XIV
"THE KING'S WILL IS LAW"
The Blentz princess frowned down upon the king and impostorimpartially from her great gilt frame. It must have been close tomidnight that the painting moved--just a fraction of an inch. Thenit remained motionless for a time. Again it moved. This time itrevealed a narrow crack at its edge. In the crack an eye shone.
One of the sleepers moved. He opened his eyes. Stealthily heraised himself on his elbow and gazed at the other across theapartment. He listened intently. The regular breathing of thesleeper proclaimed the soundness of his slumber. Gingerly the manplaced one foot upon the floor. The eye glued to the crack at theedge of the great, gilt frame of the Blentz princess remainedfastened upon him. He let his other foot slip to the floor besidethe first. Carefully he raised himself until he stood erect upon thefloor. Then, on tiptoe he started across the room.
The eye in the dark followed him. The man reached the side of thesleeper. Bending over he listened intently to the other's breathing.Satisfied that slumber was profound he stepped quickly to a wardrobein which a soldier had hung the clothing of both the king and theAmerican. He took down the uniform of the former, casting from timeto time apprehensive glances toward the sleeper. The latter did notstir, and the other passed to the little dressing-room adjoining.
A few minutes later he reentered the apartment fully clothed andwearing the accouterments of Leopold of Lutha. In his hand was adrawn sword. Silently and swiftly he crossed to the side of thesleeping man. The eye at the crack beside the gilded frame pressedcloser to the aperture. The sword was raised above the body of theslumberer--its point hovered above his heart. The face of the manwho wielded it was hard with firm resolve.
His muscles tensed to drive home the blade, but something held hishand. His face paled. His shoulders contracted with a littleshudder, and he turned toward the door of the apartment, almostrunning across the floor in his anxiety to escape. The eye in thedark maintained its unblinking vigilance.
With his hand upon the knob a sudden thought stayed the fugitive'sflight. He glanced quickly back at the sleeper--he had not moved.Then the man who wore the uniform of the king of Lutha recrossed theapartment to the bed, reached beneath one of the pillows andwithdrew two neatly folded official-looking documents. These heplaced in the breastpocket of his uniform. A moment later he waswalking down the spiral stairway to the main floor of the castle.
In the guardroom the troopers of the Royal Horse who were not onguard were stretched in slumber. Only a corporal remained awake. Asthe man entered the guardroom the corporal glanced up, and as hiseyes fell upon the newcomer, he sprang to his feet, saluting.
"Turn out the guard!" he cried. "Turn out the guard for hismajesty, the king!"
The sleeping soldiers, but half awake, scrambled to their feet,their muscles reacting to the command that their brains but halfperceived. They snatched their guns from the racks and formed a linebehind the corporal. The king raised his fingers to the vizor of hishelmet in acknowledgment of their salute.
"Saddle up quietly, corporal," he said. "We shall ride to Lustadttonight."
The non-commissioned officer saluted. "And an extra horse for HerrCuster?" he said.
The king shook his head. "The man died of his wound about an hourago," he said. "While you are saddling up I shall arrange with someof the Blentz servants for his burial--now hurry!"
The corporal marched his troopers from the guardroom toward thestables. The man in the king's clothes touched a bell which wasobviously a servant call. He waited impatiently a reply to hissummons, tapping his finger-tips against the sword-scabbard that wasbelted to his side. At last a sleepy-eyed man responded--a man whohad grown gray in the service of Peter of Blentz. At sight of theking he opened his eyes in astonishment, pulled his foretop, andbowed uneasily.
"Come closer," whispered the king. The man did so, and the kingspoke in his ear earnestly, but in scarce audible tones. The eyes ofthe listener narrowed to mere slits--of avarice and cunning, cruellycold and calculating. The speaker searched through the pockets ofthe king's clothes that covered him. At last he withdrew a roll ofbills. The amount must have been a large one, but he did not stop tocount it. He held the money under the eyes of the servant. Thefellow's claw-like fingers reached for the tempting wealth. Henodded his head affirmatively.
"You may trust me, sire," he whispered.
The king slipped the money into the other's palm. "And as muchmore," he said, "when I receive proof that my wishes have beenfulfilled."
"Thank you, sire," said the servant.
The king looked steadily into the other's face before he spokeagain.
"And if you fail me," he said, "may God have mercy on your soul."Then he wheeled and left the guardroom, walking out into thecourtyard where the soldiers were busy saddling their mounts.
A few minutes later the party clattered over the drawbridge and downthe road toward Blentz and Lustadt. From a window of the apartmentsof Peter of Blentz a man watched them depart. When they passedacross a strip of moonlit road, and he had counted them, he smiledwith relief.
A moment later he entered a panel beside the huge fireplace in thewest wall and disappeared. There he struck a match, found a candleand lighted it. Walking a few steps he came to a figure sleepingupon a pile of clothing. He stooped and shook the sleeper by theshoulder.
"Wake up!" he cried in a subdued voice. "Wake up, Prince Peter; Ihave good news for you."
The other opened his eyes, stretched, and at last sat up.
"What is it, Maenck?" he asked querulously.
"Great news, my prince," replied the other.
"While you have been sleeping many things have transpired within thewalls of your castle. The king's troopers have departed; but that isa small matter compared with the other. Here, behind the portrait ofyour great-grandmother, I have listened and watched all night. Iopened the secret door a fraction of an inch--just enough to permitme to look into the apartment where the king and the American laywounded. They had been talking as I opened the door, but after thatthey ceased--the king falling asleep at once--the American feigningslumber. For a long time I watched, but nothing happened until nearmidnight. Then the American arose and donned the king's clothes.
"He approached Leopold with drawn sword, but when he would havethrust it through the heart of the sleeping man his nerve failedhim. Then he stole some papers from the room and left. Just now hehas ridden out toward Lustadt with the men of the Royal Horse whocaptured the castle yesterday."
Before Maenck was half-way through his narrative, Peter of Blentzwas wide awake and all attention. His eyes glowed with suddenlyaroused interest.
"Somewhere in this, prince," concluded Maenck, "there must lie theseed of fortune for you and me."
Peter nodded. "Yes," he mused, "there must."
For a time both men were buried in thought. Suddenly Maenck snappedhis fingers. "I have it!" he cried. He bent toward Prince Peter'sear and whispered his plan. When he was done the Blentz princegrasped his hand.
"Just the thing, Maenck!" he cried. "Just the thing. Leopold willnever again listen to idle gossip directed against our loyalty. If Iknow him--and who should know him better--he will heap honors uponyou, my Maenck; and as for me, he will at least forgive me and takeme back into his confidence. Lose no time now, my friend. We arefree now to go and come, since the king's soldiers have beenwithdrawn."
In the garden back of the castle an old man was busy digging a hole.It was a long, narrow hole, and, when it was completed, nearly fourfeet deep. It looked like a grave. When he had finished the old manhobbled to a shed that leaned against the south wall. Here wereboards, tools, and a bench. It was the castle workshop. The old manselected a number of rough pine boards. These he measured and sawed,fitted and nailed, working all the balance of the night. By dawn, hehad a long, narrow box, just a trifle smaller than the hole he haddug in the garden. The box resembled a crude coffin. When it wasquite finished, including a cover, he dragged it out into t
he gardenand set it upon two boards that spanned the hole, so that it restedprecisely over the excavation.
All these precautions methodically made, he returned to the castle.In a little storeroom he searched for and found an ax. With histhumb he felt of the edge--for an ax it was marvelously sharp. Theold fellow grinned and shook his head, as one who appreciates inanticipation the consummation of a good joke. Then he creptnoiselessly through the castle's corridors and up the spiralstairway in the north tower. In one hand was the sharp ax.
The moment Lieutenant Butzow had reached Lustadt he had gonedirectly to Prince von der Tann; but the moment his message had beendelivered to the chancellor he sought out the chancellor's daughter,to tell her all that had occurred at Blentz.
"I saw but little of Mr. Custer," he said. "He was very quiet. Ithink all that he has been through has unnerved him. He was slightlywounded in the left leg. The king was wounded in the breast. Hismajesty conducted himself in a most valiant and generous manner.Wounded, he lay upon his stomach in the courtyard of the castle anddefended Mr. Custer, who was, of course, unarmed. The king shotthree of Prince Peter's soldiers who were attempting to assassinateMr. Custer."
Emma von der Tann smiled. It was evident that Lieutenant Butzow hadnot discovered the deception that had been practiced upon him incommon with all Lutha--she being the only exception. It seemedincredible that this good friend of the American had not seen in theheroism of the man who wore the king's clothes the attributes andear-marks of Barney Custer. She glowed with pride at the narrationof his heroism, though she suffered with him because of his wound.
It was not yet noon when the detachment of the Royal Horse arrivedin Lustadt from Blentz. At their head rode one whom all upon thestreets of the capital greeted enthusiastically as king. The partyrode directly to the royal palace, and the king retired immediatelyto his apartments. A half hour later an officer of the king'shousehold knocked upon the door of the Princess Emma von der Tann'sboudoir. In accord with her summons he entered, salutedrespectfully, and handed her a note.
It was written upon the personal stationary of Leopold of Lutha.The girl read and reread it. For some time she could not seem tograsp the enormity of the thing that had overwhelmed her--the daringof the action that the message explained. The note was short and tothe point, and was signed only with initials.