CHAPTER III. DISGRACED
At eight o'clock that evening the Crown Prince Ferdinand William Ottoapproached the Palace through the public square. He approached itslowly, for two reasons. First, he did not want to go back. Second, hewas rather frightened. He had an idea that they would be disagreeable.
There seemed to be a great deal going on at the palace. Carriageswere rolling in under the stone archway and, having discharged theircontents, mostly gentlemen in uniform, were moving off with a thunderingof hoofs that reechoed from the vaulted roof of the entrance. All thelights were on in the wing where his grandfather, the King, lived alone.As his grandfather hated lights, and went to bed early, Prince FerdinandWilliam Otto was slightly puzzled.
He stood in the square and waited for a chance to slip in unobserved.
He was very dirty. His august face was streaked with soot, and hisaugust hands likewise. His small derby hat was carefully placed on thevery back of his head at the angle of the American boy's cap. As hiscollar had scratched his neck, he had, at Bobby's suggestion, taken itoff and rolled it up. He decided, as he waited in the square, to put iton again. Miss Braithwaite was very peculiar about collars.
Came a lull in the line of carriages. Prince Ferdinand William Otto tooka long breath and started forward. As he advanced he stuck his hands inhis pockets and swaggered a trifle. It was, as nearly as possible, anexact imitation of Bobby Thorpe's walk. And to keep up his courage, hequoted that young gentleman's farewell speech to himself: "What d' youcare? They won't eat you, will they?"
At the entrance to the archway stood two sentries. They stood as if theywere carved out of wood. Only their eyes moved. And within, in the courtaround which the Palace was built, were the King's bodyguards. Mostlythey sat on a long bench and exchanged conversation, while one of thempaced back and forth, his gun over his shoulder, in front of them.Prince Ferdinand William Otto knew them all. More than once he hadsecured cigarettes from Lieutenant Larisch and dropped them from one ofhis windows, which were just overhead. They would look straight aheadand not see them, until the officer's back was turned. Then one would belighted and passed along the line. Each man would take one puff and passit on behind his back. It was great fun.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto stood in the shadows and glanced across.The sentries stood like wooden men, but something was wrong in thecourtyard inside. The guards were all standing, and there seemed to bea great many of them. And just as he had made up his mind to take theplunge, so to speak, a part of his own regiment of cavalry came out fromthe courtyard with a thundering of hoofs, wheeled at the street, andclattered off.
Very unusual, all of it.
The Crown Prince Ferdinand William Otto felt in his pocket for hishandkerchief, and, moistening a corner with his tongue, wiped his face.Then he wiped his shoes. Then, with his hands in his trousers pockets,he sauntered into the light.
Now sentries are trained to be impassive. The model of a sentry is awooden soldier. A really good sentry does not sneeze or cough on duty.Did any one ever see a sentry, for instance, wipe his nose? Or twirl histhumbs? Or buy a newspaper? Certainly not.
Therefore the two sentries made no sign when they saw Ferdinand WilliamOtto approaching. But one of them forgot to bring his musket to salute.He crossed himself instead. And something strained around the othersentry's lower jaw suddenly relaxed into a smile as His Royal Highnessdrew a hand from its refuge and saluted. He glanced first at one, thenat the other, rather sheepishly, hesitated between them, clapped his haton more securely, and marched in.
"The young rascal!" said the second sentry to himself. And by turninghis head slightly--for a sentry learns to see all around like a horse,without twisting his neck--he watched the runaway into the palace.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto went up the stone staircase. Here andthere he passed guards who stared and saluted. Had he not been obsessedwith the vision of Miss Braithwaite, he would have known that relieffollowed in his wake. Messengers clattered down the staircase to thecourtyard. Other messengers, breathless and eager, flew to that lightedwing where the Council sat, and where the old King, propped up in bed,waited and fought terror.
The Archduchess Annunciata was with her father. Across the corridor theCouncil debated in low tones.
"Tell me again," said the King. "How in God's name could it havehappened? In daylight, and with all of you there!"
"I have told you all I know," said the Archduchess impatiently. "Onemoment he was there. Hedwig and he were making gestures, and I reprovedhim. The next he was gone. Hedwig saw him get up and go out. Shethought--"
"Send for Hedwig."
"She has retired. She was devoted to him, and--"
"Send for her," said the King shortly.
The Archduchess Annunciata went out. The old King lay back, andhis eyes, weary with many years of ruling, of disappointments andbitterness, roved the room. They came to rest at last on the photographof a young man, which stood on his bedside, table.
He was a very young man, in a uniform. He was boyish, and smiling. Therewas a dog beside him, and its head was on his knee. Wherever one stoodin the room, the eyes of the photograph gazed at one. The King knewthis, and because he was quite old, and because there were few people towhom a king dares to speak his inmost thoughts, he frequently spoke tothe photograph.
The older he grew, the more he felt, sometimes, as though it knew whathe said. He had begun to think that death, after all, is not the end,but only the beginning of things. This rather worried him, too, attimes. What he wanted was to lay things down, not to take them up.
"If they've got him," he said to the picture, "it is out of my hands,and into yours, my boy."
Much of his life had been spent in waiting, in waiting for a son, inwaiting for that son to grow to be a man, in waiting while that son inhis turn loved and married and begot a man-child, in waiting, when thatson had died a violent death, for the time when his tired hands couldrelinquish the scepter to his grandchild.
He folded his old hands and waited. From across the corridor came thelow tones of the Council. A silent group of his gentlemen stood in thevestibule outside the door. The King lay on his bed and waited.
Quite suddenly the door opened. The old man turned his head. Just insidestood a very dirty small boy.
The Crown Prince Ferdinand William Otto was most terribly frightened.Everything was at sixes and sevens. Miss Braithwaite had been crying herhead off, and on seeing him had fallen in a faint. Not that he thoughtit was a real faint. He had unmistakably seen her eyelids quiver. Andwhen she came to she had ordered him no supper, and four pages of Germantranslation, and to go to bed at seven o'clock instead of seven-thirtyfor a week. All the time crying, too. And then she had sent him to hisgrandfather, and taken aromatic ammonia.
His grandfather said nothing, but looked at him.
"Here--here I am, sir," said the Crown Prince from the door.
The King drew a long breath. But the silence persisted. Prince FerdinandWilliam Otto furtively rubbed a dusty shoe against the back of atrousers leg.
"I'm afraid I'm not very neat, sir," said Prince Ferdinand William Otto,and took a step forward. Until his grandfather commanded him, he couldnot advance into the room.
"Come here," said the King.
He went to the side of the bed.
"Where have you been?"
"I'm afraid--I ran away, sir."
"Why?"
Prince Ferdinand William Otto considered. It was rather an awful moment."I don't exactly know. I just thought I would."
You see, it was really extremely difficult. To say that he was tiredof things as they were would sound ungrateful. Would, indeed, be mostimpolite. And then, exactly why had he run away?
"Suppose," said the King, "you draw up a chair and tell me about it.We'd better talk it over, I think."
His Royal Highness drew up a chair, and sat on it. His feet not reachingthe floor, he hooked them around the chair-rung. This was permissiblebecause, first, the King could not see
them from his bed. Second, itkept his knees from shaking.
"Probably you are aware," said the King, "that you have alarmed a greatmany people."
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't think--"
"A prince's duty is to think."
"Although," observed His Royal Highness, "I don't really believe MissBraithwaite fainted. She may have thought she fainted, but her eyelidsmoved."
"Where did you go?"
"To the park, sir. I--I thought I'd like to see the park by myself."
"Go on."
"It's very hard to enjoy things with Miss Braithwaite, sir. She does notreally enjoy the things I like. Nikky and I--"
"By 'Nikky' you mean Lieutenant Larisch?"
"Yes, sir."
"Go on."
"We like the same things, sir--the Pike's-Peak-or-Bust, and all that."
The King raised himself on his elbow. "What was that?" he demanded.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto blushed, and explained. It was Bobby'sname for the peak at the top of the Scenic Railway. He had been onthe railway. He had been--his enthusiasm carried him away. His cheeksflushed. He sat forward on the edge of his chair, and gesticulated. Hehad never had such a good time in his life.
"I was awfully happy, sir," he ended. "It feels like flying, only safer.And the lights are pretty. It's like fairyland. There were two or threetimes when it seemed as if we'd turn over, or leap the track. But wedidn't."
The King lay back and thought. More than anything in the world he lovedthis boy. But the occasion demanded a strong hand. "You were happy,"he said. "You were disobedient, you were causing grave anxiety anddistress--and you were happy! The first duty of a prince is to hiscountry. His first lesson is to obey laws. He must always obey certainlaws. A king is but the servant of his people."
"Yes, sir," said Prince Ferdinand William Otto.
The old King's voice was stern. "Some day you will be the King. Youare being trained for that high office now. And yet you would set theexample of insubordination, disobedience, and reckless disregard of thefeelings of others."
"Yes, sir," said prince Ferdinand William Otto, feeling very small andashamed.
"Not only that. You slipped away. You did not go openly. You sneakedoff, like a thief. Are you proud of it?"
"No, sir."
"I shall," said the King, "require no promise from you. Promises arepoor things to hold to. I leave this matter in your own hands, Otto. Youwill be punished by Miss Braithwaite, and for the next ten days you willnot visit me. You may go now."
Otto got off his chair. He was feeling exceedingly crushed. "Good-night,sir," he said. And waited for his grandfather to extend his hand. Butthe old King lay looking straight ahead, with his mouth set in grimlines, and his hands folded over his breast.
At the door the Crown Prince turned and bowed. His grandfather's eyeswere fixed on the two gold eagles over the door, but the photograph onthe table appeared to be smiling at him.