THE STATE PRISON
FOR some time after the parting words of the girl, Maximilian and his
companion walked on in silence. Johann saw that the King was profoundly
affected by what he had just listened to, and did not venture to
disturb his reflections. At length Maximilian raised his head, and gave
utterance to the thoughts of his mind.
“She is right, Johann. There are some things beyond my power, or yours,
to alter. We may change social conditions, we may care for men’s
health, we may add to the comfort of their lives; but how are we to
war against evil passions, how can we prevent such wrongs as that poor
creature has suffered, how root out the superstitions which thrive
under the name of religion, and darken the whole nature of mankind?”
“Even here we can do something,” was the firm reply. “We do not believe
that there is anything in human nature so fixed that it cannot be
transformed by the right means. Do away with marriage, and you abolish
the degradation of love; merge the household into the community, and
you render it impossible for the happiness of the child to be blighted
by the prejudices and ignorance of its parents.”
Maximilian looked at him in some consternation. This was the first time
that Johann had expounded this part of the doctrines of his sect, and
the new disciple was somewhat taken aback.
“Is that part of the Socialist programme?” he asked. “Do your friends
aim at abolishing marriage and the family?”
“I will not go so far as to say that it is a recognised item in our
programme,” was the answer. “Many Socialists are not educated up to
these views, and others regard them as something that can better be
dealt with at a later stage, after we have brought about the economical
freedom of society. But personally I cannot see how we can ever make
the species really happy until we have thoroughly reorganised society
on these points as well.”
“But surely the people in general would never consent to such steps
as these. If you had a Republic to-morrow you would have the majority
against you.”
“No doubt that would be so at first. We can only wait, and do our best
to enlighten them.”
“Well, at all events I am glad you do not make that a vital question,”
said Maximilian, a good deal relieved. “I do not think I should care to
hint at anything of that sort to the Chancellor.”
The revolutionist sighed. He saw that his pupil was still lagging far
behind his own position, and that it would be necessary to use great
caution in bringing him on.
Presently Maximilian spoke again.
“Well, after what I have seen and heard to-night I am convinced that
you are in the right as to one thing. The present state of affairs is
wrong, and the only question is how to set about righting it. If my
Ministers will do nothing, I promise you that I will go on without
them.”
For answer Johann turned half round and wrung the King’s hand in
silence.
“Now,” continued Maximilian, “I should like to see more of your party.
I want to come in touch with them. You say there are three thousand
members of the Socialist League in Mannhausen?”
“In Franconia,” corrected Johann. “There are several provincial
branches, but of course the one here is the most numerous, and gives
the lead to the others.”
“Tell me”--the King spoke with a little hesitation--“was it the League
which sent you to Neustadt?”
“Oh, no; certainly not. I came here as the agent of a small secret
society, which was founded in the reign of your father. The League is a
public organisation, and does not undertake any measures of that kind.”
“Good. Now, what I want you to do is to take me to a meeting of the
League, so that I may see something of its working for myself. When
does it meet next?”
Johann looked slightly disturbed at this bold suggestion. Knowing as
he did the kind of language which was indulged in at these meetings,
language of which the last few days had done much to make him realise
the extravagance, he could hardly help feeling a little uneasy at the
King’s proposal to be present.
“There is a meeting to-morrow night,” he responded cautiously, “to
which I thought of going, but I hardly know whether it would be wise
for you to come. Some of our members hold rather strong views about
monarchy, and you might hear something--”
Maximilian did not wait for him to finish.
“Don’t be afraid of shocking me,” he said good-humouredly. “I dare say
I shan’t hear anything worse than I have deserved, and after all”--with
a side smile--“it won’t be worse than having a pistol pointed at my
head.”
Johann blushed. But a new objection had occurred to him.
“I forgot to say that the meetings are only open to members,” he
observed. “You see, we have to be cautious on account of the police. It
has been rumoured that they mean to make a raid upon us before long.”
“They won’t dare to do that after what I said to Herr Moritz,” replied
Maximilian, confidently. “As to the other point, what is there to
prevent my becoming a member of the League?”
This time the Socialist was fairly staggered. But strange as the
suggestion sounded, it was difficult for him to think of any valid
reason for rejecting it. On the contrary, it might be that such a step
would be most desirable, by committing the King irrevocably, and giving
the revolutionary party a stronger hold upon him than the mere private
compact which bound him to Johann personally.
He turned the matter over in his mind, and it ended in his procuring a
card of membership for Maximilian, which enrolled him as a member of
the Socialist League, under the name of Karl Josef. On the following
evening at eight o’clock they crossed the threshold of the hall in
which the Socialists were assembled.
But they did not make their entrance together. Maximilian followed
his introducer at a few paces in the rear, and slipped quietly into
a back seat where he was unobserved, while Johann walked boldly
forward through the gathering to the seats reserved for members of the
governing committee of the League.
As he made his way up the floor he became conscious that the eyes of
all present were turned upon him. This was his first appearance among
his comrades since his famous expedition to Neustadt, and public rumour
had already informed those present that the man who had gone to the
Castle on a mission to assassinate King Maximilian, had remained there
as his guest and friend. Hence, most of the looks directed at the
returning wanderer were of a decidedly unfriendly character, and there
was a slight murmur in the hall when they saw one whom they had come to
regard as a recreant coolly taking his former place among them as if
nothing had happened.
The stir drew the attention of the president, and, seeing that it
would be useless to proceed with the other business till the meeting
was satisfied as to Johann’s right to be present, he rose abruptly to
invite him to make an explanation.
“Comrades,” he said, “I see in the hall a member of the League about
whose doings we have heard a good deal during the last few days.
It is currently reported that he has been staying in the Castle of
Neustadt, and that though he went there with an object which some of
us may not have approved, he is now high in the favour of the King.
It is naturally difficult for us to reconcile this with his continued
membership of our body; but we are Socialists, and we judge no man
unheard. Before we proceed with the ordinary business of the meeting,
therefore, I deem it right to call upon comrade Johann Mark for an
explanation, and I ask all present to give him a fair hearing.”
These words were received with applause, and Johann instantly mounted
the platform.
His appearance was the signal for a chilling silence, which struck
unpleasantly on his nerves, used as he had been to be greeted with
applause as one of the favourite orators of the society. Nevertheless,
he did not allow himself to be daunted, but began at once, facing the
audience boldly, and speaking in a loud, steady voice.
“Comrades, I am glad that you are at least willing to grant me a
hearing, although it seems that some of you have already condemned me
in my absence. I did not come here to-night to defend my character as
a Socialist and a republican--a more advanced republican, perhaps,
than any man in the room. I rely upon my own record in the past: I
was fighting for our principles in the dark days of King Leopold, and
it is not likely that I should desert them now that we are on the eve
of a glorious triumph. I came here simply to tell you as friends and
fellow-workers of what I have been trying to do for the cause. The
president has referred to the object with which I went to Neustadt. I
went there to shoot King Maximilian with this pistol”--a thrill ran
through the assembly as he produced the weapon and held it out before
their gaze--“and I did so because I believed him to be a bad and
worthless ruler.”
Here the speaker was interrupted for a moment by ironical applause from
some of his listeners. He went on with a heightened colour.
“If I still believed him to be bad and worthless, I should use this
weapon still. If in a year’s time, or in ten years’ time, I believe it,
I shall go there again and do what I meant to have done this time. The
only reason why King Maximilian is still alive is because I have been
convinced that, whatever he may have been in the past, he now sincerely
wishes to do whatever he can to help us in the objects we have at
heart.”
At this point the incredulity of the meeting broke forth in scornful
murmurs, which the president in vain attempted to suppress.
Johann felt his anger kindling.
“I was promised a fair hearing!” he shouted out above the disturbance.
“Hear me out before you interrupt. You have been quick enough to assume
that the King had converted me to the cause of reaction: did it never
occur to you as possible that I might have converted the King to the
cause of revolution? I tell you plainly, as I stand here, that there is
no man in this room who, as I believe, is more sincere in desiring to
see our principles triumph than Maximilian IV.”
Some of the audience could not refrain from mocking laughter at this
statement. The rest stared at the speaker in stubborn disbelief.
“You do not believe me. I dare say not. You think, perhaps, that the
King has only to hold up his hand in order to bring about everything
which we want.” (Hear, hear.) “Fools, have you ever realised what a
government is; that it is a huge organisation, running in a groove,
from which it is as difficult to turn it without reducing the whole
state of society to chaos as it is to throw an express train off
the rails without upsetting it? That is why I have been staying at
Neustadt, that I might see with my own eyes what the difficulties are,
and do what I could to help the King in overcoming them. Do you think
I have learned nothing in these few days? I have learned a great deal,
and this most of all, that no one man, not even though he be a king,
can change the whole structure of society at a moment’s notice. There
are the Ministers to deal with, the legislature, the sullen resistance
of the whole official and propertied classes. Give him time, and if
nothing changes for the better at the end of the next six months I
pledge myself to leave the King and come back to you.”
The meeting had been set against Johann by the air of superior
knowledge which he had assumed, as much as by the unpalatable
conclusions to which he sought to lead them. The murmurs of suspicion
and dislike swelled in a tumult as he went on. At the first break a
voice from the centre of the hall demanded--
“Let him abdicate!”
This sentiment was received with a sound of cheering which told how
strongly the feelings of the audience were inflamed against the King
and his champion. Maximilian, who had listened to it all with downcast
head, moved uneasily in his seat, and looked for a moment as if he
would have made for the platform himself.
But Johann stilled the clamour with a contemptuous wave of his hand.
“I was not afraid of King Maximilian’s guards,” he cried, “and I am not
afraid of you. If there is a man in this room who is prepared to take
this pistol from me and go with it to the palace, let him come forward.”
And he held it out defiantly. The effect was magical. Not one of his
judges responded to the challenge. The whole crowd shrank from his
glance, and allowed him to continue in silence.
“You ask me why he does not abdicate? What good would that do? Do you
think that a dull-witted boy like Prince Ernest would be any better
for you than Maximilian? How would you like to have the Princess
Hermengarde for a Regent?” The Princess’s name was received with
hisses. “I thought so. I thought you would at least see that much.” He
could not refrain from taunting them, forgetting that his true object
was not to silence but to persuade. Maximilian, watching the scene, was
tortured by the unskilfulness of his advocate. It was not thus that he
had wrought on Johann himself in the gallery at Neustadt.
“Surely it is better for us,” the orator proceeded, “to have a man on
the throne who sympathises with us. Even if the King fails to perform
what I hope from him, he leaves us free to go on with our own work
independently. It is not as if I were asking you to desist from the
movement. No, I rather urge you to go on more boldly now than ever. Do
not trust in me or in the King, but act exactly as you would have done
if I had never gone to Neustadt.”
These words produced a favourable impression, and for the first time
there was a slight sound of applause.
Johann eagerly followed up his success.
“And you can go on with all the more confidence, knowing that you have
a friend at Court. The King will protect you from your enemies. Only
the day before yesterday I happen to know that he gave orders that the
police were to take no steps against you without his permission.”
While his lips were yet moving, and as if these words had been a
preconcerted signal, a loud whistle sounded outside, the door was
violently burst in, and a body of police with drawn staves marched into
the hall.
An exciting scene followed. The bulk of those present sprang to their
feet and made a wild rush for the doorway, through which some of them
escaped, only to fall into the hands of a reserve force stationed in
the street outside. Others, more determined, stood their ground, and
engaged in a free fight with the officers who attempted to capture
them, while the president sat pale and motionless in his chair, waiting
to be arrested; and Johann, fairly unmanned under the influence of a
feeling of sickening despair, reeled backward and clung for support to
the table, while his horrified glance traversed the miserable scene.
Maximilian himself, after the first shock of alarm, stood up quietly
to deliver himself into custody, but underneath this apparent calm the
fiercest rage possessed him, and he inly swore to make the author of
this outrage bitterly repent his disobedience.
A very few minutes sufficed for all resistance to be quelled. The
prisoners were handcuffed together in pairs and marched off through the
deserted streets, and as night fell Maximilian IV., King of Franconia,
found himself the inmate of a cell in his own State prison.
So large was the number of arrests made at the meeting that even the
ample accommodation at the disposal of the governor of the prison
seemed likely to prove insufficient. Each man, as he passed in through
the gates, had his name taken down in a book, and was assigned to
a separate cell. When the whole of the vacant cells had been thus
allotted, a number of prisoners remained undisposed of.
While the governor was wondering how he was to deal with the surplus,
he was relieved to see the Minister of the Interior arrive on the scene.
“Welcome, Herr Moritz!” he exclaimed. “I was just fearing that I might
have to send for your Excellency.” And he quickly explained how matters
stood.
The Minister stepped up to the governor’s desk--it was in the bureau
through which the prisoners were passed on being received into the
gaol--and cast his eyes carelessly over the pages of the admission book.
“There is only one thing for it, Herr Governor,” he said, in answer.
“You must put them two in a cell.”
“Of course that is against the regulations, but if your Excellency
authorises it?” said the other, hesitating.
“Certainly, I authorise it. By the way, I see a name here of a man whom
I used to know something about--Karl Josef. You have put him in No. 79.
Is that a fairly comfortable room?”
“It is one of the best in the prison. Now you mention it, I remember I
was struck by something distinguished in the air of that prisoner, and
that was why I gave it to him.”
“It was a proof of your discrimination. Let him have a respectable
companion, if you can find one.”
“Oh, I think I shall be able to dispose of the rest without using his
room, if your Excellency takes an interest in him.”
Herr Moritz frowned.
“Certainly not. I am not interested in any man who has broken the law.
Let him be treated exactly like the rest.”
The governor hastened to murmur an apology, and the work of taking the
prisoners’ names and distributing them among the cells was resumed.
The Minister stood idly looking on till a prisoner entered, in the
custody of an officer, who appeared to be unconnected with the rest,
and who gave his name as Hans Trübner. Then Herr Moritz bent over and
whispered in the governor’s ear--
“He looks a better class of man. Suppose you send him to No. 79.”
The governor nodded and gave the required directions. Shortly
afterwards the Minister bade him a friendly good night and strolled
away.