CHAPTER XXVI.
After the foregoing experiments, it was time for Raby to seek forexterior means to attain his purpose, and he determined to extort anavowal from the Rascian "pope," who alone now knew the hiding-place ofthe great coffer, and if this was revealed, the whole intrigue could beunmasqued. The heaped-up treasure and large number of bonds, whichrepresented a large amount of money, constituted irrefragable proofagainst the guilty.
It was to this end that Raby sent for the "pope" to come and meet him atPesth.
This time our hero did not alight at a frequented hostelry, but put upat an inn where the country people were wont to go, and chartering aroom there, only went out at night.
But none the less had his enemies ferreted him out, without his havingthe slightest suspicion that two or three spies were on his trackwherever he went.
One morning, Raby was able to write to the Emperor and tell him that the"pope" was ready to present himself in Vienna, and divulge all, as soonas he received direct instructions from his Majesty. He read themissive to the "pope" before sealing it up, so that the good man mightapprove of it throughout, and carried it himself to post, so that itshould pass through no strange hands. Then he invited the ecclesiasticto dine with him, taking care to provide that worthy's favouritenational dishes, a savoury Paprika stew and the Servian "Csaja."
As they sat there doing justice to them, who should come in but JudgePetray.
It was surely some unlucky chance which led Petray to Raby's table.
They exchanged greetings with a certain amount of embarrassment, andPetray's contemptuous tone in opening up the conversation (which Rabyhad willingly avoided), was not lost on the other.
"Well met, friend! I beg pardon for disturbing you, but you are the veryman I wanted to see," said Petray, as he sat down beside them. "Yes," hewent on, "about that letter which you have written to the Emperor."
"What do you mean?" cried Raby, beside himself with astonishment.
"Why, you know well enough that the municipal council has forbiddencomplaints to be formulated to the Emperor regarding any matteraffecting its internal regulations."
"But who can possibly know what my correspondence contains, I shouldlike to know?"
"Well we happen to know, because we intercepted the letter at thepost-office, you see."
"What, you have dared to intercept my correspondence!" cried Rabyenraged.
"Yes, and what's more, we have opened the letter and read it, and havesubmitted it to a committee of inquiry."
"But this is an unheard-of insult!" exclaimed Raby, rising from his seatin uncontrollable anger.
"Oh, you are getting angry, are you? I guessed you would be, when youheard it; that's why I begged your pardon when I came in. But it doesn'talter the fact that I am sent to arrest you in the name of themunicipality, on a charge of treason against the authorities, and amordered to commit you to prison forthwith."
Petray said all this in such a jesting tone, that the "pope" who hadkept his seat at table, imagined he was simply joking. He poured out aglass of wine and offered it to the judge, saying as he did so:
"Here have done with your jests, and drink this, your worship; no onebelieves what you are saying! Come, let us toast one another!"
The "pope" was a vigorous, dignified looking man in the prime of life,with a round rosy face. He beamed again with benevolence as he pledgedthe judge.
Yet Petray did not take the proffered glass, but stiffened himself andstood in a judicial attitude, with his hand on the hilt of his sword,while he said in a stern tone:
"Here there is no matter for jesting, I am sent by the Pesth CountyAssembly to arrest Mr. Mathias Raby as a criminal, wherever I may findhim."
And with that he stepped to the door and pushed it open. Without, stoodhalf a dozen heydukes armed with swords and carbines and the townprovost.
At the sight of them, the "pope" turned suddenly pale; his rubicund facebecame a ghastly grey, his hairs seem to bristle in terror. There was arattling sound in his throat, and then he fell back senseless on thefloor in an apoplectic fit. In vain they strove to revive him. He wasdead! Fright, or rather the apoplexy had killed him. And as he was theonly living soul who had known the secret of the buried treasure, hisdeath forbade the entrance ever being discovered.
Yet Raby had not seen what had happened, for as soon as ever Petray hadopened the door, the provost had immediately arrested him with thethreat that if he did not yield, he would be put into irons.
Raby simply answered that he would not oppose armed force, and that heput his trust in a Providence that would bring truth and justice tolight. And with that they marched him off, and led him down out into thestreet.
Before the gate stood three coaches. They made him take the front seatin the first, and placed two guards opposite him with their swordspointed against his breast. The others followed in the remainingvehicles. So they drove through the streets of Pesth till they reachedthe Assembly House, where Petray ordered Raby's conductors to "obeyorders."
So they proceeded to "obey orders." First they loosened hissilver-hilted sword from his side, took his purse and gold watch fromhis pocket, drew the signet ring from off his finger, and searched himfrom head to foot. In the breast-pocket they found the passport of theEmperor, commanding that Mr. Mathias Raby should pass unmolestedwherever he went. The provost read it through with a mocking laugh. Thenhe brought out fetters, rivetted them on his prisoner's hands and feet,opened a narrow iron-barred door, and without further ceremony, pushedhim into "cell number three."
From that moment they called Mathias Raby with justice, "Rab Raby,"[1]for does not "Rab" mean in Hungarian, a prisoner?
[Footnote 1: I cannot but help feeling that the sudden death of the"pope" in this last chapter will strike the reader as a somewhat boldlicense, even for the novelist, seeing how closely it follows on that ofthe notary. I am aware that as romance it could not be justified, butseeing that this is a true story which I am telling, I cannot dootherwise than follow the facts however extraordinary they may appear,seeing they are set forth in the hero's own autobiography.--(AUTHOR'SNOTE.]