A Royal Prisoner

  CHAPTER XVIII

  A SLEEPER

  Fandor sat up in bed as the door of his room opened to admit thecautious head of Wulf. "Your Majesty is awake?" he inquired.

  "Yes, my Majesty is awake and ready to get up. Wulf, we are going outto-day."

  "As your Majesty wishes."

  "The Queen has written to say that she is getting bored, and wants mehome again. That being the case we had better make the most of our fewremaining days, you understand?"

  "Not very well."

  "Why, this afternoon we must look up some pretty girls and, as my cousinthe King of England says, 'Honi soit qui mal y pense.' Evil to him whoevil thinks. And now, au revoir, my dear Wulf; by and by I'll invite youto crack a bottle with me."

  The punctilious Wulf made the three bows demanded by etiquette, turnedon his heel, and left the room.

  Fandor sprang out of bed and began to dress.

  "After all, it's not altogether a joke," he muttered. "I had to listento that idiot Wulf jawing away all yesterday evening ... and if Iremember right, he said something about being suspicious of that littleMarie Pascal. I'll have to stop him making more blunders. He's quitecapable of having her arrested. Anyway, Wulf is to do nothing till thereturn of Juve, and that will give me time to take my precautions."

  * * * * *

  Fandor and Wulf had just finished a very excellent dinner, which Fandorpaid for out of his own pocket. He was careful not to take any of theroyal funds for his personal use. Wulf hovered on the borderland ofdrunkenness, but his ideas still showed some coherence. For thetwentieth time he asked Fandor the same question:

  "But, Sire, why the deuce are you wearing a false moustache and whiskersto-day?"

  "So that I may not be recognized, my friend. I don't like having to giveroyal tips everywhere."

  Fandor was not speaking the truth. His disguise was assumed for otherreasons. He did not wish to be recognized either as Frederick-Christianor as Fandor. Since noon--and it was now ten o'clock at night--the twomen had been doing Paris together, and Wulf had received the verygratifying appellations of "my excellent friend," "my subtle detective,"and other flattering names, so he was now dreaming of decorations, newdecorations created especially for him.

  Fandor interrupted his thoughts by patting him familiarly on theshoulder:

  "Now that we've had dinner, I'm going to tell you something. We've hadquite a day of it; we've visited the Bois, where you spat in the lake,the action of a reflective mind; we've been to the top of the Arc deTriomphe and to the Madeleine, so now there is only one joy remaining."

  Wulf nodded: "To pay for the dinner."

  "Not exactly," laughed Fandor, "that's more of a penance. No, I wasreferring to a chance meeting, a charming feminine figure, a kiss, acaress. Wulf, what would you say to two plump white arms around yourneck?"

  Wulf became purple in the face.

  "Oh, Sire, that would be great! But when I am with your Majesty, I don'tlook at women."

  "And why not, Wulf?"

  "Because the women only look at you."

  "That's so, Wulf, that's so; but there is a way of fixing that. Youorder a drink which I will pay for, then sit here and count all thecarriages that pass in the street while I do an errand, it will onlytake twenty-five minutes.... I'm going to see a girl I know youunderstand?"

  "Yes, Sire. Must I count all the carriages?"

  "No, only those drawn by white horses. Au revoir, Wulf."

  Fandor left the cafe and hailed a cab:

  "Rue Bonaparte. I'll tell you where to stop." He settled back in hisseat, an anxious frown on his face.

  "I'll just drop a hint to Juve," he thought. "One never knows what mayhappen.... I suppose he'll be back soon ... to-morrow morning or evening... and won't he be glad to hear the result of my search!"

  Fandor tapped on the glass with his cane, got out, paid the driver andmade his way to the house where Juve lived. He still had his pass-keyand let himself in, calling:

  "Hello! Juve, are you in?"

  There was no answer, so Fandor sat at Juve's desk and wrote a longletter, then tracing a diagram upon another sheet, he put them into anenvelope addressed to "Monsieur Juve--Urgent."

  When he rejoined Wulf, he found the faithful detective on his job.

  "I've counted up to 99, Sire, but I'm not quite sure that I'm exact. Abay horse passed, and I wasn't sure whether to count him or not."

  "That's all right, we'll take this up another time. I've spoken of youto my little friend and she is crazy to meet you, Wulf."

  "Oh, Sire! Sire!"

  "Yes ... so come along."

  "To her house?"

  "Oh, no--this lady is poetic, she wants the first meeting to take placein appropriate surroundings."

  While Wulf was cudgeling his brains to think up a verse or two to fitthe occasion, Fandor guided him down the Rue Castiglione, the Rue deRivoli and at length reached the Place de la Concorde. He cast ananxious glance as he passed at the mysterious repairs, repairs notindexed by the administration, and then turned to the Singing Fountains.

  "Sire, is this the place?"

  "Yes, Wulf, but first there are a few formalities to be gone through."

  The two men had reached the parapet overlooking the Seine.

  "You are to stand here, Wulf, and look down at the water. You are not totake your eyes off it."

  "Why? What does your Majesty mean?"

  "Because I have a surprise in store for you, and also I wish to bringabout the meeting in a natural manner--to spare the lady's feelings. NowI shall go to meet her and take her to the Singing Fountains. When Iwhistle you are to join us. Does that meet with your approval?"

  "Your Majesty is most kind."

  Fandor moved away and after glancing back to make sure Wulf was obeyingorders, he quickly drew his revolver and approached the works.

  "I must remember Juve's precept," he muttered, "never fire first, andthen only when you're sure to hit."

  The journalist now examined the palisade which surrounded a ditch ofsome depth dug in the angle made by the Orangery walls.

  "Can't see anything from the outside," he thought, "so I'll go in."

  With a running jump he succeeded in catching hold of the palisade topand in a moment was sitting astride of it.

  Nobody was in sight. Fandor was a little surprised. He expected to beconfronted by some sinister individual.

  "All right," he growled, "if you don't mind I'll come in."

  Letting go of the top he slid down to the ground. There he found alarge hole in which was placed a ladder. This led to the bottom of theditch where a series of pipes protruded from the soil. Fandor lit hispocket lamp and carefully examined the surroundings.

  "Ah," he exclaimed, "it looks as though some perfectly natural repairwork was going on."

  He then went down listening at each pipe mouth. One of them gave out apeculiar sound, steady and cadenced, in fact, a snore, a real snore.

  "Can he be asleep," he muttered.

  Climbing quickly out of the ditch, Fandor reached the street again andran toward the Singing Fountains.

  "Either the 'Curiosities of Paris' which I read yesterday in the libraryis a collection of bad jokes, or the body of the third statue ..."

  He did not complete his thought.

  After once more making sure that nobody was about, and that theexcellent Wulf was still absorbed in contemplation of the Seine, heclimbed into the basin at the foot of one of the bronze naiads and wadedthrough mud and water to the base of the statue.

  "Now, then, let's see, what must I do next? Seize the statue by theneck, place the left hand in the middle of the body and sway it."

  Suiting the action to the word, the journalist applied all his force andin a moment the statue parted in two and swung toward him. The hollowinterior appeared like a black hole. Bending forward, Fandor cried:

  "Sire, Sire, can you hear me?"

  His voice came echoing back to him, but there was no
reply from thedepths.

  "Ah, I can't be mistaken!" he cried, desperately. "Wulf heard thisfountain singing the national anthem of Hesse-Weimar, the statue ishollow, therefore the King should be hidden in it."

  Again he stood, listening. After a pause an exclamation of surpriseescaped him.

  "Why, it's the same noise I heard in the pipe ... it's a snore ... theunfortunate man is somewhere asleep!"

  To call louder would have been dangerous, and besides, quick action wasnecessary.

  "Nothing venture, nothing gain," he whispered, as, revolver in hand, hestepped inside the statue. He slid rapidly down for a distance of six oreight feet and then landed on earth. There he lay for a minute or two,reasoning that if he should be met by a fusillade, he would be safer inthat position.

  However, complete silence reigned about him, broken only by the steadyand distant snoring.

  Then, lighting his electric lamp, Fandor began a survey of the premisesinto which he had so daringly intruded.