The Courtship of Morrice Buckler: A Romance

  CHAPTER XXI.

  IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW.

  The hut wherein I passed the first month of my captivity was of a moresolid construction than is customary at so great a height, and hadbeen built by the order of Count Lukstein for a shelter when the chasebrought him hitherwards. For the hillside was covered with a denseforest of fir-trees in which chamois abounded, and now and again,though 'twas never my lot to come across one, a bear might bediscovered.

  The hut had a sort of vestibule paved with cobble-stones and roofedwith pine-wood. From this hall a room led out upon either side, thoughonly that upon the right hand was used by the wood-cutters who dwelthere. Of these there were two, and they lived and slept in the oneroom, cooking the gruel or porridge, which formed our chief food, in agreat cauldron slung over a rough fireplace of stones in the centre ofthe floor. There was no chimney to carry off the smoke, not so much asa hole in the wall; but the smoke found its way out as best it mightthrough the door. From the hall a ladder led up through a trap-doorinto a loft above, and as soon as we had supped, Groder bade me mountit, and followed me himself. The wood-cutters below removed theladder, Groder closed the trap, and, spreading some branches of firupon it, laid him down and went to sleep. I followed his example inthe matter of making my bed, but, as you may believe, I got littlesleep that night. For one thing my arms and legs were now become soswollen and painful that it tortured me even to move them, and it wasfull two days before I was sufficiently recovered to be able todescend from the loft. By that time Otto had got him back to thevalley, and I was left under the authority of Groder, which he usedwithout scruple or intermission. Each morning at daybreak the ladderwas hoisted to the loft. We descended and despatched a hastybreakfast; thereupon I was given an axe, and the four of us proceededinto the forest, where we felled trees the day long. Through the gapsin the clearings I would look across the valley to the bleak rocks andnaked snow-fields, and thoughts of English meadows knee-deep in grass,and of rooks cawing through a summer afternoon, would force themselvesinto my mind until I grew well-nigh daft with longing for a sight ofthem. At nightfall we returned to the hut and partook of a meal, andno words wasted. When the meal was finished I was straightway banishedto my loft, where I lay in the dark, and heard through the floor thewood-cutters breaking into all sorts of rough jests and songs now thatI was no longer present to check their merriment For towards me theyconsistently showed the greatest taciturnity and sullen reserve. 'Twasseldom that any one except Groder addressed a word to me, and in truthI would lief he had been as silent as the rest. For when he opened hismouth 'twas only to utter some command in a harsh, growling tone asthough he spoke to a cur, and to couple thereto a coarse and unseemlyoath.

  For a time I endured this servitude in an extraordinary barrenness ofmind. Not even the thought of escape stirred me to activity. Thesudden misfortune which had befallen me seemed to have numbed anddulled all but my bodily faculties. Moreover the long and arduouslabour, to which I was set, wearied me in the extreme, and eachevening I came back so broken with fatigue that I wished for nothingso much as to climb into my loft and stretch myself out upon mybranches in the dark, though even then I was often too tired to sleep,and so would lie hour after hour counting the seconds by the pulsingof my sinews.

  After a couple of weeks had gone by, however, I began to take somenotice of the place of my captivity, and to seek whether by any meansI might compass my escape. For I recalled, with an apprehension whichquickened speedily, as I dwelt upon it, into a panic of terror, thesingular prophecy and sentence which the Countess had flung at me. Ibegan to see myself already sinking into a dull apathy, performing mydaily task, with no thought beyond my physical needs, until I becameone with these coarse peasants in spirit and mind.

  What else, I reflected, could happen? Remote from all intercourse orcompanionship, with not so much as a single book to divert me,labouring with my hands from dawn to dusk, and guarded ever byignorant boors who reckoned me not worth even their speech--what elsecould I become? 'Twould need far less than a lifetime to work thetransformation!

  But, however carefully I watched, I could by no means come at theopportunity of an evasion. At night, as I have said, Groder shared theloft with me, and slept over the trap-door; nor was there any windowor other opening through which I might drop to the ground, since theroof reached down to the flooring upon every side. This roof consistedof a thatch of boughs, and of large sheets of bark superimposed uponthem, and weighted down by heavy stones. One night, indeed, whenGroder lay snoring, I endeavoured to force an opening through thethatch; but I had no help beyond what my hands afforded me--for theytook my axe from me every night as soon as we got back to the hut--andI was compelled, moreover, to work with the greatest caution andquietude lest I should awaken my companion; so that I got nothing formy pains but a few scratches and an additional fatigue to carrythrough the morrow.

  Nor, indeed, was my case any better in the day-time. We all worked inthe same clearing, and at no single moment was I out of sight of mygaolers.

  But even had I succeeded in eluding them, I doubt whether at this timeI should have been any nearer the fulfilment of my desire. For I knewnot so much as the direction of Lukstein, and I should only havewandered helpless amongst these heights until either I was recapturedor perished miserably upon the desolate wastes of snow.

  The hut stood in the centre of a little hollow, on the brink of atorrent, and was girt about by a rim of hills. There was, indeed, butone outlet, and that a precipitous gully, through which the waterrushed with a great roaring noise, and I gathered from this that itfell pretty sheer. I was the more inclined to this conjecture, sincehad the gully afforded a path it would have been the natural entranceinto the hollow, and I knew that I had not been brought that way, elseI must needs have remarked the roar of the stream sooner than I did.For that sound only came to my ears when I was but a short distancefrom the hut.

  If you stood with your back to the door of the hut, the noise camefrom directly behind you. On your right rose the pine-forest whereinwe laboured, very steep and dense, to the crest of a hill; on yourleft a barren wilderness, encumbered by stones, sloped up to the footof a great field of snow, which grew steeper and steeper towards itssummit. Here and there great masses of ice bulged out from theincline, like nothing so much as the bosses of shields. I was ratherapt to underrate the size and danger of these, until one day afragment, which seemed in comparison no greater than a pea, broke awayfrom one of these bosses and dropped on to the slope beneath,starting, as it were, a little rillet of snow down the hillside. Onthe instant the hollow was filled with a great thunder, as though abattery of cannon had been discharged; and I should hardly havebelieved this fragment could have produced so great a disturbance, hadnot the Tyrolese looked across the valley, and by their words to oneanother assured me it was so.

  In front of you, the head of this hollow was blocked up by a tongue ofice, which wound downwards like some huge dragon, and the stream ofwhich I have spoken flowed from the tip of it, as though the dragonspewed the water from its mouth. It was then apparent to me from theseobservations that I had been carried into this prison by some trackthrough the pine-forest, and I set myself to the discovery of it. Butwhether the wood-cutters kept aloof from it, or whether it was inreality indistinguishable, I could perceive no trace of it. At onepoint on the crest of the hill there was a marked depression, and Ijudged that there lay the true entrance; but through the gap I couldsee nothing but a sea of white, with dark peaks of rock tossed thisway and that, and dreaded much adventuring myself that way.

  It soon came upon me, however, that in whichever way I determined tomake my attempt, I must needs delay the actual enterprise until thespring; for we were now in the month of November, and the snow fallingvery thickly, so that for some while we worked knee-deep in snow. Thenone morning Groder and his comrades once more bound my hands andbandaged my eyes, and we set off to pass the winter in one of thelower valleys. On th
is occasion I took such notice as I could of ourdirection, and from the diminishing sound of the waterfall, Iunderstood that we marched for some distance towards the head of thevalley, and then turned to the right through the pine-forest.Evidently we were making for the gap in the ridge of the hill, and Idetermined to pay particular heed to the course which we followed downthe other side. Again, however, I was led in a continual zigzag, firstto the right, then to the left, and with such irregular distancesbetween each turn that it became impossible to keep a clear notion ofour direction. At times, too, we would retrace our steps, at others weseemed to be describing the greater part of a circle; so that in theend, when we finally reached our quarters, I was little wiser than atthe moment of setting out.

  There were some five or six cottages in the ravine whither we werecome, and one of them most undeniably an inn; for though I was notsuffered to go there myself--nor, indeed, had I any inclination thatway--my guardians frequently brought back upon their tongues and intheir faces evidence as convincing as a sign swinging above the door.In truth if the house was not an inn, it possessed the most hospitablemaster in the world.

  None the less strictly, however, on this account was the watchmaintained upon me; for if Groder and his fellows chanced to beincapacitated for the time, there were ever some peasants from theneighbouring cottages ready to fill their place; though, indeed, therewas but little necessity for their zeal, for the snow lay many feetdeep upon the ground, and the only path along which one could travelat all led down to the more populous parts of the valley, throughwhich, at this time of the year, it would be impossible to escape. Onecould journey no faster than at a snail's pace, and would leave,besides, an unmistakable trail for the pursuers.

  These winter months proved the most irksome of my captivity, my soleoccupation being the plaiting of ropes from the flax which was grownabout these parts. At this tedious and mechanic labour I toiled formany hours a day, in an exceeding great vacancy of spirit, until I hitupon a plan by which I might exercise my mind without hindering thework of my fingers. 'Twas my terror lest my wits should wither forlack of use that first set me on the device; since, indeed, itmattered little how or when Countess Ilga discovered that I had slainher husband. She _had_ discovered it; that was the kernel of thematter, and the searching out of the means whereby she gained theknowledge no more than an idle cracking of the shell into littlefragments after the kernel has been removed.

  Many incidents, of course, became intelligible to me now that I knewwhose portrait the miniature box contained. The sudden swoon of LadyTracy in the hall at Pall Mall was now easily accounted for. Themoment before I had been speaking of the miniature, and Lady Tracyknew--what I could not know--that Ilga held a proof of heracquaintanceship with the Count, and would be certain to attribute itas the cause of his death. It was doubtless, also, that piece ofknowledge which drove her to such a pitch of fear that on seeing theCountess at Bristol she disclosed the story to her brother andbesought his protection. I understood, moreover, the drift of thewords which Marston was uttering when death took him. He meant to aska question, not to make an explanation.

  Concerning those events, however, which more nearly concerned myself Iwas not so clear. I had no clue whereby I could ascertain how theCountess first came to fix her suspicions upon me, and in the absenceof that, my speculations were the merest conjectures. Much of coursewas significant to me which I had disregarded, as, for instance, thejourney of Countess Lukstein to Bristol, the diagram which she haddrawn on the gravel under the piazza of Covent Garden, the perplexitywith which she had regarded the diagram, and the sudden start she hadgiven when I mentioned the date of my departure from Leyden. For Iremembered that she had previously remarked the Horace when she cameto visit me; and in that volume the date "September 14, 1685," wasinscribed on the page opposite to Julian's outline of Lukstein.

  These details, now that I was aware she suspected me at that time,were full of significance, but they gave me no help towards thesolving of that first question as to what directed her thoughts myway. It seemed to me, indeed, as I looked back upon the incidents ofour acquaintance, that the Countess, almost from our first meeting,had begun to set her husband's death to my account.

  One thing, however, I did clearly recognise, and for that recognitionI shall ever be most gratefully thankful. 'Twas of far more importanceto me than any academic speculations, and I do but cite them here thatI may show how I came by it. I perceived that 'twas not so much anyinvestigation on the part of the Countess which had betrayed me toher, as my own wilful and independent actions. Of my own free choice Icame from Cumberland to seek her; of my own free choice I brought herto my rooms, where she saw the Horace; of my own free choice I joinedher in the box at the Duke's Theatre, and so led Marston to speak ofmy ride to Bristol; and again of my own free choice I had persuadedLady Tracy to enter the house in Pall Mall and confront my mistress.Even in the matter of the diagram, 'twas my anxiety and insistence toprove that Lady Tracy and I were strangers which induced me to dwellupon the date of my leaving Holland, and so gave to the Countess theclue to resolve her perplexity. In short, my very efforts atconcealment were the means by which suspicion was ratified andassured, and I could not but believe that Providence in its greatwisdom had so willed it. 'Tis that belief and conviction for which Ihave ever been most grateful; for it enheartened me with patience toendure my present sufferings, and saved me, in particular, fromcherishing a petty rancour and resentment against the lady whoinflicted them.

  I had yet one other consolation during this winter. For at times OttoKrax would come up from the valley to inquire after the prisoner. Atfirst he would but stay for the night and so get him back; but hisvisits gradually lengthened and grew more frequent, an odd friendshipspringing up between us. For one thing, I was attracted to him becausehe came from Lukstein, and, indeed, might have had speech withCountess Ilga upon the very day of his coming. But, besides that,there was a certain dignity about the man which set him apart fromthese rude peasants, and made his companionship very welcome. Heshowed his good-will towards me by recounting at great length all thathappened at Lukstein, and on the eve of the Epiphany, which 'tis thefashion of this people to celebrate with much rejoicing, he brought mea pipe and a packet of tobacco. No present could have been moregrateful, and it touched me to notice his pleasure when I manifestedmy delight. We went out of the cottage together, and sat smoking inthe starlight upon a boulder, and I remember that he told me one mightsee upon this evening a woman in white clothing, with a train oflittle ragged children chattering and clattering behind her. 'TwasProcula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, he explained. 'Twas her penanceto wander over the world until the last day attended by the souls ofall children that died before they had been baptized, and at theseason of the Epiphany she ever passed through the valleys of theTyrol. However, we saw naught of her that night.

  Early in May Groder carried me back to the hollow, and I beganseriously to consider in what way I should be most like to effect myescape. At any cost I was firmly resolved to venture the attempt, andduring this summer too, dreading the thought of a second winter ofsuch unendurable monotony as that through which I had passed.

  We were now set to drag from the hillside to the brink of the torrentthe wood which we had felled in the autumn, so that as the streamswelled with the melting of the snows we might send the timberfloating down to the valley. 'Twas a task of great labour, and sincewe had to saw many of the trunks into logs before we could move them,one that occupied no inconsiderable time. Indeed we had not the woodfairly stacked upon the bank until we were well into the first days ofJune. Meanwhile I had turned over many projects in my mind, but notone that seemed to offer me a possibility of success. I realisedespecially that if I sought to escape by the way we had come, Ishould, even though I were so lucky as to hit upon the right path,nevertheless, have to pass through the most inhabited portion of thedistrict. And did I succeed so far, I should then find myself in thevalley, close by Castle Lukstein, with not so much as a penny pi
ece inmy pocket to help me further on my way. Besides, by that route wouldGroder be certain to pursue me the moment he discovered my escape, andbeing familiar with the windings of the ravines, he would most surelyovertake me. Yet in no other direction could I discover the hint of anoutlet. I was in truth like a fly with wetted wings in the hollow of acup.

  It was our custom to launch the trunks endwise into the torrent, butone of them, which was larger than the rest, being caught in a swirl,turned broadside to the stream, and floating down thus, stuck in thenarrow defile, through which the water plunged out of the hollow. Thebarrier thus begun was strengthened by each succeeding log, so that ina very short time a solid dam was raised, the water running awayunderneath. To remedy this, Groder bade the peasants and myself takeour axes to the spot and cut the wood free.

  Now this defile was no more than a deep channel bored by the torrent,and on one side of it the cliff rose precipitously to the height of ahundred feet. On the other, however, a steep slope of grass andbushes, with here and there a dwarf-pine clinging to it, ran down to arough platform of rock, only twenty feet or so above the surface ofthe current. To one of these trees we bound a couple of stout ropes,and two men were lowered on to the block of timber, while the thirdremained upon the platform to see that the ropes did not slip, and tohaul the others up. So we worked all the day, taking turn and turnabout on the platform.

  To this lower end of the dale I had never come before, and when thetime arrived for me to rest, I naturally commenced to look about meand consider whether or no I might escape that way. Beneath me thetorrent leaped and foamed in a mist of spray, here sweeping along thecliff with a breaking crest like a wave, there circling in a whirlpoolabout a boulder, and all with such a prodigious roar that I could nothear my companions speak, though they shouted trumpet-wise throughtheir hands. 'Twas indeed no less than I had expected; the streamfilled the outlet from side to side.

  Then I looked across to the great snow-slope opposite, and in aninstant I understood the position of Captivity Hollow, as, for want ofa better name, I termed the place of my confinement. The slopefinished abruptly just over against me, as though it had been shorn bya knife, and I could see that the end face of it was a gigantic wallof rock. I saw this wall in profile, as one may say, and for that veryreason I recognised it the more surely. 'Twas singularly flat, andunbroken by buttresses; not a patch of snow was to be discoveredanywhere upon its face, and, moreover, the shape of its apex, whichwas like the cupola upon a church belfry, made any mistake impossible.In a word, the mountain was the Wildthurm; the wall of cliff blockedthe head of the Senner Thal, and the slope on which I gazed was theeastern side, which I had likened to one of the canvas sides of atent.

  If I could but cross it, I thought! No one would look for me in thatdirection. I could strike into one of the many ravines that led intothe Vintschgau Thal to the west of Lukstein, and thence make my way toInnspruck. If only I could cross it! But I gazed at the slope, and myheart died within me. It rose before my eyes vast and steep, flashingmenace from a thousand glittering points. Besides, the early summerwas upon us, and the sun hot in the sky, so that never an hour passedin the forenoon but blocks of ice would split off and thunder down theincline.

  The notion, however, still worked in my head throughout the day, andas we returned to the hut I eagerly scanned the upper end of ourravine, for at that point the slope of the Wildthurm declined verygreatly in height. Whilst the Tyrolese went in to prepare supper Istayed by the door.

  "Come!" shouted one of them at length--it was not Groder. "Come,unless you prefer to sleep fasting."

  And I turned to go in, with my mind made up; for I had perceived,running upwards beside the tongue of ice which I have described, along, narrow ridge. 'Twas neither of ice nor snow, and in colour areddish brown, so that I imagined it to be a mound of earth, thrown upin some way by the pressure of the snow. Along that it seemed to methat I might find a path.

  Groder was crouched up close to the fire, shivering by fits andstarts, like a man with an ague. He glanced evilly at me as I enteredthe room, but said no word either to me or to his comrades, and keptmuttering to himself concerning "the Cold Torment." I knew not whatthe man meant, but 'twas plain that he was shaken with a great fear;and even during the night I heard him more than once start from hissleep with a cry, and those same words upon his lips, "the ColdTorment."

  The next morning, hearing that the barrier was well-nigh cut through,he ordered only one of the peasants to take me with him and completethe work. I was lowered on to the dam first, and laboured at it withsaw and axe for the greater part of the morning. About noon, however,I took my turn upon the platform, and after I had been standing somelittle while, bent over the torrent, with my hand ready upon the rope,since at any moment the logs might give way, I suddenly raised myselfto ease my back, and turned about.

  Just above me on the slope I saw Groder's face peering over the edgeof a boulder. 'Twas so contorted with malignancy and hatred that ithad no human quality except its shape. 'Twas the face of a devil. Forone moment I saw it; the next it dropped behind the stone. I pretendedto have noticed nothing, and so stood looking everywhere except in hisdirection. The expression upon his face left me no doubt as to hisintention. He was minded to take a leaf from my book, and precipitatethe boulder upon me when my back was turned, in which case I shouldnot come off so cheaply as he had done, for I should inevitably beswept into the torrent. The boulder, I observed, was in a line withthe spot where I must stand in order to handle the rope.

  What to do I could not determine. I dared not show him openly that Ihad detected his design, for I should most likely in that eventprovoke an open conflict, and I doubted not that the other peasant waswithin call to help him to an issue if help were needed; and even if Isucceeded in avoiding a conflict, I should only put him upon his guardand make him use more precautions when next he attempted my life.

  I turned me again to the torrent and took the rope in my hand, with myears open for any sound behind me. I stooped slowly forwards, as if towatch my companion, thinking that Groder would launch the stone assoon as he deemed it impossible for me to recover in time to elude it.And so it proved. I heard a dull thud as the boulder fell forward uponthe turf. I sprang quickly to one side, and not a moment too soon, forthe boulder whizzed past me on a level with my shoulder, leaped acrossthe stream, and was shattered into a thousand fragments against theopposite cliff. The man below, who had been almost startled from hisfooting, began to curse me roundly for my carelessness, and I answeredhim without casting a glance to my rear, deeming it prudent to giveGroder the opportunity to crawl away into cover.

  In that, however, I made a mistake, and one that went near to costingme my life, for when I did turn, after explaining that the boulder hadslipped of its own weight and momentum, Groder was within ten feet ofme. He had crept noiselessly down the bank, and now stood with onefoot planted against it, the other upon the platform, his body allgathered together for a leap. His teeth were bared, his eyes verybright, and in his hand he held a long knife. I ran for my hatchet,which lay some yards distant, but he was upon me before I could stoopto pick it up. The knife flashed above my head; I caught at Groder'swrist as it descended and grappled him close, for I knew enough oftheir ways of fighting to feel assured that if I did but give his armsfree play, my eyes would soon be lying on my cheeks.

  Backwards and forwards we swayed upon the narrow platform with never aword spoken. Then from the torrent came a great crack and a shout. Iknew well enough what was happening. The barrier was giving, the waterwas bursting the timber, and the peasant would of a surety be crushedand ground to death between the loosened logs. But I dared not relaxmy grip. Groder's breath was hot upon my face, his knife everquivering towards my throat. I heard a few quick sounds as of thesnapping of twigs, and once, I think, again the cry of a man indistress; but the roaring of the waters was in my ears and I could notbe sure.

  The labours of my captivity had hardened my limbs and sinews, else hadGroder m
astered me more easily; but as it was, I felt my strengthebbing, and twice the knife pricked into my shoulder as he pressed itdown. The din of the torrent died away. I was sensible of a deathlystillness of the elements. It seemed as though Nature held its breath.Suddenly a look of terror sprang into Groder's face. He redoubled hisefforts, and I felt my back give. Involuntarily I closed my eyes, andthen his fingers loosened their hold. He plucked himself free with ajerk, and stood sullenly looking up the slope. I followed thedirection of his gaze, and saw Otto Krax standing above me. Graduallythe torrent became audible to me again; there was a rustling of leavesin the wind, and in a little I understood that some one was speaking.Groder advanced slowly across the grass and reached out the hand whichheld the knife. Very calmly Otto grasped it by the wrist, twisted thearm, and snapped it across his knee. What he said I could not hear,but Groder went up the slope holding his broken arm, and I saw hisface no more.

  Otto came down to me.

  "You have never been nearer your death but once," he said.

  I made no reply, but pointed to the rope at my feet. 'Twas dragging toand fro upon the platform, and the thought of what dangled and tossedin the water at the tag of it turned me sick. Otto walked to the edgeand looked over. Then he drew his knife and cut the rope.

  "I saw only the end of the struggle," said he. "How did it begin?"

  I told him briefly what had occurred.

  "'Twas you taught him the trick," he said, with a laugh; "and he boreyou no good-will for the lesson."

  "But what brought you so pat?" I asked.

  "I was sent," he replied. "'Twas thought best I should follow."

  "Follow? Follow whom?" said I.

  He made no answer to my question, and continued hurriedly.

  "I asked the fellow at the hut where you were, and he directed mehere--not a minute too soon either. Were you working at the timberyesterday?"

  "All day."

  "Did Groder help?"

  "No! He remained behind."

  Otto gave a grunt.

  "Alone?" he asked.

  "Quite," I replied. "The others were with me."

  We walked back to the hut together, and as on the evening before, Istopped in the doorway to examine the ridge on which my hopes wereset. But I watched it to-day with a beating heart, and, let me own it,with a shrinking apprehension too, for within the last hour thepossibility of my attempt had grown immeasurably real. Groder, I wascertain, I should see no more. 'Twas equally certain that Otto wouldnot remain to fill his place, and one of the peasants had beenbattered to death in the breaking of the dam. 'Twas doubtless anunworthy feeling, but, much as the nature of the man's end hadhorrified me at the time, I could not now find it in my heart togreatly regret it. I was too conscious of the fact that only a coupleof gaolers were left to guard me.

  Otto coming from the kitchen to join me, I deemed it prudent not to beparticular in my gaze, and so taking my eyes off the ridge, which wasbecome to me what Mahomet's bridge is to the Turk, I let them roamidly this way and that as we strolled forward over the turf. Hence itchanced that about twenty yards from the door I saw something brightwinking in the verdure. I went towards it and picked it up. 'Twas alittle gold cross, and, moreover, clean and unrusted. A sudden thoughtbreaking in upon me, I turned to Otto and said:

  "Otto, have you ever heard of the Cold Torment?"

  Otto fell to crossing himself devoutly.

  "The Cold Torment?" he asked, in awed tones. "What know you of it?" Heturned towards the gap in the hillside upon our right. "Look!" saidhe. "You see the peak that stands apart like a silver wedge. On itssummit is buried an inexhaustible treasure, and night and day throughthe ages seven guilty souls keep ward about it in the cold. Never mayone be freed until another is condemned in its stead. The Virgin saveus from the Cold Torment!"

  "Ah!" said I, remarking the fervour of his prayer. "'Tis the text fora persuasive homily, and Father Spaur, I fancy, preached from ityesterday."

  Otto started, and glanced about him with some fear, as though he halfexpected to see the priest start out of the earth.

  "You know not what you say," he exclaimed.

  "Who sent you to follow him?"

  "Nay," he protested; "I came not to spy upon Father Spaur. We know notthat he has been here. 'Twere wise not to know it."

  I handed him the gold cross, and asked again:

  "Who sent you after him?"

  "I was not sent after him. I was bidden to come hither by mymistress."

  "Ah! she sent you!" I cried. "Give the cross back to Father Spaur, andwith it my most grateful thanks. He has done me better service thanever did my dearest friend."

  I reasoned it out in this way. Father Spaur was bent on appropriatingLukstein and its broad lands to the Church. To that end, the Countessmust, at all costs, be hindered from a second marriage. What motivecould he have in prompting Groder to make an end of me, unless--unlessIlga now and again let her thoughts stray my way? And to confirm myconjecture, to rid it of presumption, I had this certain knowledgethat she had sent Otto to see that I came to no harm at his hands. Ishould add that my speculations during the winter months had in somemeasure prepared me to entertain this notion. From constantlyanalysing and pondering all that she had said to me in the pavilion,and bringing my recollections of her change in manner to illumine herwords, I had come, though hesitatingly, to a conclusion very differentfrom that which I had originally formed. I could not but perceive thatit made a great difference whether or no I had been alone upon myfirst coming to the Castle. Besides, I realised that there was apregnant meaning which might be placed to the sentence which had soperplexed me: "Would that I had the strength to resist, or theweakness to yield!" And going yet further back, I had good groundsfrom what she had let slip to believe that there was something morethan a regard for herself in the entreaty which she had addressed tome in London, that I should not tax Marston with treachery in thematter of the miniature.

  Otto gave me back the cross.

  "It is a mistake," said he. "Father Spaur has gone from Lukstein on avisit."

  "Then," said I, "present it to your mistress. She has more claim to itthan I."

  That night Otto slept in the loft in Groder's place.

  "You are sure," he asked, "that no one remained behind with Groderyesterday afternoon?"

  "Quite," said I.

  "None the less, I should sleep on the trap if I were you, and 'twerewise to carry your hatchet to bed for company."

  "But they take it from me each night," I replied eagerly. "You musttell them."

  "I will. But there's no cause for fear."

  'Twas not at all fear which prompted my eagerness; but I bethought meif I had the loft to myself, and the axe ready to my hand, 'twould bea strange thing if I could not find a way out by the morning.Thereupon we fell to talking again of Groder's attempt upon my life,and he repeated the words which he had used at the time.

  "You were never nearer your death but once."

  "And when was that once?" I asked drowsily.

  He laughed softly to himself for a little, and then he replied; andwith his first sentence my drowsiness left me, just as a mist clearsin a moment off the hills.

  "Do you remember one night in London that your garden door keptslamming in the wind?"

  "Well?" said I, starting up.

  "You came downstairs in the dark, took the key from the mantelshelf,and went out into the garden and locked it. That occasion was theonce."

  "You were in the room!" I exclaimed. "I remember. The door was openagain in the morning. I had a locksmith to it. There was nothing amisswith the lock, and I wondered how it happened."

  Otto laughed again quietly.

  "Right. I was in the room, and I was not alone either."

  "The Countess was with you. Why?"

  "There was a book in your rooms which she wished to see--a poetrybook, eh?--with a date on one page, and a plan of Castle Lukstein onthe page opposite. My mistress was at your lodging with some companythat afterno
on."

  "True," said I, interrupting him. "She proposed the party herself."

  "Well, it seems that she got no chance of examining the book then. Butshe unlocked the garden door. You had told her where you kept thekey."

  I recollected that I had done so on the occasion of her first visit.

  "And so Countess Lukstein and yourself were in the room when I passedthrough that night."

  Otto began to chuckle again.

  "'Twas lucky you came down in the dark, and didn't stumble over us.Lord! I thought that I should have burst with holding my breath."

  "Otto," I said, "tell me the whole story; how your suspicions settowards me, and what confirmed them."

  "Very well," said he, after a pause, "I will; for my mistressconsulted me throughout. But you will get no sleep."

  "I shall get less if you don't tell me."

  "Wait a moment!"

  He filled his tobacco-pipe and lighted it. I followed his example, andbetween the puffs he related the history of those far-away days inLondon. To me, lying back upon the boughs which formed my bed in thedark loft, it seemed like the weaving of a fairy tale. The house inPall Mall--St. James's Park--the piazza, of Covent Garden! How strangeit all sounded, and how unreal!

  The odour of pine-wood was in my nostrils, and I had but to raise myarm to touch the sloping thatch above my head.