"I do not know, I have never seen that one before; if she's new, it will
mean fresh taxation, I suppose."
"Why? I am afraid I don't quite understand; who is she?"
"Some French girl most probably; whenever a new one appears, the taxes
go up; some one must pay for the jewels for the King's mistress."
"Good God! can it really be so?" I asked, feigning surprise, for I was
desirous of obtaining more information.
"The good God has deserted Rudarlia, monsieur, only the devil reigns
here now. But you are a stranger evidently, or you would not be
surprised. We Rudarlians have experienced it before, but----" he looked
at me quickly for a moment, lifted his hat and passed on.
"Is your blood on the boil?" asked Mr. Neville, smiling.
I did not answer, it was coming home to me so strongly that something
must be done; there would be bloodshed, insurrection, and red revolution
before long, if the present state of things continued. From the ashes,
what would arise?
No state can stand an upheaval such as I pictured, without for many
years feeling the effect of it, more especially a race like the
Rudarlians, who are conservative by nature.
What I could not understand was, how the nobles allowed it. Surely
there must be among them fine, strong men, capable of grasping the reins
and stopping the headlong rush to destruction; and then crept in the
word, jealousy.
Jealousy, that accursed thing, which has wrecked so many ideas, and
brought misery to so many individuals. That would account for it.
Hating the present monarch, hating equally the heir, they would none of
them combine to alter matters, for fear that one of them should be
exalted over the others.
Since then I have discovered that I misjudged them.
*CHAPTER V*
We had been in Karena for two weeks, and what puzzled me most was that
we had neither seen nor heard of Mr. Smith, for I felt sure my people
would have let him know that we were in the city. It seemed so strange
that one of my oldest friends should take no notice. I knew of course
that "Smith" was an assumed name, but I had no idea of his real one, so
even had I wished to ignore my parents' wishes, and make inquiries, I
should have been at a loss how to do so.
It was this kind of thing which galled me, more especially now, when I
wished to include him in my dreams, when working out schemes for
Rudarlia's welfare. I never mentioned him to Mr. Neville, as I thought
it would be placing him in an awkward position, he who knew.
If I had but known it, circumstances, even then, were drawing us
together; the wheels of chance were turning slowly, and we were destined
to meet in a manner which opened my eyes to the extraordinary laws of
coincidence.
Carruthers and I had been out one evening on one of our nocturnal
wanderings in search of information, and were returning to our hotel,
when my companion suggested a stroll to the top of the road overlooking
Yuhban.
I acquiesced, as this suggestion suited me perfectly. I was glad of an
excuse to breathe a little fresh air, after the hot and rather smelly
cafe, in which we had spent the best part of the evening.
The route by which we were going would only take us about half a mile
out of our way. We did not speak much. Carruthers, for him, was
taciturn, and I, as usual, was trying to find a suitable successor to
King Ivan.
It was a perfect night with a fine moon, so, having reached the place we
wanted, we stood for a few moments looking over the valley below. It
was a night for an artist or a poet, and little did we think, as we
stood there in peaceful silence, that a few minutes would bring horrid
strife.
A motor was approaching from Yuhban. We could see her headlights as she
twisted and turned with the winding road; a big silent car, and a
magnificent hill-climber too, for she came up the steep bit at the top
without changing gear. When only about ten yards from where we were
standing, she stopped suddenly. We saw the chauffeur jump out, while at
the same time three men ran from the shadow of a wall, where they had
been hidden; they came up behind the car. Just as the chauffeur had
succeeded in opening one door, a man descended on the other side of the
car.
He gave one quick glance round, and started running at top speed towards
us; and I saw the moonlight flash on a weapon he carried in his hand.
Hard after him came the three men and the chauffeur.
"Come on, Splosh!" cried Carruthers.
We sprang forward. I saw him send one man flying and jump at another,
but at that moment the pursued man stumbled, and his weapon flew out of
his hand, right at my feet.
I stooped and picked it up; it was a sword-stick. The next moment, I
found myself parrying fierce and rapid sword-thrusts, almost without
knowledge. My astonishment gradually left me and I grew cool; it was
well I did, for I needed all my wits about me, my opponent being a
consummate swordsman. At first it was as much as I could do to keep
clear of his point; but, as I grew more collected, the better I fenced.
I had no idea what was happening to the others, but I had seen one
knocked out by Carruthers, and hoped that he and the pursued could
account for the other two. I recollected that my chum had his revolver
with him, and called out to remind him of the fact; he answered
something, and then a shot rang out just behind me. It startled me for
the moment, in spite of my being half-prepared for it, and my adversary
managed to touch my arm with his point, a mere prick. And then I lost
all knowledge except of the man I was fighting; only once did I remember
that there were others by me, and that was when Carruthers said:
"You, Mr----?"
After that there was silence again, only broken by the sound of our feet
and the grating of our sword-blades, as my opponent and I sprang
backwards and forwards.
I had tried various attacks, and also foiled them; now I would try a
special favourite of my stepfather's. It was risky, I knew, as it left
rather an opening for a thrust through the arm; but I had to do
something, as this prolonged bout was beginning to make itself felt.
Thank God, it had succeeded, and I heaved a sigh of relief, as my blade
passed through my adversary's shoulder. He gave a gasp and fell.
I must say that the complete and sudden success of my attack staggered
me for a moment, so much so that I remained staring at the prostrate
man; then I turned--and stood with my mouth open, for there was Mr.
Smith with both arms outstretched.
"You--was it you then?"
"Yes, I, Victor, alive, thanks to you two; but come quickly, I will
explain as soon as we are out of this. We will send help for these
murderers, we can do nothing ourselves."
"But I should like to do something for him," I said, pointing to my
opponent's body.
"Leave it to me, my boy, I will see that he is taken care of. Quick!
quick! or we shall be in trouble."
Together we ran to the car, passing three bodies, one shot, one stunned,
and one bound.
"Jump in, I will drive," said Mr. Smith.
He did drive, and the pace we went would have scared anyone; but he had
wonderful command over the car, and we had no accident. Somewhere on
the other side of the town he pulled up, outside a fine mansion standing
in a small park. As we stopped, the door of the house opened, and a man
hastened down the steps.
"Thank God, Count! We were afraid something had happened to you."
"So it did, Baron."
"Where's Peter?"
"In heaven, I hope; in hell, I am afraid."
"As bad as that, was it?"
"Worse: Goltz was in it."
"Goltz!" He gave a little whistle. "Come in at once; but who are
these?" He indicated us with a wave of his hand.
"Ah," said Mr. Smith, "who are they? Let me present to you Messieurs
Stevens and Carruthers; Baron von Sluben. Now let us go in for one
minute. By the way, Baron, will you 'phone to Ducrot, to look after
some bodies near his house? He will be pleased to find Goltz among
them--oh no, not dead. Tell him to treat them with the greatest
kindness and attention, as a mark of his affection to the man they did
not kill."
We moved into the house, Baron Sluben leading the way. He threw open a
door, and we entered a very large room, which was packed with men and a
few ladies, all in evening dress.