XVI. A CLASH AND IT'S RESULT
"I feel like spending the rest of my days in that monastery up there,"said Lorry, after dinner that evening. They were strolling about thetown. One was determined to leave the city, the other firm inhis resolve to stay. The latter won the day when he shrewdly, ifexplosively, reminded the former that it was their duty as men to stayand protect the Princess from the machinations of Gabriel, that knave ofpurgatory. Lorry, at last recognizing the hopelessness of his suit, wasready to throw down his arms and abandon the field to superior odds. Hispresumption in aspiring for the hand of a Princess began to touch hissense of humor, and he laughed, not very merrily, it is true, but longand loudly, at his folly. At first he cursed the world and every one init, giving up in despair, but later he cursed only himself. Yet, as hedespaired and scoffed, he felt within himself an ever-present hope thatluck might turn the tide of battle.
This puny ray grew perceptibly when Anguish brought him to feel that sheneeded his protection from the man who had once sought to despoil andwho might reasonably be expected to persevere. He agreed to linger inEdelweiss, knowing that each day would add pain to the torture he wasalready suffering, his sole object being, he convinced himself, tofrustrate Gabriel's evil plans.
Returning late in the evening from their stroll, they entered a cafecelebrated in Edelweiss. In all his life Lorry had never known theloneliness that makes death welcome. To-night he felt that he could notlive, so maddening was the certainty that he could never regain joy. Hisheart bled with the longing to be near her who dwelt inside those castlewalls. He scoffed and grieved, but grieved the more.
The cafe was crowded with men and women. In a far corner sat a party ofAxphain nobles, their Prince, a most democratic fellow, at the head ofa long table. There were songs, jests and boisterous laughter. Thecelebration grew wilder, and Lorry and Anguish crossed the room, and,taking seats at a table, ordered wine and cigars, both eager for acloser view of the Prince. How Lorry loathed him!
Lorenz was a good-looking young fellow, little more than a boy. Hissmooth face was flushed, and there was about him an air of dissipationthat suggested depravity in its advanced stage. The face that might havebeen handsome was the reflection of a roue, dashing, devilish. He wasfair-haired and tall, taller than his companions by half a head. Withreckless abandon he drank and sang and jested, arrogant in his flightymerriment. His cohorts were not far behind him in riotous wit.
At length one of the revelers, speaking in German, called on Lorenz fora toast to the Princess Yetive, his promised bride. Without a moment'shesitation the Prince sprang to his feet, held his glass aloft, andcried:
"Here's to the fairest of the fair, sweet Yetive, so hard to win, toogood to lose. She loves me, God bless her heart! And I love her, Godbless my heart, too! For each kiss from her wondrous lips I shall creditmyself with one thousand gavvos. That is the price of a kiss."
"I'll give two thousand!" roared one of the nobles, and there was alaugh in which the Prince joined.
"Nay! I'll not sell them now. In after years, when she has grown oldand her lips are parched and dry from the sippings I have had, I'll sellthem all at a bargain. Alas, she has not yet kissed me!"
Lorry's heart bounded with joy, though his hands were clenched in rage.
"She will kiss me to-morrow. To-morrow I shall taste what no other manhas touched, what all men have coveted. And I'll be generous, gentlemen.She is so fair that your foul mouths would blight with but one caressupon her tender lips, and yet you shall not, be deprived of bliss. Ishall kiss her thrice for each of you. Let me count: thrice eleven isthirty-three. Aye, thirty-three of my kisses shall be wasted for thesake of my friends, lucky dogs! Drink to my Princess!"
"Bravo!" cried the others, and the glasses were raised to lip.
A chair was overturned. The form of a man landed suddenly at the sideof the Prince and a rough hand dashed the glass from his fingers, thecontents flying over his immaculate English evening dress.
"Don't you dare to drink that toast!" cried a voice in his astonishedear, a voice speaking in excited German. He whirled and saw a scowlingface beside his own, a pair of gray eyes that flashed fire.
"What do you mean?" he demanded, anger replacing amazement. The othermembers of his party stood as if spell-bound.
"I mean that you speak of the Princess of Graustark. Do you understandthat, you miserable cur?"
"Oh!" screamed, the Prince, convulsed with rage, starting back andinstinctively reaching for the sword he did not carry. "You shall payfor this! I will teach you to interfere--"
"I'll insult you more decidedly just to avoid misapprehension," snarledLorry, swinging his big fist squarely upon the mouth of the Prince. HisRoyal Highness landed under a table ten feet away.
Instantly the cafe was in an uproar. The stupefied Axphainians regainedtheir senses and a general assault was made upon the hotheaded American.He knocked another down, Harry Anguish coming to his assistance withseveral savage blows, after which the Graustark spectators and thewaiters interfered. It was all over in an instant, yet a sensation thatwould live in the gossip of generations had been created. A Prince ofthe realm had been brutally assaulted! Holding his jaw, Lorenz pickedhimself from the floor, several of his friends running to his aid. Therewas blood on his lips and chin; it trickled to his shirt front. For somemoments he stood panting, glaring at Lorry's mocking face.
"I am Lorenz of Axphain, sir," he said at last, his voice quivering withsuppressed anger.
"It shall be a pleasure to kill you, Lorenz," observed his adversary,displaying his ignorance of lese-majeste.
Anguish, pale and very much concerned, dragged him away, the Princeleaving the cafe ahead of them, followed by his chattering, cursingcompanions. Prince Gabriel was standing near the door as they passedout. He looked at the Americans sharply, and Anguish detected somethinglike triumphant joy in his eyes.
"Good Lord, Lorry; this means a duel! Don't you know that?" cried he, asthey started upstairs.
"Of course, I do. And I'm going to kill that villain, too," exclaimedLorry, loud enough to be heard from one end of the room to the other.
"This is horrible, horrible! Let me square it up some way if--" beganthe alarmed Anguish.
"Square it up! Look here, Harry Anguish, I am the one who will do thesquaring. If he wants a duel he can have it at any old time and in anystyle he desires."
"He may kill you!"
"Not while a just God rules over our destinies. I'll take my chanceswith pistols, and now let me tell you one thing, my boy: he'll neverlive to touch his lips to hers, nor will there be a royal wedding. Shecannot marry a dead man." He was beside himself with excitement andit was fully half an hour before Anguish could bring him to a sensiblediscussion of the affair. Gradually he became cool, and, the fever oncegone, he did not lose his head again.
"Choose pistols at ten paces and at eight tomorrow," he said,nonchalantly, as a rap at the door of their apartment announced thearrival of the Prince's friend.
Anguish admitted two well-dressed, black-bearded men, both of whom hadsat at the Prince's table in the cafe. They introduced themselves as theDuke of Mizrox and Colonel Attobawn. Their visit was brief, formal andconclusive.
"We understand that you are persons of rank in your own America?" saidthe Duke of Mizrox, after a few moments.
"We are sons of business men," responded Mr. Anguish.
"Oh, well, I hardly know. But his Highness is very willing to waive hisrank, and to grant you a meeting."
"I'm delighted by his Highness' condescension, which I perfectlyunderstand," observed Mr. Anguish. "Now, what have we to settle,gentlemen?"
"The detail of weapons."
When Anguish announced that his principal chose pistols a strange gleamcrept into the eyes of the Axphainians, and they seemed satisfied.Colonel Attobawn acted as interpreter during this short but veryimportant interview which was carried on in the Axphain language. Lorrysat on the window-sill, steadfastly gazing into the night. The visitors
departed soon, and it was understood that Prince Lorenz would condescendto meet Mr. Lorry at eight o'clock on the next morning in the valleybeyond the castle, two miles from town. There was no law prohibitingduels in Graustark.
"Well, you're in for it, old man," said Anguish, gloomily, his chin inhis hands as he fastened melancholy eyes upon his friend.
"Don't worry about me, Harry. There's only one way for this thing toend. His Royal Highness is doomed." Lorry spoke with the earnestness andconviction of one who is permitted to see into the future.
Calmly he prepared to write some letters, not to say farewell, but toexplain to certain persons the cause of the duel and to say that hegloried in the good fortune which had presented itself. One of theseletters was addressed to his mother, another to the father of PrinceLorenz, and the last to the Princess of Graustark. To the latter hewrote much that did not appear in the epistles directed to the others.Anguish had been in his room more than an hour, and had frequentlycalled to his friend and begged him to secure what rest he could inorder that their nerves might be steady in the morning. But it was notuntil after midnight that the duellist sealed the envelopes, directedthem and knocked at his second's door to say:
"I shall entrust these letters to you, Harry. You must see that theystart on their way tomorrow."
Then he went to bed and to sleep.
At six his second, who had slept but little, called him. They dressedhurriedly and prepared for the ride to the valley. Their own new Englishbull-dog revolvers were to serve as weapons in the coming combat, anda carriage was to be in waiting for them in a side street at seveno'clock.
Before leaving their room they heard evidences of commotion in thehotel, and were apprehensive lest the inmates had learned of the dueland were making ready to follow the fighters to the appointed spot.There was a confusion of voices, the sound of rushing feet, the bangingof doors, the noise increasing as the two men stepped into the openhall. They were amazed to see half-dressed men and women standing orrunning about the halls, intense excitement in their faces and in theiractions. White uniformed policemen were flocking into the corridors;soldiers, coatless and hatless, fresh from their beds, came dashing uponthe scene. There were excited cries, angry shouts and, more mystifyingthan all, horrified looks and whispers.
"What has happened?" asked Lorry, stopping near the door.
"It can't be a fire. Look! The door to that room down there seems to bethe center of attraction. Hold on! Don't go over there, Lorry. Theremay be something to unnerve you, and that must not happen now. Let usgo down this stairway--it leads to a side entrance, I think." They werehalf way down the stairs when the thunder of rushing feet in the hallabove came to their ears, causing them to hesitate between curiosity andgood judgment. "They are coming this way."
"Hear them howl! What the devil can be the cause of all this rumpus?"cried the other.
At that instant a half dozen police-guards appeared at the head ofthe stairs. Upon seeing the Americans they stopped and turned as if tooppose a foe approaching from the opposite direction. Baron Danglossseparated himself from the white coats above and called to the menbelow. In alarm they started for the street door. He was with them in aninstant, his usually red face changing from white to purple, his anxiouseyes darting first toward the group above and then toward the bewilderedAmericans.
"What's the matter?" demanded Lorry.
"There! See!" cried Dangloss, and even as he spoke a conflict beganat the head of the stairs, the police, augmented by a few soldiers,struggling against a howling, enraged mass of Axphainians. Danglossdragged his reluctant charges through a small door, and they foundthemselves in the baggage-room of the hotel. Despite their querieshe offered no explanation, but rushed them along, passing out of theopposite door, down a short stairway and into a side street. A halfdozen police-guards were awaiting them, and before they could catch thefaintest idea of what it all meant, they were running with the officersthrough an alley, as if pursued by demons.
"Now, what in thunder does this mean?" panted Lorry, attempting toslacken the pace. He and Anguish were just beginning to regain theirsenses.
"Do not stop! Do not stop!" wheezed Dangloss. "You must get to a placeof safety. We cannot prevent something dreadful happening if you arecaught!"
"If we are caught!" cried Anguish. "Why, what have we done?"
"Unhand me, Baron Dangloss! This is an outrage!" shouted Lorry.
"For God's sake, be calm! We are befriending you. When we reach theTower, where you will be safe, I shall explain," gasped the pantingChief of Police. A few moments later they were inside the prison gates,angry, impatient, fatigued.
"Is this a plan to prevent the duel?" demanded Lorry, turning upon thechief, who had dropped limply into a chair and was mopping his brow.When he could find his breath enough to answer, Dangloss did so, and hemight as well have thrown a bombshell at their feet.
"There'll be no duel. Prince Lorenz is dead!"
"Dead!" gasped the others.
"Found dead in his bed, stabbed to the heart!" exclaimed the Chief.
"We have saved you from his friends, gentlemen, but I must say that youare still in a tight place."
He then related to them the whole story. Just before six o'clock Mizroxhad gone to the Prince's room to prepare him for the duel. The door wasclosed but unlocked, as he found after repeated knockings. Lorenz waslying on the bed, undressed and covered with blood. The horrified dukemade a hasty examination and found that he was dead. A dagger had beendriven to his heart as he slept. The hotel was aroused, the policecalled, and the excitement was at its highest pitch when the two friendscame from their room a few minutes after six.
"But what have we to do with this dreadful affair? Why are we rushed offhere like criminals?" asked Lorry, a feeling of cruel gladness growingout of the knowledge that Lorenz was dead and that the Princess wasfreed from her compact.
"My friend," said Dangloss, slowly, "you are accused of the murder."
Lorry was too much stunned to be angry, too weak to protest. For somemoments after the blow fell he and Anguish were speechless. Then camethe protestations, the rage and the threats, through all of whichDangloss sat calmly. Finally he sought to quiet them, partiallysucceeding.
"Mr. Lorry, the evidence is very strong against you, but you shall notbe unjustly treated. You are not a prisoner as yet. In Graustark a manwho is accused of murder, and who was not seen by any one to commit thecrime, cannot be legally arrested until an accuser shall go before thePrincess, who is also High Priestess, and swear on his life that heknows the guilty man. The man who so accuses agrees to forfeit his ownlife in case the other is proved innocent. If you are to be charged withthe murder of the Prince, some one must go before the Princess and takeoath--his life against yours. I am holding you here, sir, because it isthe only place in which you are safe. Lorenz's friends would have tornyou to pieces had we not found you first. You are not prisoners, and youmay depart if you think it wise."
"But, my God, how can they accuse me? I knew nothing of the murder untilI reached this place," cried Lorry, stopping short in his restless walkbefore the little Baron.
"So you say, but--"
"If you accuse me, damn you, I'll kill you!" whispered Lorry, holdinghimself tense. Anguish caught and held him.
"Be calm, sir," cautioned Dangloss. "I may have my views, but I am notwilling to take oath before Her Royal Highness. Listen You were heard tosay you would kill him; you began the fight; you were the aggressor,and there is no one else on earth, it is said, who could have wished tomurder him. The man who did the stabbing entered the room through thehall door and left by the same. There are drops of blood in the carpet,leading direct to your door. On your knob are the prints of bloodyfingers where you--or some one else--placed his hand in opening thedoor. It was this discovery, made by me and my men, that fully convincedthe enraged friends of the dead Prince that you were guilty. When weopened the door you were gone. Then came the search, the fight at thehead of the stairs, and the race
to the prison. The reason I saved youfrom that mob should be plain to you. I love my Princess, and I do notforget that you risked your life--each of you--to protect her. I havedone all that I can, gentlemen, to protect you in return. It means deathto you if you fall into the hands of his followers just now. A few hourswill cool them off, no doubt, but now--now it would be madness to facethem. I know not what they have done to my men at the hotel--perhapsbutchered them."
There was anxiety in Dangloss's voice and there was honesty in hiskeen old eyes. His charges now saw the situation clearly and apologizedwarmly for the words they had uttered under the pressure of somewhatextenuating circumstances. They expressed a willingness to remain inthe prison until the excitement abated or until some one swore his lifeagainst the supposed murderer. They were virtually prisoners, and theyknew it well. Furthermore, they could see that Baron Dangloss believedLorry guilty of the murder; protestations of innocence had been politelyreceived and politely disregarded.
"Do you expect one of his friends to take the oath?" asked Lorry.
"Yes; it is sure to come."
"But you will not do so yourself?"
"No."
"I thank you, captain, for I see that you believe me guilty."
"I do not say you are guilty, remember, but I will say that if you didmurder Prince Lorenz you have made the people of Graustark rejoice fromthe bottoms of their hearts, and you will be eulogized from one end ofthe land to the other."
"Hanged and eulogized," said Lorry, grimly.