The whistle sounded at last, the train began to glide slowly away from
the almost deserted platform. But at the last moment a man came
running through the booking-office, and made for one of the
compartments. He tugged at the handle, wrenched it open, and was
preparing for a flying leap when an inspector seized him. There was an
altercation, a violent struggle--the man was left upon the platform.
Reist drew a long breath of relief as he settled down in his corner.
"The way these things are managed in England," he said, "it is
excellent."
Ughtred shrugged his shoulders. Reist had been dumb for the last
half-hour, and he was puzzled.
"Will you tell me now," he asked, "the meaning of it all?"
"The meaning of it all is--Hassen!" Reist answered. "How long have you
known him?"
"We fought together in Abyssinia," Ughtred answered, "and I found him
always a capital soldier and a pleasant companion."
"Did you ever ask him where he learnt his soldiering?"
"Once--yes!"
"Did he tell you?"
"I do not think that he did. He told me frankly enough that he had no
past--that it was not to be referred to. There were others like that
in the campaign, men who had secrets to bury, men who sought
forgetfulness, even that forgetfulness which a bullet brings. We were
a strange company enough. But the fighting was good."
"And since then you have met him again in England?"
"I met him at a little fencing-academy six months ago, and since then
we have fenced together continually. But for your recognition of him I
should have written him down as harmless."
A spot of colour burned in Reist's cheek. He ground his heel into the
mat.
"Harmless! He! A Turk! A Russian spy! A double-dealing rogue. Sword in
hand I have chased him through the Kurdistan valley all one night, and
if I had caught him then Russia would have lost a tool and the Sultan
a traitorous soldier. He holds still, although an absentee, a high
command in the Turkish army, and all the while he is in the pay of
Russia. Prince Alexis knows of my mission to you by now, and if we
reach Theos we are lucky, for I do not think that a Tyrnaus upon the
throne of Theos would suit Russia at all."
"I may seem stupid," Ughtred said, seriously, "but it is necessary
that I should understand these things. Why should Russia object so
much to my reinstatement upon the throne of my fathers? Surely of all
the nations of Europe one would expect from her the least sympathy
with a democratic form of government."
"Russia is above all sympathies or antipathies," Reist answered,
bitterly. "She is the most self-centred, the most absolutely selfish
nation on earth. The present state of turmoil in Theos is owing
largely to the efforts of Muscovite secret agents. Russia desires a
weak Theos. She wants to stand behind the government and pull the
strings. It is she whom we have most to fear now."
Ughtred lit a cigar and leaned back in his corner. He was still in his
evening clothes, and he looked doubtfully at the window-panes
streaming with rain.
"Neither Russia nor her agents can interfere with us on neutral soil,"
he remarked. "I wish, Reist, that you had let me send for my bag. I
shall be a very dilapidated object by the time we reach the frontier."
"My wardrobe," Reist answered, "is at your service immediately we are
upon the boat. I am smaller than you, but I have some things which may
be useful. Now I will tell you something which will help to explain my
haste. When first I saw Hassen and Prince Alexis together I understood
that we must change our plans, and I sent for your bag. Your rooms
were then being watched front and back. My servant bribed a postman to
go to your door and ask for you. He discovered that a gentleman was
already in your rooms waiting for you. They are very much in earnest,
these people, my Prince. It will need all our wit to reach Theos."
"We will reach it, though," Ughtred said, softly. "We are on our
guard, and there can be no means of forcibly detaining us. In a
quarter of an hour we shall be at Dover."
Reist nodded. He was examining the chambers of a revolver which he had
drawn from the pocket of a loose ulster.
"Let us remember," he said, "to avoid all strangers and to speak to
no one unless compelled. We know nothing of Theos. We are returning to
Budapesth, and, Prince Ughtred, there is a revolver in the pocket of
your coat also, not for use but for show. We must not be led into a
disturbance with any one. Mind, it is the policy of every one to
detain us if once the object of our journey is known. In Germany we
shall not be safe, in Austria every moment will be perilous. But once
across the frontier nothing will avail. I had news from Theos this
morning. The people are on fire for your coming."
The train slackened speed. The lights of Dover flashed out on either
side. They drew up at the town station and waited there for some
minutes. Reist let down the window and addressed a porter.
"Why do we not go on to the harbour?" he asked. "We are already late."
"There is a special coming in just behind you, sir," the man answered.
"We shall send you both along together."
Reist thanked him and turned to Ughtred with a little laugh.
"So we are to have a travelling companion," he remarked, dryly. "Our
friends are not to be caught asleep. We must watch for the occupant of
this special train. We shall know then against whom we have to be upon
our guard."
They moved slowly on again. Behind them was an engine and a single
carriage. Reist let down both windows, and a fresh salt wind blew in
upon their faces. In a few moments they were at the landing-stage.
Reist leaped lightly out, and Ughtred followed him. Opposite was the
gangway leading to the steamer, through which a little crowd of
passengers were already elbowing their way. They lingered on its
outskirts and watched the single carriage drawn by the second engine.
It drew up within a few feet of them, and a tall, fair young man
handed out his portmanteau to one of the porters and leisurely
descended on to the platform. Ughtred recognized him with a little
exclamation of surprise.
"Why, it's Brand!"
He would have moved forward but for Reist's restraining arm.
"Wait! Who is he?"
"A newspaper man," Ughtred answered. "An honest fellow and a friend. I
will answer for him."
"He was at your rooms with Hassen," Reist said, quickly. "I would
trust no one whom I had seen with that man. Let him pass. We will
follow him on board."
But it was too late. Brand possessed the quick, searching gaze of a
journalist, and already, with a little start of surprise, he had
recognized them.
"Erlito," he exclaimed. "What luck!"
Erlito shook hands with him, laughing. They turned towards the boat
together.
"Have you become a millionaire, my friend," he asked, "that you must
travel in special trains?"
Brand shook his head.
"Personally," he remarked, "I am in my usual lamentable state of
impecuniosity. Nevertheless, for the moment I am representing wealth
illimitable. That is to say, I am in harness again."
Reist looked askance at them both. He did not understand. Ughtred was
suddenly grave.
"I must ask you where you are going," he said. "There is no rumour of
war, is there?"
Brand hesitated.
"Speaking broadly," he answered, "I have no right to tell you. But the
circumstances of our meeting are peculiar. To tell you the truth, I am
bound for Theos."
Reist's face was dark with anger--Ughtred's blank with amazement.
Brand hastened to explain.
"The Duke of Reist," he said, "probably does not understand my
position. I am a special correspondent to the _Daily Courier_. They
send me at a moment's notice to any place where interesting events are
likely to happen. Our chief has been studying the aspect of things in
Theos, and half-an-hour ago I had my route. It was the same, Erlito,
when I travelled with you to Abyssinia!"
Ughtred nodded thoughtfully.
"That is true," he remarked. "Reist, I am sure that we can trust Mr.
Brand. He is not in league with any of those who would hinder us upon
our journey."
"That may be so," Reist answered, "but he knows too much for our
safety. There must be an understanding between us. A single paragraph
in his newspaper to-morrow as to our journey, and we shall have as
much chance of reaching the moon as Theos."
Brand, who was writing upon a telegraph-form, paused at once. They
were on the side of the steamer, remote from the bustle of departure,
and almost alone.
"There is likely to be trouble, then, on the frontier, or before?" he
inquired. "You have opponents?"
"So much so," Reist answered, fiercely, "that if we were in Theos now,
and you talked of filling the newspapers with idle gossip of us and
our affairs, we should not stop to argue the matter with you."
Brand laughed softly.
"I don't want to do you any harm," he said. "We must compromise
matters."
Reist misunderstood him.
"An affair of money," he exclaimed. "I understand. We will give your
paper one, two hundred pounds, to make no mention of Theos for a
week."
Brand glanced at Ughtred with twinkling eyes.
"The special train which brought me here cost more than that, I am
afraid," he said. "Believe me, Duke, it is not a matter of money at
all. The proprietors of my paper are millionaires. What they want is
information. When I spoke of a compromise I meant something entirely
different."
"Perhaps you had better explain exactly what you mean," Reist said,
curtly. "I do not understand this Western journalism. It is new to
me."
Brand nodded.
"Good!" he said. "You want to keep this journey secret until you are
safe in Theos. Very well, I will send no message to my people until
you give me leave. Only you must supply me then with exclusive
information. And you must see that I am the first to cable it from
your country."
"That is an agreement," Reist answered, solemnly. "If you will keep to
that I am satisfied."
They were already in the Channel. A wave broke over the bows of the
vessel, drenching them with spray. Brand led the way down-stairs.
"Since we are to be fellow-passengers," he said, "let us drink to our
prosperous journey--and Theos."
Reist touched Ughtred's arm upon the stairs.
"He is to be trusted, this friend of yours?" he whispered, anxiously.
"Implicitly," Ughtred answered, with emphasis.
"Then we are very fortunate," Reist said, "for it is such a man as
this whom we wanted."