boraeus went by he
heard about the crown of gold the Empress would wear on her hair
and the gold flowers that would spring into bloom on tree and bush
the instant she set foot on land.
One day, late in October, about three months after Jan of Ruffluck
had first proclaimed the tidings of Glory Goldie's rise to royal
honours, the engineer saw an uncommonly large gathering of people
around the little old man. He intended to pass by with a curt
greeting, as usual, but changed his mind and stopped to see what
was going on.
At first glance he found nothing out of the ordinary, Jan was
seated upon one of the waiting stones, as usual, looking very
solemn and important. Beside him sat a tall, thin woman, who was
talking so fast and excitedly that the words fairly spurted out of
her mouth; she shook her head and snapped her eyes, her body
bending forward all the while so that by the time she had finished
speaking her face was on a level with the ground.
Engineer Boraeus immediately recognized the woman as Mad Ingeborg.
At first he could not make out what she was saying, so he turned to
a man in the crowd and asked him what all this was about.
"She's begging him to arrange for her to accompany the Empress to
Portgallia, when Her Royal Highness returns thither," the man
explained. "She has been talking to him about this for a good while
now, but he won't make her any promises."
Then the engineer had no difficulty in following the colloquy. But
what he heard did not please him, and, as he listened, the wrinkle
between his eyebrows deepened and reddened.
Here sat the only person in the world, save Jan himself, who
believed in the wonders of Portugallia, yet she was denied the
pleasure of a trip there. The poor old soul knew that in that
kingdom there was no poverty and no hunger, neither were there any
rude people who made fun of unfortunates, nor any children who
pursued lone, helpless wanderers and cast stones at them. In that
land reigned only peace, and all years were good years. So thither
she longed to be taken--away from the anguish and misery of her
wretched existence. She wept and pleaded, employing every argument
she could think of, but "No," and again "No" was the only answer
she got.
And he who turned a deaf ear to her prayers was one who had
sorrowed and yearned for a whole year. A few months ago, when his
heart was still athrob with life, perhaps he would not have said no
to her pleadings; but now at a time when everything seemed to be
prospering with him, his heart had become hardened. Even the
outward appearance of the man showed that a great change had taken
place within. He had acquired plump cheeks, a double chin, and a
heavy black moustache. His eyes bulged from their sockets, and
there was a cold fixed stare about them. His nose, too, looked more
prominent than of yore and had taken on a more patrician mold. His
hair seemed to be entirely gone; not one hair stuck out from under
the leather cap.
The engineer had kept an eye on the man from the day of their first
talk in the summer. It was no longer an intense yearning that made
Jan haunt the pier. Now he hardly glanced toward the boat. He came
only to meet people who humoured his mania, who called him
"Emperor" just for the sport of hearing him sing and narrate his
wild fancies.
But why be annoyed at that? thought the engineer. The man was a
lunatic of course. But perhaps the madness need never have become
so firmly fixed as it was then. If some one had ruthlessly yanked
Jan of Ruffluck down off his imperial throne in the beginning
possibly he could have been saved.
The engineer flashed the man a challenging glance. Jan looked
condescendingly regretful, but remained adamant as before.
In that fine land of Portugallia there were only princes and
generals, to be sure--only richly dressed people. Mad Ingeborg in
her old cotton headshawl and her knit jacket would naturally be out
of place there. But Heavenly Father! the engineer actually thought--
Engineer Boraeus looked just then as if he would have liked to
give Jan a needed lesson, but he only shrugged his shoulders. He
knew he was not the right person for that, and would simply make
bad worse. Quietly withdrawing from the crowd, he walked down to
the end of the pier just as the boat hove into view from behind the
nearest point.