CHAPTER IX
THE DUKE OF RITTERSHEIM
That little _rencontre_ took my nerve away, and I shot very badly atthe next plantation, so badly--I missed two birds--that I was almostinclined to give up and go home; but then lunch came--in a marquee--andits luxury and the delightful wine restored me. I shot well again allthe afternoon.
Yes, it was a glorious day, and I enjoyed it immensely when I gotSaumarez--or His Serene Highness--out of my mind. He was a superbshot, I will say that of him; he fired from the left shoulder as manymen do, but in his case I knew it was on account of his glass eye.
Walking to the last plantation with one of the Household and casuallydiscussing all manner of ordinary subjects, I ventured a chance remarkconcerning the Duke of Rittersheim.
"His Serene Highness is a fine shot," I said, "an old sportsman, it iseasy to see."
"Yes," answered my companion, "he is supposed to be one of the finestshots in Germany."
"And yet he has a glass eye?" I ventured.
The man I was walking with turned round and stared at me.
"Now, how in the name of goodness did you know that?" he inquired. "Itis supposed to be a secret, and the artificial eye looks so naturalunder his pince-nez that very few know of its existence."
"But you are quite right," he continued; "he lost it in a shootingaccident when he was a boy."
This made the matter quite certain in my mind, and I determined toconfront His Serene Highness at the first opportunity and see whateffect it would have upon him; but I might have saved myself thetrouble of this resolution; subsequent event proved pretty conclusivelythat he had recognised me from the first.
We were all arranged for the final shoot of the day, when to myastonishment I found myself next to the Duke of Rittersheim. He was onmy right hand, and therefore had me well under his sound left eye.
I must admit that I felt uneasy when I saw him there; nevertheless, Iwent on shooting coolly and had the pleasure once or twice of "wipinghis eye." I even heard a distinct "Bravo" come from him at one of myshots.
I was, however, far from comfortable in having him for such a closeneighbour under the circumstances, and wished him a hundred miles away.We shot on until the light got very bad, but there were only a few moreyards to be driven, so we went on. We had nearly finished when Inoticed the Duke of Rittersheim send his loader away to pick upsomething he had dropped.
I noted the man run off to fulfil the request, and at the same momentmy eyes were attracted by the last rays of the red sun, already set,reddening far away the waters of Lynn Deeps.
It was a lovely sight, and my gaze rested on it some moments; then Isuddenly realised that I was practically alone with the Bavarian Duke,as my loader had walked on a few yards with his back to me.
The Duke was standing quite alone, and in that moment I saw his gun goup to his shoulder at a bird, then in a flash it turned towards me!
I realised my danger in a moment and threw myself flat on my face. AsI lay there I heard the report of his gun, the swish of the charge, anda cry from my loader. He had shot him!
I sprang to my feet, and ran to the man, who was standing holding hisarm; but quick as I was the Duke was there before me.
"Are you hurt, my man?" he asked in his sharp tone which I knew sowell. "Where are you hit?"
"It's in the arm, sir," the Norfolk man answered; "it be set fast."
"Look here," said the Duke, quickly taking out a note case. "I can seeyou are not badly hurt. Take these bank-notes; here are twenty pounds.Go quietly away and say nothing about it and I'll give you anothertwenty. Do you understand?"
"Yes, me lord," answered the man, who probably had never had so muchmoney before in his life. "I'll keep mum."
"Can you walk all right?" asked the Duke.
"Yes, Your Royal Highness," answered the poor fellow, who was gettingmixed, feeling, no doubt, very faint.
"Then off with you at once," cried the Duke, "and send some one up inthe morning to the Duke of Rittersheim for the other twenty pounds.Tell the people," he added, as the man went slowly off, "that you havehad a bad fall."
"Yes, Your Majesty," answered the bewildered, wounded man as hedisappeared in the dusk.
I stood watching the Duke as he went coolly back without a word to meto his place; this, then, was the cool, resourceful scoundrel I had todeal with!
* * * * *
Sitting by the big fire in the smoking-room at Bannington Hall thatnight after dinner, I told St. Nivel the whole of the incident of theshooting of the beater by the Duke of Rittersheim.
"Well, that's the limit," commented Jack, taking the cigar out of hismouth; "he _must_ be a cool-headed scoundrel. I never heard of suchnerve!"
"It's a nice thing to have a brute like that on one's track, isn't it?"I remarked dejectedly; "it makes life hardly worth living."
Jack sat and smoked placidly for some moments looking into the fire.He was thinking.
Presently he turned to me.
"Look here, Bill," he remarked, "Ethel and I had a talk this eveningbefore dinner about matters generally and she has started what I call avery good idea."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Of course, she knows all about your promise to the old lady; you toldher, you know."
"Certainly," I answered, "I told you both. I know you never keepsecrets from one another."
"Well, she knows," he proceeded, "therefore, that you have made up yourmind to go to Valoro with that packet the old lady gave you."
"Well?"
Jack brought his hand down with a smack on my knee.
"Let us come too, old chap," he cried--"both of us--Ethel and I."
The idea to me was both pleasant and astonishing. I had never thoughtof it.
"But won't Ethel find it rather a fatiguing journey?" I suggested.
He was quite amused at the idea.
"I can assure you," he said, "that she can stand pretty nearly as muchas I can. She's a regular little amazon. That's what Ethel is."
"Very well, then," I replied, "nothing will suit me better than to haveyours and Ethel's charming society. As a matter of fact I am beginningto look forward to the expedition keenly."
The next few days were given up to wild speculations on our comingjourney and its results.
"I hear the country is lovely," exclaimed Ethel, poring over a map; "atany rate the voyage will be splendid!"
It was settled that we should start from Liverpool to Monte Video,thence make our way by rail across country to our destination, Valoro,a beautiful city in the mountains of Aquazilia, in the neighbourhood ofwhich we were told we should get splendid sport.
Therefore we made a flying trip to town, especially to visit Purdey'sand supply ourselves with the very latest things in sporting guns andrifles.
Out of the very liberal provision the old lady had made for myexpenses, I felt justified in being extravagant, and provided myselfwith a beautiful gun--the right barrel having a shallow rifling for abullet should we meet with very big game--and a perfect gem of anexpress rifle; these two were the latest models in sporting firearms.
Ethel and St. Nivel, having an unlimited command of money, orderedpretty nearly everything they were advised to take, with the resultthat we required a small pantechnicon van to take our combined luggage.
There was, however, one thing I was very particular about, and uponwhich I took the advice of an old friend who had travelled much.
I bought a first-rate _Target_ revolver--a Colt--with which I knew Icould make _accurate_ shooting. I would not trust my life to one ofthose unscientific productions which are just as likely to shoot afriend as an enemy, and are more in the nature of pop-guns thandefensive weapons. I had reason to congratulate myself later on that Ihad taken such a precaution.
"There's one thing you really must see to at once, Bill," exclaimed St.Nivel, one day when we were all busy making out lists of ourrequirements in the great library and posting them off to
the stores."You _must_ get a servant."
Now I had been, for the last three months, doing for myself; my oldservant had left me some months before and I had not filled his placewith another. Times, too, had not been very prosperous with me and Iseriously thought of curtailing that luxury and brushing my own clothes.
The liberal allowance for my travelling expenses, however, plus thethousand pound note, put quite a different complexion on matters. Ifelt now thoroughly justified in providing myself with a first-rateman, and for that purpose I took my cousin's advice and put anadvertisement in the _Morning Post_.
"A gentleman requires a good valet, used to travelling. Excellentreference required." I gave my name and St. Nivel's address to ensuregetting a good one.
That was the wording of it, and I arranged to run up to town for a dayto make my selection from them. From the numerous applicants Iselected six, and told them to meet me at Long's Hotel.
St. Nivel accompanied me to give me the benefit of his advice, whichwas perhaps not likely to be of much service to me. He employed arefined person himself who asked and got L150 a year.
The man who took my fancy was an old cavalry soldier named Brooks whohad been out of work for a time, but who yet bore the stamp of a manwho knew his work and would do it. I closed with him for a modest L70a year, and he was glad to get it.
"When will you be ready to come, Brooks?" I asked when we had settledpreliminaries. "We shall be off by the next boat to La Plata, and Ishall want you to get on with the packing as soon as you can."
"For the matter of that, sir," he answered, "I could come now. I've nochick nor child to hold me. I'm a widower without encumbrances."
I told the "widower without encumbrances" to come the next day, and St.Nivel and I jumped into a hansom to catch the five o'clock express,glad to get out of the thick atmosphere of London into the bright crispair of Norfolk.
"I think you've done right," remarked St. Nivel in the train, "ingetting an old cavalry man. He'll understand hunting things."
As I could not afford to hunt I missed the point of the signification.
Ah, those were happy days, those last few before we started!
All our serious preparations were finished and we had only to give alittle general supervision to the packing of our respective servants.Ethel's experienced maid was going with her, of course.
This done, we used to stroll about together--the three of us--and enjoythe last few hours of the dear old place as much as we could in thebeautiful bright weather.
I think Ethel and I even used to get a little bit romantic in thelovely moonlight nights, when the old oak-panelled corridors andstaircases were bathed in the soft light. But we were very far frombeing in love with one another all the same.
I shall never forget that time of peace, which came in a period ofstorm and trial; the old red mansion with the river running not ahundred yards from it, and the graceful swans sailing to and fro, theglorious old trees of the avenue, the fine broad terrace with itssplendid views over the low, undulating country, with a glimpse of LynnDeeps on one hand and the white towers of St. Margaret's, the greatchurch in the ancient town, on the other.
The dreamy, old-world air of the place, the smell even of thefresh-turned earth in the great gardens, the cawing of the circlingrooks--it all comes back to me as if I had but walked out of it all anhour ago.
However, the morning soon came when we were to bid adieu to it all, andin the hurry and scurry of it and the race down to the station in themotor--for we were late, Ethel's maid having forgotten an importanthat--perhaps we forgot all our peaceful happiness in our feverishspeculations on our voyage across the Atlantic to that distant SouthAmerican Republic, Aquazilia, and its mountain capital, Valoro.