II
CONDEMNED TO DEATH
For some time Barney Custer lay there in the dark revolving in hismind all that he had overheard through the partition--the thinpartition which alone lay between himself and three men who would beonly too glad to embrace the first opportunity to destroy him. Buthis fears were not for himself so much as for the daughter of oldVon der Tann, and for all that might befall that princely house werethese three unhung rascals to gain Lutha and have their way with theweak and cowardly king who reigned there.
If he could but reach Von der Tann's ear and through him the kingbefore the conspirators came to Lutha! But how might he accomplishit? Count Zellerndorf's parting words to the three had shown thatmilitary passes were necessary to enable one to reach Lutha.
His papers were practically worthless even inside the lines. Thatthey would carry him through the lines he had not the slightesthope. There were two things to be accomplished if possible. One wasto cross the frontier into Lutha; and the other, which of course wasquite out of the question, was to prevent Peter of Blentz, VonCoblich, and Maenck from doing so. But was that altogetherimpossible?
The idea that followed that question came so suddenly that itbrought Barney Custer out onto the floor in a bound, to don hisclothes and sneak into the hall outside his room with the stealth ofa professional second-story man.
To the right of his own door was the door to the apartment in whichthe three conspirators slept. At least, Barney hoped they slept. Hebent close to the keyhole and listened. From within came no soundother than the regular breathing of the inmates. It had been atleast half an hour since the American had heard the conversationcease. A glance through the keyhole showed no light within the room.Stealthily Barney turned the knob. Had they bolted the door? He feltthe tumbler move to the pressure--soundlessly. Then he pushed gentlyinward. The door swung.
A moment later he stood in the room. Dimly he could see two beds--alarge one and a smaller. Peter of Blentz would be alone upon thesmaller bed, his henchmen sleeping together in the larger. Barneycrept toward the lone sleeper. At the bedside he fumbled in the darkgroping for the man's clothing--for the coat, in the breastpocket ofwhich he hoped to find the military pass that might carry him safelyout of Austria-Hungary and into Lutha. On the foot of the bed hefound some garments. Gingerly he felt them over, seeking the coat.
At last he found it. His fingers, steady even under the nervoustension of this unaccustomed labor, discovered the inner pocket andthe folded paper. There were several of them; Barney took them all.
So far he made no noise. None of the sleepers had stirred. Now hetook a step toward the doorway and--kicked a shoe that lay in hispath. The slight noise in that quiet room sounded to Barney's earslike the fall of a brick wall. Peter of Blentz stirred, turning inhis sleep. Behind him Barney heard one of the men in the other bedmove. He turned his head in that direction. Either Maenck or Coblichwas sitting up peering through the darkness.
"Is that you, Prince Peter?" The voice was Maenck's.
"What's the matter?" persisted Maenck.
"I'm going for a drink of water," replied the American, and steppedtoward the door.
Behind him Peter of Blentz sat up in bed.
"That you, Maenck?" he called.
Instantly Maenck was out of bed, for the first voice had come fromthe vicinity of the doorway; both could not be Peter's.
"Quick!" he cried; "there's someone in our room."
Barney leaped for the doorway, and upon his heels came the threeconspirators. Maenck was closest to him--so close that Barney wasforced to turn at the top of the stairs. In the darkness he was justconscious of the form of the man who was almost upon him. Then heswung a vicious blow for the other's face--a blow that landed, forthere was a cry of pain and anger as Maenck stumbled back into thearms of the two behind him. From below came the sound of footstepshurrying up the stairs to the accompaniment of a clanking saber.Barney's retreat was cut off.
Turning, he dodged into his own room before the enemy could locatehim or even extricate themselves from the confusion of Maenck'ssudden collision with the other two. But what could Barney gain bythe slight delay that would be immediately followed by hisapprehension?
He didn't know. All that he was sure of was that there had been noother place to go than this little room. As he entered the firstthing that his eyes fell upon was the small square window. Here atleast was some slight encouragement.
He ran toward it. The lower sash was raised. As the door behindhim opened to admit Peter of Blentz and his companions, Barneyslipped through into the night, hanging by his hands from the sillwithout. What lay beneath or how far the drop he could not guess,but that certain death menaced him from above he knew from theconversation he had overheard earlier in the evening.
For an instant he hung suspended. He heard the men groping aboutthe room. Evidently they were in some fear of the unknown assailantthey sought, for they did not move about with undue rashness.Presently one of them struck a light--Barney could see its flarelighten the window casing for an instant.
"The room is empty," came a voice from above him.
"Look to the window!" cried Peter of Blentz, and then Barney Custerlet go his hold upon the sill and dropped into the blackness below.
His fall was a short one, for the window had been directly over alow shed at the side of the inn. Upon the roof of this the Americanlanded, and from there he dropped to the courtyard without mishap.Glancing up, he saw the heads of three men peering from the windowof the room he had just quitted.
"There he is!" cried one, and instantly the three turned back intothe room. As Barney fled from the courtyard he heard the rattle ofhasty footsteps upon the rickety stairway of the inn.
Choosing an alley rather than a street in which he might run uponsoldiers at any moment, he moved quickly yet cautiously away fromthe inn. Behind him he could hear the voices of many men. They wereraised to a high pitch by excitement. It was clear to Barney thatthere were many more than the original three--Prince Peter had, inall probability, enlisted the aid of the military.
Could he but reach the frontier with his stolen passes he would becomparatively safe, for the rugged mountains of Lutha offered manyplaces of concealment, and, too, there were few Luthanians who didnot hate Peter of Blentz most cordially--among the men of themountains at least. Once there he could defy a dozen Blentz princesfor the little time that would be required to carry him into Serbiaand comparative safety.
As he approached a cross street a couple of squares from the inn hefound it necessary to pass beneath a street lamp. For a moment hepaused in the shadows of the alley listening. Hearing nothing movingin the street, Barney was about to make a swift spring for theshadows upon the opposite side when it occurred to him that it mightbe safer to make assurance doubly sure by having a look up and downthe street before emerging into the light.
It was just as well that he did, for as he thrust his head aroundthe corner of the building the first thing that his eyes fell uponwas the figure of an Austrian sentry, scarcely three paces from him.The soldier was standing in a listening attitude, his head halfturned away from the American. The sounds coming from the directionof the inn were apparently what had attracted his attention.
Behind him, Barney was sure he heard evidences of pursuit. Beforehim was certain detection should he attempt to cross the street. Oneither hand rose the walls of buildings. That he was trapped thereseemed little doubt.
He continued to stand motionless, watching the Austrian soldier.Should the fellow turn toward him, he had but to withdraw his headwithin the shadow of the building that hid his body. Possibly theman might turn and take his beat in the opposite direction. In whichcase Barney was sure he could dodge across the street, undetected.
Already the vague threat of pursuit from the direction of the innhad developed into a certainty--he could hear men moving toward himthrough the alley from the rear. Would the sentry never move!Evidently not, until he heard the others coming throug
h the alley.Then he would turn, and the devil would be to pay for the American.
Barney was about hopeless. He had been in the war zone long enoughto know that it might prove a very disagreeable matter to be caughtsneaking through back alleys at night. There was a single chance--asort of forlorn hope--and that was to risk fate and make a dashbeneath the sentry's nose for the opposite alley mouth.
"Well, here goes," thought Barney. He had heard that many of theAustrians were excellent shots. Visions of Beatrice, Nebraska,swarmed his memory. They were pleasant visions, made doubly alluringby the thought that the realities of them might never again be forhim.
He turned once more toward the sounds of pursuit--the men upon histrack could not be over a square away--there was not an instant tobe lost. And then from above him, upon the opposite side of thealley, came a low: "S-s-t!"
Barney looked up. Very dimly he could see the dark outline of awindow some dozen feet from the pavement, and framed within it thelighter blotch that might have been a human face. Again came thechallenging: "S-s-t!" Yes, there was someone above, signaling tohim.
"S-s-t!" replied Barney. He knew that he had been discovered, andcould think of no better plan for throwing the discoverer off hisguard than to reply.
Then a soft voice floated down to him--a woman's voice!
"Is that you?" The tongue was Serbian. Barney could understand it,though he spoke it but indifferently.
"Yes," he replied truthfully.
"Thank Heaven!" came the voice from above. "I have been watchingyou, and thought you one of the Austrian pigs. Quick! They arecoming--I can hear them;" and at the same instant Barney sawsomething drop from the window to the ground. He crossed the alleyquickly, and could have shouted in relief for what he foundthere--the end of a knotted rope dangling from above.
His pursuers were almost upon him when he seized the rude ladder toclamber upward. At the window's ledge a firm, young hand reached outand, seizing his own, almost dragged him through the window. Heturned to look back into the alley. He had been just in time; theAustrian sentry, alarmed by the sound of approaching footsteps downthe alley, had stepped into view. He stood there now with leveledrifle, a challenge upon his lips. From the advancing party came asatisfactory reply.
At the same instant the girl beside him in the Stygian blackness ofthe room threw her arms about Barney's neck and drew his face downto hers.
"Oh, Stefan," she whispered, "what a narrow escape! It makes metremble to think of it. They would have shot you, my Stefan!"
The American put an arm about the girl's shoulders, and raised onehand to her cheek--it might have been in caress, but it wasn't. Itwas to smother the cry of alarm he anticipated would follow thediscovery that he was not "Stefan." He bent his lips close to herear.
"Do not make an outcry," he whispered in very poor Serbian. "I amnot Stefan; but I am a friend."
The exclamation of surprise or fright that he had expected was notforthcoming. The girl lowered her arms from about his neck.
"Who are you?" she asked in a low whisper.
"I am an American war correspondent," replied Barney, "but if theAustrians get hold of me now it will be mighty difficult to convincethem that I am not a spy." And then a sudden determination came tohim to trust his fate to this unknown girl, whose face, even, he hadnever seen. "I am entirely at your mercy," he said. "There areAustrian soldiers in the street below. You have but to call to themto send me before the firing squad--or, you can let me remain hereuntil I can find an opportunity to get away in safety. I am tryingto reach Serbia."
"Why do you wish to reach Serbia?" asked the girl suspiciously.
"I have discovered too many enemies in Austria tonight to make itsafe for me to remain," he replied, "and, further, my originalintention was to report the war from the Serbian side."
The girl hesitated for a while, evidently in thought.
"They are moving on," suggested Barney. "If you are going to giveme up you'd better do it at once."
"I'm not going to give you up," replied the girl. "I'm going tokeep you prisoner until Stefan returns--he will know best what to dowith you. Now you must come with me and be locked up. Do not try toescape--I have a revolver in my hand," and to give her prisonerphysical proof of the weapon he could not see she thrust the muzzleagainst his side.
"I'll take your word for the gun," said Barney, "if you'll just turnit in the other direction. Go ahead--I'll follow you."
"No, you won't," replied the girl. "You'll go first; but beforethat you'll raise your hands above your head. I want to search you."
Barney did as he was bid and a moment later felt deft fingersrunning over his clothing in search of concealed weapons. Satisfiedat last that he was unarmed, the girl directed him to precede her,guiding his steps from behind with a hand upon his arm. Occasionallyhe felt the muzzle of her revolver touch his body. It was a mostunpleasant sensation.
They crossed the room to a door which his captor directed him toopen, and after they had passed through and she had closed it behindthem the girl struck a match and lit a candle which stood upon alittle bracket on the partition wall. The dim light of the tallowdip showed Barney that he was in a narrow hall from which severaldoors opened into different rooms. At one end of the hall a stairwayled to the floor below, while at the opposite end another flightdisappeared into the darkness above.
"This way," said the girl, motioning toward the stairs that ledupward.
Barney had turned toward her as she struck the match, obtaining anexcellent view of her features. They were clear-cut and regular. Hereyes were large and very dark. Dark also was her hair, which waspiled in great heaps upon her finely shaped head. Altogether theface was one not easily to be forgotten. Barney could scarce havetold whether the girl was beautiful or not, but that she wasstriking there could be no doubt.
He preceded her up the stairway to a door at the top. At herdirection he turned the knob and entered a small room in which was acot, an ancient dresser and a single chair.
"You will remain here," she said, "until Stefan returns. Stefan willknow what to do with you." Then she left him, taking the light withher, and Barney heard a key turn in the lock of the door after shehad closed it. Presently her footfalls died out as she descended tothe lower floors.
"Anyhow," thought the American, "this is better than the Austrians.I don't know what Stefan will do with me, but I have a rather vivididea of what the Austrians would have done to me if they'd caught mesneaking through the alleys of Burgova at midnight."
Throwing himself on the cot Barney was soon asleep, for though hispredicament was one that, under ordinary circumstances might havemade sleep impossible, yet he had so long been without the boon ofslumber that tired nature would no longer be denied.
When he awoke it was broad daylight. The sun was pouring in througha skylight in the ceiling of his tiny chamber. Aside from this therewere no windows in the room. The sound of voices came to him with anuncanny distinctness that made it seem that the speakers must be inthis very chamber, but a glance about the blank walls convinced himthat he was alone.
Presently he espied a small opening in the wall at the head of hiscot. He rose and examined it. The voices appeared to be coming fromit. In fact, they were. The opening was at the top of a narrow shaftthat seemed to lead to the basement of the structure--apparentlyonce the shaft of a dumb-waiter or a chute for refuse or soiledclothes.
Barney put his ear close to it. The voices that came from belowwere those of a man and a woman. He heard every word distinctly.
"We must search the house, fraulein," came in the deep voice of aman.
"Whom do you seek?" inquired a woman's voice. Barney recognized itas the voice of his captor.
"A Serbian spy, Stefan Drontoff," replied the man. "Do you knowhim?"
There was a considerable pause on the girl's part before sheanswered, and then her reply was in such a low voice that Barneycould barely hear it.
"I do not know him," she said. "There are s
everal men who lodgehere. What may this Stefan Drontoff look like?"
"I have never seen him," replied the officer; "but by arresting allthe men in the house we must get this Stefan also, if he is here."
"Oh!" cried the girl, a new note in her voice, "I guess I know nowwhom you mean. There is one man here I have heard them call Stefan,though for the moment I had forgotten it. He is in the smallattic-room at the head of the stairs. Here is a key that will fitthe lock. Yes, I am sure that he is Stefan. You will find him there,and it should be easy to take him, for I know that he is unarmed. Hetold me so last night when he came in."
"The devil!" muttered Barney Custer; but whether he referred to hispredicament or to the girl it would be impossible to tell. Alreadythe sound of heavy boots on the stairs announced the coming ofmen--several of them. Barney heard the rattle of accouterments--theclank of a scabbard--the scraping of gun butts against the walls.The Austrians were coming!
He looked about. There was no way of escape except the door and theskylight, and the door was impossible.
Quickly he tilted the cot against the door, wedging its legs againsta crack in the floor--that would stop them for a minute or two. Thenhe wheeled the dresser beneath the skylight and, placing the chairon top of it, scrambled to the seat of the latter. His head was atthe height of the skylight. To force the skylight from its framerequired but a moment. A key entered the lock of the door from theopposite side and turned. He knew that someone without was pushing.Then he heard an oath and heavy battering upon the panels. A momentlater he had drawn himself through the skylight and stood upon theroof of the building. Before him stretched a series of uneven roofsto the end of the street. Barney did not hesitate. He started on arapid trot toward the adjoining roof. From that he clambered to ahigher one beyond.
On he went, now leaping narrow courts, now dropping to low sheds andagain clambering to the heights of the higher buildings, until hehad come almost to the end of the row. Suddenly, behind him he hearda hoarse shout, followed by the report of a rifle. With a whir, abullet flew a few inches above his head. He had gained the lastroof--a large, level roof--and at the shot he turned to see how nearto him were his pursuers.
Fatal turn!
Scarce had he taken his eyes from the path ahead than his foot fellupon a glass skylight, and with a loud crash he plunged through amida shower of broken glass.
His fall was a short one. Directly beneath the skylight was a bed,and on the bed a fat Austrian infantry captain. Barney lit upon thepit of the captain's stomach. With a howl of pain the officercatapulted Barney to the floor. There were three other beds in theroom, and in each bed one or two other officers. Before the Americancould regain his feet they were all sitting on him--all except theinfantry captain. He lay shrieking and cursing in a painful attemptto regain his breath, every atom of which Barney had knocked out ofhim.
The officers sitting on Barney alternately beat him and questionedhim, interspersing their interrogations with lurid profanity.
"If you will get off of me," at last shouted the American, "I shallbe glad to explain--and apologize."
They let him up, scowling ferociously. He had promised to explain,but now that he was confronted by the immediate necessity of anexplanation that would prove at all satisfactory as to how hehappened to be wandering around the rooftops of Burgova, hediscovered that his powers of invention were entirely inadequate.The need for explaining, however, was suddenly removed. A shadowfell upon them from above, and as they glanced up Barney saw thefigure of an officer surrounded by several soldiers looking downupon him.
"Ah, you have him!" cried the newcomer in evident satisfaction."It is well. Hold him until we descend."
A moment later he and his escort had dropped through the brokenskylight to the floor beside them.
"Who is the mad man?" cried the captain who had broken Barney'sfall. "The assassin! He tried to murder me."
"I cannot doubt it," replied the officer who had just descended,"for the fellow is no other than Stefan Drontoff, the famous Serbianspy!"
"Himmel!" ejaculated the officers in chorus. "You have done a goodday's work, lieutenant."
"The firing squad will do a better work in a few minutes," repliedthe lieutenant, with a grim pointedness that took Barney's breathaway.