First one and then another retired until finally only the officials,
the foreign diplomats, the Patriots, and a partial representation of
Royalists remained. Gutenborj held his post and at each withdrawal
renewed his activity. The queen rallied with encouragement and turning
directly to the high chamberlain demanded, sharply:
“Order, in the throne room.”
Instantly the confusion ceased, and every man resumed his place.
Wrangling ministers shuffled back to their seats and not one dared
voice a contrary sentiment, though the interim had been spent in
dangerous parley and hostile subterfuge. Their faces alone betrayed a
signal change,--some flushed and excited, others pale and serious,--but
Bender! His countenance revealed not a thought or an emotion. A
colorless skin drew hard round the dark, meaningless eyes that held an
audience keenly subservient to his penetrating thought. No word or act
escaped him, and only the distant rumble of fife and drum disturbed his
withering conscience.
The procession came on, diverting the queen’s attention; yet they had
marched too soon; the soft strains of God Save the Queen rose above
the din of tramp, tramp, tramp; patriotism again stirred the hearts of
those he had betrayed: but there was one whom he understood; he could
trust Kenlikola, appointed to the ministry at his sole solicitation;
Pauahieu, doubtful courtier, knew the way, and only time stood between
the thought and the deed.
Among the many faces there assembled, but one caused the wary minister
of finance the least uneasiness;--Norton was rid of: had her hands full
elsewhere;--Ihoas never lost sight of him; her native wit followed his
every movement, discerned the depth of his feigned plausibility--and
Bender knew it; her presence disconcerted him, and the queen’s chief
lady in waiting viewed thus afar the lone cloud that foreshadowed a
beggarly attempt.
“The devil take me,” said he, to himself, with set and angry jaws,
as the knowing princess half watched at the window for Elmsford’s
carriage. “I have betrayed myself. And to her, cursed mongrel?”
The constitution bearers halted at the doorstep below. A shout of
applause drowned the players’ best efforts, and their lofty sentiment
resounded far above, even unto the throne they worshipped.
Bender trembled at the awful approbation, shrivelled at his own base
intent, and then that other force seized him, and taking advantage of
an opportune moment, amid their confusion, he gave the signal that
set in motion an avalanche that respects neither the virtuous nor the
sinful, grinds beneath its ponderous, listless weight alike the strong
and the weak.
The high chamberlain turned his back and prince Kenlikola, sulking
Royalist that he proved to be, secretly left his post and devoid of a
promise or a hope stealthily left the room.
The ministry stood broken, and without their undivided sanction and
individual signatures the queen’s act of promulgation while yet one
remained present had been considered revolutionary. Kenlikola, a
descendant of the ancient Kamehamehas and a power under the Mauas, had,
with the connivance of Pauahieu, the high chamberlain, deliberately
absented himself, thus openly denying the queen her pleasure and
lawful prerogative. In such manner Bender reasoned himself free from
taint. Should his scheme fall through he could still save face before
the populace and force retention upon the administration. Busying
himself at table, ostensibly with legitimate business, but in reality
with fanning into flame the spark that ignited the fancy of servile
ministers yet lingering, the queen doubting none other momentarily
relaxed under the stress of enthusiasm her vigilance, and unfortunately
the withdrawal of Kenlikola for the time being passed unnoticed.
Directly the carriers entered, solemnly proceeding down the aisle,
Pauahieu, trusted custodian, turned mechanically to meet and greet
them. It remained only for him to receive at their hands and lay before
the queen and cabinet the precious instrument; therefore, sooner than
face the displeasure that his willing demeanor must have provoked, the
poisoned, revengeful decadent irreverently grasped the proffered tray
and wheeling round advanced within convenient distance, announcing
bruskly:
“The proposed constitution, your majesty.”
The queen, pained and alert, gazed steadfastly at her old and respected
chamberlain. She could not make answer; that thrust had been a dagger,
reaching deep into a bewildered consciousness. Amid the great rejoicing
many were the discrepancies that had met the keen, unslackened
observation of Liliuokolani. She knew only too well that there forged
traitors on every hand,--cunning artificers ready to strike as served
their convenience,--but whom to suspect and how effectively to
eradicate the destructive germs were, in consequence of so strained a
situation, beyond the ken of humankind.
Without taking her eyes from Pauahieu’s rigid, downcast face, the
proud, resourceless woman half-unconsciously muttered:
“And you, too, Pauahieu?”
A hushed fear seized upon all those within hearing, and shorn of a
warning or an apology the disappointed heir to nobility dropped dead
before their startled gaze. Bender stood ready at hand and realizing
instantly the unexpected rushed forward in time to save the jeopardized
instrument: assuming an air of wounded respect, he looked all round,
haughtily and self-convinced, as he proudly spread the ruffled
parchment directly before the throne.
Thereupon Norton ran into the room, nervous and expectant. The guards
closed in front, but she tore by and frantically approaching cried with
vehemence:
“There is commotion at the docks!”
A deathly silence ensued; the lifeless form of Pauahieu lay stretched
on the floor; the weird notes of bewailing natives fell significantly
upon their ears, and all eyes turned toward the queen.
Liliuokolani sat motionless and serene above the cowering throng, while
a rising flush drove the pallor from her cheeks; then an effective
majesty asserted its sway; with fixed expression and studied emphasis
the tottering monarch gave command:
“Arrest the offender.”
Two heavy guards laid hold upon the good-intentioned intruder, and
pandemonium reigned in the throne room. Everybody sprang up and
shouting his say ran hither and thither, while the ministry flew with
fear and only Bender remained to thwart the queen, or to deny her the
inalienable right of promulgation attending their total decampment.
His presence alone saved the cabinet’s only prerogative and left the
queen helpless either to enforce conjoint submission or proclaim
individually the law. Liliuokolani, therefore, looked hopelessly after
the absconding ministers, whose signatures she so urgently required,
and for once and for all realized fully the necessity of a controlling
force behind the mandates of effective government. Gutenborj stood
ready with reasonable assurances,--her own life seemed to exemplify
the virtue of sympathy,--but underneath it all there appeared to stand
boldly and effectively the supremacy of grim-visaged arms. Philosophers
might predict, the humanitarian deplore, a vain world swagger blindly
on, yet shot and shell lay at the foundation of all that man in his
wisdom had deigned concede--the end and aim of modern civilization. The
queen deeply despaired and leaning hard upon Ihoas retired to the Blue
Room, where Bender begged cringingly:
“I would do your majesty the service were it in my power alone--you see
I am helpless; my colleagues have deserted. I----”
“Hold your tongue, defamer of other men’s sacred rights; Ihoas is the
truer spokesman. What would you have, good lady?” said the queen, as
the towering princess arose and beckoning a hearing thrust herself
between the prating minister and their sovereign whom she worshipped.
“That man is a traitor; I hold the proof,” replied Ihoas, pointing to
the halting man who stood wincing under the fire of her unremitting
gaze.
“Stand aside, Ihoas: let the minister interpose a defense, if such he
has,” commanded Liliuokolani, firmly but respectfully.
Shuffling and hesitating the whipped minister glanced round, then
advancing observed not alone Ihoas but Gutenborj firmly standing at
the queen’s side. Their eyes met momentarily, and Bender read in that
one supreme look the fixed determination of a dreaded opponent and the
real mainstay of the throne: his thoughts ran back to Kaiuolani, to
wealth, to position--all these crowded fast upon a quickening memory,
and without warning or preparation the means of their fruition must
be subtly resolved. The lip that he would hold firm quivered, and
clutching tight the loose parchment that shook in his hand a mastering
will and broken movement laid bare the weakened mainspring behind a
bolstered purpose.
“I am not responsible for a refractory ministry,” said he, with
unmeaning emphasis and doubtful intent.
“But you have led me to the brink of a precipice: would you have me
take the leap alone?” replied the queen, significantly.
“The act would be revolutionary, as long as there is, even, but one
member present.”
“Then complete the representation and sign the document or depart, that
I may serve my people. Your promise: have you forgotten?”
“I--we have not examined the document; I must ask for time----”
“How dare you say that, having had it in your possession for a month?
Officer, eject the unruly minister; the law must be proclaimed.”
No sooner had the words escaped her lips, than the shrill blast of a
strange, mysterious bugle broke faintly upon the still, resonant air.
Every man’s heart leaped and their feet stood riveted and chained
in the presence of threatening danger. Bender smiled a sickening
smile, and rolling taut the fated constitution boldly withdrew and
quietly absconded before an astonished court could recover its sense
or a destined people might comprehend the sudden burst of decisive
revolution.