CHAPTER XI
THE TURQUOISE RING
The Prince of India, left in the passage of the Castle with Sergius,was not displeased with the course the adventure appeared to be taking.In the first place, he felt no alarm for Lael; she might beuncomfortable in the quarter to which she had been conducted, but thatwas all, and it would not last long. The guardianship of the eunuch wasin his view a guaranty of her personal safety. In the next place,acquaintance with the Princess might prove serviceable in the future.He believed Lael fitted for the highest rank; she was already educatedbeyond the requirements of the age for women; her beauty wasindisputable; as a consequence, he had thought of her a light in thecourt; and not unpleasantly it occurred to him now that the fairPrincess might carry keys for both the inner and outer doors of theroyal residence.
Generally the affair which was of concern to Lael was an affair ofabsorbing interest to the Prince; in this instance, however, anothertheme offered itself for the moment a superior attraction.
The impression left by the young master of ceremonies in the receptionat the landing was of a kind to arouse curiosity. His appearance,manner, speech and the homage paid him denoted exalted rank; while theconfidence with which he spoke for Sultan Amurath was most remarkable.His acceptance of the terms presented by the Princess Irene was littleshort of downright treaty-making; and what common official dared carryassumption to such a height? Finally the Prince fell to thinking ifthere was any person the actual governor of the Castle would quietlypermit to go masquerading in his authority and title.
Then everything pointed him to Prince Mahommed. The correspondence inage was perfect; the martial array seen galloping down the bank was afitting escort for the heir-apparent of the gray Sultan; and he alonemight with propriety speak for his father in a matter of state.
"A mistake cannot be serious," said the Prince to himself, at the endof the review. "I will proceed upon the theory that the young man isPrince Mahommed."
This was no sooner determined than the restless mind flew forward to anaudience. The time and place--midnight in the lonesome old Castle--werepropitious, and he was prepared for it.
Indeed it was the very purpose he had in view the night of the repastin his tent at El Zaribah where he so mysteriously intrusted the EmirMirza with revelations concerning the doom of Constantinople.
Once more he ran over the scheme which had brought him from Cipango. IfIslam could not be brought to lead in the project, Christendom might bemore amenable to reason. The Moslem world was to be reached through theKaliph whom he expected to find in Egypt; wherefore his contemplatedtrip down the Nile from Kash-Cush. If driven to the Christian,Constantine was to be his operator. Such in broadest generality was theplan of execution he had resolved upon.
But to these possibilities he had appended another of which it is nownecessary to speak.
Enough has been given to apprise the reader of the things to which thePrince preferably devoted himself. These were international affairs,and transcendently war. If indeed the latter were not the object he hadalways specially in mind, it was the end to which his managementusually conducted. For mere enjoyment in the sight of men facing thedeath which strangely passed him by, he delighted in hovering on theedge of battle until there was a crisis, and then plunging into itsheated heart.
He had also a peculiar method of bringing war about. This consisted inproviding for punishments in case his enterprises miscarried.Invariably somebody suffered for such failures. In that way he soothedthe pangs of wounded vanity.
When he was inventing the means for executing his plots, and formingthe relations essential to them, it was his habit to select instrumentsof punishment in advance.
Probably no better illustration of this feature of his dealings can begiven than is furnished by the affair now engaging him. If he failed tomove the Kaliph to lead the reform, he would resort to Constantine; ifthe Emperor also declined, he would make him pay the penalty; then camethe reservation. So soon after his arrival from Cipango as he couldinform himself of the political conditions of the world to which he wasreturning, he fixed upon Mahommed to avenge him upon the offendingGreek.
The meeting with Mirza at El Zaribah was a favorable opportunity tobegin operating upon the young Turk. The tale the Emir received thatnight under solemn injunctions of secrecy was really intended for hismaster. How well it was devised for the end in view the reader will beable to judge from what is now to follow.
The audience with Mahommed determined upon by the Prince of India, ourfirst point of interest is in observing how he set about accomplishingit. His promptness was characteristic.
Directly the ladies had disappeared with the eunuch, the soldierspoured from their hiding places in the Castle, and seeing one whom hejudged an officer, the Prince called to him in Turkish:
"Ho, my friend!"
The man was obliging.
"Present my salutations to the Governor of the Castle, and say thePrince of India desires speech with him."
The soldier hesitated.
"Understand," said the Prince, quickly, "my message is not to the greatLord who received me at the landing. But the Governor in fact. Bringhim here."
The confident manner prevailed.
Presently the messenger returned with a burly, middle-aged person inguidance. A green turban above a round face, large black eyes inmuffling of fleshy lids, pallid cheeks lost in dense beard, a drab gownlined with yellow fur, a naked cimeter in a silk-embroidered sash,bespoke the Turk; but how unlike the handsome, fateful-lookingmasquerader at the river side!
"The Prince of India has the honor of speech with the Governor of theCastle?"
"God be praised," the Governor replied. "I was seeking your Highness.Besides wishing to join in your thanks for happy deliverance from thestorm, I thought to discharge my duty as a Moslem host by conductingyou to refreshments and repose. Follow me, I pray."
A few steps on the way, the Governor stopped:
"Was there not a companion--a younger man--a Dervish?"
"A monk," said the Prince; "and the question reminds me of myattendant, a negro. Send for him--or better, bring them both to me. Iwish them to share my apartment."
In a short time the three were in quarters, if one small room may be sodignified. The walls were cold gray stone; one oblong narrow port-holeadmitted scanty light; a rough bench, an immense kettle-drum shapedlike the half of an egg-shell, and propped broadside up, some piles ofloose straw, each with folded sheepskins on it, constituted thefurnishment.
Sergius made no sign of surprise or disappointment. Possibly thechamber and its contents were reproductions of his cell up inBielo-Osero. Nilo gave himself to study of the drum, reminded,doubtless, of similar warlike devices in Kash-Cush. The Prince aloneexpostulated. Taking a stand between the Governor and the door, he said:
"A question before thou goest hence."
The Turk gazed at him silently.
"To what accommodations have the Princess Irene and her attendant beentaken? Are they vile as these?"
"The reception room of my harem is the most comfortable the Castleaffords," the Governor answered.
"And they?"
"They are occupying it."
"Not by courtesy of thine. He who could put the hospitality of thePrince Mahommed to shame by maltreating one of his guests."
He paused, and grimly surveyed the room.
"Such a servant would be as evil-minded to another guest; and that theother is a woman, would not affect his imbruited soul."
"The Prince Mahommed!" the Governor exclaimed.
"Yes. What brings him here, matters not; his wish to keep the Romans inignorance of his near presence, I know as well as thou; none the less,it was his royal word we accepted. As for thee--thou mightest havepromised faith and hospitality with thy hand on the Prophet's beard,yet would I have bidden the Princess trust herself to the tempestsooner."
Sergius was now standing by, but the conversation being in Turkish, helistened without understanding.
r /> "Thou ass!" the Prince continued. "Not to know that the kinswoman ofthe Roman Emperor, under this roof by treaty with the mighty Amurath,his son the negotiator, is our guardian! When the storm shall havespent itself, and the waters quieted down, she will resume her journey.Then--it may be in the morning--she will first ask for us, and then thymaster will require to know how we have passed the night. Ah, thoubeginnest to see!"
The Governor's head was drooping; his hands crossed themselves upon hisstomach; and when he raised his eyes, they were full of deprecation andentreaty.
"Your Highness--most noble Lord--condescend to hear me."
"Speak. I am awake to hear the falsehood thou hast invented in excuseof thy perfidy to us, and thy treason to him, the most generous ofmasters, the most chivalrous of knights."
"Your Highness has greatly misconceived me. In the first place you haveforgotten the crowded state of the Castle. Every room and passage isfilled with the suite and escort of"--
He hesitated, and turned pale, like a man dropped suddenly into a greatdanger. The shrewd guest caught at the broken sentence and finished it:
"Of Prince Mahommed!"
"With the suite and escort," the Governor repeated.... "In the nextplace, it was not my intention to leave you unprovided. From my ownapartments, light, beds and seats were ordered to be brought here, withmeats for refreshment, and water for cleansing and draught. The orderis in course of execution now. Indeed, your Highness, I swear by thefirst chapter of the Koran"--
"Take something less holy to swear by," cried the Prince.
"Then, by the bones of the Faithful, I swear I meant to make youcomfortable, even to my own deprivation."
"By thy young master's bidding?"
The Governor bent forward very low.
"Well," said the Prince, softening his manner--"the misconception wasnatural."
"Yes--yes."
"And now thou hast only to prove thy intention by making it good."
"Trust me, your Highness."
"Trust thee? Ay, on proof. I have a commission"--
The Prince then drew a ring from his finger.
"Take this," he said, "and deliver it to the Emir Mirza."
The assurance of the speech was irresistible; so the Turk held out hishand to receive the token.
"And say to the Emir, that I desire him to thank the Most Compassionateand Merciful for the salvation of which we were witnesses at thesouthwest corner of the Kaaba."
"What!" exclaimed the Governor. "Art thou a Moslem?"
"I am not a Christian."
The Governor, accepting the ring, kissed the hand offering it, and tookhis departure, moving backward, and with downcast eyes, his mannerdeclarative of the most abject humility.
Hardly was the door closed behind the outgoing official, when thePrince began to laugh quietly and rub his hands together--quietly, wesay, for the feeling was not merriment so much as self-gratulation.
There was cleverness in having doubted the personality of theindividual who received the refugees at the landing; there was greatercleverness in the belief which converted the Governor into the PrinceMahommed; but the play by which the fact was uncovered--if not a strokeof genius, how may it be better described? The Prince of India thoughtas he laughed:
"Not long now until Amurath joins his fathers, and then--Mahommed."
Presently he stopped, a step half taken, his gaze upon the floor, hishands clasped behind him. He stood so still it would not have beenamiss to believe a thought was all the life there was in him. Hecertainly did believe in astrology. Had not men been always ruled bywhat they imagined heavenly signs? How distinctly he remembered the ageof the oracle and the augur! Upon their going out he became a believerin the stars as prophets, and then an adept; afterwhile he reached astage when he habitually mistook the commonest natural results, evencoincidences, for confirmations of planetary forecasts. And now thishalting and breathlessness was from sudden recollection that thehoroscope lying on his table in Constantinople had relation to Mahommedin his capacity of Conqueror. How marvellous also that from the meetingwith Constantine in the street of the city, he should have been blownby a tempest to a meeting with Mahommed in the White Castle!
These circumstances, trifling to the reader, were of deep influence tothe Prince of India. While he stands there rigid as a figure marbleizedin mid action, he is saying to himself:
"The audience will take place--Heaven has ordered it. Would I knew whatmanner of man this Mahommed is!"
He had seen a handsome youth, graceful in bearing, quick and subtle inspeech, cultivated and evidently used to governing. Very good, but whatan advantage there would be in knowing the bents and inclinations ofthe royal lad beforehand.
Presently the schemer's head arose. The boyish Prince was going aboutin armor when soft raiment would be excusable--and that meant ambition,dreams of conquest, dedication to martial glory. Very good indeed! Andthen his manner under the eyes of the girlish Princess--how quickly herhigh-born grace had captivated him! Something impossible were he not ofa romantic turn, a poet, sentimentalist, knight errant.
The Prince clapped his hands. He knew the appeals effective with suchnatures. Let the audience come.... Ah, but--
Again he sunk into thought. Youths like Mahommed were apt to be wilful.How was he to be controlled? One expedient after another was swiftlyconsidered and as swiftly rejected. At last the right one! Like hisancestors from Ertoghrul down, the young Turk was a believer in thestars. Not unlikely he was then in the Castle by permission of hisastrologer. Indeed, if Mirza had repeated the conversation andpredictions at El Zaribah, the Prince of India was being waited forwith an impatience due a master of the astral craft. Again the Wanderercried, "Let the audience come!" and peace and confidence werepossessing him when a loud report and continuous rumble in the room setthe solid floor to quaking. He looked around in time to see the bigdrum quivering under a blow from Nilo.
From the negro his gaze wandered to Sergius standing before the oneloophole by which light and air were let into the dismal chamber; andrecalling the monk as the sole attendant of the Princess Irene, hethought it best to speak to him.
Drawing near, he observed the cowl thrown back, and that the face wasraised, the eyes closed, the hands palm to palm upon the breast.Involuntarily he stopped, not because he was one of those who alwayspresume the most Holy Presence when prayer is being offered--hestopped, wondering where he had seen that countenance. The delicatefeatures, the pallid complexion, the immature beard, the fair hairparted in the middle, and falling in wavy locks over the shoulders, theaspect manly yet womanly in its refinement, were strangely familiar tohim. It was his first view of the monk's face. Where had he seen it?His memory went back, far back of the recent. A chill struck his heart.The features, look, air, portrait, the expression indefinable except asa light of outcoming spirit, were those of the man he had helpedcrucify before the Damascus gate in the Holy City, and whom he could nomore cast out of mind than he could the bones from his body. His feetseemed rooting into the flinty flags beneath them. He heard thecenturion call to him: "Ho, there! If thou knowest the Golgotha, comeshow it." He felt the sorrowful eyes of the condemned upon him. Hestruck the bloody cheek, and cried as to a beast: "Go faster, Jesus!"And then the words, wrung from infinite patience at last broken:
"I am going, but do thou TARRY TILL I COME."
For relief, he spoke:
"What dost thou, my friend?"
Sergius opened his eyes and answered simply, "I am praying."
"To whom?"
"To God."
"Art thou a Christian?"
"Yes."
"God is for the Jew and the Moslem."
"Nay," said Sergius, looking at the Prince without taking down hishands, "all who believe in God find happiness and salvation in Him--theChristian as well as the Jew and the Moslem."
The questions had been put with abrupt intensity; now the inquisitordrew back astonished. He heard the very postulate of the scheme towhich he was devot
ing himself--and from a boy so like the dead Christhe was working to blot out of worship he seemed the Christ arisen!
The amazement passed slowly, and with its going the habitual shrewdnessand capacity to make servants of circumstances apparently the mostuntoward returned. The youth had intellect, impressiveness, aptitude inwords, and a sublime idea. But what of his spirit--his courage--hisendurance in the Faith?
"How came this doctrine to thee?"
The Prince spoke deferentially.
"From the good father Hilarion."
"Who is he?"
"The Archimandrite of Bielo-Osero."
"A monastery?"
"Yes."
"How did he receive it?"
"From the Spirit of God, whence Christ had his wisdom--whence all goodmen have their goodness--by virtue of which they, like Him, become sonsof God."
"What is thy name?"
"Sergius."
"Sergius"--the Prince, now fully recovered, exerted his power ofwill--"Sergius, thou art a heretic."
At this accusation, so terrible in those days, the monk raised therosary of large beads dangling from his girdle, kissed the cross, andstood surveying the accuser with pity.
"That is," the Prince continued with greater severity, "speak thou thusto the Patriarch yonder"--he waved a hand toward Constantinople--"darerepeat the saying to a commission appointed to try thee for heresy, andthou wilt thyself taste the pangs of crucifixion or be cast to thebeasts."
The monk arose to his great height, and replied, fervently:
"Knowest thou when death hath the sweetness of sleep? I will tellthee"--A light certainly not from the narrow aperture in the wallcollected upon his countenance, and shone visibly--"It is when a martyrdies knowing both of God's hands are a pillow under his head."
The Prince dropped his eyes, for he was asking himself, was suchsweetness of sleep appointed for him? Resuming his natural manner, hesaid: "I understand thee, Sergius. Probably no man in the world, gothou East or West, will ever understand thee better. God's hands undermy head, welcome death!--Let us be friends."
Sergius took his offered hand.
Just then there was a noise at the door, and a troop of servantsentered with lighted lamps, rugs, a table, stools, and beds andbedding, and it was not long until the apartment was made habitable.The Prince, otherwise well satisfied, wanted nothing then but a replyfrom Mirza; and in the midst of his wonder at the latter's delay, apage in brilliant costume appeared, and called out:
"The Emir Mirza!"