The Strange Story of Rab Ráby

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  Abraham Rotheisel hastened to Vienna as fast as the lumbering diligencecould carry him. He lost no time in presenting himself before theEmperor.

  Before long, the courier was on his way back, furnished with a documentwhich the Emperor had signed and sealed himself, after he had heard ofthe dismal situation in which Raby found himself.

  This important missive soon found its way to the governor.

  "Eh, what is this?" demanded his Excellency, as he recognised thesuperscription and private seal of the Kaiser. He was just in the act ofdictating to his secretary, so put the imperial missive into a basket,which was filled with documents of all sorts, and went on with hisdictation, pacing up and down the room the while.

  He was just trying to finish, when the district commissioner enteredwithout any announcing.

  "Has your Excellency received a courier from his Majesty?" he askedabruptly.

  "I have."

  "What does he say?"

  "How should I know?"

  "Where is the letter?"

  "Where all the others are." And he lifted the cover from the basket andpointed to the collection within of yet unopened correspondence.

  The district commissioner raised his hands with a little deprecatinggesture, as he whispered anxiously: "But your Excellency, these are inthe Emperor's handwriting; they should not lie here; they are urgent,surely?"

  His Excellency looked at the speaker as a fencer measures hisantagonist.

  "Urgent, are they?"

  The district commissioner looked puzzled.

  "Your Excellency," he began, "this affair is not done with. His Majestyhas sent a second letter to me by special courier, and I have read it.He orders me in it to come to you immediately, and express the gravestdisapproval that Mathias Raby, notwithstanding the imperial safeconduct, has been made a prisoner and placed in the dungeon of theAssembly House, among the scum of convicted criminals. I am to take carethat he is released, and that he is allowed to defend himself as a freeman without hindrance."

  "That procedure won't be according to our laws."

  "Perhaps not, but in view of the accusation brought against Raby, hisMajesty orders that he be detained in a place of confinement morebefitting his rank and calling."

  "That shall be done," said his Excellency, and therewith he rang thebell.

  The lackey answered it, and he gave him the order:

  "Go at once to the Assembly House at Pesth, and tell the lieutenant heis to wait on me immediately."

  Then he turned to his interrupted dictation as a sign his guest couldgo.

  An hour after this, Mr. Laskoy was announced. He had come to representthe Council, as the latter was engaged over the vintage.

  His Excellency looked ready to eat his visitor.

  "What is all this foolery in the dungeon of the Assembly House, pray? Isthis the way you keep order? Mathias Raby has only been imprisoned fourdays, yet already the Emperor has had a letter from him, telling him allabout the thieves' den where he is shut up. Could you not manage thingsbetter, and fetter him so that he could not write a letter, even if hehad pencil and paper?"

  Mr. Laskoy stammered and stuttered and lamely excused himself, andfinally got enraged, and vowed to himself he would soon find a way outof this business.

  He tramped back to the Assembly House, and after a short confab with thegaoler, new arrangements were soon made regarding Raby.

  Among the underground vaults was a cell where wood was kept, but thiswas hastily turned out. The little vault had an iron door, with a tinyair-hole in the middle, so small it could hardly be seen, and the doorcould be locked fast. A more fitting place for Raby could not be found.

  Our hero had already passed four days in the company of criminals, andwas counting the minutes and hours till the Emperor's orders shouldarrive which were to free him from this frightful hole. And now the timeas it seemed had come.

  He was eating his supper of rice soaked in water--the usual prisonfare--when they came to fetch him. But they only rivetted shorterfetters on his hands and feet alike, led him down into a deeper vault,and thrust him into a cold, dark, mouldy cellar, wherein not a singleray of sunlight, nor the sound of a human voice could penetrate.

  Yes, this was a worse place than that he had longed to escape from.Above there, they might be evil men, but at least they had had humanfaces. Their words had been hateful indeed, but they had been humanvoices that uttered them.

  When they clanged the door behind him, and the cold, dark, deathlikesilence closed around him, Raby lost consciousness.

  * * * * *

  In the afternoon the district commissioner again called on hisExcellency, who was engaged in his favourite game of billiards.

  "Dare I venture?" began his visitor.

  "It is all right. Raby is transferred into another cell. Now just watch,my friend, what a good shot I shall make."

  "Yes, but perhaps they've put him in a worse one still?"

  But his Excellency was looking after his ball, for he knew what he wasabout at billiards, and scored heavily.

  The next day the district commissioner went to the Assembly House toinvestigate the sort of cell Raby had been removed to. But when he couldnot find it, and moreover, could, by no means whatever obtain from theofficials where the prisoner might be housed, he went again to thegovernor to demand an explanation.

  This led to recriminations between the two functionaries as to therespective limits of their jurisdictions, and they parted on very coolterms.

  "I don't envy his next visitor," whispered the secretary to one of hiscolleagues, "whoever it is, he won't get a warm welcome."

  And sure enough, one was just then announced.

  The governor was busy writing to the Kaiser, and he resented thisintrusion.

  "Excellency, it is a petitioner," ventured the secretary timidly.

  "Send him to the devil, then!"

  "But it is a young lady, Excellency."

  "I don't want any young ladies here. What the deuce does she want withme, I should like to know?"

  But the secretary whispered a name that caused the angry governor tospring up hastily, and ask:

  "What is she doing here? Has anyone come with her?"

  "Excellency, she is alone."

  "Alone? Let her come in, then."

  It is easy to guess who the stranger lady was. She wore her ordinarymorning-gown, just as she had slipped out from her household duties,without anyone knowing, but in her blue eyes lay woe unutterable.

  And it was only with those same eyes that she spoke; not a word did sheutter; not a gesture did she make. She sank at the feet of that hardman, and seized his hands in both of hers, and hid her face and wept athis feet.

  "Come, come, this won't do, little one! I can't have tears! Now, child,tell me" (he was her godfather), "what brings you here alone? How ifanyone met you in the street? What is it? What is the matter? Can younot say a word? Shall I have to talk instead? Shall I guess what it isyou want? You come here on behalf of that scoundrel, Raby, eh? Nay,there's no dungeon deep enough for him, the rogue, the graceless knave,the good-for-nothing that he is----"

  But Mariska--for it was she--suddenly pressed both hands over thespeaker's mouth to stop his denunciations.

  "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed his Excellency maliciously. "So you've come incase I am treating him too harshly, have you? Never mind, he shallcarry fifty pounds weight of chains on his feet before we've done withhim."

  But at these words the poor girl pressed her hands to her heaving breastin dumb entreaty, and her breath came in short gasps.

  "Come now, don't cry, it's all right," whispered the stern old man, assoftened by her grief, he kindly drew her to him. "Foolish child, wereyou really so fond of him? There, there, rest easy, we will deal gentlywith him. Eh? if you go on like this, I shall want to throttle thefellow outright. Silly child, can't you forget him? Ah, Raby, you maythank your stars you've got such an advocate, otherwise the Emper
orhimself hadn't been able to help you."

  His visitor uttered a little smothered cry of joy:

  "My dear, good, kind godfather!" she murmured, as she covered the hornyhand with grateful kisses.

  "Why, how pleased she is! Silly child that you are!"

  He rang the bell, and a secretary appeared.

  "Sit down and write thus:

  "'TO THE LIEUTENANT OF THE PRISON.

  "'By this present, I instruct your worship that you cause the noble prisoner, Mathias Raby, to be released from the cell where he at present is confined, freed from irons, and be forthwith put in a place of honourable custody befitting his rank, till his trial takes place.'

  "You will take the letter immediately to Pesth, and you will remainthere till you have seen with your own eyes that the prisoner istransferred to proper custody, and further, will say, that I, myself,shall follow in half an hour's time to see whether my orders have beenexecuted."

  The secretary hastened away to fulfil his commission.

  Mariska was beside herself with joy.

  "So my foolish god-daughter is satisfied at last, is she? Go back toyour pastry-making, for I want some cakes badly. Yet no more tears,please! But come back with me," he added, "and I'll take you home. Whenyour father hears you've been to me to plead for Raby, he'll be mightyangry. So you had better let me take you back and smooth it over for youat home. But I tell you, you must promise to put the fellow out of yourthoughts! No, no, I'm not going to say anything against him; for pity'ssake let's have no more weeping. Rest easy, no harm shall happen to him.He'll soon be set at liberty, and go back to Vienna, and then he'llcease to trouble us."

  The girl's only answer was a deep sigh.

  His Excellency led his god-daughter downstairs, and placed her in thecoach which was waiting for them. And little Mariska returned home instate.

  Janosics, the castellan, met his Excellency at the gate of the AssemblyHouse, and bareheaded, bowed low before him.

  "What about the prisoner, Raby?" asked the governor shortly.

  "He is already conveyed to number three on the first floor, yourExcellency," was the respectful answer.

  His Excellency nodded, took his companion by the hand, and led herindoors.

  Tarhalmy knew nothing, and was astonished beyond measure at seeing thegovernor with his daughter.

  "I'm bringing your little deserter back," said her god-father,jestingly. "Don't be angry with her! Judge the case for yourself; shecame upon me unawares with her cause, and who could withstand suchpleading, eh?"

  The head-notary now understood. Father and daughter looked for a minuteat each other, then the girl threw her arms round his neck.

  He kissed her forehead, and whispered:

  "You were the only one who could do it!"

  It was a consoling word for her. Yes, if everyone else in the world hadthe right to persecute and vex the prisoner, she, at least, had theequal right to protect and console him.

  She said nothing, but ran away into the kitchen.

  Their guest could hear that outside a hen was being killed, and guessedwhat was going forward. He stopped on chatting with Tarhalmy, so thatMariska should have time to fulfil her kindly task. When she re-enteredthe room, after half an hour's absence, her face was red, as if she hadbeen standing over the fire--or was it some deeper cause? Hergod-father patted her cheek, and promised to come again, as he took hisleave.

  But he would not permit his host to accompany him, for he wanted to goand see the culprit for himself, so he made his way to cell numberthree.

  It was a pleasant spacious room, with two beds in it, as well as otherfurniture. There was no one else in it but Raby.

  He was seated at the table, and eating a freshly cooked fowl, which heseemed to be relishing mightily.

  But when the governor entered, the prisoner rose, and was evidentlyanxious to show a brave front.

  "Your humble servant," murmured his guest, as he looked round the room."Well, is your worship content with your new quarters, pray?"

  "As far as any man who is innocent of the crime whereof he is accusedcan be content with his prison," answered Raby.

  "Ah well, that will be proved at the trial. But at least as long as theaffair lasts you are well lodged here, I hope. Also you have somethingto eat, I see, and some clean linen."

  "I fancy my former serving-maid must have brought it for me from home.She was a very devoted servant."

  "Oh, you think it's she, do you? Well, there are other devoted people inthe world who remember Mr. Raby's needs, I fancy, as well. Books too, Isee, and well-chosen ones. Well, there's a difference between this andyour earlier lodging at any rate."

  Raby felt the blood mount to his head, but he would not betray hisresentment.

  "My arrest was a wholly unjust one," he said bitterly. "If no regard isshown to the Hungarian nobleman, at least, the imperial mandate shouldbe respected."

  "So you think that the turn for the better your affairs have taken isowing to the Emperor's intervention, do you?"

  "I am convinced that his Majesty would not allow his devoted servant toperish," answered Raby.

  "You are right in what you say of our illustrious sovereign; he is,indeed, gracious. You soon found means, it seems, of advising the Kaiserof your situation. I admire your promptness! The Emperor did not losetime either; yesterday, early, I had his despatch in my hands."

  Raby's cheeks grew red with indignation.

  "And why, then, in spite of this, was I yesterday afternoon cast into afar worse dungeon than the one I was taken from--a cold, dark hole,where I fainted."

  "Yes, I know all about it. But I suppose you know what happened to theEmperor's letter?"

  And his Excellency brought out of his pocket, the imperial missive, withits great seal still unbroken, and held it out to the prisoner.

  "You have not even opened it!"

  "No, nor are any of them opened when they arrive. And I tell youplainly, that all you write to the Emperor from here avails nothing. Ifyou have anything to quote from the Hungarian laws in your defence, doit, and justify yourself. But every effort to act independently of thosesame laws is worse than useless. It means only lost time and trouble,and only rivets your fetters more closely. But at any rate yourcaptivity is bearable."

  Raby shook his head, and as the door closed on his guest, he buried hisface in his hands.