RENWICK QUESTIONS
Had the man observed him when he was counting his money? The hazard of
his position made Renwick suspicious. Selim was a crafty rogue as his
conversation with the officer at the Visegrader Gate had shown, and one
of Zubeydeh's breed needed watching. But the man yawned and stretched
his arms, then got up and looked about with so genuine an air of
drowsiness and fatigue that Renwick concluded that he had been mistaken.
How much or how little Selim had been told of Renwick's affair the
Englishman did not know. But the man had already done him a service and
might be in a position to help him further. So he decided upon an
attitude of friendliness and gratitude which might perhaps be measured
by a few of his eighteen _kroners_ but no more.
It was about three o'clock, when having met no adventures upon the way,
they reached the farm of Selim Ali upon the border of the Romanja Plain.
Twenty hours at a stretch, nine of which had been spent in the tension
of his escape, were more than Renwick's strength permitted, and he sank
upon the straw pallet to which Selim assigned him, weary and shaken, and
with a hand which instinctively clutched the lining of his trousers
where his money was pinned, he fell into a deep sleep, from which he
did not awaken until the sun was high in the heavens.
He did not rise at once, but lay on his cot, gazing at the ceiling, his
mind adjusting itself slowly to his situation. He felt for the money in
the lining of his trousers. It had not been touched. If Selim had
discovered the notes in Renwick's possession he was either without
design upon them or had concluded to postpone its consummation until
some later hour. Where was the man? Renwick wanted to talk to him. He
heard the sound of a voice in another part of the house, and getting up
went outside and walked around to the rear of the building. A young
woman in Turkish costume was washing some clothing in a tub by the door.
Renwick greeted her with a bow and a smile, and asked for Selim. She
pointed toward a distant field, and then asked if he desired food.
Renwick thanked her and replied that he would wait until Selim returned,
and went back to bed. There, some moments later the woman brought him
coffee, bread, and excellent soup, which the Englishman devoured
hungrily, not aware until the moment that it was precisely food he
required. When he had finished eating, he smoked a cigarette and planned
his pilgrimage.
He had but two known facts with regard to the flight of Captain Goritz
with his prisoner; first, the automobile had gone through the Kastele in
the direction of the Visegrader Gate, over the very road by which
Renwick had come with Selim; second, the object of Captain Goritz was to
reach the German border as speedily as possible.
The fact that Goritz had left town by this road to the north and east
indicated one of two things: that Goritz, seeking the more quietly to
escape from the town, had chosen the road through the Kastele quarter,
intending to make a détour over the mountains and reach the Bosna road,
by which he would go straight through Hungary and Austria to his
destination; the other inference was that Goritz had chosen the more
easterly road to the north in order to avoid passing through Austria,
seeking the shortest road into Silesia, through central Hungary and
Galicia by way of Cracow. It seemed probable that Goritz had already
reached Germany, and yet even this was no assured fact. If Goritz had
chosen to return through Austria by the main traveled roads, by Bosna,
by Agram, or by Budapest, there was scarcely a chance that he could have
eluded the agents of the watchful Windt. The plot against the life of
the Archduke had consummated in his death. Marishka had failed, but with
her failure had come a restitution of her complete rights as an Austrian
citizen. Herr Windt, no longer seeking to restrain her actions, would
wish to save her from the results of her own imprudences, redoubling his
efforts to come between Goritz and the German border.
Renwick tried to think as Goritz would think. Why had Goritz come by the
circuitous road over the Romanja Plain? Surely not to go north by way of
Serbian territory. Goritz had a reason. The shortest road--the least
traveled road, the road which avoided Brod, the main gateway into
Bosnia, was the road by which he would pass through the rural districts
of eastern Hungary, proceeding all the while along the level country of
the Danube or the Thiess, reaching Silesia--the long tail of the German
Empire which thrust out between Poland and Galicia.
Renwick paced the room with quick strides. The theory hung together. And
given this to be the plan of Goritz, had he succeeded in carrying it
out? Possibly. But Hungary was wide. It was five hundred miles at least
from Sarajevo to the Carpathians, and much may happen to an automobile
in five hundred miles. Marishka, Yeva told him, had fainted. It would
have been inhuman for Goritz to have taken her such a distance without a
chance for rest or recuperation. Goritz! Every theory that Renwick
devised seemed to fall to the ground when he thought of him. The
cleverness of the man was amazing. And what lay behind his cleverness?
What of decency or what of deviltry lay behind the mask that Renwick had
seen? The man had treated her with consideration--for Marishka had not
complained of his attitude toward her--until there in the Turkish house,
when he had seized her by the arm....
Deliberation had gained something--only a theory as yet, but if a
theory, one which stood the acid of inspection from every angle.
Renwick's task seemed hopeless, but that spirit of persistence, of which
Marishka had once spoken, was one of the dominating characteristics of
his nature. Given a sound purpose, a worthy desire, he was not easily
dismayed, and desperate as his chances of finding Marishka now seemed,
it did not enter his head to give up and seek his way--as he might
easily have done--to the Serbian border and so to safety. Marishka had
forgiven him! During the long days of his convalescence the memory of
their brief joyous moments in the Turkish house had renewed and
invigorated him. He had heard her calling to him across the
distances--despairingly, but hoping against hope that the man she loved
was still alive. It thrilled him to think that he could still come to
her--if she would wait--come even from the grave and answer her call to
him--the call of one brave spirit to another, which needed no material
fact of physical utterance to make itself heard. He would find her--not
soon perhaps, but all in good time. Providence had not saved him
miraculously for failure, and it was written that he should succeed. The
gods would be with him now and arm him against disaster. He rejoiced to
find how strong he felt today. All the tremors had gone out of his
nerves, and he was ready to begin his journey whenever it should be
time. But first he wanted to question Selim--Goritz had passed this
house--there was a chance ...
Selim Ali returned from the fields at supper time, greeted Renwick with
bluff heartiness, and together they sat at a substantial meal of
_Jungfern-Braten_, over which Selim's wife Zaidee presided. In the light
of events, Renwick willingly reconstructed his estimate of Selim. Last
night Renwick would have been suspicious of the angel Gabriel, but with
the courage of the sunlight had come confidence in himself, and faith in
his star. It seemed that Zubeydeh had told her cousin nothing of
Renwick's nationality or predicament, but that he was a friend who had
gotten into a trouble, and that the police of Sarajevo were looking for
him. Selim was to shelter him and speed him upon his way. Selim asked
many questions which Renwick answered as he chose, biding his own time.
Yes, _he_, Stefan Thomasevics, had gotten into trouble in Sarajevo, all
because of a woman (and this Renwick knew to be true), and desired to
leave the country. He did not wish to go to the war and he would not
fight against the Serbians who were not in the wrong. He, Thomasevics,
wished to go north to Budapest where he would work in the factories and
amass a fortune. Selim wagged his head wisely and laughed.
"You must work long, my young friend, and spend nothing," he said.
"Come. You're a strong fellow--a little weak just now from smoking too
many cigarettes and staying up too late at night. But I will give you
work here upon my farm and pay you well."
But Thomasevics shook his head.
"Thank you. You are kind, but I have already made up my mind."
Selim shrugged and lighted his long pipe.
"As you will, but I have made you a good offer."
"A good offer. Yes. Which I would accept were my mind not set upon other
matters." He paused and then, "Selim, you are a good fellow. I will tell
you the truth. I would like to stay with you, but I am searching for
something which may take me to the ends of the earth."
"That is a long way, my friend."
"Yes, a long way, when one doesn't know which way to go."
"Ah, that is even longer. There are but two things which will take a man
like you so far as that--vengeance, or a woman."
Renwick smiled.
"I see that you are wise as well as clever. I go for both, Selim."
"A woman? Young?"
"Yes."
"Beautiful?"
"Yes."
"And the vengeance----"
"That shall be beautiful also."
Selim smoked his pipe solemnly and as Renwick hesitated,
"Will it please you to tell me more?" he asked.
Renwick deliberated.
"Yes. I am groping in the dark. And the darkness begins at Sarajevo. She
left there in the night--with _him_."
"Ah, a man! Of course."
"They fled by the Visegrader Gate and they came upon this road, past
this very house."
Selim shrugged.
"At night! It is a pity. I might have seen them but I sleep soundly."
"There are no other houses for a long distance in either direction. They
might have stopped here."
"But they did not!" And as Renwick gave up despairingly, "You see, I
worked very hard all last week and slept like a dead man."
"It was not last week," said Renwick gloomily, "almost two months
ago----"
"Ah, as to that----" and Selim shrugged again. "One has no recollection
of things that happened before the Hegira."
Of course it was hopeless. Renwick had only unraveled the thread to see
how far it would lead. Here it broke off, and so he relinquished it.
Rather wearily he sank back into his chair and gazed out of the window
into the sunset.
Selim's wife entered with a tray to take away the dishes. She wore no
_yashmak_, for Selim, though professing the Moslem faith, was somewhat
lax in carrying out its articles. He did not believe in running a good
thing into the ground, he said. So Zaidee came and went as she chose.
"I have been listening from the kitchen," she said with a smile. "It is
always a woman that makes the trouble, _nicht wahr_?"
"Then how can Paradise be Paradise?" grunted Selim.
"Thou wouldst get on poorly without us, just the same," said Zaidee
demurely.
"But I should not go to the ends of the earth, like Stefan, here."
"Thou! Thou dost not know the meaning of love. I wish I could help him."
"It is impossible," sneered Selim.
"But it is interesting," sighed Zaidee. "She went away with another
man--that is cruel!"
"Perhaps Stefan is better off than he knows," said Selim.
"Selim," said Zaidee with great solemnity, "thou art a pig!"
"Pig I am not."
"Pig!" she repeated with more acerbity.
Renwick was in no mind to take a part in their quarrel and was moving
toward the door of the adjoining room when a phrase caught his ear.
"And thou art a magpie, Zaidee, always croaking. It will get us into
trouble, thy talking. I have but to set my foot outside the house and
thy tongue wags like the clothing of a scarecrow."
"I have done no harm," she said angrily.
"It is no affair of thine--they will come again asking questions. I have
no humor to talk with any of that accursed breed."
"What harm can come--if we tell the truth----?"
"Bah--what do the police care about the truth?"
Renwick turned and reëntered the room.
"The police!" he said quickly.
"Zaidee talks too much. A month ago in my absence they came inquiring."
"And what wouldst _thou_ have said?" cried Zaidee angrily. "To shelter a
sick woman is no crime----"
"I should have said nothing."
"And what happened?" asked Renwick eagerly, now aware of the bone that
chance had thrown in the way of a starving man.
"In the middle of the night which followed the day upon which the
Archduke was assassinated----"
"And whose tongue is wagging now--thou magpie?" put in Zaidee
spitefully.
"Be quiet----" said Selim.
Renwick glared at the woman as though he would have liked to choke her,
and she subsided.
"An automobile stopped at my door. There were three people, an Austrian
officer, a lady who was sick, and a man who drove the car. They asked
admittance on account of the Excellency who was sick. I could not
refuse, for they said that they would pay me well."
Selim paused, hunting in his pockets for a match to light his pipe, and
Renwick, containing his patience with difficulty, stood, his hands
clenched behind him, waiting. They had stopped here--at this very house.
"And then----?" he asked calmly.
"We put the Excellency to bed----"
"_I_ did," said Zaidee.
"Bah! What matter? They were bound upon a journey over the mountains to
Vlasenica, where the Excellency was taking his wife for the waters."
"His wife," mumbled Renwick.
"They traveled at night to avoid the heat of midday, but the sudden
sickness of the Excellency made further travel impossible."
"The officer Excellency lied----!" said Zaidee.
"Be quiet, thou----!" roared Selim.
"Let Zaidee speak. I am no policeman," said Renwick.
"What interest is it of yours?"
Renwick caught the man by the shoulders with both hands and glared at
him.
"Merely because this is the woman I seek."
"An Excellency like--and you?"
"What I am does not matter. A hundred _kroner_ if you tell the
truth----"
"A hundred _kroner_----!"
His eyes searched Renwick eagerly, and then, "There is little I would
not tell for a hundred _kroner_, but----"
"I am not of the police, I tell you. This lady is an Austrian noblewoman
in danger."
"And the Austrian officer----"
"Is no Austrian, but an enemy of Austria----"
"A Serb----?"
"No."
"Who are you?"
"What does that matter?"
Selim shrugged. "Nothing perhaps--still----"
"And if I tell you, you will keep silent?"
"A hundred _kroner_ will make me dumb."
"I am an Englishman," said Renwick after a moment.
"Ah--a spy!"
"No. A prisoner who has escaped."
"That is better."
"Speak!"
And as the man still hesitated Renwick unpinned the notes in his pocket
and tossed one of them upon the table, in front of him. Selim took it
eagerly.
"I am quite ready to believe anything you say----"
But Renwick seized his wrist in a strong grip. "You have not spoken
yet."
"I will speak, then," said Zaidee. "Selim is a fool to hesitate. I
nursed the Excellency for two nights and a day. I cooked her eggs and
chicken and soup, but she would not eat. She was very much frightened."
"The man--he treated her badly?"
"Oh, no. Very politely, and paid us for our service, but the Excellency
was frightened. I was kind to her, and she was grateful, but she spoke
nothing of where she was going. Perhaps she did not know. But it was not
to take the waters."
"You, Selim," broke in Renwick, "you heard the men speaking? What did
they say?"
He shrugged.
"How can I remember? They planned their journey with a map, but I had no
interest----"
"What map----?"
"A map--how should I know----"
"Of Hungary----"
"Hungary!" And then scratching his head, "Yes, it must have been of
Hungary, for they spoke of Budapest----"
"And what else? The Danube--the Thiess?"
"I do not remember?"
"You must----!" Renwick's fingers closed again upon the hundred _kroner_
note which Selim had put back on the table.
"What good would it do if I lied to you?"
"Think, man, think! They made marks upon the map?"
"Marks? Oh, yes--marks."
"Up and down, the way they were sitting?"
"Yes. I think so. By the beard of the Prophet! You can't expect a fellow
to remember such things as this for two months."
"Did they speak of mountains?"
"Mountains----!" Selim scratched his head again. "How should I know?"
"The Carpathians?"
"The Carpathians. Perhaps. Ah----"
Selim tapped his brow with a stubby forefinger.
"There was a name they spoke many times. It was a strange name."
"What?"
"I can't think."
"Zaidee, you heard?" Renwick asked.
"I was listening, but I could not understand."
"Was it a city?"
"I do not know."
"Was it Cracow? Kaschau? Agram? Was it Brünn?"
But they made no sign.
"Think!" said Renwick. "At the top of the map--away from them--near the
edge?"
Selim shrugged hopelessly. "I can't remember," he said.
Renwick despaired.
"Was the map large?"
"Yes. I remember that. It covered this table----"
"Ah--then you can tell me how they stood?"
"Yes. I can tell you that."
He got up and placed himself at the side of the table. "The Excellency
was here--the map spread out----"
"Did he lean to the left or to the right?"
"He leaned well forward with both elbows upon the table--straight
forward--yes--almost across--a pencil in his hand--the other was
pointing. The lamp was just there----" pointing to the left center of
the table.
"The lamp was on the map?"
"Yes--to keep it in position----"
"On the left-hand side?"
"Yes."
"And they didn't move the lamp?"
"No. It remained there until they raised it to take the map away."
"I understand. And they made marks up and down with a pencil?"
Selim shrugged.
"It is what I think, merely."
"And the name was----?"
"How can one be sure of a name? It is a wonder just now that I can
remember my own. Had I known what was to happen----" And he shrugged and
dropped wearily again into his chair.
"And the police--? What has Zaidee said to the police?"
"Merely that the Excellencies were here--in this house."
"The police are coming again?"
"I do not know. It would seem that they have forgotten."
"And if they come, you will speak?"
"The hundred _kroner_ will make me dumb."
"And Zaidee?"
"I will not speak."
"Nothing of me, you understand. I am but Stefan Thomasevics----"
"It is understood."
"And you remember nothing more?"
"Nothing."
"You are sure. The Excellency left no message--no note----?"
"Nothing."
Renwick pushed the hundred _kroner_ note toward Selim and straightened.
"You have done me a service, Selim. They have gone to the east of the
Tatra----"
"Tatra!" suddenly shouted Selim triumphantly. "It is the name!"
"Are you sure?" asked Renwick excitedly.
"Yes. Tatra--that is it. They spoke of it for half an hour. Eh--Zaidee?"
"Yes. It is the name."
Renwick paced the floor with long steps.
"Selim," he said at last, "it is now dark. I must go at once."
"Tomorrow."
"Tonight. The stars are out."
He moved to the door and peered out.
"You will keep silent?" he asked.
"Have I not promised?" said Selim.
He caught them both by the hand.
"Allah will bless you."
"A hundred _kroner_--that is blessing enough for one day, Stefan
Thomasevics," he laughed.
"Adieu!" said Renwick, and walked bravely off into the starlight.