CHAPTER XXIV
SEVERAL PHILOSOPHERS
The four burly men sat down upon the chests, Von Blitz alone beingvisible to the watchers. They were fagged to the last extreme.
"Dis is der last," panted Von Blitz, blowing hard and stretching his bigarms. The guttural German tones were highly accentuated by the effortrequired in speaking. His three helpers said nothing in reply. For fullyfive minutes the quartette sat silent, collecting their strength for thenext trip with the chests. Again it was Von Blitz who spoke. He had beenstaring savagely at the floor for several minutes, brooding deeply.
"I fix him," he growled. "His time vill come, by tarn! I let him know hecan't take my vives avay mit him. Der dog! I fix him some day purdysoon. Und dem tarn vimmens! Dem tarn hyenas! Dey run avay mit him, eh?Ach, Gott, if I could only put my hands by deir necks yet!"
"Vat for you fret, Yacob?" growled one of the Boers. "You couldn't takedose vimmens back by Europe mit you. I tink you got goot luck by losingdem. Misder Chase can't take dem back needer--so, dey go to hell yet.Don't fret."
"Veil," said Von Blitz, arising. "Come on, boys. Dis is der lasd of dem.Den ve blow der tarn t'ing up. Grab hold dere, Joost. Up mit it, Jan.Vat? No?"
"Gott in himmel, Yacob, vait a minutes. My back is proke," protestedJoost stubbornly. Von Blitz swore steadily for a minute, but could notmove the impassive Boers. He began pacing back and forth, growling tohimself. At last he stopped in front of the tired trio.
"Vat for you tink I vant you in on dis, you svine? To set aroundt unddream? Nobody else knows aboud dis treasures, und ve got it all forourselves--ve four und no more, und you say, 'Vat's der hurry?' It's allours. Ve divide it oop in der cave mit all der money ve get from derbank. Vat? Yes? Den, ven der time comes, ve send it all by Australia undno von is der viser. Der natives von't know und der white peebles von'tbe alive to care aboudt it. Ve let it stay hided in der cave undil disdrouble is all over und den it vill be easy to get it avay from derisland, yoost so quiet. Come on, boys! Don't be lazy!"
"I don't like dot scheme to rob der bank," growled Jan. "If der peeplesget onto us, dey vould cut us to bieces."
"But dey von't get onto us, you fool. Dey vouldn't take it demselves ifit vas handed to dem. Dey're too honest, yes. Vell, don't dey say ve'rehonest, too? Vell, vat more you vant? Dey don't know how much money undrubies dere is in der bank. Ve von't take all of it--und dey von't knowder difference. Ve burn der books. Das is all. Ve get in by der bankto-night, boys."
"I don't like id," said Joost. "Id's stealing from our freunds, Yacob.Besides, if der oder heirs should go before der government mit derstory. Vat den?"
"Der oder heirs vill never get der chance, boys. Dey vill die mit derplague--ha, ha! Sure! Dere von't be no oder heirs. Rasula says it mustbe so. Ve can'd vait, boys. It vill be years before der business issettled. Ve must get vat ve can now and vait for der decisionaftervards. Brodney has wrote to Rasula, saying dat dot Chase feller isto stay here vedder ve vant him or not. He says Chase is a goot man! Bytarn, it makes me cry to fink of vot he has done by me--dot goot man!"
To the amazement of all, the burly German began to blubber.
"Don't cry, Yacob," cried Joost, coming to his master's side and shakinghim by the shoulder. "You can get oder vives some day--besser as dese,yes!"
"Joost, I can't help crying--I can't. Ven I t'ink how I got to kill demyet! I hates to kill vimmens."
They permitted him to weep and swear for a few minutes. Then, withoutoffering further consolation, the three foremen made ready to take upthe remaining chests.
"Come on, Yacob," said Jan gruffly.
Von Blitz shook his fist at the door across the chamber and thunderedhis final maledictions.
"Sir John says in der letter to Misder Chase dere is a movements on footin London to settle der contest out of court," volunteered Joost.
"Sure, but he also say dat ve all may die mit old age before it is overyet."
"Don't forget der plague!" said Jan.
They groaned mightily as they lifted the heavy chests to their shouldersand started for the door.
"Close der door, Jan," commanded Von Blitz from the passage. "Ve villlight der fuse ven ve haf got beyond der first bend. Vat? Look! By tam,von of you swine has broke der fuse. Vait! Ve vill fix him now."
The door was closed behind them, but the listeners could hear themrepairing the damage that Selim had done to the fuse.
Led by Selim, the four made a rush for the door leading into thechateau. They threw it open and passed through, flying as if for theirlives. No one could tell how soon an explosion might bring disaster tothe region; they put distance between them and the powder keg. Selimpaused long enough to drop the bolts and turn the great key with thelever. At the second turn in the narrow corridor, he overtook Chase andthe scurrying women.
"Is there nothing to be done?" cried the Princess. "Can we not preventthe explosion? They will cut off our means of escape in that--"
"I know too much about gunpowder, Princess," said Chase drily, "to foolwith it. It's like a mule. It kicks hard. 'Gad, it was hard to standthere and hear those brutes planning it all and not be able to stopthem."
The Princess was once more at his side; he had clasped her arm to leadher securely in the wake of Neenah's electric lantern. She came to asudden stop.
"And pray, Mr. Chase," she said sharply, as if the thought occurred toher for the first time, "why _didn't_ you stop them? You had theadvantage. You and Selim could have surprised them--you could have takenthem without a struggle!"
He laughed softly, deprecatingly, not a little impressed by the justiceof her criticism.
"No doubt you consider me a coward," he said ruefully.
"You know that I do not," she protested. "I--I can't understand yourmotive, that is all."
"You forget that I am the representative of these very men. I am thetrusted agent of Sir John Brodney, who has refused to supplant me withanother. All this may sound ridiculous to you, when you take myanomalous position into account. I can't very well represent Sir Johnand at the same time make prisoners or corpses of his clients, eventhough I am being shielded by their legal foes. I don't mean to say thatI condone the attempt Von Blitz is making to rob his fellow-workmen ofthis hidden plate and the plunder in the bank. They are traitors totheir friends and I shall turn them over sooner or later to the peoplethey are looting. I'll not have Von Blitz saying, even to himself, thatI have not only stolen his wives but have also cast him into the handsof his philistines. It may sound quixotic to you, but I think that LordDeppingham and Mr. Browne will understand my attitude."
"But Von Blitz has sworn to kill you," she expostulated with some heat."You are wasting your integrity, I must say, Mr. Chase."
"Would you have me shoot him from ambush?" he demanded.
"Not at all. You could have taken him captive and held him safe untilthe time comes for you to leave the island."
"He would not have been my captive in any event. I could do no more thandeliver him into the hands of his enemies. Would that be fair?"
"But he is a thief!"
"No more so than Taswell Skaggs and John Wyckholme, who unquestionablycheated the natives out of the very treasure we have seen carried away."
"Admitting all that, Mr. Chase, you still forget that he has stolenproperty which now belongs quite as much to Lady Deppingham and Mr.Browne as it does to the natives."
"Quite true. But I am not a constable nor a thief catcher. I am asoldier of the defence, not an officer of the Crown at this stage of thegame. To-day I shall contrive to send word to Rasula that Von Blitz hasstolen the treasure chests. Mr. Von Blitz will have a sad timeexplaining this little defection to his friends. We must not overlookthe fact that Lady Deppingham and Robert Browne are quite willing totake everything from the islanders. Everything that Taswell Skaggs andJohn Wyckholme possessed in this island belongs to them under the termsof the will."
They were at the top of the second flight of stairs by this time andquite a di
stance from the treasure chamber. His coolness, the absence ofany sign of returning sentiment, was puzzling her sorely. Every vestigeof that emotion which had overwhelmed him during their sweet encounterwas gone, to all appearances: he was as calm and as matter-of-fact as ifshe were the merest stranger. She was trying to find thesolution--trying to read the mind of this smiling philosopher. Half anhour before, she had been carried away, rendered, helpless by thepassion that swayed him; now he spoke and looked as if he had forgottenthe result of his storming. Strangely enough, she was piqued.
When they came into the well-lighted upper corridor he proceededruthlessly to upset all of her harsh calculations. They were nowtraversing the mosaic floors of the hall that led to the lower terraces.He stopped suddenly, stepping directly in front of her. As she drew upin surprise, he reached down and took both of her hands in his. For themoment, she was too amazed to oppose this sudden action. She looked upinto his face, many emotions in her own--reproof, wonder, dismay,hauteur--joy!
"Wait," he said gently. They were quite alone. The stream of daylightfrom the distant French windows barely reached to this quiet spot. Shesaw the most wonderful light in his grey eyes; her lips parted in quick,timorous confusion. "I love you. I am sorry for what I did down there. Icouldn't help it--nor could you. Yet I took a cruel advantage of you. Iknow what you've been thinking, too. You have been saying to yourselfthat I wanted to see how far I could go--don't speak! I know. You arewrong. I've absolutely worshipped you since those first days inThorberg--wildly, hopelessly--day and night. I was afraid of you--yes,afraid of you because you are a princess. But I've got over all that,Genevra. You are a woman--a living, real woman with the blood and theheart and the lips that were made for men to crave. I want to tell youthis, here in the light of day, not in the darkness that hid all thetruth in me except that which you might have felt in my kiss."
"Please, please don't," she said once more, her lip trembling, her eyesfull of the softness that the woman who loves cannot hide. "You shallnot go on! It is wrong!"
"It is not wrong," he cried passionately. "My love is not wrong. I wantyou to understand and to believe. I can't hope that you will be mywife--it's too wildly improbable. You are not for such as I. You arepledged to a man of your own world--your own exalted world. But listen,Genevra--see, my eyes call you darling even though my lips dare not---Genevra, I'd give my soul to hear you say that you will be my wife. You_do_ understand how it is with me?"
The delicious sense of possession thrilled her; she glowed with thereturn of her self-esteem, in the restoration of that quality whichproclaimed her a princess of the blood. She was sure of him now! She wassure of herself. She had her emotions well in hand. And so, despite thedelicious warmth that swept through her being, she chose to reveal nosign of it to him.
"I do understand," she said quietly, meeting his gaze with a directnessthat hurt him sorely. "And you, too, understand. I could not be yourwife. I am glad yet sorry that you love me, and I am proud to have heardyou say that you want me. But I am a sensible creature, Mr. Chase, and,being sensible, am therefore selfish. I have seen women of my unhappystation venture out side of their narrow confines in the search forlife-long joy with men who might have been kings had they not been bornunder happier stars--men of the great wide world instead of thesoulless, heartless patch which such as I call a realm. Not one in ahundred of those women found the happiness they were so sure of graspingjust outside their prison walls. It was not in the blood. We are theembodiment of convention, the product of tradition. Time has proved innearly every instance that we cannot step from the path our prejudicesknow. We must marry and live and die in the sphere to which we wereborn. It must sound very bald to you, but the fact remains, just thesame. We must go through life unloved and uncherished, bringing princesinto the world, seeing happiness and love just beyond our reach all thetime. We have hearts and we have blood in our veins, as you say, and wemay love, too, but believe me, dear friend, we are bound by chains noforce can break--the chains of prejudice."
She had withdrawn her hands from his; he was standing before her as calmand unmoved as a statue.
"I understand all of that," he said, a faint smile moving his lips. Shewas not expecting such resignation as this.
"I am glad that you--that you understand," she said.
"Just the same," he went on gently, "you love me as I love you. Youkissed me. I could feel love in you then. I can see it in you now.Perhaps you are right in what you say about not finding happinessoutside the walls, but I doubt it, Genevra. You will marry Prince Karlin June, and all the rest of your life will be bleak December. You willnever forget this month of March--our month." He paused for a moment tolook deeply into her incredulous eyes. His face writhed in sudden pain.Then he burst forth with a vehemence that startled her. "My God, I pityyou with all my soul! All your life!"
"Don't pity me!" she cried fiercely. "I cannot endure that!"
"Forgive me! I shouldn't say such things to you. It's as if I werebullying you,"
"You must not think of me as unhappy--ever. Go on your own way,Hollingsworth Chase, and forget that you have known me. _You_ will findhappiness with some one else. You have loved before; you can and willlove again. I--- I have never loved before--but perhaps, like you, Ishall love again. You _will_ love again?" she demanded, her liptrembling with an irresolution she could not control.
"Yes," he said calmly, "I'll love the wife of Karl Brabetz." His eyesswept hungrily over the golden bronze hair; then he turned away with theshort, hard laugh of the man who scoffs at his own despair. She startedviolently; her cheek went red and white and her eyes widened as thoughthey were looking upon something unpleasant; her thoughts went back tothe naive prophecy in the treasure chamber.
She followed him slowly to the terrace. He stopped in the doorway andleisurely drew forth his cigarette case.
"Shall we wait for the explosion?" he asked without a sign of theemotion that had gone before. She gravely selected a cigarette from thecase which he extended. As he lighted his own, he watched her draw fromher little gold bag a diamond-studded case, half filled. Without a wordof apology, she calmly deposited the cigarette in the case and restoredit to the bottom of the bag.
Then she looked up brightly. "I am not smoking, you see," she said, witha smile. "I am saving all of these for you when the famine comes."
"By Jove!" he exclaimed, something like incredulity in the smile thattransfigured his face.
"I _could_ be a thrifty housewife, couldn't I?" she asked naively.
At that moment, a dull, heavy report, as of distant thunder, came totheir ears. The windows rattled sharply and the earth beneath themseemed to quiver. Involuntarily she drew nearer to him, casting a glanceof alarm over her shoulder in the direction from which they had come.
"You could, if you had half a chance," he said drily, and then casuallyremarked the explosion.