The Lady of the Shroud

  RUPERT'S JOURNAL--_Continued_.

  _May_ 4, 1907.

  There is evidently something up in the country. The mountaineers aremore uneasy than they have been as yet. There is constant going to andfro amongst them, mostly at night and in the grey of the morning. Ispend many hours in my room in the eastern tower, from which I can watchthe woods, and gather from signs the passing to and fro. But with allthis activity no one has said to me a word on the subject. It isundoubtedly a disappointment to me. I had hoped that the mountaineershad come to trust me; that gathering at which they wanted to fire theirguns for me gave me strong hopes. But now it is apparent that they donot trust me in full--as yet, at all events. Well, I must not complain.It is all only right and just. As yet I have done nothing to prove tothem the love and devotion that I feel to the country. I know that suchindividuals as I have met trust me, and I believe like me. But the trustof a nation is different. That has to be won and tested; he who wouldwin it must justify, and in a way that only troublous times can allow.No nation will--can--give full meed of honour to a stranger in times ofpeace. Why should it? I must not forget that I am here a stranger inthe land, and that to the great mass of people even my name is unknown.Perhaps they will know me better when Rooke comes back with that store ofarms and ammunition that he has bought, and the little warship he has gotfrom South America. When they see that I hand over the whole lot to thenation without a string on them, they may begin to believe. In themeantime all I can do is to wait. It will all come right in time, I haveno doubt. And if it doesn't come right, well, we can only die once!

  Is that so? What about my Lady of the Shroud? I must not think of thator of her in this gallery. Love and war are separate, and may notmix--cannot mix, if it comes to that. I must be wise in the matter; andif I have got the hump in any degree whatever, must not show it.

  But one thing is certain: something is up, and it must be the Turks.From what the Vladika said at that meeting they have some intention of anattack on the Blue Mountains. If that be so, we must be ready; andperhaps I can help there. The forces must be organized; we must havesome method of communication. In this country, where are neither roadsnor railways nor telegraphs, we must establish a signalling system ofsome sort. _That_ I can begin at once. I can make a code, or adapt onethat I have used elsewhere already. I shall rig up a semaphore on thetop of the Castle which can be seen for an enormous distance around. Ishall train a number of men to be facile in signalling. And then, shouldneed come, I may be able to show the mountaineers that I am fit to livein their hearts . . .

  And all this work may prove an anodyne to pain of another kind. It willhelp, at any rate, to keep my mind occupied whilst I am waiting foranother visit from my Lady of the Shroud.