CHAPTER IX
THE GREAT RIDDLE
Max was cautious in the matter of making promises, as every honest manshould be, since he had no thought of breaking them once they weregiven. Therefore, he wished to know that he could keep his word beforepledging it. His lifelong habit of asking my advice may also haveinfluenced him in refusing the promise that he so much wished to give;or perhaps he may have wanted time to consider. He did not want to givethe promise on the spur of an impulse.
When he had finished telling me his troubles, I asked:--
"What will you do to-morrow night?"
My riddle was again solved; Yolanda was the princess. Her words wereconvincing. All doubt had been swept from my mind. There would be nomore battledore and shuttlecock with my poor brain on that subject. Sowhen Max said, "I do not know what I shall do," I offered my opinion;"You surprise me, Max. You lack enterprise; there is no warmth in yourblood. The girl cannot harm you. Give her the promise. Are your veinsfilled with water and caution?"
"What do you mean, Karl?" cried Max, stepping toward me with surpriseand delight in his face. "Are you advising me wrongly for the first timein my life?" Then there was a touch of anger in his voice as hecontinued: "Have I blood in my veins? Aye, Karl, burning, seethingblood, and every drop cries wildly for this girl--this child. I wouldgive the half of it to make her my wife and to make her happy. But Iwould not abate one jot of my wretchedness at her expense. As I treather I pray God to deal with me. I cannot make her my wife, and if I amhalf a man, I would not win her everlasting love and throw it to thedogs. She all but asked me last night to tell her of my love for her,and almost pressed hers upon me, but I did not even kiss her hand. Ah,Karl, I wish I were dead!"
The poor boy threw himself on the bed and buried his face in his hands.I went to him and, seating myself on the bed, ran my fingers throughhis curls.
"My dear Max, I have never advised you wrongly. Perhaps luck has beenwith me. Perhaps my good advice has been owing to my great caution andmy deep love for you. I am sure that I do not advise you wrongly now. Goto the bridge to-morrow night, and give Yolanda the promise she asks.If she wants it, give her the ring. Keep restraint upon your words andacts, but do not fear for one single moment that my advice is wrong.Max, I know whereof I speak."
Max rose from the bed and looked at me in surprise; but my advice jumpedso entirely with the longing deep buried in his heart that he took it asa dying man accepts life.
The next evening Max met Yolanda under the trees near the bridge.
"I may remain but a moment," she said hurriedly and somewhat coldly. "Doyou bring me the promise?"
"Yes," answered Max. "I have also brought you the ring, Fraeulein, butyou may not wear it, and no one may ever see it."
"Ah, Max, it is well that you have brought me the promise, for had younot you would never have seen me again. I thank you for the promise andfor the ring. No one shall see it. Of that you may be doubly sure. If byany chance some meddlesome body should see it and tell this arrogantlady of the castle that I have the keepsake she sent you, there would betrouble, Max, there would be trouble. She is a jealous, vindictivelittle wretch and you shall not think on her. No doubt she would have metorn limb from limb if she knew I possessed the jewel. When I touch it,I feel that I almost hate this princess, whose vast estates have apower of attraction greater than any woman may exert."
There was real anger in her tone. In truth, dislike and aversion weremanifest in every word she spoke of the princess, save when the tenderlittle heart pitied her.
"Now I must say good night and adieu, Sir Max, until uncle returns,"said Yolanda. She gave Max her hands and he, in bringing them to hislips, drew her close to him. At that moment they were startled by aboisterous laugh close beside them, and the fellow calling himself CountCalli slapped Max on the back, saying in French:--
"Nicely done, my boy, nicely done. But you are far too considerate. Whykiss a lady's hand when her lips are so near? I will show you, FraeuleinCastleman, exactly how so delicate a transaction is conducted by anenterprising gentleman."
He insultingly took hold of Yolanda, and, with evident intent to kissher, tried to lift the veil with which she had hastily covered her face.Max struck the fellow a blow that felled him to the ground, but Callirose and, drawing his dagger, rushed upon Max. Yolanda stood almostparalyzed with terror. Max was unarmed, but he seized Calli's wrist andtwisted it till a small bone cracked, and the dagger fell from his handto the ground. Calli's arm hung limp at his side, and he was powerlessto do further injury. Max did not take advantage of his helplessness,but said:--
"Go, or I will twist your neck as I have broken your wrist."
Max had gone out that evening without arms or armor. He had not even adagger.
When Calli had passed out of sight, Yolanda stooped, picked up hisdagger, and offered it to Max, saying:--
"He will gather his friends at once. Take this dagger and hasten back tothe inn, or you will never reach it alive. No, come with me to UncleCastleman's house. There you may lie concealed."
"I may not go to your uncle's house, Fraeulein," answered Max. "I can gosafely to the inn. Do not fear for me."
Yolanda protested frantically, but Max refused.
"Go quickly, then," she said, "and be on your guard at all times. Thisman who came upon us is Count Calli, the greatest villain in Burgundy.He is a friend of Campo-Basso. Now hasten to the inn, if you will notcome with me to uncle's house, and beware, for this man and his friendswill seek vengeance; of that you must never allow yourself to doubt.Adieu, till uncle comes."
Max reached the inn unmolested. We donned our mail shirts, expectingtrouble, and took turn and turn watching and sleeping. Next day we hiredtwo stalwart Irish squires and armed them cap-a-pie. We meant to giveour Italian friends a hot welcome if they attacked us, though we had, intruth, little fear of an open assault. We dreaded more a dagger thrustin the back, or trouble from court through the machinations ofCampo-Basso.
The next morning Max sent one of our Irishmen to Castleman's house witha verbal message to Fraeulein Castleman. When the messenger returned, hereplied to my question:--
"I was shown into a little room where three ladies sat. 'What have youto say?' asked the little black-haired one in the corner--she with thegreat eyes and the face pale as a chalk-cliff. I said, 'I am instructed,mesdames, to deliver this simple message: Sir Max is quite well.' 'Thatwill do. Thank you.' said the big eyes and the pale face. Then she gaveme two gold florins. The money almost took my breath, and when I lookedup to thank her, blest if the white face wasn't rosy as a June dawn.When I left, she was dancing about the room singing and laughing, andkissing everybody but me--worse luck! By Saint Patrick, I never saw sosimple a message create so great a commotion. 'Sir Max is quite well.'I'm blest if he doesn't look it. Was he ever ill?"
After five or six days we allowed ourselves to fall into a state ofunwatchfulness. One warm evening we dismissed our squires for an hour'srecreation. The Cologne River flows by the north side of the inn garden,and, the spot being secluded, Max and I, after dark, cooled ourselves bya plunge in the water. We had come from the water and finished dressing,save for our doublets, which lay upon the sod, when two men approachedwhom we thought to be our squires. When first we saw them, they were inthe deep shadow of the trees that grew near the water's edge, and we didnot notice their halberds until they were upon us. When the men hadapproached within four yards, we heard a noise back of us and turningsaw four soldiers, each bearing an arquebuse pointed in our direction.At the same moment another man stepped from behind the two we had firstseen and came quickly to me. He was Count Calli. In his left hand heheld a parchment. Max and I were surrounded and unarmed.
"I arrest you on the order of His Grace, the duke," said Calli, in lowtones, speaking French with an Italian accent.
"Your authority?" I demanded.
"This," he said, offering me the parchment, "and this," touching hissword. I took the parchment but could not read it in the dark
.
"I'll go to the inn to read your warrant," I said, stooping to take upmy doublet.
"You will do nothing of the sort," he answered. "One word more fromyou, and there will be no need to arrest you. I shall be only too gladto dispense with that duty."
I felt sure he wished us to resist that he might have a pretext formurdering us. I could see that slow-going Max was making ready for afight, even at the odds of seven to two, and to avert trouble I spokesoftly in German:--
"These men are eager to kill us. Our only hope lies in submission."
While I was speaking the men gathered closely about us, and almostbefore my words were uttered, our wrists were manacled behind us and wewere blindfolded. Our captors at once led us away. A man on either sideof me held my arms, and by way of warning I received now and then amerciless prod between my shoulder-blades from a halberd in the hands ofan enthusiastic soul that walked behind me. Max, I supposed, wasreceiving like treatment.
After a hundred paces or more we waded the river, and then I knewnothing of our whereabouts. Within a half-hour we crossed a bridge whichI supposed was the one over the moat at the Postern. There we halted,and the password was given in a whisper. Then came the clanking ofchains and creaking of hinges, and I knew the gates were opening and theportcullis rising. After the gates were opened I was again urged forwardby the men on either side of me and the enterprising soul in the rear.
I noticed that I was walking on smooth flags in place of cobble-stones,and I was sure we were in the bailey yard of the castle. Soon I wasstopped again, a door opened, squeaking on its rusty hinges, and webegan the descent of a narrow stairway. Twenty or thirty paces from thefoot of the stairway we stopped while another door was opened. This, Ifelt sure, was the entrance to an underground cell, out of which Godonly knew if I should ever come alive. While I was being thrust throughthe door, I could not resist calling out, "Max--Max, for the love of Godanswer me if you hear!" I got no answer. Then I appealed to my guard:--
"Let me have one moment's speech with him, only one moment. I will payyou a thousand crowns the day I am liberated if you grant methis favor."
"No one is with you," the man replied. "I would willingly earn thethousand crowns, but if they are to be paid when you are liberated, Ifear I should starve waiting for them."
With these comforting words they thrust me into the cell, manacled andblindfolded. I heard the door clang to; the rusty lock screechedvenomously, and then I was alone in gravelike silence. I hardly, daredto take a step, for I knew these underground cells were honeycombedwith death-traps. I could not grope about me with my hands, for theywere tied, and I knew not what pitfall my feet might find.
How long I stood without moving I did not know; it might have been anhour or a day for all I could tell. I was almost stupefied by thismisfortune into which I had led Max. I do not remember having thought atall of my own predicament. I cannot say that I suffered; I was benumbed.I remember wondering about Max and speculating vaguely on his fate, butfor a time the thought did not move me. I also remember sinking to thefloor, only half conscious of what I was doing, and then I must haveswooned or slept.
When I recovered consciousness I rose to my feet. A step or two broughtme against a damp stone wall. Three short paces in another direction,and once more I was against the wall. Then I stopped, turned my back tothe reeking stone, and cursed the brutes that had treated me with suchwanton cruelty. It was not brutal; it was human. No brute could feel it;only in the heart of man could it live.
By chafing the back of my head against the wall I succeeded in removingthe bandage from my eyes. Though I was more comfortable, I was littlebetter off, since I could see nothing in the pitiless black of my cell.I stretched my eyes, as one will in the dark, till they ached, but Icould not see even an outline of the walls.
A burning thirst usually follows excitement, and after a time it came tome and grew while I thought upon it. My parched throat was almostclosed, and I wondered if I were to be left to choke to death. I knewthat in Spain and Italy such refinement of cruelty was oftenedpractised, but I felt sure that the Duke of Burgundy would not permitthe infliction of so cruel a fate, did he know of it. But our captorswere not Burgundians, and I doubted if the duke even knew of ourimprisonment. I suffered intensely, though I believe I could haveendured it with fortitude had I not known that Max was suffering alike fate.
I believed I had been several days in my cell when I heard a key turn inthe lock. The door opened, and a man bearing a basket and a lanternentered. He placed the basket on the ground and, with the lantern hungover his arm, unfastened the manacles of my wrists. In the basket were a_boule_ of black bread and a stone jar of water. I eagerly grasped thejar, and never in my life has anything passed my lips that tasted sosweet as that draught.
"Don't drink too much at one time," said the guard, not unkindly. "Itmight drive you mad. A man went mad in this cell less than a month agofrom drinking too much water."
"How long had he been without it?" I asked of this cheering personage.
"Three days," he responded.
"I did not know that men of the north could be so cruel as to keep aprisoner three days without water," I said.
"It happened because the guard was drunk," answered the fellow,laughing.
"I hope you will remain sober," said I, not at all intending to behumorous, though the guard laughed.
"I was the guard," he replied. "I did not intend to leave the prisonerwithout water, but, you see, I was dead drunk and did not know it."
"Perhaps you have been drunk for the last three or four days since Ihave been here?" I asked.
He laughed boisterously.
"You here three or four days! Why, you are mad already! You have beenhere only over night."
Well! I thought surely I _was_ mad!
Suddenly the guard left me and closed the cell door. I calledfrantically to him, but I might as well have cried from the bottomof the sea.
After what seemed fully another week of waiting, the guard again camewith bread and water. By that time my mind had cleared. I asked theguard to deliver a message to my Lord d'Hymbercourt and offered a largereward for the service. I begged him to say to Hymbercourt that hisfriends of The Mitre had been arrested and were now in prison. Theguard willingly promised to deliver my message, but he did not keep hisword, though I repeated my request many times and promised him anyreward he might name when I should regain my liberty. With each visit herepeated his promise, but one day he laughed and said I was wastingwords; that he would never see the reward and that in all probability Ishould never again see the light of day. His ominous words almostprostrated me, though again I say I suffered chiefly for Max's sake.Could I have gained his liberty at the cost of my life, nay, even mysoul, I should have been glad to do it.
But I will not further describe the tortures of my imprisonment. Thegreatest of them all was my ignorance of Max's fate. It was a frightfulordeal, and I wonder that my reason survived it.