CHAPTER XXIV
THE MEETING
If Minna was right in her conjecture that the horseman coming up on ourright was von Nauheim, it was easy to foresee that the meeting betweenhim and Praga would have an ugly ending. I knew well enough that theCorsican's fiery hatred of the count would urge him to take his revengeon the spot, and for the moment I was a little at a loss how to act.
Praga was now close to us, riding slowly and peering anxiously on eachside of him for any traces of me. Obviously I had better let him knowthat I was at hand.
Minna and I were standing close under the shadow of a tree whose lowbranches concealed us effectually.
"Stop here while I go to speak to him," I said in a low tone.
"No, no, don't leave me," she urged, holding my arm in a nervous clutch.
"Have no fear. It is not you who need to fear now, but that villain vonNauheim, if it is indeed he coming up the hill."
"Don't go out of sight, then, cousin. I can't help being afraid--exceptwith you close to me."
I whispered a word of reassurance, and stepped out from the shadow ofthe tree into the moonlight and went toward Praga.
"Who is there?" he called, stopping his horse.
"It is I, Praga--the Prince."
"Well met, indeed. Is that your horse tied to a tree back there a bit?"
"Yes, he fell and threw me; but I am all right. Quick, bring your horseon to the grass here, and under this tree," and I led him into theshadow of the tall hedge.
"Have you any traces of them?" he asked impatiently.
"Yes, I have the best news. I have found the Countess Minna. She hasescaped from that villain, and I believe that the horseman you can hearcoming up the hill now is the man himself coming in pursuit of her."
"Ah!" He drew in his breath. "We are in luck indeed. There is a goodlight," and he glanced up at the moon, and I heard him swear into hismustache, and mutter, "At last!" Then, after listening a moment, hesaid: "He is breathing his horse up the hill. He little guesses who'shere to give him a welcome. I'll go forward and meet him. I hope to Godhe has a sword with him. Will you stay here? You can act as second forus both, and see that all is fair, though it would serve the dog rightif I were to shoot him down without a chance."
He walked his horse slowly forward on the grass, making no noise, andkeeping out of sight in the shadow of the hedge.
I went back to Minna.
The on-coming horseman was now in full sight of us on the slope of thewhite hill, the moonlight showing up the figures of both horse andrider, as he turned to look behind him, and sat listening intently. Thesilence was so intense that we seemed to feel it, and even the creak ofthe saddle leather, as he turned, reached our ears.
Then we saw him face round quickly and dash his heels into his horse'sribs as if to gallop forward; but, at the same instant, he caught sightof Praga, and he checked his horse again almost as he was in the veryact of urging it forward. The next moment Praga was at his side.
For a second neither spoke. Then through the still night air we heardthe Corsican laugh.
"You're riding late, my lord, the most noble Count von Nauheim," he saidin a mocking tone.
No answer was made, and Praga put in words the thought that flashed uponme.
"Don't think of trying to escape. You won't do it this time." He spokesternly, adding, in the previous mocking tone, "And what brings you outfor horse exercise at this uncanny hour, most noble?"
The reply was sudden and unexpected by me, but not by the Corsican.
Von Nauheim drew a revolver, and fired point-blank at Praga, and thendashed his heels into his horse's sides, and tried to make off. But theother was fully prepared for the manoeuvre, and when the noise of theshot, which frightened Minna excessively, and woke the echoes of thewoods round us, had died away, I saw that the Corsican had grasped thebridle of von Nauheim's horse in a grip of steel, till the beast swervedround and nearly unhorsed its rider, while with his other hand Praga hadstruck the revolver from his opponent's grasp.
Then he laughed again.
"A hand is rarely steady when a man's shivering with fright," he said inhis bantering tone; but he changed it swiftly, and, in a voice deep withpassion, he cried, "Get off your horse, you coward, or I'll drag youfrom your saddle! Do you hear?"
Von Nauheim made no reply, and no effort to dismount.
"Do you hear me? Dismount!" thundered the Corsican, his deep, rollingvoice vibrating with wrath; and when von Nauheim still hesitated, Pragabent forward, and, with a strength that surprised me, tore him from hishorse, and forced him to the ground.
Von Nauheim seemed helpless with terror.
"What is he going to do?" asked Minna, shivering.
"We must wait," I answered.
Praga dismounted then, and, tying the reins of the two horses together,led them to a tree, and fastened them. Every action was done with cool,methodical purpose, which I knew was carefully calculated to increasethe other's fear; and though the Corsican pretended not to watch thelatter's actions, I could see that the whole time the dark, dangerouseyes were taking the keenest note of every gesture and movement.
When he had tethered the horses, he crossed the road back to where vonNauheim stood in an attitude of sullen dejection. He was like onefascinated and paralyzed with fear.
All at once I saw Praga start and glance in my direction, as a thoughtseemed to occur to him.
"Come," he said in a voice of rough command, short, sharp, and stern."This way," motioning along the road toward the spot where Minna and Istood.
I wondered what he meant to do.
Von Nauheim did not move, and Praga, seizing him by the arm, half led,half dragged him forward.
"You can do an act of justice for once in your life."
He clipped the words, and followed them with a short, sneering laugh, acurious mixture of humor and anger.
"We are not alone here, and I have a fancy that you shall tell what youknow about the death of young Gustav von Gramberg."
At this von Nauheim looked up, and stared rather wildly about him. I sawPraga's motive then, and was glad.
"Halt! most noble and honorable of counts," he cried when they stoodabout twenty paces from us. Then, in a rough, stern tone, he added, "Nowtell the truth--the part you played in it."
At that von Nauheim made a sudden dash and struggle to get free from hisantagonist's grip; but he might as well have tried to get away from hismaster, the devil, as from the iron hand that held and then shook himtill his teeth chattered.
I guessed that he had caught sight of us.
"Now the truth!" cried Praga in a truly terrifying tone. "Out with it.You know me by this time."
The other glanced about him in abject fright, and then said, in awhisper hoarse and husky with agitation:
"Are you there, Minna?"
"Silence!" thundered Praga, shaking him again. "Speak what I have toldyou--no more, no less."
For a time von Nauheim tried vainly to find words, and the sight of hisfear was so appalling and repulsive that Minna clung closer to me, andhid her face against my arm.
Another threat and command came from Praga, and then, in a voice thatshook and quavered, and broke again and again, he began the shamefulstory of his own abominable part in the intrigue which had led to theduel between Minna's brother and the Corsican; and the latter would notlet him halt until the whole villanous tale was complete.
It took a long time in the telling, and I could feel the girl shrinkand wince as the truth came out in the dreary, monotonous voice of theterror-possessed wretch.
"Take me away, cousin Hans, I cannot bear this," she cried to mepiteously. "My poor, poor brother!"
"Yes, we will go," I said. "But it was right for you to hear the tale,and to know who in reality played the villain's part in it."
I led her out in the moonlight then, and told Praga that we should go.
"As you will," he answered; "I will follow. Take my horse, and I'll dothe best I can with yours."
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In turning to speak to me he loosened his hold somewhat of von Nauheimfor an instant, and the latter, with what sounded like a great sob offear, broke away, and threw himself on the ground at Minna's feet.
"For God's sake, don't go away, Minna. Don't leave me with this man. Hewill murder me. Have mercy on me. Plead with him for me. You can saveme. Minna, do you hear? For God's sake, have mercy," and he caught holdof her dress and clung to her--the type of broken, abject,fright-becrazed cowardice.
"Don't touch me!" she cried. "Your hands are red with my brother'sblood."
"Get up, you crawling, unclean brute, and cease your whining," saidPraga, dragging him to his feet.
"Don't let him be killed, cousin Hans," whispered Minna. "He is not fitto die. But, oh, take me away. This scene is killing me," she cried indistress.
At that von Nauheim broke out with more pleas and entreaties, his voiceshaking as he trembled in his fear. I did not know what to do. I hadpromised Praga his revenge; and in all truth I could see no reason forinterfering to save the man's life. He had played the scoundrel allthrough, and if ever a man deserved death he did.
But at the same time it was Minna who asked for mercy, and I loved herfor it, and my heart was moved by her appeal. I stood thus inhesitation, when an interruption came which, for the instant, I welcomedgladly.
We were to have more company on that lonely spot; and we all four heardat the same moment the sound of horses coming quickly up the hill. Aminute later we caught sight of a couple of figures in the moonlight.
The effect on von Nauheim was electrical.
He sprang up and gave a loud shout for help.
"Help, help! Murder! Help!"
The cry rang over the country-side and awakened a thousand echoes in thestill night air.
An answering shout came from the approaching men, and they dashedheadlong toward us, reigning up their horses almost on to theirhaunches.
"What is this?" cried a voice which I seemed to recognize. "Who calledfor help?"
"It is Major Gessler, Hans," whispered Minna. "Take care."
While I was assuring her that all was well, and that I had an order tohim for her release, Praga was answering him.
"You come in excellent time, gentlemen, whoever you are. This is thething that screeched for help," pointing to von Nauheim.
"Ah, the Count von Nauheim," said the major in a tone of satisfaction.
"There is the lady you seek, Major Gessler," said the poltroon, pointinga trembling finger to Minna. "And I call you to witness that I havebeen stopped on the highway by these two men and my life threatened. Iclaim your protection."
The major looked from one to the other of us in indecision, and then theCorsican laughed a deep, rolling laugh of contemptuous anger.
"By the nails that pierced the feet, you are a paltry thing!" he cried."Nothing's too vile and base for you to save your dirty little life; isit? A minute since you were grovelling to the Countess Minna, hanging toher skirts, and begging her to save you; and now you think to try andcurry favor with Major Gessler by this lick-spittling attempt to betrayher. But you don't know him, lily-liver; he's the last man in the worldto step in to prevent an affair of this kind. This is an affair ofhonor, major, if we can use that term with a man like this; and ofcourse you will not think of interfering, except to see that everythingis done duly and in good order."
There was a significance in his tone which did not escape me.
"I must first learn the reason of your all being here, if you please."
"I was returning to----" began von Nauheim, when Praga cut him short.
"Silence!" he thundered; "you will only lie." Then to the major he said,"I know no reason why I should explain my conduct to you."
"I can best explain this, I think," I said. "The Count von Nauheim hadinduced or compelled the Countess Minna here to leave your custody, andafter some time she escaped from him. I was following, and by thehappiest of coincidences we met. She will now remain in my care. SignorPraga was riding after me, and the Count von Nauheim came up soonafterward in search of the countess. Between Signor Praga and the countthere is an old quarrel, and it was in course of arrangement when youarrived."
"Then you will return with me, countess?" said the officer.
"On the contrary, as I have already said, my cousin will remain in mycharge," and I handed him the letter from Baron Heckscher.
He read it by the light of the moon, and we waited in silence till hehad finished.
"You are to hand me an authority to your agents," he said as he foldedup the letter.
"I have also to demand an explanation for the treatment I received on myarrival, as I understood, by your instructions," I answered sharply.
"It can all best be done at the house itself. My work is finished here,and I must set about this other matter of the Duke Marx without delay,"he said. "Count von Nauheim has also an explanation to give me. We hadbetter proceed to the house, Prince."
At this Praga showed signs of restiveness, while von Nauheim agreedeagerly.
"I have a word to say about that," exclaimed the Corsican, intervening."I have brought this fox to earth, and have no mind to see him slipthrough my fingers. Prince, you won't forget our compact?"
"I shall be responsible for the count's custody," put in Major Gessler.
"Maybe, but you have an unfortunate trick of letting your prisoners slipthe leash," cried Praga bluntly. "I shouldn't trust myself in that houseagain, Prince, if I were you. There may be more treachery there."
"Those are ugly words, sir," exclaimed the major hotly.
"They describe an ugly fact, major," returned Praga recklessly, with ashrug of the shoulders. "I am not concerned to pick my words to tickleyour ears. If you don't like them"--and he threw up his hands--"I can'thelp it."
"I need not give you my assurance, I trust, Prince von Gramberg," saidthe officer, turning to me, "that so long as I am at that house yourpersonal safety and that of the Countess Minna will be absolutelysecure."
"If I doubt it, you have only the acts of your own men to blame," Ianswered curtly.
"That can be explained. When the Countess Minna was taken away bythis"--he was going to say gentleman, but substituted--"by this count, Ifeared that some further plot might be afloat, and I left instructionsthat you should be detained until my return from my search for her. Ifmy men exceeded their instructions in any way--I had only time to givethem very hurriedly--I beg to tender you my sincerest apologies. But atleast the countess here will tell you that while she was in my carecomplete regard was paid alike to her comfort and safety."
"Certainly I would trust Major Gessler's word," said Minna.
"Will you return to the house?" I asked.
"Yes, if we have his word that we are to be at liberty to leave it. ButI would rather go to Gramberg."
"I pledge you my word on that," said the major.
I reflected that we had better not go to Gramberg until I had had anopportunity of explaining the whole position to Minna, and in fact I hadanother plan in my thoughts.
But while this conversation had been taking place, and our attention hadbeen engrossed, von Nauheim had stolen unobserved to the place wherePraga had tethered the horses, and, having cut the reins which tied thetwo together, he leapt on the back of his own and made off down the roadat a hard gallop.
With a furious oath Praga ran to his horse, caught it cleverly, jumpedinto the saddle, and dashed after the fugitive in mad pursuit. The majortold the man who was with him to follow, and we stood and watched thewild race as the three streamed down the hill from us at unequaldistances, along a flat stretch of level road at the bottom, and then upa long incline beyond.
Praga was the better horseman or had the better mount, for we saw himgaining fast on the dark figure in front, and then as they neared thetop of the incline we heard the report of a pistol shot, followed at ashort interval by another.
A moment later the two leading figures passed out of sight, and we wereleft to conjec
ture what had happened.
"Had you better not push on to the house?" asked the major. "I will rideback and see the result. It has an ugly look. I shall probably overtakeyou before long," and with that he wheeled his horse round and gallopedoff, leaving Minna and myself alone again.