THE CAPTURE OF GABRIEL
Ravone was handsome in his borrowed clothes. He was now the clean,
immaculate gentleman instead of the wretched vagabond of the hills. Even
Beverly was surprised at the change in him. His erstwhile sad and
melancholy face was flushed and bright with happiness. The kiss he
bestowed upon the delighted Candace was tender in the extreme. Then,
putting her aside he strode over and gallantly kissed the hand of
Graustark's princess, beaming an ecstatic smile upon the merry Beverly
an instant later.
"Welcome, Prince Dantan," said Yetive, "A thousand times welcome."
"All Graustark is your throne, most glorious Yetive. That is why I have
asked to be presented here and not in the royal hall below," said
Ravone.
"You will wait here with us, then, to hear the good news from our
warden," said the princess. "Send the courier to me," she
commanded. "Such sweet news should be received in the place which is
dearest to me in all Graustark."
The ministers and the lords and ladies of the castle were assembled in
the room when Baron Dangloss appeared with the courier from the
prison. Count Marlanx was missing. He was on his way to the fortress, a
crushed, furious, impotent old man. In his quarters he was to sit and
wait for the blow that he knew could not be averted. In fear and
despair, hiding his pain and his shame, he was racking his brain for
means to lessen the force of that blow. He could withdraw the charges
against Baldos, but he could not soften the words he had said and
written of Beverly Calhoun. He was not troubling himself with fear
because of the adventures in the chapel and passage. He knew too well
how Yetive could punish when her heart was bitter against an evil-doer.
Graustark honored and protected its women.
The warden of the dungeons from which Gabriel had escaped months before
reported to the princess that the prisoner was again in custody. Briefly
he related that a party of men led by Prince Dantan had appeared early
that day bringing the fugitive prince, uninjured, but crazed by rage and
disappointment. They had tricked him into following them through the
hills, intent upon slaying his brother Dantan. There could be no mistake
as to Gabriel's identity. In conclusion, the warden implored her
highness to send troops up to guard the prison in the mountain-side. He
feared an attack in force by Gabriel's army.
"Your highness," said Lorry, "I have sent instructions to Colonel Braze,
requiring him to take a large force of men into the pass to guard the
prison. Gabriel shall not escape again, though all Dawsbergen comes
after him."
"You have but little to fear from Dawsbergen," said Ravone, who was
seated near the princess. Candace at his side. "Messages have been
brought to me from the leading nobles of Dawsbergen, assuring me that
the populace is secretly eager for the old reign to be resumed. Only the
desperate fear of Gabriel and a few of his bloody but loyal advisers
holds them in check. Believe me, Dawsbergen's efforts to release Gabriel
will be perfunctory and halfhearted in the extreme. He ruled like a
madman. It was his intense, implacable desire to kill his brother that
led to his undoing. Will it be strange, your highness, if Dawsbergen
welcomes the return of Dantan in his stead?"
"The story! The story of his capture! Tell us the story," came eagerly
from those assembled. Ravone leaned back languidly, his face tired and
drawn once more, as if the mere recalling of the hardships past was hard
to bear.
"First, your highness, may I advise you and your cabinet to send another
ultimatum to the people of Dawsbergen?" he asked. "This time say to them
that you hold two Dawsbergen princes in your hand. One cannot and will
not be restored to them. The other will be released on demand. Let the
embassy be directed to meet the Duke of Matz, the premier. He is now
with the army, not far from your frontier. May it please your highness,
I have myself taken the liberty of despatching three trusted followers
with the news of Gabriel's capture. The two Bappos and Carl Vandos are
now speeding to the frontier. Your embassy will find the Duke of Matz in
possession of all the facts."
"The Duke of Matz, I am reliably informed, some day is to be
father-in-law to Dawsbergen," smilingly said Yetive. "I shall not wonder
if he responds most favorably to an ultimatum."
Ravone and Candace exchanged glances of amusement, the latter breaking
into a deplorable little gurgle of laughter.
"I beg to inform you that the duke's daughter has disdained the offer
from the crown," said Ravone. "She has married Lieutenant Alsanol, of
the royal artillery, and is as happy as a butterfly. Captain Baldos
could have told you how the wayward young woman defied her father and
laughed at the beggar prince."
"Captain Baldos is an exceedingly discreet person," Beverly
volunteered. "He has told no tales out of school."
"I am reminded of the fact that you gave your purse into my keeping one
memorable day--the day when we parted from our best of friends at
Ganlook's gates. I thought you were a princess, and you did not know
that I understood English. That was a sore hour for us. Baldos was our
life, the heart of our enterprise. Gabriel hates him as he hates his own
brother. Steadfastly has Baldos refused to join us in the plot to seize
Prince Gabriel. He once took an oath to kill him on sight, and I was so
opposed to this that he had to be left out of the final adventures."
"Please tell us how you succeeded in capturing that--your half-brother,"
cried Beverly, forgetting that it was another's place to make the
request. The audience drew near, eagerly attentive.
"At another time I shall rejoice in telling the story in detail. For the
present let me ask you to be satisfied with the statement that we
tricked him by means of letters into the insane hope that he could
capture and slay his half-brother. Captain Baldos suggested the
plan. Had he been arrested yesterday, I feel that it would have
failed. Gabriel was and is insane. We led him a chase through the
Graustark hills until the time was ripe for the final act. His small
band of followers fled at our sudden attack, and he was taken almost
without a struggle, not ten miles from the city of Edelweiss. In his mad
ravings we learned that his chief desire was to kill his brother and
sister and after that to carry out the plan that has long been in his
mind. He was coming to Edelweiss for the sole purpose of entering the
castle by the underground passage, with murder in his heart. Gabriel was
coming to kill the Princess Yetive and Mr. Lorry. He has never forgotten
the love he bore for the princess, nor the hatred he owes his rival. It
was the duty of Captain Baldos to see that he did not enter the passage
in the event that he eluded us in the hills."
Later in the day the Princess Yetive received from the gaunt, hawkish
old man in the fortress a signed statement, withdrawing his charges
against Baldos the guard. Marlanx did not ask for leniency; it was not
in him to plead. If the humble withdrawal of charges against Baldos
could mitigate the punishment he knew Yetive would impose, all well and
good. If it went for naught, he was prepared for the worst. Down there
in his quarters, with wine before him, he sat and waited for the end. He
knew that there was but one fate for the man, great or small, who
attacked a woman in Graustark. His only hope was that the princess might
make an exception in the case of one who had been the head of the
army--but the hope was too small to cherish.
Baldos walked forth a free man, the plaudits of the people in his
ears. Baron Dangloss and Colonel Quinnox were beside the tall guard as
he came forward to receive the commendations and apologies of
Graustark's ruler and the warm promises of reward from the man he
served.
He knelt before the two rulers who were holding court on the
veranda. The cheers of nobles, the shouts of soldiery, the exclamations
of the ladies did not turn his confident head. He was the born knight.
The look of triumph that he bestowed upon Beverly Calhoun, who lounged
gracefully beside the stone balustrade, brought the red flying to her
cheeks. He took something from his breast and held it gallantly to his
lips, before all the assembled courtiers. Beverly knew that it was a
faded rose!