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diff --git a/old/14598-8.txt b/old/14598-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cffb1d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14598-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9742 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Goose Girl, by Harold MacGrath, +Illustrated by Andre Castaigne + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Goose Girl + +Author: Harold MacGrath + +Release Date: January 5, 2005 [eBook #14598] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOOSE GIRL*** + + +E-text prepared by Rick Niles, Melissa Er-Raqabi, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14598-h.htm or 14598-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/9/14598/14598-h/14598-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/9/14598/14598-h.zip) + + + + + +THE GOOSE GIRL + +by + +HAROLD MACGRATH + +With Illustrations by André Castaigne + +Indianapolis The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers + +1909 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: They acclaimed her the queen.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER + + I SOME IN RAGS + II AN AMERICAN CONSULT + III FOR HER COUNTRY + IV THE YOUNG VINTNER + V A COMPATRIOT + VI AT THE BLACK EAGLE + VII AN ELDER BROTHER + VIII THE KING'S LETTER + IX GRETCHEN'S DAY + X AFFAIRS OF STATE + XI THE SOCIALISTS + XII LOVE'S DOUBTS + XIII A DAY DREAM + XIV FIND THE WOMAN + XV THE WRONG MAN + XVI HER FAN + XVII AFTER THE VINTAGE + XVIII A WHITE SCAR + XIX DISCLOSURES + XX THE KING + XXI TWIN LOCKETS + XXII A LITTLE FINGER + XXIII HAPPINESS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SOME IN RAGS + + +An old man, clothed in picturesque patches and tatters, paused and +leaned on his stout oak staff. He was tired. He drew off his rusty felt +hat, swept a sleeve across his forehead, and sighed. He had walked many +miles that day, and even now the journey's end, near as it really was, +seemed far away. Ah, but he would sleep soundly that night, whether the +bed were of earth or of straw. His peasant garb rather enhanced his fine +head. His eyes were blue and clear and far-seeing, the eyes of a hunter +or a woodsman, of a man who watches the shadows in the forest at night +or the dim, wavering lines on the horizon at daytime; things near or far +or roundabout. His brow was high, his nose large and bridged; a face of +more angles than contours, bristling with gray spikes, like one who has +gone unshaven several days. His hands, folded over the round, polished +knuckle of his staff, were tanned and soiled, but they were long and +slender, and the callouses were pink, a certain indication that they +were fresh. + +The afternoon glow of the September sun burned along the dusty white +highway. From where he stood the road trailed off miles behind and wound +up five hundred feet or more above him to the ancient city of Dreiberg. +It was not a steep road, but a long and weary one, a steady, enervating, +unbroken climb. To the left the mighty cliff reared its granite side to +the hanging city, broke in a wide plain, and then went on up several +thousand feet to the ledges of dragon-green ice and snow. To the right +sparkled and flashed a wild mountain stream on its way to the broad, +fertile valley, which, mistily green and brown and yellow with vineyards +and hops and corn, spread out and on to the north, stopping abruptly at +the base of the more formidable chain of mountains. + +Across this lofty jumble of barren rock and glacial cleft, now purpling +and darkening as the sun mellowed in its decline, lay the kingdom of +Jugendheit; and toward this the wayfarer gazed meditatively, absorbing +little or nothing of the exquisite panorama. By and by his gaze wavered, +and that particular patch in the valley, brown from the beating of many +iron-shod horses, caught and chained his interest for a space. It was +the military field, and it glittered and scintillated as squadron after +squadron of cavalry dashed from side to side or wheeled in bewildering +circles. + +"The philosophy of war is to prepare for it," mused the old man, with a +jerk of his shoulders. "France! So the mutter runs. There is a Napoleon +in France, but no Bonaparte. Clatter-clatter! Bang-bang!" He laughed +ironically and cautiously glanced at his watch, an article which must +have cost him many and many a potato-patch. He pulled his hat over his +eyes, scratched the irritating stubble on his chin, and stepped forward. + +He had followed yonder goose-girl ever since the incline began. Oft the +little wooden shoes had lagged, but here they were, still a hundred +yards or more ahead of him. He had never been close enough to +distinguish her features. The galloping of soldiers up and down the road +from time to time disturbed her flock, but she was evidently a patient +soul, and relied valiantly upon her stick of willow. Once or twice he +had been inclined to hasten his steps, to join her, to talk, to hear the +grateful sound of his own voice, which he had not heard since he passed +the frontier customs; yet each time he had subdued the desire and +continued to lessen none of the distance between them. + +The little goose-girl was indeed tired, and the little wooden shoes grew +heavier and heavier, and the little bare feet ached dully; but her heart +was light and her mind sweet with happiness. Day after day she had +tended the geese in the valley and trudged back at evening alone, all +told a matter of twelve miles; and now she was bringing them into the +city to sell in the market on the morrow. After that she would have +little to do save an hour or two at night in a tavern called the Black +Eagle, where she waited on patrons. + +On the two went, the old man in tatters, the goose-girl in wooden shoes. +The man listened; she was singing brightly, and the voice was sweet and +strong and true. + +"She is happy; that is some recompense. She is richer than I am." And +the peasant fell into a reverie. + +Presently there was a clatter of horses, a jingle of bit and spur and +saber. The old man stepped to the side of the road and sat down on the +stone parapet. It would be wiser now to wait till the dust settled. Half +a dozen mounted officers trotted past. The peasant on the parapet +instantly recognized one of the men. He saluted with a humbleness which +lacked sincerity. It was the grand duke himself. There was General +Ducwitz, too, and some of his staff, and a smooth-faced, handsome young +man in civilian riding-clothes, who, though he rode like a cavalryman, +was obviously of foreign birth, an Englishman or an American. They were +laughing and chatting amiably, for the grand duke of Ehrenstein bothered +himself about formalities only at formal times. The outsider watched +them regretfully as they went by, and there was some envy in his heart, +too. + +When the cavalcade reached the goose-girl, the peace of the scene +vanished forthwith. Confusion took up the scepter. The silly geese, +instead of remaining on the left of the road, in safety, straightway +determined that their haven of refuge was on the opposite side. +Gonk-gonk! Quack-quack! They scrambled, they blundered, they flew. Some +tried to go over the horses, some endeavored to go under. One landed, +full-winged, against the grand duke's chest and swept his vizored cap +off his head and rolled it into the dust. The duke signed to his +companions to draw up; to proceed in this undignified manner was +impossible. All laughed heartily, however; all excepting the goose-girl. +To her it was far from being a laughing matter. It would take half an +hour to calm her stupid charges. And she was _so_ tired. + +"Stupids!" she cried despairingly. + +"From pigs and chickens, good Lord deliver us!" shouted the civilian, +sliding from his horse and recovering the duke's cap. + +Now, the duke was a kind-hearted, thoughtful man, notwithstanding his +large and complex affairs of state; as he ceased laughing, he searched a +pocket, and tossed a couple of coins to the forlorn goose-girl. + +"I am sorry, little one," he said gravely. "I hope none of your geese +is hurt." + +"Oh, Highness!" cried the girl, breathless from her recent endeavors and +overcome with the grandeur of the two ducal effigies in her hand. She +had seen the grand duke times without number, but she had never yet been +so near to him. And now he had actually spoken to her. It was a miracle. +She would tell them all that night in the dark old Krumerweg. And for +the moment his prospect overshadowed all thought of her geese. + +The civilian dusted the royal cap with his sleeve, returned it, and +mounted. He then looked casually at the girl. + +"By George!" he exclaimed, in English. + +"What is it?" asked the duke, gathering up the reins. + +"The girl's face; it is beautiful." + +The duke, after a glance, readily agreed. "You Americans are always +observant." + +"Whenever there's a pretty face about," supplemented Ducwitz. + +"I certainly shouldn't trouble to look at a homely one," the American +retorted. + +"Pretty figure, too," said one of the aides, a colonel. But his eye +held none of the abstract admiration which characterized the American's. + +The goose-girl had seen this look in other men's eyes; she knew. A faint +color grew under her tan, and waned, but her eyes wavered not the +breadth of a hair. It was the colonel who finally was forced to turn his +gaze elsewhere, chagrined. His face was not unfamiliar to her. + +"Beauty is a fickle goddess," remarked Ducwitz tritely, settling himself +firmly in the saddle. "In giving, she is as blind as a bat. I know a +duchess now--but never mind." + +"Let us be going forward," interrupted the duke. There were more vital +matters under hand than the beauty of a strolling goose-girl. + +So the troop proceeded with dust and small thunder, and shortly passed +the city gates, which in modern times were never closed. It traversed +the lumpy cobbles of the narrow streets, under hanging gables, past dim +little shops and markets, often unintentionally crowding pedestrians +into doorways or against the walls. One among those so inconvenienced +was a youth dressed as a vintner. He was tall, pliantly built, blond as +a Viking, possessing a singular beauty of the masculine order. He was +forced to flatten himself against the wall of a house, his arms extended +on either side, in a kind of temporary crucifixion. Even then the +stirrup of the American touched him slightly. But it was not the touch +of the stirrup that startled him; it was the dark, clean-cut face of the +rider. Once they were by, the youth darted into a doorway. + +"He? What can he be doing here? No, it is utterly impossible; it is +merely a likeness." + +He ventured forth presently, none of the perturbation, however, gone +from his face. He ran his hand across his chin; yes, he would let his +beard grow. + +The duke and his escort turned into the broad and restful sweep of the +König Strasse, with its fashionable residences, shops, cafés and hotels. +At the end of the _Strasse_ was the Ehrenstein Platz, the great square +round which ran the palaces and the royal and public gardens. On the way +many times the duke raised his hand in salutations; for, while not +exactly loved, he was liked for his rare clean living, his sound sense +of justice and his honest efforts to do what was right. Opera-singers +came and went, but none had ever penetrated into the private suites of +the palace. The halt was made in the courtyard, and all dismounted. + +The American thanked the duke gratefully for the use of the horse. + +"You are welcome to a mount at all times, Mr. Carmichael," replied the +duke pleasantly. "A man who rides as well as yourself may be trusted +anywhere with any kind of a horse." + +The group looked admiringly at the object of this marked attention. Here +was one who had seen two years of constant and terrible warfare, who had +ridden horses under fire, and who bore on his body many honorable scars. +For the great civil strife in America had come to its close but two +years before, and Europe was still captive to her amazement at the +military prowess of the erstwhile inconsiderable American. + +As Carmichael saluted and turned to leave the courtyard, he threw a +swift, searching glance at one of the palace windows. Did the curtain +stir? He could not say. He continued on, crossing the Platz, toward the +Grand Hotel. He was a bachelor, so he might easily have had his quarters +at the consulate; but as usual with American consulates--even to the +present time--it was situated in an undesirable part of the town, over a +_Bierhalle_ frequented by farmers and the middle class. Having a +moderately comfortable income of his own, he naturally preferred living +at the Grand Hotel. + +Where had he seen that young vintner before? + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile, the goose-girl set resolutely about the task of remarshaling +her awkward squad. With a soft, clucking sound she moved hither and +thither. A feather or two drifted lazily about in the air. At last she +gathered them in, all but one foolish, blank-eyed gander, which, poising +on a large boulder, threatened to dive headforemost into the torrent. +She coaxed him gently, then severely, but without success. The old man +in patches came up. + +"Let me get him for you, _Kindchen_," he volunteered. + +The good-fellowship in his voice impressed her far more than the humble +state of his dress. But she smiled and shook her head. + +"It is dangerous," she affirmed. "It will be wiser to wait. In a little +while he will come down of his own accord." + +"Bah!" cried the old man. "It is nothing; I am a mountaineer." + +In spite of his weariness, he proved himself to be a dexterous climber. +Foot by foot he crawled up the side of the huge stone. A slip, and his +life would not have been worth one of the floating feathers. The gander +saw him coming and stirred uneasily. Nearer and nearer came this human +spider. The gander flapped its wings, but hesitated to take the leap. +Instantly a brown hand shot up and caught the scaly yellow legs. There +was much squawking on the way down, but when his gandership saw his more +tractable brothers and sisters peacefully waddling up the road, he +subsided and took his place in the ranks without more ado. + +"You are a brave man, Herr." There was admiration in the girl's eyes. + +"To court danger and to overcome obstacles is a part of my regular +business. I do not know what giddiness is. You are welcome to the +service. It is a long walk from the valley." + +"I have walked it many times this summer. But this is the last day. +To-morrow I sell the geese in the market to the hotels. They have all +fine livers"--lightly touching a goose with her willow stick. + +"What, the hotels?"--humorously. + +"No, no, my geese!" + +"What was that song you were singing before the horses came up?" + +"That? It was from the poet Heine"--simply. + +He stared at her with a rudeness not at all intentional. + +"Heine? Can you read?" + +"Yes, Herr." + +The other walked along beside her in silence. After all, why not? Why +should he be surprised? From one end of the world to the other printer's +ink was spreading and bringing light. But a goose-girl who read Heine! + +"And the music?" he inquired presently. + +"That is mine"--with the first sign of diffidence. "Melodies are always +running through my head. Sometimes they make me forget things I ought to +remember." + +"Your own music? An impresario will be discovering you some fine day, +and your fortune will be made." + +The light irony did not escape her. "I am only a goose-girl." + +He felt disarmed. "What is your name?" + +"Gretchen." + +"What else?" + +"Nothing else"--wistfully. "I never knew any father or mother." + +"So?" This was easier for the other to understand. "But who taught you +to read?" + +"A priest. Once I lived in the mountains, at an inn. He used to come in +evenings, when the snow was not too deep. He taught me to read and +write, and many things besides. I know that Italy has all the works of +art; that France has the most interesting history; that Germany has all +the philosophers, and America all the money," adding a smile. "I should +like to see America. Sometimes I find a newspaper, and I read it all +through." + +"History?" + +"A little, and geography." + +"With all this wide learning you ought to be something better than a +tender of geese." + +"It is honest work, and that is good." + +"I meant nothing wrong, _Kindchen_. But you would find it easier in a +milliner's shop, as a lady's maid, something of that order." + +"With these?"--holding out her hands. + +"It would not take long to whiten them. Do you live alone?" + +"No. I live with my foster-mother, who is very old. I call her +grandmother. She took me in when I was a foundling; now I am taking care +of her. She has always been good to me. And what might your name be?" + +"Ludwig." + +"Ludwig what?"--inquisitive in her turn. + +"Oh, the other does not matter. I am a mountaineer from Jugendheit." + +"Jugendheit?" She paused to look at him more closely. "We are not +friendly with your country." + +"More's the pity. It is a grave blunder on the part of the grand duke. +There is a mote in his eye." + +"Wasn't it all about the grand duke's daughter?" + +"Yes. But she has been found. Yet the duke is as bitter as of old. He +is wrong, he was always wrong." The old man spoke with feeling. "What is +this new-found princess like?" + +"She is beautiful and kind." + +"So?" + +The geese were behaving, and only occasionally was she obliged to use +her stick. And as her companion asked no more questions, she devoted her +attention to the flock, proud of their broad backs and full breasts. + +On his part, he observed her critically, for he was more than curious +now, he was interested. She was not tall, but her lithe slenderness gave +her the appearance of tallness. Her hands, rough-nailed and sunburnt, +were small and shapely; the bare foot in the wooden shoe might have worn +without trouble Cinderella's magic slipper. Her clothes, coarse and +homespun, were clean and variously mended. Her hair, in a thick braid, +was the tone of the heart of a chestnut-bur, and her eyes were of that +mystifying hazel, sometimes brown, sometimes gray, according to whether +the sky was clear or overcast. And there was something above and beyond +all these things, a modesty, a gentleness and a purity; none of the +bold, rollicking, knowing manner so common in handsome peasant girls. He +contemplated her through half-closed eyes and gave her in fancy the +tariffing furbelows of a woman of fashion; she would have been +beautiful. + +"How old are you, Gretchen?" + +"I do not know," she answered, "perhaps eighteen, perhaps twenty." + +Again they went forward in silence. By the time they reached the gates +the sun was no longer visible on the horizon, but it had gone down ruddy +and uncrowned by any cloud, giving promise of a fair day on the morrow. +The afterglow on the mountains across the valley was now in its prime +glory; and once the two wayfarers paused and commented upon it. Once +more the mountaineer was agreeably surprised; the average peasant is +impervious to atmospheric splendor, beauty carries no message. + +Arriving at length in the city, they passed through the crooked streets, +sometimes so narrow that the geese were packed from wall to wall. Oft +some jovial soldier sent a jest or a query to them across the now gray +backs of the geese. But Gretchen looked on ahead, purely and serenely. + +"Gretchen, where shall I find the Adlergasse?" + +"We pass through it shortly. I will show you. You are also a stranger in +Dreiberg?" + +"Yes." + +They took the next turn, and the weather-beaten sign _Zum Schwartzen +Adler_, hanging in front of a frame house of many gables, caused the +mountaineer to breathe gratefully. + +"Here my journey ends, Gretchen. The Black Eagle," he added, in an +undertone; "it is unchanged these twenty years. Heaven send that the +beds are softer than aforetime!" + +They were passing a clock-mender's shop. The man from Jugendheit peered +in the window, which had not been cleaned in an age, but there was no +clock in sight to give him warning of the time, and he dared not now +look at his watch. He had a glimpse of the ancient clock-mender himself, +however, huddled over a table upon which sputtered a candle. It touched +up his face with grotesque lights. Here was age, mused the man outside +the window; nothing less than fourscore years rested upon those +rounded shoulders. The face was corrugated with wrinkles, like a +frosted road; eyes heavily spectacled, a ragged thatch of hair on the +head, a ragged beard on the chin. Aware of a shadow between him and the +fading daylight, the clock-mender looked up from his work. The eyes of +the two men met, but only for a moment. + +The mountaineer, who felt rejuvenated by this contrast, straightened his +shoulders and started to cross the street to the tavern. + + +[Illustration: "Good night, Gretchen. Good luck to you."] + + +"Good night, Gretchen. Good luck to you and your geese to-morrow." + +"Thanks, Herr Ludwig. And will you be long in the city?" + +"That depends; perhaps," adding a grim smile in answer to a grim +thought. + +He offered his hand, which she accepted trustfully. He was a strange old +man, but she liked him. When she withdrew her hand, something cold and +hard remained in her palm. Wonders of all the world! It was a piece of +gold. Her eyes went up quickly, but the giver smiled reassuringly and +put a finger against his lips. + +"But, Herr," she remonstrated. + +"Keep it; I give it to you. Do not question providence, and I am her +handmaiden just now. Go along with you." + +So Gretchen in a mild state of stupefaction turned away. Clat-clat! sang +the little wooden shoes. A plaintive gonk rose as she prodded a laggard +from the dank gutter. A piece of gold! Clat-clat! Clat-clat! Surely this +had been a day of marvels; two crowns from the grand duke and a piece of +gold from this old man in peasant clothes. Instinctively she knew that +he was not a peasant. But what could he be? Comparison would have made +him a king. She was too tired and hungry to make further deductions. + +She was regarded with kindly eyes till the dark jaws of the Krumerweg +swallowed up both her and her geese. + +"Poor little goose-girl!" he thought. "If she but knew, she could make a +bonfire of a thousand hearts. A fine day!" He eyed again the battered +sign. It was then that he discerned another, leaning from the ledge of +the first story of the house adjoining the tavern. It was the tarnished +shield of the United States. + +"What a penurious government it must be! Two weeks, tramping about the +country in this unholy garb, following false trails half the time, +living on crusts and cold meats. Ah, you have led me a merry dance, +nephew, but I shall not forget!" + +He entered the tavern and applied for a room, haggling over the price. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN AMERICAN CONSUL + + +The nights in Dreiberg during September are often chill. The heavy mists +from the mountain slip down the granite clifts and spread over the city, +melting all sharp outlines, enfeebling the gas-lamps, and changing the +moon, if there happens to be one, into something less than a moon and +something more than a pewter disk. And so it was this night. + +Carmichael, in order to finish his cigar on the little balcony fronting +his window, found it necessary to put on his light overcoat, though he +perfectly knew that he was in no manner forced to smoke on the balcony. +But the truth was he wanted a clear vision of the palace and the lighted +windows thereof, and of one in particular. He had no more sense than +Tom-fool, the abetter of follies. She was as far removed from him as the +most alien of the planets; but the magnet shall ever draw the needle, +and a woman shall ever draw a man. He knew that it was impossible, that +it grew more impossible day by day, and he railed at himself bitterly +and satirically. + +He sighed and teetered his legs. A sigh moves nothing forward, yet it is +as essential as life itself. It is the safety-valve to every emotion; it +is the last thing in laughter, the last thing in tears. One sighs in +entering the world and in leaving it, perhaps in protest. A child sighs +for the moon because it knows no better. Carmichael sighed for the +Princess Hildegarde, understanding. It was sigh or curse, and the latter +mode of expression wastes more vitality. Oh, yes; they made over him, as +the world goes; they dined and wined him and elected him honorary member +to their clubs; they patted him on the back and called him captain; but +it was all in a negligent toleration that turned every pleasure into +rust. + +Arthur Carmichael was Irish. He was born in America, educated there and +elsewhere, a little while in Paris, a little while at Bonn, and, like +all Irishmen, he was baned with the wandering foot; for the man who is +homeless by choice has a subtle poison in his blood. He was at Bonn when +the Civil War came. He went back to America and threw himself into the +fight with all the ardor that had made his forebears famous in the +service of the worthless Stuarts. It wasn't a question with him of the +mere love of fighting, of tossing the penny; he knew with which side he +wished to fight. He joined the cavalry of the North, and hammered and +fought his way to a captaincy. He was wounded five times and imprisoned +twice. His right eye was still weak from the effects of a powder +explosion; and whenever it bothered him he wore a single glass, +abominating, as all soldiers do, the burden of spectacles. At the end of +the conflict he returned to Washington. + +And then the inherent curse put a hand on his shoulder; he must be +moving. His parents were dead; there was no anchor, nor had lying +ambition enmeshed him. There was a little property, the income from +which was enough for his wants. Without any influence whatever, save his +pleasing address and his wide education, he blarneyed the State +Department out of a consulate. They sent him to Ehrenstein, at a salary +not worth mentioning, with the diplomatic halo of dignity as a tail to +the kite. He had been in the service some two years by now, and those +who knew him well rather wondered at his sedative turn of mind. Two +years in any one place was not in reckoning as regarded Carmichael; yet, +here he was, caring neither for promotion nor exchange. So, then, all +logical deductions simmered down to one: _Cherchez la femme_. + +He knew that his case would never be tried in court nor settled out of +it; and he realized that it would be far better to weigh anchor and set +his course for other parts. But no man ever quite forsakes his +dream-woman; and he had endued a princess with all the shining +attributes of an angel, when, had he known it, she was only angelic. + +The dreamer is invariably tripping over his illusions; and Carmichael +was rather boyish in his dreams. What absurd romances he was always +weaving round her! What exploits on her behalf! But never anything +happened, and never was the grand duke called upon to offer his +benediction. + +It was all very foolish and romantic and impossible, and no one +recognized this more readily than he. No American ever married a +princess of a reigning house, and no American ever will. This law is as +immovable as the law of gravitation. Still, man is master of his dreams, +and he may do as he pleases in the confines of this small circle. +Outside these temporary lapses, Carmichael was a keen, shrewd, +far-sighted young man, close-lipped and observant, never forgetting +faces, never forgetting benefits, loving a fight but never provoking +one. So he and the world were friends. Diplomacy has its synonym in +tact, and he was an able tactician, for all that an Irishman is +generally likened to a bull in a china-shop. + +"How the deuce will it end?"--musing half aloud. "I'll forget myself +some day and trip so hard that they'll be asking Washington for my +recall. I'll go over to the gardens and listen to the band. They are +playing dirges to-night, and anything funereal will be a light and happy +tonic to my present state of mind." + +He was standing on the curb in front of the hotel, his decision still +unrounded, when he noticed a closed carriage hard by the fountain in +the Platz. The driver dozed on his box. + +"Humph! There's a man who is never troubled with counting the fool's +beads. Silver and copper are his gods and goddesses. Ha! a fare!" + +A woman in black, thoroughly veiled and cloaked, came round from the +opposite side of the fountain. She spoke to the driver, and he tumbled +off the box, alive and hearty. There seemed to be a short interchange of +words of mutual satisfaction. The lady stepped into the carriage, the +driver woke up his ancient Bucephalus, and went clickety-clack down the +König Strasse toward the town. + +To Carmichael it was less than an incident. He twirled his cane and +walked toward the public gardens. Here he strolled about, watching the +people, numerous but orderly, with a bright military patch here and +there. The band struck up again, and he drifted with the crowd toward +the pavilion. The penny-chairs were occupied, so he selected a spot +off-side, near enough for all auditual purposes. One after another he +carelessly scanned the faces of those nearest. He was something of an +amateur physiognomist, but he seldom made the mistakes of the tyro. + +Within a dozen feet of him, her arms folded across her breast, her eyes +half shut in the luxury of the senses, stood the goose-girl. He smiled +as he recalled the encounter of that afternoon. It was his habit to ride +to the maneuvers every day, and several times he had noticed her, as +well as any rider is able to notice a pedestrian. But that afternoon her +beauty came home to him suddenly and unexpectedly. Had she been other +than what she was, a woman well-gowned, for instance, riding in her +carriage, his interest would have waned in the passing. But it had come +with the same definite surprise as when one finds a rare and charming +story in a dilapidated book. + +"Why couldn't I have fallen in love with some one like this?" he +cogitated. + +With a friendly smile on his lips, he took a step toward her, but +instantly paused. Colonel von Wallenstein of the general staff +approached her from the other side, and Carmichael was curious to find +out what that officer's object was. Wallenstein was a capital soldier, +and a jolly fellow round a board, but beyond that Carmichael had no +real liking for him. There were too many scented notes stuck in his +pockets. + +The colonel dropped his cigarette, leaned over Gretchen's shoulder and +spoke a few words. At first she gave no heed. The colonel persisted. +Without a word in reply, she resolutely sought the nearest policeman. +Wallenstein, remaining where he was, laughed. Meantime the policeman +frowned. It was incredible; his excellency could not possibly have +intended any wrong, it was only a harmless pleasantry. Gretchen's lips +quivered; the law of redress in Ehrenstein had no niche for the +goose-girl. + +"Good evening, colonel," said Carmichael pleasantly. "Why can't your +bandmaster give us light opera once in a while?" + +The colonel pulled his mustache in chagrin, but he did not give +Carmichael the credit for bringing about this cheapening sense. For the +time being Gretchen was freed from annoyance. The colonel certainly +could not rush off to her and give this keen-eyed American an +opportunity to witness a further rebuff. + +"Light operas are rare at present," he replied, accepting his defeat +amiably enough. + +"Paris is full of them just now," continued Carmichael. + +"Paris? Would you like a riot in the gardens?" asked the colonel, +amused. + +"A riot?" said Carmichael derisively. "Why, nothing short of a bombshell +would cause a riot among your phlegmatic Germans." + +"I believe you love your Paris better than your Dreiberg." + +"Not a bit of doubt. And down in your heart you do, too. Think of the +lights, the theaters, the cafés and the pretty women!" Carmichael's cane +described a flourish as if to draw a picture of these things. + +"Yes, yes," agreed the colonel reminiscently; "you are right. There is +no other night equal to a Parisian night. _Ach, Gott!_ But think of the +mornings, think of the mornings!"--dolefully. + +"On the contrary, let us not think of them!"--with a mock shudder. + +And then a pretty woman rose from a chair near-by. She nodded brightly +at the colonel, who bowed, excused himself to Carmichael, and made off +after her. + +"I believe I stepped on his toe that time," said Carmichael to himself. + +Then he looked round for Gretchen. She was still at the side of the +policeman. She had watched the scene between the two men, but was quite +unconscious that it had been set for her benefit. She came back. +Carmichael stepped confidently to her side and raised his hat. + +"Did you get your geese together without mishap?" he asked. + +The instinct of the child always remains with the woman. Gretchen +smiled. This young man would be different, she knew. + +"They were only frightened. But his highness"--eagerly--"was he very +angry?" + +"Angry? Not the least. He was amused. But he was nearly knocked off his +horse. If you lived in America now, you might reap a goodly profit from +that goose." + +"America? How?" + +"You could put him in a museum and exhibit him as an intimate friend of +the grand duke of Ehrenstein." + +But Gretchen did not laugh. It was a serious thing to talk lightly of so +grand a person as the duke. Still, the magic word America, where the +gold came from, flamed her curiosity. + +"You are from America?" + +"Yes." + +"Are you rich?" + +"In fancy, in dreams"--humorously. + +"Oh! I thought they were all rich." + +"Only one or two of us." + +"Is it very large, this America?" + +"France, Spain, Prussia would be lonesome if set down in America. Only +Russia has anything to boast of." + +"Did you fight in the war?" + +"Yes. Do you like music?" + +"Were you ever wounded?" + +"A scratch or two, nothing to speak of. But do you like music?" + +"Very, very much. When they play Beethoven, Bach, or Meyerbeer, _ach_, I +seem to live in another country. I hear music in everything, in the +leaves, the rain, the wind, the stream." + +It seemed strange to him that he had not noticed it at first, the almost +Hanoverian purity of her speech and the freedom with which she spoke. +The average peasant is diffident, with a vocabulary of few words, +ignorant of art or music or where the world lay. + +"What is your name?" + +"Gretchen." + +"It is a good name; it is famous, too." + +"Goethe used it." + +"So he did." Carmichael ably concealed his surprise: "You have some one +who reads to you?" + +"No, Herr. I can read and write and do sums in addition." + +He was willing to swear that she was making fun of him. Was she a simple +goose-girl? Was she not something more, something deeper? War-clouds +were forming in the skies; they might gather and strike at any time. And +who but the French could produce such a woman spy? Ehrenstein was not +Prussia, it was true; but the duchy with its twenty thousand troops was +one of the many pulses that beat in unison with this man Bismarck's +plans. Carmichael addressed her quickly in French, aiming to catch her +off her guard. + +"I do not speak French, Herr,"--honestly. + +He was certainly puzzled, but a glance at her hands dissolved his +doubts. These hands were used to toil, they were in no way disguised. No +Frenchwoman would sacrifice her hands for her country; at least, not to +this extent. Yet the two things in his mind would not readily cohese: a +goose-girl who was familiar with the poets and composers. + +"You have been to school?" + +"After a manner. My teacher was a kind priest. But he never knew that, +with knowledge, he was to open the gates of discontent." + +"Then you are not happy with your lot?" + +"Is any one, Herr?"--quietly. "And who might you be, and what might you +be doing here in Dreiberg, riding with the grand duke?" + +"I am the American consul." + +Gretchen took a step back. + +"Oh, it is nothing that will bite you," he added. + +"But perhaps I have been disrespectful!" + +"Pray, how?" + +Gretchen found that she had no definite explanation to offer. + +"What did Colonel Wallenstein say to you?" + +"Nothing of importance. I am used to it. I am perfectly able to take +care of myself," she answered. + +"But he annoyed you." + +"That is true," she admitted. + +"What did the policeman say?" + +"What would he say to a goose-girl?" + +"Shall I speak to him?" + +"Would it really do any good?"--skeptically. + +"It might. The duke is friendly toward me, and I am certain he would not +tolerate such conduct in his police." + +"You would only make enemies for me; insolence would become persecution. +I know. Yet, I thank you, Herr--" + +"Carmichael. Now, listen, Gretchen; if at any time you are in trouble, +you will find me at the Grand Hotel or at the consulate next door to the +Black Eagle." + +"I shall remember. Sometimes I work in the Black Eagle." And +recollection rose in her mind of the old man who had given her the gold +piece. + +"Good night," he said. + +"Thank you, Herr." + +Gretchen extended her hand and Carmichael took it in his own, inspecting +it. + +"Why do you do that?" + +"It is a good hand; it is strong, too." + +"It has to be strong, Herr. Good night." + +Carmichael raised his hat again, and Gretchen breathed contentedly as +she saw him disappear in the crowd. That little act of courtesy made +everything brighter. There was only one other who ever touched his hat +to her respectfully. And as she stood there, dreaming over the unusual +happenings of the day, she felt an arm slip through hers, gently but +firmly, even with authority. Her head went round. + +"Leo?" she whispered. + +The young vintner whom Carmichael had pushed against the wall that day +smiled from under the deep shade of his hat, drawn down well over his +face. + +"Gretchen, who was that speaking to you?" + +"Herr Carmichael, the American consul." + +"Carmichael!" The arm in Gretchen's stiffened. + +"What is it, Leo?" + +"Nothing. Only, I grow mad with rage when any of these gentlemen speak +to you. Gentlemen! I know them all too well." + +"This one means no harm." + +"I would I were certain. Ah, how I love you!" he whispered. + +Gretchen thrilled and drew his arm closely against her side. + +"To me the world began but two weeks ago. I have just begun to live." + +"I am glad," said Gretchen. "But listen." + +The band was playing again. + +"Sometimes I am jealous even of that." + +"I love you none the less for loving it." + +"I know; but I am sad and lonely to-night"--gloomily. "I want all your +thoughts." + +"Are they not always yours? And why should you be sad and miserable?" + +"Why, indeed!" + +"Leo, as much as I love you, there is always a shadow." + +"What shadow?" + +"It is always at night that I see you, rarely in the bright daytime. +What do you do during the day? It is not yet vintage. What do you do?" + +"Will you trust me a little longer, Gretchen, just a little longer?" + +"Always, not a little longer, always. But wait till the music stops and +I will tell you of my adventure." + +"You have had an adventure?"--distrustfully. + +"Yes. Be still." + +There were tones in Gretchen's voice that the young vintner could never +quite understand. There was a will little less than imperial, and often +as he rebelled, he never failed to bow to it. + +"What was this adventure?" he demanded, as the music stopped. + +She told him about the geese, the grand duke, and the two crowns. He +laughed, and she joined him, for it was amusing now. + +The musicians were putting away their instruments, the crowd was +melting, the attendants were stacking the chairs, so the two lovers went +out of the gardens toward the town and the Krumerweg. + +Meanwhile Carmichael had lectured the policeman, who was greatly +disturbed. + +"Your Excellency, I am sure Colonel von Wallenstein meant no harm." + +"Are you truthfully sure?" + +The policeman plucked at his beard nervously. "It is every man for +himself, as your excellency knows. Had I spoken to the colonel, he would +have had me broken." + +"You could have appealed to the duke." + +"Perhaps. I am sorry for the girl, but I have a family to take care of." + +"Well, mark me; this little woman loves music; she comes here often. The +next time she is annoyed by Wallenstein or any one else, you report it +to me. I'll see that it reaches his highness." + +"I shall gladly do that, your Excellency." + +Carmichael left the gardens and wandered with aimless step. He was +surprised to find that he was opposite the side gates to the royal +gardens. His feet had followed the bent of his mind. Yet he did not +cross the narrow side street. The sound of carriage wheels caused him to +halt. He waited. The carriage he had seen by the fountain drew up before +the gates, and the woman in black alighted. She spoke to the sentinel, +who opened the gates and closed them. The veiled lady vanished abruptly +beyond the shrubbery. + +"I wonder who that was?" was Carmichael's internal question. "Bah! Some +lady-in-waiting with an affair on hand." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FOR HER COUNTRY + + +"Count, must I tell you again not to broach that subject? There can be +no alliance between Ehrenstein and Jugendheit." + +"Why?" asked Count von Herbeck, chancellor, coolly returning the angry +flash from the ducal eyes. + +"There are a thousand reasons why, but it is not my purpose to name +them." + +"Name only one, your Highness, only one." + +"Will that satisfy you?" + +"Perhaps." + +"One of my reasons is that I do not want any alliance with a country so +perfidious as Jugendheit. What! I make overtures? I, who have been so +cruelly wronged all these years? You are mad." + +"But what positive evidence have you that Jugendheit wronged you?" + +"Positive? Have I eyes and ears? Have I not seen and read and heard?" +This time the duke struck the desk savagely. "Why do you always rouse me +in this fashion, Herbeck? You know how distasteful all this is to me." + +"Your highness knows that I look only to the welfare of the country. In +the old days it was a foregone conclusion that this alliance was to be +formed. Now, you persist in averring that the late king was the chief +conspirator in abducting her serene highness, aided by Arnsberg, whose +successor I have the honor to be. I have never yet seen any proofs. You +have never yet produced them. Show me something which absolutely +convicts them, and I'll surrender." + +"On your honor?" + +"My word." + +The grand duke struck the bell on the chancellor's desk. + +"My secretary, and tell him to bring me the packet marked A. He will +understand." + +The two men waited without speaking, each busy with thought. The duke +had been in his youth, and was still, a handsome man, splendidly set +up, healthy and vigorous, keen mentally, and whatever stubbornness he +possessed nicely balanced by common sense. He might have been guilty in +his youth of a few human peccadillos, but the kingly and princely +excesses which at that time were making the east side of the Rhine the +scandal of the world had in no wise sullied his name. Ehrenstein means +"stone of honor," and he had always carried the thought of this in his +heart. He was frank in his likes and dislikes, he hated secrets, and he +loved an opponent who engaged him in the open. Herbeck often labored +with him over this open manner, but the mind he sought to work upon was +as receptive to political hypocrisy as a wall of granite. It was this +extraordinary rectitude which made the duke so powerful an aid to +Bismarck in the days that followed. The Man of Iron needed this sort of +character as a cover and a buckler to his own duplicities. + +Herbeck was an excellent foil. He was as silent and secretive as sand. +He moved, as it were, in circles, thus always eluding dangerous corners. +He was tall, angular, with a thin, immobile countenance, well guarded +by his gray eyes and straight lips. He was a born financier, with almost +limitless ambition, though only he himself knew how far this ambition +reached. He had not brought prosperity to Ehrenstein, but he had +fortified and bastioned it against extravagance, and this was probably +the larger feat of the two. He loved his country, and brooded over it as +a mother broods over her child. Twice had he saved Ehrenstein from the +drag-net of war, and with honor. So he was admired by fathers and +revered by mothers. + +The secretary came in and laid a thin packet of papers on the +chancellor's desk. "It was the packet A, your Highness?"--his hand still +resting upon the documents. + +"Yes. You may go." + +The secretary bowed and withdrew. + +The duke stirred the papers angrily, took one of them and spread it out +with a rasp. + +"Look at that. Whose writing, I ask?" + +Herbeck adjusted his glasses and scrutinized the slanting hieroglyphics. +He ran over it several times. At length he opened a drawer in his desk, +sorted some papers, and brought out a yellow letter. This he laid down +beside the other. + +"Yes, they are alike. This will be Arnsberg. But"--mildly--"who may say +that it is not a cunning forgery?" + +"Forgery!" roared the duke. "Read this one from the late king of +Jugendheit to Arnsberg, then, if you still doubt." + +Herbeck read slowly and carefully. + +Then he rose and walked to the nearest window, studying the letter again +in the sharper light. Presently his hands fell behind his back and met +about the paper, while he himself stared over into the royal gardens. He +remained in this attitude for some time. + +"Well?" said the duke impatiently. + +Herbeck returned to his chair. "I wish that you had shown me these long +ago." + +"To what end?" + +"You accused the king?" + +"Certainly, but he denied it." + +"In a letter?" + +"Yes. Here, read it." + +Herbeck compared the two. "Where did you find these?" + +"In Arnsberg's desk," returned the duke, the anger in his eyes giving +place to gloomy retrospection. "Arnsberg, my boyhood playmate, the man I +loved and trusted and advanced to the highest office in my power. Is +that not the way? Do we ever trust any one fully without being in the +end deceived? Well, dead or alive," the duke continued, his throat +swelling, "ten thousand crowns to him who brings Arnsberg to me, dead or +alive." + +"He will never come back," said Herbeck. + +"Not if he is wise. He was clever. He sent all his fortune to Paris, so +I found, and what I confiscated was nothing but his estate. But do you +believe me"--putting a hand against his heart--"something here tells me +that some day fate will drag him back and give him into my hands?" + +"You are very bitter." + +"And have I not cause? Did not my wife die of a broken heart, and did I +not become a broken man? You do not know all, Herbeck, not quite all. +Franz also sought the hand of the Princess Sofia. He, too, loved her, +but I won. Well, his revenge must have been sweet to him." + +"But your daughter has been restored to her own." + +"Due to your indefatigable efforts alone. Ah, Herbeck, nothing will ever +fill up the gap between, nothing will ever restore the mother." The duke +bowed his head. + +Herbeck studied him thoughtfully. + +"I love my daughter and she loves me, but I don't know what it is, I +can't explain it," irresolutely. + +"What can not your highness explain?" + +"Perhaps the gap is too wide, perhaps the separation has been too long." + +Herbeck did not press the duke to be more explicit. He opened another +drawer and took forth a long hood envelope, crested and sealed. + +"Your Highness, here is a letter from the prince regent of Jugendheit, +formally asking the hand of the Princess Hildegarde for his nephew, +Frederick, who will shortly be crowned. My advice is to accept, to let +bygones be bygones." + +"Write the prince that I respectfully decline." + +"Do nothing in haste, your Highness. Temporize; say that you desire some +time to think about the matter. You can change your mind at any time. A +reply like this commits you to nothing, whereas your abrupt refusal will +only widen the breach." + +"The wider the breach the better." + +"No, no, your Highness; the past has disturbed you. We can stand war, +and it is possible that we might win, even against Jugendheit; but war +at this late day would be a colossal blunder. Victory would leave us +where we began thirty years ago. One does not go to war for a cause that +has been practically dead these sixteen years. And an insult to +Jugendheit might precipitate war. It would be far wiser to let me answer +the prince regent, saying that your highness will give the proposal your +thoughtful consideration." + +"Have your way, then, but on your head be it if you commit me to +anything." + +The duke was about to gather up his documentary evidence, when Herbeck +touched his hand. + +"I have an idea," said the chancellor. "A great many letters reach me +from day to day. I have an excellent memory. Who knows but that I might +find the true conspirator, the archplotter? Leave them with me, your +Highness." + +"I shall not ask you to be careful with them, Herbeck." + +"I shall treasure them as my life." + +The duke departed, stirred as he had not been since the restoration of +the princess. Herbeck sometimes irritated him, for he was never in the +wrong, he was never impatient, he was never hasty, he never had to go +over a thing twice. This supernal insight, which overlooked all things +but results, set the duke wondering if Herbeck was truly all human. If +only he could catch him at fault once in a while! + +Count von Herbeck remained at his desk, his face as inscrutable as ever, +his eyes without expression, and his lips expressing nothing. He +smoothed out a sheet of paper, affixed the state seal, and in a flowing +hand wrote a diplomatic note, considering the proposal of his royal +highness, the prince regent of Jugendheit, on behalf of his nephew, the +king. This he placed in the diplomatic pouch, called for a courier, and +despatched him at once for the frontier. + +The duke sought his daughter. She was in the music-room, surrounded by +several of her young women companions, each holding some musical +instrument in her hands. Hildegarde was singing. The duke paused, +shutting his eyes and striving to recall the voice of the mother. When +the voice died away and the young women leaned back in their chairs to +rest, the duke approached. Upon seeing him all rose. With a smile he +dismissed them. + +"My child," he began, taking Hildegarde's hand and drawing her toward a +window-seat, "the king of Jugendheit asks for your hand." + +"Mine, father?" + +"Even so." + +"Then I am to marry the king of Jugendheit?" There was little joy in her +voice. + +"Ah, we have not gone so far as that. The king, through his uncle, has +simply made a proposal. How would you regard it, knowing what you do of +the past, the years that you lived in comparative penury, amid +hardships, unknown, and almost without name?" + +"It is for you to decide, father. Whatever your decision is, I shall +abide by it." + +"It is a hard lesson we have to learn, my child. We can not always +marry where we love; diplomacy and politics make other plans. But +fortunately for you you love no one yet." He put his hand under her chin +and searched the deeps of her gray eyes. These eyes were more like her +mother's than anything else about her. "The king is young, handsome, +they say, and rich. Politically speaking, it would be a great match." + +"I am in your hands. You know what is best." + +The duke was poignantly disappointed. Why did she not refuse outright, +indignantly, contemptuously, as became one of the House of Ehrenstein? +Anything rather than this complacency. + +"What is he like?" disengaging his hand and turning her face toward the +window. + +"That no one seems to know. He has been to his capital but twice in ten +years, which doubtless pleased his uncle, who loves power for its own +sake. The young king has been in Paris most of the time. That's the way +they educate kings these days. They teach them all the vices and make +virtue an accident. Your father loves you, and if you are inclined +toward his majesty, if it is in your heart to become a queen, I shall +not let my prejudices stand in the way." + +She caught up his hand with a strange passion and kissed it. + +"Father, I do not want to marry any one," wistfully. "But a queen!" she +added thoughtfully. + +"It is only a sound, my dear; do not let it delude you. Herbeck advises +this alliance, and while I realize that his judgment is right, my whole +soul revolts against it. But all depends upon you." + +"Would it benefit the people? Would it be for the good of the state?" + +Here was reason. "Yes; my objections are merely personal," said the +duke. + +"For the good of my country, which I love, I am ready to make any +sacrifice. I shall think it over." + +"Very well; but weigh the matter carefully. There is never any retracing +a step of this kind." He stood up, his heart heavy. Saying no more, he +moved toward the door. + +She gazed after him, and suddenly and silently she stretched out her +arms, her eyes and face and lips yearning with love. Curiously enough, +the duke happened to turn. He was at her side in a moment, holding her +firm in his embrace. + +"You are all I have, girl!" with a bit of break in his voice. + +"My father!" She stroked his cheek. + +When he left the room it was with lighter step. + +The restoration of the Princess Hildegarde of Ehrenstein had been the +sensation of Europe, as had been in the earlier days her remarkable +abduction. For sixteen years the search had gone on fruitlessly. The +cleverest adventuresses on the continent tried devious tricks to palm +themselves off as the lost princess. From France they had come, from +Prussia, Italy, Austria, Russia and England. But the duke and the +chancellor held the secret, unknown to any one else--a locket. In a +garret in Dresden the agents of Herbeck found her, a singer in the +chorus of the opera. The newspapers and illustrated weeklies raged about +her for a while, elaborated the story of her struggles, the mysterious +remittances which had, from time to time, saved her from direst poverty, +her ambition, her education which, by dint of hard work, she had +acquired. It was all very puzzling and interesting and romantic. For +what purpose had she been stolen, and by whom? The duke accused Franz of +Jugendheit, but he did so privately. Search as they would, the duke and +the chancellor never traced the source of the remittances. The duke held +stubbornly that the sender of these benefactions was moved by the +impulse of a guilty conscience, and that this guilty conscience was in +Jugendheit. But these remittances, argued Herbeck, came long after the +death of the old king. He had his agents, vowed the duke. Herbeck would +not listen to this. He preferred to believe that Count von Arnsberg was +the man. + +There was an endless tangle of red tape before the girl became secure in +her rights. But finally, when William of Prussia and Franz Josef of +Austria congratulated the duke, everybody else fell into line, and every +troop in the duchy came to Dreiberg to the celebration. Then the world +ran away in pursuit of other adventures, and forgot all about her serene +highness. + +And was she happy with all this grandeur, with all these lackeys and +attentions and environs? Who can say? Sometimes she longed for the +freedom and lack-care of her Dresden garret, her musician friends, the +studios, the crash and glitter of the opera. To be suddenly deprived of +the fruits of ambition, to reach such a pinnacle without striving, to be +no longer independent, somehow it was all tasteless with the going of +the novelty. + +She looked like a princess, she moved and acted like one, but after the +manner of kindly fairy princesses in story-books. All fell in love with +her, from the groom who saddled her horse, to the chancellor, who up to +this time was known never to have loved anything but the state. + +She was lovely enough to inspire fervor and homage and love in all +masculine minds. She was witty and talented. Carmichael said she was one +of the most beautiful women in Europe. Later he modified this statement +by declaring that she was the most beautiful woman in Europe or +elsewhere. Yet, often she went about as one in a waking dream. There was +an aloofness which was not born of hauteur but rather of a lingering +doubt of herself. + +She was still in the window-seat when the chancellor was announced. She +distrusted him a little, she knew not why; yet, when he bent over her +hand she was certain that his whole heart was behind his salute. + +"Your Highness," he said, "I am come to announce to you that there waits +for you a high place in the affairs of the world." + +"The second crown in Jugendheit?" + +"Your father--?" + +"Yes. He leaves the matter wholly in my hands." + +The sparkle in his eyes was the first evidence of emotion she had ever +seen in him. It rather pleased her. + +"It is for the good of the state. A princess like yourself must never +wed an inferior." + +"Would a man who was brave and kind and resourceful, but without a +title, would he be an inferior?" + +"Assuredly, politically. And I regret to say that your marriage could +never be else than a matter of politics." + +"I am, then, for all that I am a princess, simply a certificate of +exchange?" + +His keen ear caught the bitter undercurrent. "The king of Jugendheit is +young. I do not see how he can help loving you the moment he knows you. +Who can?" And the chancellor enjoyed the luxury of a smile. + +"But he may not be heart whole." + +"He will be, politically." + +"Politics, politics; how I hate the word! Sometimes I regret my garret." + +The chancellor frowned. "Your Highness, I beg of you never to give that +thought utterance in the presence of your father." + +"Ah, believe me, I am not ungrateful; but all this is new to me, even +yet. I am living in a dream, wondering and wondering when I shall wake." + +The chancellor wrinkled his lips. It was more of a grimace than a smile. + +"Will you consent to this marriage?" + +"Would it do any good to reject it?" + +"On the contrary, it would do Ehrenstein great harm." + +"Give me a week," wearily. + +"A week!" There was joy on the chancellor's face now, unmasked, +unconcealed. "Oh, when the moment comes that I see the crown of +Jugendheit on your beautiful head, all my work shall not have been in +vain. So then, within seven days I shall come for your answer?" + +"One way or the other, my answer will be ready then." + +"There is one thing more, your Highness." + +"And that?" + +"There must not be so many rides in the morning with his excellency, +Herr Carmichael." + +She met his piercing glance with that mild duplicity known only to +women. "He is a gentleman, he amuses me, and there is no harm. Grooms +are always with us. And often he is only one of a party." + +"It is politics again, your Highness; I merely offer the suggestion." + +"Marry me to the king of Jugendheit, if you will, but in this I shall +have my way." But she laughed as she laid down this law. + +He surrendered his doubt. "Well, for a week. But once the banns are +published, it will be neither wise nor--" + +"Proper? That is a word, Count, that I do not like." + +"Pardon me, your Highness. All this talk is merely for the sake of +saving you needless embarrassment." + +He bowed and took his leave of her. + +"Jugendheit! Ah, I had rather my garret, my garret!" + +And her gaze sped across the Platz and lingered about one of the little +window-balconies of the Grand Hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE YOUNG VINTNER + + +The Black Eagle (_Zum Schwartzen Adler_) in the Adlergasse was a +prosperous tavern of the second rate. The house was two hundred years +old and had been in the Bauer family all that time. + +Had Fräu Bauer, or Fräu-Wirtin, as she was familiarly called, been +masculine, she would have been lightly dubbed Bauer VII. She was a +widow, and therefore uncrowned. She had been a widow for many a day, for +the novelty of being her own manager had not yet worn off. She was +thirty-eight, plump, pretty in a free-hand manner, and wise. It was +useless to loll about the English bar where she kept the cash-drawer; it +was useless to whisper sweet nothings into her ear; it was more than +useless, it was foolish. + +"Go along with you, Herr; I wouldn't marry the best man living. I can +add the accounts, I can manage. Why should I marry?" + +"But marriage is the natural state!" + +"Herr, I crossed the frontier long ago, but having recrossed it, never +again shall I go back. One crown-forty, if you please. Thank you." + +This retort had become almost a habit with the Fräu-Wirtin; and when a +day went by without a proposal, she went to bed with the sense that the +day had not been wholly successful. + +To-night the main room of the tavern swam in a blue haze of smoke, which +rose to the blackened rafters, hung with many and various sausages, +cheeses, and dried vegetables. Dishes clattered, there was a buzzing of +voices, a scraping of feet and chairs, a banging of tankards, altogether +noisy and cheerful. The Fräu-Wirtin preferred waitresses, and this +preference was shared by her patrons. They were quicker, cleaner; they +remembered an order better; they were not always surreptitiously +emptying the dregs of tankards on the way to the bar, as men invariably +did. Besides, the barmaid was an English institution, and the +Fräu-Wirtin greatly admired that race, though no one knew why. The girls +fully able to defend themselves, and were not at all diffident in boxing +a smart fellow's ears. They had a rough wit and could give and take. If +a man thought this an invitation and tried to take a kiss, he generally +had his face slapped for his pains, and the Fräu-Wirtin was always on +the side of her girls. + +The smoke was so thick one could scarcely see two tables away, and if +any foreigner chanced to open a window there was a hubbub; windows were +made for light, not air. There were soldiers, non-commissioned +officers--for the fall maneuvers brought many to Dreiberg--farmers and +their families, and the men of the locality who made the Black Eagle a +kind of socialist club. Socialism was just taking hold in those days, +and the men were tremendously serious and secretive regarding it, as it +wasn't strong enough to be popular with governments which ruled by +hereditary might and right. + +Gretchen came in, a little better dressed than in the daytime, the +change consisting of coarse stockings and shoes of leather, of which she +was correspondingly proud. + +"Will you want me, Fräu-Wirtin, for a little while to-night?" she asked. + +"Till nine. Half a crown as usual." + +Gretchen sought the kitchen and found an apron and cap. These +half-crowns were fine things to pick up occasionally, for it was only +upon occasions that she worked at the Black Eagle. + +In an obscure corner sat the young vintner. He had finished his supper +and was watching and scrutinizing all who came in. His face brightened +as he saw the goose-girl; he would have known that head anywhere, +whether he saw the face or not. He wanted to go to her at once, but knew +this action would not be wise. + +In the very corner itself, his back to the vintner's, and nothing but +the wall to look at, was the old man in tatters and patches, the +mountaineer who possessed a Swiss watch and gave golden coins to +goose-girls. He was busily engaged in gnawing the leg of a chicken. +Between times he sipped his beer, listening. + +Carmichael had forgotten some papers that day. He had dined early at the +hotel and returned at once to the consulate. He was often a visitor at +the Black Eagle. The beer was sweet and cool. So, having pocketed his +papers, he was of a mind to carry on a bit of badinage with Fräu Bauer. +As he stepped into the big hall, in his evening clothes, he was as +conspicuous as a passing ship at sea. + +"Good evening, Fräu-Wirtin." + +"Good evening, your Excellency." She was quite fluttered when this fine +young man spoke to her. He was the only person who ever caused her +embarrassment, even though temporary. There was always a whimsical smile +on his lips and in his eyes, and Fräu Bauer never knew exactly how to +take him. "What is on your mind?" brightly. + +"Many things. You haven't aged the least since last I saw you." + +"Which was day before yesterday!" + +"Not any further back than that?" + +"Not an hour." + +She turned to make change, while Carmichael's eyes roved in search of a +vacant chair. He saw but one. + +"The goose-girl?" he murmured suddenly. "Is Gretchen one of your +waitresses?" + +"She comes in once in a while. She's a good girl and I'm glad to help +her," Fräu Bauer replied. + +"I do not recollect having seen her here before." + +"That is because you rarely come at night." + +Gretchen carried a tray upon which steamed a vegetable stew. She saw +Carmichael and nodded. + +"I shall be at yonder table," he said indicating the vacant chair. "Will +you bring me a tankard of brown Ehrensteiner?" + +"At once, Herr." + +Carmichael made his way to the table. Across the room he had not +recognized the vintner, but now he remembered. He had crowded him +against a wall two or three days before. + +"This seat is not reserved, Herr?" he asked pleasantly, with his hand on +the back of the chair. + +"No." There was no cordiality in the answer. The vintner turned back the +lid of his stein and drank slowly. + +Carmichael sat down sidewise, viewing the scene with never-waning +interest. These German taverns were the delight of his soul. Everybody +was so kindly and orderly and hungry. They ate and drank like persons +whose consciences were not overburdened. From the corner of his eye he +observed that the vintner was studying him. Now this vintner's face was +something familiar. Carmichael stirred his memory. It was not in +Dreiberg that he had seen him before. But where? + +Gretchen arrived with the tankard which she sat down at Carmichael's +elbow. + +"Will you not join me, Herr?" he invited. + +"Thank you," said the vintner, without hesitation. + +He smiled at Gretchen and she smiled at him. Carmichael smiled at them +both tolerantly. + +"What will you be drinking?" + +"Brown," said the vintner. + +Gretchen took up the empty tankard and made off. The eyes of the two men +followed her till she reached the dim bar, then their glances swung +round and met. Carmichael was first to speak, not because he was forced +to, but because it was his fancy at that moment to give the vintner the +best of it. + +"She is a fine girl." + +"Yes," tentatively. + +"She is the handsomest peasant I ever saw or knew." + +"You know her?" There was a spark in the vintner's eyes. + +"Only for a few days. She interests me." Carmichael produced a pipe and +lighted it. + +"Ah, yes, the pretty peasant girl always interests you gentlemen." There +was a note of bitterness. "Did you come here to seek her?" + +"This is the first time I ever saw her here. And let me add," evenly, +"that my interest in her is not of the order you would infer. She is +good and patient and brave, and my interest in her is impersonal. It is +not necessary for me to make any explanations, but I do so." + +"Pardon me!" The vintner was plainly abashed. + +"Granted. But you, you seem to possess a peculiar interest." + +The vintner flushed. "I have that right," with an air which rather +mystified Carmichael. + +"That explains everything. I do not recollect seeing you before in the +Black Eagle." + +"I am from the north; a vintner, and there is plenty of work here in +the valleys late in September." + +"The grape," mused Carmichael. "You will never learn how to press it as +they do in France. It is wine there; it is vinegar this side of the +Rhine." + +"France," said the vintner moodily. "Do you think there will be any +France in the future?" + +Carmichael laughed. "France is an incurable cosmic malady; it will +always be. It may be beaten, devastated, throttled, but it will not +die." + +"You are fond of France?" + +"Very." + +"Do you think it wise to say so here?" + +"I am the American consul; nobody minds my opinions." + +"The American consul," repeated the vintner. + +Gretchen could now be seen, wending her return in and out among the +clustering tables. She set the tankards down, and Carmichael put out a +silver crown. + +"And do not bother about the change." + +"Are all Americans rich?" she asked soberly. "Do you never keep the +change yourselves?" + + +[Illustration: "Are all Americans rich?" she asked, soberly.] + + +"Not when we are in our Sunday clothes." + +"Then it is vanity." Gretchen shook her head wisely. + +"Mine is worth only four coppers to-night," he said. + +The vintner laughed pleasantly. Gretchen looked into his eyes, and an +echo found haven in her own. + +Carmichael thirstily drank his first tankard, thinking: "So this vintner +is in love with our goose-girl? Confound my memory! It never failed me +like this before. I would give twenty crowns to know where I have seen +him. It's only the time and place that bothers me, not the face. A fine +beer," he said aloud, holding up the second tankard. + +The vintner raised his; there was an unconscious grace in the movement. +A covert glance at his hand satisfied Carmichael in regard to one thing. +He might be a vintner, but the hand was as soft and well-kept as a +woman's, for all that it was stained by wind and sunshine. A handsome +beggar, whoever and whatever he was. But a second thought disturbed him. +Could a man with hands like these mean well toward Gretchen? He was a +thorough man of the world; he knew innocence at first glance, and +Gretchen was both innocent and unworldly. To the right man she might be +easy prey. Never to a man like Colonel von Wallenstein, whose power and +high office were alike sinister to any girl of the peasantry; but a man +in the guise of her own class, of her own world and people, here was a +snare Gretchen might not be able to foresee. He would watch this fellow, +and at the first sign of an evil--Carmichael's muscular brown hands +opened and shut ominously. The vintner did not observe this peculiar +expression of the hands; and Carmichael's face was bland. + +A tankard, rapping a table near-by, called Gretchen to her duties. There +was something reluctant in her step, in the good-by glance, in the +sudden fall of the smiling lips. + +"She will make some man a good wife," said Carmichael. + +The vintner scowled at his tankard. + +"He is not sure of her," thought Carmichael. Aloud he said: "What a +funny world it is!" + +"How?" + +"Gretchen is beautiful enough to be a queen, and yet she is merely a +Hebe in a tavern." + +"Hebe?" suspiciously. The peasant is always suspicious of anything he +doesn't understand. + +"Hebe was a cup-bearer to the mythological gods in olden times," +Carmichael explained. He had set a trap, but the vintner had not fallen +into it. + +"A fairy-story." The vintner nodded; he understood now. + +Carmichael's glance once more rested on the vintner's hand. He would lay +another trap. + +"What happened to her?" + +"Oh," said Carmichael, "she spilled wine on a god one day, and they +banished her." + +"It must have been a rare vintage." + +"I suppose you are familiar with all valleys. Moselle?" + +"Yes. That is a fine country." + +The old man in tatters sat erect in his chair, but he did not turn his +head. + +"You have served?" + +"A little. If I could be an officer I should like the army." The vintner +reached for his pipe which lay on the table. + +"Try this," urged Carmichael, offering his pouch. + +"This will be good tobacco, I know." The vintner filled his pipe. + +Carmichael followed this gift with many questions about wines and +vintages; and hidden in these questions were a dozen clever traps. But +the other walked over them, unhesitant, with a certainty of step which +chagrined the trapper. + +By and by the vintner rose and bade his table-companion a good night. He +had not offered to buy anything, another sign puzzling to Carmichael. +This frugality was purely of the thrifty peasant. But the vintner was +not ungrateful, and he expressed many thanks. On his way to the door he +stopped, whispered into Gretchen's ear, and passed out into the black +street. + +"Either he is a fine actor, or he is really what he says he is." +Carmichael was dissatisfied. "I'll stake my chances on being president +of the United States, which is safe enough as a wager, that this fellow +is not genuine. I'll watch him. I've stumbled upon a pretty romance of +some sort, but I fear that it is one-sided." He wrinkled his forehead, +but that part of his recollection he aimed to stir remained fallow, in +darkness. + +The press in the room was thinning. There were vacant chairs here and +there now. A carter sauntered past and sat down unconcernedly at the +table occupied by the old man whose face Carmichael had not yet seen. +The two exchanged not even so much as a casual nod. A little later a +butcher approached the same table and seated himself after the manner of +the carter. It was only when the dusty baker came along and repeated +this procedure, preserving the same silence, that Carmichael's curiosity +was enlivened. This curiosity, however, was only of the evanescent +order. Undoubtedly they were socialists and this was a little conclave, +and the peculiar manner of their meeting, the silence and mystery, were +purely fictional. Socialism at that time revolved round the blowing up +of kings, of demolishing established order. Neither kings were blown up +nor order demolished, but it was a congenial topic over which to while +away an evening. This was in the German states; in Russia it was a +different matter. + +Had Carmichael not fallen a-dreaming over his pipe he would have seen +the old man pass three slips of paper across the table; he would have +seen the carter, the butcher, and the baker pocket these slips +stolidly; he would have seen the mountaineer wave his hand sharply and +the trio rise and disperse. And perhaps it would have been well for him +to have noted these singular manifestations of conspiracy, since shortly +he was to become somewhat involved. It was growing late; so Carmichael +left the Black Eagle, nursing the sunken ember in his pipe and +surrendering no part of his dream. + +Intermediately the mountaineer paid his score and started for the stairs +which led to the bedrooms above. But he stopped at the bar. A very old +man was having a pail filled with hot cabbage soup. It was the ancient +clock-mender across the way. The mountaineer was startled out of his +habitual reserve, but he recovered his composure almost instantly. The +clock-mender, his heavy glasses hanging crookedly on his nose, his whole +aspect that of a weary, broken man, took down his pail and shuffled +noiselessly out. The mountaineer followed him cautiously. Once in his +shop the clock-mender poured the steaming soup into a bowl, broke bread +in it, and began his evening meal. The other, his face pressed against +the dim pane, stared and stared. + +"_Gott in Himmel!_ It is _he_!" he breathed, then stepped back into the +shadow, while the moisture from his breath slowly faded and disappeared +from the window-pane. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A COMPATRIOT + + +Krumerweg was indeed a crooked way. It formed a dozen elbows and ragged +half-circles as it slunk off from the Adlergasse. Streets have character +even as humans, and the Krumerweg reminded one of a person who was +afraid of being followed. The shadow of the towering bergs lay upon it, +and the few stars that peered down through the narrow crevice of +rambling gables were small, as if the brilliant planets had neither time +nor inclination to watch over such a place. And yet there lived in the +Krumerweg many a kind and loyal heart, stricken with poverty. In old +times the street had had an evil name, now it possessed only a pitiful +one. + +It was half after nine when Gretchen and the vintner picked their way +over cobbles pitted here and there with mud-holes. They were arm in arm, +and they laughed when they stumbled, laughed lightly, as youth always +laughs when in love. + +"Only a little farther," said Gretchen, for the vintner had never before +passed over this way. + +"Long as it is and crooked, Heaven knows it is short enough!" He +encircled her with his arms and kissed her. "I love you! I love you!" he +said. + +Gretchen was penetrated with rapture, for her ears, sharp with love and +the eternal doubting of man, knew that falsehood could not lurk in such +music. This handsome boy loved her. Buffeted as she had been, she could +separate the false from the true. Come never so deep a sorrow, there +would always be this--he loved her. Her bosom swelled, her heart +throbbed, and she breathed in ecstasy the sweet chill air that rushed +through the broken street. + +"After the vintage," she said, giving his arm a pressure. For this +handsome fellow was to be her husband when the vines were pruned and +freshened against the coming winter. + +"Aye, after the vintage," he echoed; but there was tragedy in his heart +as deep and profound as his love. + +"My grandmother--I call her that for I haven't any grandmother--is old +and seldom leaves the house. I promised that after work to-night I'd +bring my man home and let her see how handsome he is. She is always +saying that we need a man about; and yet, I can do a man's work as well +as the next one. I love you, too, Leo!" She pulled his hand to her lips +and quickly kissed it, frightened but unashamed. + +"Gretchen, Gretchen!" + +She stopped. "What is it?" keenly. "There was pain in your voice." + +"The thought of how I love you hurts me. There is nothing else, nothing, +neither riches nor crowns, nothing but you, Gretchen. How long ago was +it I met you first?" + +"Two weeks." + +"Two weeks? Is it not years? Have I not always known and loved you?" + +"And I! What an empty heart and head were mine till that wonderful day! +You were tired and dusty and footsore; you had walked some twenty odd +miles; yet you helped me with the geese. There were almost tears in your +eyes, but I knew that your heart was a man's when you smiled at me." +She stopped again and turned him round to her. "And you love me like +this?" + +"Whatever betide, _Lieberherz_, whatever befall." And he embraced her +with a fierce tenderness, and so strong was he in the moment that +Gretchen gave a cry. He kissed her, not on the lips, but on the fine +white forehead, reverently. + +They proceeded, Gretchen subdued and the vintner silent, until they came +to the end of their journey at number forty in the Krumerweg. It was a +house of hanging gables, almost as old as the town itself, solid and +grim and taciturn. There are some houses which talk like gossips, noisy, +obtrusive and provocative. Number forty was like an old warrior, gone to +his chair by the fireside, who listens to the small-talk of his +neighbors saturninely. What was it all about? Had he not seen battles +and storms, revolutions and bloodshed? The prattle of children was +preferable. + +Gretchen's grandmother, Fräu Schwarz, owned the house; it was all that +barricaded her from poverty's wolves, and, what with sundry taxes and +repairs and tenants who paid infrequently, it was little enough. +Whatever luxuries entered at number forty were procured by Gretchen +herself. At present the two stories were occupied; the second by a +malter and his brood of children, the third by a woman who was partially +bedridden. The lower or ground floor of four rooms she reserved for +herself. As a matter of fact the forward room, with its huge middle-age +fireplace and the great square of beamed and plastered walls and stone +flooring, was sizable for all domestic purposes. Gretchen's pallet stood +in a small alcove and the old woman's bed by the left of the fire. + +Gretchen opened the door, which was unlocked. There was no light in the +hall. She pressed her lover in her arms, kissed him lightly, and pushed +him into the living-room. A log smoldered dimly on the irons. Gretchen +ran forward, turned over the log, lighted two candles, then kissed the +old woman seated in the one comfortable chair. The others were simply +three-legged stools. There was little else in the room, save a poor +reproduction of the Virgin Mary. + +"Here I am, grandmother!" + +"And who is here with you?" sharply but not unkindly. + +"My man!" cried Gretchen gaily, her eyes bright as the candle flames. + +"Bring him near me." + +Gretchen gathered up two stools and placed them on either side of her +grandmother and motioned to the vintner to sit down. He did so, easily +and without visible embarrassment, even though the black eyes plunged a +glance into his. + +Her hair was white and thin, her nose aquiline, her lips fallen in, a +cobweb of wrinkles round her eyes, down her cheeks, under her chin. But +her sight was undimmed. + +"Where are you from? You are not a Dreiberger." + +"From the north, grandmother," forcing a smile to his lips. + +The reply rather gratified her. + +"Your name." + +"Leopold Dietrich, a vintner by trade." + +"You speak like a Hanoverian or a Prussian." + +"I have passed some time in both countries. I have wandered about a good +deal." + +"Give me your hand." + +The vintner looked surprised for a moment. Gretchen approved. So he gave +the old woman his left hand. The grandmother smoothed it out upon her +own and bent her shrewd eyes. Silence. Gretchen could hear the malter +stirring above; the log cracked and burst into flame. A frown began to +gather on the vintner's brow and a sweat in his palm. + +"I see many strange things here," said the palmist, in a brooding tone. + +"And what do you see?" asked Gretchen eagerly. + +"I see very little of vineyards. I see riches, pomp; I see vast armies +moving against each other; there is the smell of powder and fire; +devastation. I do not see you, young man, among those who tramp with +guns on their shoulders. You ride; there is gold on your arms. You will +become great; but I do not understand. I do not understand," closing her +eyes for a moment. + +The vintner sat upright, his chin truculent, his arm tense. + +"War!" he murmured. + +Gretchen's heart sank; there was joy in his voice. + +"Go on, grandmother," she whispered. + +"Shall I live?" asked the vintner, whose belief in prescience till this +hour had been of a negative quality. + +"There is nothing here save death in old age, vintner." Her gnarled hand +seized his in a vise. "Do you mean well by my girl?" + +"Grandmother!" Gretchen remonstrated. + +"Silence!" + +The vintner withdrew his hand slowly. + +"Is this the hand of a liar and a cheat? Is it the hand of a dishonest +man?" + +"There is no dishonesty there; but there are lines I do not understand. +Oh, I can not see everything; it is like seeing people in a mist. They +pass instantly and disappear. But I repeat, do you mean well by my +girl?" + +"Before God and His angels I love her; before all mankind I would gladly +declare it. Gretchen shall never come to harm at these hands. I swear +it." + +"I believe you." The old woman's form relaxed its tenseness. + +"Thanks, grandmother," said Gretchen. "Now, read what my hand says." + +The old woman took the hand. She loved Gretchen. + +"I read that you are gentle and brave and cheerful, that you have a +loyal heart and a pure mind. I read that you are in love and that some +day you will be happy." A smile went over her face, a kind of winter +sunset. + +"You are not looking at my hand at all, grandmother," said Gretchen in +reproach. + +"I do not need, my child. Your life is written in your face." The +grandmother spoke again to the vintner. "So you will take her away from +me?" + +"Will it be necessary?" he returned quietly. "Have you any objection to +my becoming your foster grandchild, such as Gretchen is?" + +The old woman made no answer. She closed her eyes and did not open them. +Gretchen motioned that this was a sign that the interview was ended. But +as he rose to his feet there was a sound outside. A carriage had +stopped. Some one opened the door and began to climb the stairs. The +noise ceased only when the visitor reached the top landing. Then all +became still again. + +"There is something strange going on up there," said Gretchen in a +whisper. + +"In what way?" asked the vintner in like undertones. + +"Three times a veiled lady has called at night, three times a man +muffled up so one could not see his face." + +"Let us not question our twenty-crowns rent, Gretchen," interrupted the +grandmother, waking. "So long as no one is disturbed, so long as the +police are not brought to our door, it is not our affair. Leopold, +Gretchen, give me your hands." She placed them one upon the other, then +spread out her hands above their heads. "The Holy Mother bring happiness +and good luck to you, Gretchen." + +"And to me?" said the youth. + +"I could not wish you better luck than to give you Gretchen. Now, leave +me." + +The vintner picked up his hat and Gretchen led him to the street. + +He hurried away, giving no glance at the closed carriage, the sleepy +driver, the weary horse. Neither did he heed the man dressed as a carter +who, when he saw the vintner, turned and followed. Finally, when the +vintner veered into the Adlergasse, he stopped, his hands clenched, his +teeth hard upon each other. He even leaned against the wall of a house, +his face for the moment hidden in his arm. + +"Wretch that I am! Damnable wretch! Krumerweg, Krumerweg! Crooked way, +indeed!" He flung down his arm passionately. "There will be a God up +yonder," looking at the stars. "He will see into my heart and know that +it is not bad, only young. Oh, Gretchen!" + +"Gretchen?" The carter stepped into a shadow and waited. + + * * * * * + +Carmichael did not enjoy the opera that night. He had missed the first +acts, and the last was gruesome, and the royal box was vacant. Outside +he sat down on one of the benches near the fountains in the Platz. His +prolific imagination took the boundaries. Ah! That morning's ride, down +the southern path of the mountains, the black squirrels in the branches, +the red fox in the bushes, the clear spring, and the drink out of the +tin cup which hung there for the thirsty! How prettily she had wrapped a +leaf over the rusted edge of the cup! The leaf lay in his pocket. He had +kissed a dozen times the spot where her lips had pressed it. Blind +fool! Deeper and deeper; he knew that he never could go back to that +safe ledge of the heart-free. Time could not change his heart, not if +given the thousand years of the wandering Jew. + +Bah! He would walk round the fountain and cool his crazy pulse. He was +Irish, Irish to the core. Would any one, save an Irishman, give way, day +after day, to those insane maunderings? His mood was savage; he was at +odds with the world, and most of all, with himself. If only some one +would come along and shoulder him rudely! He laughed ruefully. He was in +a fine mood to make an ass of himself. + +He left the bench and strolled round the fountain, his cane behind his +back, his chin in his collar. He had made the circle several times, then +he blundered into some one. The fighting mood was gone now, the walk +having calmed him. He murmured a short apology for his clumsiness and +started on, without even looking at the animated obstacle. + +"Just a moment, my studious friend." + +"Wallenstein? I didn't see you." Carmichael halted. + +"That was evident," replied the colonel jestingly. "Heavens! Have you +really cares of state, that you walk five times round this fountain, +bump into me, and start to go on without so much as a how-do-you-do?" + +"I'm absent-minded," Carmichael admitted. + +"Not always, my friend." + +"No, not always. You have some other meaning?" + +"That is possible. Now, I do not believe that it was absent-mindedness +which made you step in between me and that pretty goose-girl, the other +night." + +"Ah!" Carmichael was all alertness. + +"It was not, I believe?" + +"It was coldly premeditated," said Carmichael, folding his arms over his +cane which he still held behind his back. His attitude and voice were +pleasant. + +"It was not friendly." + +"Not to you, perhaps. But that happens to be an innocent girl, Colonel. +You're no Herod. There was nothing selfish in my act. You really annoyed +her." + +"Pretense; they always begin that way." + +"I confess I know little about that kind of hunting, but I'm sure +you've started the wrong quarry this time." + +"You are positive that you were disinterested?" + +"Come, come, Colonel, this sounds like the beginning of a quarrel; and a +quarrel should never come into life between you and me. I taught you +draw-poker; you ought to be grateful for that, and to accept my word +regarding my disinterestedness." + +"I do not wish any quarrel, my Captain; but that girl's face has +fascinated me. I propose to see her as often as I like." + +"I have no objection to offer; but I told Gretchen that if any one, no +matter who, ever offers her disrespect, to report the matter to me at +the consulate." + +"That is meddling." + +"Call it what you like, my Colonel." + +"Well, in case she is what you consider insulted, what will you do?" a +challenge in his tones. + +"Report the matter to the police." + +Wallenstein laughed. + +"And if the girl finds no redress there," tranquilly, "to the +chancellor." + +"You would go so far?" + +"Even further," unruffled. + +"It looks as though you had drawn your saber," with irony. + +"Oh, I can draw it, Colonel, and when I do I guarantee you'll find no +rust on it. Come," and Carmichael held out his hand amicably, "Gretchen +is already in love with one of her kind. Let the child be in peace. +What! Is not the new ballerina enough conquest? They are all talking +about it." + +"Good night, Herr Carmichael!" The colonel, ignoring the friendly hand, +saluted stiffly, wheeled abruptly, and left Carmichael staring rather +stupidly at his empty hand. + +"Well, I'm hanged! All right," with a tilt of the shoulders. "One enemy +more or less doesn't matter. I'm not afraid of anything save this fool +heart of mine. If he says an ill word to Gretchen, and I hear of it, +I'll cane the blackguard, for that's what he is at bottom. Well, I was +looking for trouble, and here it is, sure enough." + +He saw a carriage coming along. He recognized the white horse as it +passed the lamps. He stood still for a space, undecided. Then he sped +rapidly toward the side gates of the royal gardens. The vehicle stopped +there. But this time no woman came out. Carmichael would have recognized +that lank form anywhere. It was the chancellor. Well, what of it? +Couldn't the chancellor go out in a common hack if he wanted to? But who +was the lady in the veil? + +"I've an idea!" + +As soon as the chancellor disappeared, Carmichael hailed the coachman. + +"Drive me through the gardens." + +"It is too late, Herr." + +"Well, drive me up and down the Strasse while I finish this cigar." + +"Two crowns." + +"Three, if your horse behaves well." + +"He's as gentle as a lamb, Herr." + +"And doubtless will be served as one before long. Can't you throw back +the top?" + +"In one minute!" Five crowns and three made eight crowns; not a bad +business these dull times. + +Carmichael lolled in the worn cushions, wondering whether or not to +question his man. But it was so unusual for a person of such particular +habits as the chancellor to ride in an ordinary carriage. Carmichael +slid over to the forward seat and touched the jehu on the back. + +"Where did you take the chancellor to-night?" he asked. + +"_Du lieber Gott!_ Was that his excellency? He said he was the chief +steward." + +"So he is, my friend. I was only jesting. Where did you take him?" + +"I took him to the Krumerweg. He was there half an hour. Number forty." + +"Where did you take the veiled lady?" + +The coachman drew in suddenly and apprehensively. "Herr, are you from +the police?" + +"Thousand thunders, no! It was by accident that I stood near the gate +when she got out. Who was she?" + +"That is better. They both told me that they were giving charity. I did +not see the lady's face, but she went into number forty, the same as the +steward. You won't forget the extra crown, Herr?" + +"No; I'll make it five. Turn back and leave me at the Grand Hotel." +Then he muttered: "Krumerweg, crooked way, number forty. If I see this +old side-paddler stopping at the palace steps again, I'll take a look at +number forty myself." + +On the return to the hotel the station omnibus had arrived with a +solitary guest. A steamer trunk and a couple of bags were being trundled +in by the porter, while the concierge was helping a short, stocky man to +the ground. He hurried into the hotel, signed the police slips, and +asked for his room. He seemed to be afraid of the dark. He was gone when +Carmichael went into the office. + +"Your Excellency," said the concierge, rubbing his hands and smiling +after the manner of concierges born in Switzerland, "a compatriot of +yours arrived this evening." + +"What name?" indifferently. Compatriots were always asking impossible +things of Carmichael, introductions to the grand duke, invitations to +balls, and so forth, and swearing to have him recalled if he refused to +perform these offices. + +The concierge picked up the slips which were to be forwarded to the +police. + +"He is Hans Grumbach, of New York." + +"An adopted compatriot, it would seem. He'll probably be over to the +consulate to-morrow to have his passports looked into. Good night." + +So Hans Grumbach passed out of his mind; but for all that, fortune and +opportunity were about to knock on Carmichael's door. For there was a +great place in history ready for Hans Grumbach. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT THE BLACK EAGLE + + +The day promised to be mild. There was not a cloud anywhere, and the +morning mists had risen from the valleys. It was good to stand in the +sunshine which seemed to draw forth all the vagaries and weariness of +sleep from the mind and body. Hans Grumbach shook himself gratefully. He +was standing on the curb in front of the Grand Hotel, his back to the +sun. It was nine o'clock. The broad König Strasse shone, the white stone +of the palaces glared, the fountains glistened, and the coloring tree +tops scintillated like the head-dress of an Indian prince. Hans was +short but strongly built; a mild blue-eyed German, smooth-faced, +ruddy-cheeked, white-haired, with a brown button of a nose. He drank his +beer with the best of them, but it never got so far as his nose save +from the outside. His suit was tight-fitting, but the checks were +ample, and the watch-chain a little too heavy, and the huge garnet on +his third finger was not in good taste. But what's the odds? Grumbach +was satisfied, and it's one's own satisfaction that counts most. + +Presently two police officers came along and went into the hotel. +Grumbach turned with a sigh and followed them. Doubtless they had come +to look over his passports. And this happened to be the case. + +The senior officer unfolded the precious document. + +"It is not yet viséed by your consul," said the officer. + +"I arrived late last night. I shall see him this morning," replied +Grumbach. + +"You were not born in America?" + +"Oh, no; I came from Bavaria." + +"At what age?" + +"I was twenty." + +"Did you go to America with your parents?" + +"No. I was alone." + +"You still have your permit to leave Bavaria?" + +"I believe so; I am not certain. I never thought in those days I should +become rich enough to travel." + +The word that tingled with gold soothed the suspicious ear of the +officer. + +"What is your business in America?" + +"I am a plumber, now retired." + +"And your business here?" + +"Simply pleasure." + +"You are forty?" said the officer, referring to the passports. + +"Yes." + +"This is rather young to retire from business." + +"Not in America," easily. + +"True, everybody grows rich there, with gold mines popping open at one's +feet. It must be a great country." The officer sighed as he refolded the +documents. "As soon as these are approved by his excellency the American +consul, kindly have a porter bring them over to the bureau of police. It +will be only a matter of form. I shall return them at once." + +Grumbach produced a Louis Napoleon which was then as now acceptable that +side of the Rhine. It was not done with pomposity, but rather with the +exuberance of a man whose purse and letter of credit possess an assuring +circumference. + +"Drink a bottle, you and your comrade," he said. + +This the officer promised to do forthwith. He returned the passports, +put a hand to his cap respectfully and, followed by his assistant, +walked off briskly. + +Grumbach took off his derby and wiped the perspiration from his +forehead. This moisture had not been wrung forth by any atmospheric +effect. From the top of his forehead to the cowlick on the back of his +head ran a broad white scar. At one time or another Grumbach had been on +the ragged edge of the long journey. He went out of doors. There is +nothing like sunshine to tonic the ebbing courage. + +Coming up the thoroughfare, with a dash of spirit and color, was a small +troop of horses. The sunlight broke upon the steel and silver. A waiter, +cleaning off the little iron tables on the sidewalk, paused. The riders +passed, all but two in splendid uniforms. Grumbach watched them till +they disappeared into the palace courtyard. He called to the waiter. + +"Who are they?" + +"The grand duke and some of his staff, Herr." + +"The grand duke? Who was the gentleman in civilian clothes?" + +"That was his excellency, Herr Carmichael, the American consul." + +"Very good. And the young lady?" + +"Her serene highness, the Princess Hildegarde." + +"Bring me a glass of beer," said Grumbach, sinking down at a table. A +thousand questions surged against his lips, but he kept them shut with +all the stolidity of his native blood. When the waiter set the beer down +before him, he said: "Where does Herr Carmichael live?" + +"The consulate is in the Adlergasse. He himself lives here at the Grand +Hotel. _Ach_! He is a great man, Herr Carmichael." + +"So?" + +"A friend of the grand duke, a friend of her serene highness, liked +everywhere, a fine shot and a great fencer, and rides a horse as if he +were sewn to the saddle. And all the ladies admire him because he +dances." + +"So he dances? Quite a lady's man." To Grumbach a man who danced was a +lady's man, something to be held in contempt. + +"You would not call him a lady's man, if you mean he wastes his time on +them." + +"But you say he dances?" + +"_Ach, Gott!_ Don't we all dance to some tune or other?" cried the +waiter philosophically. + +"You are right; different music, different jigs. Take the coppers." + +"Thanks, Herr." The waiter continued his work. + +So Herr Carmichael lived here. That would be convenient. Grumbach +decided to wait for him. He had seen enough of men to know if he could +trust the consul. He glared at the amber-gold in the glass, took a +vigorous swallow, and smacked his lips. A sentimental old fool; he was +neither more nor less. + +The wait for Carmichael was short. The American consul came along with +energetic stride. He had been to the earlier maneuvers, and aside from +coffee and bacon he had had no breakfast. The ride and the cold air of +morning had made him ravenous. Grumbach rose and caught Carmichael by +the arm. + +"Your pardon, sir," he said in good English, "but you are Mr. +Carmichael, the American consul?" + +"I am." + +"Will you kindly look over my papers?" Grumbach asked. + +"You are from the United States?" Then Carmichael remembered that this +must be the compatriot who arrived the night before. "I shall be very +glad to see you in the Adlergasse at half after ten. It is one flight +up, next door to the Black Eagle. Any one will show you the way. I +haven't breakfasted yet, and I can not transact any business in these +dusty clothes. Good morning." + +Grumbach liked the consul's smile. More than that, he recognized +instantly that this handsome young man was a gentleman. The inherent +respect for caste had not been beaten out of Grumbach's blood; he had +come from a brood in a peasant's hovel. To him the word gentleman would +always signify birth and good clothes; what the heart and mind were did +not matter much. + +He had more than an hour to idle away, so he wandered through the park, +admiring the freshness of the green, the well-kept flower-beds, the +crisp hedges, and the clean graveled paths. There was nothing like it +back there in America. They hadn't the time there; everybody was in the +market, speculating in bubbles. He admired the snowy fountains, too, and +the doves that darted in and out of the wind-blown spray. There was +nothing like this in America, either. He was not belittling; he was only +making comparisons. He knew that he would be far happier in his adopted +country, which would accomplish all these beautiful things farther on. + +He looked up heavenward, where the three bergs shouldered the dazzling +snow into the blue. This impressed him more than all else; that little +wrinkle in the middle berg's ice had been there when he was a boy. +Nothing had changed in Dreiberg save the König Strasse, whose cobbles +had been replaced by smooth blocks of wood. At times he sent swift but +uncertain glances toward the palaces. He longed to peer through the +great iron fence, but he smothered this desire. He would find out what +he wanted to know when he met Carmichael at the consulate. Here the bell +in the cathedral struck the tenth hour; not a semitone had this voice of +bronze changed in all these years. It was good to be here in Dreiberg +again. Should he ask the way to the Adlergasse? Perhaps this would be +wiser. So he put the question to a policeman. The officer politely gave +him a detailed route. + +"Follow these directions and you will have no trouble in finding the +Adlergasse." + +"Much obliged." + +Trouble? Scarcely! He had put out his first protest against the world in +the Adlergasse, forty years since. He came to a stand before the old +tavern. Not even the sign had been painted anew, though the oak board +was a trifle paler and there was a little more rust on the hinges. Many +a time he had fought with the various pot-boys. He wondered if there +were any pot-boys inside now. He noted the dingy consulate sign, then +started up the dark and narrow stairs. The consulate door stood open. + +A clerk, native to Ehrenstein, was writing at a table. At a desk by the +window sat Carmichael, deep in a volume of Dumas. No one ever hurried +here; no one ever had palpitation of the heart over business. The clerk +lifted his head. + +"Mr. Carmichael?" said Grumbach in English. + +The clerk indicated with his pen toward the individual by the window. +Carmichael read on. Grumbach had assimilated some Americanisms. He went +boldly over and seated himself in the chair at the side of the desk. +With a sigh Carmichael left Porthos in the grotto of Locmaria. + +"I am Mr. Grumbach. I spoke to you this morning about my passports. Will +you kindly look them over?" + +Carmichael took the papers, frowning slightly. Grumbach laid his derby +on his knees. The consul went over the papers, viséed them, and handed +them to their owner. + +"You will have no trouble going about with those," Carmichael said +listlessly. "How long will you be in Dreiberg?" + +"I do not know," said Grumbach truthfully. + +"Is there anything I can do for you?" + +"There is only one thing," answered Grumbach, "but you may object, and +I shall not blame you if you do. It will be a great favor." + +"What do you wish?" more listlessly. + +"An invitation to the military ball at the palace, after the maneuvers," +quietly. + +Carmichael sat up. He had not expected so large an order as this. + +"I am afraid you are asking something impossible for me to obtain," he +replied coldly, thumbing the leaves of his book. + +"Ah, Mr. Carmichael, it is very important that I should be there." + +"Explain." + +"I can give you no explanations. I wish to attend this ball. I do not +care to meet the grand duke or any one else. Put me in the gallery where +I shall not be noticed. That is all I ask of you." + +"That might be done. But you have roused my curiosity. Your request is +out of the ordinary. You have some purpose?" + +"A perfectly harmless one," said Grumbach, mopping his forehead. + +This movement brought Carmichael's eye to the scar. Grumbach +acknowledged the stare by running his finger along the subject. + +"I came near passing in my checks the day I got that," he volunteered. +"Everybody looks at it when I take off my hat. I've tried tonics, but +the hair won't grow there." + +"Where did you get it?" + +"At Gettysburg." + +"Gettysburg?" with a lively facial change. "You were in the war?" + +"All through it." + +Carmichael was no longer indifferent. He gave his hand. + +"I've got a few scars myself. What regiment?" + +"The --th cavalry, New York." + +"What troop?" with growing excitement. + +"C troop." + +"I was captain of B troop in the same regiment. Hurrah! Work's over for +the day. Come along with me, Grumbach, and we'll talk it over +down-stairs in the Black Eagle. You're a godsend. C troop! Hanged if the +world doesn't move things about oddly. I was in the hospital myself +after Gettysburg; a ball in the leg. And I've rheumatism even now when +a damp spell comes." + +So down to the tavern they went, and there they talked the battles over, +sundry tankards interpolating. It was "Do you remember this?" and, "Do +you recall that?" with diagrams drawn in beer on the oaken table. + +"But there's one thing, my boy," said Carmichael. + +"What's that?" + +"The odds were on our side, or we'd be fighting yet." + +"That we would. The poor devils were always hungry when we whipped them +badly." + +"But you're from this side of the water?" + +"Yes; went over when I was twenty-two." Grumbach sucked his pipe +stolidly. + +"What part of Germany?" + +"Bavaria; it is so written in my passports." + +"Munich?" + +Grumbach circled the room. All the near tables were vacant. The Black +Eagle was generally a lonely place till late in the afternoon. Grumbach +touched the scar tenderly. Could he trust this man? Could he trust any +one in the world? The impulse came to trust Carmichael, and he did not +disregard it. + +"I was born in this very street," he whispered. + +"Here?" + +"Sh! Not so loud! Yes, in this very street. But if the police knew, I +wouldn't be worth _that!_"--with a snap of the fingers. "My passports, +my American citizenship, they would be worthless. You know that." + +"But what does this all mean? What have you done that you can't come +back here openly?" Here was a mystery. This man with the kindly face and +frank eyes could be no ordinary criminal. "Can I help you in any way?" + +"No; no one can help me." + +"But why did you come back? You were safe enough in New York." + +"Who can say what a man will do? Don't question me. Let be. I have said +too much already. Some day perhaps I shall tell you why. When I went +away I was thin and pale and had yellow hair. To-day I am fat, +gray-headed; I have made money. Who will recognize me now? No one." + +"But your name?" + +Grumbach laughed unmusically. "Grumbach is as good as another. Listen. +You are my comrade now; we have shed our blood on the same field. There +is no tie stronger than that. When I left Dreiberg there was a reward of +a thousand crowns for me. Dead or alive, preferably dead." + +Carmichael was plainly bewildered. He tried to recall the past history +of Ehrenstein which would offer a niche for this inoffensive-looking +German. He was blocked. + +"Dead or alive," he repeated. + +"So." + +"You were mad to return." + +"I know it. But I had to come; I couldn't help it. Oh, don't look like +that! I never hurt anybody, unless it was in battle"--naďvely. "Ask no +more, my friend. I promise to tell you when the right time comes. Now, +will you get me that invitation to the gallery at the military ball?" + +"I will, if you will give me your word, as a soldier, as a comrade in +arms, that you have no other purpose than to look at the people." + +"As God is my judge"--solemnly--"that is all I wish to do. Now, what +has happened since I went away? I have dared to ask questions of no +one." + +Carmichael gave him a brief summary of events, principal among which was +the amazing restoration of the Princess Hildegarde. When he had +finished, Grumbach remained dumb and motionless for a time. + +"And what is her serene highness like?" + +To describe the Princess Hildegarde was not only an easy task, but a +pleasant one to Carmichael, and if he embroidered this description here +and there, Grumbach was too deeply concerned with the essential points +to notice these variations in the theme. + +"So she is gentle and beautiful? Why not? _Ach_! You should have seen +her mother. She was the most beautiful woman in all Germany, and she +sang like one of those Italian nightingales. I recall her when I was a +boy. I would gladly have died at a word from her. All loved her. The +king of Jugendheit wanted her, but she loved the grand duke. So the +Princess Hildegarde has come back to her own? God is good!" And +Grumbach bent his head reverently. + +"Well," said Carmichael, beckoning to the waitress, and paying the +score, "if any trouble rises, send for me. You don't look like a man who +has done anything very bad." He offered his hand again. + +Grumbach pressed it firmly, and there was a moisture in his eyes. + +Together they returned to the Grand Hotel for lunch. On the way neither +talked very much. They were both thinking of the same thing, but from +avenues diametrically opposed. Grumbach declined Carmichael's invitation +to lunch, and immediately sought his own room. + +Once there, he closed the shutters so as to admit but half the day's +light, and opened his battered trunk. From the false bottom, which had +successfully eluded the vigilance of a dozen frontiers, he took out a +small bundle. This he opened carefully, his eyes blurring. Mad fool that +he had been! How many times had he gazed at these trinkets in these +sixteen or more years? How often had he uttered lamentations over them? +How many times had the talons of remorse gashed his heart? + +Two little yellow shoes, so small that they lay on his palm as lightly +as two butterflies; a little cloak trimmed with ermine; a golden locket +shaped like a heart! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AN ELDER BROTHER + + +Grumbach was very fond of music, and in America there were never any +bands except at political meetings or at the head of processions; and +that wasn't the sort of music he preferred. There was nothing at the +Opera, so he decided to spend the earlier part of the evening in the +public gardens. He was lonely; he had always been lonely. Men who carry +depressing secrets generally are. He searched covertly among the many +faces for one that was familiar, but he saw none; and he was at once +glad, and sorry. Yes, there was one face; the rubicund countenance of +the bandmaster. It was older, more wrinkled, but it was the same. How +many years had the old fellow swung the baton? At least thirty years. In +his boyhood days Grumbach had put that brilliant uniform side by side +with the grand duke's. As it was impossible for him ever to become a +duke, his ambition had been to arrive at the next greatest thing--the +bandmaster. As he neared the pavilion he laughed silently and grimly. To +have grown wealthy as a master plumber instead! So much for ambition! + +Subsequently he found himself standing beside a young vintner and his +peasant sweetheart. Their hands secretly met and locked behind their +backs. Grumbach sighed. Never would he know aught of this double love. +This Eden would never have any gate for him to push aside. He would +always go his way alone. + +The girl turned her head. Seeing Grumbach, she loosened the vintner's +hand. + +"Do not mind me, girl," said Grumbach, his face broadening. + +The girl laughed easily and without confusion. Her companion, however, +flushed under his tan, and a scowl ran over his forehead. + +The band struck up, and the little comedy was forgotten. But Grumbach +could not see anything except the girl's face, the fresh, exquisite turn +of her profile. Once his eye wandered rather guiltily. Her figure was in +keeping with her face. Then he saw the little wooden shoes. Ah, well, +as long as kings surrounded themselves with armies and with pomp, there +would always be wooden shoes. The band was playing _Les Huguenots_, and +the girl hummed the air. + +"Do not go there to-night, Gretchen," said the vintner. + +"It is a crown." + +"I will give you two if you will not go," the vintner urged. + +"Foolish boy, what good would that do? We need every crown we have or +can get, if we are to be married soon. And you have not gone to work +yet. And every day costs you a crown to live, and more, for all I know. +You spend a crown as carelessly as if all you had to do was to pick them +off the vines. Crowns are hard to get." + +"When one is happy, one does not stop to bother about crowns," he said +impatiently. + +"But will such happiness last? Shall we not be happier as our crowns +accumulate, to ward off sickness and hunger? Must I teach you economy?" + +"I shall apply for work to-morrow and waste no more crowns, my heart." +The vintner's hand again sought hers, and he sent Grumbach a look which +said: "Smile if you dare!" + +But Grumbach did not smile. He was too sad. He fell into a dream, and +the music faded in his ear and the lights of the pavilion grew dim. He +was a boy again, and he was carrying posies to the pretty little +fräulein in the Adlergasse. Dreams never last, and sometimes they are +rudely interrupted. + +A hand was put upon his shoulder authoritatively. The police officer who +had examined his passports that morning stood at Grumbach's elbow. + +"Herr Grumbach," he said quietly, "his excellency the chancellor has +directed me to bring you at once to the palace." + +"To the palace?" Grumbach's face was expressive of great astonishment. +The officer saw nothing out of the ordinary in this expression. Any +foreigner would have been seized with confusion under like +circumstances. "To the palace?" Grumbach repeated. "My passports were +wrong in some respect?" + +"Oh, no, Herr; they were correct." + +Grumbach roused his mind energetically. He forced down the fast beating +of his heart, banished the astonishment from his face, and even brought +a smile to his lips. + +"But whatever can the chancellor want of me?" + +"That is not my business. I was simply sent to find you. His excellency +is always interested in German-Americans. It may be that he wishes to +ask what the future is there in America. We have more in Dreiberg than +we can reasonably take care of." + +"In the prisons?" + +The officer laughed. "There and elsewhere." + +"Is that right?" asked Grumbach, now thoroughly on guard. + +"It may not be right to ship our criminals over there, but it is +considered very good politics." + +"Shall we go at once? I never expected to enter the palace of the grand +duke of Ehrenstein," Grumbach added. "It will be something to tell of +when I go back to America." + +The only thing that reassured him was the presence of one officer. When +they came for a man on a serious charge, in Ehrenstein, they came in +pairs or fours. So then, there could be pending nothing vital to his +liberty or his incognito. Besides, his papers were all right, and now +there would be Carmichael to fall back on. + +"The palace is lighted up," was Grumbach's comment as the two passed the +sentry outside the gates. + +"The duke gives the dinner to the diplomatic corps to-night." + +"A fine thing to be a diplomat." + +"I myself prefer fighting in the open. Diplomats? Their very precious +hides are never anywhere near the wars they bring about. No, no; this +way. We go in at the side." + +"You'll have to guide me. Yes, these diplomats. Men like you and me do +all the work. I was in the Civil War in America." + +"That was a great fight," remarked the officer. "I should like to have +been there." + +"Four years; pretty long. Do you know Herr Carmichael?" + +"The American consul? Oh, yes." + +"He and I fought in the same regiment." + +"Then you saw some pretty battles." + +Grumbach took off his hat. "See that?" + +"_Gott_! That must have been an ugly one." + +"Almost crossed over when I got it. Is this the door?" + +"Yes. I'll put you in snugly. You will probably have to wait for his +excellency. But you'll have me for company till he appears." + +Grumbach entered the palace with a brave heart and a steady mind. + + * * * * * + +The grand duke had a warm place in his heart for the diplomatic corps. +He liked to see them gathered round his table, their uniforms glittering +with orders and decorations. It was always a night of wits; and he +sprang a hundred traps for comedy's sake, but these astonishing +linguists seldom if ever blundered into one of them. They were eternally +vigilant. It was no trifling matter to swing the thought from German +into French or Italian or Hungarian; but they were seasoned veterans in +the game, all save Carmichael, who spoke only French and German +fluently. The duke, however, never tried needlessly to embarrass him. He +admired Carmichael's mental agility. Never he thrust so keenly that the +American was found lacking in an effective though simple parry. + +"Your highness must recollect that I am not familiar with that tongue." + +"Pardon me, Herr Captain!" + +But there was always a twinkle in the ducal eye and an answering smile +in the consul's. + +The somber black of Carmichael's evening dress stood out conspicuously +among the blue and green and red uniforms. Etiquette compelled him to +wear silk stockings, but that was the single concession on his part. He +wore no orders. An order of the third or fourth class held no +allurement. Nothing less than the Golden Fleece would have interested +him, and the grand duke himself could not boast of this rare and +distinguished order. In truth, Carmichael coveted nothing but a medal +for valor, and his own country had not yet come to recognize the +usefulness of such a distinction. + +All round him sat ministers or ambassadors; he alone represented a +consulate. So his place at the table was honorary rather than +diplomatic. It was his lively humorous personality the grand duke +admired, not his representations. + +The duke sat at the head of the table and her serene highness at the +foot; and it was by the force of his brilliant wit that the princess did +not hold in perpetuity the court at her end of the table. For a German +princess of that time she was highly accomplished; she was ardent, +whimsical, with a flashing mentality which rounded out and perfected her +physical loveliness. Above and beyond all this, she had suffered, she +had felt the pangs of poverty, the smart of unrecognized merit; she had +been one of the people, and her sympathies would always be with them, +for she knew what those about her only vaguely knew, the patience, the +unmurmuring bravery of the poor. Never would she become sated with power +so long as it gave her the right to aid the people. Never a new tax was +levied that she did not lighten it in some manner; never an oppressive +law was promulgated that she did not soften its severity. And so the +populace loved her, for it did not take the people long to find out what +she was trying to do for them. And perhaps they loved her because she +had lived the greater part of her young life as one of them. + +To-night there was love in the duke's eyes as he looked down the table's +length; there was love in the old chancellor's eyes, too; and in +Carmichael's. And there was love in her eyes as she gazed back at the +two old men. But who could read her eyes whenever they roved in +Carmichael's direction? Not even Gretchen's grandmother, who lived in +the Krumerweg. + +"Gentlemen," said the duke, rising and holding up his glass, "this night +I give you a toast which I believe will be agreeable to all of you, +especially to his excellency, Baron von Steinbock of Jugendheit. What is +past is past; a new regime begins this night." He paused. All eyes were +focused upon him in wonder. Only Baron von Steinbock displayed no more +than ordinary interest. "I give you," resumed the duke, "her serene +highness and his majesty, Frederick of Jugendheit!" + +The princess grew delicately pale as the men and women sprang to their +feet. Every hand swept toward her, holding a glass. She had surrendered +that morning. Not because she wished to be a queen, not because she +cared to bring about an alliance between the two countries; no, it was +because she was afraid and had burned the bridge behind her. + +The tan thinned on Carmichael's face, but his hand was steady. Never +would he forget the tableau. She sat still in her chair, her lids +drooped, but a proud lift to her chin. The collar of pearls round her +neck had scarce more luster than her shoulders. How red her lips seemed +against the whiteness of her skin! Beautiful to him beyond all dreams of +beauty. God send another war and let him die in the heart of it, +fighting! To dream lies as he had done this twelvemonth, to break his +heart over the moon! He sat his glass down untouched, happily +unobserved. He was in misery; he wanted to be alone. + +"Long live her majesty!" thundered the chancellor. He, too, was pale, +but the fire of great things burned in his eyes and his lank form took +upon itself a transient majesty. + +In the ball-room the princess was surrounded; everybody flattered her; +congratulated her, and complimented her. All agreed that it was a great +political stroke. And indeed it was, but none of them knew how great. + +Carmichael was among the last to approach her. By this time he had his +voice and nerves under control. Without apparent volition they walked +down the stairs which led to the conservatory. + +"I thought perhaps you had forgotten me," she said. + + +[Illustration: "I thought you had forgotten me," she said.] + + +"Forget your highness? Do not give me credit for such an impossibility." +He bowed over her hand and brushed it with his lips, for she was almost +royal now. "Your highness will be happy. It is written." He stepped back +slowly. + +"Have you the gift of prescience?" + +"In this instance. You will be a great queen." + +"Who knows?" dreamily. "When I recall what I have gone through, all this +seems like an enchantment out of a fairy-book, and that I must soon wake +up in my garret in Dresden." + +If only it might be an enchantment! he thought. If only he might find +her as the grim old chancellor had found her, in a garret! What? + +"Why did you do that?" she asked quickly. + +"I do not understand." + +"You shrugged." + +"I beg your highness' pardon!" flushing. "I was not conscious of such +rudeness." + +"That is not answering my question." + +"I beg of your highness--" + +"My highness commands!" But her voice was gentle. + +"It was a momentary dream I had; and the thought of its utter +impossibility caused me to shrug. I assure your highness that it was a +philosophical shrug, such as the Stoics were wont to indulge in." He +spoke lightly. Only his eyes were serious. + +"And this dream; was there not a woman in it?" + +"Oh, no; there was only an angel." + +She knew that it was not proper to question him in this manner; but +neither her heart nor her mind were formal to-night. + +"You interest me; you always interest me. You have seen so many +wonderful things. And now it is angels." + +"Only one, your Highness." This was daring. "But perhaps I am putting +my foot where angels fear to tread," which was still more daring. + +"Angels ought not to be afraid of anything." She laughed; there was a +pain and a joy in the sound of it. She read his heart as one might read +a written line. + +"Dreams are always unfinished things," he said, getting back on safer +ground. + +"What is she like, this angel?" forcing him upon dangerous ground again +wilfully. + +"Who may describe an angel one has seen only in a golden dream?" + +"You will not tell me?" + +"I dare not!" His eyes sought hers unflinchingly. This moment he was +mad, and had not the chancellor and Baron von Steinbock came up, Heaven +only knew what further madness would have unbridled his tongue. + +"Your Highness," began the benign voice of the chancellor, "the baron +desires, in the name of his august master, to open the ball with you. +Behold my fairy-wand," gaily. "This night I have made you a queen." + +"Can you make me happy also?" said she, so low that only the chancellor +heard her. + +"I shall try. Ah, Herr Captain," with a friendly jerk of his head +toward Carmichael; "will you do me the honor to join me in my cabinet, +quarter of an hour hence?" + +"I shall be there, your Excellency." Carmichael was uneasy. He was not +certain how much the chancellor had heard. + +"A little diplomatic business in which I shall need your assistance," +supplemented the chancellor. + +Carmichael, instead of loitering uselessly in the ball-room, at once +sought the chancellor's cabinet. He wanted to be alone. He made known +his business to the chancellor's valet who admitted him. He stopped just +across the threshold. To his surprise the room was already tenanted. +Grumbach and a police officer! + +"Why, Grumbach, what are you doing here?" cried Carmichael. + +"Waiting for his excellency. We have been here something past an hour." + +"What's the trouble?" Carmichael inquired. + +"Your excellency knows as much as I do," said the officer, who was in +fact no less than the sub-chief of the bureau. + +"And I am in the dark, also," said Grumbach, twirling his hat. + +Carmichael walked about, studying the many curios. Occasionally Grumbach +wiped his forehead, and, absently, the inner rim of his hat. Perhaps the +three of them waited twenty minutes; then the chancellor came in. He +bowed cordially and drew chairs about his desk. He placed Grumbach in +the full glare of the lamp. Carmichael and the sub-chief were in the +half-light. The chancellor was last to seat himself. + +"Herr Grumbach," said the chancellor in a mild tone, "I should like to +see your papers." + +"My passports, your Excellency?" + +"Yes." + +Grumbach laid them on the desk imperturbably. The chancellor struck the +bell. His valet answered immediately. + +"Send Breunner, the head gardener, at once." + +"He is in the anteroom, Excellency." + +"Tell him to come in." + +The chancellor shot a piercing glance at Grumbach, but the latter was +studying the mural decorations. + +Carmichael sat tight in his chair, curious to learn what it was all +about. Breunner entered. He was thin and partly bald and quite fifty. + +"Breunner, her highness will need many flowers to-morrow. See to it that +they are cut in the morning." + +"It shall be done, Excellency." + +The chancellor turned to the passports. + +"There is only one question, Herr Grumbach. It says here that you were a +native of Bavaria before going to America. How long ago did you leave +Bavaria?" + +"A good many years, your Excellency." Grumbach inspected the label in +his hat. + +"You have, of course, retained your Bavarian passport?" + +Carmichael was now leaning forward in his chair, deeply interested. He +saw that the chancellor was watching Grumbach as a cat watches a +mouse-hole. + +Grumbach brought forth a bulky wallet. The edges of Bank of England +notes could be seen, of fat denominations. + +"Here it is, your Excellency; a little ragged, but readable still." + +The chancellor went over it carefully. + +"Herr Captain, do you know this compatriot?" + +"We fought side by side in the American war. I saw no irregularity in +his papers. I am rather astonished to see him here and not at the police +bureau, if any question has arisen over his passports." + +"Fought side by side," the chancellor repeated thoughtfully. "Then he is +no stranger to you?" + +"I do not say that. We were, however, in the same cavalry, only in +different troops. Grumbach, you have your honorable discharge with you?" + +Grumbach went into his wallet still again. This document the chancellor +read with an interest foreign to the affair under his hand. Presently he +laughed softly. Why, he could not readily have told. + +"I am sorry, Herr Grumbach. All this unnecessary trouble simply because +of the word Bavaria." + +"No trouble at all, your Excellency," restoring his papers. "I have seen +the inside of a real palace, and I never expected such an honor." + +"How long will you be making your visit?" + +"Only a few days, your Excellency. Then I shall proceed to Bavaria." + +"Your excellency has no further orders?" said the head gardener +patiently. + +"Good Heaven, Breunner, I had forgotten all about you! There is nothing +more. Gentlemen, your pardon for having detained you so long. Herr +Captain, you will return with me to the ball-room?" + +"If your excellency will excuse me, no. I am tired. I shall return to +the hotel with Herr Grumbach." + +"As you please. Good night." + +The three left the cabinet under various emotions. The sub-chief bowed +himself off at the gates, and Carmichael and Grumbach crossed the Platz +leisurely. + +"How did you come by that Bavarian passport?" asked Carmichael abruptly. + +"It is a forgery, my friend, but his excellency will never find that +out." + +"You have me all at sea. Why did he bring in the head gardener and leave +him standing there all that while?" + +"He had a sound purpose, but it fell. The head gardener did not +recognize me." + +"Do you know him?" + +"Yes. He is my elder brother." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE KING'S LETTER + + +The ambassador from Jugendheit, Baron von Steinbock, was not popular in +Dreiberg, at least not among the people, who still held to the grand +duke's idea that the kingdom had been behind the abduction of the +Princess Hildegarde. The citizens scowled at his carriage, they scowled +at the mention of his name, they scowled whenever they passed the +embassy, which stood in the heart of the fashionable residences in the +König Strasse. Never a hot-headed Dreiberger passed the house without a +desire to loot it, to scale the piked fence and batter in the doors and +windows. Steinbock himself was a polished, amiable gentleman, in no wise +meriting this ill-feeling. The embassy was in all manner the most +important in Dreiberg, though Prussia and Austria overshadowed it in +wealth and prestige. + +At this moment the people gazed at the house less in rancor than in +astonishment. The king of Jugendheit was to marry her serene highness! +It was a bad business, a bad business; no good would come of it. The +great duke was a weak man, after all. + +The menials in and about the embassy felt the new importance of their +positions. So then, imagine the indignation of the majordomo, when, +summoned at dusk one evening to the carriage gates, three or four days +after the portentous news had issued from the palace, he found only a +ragged and grimy carter who demanded peremptorily to be admitted and +taken to his excellency at once. + +"Be off with you, ragamuffin!" growled the majordomo. + +"Be quick; open the gates!" replied the carter, swinging his whip +threateningly. + +"Go away!" The majordomo spun on his heels contemptuously. + +"I will skin you alive," vowed the carter, striking the iron with the +butt of his whip, "if you do not open these gates immediately. Open!" + +There was real menace this time. Could the fellow be crazy? The +majordomo concluded to temporize. + +"My good man," he said conciliatorily, "you have brains. You ought to +know that his excellency will receive no man in your condition. If you +do not stop hammering on those bars, I shall send for the police." + +The carter thrust a hand through the grill. There was a ring on one of +his fingers. + +"Imbecile, set your eye on that and admit me without more ado!" + +The majordomo was thunderstruck. Indeed, a blast from the heavens would +have jarred him less. + +"Open, then!" + +The majordomo threw back the bolts and the carter pushed his way in. +That ring on the carter's finger? The majordomo felt himself slipping +into a fantastic dream. + +"Take me to the baron." + +Vastly subdued the majordomo preceded the carter into the office of the +embassy. There he left the strange guest and went in search of the +baron. The ambassador was in his study, reading. + +"Your Excellency, there is a man in the office who desires to see you +quickly." + +The ambassador laid down his book. "Upon what pretense did he gain +admittance at this hour?" he demanded. + +"I refused him admittance, your Excellency, because he was dressed like +a carter.--" + +"A carter!" The ambassador wrathfully jumped to his feet. + +"One moment, your Excellency. He wore a ring on his finger, and I could +not refuse him." + +"A ring, you say?" + +Guarding his voice with his hand, the majordomo whispered two words. + +"Here, and dressed like a carter? What the devil!" The ambassador rushed +from the study. + +It was dark in the embassy office. Quickly the ambassador lighted some +candles. Gas would be too bright for such a meeting. + +"Well, your Excellency?" said a voice from the leather lounge. + +"Who are you?" For this was not the voice the baron expected to hear. + +"My name at present does not matter. The news I bring is far more +important. His majesty emphatically declines any alliance with the +House of Ehrenstein." + +The ambassador stumbled into a chair, his mind dulled, his shoulders +inert. This was a blow. + +"Declines?" he murmured. + +"He repudiates his uncle's negotiations absolutely." + +"Damnation!" swore the ambassador, coming to life once more. + +"The exact word used by the prince; in fact, the word has become common +property in the last forty-eight hours. Now then, what's to be done? +What do you suggest?" + +"This means war. The duke will never swallow such an insult." + +"War! It looks as if you and I, Baron, shall not accompany the king of +Prussia into Alsace-Lorraine. We shall have entertainment at home." + +"This is horrible!" + +"The devil of a muddle!" + +"But what possessed the prince to blunder like this?" + +"The prince really is not to blame. Our king, Baron, is a young colt. A +few months ago he gave his royal uncle carte blanche to seek a wife for +him. Politics demanded an alliance between Jugendheit and Ehrenstein. +There have been too many years of useless antagonism. On the head of +this bolt from Heaven comes the declaration of his majesty that he will +marry any other princess on the continent." + +"They will pull this place down, brick by brick!" + +"Let them! We have ten thousand more troops than Ehrenstein." + +"You young men are a pack of fools!" + +"Softly, Baron." + +"You would like nothing better than war." + +"Unless it is peace." + +"Where is the king?" + +The carter smiled. "He is hunting, they say, with the crown prince of +Bavaria." + +"But you, why have you come dressed like this?" + +"That is a little secret which I am not at liberty to disclose." + +"But, great God, what's to be done?" + +"Lie," urbanely. + +"What good will lies do?" + +"They will suspend the catastrophe till we are ready to meet it. The +marriage is not to take place till spring. That will give us plenty of +time. After the coronation his majesty may be brought to reason. This +marriage must not fall through now. The grand duke will not care to +become the laughing-stock of Europe. The prince's advice is for you to +go about your affairs as usual. Only one man must be taken into your +confidence, and that man is Herbeck. If any one can straighten out his +end of the tangle it is he. He is a big man, of fertile invention; he +will understand. If this thing falls through his honors will fall with +it. He will work toward peace, though from what I have learned the duke +would not shun war." + +"Where is the prince?" + +"Wherever he is, he is working for the best interests of the state. +Don't worry about his royal highness; he's a man." + +"When did you come?" + +"This morning. Though I have been here before in this same guise." + +"There is the Bavarian princess," remarked the ambassador musingly. + +"Ha! A good thought! But the king is romantic; she is older than he, +and ugly." + +"You are not telling me everything," intuitively. + +"I know it. I am telling you all that is at present necessary." + +"You make me the unhappiest man in the kingdom! I have worked so hard +and long toward this end. When did the king decline this alliance?" + +"Evidently the moment he heard of it. I have his letter in my pocket. I +am requested to read it to you. Listen: + + "'MY ILLUSTRIOUS AND INDUSTRIOUS UNCLE: I regret exceedingly that at + this late day I should cause you political embarrassment; but when I + gave my consent to the espousal of any of the various princesses at + liberty, surely it was understood that Ehrenstein was not to be + considered. I refuse to marry the daughter of the man who privately + strove to cover my father with contumely, who dared impute to him a + crime that was any man's but my father's. I realize that certain + policies called for this stroke on your part, but it can not be. My + dear uncle, you have digged a fine pit, and I hope you will find a + safe way out of it. I refuse to marry the Princess Hildegarde. This + is final. It can be arranged without any discredit to the duke or to + yourself. Let it be said that her serene highness has thrown me + over. I shan't go to war about it. + + "'FREDERICK.'" + +"Observe 'My illustrious and industrious uncle'!" laughed the carter +without mirth. "Our king, you will see, has a graceful style." + +"Your tone is not respectful," warned the ambassador. + +"Neither is the state of my mind. Oh, my king is a fine fellow; he will +settle down like his father before him; but to-day--" The carter dropped +his arms dejectedly. + +"There is something going on." + +"What, you are likely to learn at any moment. Pardon me, Baron, but if I +dared I would tell you all. But his highness' commands are over me and I +must obey them. It would be a mental relief to tell some one." + +"Curse these opera-dancers!" + +The carter laughed. "Aye, where kings are concerned. But you do him +injustice. Frederick is as mild as Strephon." He gained his feet. He +was young, pleasant of face, but a thorough soldier. + +"You are Lieutenant von Radenstein!" cried the ambassador. "I recognize +you now." + +"Thanks, your Excellency!" + +"You are in the royal household, the regent's invisible arm. I have +heard a good deal about you. I knew your father well." + +"Again, thanks. Now, the regent has heard certain rumors regarding an +American named Carmichael, a consul. He is often seen with her highness. +Rather an extraordinary privilege." + +"Rest your mind there, Lieutenant. This Carmichael is harmless. You +understand, her highness has not always been surrounded by royal +etiquette. She has had her freedom too long not to grow restive under +restraint. The American is a pleasant fellow, but not worth considering. +Americans will never understand the ways of court life. Still, he is a +gentleman, and so far there is nothing compromising in that situation. +He can be eliminated at any time." + +"This is reassuring. You will see the chancellor to-night and show him +this letter?" + +"I will, and God help us all to straighten out this blunder!" + +"Amen to that! One word more, and then I'm off. If a butcher or a baker, +or even a mountaineer pulls the bell-cord and shows this ring, admit him +without fail. He will have vital news. And now, good night and good luck +to your excellency." + +For half an hour the ambassador remained staring at the candlesticks. By +and by he resumed his chair. What should he do? Where should he begin? +Suppose the chancellor should look at the situation adversely, from the +duke's angle of vision, should the duke learn? There was but one thing +to do and that was to go boldly to Herbeck and lay the matter before him +frankly. Neither Jugendheit nor Ehrenstein wanted war. The chancellor +was wise; it would be better to dally with the truth than needlessly to +sacrifice ten thousand lives. But what had the lieutenant further to +conceal? The ambassador wanted no dinner. He rang for his hat and coat, +and twenty minutes later he was in the chancellor's cabinet. + +"You seem out of health, Baron," was the chancellor's greeting. + +"I am indeed that, Count. I received a letter to-day from the prince +regent. It was sent to him by his majesty, who is hunting in Bavaria. +Read it, Count, but I pray to you to do nothing hastily." + +The chancellor did not open the letter, he merely balanced it. That so +light a thing should be so heavy with dark portents! His accustomed +pallor assumed a grayish tinge. + +"So his majesty declines?" he said evenly. + +"You have already heard?" cried the amazed ambassador. + +"Nothing; I surmise. The hour, your appearance, the letter--to what else +could they point? I was afraid all along. Strange instinct we have at +times. The regent is to be pitied; he took too much for granted. He has +been used to power one day too long. Ah, if his majesty could but see +her, could only know how lovely she is in heart and mind and face! Is +she not worthy a crown?" + +"Herbeck, nothing would please me better, nothing would afford my +country greater pleasure and satisfaction, than to see this marriage +consummated. It would nail that baseless lie which has so long been +current." + +"I believe you. We two peoples should be friendly. It has taken me +months to bring this matter round. The duke rebelled; her highness +scorned the hand of Frederick. One by one I had to overcome their +objections--to this end. The past refuses to be buried. Still, if you +saw all the evidence in the case you would not blame the duke for his +attitude." + +"But those documents are rank forgeries!" + +"So they may be, but that has not been proved." + +"Why should his late majesty abduct the daughter of the grand duke? For +what benefits? To what end? Ah, Count, if some motive could be brought +forward, some motive that could stand!" + +"Motives, my friend? They spring from the most unheard-of places. And +motives in action are always based on impulses. But let us waste no time +on retrospection. It is the present which confronts us. You do not want +war." + +"No more do you." + +"What remedy do you suggest?" + +"I ask, nay, I plead that question of you." + +"I represent the offended party." The chancellor's gaunt features +lighted with a transient smile. "Proceed, Baron." + +"I suggest, then, that the duke must not know." + +"Agreed. Go on." + +"You will put the matter before her highness." + +"That will be difficult." + +"Let her repudiate the negotiations. Let her say that she has changed +her mind. His majesty is quite willing that the humiliation be his." + +"That is generous. But suppose she has set her heart on the crown of +Jugendheit? What then?" + +The baron bit the ends of his mustache. + +"Suppose that?" the chancellor pressed relentlessly. + +"In that event, the affair is no longer in our hands but in God's." + +"As all affairs are. Is there no way of changing the king's mind?" + +"Read the letter, Count," said the ambassador. + +Herbeck hunted for the postmark: Bavaria. He read the letter. There was +nothing between the lines. It was the work of rather an irresponsible +boy. + +"May I take this to her highness?" asked the chancellor. + +"I'm afraid--" + +"I promise its contents will not go beyond her eye." + +"I will take the risk." + +"His majesty is very young," was the chancellor's comment. + +"Young! He is a child. He has been in his palace twice in ten years. He +is travel-mad. He has been wandering in France, Holland, England, +Belgium. He tells his uncle to play the king till the coronation. +Imagine it! And the prince has found this authority so pleasant and +natural that he took it for granted that his majesty would marry +whomever he selected for him. To have allowed us to go forward, as we +have done, believing that he had the whole confidence of the king!" + +Herbeck consulted his watch. It was half after six. Her highness did not +dine till eight. + +"I shall go to her highness immediately, Baron. I shall return the +letter by messenger, and he will tell you the result of the interview." + +"God be with you," said the ambassador, preparing to take his leave, +"for all women are contrary." + +After the baron was gone the chancellor paced the room with halting +step. Then, toward the wraith of his ambition he waved a hand as if to +explain how futile are the schemes of men. He shook himself free from +this idle moment and proceeded to the apartments of her highness. Would +she toss aside this crown, or would she fight for it? He found her +alone. + +"Well, my good fairy, what is in your magic wand to-night?" she asked. +How fond she was of this great good man, and how lonely he always +seemed! + +He saluted her hand respectfully. "I am not a good fairy to-night, your +Highness. On the contrary, I am an ogre. I have here a letter. I have +given my word that its contents shall not be repeated to the duke, your +father. If I let you read it, will you agree to that?" + +"And who has written this letter?" non-committally. + +"His majesty, the king of Jugendheit," slowly. + +"A letter from the king?" she cried, curious. "Should it not be brought +to me on a golden salver?" + +"It is probable that I am bringing it to you at the end--of a bayonet," +solemnly. "If the duke learns its contents the inevitable result will be +war." + +A silence fell upon them and grew. This was the bitterest moment but one +in the chancellor's life. + +"I believe," she said finally, "that it will not be necessary to read +his majesty's letter. He declines the honor of my hand: is that not it?" + +The chancellor signified that it was. + +"Ah!" with a note of pride in her voice and a flash in her eyes. "And +I?" + +"You will tell the duke that you have changed your mind," gravely. + +"Do princesses change their minds like this?" + +"They have often done so." + +"In spite of publicity?" + +"Yes, your Highness." + +"And if I refuse to change my mind?" + +"I am resigned to any and all events." + +"War." Her face was serious. "And what has the king to suggest?" + +"He proposes to accept the humiliation of being rejected by you." + +"Why, this is a gallant king! Pouff! There goes a crown of thistledown." +She smiled at the chancellor, then she laughed. There was nothing but +youth in the laughter, youth and gladness. "Oh, I knew that you were a +good fairy. Listen to me. I declare to you that I am happier at this +moment than I have been in days. To marry a man I have never seen, to +become the wife of a man who is nothing to me, whose looks, character, +and habits are unknown; why, I have lived in a kind of horror. You did +not find me soon enough; there are yet some popular ideas in my head +which are alien to the minds of princesses. I am free!" And she uttered +the words as with the breath of spring. + +The chancellor's shoulders drooped a trifle more, and his hand closed +down over the letter. Otherwise there was no notable change in his +appearance. He was always guarding the muscles of his face. +Inscrutability is the first lesson of the diplomat; and he had learned +it thirty years before. + +"There will be no war," resumed her highness. "I know my father; our +wills may clash, but in this instance mine shall be the stronger." + +"But this is not the end." + +"You mean that there will be other kings?" She had not thought of this, +and some of the brightness vanished from her face. + +"Yes, there will be other kings. I am sorry. What young girl has not her +dream of romance? But princesses must not have romances. Yours, my +child, must be a political marriage. It is a harsh decree." + +"Have not princesses married commoners?" + +"Never wisely. Your highness will not make a mistake like that." + +"My highness will or will not marry, as she pleases. Am I a chattel, +that I am to be offered across this frontier or that?" + +The chancellor moved uneasily. "If your highness loved out of your +class, which I know you do not, I should be worried." + +"And if I did?" with a rebel tilt to her chin. + +"Till that moment arrives I shall not borrow trouble. You will, then, +tell the duke that you have changed your mind, that you have +reconsidered?" + +"This evening. Now, godfather, you may kiss her serene highness on the +forehead." + +"This honor to me?" The chancellor trembled. + +"Even so." + +He did not touch her with Ne hands, but the kiss he put on her forehead +was a benediction. + +"You may go now," she said, "for I shall need the whole room to dance +in. I am free, if only for a little while!" + +Outside the door the chancellor paused. She was singing. It was the same +aria he had heard that memorable night when he found her in the dim +garret. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GRETCHEN'S DAY + + +Gretchen was always up when the morning was rosy, when the trees were +still dark and motionless, and the beads of dew white and frostlike. For +what is better than to meet the day as it comes over the mountains, and +silence breaks here and there, in the houses and streets, in the fields +and the vineyards? Let old age, which has played its part and taken to +the wings of the stage, let old age loiter in the morning, but not green +years. Gretchen awoke as the birds awoke, with snatches and little +trills of song. To her nearest neighbors there was about her that which +reminded them of the regularity of a good clock; when they heard her +voice they knew it was time to get up. + +She was always busy in the morning. The tinkle of the bell outside +brought her to the door, and her two goats came pattering in to be +relieved of their creamy burden. Gretchen was fond of them; they needed +no care at all. The moment she had milked them they went tinkling off to +the steep pastures. + +Even in midsummer the dawn was chill in Dreiberg. She blew on her +fingers. The fire was down to the last ember; so she went into the +cluttered courtyard and broke into pieces one of the limbs she had +carried up from the valley earlier in the season. The fire renewed its +cheerful crackle, the kettle boiled briskly, and the frugal breakfast +was under way. + +There was daily one cup of coffee, but neither Gretchen nor her +grandmother claimed this luxury; it was for the sick woman on the third +floor. Sometimes at the Black Eagle she had a cup when her work was +done, but to Gretchen the aroma excelled the taste. Her grandmother's +breakfast and her own out of the way, she carried the coffee and bread +and a hot brick up to the invalid. The woman gave her two crowns a week +to serve this morning meal. Gretchen would have cheerfully done the work +for nothing. + +What the character of the woman's illness was Gretchen hadn't an idea, +but there could be no doubt that she was ill, desperately, had the +goose-girl but known it. Her face was thin and the bones were visible +under the drum-like skin; her hands were merely claws. But she would +have no doctor; she would have no care save that which Gretchen gave +her. Sometimes she remained in bed all the day. She had been out of the +house but once since she came. She mystified the girl, for she never +complained, never asked questions, talked but little, and always smiled +kindly when the pillow was freshened. + +"Good morning, Fräu," said Gretchen. + +"Good morning, _Liebchen_." + +"I have brought you a brick this morning, for it will be cold till the +sun is high." + +"Thank you." + +Gretchen pulled the deal table to the side of the cot, poured out the +coffee, and buttered the bread. + +"I ought not to drink coffee, but it is the only thing that warms me. +You have been very patient with me." + +"I am glad to help you." + +"And that is why I love you. Now, I have some instructions to give you +this morning. Presently I shall be leaving, and there will be something +besides crowns." + +"You are thinking of leaving?" + +"Yes. When I go I shall not come back. Under my pillow there is an +envelope. You will find it and keep it." + +Gretchen, young and healthy, touched not this melancholy undercurrent. +She accepted the words at their surface value. She knew nothing about +death except by hearsay. + +"You will promise to take it?" + +"Yes, Fräu." + +"Thanks, little gosling. I have an errand for you this morning. It will +take you to the palace." + +"To the palace?" echoed Gretchen. + +"Yes. Does that frighten you?" + +"No, Fräu; it only surprises me. What shall I do?" + +"You will seek her highness and give her this note." + +"The princess?" Gretchen sadly viewed her wooden shoes and roughened +hands. + +"Never mind your hands and feet; your face will open any gate or door +for you." + +"I have never been to the palace. Will they not laugh and turn me out?" + +"If they try that, demand to see his excellency, Count von Herbeck, and +say that you came from forty Krumerweg." + +Gretchen shuddered with a mixture of apprehension and delight. To meet +and speak to all these great ones! + +"And if I can not get in?" + +"You will have no trouble. Be sure, though, to give the note to no one +but her highness. There will be no answer. All I ask is that when you +return you will tell me if you were successful. You may go." + +Gretchen put the note away and went down-stairs. She decked her +beautiful head with a little white cap, which she wore only on Sundays +and at the opera, and braided and beribboned her hair. It never occurred +to her that there was anything unusual in the incident. It was only when +she came out into the König Strasse that the puzzle of it came to her +forcibly. Who was this old woman who thought nothing of writing a letter +to her serene highness? And who were her nocturnal visitors? Gretchen +had no patience with puzzles, so she let her mind revel in the thought +that she was to see and speak to the princess whom she admired and +revered. What luck! How smoothly the world was beginning to run! + +Being of a discerning mind, she idled about the Platz till after nine, +for it had been told to her that the great sleep rather late in the +morning. What should she say to her serene highness? What kind of a +curtsy should she make? These and a hundred other questions flitted +through her head. At least she would wear no humble, servile air. For +Gretchen was a bit of a socialist. Did not Herr Goldberg, whom the +police detested, did he not say that all men were equal? And surely this +sweeping statement included women! She attended secret meetings in the +damp cellar of the Black Eagle, and, while she laughed at some of the +articles in the propaganda, she received seriously enough that which +proclaimed her the equal of any one. So long as she obeyed nature's laws +and Heaven's, was she not indeed the equal of queens and princesses, +who, it was said, did not always obey these laws? + +With a confidence born of right and innocence, she proceeded toward the +east or side gates of the palace. The sentry smiled at her. + +"I have a letter for her serene highness," she said. + +"Leave it." + +"I am under orders to give it to her highness herself." + +"Good day, then!" laughed the soldier. "You can not enter the gardens +without a permit." + +Gretchen remembered. "Will you send some one to his excellency the +chancellor and tell him I have come from number forty Krumerweg?" + +"Krumerweg? The very name ought to close any gate. But, girl, are you +speaking truthfully?" + +Gretchen exhibited the note. He scratched his chin, perplexed. + +"Run along. If they ask me, I'll say that I didn't see you." The sentry +resumed his beat. + +Gretchen stepped inside the gates, and the real beauty of the gardens +was revealed to her for the first time. Strange flowers she had never +seen before, plants with great broad leaves, grass-like carpet, and +giant ferns, unlike anything she had plucked in the valleys and the +mountains. It was all a fairy-land. There were marble urns with hanging +vines, and marble statues. She loitered in this pebbled path and that, +forgetful of her errand. Even had her mind been filled with the +importance of it, she did not know where to go to find the proper +entrance. + +A hand grasped her rudely by the arm. + +"What are you doing here?" thundered the head gardener. "Be off with +you! Don't you know that no one is allowed in here without a permit?" + +Gretchen wrenched free her arm. She was angry. + +"How dare you touch me like that?" + +Something in her glance, which was singularly arrogant, cooled even the +warm-blooded Hermann. + +"But you live in Dreiberg and ought to know." + +"You could have told me without bruising my arm," defiantly. + +"I am sorry if I hurt you, but you ought to have known better. By which +sentry did you pass?" for there was that about her beauty which made +him suspicious regarding the sentry's imperviousness to it. + +"Hermann!" + +Gretchen and the head gardener whirled. Through a hedge which divided +the formal gardens from the tennis and archery grounds came a young +woman in riding-habit. She carried a book in one hand and a riding-whip +in the other. + +"What is the trouble, Hermann?" she inquired. "Your voice was something +high." + +"Your Highness, this young woman here had the impudence to walk into the +gardens and stroll about as nice as you please," indignantly. + +"Has she stolen any flowers or trod on any of the beds?" + +"Why, no, your Highness; but--" + +"What is the harm, then?" + +"But it is not customary, your Highness. If we permitted this on the +part of the people, the gardens would be ruined in a week." + +"We, you and I, Hermann," said her highness, with a smile that won +Gretchen on the spot, "we will overlook this first offense. Perhaps this +young lady had some errand and lost her way." + +"Yes, Highness," replied Gretchen eagerly. + +"Ah! You may go, Hermann." + +"Your highness alone with--" + +"Go at once," kindly, but with royal firmness. + +Hermann bowed, gathered up his pruning knives and scissors which he had +let fall, and stalked down the path. What was it? he wondered. She was a +princess in all things save her lack of coldness toward the people. It +was wrong to meet them in this way, it was not in order. Her highness +had lived too long among them. She would never rid herself of the idea +that the humble had hearts and minds like the exalted. + +As the figure of the head gardener diminished and shortly vanished +behind a bed of palms, her highness laughed brightly, and Gretchen, to +her own surprise, found herself laughing also, easily and without +constraint. + +"Whom were you seeking?" her highness asked, rather startled by the +undeniable beauty of this peasant. + +"I was seeking your serene highness. I live at number forty the +Krumerweg, and the sick woman gave me this note for you." + +"Krumerweg?" Her highness reached for the note and read it, and as she +read tears gathered in her eyes. "Follow me," she said. She led Gretchen +to a marble bench and sat down. Gretchen remained on her feet +respectfully. "What is your name?" + + +[Illustration: She led Gretchen to a marble bench and sat down.] + + +"Gretchen, Highness." + +"Well, Gretchen, sit down." + +"In your presence, Highness?" aghast. + +"Don't bother about my presence on a morning like this. Sit down." + +This was a command and Gretchen obeyed with alacrity. It would not be +difficult, thought Gretchen, to love a princess like this, who was not +only lovely but sensible. The two sat mutely. They were strangely alike. +Their eyes nearly matched, their hair, even the shape of their faces. +They were similarly molded, too; only, one was slender and graceful, +after the manner of fashion, while the other was slender and graceful +directly from the hands of nature. The health of outdoors was visible in +their fine skins and clear eyes. The marked difference lay, of course, +in their hands. The princess had never toiled with her fingers except on +the piano. Gretchen had plucked geese and dug vegetables with hers. +They were rough, but toil had not robbed them of their natural grace. + +"How was she?" her highness asked. + +"About the same, Highness." + +"Have you wondered why she should write to me?" + +"Highness, it was natural that I should," was Gretchen's frank +admission. + +"She took me in when nobody knew who I was, clothed and fed me, and +taught me music so that some day I should not be helpless when the +battle of life began. Ah," impulsively, "had I my way she would be +housed in the palace, not in the lonely Krumerweg. But my father does +not know that she is in Dreiberg; and we dare not tell him, for he still +believes that she had something to do with my abduction." Then she +stopped. She was strangely making this peasant her confidante. What a +whim! + +"Highness, that could not be." + +"No, Gretchen; she had nothing to do with it." Her highness leveled her +gaze at the flowers, but her eyes saw only the garret or the barnlike +loneliness of the opera during rehearsals. + +Gretchen did not move. She saw that her highness was dreaming; and +she herself had dreams. + +"Do you like music?" + +"Highness, I am always singing." + +"La-la--la!" sang the princess capriciously. + +"La-la--la!" sang Gretchen smiling. Her voice was not purer or sweeter; +it was merely stronger, having been accustomed to the open air. + +"Brava!" cried the princess, dropping book and whip and folding the note +inside the book. "Who taught you to sing?" + +"Nobody, highness." + +"What do you do?" + +"I am a goose-girl; in the fall and winter I work at odd times in the +Black Eagle." + +"The Black Eagle? A tavern?" + +"Yes, Highness." + +"Tell me all about yourself." + +This was easy for Gretchen; there was so little. + +"Neither mother nor father. Our lives are something alike. A handsome +girl like you must have a sweetheart." + +Gretchen blushed. "Yes, Highness. I am to be married soon. He is a +vintner. I would not trade him for your king, Highness," with a spice of +boldness. + +Her highness did not take offense; rather she liked this frankness. In +truth, she liked any one who spoke to her on equal footing; it was a +taste of the old days when she herself could have chosen a vintner and +married him, with none to say her nay. Now she was only a pretty bird in +a gilded cage. She could fly, but whenever she did so she blundered +painfully against the bright wires. If there was any envy between these +two, it existed in the heart of the princess only. To be free like this, +to come and go at will, to love where the heart spoke! She surrendered +to another vagrant impulse. + +"Gretchen, I do not think I shall marry the king of Jugendheit." + +Gretchen grew red with pride. Her highness was telling her state +secrets! + +"You love some one else, Highness?" How should a goose-girl know that +such a question was indelicate? + +Her highness did not blush; the color in her cheeks receded. She +fondled the heart-shaped locket which she invariably wore round her +throat. That this peasant girl should thus boldly put a question she +herself had never dared to press! + +"You must not ask questions like that, Gretchen." + +"Pardon, Highness; I did not think." Gretchen was disturbed. + +But the princess comforted her with: "I know it. There are some +questions which should not be asked even by the heart." + +This was not understandable to Gretchen; but the locket pleased her eye. +Her highness, observing her interest, slipped the trinket from her neck +and laid it in Gretchen's hand. + +"Open it," she said. "It is a picture of my mother, whom I do not +recollect having ever seen. Wait," as Gretchen turned it about +helplessly. + +"I will open it for you." Click! + +Gretchen sighed deeply. To have had a mother so fair and pretty! She +hadn't an idea how her own mother had looked; indeed, being sensible and +not given much to conjuring, she had rarely bothered her head about it. +Still, as she gazed at this portrait, the sense of her isolation and +loneliness drew down upon her, and she in her turn sought the flowers +and saw them not. After a while she closed the locket and returned it. + +"So you love music?" picking up the safer thread. + +"Ah, yes, Highness." + +"Do you ever go to the opera?" + +"As often as I can afford. I am very poor." + +"I will give you a ticket for the season. How can I reward you for +bringing this message? Don't have any false pride. Ask for something." + +"Well, then, Highness, give me an order on the grand duke's head vintner +for a place." + +"For the man who is to become your husband?" + +"Yes, Highness." + +"You shall have it to-morrow. Now, come with me. I am going to take you +to Herr Ernst. He is the director of the opera. He rehearses in the +court theater this morning." + +Gretchen, undetermined whether she was waking or dreaming, followed the +princess. She was serenely unafraid, to her own great wonder. Who could +describe her sensations as she passed through marble halls, up marble +staircases, over great rugs so soft that her step faltered? Her wooden +shoes made a clatter whenever they left the rugs, but she stepped as +lightly as she could. She heard music and voices presently, and the +former she recognized. As her highness entered the Bijou Theater, the +Herr Direktor stopped the music. In the little gallery, which served as +the royal box, sat several ladies and gentlemen of the court, the grand +duke being among them. Her highness nodded at them brightly. + +"Good morning, Herr Direktor." + +"Good morning, your Highness." + +"I have brought you a prima donna," touching Gretchen with her whip. + +The Herr Direktor showed his teeth; her highness was always playing some +jest. + +"What shall she sing in, your Highness? We are rehearsing _The Bohemian +Girl_." + +The chorus and singers on the little stage exchanged smiles. + +"I want your first violin," said her highness. + +"Anton!" + +A youth stood up in the orchestral pit. + +"Now, your Highness?" said the Herr Direktor. + +"Try her voice." + +And the Herr Direktor saw that she was not smiling. He bade the +violinist to draw his bow over a single note. + +"Imitate it, Gretchen," commanded her highness; "and don't be afraid of +the Herr Direktor or of the ladies and gentlemen in the gallery." + +Gretchen lifted her voice. It was sweeter and mellower than the violin. + +"Again!" the Herr Direktor cried, no longer curious. + +Without apparent effort Gretchen passed from one note to another, now +high, now low, or strong or soft; a trill, a run. The violinist, of his +own accord, began the jewel song from _Faust_. Gretchen did not know the +words, but she carried the melody without mishap. And then, _I Dreamt I +Dwelt in Marble Halls_. This song she knew word for word, and ah, she +sang it with strange and haunting tenderness! One by one the musicians +dropped their instruments to their knees. The grand duke in the gallery +leaned over the velvet-buffered railing. All realized that a great voice +was being tried before them. The Herr Direktor struck his music-stand +sharply. It was enough. + +"Your highness has played a fine jest this day. Where does madame your +guest sing, in Berlin or Vienna?" + +"In neither," answered her highness, mightily gratified with Gretchen's +success. "She lives in Dreiberg, and till this morning I doubt if I ever +saw her before." + +The Herr Direktor stared blankly from her highness to Gretchen, and back +to her highness again. Then he grasped it. Here was one of those moments +when the gods make gifts to mortals. + +"Can you read music?" he asked. + +"No, Herr," said Gretchen. + +"That is bad. You have a great voice, Fräulein. Well, I shall teach you. +I shall make you a great singer. It is hard work." + +"I have always worked hard." + +"Good! Your Highness, a thousand thanks! What is your name?" to +Gretchen. She told him. "It is a good name. Come to me Monday at the +opera and I shall put you into good hands. Some day you will be rich, +and I shall become great because I found you." + +Then, with the artist's positive indifference to the presence of exalted +blood, he turned his back upon the two young women and roused his men +from the trance. + +"So, Gretchen," said her highness, when the two came out again into the +garden, "you are to be rich and famous. That will be fine." + +"Thanks, Highness, thanks! God grant the day to come when I may be of +service to you!" Gretchen kissed the hands of her benefactress. + +"Whenever you wish to see the gardens," added the princess, "the gates +will be open for you." + +As Gretchen went back to the Krumerweg her wooden shoes were golden +slippers and her rough homespun, silk. Rich! Famous! She saw the opera +ablaze with lights, she heard the roll of applause. She saw the horn of +plenty pouring its largess from the fair sky. Rainbow dreams! But +Gretchen never became a prima donna. There was something different on +the knees of the gods. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AFFAIRS OF STATE + + +The grand duke stamped back and forth with a rumble as of distant +thunder. He would search the very deeps of this matter. He was of a +patient mold, but this was the final straw. He would have his revenge if +it upset the whole continent. They would play with him, eh? Well, they +had loosed the lion this time. He had sent his valet to summon her +highness and Herbeck. + +"And tell them to put everything else aside." + +He kneaded the note in his hand powerfully. It was anonymous, but it +spoke clearly like truth. It had been left with one of the sentries, who +declared that a small boy had delivered it. The sender remained +undiscoverable. + +His highness had just that hour returned from the military field. He was +tired; and it was not the psychological moment for a thing like this to +turn up. Had he not opposed it for months? And now, having surrendered +against his better judgment, this gratuitous affront was offered him! It +was damnable. He smote the offending note. He would soon find out +whether it was true or not. Then he flung the thing violently to the +floor. But he realized that this burst of fury would not translate the +muddle, so he stooped and recovered the missive. He laughed, but the +laughter had a grim Homeric sound. War! Nothing less. He was prepared +for it. Twenty thousand troops were now in the valley, and there were +twenty thousand reserves. What Franz Josef of Austria or William of +Prussia said did not amount to the snap of his two fingers. To avenge +himself of the wrongs so long endured of Jugendheit, to wipe out the +score with blood! Did they think that he was in his dotage, to offer an +insult of this magnitude? They should see, aye, that they should! It did +not matter that the news reached him through subterranean channels or by +treachery; there was truth here, and that sufficed. + +"Enter!" he cried, as some one knocked on the door. + +Herbeck came in, as calm, as imperturbable as ever. + +"Your highness sent for me?" + +"I did. Why the devil couldn't you have left well enough alone? Read +this!" flinging the note down on his desk. + +Herbeck picked it up and worked out the creases. When he had read to the +final word, his hand, even as the duke's, closed spasmodically over the +stiff paper. + +"Well?" The query tingled with rage. + +The answer on the chancellor's lips was not uttered. Hildegarde came in. +She blew a kiss at her father, who caught the hand and drew her toward +him. He embraced her and kissed her brow. + +"What is it, father?" + +Herbeck waited. + +"Read," said the duke. + +As the last word left Herbeck's lips, she slipped from her father's arms +and looked with pity at the chancellor. + +"What do you think of this, Hildegarde?" + +"Why, father, I think it is the very best thing in the world," dryly. + +"An insult like this?" The duke grew rigid. "You accept it calmly, in +this fashion?" + +"Shall I weep and tear my hair over a boy I have never seen? No, thank +you. I was about to make known to you this very evening that I had +reconsidered the offer. I shall never marry his majesty." + +"A fine time!" The duke's hand trembled. "Why, in God's name, did you +not refuse when the overtures were first made? The truth, Herbeck, the +whole truth; for there is something more than this." + +Herbeck, in few words and without evasion, explained the situation. + +"Your Highness, the regent is really not to blame, for his majesty had +given him free rein in the matter; and his royal highness, working as I +have been for the best interests of the two countries, never dreamed +that the king would rebel. All my heart and all my mind have been +working toward this end, toward a greater peace and prosperity. The king +has been generous enough to leave the publicity in our hands; that is to +say, he agrees to accept the humiliation of being rejected by her serene +highness." + +"That is very generous of him!" said the duke sarcastically. "Send for +Ducwitz." + +"Ducwitz, your Highness?" cried the chancellor, chilled. + +"Immediately!" + +"Father!" + +"Must I give an order twice?" + +"Your Highness, if you call Ducwitz I shall surrender my portfolio to +you." The chancellor spoke without anger, quietly but firmly. + +"Do so. There are others to take up your work." The duke, for the +moment, had thrown reason to the winds. Revenge, the clamor of revenge, +was all the voice he heard. + +The chancellor bowed, turned to leave the room, when Hildegarde flew to +the duke's side and snatched at his sleeve. + +"Father, you are mad!" + +"At least I am master in Ehrenstein. Herbeck, you will have the kindness +to summon General Ducwitz." + +"Your Highness," replied Herbeck, "I have worked long and faithfully in +your service. I can not recollect that I ever asked one personal favor. +But I do so now. Do not send for Ducwitz to-night. See him in the +morning. This is no time for haste. You will throw the army into +Jugendheit, and there will follow a bloody war. For I have to inform you +that the prince regent, recognizing the false position he is in, has +taken the ram by the horns. His troops are already bivouacked on the +other side of the pass. This I learned to-day. He will not strike first; +he will wait for you." + +"I will have my revenge!" stubbornly. + +"Father, listen to me. _I_ am the affronted person; _I_, I alone, have +the right to say what shall be done in the matter. And I say to you if +you do these cruel things, dismiss his excellency and bring war and +death to Ehrenstein, I will never forgive you, never, never! You are +wrong, wrong, and I, your daughter, tell you so frankly. Leave it to me. +There will be neither war nor humiliation." + +As the duke gazed at her the wrath gathering in his throat receded and +his admiration grew. His daughter! She was a princess, indeed, as she +stood there, fearless, resolute, beautiful. And her very beauty gave +recurrence to his wrath. A fool of a king he was, a fool of a king! + +"My dear child," he said, "I have suffered too much at the hands of +Jugendheit. It was my daughter the first time; it is my honor now," +proudly. + +"Will it balance war and devastation?" the girl asked quietly. "Is it +not pride rather than honor? The prince regent made a pardonable +blunder. Do not you, my father, make an unpardonable one. The king is +without blame, for you appeal to his imagination as a man who deeply +wronged his father. I harbor no ill-feeling against him or his uncle, +because I look at the matter from an impersonal point of view; it was +for the good of the state. This blunder can be undone; therefore it is +not wise to double it, to make it irreparable." + +"A Portia to the judgment!" said the chancellor, his eye kindling. "Let +it all rest upon my shoulders. I alone am to blame. It was I who first +suggested the alliance. We all have dreams, active or passive, futile or +purposeful. My ambition was to bring about a real and lasting peace. +Your Highness, I have failed signally. There is nothing to do now but to +appoint my successor." All the chancellor's force and immobility of +countenance gave way, and he looked the broken man. + +Notwithstanding that he was generally hasty, the duke was a just man. In +his heart of hearts he understood. He offered his hand, with half a +smile; and when he smiled he was a handsome old man. + +"You are bidding me farewell, your Highness?" said Herbeck. + +"No, Count. I would not let you go for half my duchy. What should I do +without your solid common sense? No; remain; we are both of us too old +to quarrel. Even a duke may be a fool sometimes." + +Herbeck laid his cold hand upon the duke's. Then he went over to her +highness and kissed her hand gratefully, for it was truly at her feet +the wreath of victory lay. + +"Highness," he said softly, "you are the fairest, finest princess in the +world, and you shall marry when you will." + +"And where?" + +"I would that I could make it so. But there is a penalty for being +placed so high. We can not change this unwritten law." + +"Heaven did not write it," she replied. + +"No, my daughter," said the duke. "Man is at the bottom of all the kinks +and twists in this short life; not Heaven. But Herbeck is right; you +shall marry _when_ you will." + +She sprang into his arms and kissed him. It was, however, a traitorous +kiss; for she was saying in her heart that now she would never marry. +Herbeck's eyes wandered to the portrait over the fireplace. It was the +girl's mother. + +The knock of the valet was again heard. + +"Your Highness, there is a young woman, a peasant, who desires to speak +to her serene highness." + +"Where is she?" asked the duke. + +"She is outside, your Highness." + +"What! She enters the palace without any more trouble than this?" + +"By my orders, father," said Hildegarde, who gathered that this +privileged visitor must be Gretchen of the Krumerweg. "Admit her." + +"Truly we are becoming socialists," said the duke, appealing to Herbeck, +who replied with his usual grim smile. + +Gretchen was ushered in. Her throat was a little full as she recognized +the three most important persons in the grand duchy. Outwardly she was +composed. She made a curtsy to which the duke replied with his most +formal bow of state. The sparkle of amusement was in his eyes. + +"The little goose-girl!" he said half-audibly. + +"Yes, Highness." Gretchen's face was serious and her eyes were mournful. +She carried an envelope in her hand tightly. + +"Come to me, Gretchen," said the princess. + +"What is it?" + +Gretchen's eyes roamed undecidedly from the duke to Herbeck. + +"She is dead, Highness, and I found this letter under her pillow." + +It was Herbeck's hand that took the envelope. But he did not open it at +once. + +"Dead?" Hildegarde's eyes filled. + +"Who is dead?" demanded the duke. + +"Emma Schultz, father. Oh, I know you will forgive me for this +deception. She has been in Dreiberg for a month, dying, and I have often +stolen out to see her." She let her tears fall unrestrained. + +The duke stared at the rug. Presently he said: "Let her be buried in +consecrated ground. Wrong or right, that chapter is closed, my child, +and I am glad you made her last moments happy. It was like you. It was +like your mother. What is in the letter, Herbeck?" + +Herbeck was a strong man; he was always far removed from tears; but +there was a mist over the usual clarity of his vision. He ripped down +the flap. It was only a simple note to her serene highness, begging her +to give the enclosed banknotes to one Gretchen who lived in the +Krumerweg. The notes represented a thousand crowns. + +"Take them, little goose-girl," said the duke; "your ship has come in. +This will be your dowry." + +An icy shiver ran up and down Gretchen's spine, a shiver of wonder, +delight, terror. A thousand crowns! A fortune! + +"Hold out your hand," requested Herbeck. One by one he laid the notes on +the goose-girl's hand. "This is only a just reward for being kind and +gentle to the unfortunate." + +"And I shall add to it another thousand," said Hildegarde. "Give them to +me, father." + +In all, this fortune amounted to little more than four hundred dollars; +but to Gretchen, frugal and thrifty, to whom a single crown was a large +sum, to her it represented wealth. She was now the richest girl in the +lower town. Dreams of kaleidoscopic variety flew through her head. +Little there was, however, of jewels and gowns. This vast sum would be +the buffer between her and hunger while she pursued the one great +ambition of her life--music. She tried to speak, to thank them, but her +voice was gone. Tears sprang into her eyes. She had the power to do no +more than weep. + +The duke was the first to relieve the awkwardness of the moment. + +"Count, has it not occurred to you that we stand in the presence of two +very beautiful young women?" + +Herbeck scrutinized Gretchen with care; then he compared her with the +princess. The duke was right. The goose-girl was not a whit the inferior +of the princess. And the thing which struck him with most force was +that, while each possessed a beauty individual to herself, it was not +opposite, but strangely alike. + +The goose-girl had returned to her gloomy Krumerweg, the princess had +gone to her apartments, and Herbeck to his cabinet. The duke was alone. +For a long period he stood before the portrait of his wife. The beauties +of his courtship trooped past him; for God had given to the grand duke +of Ehrenstein that which He denies most of us, high or low, a perfect +love. + +"Always, always, dear heart," he whispered; "in this life and in the +life to come. To love, what is the sickle of death?" + +He passed on to his secretary and opened a drawer. He laid a small +bundle on the desk and untied the string. One by one he ranged the +articles; two little yellow shoes, a little cloak trimmed with ermine. +There had been a locket, but that was now worn by her highness. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE SOCIALISTS + + +Hermann Breunner lived in the granite lodge, just within the eastern +gates of the royal gardens. He was a widower and shared the ample lodge +with the undergardeners and their families. He lived with them, but +signally apart. They gave him as much respect as if he had been the duke +himself. He was a lonely, taciturn man, deeply concerned with his work, +and a botanical student of no mean order. No comrade helped him pass +away an evening in the chimney-corner, pipe in hand and good cheer in +the mug. This isolation was not accidental, it was Hermann's own +selection. He was a man of brooding moods, and there was no laughter in +his withered heart, though the false sound of it crossed his lips at +infrequent intervals. + +He adjusted his heavy spectacles and held the note slantingly toward +the candle. A note or a letter was a singular event in Hermann's life. +Not that he looked forward with eagerness to receive them, but that +there was no one existing who cared enough about him to write. This note +left by the porter of the Grand Hotel moved him with surprise. It +requested that he present himself at eight o'clock at the office of the +hotel and ask to be directed to the room of Hans Grumbach. + +"Now, who is Hans Grumbach? I never knew or heard of a man of that +name." + +Nevertheless, he decided to go. Certainly this man Grumbach did not urge +him without some definite purpose. He laid down his pipe, reached for +his hat and coat--for in the lodge he generally went about in his +shirt-sleeves--and went over to the hotel. The concierge, who knew +Hermann, conducted him to room ten on the entresole. Hermann knocked. A +voice bade him enter. Ah, it was the German-American, whose papers had +puzzled his excellency. + +"You wished to see me, Herr Grumbach?" + +"Yes," said Grumbach, offering a chair. + +Hermann accepted the courtesy with dignity. His host drew up another +chair to the opposite side of the reading-table. The light overhead put +both faces in a semishadow. + +"You are Hermann Breunner," began Grumbach. + +"Yes." + +"You once had a brother named Hans." + +Hermann grew rigid in his chair. "I have no brother," he replied, his +voice dull and empty. + +"Perhaps not now," continued Grumbach, "but you did have." + +Hermann's head drooped. "My God, yes, I did have a brother; but he was a +scoundrel." + +Grumbach lighted a cigar. He did not offer one to Hermann, who would +have refused it. + +"Perhaps he was a scoundrel. He is--dead!" softly. + +"God's will be done!" But Hermann's face turned lighter. + +"As a boy he loved you." + +"And did I not love him?" said Hermann fiercely. "Did I not worship that +boy, who was to me more like a son than a brother? Had not all the +brothers and sisters died but he? But you--who are you to recall these +things?" + +"I knew your brother; I knew him well. He was not a scoundrel; only +weak. He went to America and became successful in business. He fought +with the North in the war. He was not a coward; he did his fighting +bravely and honorably." + +"Oh, no; Hans could never, have been a coward; even his villainy +required courage. But go on." + +"He died facing the enemy, and his last words were of you. He begged +your forgiveness; he implored that you forget that black moment. He was +young, he said; and they offered him a thousand crowns. In a moment of +despair he fell." + +"Despair? Did he confess to you the crime he committed?" + +"Yes." + +"Did he tell you to whom he sold his honor?" + +"That he never knew. A Gipsy from the hills came to him, so he said. + +"From Jugendheit?" + +"I say that he knew nothing. He believed that the Gipsy wanted her +highness to hold for ransom. Hans spoke of a girl called Tekla." + +"Tekla? Ah, yes; Hans was in love with that doll-face." + +"Doll-face or not, Hans evidently loved her. She jilted him, and he did +not care then what happened. His one desire was to leave Dreiberg. And +this Gipsy brought the means and the opportunity." + +"Not Jugendheit?" + +"Who knows? Hans followed the band of Gipsies into the mountains. The +real horror of his act did not come home to him till then. Ah, the +remorse! But it was too late. They dressed the little one in rags. But +when I ran away from them I took her little shoes and cloak and locket." + +Hermann was on his feet! + +Grumbach relighted his cigar which had gone out. The smoke wavered about +his face and slowly ascended. His eyes were as bright and glowing as +coals. He waited. He had made the slip without premeditation; but what +was done was done. So he waited. + +Hermann dropped his hands on the table and leaned forward. + +"Is it you, Hans, and I did not know you?" + +"It is I, brother." + +"My God!" Hermann sank down weakly. The ceiling spun and the gaslight +separated itself into a hundred flames. "You said he was dead!" + +"So I am, to the world, to you, and to all who knew me," quietly. + +"Why have you returned?" + +Hans shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps I am a fool; perhaps I am willing +to pay the penalty of my crime. At least that was uppermost in my mind +till I learned that her highness had been found." + +"Hans, Hans, the duke has sworn to hang you!" + +Hans laughed. "The rope is not made that will fit my neck. Will you +denounce me, brother?" + +"I?" Hermann shrank back in horror. + +"Why not? Five thousand crowns still hang over me." + +"Blood-money for me? No, Hans!" + +"Besides, I have made a will. At my death you will be rich." + +"Rich?" + +"Yes, Hermann. I am worth two hundred thousand crowns." + +Hermann breathed with effort. So many things had beaten upon his brain +in the past ten minutes that he was dazed. His brother Hans alive and +here, and rich? + +"But riches are not everything." + +"Sometimes they are little enough," Hans agreed. + +"Why did you do it?" Hermann's voice was full of agony. + +"Have I not told you, Hermann? There is nothing more to be added." Then, +with rising passion: "Nothing more, now that my heart is blistered and +scarred with regret and remorse. God knows that I have repented and +repented. I went to war because I wanted to be killed. They shot me +here, and here, and here, and this saber-cut would have split the skull +of any other man. But it was willed that I should come back here." + +"My poor brother! You must fly from here at once!" + +"From what?" tranquilly. + +"The chancellor is suspicious." + +"I know that. But since you, my brother, failed to identify me, +certainly his excellency will not. I shall make no slip as in your case. +And you will not betray me when I tell you that I have returned +principally to find out whence came those thousand crowns." + +"Ah! Find that out, Hans; yes, yes!" Hermann began to look more like +himself. "But what was your part?" + +"Mine? I was to tell where her highness and her nurse were to be at a +certain hour of the day. Nothing more was necessary. My running away was +the expression of my guilt; otherwise they would never have connected me +with the abduction." + +"Have you any suspicions?" + +"None. And remember, you must not know me, Hermann, no matter where we +meet. I am sleepy." Hans rose. + +And this, thought Hermann, his bewilderment gaining life once more, and +this calm, unruffled man, whose hair was whiter than his own, a veteran +of the bloodiest civil war in history, this prosperous mechanic, was his +little brother Hans! + +"Hans, have you no other greeting?" Hermann asked, spreading out his +arms. + +The wanderer's face beamed; and the brothers embraced. + +"You forgive me, then, Hermann?" + +"Must I not, little Hans? You are all that is left me of the blood. +True, I swore that if ever I saw you again I should curse you." + +The two stood back from each other, but with arms still entwined. + +"Perhaps, Hans, I did not watch you closely enough in those days." + +"And what has become of the principal cause?" + +"The cause?" + +"Tekla." + +"Bah! She is fat and homely and the mother of seven squalling children." + +"What a world! To think that Tekla should be at the bottom of all this +tangle! What irony! I ruin my life, I break the heart of the grand duke, +I nearly cause war between two friendly states--why? Tekla, now fat and +homely and the mother of seven, would not marry me. The devil rides +strange horses." + +"Good night, Hans." + +"Good night, Hermann, and God bless you for your forgiveness. Always +come at night if you wish to see me, but do not come often; they might +remark it." + +A rap on the door startled them. Hans, a finger of warning on his lips, +opened the door. Carmichael stood outside. + +"Ah, Captain!" Hans took Carmichael by the hand and drew him into the +room. + +Carmichael, observing Hermann, was rather confused as to what to do. + +"Good evening, Hermann," he said. + +"Good evening, Herr Carmichael." + +Hermann passed into the hail and softly closed the door after him. It +was better that the American should not see the emotion which still +illumined his face. + +"What's the good word, Captain?" inquired Hans. + +Carmichael put in a counter-query: "What was your brother doing here?" + +"I have told him who I am." + +"Was it wise?" + +"Hermann sleeps soundly; he will talk neither in his sleep nor in his +waking hours. He has forgiven me." + +"For what?" thoughtlessly. + +"The time for explanations has not yet come, Captain." + +"Pardon me, Grumbach; I was not thinking. But I came to bring you the +invitation to the military ball." + +The broad white envelope, emblazoned with the royal arms, fascinated +Hans, not by its resplendency, but by the possibilities which it +afforded. + +"Thank you; it was very good of you." + +"It was a pleasure, comrade. What do you say to an hour or two at the +Black Eagle? We'll drown our sorrows together." + +"Have you any sorrows, Captain?" + +"Who hasn't? Life is a patchwork with the rounding-out pieces always +missing. Come along. I'm lonesome to-night." + +"So am I," said Hans. + +The Black Eagle was lively as usual; and there were some familiar faces. +The vintner was there and so was Gretchen. Carmichael hailed her. + +"This is my last night here, Herr Carmichael," she said. + +"Somebody has left you a fortune?" There was a jest in Carmichael's +eyes. + +"Yes," replied Gretchen, her lips unsmiling. + +"The poor lady who lived on the top floor of my grandmother's house was +rich. She left me a thousand crowns." + +Carmichael and Grumbach: "A thousand crowns!" + +"And what will you do with all that money?" asked Hans. + +"I am going to study music." + +"I thought you were going to be married soon," said Carmichael. + +"Surely. But that will not hinder. I shall have enough for two." +Gretchen saw no reason why she should tell them of the princess' +generosity. + +"But how does he take it?" asked Carmichael, with a motion of his head +toward the vintner, half hidden behind a newspaper. + +"He doesn't like the idea at all. But the Herr Direktor says that I am a +singer, and that some day I shall be rich and famous." + +"When that day comes I shall be there with many a brava!" + +The vintner, who sat near enough to catch a bit of the conversation, +scowled over the top of his paper. Carmichael eyed him mischievously. +Gretchen picked up her coppers and went away. + +"A beautiful girl," said Hans abstractedly. "She might be Hebe with no +trouble at all." + +Carmichael admired Hans. There was always some new phase in the +character of this quiet and unassuming German. A plumber who was +familiar with the classics was not an ordinary person. He raised his +stein and Hans extended his. After that they smoked, with a word or two +occasionally in comment. + +At that day there was only one newspaper in Dreiberg. It was a dry and +solid sheet, of four pages, devoted to court news, sciences, and +agriculture. The vintner presently smoothed down the journal, opened his +knife, and cut out a paragraph. Carmichael, following his movements +slyly, wondered what he had seen to interest him to the point of +preservation. The vintner crushed the remains of the sheet into a ball +and dropped it to the floor. Then he finished his beer, rose, and +proceeded toward the stairs leading to the rathskeller below. Down these +he disappeared. + +An idea came to Carmichael. He called a waitress and asked her to bring +a copy of that day's paper. Meantime he recovered the vintner's paper, +and when he finally put the two together, it was a simple matter to +replace the missing cutting. Grumbach showed a mild interest over the +procedure. + +"Why do you do that, Captain?" + +"A little idea I have; it may not amount to anything." But the American +was puzzled over the cutting. There were two sides to it: which had +interested the vintner? "Do you care for another beer?" + +"No, I am tired and sleepy, Captain." + +"All right; we'll go back to the hotel. There is nothing going on here +to-night." + +But Carmichael was mistaken for once. + +A little time later Herr Goldberg harangued his fellow socialists +bitterly. Gretchen's business in this society was to serve. They had +selected her because they knew that she inclined toward the propaganda. +Few spoke to her, outside of giving orders, and then kindly. + +The rathskeller had several windows and doors. These led to the +_Biergarten_, to the wine-cellar, and to an alley which had no opening +on the street. The police had as yet never arrested anybody; but several +times the police had dispersed Herr Goldberg and his disciples on +account of the noise. The window which led to the blind alley was six +feet from the floor, twice as broad as it was high, and unbarred. Under +this window sat the vintner. He was a probationer, a novitiate; this was +his second attendance. He liked to sit in the shadow and smile at Herr +Goldberg's philosophy, which, summed up briefly, meant that the rich +should divide with the poor and that the poor should hang on to what +they had or got. It may have never occurred to Herr Goldberg that the +poor were generally poor because of their incapabilities, their +ignorance, and incompetence. To-night, however, there were variety and +spice with his Jeremiad. + +"Brothers, shall this thing take place? Shall the daughter of Ehrenstein +become Jugendheit's vassal? Oh, how we have fallen! Where is the grand +duke's pride we have heard so much about? Are we, then, afraid of +Jugendheit?" + +"No!" roared his auditors, banging their stems and tankards. The vintner +joined the demonstration, banging his stein as lustily as the next one. + +"Have you thought what this marriage will cost us in taxes?" + +"What?" + +"Thousands of crowns, thousands! Do we not always pay for the luxuries +of the rich? Do not their pleasures grind us so much deeper into the +dirt? Yes, we are the corn they grind. And shall we submit, like the +dogs in Flanders, to become beasts of burden?" + +"No, no!" + +"I have a plan, brothers; it will show the duke to what desperation he +has driven us at last. We will mob the Jugendheit embassy on the day of +the wedding; we will tear it apart, brick by brick, stone by stone." + +"Hurrah!" cried the noisy ones. They liked talk of this order. They knew +it was only here that great things happened, the division of riches and +mob-rule. Beer was cheaper by the keg. + +The noise subsided. Gretchen spoke. + +"Her serene highness will not marry the king of Jugendheit." + +Every head swung round in her direction. + +"What is that you say?" demanded Herr Goldberg. + +Gretchen repeated her statement. It was the first time she had ever +raised her voice in the councils. + +"Oh, indeed!" said Goldberg, bowing with ridicule: "Since when did her +serene highness make you her confidante?" + +"Her serene highness told me so herself." Gretchen's eyes, which had +held only mildness and good-will, now sparkled with contempt. + +A roar of laughter went up, for the majority of them thought that +Gretchen was indulging in a little pleasantry. + +"Ho-ho! So you are on speaking terms with her highness?" Herr Goldberg +laughed. + +"Is there anything strange in this fact?" she asked, keeping her tones +even. + +The vintner made a sign to her, but she ignored it. + +"Strange?" echoed Herr Goldberg, becoming furious at having the +interest in himself thus diverted. "Since when did goose-girls and +barmaids become on intimate terms with her serene highness?" + +Gretchen pressed the vintner's arm to hold him in his chair. + +"Does not your socialism teach that we are all equal?" + +The vintner thumped with his stein in approval, and others imitated him. +Goldberg was no ordinary fool. He sidestepped defeat by an assumption of +frankness. + +"Tell us about it. If I have spoken harshly it is only reasonable. Tell +us under what circumstance you met her highness and how she happened to +tell you this very important news. Every one knows that this marriage is +to take place." + +Gretchen nodded. "Nevertheless, her highness has changed her mind." And +she recounted picturesquely her adventure in the royal gardens, and all +hung on her words in a kind of maze. It was all very well to shout, +"Down with royalty!" it was another matter to converse and shake bands +with it. + +"Hurrah!" shouted the vintner. "Long live her highness! Down with +Jugendheit!" + +There was a fine chorus. + +And there was a fine tableau not down on the evening's program. A police +officer and three assistants came down the stairs quietly. + +"Let no one leave this room!" the officer said sternly. + +The dramatic pause was succeeded by a babel of confusion. Chairs +scraped, stems clattered, and the would-be liberators huddled together +like so many sheep rounded up by a shepherd-dog. + +"Ho, there! Stop him, you!" + +It was the vintner who caused this cry; and the agility with which he +scrambled through the window into the blind alley was an inspiration. + +"After him!" yelled the officer. "He is probably the one rare bird in +the bunch." + +But they searched in vain. + +Gretchen stared ruefully at the blank window. + +Somehow this flight pained her; somehow it gave her the heartache to +learn that her idol was afraid of such a thing as a policeman. + +"Out into the street, every mother's son of you!" cried the officer +angrily to the quaking socialists. "This is your last warning, +Goldberg. The next time you go to prison for seditious teachings. Out +with you!" + +The socialists could not have emptied the cellar any quicker had there +been a fire. + +Gretchen alone remained. It was her duty to carry the steins up to the +bar. The officer, rather thorough for his kind, studied the floor under +the window. He found a cutting from a newspaper. This interested him. + +"Do you know who this fellow was?" with a jerk of his head toward the +window. + +"He is Leopold Dietrich, a vintner, and we are soon to be married." +There was a flaw in the usual sweetness of her voice. + +"So? What made him run away like this?" + +"He is new to Dreiberg. Perhaps he thought you were going to arrest +every one. Oh, he has done nothing wrong; I am sure of that." + +"There is one way to prove it." + +"And what is that?" + +"Ask him if he is not a spy from Jugendheit," roughly. + +The steins clicked crisply in Gretchen's arms; one of them fell and +broke at her feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +LOVE'S DOUBTS + + +Gretchen, troubled in heart and mind over the strange event of the +night, walked slowly home, her head inclined, her arms swinging +listlessly at her side. A spy, this man to whom she had joyously given +the flower of her heart and soul? There was some mistake; there must be +some mistake. She shivered; for the word spy carried with it all there +was in deceit, treachery, cunning. In war time she knew that spies were +necessary, that brave men took perilous hazards, without reward, without +renown; but in times of peace nothing but opprobrium covered the word. A +political scavenger, the man she loved? No; there was some mistake. The +bit of newspaper cutting did not worry her. Anybody might have been +curious about the doings of the king of Jugendheit and his uncle the +prince regent. Because the king hunted in Bavaria with the crown +prince, and his uncle conferred with the king of Prussia in Berlin, it +did not necessarily follow that Leopold Dietrich was a spy. Gretchen was +just. She would hear his defense before she judged him. + +Marking the first crook in the Krumerweg was an ancient lamp hanging +from the side of the wall. The candle in this lamp burned night and day, +through winter's storms and summer's balms. The flame dimmed and glowed, +a kindly reminder in the gloom. It was a shrine to the Virgin Mary; and +before this Gretchen paused, offering a silent prayer that the Holy +Mother preserve this dream of hers. + +A footstep from behind caused her to start. The vintner took her roughly +in his arms and kissed her many times. + +Her heart shook within her, but she did not surrender her purpose under +these caresses. She freed herself energetically and stood a little away +from him, panting and star-eyed. + +"Gretchen?" + +She did not speak. + +"What is it?" + +"You ask?" + +"Was it a crime, then, to jump out of the window?" He laughed. + +Gretchen's face grew sterner. "Were you afraid?" + +"For a moment. I have never run afoul the police. I thought perhaps we +were all to be arrested." + +"Well, and what then?" + +"What then? Uncomfortable quarters in stone rooms. I preferred +discretion to valor." + +"Perhaps you did not care to have the police ask you questions?" + +"What is all this about?" He pulled her toward him so that he could look +into her eyes. + +"What is the matter? Answer!" + +"Are you not a spy from Jugendheit?" thinly. + +He flung aside her hand. "So! The first doubt that enters your ear finds +harbor there. A spy from Jugendheit; that is a police suggestion, and +you believed it!" + +"Do you deny it?" Gretchen was not cowed by his anger, which her own +evenly matched. + +"Yes," proudly, snatching his hat from his head and throwing it +violently at her feet; "yes, I deny it. I am not a spy from any country; +I have not sold the right to look any man in the eye." + +"I have asked you many questions," she replied, "but you are always +laughing. It is a pleasant way to avoid answering. I have given you my +heart and all its secrets. Have you opened yours as frankly?" + +To meet anger with logic and sense is the simplest way to overcome it. +The vintner saw himself at bay. He stooped to recover his hat, not so +much to regain it but to steal time to conjure up some way out. + +"Gretchen, here under the Virgin I swear to you that I love you as a man +loves but once in his life. If I were rich, I would gladly fling these +riches to the wind for your sake. If I were a king, I'd barter my crown +for a smile and a kiss. I have done no wrong; I have committed no crime. +But you must have proof; so be it. We will go together to the +police-bureau and settle this doubt once and for all." + +"When?" Gretchen's heart was growing warm again. + +"Now, to-night, while they are hunting for me." + +"Forgive me!" brokenly. + +"Come!" + +"No, Leopold, this test is not necessary." + +"I insist. This thing must be righted publicly." + +"And I was thinking that the man I loved was a coward!" + +"I am braver than you dream, Gretchen." And in truth he was, for he was +about to set forth for the lion's den, and only amazing cleverness could +extricate him. Man never enters upon the foolhardy unless it be to +dazzle a woman. And the vintner's love for Gretchen was no passing +thing. "Let us hurry; it is growing late. They will be shutting off the +lights before we return." + +The police-bureau was far away, but the distance was nothing to these +healthy young people. + +They progressed at a smart pace and in less than twenty minutes they +arrived. It was Gretchen who drew back fearfully. + +"After all, will it not be foolish?" she suggested. + +"They will be searching for me," he answered. + +"It will be easier if I present myself. It will bear testimony that I +am innocent of any wrong." + +"I will go in with you," determinedly. + +The police officer, or, to be more particular, the sub-chief of the +bureau, received them with ill-concealed surprise. + +"I have learned that you are seeking me," said the vintner, taking off +his cap. His yellow curls waved about his forehead in moist profusion. + +Immediately the sub-chief did not know what to say. This was out of the +ordinary, conspicuously so. There was little precedent by which to act +in a case like this. So in order to appear that nothing could destroy +his official poise, he let the two stand before his desk while he sorted +some papers. + +"You are not a native of Dreiberg," he began. + +"No, Herr; I am from Bavaria. If you will look into your records you +will find that my papers were presented two or three weeks ago." + +"Let me see them." + +The vintner's passports were produced. The sub-chief compared them to +the corresponding number in his book. There was nothing wrong about +them. + +"I do not recollect seeing you here before." + +"It was one of your assistants who originally went over the papers." + +"What is your business?" + +"I am a vintner by trade, Herr." + +"And are there not plenty of vineyards in Bavaria?" + +"We vintners," with an easy gesture, "are of a roving disposition. I +have been all along the Rhine and the Moselle. I prefer grapes to hops." + +"But why Dreiberg? The best vineyards are south." + +"Who can say where we shall go next? Dreiberg seemed good enough for +me," with a shy glance at Gretchen. + +"Why did you jump out of the window?" + +"I was frightened at first, Herr. I did not know that you merely +dispersed meetings. I believed that we were all to be arrested. Such +measures are in force in Munich." + +"You accused him of being a Jugendheit spy," broke in Gretchen, who was +growing impatient under these questions, which seemed to go nowhere in +particular. + +"You be silent," warned the sub-chief. + +"I am here because of that accusation," said the vintner. + +"What have you to say?" + +"I deny it." + +"That is easy to do. But can you prove it?" + +"It is for you to prove, Herr." + +"Read this." + +It was the cutting. The vintner read it, his brows drawn together in a +puzzled frown. He turned the slip over carelessly. The sub-chief's eyes +bored into him like gimlets. + +"I can make nothing of this, Herr. When I cut this out of the paper it +was to preserve the notice on the other side." The vintner returned the +cutting. + +The sub-chief read aloud: + + "Vintners and presses and pruners wanted for the season. Find and + liberal compensation. Apply, Holtz." + +Gretchen laughed joyously; the vintner grinned; the sub-chief swore +under his breath. + +"The devil fly away with you both!" he cried, making the best of his +chagrin. "And when you marry, don't invite me to the wedding." + +After they had gone, however, he called for an assistant. + +"Did you see that young vintner?" + +"Yes." + +"Follow him, night and day. Find out where he lives and what he does; +and ransack his room if possible. He is either an innocent man or a +sleek rascal. Report to me this time each night." + +"And the girl?" + +"Don't trouble about her. She is under the patronage of her serene +highness. She's as right as a die. It's the man. He was too easy; he +didn't show enough concern. An ordinary vintner would have been +frightened. This fellow smiled." + +"And if I find out anything suspicious?" + +"Arrest him out of hand and bring him here at once." + +Alone once more the sub-chief studied the cutting with official +thoroughness. He was finally convinced, by the regularity of the line on +the printed side as compared with the irregularity of the line on the +advertising side, that the vintner had lied. And yet there was no proof +that he had. + +"This young fellow will go far," he mused, with reluctant admiration. + +On reaching the street Gretchen gave rein to her laughter. What promised +to be a tragedy was only a farce. The vintner laughed, too, but Momus +would have criticized his laughter. + +The night was not done yet; there were still some more surprises in +store for the vintner. As they turned into the Krumerweg they almost ran +into Carmichael. What was the American consul doing in this part of the +town, so near midnight? Carmichael recognized them both. He lifted his +hat, but the vintner cavalierly refused to respond. + +"Herr Carmichael!" said Gretchen. "And what are you doing here this time +of the night?" + +"I have been on a fool's errand," urbanely. + +"And who sent you?" + +"The god of fools himself, I guess. I am looking for a kind of ghost, a +specter in black that leaves the palace early in the evening and returns +late, whose destination has invariably been forty Krumerweg." + +The vintner started. + +"My house?" cried Gretchen. + +"Yours? Perhaps you can dispel this phantom?" said Carmichael. + +Gretchen was silent. + +"Oh! You know something. Who is she?" + +"A lady who comes on a charitable errand. But now she will come no +more." + +"And why not?" + +"The object of her visits is gone," Gretchen answered sadly. + +"My luck!" exclaimed Carmichael ruefully. + +"I am always building houses of cards. I don't suppose I shall ever +reform." + +"Are you not afraid to walk about in this part of the town so late?" put +in the vintner, who was impatient to be gone. + +"Afraid? Of what? Thieves? Bah, my little man, I carry a sword-stick, +and moreover I know how to use it tolerably well. Good night." And he +swung along easily, whistling an air from _The Barber of Seville_. + +The insolence in Carmichael's tone set the vintner's ears a-burning, but +he swallowed his wrath. + +"I like him," Gretchen declared, as she stopped before the house. + +"Why?" jealously. + +"Because he is always like that; pleasant, never ruffled, kindly. He +will make a good husband to some woman." + +The vintner shrugged. He was not patient to-night. + +"Who is this mysterious woman?" + +"I am not free to tell you." + +"Oh!" + +"Leopold, what is the matter with you to-night? You act like a boy." + +"Perhaps the police muddle is to blame. Besides, every time I see this +man Carmichael I feel like a baited dog." + +"In Heaven's name, why?" + +"Nothing that I can remember. But I have asked you a question." + +"And I have declined to answer that question. All my secrets are yours, +but this one is another's." + +"Is it her highness?" + +Gretchen fingered the latch suggestively. + +"I am wrong, Gretchen; you are right. Kiss me!" + +She liked the tone; she liked the kisses, too, though they hurt. + +"Good night, my man!" she whispered. + +"Good night, my woman! To-morrow night at eight." + +He turned and ran lightly and swiftly up the street. Gretchen remained +standing in the doorway till she could see him no more. Why should he +run like that? She raised the latch and went inside. + +From the opposite doorway a mountaineer, a carter, a butcher, and a +baker stepped cautiously forth. + +"He heard something," said the mountaineer. "He has ears like a rat for +hearing. What a pretty picture!" cynically. "All the world loves a +lover--sometimes. Touching scene!" + +No one replied; no one was expected to reply; more than that, no one +cared to court the fury which lay thinly disguised in the mountaineer's +tones. + +"To-morrow night; you heard what he said. I am growing weary of this +play. You will stop him on his way to yonder house. A closed carriage +will be at hand. Before he enters, remember. She watches him too long +when he leaves. Fool!" + +The quartet stole along in the darkness, noiselessly and secretly. + +The vintner had indeed heard something. He knew not what this noise was, +but it was enough to set his heels to flying. A phase had developed in +his character that defied analysis; suspicion, suspicion of daylight, of +night, of shadows moving by walls, of footsteps behind. Only a little +while ago he had walked free-hearted and careless. This growing habit of +skulking was gall and wormwood. Once in his room, which was directly +over the office of the American consulate, he fell into a chair, inert +and breathless. What a night! What a series of adventures! + +"Only a month ago I was a boy. I am a man now, for I know what it is to +suffer. Gretchen, dear Gretchen, I am a black scoundrel! But if I break +your heart I shall break my own along with it. I wonder how much longer +it will last. But for that vintner's notice I should have been lost." + +By and by he lighted a candle. The room held a cot, a table, and two +chairs. The vintner's wardrobe consisted of a small pack thrown +carelessly into a corner. Out of the drawer in the table he took +several papers and burned them. The ashes he cast out of the window. He +knew something about police methods; they were by no means all through +with him. Ah! A patch of white paper, just inside the door, caught his +eye. He fetched it to the candle. What he read forced the color from his +cheeks and his hands were touched with transient palsy. + +"The devil! What shall I do now?" he muttered, thoroughly dismayed. + +What indeed should he do? Which way should he move? How long had _he_ +been in Dreiberg? Ah, that would be rich! What a joke! It would afford +him a smile in his old age. Carmichael, Carmichael! The vintner chuckled +softly as he scribbled this note: + + "If Herr Carmichael would learn the secret of number forty + Krumerweg, let him attire himself as a vintner and be in the + Krumerweg at eight o'clock to-night." + +"So there is a trap, and I am to beware of a mountaineer, a carter, a +butcher, and a baker? Thanks, Scharfenstein, my friend, thanks! You are +watching over me." + +He blew out his candle and went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DAY DREAM + + +Colonel Von Wallenstein curled his mustaches. It was a happy thought +that had taken him into the Adlergasse. This Gretchen had been haunting +his dreams, and here she was, coming into his very arms, as it were. The +sidewalk was narrow. Gretchen, casually noting that an officer stood in +the way, sensibly veered into the road. But to her surprise the soldier +left the sidewalk and planted himself in the middle of the road. There +was no mistaking this second maneuver. The officer, whom she now +recognized, was bent on intercepting her. She stopped, a cold fury in +her heart. + +To make sure, she essayed to go round. It was of no use. So she stopped +again. + +"Herr," she said quietly, "I wish to pass." + +"That is possible, Gretchen." + +It was nine o'clock in the morning. The Adlergasse was at this time +deserted. + +"Will you stand aside?" + +"You have been haunting my dreams, Gretchen." + +"That would be a pity. But I wish to pass." + +"Presently. Do you know that you are the most beautiful being in all +Dreiberg?" + +"I am in a hurry," said Gretchen. + +"There is plenty of time." + +"Not to listen to foolish speeches." + +"I am not going to let you pass till I have had a kiss." + +"Ah!" Battle flamed up in Gretchen's eyes. Somewhere in the past, in +some remote age, her forebears had been men-at-arms or knights in the +crusades. + +"You are very hard to please. Some women--" + +"But what kind of women?" bitingly. "Not such as I should care to meet. +Will you let me by peacefully?" + +"After the toll, after the toll!" + +Too late she started to run. He laughed and caught hold of her. Slowly +but irresistibly he drew her toward his heart. The dead-white of her +face should have warned him. With a supreme effort she freed herself +and struck him across the face; and there was a man's strength in the +flat of her hand. Quick as a flash she whirled round and ran up the +street, he hot upon her heels. He was raging now with pain and chagrin. +The one hope for Gretchen now lay in the Black Eagle; and into the +tavern she darted excitedly. + +"Fräu Bauer," she cried, gasping as much in wrath as for lack of breath, +"may I come behind your counter?" + +"To be sure, child. Whatever is the matter?" + +Wallenstein's entrance was answer sufficient. His hand, held against his +stinging cheek, was telltale enough for the proprietress of the Black +Eagle. + +"Shame!" she cried. She knew her rights. She was not afraid to speak +plainly to any officer in the duchy, however high he might be placed. + +"I can not get at you there, Gretchen," said the colonel, giving to his +voice that venom which the lady's man always has at hand when thwarted +in his gallantries. "You will have to come hence presently." + +"She shall stay here all day," declared Fräu Bauer decidedly. + +"I can wait." The colonel, now possessing two smarts, one to his cheek +and one to his vanity, made for the door. But there was a bulk in the +doorway formidable enough to be worth serious contemplation. + +"What is going on here, little goose-girl?" asked the grizzled old man, +folding his arms round his oak staff. + +"Herr Colonel insulted me." + +"Insulted you?" The colonel laughed boisterously. This was good; an +officer insult a wench of this order! "Out of the way!" he snarled at +the obstruction in the doorway. + +"What did he try to do to you, Gretchen?" + +"He tried to kiss me!" + +"The man who tries to kiss a woman against her will is always at heart a +coward," said the mountaineer. + +The colonel seized the old man by the shoulder to push him aside. The +other never so much as stirred. He put out one of his arms and clasped +the colonel in such a manner that he gasped. He was in the clutch of a +Carpathian bear. + +"Well, my little soldier?" said the mountaineer, his voice even and not +a vein showing in his neck. + +"I will kill you for this!" breathed the colonel heavily. + +"So?" The old man thrust him back several feet, without any visible +exertion. He let his staff slide into his hand. + +The moment the colonel felt himself liberated, he drew his saber and +lunged toward his assailant. There was murder in his heart. The two +women screamed. The old man laughed. He turned the thrust with his +staff. The colonel, throwing caution to the four winds, surrendered to +his rage. He struck again. The saber rang against the oak. This +dexterity with the staff carried no warning to the enraged officer. He +struck again and again. Then the old man struck back. The pain in the +colonel's arm was excruciating. His saber rattled to the stone flooring. +Before he could recover the weapon the victor had put his foot upon it. +He was still smiling, as if the whole affair was a bit of pastime. + +On his part the colonel's blood suddenly cooled. This was no accident; +this meddling peasant had at some time or other held a saber in his hand +and knew how to use it famously well. The colonel realized that he had +played the fool nicely. + +"My sword," he demanded, with as much dignity as he could muster. + +"Will you sheathe it?" the old man asked mildly. + +"Since it is of no particular use," bitterly. + +"I could have broken it half a dozen times. Here, take it. But be wise +in the future, and draw it only in the right." + +The gall was bitter on the colonel's tongue, but his head was evenly +balanced now. He jammed the blade into the scabbard. + +"I should like a word or two with you outside," said the mountaineer. + +"To what purpose?" + +"To a good one, as you will learn." + +The two of them went out. Gretchen, overcome, fell upon Fräu Bauer's +neck and wept soundly. The whole affair had been so sudden and +appalling. + +Outside the old man laid his hand on the colonel's arm. + +"You must never bother her again." + +"Must?" + +"The very word. Listen, and do not be a fool because you have some +authority on the general staff. You are Colonel von Wallenstein; you are +something more besides." + +"What do you infer?" + +"I infer nothing. Now and then there happens strange leakage in the +duke's affairs. The man is well paid. He is a gambler, and one is always +reasonably certain that the gambler will be wanting money. Do you begin +to understand me, or must I be more explicit?" + +"Who are you?" + +"Who I am is of no present consequence. But I know who and _what_ you +are. That is all-sufficient. If you behave yourself in the future, you +will be allowed to continue in prosperity. But if you attempt to molest +that girl again and I hear of it, there will be no more gold coming over +the frontier from Jugendheit. Now, do you understand?" + +"Yes." The colonel experienced a weakness in the knees. + +"Go. But be advised and walk circumspectly." The speaker showed his +back insolently, and reëntered the Black Eagle. + +The colonel, pale and distrait, stared at the empty door; and he saw in +his mind's eye a squad of soldiers, a wall, a single volley, and a +dishonored roll of earth. Military informers were given short shrift. It +was not a matter of tearing off orders and buttons; it was death. Who +was this terrible old man, with the mind of a serpent and the strength +of a bear? The colonel went to the barracks, but his usual debonair was +missing. + +"I am going into the garden, Gretchen. Bring me a stein of brown." The +mountaineer smiled genially. + +"But I am not working here any more," said Gretchen. + +"No?" + +"She has had a fortune left her," said Fräu Bauer. + +"Well, well!" The mountaineer seemed vastly pleased. "And how much is +this fortune?" + +"Two thousand crowns." Gretchen was not sure, but to her there always +seemed to be a secret laughter behind those clear eyes. + +"Handsome! And what will you do now?" + +"She is to study for the opera." + +"Did I not prophesy it?" he cried jubilantly. + +"Did I not say that some impresario would discover you and make your +fortune?" + +"There is plenty of work ahead," said Gretchen sagely. + +"Always, no matter what we strive for. But a brave heart and a cheerful +smile carry you half-way up the hill. Where were you going when this +popinjay stopped you?" + +"I was going to the clock-mender's for a clock he is repairing." + +"I've nothing to do. I'll go with you. I've an idea that I should like +to talk with you about a very important matter. Perhaps it would be +easier to talk first and then go for the clock. If you have it you'll be +watching it. Will you come into the garden with me now?" + +"Yes, Herr." Gretchen would have gone anywhere with this strange man. He +inspired confidence. + +The garden was a snug little place; a few peach-trees and arbor-vines +and vegetables, and tables and chairs on the brick walk. + +"So you are going to become a prima donna?" he began, seating himself +opposite her. + +"I am going to try," she smiled. "What is it you wish to say to me?" + +"I am wondering how to begin," looking at the blue sky. + +"Is it difficult?" + +"Yes, very." + +"Then why bother?" + +"Some things are written before we are born. And I must, in the order of +things, read this writing to you." + +"Begin," said Gretchen. + +"Have you any dreams?" + +"Yes," vaguely. + +"I mean the kind one has in the daytime, the dreams when the eyes are +wide open." + +"Oh, yes!" + +"Who has not dreamed of riding in carriages, of dressing in silks, of +wearing rich ornaments?" + +"Ah!" Gretchen clasped her hands and leaned on her elbows. "And there +are palaces, too." + +"To be sure." There was a long pause. "How would you like a dream of +this kind to come true?" + +"Do they ever come true?" + +"In this particular case, I am a fairy. I know that I do not look it; +still, I am. With one touch of my wand--this oak staff--I can bring you +all these things you have dreamed about." + +"But what would I do with carriages and jewels? I am only a goose-girl, +and I am to be married." + +"To that young rascal of a vintner?" + +"He is not a rascal!" loyally. + +"It will take but little to make him one," with an odd grimness. + +Gretchen did not understand. + +He resumed, "how would you like a little palace, with servants at your +beck and call, with carriages to ride in, with silks and velvets to +wear, and jewels to adorn your hair? How would you like these things? +Eh? Never again to worry about your hands, never again to know the +weariness of toil, to be mistress of swans instead of geese?" + +A shadow fell upon Gretchen's face; the eagerness died out of her eyes. + +"I do not understand you, Herr. By what right should I possess these +things?" + +"By the supreme right of beauty, beauty alone." + +"Would it be--honest?" + +For the first time he lowered his eyes. The clear crystal spirit in hers +embarrassed him. + +"Come, let us go for your clock," he said, rising. "I am an old fool. I +forgot that one talks like this only to opera-dancers." + +Then Gretchen understood. "I am all alone," she said; "I have had to +fight my battles with these two hands." + +"I am a black devil, _Kindchen_. Forget what I have said. You are worthy +the brightest crown in Europe; but you wear a better one than +that--goodness. If any one should ever make you unhappy, come to me. I +will be your godfather. Will you forgive an old man who ought to have +known better?" + +There was such unmistakable honesty in his face and eyes that she did +not hesitate, but placed her hand in his. + +"Why did you ask all those questions?" she inquired. + +"Perhaps it was only to test your strength. You are a brave and honest +girl." + +"And if trouble came," now smiling, "where should I find you?" + +"I shall be near when it comes. Good fairies are always close at hand." +He swept his hat from his head; ease and grace were in the movement; no +irony, nothing but respect. "And do you love this vintner?" + +"With all my heart." + +"And he loves you?" + +"Yes. His lips might lie, but not his eyes and the touch of his hand." + +"So much the worse!" said the mountaineer inaudibly. + +Gretchen had gone home with her clock; but still Herr Ludwig, as the +mountaineer called himself, tarried in the dim and dusty shop. Clocks, +old and new, broken and whole, clocks from the four ends of the world; +and watches, thick and clumsy, thin and graceful, of gold and silver and +pewter. + +"Is there anything you want?" asked the clock-mender. + +Herr Ludwig turned. How old this clock-mender was, how very old! + +"Yes," he said. "I've a watch I should like you to look over." And he +carelessly laid the beautiful time-piece on the worn wooden counter. + +The clock-mender literally pounced upon it. "Where did you get a watch +like this?" he demanded suspiciously. + +"It is mine. You will find my name engraved inside the back lid." + +The clock-mender pried open the case, adjusted his glass--and dropped +it, shaking with terror. + +"You?" he whispered. + +"Sh!" said Herr Ludwig, putting a finger to his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FIND THE WOMAN + + +The watch, slipping from the clock-mender's hand, spun like a coin on +the counter, while the clock-mender himself, his eyes bulging, his jaw +dangling, it might be said, staggered back upon his stool. + +"So this is the end?" he said in a kind of mutter. + +"The end of what?" demanded the owner of the watch. + +"Of all my labors, to me and to what little I have left!" + +"Fiddlesticks! I am here for no purpose regarding you, my comrade. So +far as I am concerned, your secret is as dead as it ever was. I had a +fancy that you were living in Paris." + +"Paris! _Gott!_ For seventeen, eighteen years I have traveled hither and +thither, always on some false clue. Never a band of Gipsies I heard of +that I did not seek them out. Nothing, nothing! You will never know what +I have gone through, and uselessly, to prove my innocence. It always +comes back in a circle; what benefit to me would have been a crime like +that of which I was accused? Was I not high in honor? Was I not wealthy? +Was not my home life a happy one? What benefit to me, I say?" a growing +fierceness in his voice and gestures. "All my estates confiscated, my +wife dead of shame, and I molding among these clocks!" + +"But why the clocks?" in wonder. + +"It was a pastime of mine when I was a boy. I used to be tinkering among +all the clocks in the house. So I bought out this old shop. From time to +time I have left it in the hands of an assistant. The grand duke has a +wonderful Friesian clock. One day it fell out of order, and the court +jeweler could do nothing with it. I was summoned, I! No one recognized +me, I have changed so. I mended the clock and went away." + +"But what is the use of all this, now that her highness is found?" + +"My honor; to the duke it is black as ever." + +"Have you gone forward any?" + +"Like Sisyphus! I had begun to give up hope, when the Gipsy I was +seeking was seen by one of my agents. He alone knows the secret. And I +am waiting, waiting. But you believe, Ludwig?" + +"Carl, you are as innocent of it all as I am or as my brother was. Come +with me to Jugendheit." + +"No, Ludwig, this is my country, however unjustly it has treated me." + +"Yes, yes. And to think that you and I and the grand duke were comrades +at Heidelberg! But if your Gipsy fails you?" + +"Still I shall remain. This will be all I shall have, these clocks. I am +only sixty-eight, yet no one would believe me under eighty. I no longer +gaze into mirrors. I have forgotten how I look. There were letters found +in my desk, all forgeries, I knew, but so cleverly done I could only +deny. I saw that my case was hopeless, so I fled to Paris. I wrote +Herbeck once while there. He believed that I was innocent. I have his +letter yet. He has a great heart, Ludwig, and he has done splendid work +for Ehrenstein." + +"He keeps a steady hand on the duke." + +"But you, what are you doing in Dreiberg, in this guise?" + +Herr Ludwig sat upon the counter and clasped a knee. "Do you care for +fairy-stories?" + +"Sometimes." + +"Well, once upon a time there lived a king. He was young. He had an +uncle who watched over him and his affairs. They call such uncles prince +regents. This prince regent had an idea regarding the future welfare of +this nephew. He would bring him up to be a man, well educated, +broad-minded, and clean-lived. He should have a pilot to guide him past +the traps and vices which befall the young. Time wore on. The lad grew +up, clean in mind, strong in body, liberal; a fine prince. No scandalous +entanglements; no gaming; no wine-bibbing beyond what any decent man may +do. In his palace few saw anything of him after his fifteenth year. He +went into the world under an assumed name. By and by he came home, +quietly. His uncle was proud of him, for his eye was clear and his +tongue was clean. In one month he was to be coronated. And now what do +you think? He must have one more adventure, just one. Would his uncle +go with him? Certainly not. Moreover, the time for adventure was over. +He must no longer wander about; he was a king; he must put his hand to +king-craft. And one morning his uncle found him gone, gone as completely +as if he had never existed. What to do? Ah! The prince regent set it +going that his majesty had gone a-hunting in Bavaria. Then the prince +regent put on some old clothes and went a-venturing himself." + +"And the end?" + +"God knows!" said Ludwig, sliding off the counter. + +Nothing but the ticking of the clocks was heard. + +"And fatuous fool that this uncle was, he committed an almost +irreparable blunder. He tried to marry his nephew." + +"I understand. But if you are discovered here?" + +"That is not likely." + +"Ah, Ludwig, it is not the expected that always happens. Be careful; you +know the full wording of Herbeck's treaty." + +"Herbeck; there's a man," said Herr Ludwig admiringly. "To have found +her highness as he did!" + +"He is lucky," but without resentment. + +The other picked up his watch. "Can I be of material assistance?" + +"I want nothing," haughtily. + +"Proud old imbecile!" replied the mountaineer kindly. "You have been +deeply wronged, but some day you will pick up the thread in the +labyrinth, and there will be light forward. I myself shall see what can +be done with the duke." + +"He will never be brought to reason unless indubitable evidence of my +innocence confronts him. With the restoration of the princess fifty +political prisoners were given their liberty and restored to +citizenship. The place once occupied by my name is still blank, +obliterated. It is hard. I have given the best of my heart and of my +brain to Ehrenstein--for this! I am innocent." + +"I believe you, Carl. Remember, Jugendheit will always welcome you. I +must be going. I have much to do between now and midnight. The good God +will unravel the snarl." + +"Or forget it," cynically. "Good-by, Ludwig." + +There was a hand-clasp, and the mountaineer took himself off. The +clock-mender philosophically reached for his tools. He had wasted time +enough over retrospection; he determined to occupy himself with the +present only. Tick-tock! tick-tock! sang the clocks about him. All at +once a volume of musical sounds broke forth; cuckoo-calls, chimes, +tinkles light and thin, booms deep and vibrant. But the clock-mender +bent over his work; all he was conscious of was the eternal tick-tock! +tick-tock! on and on, without cessation. + + * * * * * + +Carmichael walked his horse. This morning he had ridden out almost to +the frontier and was now on his return. As he passed through the last +grove of pines and came into the clearing the picture was exquisite; the +three majestic bergs of ice and snow above Dreiberg, the city shining +white and fairylike in the mid-morning's sun, and the long, +half-circling ribbon of a road. He sighed, and the horse cocked his ears +at the sound. + +No longer did Carmichael take the south pass for his morning rides. +That was the favored going of her highness, and he avoided her now. In +truth, he dared not meet her now; it would have been out of wisdom. So +long as she had been free his presence had caused no comment, only +tolerant amusement among the nobles at court. It chafed him to be +regarded as a harmless individual, for he knew that he was far from +being in that class. There was a wild strain in him. Dreiberg might have +waked up some fine morning to learn that for a second time her princess +had been stolen, and that there was a vacancy in the American consulate. +How many times had he been seized with the mad desire to snatch the +bridle of her horse and ride away with her into a far country! How often +had his arms started out toward her, only to drop stiffly to his sides! + +March hares! They were Solons as compared with his own futile madness. +But it was different now. She was to marry the king of Jugendheit; it +was in the order of things that he ride alone. He knew that court +etiquette demanded the isolation of the Princess Hildegarde from male +escort other than that formally provided. The two soldiers detailed to +act as her grooms or bodyguards were not, of course, to be considered. +So, of the morning, he went down to the military field to watch the +maneuvers, which were drawing to a close; or rode out to the frontier, +or took the side road to Eissen, where the summer palaces were. But it +was all dreary; the zest of living had somehow dropped out of things. + +The road to Eissen began about six miles north of the base of the +Dreiberg mountain. It swerved to the east. As Carmichael reached the +fork his horse began to limp. He jumped down and removed the stone. It +was then that he heard the far-off mutter of hoofs. Coming along the +road from Eissen were a trio of riders. Carmichael laughed weakly. + +"I swear to Heaven that this is no fault of mine!" + +Should he mount and be off before she made the turn? Bah! It was an +accident; he would make the most of it. The bodyguard could easily +vindicate him, in any event. He remounted and waited. + +She came in full flight, rosy, radiant, as lovely as Diana. Carmichael +swung his cap boyishly; and there was a swirl of dust as she drew up. + +"Good morning, Herr Carmichael!" + +"Good morning, your Highness!" + +"Which way have you been riding?" + +"Toward Jugendheit." + +"And you are returning?" With a short nod of her head she signaled for +the two soldiers to fall back. + +The two looked at each other embarrassedly. + +"Pardon, Highness," said one of them, "but the orders of the duke will +not permit us to leave you. There have been thieves along the road of +late." + +Thieves? This was the first time Carmichael had heard of it. The real +significance of the maneuver escaped him; but her highness was not +fooled. + +"Very well," she replied. "One of you ride forward and one of you take +the rear." Then she spoke to Carmichael in English. + +The soldiers shrugged. To them it did not matter what language her +highness adopted so long as they obeyed the letter of the duke's +instructions. The little cavalcade directed its course toward the city. + +"You have not been riding of late," she said. + +Then she had missed him. Carmichael's heart expanded. To be missed is to +be regretted, and one regrets only those in whom one is interested. + +"I have ridden the same as usual, your Highness; only I have taken this +road for a change." + +"Ah!" She patted the glistening neck of her mare. So he had purposely +tried to avoid her? Why? She stole a sly glance at him. Why were not +kings molded in this form? All the kings she had met had something the +matter with them, crooked legs, weak eyes, bald, young, or old, and daft +over gaming-tables and opera-dancers. And the one man among them all--at +least she had been informed that the king of Jugendheit was all of a +man--had politely declined. There was some chagrin in this for her, but +no bitterness or rancor. In truth, she was more chagrined on her +father's account than on her own. + +"You should have taken the south pass. It was lovely yesterday." + +"Perhaps this way has been wisest." + +"Are you become afraid of me?" archly. + +"Yes, your Highness." If he had looked at her instead of his horse's +ears, and smiled, all would have been well. + +She instantly regretted the question. "I am sorry that I have become an +ogress." + +"To me your highness is the most perfect of women. I am guilty of +lese-majesty." + +"I shall not lock you up," she said, and added under her breath, "as my +good father would like to! Besides," she continued aloud, "I rather like +to set the court by the ears. Whoever heard of a serene highness doing +the things I do? I suppose it is because I have known years of freedom, +freedom of action, of thought, of speech. These habits can not change at +once. In fact, I do not believe they ever will. But the duke, my father, +is good; he understands and trusts me. Ah, but I shall lead some king a +merry life!" with a wicked gleam in her eyes. + +"Frederick of Jugendheit?" + +"Is it true that you have not heard yet? I have declined the honor." + +"Your highness?" + +"My serene highness," with a smile. "This, of course, is as yet a state +secret; and my reason for telling you is not a princess', but a woman's. +Solve it if you can." + +Carmichael fumbled the reins blindly. "They say that he is a handsome +young man." + +"What has that to do with it? The interest he takes in his kingdom is +positively negative. I have learned that he has been to his capital but +twice since he was fifteen. He is even now absent on a hunting trip in +Bavaria, and his coronation but a few days off. There will be only one +king in Jugendheit, and that will be the prince regent." + +"He has done tolerably well up to the present," observed Carmichael, +welcoming this change. "Jugendheit is prosperous; it has a splendid +army. The prince regent is a fine type of man, they say, rugged, +patient, frugal and sensible." + +"There is an instance where he made a cruel blunder." + +"No man is infallible," said he, wondering what this blunder was. + +"I suppose not. Look! The artillery is firing." + +Boom-boom! They saw the smoke leap from the muzzles of the cannon, and +it seemed minutes before the sound reached them. + +"I have a fine country, too," she said, with pride; "prosperous, and an +army not inferior to that of Jugendheit." + +"I was not making comparisons, your Highness." + +"I know that, my friend. I was simply speaking from the heart. But I +doubt if the prince regent is a better man than our Herbeck." + +"I prefer Herbeck, never having met the prince regent. But I have some +news for your highness." + +"News for me?" + +"Yes. I am about to ask for my recall," he said, the idea having come +into his mind at that precise moment. + +"Your recall?" + +Had he been looking at her he would have noticed that the color on her +fair cheeks had gone a shade lighter. + +"Yes." + +"Is not this sudden? it is not very complimentary to Ehrenstein." + +"The happiest days in my life have been spent here." + +"Then why seek to be recalled?" + +"I am essentially a man of action, your Highness. I am growing dull and +stupid amid these charming pleasures. Action; I have always been mixed +up in some trouble or other. Here it is a round of pleasure from day to +day. I long for buffets. I am wicked enough to wish for war." + +"_Cherchez la femme!_" she cried. "There is a woman?" + +"Oh, yes!" recklessly. + +"Then go to her, my friend, go to her." And she waved her crop over his +head as in benediction. "Some day, before you go, I shall ask you all +about her." Ah, as if she did not know! But half the charm in life is +playing with hidden dangers. + +He did not speak, but caught up the reins firmly. She touched her mare +on the flank, and the four began trotting, a pace which they maintained +as far as the military field. Here they paused, for the scene was +animated and full of color. Squadrons of cavalry raced across the +field; infantry closed in or deployed; artillery rumbled, wheeled, +stopped, unlimbered. Bang-bang! The earth shivered and rocked. Guerdons +were flying, bugles were blowing, and sabers were flashing. + +"It is beautiful," she cried, "this mimic war." + +"May your highness never see aught else!" he replied fervently. + +"Yes, yes; you have seen it divested of all its pomp. You have seen it +in all its cruelty and horror." + +"I have known even the terror of it." + +"You were afraid?" + +"Many times." + +She laughed. It is only the coward who denies fear. + +He would certainly ask for his recall or transfer. He was eating his +heart out here in Dreiberg. + +They began the incline. She did most of the talking, brightly and gaily; +but his ears were dull, for the undercurrent passed by him. He was, for +the first time, impressed with the fact that the young ladies of the +court never accompanied her on her morning rides. There were frequent +afternoon excursions, when several ladies and gentlemen rode with her +highness, but in the mornings, never. + +"Will you return to America?" she queried. + +"I shall idle in Paris for a while. I have an idea that there will be +war one of these days." + +"And which side will you take?" + +"I should be a traitor if I fought for France; I should be an ingrate if +I fought against her. I should be a spectator, a neutral." + +"That would expose you to danger without the right to strike a blow in +defense." + +"If I were hurt it would be but an accident. War correspondents would +run a hundred more risks than I. Oh, I should be careful; I know war too +well not to be." + +"All this is strange talk for a man who is a confessed lover." + +"Pardon me!" his eyes rather empty. + +"Why, you tell me there is a woman; and all your talk is about war and +danger. These are opposites; please explain." + +"There is a woman, but she will not hinder me in any way. She will, in +fact, know nothing about it." + +"You are a strange lover. I never read anything like you in +story-books. Forgive me! I am thoughtless. The subject may be painful to +you." + +The horses began to pull. Under normal circumstances Carmichael would +not have dismounted, but his horse had carried him many miles that +morning, and he was a merciful rider. In the war days often had his life +depended upon the care of his horse. + +"You have been riding hard?" + +"No, only far." + +"I do not believe that there is a finer horseman in all Ehrenstein than +yourself." + +"Your highness is very good to say that." Why had he not gone on instead +of waiting at the fork? + +Within a few hundred yards of the gates he mounted again. And then he +saw a lonely figure sitting on the parapet. He would have recognized +that square form anywhere. And he welcomed the sight of it. + +"Your Highness, do you see that man yonder, on the parapet? We fought in +the same cavalry. He is covered with scars. Not one man in a thousand +would have gone through what he did and lived." + +"Is he an American?" + +"By adoption. And may I ask a favor of your highness?" + +"Two!" merrily. + +"May I present him? It will be the joy of his life." + +"Certainly. All brave men interest me." + +Grumbach rose up, uncovered, thinking that the riders were going to pass +him. But to his surprise his friend Carmichael stopped his horse and +beckoned to him. + +"Herr Grumbach," said Carmichael, "her serene highness desires me to +present you." + +Hans was stricken dumb. He knew of no greater honor. + +"Mr. Carmichael," she said in English, "tells me that you fought with +him in the American war?" + +"Yes, Highness." + +She plied him with a number of questions; how many battles they had +fought in, how many times they had been wounded, how they lived in camp, +and so forth; and which was the more powerful engine of war, the +infantry or the cavalry. + +"The cavalry, Highness," said Hans, without hesitation. + +She laughed. "If you had been a foot-soldier, you would have said the +infantry; of the artillery, you would have sworn by the cannon." + +"That is true, Highness. The three arms are necessary, but there is ever +the individual pride in the arm one serves in." + +"And that is right. You speak good English," she remarked. + +"I have lived more than sixteen years in America, Highness." + +"Do you like it there?" + +"It is a great country, full of great ideas and great men, Highness." + +"And you will go back?" + +"Soon, Highness." + +The mare, knowing that this was the way home, grew restive and began +prancing and pawing the road. She reined in quickly. As she did so, +something yellow flashed downward and tinkled as it struck the ground. +Grumbach hastened forward. + +"My locket," said her highness anxiously. + +"It is not broken, Highness," said Grumbach; "only the chain has come +apart." Then he handed it to her gravely. + +"Thank you!" Her highness put both chain and locket into a small purse +which she carried in her belt, touched the mare, and sped up the road, +Carmichael following. + +Grumbach returned to the parapet. He followed them till they passed out +of sight beyond the gates. + +"_Gott!_" he murmured. + +His face was as livid as the scar on his head. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE WRONG MAN + + +Herbeck dropped his quill, and there was a dream in his eyes. His desk +was littered with papers, well covered with ink; flowing sentences, and +innumerable figures. He was the watch-dog of the duchy. Never a bill +from the Reichstag that did not pass under his cold eye before it went +to the duke for his signature, his approval, or veto. Not a copper was +needlessly wasted, and never was one held back unnecessarily. Herbeck +was just both in great and little things. The commoners could neither +fool nor browbeat him. + +The dream in his eyes grew; it was tender and kindly. The bar of +sunlight lengthened across his desk, and finally passed on. Still he sat +there, motionless, rapt. And thus the duke found him. But there was no +dream in _his_ eyes; they were cold with implacable anger. He held a +letter in his hand and tossed it to Herbeck. + +"I shall throw ten thousand men across the frontier to-night, let the +consequences be what they may." + +"Ten thousand men?" The dream was shattered. War again? + +"Read that. It is the second anonymous communication I have received +within a week. As the first was truthful, there is no reason to believe +this one to be false." + +Herbeck read, and he was genuinely startled. + +"What do you say to that?" triumphantly. + +"This," with that rapid decision which made him the really great +tactician he was. "Let them go quietly back to Jugendheit." + +"No!" blazed the duke. + +"Are we rich enough for war?" + +"Always questions, questions! What the devil is my army for if not to +uphold my dignity? Herbeck, you shall not argue me out of this." + +"Rather let me reason. This is some prank, which I am sure does not +concern Ehrenstein in the least. They would never dare enter Dreiberg +for aught else. There must be a flaw in our secret service." + +"Doubtless." + +"I have seen this writing before," said Herbeck. "I shall make it my +business to inquire who it is that takes this kindly interest in the +affairs of state." + +The duke struck the bell violently. + +"Summon the chief of the police," he said to the secretary. + +"Yes, yes, your Highness, let it be a police affair. This letter does +not state the why and wherefore of their presence here." + +"It holds enough for me." + +"Will your highness leave the matter in my hands?" + +"Herbeck, in some things you are weak." + +"And in others I am strong," smiled the chancellor. "I am weak when +there is talk of war; I am strong when peace is in the balance." + +"Is it possible, Herbeck, that you do not appreciate the magnitude of +the situation?" + +"It is precisely because I do that I wish to move slowly. Wait. Let the +police find out _why_ they are here. There will be time enough then to +declare war. They have never seen her highness. Who knows?" + +"Ah! But they have violated the treaty." + +"That depends upon whether their presence here is or is not a menace to +the state. If they are here on private concerns which in no wise touch +Ehrenstein, it would be foolhardy to declare war. Your highness is +always letting your personal wounds blur your eyesight. Some day you +will find that Jugendheit is innocent." + +"God hasten the day and hour!" + +"Yes, let us hope that the mystery of it all will be cleared up. You are +just and patient in everything but this." Herbeck idled with his quill. +The little finger of his right hand was badly scarred, the mutilation of +a fencing-bout in his student days. + +"What do you advise?" wearily. It seemed to the duke that Herbeck of +late never agreed with him. + +"My advice is to wait. In a day or so arrest them under the pretext that +you believe them to be spies. If they remain mute, then the case is +serious, and you will have them on the hip. If, on the other hand, this +invasion is harmless and they declare themselves, the matter can be +adjusted in this wise: ignore their declaration and confine them a day +or two in the city prison, then publish the news broadcast. Having +themselves broken the letter if not the spirit of the treaty, they will +not dare declare war. Every court in Europe will laugh." + +The duke struck his hands together. "You are always right, Herbeck. This +plan could not have been devised better or more to my satisfaction." The +duke laughed. "You are right. Ah, here is the chief." + +Herbeck read the letter in part to the chief, who jotted down the words, +repeating aloud in a kind of mutter: "A mountaineer, a vintner, a +carter, a butcher, and a baker. You will give me their descriptions, +your Excellency?" + +Herbeck read the postscript. + +"But you don't tell him who--" + +"Why should he know?" said Herbeck, glancing shrewdly at the duke. "His +ignorance will be all the better for the plot." + +"Then this is big game, your Highness?" asked the chief. + +"Big game." + +"One is as big and powerful as a Carpathian bear. Look out," warned +Herbeck. + +"And he is?" + +"The mountaineer." + +"And the vintner?" + +"Oh, he is a little fellow, and hasn't grown his bite yet," said Herbeck +dryly. + +The duke laughed again. It would be as good as a play. + +"I thank you, Herbeck. You have neatly arranged a fine comedy. I do not +think so clearly as I used to. When the arrest is made, give it as much +publicity as possible. Take a squad of soldiers; it will give it a +military look. Will you be on the field this afternoon?" + +"No, your highness," touching the papers which strewed his desk; "this +will keep me busy well into evening." + +The duke waved his hand cheerfully and left the cabinet. + +"Your excellency, then, really leaves me to work in the dark?" asked the +chief uneasily. + +"Yes," tearing up the note. "But you will not be in the dark long after +you have arrested these persons. Begin with the mountaineer and the +vintner; the others do not matter so much." Then Herbeck laughed. The +chief raised his head. He had not heard his excellency laugh like that +in many moons. "Report to me your progress. Unfortunately my informant +does not state just where these fellows are to be found." + +"That is my business, your Excellency." + +"Good luck to you!" responded Herbeck, with a gesture of dismissal. + +When her highness came in from her morning's ride she found the duke +waiting in her apartments. + +"Why, father," kissing him, "what brings you here?" + +"A little idea I have in mind." He drew her down to the arm of the +chair. "We all have our little day-dreams." + +"Who does not, father?" She slid her arm round his neck. She was full of +affection for this kindly parent. + +"But there are those of us who must not accept day-dreams as realities; +for then there will be heartaches and futile longings." + +"You are warning me. About what, father?" There was a little stab in her +heart. + +"Herr Carmichael is a fine fellow, brave, witty, shrewd. If all +Americans are like him, America will soon become a force in the world. +I have taken a fancy to him; and you know what they say of your +father--no formality with those whom he likes. Humanly, I am right; but +in the virtue of everyday events in court life, I am wrong." + +She moved uneasily. + +He went on: "Herbeck has spoken of it, the older women speak of it; and +they all say--" + +"Say!" she cried hotly, leaping to her feet. "What do I care what they +say? Are you not the grand duke, and am I not your daughter?" + +In his turn the duke felt the stab. + +"You must ride no more with Herr Carmichael. It is neither wise nor +safe." + +"Father!" + +He was up, with his arms folding round her. "Child, it is only for your +sake. Listen to me. I married your mother because I loved her and she +loved me. The case is isolated, rare, out of the beaten path in the +affairs of rulers. But you, you must be a princess. You must steel your +heart against the invasion of love, unless it comes from a state equal +or superior to your own. It is harsh and cruel, but it is a law that +will neither bend nor break. Do you understand me?" + +The girl stared blindly at the wall. "Yes, father." + +"It is all my fault," said the duke, deeply agitated, for the girl +trembled under his touch. + +"I shall not ride with him any more." + +"There's a good girl," patting her shoulder. + +"I have been a princess such a little while." + +He kissed the wheaten-colored hair. "Be a brave heart, and I shall +engage to find a king for you." + +"I don't want any playthings, father," with the old light touch; and +then she looked him full in the eyes. "I promise to do nothing more to +create comment if, on the other hand, you will promise to give me two +years more of freedom." + +The duke readily assented, and shortly returned to his own suite, rather +pleased that there had been no scene; not that he had expected any. + +Now that she was alone, she slipped into the chair, beat a light tattoo +with her riding-whip against her teeth, and looked fixedly at the wall +again, as if to gaze beyond it, into the dim future. But she saw nothing +save that she was young and that the days in Dresden, for all their +penury, were far pleasanter than these. + +Meantime the chief of police called his subaltern and placed in his +hands the peculiar descriptions. The word vintner caused him to give +vent to an ejaculation of surprise. + +"He was in here last night. I have had him followed all day. He lives +over the American consulate. Among his things was found the uniform of a +colonel in the Prussian Uhlans." + +"Ha! Arrest him to-morrow, or the day after at the latest. But the +mountaineer is the big game. Do not arrest the vintner till you have +him. Where one is the other is likely to be. But on the moment of arrest +you must have a squad of soldiers at your back." + +"Soldiers?" doubtfully. + +"Express orders of his highness." + +"It shall be done." + +Considerable activity was manifest in the police bureau the rest of that +day. + +To return to Carmichael. He had never before concerned himself with +resignations. Up to this hour he had never resigned anything he had set +his heart upon. So it was not an easy matter for him to compose a +letter to the secretary of state, resigning the post at Dreiberg. True, +he added that he desired to be transferred to a seaport town, France or +Italy preferred. The high altitude in Dreiberg had affected his heart. +However, in case there was no other available post, they would kindly +appoint his successor at once. Carmichael never faltered where his +courage was concerned, and it needed a fine quality of moral courage to +write this letter and enclose it in the diplomatic pouch which went into +the mails that night. It took courage indeed to face the matter squarely +and resolutely, when there was the urging desire to linger on and on, +indefinitely. That she was not going to marry the king of Jugendheit did +not alter his affairs in the least. It was all hopeless, absurd, and +impossible. He must go. + +Some one was knocking on the door. + +"Come in." + +"A letter for your excellency," said the concierge. + +"Wait till I read it. There may be an answer." + +"If Herr Carmichael would learn the secret of number forty Krumerweg, +let him attire himself as a vintner and be in the Krumerweg at eight +o'clock to-night." + +This note was as welcome to the recipient as the flowers in the spring. +An adventure? He was ready, now and always. Anything to take his mind +off his own dismal affairs. Then he recalled the woman in black; the +letter could apply to none but her. More than this, he might light upon +the puzzle regarding the vintner. He had met the fellow before. But +where? + +"What sort of clothes does a vintner wear?" he asked. + +"A vintner, your Excellency?" + +"Yes. I shall need the costume of a vintner this evening." + +"Oh, that will be easy," affirmed the concierge, "if your excellency +does not mind wearing clothes that have already been worn." + +"My excellency will not care a hang. Procure them as soon as you can." + +So it came about that Carmichael, dressed as a vintner, his hat over his +eyes, stole into the misty night and took the way to the Krumerweg. He +knew exactly where he wished to go: number forty. It was gray-black in +the small streets; and but for the occasional light in a window the dark +would have had no modification. Sometimes he would lose the point of the +compass and blunder against a wall or find himself feeling for the curb, +hesitant of foot. The wayside shrine was a rift in the gloom, and he +knew that he had only a few more steps to take. After all, who was the +lady in black and why should he bother himself about her? She probably +came from the back stairs of the palace. And yet, the chancellor himself +had been in this place. What should he do? Should he wait across the +street? Should he knock at the door and ask to be admitted? No; he must +skulk in the dark, on the opposite side. He picked his way over the +street and stood for a moment in the denser black. + +A step? He trained his ear. But even as he did so his arms were grasped +firmly and twisted behind his back, and at the same time a cloth was +wrapped round the lower part of his face, leaving only his eyes and nose +visible. It was all so sudden and unexpected that he was passive the +first few seconds; after that there was some scuffling, strenuous, too. +He was fighting against three. Desperately he surged this way and that. +Even in the heat of battle he wondered a little why no one struck him; +they simply clung to him, and at length he could not move. His hands +were tied, not roughly, but surely. In all this commotion, not a +whisper, not a voice; only heavy breathing. + +Then one of the three whistled. A minute or two after a closed carriage +came into the Krumerweg, and Carmichael was literally bundled inside. +His feet were now bound. Two of his captors sat on the forward seat, +while the third joined the driver. Carmichael could distinguish nothing +but outlines and shadows. He choked, for he was furious. To be trussed +like this, without any explanation whatever! What the devil was going +on? Unanswered. + +The carriage began to move slowly. It had to; swift driving in the +Krumerweg was hardly possible and at no time safe. Carmichael set +himself to note the turns of the street. One turn after another he +counted, fixing as well as he could the topography of the town through +which they were passing. At last he realized that they were leaving +Dreiberg behind and were going down the mountain on the north side, +toward Jugendheit. Once the level road was reached, a fast pace was set +and maintained for miles. At the Ehrenstein barrier no question was +asked, and Carmichael's one hope was shattered. At the Jugendheit +barrier the carriage stopped. There were voices. Carmichael saw the +flicker of a lantern. His captors got out. Presently there appeared at +the door an old man dressed as a mountaineer. In his hand was the +lantern. + +"Pardon me, dear nephew--Fools!" he broke off, swinging round. "He has +tricked you all. This is not _he_!" + +Three astonished faces peered over the old man's shoulder. Carmichael +eyed them evilly. He now saw that one was a carter, another a butcher, +and the third a baker. He had seen them before, in the Black Eagle. But +this signified nothing. + +"Untie him and take off that rag. It may be Scharfenstein." The old man +possessed authority. + +Carmichael, freed, stretched himself. + +"Well?" he said, with a dangerous quiet. + +"Herr Carmichael, the American consul!" The old man nearly dropped the +lantern. "Oh, you infernal blockheads!" + +"Explanations are in order," suggested Carmichael. + +"You are offered a thousand apologies for a stupid mistake. Now, may I +ask how you came to be dressed in these clothes on this particular +night?" + +Carmichael's anger dissolved, and he laughed. All the mystery was gone +with the abruptness of a mist under the first glare of the sun. He saw +how neatly he had been duped. He still carried the note. This he gave to +the leader of this midnight expedition. + +"Humph!" said the old man in a growl. "I thought as much." He whispered +to his companions. "Herr Carmichael, I shall have the honor of escorting +you back to Dreiberg." + +"But will it be as easy to go in as it was to come out?" + +"Trust you for that. The American consul's word will be sufficient for +our needs." + +"And if I refuse to give that word?" + +"In that case, you will have to use your legs," curtly. + +"I prefer to ride." + +"Thanks. I shall sit with the driver." + +"That also will please me." + +"And you ask no further questions?" + +"Why should I? I know all I wish to know, which is more than you would +care to have me." + +The mountaineer swore. + +"If we talk any longer I shall be late for breakfast." + +"Forward, then!" + +On the way, it all came back to Carmichael with the vividness of a +forgotten photograph, come upon suddenly: Bonn, the Rhine, swift and +turbulent, a tow-headed young fellow who could not swim well, his own +plunge, his fingers in the flaxen hair, and the hard fight to the +landing; all this was a tale twice told. + +Vintner? Not much! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +HER FAN + + +It was dawn when they began to pull up the road to Dreiberg. The return +had been leisurely despite Carmichael's impatience. In the military +field the troops were breaking camp for their departure to the various +posts throughout the duchy. Only the officers, who were to attend the +court ball that evening, and the resident troops would remain. The +maneuvers were over; the pomp of miniature war was done. Carmichael +peered through the window. What a play yonder scene was to what he had +been through! To break camp before dawn, before breakfast, rain and hail +and snow smothering one; when the frost-bound iron of the musket caught +one's fingers and tore the skin; the shriek of shot overhead, the boom +of cannon and the gulp of impact; cold, hungry, footsore, sleepy; here +and there a comrade crumpling up strangely and lying still and white; +the muddy ruts in the road; the whole world a dead gray like the face of +death! What did those yonder know of war? + +The carriage stopped. + +"I shall not intrude, I trust?" said the old man, opening the door and +getting in. + +"Not now," replied Carmichael. "What is all this about?" + +"A trifle; I might say a damn-fool trifle. But what did you mean when +you said you knew all you wanted to know?" The mountaineer showed some +anxiety. + +"Exactly what I said. The only thing that confuses me is the motive." + +The old man thought for a while. "Suppose you had a son who was making a +fool of himself?" + +"Or a nephew?" + +"Well, or a nephew?" + +"Making a fool of himself over what?" + +"A woman." + +"Nothing unusual in that. But what kind of a woman?" + +"A good woman, honest, too good by far for any man." + +"Oh!" + +"Suppose she was vastly his inferior in station, that marriage to him +was merely a political contract? What would you do?" + +"I believe I begin to understand." + +"I am grateful for that." + +"But the risks you run!" + +"I believed them all over last night." + +"But you would dare handle him in this way?" + +"When the devil drives, my friend!" The other smiled. "I was born in the +heart of a war. I have taken so many risks that the sense of danger no +longer has a keen edge. But now that you understand, I am sure a soldier +like yourself will pardon the blunder of last night." + +"Your nephew is an ungrateful wretch." + +"What?" coldly. + +"He knew all along who I was. I dragged him out of the Rhine upon a +certain day, and he plays this trick!" + +"You? Carmichael, Carmichael; of course; I should have remembered the +name, as he wrote me at the time. Thank you! And you knew him all the +while?" + +"No; I recalled his face, but the time and place were in the dark till +this early morning. Here we are at the gates. What's this? Guards? I +never saw them at these gates before." + +"You will make yourself known to them?" + +"Yes. But if they question me?" + +"Wink. Every soldier knows what that means." + +"When a fellow turns in early in the morning?" Carmichael laughed +hilariously. + +"I ask you frankly not to let them question me. When I left the city +last night I never expected to return." + +"I'll do what I can." + +Carmichael bared his head and leaned out of the window. He recognized +one of the guards. A policeman in military uniform! + +"Good morning!" said Carmichael. + +"Herr Carmichael?" surprised. "Your excellency?" + +"Yes. I've been having a little junket, I and my friend here." And +Carmichael winked. + +"Ah!" + +"But what--" + +"Sh! Very important affair," said the disguised officer. "Go on." + +But after the carriage had passed it occurred to him that Carmichael +wore a dress like a vintner's and that his friend was a mountaineer! _Du +lieber Himmel!_ What kind of a mix-up was this? The chancellor never +could have meant Carmichael! + +"Thanks!" whispered the old man. + +"Did you see the soldier?" + +"Yes." + +"He is one of the police in disguise. Be on your guard. If you don't +mind I'll use this carriage to the hotel." + +"You are a thousand times welcome. I will leave you here. And take the +advice of an old man who has seen the four sides of humanity: leave +falling in love to poets and to fools!" + +The mountaineer got out quickly, closed the door, spoke a word to the +driver, and slipped into an alleyway. + +Carmichael arrived at the Grand Hotel in time to see her serene +highness, accompanied by two of her ladies and an escort of four +soldiers, start out for her morning ride. The zest of his own strange +adventure died. He waited till they had passed, then slunk into the +hotel. The concierge gazed at him in amazement. Carmichael winked. The +concierge smiled. He understood. _Americaner_ or _Ehrensteiner_, the +young fellows were all the same. + +"Police at the gates," mused Carmichael, as he soaked his head and face +in cold water. "By George, it looks as if my friend the vintner was in +for some excitement! Far be it that I should warn him. He had his little +joke; I can wait for mine." + +Gretchen! Carmichael stopped, his collar but half-way around his throat. +Gretchen, brave, kindly, beautiful Gretchen! Now, by the Lord, that +should not be! He would wring the vintner's neck. He snapped the collar +viciously. He was not in an amiable mood this fair September morning. +And when some one hammered on the door he called sharply. + +Grumbach entered. + +"You are angry about something," he said. + +"So I am, but you are always welcome." + +"You have overslept?" + +"No; on the contrary." + +"Poker?" + +"After a fashion," said Carmichael, the grumble gone from his voice. "I +was beaten by three of a kind." + +"So?" + +"But I found a good hand later." + +"Kings." + +"Four?" + +"Oh, no; only one. I haven't drawn yet." + +"You are not telling me all." + +"No. You are going to the ball to-night?" + +"I would not miss it for five thousand crowns," sadly. + +"You look as if you were going to a funeral instead of the greatest +event of the year in Dreiberg." + +"I didn't sleep well either." + +"Out?" + +"No; one does not have to go out in order not to sleep." + +"I'd like to know what's going on in that bullet-head of yours." + +"Nothing is going on; everything has stopped." + +"Can't you make a confidant of me, Hans?" + +"Not yet, Captain." + +"When you are ready it may be too late. I leave Dreiberg for good in a +few weeks." + +"No!" For the first time Grumbach showed interest. + +"I have resigned the consulship." + +"And for what reason?" + +Carmichael silently drew on his coat. + +_"Ach!_ So you have one, too?" + +"One what?" + +"One secret." + +"Yes. But it's the kind we can't talk about." + +"I understand. Have you had breakfast?" + +"Neither have I. Let us go together. It may be we need each other's +company this morning. You and I won't have to bother about talking." + +"You make a good comrade, Hans." + + * * * * * + +There was a large crowd outside the palace that night, which was clear +and starry. A troop of cavalry patrolled the fence. Carriage after +carriage rolled in through the gates, coming directly from the opera. It +was eleven o'clock. All the great in the duchy were on hand that night. +Often a cheer rose from the ranks of the outsiders as some popular +general or some famous beauty passed. It was an orderly crowd, jostling +and good-natured, held only by curiosity. Every window in the palace +presented a glowing square of light; and beams crisscrossed the emerald +lawns and died in the arms of the lurking shadows. The gardens were +illuminated besides. It was fairy-land, paid for by those who were not +entitled to enter. Few, however, thought of this inconsistency. A duchy +is a duchy; nothing more need be said. + +Carmichael was naturally democratic. To ride a block in a carriage was +to him a waste of time. And he rather liked to shoulder into a press. +With the aid of his cane and a frequent push of the elbow he worked his +way to the gates. And close by the sentry-box he saw Gretchen and her +vintner. Carmichael could not resist stopping a moment. He raised his +hat to Gretchen, to the wonder of those nearest. The vintner would have +gladly disappeared, but the human wall behind made this impossible. But +he was needlessly alarmed. Carmichael only smiled ironically. + +"Do you know where the American consulate is?" he asked low, so that +none but Gretchen and the vintner heard. + +"Yes," said the vintner, blushing with shame. + +"I live above the agency." + +"Good! I shall expect to see you in the morning." + +But the vintner was determined that he shouldn't. He would be at work in +the royal vineyards on the morrow. + +"To-morrow?" repeated Gretchen, to whom this by-play was a blank. "Why +should he wish to see you?" + +"Who knows? Let us be going. They are pressing us too close to the +gates." + +"Very well," acquiesced Gretchen, somewhat disappointed. She wanted to +see all there was to be seen. + +"It is half-after ten," he added, as if to put forward some logical +excuse for leaving at this moment. + +A man followed them all the way to the Krumerweg. + +Carmichael threw himself eagerly into the gaiety of the dance. Never had +he seen the ball-room so brilliant with color. Among all those there +his was the one somber dress. The white cambric stock and the frill in +his shirt were the only gay touches. It was not his fault: the rules of +the service compelled him thus to dress. But he needed no brass or cloth +of gold. There was not a male head among all the others to compare with +his. + +He was an accomplished waltzer, after the manner of that day, when one +went round and round like some mechanical toy wound up. Strauss and +Waldteufel tingled his feet; and he whirled ambassadors' wives till they +were breathless and ambassadors' daughters till they no longer knew or +cared where they were. He was full of subtle deviltry this night, with +an undercurrent of malice toward every one and himself in particular. +This would be the last affair of the kind for him, and he wanted a full +memory of it. Between times he exchanged a jest or two with the +chancellor or talked battles with old Ducwitz; twice he caught the grand +duke's eye, but there was only a friendly nod from that august +personage, no invitation to talk. Thrice, while on the floor, her +highness passed him; but there was never a smile, never a glance. He +became careless and reckless. He would seek her and talk to her and +smile at her even if the duke threw a regiment in between. The Irish +blood in him burned to-night, capable of any folly. He no longer danced. +He waited and watched; and it was during one of these waits that he saw +Grumbach in the gallery. + +"Now, what the devil is the Dutchman doing with a pair of +opera-glasses!" + +It required some time and patience to discover the object of this +singular attention on the part of Grumbach. Carmichael was finally +convinced that this object was no less a person than her serene +highness! + +Later her highness stood before one of the long windows in the +conservatory, listlessly watching the people in the square. And these +poor fools envied her! To envy her, who was a prisoner, a chattel to be +exchanged for war's immunity, who was a princess in name but a cipher in +fact! All was wrong with the world. She had stolen out of the ball-room; +the craving to be alone had been too strong. Little she cared whether +they missed her or not. She left the window and sat on one of the +divans, idly opening and shutting her fan. Was that some one coming for +her? She turned. + +It was Carmichael. + +What an opportunity for scandal! She laughed inwardly. The barons and +their wives, the ambassadors' wives and their daughters, would miss them +both. And the spirit of deviltry lay also upon her heart. She smiled at +the man and with her fan bade him be seated at her side. The divinity +that hedges in a king did not bother either of them just then. + +"You have not asked me to dance to-night," she declared. + +"I know it." + +"Why?" + +"I am neither a prince nor an ambassador." + +"But you _have_ danced with me." + +"Yes; I have been to Heaven now and then." + +"And do you eject yourself thus easily?" + +"By turning myself out my self-esteem remains unruffled." + +"Then you expected to be turned out?" + +"Sooner or later." + +"Why?" + +Again that word! To him it was the most tantalizing word in the +language. It crucified him. + +"Why?" she repeated, her eyes soft and dreamy. + +"As I have said, I am not a prince. I am only a consul, not even a +diplomat, simply a business arm of my government. My diplomacy never +ascends above the quality of hops and wines imported. I am supposed to +take in any wandering sailor, feed him, and ship him home. I am also the +official guide of all American tourists." + +"That is no reason." + +"Your father--" He should have said the grand duke. + +"Ah, yes; my father, the chancellor, the ambassadors, and their wives +and daughters! I begin to believe that you have grown afraid of them." + +"I confess that I have. I had an adventure last night. Would you like to +hear about it?" + +How beautiful she was in that simple gown of white, unadorned by any +jewels save the little crown of sparkling white stones in her hair! + +"Tell me." + +He was a good story-teller. It was a crisp narrative he made. + +"A veiled lady," she mused. "What would you say if I told you that your +mystery is no mystery at all? I am the veiled lady. And the person I +went to see was my old nurse, my foster-mother, with whom I spent the +happiest, freest days of my life, in the garret at Dresden. Pouf! All +mysteries may be dispelled if we go to the right person. So you are to +be recalled?" + +"I have asked for my recall, your Highness." + +"And so Dreiberg no longer appeals to you? You once told inc that you +loved it." + +"I am cursed with _wanderlust_, your Highness." He regretted that he had +not remained in the ball-room. He was in great danger. + +"You promised to tell me what she is like." Suddenly all his fear went +away, all his trepidation; the spirit of recklessness which had vised +him a little while ago again empowered him. He was afraid of nothing. +His face flushed and there were bright points of fire in his eyes. She +saw what she had roused, and grew afraid herself. She pretended to +become interested in the Watteau cupids on her fan. + +"How shall I describe her?" he said. "I have seen only paintings and +marbles, and these are inanimate. I have never seen angels, so I can not +draw a comparison there. Have you ever seen ripe wheat in a rain-storm? +That is the color of her hair. There is jade and lapis-lazuli in her +eyes. And Ole Bull could not imitate the music of her voice." He leaned +toward her. "And I love her better than life, better than hope; and +between us there is the distance of a thousand worlds. So I must give up +the dream and go away, as an honorable man should." + +Neither of them heard the chancellor's approach. + +"And because I love her." + +The fan in her hand slipped unheeded to the floor. + +"Your Highness," broke in the cold even tones of Herbeck, "your father +is making inquiries about you." + +Carmichael rose instantly, white as the frill in his shirt. + +Hildegarde, however, was a princess. She gained her feet leisurely, with +half a smile on her lips. + +"Count, Herr Carmichael tells me that he is soon to leave Dreiberg." + +"Ah!" There was satisfaction in Herbeck's ejaculation, satisfaction of a +frank order. But there was a glint of admiration in his eyes as he +recognized the challenge in Carmichael's. He saw that he must step +carefully in regard to this hot-headed young Irishman. "We shall miss +Herr Carmichael." + +Her highness moved serenely toward the door. Carmichael waited till she +was gone from sight, then he stooped and picked up the fan. Herbeck at +once held out his hand. + +"Give it to me, Herr Captain," he said, with a melancholy gentleness. "I +will return it to her highness." + +Carmichael deliberately thrust the fan into a pocket and shook his head. + +"Your Excellency, I do not know how long you stood behind us, but you +were there long enough to learn that I have surrendered my dream. +Nothing but force will cause me to surrender this fan." + +"Keep it, then, my son," replied the chancellor, with good +understanding. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AFTER THE VINTAGE + +The ducal vineyards covered some forty acres of rich hillside. All day +long the sun beat squarely upon the clustering fruit. A low rambling +building of stone covered the presses and bottling departments, and was +within comparatively easy distance of the city. During the vintage +several hundred men and women found employment. The grand duke derived a +comfortable private revenue from these wines, the Tokay being scarcely +inferior to that made in Hungary. There was a large brewery besides, +which supplied all the near-by cities and towns. The German noble, be he +king, duke, or baron, has always been more or less a merchant; and it +did not embarrass the grand duke of Ehrenstein in the least to see his +coat of arms burnt into oaken wine-casks. + +A former steward had full charge of the business, personally hiring and +paying the help and supervising the various branches. He was a gruff old +fellow, just and honest; and once you entered his employ he was as much +a martinet as any captain at sea. The low cunning of the peasant never +eluded his watchful eye. He knew to the last pound of grapes how much +wine there should be, how much beer to the last measure of hops. + +The entrance to the vineyards was made through a small lodge where the +ducal vintner lived, and kept his books and moneys till such time as he +should be required to place them before the proper official. + +Upon this brave morning, the one following the ball at the palace, the +vintner was reclining against the outside wall of the gates, smoking his +china-pipe and generally at peace with the world. The bloom was early +upon the grape, work was begun, and the vintage promised to be +exceptionally fine. Through a drifting cloud of smoke he discerned a +solitary figure approaching from the direction of Dreiberg, a youthful +figure, buoyant of step, and confident. Herr Hoffman was rather +interested. Ordinarily the peasant who came to this gate had his hat in +his hand and his feet were laggard. Not so this youth. He paused at the +gate and inspected the old man highly. + +"Herr Hoffman?" + +"Yes." + +"I want work." + +"So? What can you do?" He was a clean youngster, this, but there was +something in his eyes that vaguely disturbed the head vintner. It was +like mockery more than anything else. The youth recounted his abilities, +and Hoffman was gracious enough to admit that he seemed to know what he +was talking about. + +"I have a letter to you also." + +"_Ach!_ We shall be properly introduced now," said Hoffman, growling. +"Let me see it." + +He saw it, but with starting eyes. There was, then, something new under +the sun? A picker of grapes, recommended by a princess! He turned the +letter inside out, but found no illumination. + +"_Du lieber Gott!_ You are Leopold Dietrich?" + +"Yes, Herr." + +"How did you come by this letter?" + +"Her serene highness is patron to Gretchen, the goose-girl, at whose +request the recommendation was given me." + +This altered matters. "Follow me," said Hoffman. + +The two entered the office. + +"Can you write?" + +"A little, Herr." + +"Then write your name on this piece of paper and that. Each night you +will present yours with the number of pounds, which will be credited to +you. You must bring it back each morning. If you lose it you will be +paid nothing for your labor." + +Dietrich wrote his name twice. It was rather hard work, for he screwed +up his mouth and cramped his fingers. Still, Hoffman was not wholly +satisfied with his eyes. + +"Gottlieb," he said to one of the men, "take him to terrace +ninety-eight. That hasn't been touched yet. We'll see what sort of +workman he is." He spoke to Dietrich again. "What is Gretchen to you?" +For Hoffman knew Gretchen; many a time she had filled her basket and +drawn her crowns. + +"She is my sweetheart, Herr." And there was no mockery in the youth's +eyes as he said this. + +"Take him along, Gottlieb. You will have no further use for this letter +from her highness, so I'll keep it and frame it and hang it in the +office." Which showed that Hoffman himself had had lessons in the gentle +art of mockery. + +Terrace ninety-eight was given over to small grapes; thus, many bunches +had to be picked to fill the basket. But Dietrich went to work with a +will. His fingers were deft and his knife was sharp; and by midsun he +had turned his sixth basket, which was fair work, considering. + +As Hoffman did not feed his employees, Dietrich was obliged to beg from +his co-workers. Very willingly they shared with him their coarse bread +and onions. He ate the bread and stuffed the onions in his pocket. There +was no idling. As soon as the frugal meal was over, the peasants trooped +away to their respective terraces. Once more the youth was alone. He set +down his basket and laughed. Was there ever such a fine world? Had there +ever been a more likable adventure? The very danger of it was the spice +which gave it flavor. He stretched out his arms as if to embrace this +world which appeared so rosal, so joyous to his imagination. + +"Thanks, thanks! You have given me youth, and I accept it," he said +aloud, perhaps addressing that mutable goddess who presides over all +follies. "Regret it in my old age? Not I! I shall have lived for one +short month. Youth was given to us to enjoy, and I propose to press the +grape to the final drop. And when I grow old this adventure shall be the +tonic to wipe out many wrinkles of care. A mad fling, a brimming cup, +one short merry month--and then, the reckoning! How I hate the thought!" + +He sobered; the laughter went out of his eyes and face. Changeful +twenty, where so many paths reach out into the great world, paths +straight and narrow, of devious turnings which end at precipices, of +blind alleys which lead nowhere and close in behind! + +"I love her, I love her!" His face grew bright again, and the wooing +blood ran tingling in his veins. "Am I a thief, a scoundrelly thief, +because I have that right common to all men, to love one woman? Some day +I shall suffer for this; some day my heart shall ache; so be it!" + +The sun began the downward circle; the shadows crept eastward and +imperceptibly grew longer; a gray tone settled under the stones at his +feet. Sometimes he sang, sometimes he stood dreaming. His fingers were +growing sore and sticky and there was a twinge in his back as he +shouldered his eighth basket and scrambled down to the man who weighed +the pick. He was beginning his ninth when he saw Gretchen coming along +the purple aisle. She waved a hand in welcome, and he sheathed his +knife. No more work this day for him. He waited. + +"What a beautiful day!" said Gretchen, with a happy laugh. + +"Aye, what a day for love!" + +"And work!" + +"Kiss me!" + +"When you fill that basket." + +"Not before?" + +"Not even a little one," mischief in her glance. Out came the knife and +the vintner plied himself furiously. Gretchen had a knife of her own, +and she joined him. They laughed gaily. Snip, snip; bunch by bunch the +contents of the basket grew. + +"There!" he said at last. "That's what I call work; but it is worth it. +Now!" + +Gretchen saw that it would be futile to hold him off longer; what she +would not give he would of a surety take. So she put her hands behind +her back, closed her eyes, and raised her chin. He kissed not only the +lovely mouth, but the eyes and cheeks and hair. + +"Gretchen, you are as good and beautiful as an angel." + +"What are angels like?" + +"An angel is the most beautiful woman a poet can describe or imagine." + +"Then there are no men angels?" + +"Only Gabriel; at least I never heard of any other." + +"Then I do not want to be an angel. I had rather be what I am. Besides, +angels do not have tempers; they do not long for things they should not +have; they have no sweethearts." She caught him roughly by the arms. +"Ah, if anything should happen to you, I should die! It seems as though +I had a hundred hearts and that they had all melted into one for love of +you. Do men love as women love? Is it everything and all things, or +only an incident? I would give up my soul to you if you asked for it." + +"I ask only for your love, Gretchen; only that." And he pressed her +hands. "All men are rogues, more or less. There are so many currents and +eddies entering into a man's life. It is made up of a thousand variant +interests. No, man's love is never like a woman's. But remember this, +Gretchen, I loved you the best I knew how, as a man loves but once, +honorably as it was possible, purely and dearly." + +The shade of trouble crossed her face. "Why are you always talking like +that? Do I not know that you love me? Have I not my dowry, and are we +not to be married after the vintage?" + +"But your singing?" + +"Singing? Why, my voice belongs to you; for your sake I wish to be +great, for no other reason." + +He ripped a bunch of grapes from the vine, a thing no careful vintner +should do, and held it toward her. + +"Have you ever heard of the kissing cherries?" he asked. + +She shook her head. He explained. + +"This bunch will do very well." + +He took one grape at the bottom in his teeth. Gingerly Gretchen did the +same. Their lips met in a smothered laughter. Then they tried it again. + +And this Watteau picture met the gaze of two persons on the terrace +below. The empurpling face of one threatened an explosion, but the +smiling face of the other restrained this vocal thunder. The old head +vintner kicked a stone savagely, and at this rattling noise Gretchen and +her lover turned. They beheld the steward, and peering over his shoulder +the amused countenance of the Princess Hildegarde. + +"You--" began the steward, no longer able to contain himself. + +"Patience, Hoffman!" warned her highness. Then she laughed blithely. It +was such a charming picture, and never had she seen a handsomer pair of +bucolic lovers. A sudden pang drove the merriment from her face. Ah, but +she envied Gretchen! For the peasant there was freedom, there was the +chosen mate; but for the princess-- + +"Your hat, scoundrel!" cried Hoffman. + +The vintner snatched off his hat apologetically and swung it round on +the tips of his fingers. + +"Is this the way you work?" + +"I have picked nine baskets." + +"You should have picked twelve." + +It interested her highness to note that this handsome young fellow was +not afraid of the head vintner. So this was Gretchen's lover? He was +really handsome; there was nothing coarse about his features or figure. +And presently she realized that he was returning her scrutiny with +interest. He had never seen her highness at close range before, and he +now saw that Gretchen was more beautiful only because he saw her through +the eyes of a lover. + +The pause was broken by Gretchen. + +"Pardon, Highness!" + +"For what, Gretchen?" + +"For not having seen your approach." + +"That was my fault, not yours. When is the wedding?" + +"After the vintage, Highness." + +Her highness then spoke to the bridegroom-elect. "You will be good to +her?" + +"Who could help it, your Highness?" + +The pronoun struck her oddly, for peasants as a usual thing never used +it in addressing the nobility. + +"Well, on the day of the wedding I will stand sponsor to you both. And +good luck go with you. Come, Hoffman; my horse will be restive and my +men impatient." + +She passed down the aisle, and the head vintner followed, wagging his +head. He was not at all satisfied with that tableau. He employed men to +work; he wanted no love-affairs inside his vineyards. As for her +highness, she had come for the sole purpose of seeing Gretchen's lover; +and it occurred to her that the really desirable men were generally +unencumbered by titles. + +"He will discharge me," said the young vintner gloomily. + +"He will not dare," returned Gretchen. "We have done nothing wrong. Her +highness will stand by us. It must be five o'clock," looking at the sun. + +"In that case, no more work for the day." + +He swung the basket to his shoulder, and the sun, flashing upon its +contents, turned the bloomy globes into dull rubies. He presented his +card at the office and was duly credited with three crowns, which, +according to Gretchen, was a fine day's work. Hoffman said nothing about +dismissal. + +"Come day after to-morrow; to-morrow is a feast-day. You are always +having feast-days when work begins. All summer long you loaf about, but +the minute you start to work you must find excuses to lay off. Clear +out, both of you!" + +"Work at last," said Dietrich, as he and Gretchen started for the city. +"If I can get a position in the brewery for the winter I shall be rich." + +"Oh, the beautiful world!" + +"Do you recall the first day I met you?" he asked. + +"Yes. A little more and that dog would have killed the big gander. What +little things bring about big ones! When I walked into the city that +day, had any one told me that I should fall in love, I should have +laughed." + +"And I!" + +Arm in arm they went on. Sometimes Gretchen sang; often he put her hand +to his lips. By and by they came abreast of an old Gipsy. He wore a +coat of Joseph's, and his face was as lined as a frost-bitten apple. But +his eyes were keen and undimmed, and he walked confidently and erect, +like a man who has always lived in the open. + +"Will you tell me how to find the Adlergasse?" he asked in broken +German. His accent was that of a Magyar. He had a smattering of a dozen +tongues at his command, for in his time he had crossed and recrossed the +Danube, the Rhine, and the Rhone. + +They carelessly gave him specific directions and passed on. He followed +grimly, like fate, whose agent he was, though long delayed. When he +reached the Adlergasse he looked for a sign. He came to a stop in front +of the dingy shop of the clock-mender. He went inside, and the ancient +clock-mender looked up from his work, for he was always working. + +He rose wearily and asked what he could do for his customer. His eyes +were bothering him, so the fact that the man was a Gipsy did not at +first impress him. + +The Gipsy smiled mysteriously and laid a hand on his heart. + +"Who are you?" sharply demanded the clock-mender. + +"Who I am does not matter. I am he whom you seek." + +"God in Heaven!" The bony hands of the clock-mender shot out and +clutched the other's coat in a grip which shook, so intense was it. The +Gipsy released himself slowly. "But first show me your pretty crowns and +the paper which will give me immunity from the police. I know something +about you. You never break your word. That is why I came. Your crowns, +as you offered, and immunity; then I speak." + +"Man, I can give you the crowns, but God knows I have no longer the +power to give you immunity." + +"So?" + +The Gipsy shouldered his bundle. + +"For God's sake, wait!" begged the clock-mender. + +But the Gipsy walked out, unheeding. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A WHITE SCAR + + +Two days later, in the afternoon. + +"Grumbach," said Carmichael, "what the deuce were you looking at the +other night, with those opera-glasses?" + +"At the ball?" Grumbach pressed down the ash in his pipe and brushed his +thumb on his sleeve. "I was looking into the past." + +"With a pair of opera-glasses?" + +"Yes." Grumbach was perfectly serious. + +"Oh, pshaw! You were following her highness with them. I want to know +why." + +"She is beautiful." + +"You made a promise to me not long ago." + +"I did?" non-committally. + +"Yes. Soon I shall be shaking the dust of Dreiberg, and I want to know +beforehand what this Chinese puzzle is. What did you do that compelled +your flight from Ehrenstein?" + +Grumbach's pipe hung pendulent in his hand. He swung it to and fro +absently. + +"I am waiting. Remember, you are an American citizen, for all that you +were born here. If anything should happen to you, I must know the whole +story in order to help you. You know that you may trust me." + +"It isn't that, Captain. I have grown to like you in these few days." + +"What has that to do with it?" impatiently. + +"Nothing, perhaps. Only, if I tell you, you will not be my friend." + +"Nonsense! What you did sixteen years ago doesn't matter now. It is +enough for me that you fought in my regiment, and that you were a brave +soldier." + +"Those opera-glasses; it was an idea. Well, since you will know. I was a +gardener's boy. I worked under my brother Hermann. I used to ask the +nurse, who had charge of her serene highness, where she would go each +day. Then I'd cut flowers and meet them on the road somewhere and give +the bouquet to the child. There was never any escort; a footman and a +driver. The little one was always greatly pleased, and she would call +me Hans. I was in love those days." Grumbach laughed with bitterness. +"Yes, even I. Her name was Tekla, and she was a jade. I wanted to run +away, but I had no money. I had already secured a passport; no matter +how. It was the first affair, and I was desperately hurt. One day a +Gipsy came to me. I shall always know him by the yellow spot in one of +his black eyes. I was given a thousand crowns to tell him which road her +highness was to be driven over the next day. As I said, I was mad with +love. Why a Gipsy should want to know where her highness was going to +ride was of no consequence to me. I told him. I was to get the money the +same night. It was thus that her highness was stolen; it was thus that I +became accessory before the fact, as the lawyers say. Flight with a band +of Magyar Gipsies; weary days in the mountains, with detachments of +troops scouring the whole duchy. Finally I escaped. A fortune was +offered for the immediate return of the child. At the time I believed +that it was an abduction for ransom. But no one ever came forward for +the reward. There was a price on my head when it was known that I had +fled." Grumbach stared into his pipe without seeing anything. + +"And no one ever came for the reward? That is strange. Was immunity +promised?" asked Carmichael. + +"It was inferred, but not literally promised." + +"Fear kept them away." + +"Perhaps. And there is Arnsberg." + +"Was he guilty?" + +"I never saw _his_ hand anywhere." + +"So this is the story! Well, when a man's in love he is, more or less, +in the clutch of temporary insanity." Carmichael's tone wasn't exactly +cheery. + +"Insanity! Then you do not judge me harshly?" + +"No, Hans. I've a wild streak in me also. But what I can't understand is +why you return and put your head in the lion's mouth. The police will +stumble on something. I tell you frankly that if you are arrested I +could do little or nothing for you. The United States protects only +harmless political outcasts. Yours is a crime such as nullifies your +citizenship, and any government would be compelled, according to the +terms of treaty, to send you back here, if the demand was made for your +extradition." + +"I know all that," Grumbach replied, dumping the ash into his palm and +casting it into the paper-basket. + +"I suppose that when conscience drives we must go on. But the princess +has been found. The best thing you can do is to put your passports into +immediate use and return to the States. You can do no good here." + +"Maybe." Grumbach refilled his pipe, lighted it, and without saying more +went out and down into the street. + +Carmichael watched him through the window. Cloud after cloud of smoke +ran wavering behind the exile. He was smoking like one deeply perturbed. + +"He's a queer codger, and it's a queer story. I don't believe I have +heard it all, either. What was he really hunting for with those glasses? +I give it up." + +He was not angry with Grumbach; rather he seemed to be drawn to him more +closely than ever. Mad with love. That was the phrase. He conned it over +and over; mad with love. That excused many things. How strangely the +chess-men were moved! Had Grumbach not assisted in the abduction, her +highness would in all probability have grown up as other princesses, +artificial, cold, reserved, seldom touched by the fires of animated +thought or action. In fact, had things been otherwise, he never would +have ridden with her highness in the freshness of the morning--or fallen +in love with her. By rights he ought to curse Grumbach; but for him he +would still be captain of his heart. Mad with love! There was no doubt +of it. And the phrase rang in his ear for some time. + +Grumbach was indeed perturbed, and this sensation was the result of what +he had _not_ told his friend. _Gott!_ What was going on? He hadn't the +least idea where his footsteps were leading him. He went on, his teeth +set strongly on the horn mouthpiece of his pipe, his hands jammed in his +pockets. And after a time he woke. He was in the Adlergasse. And of all +that happy, noisy family, only he and Hermann left! In one of the open +doorways, for it was warm, a final caress of vanishing summer, he saw a +fat, youngish woman knitting woolen hose. Two or three children +sprawled about her knees. There was that petulance of lip and forehead +which marked the dissatisfaction of the coquette married. + +"Tekla!" Grumbach murmured. + +He was not conscious that he had paused, but the woman was. She eyed him +with the mild indifference of the bovine. Then she dropped her glance +and the shining needles clicked afresh. Grumbach forced his step onward. +And for this! He laughed discordantly. The woman looked up again +wonderingly. Now, why should this stranger laugh all by himself like +that? + +Hans saw the sign of the Black Eagle, and directed his steps +thitherward. He sat down and ordered a beer, drinking it quickly. He +repeated the order, but he did not touch the second glass. He threw back +the lid and stared at the creamy froth as a seer stares at his ball of +crystal. Carmichael was right; he was a doddering fool. What was done +was done, and a thousand consciences would not right it. And what right +had conscience to drag him back to Ehrenstein, where he had known the +bitterest and happiest moments of his life? And yet, rail as he might at +this invisible restraint called conscience, he saw God's direction in +this return. Only _he_, Hans Grumbach, knew and one other. And that +other, who? + +Fat, Tekla was fat; and he had treasured the fair picture of her youth +these long years! Well, there was an end to that. Little fat Tekla, to +have nearly overturned a duchy, and never a bit the wiser! And then Hans +became aware of voices close at hand, for he sat near the bar. + +"Yes, Fräu, he is at work in the grand duke's vineyards. And think, the +first day he picked nine baskets." + +"That is good. But I know many a one who can pick their twelve. And you +are to be married when the vintage is done? You will make a fine wife, +Gretchen." + +"And he, a fine husband." + +"And you will bring him a dowry, too. But his own people; what does he +say of them?" + +"He has no parents; only an uncle, who doesn't count. We shall live with +grandmother and pay her rent." + +"And you are wearing a new dress," admiringly. + +Gretchen preened herself. Hans dropped the lid of his stein and pushed +it away. His heart always warmed at the sight of this goose-girl. So she +had a dowry and was going to be married? He felt of his wallet, and a +kindly thought came into being. He counted down the small change for the +beer, slid back his chair, and sauntered to the bar. Gretchen recognized +him, and the recognition brought a smile to her face. + +"Good day to you, Herr," was her greeting. + +"When is the wedding?" + +Gretchen blushed. + +"I should like to come to it." + +"You will be welcome, Herr." + +"And may I bring along a little present?" + +"If it so please you. I must be going," she added to Fräu Bauer. + +"May I walk along with you?" asked Hans. + +"If you wish," diffidently. + +So Grumbach walked with her to the Krumerweg, and he asked her many +questions, and some of her answers surprised him. + +"Never knew father or mother?" + +"No, Herr. I am only a foundling who fell into kind hands. This is where +I live." + +"And if I should ask to come in?" + +"But I shall be too busy to talk. This is bread-day," evasively. + +"I promise to sit very quiet in a chair." + +Her laughter rippled; she was always close to that expression. "You are +a funny man. Come in, then; but mind, you will be dusty with flour when +you leave." + +"I will undertake that risk," he replied, with a seriousness not in tune +with the comedy of the situation. + +Into the kitchen she led him. She was moved with curiosity. Why should +any man wish to see a woman knead bread? + +"Sit there, Herr." And she pointed to a stool at the left of the table. +The sunlight came in through the window, and an aureola appeared above +her beautiful head. "Have you never seen a woman knead flour?" + +"Not for many years," said Hans, thinking of his mother. + +Gretchen deliberately rolled up her sleeves and began work. + +There are three things which human growth never changes: the lines in +the hand, the shape of the ear, and scars. The head grows, and the +general features enlarge to their predestined mold, but these three +things remain. Upon Gretchen's left arm, otherwise perfection, there was +a white scar, rough and uneven, more like an ancient burn than anything +else. Grumbach's eyes rested upon the scar and became fixed. + +"Where did you get that?" he asked. He spoke with a strange calm. + +"The scar? I do not remember. Grandmother says that when I was little I +must have been burned." + +"_Gott!_" + +"What did you say, Herr?" + +"Nothing. You can't remember? Think!" tensely now. + +"What's all this nonsense about?" she cried, with a nervous laugh. "It's +only a scar." + +She went on with the kneading. She patted the dough into four squares. +These she placed on the oven-stove. She wiped her hands on a cloth for +that purpose, and sighed contentedly. + +"There! It's a fine mystery, isn't it?" + +"Yes." But Grumbach was shaking as with ague. + +"What is the matter, Herr?" with concern. + +"I grow dizzy like this sometimes. It doesn't amount to anything." + +Gretchen turned down her sleeves. "You must go now, for I have other +work." + +"And so have I, Gretchen." + +He gained the street, but how he never knew. He floated. Objects near at +hand were shadowy and unusual. A great calm suddenly winged down upon +him, and the world became clear, clear as his purpose, his courage, his +duty. They might shoot or hang him, as they saw fit; this would not +deter him. It might be truthfully said that he blundered back to the +Grand Hotel. He must lay the whole matter before Carmichael. There lay +his one hope. Carmichael should be his ambassador. But, God in Heaven, +where should he begin? How? + +The Gipsy, standing in the center of the walk, did not see Grumbach, for +he was looking toward the palaces, a kind of whimsical mockery in his +dark eyes. Grumbach, even more oblivious, crashed into him. + +Grumbach stammered an apology, and the other replied in his peculiar +dialect that no harm had been done. The jar, however, had roused Hans +out of his tragic musings. There was a glint of yellow in the Gipsy's +eye, a flaw in the iris. Hans gave a cry. + +"You? I find you at this moment, of all others?" + +The Gipsy retreated. "I do not know you. It is a mistake." + +"But I know you," whispered Hans. "And you will know me when I tell you +that I am the gardener's boy you ruined some sixteen years ago!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +DISCLOSURES + + +The office of the American consulate in the Adlergasse ran from the +front to the rear of the building. Carmichael's desk overlooked the +street. But whenever a flying dream came to him he was wont to take his +pipe to the chair by the rear window, whence he could view the lofty +crests of the Jugendheit mountains. Directly below this window and +running parallel with it was the _Biergarten_ of the Black Eagle. + +It is a quiet tonic to the mind to look off, to gaze at sunlit, +cloud-embraced mountain peaks, Walter Pater to the contrary. +Carmichael's mind that morning needed quiet, and so he came to this +window; and with a smoldering pipe let himself to dreams. He was still +in the uniform of the royal hunt, a meet having taken place that +morning. He saw darling faces in the rugged outlines of the mountains, +in the white clouds billowing across, in the patches of dazzling blue +in between. Such is the fancy of a man in love! + +His letter of resignation was on its way, but it would be in November +before he heard definitely from the department. By that time the great +snows would have blanketed the earth, and the nadir of his discontent +would be reached. But what to do till that time? He could ride for some +weeks, but riding without companionship was rather a lonesome affair. +His own defiance of the chancellor had erected an impassable barrier +between her highness and himself. They would watch him now, evade him, +put small obstacles in his path, obstacles against which he could enter +no reasonable complaint. A withered leaf, a glove, and a fan; these +represented the sum of his romance. + +Two figures moved in the garden beneath. At first he gave no attention +to them. But when the two heads came together swiftly, and then +separated, both smiling, he realized that he had witnessed a kiss. Ah, +here was the opportunity; and, by the Lord Harry, he would not let it +slip. If this fellow meant wrongly toward Gretchen--and how could he +mean else?--he, Carmichael, would take the matter boldly in his hands +to do some caning. He laughed. Here would be another souvenir; to have +caned-- + +He jumped to his feet, dropped his pipe on the sill of the window, and +made for his hat and sword-cane. The clerk went on with his writing. +Nothing the consul did these days either alarmed or distracted him. + +To gain the garden Carmichael would have to pass through the tavern. The +first person he encountered was Colonel von Wallenstein. The sight of +this gentleman changed his plans for the moment. He had a presentiment +that this would became rather a complicated affair. He waited. +Wallenstein spoke to Fräu Bauer, who answered him with cold civility. +She heartily despised this fine officer. Wallenstein twirled his +mustache, laughed and went into the garden. Carmichael was in a +quandary. What should he do? + +Neither Gretchen nor the vintner saw Wallenstein, who remained quietly +by the door. He watched them with an evil smile. He would teach this +pretty fellow a lesson. After some deliberation he walked lightly toward +the lovers. They did not hear him till he was almost upon them. + +"A pretty picture!" + +Gretchen colored and the vintner flushed, the one with dismay and the +other with anger. + +"A charming idyl!" + +"Leave us, Gretchen," said the vintner, with a deceiving gentleness. + +Gretchen started reluctantly down the path, her glance bravely before +her. She knew that Wallenstein would not move; so she determined to go +round him. She was not afraid to leave her vintner alone with this +officer. But she miscalculated the colonel's reckless audacity. As she +stepped off the path to go round him he grasped her rudely and kissed +her on the cheek. She screamed as much in surprise as in anger. + +And this scream brought Carmichael upon the scene. He was witness to the +second kiss. He saw the vintner run forward and dash his fist into the +soldier's face. Wallenstein, to whom such an assault was unexpected, +fell back, hurt and blinded. The vintner, active as a cat, saw +Carmichael coming on a run. He darted toward him, and before Carmichael +could prevent him, dragged the sword-cane away. The blade, thin and +pliant, flashed. And none too soon. The colonel had already drawn his +saber. + +"Save him!" Gretchen wrung her hands. + +The two blades met spitefully, and there were method and science on both +sides. But the sword-cane was no match for the broad, heavy saber. Half +a dozen thrusts and parries convinced the colonel that the raging youth +knew what he was doing. Down swooped the saber cuttingly. The blade of +the sword-cane snapped like a pipe-stem. The vintner flung the broken +part at the colonel's head. The latter dodged it and came on, and there +was death's intent. + +Meantime Carmichael had found a short hop-pole, and with this he took a +hand in the contest. The pole was clumsy, but the tough wood was +stronger than steel. He hit the saber with good-will. Back came the +steel. The colonel did not care whom or what he struck at now. When +Carmichael returned the compliment he swung his hop-pole as the old +crusaders did their broadswords. And this made short work of the duel. +The saber dropped uninjured, but the colonel's arm dangled at his side. +He leaned back against the arbor, his teeth set in his lip, for he was +in agony. Carmichael flung aside his primitive weapon, his anger abated +none. + +"You're a fine example of a soldier! Are you mad to attack a man this +way? They will break you for this, or my name's not Carmichael. You +couldn't leave her in peace, could you? Well, those two kisses will +prove expensive." + +"I shall kill you for this!" + +"Bah! I have fought more times than you have years to your counting," +with good Yankee spirit. "But if you think I'll waste my time in +fighting a duel with you, you're up the wrong tree." + +"Go to the devil!" + +"Not just at present; there's too much for me to do. But this is my +advice to you: apply for a leave of absence and take the waters of +Wiesbaden. They are good for choleric dispositions. Now, I return the +compliment: go to the devil yourself, only choose a route that will not +cross mine. That's all!" + +Gretchen and the vintner had vanished. Carmichael agreed that it was the +best thing for them to do. The vintner was no coward, but he was +discreet. Somebody might ask questions. So Carmichael returned to the +consulate, equally indifferent what the colonel did or where he went. Of +the vintner he thought: "The hot-headed young fool, to risk his life +like that!" He would see later what he meant in regard to Gretchen. Poor +little goose-girl! They would find that there was one man interested +enough in her welfare to stand by her. His hands yet stung from the +contact of wood against steel, and his hair was damp at the edges. This +was a bit of old war-times. + +"Are you hurt, Excellency?" asked the clerk solicitously. + +"Hurt?" + +"Yes. I heard a woman scream and ran to the window. It was a good fight. +But that fellow-_ach!_ To run away and leave you, an outsider, to fight +his battle!" + +"He would have been sliced in two if I hadn't come to the front. A +hop-pole isn't half bad. I'll bet that lady's man has a bad arm for some +time to come. As for the vintner, he had good reasons for taking to his +heels." + +"Good reasons?" But there was a sly look in the clerk's eyes. + +"No questions, if you please. And tell no one, mind, what has taken +place." + +"Very well, Excellency." And quietly the clerk returned to his table of +figures. But later he intended to write a letter, unsigned, to his +serene highness. + +Carmichael, scowling, undertook to answer his mail, but not with any +remarkable brilliancy or coherency. + +And in this condition of mind Grumbach found him; Grumbach, accompanied +by the old clock-mender from across the way, and a Gipsy Carmichael had +never seen before. + +"What's up, Hans?" + +"Tell your clerk to leave us," said Grumbach, his face as barren of +expression as a rock. + +"Something serious, eh?" Carmichael dismissed the clerk, telling him to +return after the noon hour. "Now, then," he said, "what is the trouble?" + +"I have already spoken to you about it," Grumbach returned. "The matter +has gone badly. But I am here to ask a favor, a great favor, one that +will need all your diplomacy to gain for me." + +"Ah" + +"For myself I ask nothing. A horrible blunder has been made. You will go +to the grand duke and ask immunity for this Gipsy and this clock-mender, +as witnesses to the disclosure which I shall make to his highness. +Without this immunity my lips will be sealed for ever. As I said, I ask +nothing for myself, nothing. There has been a great blunder and a great +wrong, too; but God sent me here to right it. Will you do this?" + +"But I must know--," began Carmichael. + +"You will know everything, once you obtain this concession from the +duke." + +"But why don't you want immunity for yourself?" + +"There must be some one for the duke to punish," heroically; "otherwise +he will refuse." + +"Still, suppose I bargain for you, too?" + +"When you tell him my name is Breunner there will be no bargaining." + +"What has this clock-mender to do with the case?" + +"He is Count von Arnsberg." + +"By George! And this Gipsy?" + +"The man who bribed me. Arnsberg is an innocent man; but this has to be +proved, and you are going to help us prove it." + +All this was in English; the Gipsy and the former chancellor understood +little or nothing. + +"I will do what I can, Hans, and I will let you know the result after +dinner to-night." + +"That will be enough. But unless he concedes, do not tell him our names. +That would be ruin and nothing gained." + +"You have me a bit dazed," Carmichael admitted. "I ought to know what +this blunder is, to have something to stand on." + +Grumbach shook his head. "Later every question will be answered. And +remember, at this interview Herbeck must not be present. It will have to +be broken to him gently." + +"Very well; I promise to see his highness this afternoon." + +Grumbach translated the substance of this dialogue to his companions. +They approved. The three of them solemnly trooped out, leaving +Carmichael bewildered. Alone, his mind searched a thousand channels, but +these were blind and led nowhere. Blunder, wrong? What did Grumbach mean +by that? What kind of a blunder, and who was innocently wronged? No +use! And while he was thus racking his mind he heard steps on the +stairs. These steps were hurried. The door above shut noisily. + +"By George! I'll attend to that this minute. We'll see what stuff this +yellow-haired boy is made of." + +He mounted the stairs without sound. He grasped the handle of the door, +boldly pushed it open, and entered, closing the door and placing his +back against it. + +The instant he saw the intruder the vintner snatched a pistol from the +drawer in the table and leveled it at Carmichael. + +"Surely your majesty will not shoot an old friend?" + + +[Illustration: "Surely your Majesty will not shoot an old friend?"] + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE KING + + +The vintner slowly lowered the pistol till it touched the table; then he +released it. + +"That is better, your Majesty." + +"Why do you call me that?" + +"Certainly I do not utter it as a compliment," retorted Carmichael +dryly. + +"You speak positively." + +"With absolute authority on the subject, sire. Your face was familiar, +but I failed at first to place it rightly. It was only after you had +duped me into going after the veiled lady that I had any real suspicion. +You are Frederick Leopold of Jugendheit." + +"I shall not deny it further," proudly. "And take care how you speak to +me, since I admit my identity." + +"Oho!" Carmichael gave rein to his laughter. "This is Ehrenstein; here +I shall talk to you as I please." + +The king reddened, and his hand closed again over the pistol. + +"I have saved your majesty twice from death. You force me to recall it +to your mind." + +The king had the grace to lower his eyes. + +"The first time was at Bonn. Don't you recollect the day when an +American took you out of the Rhine, an American who did not trouble +himself to come round and ask for your thanks, who, in truth, did not +learn till days after what an important person you were, or were going +to be?" There was a bite in every word, for Carmichael felt that he had +been ill-treated. + +"For that moment, Herr, I thank you." + +"And for that in the garden below?" + +"For that also. Now, why are you here? You have not come for the purpose +of recalling these two disagreeable incidents to my mind." + +"No." Carmichael went over to the table, his jaws set and no kindly +spirit in his eyes. "No, I have another purpose." He bent over the +table, and with his face close to that of the king, "I demand to know +what your intentions are toward that friendless goose-girl." + +"And what is that to you?" said the king, the smoke of anger in his +eyes. + +"It is this much: if you have acted toward her otherwise than +honorably--Well!" + +"Go on; you interest me!" + +"Well, I promise to break every bone in your kingly body. In this room +it is man to man; I recognize no king, only the physical being." + +The king pushed aside the table, furious. No living being had ever +spoken to him like that before. He swung the flat of his hand toward +Carmichael's face. The latter caught the hand by the wrist and bore down +upon it. The king was no weakling. There was a struggle, and Carmichael +found himself well occupied for a time. But his age and build were in +his favor, and presently he jammed the king to the wall and pinioned his +arms. + +"There! Will you be patient for a moment?" + +"You shall die for this insult!" said the king, as quietly as his hard +breathing would allow. He saw flashes of red between his face and the +other's. + +"I have heard that before. But how?" banteringly. + +"I will waive my crown; man to man!" + +"Sword-sticks, sabers or hop-poles? Come," savagely, "what do you mean +by the goose-girl?" + +So intent on the struggle were they that neither heard the door open and +close. + +"Yes, my dear nephew; what do you mean by Gretchen?" + +Carmichael released the king, and with feline quickness stooped and +secured the pistol which had fallen to the floor. Not sure of the new +arrival's purpose, he backed to the wall. He knew the voice and he +recognized its owner. + +"Put it in your pocket, Mr. Carmichael. And let us finish this +discussion in English, since there are many ears about the place." + +"His royal highness?" murmured the king. + +"Yes, sire! True to life!" + +Carmichael dropped the pistol into a pocket, and the king smoothed down +his crumpled sleeves. + +"A fine comedy!" cried Herr Ludwig jovially, folding his arms over his +deep chest. "A rollicking adventure! Where's the story-book to match it? +A kingdom, working in the dark, headless; fine reading for these +sneaking journalists! Thunder and blazes!" with an amiability which had +behind it a good leaven of despair. "Well, nephew, you have not as yet +answered either Mr. Carmichael's question or my own. What do you mean by +Gretchen?" + +"I love her," nobly. "And well for you, my uncle, that you come as you +do. I would have married her! Wrong her? What was a crown to me who, +till now, have never worn one save in speech? _You_ have been the king." + +"Bodies must have heads, kingdoms must have kings. I have tried an +experiment, and this is the result. I wanted you to be a man, a human +man; I wanted you to grow up unfettered by power; I wanted you to mingle +with peoples, here and there, so, when you became their head physician, +you could ably minister to their political diseases. And all this fine +ambition tumbles down before the wooden shoes of a pretty goose-girl. +Nothing makes so good a philosopher as a series of blunders and +mistakes. I am beaten; I admit it. I did my best to save you from this +tangle; but it was written that you should put your foot in it. But on +top of this you have made a greater mistake than you dream of, nephew. +The Princess Hildegarde is as fine a woman as ever your Gretchen. Mr. +Carmichael will agree to that," maliciously. + +Carmichael gave no sign that he understood; but there was no mistaking +the prince regent's inference, however. The recipient of this compliment +stubbornly refused to give the prince the satisfaction of seeing how +neatly the barb had gone home. + +"But, Mr. Carmichael, what is _your_ interest in Gretchen?" + +Carmichael trembled with joy. Here was an opening for a double shot. "My +interest in her is better than yours, for I have not asked her to become +a king's mistress." + +His royal highness bit his lip. + +"Uncle!" cried the king, horrified at this revelation. + +"Mr. Carmichael evidently has applied his ear to some keyhole." + +"No, thank you! The window was open. My clerk heard you plainly." + +"Uncle, is this damnable thing true?" + +"Yes. What would you? You were determined to make a fool of yourself. +But rest easy. She is ignorant where this offer came from, and, +moreover, she spurned it, as Mr. Carmichael's clerk will affirm. Oh, +Gretchen is a fine little woman, and I would to God she was of your +station!" And the mask fell from the regent's face, leaving it bitter +and careworn. "Our presence is known in Dreiberg; it has been known for +three days at least. And in coming up here I had another errand. Oh, I +haven't forgotten it. In the street there are at least ten soldiers +under the sub-chief of the police; rather a curious conjunction." + +The king turned white. So it had come at last! + +Carmichael ran to the rear window. He shrugged. "There's half a dozen in +the garden, too." + +"Is there any way to the roofs?" + +"None that would serve you." + +"Mr. Carmichael," said the king, offering his hand, his handsome face +kindly and without rancor, "I should be an ungrateful wretch if I did +not ask your full pardon. I am indebted to you twice for my life, little +as it amounts to. And in my kingdom you will always be welcome. Will +you accept my hand, as one man to another?" + +"With happiness, your Majesty. And I ask that you pardon my own hasty +words." + +"Thank you." + +"He is only young," sighed Ludwig. + +The king emptied the drawer, put the contents in his pack, tied the +strings, and put it under his arm. + +"What are you going to do?" asked the uncle, vaguely perturbed. + +"I am going down to the soldiers. I am no longer a vintner, I am a +king!" And he said this in a manner truly royal. + +"_Gott!_" burst from the prince regent. "This boy has marrow in his +bones, after all!" + +"As you will find, dear uncle, the day after the coronation. You will, +of course, go down to them with me?" + +"As I am your uncle! But the incarceration will not be long," Ludwig +grumbled. "There are ten thousand troops on the other side of the +passes, and they have been there ever since I learned that you had gone +a-wooing." + +"Ten thousand? Well, they shall stay there," said the king +determinedly. "I shall not begin my reign with war. I am in the wrong; I +had no business to be here. Technically I have broken the treaty, though +not in spirit." + +"What will you do?" + +"Tell the duke the truth. He will not dare go far." + +"He will be a good politician, too," said Ludwig, with a smile of +approval at Carmichael. "No, boy, there will be no war. And yet I was +prepared for it; nor was I wrong in doing so. Already, but for Herbeck, +there would be plenty of fighting in the passes. _Ach!_ Could you but +see the princess!" + +"I have seen her," replied the king. "Heaven would have been kinder had +I seen her months ago." + +"Say to his serene highness, then, that you are willing to marry her." + +"I'm afraid you do not understand, uncle," the king replied sadly. "I +have the supreme happiness to love and to be loved. Of that nothing can +rob me. And for some time to come, uncle mine, I shall treasure that +happiness." + +"And the little Gretchen?" + +"Yes, yes! I have been a scoundrel." And the king's eyes grew moist. +"You are happy, Mr. Carmichael; you have no crown to weigh against your +love." + +"Has he not?" mocked Ludwig. + +"That, uncle, is neither kind nor gallant." + +And from that moment Carmichael's heart warmed toward the young man, +whose sorrow was greater than his own. For the king was giving up the +woman who loved him, while Carmichael was only giving up the woman he +loved, which is a distinction. + +"I ask Mr. Carmichael's pardon," said Prince Ludwig frankly. "But my +temper has been sadly tried. Will you grant me a favor?" + +"If it is in my power," said Carmichael. + +"Go at once to our embassy and notify them what has taken place." + +"I will do that at once. If only I could find some way for you to +escape!" + +"There is none," said the king. "Come, uncle; let us see what is going +on down-stairs." + +Carmichael followed them down. + +"There they are, men!" cried the sub-chief. "You are under arrest!" + +"I am the king of Jugendheit," calmly announced Frederick Leopold. +"Will you subject me to public arrest?" + +"And I," said the uncle, "am Ludwig, prince regent. Let us go to prison +as quickly as possible, blockheads!" + +The sub-chief laughed uproariously, and even the disciplined soldiers +smiled. The king of Jugendheit and the prince regent! This was a good +joke, indeed! + +"Your majesty and your royal highness," said the sub-chief, his eyes +twinkling, "will do me, a poor sub-chief of the police, the honor of +accompanying me to the Stein-schloss." + +"Lead on, lead on!" cried Ludwig. "But wait! I forgot. There can be no +harm in asking why we are arrested." + +"You are accused of being military spies from Jugendheit. That is +sufficient for the present." + +"Frederick, they do not believe us. So much the better!" Ludwig pursed +his lips into a whistle. + +"May I retain this bundle?" inquired the king. + +"Yes. I know what is in it. Forward, march!" + +The soldiers formed into a square, and in the center the prisoners were +placed. Carmichael made as though to protest, but Prince Ludwig signed +for him to be silent. + +"Remember!" he said. + +The king looked in vain for Gretchen. Then he beckoned to Carmichael, +and whispered brokenly: "If you see her, do not tell her what has +happened. Better to let her think that I have gone. And she will see +nothing in the arrest of the king of Jugendheit." + +"I promise." + +The troop marched along the street, followed by many curious ones, and +many heads popped in and out of the gabled windows. Carmichael watched +them till they veered round a corner, and then he returned to the +consulate. There he left a note for the clerk, telling him that he would +not be in the office again that day. Directly after, he hurried off to +the Jugendheit embassy. + +An hour later Gretchen appeared before Fräu Bauer. Gretchen had gone +home immediately after the termination of the fight in the garden. It +had been the will of her lord and master for her to remain at home +throughout the day; but this she could not do. She was worried. + +"He was not hurt, Fräu?" she asked timidly. + +"Oh, no! The two of them gave themselves up readily. They are snug in +the Stein-schloss by this time." + +"The Stein-schloss!" Gretchen blanched. "Holy Mother, what has +happened?" + +"Why, your vintner and Herr Ludwig were arrested an hour ago, accused of +being spies from Jugendheit." + +"It is a lie!" cried Gretchen hollowly. She groped blindly for the door. + +"Where are you going, Gretchen?" Fräu Bauer inquired anxiously. + +"To her highness! She will save him!" + +Her highness was dreaming. She had fallen into this habit of late. A +flame in the fireplace, a cloud in the sky, a dash of rain on the +window, all these drew her fancy. What the heart wishes the mind will +dream. Sunshine was without, clear, brilliant; shadow was within, +mellow, nebulous. But to-day her dream was short. A maid of honor +announced that the young woman Gretchen sought her presence. + +"Admit her. She will be a tonic," said Hildegarde. + +Gretchen appeared, red-eyed and disheveled. Instantly she flung herself +at the feet of the princess. + +"Why, Gretchen!" + +"They will not let me see him, Highness!" Gretchen choked. + +"What has happened, child?" + +"They have arrested him as a spy from Jugendheit, and he is innocent. +Save him, Highness!" + +"How can I save him?" + +"He is not a spy." + +"That must be proved, Gretchen. I can not go to the Stein-schloss and +order them to liberate him." She lifted Gretchen to her feet. + +"I have been there, and they will not let me see him. I love him so!" + +"I can arrange that for you. I will go with you myself to the prison." + +"Thanks, Highness, thanks!" Gretchen was hysterical. + +The Stein-schloss had been the feudal keep; now it served as the city +prison. Its grim gray stones were battle-scarred and time-worn; a place +of deep dungeons, huge bolts and bars, and narrow slits in the stone for +windows. The prison was both civil and military, but was patrolled and +sentineled by soldiers. The king and his uncle had been given adjoining +cells on the ground floor. These cells were dry, and light entered from +the modern windows in the wall of the corridor. The princess and her +protégée were admitted without objection. The sergeant in charge of that +floor even permitted them to go into the corridor unattended. + +Voices. + +"Hush!" whispered her highness, pressing Gretchen's arm. + +"_Ach!_ Wail, dear nephew, beat your hands upon the bars, curse, waste +your breath on stone. Did I not warn you against this very thing when +you proposed this mad junket? Well, there are two of us. A fine scandal! +They will laugh at us for months to come." + +"Woe to the duke for this affront!" + +Gretchen started to speak, but the princess quickly put her hand over +the goose-girl's mouth. + +"Ha! So war is gathering in your veins?" + +"I will have revenge for this!" + +"Good! Bang--bang! Slash and cut! War is a great invention--on paper. +Come, my boy; you were sensible enough when they brought us here. +Control yourself. Be a king in all the word implies. For my part, I +begin to see." + +"And what do you see?" + +"I see that the duke knows who we are, even if his police do not. He +will keep us here a day or two, and then magnanimously liberate us with +profuse apologies. We shall be escorted to the frontier with honors. His +highness loves a jest too well to let this chance escape. Besides, I see +in the glass the fine Italian hand of Herbeck. I have always heard that +he was a great statesman. Swallow your wrath, even if your tongue goes +down with it." + +"Gretchen, Gretchen!" said the king. + +Gretchen could stand it no longer. She wrenched herself free from the +grasp of the princess, who, with pitying heart, understood all now. Poor +unhappy Gretchen! + +"Here I am, Leopold!" the goose-girl cried, pressing her body against +the bars and thrusting her hands through them. + +"The devil!" murmured the man in the other cell. + +"You here, Gretchen?" The king covered her hands with passionate +kisses. + +"Yes, yes! They have made a dreadful mistake. You are no spy from +Jugendheit." + +"No, Gretchen," said the voice from the next cell. "He is far worse than +that. He is the king, Gretchen, the king." + +"Uncle!" in anguish. + +"Let us have it over with," replied Prince Ludwig sadly. + +"The king?" Gretchen laughed shrilly. "What jest is this, Leopold?" + +The king, still holding her hands, looked down. + +"Leopold?" plaintively. + +Still he did not speak, still he averted his head. But God knew that his +heart was on the rack. + +The princess, remaining in the background, not daring to interfere, felt +the smart of tears in her eyes. Ah, the poor tender little goose-girl! +The pity of it! This king was a scoundrel. + +"Leo, look at me! You are laughing! Why, did we not work together in the +vineyards, and did we not plan for the future? _Ah_, yes! You are a king +only to me. I see. But it is a cruel jest, Leopold. Smile at me! Say +something!" Gretchen was hanging to the bars now; her body, held in the +vise of growing terror, was almost a dead weight. + +"Gretchen, forgive me!" despairingly. + +"He asks me to forgive him!" dully. "For what?" + +"For being a villain! Yes," his voice keen with agony. "I _am_ the king +of Jugendheit. But am I less a man for that? Ah, God help me, I have a +right to love like other men! Do not doubt me, Gretchen; do not think +that I played with you. I love you better than my crown, better than my +honor!" + +"Take care, nephew!" came Prince Ludwig's warning. "Some one else is +near." + +"I care not! Before all the world I would gladly proclaim it. I love +her. I swear that I shall never marry, that my heart is breaking! +Gretchen, Gretchen! My God, she is falling! Help her!" wildly; and he +shook the bars with supernatural strength till his hands were bleeding. + +But Gretchen did not answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +TWIN LOCKETS + + +Carmichael tramped about his room, restless, uneasy, starting at sounds. +Half a dozen times his cigar had gone out, and burned matches lay +scattered on the floor. He was waiting for Grumbach and his confrčres. +Now he looked out of a window, now he spun the leaves of a book, now he +sat down, got up, and tramped again. Anything but this suspense. A full +day! The duel in the _Biergarten_; the king of Jugendheit and the prince +regent in the Stein-schloss; the flight of the ambassador to the palace, +more like a madman than one noted for his calm and circumspection; +Gretchen carried into the palace in a dead faint, and her highness +weeping; the duke in a rage and brought over only after the hardest +struggle Carmichael had ever experienced. And deeper, firmer, became his +belief and conviction that Grumbach's affair vitally concerned her +highness. What blunder had been made? He would soon know. He welcomed +the knock on his door. Grumbach came in, carrying under his arm a small +bundle. He was pale but serene, like a man who had put his worldly +affairs in order. + +"Well, Captain, what did his Highness say?" + +"Where are your companions?" + +"They are waiting outside." + +"The duke agrees. He will give us an audience at eight-thirty. I had a +time of it!" + +"Did you mention my name + +"No. I went roundabout. I also obtained his promise to say nothing to +Herbeck till the interview was over. Again he demurred, but his +curiosity saved the day. Now, Hans, the full story." + +Grumbach spread out on the bed the contents of the bundle. + +"Look at these and tell me what you see, Captain." + +Carmichael inspected the little yellow shoes. He turned them over and +over in his hand. He shook out the folds of the little cloak, and the +locket fell on the bed. + +"When did you get this?" he cried excitedly. "It is her highness'!" + +"So it is, Captain; but I have carried it about me all these years." + +"What?" + +"Yes, Captain. Count von Herbeck is a great statesman, but he made a +terrible mistake this time. Listen. As sure as we are in this room +together, I believe that she whom we call the princess is not the +daughter of the grand duke." + +Carmichael sat down on the edge of the bed, numb and without any clear +idea where he was. From the stony look on his face, Grumbach might have +carried the head of Medusa in his hand. The blood beat into his head +with many strange noises. But by and by the world became clearer and +brighter till all things took on the rosal tint of dawn. Free! If she +was not a princess, she was free, free! + +The duke allowed the quartet to remain standing for some time. He strode +up and down before them, his eyes straining at the floor, his hands +behind his back. He was in fatigue-dress, and only the star of +Ehrenstein glittered on his breast. He was never without this order. All +at once he whirled round, and as a sailor plunges the lead into the +sea, so he plumbed the very deeps of their eyes as if he would see +beforehand what strange things were at work in their souls. "I do not +recognize any of these persons," he said to Carmichael. + +"Your highness does not recognize me, then?" asked the clock-mender. + +"Come closer," commanded the duke. The clock-mender obeyed. "Take off +those spectacles." The duke scanned the features, and over his own came +the dawn of recollection. "Your eyes, your nose--Arnsberg, here and +alive? Oh, this is too good to be true!" The duke reached out toward the +bell, but Carmichael interposed. + +"Your highness will remember," he warned. + +"Ha! So you have trapped me blindly? I begin to understand. Who is this +fellow Grumbach? Did I offer immunity to him?" + +"I am Hans Breunner, Highness, and I ask for nothing." + +"Breunner? Breunner? Hans Breunner, brother of Hermann, and you put +yourself into my hands?" The tone developed into a suppressed roar. The +duke took hold of Hans by the shoulders and drew him close. "You dog! So +you ask for nothing? It shall be given to you. To-morrow morning I shall +have you shot! Hans Breunner! God is good to me this night! Thanks, Herr +Carmichael, a thousand thanks! And I need not ask who that damnable +scoundrel is who has the black face and heart of a Gipsy. When I +recollect what I have suffered at your hands! If only the late king were +here, my joy would be complete!" + +"Your Highness," said Von Arnsberg quietly, "all I have left in the +world are these two withered hands, and may God cut them off if they +ever wronged you in any act. I am innocent. Those letters purported to +have been written by me were forgeries. I could not prove this, so I +have been outlawed, with the sentence of death over my head. But +to-night I shall leave this palace a free man, and you shall ask pardon +for the wrong you have done me." + +There was no fear in the voice; there was nothing but confidence. The +duke glared at the speaker somberly, recalling what Herbeck had often +said. + +"What you say still remains to be proved. Now, what is at the bottom of +all this?" was the demand. "You men have not obtained this interview for +the sake of affirming your innocence. Herr Carmichael, here, declared to +me on honor that you were in possession of a great secret. Out with it, +without any more useless recrimination." + +Hans replied not in words but in actions. He crossed the room to the +duke's desk and spread out his treasures under the flickering +candlelight. The duke, with a cry of terror, sprang toward the secret +drawer. His first thought was that the shoes and cloak, upon which only +his eyes ever rested now, had been stolen. He straightened. Nothing was +missing. He glanced from face to face, from the articles on the desk to +those in the drawer. He was overwhelmed. But he steadied himself; it was +no moment for physical weakness. Slowly, ignoring every one, he came +back to the desk and fingered the locket. Just then it was exceedingly +quiet in the room, save that each man heard the quick breathing of his +neighbor. The duke opened the locket, looked long and steadfastly at the +portrait, and shut it. Then he went to the drawer again and returned +with the counterparts. He laid them side by side. The likeness was +perfect in all details. + +"Carmichael," he said, "will you please help me? My eyes are growing +old. Do I see these things, or do I not? And if I do, which is mine, and +what does this signify?" The tremor in his voice was audible. + +Grumbach answered. "This, Highness. I took these from the little +princess with my own hands. They have never been out of my keeping. +Those you have I know nothing about." + +The duke rubbed his eyes. "My daughter?" + +"The Princess Hildegarde is not your daughter, Highness," said Hans +solemnly. + +"_Gott_!" The duke smote the desk in despair, a despair which wrung the +hearts of those who witnessed it. "Herbeck! I must send for Herbeck!" + +"Not yet, Highness; later," Grumbach said. + +"But if not Hildegarde--I believe I must be growing mad!" + +"Patience, your Highness!" said Carmichael. + +"Patience!" wearily. "You say patience when my heart is dying inside my +breast? Patience? Who, then, is this woman I have called my child?" + +"God knows, Highness!" Hans stood bowed before this parental agony. + +"But what proof have you that she is not? What proof, I say?" + +"Would there be two lockets, Highness?" + +"More proof than this will be needed. Produce it. Prolong this agony of +doubt not another instant." + +"Speak," said Hans to the Gipsy, who was viewing the drama with the +nonchalance of a spectator rather than a participant. + +"Highness," said the Gipsy, bowing, "he speaks truly. He came with us. +For fear that the little highness might be recognized as we traveled, we +changed her clothes. He took them, together with the locket. One day the +soldiers appeared in the distance. We all fled. We lost the little +highness, and none of us ever knew what became of her. She wore the +costume of my own children." + +"We shall produce that in time," said Von Arnsberg. + +"Damnable wretch!" said the duke, addressing the Gipsy. + +The other shrugged. He had been promised immunity; that was all he cared +about, unless it was the bag of silver and gold this old clock-mender +had given him a few hours gone. + +"I am summoning her highness," said the duke, as he struck the bell. + +"And, Highness," added Grumbach, "despatch some one for Gretchen, who +lives at number forty the Krumerweg." + +"The goose-girl? What does _she_ know? Ah, I remember. She is even now +with her highness. I shall send for them both." + +Gretchen? Carmichael's bewilderment increased. What place had the +goose-girl in this tragedy? + +"Now, while we are waiting," resumed the duke, his agitation somewhat +under control, "the proof, the definite proof!" + +"Her highness stumbled one night," said Hans, "and fell upon the fire. I +snatched her back, but not before her left arm was badly burned." + +The Gipsy nodded. "I saw it, Highness." + +And that was why Grumbach went to the military ball with opera-glasses! +Carmichael was round-eyed. But Gretchen? + +"The Princess Hildegarde has no scar upon either arm," continued +Grumbach. "I have seen them. They are without a single flaw." + +"More than that," reiterated the duke. "That is not enough." + +They became silent. Now and then one or the other stirred. The duke +never took his eyes off the door through which her highness would enter. + +She came in presently, tender with mercy, an arm supporting Gretchen, +who was red-eyed and white. + +"You sent for us, father?" + +How the word pierced the duke's heart! "Yes, my child," he answered; for +it mattered not who she was or whither she had come, he had grown to +love her. + +"I am sorry you sent for Gretchen," said Hildegarde. "She is ill." + +Gretchen sighed. To her the faces of the men were indistinct. And, +besides, she was without interest, listless, drooped. + +"My child, will you roll up your left sleeve?" said the duke. + +"My sleeve?" Hildegarde thoughtfully looked round. Roll up her sleeve? +What possessed her father? + +"Do so at once." + +"I can not roll up this sleeve, father," blushing and a trifle angry at +so strange a request. + +Hans opened his knife and laid bare her left arm. She uttered a little +angry cry. "How dare you?" She tried to cover the arm. + +"Let me look at it, Hildegarde," requested the duke. + +To him she presented her arm, for she now understood that a serious +affair was in progress. But there was neither mole nor scar upon the +round and lovely arm. + +"Why do you do this, father? What is the meaning?" + +No one answered; no one had the heart to answer. Without waiting for the +duke to bid him continue, Hans unceremoniously ripped open Gretchen's +left sleeve. The ragged scar was visible to them all. And while they +grouped round the astonished goose-girl they heard her highness cry out +with surprise. + +"What is this?" she said, pointing to the two pairs of shoes and the two +cloaks. She held up the locket, the twin of which hung round her neck. +"Where did these come from?" + +"My child," the duke answered, unashamed of his tears, "only God knows +as yet what it means; but the outward sign testifies to a strange and +horrible blunder. The locket you hold in your hand was taken from you +when you were an infant. The one you wear round your neck is, according +to the statement of one of these men, not genuine." + +"And the significance?" She grew tall, and the torn sleeve fell away +from her arm. + +"That what is done must be all undone. I know you to be brave. +Strengthen your heart, then. I stand before you the most wretched man in +all this duchy. These men affirm that I am not your father. They say +that you are not my daughter." + +"And that Gretchen is!" spoke Hans. His conscience was costing every one +something dear. + +"I?" Gretchen drew closer to Hildegarde. + +The duke studied the portrait of the mother and then the faces of these +two girls. Both possessed a resemblance, only it seemed now that +Gretchen was nearest to the portrait and Hildegarde nearest to the +doubt. + +"You say she wore the costume of a Gipsy child when you lost her?" said +the duke. + +"Yes." Von Arnsberg took from under his coat a small bundle which he +opened with shaking fingers. He had been in the Krumerweg that +afternoon. + +"Why, those are mine!" exclaimed Gretchen excitedly. + +"You see?" said Von Arnsberg. "Would you not like to be a princess, +Gretchen?" + +A princess? Gretchen's heart fluttered. A princess? She saw the king +shaking the bars of his cell; she heard his voice calling out his love +for her. A princess? She laid her head on Hildegarde's shoulder. She was +weak, and this was some dream. + +"But who, then, am I?" asked Hildegarde. There was no sign of weakness +here. + +Again there was no answer. + +"Tell what you know," said Hans to the Gipsy. "Highness, he alone knows +the man who brought about all this." + +"The archplotter of this damnable conspiracy?" The duke's eyes became +alive, his face, his whole body. Every beat of his heart cried out for +vengeance. "Who is he? Tell me! Give him to me, man, and all of you +shall go free. Give him into these hands. His name!" The duke's hands +worked convulsively as if they were already round the throat of this +unseen, implacable enemy. He was terrible in this moment. + +The Gipsy produced a letter. It had to be held carefully, as it was old +and tattered. The duke read it. Beyond that it made the original offer +it was worthless. The handwriting was palpably disguised. The duke flung +the missive to the floor. + +"Fool! Is that all you have? Tell me what you know, man, or I shall have +you shot in the morning, immunity or no immunity! Quick!" + +"Highness," said the Gipsy, thoroughly alarmed, "this is how it +happened. My band was staying at the time in Dreiberg. We told fortunes +and exhibited an Italian puppet-show. The letter came first. I was poor +and sometimes desperate. I was to take her away and leave her with +strange people." + +"Ah!" interrupted the duke, with despairing gesture toward Grumbach, +"why did you not leave us all in peace?" + +"Highness, a great wrong has been done, and God brought me here to right +it." + +"You are a brave man," darkly. + +"I am in your hands, Highness," sturdily. "In a mad moment I committed a +crime. I shall abide by whatever punishment you may inflict." + +"Continue," said the duke to the Gipsy. + +"Well, Highness, I would not accept till I had talked personally with +him. He came at last. His face was hidden and his voice muffled. But +this I saw; when he gave me the first half of the money I was certain I +should know him again." + +"How?" + +"By his little finger, Highness." + +"His little finger?" Von Arnsberg repeated. The two women, large-eyed +and bewildered, clung to each other's hand tensely. These were +heart-breaking times. Gretchen's mind, however, absorbed nothing, +neither the words nor the picture. Her thoughts revolved round one +thing; if she were a princess she could be happy. But the other, from +under whose feet all tangible substances seemed to be giving way, she +was possessed by two thoughts which surged in her brain like combatants. +If not a princess, what was she? If not a princess, she was free. She +stole a swift glance at Carmichael, who seemed far removed from the +heart of this black business; and had he been looking at her he would +have seen the gates opening into Eden. + +"What was this little finger like?" asked the duke, shuddering. + +"One time it had been cut or mangled." + +"The man was tall?" + +"Yes, Highness." + +The duke silently toyed with the little yellow shoes. Suddenly he +laughed; but it was the terrible laughter of a madman. There were death +and desolation in it. + +"Come, all of you; you, Gretchen, and you, Hildegarde; come, Carmichael, +and you, Arnsberg; all of you! Let us go and pay a visit to our good +friend, Herbeck!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A LITTLE FINGER + + +The king of Jugendheit, Prince Ludwig, and the chancellor sat in the +form of a triangle. Herbeck was making a pyramid of his finger-tips, +sometimes touching his chin with his thumbs. His face was cheerful. His +royal highness, still in the guise of a mountaineer, sat stiffly in his +chair, the expression on his face hardly translatable; that on the +king's not at all. He was dressed in the brilliant uniform of a colonel +in the Prussian Uhlans, an honor conferred upon him recently by King +William. Prior to his advent into the Grand Duchy of Ehrenstein he had +been to Berlin. A whim, for which he was now grateful, had cozened him +into carrying this uniform along with him on his adventures. It was only +after he met Gretchen that there came moments when he forgot he was a +king. He was pale. From hour to hour his heart seemed to grow colder and +smaller and harder, till it now rested in his breast with the heaviness +of a stone, out of which life and the care of living had been squeezed. +He rarely spoke, leaving the burden of the conversation to rest upon his +uncle's tongue. + +"So your royal highness will understand," said Herbeck, "that it was the +simplest move I could make, and the safest. Were it known, or had it +been known this morning, that the king of Jugendheit and the prince +regent had entered Dreiberg in disguise and had been lodged in the +Stein-schloss, there would have been a serious riot in the city. So I +had you arrested as spies. Presently a closed carriage will convey you +to the frontier, and the unfortunate incident will be ended." + +"Thanks!" said Prince Ludwig. + +"And when you cross the frontier, it would be wise to disperse the +troops waiting there for you." + +Prince Ludwig smiled. "It was only an army of defense. The duke had +nearly twenty thousand men at the maneuvers. I have no desire for war; +but, on the other hand, I am always ready for it." + +"There will never be any war between us," prophetically. "The duke +grows impatient at times, but I can always rouse his sense of justice. +You will, of course, pardon the move I made. There will be no publicity. +There will be no newspaper notoriety, for the journalists will know +nothing of what has really happened." + +"For that consideration your excellency has my deepest thanks," replied +Prince Ludwig. + +"I thought it best to let you go without seeing the duke. The meeting +between you two might be painful." + +"That also is thoughtful of your excellency," said the king. "I have no +desire to see or speak to his highness." + +"There is, however, one favor I should like to ask," said the prince. + +"Can I grant it?" + +"Easily. I wish to leave a sum of money in trust, to be paid to one +Gretchen Schwarz, who lives in the Krumerweg. She is ambitious to become +a singer. Let nothing stand between her and her desires." + +"Granted." + +The heart of the king, at the sound of that dear name, suddenly +expanded and stifled him. The stiffness went out of his shoulders. + +"Ah, this little world of ours, the mistakes and futile schemes we make +upon it!" The chancellor dallied with his quill pen. "It was a cynical +move of fate that your majesty should see the goose-girl first." + +"Enough!" cried the king vehemently. "Let us have no more retrospection, +if you please. Moreover, I shall be obliged to you if you will summon at +once the carriage which is to take us to the frontier. The situation has +been amicably and satisfactorily explained. I see no reason why we +should be detained any longer." + +"Nor I," added Prince Ludwig. "I am rather weary of these tatters. I +should even like a bath." + +The three of them were immediately attracted by a singular noise outside +in the corridor. The door swung in violently, crashing against the wall +and shivering into atoms the Venetian mirror. The king, the prince, and +the chancellor were instantly upon their feet. The king clutched the +back of his chair with a grip of iron: Gretchen? Her highness? What was +Gretchen doing here? Ah, could he have flown! He muttered a curse at the +chancellor for the delay. But happily Gretchen did not see him. + +The duke came in first, and he waited till the others were inside; then +he shut the door with lesser violence and rushed over to the chancellor. + +"Herbeck, you villain!" + +The chancellor stared at the Gipsy, at Von Arnsberg, at Grumbach. + +"Herbeck, you black scoundrel!" cried the duke. "Can you realize how +difficult it is not to take you by the throat and strangle you here and +now?" + +"He is mad!" said Herbeck, bracing himself against the desk. + +"Yes. I _am_ mad, but it is the sane madness of a terribly wronged man. +Come here, you Gipsy!" The duke seized Herbeck's hand and pressed it +down fiercely on the desk. "Look at that and tell me if it is not the +hand of a Judas!" + +"That is the hand, Highness," said the Gipsy, without hesitation. + +The duke flung the hand aside. As he did so something snapped in +Herbeck's brain, though at that instant he was not conscious of it. + +"It was you, you! It was your hand that wrecked my life, yours! Ah, is +there such villainy? Are such men born and do they live? My wife dead, +my own heart broken, Arnsberg ruined and disgraced! And these two +children: which is mine?" + +To the king of Jugendheit the ceiling reeled and the floor revolved +under his feet. + +"Villain, what have you to say? What was your purpose?" + +How many years, thought Herbeck, had he been preparing for this moment? +How long had he been steeling his heart against this very scene? Futile +dream! He drew himself together with a supreme effort. He would face +this hour as he had always planned to face it. Found out! He looked at +his finger, touched it with an impersonal curiosity. He had forgotten +all about such a possibility. Where had he read that there is no crime +but leaves some evidence, infinitesimally small though it be, which +shall lead to the truth? After all, he was glad. The strain, borne so +long, was gradually killing him. A little finger, to have stopped the +wheel of so great a scheme! Irony! + +"Your Highness," he said, his voice soft and strangely clear, "I have +been waiting for this hour. So I am found out! How little we know what +God intends!" + +"You speak of God? You blaspheme!" + +"Bear with me for a space. I shall not hold you long." + +"But why? What have I done to you that you should wreck all I hold +dear?" + +"For you I have always had a strong affection, strange as it may sound." +Herbeck fumbled with his collar, which was tightening round his throat +like a band of hot iron. "I have practically governed this country for +sixteen years. In that time I have made it prosperous and happy; I have +given you a substantial treasury; I have made you an army; I have +brought peace where you would have brought war. To my people God will +witness that I have done my duty as I saw it. One day I fell the victim +of a mad dream. And to think that I almost won!" + +"And I?" said Hildegarde, her hands clenched and pressed against her +bosom. "What have you done to me, who am innocent of any wrong? What +have you done to me?" + +"You, my child? I have wronged you greatest of all. The wrong I have +done to you is irreparable. Ah, have not my arms hungered for the touch +of you, my heart ached for the longing of you? To see you day after day, +always humble before you, always glad to kiss the back of your hand! +Have I not lived in hell, your Highness?" turning to the duke. + +"What am I, and who am I?" whispered Hildegarde, her heart almost +ceasing to beat. + +"I am your father!" simply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HAPPINESS + + +The grand duke of Ehrenstein beheld the chancellor with that phase of +astonishment which leaves the mind unclouded. The violent storm in his +heart gave way to a calm, not at all menacing, but tinctured with a +profound pity. What a project! What a mind to conceive it, to perfect it +down to so small a detail as a jeweler's mark in the gold of the locket! +And a little finger to betray it! In a flash he saw vividly all this man +had undergone, day by day, unfaltering, unhesitant, forgetting nothing, +remembering everything but the one insignificant item which was to +overthrow him. He felt that he was confronted with a great problem; what +to do with the man? + +Prince Ludwig took off his hat. "Herbeck, you are a great politician." + +"No, prince," replied Herbeck, with ineffable sadness. "Had I been a +great politician I should have succeeded. Ah, give this to my merit; +self never entered into this dream. For you, my child, only for you. And +so great was this dream that I almost made you a queen! You are my flesh +and blood, the child of my wife, whom I loved. She was only a singer in +the opera, at Dresden, but her soul was great, like yours. It is a +simple story." + +Hildegarde did not move, nor had she moved since the revelation. +Carmichael, a secret joy in his heart, watched the girl for the +slightest swaying, that inevitable prelude to fainting. But Hildegarde +was not the kind of woman who faints in the face of a catastrophe, +however great it might be. The only sign of life lay in her beautiful +eyes, the gaze of which remained unswervingly fixed upon the +chancellor's ashen countenance. + +"Hildegarde," said the duke, "you shall become my daughter, and you +shall dwell here till the end of your days. I will try to right the +wrong that has been done to you." + +"No, your Highness," she replied. "There is but one place for me, and +that is at my father's side." And resolutely she walked to the +chancellor's left and her hand stole down and met his firmly. "My +father, I forgive you," she said, with quiet dignity. + +"They are all wrong, Frederick," whispered Prince Ludwig. "She is as +much a princess as the other." + +"You forgive me?" The chancellor could not believe his ears. + +"Yes, father." + +Then, recalling all the child-hunger in his arms and heart, he swept her +to his breast convulsively; and the unloosed tears dropped upon her +bright head. + +"And who am I?" said Gretchen. + +"Breunner, you say this little goose-girl is my daughter?" + +"I solemnly swear it, Highness. Look into her face again carefully." + +The duke did so, a hand on either cheek. He scrutinized every contour, +the color of the eyes, the low, broad brow, the curve of the chin. Out +of the past he conjured up the mother's face. Yes, beyond any doubt, +there was a haunting likeness, and he had never noted it before. + +"But who will prove it to the world?" he cried hopelessly, still +holding Gretchen's wondering face between his hands. + +"I shall prove it," said the king. + +"You? And how?" + +"I shall marry Gretchen; I shall make her a queen. That will be proof +enough." + +"A fine stroke, nephew; a bold stroke!" Prince Ludwig laid his hand upon +the king's shoulder with rare affection. + +"If you accept her without further proof, I, her father, can do no +less." And the duke kissed Gretchen on the forehead and led her over to +the king, gravely joining their hands. + +"Gretchen!" murmured the king. + +"I do not know how to act like a princess." + +"I shall teach you." + +Gretchen laid her head on his breast. She was very tired and much +bewildered. + +The duke paced the length of the cabinet several times. No one +interrupted his meditation. + +Back and forth, one hand hanging to the opposite shoulder, the other +folding over his chin. Then he paused with abruptness. + +"Your Majesty, I regret that your father is not alive to accept my +apologies for so baselessly misjudging him. Arnsberg, nothing that I can +do will restore these wasted years. But I offer you the portfolio." + +"I am only a broken man, your Highness; too old." + +"It is my will." + +Arnsberg bent his head in submission. + +"As for you," said the duke to the Gipsy, "go, and if you ever step this +side the frontier again you will be shot out of hand." He stopped again +in front of Grumbach. "I promised to have you shot in the morning. That +promise holds. But a train leaves for Paris a little after midnight. My +advice is for you not to miss it." + +"And my father, your Highness?" said Hildegarde bravely. + +"Herbeck, your estates are confiscated, your name is struck from the +civic and military lists. Have you any ready funds?" + +"A little, your Highness." + +"Enough to take you for ever out of this part of the world?" + +"Yes, your Highness." + +"You do not ask to be forgiven, and I like that. I have judges in +Dreiberg. I could have you tried and condemned for high treason, shot or +imprisoned for life. But to-night I shall not use this prerogative. You +have, perhaps, three hours to get your things in order. To-morrow you +will be judged and condemned. But you, Hildegarde--" + +"No, your Highness; we shall both take the train for Paris. Gretchen, +you will be happy." + +Gretchen ran and flung herself into Hildegarde's arms; and the two of +them wept. Hildegarde pushed Gretchen away gently. + +"Come, father, we have so little time." + +And this was the sum of the duke's revenge. + + * * * * * + +It never took Carmichael long to make up his mind definitely. He found +his old friend the cabman in the Platz, and they drove like mad to the +consulate. An hour here sufficed to close his diplomatic career and seal +it hermetically. The clerk, however, would go on like Tennyson's brook, +for ever and for ever. Next he went to the residence of his banker in +the König Strasse and got together all his available funds. Eleven +o'clock found him in his rooms at the Grand Hotel, feverishly packing +his trunk and bag. Paris! He would go, also, even if they passed on to +the remote ends of the world. + +The train stood waiting in the gloomy Bahnhof. The guards patrolled the +platform. Presently three men came out of the station door. Two were +officers; the third, Colonel von Wallenstein, was in civilian dress. He +was sullen and depressed. + +Said one of the officers: "And it is the express command of General +Ducwitz that you will return here under the pain of death. Is that +explicit?" + +"It is." The colonel got into his compartment and slammed the door +viciously. + +In the next compartment sat Grumbach. He was smoking his faithful pipe. +He was, withal, content. This was far more satisfactory than standing up +before the firing-line. And, besides, he had made history in Ehrenstein +that night; they would not forget the name of Breunner right away. To +America, with a clean slate and a reposeful conscience; it was more than +he had any reasonable right to expect. Tekla! He laughed sardonically. +She was no doubt sound asleep by this time, and the end of the chapter +would never be written for her. What fools these young men a-courting +were! War and famine and pestilence; did these not always follow at the +heels of women? + +As the station-master's bell rang, the door opened and a man jumped in. +He tossed his bag into the corner and plumped down in the seat. + +"Captain?" + +"You, Hans?" + +"Yes. Where are you going?" + +"I am weary of Dreiberg, so I am taking a little vacation." + +"For how long?" suspiciously. + +"Oh, for ever so long!" evasively. And Carmichael lifted his feet to the +opposite seat and prepared to go to sleep. + +Hans said nothing more. He was full of wisdom. He had an idea. The +fleeing chancellor and his daughter were on the train, and he was +certain that his friend Carmichael knew it. + +The lights of the city presently vanished, and the long journey began, +through the great clefts in the mountains, over gorges, across rivers, +along wide valleys, and into the mountains again; a journey of nearly +seventy hours. At each stop Carmichael got out, and every time he +returned Hans could read disappointment on his face. Still he said +nothing. He was an admirable comrade. + +By the aid of certain small briberies on the train and in Paris +Carmichael gathered, bit by bit, that the destination of the woman he +loved was America. But never once did he set eyes upon her till she and +her father mounted the gang-plank to the vessel which was to carry them +across the wide Atlantic. The change in Herbeck was pitiable. His face +had aged twenty years in these sixty odd hours. His clothes, the same he +had worn that ever-memorable night, hung loosely about his gaunt frame, +and there was a vacancy in his eyes which was eloquent of mental +collapse. The girl quietly and tenderly guided him to the deck and +thence to his stateroom. Carmichael abided his time. + +A French newspaper contained a full account of Herbeck's _coup_ and his +subsequent flight. It also recounted the excitement of the following +day, the appearance of Gretchen on the steps of the palace, and the +great shouting of the people as they acclaimed her the queen of +Jugendheit. + +The second day out Carmichael's first opportunity came. He discovered +Herbeck and his daughter leaning against the rail. He watched them +uneasily, wondering how he might approach without startling her. At last +he keyed up his courage. + +"Good morning, your Highness," he stammered, and inwardly cursed his +stupidity. + +At the sound of his voice she turned, and there was no mistaking the +gladness in her eyes. + +"Mr. Carmichael?" + +"Yes. I was surprised to learn that you were taking the same boat as +myself." + +How clumsy he was! she thought. For she had known his every move since +the train drew out of Dreiberg. + +"Father, here is our friend, Herr Carmichael." + +"Carmichael?" said Herbeck slowly.. "Ah, yes. Good morning." + +And Carmichael instantly comprehended that his name recalled nothing to +the other man's remembrance. + +"You are returning to America?" she asked. + +"For good, perhaps. To tell the truth, I ran away, deserted my post, +though technically I have already resigned. But America has been calling +me for some days. You have never been to sea before?" + +"No; it is all marvelous and strange to me." + +"Let us walk, my child," said Herbeck. + +"You will excuse me, Mr. Carmichael?" she said. Never more the rides in +the fair mornings. Never more the beautiful gardens, the music, the +galloping of soldiers who drew their sabers whenever they passed her. +Never more any of these things. + +"Can I be of any assistance?" he said, in an undertone. + +"No," sadly. + +The days, more or less monotonous, went past. Sometimes he saw her alone +on deck, but only for a little while. Her father was slowly improving, +but with this improvement came the natural desire for seclusion; so he +came on deck only at night. + +The night on which the vessel bore into the moist, warm air of the Gulf +Stream was full of moonshine, of smooth, phosphorescent billows. +Herbeck had gone below. The girl leaned over the rail, alone and lonely. +And Carmichael, seeing her, could no longer still the desire in his +heart. He came up to her. + +"See!" she exclaimed, pointing to the little eddies of foam speeding +along the hull. "Do you know what they remind me of? Mermaids' fingers, +grasping and clutching at the boat as if to drag it down below." + +How beautiful she was with the frost of moonlight on her hair! + +"You must not talk like that," he admonished. + +"I am very unhappy." + +"And when you say that you make me so, too." + +"Why?" She had spoken the word at last. + +"Do you remember the night you dropped your fan?" leaning so closely +toward her that his arm pressed against hers. + +"I remember." + +"You put that word then. In honor I dared not answer. You were a +princess! I was only a soldier of fortune. But now that you are in +trouble, now that you have need of me, I may answer. I may tell you now +why, why I have thrown ambition and future to the winds, why I am here +at your side to-night. Need I tell you? Do you not know, and have you +not known? Am I cruel to speak of love in the moment of your great +affliction? Well, I must be cruel. I love you! Faithfully and loyally, +now and hereafter, through this sad day into happier ones. I ask nothing +for this love I offer; I ask only that I may use it in your service, in +good times or bad." + +"Ask what you will," she whispered. "I am happy now!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOOSE GIRL*** + + +******* This file should be named 14598-8.txt or 14598-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/9/14598 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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