CHAPTER XLIX.
The fateful day broke at last and found the Pesth authorities still incouncil; their vigil had lasted throughout the night. It was no lightquestion to be decided: nothing less than the authority of the Hungarianconstitution, and whether or not it should resist the armed force whichmenaced it.
Many among them pitied the prisoner and deemed him guiltless in theirown hearts, but the law had to be justified--at whatever cost--andRaby's acquittal would have embodied the breach of that law. Thus it wasthat no voice was raised on his behalf, and his condemnation was aforegone conclusion.
It was with difficulty the prisoner could stand, so exhausted was he;and when he looked in the faces of his judges, he found there no mercy.
Tarhalmy had hidden his face in his hands, as, at the stroke of ten fromthe great Franciscan church clock, the vice-notary (they spared Tarhalmythe office) began to read the sentence of the court on Raby.
He read out the absurd charges which had been got up against theculprit, the _resume_ of the former trials, the judge's verdict, theprisoner's incitements to the peasants to revolt, his association withbrigands, and resort to diabolical arts in order to escape from prison,all of which had rendered him amenable to death by the axe. But thissentence, said the speaker, could not be carried out, since the Emperorhad abolished capital punishment, and so it had been commuted by thecourt into the galleys for life. Mathias Raby was therefore adjudged tobe chained that very day to the oar, to work out his just sentence.
"Chained to the oar!"
For that broken emaciated form what a mockery the sentence seemed! AndMariska, what had she said to it, had she heard it?
Raby had to be supported by two heydukes, as he was compelled to listenstanding to the sentence, but his face was deathly pale as he heard it.
All at once the blare of trumpets and beating of drums was heardwithout, and out of the neighbouring barracks came squadrons of infantryand cavalry. The heavy roll of the cannon and the rattling of thegun-carriages were distinctly audible as the latter rumbled along thecobbles. And high above it, Lievenkopp's command to load was clearlyheard, and the rattle of the muskets as the soldiers obeyed.
The pale face of the prisoner suddenly glowed with hope, and an electricthrill of triumph convulsed his relaxed limbs, as he listened. Rescuewas at hand then!
Now it is the turn of his judges to blench, for his persecutors totremble. The sword is suspended over the judge's head, not over theculprit's. Who will first avert it?
"Now, gentlemen," cried the vice-notary, "the sentence, you know, mustbe read from the open window of the Assembly House, so all may hear it!"
The speaker (he was quite a young man) suddenly paled with terror as hetook up the document, and hastily begged for a glass of water. Laskoywas too terror-stricken to take upon him the task before which hisjunior quailed.
Tarhalmy stepped forward and seized the paper. "I will read it," he saidcalmly.
And turning to the castellan, he cried, "Close the doors, and tell theheydukes to load their muskets at once."
As Raby heard that command he shuddered. The first shot fired, the doorof the Assembly House once shattered, would be the signal for the wholecountry to be aflame with revolt. Such a course would hurl the nationand the dynasty to the verge of ruin. And for what? For the sake ofensuring freedom to one miserable man. Was it worth it?
The prisoner suddenly broke away from his guards, and interceptingTarhalmy as he reached the window, he threw himself at his feet.
"Your worship," he cried, "I recognise the justice of the sentence, I nolonger defy you, I am utterly broken; let me die, but do not let me befurther tortured or insulted. But do not on my account stir up bloodshedand strife in this land; trample me, kill me if you will, but do notlet the innocent suffer. You shall never hear a word of complaint fromme again!"
Tarhalmy tore his coat lappet from Raby's trembling grasp, and strodefirmly but proudly to the window. Below in the street, came the word ofcommand from the officer in charge: "Load your muskets!"
Standing at the open window, Tarhalmy read aloud, in a clear unwaveringvoice, the judgment on Raby from beginning to end. The prisoner hadfainted. The cannon were in readiness, the muskets loaded; they onlyawaited the order to fire. All at once, an imperial courier, gallopingat full tilt through the crowd, dashed through the trumpeters, rode upto the commandant, and handed him a sealed missive, crying "In theKing's name!"
Lievenkopp hastily broke the seal of the letter, read it, and stuck itinto his breast-pocket, then he shouted, "Shoulder your arms!"
The trumpeters sounded a retreat; the cumbrous cannon were wheeled backagain, and the threatening convoy took their way back to the barracks,from whence they had so lately come.
But the red-coated courier stood beating on the door of the AssemblyHouse with the knob of his riding-whip, and calling, "Open, in theKing's name!"