"You think he will return then?"
"Undoubtedly, your Majesty; Herr Bjornston is never late."
"Then I will wait."
There was a wooden chair placed near a table upon which was a lamp and
various sketch-books, so I sat down and commenced to turn some pages at
random. I had not given any particular attention to the man who had
admitted me, but glancing at him casually I noticed that his eyes were
covered or rather veiled by a green shade; he was a bearded, thick-set
fellow. He advanced towards me with a portfolio in his hands.
"Perhaps your Majesty might be interested in these sketches?"
"Thank you," I said, smiling. "You suffer with your eyes?"
"Nothing serious, your Majesty, a trifle weak, that is all."
"I have not seen you before, have I?"
"I only came here last week, your Majesty."
"You assist Herr Bjornston perhaps?"
"He was kind enough to give me employment when one of his regular men
fell sick."
"Oh, indeed, you are not a student then?"
"I was once, your Majesty; but fortune deserted me, and I became through
necessity a labourer."
"That is sad, perhaps your luck may improve in the future."
"I hope so, your Majesty."
"What made you come to Karena?"
"I had heard of your Majesty's generosity to all artists, and thought
that there might be work for me. I always like to be at work in some
studio."
"Have you any of your own efforts with you?"
"Unfortunately, no, your Majesty."
"Well, we must see what you can do; there is always room for talent
here."
"I thank your Majesty most sincerely."
I opened the portfolio, and the man withdrew. The sketches were of
absorbing interest, most of them being the slight personal things an
artist sometimes values more than his finished pictures. All were good;
evidently Herr Bjornston had spent a great many years getting them
together, as some of them were dated ten or twelve years previously.
Most of them bore signatures famous throughout the world. I was so
interested that I forgot all about the time, and it was only when I had
looked at the last sketch, that I remembered, and pulled out my
watch--good heavens, it was a quarter to ten! I closed the portfolio,
and sat back in the chair to push it away from the table. Herr Bjornston
was very late in spite of his man's assurances; still, it did not
matter, I had had a pleasant visit, and there was nothing of importance
that I wished to say to him.
Something seemed to be entwining my feet. I bent forward to see what it
was, and immediately was pulled violently back into the chair. My
surprise was so great that for a moment I could do nothing, and that
moment was the finishing touch to my undoing, for the noose which had
been slipped over my shoulders was pulled tight and fresh coils made
round me; then I felt my feet being drawn together and realised that I
was helpless.
I turned my head round and glared at my assailant, but the sight of his
eyes--which he had now uncovered--caused Carruthers' warning to recur to
me, and I understood without any further assault that I was in a devil
of a fix.
"Untie these ropes at once."
"Your Majesty is pleased to jest."
"You will find it no jesting matter."
"You speak of the future; perhaps your Majesty will have a clearer
vision to appreciate this position."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't quite know, never having been to the place to which your
Majesty is going."
"Don't be foolish, my man; untie this rope and I will be lenient with
you."
He drew up another chair in front of me and sat gazing into my eyes. I
returned stare for stare, but I will confess to feeling very much
afraid. The situation was so very unpleasant. What a fool I had been
not to take precautions, I should have known that all of Ivan's breed
were dangerous. I was flabbergasted, I did not know what to say to the
fellow, what argument can one use to a madman? More important still was
how to get away, how to be rescued, for it was quite impossible for me
to loosen the ropes that bound me. I could call for help, but no one
would hear me. Still, there was always a chance that some one would; so
I let out a yell that ought to have awakened the settlement.
Unfortunately it did not; and the only good I got from it was a gag,
which effectively put an end to my making sufficient noise to attract
attention. Luck was against me, for only a few minutes after the gag
had been applied some one rapped at the door. I tried hard to make some
kind of appeal for assistance, but it was futile, and I had to sit there
and listen to the knocking. Presently the person, whoever it was, gave
up, and with a sinking heart I heard the sound of his footsteps dying
away.
The man still sat facing me, with a beastly smile on his lips; no doubt
he was overjoyed to see my struggles. Presently, however, he began to
speak in a low voice hardly above a whisper; and somehow that added to
the horror of my position.
"I am glad I stopped your mouth in time; it would have hurt me to have
finished everything before you have realised things more fully. And if
my time had been cut short by any interruption from outside, your
Majesty would naturally never have known all that I intend telling you,
all those details which will make your journey to Paradise so pleasant.
"Have you any preference as to where I should begin? Perhaps you would
like to know who I am. Well, that is soon told; I am the son of the man
you had murdered, you did not know that Ivan the King had a son, did
you? He had, perhaps more than one, for he was rather given to
promiscuous love affairs; but only one need worry you--I shall be quite
sufficient.
"I know how my father died, Prince Alexis told me; I know he was always
a liar, but he told the truth about this. When I heard, I swore that
you should pay for it. Since then your debt has been mounting up, for I
was left destitute, and think how long that was ago, and imagine my
misery all those years, having to do any manual labour that I could
obtain, in order to keep from starving. You have to pay for all that.
"The most difficult thing I ever had to do was to keep my face from
portraying my delight when you walked in so sweetly this evening. I
have been trying to get near you for years, and at last luck has been
kind to me; nothing could have worked out so well if it had been
planned. To begin with, that old fool Bjornston is out for the night,
out of Karena even, and the other two assistants are after their
lady-loves. It is hardly likely that the two fair Karenians will allow
them to return, or at any rate until our little business is over."
He stood up and moved away behind my chair, so that I could not see what
he was doing; but I heard him moving about. Then he came back again, in
his hands a rope, and at the end of the rope a heavy mass of stone.
"Do you see this, your Majesty, can you guess what it is for?"
I looked at it, then at him, and raising my eyebrows turned my head
aside, then quickly back again. God! how lucky that he was examining
the knot in the rope, for had he been looking at me he must have noticed
my nervous start, a movement that I could not control, for I could have
sworn that I had seen a face at the window. I shook my head from side
to side, and caught another glimpse of the window, but there was no face
there, and my spirits, which had gone bounding up, dropped like a stone.
So, then, there was really no hope for me, there was no way out, and I
was doomed to die just when life was at its fullest, just when the
greatest of all my hopes was to be fulfilled. I turned sick with
despair at the thought of the effect my disappearance would have upon my
wife. The man was talking again:
"It will serve a good purpose, and keep you down nicely."
His cursed calmness caused the most beastly twinges of an unpleasant
nature, which I can only call fear, I do not think there is anything to
be ashamed of in confessing it. I was young and did not wish to die,
and yet I must give no sign which would add to his delight, he must not
perceive that I was frightened. I had strained at the rope which held
me until I found that all my efforts seemed to make it tighter, and so I
gave up and sat still to wait for death.
"I hope you have confessed yourself lately. Personally, I do not believe
in a God; but your Majesty has the reputation of being devout. Perhaps
you have some little message you would like to leave; if that is the
case you must give me your promise not to call out, and I will remove
the gag; is it to be so?"
I nodded, there might be a chance if I could talk. I could at least try
to bribe him, try to ransom myself. If he were not too mad, there might
be a chance. His fingers were busy and a moment later I was free to
talk.
He looked at his watch. By this time Prince Zeula must be awaiting me.
I wondered what he would do--and Mr. Neville? They would never give up
the search for me, my body would doubtless be discovered, but what good
would that do me? None whatever.
"You will observe, your Majesty, that I have given you ample time to
make your peace with your God. Would it please you to give me any
message to deliver? I assure you that I will be a faithful messenger."
"You are determined then to murder me?"
"A rough word, surely your Majesty means execute."
"I give you my word that your father died a natural death."
"He naturally died, you mean."
"I mean what I said."
"Then, for the first time in my life, I call a King a liar to his face;
it is quite an amusing sensation."
"I am not a liar; but no matter, now listen to me. You are going to
murder me----"
"Execute."
"Execute, then, if you will. What I wish to know is--how will it
benefit you, will you be any the less destitute? No! whereas if you
allow me to ransom myself----"
"Ransom yourself? Well, I should have to dictate the terms."
"Of course, what are they?"
"The remaining years of your life." He laughed. "Now I think that is
enough; what message do you wish to send?"
"A hundred thousand pounds would make you very comfortable for the rest
of your life."
"But not as comfortable as your death."
"Two hundred thousand and no questions asked, with absolute freedom."
"No terms except the ones I mentioned. Come now, the message for the
Queen; it is for her, eh? Not that it is much good, because you will be
able to give it to her yourself in a little while."
"What do you mean?"
"Softly, softly! That was very like a shout, and remember you gave your
word; my kind thought of sending your wife to you seems to have upset
you somewhat."
"You cursed devil!"
This was the final stroke, and I strained like a madman at my bonds. My
head was turned away with the effort, and the window again came within
my range of vision; but this time I closed my eyes, so that he could not
read the hope which must have been in them. I could have shouted with
the terrible exertion I had to make to avoid giving any sign, for the
window, which before had been closed, was now wide open, and my old
Bauen creeping through it. To this day, I cannot imagine how he had
managed to open the window without betraying his presence. Another
struggle, and through my half-opened eyes I saw Bauen come creeping
slowly up behind. I realised that I must make as much noise as I could
to hide any sound he might make, as he had only a knife, and the other
his revolver.
"I will give you one minute more," I heard him say, and he began to
count.
Ten--twenty--thirty--at ninety I toppled the chair over sideways, coming
down with a crash, and losing sight of him. There was the sound of a
terrific struggle on the other side of the table; the revolver barked
three times, I felt a stinging in my leg and heard curses, the sound of
blows, and moans. Then there was silence.
"Bauen, Bauen," I called.
"Your Majesty?" came the answer, to my joy.
"Are you hurt, Bauen, can you come and cut me free?"
"No, your Majesty, I cann----" There was a little sigh and then silence
again.
A loud, insistent knocking at the door now drew my attention, and I
raised my voice:
"Break down the door."
I lay quiet after that, and presently round the table crawled Bauen. He
dragged his leg painfully, and his face was covered with blood; but he
kept on until he reached my side, when he put his lips to my hand and
rolled over motionless.
There was a tremendous crash, another, and the door flew open. For a
moment those outside hesitated to enter, but when I called to them to
cut me loose they swarmed in. Very carefully they lifted Bauen, and
placed him on a settee in a corner of the studio.
The moment that I was free I gave orders for a surgeon to be sent for,
also I gave orders that no one was to leave the settlement, for I did
not wish any false rumour to reach the Palace.
The surgeon came almost before I could turn to see how Bauen was. A few
minutes sufficed to allay my anxiety; his wounds were serious but not
dangerous, and under the skilful treatment he received he recovered
sufficiently to recognise me, and seeing me safe would, I knew, go a
long way towards effecting his speedy recovery.
Ivan's son was dead, Bauen's knife had reached his heart. I cannot
bring myself to feel the least pity for the man, he must have been bad
to the core. His crime would have been carried out to a successful
conclusion, had he not overlooked or forgotten one small incident. A
barge had been moored up against the house to unload a big block of
marble, otherwise Bauen could never have reached the window. As it was,
upon obtaining no reply to his knocking, he had run along the bank of
the canal and swum across to the barge, from where he could look into
the room. Upon seeing my predicament, for a moment he had intended to
raise the alarm, but, fearing that by doing so he might cause my instant
death, he had resolved instead to try and rescue me himself,
single-handed. His great fear had been that some noise would betray
him; luckily for both of us it didn't, and he sprang, just as the man's
finger was about to pull the trigger.
As soon as the surgeon had made Bauen comfortable, I got him to look at
my own leg, and found that the ball had gone through the calf, a clean
flesh wound which would heal without trouble. It had been a random
shot, for the table-cloth had prevented my being seen, but it shows the
terrible hatred that the man had borne me, for him to have wasted a shot
on the off-chance of causing my death, and only a moment before Bauen's
knife had done its work.
Directly I was bandaged, leaning on the arm of a student, I hobbled into
the Palace gardens. I shall never forget the enthusiasm of the
crowd--of every nationality--who had gathered in the settlement, to
evince their joy at my escape; it was very nice to have the affection of
all those good fellows. Luckily, I met Woolgast coming to seek me,
Zeula having thought it necessary; into his hands I put the affair, but
first I sent him back to the Palace to warn Zeula and others not to make
a fuss when I appeared. I did not wish even the faintest hint of alarm
to reach Irma's ears. This done, I fainted. It was perhaps
unnecessary, but the strain of the evening had been great enough to try
the nerves of a bull; I had also lost a quantity of blood.
And so it ended; the last adventure of a career which had not been an
empty one. That is up to the present, for it only happened within the
year in which I am writing. I think Bauen was the most honoured man in
my realm for some time; before a stranger came to overthrow him, a
little fellow with a lusty voice, and as Bauen never spoke much the
new-comer naturally won. I may say that there were other reasons as
well, one of which was that, God being willing, he would one day rule
over Rudarlia.
Carruthers came to Karena for his christening; and I can remember that
upon that occasion, when we all were dining together--my mother, Mr.
Neville, Prince Zeula, all those whom I love--Carruthers proposed a
toast:
"Victor II., the finest King Rudarlia ever had, Her Majesty Queen Irma,
the finest Queen, and--er--I forget his name, but that jolly baby, the
finest baby in the world."
Then Irma said quietly:
"And Bauen, who saved them all."
Now, as this was a private dinner, there was a great deal of fun at the
quiet way Irma had accepted Carruthers' compliments, only Zeula and Mr.
Neville refusing to be consoled, because they had not been included as
the finest Prime Minister and the finest Tutor.
That I should remember this incident is in no way strange, for it was
only to-day that it happened.
Now I am seated in my study, I have said good night to every one, except
Woolgast, who, as usual, is on duty. Presently I shall summon him and
tell him to get to his bed; it is our regular custom, every night. I
say a few words to him, and then dismiss him with:
"Well, good night, General."
And he always gives the same reply:
"Good night, God bless your Majesty!"
* * * * * * * *
*JOHN LANE'S LIST OF FICTION*
BY ARTHUR H. ADAMS
A TOUCH OF FANTASY
GALAHAD JONES--A TRAGIC FARCE
GROCER GREATHEART
BY W. M. ARDAGH
THE KNIGHTLY YEARS
THE MAGADA
BY WILLIAM ARKWRIGHT
THE TREND
BY H. F. PREVOST BATTERSBY
THE LAST RESORT
THE LURE OF ROMANCE
THE SILENCE OF MEN
BY PETER BLUNDELL
LOVE-BIRDS IN THE COCO-NUTS
OH, MR. BIDGOOD
THE FINGER OF MR. BLEE
BY GERARD BENDALL
THE ILLUSIONS OF MR. & MRS. BRESSINGHAM
THE PROGRESS OF MRS. CRIPPS-MIDDLEMORE
BY PAUL BERTRAM
THE FIFTH TRUMPET
THE SHADOW OF POWER
BY ALICE BIRKHEAD
SHIFTING SANDS
BY WALTER BLOEM
THE IRON YEAR. Translated from the German by STELLA BLOCH
BY FRANCIS ADAMS
A CHILD OF THE AGE
BY SHELLAND BRADLEY
ADVENTURES OF AN A.D.C.
AN AMERICAN GIRL AT THE DURBAR
MORE ADVENTURES OF AN A.D.C.
BY GERTRUDE ATHERTON
A WHIRL ASUNDER
SENATOR NORTH
THE ARISTOCRATS
THE DOOMSWOMAN
BY EX-LIEUT. BILSE
LIFE IN A GARRISON TOWN
BY MRS. CHARLES BRYCE
MRS. VANDERSTEIN'S JEWELS
THE ASHIEL MYSTERY
BY JAMES BRYCE
THE STORY OF A PLOUGHBOY
BY WILLIAM CAINE
BILDAD THE QUILL-DRIVER
BUT SHE MEANT WELL
HOFFMAN'S CHANCE
THE IRRESISTIBLE INTRUDER
BY DANIEL CHAUCER
THE NEW HUMPTY-DUMPTY
THE SIMPLE LIFE LIMITED
BY MAUD CRUTTWELL
FIRE AND FROST
BY SIDNEY DARK
THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT BE KING
BY THEODORE DREISER
THE GENIUS
THE TITAN
BY MARION FOX
APE'S FACE
THE BOUNTIFUL HOUR
BY WILLEM DE VEER
AN EMPEROR IN THE DOCK
BATTLE ROYAL
BY CARLTON DAWE
THE REDEMPTION OF GRACE MILROY
THE SUPER-BARBARIANS