CHAPTER XIITHE RENUNCIATIONOh, ever thus from childhood's hour,I've seen my fondest hopes decay;I never loved a tree or flower,But 'twas the first to fade away!—Moore: Lalla Rookh.When I returned to Castle Framkor that evening and joined Nicholas and the General my difficulties began. No longer was I the care-free youth who had come to Bharbazonia in search of recreation. I shared another's secret now and it weighed heavily upon me. How it was to bear me down, and make my life unhappy while I remained in this cursed country, I was soon to learn.The General was delivering a lecture to Nick on the heedless folly of youth, referring to his "unseemly conduct" in the gardens of the palace of the King. Nick refused to take him seriously and the old man, who felt that the subject was full of grave possibilities, was very angry."What is Teskla to you," he said, "that you should kiss her before all the world? I could forgive you, my son, if you expressed any affection for the girl who truly loves you. But you are simply playing with her.""What makes you think the Princess cares for me?" asked Nick."Good heavens, man! can't you see it? Does a woman lie for a man unless she loves him? Yes, sir, lie is the word. Don't you contradict me, sir; I will not stand it.""Well, what if she did tell a little fib?" returned Nick. "She saved herself from her father's wrath. There is no occasion for so much heat, Godfather. Can't a fellow kiss a pretty girl in Bharbazonia without all this fuss?""But, the consequences! Have you figured them out?" said the General. "The King believes that he saw Prince Raoul embrace the Princess in public, before witnesses. And he was pleased. Hark you, pleased!""He certainly was. A blind man could have noticed it.""A cloud no bigger than a man's hand; but the storm will break. You know the King's dearest wish is to see his daughter married to Prince Raoul. He is up to something. That scene in the garden meant more to him than appears on the surface. He has figured out some way to effect his purpose and, when the dénouement comes, and the Prince denies he was in the garden, where will you be, facing the royal wrath?""I hope it will not come to that," said Nick, gravely. He knew the General well enough to feel that the old man did not jump at conclusions, and that he was almost always right in his judgment. My entrance at that moment was grateful to Nick for it broke up the lecture."I am glad to see you back, Dale," said Nick, putting his arm around my neck in the old affectionate manner. Then came the shock of the feeling that something had happened to me. I resented Nick's friendliness!"How about the boar hunt?" he continued, not appearing to notice how I avoided his arm and drew away from him. "When do we start?"His question brought back the memory of my original purpose in visiting the castle. Was it only two hours ago that I had left them in the automobile to walk to the summer-house? So much to change my life had happened in such a short time that I could scarcely believe it possible. It seemed as if a month had elapsed. I had forgotten all about the boar hunt."I do not know," I replied, truthfully enough. "I saw the Princess but did not see the Prince."The boar hunt did not materialize for many days and in the interim all three of us found plenty to occupy our attention. The General and Nick frequently left me alone now, when they went to meetings at the Turk's Head Inn and to Nischon. Although they often invited me to accompany them I always refused. Most of my time was spent in the summer-house with Solonika.How I worried when she did not appear for the next two days! I haunted the vicinity of the little den and even went as far as the clearing in the hope that she would again see me and send me word by her maid. I dared not go to the castle until I knew how it stood with the Red Fox. If she had reconsidered her action and told him, he might not view my escape in the same light as she did, and in that case I was safer out of his hands. But, on the third day, I found her sitting in her easy chair looking pale and ill. She seemed more than pleased to see me."I shall have to ask you to prescribe for me, Dr. Wharton," she smiled. "I never went to pieces like this before. I have been in bed for two days and I cry a great deal. What is wrong with me?""I cannot prescribe for Your Highness," I replied, "because you will not take my medicine.""You haven't given me any yet.""Then here is my prescription. It will make you whole again; of that I am positive. Go this very hour to your father and tell him that you cannot continue this deception. Tell him that it is killing you and ask him, for the sake of the love he bears you, to permit you to go away out of this country at least for a year.""You are a good physician,"—she laughed a little and shook her head; "but I cannot take your medicine. If, after all these years, I refused to go on, what would my father do? How the nobles would ridicule him! He would die of grief and shame. No, no, there is no escape; I must go on—forever!"The light and the bright sunshine soon brought her spirits back, and she became the old happy Solonika. That morning she was like an April day, alternating between showers and sunshine with astonishing rapidity."Do not imagine, sir," she said, "that there is nothing but woe in the situation. Let us talk of something more pleasant. Do you recall the time when you were permitted to see both the Prince and the Princess in the castle?""Yes," I said, "and I have often wondered since how you deceived me so cleverly.""We all had a good laugh after you were gone. You see there are compensations. Shall I tell you how we did it?""If you will.""It began when you hurt me shaking my hand. I knew that you were studying me and that you were suspicious. Your friend Nicholas did all the talking and you listened and watched. I had nothing to fear from him, but I knew I had from you. That evening I talked it over with father. He was positive that Palmora had poisoned your mind against us and that it was time we prepared an antidote. We waited for your expected visit, but you did not come. I was watching you when you appeared at the top of the hill and turned back, and I understood that your pride would not permit you to knock again at our door. I sent Therese and you fell into the trap.""'Will you come into my parlour said the Spider to the Fly,'" I said."Exactly. Dajerak brought you to the Prince's room where father and I were pretending to play cards. Oh, it was hard not to keep from laughing at you. You looked at the Prince so suspiciously, and how gently you hinted that you would like to see the Princess! Father enjoyed it immensely. It had been a long while since we had done anything of the kind. Not since King Gregory called to see the twins."Her laughter was not easy to bear."Then Dajerak, the slow old Dajerak, took you all around the inner court in order to give me time to dress. I only had to put on this long hair—its my own anyhow—slip a loose dressing gown over my boy's clothes and I was ready for you. My, what a long time you were in coming. I was afraid you would shake hands with me again. That's why I did not lay down my sewing. You did not notice that my blue slippers and my black stockings—I had no time to change them—were not altogether in keeping, did you?""I did not notice.""I was afraid you would.""The tunnel to the summer-house was also part of the game?" I asked."Yes, that was to enable me to entertain visitors there and appear before them afterward in the guise of the Prince in the castle. You must not think that we allayed the suspicions of Bharbazonia without a struggle. It was by means of the underground passage that we won over the Grand Duke of Marbosa. Palmora poisoned his mind, too, and he paid us a visit. He saw me in the summer-house and asked for the Prince, then he rode off to the castle. I had to run with all my might to get there in time. You should have seen his face when he met the Prince. You see there is lots of fun and excitement in the life. I should die ofennuiwithout it.""I suppose it is full of innocent fun now, Solonika," I said, "but after you are king it will be serious. Did you ever think of the sacrilege your coronation in the Cathedral will entail?""I have thought of it," she replied, gravely."If you are found out now, people will laugh, after the first blush of excitement is over; but if you are found out then—""They will put me to death," she said, simply.There was something sublime about her courage. Everything that I could suggest as a future possibility she had thought out before me. Nothing was left unconsidered. As I talked with her day after day, always upon the same fascinating subject, my respect for her loyalty to her father increased. So absorbing was her love for him that she was ready, aye, willing to lay down her life to further his ambitions.She knew full well the meaning of the vengeance of the Church. I could not frighten her with the story of the fate of the Witch of Utrepect. While the fire was still alight around the body of that unfortunate woman, Solonika, as if impelled by a terrible fascination, had ridden over to the village on her black horse and watched the dying embers complete their fiendish work.She could think; she could feel. And how dreadful must have been her thoughts if she permitted herself to believe that in case of discovery her fate might be similar. If the Church, backed by the peasantry, would punish blasphemy in such mediæval fashion, what would they not do to one who defiled the altar?As frequently as we talked of these things, we always arrived at the same conclusion; but we always returned to the discussion, when we were alone. When Nick came along, which he did as often as he could, we hid our feelings, and Solonika shone at her best. I could see with some dismay that she enjoyed his society. He was bright, cheerful, smiling, while I was inclined to be gloomy."Something is the matter with Dale," said Nick to her one afternoon. "He is preoccupied and moody. Every night he goes to bed early, leaving the General and me to our arguments. What do you suppose is wrong with him?""You should know better than I," she replied, banteringly; "perhaps he is pining for the girl he left behind him.""How about it, Dale?" said Nick.But on these occasions I found no ready answer. I was not as adept in the art of intrigue as the Princess. I could only leave the summer-house abruptly, with Nick watching my strange action in open-mouthed astonishment. Rebel against it as I would, I could see the breach widen between Nick and me day by day. We had never had a misunderstanding in our lives before.As if the secret I was hiding were not enough for any man to bear in silence, Solonika insisted upon flirting outrageously with Nick, always in my presence. But I felt that she relied upon me for the true companionship which had always been denied her. Once or twice she unconsciously called me by my first name, and she clung to my arm in a tantalizing way at parting. Why she acted with Nicholas as she did I could not understand. But what man ever did fully fathom the heart of a woman? Never once did she reprove me when I called her Solonika. She seemed to like it. So, one day I ventured to bare my inmost feelings to her. It was at the close of one of our most intimate talks, when I was urging again the necessity of throwing up the whole dangerous business."Solonika, why will you not go away from here and leave all your worries behind?" I said."Where shall I go?" she returned."Anywhere. Only go; surely you have friends in England where you went to school.""I have no friends anywhere but here.""Don't say that. You have me. I am your friend.""Surely you do not urge that I fly with you?"My feeling got the better of me. I determined to make an attempt to save her, even against herself. There was nothing to bind her to her country except the great love she bore her father. It was worth the try."Solonika, we must come to an understanding. You surely have guessed how I feel toward you. I do not want to give offence; neither do I care to appear absurd in your eyes. You are a Princess. You 'sit upon a joyless height, too high for hope; too great for happiness.' I am an American lacking title and position. But what I have is yours to command. If a love that shall live forever can do aught to make your life happier, and lead you away to a humble home full of peace and happiness, it stands ready at your bidding."She understood as I knew she would. I could feel it in the light hand that rested on my arm; in the sad, gentle look within the depth of her brown eyes. She could not bear to face me and turned away, apparently to watch the setting sun of the dying December day as it sank amid the thousand colours of a glorious finality.Even as I watched her I knew there was no hope and that she was forever removed from me. Her feet were set in the pathway she was destined to tread before she was born. She must go her way and I mine until the end. She would continue acting the boy before the world. She would be crowned and reign as King in Bharbazonia. In spite of all I could do she would live her unsexed life, guarding her secret carefully until death released her. I was powerless to save her even from herself. The love she had for her father was greater than any affection she might have even for me."We will not talk of it any more, my—friend," she said. And thus did she sacrifice me also upon the altar of her devotion.It was Nick who brought about the boar hunt which was fraught with such important events, and which had not been spoken of since the day I stumbled upon the skeleton in Dhalmatia's closet."What has become of the Prince, Your Highness?" he asked Solonika when one day we were taking our leave together."He does not look with favour upon you two young men," she replied. "You have not accepted his invitation to hunt with him.""That was Dale's fault," Nick replied; "he forgot all about it. Tell the Prince we will be glad to hunt with him any time.""He will be delighted," said she. "I do not believe he has left the house for ten days. After the coronation he will be very much occupied. The air in the woods will do him good.""Four days more and he will be King. Tell him he had better make the most of his freedom," Nick said."Very well," said she, "be ready in the morning and he will come over to Framkor for you."Thus easily did Solonika plan to appear in the Prince's clothes and forget her womanhood.CHAPTER XIIITHE RIVALSHe is a fool who thinks by force or skill,To turn the current of a woman's will.—Tuke: Five Hours.The winding of the hunting horn and the barking of dogs upon Castle Framkor's lawns the next morning told me that Solonika had kept her word. We were at breakfast. Looking through the long low windows of the dining room, I saw the Prince, in all the gaiety of a red hunting costume and high-top, varnished boots, dismount among his pack.What argument Solonika had used with her father to procure his permission to go abroad in the character of the Prince four days before the coronation, I could not imagine. I had told her of the coming and going of the black-cloaked men; the Red Fox knew that some plot was in the wind and shrewdly suspected that it was directed against the Prince. For that reason Solonika had left off going abroad as the Prince for the past ten days. It was easy for her to pass the time with me in the summer-house. Once, while riding out in my company and Nick's, she met the cloaked men. They recognized Solonika and let us pass with scarcely a glance in our direction.All this, I say, the Red Fox knew; but I suppose he found it impossible to control the girl. He indeed is "a fool who thinks by force or skill to turn the current of a woman's will." When Solonika made up her mind to do a thing she generally did it. But the Duke had recorded his protest in the number of men he sent with her. Twenty-five well-mounted retainers from the Red Fox's retinue surrounded the Prince, holding the dogs in leashes of four, and twenty-five more, I soon learned, had preceded us to the hunting grounds.Solonika turned her horse over to one of her men and entered the breakfast room. Both Nick and the General stood upon their feet to their Prince as he entered. They urged the Prince to join them at table, but the Prince insisted that he had already partaken of food and could eat nothing. He, however, took the chair which the General courteously drew up for him and accepted a cup of coffee.I was glad that Solonika did not look in my direction for my agitation would have made it hard for her. It was the first time I was present when she was under the fire of the General's sharp eyes, and I trembled for her. I felt myself grow hot and cold by turns, overcome by the fear that she would betray herself. Although she was attired in the Prince's hunting raiment, how different she looked to me now. It seemed impossible that the astute General could not tell that Solonika and not the Prince sat before him.But the daring girl had the confidence born of years of success. As I became accustomed to the novelty of the situation, I began to take pleasure in watching her superb acting. She carried it off with so much relish and in such a high-handed manner. Never once did she forget the quaint little burr in her English speech. Knowing how perfectly she could speak it, I marvelled she did not sometimes forget. But I also realized why she elected to make the Prince talk brokenly; it gave the Prince a difference in character which disarmed suspicion and kept the individuality of Solonika and the Prince apart, not only in the minds of her hearers, but also in her own mind; for the difference in dialect acted as a constant reminder that she was no longer a woman but a man."I am deeply sensible of the honour which you have bestowed upon Castle Framkor by your presence to-day," said the General, humbly. "Bharbazonia has seen but little of her future king.""I have been taking my ease against the great day not far distant," replied the Prince. "It will be a long time before I may again enjoy the pleasure of a hunt.""I wish to apologize, Your Highness, for my seeming discourtesy in not accepting your invitation two weeks ago," said Nick. "The truth of the matter is that I did accept with pleasure, but my messenger failed to mention the matter when he arrived at your castle. He is not usually forgetful, so I imagine he was well entertained."Nick's remark brought back the remembrance of the day when I left the automobile and discovered the secret of Dhalmatia. The Prince also remembered the occasion but did not betray the slightest emotion."You refer to Dr. Wharton as your messenger," said the Prince. "I have not seen him except on the single occasion when he visited my father and me. But I understand that he and my sister Solonika have become great friends.""Ah, ha," laughed Nick, "and so the cat is out of the bag. He and I are now rivals."The General permitted his fork to fall heavily upon his plate as he stared at Nick, remembering that young man's flirtation with Princess Teskla, and something akin to a groan escaped him. But Nick only laughed."I know nothing of any cat," said the Prince, gravely, with well acted simplicity."It is an idiom," explained the General, "which means that you have betrayed your sister's secret."I straightened up in my chair at the old man's solemn words. Had he purposely touched upon the thing which was making me miserable, or did he do it unconsciously? The Prince's nerve was of iron. He sipped his coffee unmoved, but his eyes never wavered from the General's face as he asked innocently:"What secret, General Palmora?""The secret that Dale, here, is much interested in Solonika.""Is he?" he asked, sweeping me with his half closed eyes. I was forced to drop mine while I felt the colour rise to my cheeks."I do not know," said the General. "Nicholas has just said so.""A man is beginning to fall in love when he shows signs of forgetfulness," said Nick. "He is most forgetful of late.""I warn you, Dale," he continued turning to me, "that a woman will come between us yet. If I am not mistaken the Princess Solonika will be that woman.""The Princess can never be anything to me," I replied."She is the brightest woman I have ever met," said Nick to the Prince. "Why don't you travel, Your Highness, and acquire her gift of languages. Your English, for example, is not as good as hers.""No?" smiled the Prince through his nose, like a Frenchman's "Non." "Wherein is my English not perfect?""It is good enough for Bharbazonia, Your Highness," said the General, pushing back his chair. "After you become king you will never speak such a useless language. Your French is all you need at court and you speak that perfectly.""Thank you, General Palmora," said he. Then, turning again to Nicholas, he added: "Are you serious in saying you admire Solonika? Pray, what do you find to admire in her? To me she seems like an ordinary girl."Oh, Solonika, deliberately fishing for a compliment, the eternal feminine being ever present! I could scarcely believe my ears; but this was my first day under fire and I lacked her confidence."Ordinary girl?" echoed Nick. "She is in the first place extraordinarily handsome. I have travelled all over the world, and seen all kinds of women; some were beautiful and some were clever, but few were both handsome and bright, as she is. I mean to become better acquainted with her when you are king.""But my sister thinks of going away after I am crowned," he said."Going away?" Nick returned. "Very good; the world is small; I can readily find her. I trust that you will speak well of me to her.""But you haven't told me wherein lies her wonderful charm which seems to have captivated both you and Dale—Wharton, I think you said your friend's name was?""How about it, Dale?" cried Nick, "has she bound you to her chariot wheels, too?""To me she is the most wonderful woman in the world," I made answer, looking straight into her eyes. Solonika flushed a little and gave me a quick sign ofcamaraderiethat made me very happy."A woman has come between David and Jonathan," said Nick."The woman has come," I replied, and for the first time I realized as I gazed in his face that Nick was not joking. I, who knew him, could read there plainly the intensity of his feeling, and I suppose he could read my heart as well. The spirit of contest was lit in our eyes. We looked at each other like two young animals meeting face to face in the spring-time. Yet there was a note of regret in Nick's voice when he slowly repeated:"The woman has come.""But, wherein is her charm? You have not told me," reiterated the Prince."Your Highness has never been in love, it is plain to see," said Nick, "else you would not ask such a question. Her particular charm is that she is she. A man goes through the world meeting many women. Although he may not know it, he carries an ideal within his heart. How his ideal is formed, who can tell? But it is there, nevertheless. Unconsciously, he measures all women by this ideal; one after another falls before it, until as time goes by he loses hope of ever finding her. But one day he meets the woman. He may not recognize her immediately, but after the meeting his thoughts follow her. They meet again and after her departure comes loneliness which is a part of him except when she is near. One cannot put it into words; it lies below, too deep for utterance. Why she is she I cannot tell. I only know the Princess Solonika affects me so.""I cannot sit here and listen to his fool talk any longer," exclaimed the General, rising from the table in some heat. "If you boys are going to stir up the game it is time you were about it. Princess Teskla would be delighted to hear your definition of love, Nick.""Life's fires burn low in the aged," smiled Nick, looking at me."So?" said the Prince, whom nothing escaped, "why should Teskla be interested?""We have reason to believe that the King's daughter is suffering from loneliness, such as young Nicholas describes," said the General grimly."Why should she?" said the Prince. "She is surrounded by the court at Nischon. If any one is lonely I should think it would be my sister. She has often complained of living in the country, seeing no one. How can one be lonely in the city? Teskla has all the gentlemen of the world's consulates to help her while away the time; she may travel at will; while my sister must always be by my father's side; she may not travel; she may not see any one."The Prince either purposely refused, or actually failed, to see the import of the General's words and the General was too loyal to make them clearer. So, drifting from one subject to another, we followed the old man to the castle door where the hunters and their dogs were idling away their time.While waiting for their young master, the large army of hunters had been amusing themselves at their own discretion. They were dark-eyed, handsome Bharbazonians, the finest horsemen in the world, riding with all the ease and abandon of their Cossack brethren. For the saying in Bharbazonia is, "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Cossack; scratch a Cossack and you will find a Bharbazonian." They were all dressed alike in the favourite green cloth of the country, and all carried clusters of long-handled spears or pikes, by which the wild boar was to be killed as he broke cover and charged the horse and rider.The Prince, unaided, mounted the black which had thrown him at sight of our automobile. He waited for Nick and me to mount the animals which the groom had saddled while we breakfasted. Our horses were apart from the rest and Nick and I were out of ear-shot of the Prince when we met."What chance have you with Solonika?" he said, in a low voice. "She is a Princess and you are only an American.""None whatever, Nick," I said. "You are right; Princesses of reigning houses do not wed Americans.""But you have not given up hope?""I never had any.""Dale, old chum," said Nick, "you have beaten me at chess; I have beaten you at billiards. It's a draw with the gloves. But, after every defeat or victory, we have always shaken hands. It was always a fair game. I know you, Dale. You never give up without a struggle. Therefore there will be a battle. We are older now and we strike harder. But, here's my hand on it—that no matter which way this may end it will make no difference between us. As far as I am concerned a woman can never come between David and Jonathan.""As far as I am concerned she never can either, Nick," I said.The grip of friendship we exchanged was sincere. Whatever of disappointment the future has in store for me, Nick's place in my heart would always remain as fixed as Polaris. And I know that nothing could alter his feeling for me.It was plain that his position in his own country was such as would enable him some day to aspire to the hand of a Princess, a privilege denied to me, a plain American. By the accident of birth, then, he had an advantage over me; but in one thing I had the advantage over him.When we mounted to follow the pack, he rode after the Prince while I rode after the Princess.CHAPTER XIVTHE ABDUCTIONHe thought at heart, like courtly ChesterfieldWho, after a long chase o'er hills, dales, bushes,And what not, though he rode beyond all price,Asks next day, "if men ever hunted twice?"—Byron: Don Juan.Hunting foxes with a pack of hounds is an English and American pastime; hunting wolves with borzoi dogs is a Russian amusement; hunting the boar, the national entertainment of Bharbazonia. The alacrity with which the men started, when we were at last in the saddle, revealed their impatience at the delay."Keep an eye on the Prince, Nick," called the General from the castle door. "Remember Marbosa's oath. Only three days are left.""All right, Godfather," Nick replied. But he did not offer any explanation to me as to what the Duke proposed to do, and deftly changed the subject. All he would say was that the General was talking politics and that one is wise who does not bother his head about what does not concern him.Nevertheless, I secretly concluded that it would be just as well for me to keep as near the Prince as possible during the day. Some political plot was coming to a head of which I knew nothing. What this danger was that seemed to threaten I could not imagine, but I connected it with the horsemen who rode in the early hours of the dawn, and who loitered around the summer-house in their long Spanish cloaks.The Prince, riding at the head of the pack as perfectly erect as a cavalryman, was surrounded by his father's retainers, and close under the eye of the Master of the Hounds, when we joined him. Like the good-natured boy he seemed to be, he was enjoying the ride to the full. His cheeks were flushed with the healthy outdoor exercise and his eyes were bright with excitement. It was an ideal day with just enough of the brisk cut of winter in the air to keep the blood a-moving."It is good to be alive," he said, darting a quick look over his shoulder as we came up."Where have you planned to hunt, Prince?" asked Nicholas, ranging on one side of the black horse while I took the other."In the Forest of Zin.""On the Framkor side of the river, or on Marbosa's?""My camp is pitched beside the Big Spring.""Then we hunt on Marbosa's estate," said Nick, and I could see that he was not pleased at the prospect.The Prince seemed highly amused at Nick's reply, and laughed as if he deemed he had made an important discovery."For an American, Mr. Fremsted," he smiled, "you know the Forest well."Nick was nettled. He realized that he had almost committed himself. I saw him covertly glance at the Prince under his eyebrows as if he wondered how this slow-brained, broken-English-speaking youth had found the wit to trap him. But he was equal to the occasion."Oh," he replied, easily, "General Palmora during the past ten years has often had me hunting with him in this forest. I should know it well.""So?" said the Prince, and the subject was dismissed for a time.The Forest of Zin, as I soon found, was not far distant. In fact it began at the rear of the Framkor estate and extended, so they said, for some fifty miles to the north. All the nobles who owned the adjoining land had established a game preserve over the entire territory and the peasantry was not allowed within its sacred precincts. According to the Prince, many of them had broken the law and, when caught, were "bastinado'd"—severely beaten on the soles of the feet, a method of punishment inherited from the Turks.So great was the density of the forest when we plunged into it along a narrow bridle path, and so magnificent the height of the trees, that the light of the sun filtered through with difficulty. The resulting gloom was like that of a cloudy day and had its necessary effect upon my spirits. Long narrow roads opened vistas of wide clearings, beyond, which never materialized. All about was the mystery of silence as if the wild things watched in awe the human destroyer march by. Even the dogs, held firmly in leashes of four, lolled their red tongues from their mouths and ceased to give voice to their impatience.The further we progressed the denser became the growth until at times we were compelled to bend over our horses' heads to avoid the wide arms of the giant oaks, gnarled and twisted, which hung low over our path. Speed at times was impossible and our progress was necessarily slow. The Forest of Zin was no place for a careless rider.The Big Spring, of which the Prince had spoken, was the fountain head of a little brook that issued from the roots of the largest oak in the forest. We found a score of the Red Fox's men there, preparing a hunter's meal over many wood fires. The odour of the cooking was pleasant to the nostrils. When we dismounted I found that it was nearly eleven o'clock and that it had taken the forenoon to arrive at the hunting grounds.Squirrels, rabbits and wild birds broiled on revolving spits before the fire, or baked in clay coverings in the heart of the embers, formed the body of the meal. We sat upon a bed of dry leaves and ate with good appetites. Nick and the Prince were in the best of spirits. They examined the spears and talked of the coming hunt with considerable enthusiasm. The black locks and the red curls were frequently commingled and my jealous heart again suffered many pangs at the sight. The Prince had not forgotten the episode of the morning, and it was not long before he again trapped Nick. This time the Prince asked him a quick question in the language, and Nick replied quite naturally before he realized what he had done. When he found himself caught he laughed at his own discomfiture as heartily as did the Prince."You are a most interesting man to me," the Prince said gayly. "You have been everywhere; you know so much. You speak so many languages. But why have you learned Bharbazonian? You speak it like a native.""It is second nature to one who knows the Russian of the south," he replied. "After all, it is only a Slav dialect. I have been perfecting it during my visit here."Mysterious man," the Prince replied, "not to have permitted me to know before. Here I have been talking with difficulty in your tongue when I might have been using my own speech all the time."Thus the Prince broke down Nick's reserve and they ran off into the dialect where I could not follow. To my disgust they seemed to be growing more interested in each other through the medium of the common language, and I was glad when the bush-beaters with their dogs left the party to commence the hunt. But it was a half hour after the hounds had gone that the Keeper of the Spears began his distribution of the weapons. After presenting one to the Prince and Nicholas, he gave me one. The spear was about twelve feet long with a sort of bayonet at one end. It was exceedingly strong and well made, and I marvelled at its lightness. Where the steel met the stock there was a cluster of flowing ribbons, which lent a festive appearance to our band when the riders rested the stock in their stirrups and held their spears vertically in air. Each man seemed like a standard bearer.Trained to precision of action by experience, the hunters rode to the appointed clearing in the forest whither the bush hunters were tending, and spread out in a long line. Nick and I, with the Prince between us, formed the centre of the line and the rest were placed so that each man could see his neighbour and thus both could watch the woods between for the fleeing quarry. I suppose our party thus covered a distance of two miles and each person in the line was practically alone.We had not long to wait before the faint baying of the hounds reached our ears from the forest in front. The noise came gradually nearer and nearer. The horses became restive at the sound. The hunt was on in earnest. The first boar broke cover so far away that we had no part in it. We could only sit silent and listen to the chase and the squeal of the boar when the lance pierced him. Similar sounds drew our attention to other parts of the line and then our turn came.The first wild pig I had ever seen in his native woods trotted swiftly out of the bushes in front of Nicholas and the Prince. It was a large black fellow with wicked-looking yellow tusks that curled up at the ends. When it saw the horsemen it was not afraid, but stopped with curiosity and grunted softly to itself in a familiarly domestic fashion. At sight of the boar, however, the horses began rearing and plunging, so that it was some moments before Nick, who was nearest, could urge his mount to the charge. The Prince's black was ill-behaved also, but the rider had no difficulty in keeping his seat.Nick, I suppose, must have been an adept in the use of the spear at one time, but he was badly out of practice then. When he came on with his swift rush he missed the vital spot behind the foreleg, or in the centre of the chest, and succeeded only in inflicting a wound along the animal's spine, which let much blood but only angered the beast. His horse carried him some distance beyond before Nick could force him to turn, and in the meantime the Prince with lowered lance entered the fray.With a sure hand he guided his terror-stricken black after the boar, which, squealing with pain and rage, was charging Nick. The hilt of the Prince's lance rested in the leather socket of the saddle under his knee; the sharp point raced over the ground, its ribbons whipping in the wind. Out of the corner of its wicked little eye the boar saw the approach of its new enemy and wheeled to the attack. If it could gore the horse and unseat the rider, it might easily dispose of the enemy on foot.But the Prince's stroke was swift and sure. Before the boar had gathered speed the point took him full in the centre of the broad chest. If the Prince's aim was to strike the little white spot there it could not have been more perfect. The force of the blow caused the horse to swerve suddenly in his course, nearly throwing the rider, but the boar stopped in its tracks. The lance came free as the horse leaped over the game, which reached up in a faint effort to strike. With his life blood following the lance, the victim sank slowly to its knees and filled the woods with its dying squeals."Well done, Your Highness," shouted Nick in high glee, "'twas a master stroke.""I am ashamed of you," cried the Prince with an eye on the struggling quarry.The bush-rangers had evidently done their work well. The game was plenty. Everywhere all along the line came the sound of the chase, the shouts of riding men, the squeals of dying pigs and the barking of dogs let loose to bring a fleeing animal to bay so that the horsemen following slowly might kill it. It seems that only the most intrepid horseman will take his life in his hands attempting to ride at full speed under the trees.A wild-looking animal darted under the horse Nick was riding and set off at a rapid pace for the other side of the clearing. With a shout Nick started in hot pursuit. At the same moment my turn came. The boar showed in front of me so suddenly that I pulled my horse's head sharply to keep from stepping on it. The animal rushed by while I stupidly stared, making no motion to stop it."I am ashamed of you, too," cried the Prince at my elbow as he dug the spurs into his black's side and sped away like the wind."Solonika, be careful," I cried, but she was beyond the sound of my voice. As quickly as I could I followed to watch her in action. I had no desire to try my hand with the lance. It required a better training than I possessed.The boar had a good start and was not long in reaching the sheltering trees on the far side of the clearing. Solonika bent low over her black's neck, and without hesitation followed the game where cooler riders would not dare go."Stop," I shouted, but I knew that she would not heed me even though she heard. The excitement of the chase had entered her blood.There was nothing left for me to do but try to keep her in sight. When I reached the place where she rode in I could still see her going at the top of her speed through the trees. Her lance point pursued the fleeing pig whose speed was incredible. Do what she could the boar kept just a little ahead. Deeper and deeper we went into the forest. The sound of the hunters, the baying of the dogs and the squeals came fainter and fainter to our ears and finally ceased altogether. We were alone.My horsemanship was not as excellent as Solonika's, and she gradually outdistanced me. I almost despaired of keeping her in sight. Finally, when I was about to give up, when my horse was blowing hard and I was well-nigh spent, I saw her suddenly rein in, throw up her head and look to one side as if she heard someone calling.While she stood thus intent, four horsemen in black Spanish cloaks, coming from behind the trees, rode up to her side. One wrenched the lance from her hands, another threw his cloak over her head and arms, rendering her powerless, while the third grasped her horse by the bridle and the three set off at a gallop with their prisoner. The fourth drew his sword and waited for me to come up.I stared in amazement at this extraordinary scene; my heart stopped beating with fear as its full significance burst upon me. I convulsively pulled my horse to a standstill, not knowing what I did. Only my grip on the saddle horn kept me in my seat.Oh, if Nick were only here; but he was far away with the hunters. It would be hours before they would miss us. What was I to do? Was it better that I should ride back and tell him, or follow the Princess? My brain was stunned. I could not think clearly.But stay! these were not ordinary highwaymen. Of this I felt sure. I remembered seeing them, or men like them, on the road in front of the summer-house. Were they trying to kidnap the Prince then? Were they members of that mystic band, the Order of the Cross? Nick and the General belonged to that. What good would it do to ride back and tell Nick of something which he, perhaps, already knew, or at least expected? Deserted by both Nick and the General, I felt suddenly alone. My God, alone; with Solonika in the hands of her enemies. What would they not do to her? How could she keep her secret from them? I must save her. I must act quickly."Solonika," I shouted, hoping that she might hear and know that she was not deserted.As I uttered the shout I spurred my horse furiously and he leaped forward to do my bidding. My boar lance was my only weapon; but surely I was better armed than the lone rear guard. He seemed to have only his short sword. Solonika and her captors were still in sight, although far ahead. I must ride fast and free if I would overtake her.I rode high and recklessly watching the young noble put his horse in motion toward me so as to avoid my spear and make the attack more difficult. I bore down upon him with all speed, shouting as I came. He took hold of his weapon with both hands, preparing to cut my wooden shank with one bold stroke as I made to pierce him.But, before I reached him, I received a violent blow on the forehead. The branches of the trees hung low about my upraised head. The heavens seemed to have fallen. My enemy vanished as if by magic amid a field of glowing shooting stars darting hither and yon in a field of purple night. A great weakness seized me. The saddle slipped from between my knees, the reins from my nerveless fingers.I toppled over backwards—unconscious.
CHAPTER XII
THE RENUNCIATION
Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour,I've seen my fondest hopes decay;I never loved a tree or flower,But 'twas the first to fade away!—Moore: Lalla Rookh.
Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour,I've seen my fondest hopes decay;I never loved a tree or flower,But 'twas the first to fade away!—Moore: Lalla Rookh.
Oh, ever thus from childhood's hour,
I've seen my fondest hopes decay;
I never loved a tree or flower,
But 'twas the first to fade away!
—Moore: Lalla Rookh.
—Moore: Lalla Rookh.
When I returned to Castle Framkor that evening and joined Nicholas and the General my difficulties began. No longer was I the care-free youth who had come to Bharbazonia in search of recreation. I shared another's secret now and it weighed heavily upon me. How it was to bear me down, and make my life unhappy while I remained in this cursed country, I was soon to learn.
The General was delivering a lecture to Nick on the heedless folly of youth, referring to his "unseemly conduct" in the gardens of the palace of the King. Nick refused to take him seriously and the old man, who felt that the subject was full of grave possibilities, was very angry.
"What is Teskla to you," he said, "that you should kiss her before all the world? I could forgive you, my son, if you expressed any affection for the girl who truly loves you. But you are simply playing with her."
"What makes you think the Princess cares for me?" asked Nick.
"Good heavens, man! can't you see it? Does a woman lie for a man unless she loves him? Yes, sir, lie is the word. Don't you contradict me, sir; I will not stand it."
"Well, what if she did tell a little fib?" returned Nick. "She saved herself from her father's wrath. There is no occasion for so much heat, Godfather. Can't a fellow kiss a pretty girl in Bharbazonia without all this fuss?"
"But, the consequences! Have you figured them out?" said the General. "The King believes that he saw Prince Raoul embrace the Princess in public, before witnesses. And he was pleased. Hark you, pleased!"
"He certainly was. A blind man could have noticed it."
"A cloud no bigger than a man's hand; but the storm will break. You know the King's dearest wish is to see his daughter married to Prince Raoul. He is up to something. That scene in the garden meant more to him than appears on the surface. He has figured out some way to effect his purpose and, when the dénouement comes, and the Prince denies he was in the garden, where will you be, facing the royal wrath?"
"I hope it will not come to that," said Nick, gravely. He knew the General well enough to feel that the old man did not jump at conclusions, and that he was almost always right in his judgment. My entrance at that moment was grateful to Nick for it broke up the lecture.
"I am glad to see you back, Dale," said Nick, putting his arm around my neck in the old affectionate manner. Then came the shock of the feeling that something had happened to me. I resented Nick's friendliness!
"How about the boar hunt?" he continued, not appearing to notice how I avoided his arm and drew away from him. "When do we start?"
His question brought back the memory of my original purpose in visiting the castle. Was it only two hours ago that I had left them in the automobile to walk to the summer-house? So much to change my life had happened in such a short time that I could scarcely believe it possible. It seemed as if a month had elapsed. I had forgotten all about the boar hunt.
"I do not know," I replied, truthfully enough. "I saw the Princess but did not see the Prince."
The boar hunt did not materialize for many days and in the interim all three of us found plenty to occupy our attention. The General and Nick frequently left me alone now, when they went to meetings at the Turk's Head Inn and to Nischon. Although they often invited me to accompany them I always refused. Most of my time was spent in the summer-house with Solonika.
How I worried when she did not appear for the next two days! I haunted the vicinity of the little den and even went as far as the clearing in the hope that she would again see me and send me word by her maid. I dared not go to the castle until I knew how it stood with the Red Fox. If she had reconsidered her action and told him, he might not view my escape in the same light as she did, and in that case I was safer out of his hands. But, on the third day, I found her sitting in her easy chair looking pale and ill. She seemed more than pleased to see me.
"I shall have to ask you to prescribe for me, Dr. Wharton," she smiled. "I never went to pieces like this before. I have been in bed for two days and I cry a great deal. What is wrong with me?"
"I cannot prescribe for Your Highness," I replied, "because you will not take my medicine."
"You haven't given me any yet."
"Then here is my prescription. It will make you whole again; of that I am positive. Go this very hour to your father and tell him that you cannot continue this deception. Tell him that it is killing you and ask him, for the sake of the love he bears you, to permit you to go away out of this country at least for a year."
"You are a good physician,"—she laughed a little and shook her head; "but I cannot take your medicine. If, after all these years, I refused to go on, what would my father do? How the nobles would ridicule him! He would die of grief and shame. No, no, there is no escape; I must go on—forever!"
The light and the bright sunshine soon brought her spirits back, and she became the old happy Solonika. That morning she was like an April day, alternating between showers and sunshine with astonishing rapidity.
"Do not imagine, sir," she said, "that there is nothing but woe in the situation. Let us talk of something more pleasant. Do you recall the time when you were permitted to see both the Prince and the Princess in the castle?"
"Yes," I said, "and I have often wondered since how you deceived me so cleverly."
"We all had a good laugh after you were gone. You see there are compensations. Shall I tell you how we did it?"
"If you will."
"It began when you hurt me shaking my hand. I knew that you were studying me and that you were suspicious. Your friend Nicholas did all the talking and you listened and watched. I had nothing to fear from him, but I knew I had from you. That evening I talked it over with father. He was positive that Palmora had poisoned your mind against us and that it was time we prepared an antidote. We waited for your expected visit, but you did not come. I was watching you when you appeared at the top of the hill and turned back, and I understood that your pride would not permit you to knock again at our door. I sent Therese and you fell into the trap."
"'Will you come into my parlour said the Spider to the Fly,'" I said.
"Exactly. Dajerak brought you to the Prince's room where father and I were pretending to play cards. Oh, it was hard not to keep from laughing at you. You looked at the Prince so suspiciously, and how gently you hinted that you would like to see the Princess! Father enjoyed it immensely. It had been a long while since we had done anything of the kind. Not since King Gregory called to see the twins."
Her laughter was not easy to bear.
"Then Dajerak, the slow old Dajerak, took you all around the inner court in order to give me time to dress. I only had to put on this long hair—its my own anyhow—slip a loose dressing gown over my boy's clothes and I was ready for you. My, what a long time you were in coming. I was afraid you would shake hands with me again. That's why I did not lay down my sewing. You did not notice that my blue slippers and my black stockings—I had no time to change them—were not altogether in keeping, did you?"
"I did not notice."
"I was afraid you would."
"The tunnel to the summer-house was also part of the game?" I asked.
"Yes, that was to enable me to entertain visitors there and appear before them afterward in the guise of the Prince in the castle. You must not think that we allayed the suspicions of Bharbazonia without a struggle. It was by means of the underground passage that we won over the Grand Duke of Marbosa. Palmora poisoned his mind, too, and he paid us a visit. He saw me in the summer-house and asked for the Prince, then he rode off to the castle. I had to run with all my might to get there in time. You should have seen his face when he met the Prince. You see there is lots of fun and excitement in the life. I should die ofennuiwithout it."
"I suppose it is full of innocent fun now, Solonika," I said, "but after you are king it will be serious. Did you ever think of the sacrilege your coronation in the Cathedral will entail?"
"I have thought of it," she replied, gravely.
"If you are found out now, people will laugh, after the first blush of excitement is over; but if you are found out then—"
"They will put me to death," she said, simply.
There was something sublime about her courage. Everything that I could suggest as a future possibility she had thought out before me. Nothing was left unconsidered. As I talked with her day after day, always upon the same fascinating subject, my respect for her loyalty to her father increased. So absorbing was her love for him that she was ready, aye, willing to lay down her life to further his ambitions.
She knew full well the meaning of the vengeance of the Church. I could not frighten her with the story of the fate of the Witch of Utrepect. While the fire was still alight around the body of that unfortunate woman, Solonika, as if impelled by a terrible fascination, had ridden over to the village on her black horse and watched the dying embers complete their fiendish work.
She could think; she could feel. And how dreadful must have been her thoughts if she permitted herself to believe that in case of discovery her fate might be similar. If the Church, backed by the peasantry, would punish blasphemy in such mediæval fashion, what would they not do to one who defiled the altar?
As frequently as we talked of these things, we always arrived at the same conclusion; but we always returned to the discussion, when we were alone. When Nick came along, which he did as often as he could, we hid our feelings, and Solonika shone at her best. I could see with some dismay that she enjoyed his society. He was bright, cheerful, smiling, while I was inclined to be gloomy.
"Something is the matter with Dale," said Nick to her one afternoon. "He is preoccupied and moody. Every night he goes to bed early, leaving the General and me to our arguments. What do you suppose is wrong with him?"
"You should know better than I," she replied, banteringly; "perhaps he is pining for the girl he left behind him."
"How about it, Dale?" said Nick.
But on these occasions I found no ready answer. I was not as adept in the art of intrigue as the Princess. I could only leave the summer-house abruptly, with Nick watching my strange action in open-mouthed astonishment. Rebel against it as I would, I could see the breach widen between Nick and me day by day. We had never had a misunderstanding in our lives before.
As if the secret I was hiding were not enough for any man to bear in silence, Solonika insisted upon flirting outrageously with Nick, always in my presence. But I felt that she relied upon me for the true companionship which had always been denied her. Once or twice she unconsciously called me by my first name, and she clung to my arm in a tantalizing way at parting. Why she acted with Nicholas as she did I could not understand. But what man ever did fully fathom the heart of a woman? Never once did she reprove me when I called her Solonika. She seemed to like it. So, one day I ventured to bare my inmost feelings to her. It was at the close of one of our most intimate talks, when I was urging again the necessity of throwing up the whole dangerous business.
"Solonika, why will you not go away from here and leave all your worries behind?" I said.
"Where shall I go?" she returned.
"Anywhere. Only go; surely you have friends in England where you went to school."
"I have no friends anywhere but here."
"Don't say that. You have me. I am your friend."
"Surely you do not urge that I fly with you?"
My feeling got the better of me. I determined to make an attempt to save her, even against herself. There was nothing to bind her to her country except the great love she bore her father. It was worth the try.
"Solonika, we must come to an understanding. You surely have guessed how I feel toward you. I do not want to give offence; neither do I care to appear absurd in your eyes. You are a Princess. You 'sit upon a joyless height, too high for hope; too great for happiness.' I am an American lacking title and position. But what I have is yours to command. If a love that shall live forever can do aught to make your life happier, and lead you away to a humble home full of peace and happiness, it stands ready at your bidding."
She understood as I knew she would. I could feel it in the light hand that rested on my arm; in the sad, gentle look within the depth of her brown eyes. She could not bear to face me and turned away, apparently to watch the setting sun of the dying December day as it sank amid the thousand colours of a glorious finality.
Even as I watched her I knew there was no hope and that she was forever removed from me. Her feet were set in the pathway she was destined to tread before she was born. She must go her way and I mine until the end. She would continue acting the boy before the world. She would be crowned and reign as King in Bharbazonia. In spite of all I could do she would live her unsexed life, guarding her secret carefully until death released her. I was powerless to save her even from herself. The love she had for her father was greater than any affection she might have even for me.
"We will not talk of it any more, my—friend," she said. And thus did she sacrifice me also upon the altar of her devotion.
It was Nick who brought about the boar hunt which was fraught with such important events, and which had not been spoken of since the day I stumbled upon the skeleton in Dhalmatia's closet.
"What has become of the Prince, Your Highness?" he asked Solonika when one day we were taking our leave together.
"He does not look with favour upon you two young men," she replied. "You have not accepted his invitation to hunt with him."
"That was Dale's fault," Nick replied; "he forgot all about it. Tell the Prince we will be glad to hunt with him any time."
"He will be delighted," said she. "I do not believe he has left the house for ten days. After the coronation he will be very much occupied. The air in the woods will do him good."
"Four days more and he will be King. Tell him he had better make the most of his freedom," Nick said.
"Very well," said she, "be ready in the morning and he will come over to Framkor for you."
Thus easily did Solonika plan to appear in the Prince's clothes and forget her womanhood.
CHAPTER XIII
THE RIVALS
He is a fool who thinks by force or skill,To turn the current of a woman's will.—Tuke: Five Hours.
He is a fool who thinks by force or skill,To turn the current of a woman's will.—Tuke: Five Hours.
He is a fool who thinks by force or skill,
To turn the current of a woman's will.
—Tuke: Five Hours.
—Tuke: Five Hours.
The winding of the hunting horn and the barking of dogs upon Castle Framkor's lawns the next morning told me that Solonika had kept her word. We were at breakfast. Looking through the long low windows of the dining room, I saw the Prince, in all the gaiety of a red hunting costume and high-top, varnished boots, dismount among his pack.
What argument Solonika had used with her father to procure his permission to go abroad in the character of the Prince four days before the coronation, I could not imagine. I had told her of the coming and going of the black-cloaked men; the Red Fox knew that some plot was in the wind and shrewdly suspected that it was directed against the Prince. For that reason Solonika had left off going abroad as the Prince for the past ten days. It was easy for her to pass the time with me in the summer-house. Once, while riding out in my company and Nick's, she met the cloaked men. They recognized Solonika and let us pass with scarcely a glance in our direction.
All this, I say, the Red Fox knew; but I suppose he found it impossible to control the girl. He indeed is "a fool who thinks by force or skill to turn the current of a woman's will." When Solonika made up her mind to do a thing she generally did it. But the Duke had recorded his protest in the number of men he sent with her. Twenty-five well-mounted retainers from the Red Fox's retinue surrounded the Prince, holding the dogs in leashes of four, and twenty-five more, I soon learned, had preceded us to the hunting grounds.
Solonika turned her horse over to one of her men and entered the breakfast room. Both Nick and the General stood upon their feet to their Prince as he entered. They urged the Prince to join them at table, but the Prince insisted that he had already partaken of food and could eat nothing. He, however, took the chair which the General courteously drew up for him and accepted a cup of coffee.
I was glad that Solonika did not look in my direction for my agitation would have made it hard for her. It was the first time I was present when she was under the fire of the General's sharp eyes, and I trembled for her. I felt myself grow hot and cold by turns, overcome by the fear that she would betray herself. Although she was attired in the Prince's hunting raiment, how different she looked to me now. It seemed impossible that the astute General could not tell that Solonika and not the Prince sat before him.
But the daring girl had the confidence born of years of success. As I became accustomed to the novelty of the situation, I began to take pleasure in watching her superb acting. She carried it off with so much relish and in such a high-handed manner. Never once did she forget the quaint little burr in her English speech. Knowing how perfectly she could speak it, I marvelled she did not sometimes forget. But I also realized why she elected to make the Prince talk brokenly; it gave the Prince a difference in character which disarmed suspicion and kept the individuality of Solonika and the Prince apart, not only in the minds of her hearers, but also in her own mind; for the difference in dialect acted as a constant reminder that she was no longer a woman but a man.
"I am deeply sensible of the honour which you have bestowed upon Castle Framkor by your presence to-day," said the General, humbly. "Bharbazonia has seen but little of her future king."
"I have been taking my ease against the great day not far distant," replied the Prince. "It will be a long time before I may again enjoy the pleasure of a hunt."
"I wish to apologize, Your Highness, for my seeming discourtesy in not accepting your invitation two weeks ago," said Nick. "The truth of the matter is that I did accept with pleasure, but my messenger failed to mention the matter when he arrived at your castle. He is not usually forgetful, so I imagine he was well entertained."
Nick's remark brought back the remembrance of the day when I left the automobile and discovered the secret of Dhalmatia. The Prince also remembered the occasion but did not betray the slightest emotion.
"You refer to Dr. Wharton as your messenger," said the Prince. "I have not seen him except on the single occasion when he visited my father and me. But I understand that he and my sister Solonika have become great friends."
"Ah, ha," laughed Nick, "and so the cat is out of the bag. He and I are now rivals."
The General permitted his fork to fall heavily upon his plate as he stared at Nick, remembering that young man's flirtation with Princess Teskla, and something akin to a groan escaped him. But Nick only laughed.
"I know nothing of any cat," said the Prince, gravely, with well acted simplicity.
"It is an idiom," explained the General, "which means that you have betrayed your sister's secret."
I straightened up in my chair at the old man's solemn words. Had he purposely touched upon the thing which was making me miserable, or did he do it unconsciously? The Prince's nerve was of iron. He sipped his coffee unmoved, but his eyes never wavered from the General's face as he asked innocently:
"What secret, General Palmora?"
"The secret that Dale, here, is much interested in Solonika."
"Is he?" he asked, sweeping me with his half closed eyes. I was forced to drop mine while I felt the colour rise to my cheeks.
"I do not know," said the General. "Nicholas has just said so."
"A man is beginning to fall in love when he shows signs of forgetfulness," said Nick. "He is most forgetful of late."
"I warn you, Dale," he continued turning to me, "that a woman will come between us yet. If I am not mistaken the Princess Solonika will be that woman."
"The Princess can never be anything to me," I replied.
"She is the brightest woman I have ever met," said Nick to the Prince. "Why don't you travel, Your Highness, and acquire her gift of languages. Your English, for example, is not as good as hers."
"No?" smiled the Prince through his nose, like a Frenchman's "Non." "Wherein is my English not perfect?"
"It is good enough for Bharbazonia, Your Highness," said the General, pushing back his chair. "After you become king you will never speak such a useless language. Your French is all you need at court and you speak that perfectly."
"Thank you, General Palmora," said he. Then, turning again to Nicholas, he added: "Are you serious in saying you admire Solonika? Pray, what do you find to admire in her? To me she seems like an ordinary girl."
Oh, Solonika, deliberately fishing for a compliment, the eternal feminine being ever present! I could scarcely believe my ears; but this was my first day under fire and I lacked her confidence.
"Ordinary girl?" echoed Nick. "She is in the first place extraordinarily handsome. I have travelled all over the world, and seen all kinds of women; some were beautiful and some were clever, but few were both handsome and bright, as she is. I mean to become better acquainted with her when you are king."
"But my sister thinks of going away after I am crowned," he said.
"Going away?" Nick returned. "Very good; the world is small; I can readily find her. I trust that you will speak well of me to her."
"But you haven't told me wherein lies her wonderful charm which seems to have captivated both you and Dale—Wharton, I think you said your friend's name was?"
"How about it, Dale?" cried Nick, "has she bound you to her chariot wheels, too?"
"To me she is the most wonderful woman in the world," I made answer, looking straight into her eyes. Solonika flushed a little and gave me a quick sign ofcamaraderiethat made me very happy.
"A woman has come between David and Jonathan," said Nick.
"The woman has come," I replied, and for the first time I realized as I gazed in his face that Nick was not joking. I, who knew him, could read there plainly the intensity of his feeling, and I suppose he could read my heart as well. The spirit of contest was lit in our eyes. We looked at each other like two young animals meeting face to face in the spring-time. Yet there was a note of regret in Nick's voice when he slowly repeated:
"The woman has come."
"But, wherein is her charm? You have not told me," reiterated the Prince.
"Your Highness has never been in love, it is plain to see," said Nick, "else you would not ask such a question. Her particular charm is that she is she. A man goes through the world meeting many women. Although he may not know it, he carries an ideal within his heart. How his ideal is formed, who can tell? But it is there, nevertheless. Unconsciously, he measures all women by this ideal; one after another falls before it, until as time goes by he loses hope of ever finding her. But one day he meets the woman. He may not recognize her immediately, but after the meeting his thoughts follow her. They meet again and after her departure comes loneliness which is a part of him except when she is near. One cannot put it into words; it lies below, too deep for utterance. Why she is she I cannot tell. I only know the Princess Solonika affects me so."
"I cannot sit here and listen to his fool talk any longer," exclaimed the General, rising from the table in some heat. "If you boys are going to stir up the game it is time you were about it. Princess Teskla would be delighted to hear your definition of love, Nick."
"Life's fires burn low in the aged," smiled Nick, looking at me.
"So?" said the Prince, whom nothing escaped, "why should Teskla be interested?"
"We have reason to believe that the King's daughter is suffering from loneliness, such as young Nicholas describes," said the General grimly.
"Why should she?" said the Prince. "She is surrounded by the court at Nischon. If any one is lonely I should think it would be my sister. She has often complained of living in the country, seeing no one. How can one be lonely in the city? Teskla has all the gentlemen of the world's consulates to help her while away the time; she may travel at will; while my sister must always be by my father's side; she may not travel; she may not see any one."
The Prince either purposely refused, or actually failed, to see the import of the General's words and the General was too loyal to make them clearer. So, drifting from one subject to another, we followed the old man to the castle door where the hunters and their dogs were idling away their time.
While waiting for their young master, the large army of hunters had been amusing themselves at their own discretion. They were dark-eyed, handsome Bharbazonians, the finest horsemen in the world, riding with all the ease and abandon of their Cossack brethren. For the saying in Bharbazonia is, "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Cossack; scratch a Cossack and you will find a Bharbazonian." They were all dressed alike in the favourite green cloth of the country, and all carried clusters of long-handled spears or pikes, by which the wild boar was to be killed as he broke cover and charged the horse and rider.
The Prince, unaided, mounted the black which had thrown him at sight of our automobile. He waited for Nick and me to mount the animals which the groom had saddled while we breakfasted. Our horses were apart from the rest and Nick and I were out of ear-shot of the Prince when we met.
"What chance have you with Solonika?" he said, in a low voice. "She is a Princess and you are only an American."
"None whatever, Nick," I said. "You are right; Princesses of reigning houses do not wed Americans."
"But you have not given up hope?"
"I never had any."
"Dale, old chum," said Nick, "you have beaten me at chess; I have beaten you at billiards. It's a draw with the gloves. But, after every defeat or victory, we have always shaken hands. It was always a fair game. I know you, Dale. You never give up without a struggle. Therefore there will be a battle. We are older now and we strike harder. But, here's my hand on it—that no matter which way this may end it will make no difference between us. As far as I am concerned a woman can never come between David and Jonathan."
"As far as I am concerned she never can either, Nick," I said.
The grip of friendship we exchanged was sincere. Whatever of disappointment the future has in store for me, Nick's place in my heart would always remain as fixed as Polaris. And I know that nothing could alter his feeling for me.
It was plain that his position in his own country was such as would enable him some day to aspire to the hand of a Princess, a privilege denied to me, a plain American. By the accident of birth, then, he had an advantage over me; but in one thing I had the advantage over him.
When we mounted to follow the pack, he rode after the Prince while I rode after the Princess.
CHAPTER XIV
THE ABDUCTION
He thought at heart, like courtly ChesterfieldWho, after a long chase o'er hills, dales, bushes,And what not, though he rode beyond all price,Asks next day, "if men ever hunted twice?"—Byron: Don Juan.
He thought at heart, like courtly ChesterfieldWho, after a long chase o'er hills, dales, bushes,And what not, though he rode beyond all price,Asks next day, "if men ever hunted twice?"—Byron: Don Juan.
He thought at heart, like courtly Chesterfield
Who, after a long chase o'er hills, dales, bushes,
And what not, though he rode beyond all price,
Asks next day, "if men ever hunted twice?"
—Byron: Don Juan.
—Byron: Don Juan.
Hunting foxes with a pack of hounds is an English and American pastime; hunting wolves with borzoi dogs is a Russian amusement; hunting the boar, the national entertainment of Bharbazonia. The alacrity with which the men started, when we were at last in the saddle, revealed their impatience at the delay.
"Keep an eye on the Prince, Nick," called the General from the castle door. "Remember Marbosa's oath. Only three days are left."
"All right, Godfather," Nick replied. But he did not offer any explanation to me as to what the Duke proposed to do, and deftly changed the subject. All he would say was that the General was talking politics and that one is wise who does not bother his head about what does not concern him.
Nevertheless, I secretly concluded that it would be just as well for me to keep as near the Prince as possible during the day. Some political plot was coming to a head of which I knew nothing. What this danger was that seemed to threaten I could not imagine, but I connected it with the horsemen who rode in the early hours of the dawn, and who loitered around the summer-house in their long Spanish cloaks.
The Prince, riding at the head of the pack as perfectly erect as a cavalryman, was surrounded by his father's retainers, and close under the eye of the Master of the Hounds, when we joined him. Like the good-natured boy he seemed to be, he was enjoying the ride to the full. His cheeks were flushed with the healthy outdoor exercise and his eyes were bright with excitement. It was an ideal day with just enough of the brisk cut of winter in the air to keep the blood a-moving.
"It is good to be alive," he said, darting a quick look over his shoulder as we came up.
"Where have you planned to hunt, Prince?" asked Nicholas, ranging on one side of the black horse while I took the other.
"In the Forest of Zin."
"On the Framkor side of the river, or on Marbosa's?"
"My camp is pitched beside the Big Spring."
"Then we hunt on Marbosa's estate," said Nick, and I could see that he was not pleased at the prospect.
The Prince seemed highly amused at Nick's reply, and laughed as if he deemed he had made an important discovery.
"For an American, Mr. Fremsted," he smiled, "you know the Forest well."
Nick was nettled. He realized that he had almost committed himself. I saw him covertly glance at the Prince under his eyebrows as if he wondered how this slow-brained, broken-English-speaking youth had found the wit to trap him. But he was equal to the occasion.
"Oh," he replied, easily, "General Palmora during the past ten years has often had me hunting with him in this forest. I should know it well."
"So?" said the Prince, and the subject was dismissed for a time.
The Forest of Zin, as I soon found, was not far distant. In fact it began at the rear of the Framkor estate and extended, so they said, for some fifty miles to the north. All the nobles who owned the adjoining land had established a game preserve over the entire territory and the peasantry was not allowed within its sacred precincts. According to the Prince, many of them had broken the law and, when caught, were "bastinado'd"—severely beaten on the soles of the feet, a method of punishment inherited from the Turks.
So great was the density of the forest when we plunged into it along a narrow bridle path, and so magnificent the height of the trees, that the light of the sun filtered through with difficulty. The resulting gloom was like that of a cloudy day and had its necessary effect upon my spirits. Long narrow roads opened vistas of wide clearings, beyond, which never materialized. All about was the mystery of silence as if the wild things watched in awe the human destroyer march by. Even the dogs, held firmly in leashes of four, lolled their red tongues from their mouths and ceased to give voice to their impatience.
The further we progressed the denser became the growth until at times we were compelled to bend over our horses' heads to avoid the wide arms of the giant oaks, gnarled and twisted, which hung low over our path. Speed at times was impossible and our progress was necessarily slow. The Forest of Zin was no place for a careless rider.
The Big Spring, of which the Prince had spoken, was the fountain head of a little brook that issued from the roots of the largest oak in the forest. We found a score of the Red Fox's men there, preparing a hunter's meal over many wood fires. The odour of the cooking was pleasant to the nostrils. When we dismounted I found that it was nearly eleven o'clock and that it had taken the forenoon to arrive at the hunting grounds.
Squirrels, rabbits and wild birds broiled on revolving spits before the fire, or baked in clay coverings in the heart of the embers, formed the body of the meal. We sat upon a bed of dry leaves and ate with good appetites. Nick and the Prince were in the best of spirits. They examined the spears and talked of the coming hunt with considerable enthusiasm. The black locks and the red curls were frequently commingled and my jealous heart again suffered many pangs at the sight. The Prince had not forgotten the episode of the morning, and it was not long before he again trapped Nick. This time the Prince asked him a quick question in the language, and Nick replied quite naturally before he realized what he had done. When he found himself caught he laughed at his own discomfiture as heartily as did the Prince.
"You are a most interesting man to me," the Prince said gayly. "You have been everywhere; you know so much. You speak so many languages. But why have you learned Bharbazonian? You speak it like a native."
"It is second nature to one who knows the Russian of the south," he replied. "After all, it is only a Slav dialect. I have been perfecting it during my visit here.
"Mysterious man," the Prince replied, "not to have permitted me to know before. Here I have been talking with difficulty in your tongue when I might have been using my own speech all the time."
Thus the Prince broke down Nick's reserve and they ran off into the dialect where I could not follow. To my disgust they seemed to be growing more interested in each other through the medium of the common language, and I was glad when the bush-beaters with their dogs left the party to commence the hunt. But it was a half hour after the hounds had gone that the Keeper of the Spears began his distribution of the weapons. After presenting one to the Prince and Nicholas, he gave me one. The spear was about twelve feet long with a sort of bayonet at one end. It was exceedingly strong and well made, and I marvelled at its lightness. Where the steel met the stock there was a cluster of flowing ribbons, which lent a festive appearance to our band when the riders rested the stock in their stirrups and held their spears vertically in air. Each man seemed like a standard bearer.
Trained to precision of action by experience, the hunters rode to the appointed clearing in the forest whither the bush hunters were tending, and spread out in a long line. Nick and I, with the Prince between us, formed the centre of the line and the rest were placed so that each man could see his neighbour and thus both could watch the woods between for the fleeing quarry. I suppose our party thus covered a distance of two miles and each person in the line was practically alone.
We had not long to wait before the faint baying of the hounds reached our ears from the forest in front. The noise came gradually nearer and nearer. The horses became restive at the sound. The hunt was on in earnest. The first boar broke cover so far away that we had no part in it. We could only sit silent and listen to the chase and the squeal of the boar when the lance pierced him. Similar sounds drew our attention to other parts of the line and then our turn came.
The first wild pig I had ever seen in his native woods trotted swiftly out of the bushes in front of Nicholas and the Prince. It was a large black fellow with wicked-looking yellow tusks that curled up at the ends. When it saw the horsemen it was not afraid, but stopped with curiosity and grunted softly to itself in a familiarly domestic fashion. At sight of the boar, however, the horses began rearing and plunging, so that it was some moments before Nick, who was nearest, could urge his mount to the charge. The Prince's black was ill-behaved also, but the rider had no difficulty in keeping his seat.
Nick, I suppose, must have been an adept in the use of the spear at one time, but he was badly out of practice then. When he came on with his swift rush he missed the vital spot behind the foreleg, or in the centre of the chest, and succeeded only in inflicting a wound along the animal's spine, which let much blood but only angered the beast. His horse carried him some distance beyond before Nick could force him to turn, and in the meantime the Prince with lowered lance entered the fray.
With a sure hand he guided his terror-stricken black after the boar, which, squealing with pain and rage, was charging Nick. The hilt of the Prince's lance rested in the leather socket of the saddle under his knee; the sharp point raced over the ground, its ribbons whipping in the wind. Out of the corner of its wicked little eye the boar saw the approach of its new enemy and wheeled to the attack. If it could gore the horse and unseat the rider, it might easily dispose of the enemy on foot.
But the Prince's stroke was swift and sure. Before the boar had gathered speed the point took him full in the centre of the broad chest. If the Prince's aim was to strike the little white spot there it could not have been more perfect. The force of the blow caused the horse to swerve suddenly in his course, nearly throwing the rider, but the boar stopped in its tracks. The lance came free as the horse leaped over the game, which reached up in a faint effort to strike. With his life blood following the lance, the victim sank slowly to its knees and filled the woods with its dying squeals.
"Well done, Your Highness," shouted Nick in high glee, "'twas a master stroke."
"I am ashamed of you," cried the Prince with an eye on the struggling quarry.
The bush-rangers had evidently done their work well. The game was plenty. Everywhere all along the line came the sound of the chase, the shouts of riding men, the squeals of dying pigs and the barking of dogs let loose to bring a fleeing animal to bay so that the horsemen following slowly might kill it. It seems that only the most intrepid horseman will take his life in his hands attempting to ride at full speed under the trees.
A wild-looking animal darted under the horse Nick was riding and set off at a rapid pace for the other side of the clearing. With a shout Nick started in hot pursuit. At the same moment my turn came. The boar showed in front of me so suddenly that I pulled my horse's head sharply to keep from stepping on it. The animal rushed by while I stupidly stared, making no motion to stop it.
"I am ashamed of you, too," cried the Prince at my elbow as he dug the spurs into his black's side and sped away like the wind.
"Solonika, be careful," I cried, but she was beyond the sound of my voice. As quickly as I could I followed to watch her in action. I had no desire to try my hand with the lance. It required a better training than I possessed.
The boar had a good start and was not long in reaching the sheltering trees on the far side of the clearing. Solonika bent low over her black's neck, and without hesitation followed the game where cooler riders would not dare go.
"Stop," I shouted, but I knew that she would not heed me even though she heard. The excitement of the chase had entered her blood.
There was nothing left for me to do but try to keep her in sight. When I reached the place where she rode in I could still see her going at the top of her speed through the trees. Her lance point pursued the fleeing pig whose speed was incredible. Do what she could the boar kept just a little ahead. Deeper and deeper we went into the forest. The sound of the hunters, the baying of the dogs and the squeals came fainter and fainter to our ears and finally ceased altogether. We were alone.
My horsemanship was not as excellent as Solonika's, and she gradually outdistanced me. I almost despaired of keeping her in sight. Finally, when I was about to give up, when my horse was blowing hard and I was well-nigh spent, I saw her suddenly rein in, throw up her head and look to one side as if she heard someone calling.
While she stood thus intent, four horsemen in black Spanish cloaks, coming from behind the trees, rode up to her side. One wrenched the lance from her hands, another threw his cloak over her head and arms, rendering her powerless, while the third grasped her horse by the bridle and the three set off at a gallop with their prisoner. The fourth drew his sword and waited for me to come up.
I stared in amazement at this extraordinary scene; my heart stopped beating with fear as its full significance burst upon me. I convulsively pulled my horse to a standstill, not knowing what I did. Only my grip on the saddle horn kept me in my seat.
Oh, if Nick were only here; but he was far away with the hunters. It would be hours before they would miss us. What was I to do? Was it better that I should ride back and tell him, or follow the Princess? My brain was stunned. I could not think clearly.
But stay! these were not ordinary highwaymen. Of this I felt sure. I remembered seeing them, or men like them, on the road in front of the summer-house. Were they trying to kidnap the Prince then? Were they members of that mystic band, the Order of the Cross? Nick and the General belonged to that. What good would it do to ride back and tell Nick of something which he, perhaps, already knew, or at least expected? Deserted by both Nick and the General, I felt suddenly alone. My God, alone; with Solonika in the hands of her enemies. What would they not do to her? How could she keep her secret from them? I must save her. I must act quickly.
"Solonika," I shouted, hoping that she might hear and know that she was not deserted.
As I uttered the shout I spurred my horse furiously and he leaped forward to do my bidding. My boar lance was my only weapon; but surely I was better armed than the lone rear guard. He seemed to have only his short sword. Solonika and her captors were still in sight, although far ahead. I must ride fast and free if I would overtake her.
I rode high and recklessly watching the young noble put his horse in motion toward me so as to avoid my spear and make the attack more difficult. I bore down upon him with all speed, shouting as I came. He took hold of his weapon with both hands, preparing to cut my wooden shank with one bold stroke as I made to pierce him.
But, before I reached him, I received a violent blow on the forehead. The branches of the trees hung low about my upraised head. The heavens seemed to have fallen. My enemy vanished as if by magic amid a field of glowing shooting stars darting hither and yon in a field of purple night. A great weakness seized me. The saddle slipped from between my knees, the reins from my nerveless fingers.
I toppled over backwards—unconscious.