1 files changed, 13810 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/25689.txt b/25689.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..352b67c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25689.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13810 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Secret Witness, by George Gibbs
+
+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 Secret Witness
+
+Author: George Gibbs
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2008 [EBook #25689]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRET WITNESS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                              _The_ SECRET WITNESS
+
+                                 BY GEORGE GIBBS
+
+              AUTHOR OF "PARADISE GARDEN," "THE YELLOW DOVE," ETC.
+
+                           ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE BREHM
+
+
+D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+NEW YORK       LONDON
+1917
+
+Copyright, 1917, by the Curtis Publishing Company
+Published in the United States of America
+
+TO MY FRIEND
+MAJOR R. TAIT McKENZIE, R.A.M.C.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Your veil--quick," he stammered breathlessly.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+I. JUNE 12, 1914
+
+II. COURT SECRETS
+
+III. THE HABSBURG HAVEN
+
+IV. SECRET INFORMATION
+
+V. TWO INTRUDERS
+
+VI. HERR WINDT
+
+VII. THE GREEN LIMOUSINE
+
+VIII. AN ESCAPE AND A CAPTURE
+
+IX. CAPTAIN GORITZ
+
+X. DIAMOND CUTS DIAMOND
+
+XI. THE MAN IN BLACK
+
+XII. FLIGHT
+
+XIII. TRAGEDY
+
+XIV. THE HARIM
+
+XV. THE LIGHTED WINDOWS
+
+XVI. THE BEG OF RATAJ
+
+XVII. THE MAN IN ARMOR
+
+XVIII. NUMBER 28
+
+XIX. DISGUISE
+
+XX. RENWICK QUESTIONS
+
+XXI. AN IMPERSONATION
+
+XXII. THE NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK
+
+XXIII. SCHLOSS SZOLNOK
+
+XXIV. PRISONER AND CAPTIVE
+
+XXV. THE RIFT IN THE ROCK
+
+XXVI. THE DEATH GRIP
+
+XXVII. BESIEGED
+
+IN REGARD TO THE EVIDENCE IN THE CASE
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+"Your veil--quick," he stammered breathlessly.
+
+"It is too late," she murmured. "They would see us."
+
+"Who are you?" she asked.
+
+His Excellency rose and bowed over her hand--
+
+"Be quiet. People are watching you," said Goritz sternly.
+
+"Thank you," she said simply. "I believe you."
+
+
+
+
+THE SECRET WITNESS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+JUNE 12, 1914
+
+
+The Countess Marishka was fleet of foot. She was straight and slender
+and she set a pace for Renwick along the tortuous paths in the rose
+gardens of the Archduke which soon had her pursuer gasping. She ran like
+a boy, her dark hair falling about her ears, her draperies like Nike's
+in the wind, her cheeks and eyes glowing, a pretty quarry indeed and
+well worthy of so arduous a pursuit. For Renwick was not to be denied
+and as the girl turned into the path which led to the thatched arbor, he
+saw that she was breathing hard and the half-timorous laugh she threw
+over her shoulder at him only spurred him on to new endeavor. He reached
+the hedge as she disappeared, but his instinct was unerring and he
+leaped through the swaying branches just in time to see the hem of her
+skirt in the foliage on the other side and plunging through caught her
+in his arms just as she sank, laughing breathlessly, to the spangled
+shadows of the turf beyond.
+
+"Marishka," he cried joyously, "did you mean it?"
+
+But she wouldn't reply.
+
+"You said that if I caught you----"
+
+"The race--isn't always--to the swift--" she protested falteringly in
+her pretty broken English.
+
+"Your promise----"
+
+"I made no promise."
+
+"You'll make it now, the one I've waited for--for weeks--Marishka. Lift
+up your head."
+
+"No, no," she stammered.
+
+"Then I----"
+
+Renwick caught her in his arms again and turned her chin upward. Her
+eyes were closed, but as their lips met her figure relaxed in his arms
+and her head sank upon his shoulder.
+
+"You run very fast, Herr Renwick," she whispered.
+
+"You'll marry me, Marishka?"
+
+"Who shall say?" she evaded.
+
+"Your own lips. You've given them to me----"
+
+"No, no. You have taken them----"
+
+"It is all the same. They are mine." And Renwick took them again.
+
+"Oh," she gasped, "you are so persistent--you English. You always wish
+to have your own way."
+
+He laughed happily.
+
+"Would you have me otherwise? My way and your way, Marishka, they go
+together. You wish it so, do you not?"
+
+She was silent a while, the wild spirit in her slowly submissive, and at
+last a smile moved her lips, her dark eyes were upturned to his and she
+murmured a little proudly:
+
+"It is a saying among the women of the House of Strahni that where the
+lips are given the heart must follow."
+
+"Your heart, Marishka! Mine, for many weeks. I know it. It is the lips
+which have followed."
+
+"What matters it now, beloved," she sighed, "since you have them both?"
+
+Renwick smiled.
+
+"Nothing. I only wondered why you've kept me dangling so long."
+
+She was silent a moment.
+
+"I--I have been afraid."
+
+"Of what?"
+
+"I do not know. It is the Tzigane in my blood which reads into the
+future----"
+
+She paused and he laughed gayly.
+
+"Because I am a foreigner----"
+
+"I have not always loved the English. I have thought them cold,
+different from my people."
+
+He kissed her again.
+
+"And I could let you believe me that!"
+
+She laughed. "Oh, no.... But you have shown me enough." And, pushing him
+gently away, "I am convinced, _mon ami_...."
+
+"As if you couldn't have read it in my eyes----"
+
+"Alas! One reads--and one runs----"
+
+"You couldn't escape me. It was written."
+
+"Yes," she said dreamily, "I believe that now." And then, "But if
+anything should come between us----"
+
+"What, Marishka?" he smiled.
+
+"I don't know. I have always thought that love would not come to me
+without bitterness."
+
+"What bitterness, _liebchen_?"
+
+She settled softly closer to him and shrugged lightly. "How should I
+know?"
+
+He smiled at her proudly and caught her brown hand to his lips.
+
+"You are dyed in the illusions of your race,--mystery--fatalism. They
+become you well. But here among the roses of Konopisht there is no room
+in my heart or yours for anything but happiness. See how they nod to
+each other in the sunlight, Marishka. Like us, they love and are loved.
+June comes to Bohemia but once a year--or to us. Let us bloom in the
+sunlight like them--happy--happy----"
+
+"Blood red, the roses," she said pensively. "The white ones please me
+better. But they are so few. The Archduke likes the red ones best. What
+is the verse?
+
+    "I sometimes think that never blows so red
+    The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled."
+
+"What matter Caesar or Kaiser to us, Marishka? Our own kingdom----"
+
+"Yes, yes," she sighed. "And I am happy in it. You know it, _nicht
+wahr_?"
+
+Silence, except for the drowsy hum of the bees and the songs of the
+birds. No fatalism is long proof against the call of love and June.
+Marishka was content that her flight had ended in capture and sat
+dreamily gazing at the white clouds floating overhead while she listened
+to the voice at her ear, replying to it in monosyllables, the language
+of acquiescence and content. The moments passed. Konopisht was no longer
+a garden. Enchanted their bower and even the red roses forgotten.
+
+Suddenly the girl started upright to her knees, and peered wide-eyed
+through an opening in the foliage.
+
+"What is it, Marishka?"
+
+She put a finger to her lips in token of silence, and Renwick followed
+her gaze down the graveled path which led toward the arbor. As
+under-secretary of the British Embassy in Vienna, he had been trained to
+guard his emotions against surprises, but the sight of the three figures
+which were approaching them down the path left him bereft for the moment
+of all initiative. In the center walked the Archduke, pulling
+deliberately at his heavy dark mustaches while he listened to the figure
+upon his right, a man of medium stature, who wore a hunting suit and a
+jaeger hat with a feather in it. He carried his left hand, concealing a
+defect of his arm, in the pocket of his shooting jacket, while with his
+free right hand he swung an ebony cane. His mustaches were turned
+straight upward from the corners of his mouth and the aggressive chin
+shot outward as he glanced right and left, talking meanwhile with his
+companions. The third figure was very tall, topping even the Archduke,
+who was by no means small of stature, by at least six inches; his hair,
+or as much of it as could be seen beneath the soft hat, was gray, and a
+long beard, almost white in the patches at either side of the chin,
+descended in two long points half of the way to his waist.
+
+Renwick recognized the visitors at once, and turned toward his startled
+companion, his own mind as to the propriety of his situation at once
+made up.
+
+"Marishka," he whispered, "we must go."
+
+"It is too late," she murmured. "They would see us."
+
+[Illustration: "It is too late," she murmured. "They would see us."]
+
+"And what does that matter?"
+
+"I forgot," she breathed helplessly. "I was told I was not to come today
+into the rose garden. I wondered why. Sh----! Sit still. Crouch lower.
+Perhaps they will pass on and then----"
+
+Renwick obeyed somewhat dubiously and sank, scarcely daring to breathe,
+beneath the thick foliage beside the arbor which concealed his
+companion. She seized his hand and he felt her fingers trembling in his
+own, but he pressed them gently--aware that the tremors of the girl's
+fingers as the footsteps approached the arbor were being unpleasantly
+communicated to his own. The breach of hospitality to the household of
+the Archduke, upon whose land he was, was as nothing beside the breach
+of etiquette to the Empire by his Chief. Renwick's nerves were good but
+he trembled with Marishka. The friendship of nations depended upon the
+security of his concealment--more than that--and less than that--his own
+fate and the girl's. And so Renwick crouched beside her and silently
+prayed in English, a language he thought more fitted to the desperate
+nature of his desires, that the three figures would pass on to another
+part of the garden, that they, the luckless lovers, might flee to the
+abandoned tennis court in innocence and peace.
+
+But Renwick's prayers were not to be answered. Had he known at the
+moment how deeply the two of them were to be enmeshed in the skein of
+Europe's destiny he would have risen and faced the anger of his host,
+or, risking detection, incontinently fled. But Marishka's hand clasped
+his own, and lucklessly, he waited.
+
+The three men reached the gate of the arbor, the smaller one entering
+first, the giant with the gray beard, at a gesture from their host,
+following, and they all sat in chairs around the small iron table.
+Renwick was paralyzed with fear and Marishka's chill fingers seemed
+frozen to his. There had been rumors in the chancellories of Europe of
+this visit to Konopisht to see the most wonderful rose garden in Bohemia
+in mid-June, but Renwick knew, as did every other diplomat in Vienna,
+that the visit to the roses of Konopisht was a mere subterfuge. If there
+had been any doubt in the Englishman's mind as to the real nature of the
+visit, the grave expressions upon the faces of the men in the arbor
+would speedily have set him right. The Archduke opened a cigarette case
+and offered it to his companions who helped themselves with some
+deliberation.
+
+"A wonderful rose garden, truly, my friend," said the man in the jaeger
+hat with a smile which broke the grave lines of his face into pleasant
+wrinkles. "I will give your gardener twice what you offer him to come to
+me."
+
+The Archduke showed his white teeth in a smile. "_Majestaet_ has but to
+request----"
+
+"A jest, my friend. It would be unmannerly. It is Her Highness that I
+would also rob, for roses, after all, are more a woman's pleasure than a
+man's."
+
+"The Duchess spends many hours here----"
+
+"The _Arch_ Duchess," corrected the other vehemently.
+
+The Archduke shrugged. "She will always hold that rank in my heart," he
+said quietly.
+
+"And with me and my House," said the other quickly.
+
+"It is a pity that my own family should not be of the same mind."
+
+"It matters nothing," said the other. "Nothing. You shall see."
+
+The Archduke examined the ash of his cigarette, but said nothing.
+
+"You must realize, my great and good friend," continued the man in the
+hunting suit, "that I did not come to Konopisht only to see your roses."
+
+The Archduke nodded attentively.
+
+"The fortunes of your family are linked to mine by ties deeper than
+those of blood,--a community of interest and of fortune which involves
+the welfare, happiness and progress of many millions of people. The
+history of civilization in Europe has reached a new page, one which must
+be written by those who have in keeping the Divine destiny of the
+Germanic race. It is not a time to falter before the graveness of our
+responsibility and the magnitude of our undertakings. I spoke of these
+things at Eckartsau. I think you understand."
+
+The Archduke nodded gravely.
+
+"I will not shirk any responsibility. I hesitated once. That hour has
+passed. Sophie--Maximilian--Ernest----"
+
+"They must have their heritage."
+
+The man in the jaeger hat got up and paced impatiently the length of the
+arbor, at one moment within three yards of the terrified lovers in the
+foliage.
+
+"Are we alone, your Highness?" he asked of the Archduke.
+
+"I gave orders that no one should enter the rose garden at any time this
+afternoon," replied his host.
+
+"It is well." He sent a quick glance toward the tall man who had risen.
+"You understand, Admiral, _nicht wahr_?"
+
+A guttural sound came from the old man's throat.
+
+"The destinies of Europe, _meine Herren_," he went on.
+
+"_Majestaet_ may speak on," said the Archduke coolly, "without fear of
+eavesdroppers."
+
+Renwick, crouched beneath the foliage, was incapable of motion. All his
+will power was used in the effort to control his breathing, and reduce
+his body to absolute inertness. But as the moments passed, and the men
+in the arbor gave no sign of suspicion he gained confidence, all his
+professional instincts aroused at the import of this secrecy and the
+magnificence of the impending revelations. He was England, waiting,
+alert, on guard, for the safety and peace of Europe. He did not dare to
+look at Marishka, for fear of the slightest motion or sound which might
+betray them. Only their hands clasped, though by this time neither of
+them was conscious of the contact.
+
+"At Eckartsau, my brother," went on the smaller man, "you and I came to
+an understanding. Maximilian and Ernest are growing toward manhood. And
+what is that manhood to be? Habsburg blood flows in their veins as it
+flows in you, the Heir Presumptive, but the Family Law debars them. Not
+even the Este estates can pass to your children. They will become
+pensioners upon the bounty of those who hate their mother."
+
+"Impossible!" whispered the Archduke tensely. "It must not be. I will
+find a way----"
+
+"Listen, Franz, my brother. A magnificent horizon spreads before you.
+Look at it. Part of the Duchy of Posen, the ancient Kingdom of Poland
+with Lithuania and the Ukraine, the Poland of the Jagellons, stretching
+from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Yours. And after you, Maximilian's.
+For Ernest, Bohemia, Hungary, the Southern Slav lands of Austria,
+Serbia, the Slav coast of the Eastern Adriatic and Saloniki;--two
+Empires in one. And the states of those who have despised Sophie
+Chotek----" he paused expressively and snapped his jaws, "the Austrian
+Erblaender will come into the Confederated German Empire." He paused
+again and then went on more quietly, "Between us two a close and
+perpetual military and economic alliance, to be the arbiters of Europe
+under the Divine will, dominating the West and commanding the road to
+the East." He paused and took a fresh cigarette from the box on the
+table.
+
+"It is what I have dreamed," murmured the deep voice of the Archduke.
+"And yet it is no dream, but reality. Fate plays into my hands. At no
+time have we been in a better position."
+
+It was the turn of the Archduke to walk the floor of the arbor with long
+strides, his hands behind him, his gaze bent before him.
+
+"Yes, civilization, progress--all material things. But the Church--you
+forget, _Majestaet_, that your people and mine are of different faiths.
+Some assurance I must have that there will be no question----"
+
+"Willingly," said the other, rising. "Do not my people serve God as they
+choose? For you, if you like, the Holy Roman Empire reconstituted with
+you as its titular head, the sovereignty of central Europe intact--all
+the half formulated experiments of the West, at the point of the sword.
+This is your mission--and mine!"
+
+The two men faced each other, eye to eye, but the smaller dominated.
+
+"A pact, my brother," said the man in the hunting-suit, extending his
+hand.
+
+The Archduke hesitated but a moment longer, and then thrust forward. The
+hands clasped, while beside the two, the tall man stood like a Viking,
+his great head bent forward, his forked beard wagging over the table.
+
+"A pact," repeated the Archduke, "which only Death may disrupt."
+
+They stood thus in a long moment of tension. It was he they called
+_Majestaet_ who first relaxed.
+
+"Death?" he smiled. "Who knows? God defends the Empire. It lives on in
+my sons and yours."
+
+"Amen!" said the Archduke solemnly.
+
+"For the present," continued the other quietly, "silence! I shall advise
+you. You can rely upon Von Hoetzendorf?"
+
+"Utterly. In two weeks I shall attend the grand maneuvers at Savajevo."
+
+"Oh, yes, of course. You shall hear from me." He took a few steps toward
+the door of the arbor. "It does not do to stay here too long. We must
+join the others. Berchtold, you said, is coming?"
+
+The Archduke nodded with a frown, and followed with the Admiral into the
+garden. The sun had declined and the warm glow of late afternoon fell
+upon the roses, dyeing them with a deeper red. But along the crimson
+alleys the three men walked calmly, the smaller one still gesturing with
+his ebony cane. Presently the sound of their footsteps upon the gravel
+diminished and in a moment they disappeared beyond the hedge by the
+greenhouses.
+
+Renwick in his place of concealment trembled again. The reaction had
+come. He drew a long breath, moved his stiffened limbs and glanced at
+his companion. Her face was like wax, pale as death and as colorless.
+Her fingers in his were ice-cold. Her eyes, dark with bewilderment,
+sought his blankly like those of a somnambulist. Renwick rose stiffly to
+his knees and peered through the bushes.
+
+"They have gone," he muttered.
+
+"The Archduke!" she gasped. "You heard?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Have we dreamed? I cannot believe----"
+
+Renwick was thinking quickly. Marishka--their position--his duty--a way
+of escape--one thought crowded another in his mind. He glanced about
+through the foliage behind them and then rose to his feet.
+
+"I must get back to Vienna, at once," he said hoarsely.
+
+Marishka stood beside him, clinging to his arm.
+
+"And I--I know not what to do. I could not look Her Highness in the
+face. But I too must go to Vienna. I am not versed in politics, but the
+secret that we share is terrible. It oppresses me. Austria--my country!"
+
+She hid her face in her hands and stood silent a moment, in the throes
+of a struggle, still trembling violently. At the touch of Renwick's
+fingers upon her arm, she straightened, lowered her hands, her face now
+quite composed.
+
+"I too must leave here at once," she said quietly. "I have an allegiance
+stronger than my duty to Sophie Chotek. I am going----"
+
+"Where?" he asked.
+
+"To Schoenbrunn."
+
+"But Marishka, have you thought----?"
+
+"I pray that you will waste no words. As you love me, Hugh, you will do
+what I ask and be silent."
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Go with me to Vienna tonight."
+
+"That would be most imprudent. Your reputation----"
+
+"I care nothing. Will you accompany me?"
+
+Renwick shrugged. "Of course."
+
+"Then do as I bid you. I will show you a way out to a small gate from
+the garden by which you can reach the public road. Go to your Inn. Make
+arrangements for an automobile. I will join you tonight." She peered in
+all directions through the foliage and then led the way through the
+bushes in a direction opposite to that by which they had come. Renwick
+followed silently, his mind turbulent. What was his duty? And where did
+it conflict with Marishka's mad plan? What would his Ambassador have
+wished him to do? And in what could he serve England best? He must have
+time to think. For the present at least Marishka should have her way.
+Indeed, had he wished, he saw no means of dissuading her. He would go
+with her to Vienna, make a clean breast of things to his Chief, before
+Marishka could carry out her plan. After that the matter would be out of
+his hands.
+
+The girl descended some steps to a narrow gate in the hedge. Here
+Renwick paused a moment to clasp her in his arms.
+
+"Beloved," she whispered, "not now. Go. Follow the path to the wall. You
+must climb it. Let no one see you descend. Au revoir. God be with you."
+
+And she was gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+COURT SECRETS
+
+
+Hugh Renwick lay flat upon the coping of the wall for a moment peering
+up and down the road until sure at last that the way was clear, when he
+let himself down and walked rapidly in the direction of the village. The
+events of the last hour were of a nature to disturb the equanimity of an
+existence less well ordered than his. The winning of the Countess
+Marishka, an achievement upon which he had set his whole soul for many
+uncertain weeks in which hope and fear had fought a daily battle in his
+heart--that in itself had been enough to convince him that the gods
+looked upon him with favor--but this other _coup de foudre_! Whatever
+the means by which his information had been obtained, the mere
+possession of it and the revelation of it to his Ambassador was a
+diplomatic achievement of the highest importance. There had long been
+rumors of an _entente_ between Archduke and Kaiser, but _this_! He
+rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was awake.
+
+Hugh Renwick was merely the average Englishman of good family and
+wealth, who because of his education in a German university had found
+the offer of the post of Vienna singularly attractive. He had filled his
+position with circumspection, if not with brilliancy, and had made
+himself sufficiently popular in court circles to be sure that if not a
+triumphant success in the drudgery of the office, he was at least not
+altogether a social failure. Good looking, wealthy, talented though he
+was, it was something indeed to have won Marishka Strahni, who, apart
+from her high position in Vienna and the success of a season, was, as he
+well knew, the finest girl in all Austria. Even yet he doubted his good
+fortune. He had come to Konopisht, where the girl was visiting the
+Duchess of Hohenberg, who had been a childhood friend of her mother's.
+As everyone in Vienna knew, Sophie Chotek was ineligible for the high
+position she occupied as consort of the Heir Presumptive. Though a
+member of an ancient Bohemian family, that of Chotek and Wognin, the law
+of the Habsburg's that archdukes may marry only those of equal rank,
+forbade that the Duchess of Hohenberg and her children should share the
+position of husband and father. She had been snubbed upon all the
+occasions of her appearance at court functions, and had at last retired
+to the Archduke's estates at Konopisht, where she led the secluded life
+of the _ebenburtige_, still chafing, rumor had it, and more than ever
+jealous and ambitious for the future of the children.
+
+Upon the occasion of a previous visit of the Countess Marishka to
+Konopisht, Renwick had spent a week end at the castle, but he thanked
+his stars that he was now stopping at the village inn. It would have
+been difficult to go through the formality of leave-taking with the
+shadow of this impending tragedy to Europe hanging over him. He pitied
+Marishka from the bottom of his heart for he had seen the beginnings of
+the struggle between her devotion to the Duchess and her duty to her
+sovereign. But he knew enough of her quality to be sure that she would
+carry out her plan at whatever the cost to her own feelings.
+
+As Renwick approached the gates which led into the Castle grounds, he
+had an actual sense of the consequence of the Archduke's guests in the
+appearance of soldiery and police which were to be seen in every
+direction, and while he waited in the village road two automobiles came
+out of the gate and dashed past him in the direction of the railroad
+station, in the foremost of which he recognized Archduke Franz and his
+guests of the rose garden.
+
+"The roses of Konopisht," he muttered, thinking of Marishka's fatalism.
+"Were they symbols, those innocent red blossoms?" And then with an
+inward smile, "Marishka! What bitterness could the roses of Konopisht
+bring between Marishka and him?"
+
+A sense of the grave importance of his mission came over Renwick with a
+rush. He looked at his watch. Six o'clock. It would have been hazardous
+to use the wire to reach the Embassy even had he possessed a code. He
+knew enough of the activities of the Austrian secret service to be sure
+that in spite of his entree at the Castle, his presence at Konopisht at
+this time might be marked. He sauntered down the street with an air of
+composure he was far from feeling. There was nothing for it but to obey
+Marishka's injunctions and wait, upon his guard against surprises, but
+ready to go to any extreme to reach Vienna and the Embassy with a sound
+skin. He found the owner of a motor car, and telling the man that he was
+traveling by night, he paid its owner in advance and engaged it to be at
+a certain place by nightfall, promising a further payment if the matter
+were kept secret. Then he went to the inn, took supper, and lighting his
+pipe, paced the cobbles and waited.
+
+As the summer dusk fell slowly upon the streets of the little village,
+Renwick found himself a prey to renewed apprehensions as to Marishka.
+Had her presence and his in the rose garden been discovered by one of
+the Archduke's retainers? And was she now a prisoner in the castle where
+a few hours ago she had been so free a guest? She was clever, as he
+knew, but the burden of her secret had marked its shadows upon her face.
+What excuse would she offer the Duchess for her sudden departure? The
+girl was dear to him, dearer than anything in the world but England, and
+the thought of making a choice between her safety and the performance of
+his duty was bitterly painful to him. Eight o'clock passed--nine. He had
+gone inside the house again, for the actions of any stranger in
+Konopisht were sure to be conspicuous and he felt himself already an
+object of notice. But at last unable to bear the suspense inactive, he
+went out, crossed the road and stood, his teeth clenched upon his
+extinguished pipe, his gaze upon the road which led to the gates of the
+Park.
+
+There she came to him, out of the darkness. At the touch of her fingers
+he started, for he had not been expecting her from this direction, but
+the sound of her voice fell like the balm of her presence upon his
+spirit.
+
+"Thank God," he gasped. "Marishka, I was afraid----"
+
+"I came as soon as I could," she whispered rapidly in English. "It was
+difficult. I could make no excuses for leaving. I pleaded fatigue and
+went to my room. And when the opportunity offered, stole out through the
+garden."
+
+"And your absence will not be discovered----?"
+
+"Not until tomorrow--when, please the Holy Virgin, I shall be at
+Schoenbrunn."
+
+He took her in his arms and kissed her warmly, but he felt the restraint
+in her caress.
+
+"Hugh, beloved, let us wait upon duty for our own happiness. I cannot
+rest until I have told our dreadful secret. You have a motor car?"
+
+"Come," he said. And taking her small valise with his own, he led the
+way to the spot where the machine was awaiting them. Marishka gave
+directions and in a few moments they were off. The danger of detection,
+once beyond the village, was slight, and their purpose to reach the
+railroad at Budweis and take a late train to Vienna was not difficult of
+accomplishment. The machine was none too good, but the road for the main
+part was excellent. Renwick's arm was about the girl, and they sat
+discussing their plans for the immediate future.
+
+"You have no fear for what you are about to do?" he asked.
+
+"What should I fear?" she said lightly. "I am only doing my duty."
+
+"There will be difficulties, will there not?"
+
+"Perhaps. But I shall succeed. Prince Montenuovo, the High Chamberlain
+of the Court will listen to me."
+
+"But you will not tell him all."
+
+"Not unless it is necessary. You, Hugh, will take me to him."
+
+Renwick was silent for a moment.
+
+"Marishka," he said at last, "we share a terrible duty, yours to
+Austria, and mine to England----"
+
+"But mine--is it not the greater?" she pleaded. "You must not speak,
+Hugh, until I have given you permission."
+
+Renwick folded his arms and gazed stolidly into the darkness.
+
+"I must tell what I know to Sir Herbert," he said firmly. "You must not
+ask me to be silent."
+
+He noticed the change in her voice as she replied, "Is my happiness so
+slight a thing that you can refuse the first request I make of you?"
+
+He caught her hand to his lips.
+
+"Marishka, you know----"
+
+"My first request----"
+
+"There is nothing in the world that I would not do for you. You would
+think little of me if I did not do my duty."
+
+"And of your duty to me----? Is that nothing?"
+
+Renwick smiled into the darkness. Had he been told six months ago that
+he would be bandying the interests of England against the plans of a
+pretty woman he would have laughed the idea to scorn.
+
+"What do you wish me to do, Marishka?" he asked gently.
+
+With a swift impulse, she threw her arms about his neck, whispering in
+his ear.
+
+"O Hugh, I cannot bear that there should be a difference between us,
+today, the first of our _fiancailles_. It will perhaps make no great
+difference that you should tell what we have heard, for your country,
+thank the Holy Virgin, is at friendship with mine. If you would but wait
+until I give you permission."
+
+"And if something happened to me in the meanwhile----?"
+
+"Nothing can happen. No one at Konopisht can know. I am sure of
+that--sure."
+
+Perhaps the moment of danger that had threatened their happiness had
+made each more considerate, and the two great secrets that they
+possessed, their own and the other more terrible one had strengthened
+the bond between them.
+
+"I will wait until you have been to Schoenbrunn," he decided.
+
+"Until I give you permission," she insisted.
+
+He kissed her. She believed it to be a promise and the tight pressure of
+her hand rewarded him. In that moment of _rapprochement_, the destinies
+of nations seemed a matter of little moment to them.
+
+"You will marry me soon, Marishka?" he murmured.
+
+"Perhaps," she whispered gently.
+
+Morning brought the pair in a _fiacre_ into the Schottenring, Marishka
+weary but resolute, Renwick somewhat dubious as to their appearance at
+this early hour alone in the streets of Vienna. But at his suggestion
+that they drive first to the house of Marishka's aunt and guardian,
+Baroness Racowitz, where some excuse could be made for the girl's
+unexpected visit, Marishka only shook her head and gave the town address
+of Prince Montenuovo, who, as she knew, was still in residence, the
+Emperor not being expected at Ischl until the middle of July. Nor would
+she permit Renwick to accompany her within the house, and so he sat
+alone in the humble _fiacre_ for what seemed an interminable time, until
+a man in livery came down the steps and gave him a note in Marishka's
+hand.
+
+     "I have succeeded in getting an audience. Go to the Embassy and
+     await word from me. Silence."
+
+And so at last he drove away to his hotel, sure at least that for the
+present he had done his duty to Marishka. But this was no boy-and-girl
+matter. The lives of nations, perhaps, hung upon his decision. In a weak
+moment he had promised Marishka an impossible thing. He did not know
+what danger hung over him. If anything happened to him England might
+never know until it was too late. The vision of Marishka's pale face
+haunted him, but he decided to take no further chances, and locking
+himself in his own rooms, he wrote a long statement, in which he
+accurately recounted his experience in the garden the day before. This
+letter written, sealed, addressed, and given to a trusted servant to be
+delivered into the hands of the Ambassador at a given time, Renwick
+breathed a sigh of relief, then bathed, dressed, and waited.
+
+It was not until some days later that he heard in detail of Marishka's
+visit to the Emperor. The High Chamberlain, aware of the visit of the
+Countess Strahni to Konopisht, and convinced of her earnestness and
+anxiety, had acted immediately. The Emperor fortunately was not ailing
+and the audience was obtained without difficulty. Franz Joseph at
+eighty-four, and burdened with more sorrows than those that fall to the
+lot of the average man, still found interest in the complaints and
+petitions of his subjects and had audience on certain days at
+Schoenbrunn. It was this intimate touch with his people, kept through
+many years, which endeared him to his subjects, and stories of his
+paternal kindness were thus continually sent the length and breadth of
+the nation.
+
+Marishka was shown into an antechamber in the Emperor's private suite
+where for what seemed an interminable time she sat and waited. At length
+her sponsor appeared and conducted her along a short corridor past
+several rooms to a white door which the Prince opened, and then stood
+aside as Marishka entered.
+
+"The Countess Strahni," he announced.
+
+Marishka, a little bewildered and frightened, advanced uncertainly, her
+eyes dazzled by the brilliant sunlight which streamed in at the south.
+As she hesitated, a voice near the furthest window spoke reassuringly.
+
+"Come in, child," it said. "I am here."
+
+She advanced with trembling knees, aware of an old man in a military
+blouse sitting in a large chair beyond a desk. The infirmities of age
+and suffering had bowed his shoulders and to Marishka the Emperor seemed
+smaller than when she had seen him last, smaller and very much older.
+There was a stillness about his person, a quality of resignation and
+quiescence that was almost statuesque. But his whiskers and mustache,
+carefully groomed, were brushed upward and outward from the rather heavy
+lip and chin, and had a military cut which comported well with the
+dignity of his appearance. His eyes, the right one much smaller than the
+left, were light gray in color, and as her own gaze caught them, very
+grave and kindly, like his voice, which as he spoke gave her every
+encouragement to be at her ease.
+
+"You will pardon the infirmities of an old man and forgive me for not
+rising," he said gently. "Will you be seated, here, before me, where I
+may look at you?"
+
+There was a pathetic touch of his old gallantry in the gesture which
+accompanied the words, and a bright flash of his eyes as Marishka came
+forward into the light and stood before him. Even today the Emperor was
+not immune from the charms of feminine beauty. Marishka did as she was
+bidden, sitting upon the edge of her chair before the old man, gazing at
+him again, without words to begin.
+
+"His Highness has told me that you have something of importance to
+communicate," said the Emperor with a smile. "Your grandfather once did
+me a service. If there is anything that I may do----"
+
+The quiet voice paused and she was conscious of the gaze of the gray
+eyes upon her in gentle inquiry.
+
+"It is nothing that I want, Sire," she murmured haltingly. "It is
+something of the utmost importance that has occurred--at
+Konopisht--which I thought it necessary that you should know--something
+of the gravest moment to the State--to Austria--and to--to Your
+Majesty."
+
+She paused breathless, finding speech difficult.
+
+She saw his eyebrows upraised slightly and then contracted, while his
+gaze upon her grew concentrated.
+
+"You may speak freely, child. There is no one here who hasn't the
+interests of my country at heart."
+
+Marishka glanced around swiftly, her pulses throbbing. Prince Montenuovo
+stood beside the desk, immovable.
+
+"Your Majesty," she almost whispered, "my information is of such a
+character----"
+
+She paused again and felt the old man's gaze upon her in deeper interest
+and curiosity. There was a silence, but if he had had a momentary doubt
+of her, it was speedily dispelled, for his rather weary lips parted in a
+smile, as he turned to his Chamberlain. "If Your Highness will be
+pleased to await my call----"
+
+Prince Montenuovo with a bow withdrew.
+
+"Now, child," said the Emperor, bending slightly forward in his chair,
+"will you not tell me freely what has bothered you?"
+
+"Your Majesty," said Marishka, plunging breathlessly into her subject,
+"I was stopping at Konopisht at the castle of the Archduke Franz. The
+Duchess of Hohenberg, formerly the Countess Chotek, was a friend of my
+mother's, and for many years our families have been intimate."
+
+She saw the slight contraction of the heavy brows at the mention of
+Sophie Chotek's name, but she went on rapidly:
+
+"Sire, when you know how long our families have been friendly, how kind
+Her Highness has been to me since the death of my father and mother, you
+will understand that what I am about to say--to reveal--is very painful
+to me. I could not speak, Sire, even now, unless the welfare of Austria
+and of Your Majesty were not more important to me than any personal
+considerations whatever."
+
+As she paused painfully again, he encouraged her with a smile.
+
+"Go on, child," he said.
+
+"I was at the tennis court, playing with"--she paused and blushed
+prettily--"with a friend. The game finished, we--we went into the garden
+and sat upon the lawn in the shade of some foliage where it was cool. I
+did not know, Sire, nor did my companion, of the presence of royalty at
+Konopisht, and did not remember that I had been told not to go into the
+rose garden until it was too late."
+
+"Too late?" he asked keenly.
+
+"We were interested, talking, and not until the sound of footsteps upon
+the graveled walk near the arbor, did I realize how grave a violation of
+the hospitality of the Archduke had been committed. I should have fled,
+but, Sire, I could not. I was frightened. And so we stayed, hidden in
+the foliage by the arbor."
+
+"So!" he broke in, his voice speaking the word with a rising inflection
+of intense interest. "It is well that you have come. I, too, know
+something of the visitors to the roses of Konopisht. The talk was not
+all of roses, _nicht wahr_?" he said quietly, with a little bitterness.
+
+"No, Sire. The talk was not all of roses," said Marishka.
+
+"Go on, then," he continued. "Spare me no word of what you heard or saw.
+Nothing."
+
+And Marishka, composing herself with an effort, obeyed the command.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE HABSBURG RAVEN
+
+
+The Emperor heard her through until the end, with a word here, a sudden
+question there, the gravity of the girl's disclosures searing more
+painfully the deeply bitten lines at eye and brow. But he did not
+flinch. It seemed that grief and pain had already done their worst to
+that frail body. For whatever this Habsburg's failings, fear was not one
+of them. There was resolution too in the clenching of the freckled fist
+upon the chair arm and in his footsteps as he started up from his chair
+and walked the length of the room. Bowed though his shoulders were with
+the weight of his years, he was still a figure to respect--a
+personality. Marishka watched furtively, waiting for him to speak again
+as he strode back and forth, but his brows were deeply tangled in
+thought and his shoulders were more bent than ever. It almost seemed
+that he had forgotten her presence.
+
+But at last he turned toward where Marishka, who had risen and was still
+standing, was awaiting his pleasure. He came straight toward her and
+extended his fingers. She sank to her knees to kiss them, but he caught
+her by the hand and restrained her.
+
+"You have done well, Countess Strahni," he said quietly. "The men of
+your House have always been brave soldiers and good citizens, the women
+comely and loyal, and you, my child, have today done much to continue
+the honorable traditions of your family. Austria is, for you, as she is
+for us all, the Mother, whom God blesses in the loyalty of her children.
+As for those"--and his brows clouded--"who follow the devices of their
+own hearts, those who consider neither the family law nor the human
+law----" He paused, turned and sank into his chair, leaning forward
+again intently as the new thought struck him. "Who was your companion,
+Countess?"
+
+Marishka flushed a little but said quietly,
+
+"A gentleman--an Englishman----"
+
+"So!" again the rising inflection, followed this time by a slight frown.
+"An Englishman!"
+
+"A friend of mine, Sire," she went on with an access of dignity. "Herr
+Renwick, an attache of the British Embassy----"
+
+"Ah, I understand. He has told?"
+
+"He has given me his promise to reveal nothing until I had been at
+Schoenbrunn and then only with my permission."
+
+"I see," said the Emperor with a frown. "He is discreet?"
+
+"He has a reputation for discretion, Sire; I think he may be trusted."
+
+"So," said the Emperor. "Where is he now?"
+
+"I was to communicate with him later."
+
+"Giving him permission to speak?"
+
+"Yes, Sire."
+
+"It is a pity," he muttered, as though meditating aloud. "We have washed
+enough linen in public. And this----" He turned abruptly toward her.
+"You have influence with this Herr Renwick?" he asked keenly.
+
+Marishka was painfully embarrassed.
+
+"A little, Sire, I think."
+
+"You have served Austria well today, Countess Strahni. You can serve her
+again if you can prevent this Herr Renwick from communicating with Sir
+Herbert Southgate.... This is no concern of England's."
+
+"I will do what I can, Sire. But the matter, it seemed, was of grave
+importance to Herr Renwick. He is an able diplomat and most
+intelligent."
+
+The Emperor regarded her almost wistfully.
+
+"It would be a pity," he said, "if Herr Renwick should be discredited at
+the Austrian court----"
+
+"It would ruin him, Sire," said Marishka apprehensively; "if he tells
+what he knows, he would only be doing his duty."
+
+"He must not tell, child," said the Emperor gravely. "This is Austria's
+secret and her sorrow. You realize that, do you not?"
+
+Marishka bowed her head, painfully.
+
+"Yes, Sire."
+
+"You will promise me to do what you can?"
+
+She looked into the face of this tired old man and a great pity for him
+swept over her.
+
+"I will, Sire. I will ask him not to tell--demand it of him even if----"
+
+She paused and hid her face in her hands, unable to say more, trying to
+hide the true nature of the sacrifice he was asking of her.
+
+The Emperor understood and laid a kindly hand upon her shoulder.
+
+"I understand, my daughter. I pray that no bitterness may come between
+you, on account of this. Responsibility comes to you early, and yet you
+cannot--must not shirk it."
+
+"And if he refuses----?" she pleaded.
+
+The wrinkled face broke into a smile, the gray eyes were bright in
+admiration.
+
+"I am sure," he said gallantly, "that Herr Renwick could refuse you
+nothing. Were I younger----" He paused with a sigh and smiled again. "I
+am not sure even now that I am not a trifle jealous of this discreet
+Englishman of yours." And, then, aware of her intense embarrassment,
+"But I am sure that you will succeed."
+
+"I shall try, Sire," she murmured.
+
+And still he seemed loath to let her go, walking toward the window where
+he stood in the sunlight looking down upon the lovely gardens beneath
+him.
+
+"Perhaps you did not know, Countess, that this visit to the roses of
+Konopisht has caused us some concern here in Vienna. Berchtold, who went
+yesterday to Konopisht, will, of course, discover nothing. The Duchess
+of Hohenberg is a very clever woman. You know her as a friend. If her
+loyalty to her friends is as sincere as her ambitions for her children,
+then you can surely have no cause for complaint. Friendship begets
+friendship, but those who love Austria may not serve other gods--or
+goddesses. You have considered these things, and however difficult the
+task--have chosen?"
+
+"It has been bitter, Sire. I can never go back to Konopisht."
+
+"I am sorry. A terrible lesson awaits Sophie Chotek. I have been sorely
+tried. As for the Archduke Franz--a reckoning--a reckoning----"
+
+She saw the old man pause and start a pace back from the window, toward
+which he stared, wide-eyed and immovable. There, upon the sill of the
+window, a black bird had suddenly appeared and hopped awkwardly to and
+fro. It seemed perfectly at home, and not in the least frightened,
+peering into the room with its head cocked upon one side, a baleful
+purplish glitter in its eye.
+
+In a flash Marishka remembered the legend which connects every
+misfortune of the House of Habsburg with the appearance of this bird of
+ill omen: the flight of ravens at Olmuetz, the raven of the ill-fated
+Maximilian at Miramar, the raven of the Archduchess Maria Christina on
+the eve of her departure for her future kingdom of Spain, the raven
+which came to the Empress Elizabeth on the afternoon before the day of
+her assassination,--all these incidents so closely connected with the
+royal figure before her, passed quickly across her mind as they must
+have crossed that of the Emperor. He sank into his chair and she
+followed his gaze through the window again. The somber bird had gone.
+
+Marishka stood in silence, not daring to move, aware of the terrible
+undercurrent of thought which must be racking the mind of her sovereign,
+this man of sorrows, who stood upon the brink of the grave and peace,
+and yet who must still live and suffer until the curse of the Countess
+Karolyi should be utterly fulfilled.
+
+"Sire," she muttered after a moment, "can I----"
+
+He stirred, and raised a pallid face to hers. It was quite composed now,
+but marked with a sadness inexpressible.
+
+"You may leave me now, child. I am a little tired. If you will touch the
+bell upon the table----"
+
+He paused as she did so, and a servant entered.
+
+"You will tell Prince Montenuovo that the audience is concluded," he
+said.
+
+Marishka fell upon her knees before him, and touched his fingers to her
+lips.
+
+"May God bless Your Majesty," she murmured half-hysterically, scarcely
+knowing what she said, "and give you peace."
+
+She was aware of his smile as she arose.
+
+"Go, Countess," he said, "you have done well. Keep this secret at
+whatever the cost to yourself. Those who love Austria must now be
+prepared to suffer for her. My blessing, child."
+
+She obeyed the gesture of his hand and followed the High Chamberlain
+into the outer corridor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Marishka's first thought, upon emerging from the palace, was that she
+must find Hugh Renwick at once. A new idea of her duty had been born in
+her. The importance of keeping this secret of theirs from England had
+not seemed as obvious before her visit to Schoenbrunn. The thought of her
+lover's possible refusal of her request now seemed appalling. As she
+remembered his sober face last night in the automobile, when this topic
+had caused her a moment of unhappiness, it seemed that his refusal to
+accede to her request was more than possible. She had liked Hugh Renwick
+because he was strong, honest, reliable, serious,--qualities she had not
+found abundant among the younger men of the ancient families of her
+country. She loved him now because, against many obstacles, he had at
+last carried her heart by storm. But she realized that the very
+qualities she had most admired in him were the very ones that would make
+her present task most difficult.
+
+He had given his word not to reveal the secret to his Ambassador without
+her permission. That was his promise, given, she knew, grudgingly, and
+only because he felt for the moment that her duty took precedence over
+his own. But was it, after all, merely a question of precedence? And
+would he, now that he had kept his promise so far, insist upon doing his
+manifest duty to his own country? Fears assailed her that she might not
+be able to prevail. His love for her was untried. How far might she rely
+upon it in this inevitable conflict between them? And if he refused her!
+
+The motor car of the Prince carried her to the apartments of the
+Baroness Racowitz, where, after a rapidly thought-out explanation of her
+sudden visit which seemed satisfactory, she wrote a note to Hugh
+Renwick, asking him to come at once to her, addressing it to his
+apartments in the Strohgasse and telling the servant if he was not at
+home to take it to the Embassy. This note dispatched, her mind somewhat
+more at ease, she joined the Baroness at luncheon.
+
+Baroness Racowitz, her father's sister, was a woman of liberal views.
+Educated in England, she had absorbed some of the democratic spirit of
+the West, and so looked with favor upon the suit of the young Englishman
+who had won his way into Marishka's heart. Today, however, in spite of
+the confession which trembled upon her lips, Marishka remained silent.
+And the mere fact that she did not speak added conviction of the danger
+which threatened her happiness and Hugh Renwick's.
+
+As the afternoon waned she grew apprehensive, and it was not until
+evening that he came. His appearance did little to reassure her.
+
+"Your note did not reach me until a few moments ago," he began soberly.
+"I went upon a mission to the ministry which has kept me all day."
+
+"I have been worried," she began nervously. "I went to Schoenbrunn this
+morning----"
+
+"I know it," he broke in quickly. "Otway, of the Embassy, saw you
+leaving in the Prince's car."
+
+Something in his tone, in the avidity with which he had seized upon her
+phrase, warned her of the truth.
+
+"Oh, Hugh," she cried, "you have already told!"
+
+His voice sank a note lower, and its very earnestness seemed to make the
+barrier between them the greater. "This morning when I left you, I wrote
+a complete statement of what happened at Konopisht, and gave it to a
+servant with instructions to deliver it at the Embassy at a certain
+hour. When I tell you that I was bidden to the Ministry this afternoon,
+closely questioned and detained in violation of all precedent, you will
+understand that from my own point of view, I acted wisely."
+
+"You mean----"
+
+"I mean that larger forces than yours and mine have taken control of the
+situation."
+
+"Then your message has been delivered?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Oh, I cannot believe it of you----" she said, staring at him in
+anguish.
+
+He smiled gently.
+
+"I have only done my duty----"
+
+"Your duty!" she said bitterly. "And what of your duty to me? You
+promised----"
+
+"Merely," he put in quickly, "that I would wait until you had been to
+Schoenbrunn."
+
+"No, no, you promised," she said, with rising anger. "It was my
+secret--not yours. I have never given you permission to reveal it."
+
+"Nor having been to Schoenbrunn would have given it now, Marishka," he
+said firmly.
+
+"And knowing this, you use subterfuge, an unmanly recantation--break
+your promised word----"
+
+"I have broken no promise, Marishka, listen----"
+
+"Nothing that you can say----"
+
+She rose, her face hidden in her hands. "Oh, you have done me a
+damage--irreparable! I too have promised----"
+
+"The Emperor!"
+
+"My sovereign--he asked this secrecy of me and you--the man I----"
+
+"Marishka, I love you," he pleaded, trying to take her hand. "Anything
+but this! Can't you understand? I would have betrayed my trust. The
+situation you placed me in was impossible. Great mischief is brewing in
+Europe. Could I sit idly by and let my country be in ignorance of it?
+God knows what is to happen, but whatever comes your country and mine
+can have no quarrel--any more than you and I can have. England is
+strong. No nation in Europe can endure without her friendship. Can't you
+see? I have done Austria no wrong--a service, rather, Marishka; and
+you----"
+
+"You can do me no further service, Herr Renwick," she said coldly,
+rising.
+
+He was on his feet too, his face pale, regarding her steadily.
+
+"I cannot believe that you are willing to blame me for doing my duty.
+Love can only exist in an atmosphere of respect, Marishka. Could you
+have cared for me if I had been willing to seek your favor at the
+expense of my own honor? Could you? Think."
+
+"Those who can thrive politically upon the misfortunes of my country are
+my country's enemies--and mine," she said coldly.
+
+"I have done your country no harm--nor you. Listen, Marishka," he
+pleaded tensely. "Look at me. I love you, dear, with all my heart and
+soul, I love you. You cannot forget what happened to us yesterday. I
+will not give you up----"
+
+"You must--I pray that you will leave me, Herr Renwick," and she moved
+past him toward a door.
+
+Renwick straightened. Whatever hopes he had had in his heart that
+Marishka might forgive him for acting without her consent, her action
+left no doubt as to her present intentions. The bitterness the girl's
+fatalism had predicted yesterday had fallen upon them quickly. But he
+would not despair. As the girl was yet to learn, Renwick was not one who
+despaired easily. But his years of service had given him discretion.
+
+"I cannot believe that you are quite in earnest," he said quietly. "I
+will call upon you again when you have had time to weigh my action
+impartially----"
+
+"I shall not be at home to you."
+
+"Nevertheless," he said coolly, "I shall come."
+
+Her shoulders moved disdainfully. "It should be enough that I----"
+
+"Marishka," he broke in again and came toward her, "at least give me a
+chance to speak to you again--tomorrow----"
+
+The curtains beside her parted abruptly as she fled, leaving Renwick
+staring helplessly at the embroidered hangings.
+
+He stood awkwardly for a moment, like a figure suddenly frozen, and then
+dropping his arms to his sides turned and sought his hat and stick. For
+the present at least there seemed nothing else to do. He descended the
+stairs, a deeply puzzled frown upon his brows, and went out into the
+darkness of the street.
+
+Courts and camps, they say, are the best schools, and Renwick had not
+lived his thirty years in vain. He had known since last night what he
+must do in England's service, and he had also known what havoc that
+service must work in Marishka's mind. He had foreseen the inquietude of
+the Austrian government at his possession of this state secret, and had
+known that his relations with Marishka must be put in jeopardy. He knew
+that she must request his silence, that he must refuse her, and that no
+woman's pride, put to the test, could brook such a refusal. Like
+Marishka, he had had a brief hope that this love might survive the
+ordeal put upon it, but he had not been long in discovering that the
+Emperor's request to Marishka had made his action seem unpardonable. And
+yet he had known as he knew now, that no other course had been open to
+him. Since Marishka's early visit to the Palace, an undercurrent of
+events had moved swiftly. The fact that he had received a note from
+Baron Lichteveld asking him to call at the Ministry, the interview
+between them full of allusions on the Baron's part which showed a
+complete knowledge of the situation; a veiled request, a veiled threat,
+to both of which Renwick had appeared oblivious. These, and an
+uncomfortable sense that he was being detained, had at last made Renwick
+open his lips. The information of which he was possessed, he had told
+the Baron, was in the hands of those who would at the proper time place
+it before the British Ambassador. The firmness of his attitude had
+brought the interview, apparently pleasant and quite unofficial, to a
+sudden ending, and Renwick had left the Ministry, aware that his own
+official position in Vienna had suddenly become precarious.
+
+His statement was now at the Embassy, and its astounding contents had
+been read by his Chief. He made his way thither, somewhat dubious as to
+the thrill of his achievement, aware of a shadow about him, the ghost of
+yesterday's joy, which made all success save the intimate personal one
+that he most craved, flat, stale, and unprofitable. In the darkness of
+the street he was aware, too, that he was being observed and followed,
+but he went boldly toward his destination, sure that as a member of the
+staff of the British Embassy, his person at least partook of the
+official immunity of his Chief.
+
+But there were other forces arrayed against him with which he had not
+reckoned. At a deserted and unlighted corner he found his progress
+blocked by two figures who attempted to engage him in a conversation.
+Now thoroughly awake to a personal danger which no official immunity
+could minimize, he was at once upon his guard, moving quickly into the
+middle of the street. The two men followed him, and another whom he had
+not seen came upon him from the rear. He dodged the blow of a stick
+which caught him a stinging blow upon the forearm, but he sprang aside,
+striking a furious blow full in the face of one of his antagonists and
+leaping out of harm's way as the third came on; and then, finding
+discretion the better part of valor, took to his heels, emerging into
+the Ringstrasse some moments later, with no greater damage than a
+bruised arm and the loss of his breath and hat.
+
+The Embassy in the Metternichgasse fortunately was not far away, and he
+reached the building without further mishap, now fully aware of the
+desperateness of his enemies, whom he did not doubt were employed by
+those whose interests in his secret were more important even than those
+of the Austrian government. Who? It was obvious. There were other
+agencies at work, which drew their information from high sources with
+which they had little in common. A little bewildered by the rapid march
+of events, but now certain of the web of intrigue and hostility of which
+he was the center, Renwick entered the office of the Embassy, breathing
+a sigh of relief that he was again for the present safe within its
+familiar portals.
+
+The Ambassador was at his desk in his private office, and Renwick went
+in to him immediately, the grave faces of his Chief and Captain Otway,
+the military attache, assuring him that his information had already been
+received and discussed.
+
+"Ah, Renwick," said the Ambassador, rising, "glad you've come. We were
+beginning to fear that something had happened to you. Why, what's the
+matter? You're as white as a sheet----"
+
+"Am I, sir? Oh, it's nothing. You got my message?"
+
+The ambassador nodded and then quickly, "Give him a drink, Otway." And
+then as the other moved across the room to obey, "You were attacked--in
+the street?"
+
+Renwick laughed. "Oh, don't bother, please. I'm quite all right--just a
+bit of a breather--that's all. You see--I ran for it. Safer, I thought.
+I could have done for the beggars, if I'd had a heavier stick, but I
+didn't want to make a rumpus. You see, I did well in putting the thing
+on paper."
+
+"Are you hurt?"
+
+"Merely a bruised arm. Little chap with a stick--behind me."
+
+"Most extraordinary! I can hardly believe that the government would
+dare----"
+
+"It isn't the government, sir, I'm afraid," he said, with conviction, as
+he took his whiskey and soda. "There are others who have more to lose
+than the Emperor's party by this revelation----"
+
+"Yes, that may be so," replied the Ambassador judicially, pacing the
+floor. "Perhaps you're right, Renwick. But now that you're safe, we
+should only concern ourselves with the greater issue. Tell me again in
+your own words all that has happened since yesterday morning."
+
+Renwick obeyed, and it was far into the night before he finished, while
+the faces of his auditors grew grave again. The security of this well
+ordered office, with the familiar tokens of distant peaceful England all
+about them, made a prosaic background for the visions which were
+flashing through the minds of these three Englishmen. Even now, to
+Renwick, as he related his experience again, the whole thing seemed
+incredible, and the reiterated questions of his Chief, who was a prudent
+man, might have shaken a less convincing witness. But Renwick had
+dreamed no dream, and the returning ache in his arm left no room to
+doubt the actuality of his experience.
+
+"You have done England a service, Renwick," said the Ambassador at last,
+magnanimously. "It isn't often that such crumbs of information are
+offered us--in such a way. But we will take them--and digest them
+overnight. I want to sleep on this matter. And you--you will stay here
+tonight, Renwick. It will be safer. Until tomorrow, gentlemen----"
+
+And so he dismissed them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SECRET INFORMATION
+
+
+An ambassador has been wittily described as an honest man sent to "lie"
+abroad for the commonwealth. He is supposed to be familiar with all the
+scandal and intrigue of the court to which he is accredited, to be
+possessed of countless incriminating secrets, and to steer his way amid
+the maze, disturbing no ghost or skeleton of family or government,
+preserving the while a calm punctilio and an exterior of fathomless
+simplicity. The ambassador of modern Europe is at once a Chesterfield, a
+Machiavelli, and a Vidocq. He must be a lamb, a lion, and a ferret. He
+must fly upon the wing of occasion, he must condescend to act as
+messenger boy to his Prime Minister, he must conduct a business office
+and a fashionable restaurant and successfully run a detective bureau.
+
+Something of the ambitions of Franz Ferdinand and his wife had been
+known to the Right Honorable Sir Herbert Southgate; the Archduke's visit
+with his wife to the court of St. James was significant, and their stay
+at Potsdam dutifully recorded at Berlin, had shown something of the
+nature of the _rapprochement_ between Archduke and Kaiser. The visit of
+the Kaiser to the Archduke's hunting lodge at Eckartzau on the Danube,
+had set tongues wagging, and private information had served to warn Sir
+Herbert that an understanding had been brought about. The visit to the
+roses of Konopisht had not deceived the Ambassador, for it was known
+that a pact of some sort had been made, but the revelations of Mr.
+Renwick had been of a nature to appall.
+
+A night of deliberation had done little to obliterate the Ambassador's
+grave fears for the future, and he communicated at once in code and in
+full with the Home Government. He lost little time upon the following
+day in setting in motion all the devices he possessed for obtaining
+secret information as to the effect of Countess Strahni's startling
+disclosures.
+
+For several months the surface of the diplomatic pool had been ominously
+placid. Few ripples had disturbed its surface, save those occasional
+ones from the direction of unquiet Serbia. But the waters were seething
+now, stirred to their very lees by plot and counterplot. The advices
+received by the Ambassador were alarming. Had the attack upon Hugh
+Renwick failed to advise him that the military party possessed full
+knowledge of the Countess Strahni's disclosures, he should soon have
+discovered it. There was an undercurrent of intrigue in various high
+offices which advised him that communications of the greatest importance
+were passing. His own interests, of course, were best served by a
+studied innocence and unconcern, and his public appearances, both social
+and official, gave no sign of his intimate knowledge of approaching
+calamity.
+
+The first surface indication of the turmoil was a polite note from the
+ministry, stating that his second secretary, Hugh Renwick, was _persona
+non grata_ to the Austrian government, and requesting his recall. This
+indicated a definite purpose neither to ignore nor condone, and in
+itself was a surprising admission of the facts. The Ambassador by note
+expressed his high opinion of the abilities of his secretary and
+requested the Ministry's reasons for their decision. They merely
+repeated their former request without explanations. And so the
+Ambassador, with a smile, which had a world of meaning, offered Renwick
+his passports.
+
+But Renwick had no desire or intention to leave Vienna. He merely
+removed his personal belongings to his apartment and stayed. That he had
+ventured into deep political currents he was now sure, for though he
+moved with great care, he was aware of being followed and once he was
+shot at in a quiet street in broad daylight. He made no complaint to the
+authorities, but only moved with greater discretion, sure that the
+interests that desired his elimination were not among the Austrians.
+From the point of view of the Austrian government he was merely a
+discredited Englishman, and therefore a person of no importance. That
+the Countess Marishka had apparently also reached the same conclusion
+was evident, for though he called several times at the apartment of the
+Baroness Racowitz, he was not admitted.
+
+With theories of his own as to the probable effect of the Countess
+Strahni's bombshell, Renwick began some investigations which he
+conducted with great tact and secrecy. The forthcoming visit of the
+Archduke Franz to Sarajevo had assumed suddenly a vital importance. One
+morning after a night conference with Sir Herbert he took the train for
+Belgrade. When he returned a few days later he was again closeted with
+the British Ambassador, and when night fell, he went direct to the
+apartment of the Baroness Racowitz, succeeding by a handsome bribe to
+the servant at the door in sending a note to the Countess Marishka,
+which read as follows--
+
+     COUNTESS MARISHKA STRAHNI,
+
+     A friend of yours is in grave danger, chiefly through your agency.
+     I pray that you will see me, if only for a moment. In doing so you
+     will secure for yourself an opportunity of doing a service which
+     you can never regret.
+
+     HUGH RENWICK.
+
+When the servant returned, some moments later, Renwick was shown into
+the drawing room, with the word that the Countess Strahni would see him.
+She appeared almost immediately, her face a little pallid, her manner
+restrained, her accents frigidly polite. But the dark eyes were
+luminous, the brows were drawn inward, and her voice trembled slightly
+as she spoke his name.
+
+"Herr Renwick, I can hardly believe that you would impose so difficult a
+situation were it not that something of importance has occurred----"
+
+"It has, Countess Strahni," he said gravely, then paused. "I beg that
+you will believe me."
+
+She sank into a chair and motioned for him to be seated, but he remained
+standing, his eyes studying the fine line of her neck and shoulder as
+she bent forward, her gaze upon the rug. There was something almost
+childish in her imperiousness. He wanted to take her in his arms and
+hold her there as he would have done a spoiled child, and trust the
+issue to his strength and her weakness, but the quick tap of her
+slippered toe upon the carpet warned him that his mission was delicate.
+
+"Proceed, if you please," she said after a moment.
+
+"You may not know, but a few days after my return from Konopisht, my
+connection with the British Embassy ceased----"
+
+"I have heard," she broke in quickly, in a suppressed tone; "I am
+sorry."
+
+"But my interests in the political aspect of affairs were so great that
+I could not leave Vienna."
+
+"At least I am not to blame for the actions of the ministry."
+
+"Naturally. I suppose I might attribute all my misfortunes to the roses
+of Konopisht," he said.
+
+She glanced up at him quickly and a little scornfully, but she swallowed
+nervously and her toe accelerated its tapping upon the rug.
+
+"I beg that you will come to the point of your visit," she said quickly.
+
+"I will," he went on easily. "The possession of State secrets has given
+me an interest in Austrian affairs which has created a pardonable
+curiosity. Fortune has favored my investigations and I have learned much
+here in Vienna. I have learned more in Belgrade--and in Sarajevo."
+
+She glanced up quickly.
+
+"Sarajevo! Why?"
+
+"You will remember that the Archduke spoke of going there to see the
+maneuvers of his troops on the twenty-eighth of this month."
+
+"Yes." Her eyes stared at him widely now. "But what----?"
+
+She paused uncertainly, expecting him to go on. Instead he waited a
+moment as though seeking his words carefully.
+
+"The Archduke plans to take the Duchess of Hohenberg to Sarajevo with
+him. I came here to tell you that if she goes she will be in great
+danger----"
+
+"Danger!"
+
+"Yes. There is a plot against the life of the Archduke. I thought that
+as a lifelong friend, you would like to know----"
+
+"Assassination! Holy Virgin! Not that!"
+
+She had started up from her chair and faced him, trembling violently.
+
+"I swear to you," he said soberly, "that I have every reason for
+believing that in Sarajevo the lives of both will hang by a hair."
+
+"But who----?" she stammered, her eyes wide with consternation.
+
+She paused, the thoughts that had come first into her mind, stifled in
+horror.
+
+"It is not necessary for me to say. I am merely giving my belief based
+on the closest study of political conditions."
+
+A slight color had come into her cheeks.
+
+"I am sure that you must be unduly alarmed," she said coolly. "The
+Archduke will be in the midst of his friends--his whole army at
+maneuvers!" Her lips found courage in a smile. "Why, the thing is
+impossible!"
+
+Renwick leaned against the mantel, his arms folded, and went on
+steadily.
+
+"The thing is not impossible, Countess Strahni. The danger to Franz
+Ferdinand is very real--a danger that no army of Austrian soldiers can
+minimize. He goes to a hostile neighborhood. He is not loved in
+Sarajevo. Should not this be sufficient?"
+
+"You trouble me," she muttered, passing a hand before her eyes. "But I
+must know more. An Archduke must have enemies----"
+
+"But this Archduke! Can you conceive of no reason why Franz Ferdinand
+should be in danger?" he asked meaningly.
+
+She searched his face quickly, in her eyes the truth dawning.
+
+"You mean----?"
+
+He shrugged.
+
+"You should know what I mean."
+
+"I cannot believe----" she halted again.
+
+"Countess Strahni," he went on quickly, "were I still a member of the
+staff of the British Embassy, I should not speak. I do not even now
+accuse any group or political party of participation in this plot. The
+Emperor at least is guiltless. Death has already done its worst to him.
+The matter is out of his hands. But I do know that such a plot exists.
+Franz Ferdinand will not return alive from Sarajevo and if the Duchess
+of Hohenberg accompanies him, she, too----"
+
+"It is horrible--and I--I will have been the cause----"
+
+She sank into her chair and buried her face in her hands.
+
+"Perhaps now you will understand my motive in coming to you," he said
+softly. "I have no desire but to serve you. England has no further
+concern for Archduke Ferdinand. Forewarned is forearmed. His sting is
+already drawn. But death, like this--sudden, violent, without a
+chance--England has never looked with kindness upon the killing of
+women, Countess Strahni."
+
+"It is horrible," she whispered. "Horrible! I cannot believe----"
+
+"Unfortunately I can give you none of the sources of my information. But
+whatever my sins in your eyes, at least you will admit that I am not
+given to exaggeration. You may still believe that I have taken a liberty
+in coming to you; but the situation admits of no delay. The telegraph
+lines are in the hands of the Archduke's enemies. The Archduke and
+Duchess leave Konopisht in the morning by special train, but there is
+still time to reach them."
+
+Marishka had risen, and was now pacing the floor, her hands nervously
+clasped before her.
+
+"I see. I--I--understand. I--I should be grateful that you have told me.
+But it is all so sudden. So terrible!"
+
+She paused before him.
+
+"I have betrayed her," she stammered through pallid lips.
+
+"You could do nothing else. His fortunes are hers----"
+
+"But not this----" she whispered. "It is too ghastly!"
+
+There was a long pause, and then, "Will you make the effort?" he asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You must leave in an hour."
+
+"But how----?"
+
+She looked at Renwick and their glances met.
+
+"I will go with you," he said coolly.
+
+His gaze was on the dial of his watch which he had taken from his pocket
+and was regarding judicially. His calmness, his impudence, enraged her.
+She had sworn, because of his falseness, that she would never see this
+man again, and here he was calmly proposing a night journey into
+Bohemia, and she was actually listening to him.
+
+She turned quickly toward the door and stood, one hand grasping the
+portiere, while she turned a white face toward him.
+
+"Thanks, Herr Renwick," she said icily, "but I go alone----"
+
+"That is impossible. There is danger. A night journey in a train of
+uncertain quality----"
+
+"I hope that you will not waste words. I thank you for what you have
+done, but I--I must go at once----"
+
+Renwick took a pace toward her.
+
+"Countess Strahni, if you will listen to me----"
+
+But he got no farther, for he knew that her will was as strong as his
+own, and that forgiveness was not to be read in her eyes.
+
+"I beg that you will excuse me, Herr Renwick. The time is short----"
+
+He bowed gravely.
+
+"At least, you will permit me to order you a _fiacre_----"
+
+She nodded in assent as though to be rid of him and then turned and went
+up the stairs leaving Renwick to find his way out into the darkness of
+the street.
+
+Marishka hurried to her room and rang for her maid. In spite of the
+turbulence of her thoughts, she gave her orders calmly and then prepared
+for the journey. The imminence of the danger to Sophie Chotek should
+have obsessed her to the exclusion of all personal considerations, but
+while she dressed she could not help thinking of the imperturbable
+impudence of her visitor. His kindness, his thoughtfulness, the fact
+that he had done her a service, and was at this very moment doing her
+another, gave her a sense of being in a false position, which made her
+most uncomfortable. And yet one could not treat with contumely a person
+who acted in one's interests. His calmness, his assurance enraged her.
+She would never see him again, of course, but she seemed to feel the
+need of some final words to convince him of the depth of her disdain. He
+was so calm, so gravely cheerful, so assured, so maddeningly
+considerate! She wondered now why she had not led him on to a renewed
+plea for forgiveness, that she might the more effectually have crushed
+him.
+
+But her duty to Sophie Chotek soon drove these speculations as to the
+unfortunate Herr Renwick from her mind. Suppose that Sophie Chotek
+questioned closely as to the reasons for Marishka's sudden departure.
+What should she say? The Duchess was not one who could easily forgive a
+wrong. Her placid exterior served well to conceal a strength of purpose
+which had already brought her many enemies in the Royal House. That she
+was capable of tenderness was shown in her adoration of her children and
+in the many kindnesses she had shown Marishka herself, but there was,
+too, a strain of the Czech in her nature, which harbored grievances and
+was not above retaliation. Marishka's cause, as a loyal Austrian's, was
+just, and she had not faltered in doing what she knew to be her duty,
+but the thought of seeking the Duchess now that she had betrayed her,
+required all of her courage. She had balked an ambitious woman,
+stultified all her efforts to advance the fortunes of her children, and
+had written her husband before the House of Habsburg a traitor to his
+Emperor and his country. What if she had heard something and suspected?
+Would the Duchess even listen to a plea for her own life and safety from
+the lips of one who had proven an enemy, a bread and salt traitor to the
+Houses of Austria-Este and Chotek and Wognin?
+
+But Marishka did not falter, and when the _fiacre_ came to the door she
+descended quickly. The Baroness fortunately had gone upon a visit to
+friends in the country, but Marishka left a note with her maid which
+explained her absence, and departed alone for the railroad station,
+feeling very helpless and forlorn, but none the less determined to see
+her venture through to its end.
+
+She wore a gray traveling dress and was heavily veiled, and when she
+reached the station, the guard showed her immediately into an unoccupied
+compartment. This, it seemed, was unusual, as her watch indicated that
+only a few moments remained before the train should leave. But she
+settled herself comfortably, grateful for her seclusion, whatever its
+cause, and closed her eyes in an effort to sleep.
+
+The last warning words of the guards had been given and the train was
+already in motion when she heard a warning "Sh----" at the open window,
+where a head and a pair of shoulders appeared, followed immediately by
+an entire body which was suddenly projected through the opening and
+landed head first upon the floor. Marishka had risen, a scream on her
+lips, but something familiar in the conformation of the figure
+restrained her. The tangle of legs and arms took form, and a head
+appeared, wearing a monocle and a smile. It was the imperturbable but
+persistent Herr Renwick.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TWO INTRUDERS
+
+
+Marishka was too dismayed for a moment to trust her tongue to speech.
+That she was angry she knew, for she felt the blood rising to her
+temples, and the words that hung on her lips were bitter, cruel and
+unreasoning.
+
+"It is a pity, Herr Renwick," she began quite distinctly in English,
+"that you have neither the good taste nor the intelligence to leave me
+to my own devices."
+
+Renwick gathered up his stick and straw hat, bowed politely and seated
+himself opposite her. Indeed, as the train was now moving rapidly, no
+other course was open to him. But he wore no look of recantation. His
+calmness was more impudent than ever, and he even took out and reset his
+monocle.
+
+"Oh, I say, Countess Strahni," he said, "that's rather rough on a chap.
+I had to come. It was wiser, you know."
+
+"I care nothing for your wisdom," she said scornfully. "If it is no more
+firmly seated than your sense of honor, it can be of little value to you
+or to me."
+
+"I'm sorry. I will try not to interfere with your comfort----"
+
+"You--you arranged this"--as the thought came to her--"this opportunity
+for a tete-a-tete?"
+
+"The Countess Strahni's conception of a tete-a-tete may differ from
+mine," he said with a smile.
+
+But his coolness only inflamed her the more.
+
+"You have taken an unpardonable liberty," she said wildly. "You have
+already passed the bounds of decency or consideration. You have been not
+only impudent but ridiculous. One service you have done me tonight. I
+thank you. You may do me another--by getting out at the first station."
+
+He folded his arms and regarded her gravely.
+
+"I regret that that is impossible."
+
+"Why, please?"
+
+"Because I propose to go with you to Konopisht, and to accompany you
+upon your return."
+
+"You--you----!"
+
+"One moment, please," he said quietly and with some show of spirit. "It
+is not necessary that you should have a further misconception of my
+motives or of my agility. I did not seek this--er--tete-a-tete. My
+servant engaged this carriage. I had not hoped to have the honor of
+accompanying you. Unfortunately, circumstances forced a change of plan."
+
+"Circumstances!" she said contemptuously.
+
+He bowed slightly. "As a discredited Englishman, I still possess, it
+seems, some interest for certain citizens of Austria. I only discovered
+the fact this evening when leaving the apartment of the Baroness."
+
+"You were followed again?" she asked quickly, her interest in the fact
+mastering her animosity.
+
+"The object of my visit to you has been guessed. I was followed--but you
+were followed also."
+
+"I----?"
+
+"Yes--to the station."
+
+"And where----"
+
+"Booked through to Konopisht not a foot from the back of your head in
+the adjoining compartment----"
+
+And then as she straightened in alarm and regarded the cushioned seat
+behind her in sudden terror, "But I do not think you need be unduly
+alarmed. We can----"
+
+"They are following _me_!" she whispered. "But why? Why?"
+
+"Because of your friendship with the Duchess. Those who plan the death
+of the Archduke are in no humor to fail."
+
+"Incredible! And they----" she halted again, breathless with
+apprehension.
+
+"I fear, Countess Strahni, that your mission to Konopisht has now become
+a difficult one. That is why I thought it better to go with you. The men
+who are following you are moving with considerable insolence and
+confidence. They will carry out their orders unless circumvented."
+
+"But how?" she whispered, her anger of a moment ago magically
+transmuted. "What can I do?"
+
+He gazed out of the window at the blur of night and smiled.
+
+"To begin with," he said politely, "they think you are alone. You see, I
+might help you, Countess Strahni, if you could manage to endure my
+presence for a few hours."
+
+It was Renwick's innings and he made the most of them. Indeed,
+Marishka sat leaning forward looking at him appealingly, aware that
+after all here was the only prop she had to lean upon in this extremity.
+She did not speak. The wrong he had done her and Austria was
+great--unforgivable, but the merit of his service in this situation was
+unmistakable. Inimical as he might be to the sentiments in her heart,
+there was no disguising the relief his presence gave her or the
+confidence that radiated from his calm assurance.
+
+"One of the men I have seen before," he said. "He has gained some
+celebrity in the Secret Service. You see, we must give them the slip
+before we get to Budweis. This train makes several stops. It ought not
+to be difficult."
+
+The plural pronoun seemed quite inoffensive now, and she even uttered
+it--herself.
+
+"Yes," breathlessly; "but suppose they tried to stop us?"
+
+"Er--that would be most unfortunate," he muttered, as though to himself.
+
+"You don't think they will, do you?" she appealed.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," he said thoughtfully.
+
+For some moments he said nothing and Marishka, whose pride had come
+again to her rescue, gazed steadily out of the window away from him,
+trying to forget her dependence upon her companion, whose initiative and
+devotion were hourly growing more in importance. Whatever his private
+purposes in aiding her, and she had no reason to doubt his
+disinterestedness, for the present at least they had a common duty to
+humanity which must be performed at any costs to prejudice or pride.
+
+At the next station a surprise awaited them. The door of their
+compartment was opened, a man entered and bowing most politely, quickly
+closed the door behind him. Marishka examined him with apprehension,
+noticing that he seemed more interested in the Englishman than in
+herself, for in the brief glance he gave Renwick, the suavity of his
+demeanor seemed for a brief moment to have changed.
+
+He was a person of middle age, tall, stockily built, but withal rather
+jaunty in appearance, and when he smiled again he disclosed a gold tooth
+which seemed to Marishka for some reason inexpressibly reassuring. He
+rubbed his hands together and looked a great deal like a successful
+head-waiter in mufti. But he glanced from one to the other quickly and
+settled himself in a corner with an air of being very much at home,
+which removed the earlier impression. Renwick took the initiative at
+once.
+
+"A pleasant evening," he said to the newcomer, in German.
+
+"One might say so," replied the other, bowing calmly.
+
+"But one doesn't?" asked Renwick. "The conditions are not so propitious
+as they were a while ago. A storm is brewing perhaps?"
+
+The man examined him steadily, aware of the double meaning, but only
+smiled again. Renwick got up and with great deliberateness, moved the
+length of the aisle, and, while Marishka followed him with her gaze,
+seated himself directly opposite the intruder. The man made a movement
+with his right hand which he put into the side pocket of his coat, but
+as Renwick sat, he smiled again and shrugged.
+
+"You are traveling to Budweis and beyond?" asked the Englishman.
+
+"To Budweis and beyond," said the other coolly. "And I would advise Herr
+Renwick," he went on quickly, "that the hotels of Budweis are
+excellent."
+
+"Ah!" That he had come out into the open suited Renwick's plans
+excellently. He removed his monocle and slipped it into a waistcoat
+pocket. "To be sure. Budweis. Unfortunately the lady whom I have the
+honor to accompany, visits friends at some distance in the country."
+
+"The Countess Strahni must go to the Kaiser von Oesterreich Hotel at
+Budweis tonight," he said with precision. "It is near the station." And
+then quickly "I would also advise Herr Renwick to move at once to the
+other end of the compartment."
+
+Renwick stared at him for a moment as though he had not understood his
+meaning and then shrugged and rose. Polite amenities had ceased. He
+turned half toward Marishka and then, without warning, threw himself
+furiously at the man.
+
+There was a muffled discharge as the stranger attempted to draw the
+weapon from his pocket, but the bullet did no damage, and the
+Englishman's blow, fiercely struck, sent the other reeling sideways. He
+smiled no longer, but struggled upward gamely. Renwick had caught his
+pistol hand and forced him down to the floor, where he pinioned him with
+his weight.
+
+The whole affair had happened so quickly that after one gasp of terror,
+Marishka had sat stupefied with horror. But as the struggle continued,
+the man on the floor began to shout lustily for help, and she sprang to
+the aid of the Englishman, who was choking the man by twisting his
+cravat.
+
+"Your veil--quick," he stammered breathlessly. And after she had given
+it to him, "Now, take the revolver from his coat pocket."
+
+She obeyed. Most of the fight was out of their antagonist, and the
+muzzle of the automatic, thrust beneath his nose, completed his
+subjugation. After they had gagged him, they bound his wrists and ankles
+with handkerchiefs, and then straightened and looked at each other,
+listening. Marishka's eyes were sparkling and the color was coming back
+into her cheeks.
+
+"He--he might have killed you," she stammered in English.
+
+"Or I him," said Renwick. "Thank the Lord, I didn't have to. Do you
+think they heard?"
+
+They listened again, but there was no sound above the roar of the train.
+
+"We'll have to get out of this--at the first stop--and run for it. I
+don't know where we are, but Budweis can't be far off. You still want to
+go on?"
+
+"Yes, I must," she cried resolutely. "I must. Oh, God, if I failed now,
+I could never forgive myself."
+
+"You see--they're determined----"
+
+He paused, staring at the mummy upon the floor, who had raised his head.
+One eye was badly damaged, but the other was frowning at them comically.
+But neither Renwick nor Marishka felt like laughing. Renwick started
+suddenly toward the window and peered out, for the train was coasting
+and ahead of them in the distance he saw the lights of a station.
+
+"Quickly!" he said to the girl. "There's nothing for it but to go out on
+the opposite side. The door is locked." He glanced at the prostrate
+figure. And then to Marishka, "You must follow me."
+
+He did not wait for her answer, but opening the closed window he swung
+himself from the floor by a grip on the door jamb, put his feet out and
+lowered himself to the running board. The brakes were on now as the
+train approached the station, but still Marishka hesitated.
+
+Renwick's face appeared in the aperture. "All clear," he whispered, "the
+tracks on this side are empty. Wait until the train stops and then step
+out--quickly, please."
+
+There was no denying his command of her and of the situation, and,
+difficult as the feat appeared, in a moment she was sitting on the sill,
+her feet depending outside into the darkness, where Renwick without
+another word seized her in his arms and lowered her to the step beside
+them, thrilled by the danger of her flight, but ready to follow wherever
+he led.
+
+With a grinding of brakes the train stopped, but they got down quickly,
+and in a moment had dodged behind a building, and listening for sounds
+of pursuit, made their way up the dimly lighted street of a small town.
+It was not yet midnight and there were signs of activity here and there.
+She hurried beside Renwick blindly, content as he was for the present to
+put as much distance as possible between themselves and the railroad
+station. They listened anxiously for the train to move, but there was no
+sound of bell or exhaust. The distant shouts seemed more ominous.
+Renwick only glanced behind them and hurried the pace. He led her around
+a corner, into a well-lighted street where an automobile, its engine
+running, was standing before a rather pretentious house. He ran up to it
+and examined it quickly.
+
+"It's really too bad," he muttered, with a quick glance toward the
+house, "but our need is great," and got in, Marishka following without a
+word. "It's a Mercedes, thank God," he whispered. "I hope it will go."
+
+It did, with a sputter and roar which brought a shouting figure to the
+door of the house, but Renwick was beyond stopping and turned blindly at
+the next turning and followed the street through the sleeping town into
+a well-traveled country road, which led straight onward toward the
+setting moon.
+
+"I haven't the slightest notion where we're going," he said presently,
+"but we seem to be on our way."
+
+Marishka found herself laughing nervously. She wasn't in the least
+amused, but the strain was telling on her.
+
+"Nice chap--the owner of this car, to put it just there. I'll have to
+buy it, I suppose. No end of a good machine. I wonder if he thought to
+fill the tank."
+
+Renwick ran the car up a long hill which it took with ease, and at the
+summit the moonlit summer landscape was visible for miles in all
+directions. There at a crossroad the Englishman stopped the stolen car
+in the shadow of a tree, got quickly out and investigated the tank.
+
+"Plenty of petrol--enough for all night, I should say," he reported.
+"And now"--as he looked around him in all directions--"which way? Hanged
+if I know."
+
+Marishka was scanning the valley below them eagerly. In the distance to
+their right a row of lights moved slowly into the night. "The train!"
+she said, "Budweis lies in that direction. I've often been over the road
+from Konopisht. If we can reach it----"
+
+"That ought not to be difficult. Here goes." And he took the crossroad
+to the right.
+
+So far all was well, but the stolen motor car was a dead weight on
+Renwick's conscience, and the danger of detection was still most
+unpleasant. If an excuse were needed for his arrest, a pretext which
+would hide the real secret of the mission of his pursuers, the larceny
+of the machine would now furnish it. He had no humor to see the inside
+of a village jail from which communication with the Ambassador would be
+difficult if not impossible. There were processes of law in Austria
+which suddenly became formidable to one in his position. But he drove
+on, keeping a lookout for sign posts, aware that the girl beside him,
+now that their danger was passed, had again assumed an uncompromising
+silence which was not too favorable an indication of the state of her
+mind and feelings toward him. He smiled inwardly. At least she could not
+rob him of the moment when on the steps of the train he had held her in
+his arms. He did not doubt that she was thinking of that moment also,
+hating him the more cordially because she was so dependent on him. Did
+she hate him? He stole a glance at her. She sat stiffly staring before
+her into the night, a frown at her brows, her lips closed in a thin
+line. Pride?
+
+"Marishka," he ventured softly, "will you forgive me?"
+
+Her figure grew more rigid.
+
+"Herr Renwick----!" she gasped.
+
+"I love you," he broke in. "You must know how much----"
+
+"It is a pity that I have already gauged your capacity for devotion,"
+she said bitterly.
+
+"I _had_ to tell, Marishka----"
+
+"Herr Renwick, I am already much in your debt. Add to my burden, if you
+will, by keeping silence on a matter so painful----"
+
+"Forgive me----"
+
+"Never. You have betrayed me."
+
+"I'll never give you up."
+
+"You must. Circumstances have placed me in this false position. I am at
+your mercy. I beg you to be silent."
+
+"You will marry me, some day, Marishka," he asserted cheerfully.
+
+"Never," scornfully. "Never. The House of Strahni, Herr Renwick, holds
+honor high and loyalty even higher than honor----"
+
+"There is another precept of the House of Strahni," he broke in calmly.
+"Their women--where they give their lips----"
+
+"Oh, you are intolerable! I abominate you!"
+
+"And I--I still adore you," he whispered. "I shall always adore--and
+serve."
+
+"Thank God, the hour of your service nears its end," she said chokingly.
+
+"Who knows?" he muttered.
+
+But he made no further attempt to break through her reserve. She was too
+greatly in his power. And so he drove in silence, passing through the
+silent streets of Budweis without challenge and soon found himself upon
+the main highroad to Prague, over which the two had traveled less than a
+week ago in their hurried flight to Vienna. The moon had long since set,
+but when they climbed the hills along the Moldau faint gray streaks upon
+their right hand proclaimed the coming of the dawn. If Marishka was
+weary she gave no sign of it, for she sat bolt upright in her seat, her
+eyes wide open, staring along the thin yellow ribbon which marked their
+road. To the few questions as to her comfort she answered in
+monosyllables, and at last he made no further effort to engage her in a
+conversation. He felt no anger at her rebuffs--only tenderness--for in
+his heart he could not altogether blame her for her repudiation of him.
+
+Broad daylight found them on the Prague highroad, not three miles from
+Konopisht Schloss. Here Renwick decided to desert the car and go afoot
+through the forest to the castle. He hid the machine in a thicket and
+led the way, Marishka following silently, content to trust herself to a
+judgment which until the present moment had seemed unerring. He glanced
+at her from time to time, aware of the pallor of her face and the
+fatigue of her movements. Once when he turned he fancied that her lips
+were smiling, but when he spoke to her she answered him shortly. The
+wounds to her pride were deep, it seemed, but he armed himself with
+patience and smiled at her reassuringly as they paused at the edge of
+the wood.
+
+"The Schloss is just beyond these woods, I think. Some smoke is rising
+yonder. We must avoid the village. I think we may reach the garden by
+the lower gate. And there I will await you, Countess Strahni," he
+finished quietly.
+
+It seemed as though in giving her her title, that he was accepting
+without further plea any conditions of formality in their relations
+which she might impose.
+
+She waited a long moment without moving or replying. And then she turned
+toward him with a smile.
+
+"Herr Renwick," she said gently, "whatever the personal differences
+between us, I owe you at least a word of gratitude for all that you have
+done. I thank you again. But I do not wish you to wait for me. I shall
+not trouble you longer."
+
+"I will wait for you," he repeated.
+
+"It is not necessary. I shall not return."
+
+"You might, you know," he smiled. "I don't mind waiting at all. I shall
+breakfast upon a cigarette."
+
+"Oh," she cried, her temper rising again, "you are----you are
+impossible."
+
+With that she turned and strode ahead, reaching the gate before him and
+entering.
+
+"_Au revoir_, Countess Strahni," he called after her.
+
+But she walked rapidly toward the rose garden without turning her head,
+while Renwick, after lighting his cigarette, strolled slowly after her,
+sure that the world was very beautiful, but that his path of love even
+amid the roses did not run smoothly.
+
+He reached the hedge just in time to see a man, one of the gardeners he
+seemed to be, come forward along the path from the direction of the
+castle and stand before Marishka bowing. He saw the girl turn a glance
+over her shoulder, an appealing glance, and Renwick had just started to
+run forward when from each tree and hedge near him figures appeared
+which seemed to envelop him. He struck out to right and left, but they
+were too many. He felt a stinging blow at the back of his head, and had
+the curious sensation of seeing the garden path suddenly rise and smite
+him tremendously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+HERR WINDT
+
+
+When Renwick managed again to summon his wits, he found himself lying in
+the dark where somebody was bathing his brows with a damp cloth. His
+head ached a great deal and he lay for a moment without opening his
+eyes, aware of soft fingers, the touch of which seemed to soothe the
+pain immeasurably. He opened his eyes to the semi-obscurity of a small
+room furnished with the cot on which he lay, a table and two chairs. It
+was all very comfortable and cozy, but the most agreeable object was the
+face of Marishka Strahni, not a foot from his own. Through eyes dimmed
+by pain he thought he read in her expression a divine compassion and
+tenderness, and quickly closed them again for fear that his eyes might
+have deceived him. When he opened them again he murmured her name.
+
+"Marishka," he said gently, "you--you have forgiven me?"
+
+But she had moved slightly away from him and was now regarding him
+impassively. It was too bad for his vision to have played him such a
+trick. It was so much pleasanter to sleep with Marishka looking at him
+like that.
+
+"You have had a blow upon the head, Herr Renwick," her voice came as
+from a distance. "I hope you are feeling better. It was necessary for me
+to bathe your head with cold compresses."
+
+Necessary! Of course. But it would have been so much pleasanter to know
+that she had done it because she wanted to.
+
+"So it was _au revoir_, after all?" he smiled, struggling to a sitting
+posture.
+
+"You had better lie still for a while," she said briefly.
+
+His head was throbbing painfully, but he managed to make light of it.
+
+"Oh, I'm quite all right, I think," he said looking around the room
+curiously. "Would you mind telling me what happened and where we are?"
+
+"They struck you down and brought us here. It's one of the gardener's
+cottages on the estate."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"They were very polite but we are prisoners--for how long I don't know.
+I've failed, Herr Renwick----" she finished miserably.
+
+"Perhaps it isn't too late----"
+
+"There are men outside. They intend to keep us here for the present."
+
+"There ought to be a way----" said Renwick, putting his feet to the
+ground. "I could----" He stopped abruptly, for at that moment he
+discovered that the captured weapon had been removed from his pocket.
+
+"I'm afraid it's hopeless," said Marishka bitterly.
+
+Renwick glanced at his watch. "Only eight o'clock. Even now we
+could----"
+
+He rose and walked to the window, peering through a crack in the
+shutter, but an attack of vertigo caused him to sink into a chair. She
+regarded him dubiously, pride and compassion struggling, but she said
+nothing.
+
+"Beastly stupid of me," he groaned. "I might have known they'd spare no
+detail----"
+
+There was a knock upon the door, and at Marishka's response, a turning
+of the key, and a man entered. In spite of a discolored eye and a
+wrinkled neckband, he was not difficult to identify as their friend of
+the railroad train. His manner, however, was far from forbidding, for he
+clicked his heels, swept off his cap and smiled slowly, his gold tooth
+gleaming pleasantly.
+
+"Herr Renwick is, I trust, feeling better," he said politely.
+
+Renwick grinned up at him sheepishly.
+
+"I congratulate Herr Windt upon his adroitness," he said. "I fear I made
+the mistake of underestimating his skill in divination."
+
+"It was not inspired enough to guess that you were in the Countess
+Strahni's carriage," he replied. "You have quick fingers, Herr Renwick.
+Fortunately I was aware of your destination and knew that we should
+meet. All is well that ends well."
+
+"That depends upon the point of view, Herr Windt. But I might have
+killed you in the railway carriage."
+
+"That would have been an error in judgment, which would have been most
+unfortunate for both of us. I, too, might have shot you through my
+pocket, but I refrained, at some hazard to myself. I try never to exceed
+the necessities of a situation. Having performed my mission successfully
+I can now afford to be generous."
+
+"Meaning--what, Herr Windt?"
+
+"That I shall keep you here only so long as is absolutely necessary." He
+glanced at his watch and said significantly, "The Archduke's private
+train will leave here in half an hour."
+
+Marishka had listened in some amazement to this conversation, but the
+politeness of her jailer only angered her.
+
+"I would like to know by what authority you imprison a loyal citizen of
+Austria," she stormed. "Your identity seems to have made some impression
+upon Herr Renwick, but I would inform you that I at least am not without
+friends to whom you will answer for this outrage."
+
+Herr Windt bowed low.
+
+"I beg that Countess Strahni will reconsider that word. I have intended
+to act with great discretion. Herr Renwick unfortunately underestimated
+the forces to which he was opposed. I am sorry he has suffered injury.
+As for you, Countess, I beg leave to recall that those who have
+restrained you have treated you with every consideration."
+
+"Who are you?" she asked angrily.
+
+"Herr Renwick has spoken my name."
+
+"You are a member of the secret service of the Austrian government?"
+
+He smiled again and bowed low.
+
+"It is the custom of those in my trade to ask questions--not to answer
+them. In this service, however, it will please you perhaps to know that
+I am not acting for the Austrian government."
+
+"Who then?"
+
+"I cannot reply."
+
+"You dare not."
+
+"Perhaps. But I am willing to admit, Countess Strahni, that the same
+motive which impelled you to Schoenbrunn," he said significantly, "has
+actuated both myself and my employers."
+
+"And that motive?"
+
+"The safety of the Empire."
+
+"Austria! But not complicity in this dastardly----"
+
+At a warning sound from Renwick she paused. Herr Windt was regarding her
+gravely.
+
+"I regret that I do not comprehend the Countess Strahni's meaning," he
+said with a bow. "It would be a source of great unhappiness to me, if in
+doing my duty, I had done you a harm. I am not an enemy, Countess, but a
+loyal compatriot. I may add that I am prepared to do what I can to
+protect you from the results of your unfortunate connection with a
+dangerous political situation."
+
+"Protect! You!" Marishka smiled bitterly and glanced ironically around
+the walls of the cabin.
+
+"I beg to assure you that I am not jesting. Herr Renwick will recall
+that he was attacked one night upon the streets of Vienna. He was also
+shot at by some person unknown. The inspiration for those assaults did
+not emanate from my employers."
+
+"I suspected as much," muttered Renwick.
+
+Marishka was examining Renwick wide-eyed.
+
+"Shot at!" she murmured.
+
+"The information in Herr Renwick's possession," Herr Windt went on
+suavely, "was more damaging to other interests than to theirs. Herr
+Renwick's connection with the British Embassy has terminated. He has
+merely the status in Austria of a traveling Englishman. But his
+activities are dangerous where they concern the movements of the
+Countess Strahni. I am performing an act of friendship to a loyal
+Austrian in offering her escort back to Vienna, where if she is wise she
+will remain quietly under my surveillance."
+
+During this speech, of which Herr Windt delivered himself with much
+bowing and rubbing of his hands, Marishka remained silent, a wonder
+growing in her eyes.
+
+"I fail to see how my presence here or elsewhere can interest you or
+others," she said as she sank upon the cot. Weariness was telling on her
+and the disappointment of her mission's failure. And the threat of
+danger that hung in his words was hardly reassuring.
+
+"Countess Strahni may doubt my good intentions. That is her privilege.
+In a short time"--here he looked at his watch again--"she will be at
+liberty to come and go as she chooses. In the meanwhile I beg that she
+will listen to me and heed my warning."
+
+He looked at her until she raised her head and signified for him to
+continue. "The agencies which attempted to prevent the delivery of Herr
+Renwick's information to the British Embassy are again at work. Herr
+Renwick having been"--he paused and bowed to Renwick--"if I may be
+permitted to say so--having been repudiated by his Ambassador and by the
+British government, he is politically a person of no importance--at
+least as far as my relations with him are concerned. Whatever he may do
+privately, unless it proves valuable to the interests of Austria's
+enemies, will pass as it has already passed--unnoticed in Austria. The
+case of the Countess Strahni is different----"
+
+He paused a moment to rub his hands together thoughtfully.
+
+"I can not understand----"
+
+"Within the past twenty-four hours the apartments of the Baroness
+Racowitz have been observed by persons not in my service. The Countess
+perhaps has had no unusual communications?"
+
+Marishka started up in her chair, while Windt, watching her, smiled
+slowly.
+
+"Ah, I was not mistaken----" he said.
+
+"A request to go to the Hofburg tonight--before Herr Renwick came," she
+whispered, now thoroughly aroused. "I did not go. The signature was
+unfamiliar to me."
+
+Herr Windt took a pace toward the window and peered forth through the
+slats of the blind.
+
+"The Countess Strahni would not have reached the Hofburg," he said
+quietly. "She would have gone--er--elsewhere!"
+
+"The man in the green limousine!" came suddenly in cryptic tones from
+the silent Renwick.
+
+"Exactly. He followed the Countess Strahni's fiacre in motor car to the
+Nordwest Bahnhof."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"We forestalled him--that's all," he said, showing his gold tooth in a
+most ingratiating smile, but there was a flash in the deep set eyes
+which explained much to Renwick.
+
+"There was a commotion near the booking-stall," said Renwick.
+
+"Ah, you witnessed?"
+
+"From a distance. I had other affairs."
+
+"Yes. That will perhaps make my laxity with regard to Herr Renwick's
+sudden appearance the more pardonable," said Windt, with a professional
+air.
+
+Marishka, who had listened with growing inquietude to these revelations
+of her danger, had risen and paced nervously the length of the room.
+
+"But why?" she pleaded. "Who can dare to molest me in my own home or in
+the streets of Vienna?"
+
+Herr Windt rubbed his injured eye gravely.
+
+"The Countess Strahni has unfortunately become a political document, the
+possession of which, I may even say the suppression of which, is highly
+important."
+
+Marishka sank upon the couch, and for a moment buried her face in her
+hands.
+
+"But what would be gained by getting me out of the way? I have already
+told what I know."
+
+Herr Windt smiled.
+
+"As Herr Renwick would perhaps inform you, the place for an important
+document is the safe. If the document is harmless a desk may do. If it
+is incriminating, like you, Countess"--he said with a dramatic
+gesture--"the fire!"
+
+Renwick by this time had risen and stood fitting his monocle into his
+eye.
+
+"Astounding!" he muttered. "And yet I quite believe you."
+
+"There seems little room to doubt." Herr Windt walked to the window and
+peered out again. "My men are all about this place, Herr Renwick, and
+yet even now I am not certain that you have not been followed."
+
+He turned and faced Marishka with his usual bland composure. "Herr
+Renwick should, I think, be able to take care of himself. I beg,
+however, that Countess Strahni will not be unduly anxious. I shall
+myself go outside and take every precaution." He turned at the door and
+bowed. "I beg that in the meanwhile, you will come to some decision as
+to your immediate plans, counting upon my efforts to aid you. There is
+no train for Vienna until this afternoon," he said significantly. "I may
+add that the machine in which you came from Altensteig will be returned
+to its owner by one of my young men, who will explain the circumstances,
+and arrange a proper compensation."
+
+With this parting shot delivered in his best professional manner, Herr
+Windt left the room with an air of triumphant urbanity which added not a
+little to the respect with which Renwick now regarded him.
+
+Marishka sat upright on the bed staring straight before her while
+Renwick paced the floor frowning.
+
+"If I could only have reached her--for a moment," said Marishka
+brokenly, as though thinking aloud. "She would have listened to me--she
+would have believed me. I would have thrown myself upon her mercy--told
+her all. It is horrible--a death like that--when a word might save them
+now--and it will be I--I who have killed them----" She started up
+staring at Renwick. "And you! Why do you stand there, doing nothing?"
+she flung at him wildly. "You learned of this thing--at Belgrade. Why
+couldn't you have prevented it? Given it publicity? Why don't you do
+something now? England has power. Why doesn't your Ambassador speak? Is
+he frightened? Dumb? Will he stand idly by and see this----"
+
+"It is none of England's affair, Countess Strahni," Renwick broke in
+soothingly.
+
+"Then it is of Germany's?" She halted as the new idea came to her, and
+walked to the small table where she sank into a chair and buried her
+head in her hands, trying to think.
+
+After a while she raised her head suddenly and looked at Renwick.
+
+"Do you believe that this man tells the truth?"
+
+"I do. He stands high among those of his profession."
+
+"Do you believe that agents of the German government were trying to take
+me prisoner--and you?"
+
+"Herr Windt is surprisingly well informed. I am quite sure that someone
+is trying to shoot me," he laughed. "I believe that you were
+followed--by whom I don't know."
+
+"Then how do you explain the efforts of German agents to take me, when I
+am acting in the interests of the Kaiser's friend and ally, the Archduke
+Franz?"
+
+"You forget that this plot is a secret one. The Archduke may fear the
+Serbians and the Bosnians, not his own countrymen."
+
+"Oh! Yes--of course." She was silent again, but moved her hands
+nervously along the table top and in a moment got up and peered through
+the window-blind.
+
+"I beg that you will submit yourself to Herr Windt if not to
+me----" pleaded Renwick earnestly. "At least in his company you will be
+in no danger. I have done what I can to help you reach the Duchess,
+because the secret we shared brought about this calamity. But the matter
+has been taken out of my hands and yours. I advise you to return this
+afternoon to Vienna."
+
+She did not reply and only stood by the window, tapping at the sash with
+unquiet fingers.
+
+"You are tired," he said gently. "Lie down on this bed for awhile and I
+will see what can be done about breakfast."
+
+"I'm not hungry."
+
+"You can't go without food."
+
+"I'm not hungry," she repeated.
+
+Renwick shrugged and walked to the other window, where he presently
+observed Herr Windt coming around the corner of the building. That
+remarkable person had thought of everything, for he carried in his hands
+a coffeepot and cups, while another man followed with plates and a
+saucepan.
+
+He turned the key in the lock and entered, putting the coffee upon the
+table and rubbing his hands with a more than usual gusto.
+
+"I am delighted to be able to inform you that the occasion for your
+detention has passed. Within certain bounds you are now at liberty. The
+train of the Archduke has just passed down the valley."
+
+"Oh!" gasped Marishka.
+
+"I would advise you, however, to keep within call. If Herr Renwick will
+give me his word of honor not to try to escape----"
+
+"I don't quite know where I should go----"
+
+"Very good. The wires, of course, Herr Renwick, are in the hands of
+Austrian officials."
+
+Renwick nodded.
+
+"You have won, Herr Windt. I have no plans which conflict with yours."
+He turned a glance toward Marishka. "Countess Strahni is very tired. I
+think if we were to leave her for a few hours, she would probably eat
+and rest----"
+
+"By all means," said Windt with alacrity, moving toward the door. "And
+if Herr Renwick will follow me I think I can find another coffeepot."
+
+Marishka did not turn from the window as they went out of the door. Her
+heart was heavy within her, and through the glaring summer sunlight
+which came in at the window and beat upon her face, she saw--Sarajevo!
+Sophie Chotek alighting from her train, the pomp and circumstance, the
+glitter of uniforms, the crowded streets through which she must pass and
+the crowd which seethed with unrest, along the street through which
+Sophie Chotek must pass...! It was too horrible. She wanted to
+shriek--to cry out against the infamy that was to be done, but she could
+only close her eyes to try and shut the vision out.
+
+After awhile she grew calmer, and tried to think clearly. There was a
+pitcher and basin in the corner of the room, and so she bathed her face
+and hands and refreshed herself. The coffee still steamed upon the
+table. There was rye bread, and there were eggs in the water of the
+saucepan. She felt weak and dispirited, but it would not do to fail for
+lack of strength, and so she sat and ate and drank. The plan born of her
+talk with Hugh Renwick still turned over and over in her mind. Would
+Renwick still be able to do something to help her? Which way should she
+turn? If her own efforts to warn Sophie Chotek had been futile, if Hugh
+Renwick could not do something, and England selfishly held aloof while
+this horrible conspiracy which seemed to have its very tendrils hidden
+in the hearts of those who should have been her friends, was under way,
+what must she do? She felt dreadfully; alone, and fearfully guilty. Her
+own death or the threatened imprisonment of which Herr Windt spoke
+seemed slight atonements for the wrong that she had done Sophie Chotek.
+If she could still succeed, by using the agents of the Archduke's
+imperial friend and ally, in sending a warning through the German
+ambassador at Vienna, to Budapest or Sarajevo, the consequences to
+herself were immaterial. They might have her to do with as they chose;
+for by this sacrifice only could she atone. She did not fear death, for
+death to youth and health is inconceivable. She smiled incredulously as
+she thought again of the ominous surmises of the impossible Herr Windt.
+There was something of the opera bouffe about his methods which
+abstracted from the brilliancy of his success. To Marishka he was still
+the head waiter. This was the twentieth century. No political secret
+could justify the imprisonment or death of a woman!... She shuddered a
+little, as she thought of the very death that had been planned by the
+employers of Herr Windt--Austrians--loyal Austrians he called them, of
+the same blood and lineage perhaps as herself. She had not yet succeeded
+in wholly believing it. There was some missing reason for the actions of
+this secret service agent, some motive which neither she nor Hugh
+Renwick had yet fathomed, which would explain her detention and his. It
+was unbelievable that----
+
+Marishka started at a small sound from the direction of the fireplace.
+It was a curious sound, a subdued metallic clink which nevertheless
+differentiated itself with startling clearness from among the already
+familiar sounds of the quiet summer morning. She started up and peered
+into the shadows of the hearth. There was something there, a small
+object--round, wrapped in paper. She reached forward quickly, picked it
+up and examined it curiously then took off its covering, disclosing an
+Austrian coin--a _kroner_--nothing more. It was most mysterious. The
+thing could obviously have not come from the sky. Who?
+
+She examined the paper closely. It seemed like a leaf torn from a note
+book. There was writing on it, and moving to the window she made out the
+script without difficulty. It was written in evident haste with a blunt
+pencil.
+
+     I have found a way to escape in a machine from Herr Wendt, if you
+     will come at once. Only one man watches the cabin by the door.
+     There is another in the orchard. Go quietly out by the window and
+     follow the hedge to the garden wall. I will be at the gate beyond
+     the arbor. Destroy this note.
+
+     HUGH RENWICK.
+
+Marishka read the note twice to be sure that there was no mistake. She
+quickly peered through the window by the door. Yes, the man was there,
+smoking his pipe in the sunshine, his back against a tree, dozing.
+Anything were better than this interminable suspense--this horrible
+oppression of acknowledged failure. To be under further obligations to
+Herr Renwick was an added bitterness to her wounded pride, but hope had
+already beggared her and she could not choose. She got into coat and
+hat, and after another careful scrutiny of her somnolent guardian,
+quietly opened the shutters of the side window, stepped out into the
+shadow of the hedge, and made her way toward the distant garden wall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE GREEN LIMOUSINE
+
+
+Herr Windt started up from the bench on which he had thrown himself. It
+was a pity there was no earlier train for Vienna. He stretched himself
+and yawned, for he confessed himself a trifle disappointed that there
+was to be, after all, no test of wits between himself and the agent of
+the Wilhelmstrasse who had followed the Countess Strahni to the Nordwest
+station in Vienna. His men had done the fellow in the motor cap no great
+damage, for his own instructions had been limited but definite: to save
+Marishka Strahni in all secrecy from coming to harm, but to prevent her
+at all hazards from reaching Konopisht before the Archduke and Duchess
+left for Sarajevo. This simple task had been accomplished with little
+difficulty. The agent of the Wilhelmstrasse, undoubtedly a person of
+small caliber, had given up his efforts, or would seek a more propitious
+moment, to carry it out later in Vienna. Herr Windt yawned again. His
+visit to Bohemia would have been indeed a delight if a secret agent of
+the caliber of Herr Hauptman Leo Goritz, or Ober Lieutenant Franz
+Scheib, could have been sent upon this delicate mission to oppose him.
+But there was no such luck. Herr Windt had made a careful round of
+village and garden while Herr Renwick remained under the eye of his men,
+and there had been no sign of anything suspicious to disturb the
+monotonous peacefulness of the quiet garden. The reaction which always
+followed upon success, had set in, and the famous man was now frankly
+bored and somewhat fidgety. He got up and paced the stone walk a few
+times and then gazed out to where his most trusted man, Spivak, was
+dozing in the sun. Everything was too quiet, too peaceful. The serenity
+of the landscape annoyed him. He glanced at his watch--still four hours
+of this infernal quiet before their train left for Vienna. He went to
+the door of the room into which Herr Renwick had gone to lie down and
+looked in. The room was empty. This was not surprising, for Herr Renwick
+was under parole and would have the freedom of the garden in the
+immediate vicinity of the two cabins. As the morning was hot he had
+perhaps gone out to enjoy the shade of the trees. But Herr Windt now
+moved with alacrity and crossed the small plot of vegetable garden which
+separated the two cabins, and in some haste turned the corner of the
+small building which sheltered the Countess Strahni.
+
+Before the door, listening, a puzzled look upon his face was Herr
+Renwick.
+
+"I have called her three times," said the Englishman quickly. "She
+sleeps very soundly--or else----"
+
+But Herr Windt did not stand upon ceremony, for he thrust past the
+Englishman, threw open the inner door, then returned bellowing lustily.
+
+"Gone! The room is empty----"
+
+"Gone!" cried Renwick.
+
+Windt eyed him keenly.
+
+"I have been yonder, by the trees, near your man----" protested Renwick
+and there seemed no doubt as to his innocence.
+
+"Hi! Spivak! Linder! Hadwiger!" cried Windt. And as the men came running
+from all directions, "She is gone. What have you been at?"
+
+"Gone?"
+
+"By the window, idiots; did none of you see her?"
+
+"No, Herr Windt----"
+
+"But she could not have flown up the chimney----"
+
+He halted abruptly, then dashed into the room again, peering into the
+fire place and examining the furniture, all his professional instincts
+keenly aroused. As he shook the bed clothing, there was a tinkle upon
+the floor, and a coin rolled into the farthest corner of the room. This
+he pounced upon like a dog upon a rat and brought it forth into the
+light of the window.
+
+"A _kroner_!" he muttered. "Curious! Could she have dropped it do you
+suppose?"
+
+"Perhaps. Her money was in a handbag," cried Renwick with his legs out
+of the window. He had already espied a possible mode of escape, and
+started running along in the shadow of the hedge.
+
+"Your parole, Herr Renwick!" shouted Windt, scrambling after him.
+
+"Come on then," cried the Englishman over his shoulder while the
+Austrian followed swiftly shouting orders to his assistants. "Follow me,
+Spivak! The Park gates, Hadwiger! Let no vehicle get out! Linder, notify
+Lengelbach--the telegraph!"
+
+Renwick went fast but Herr Windt and the puffing Spivak kept at his
+heels as they reached the garden, crossing it at full speed toward the
+arbor, whither Renwick led them as though by an inspiration, through the
+bushes and toward the small gate beyond, which led to the door in the
+wall, over which a week ago he had climbed in his hurried flight with
+Marishka to Vienna.
+
+Renwick was thinking rapidly. Had Marishka escaped alone--perhaps
+devised a plan of her own to reach Vienna from Budweis in time to come
+up with the party of the Archduke? Or had someone----He doubled his
+pace, cursing his throbbing head and his own simplicity and impotence. A
+trap?
+
+"There is a door?" stammered Windt.
+
+"In the bushes just beyond--a private one--usually locked----"
+
+"Spivak! You hear?"
+
+"I could not know----" panted the other.
+
+"You should have known----"
+
+They reached the small flight of steps that led down, and dashed along
+the path among the bushes toward an open gate, emerging upon the road
+which marked the beginnings of the village street. There were a few
+people in sight, an old man hobbling upon a stick, a child with a dog,
+two peasants in the shade of a tree eating their midday meal--and down
+the road to the west--a cloud of dust!
+
+The peasants rose in alarm at the rapid approach of the three excited
+men, and turned as though to flee into the safety of the adjoining
+field, but Renwick overtook them.
+
+"You saw a lady come out of the gate yonder?" he questioned.
+
+"A lady, Excellency?"
+
+"Yes, yes. A lady and perhaps a gentlemen."
+
+"We are merely eating our dinner, Excellency. We--we have no wish to do
+harm to anyone."
+
+"Idiots!" cried Windt. "A motor-car? An automobile? Did you see it?
+Answer--or----"
+
+"A motor-car--Excellency?" the fellow stammered. "Yes--a motor-car."
+
+"How long since?" snapped Windt.
+
+"A moment only--it was here--just here--and now it is gone----"
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Y-yonder----" and he pointed down the road.
+
+The three men exchanged frowning glances, but Herr Windt's were the most
+terrible of the three.
+
+"You saw? Speak--What color was this car?"
+
+"H--how should I know, Excellency? I was peacefully eating my dinner.
+See! It is but half finished----"
+
+"You will never eat what remains unless you speak the truth----" he
+roared.
+
+"I--I am speaking the truth----"
+
+"What color had this car?"
+
+"I don't understand----"
+
+"Its color, man--the paint?"
+
+"Oh! The paint----"
+
+"Speak! Blockhead----"
+
+"Excellency, I think----" he stammered in terror, "I think----"
+
+"What--quickly----"
+
+"I think, Excellency, that it was green."
+
+Renwick gasped. The face of Herr Windt wore a blank look as though he
+had suddenly received a glacial douche.
+
+"_Herr Gott!_" he muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow with an
+eloquent forefinger.
+
+"The green limousine!" muttered Renwick.
+
+For a moment all three men stood helplessly staring down the road toward
+the west, where the dustcloud was slowly settling on leaf and hedgerow,
+but there was a turn in the road which hid all objects beyond. Herr
+Windt was the first to recover his initiative.
+
+"Clever!" he muttered. "A message! Linder should have observed----But
+they will not get far. Come----" And he led the way at a quick trot in
+the direction of the village, where they reached the telegraph office at
+the railway station.
+
+While Herr Windt went inside to give his orders, Renwick sank upon a
+bench outside and tried to think of what had happened and what it might
+mean to Marishka and to him. The green limousine--a German secret
+agent--there could be no doubt, and he, Renwick, already warned of this
+possible danger to Marishka had permitted her to fall into this trap,
+while he had come off unscathed. His conscience assailed him bitterly.
+Trusting to the efficiency of Herr Windt's men he had slept--slept while
+Marishka was being carried off to danger--to imprisonment--or
+perhaps--he did not dare to think of anything worse. And Marishka must
+have connived at the plan for her escape! How had the message passed?
+And what was the lure?
+
+As the new idea came to him he rose quickly and moved toward the door of
+the telegraph office. He paused for a moment to adjust his monocle and
+it was fortunate that he did so, for there was a crash of glass at the
+window just by his head, followed by a cry of alarm within the room.
+Renwick dodged behind a projection of the building, and peered out while
+Windt and Linder came rushing from the office.
+
+"A shot?"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"I can't imagine. He can't have gone far."
+
+The four men raced out, Herr Windt with automatic drawn, but when they
+reached the freight station which seemed to be in the direction from
+which the shot had come there was no one in sight. Across the railroad
+was a patch of dense woods.
+
+Here Herr Windt paused.
+
+"He was shooting at _you_, Herr Renwick," he said calmly.
+
+"I haven't a doubt of it."
+
+"Go forward, Linder and Spivak--search the woods--but do no shooting
+unless attacked." Here Windt pocketed his weapon. "I regret, Herr
+Renwick, that my other business is of the utmost importance. You will
+come with me to the telegraph office, please."
+
+Renwick obeyed rather willingly. He was unarmed and saw no possible
+utility to his own cause or Marishka's in dodging around in woods which
+contained a person bent upon assassinating him.
+
+"You see, Herr Renwick, the matter is not ended."
+
+"I'm much more comfortable that it is not," replied Renwick grimly. "He
+shoots well."
+
+"You must be careful," said his companion casually. "Come inside.
+Hadwiger will watch." And he calmly took up his interrupted duty with
+the telegraph officer, with an air of impassivity, which of course, was
+part of his professional mien, but Renwick somehow gained the idea that
+his own death whether by shooting, poison, or other sudden device was a
+matter with which Herr Windt could have the least possible concern.
+Renwick sank into a chair and smoked a pipe, trying to think what he
+could do, listening dully meanwhile to the Austrian's dictated messages
+to the wire, delivered rapidly and with a certain military precision.
+
+"Stop all green motor cars traveling north on the Prague highroad--and
+all roads leading north. Report at once here by telegraph description of
+those arrested. Confirm this message by name of station." And then in
+quicker tones, "Send that to all telegraph stations in this district
+north and west of here--and quick, you understand--lose no time. When
+that message is sent I will give you another--for the Chief of Police at
+Prague." Then turning to the door as a new thought came to him he spoke
+to Hadwiger.
+
+"Go to the wood on the Prague highroad where the machine is concealed
+and bring it here. Quick. We may need it. You see, Herr Renwick, in ten
+minutes all the roads into Prague will be closed to them. Even if they
+reach the city they will be detained."
+
+Renwick did not reply. He was weighing the probabilities in his own
+thorough English way. His head still ached, but the pipe of tobacco
+aided his faculties. The thought that persisted in his mind was that
+Marishka had escaped from Herr Windt with the sole purpose of carrying
+out the object of her visit to Konopisht. He remembered the sudden
+interest she had displayed at the mention of the possibility of her
+having been followed to Konopisht by an agent of the Wilhelmstrasse.
+England could do nothing for her, Austria her own country stood
+helpless, while the Military Party, which alone possibly had the power
+to help her, still remained in ignorance of the plot. Germany! He
+remembered the look that had come into her eyes as he had confirmed the
+opinions of Herr Windt--an opinion borne out by the attempts upon his
+life and her safety in Vienna. But what of the man in the green
+limousine? She was a human document, as Herr Windt had said, which was
+destined for the safe, or possibly for destruction. By what means had
+the man in the green car lured her from the security of the cabin?
+Renwick could not believe, after all that he had done for her, that she
+would throw herself into the hands of a stranger on the barest chance of
+success without at least confiding in him. A shadow had fallen between
+them, a shadow and an abyss which had grown darker and deeper with the
+hours, but that he was her enemy--political, personal--he could hardly
+believe she could think him that; for he had done what he could--striven
+earnestly to help her reach the Duchess in safety. That he had failed
+was through no fault of his own. He could not understand her flight--not
+from Windt, but from him--without a word or a sign. It was not like
+her--not even like the Marishka who had chosen to call him dishonorable.
+However much she could repudiate his political actions, there still
+remained between them the ties of social consanguinity, the memory of
+things which might have been, that no wounded pride could ever quite
+destroy. But to repudiate him without a word--that was not like
+Marishka--not even the Marishka of today and yesterday. And while he
+tried to solve the problem in his own way, the telegraph instrument
+ticked busily on. Herr Windt leaned over the desk reading the messages,
+repeating the names of the towns which replied.
+
+"Beneschau--Pribram--Wrshowitz--that district is covered, Lengelbach?"
+
+"Yes. Ah, here is something."
+
+Windt bent forward again repeating the message aloud.
+
+"From Beraun--Franz--Schweppenheiser--and--a--woman--says--she--is--his
+--wife. Small--four--cylinder--car--American--make--black--in--color
+--with--brass--band--on--hood. Both--man--and--woman--have--grey--hair
+--age--seventy-two--and----" Herr Windt broke off with an oath,
+"_Schafskoepfen!_" he cried. "Enough of that----" And paced the floor of
+the room before Renwick, glaring impatiently out of the window.
+
+"Another," said Lengelbach, "from Bresnitz. Man--and--girl--much
+frightened----"
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Say--they--are--running--away--to--be--married."
+
+"Yes--the description----"
+
+"Man--dark--age--twenty-five--girl--yellow--hair----"
+
+"Bah!" furiously. "Enough--the next."
+
+For an hour or more, Renwick sat helplessly and listened while the
+different towns including the city of Prague responded. There was no
+green limousine in all Bohemia. At last, his patience exhausted, he rose
+and knocked his pipe out.
+
+"Herr Windt," he inquired calmly, "what reason have you for believing
+that they will go to Prague?"
+
+"The roads are good. The German border lies beyond," said Windt shortly,
+turning away.
+
+"Wait!" Renwick's hand clutched his arm firmly. "Is there a road running
+south and parallel to the highroad?"
+
+Windt regarded him in silence for a moment and then--
+
+"Yes, many--but most of them mere cow paths."
+
+"An automobile could pass over them, Herr Lengelbach?"
+
+"Yes, the roads to Bruenn are not bad," said the man.
+
+Renwick smiled grimly. "It is my belief, Herr Windt, that they have
+slipped through your fingers."
+
+"No."
+
+"You have exhausted almost every means----"
+
+"There are other stations----"
+
+"I would suggest that you try the country to the southward."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because that is the way that they have gone----"
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"I think you forget the Countess Strahni's mission--and yours."
+
+"She will not succeed."
+
+His stubbornness angered Renwick, and he caught him by the arm again,
+and whispered a few words in his ear.
+
+Herr Windt turned a startled glance at the Englishman. His mind had been
+bent upon mere machinery. When he spoke there was in his voice a note of
+respect.
+
+"Ah--it is worth considering. But how? The telegraph wires are now in my
+possession--here in this district to Budweis--to Vienna----"
+
+"Then why don't you use them?" asked Renwick bluntly.
+
+Windt stood stock still a moment and then went quickly to the desk.
+
+"Repeat that message to Budweis, to Gmund, to Altensteig and Absdorf.
+Also cover the Bruenn road. It can do no harm," he said turning urbanely
+to Renwick.
+
+"Perhaps not," said Renwick dryly, "if the harm is not already done."
+
+Together they listened to the clicking of the telegraph instrument. Half
+an hour passed. Hadwiger returned with the machine. Spivak and Linder
+came in from their fruitless search of the woods. The suspense was
+unendurable. Renwick, forgetting his danger, paced the road outside
+until a cry from Windt brought him into the office. The others were
+leaning over the instrument while Windt spelled out the words,
+"I-g-l-a-u t-w-o s-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n G-e-r-m-a-n o-f-f-i-c-e-r a-n-d
+w-i-f-e. G-r-e-e-n l-i-m-o-u-s-i-n-e p-a-s-s-e-d h-e-r-e t-e-n
+m-i-n-u-t-e-s a-g-o f-o-r V-i-e-n-n-a."
+
+"_Kollosaler Halunke!_" thundered Windt, his urbanity shattered to
+shreds. "They have taken the other road. Here, Lengelbach, take this
+quick. "Hold green motor-car man and woman." Send that to every
+telegraph station between Bruenn and Danube. Relay all messages to
+Budweis. I'm going there."
+
+And turning quickly he went toward the automobile, with a sign to the
+others to follow. Very politely he stood aside while Renwick entered,
+and with one of the men climbed into the rear seat while the other two
+got in front, Hadwiger driving at a furious pace. For a long time they
+went in silence, Herr Windt sitting with folded arms, his brows tangled
+in thought. To acknowledge that he had been outwitted had been galling,
+but to let this English creature of pipe and monocle indicate, in the
+presence of his own underlings, the precise means of his discomfiture
+was bitter indeed. At last his lips mumbled vaguely.
+
+"Still I do not understand," they said.
+
+"A note wrapped around the coin," suggested Renwick.
+
+"_Ach, so._ It is very probable. The simplest expedients are often the
+most effective. Still it is remarkable that they have slipped through."
+
+"The green limousine goes to Vienna," said Renwick.
+
+Herr Windt had self-respect enough for a rather cynical smile.
+
+"And after Vienna?" he asked.
+
+Renwick shrugged.
+
+"That will depend upon the efficiency of the Austrian Secret Police."
+
+"Meaning, precisely what, Herr Renwick?"
+
+"Merely that the Wilhelmstrasse is skillful, Herr Windt," he replied.
+
+"You mean that they will escape--here in Austria! Impossible!"
+
+"You will need all your wits," said Renwick dryly.
+
+The truth of the remark was soon apparent for when Herr Windt's party
+reached the telegraph station at Budweis, there were no reassuring
+messages. The green limousine had vanished into the earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+AN ESCAPE AND A CAPTURE
+
+
+In her flight from the cabin in the Archduke's woods, the Countess
+Strahni crept along in the shadow of the hedge which bordered the
+orchard, and reached the gate of the garden. She had seen the watcher in
+the orchard pacing to and fro, and, awaiting the moment when his back
+should be turned, she hurried swiftly on to the shelter of the garden
+wall, once within which, she thought that she would be safe from
+detection by the men of Herr Windt. She waited for a moment at the gate
+to be sure that the man near the cabin had not observed her, and noted,
+through the foliage, that he had not moved. Then summoning her courage,
+she crossed the garden boldly in the direction of the arbor--the fateful
+arbor of Austria's betrayal--and her own. In the path beyond it Hugh
+Renwick would be awaiting her--Renwick, the imperturbable, the
+persistent, the--the despicable. Yes, she was quite sure that she
+despised him, in spite of all his efforts on her behalf, so the thought
+that she was once more to be beholden to him in this hapless quest gave
+her a long moment of uncertainty as she reached the arbor. She paused
+within the structure, wondering whether, now that she had succeeded in
+eluding Herr Windt, it would not be better to flee into the castle, and
+enlist the aid of the servants in behalf of their master and mistress.
+She had even taken a few steps toward the tennis court, when she
+remembered--the telegraph in the hands of Austrian officials who had
+their instructions! That way was hopeless. The Archduke's chamberlain
+had, of course, gone south, and in the castle, beside the
+house-servants, there would have remained only the English governess,
+the children, and the housekeeper. There could be little help expected
+from them--only bewilderment, horror, or perhaps incredulity. She must
+go on to Herr Renwick, continue the impossible situation between them,
+hide her exasperation in a studied politeness, and trust implicitly, as
+she had done before, to his undoubted desire to retrieve his lost
+standing.
+
+She turned into the path which led from the arbor, and hurried through
+into the narrow path which led to the hidden gate beyond. Just here
+where the foliage was thickest, and not twenty yards from the spot where
+she and Hugh Renwick had listened to the pact of Konopisht, a figure
+stood bowing. She had been so intent upon seeing the Englishman that it
+was a full moment before she recovered from the shock of her surprise.
+The man before her was tall, with good shoulders, and wore a brown
+Norfolk jacket and a soft hat. His eyes were dark and as he smiled they
+wrinkled very pleasantly at the corners.
+
+Marishka halted and stared at him uncertainly.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she said. "I came here to meet----" She paused, for
+the thought suddenly entered her head that this perhaps might be another
+of the men sent to detain her. But in a moment she realized her mistake.
+The air with which the man swept off his hat and bowed convinced her
+that he was a gentleman and his manner put her at once at her ease.
+
+"Herr Renwick," he said, with a smile, "has gone on to make some
+arrangements for your comfort. He has asked me to conduct you to the
+automobile, and will join us beyond the village."
+
+An automobile! There would still be time, perhaps, to reach Vienna
+before the archducal party should leave for Bosnia.
+
+"Oh, of course," gasped Marishka thankfully.
+
+"If you will come this way, Countess----" he said, with something of an
+air. He bowed, but kept his gaze fixed upon hers. There was something
+very remarkable about this man's eyes--she could not tell just what it
+was--but they held her for a second, held her motionless until the hand
+which held his hat gestured for her to pass on. She took the walk before
+him, descended the steps which led to the lower path where he hurried
+forward and opened the door in the wall.
+
+Even now, no notion entered her head that this polite person was other
+than he represented himself to be. And the well equipped machine which
+stood in the road outside the wall only caused her a momentary thrill of
+joy at the opportunity which placed the means of their escape so readily
+at the hand of the now really admirable Herr Renwick. As she paused
+again for a moment, her companion threw open the door of the limousine,
+and lightly touched her elbow.
+
+"If the Countess Strahni will enter----" he said quietly. "There is
+little time to lose."
+
+Marishka obeyed and in a moment the man in the Norfolk jacket was seated
+beside her, the chauffeur had thrown in the gears, and the machine was
+moving swiftly upon its way. She sank back into the comfortable cushions
+with a sigh of satisfaction which did not escape her companion.
+
+"It was fortunate that I should have been in this neighborhood," he said
+with a strange smile. It was not until then that she noticed the
+slightly thick accents with which he spoke and she glanced at his
+profile hurriedly. His nose was aquiline and well cut, but the
+suggestion of his nationality was elusive. In spite of his evident
+gentility, his good looks, his courtesy and his friendship with Hugh
+Renwick, Marishka now had her first belated instinct that all was not as
+it should be. The man beside her looked past the chauffeur down the road
+ahead, turning one or two glances over his shoulder into the cloud of
+dust behind them. She noticed now that the car had not gone in the
+direction of the village, but had reached the country road which led to
+the west and was moving at a high speed which seemed to take the waiting
+Renwick little into consideration. All the windows of the car were
+closed, and she had a sense of being restrained--suffocated. For a while
+she did not dare to give her thoughts utterance, but as the car reached
+the Prague highroad and turned to the right, she started and turned in
+alarm to the man beside her.
+
+"You told me that Herr Renwick was waiting for us just beyond the
+village. Where is----?"
+
+The question trembled and died on her lips for the eyes of the man
+beside her answered before it was asked.
+
+"I regret," he said evenly, "that there is no time to wait for Herr
+Renwick."
+
+"You--you have----" she stammered helplessly.
+
+"I beg that the Countess Strahni will not be unduly disturbed."
+
+"Where are we going? This is the road to Prague. Tell me where you are
+taking me. I insist----"
+
+He smiled at her again, but did not reply.
+
+Marishka was now really alarmed and looked out of the closed windows at
+the flying hedgerows in desperation, wondering what she must do and
+trying to think how this dreadful mishap had befallen her. Hugh
+Renwick--his note to her--this stranger with the remarkable eyes who
+always smiled! Where was the missing link--what the deduction? But it
+was no time in which to lose one's courage. She turned toward the man
+beside her who was regarding her calmly.
+
+"Who are you?" she asked.
+
+[Illustration: "Who are you?" she asked.]
+
+His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked past her out of the window. Then
+he said politely:
+
+"The Countess Strahni is well within her rights in asking that question.
+I am Captain Leo Goritz."
+
+That meant nothing to her and she found herself repeating her question.
+
+He deliberated a moment.
+
+"I see no reason why I should not tell you," he said at last. "I do not
+desire a misconception of my personal motives--which I beg you to
+understand are of the highest. I am merely carrying out my orders to
+bring the Countess Strahni with all dispatch within the borders of the
+German Empire."
+
+"You--you are----" she paused in dismay.
+
+"Of the German Imperial Secret Service," he said quickly.
+
+Marishka sank back into her seat breathless with apprehension, the
+warnings of the hated Herr Windt dinning in her ears.
+
+"Then you sent----" She fingered the scribbled note which had not left
+her fingers.
+
+"I regret, Countess, that the situation made deception necessary. One of
+my men in the tree above the chimney. My orders were urgent."
+
+Marishka glanced about the machine helplessly, her thoughts, in spite of
+herself, recurring to Hugh Renwick, who must before long discover her
+absence and guess its cause. But there seemed no chance of escape. To
+open the door and leap forth into the road at this speed was only
+courting injury, and the calm appearance of Captain Leo Goritz seemed
+only the mask for a resoluteness of purpose with which she could not
+dare to cope. To cry out seemed equally futile for the road was deserted
+except for a few market wagons, the occupants of which were country
+louts who only stared dully as they passed. But in a flash the
+inspiration came to her. Germany! Germany could help her carry out her
+purpose to warn the Duchess before she reached Sarajevo. She glanced at
+her companion and found that his brown eyes had turned as though by
+prescience to hers.
+
+"Captain Goritz," she stammered, "I--I seem to be in your power.
+Whatever your authority for this--this restraint of my liberty--I submit
+myself----"
+
+He showed his fine teeth in a smile.
+
+"I regret that the Countess Strahni should have been put to this
+inconvenience."
+
+She made a motion of deprecation.
+
+"I beg that you will spare yourself meaningless civilities. I do not
+know the meaning of this outrage."
+
+"The Countess Strahni is far too clever to suppose that I can believe
+her----" he put in quickly.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Merely that an intelligence which can throw central Europe into a
+turmoil," and he laughed pleasantly, "does itself and me too little
+credit."
+
+"Oh, you know----" she gasped.
+
+"Yes, I know."
+
+She examined Captain Goritz with a new interest.
+
+"But you did not know the object of my visit to Konopisht," she went on
+desperately.
+
+"I confess," he said slowly, "that your sudden departure from Vienna was
+most mystifying----"
+
+"I will tell you," she went on excitedly. "I came to Konopisht to warn
+the Archduke Franz of a plot to assassinate him when he reaches
+Sarajevo----"
+
+"Ah! So that----" Captain Goritz started suddenly forward in his seat
+and faced her eagerly in an attitude of sudden alertness.
+
+"A plot! Serbian?" he asked sharply.
+
+"No--I----" Loyalty stifled her lips.
+
+"I see." And then keenly, "Austrian--as a result of your disclosures to
+the Emperor?"
+
+She eyed the man in amazement. He was omniscient.
+
+"A plot----" she stammered. "I do not know--I came to warn them--the
+Archduke and Duchess, but I was prevented from doing so. They----" she
+gasped again--"those who plan this dastardly thing are powerful--they
+control the telegraph. There was no way to reach them and so I came----"
+
+"Herr Windt----?"
+
+She nodded. "You know--he acts for them. He kept me in the cabin until
+it was too late."
+
+"I understand----" He nodded, his brows tangled in thought. "There can
+be no other explanation."
+
+"I heard. I saw--back there in the garden--Emperor and
+Archduke--friends. Oh, don't you understand? _He_ would do
+something----"
+
+Captain Goritz had sunk lower into his seat and with folded arms was
+gazing at the back of the man in front of them, but under his frowning
+brows his eyes glowed with initiative.
+
+"What you tell me is serious, Countess----" he muttered.
+
+"So serious that I beg you will listen to me," she went on almost
+hysterically. "The Duchess was my friend--I heard and I told what I
+heard----"
+
+"Yes. It is a pity, Countess Strahni."
+
+"But I did not know," she went on breathlessly, conscious only of the
+imminence of Sarajevo and of the power of the man beside her perhaps to
+aid her. "I could not know that I should be betraying her--the friend of
+a lifetime--to this--I did my duty as I saw it--to Austria. I am telling
+you this--a stranger--an enemy perhaps--because it is in your power to
+help--to prevent this terrible thing. Think! Think! It is your duty as
+well as mine--your duty to the one who shares with Franz Ferdinand the
+secret of the rose garden--his friend, and if God so wills--his ally. It
+is all so terrible--so bewildering. But you must see that I am in
+earnest--that I am speaking the truth."
+
+"Yes, yes," he said abstractedly, nodding, and then was silent, while
+the machine went thundering northward, every moment taking them further
+from Marishka's goal. She watched his face anxiously for a sign. His
+eyes glowed somberly but he did not more or glance aside. His problem,
+it appeared, was as deep as hers. For an age, he sat there like a stone
+figure, but she had the instinct not to speak, and after a while he
+straightened, leaned quickly forward and threw down the window in front
+of them.
+
+"What is the village before us, Karl?" he asked in quick tones.
+
+"Beneschau, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+"There is a road to Bruenn?"
+
+"Yes, a fair one, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+"Take it--and faster."
+
+That was all. Marishka knew that she had won. Captain Goritz was
+frowning at the dial of his watch.
+
+"Perhaps we are too late--but we can at least try," he muttered.
+
+"Whatever your mission with regard to me--that is unimportant--beside
+this other duty----"
+
+"Yes, yes. We shall need you. If you could reach the Duchess
+personally----"
+
+"She will listen. I have known her all my life."
+
+"Good. We must succeed." And then, figuring to himself. "Bruenn--one
+hundred kilometers--Vienna seventy more--five hours--six perhaps. They
+may not leave Vienna at once----"
+
+"The German Ambassador----" she suggested.
+
+"Of course." And then, turning suddenly toward her, his eyes intent, he
+said, with great seriousness: "Countess Strahni, for the moment your
+interests and mine are identical. The success of this project depends
+upon your silence----"
+
+"Anything----!"
+
+"One moment, please," he put in quickly. "I wish you to understand the
+seriousness of your position. Your security, your safety now and later,
+will depend upon your own actions. You have proved yourself politically
+dangerous to the peace--to the welfare of Europe. My mission was to
+bring you safely into Germany. Failing in that, I must exact absolute
+silence and obedience----"
+
+"Yes----"
+
+"You travel as my wife, the wife of a German officer going to Vienna for
+medical advice----"
+
+She flinched a little, but his air of abstraction reassured her.
+
+"Do you agree?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You have friends in Vienna. You must not see them. Have I your word?"
+
+"I have no wish but to help you."
+
+He examined her keenly.
+
+"I regret that the terms of our contract must be more explicit."
+
+"In what?"
+
+"I exact your word of honor to remain under my orders, to make no
+attempt to escape, to speak no word as to my identity or your own----"
+
+"Have I not told you that my own fate is unimportant if I succeed in
+reaching the Duchess of Hohenberg?"
+
+"And after that?" he asked keenly.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Merely that the same conditions as to yourself shall continue to
+exist."
+
+Marishka hesitated. What lay before her? It was incredible that harm
+could come to one of her condition at the hands of the servants of a
+great and Christian nation like Germany. She glanced at Captain Goritz.
+He was still examining her gravely, impersonally. There seemed little
+doubt as to the genuineness of his intentions.
+
+"And the alternative?" she asked.
+
+His expression changed and he looked slowly away from her at the flying
+landscape. "I regret that you are still oblivious to your danger. You
+and one other person in Europe were the witnesses to the meeting at
+Konopisht. His Majesty's government does not deem it expedient at this
+time that you should be at liberty to discuss the matter----"
+
+"But I have already spoken----"
+
+"That matters nothing if the witnesses are eliminated."
+
+His tones were quiet, but there was no doubt as to his meaning and she
+started back from him in dismay.
+
+"You mean that you would----"
+
+She halted again, wordless.
+
+"Political secrets are dangerous--their possessors a menace."
+
+"You--you would destroy----?" she gasped.
+
+"The evidence!" he finished.
+
+His voice was firm, his lips compressed, and he would not look at her.
+But she was still incredulous. Civility such as his and violence such as
+he suggested were incongruous. She took refuge from her terror in a
+laugh.
+
+"You are trying to--to frighten me," she stammered.
+
+"If you are frightened, I am sorry. You are in no danger, if you will do
+what I ask. I shall spare no courtesy, neglect no pains for your
+comfort."
+
+"Thanks. That is kind of you. You will gorge the goose that it may be
+the more palatable."
+
+He gave a slight shrug.
+
+"I am but doing my duty. In my position, Countess, one is but a piece of
+thinking machinery."
+
+"Yet it has been said that even machinery has a soul."
+
+He glanced around at her quickly, but she was looking straight before
+her at the narrow ribbon of road which whirled toward them. She was very
+handsome, this dark-haired prisoner of his, and the personal note that
+had fallen into her speech made their relations at once more easy and
+more difficult.
+
+"I regret," he said coolly, "that my orders have been explicit. I still
+demand that you comply with the conditions I have imposed. Your word of
+honor--it is enough."
+
+She paused for a long moment--debating her chances. She was selling her
+liberty--bartering it with a word--for Sophie Chotek. This was her
+atonement, and if she failed, her sacrifice would be in vain.
+
+She took a surreptitious glance at the profile of Captain Goritz. A part
+of the great machine that the world calling Germany he might be, but she
+read something in his looks which gave her an idea that he might be
+something more than a cog between the wheels.
+
+Some feminine instinct in her, aroused by his impassive performance of
+his duty, gave her new courage. Since they were at war, she would play
+the game using women's weapons. After all, he was a man, a mere man.
+
+When she spoke, it was with the air of calm resolution with which one
+faces heavy odds.
+
+"I am in your power," she said quietly. "I give my word of honor to do
+as you wish."
+
+And as his gaze dwelt for a moment upon her face--
+
+"I shall not break it, Captain Goritz."
+
+"Good!" he said, with an air of satisfaction. "Now we understand each
+other."
+
+Meanwhile the machine went thundering on, the man at the wheel driving
+with a skill which excited admiration. At times the speed of the car
+seemed frightful, for it swerved dangerously at the frequent turns in
+the road, but Marishka clung desperately to the arm-rest to save herself
+from being thrown into the arms of Captain Goritz, aware of her
+impotence, but conscious, too, of a sense of exhilaration in the
+wildness of their pace, which seemed at any moment likely to throw both
+the car and its occupants into the ditch. Her companion made no effort
+to resume the conversation and only sat staring forth watching the
+villages through which they passed, his brows deeply thoughtful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CAPTAIN GORITZ
+
+
+At Iglau, a town, as Marishka afterwards learned, inhabited largely by
+Germans, they stopped to replenish the petrol tank. But Captain Goritz
+wore a deep frown when he got into the seat with the chauffeur, who
+immediately started the car. They were off again.
+
+What this action portended Marishka could not know, nor could she
+understand the meaning of the conversation which immediately took place
+between the two men. But the car still moved forward as rapidly as
+before, and in a moment when they skidded around a passing vehicle and
+dangerously near a stone wall, she found herself wishing that Captain
+Goritz had chosen to enter the limousine, leaving all the wits of their
+astonishing chauffeur for the exigencies of the road.
+
+But as the front window was down, a tribute to the confidence her jailer
+now reposed in her, fragments of their conversation reached her.
+
+"A road--away from trunk-lines. Jarmeritz, perhaps.... It should not be
+difficult--a Peugeot if possible, or a Mercedes--its age would tell. At
+any time now.... A detour here, I think--there is a telegraph line along
+the hill yonder.... It would be better in a more desolate place, in the
+foothills of the Maehrische-Hoehe. It is a matter of luck, Karl. We must
+chance it."
+
+She saw the chauffeur nodding and putting in here and there a
+suggestion, while every little while she caught an allusion to herself.
+She had no inkling of the meaning of this extraordinary conversation nor
+of the way the man called Karl now slowed down as they passed other
+machines either going or coming, and gazed at them with a critical air,
+shaking his head as he passed on at redoubled speed. But the mystery was
+soon to be revealed to her, for on a long piece of level road which went
+straight through a strip of pine woods, she felt the machine leap
+suddenly forward and heard the comments of the men in front.
+
+"I cannot tell at this distance. A good one, I should say, and new." And
+gazing through the dust before her she made out the lines of a
+touring-car traveling rapidly in the same direction as their own. Karl's
+motor horn sent a deep blast, but the fellow in front was in no mood to
+give him the road. He repeated it loudly, warningly, encroaching upon
+the rear wheels of the touring car, and at last the other car slowed
+down, and as the road was narrow, drew aside into a shallow ditch. But
+instead of putting on speed in passing, as he had done before, the
+chauffeur Karl merely drew up a little ahead of the other car and held
+out his hand as a signal to stop while Captain Goritz quickly clambered
+down into the road and stood just below Marishka where she could quite
+easily hear the conversation which followed. The people in the touring
+car were a chauffeur, a stout man and a small boy. Captain Goritz was
+bowing politely.
+
+"Very sorry," he said, "but we are almost out of petrol."
+
+"There is a garage a few miles beyond," said the chauffeur of the
+touring car.
+
+But Goritz shook his head.
+
+"I wish to exchange cars with you--at once, please."
+
+The chauffeur and the stout man, who looked like a small magistrate, sat
+staring at Goritz as though they thought that he or they had suddenly
+been bereft of their senses. But Karl, who seemed to know precisely what
+to do, got down beside them and produced from his pocket a pistol, which
+he brandished in their direction. The meaning of the situation was now
+obvious, and the Austrians scrambled down in great alarm.
+
+Captain Goritz smiled at their precipitous movements and his voice was
+reassuring as he addressed the fat man.
+
+"I regret that we have no time to lose. I only ask you to exchange cars
+with me. Mine, I think, is the more valuable."
+
+But the others seemed stricken dumb and continued to stare wide-eyed,
+their mouths gaping open.
+
+"Would you mind telling me how you are equipped with oil and petrol?"
+asked Goritz coolly.
+
+"The tank is full," stammered the frightened chauffeur, still eyeing
+Karl's weapon dubiously. But by this time the fat man had regained some
+of his courage.
+
+"What is the meaning of this outrage?" he blustered.
+
+"We go upon a matter of life and death," said Goritz sharply.
+
+"And I----"
+
+His remark was cut short, for at that moment a bullet from Karl's pistol
+went off somewhere in his general direction, and leaving the boy and the
+chauffeur to their fate, he fled, a frightened behemoth, into the woods.
+
+Captain Goritz now opened the door of the limousine.
+
+"You will get down at once, please," he said quietly to Marishka. "We
+will go on in the other car." And while Karl transferred a suitcase and
+other personal belongings, Captain Goritz scribbled something upon a
+card which he handed to the astonished chauffeur. "If your master ever
+comes back and is not satisfied with his bargain, he should present
+himself at this address in Vienna and the matter will be satisfactorily
+arranged." And then as he got into the tonneau of the car beside
+Marishka, "I would warn you not to follow us too closely. It would be
+dangerous."
+
+Karl put in the gears and they started at once. "It would also be
+difficult, Herr Hauptmann," he said with a laugh, "for I have locked the
+switch."
+
+"Ah, it is better so," said Goritz calmly. "And now, by Jarmeritz, I
+should think."
+
+Karl nodded and, increasing the speed of the touring car, soon left the
+green limousine and its new owners far behind.
+
+The precision and speed with which the exchange of automobiles had been
+accomplished and the unruffled impudence of the demeanor of Captain
+Goritz gave Marishka a new idea of the caliber of the man upon whose
+mercies she had been thrown, a new idea of the lengths to which he was
+prepared to go in the performance of his duty. Success, the gaining of
+which might easily have been tragic, was by his command of the situation
+turned into something which seemed comically near opera-bouffe. She
+could not understand what it all meant and timidly she asked him.
+
+He smiled gravely.
+
+"Your friend, Herr Windt, will be trying to make our journey difficult
+for us. The green limousine was conspicuous. It was observed in Vienna.
+We shall be more dusty, but I hope otherwise quite as comfortable."
+
+"You think that we may be detained?" she asked anxiously.
+
+"We shall do our best to prevent that from happening," he replied. "The
+way is long and our paths must be devious, but I think we shall succeed.
+There are many roads to Vienna, Countess." And then, with an air of
+consideration, "I hope that loss of sleep is not wearing on you.
+Presently we shall get out and have something to eat."
+
+"Thank you," said Marishka with a grateful glance.
+
+She felt Captain Goritz's look upon her for a long moment after she had
+turned away. Marishka sighed gently. Her companion's gaze left her and
+he peered straight before him, frowning. All this she knew by her
+woman's sixth sense without even looking at him. Even a thinking machine
+must have its moments of aberration. In a little while, the choice of
+roads having been decided, he turned to her again and Marishka's eyes
+met his fairly.
+
+"You have not already regretted your bargain?" he asked quietly.
+
+"No," she replied, smiling at him. "If you succeed, I shall regret
+nothing. A pawn has small chance, when the fate of kings is in
+question."
+
+He was silent for a moment.
+
+"I hope that you will understand my position, Countess. It is not my
+wish to make war upon women----"
+
+"But one's duty is paramount, of course," she put in quickly. "I am not
+squeamish, Captain Goritz, but if my--my--er--elimination is necessary
+to your plans, it is only fair that I should be advised of the fact in
+time to say my prayers."
+
+He regarded her soberly. Was she laughing at him? Her mien was quite
+serious, but her tone was sprightly--even flippant.
+
+"It would be a matter of profound regret to me, Countess Strahni," he
+said, with some dignity, "if any misfortune should happen to you while
+under my charge."
+
+"It is so nice of you to put it that way," she smiled at him. "Under
+other conditions, you know, we might even have been friends."
+
+"I would be deeply pained if you should consider me an enemy," he
+replied.
+
+"_Ach! leider!_" she sighed. "A prisoner can have no choice."
+
+He made no reply to that and sank back into his favorite position with
+arms folded, staring straight before him. This girl was too handsome to
+quibble with. Her newly discovered cheerfulness disturbed him. He had
+known in abundance women of courage, women of skill in dissimulation,
+but he remembered that when they were both beautiful and clever it was
+the part of wisdom to be upon one's guard.
+
+Marishka glanced at Captain Goritz's well-shaped head in the seat beside
+her. It was to be war between them--war! A thinking machine! Was he? She
+smiled to herself. She knew that she had power. What handsome clever
+woman does not know it? Men had desired her--a Russian duke, an Italian
+prince. And an Austrian archduke even, braving the parental ire, had
+wished to marry her, willing even to sacrifice his princely prerogatives
+if she would have said the word. Hugh Renwick----She swallowed
+bravely.... But the sense of her power over men gave her a new courage
+to meet Captain Goritz with a smile upon her lips while she summoned in
+secret all her feminine instinct to aid her in the unequal struggle, a
+game needing both caution and daring, a game for high stakes--in which
+perhaps no quarter would be given.
+
+As they approached the environs of Vienna, the car now moved at a
+reduced speed and boldly chose the main highroads. Twice they were
+stopped and examined. This showed that all the machinery of the
+telegraph was now in operation, but the touring car did not answer to
+the given description and Captain Goritz's air of surprise and annoyance
+was so genuine that there was little delay.
+
+"Our friends of the Maehrische-Hoehe are fortunately still frightened or
+else quite satisfied with the green limousine," he laughed. "We shall go
+through, I think."
+
+"Shall we be in time?" asked Marishka.
+
+The German shrugged and looked at his watch. "We shall be in Vienna in
+twenty minutes."
+
+Marishka made no comment. As their journey neared its ending she
+realized that she was very tired, but the incentive that, had spurred
+her last night and all day still gave her strength to cope with whatever
+was to come.
+
+"To the Embassy," Goritz whispered, "and fast!"
+
+He had mounted again into the seat beside the chauffeur, and so Marishka
+did not question him, but his back was eloquent of determination. They
+drove boldly into the Ringstrasse and turned rapidly into a side street.
+Here the machine stopped again and Captain Goritz stood at the door of
+the tonneau waiting for her to descend. He led the way, walking rapidly,
+while Marishka struggled beside him as fast as her stiffened limbs
+permitted.
+
+"The Ambassador can succeed where we should fail. He must procure an
+interview for you. I think it may be managed unless----" He paused. "But
+we shall see."
+
+Silently Marishka followed into the Metternichgasse and up the steps of
+the Embassy and into a lofty salon where Captain Goritz bade her wait,
+and disappeared. A gloomy room with dingy frescoes of impossible cupids
+and still more impossible roses. Roses--the _leit motif_ of her tragedy!
+There were mirrors--many mirrors, all of which seemed to be reflecting
+her pallid face. She was weary and covered with dust, but not so weary
+as she was desperate. Why should she wait again, while Sophie Chotek was
+here--here in Vienna. Unable to remain seated, she rose and walked about
+the room, the eternal feminine impelling a rearrangement of her hat and
+veil at the long mirror near the upper end of the room. Beside her was a
+window which opened upon a small court. Opposite this window was another
+window from which came sound of voices. She listened. It was her
+privilege, for they were speaking of her.
+
+"...I acted upon my own judgment, Excellency. There seemed nothing else
+to do. The Countess Strahni has given me her word of honor. She will
+keep it."
+
+"But the telegraph----"
+
+"Sealed----"
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"I beg you to try it--at once."
+
+"Ah--the telephone!"
+
+Marishka heard the clicking of the instrument and the voice again asking
+for a number. Silence. And then,--"I do not understand...." A pause.
+"_Ach--so!_" Another click and tinkle of the bell. "_Donnerwetter_, Herr
+Hauptmann! You are right. They say there is a temporary derangement of
+the system."
+
+Another bell sounded. A door opened and shut. Then a question in the
+same voice.
+
+"Graf von Mendel, the Archduke Franz reached Vienna this afternoon with
+the Duchess on the way to Sarajevo. Where are they now?"
+
+Another voice replied, "I do not know, Excellency. They were at prayers
+in the Capuchin Church."
+
+"When does their train leave Vienna?"
+
+"At six--from the Staats Bahnhof--Excellency."
+
+"It is six o'clock now," cried the other voice in dismay. "We are too
+late----"
+
+Marishka heard no more. It was enough. Too late! She had failed. Her
+sacrifice, her atonement,--fruitless. She sank into a chair and buried
+her face in her hands, trying to think. But in her head was a dull chaos
+of sounds, echoes of her wild ride, and her body swayed as she sat. She
+had never fainted, but for a moment it seemed that she lost
+consciousness. She found herself presently staring through her fingers
+at the pattern in the gray aubusson carpet--and wondering where she was.
+Then she heard the voices again and remembered that she must listen.
+
+The voice of the one they called Excellency was speaking.
+
+"_Herr Gott_, Goritz! Austria's mad archdukes! The telegraph also
+closed! It is unbelievable. I must send a message in code to Berlin."
+
+"It would be delayed," said Goritz dryly.
+
+"But something must be done----"
+
+"If you will permit----"
+
+"Speak."
+
+"Excellency, this is a desperate game. I thought perhaps we should
+arrive in time to get a message through. But Herr Windt has wasted no
+time. We must suit our actions to the emergency----"
+
+"Of course. But how?"
+
+"Go to Sarajevo--at once."
+
+"But I----"
+
+"Not you, Excellency. I shall go. A railroad book, Graf Mendel, if you
+please. Today is the twenty-sixth. The Archduke goes by way of Budapest.
+We can save several hours, I think, by way of Gratz and Agram--if there
+is a train tonight."
+
+"And the Countess Strahni?"
+
+"Your Excellency may well see her usefulness merely in telling what has
+happened in her efforts to reach the ear of the Duchess of Hohenberg. No
+word from you to Archduke Franz could be more convincing----"
+
+"_Ja wohl_, even if I could send it----"
+
+"And you cannot--of that I am convinced."
+
+Another voice broke in.
+
+"A train at eight--Excellency--by way of Oedenburg and Brueck--reaching
+Marburg in the morning----"
+
+"Good!"
+
+"And from there," added Goritz, "by automobile along the new military
+road through Brod. We might reach Sarajevo tomorrow night--surely by
+Sunday morning."
+
+"If that would not be too late."
+
+"It is the only thing to do."
+
+A silence. And then--
+
+"The Countess Strahni is here?"
+
+"Yes, Excellency."
+
+"You will make proper preparations to leave at once--secretly--you
+understand. I will secure the necessary papers."
+
+"_Zu befehl_, Excellency----"
+
+Without waiting to hear the conclusion of the interview Marishka moved
+away from the window to the further end of the room, and when Goritz
+came some moments later she stood looking out upon the traffic of the
+street. Fortunately dissimulation was not difficult, as the growing
+darkness of the room hid her face.
+
+"We are too late," said Captain Goritz. "The Archduke's train has gone."
+
+"How terrible!" muttered Marishka.
+
+"Are you prepared to go on, Countess Strahni?"
+
+"Yes--yes, if----" she paused.
+
+"To Sarajevo--tonight--at once?"
+
+"Yes--at once."
+
+She realized that she was repeating his words like a parrot, but she
+seemed to be speaking, moving as in a dream. Captain Goritz came closer
+and examined her face in the dim light of the window.
+
+"You are tired?"
+
+"A little----"
+
+"I am sorry. I wish I could spare you further trouble."
+
+"It does not matter."
+
+Her voice was very close to tears.
+
+He paused uncertainly for a moment.
+
+"Countess Strahni, we leave at eight by the night train. I shall make
+arrangements for your comfort, a sleeping compartment. In the meanwhile
+you may go upstairs to a guest room of the Embassy and rest. If you will
+write a note asking for a valise with necessary articles of apparel, I
+will see that it is brought to you. A dark suit and heavy veil."
+
+He walked to the side of the room and touched a button. "You see," he
+said with a smile, "I am trusting you."
+
+"You are very kind."
+
+"_Bitte_. You will not mention the Embassy."
+
+"No."
+
+A man-servant appeared.
+
+"His Excellency wishes the Countess Strahni to occupy a room upstairs.
+You will inform one of the upstairs maids that everything is to be done
+for her comfort. You will also bring to his Excellency's office a note
+which Countess Strahni will write."
+
+The man bowed, then stood aside while Marishka went out.
+
+"At half-past seven, Countess----"
+
+She nodded over her shoulder to where the German stood with bowed head
+looking after her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+DIAMOND CUTS DIAMOND
+
+
+Captain Leo Goritz made it a habit to neglect no detail. There was but a
+little more than an hour of time, but he acted swiftly. At his request
+the Ambassador procured money, and from the War Ministry the necessary
+papers, a safe conduct for an officer of the Fifteenth Army Corps,
+returning to his regiment at Sarajevo with his wife. Graf von Mendel
+attended to the secret arrangements for their departure from the Embassy
+and booked the passage. Captain Goritz sat at a desk in a private
+office, upon which was a small copper teapot above a spirit lamp. The
+water in the pot was steaming. A servant knocked at the door and brought
+him a letter.
+
+"Ah! You followed my directions about the paper and ink?"
+
+"As you ordered, Herr Hauptmann. And a maid is with the Countess
+Strahni."
+
+"Very good. Wait outside and be prepared to take a message in an
+automobile."
+
+"_Zu befehl_, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+As the servant reached the door Goritz halted him.
+
+"The room which the Countess Strahni has is not on the side toward the
+British Embassy?"
+
+"No, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+"Very good. You may go."
+
+The man withdrew, closing the door gently. And Captain Goritz took the
+note of the Countess Strahni and held it in front of the copper teapot,
+moving it to and fro, the back of the envelope in the jet of steam. In a
+moment the flap of the envelope curled back and opened. The thing was
+simplicity itself. He took two slips of paper out of the envelope and
+read them through attentively, smiling amusedly as he did so. Then
+without waste of time, he put one of the notes before him, and drawing
+some writing paper nearer wrote steadily for ten minutes, tearing up
+sheet after sheet and burning each in turn. At last apparently satisfied
+with what he had written he put the sheet aside and burned the original
+note in which he had been so interested. Then he addressed several small
+envelopes, glancing from time to time at the other note of the Countess
+Strahni upon the desk in front of him. The envelopes all bore the words,
+
+     HERR HUGH RENWICK Strohgasse No. 26 Wien.
+
+At last, critically selecting one of those he had written, he burned the
+others, and folding the note enclosed it in the smaller envelope, which
+he sealed carefully, putting it with the Countess Strahni's letter into
+the original and larger envelope, which he pasted anew and carefully
+closed. Then he rang the bell, and when the man appeared:
+
+"You will take this note to the given address. You will explain that the
+note within is to be delivered tonight at eight o'clock. Then you will
+wait twenty minutes for a suitcase or valise and bring it here. That's
+all. And hasten."
+
+"_Zu befehl_, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+Goritz sat for a moment--just a moment of contemplation. It was merely a
+thread of possibility, a chance, if other expedients had failed, but
+thoroughly worth taking. His man Kronberg was a good shot, but he might
+have missed, and if so Europe was large, and Herr Renwick clever. The
+hook of Leo Goritz was baited with a delectable morsel--most
+delectable--it would have been childish not to use it. Where Marishka
+Strahni was, there also was the heart of Renwick--the Englishman with
+the nine lives--the last of which must be taken.
+
+This duty accomplished, Goritz went to a room upstairs, bathed and
+dressed in the uniform which had been provided, packing a large bag with
+several objects besides clothing and necessities of the toilet,
+including two automatic pistols, and went down to the Embassy office.
+All this had occupied an hour. He was awaiting Marishka when, somewhat
+refreshed and newly attired, she descended and entered the Embassy
+office. His Excellency rose and bowed over her hand--
+
+[Illustration: His Excellency rose and bowed over her hand--]
+
+"Captain Goritz tells me that you have consented to help us in this
+extraordinary affair. I wish you Godspeed, Countess Strahni, and a safe
+return," he added with some deliberateness.
+
+She glanced at Captain Goritz who stood in a military attitude, but he
+only smiled politely and said nothing.
+
+"I thank Your Excellency for your hospitality and protection," she said
+slowly. "I am sure that I shall be quite safe with Captain Goritz----"
+
+"Ober Lieutenant Carl von Arnstorf, at your service," corrected Goritz,
+"of the Third Regiment, Fifteenth Army Corps."
+
+Marishka smiled.
+
+"And I?"
+
+"Frau Ober Lieutenant von Arnstorf," said Goritz shortly.
+
+"It is necessary, I suppose?"
+
+Goritz bowed, and his Excellency added, "It simplifies matters greatly,
+Countess Strahni."
+
+Marishka shrugged. It was no time for quibbling.
+
+"The way is clear?" asked the Ambassador of von Mendel.
+
+"Quite, Excellency. The side street has been patrolled for ten minutes."
+
+Goritz opened a door which led to a small staircase, and he and Marishka
+descended and went through the kitchens to a small street or alley where
+a machine was awaiting them. A question--a reply from a man who had
+brought down their bags, and they moved slowly out of the alley into a
+small street.
+
+A bath, food, and a glass of wine had restored Marishka, and she now
+faced the immediate future with renewed hope and courage. Apart from the
+belief, fostered by the careful detail of her companions arrangements,
+that she might still be successful in reaching the ear of the Duchess
+before the royal train reached Sarajevo, there was an appeal in the
+hazard of her venture with Captain Goritz. He was a clever man and a
+dangerous one, who, to gain his ends, whatever they were, would not
+hesitate to stoop to means beneath the dignity of honorable manhood--an
+intriguer, a master craftsman in the secret and recondite, a perverted
+gentleman, trained in a school which eliminated compassion, sentiment
+and all other human attributes in the attainment of its object and the
+consummation of its plans. And yet Marishka did not fear Captain Goritz.
+There is a kind of feminine courage which no man can understand, that is
+not physical nor even mental, born perhaps of that mysterious relation
+which modern philosophy calls sex antagonism--a spiritual hardihood
+which deals in the metaphysics of emotion and pays no tribute to any
+form of materiality. Captain Goritz, whatever his quality, to Marishka
+was merely a man. And whatever the forces at his command, her promise,
+the half uttered threat as to her fate--which she had refused to take
+seriously--she was aware that she was not defenseless. The elaborateness
+of the Ambassador's manner, the graces of Graf von Mendel, and Captain
+Goritz's now covert glances advised her that she was still armed with
+her woman's weapons. Marishka was young, but her two years in the life
+of the gayest court in Europe had sharpened her perceptions amazingly,
+but she knew that if beauty is a woman's letter of credit worth its face
+value with a man, it can also be a dangerous liability. Captain Goritz
+differed from the gay idlers of the Viennese Court. The signs of
+interest he had given her were slight,--a courtesy perhaps a trifle too
+studied, a lingering glance of his curiously penetrating eyes which
+might even have been impelled by professional curiosity, a
+thoughtfulness for her comfort which might have been any woman's due,
+and yet Marishka did not despair.
+
+They reached the railway station uneventfully, where she learned that
+men from the Embassy had followed on bicycles as a matter of precaution,
+and the travelers found their compartment and were safely installed. She
+sank into her place silently and looked out of the window into the blur
+of moving lights as Vienna was left behind them. Upon the seat opposite
+her sat the newly created officer of the Fifteenth Army Corps, Ober
+Lieutenant Carl von Arnstorf, looking rather smart in his borrowed
+plumage. The intimacy of their new situation did not frighten her, for
+she thought that already she had read enough of her companion's
+character to know that at least so far she was on safe ground. She gave
+him permission to smoke without his asking it, and this, it seemed, made
+for the beginnings of a new informality in their relations.
+
+"There isn't the slightest reason," she said with a smile, "that you
+should be uncomfortable. Since you are doomed for the present to share
+my imprisonment----"
+
+"Doomed?" he exclaimed civilly. "You may be sure that I don't look upon
+such a doom with unhappiness, Countess. Are you very tired?"
+
+"A little. I shall sleep presently."
+
+"Do you know," he said as he thoughtfully inhaled his cigarette, "for
+the first time in my rather variegated career, I find myself in a false
+position."
+
+"Really! How?"
+
+"I will explain. I have had much dealing to do with women--with women
+of a certain sort. It is a part of my trade. Were you unscrupulous,
+intriguing, you would meet your match. As it is you have me at a
+disadvantage."
+
+"I?"
+
+"I have felt it--from the first. Even a secret agent has eyes,
+dimensions, senses. I am a little abashed as if in the presence of
+phenomena. Your helplessness and innocence, your loyalty and
+unselfishness--you must be sure that I am not unaware of them."
+
+Marishka laughed easily.
+
+"You restore my faith in human kind, Captain Goritz. You'll admit that
+your attitude toward me has been far from reassuring."
+
+"Countess, I beg of you----"
+
+"The alternative to disobeying your wishes--destruction--death!" she
+went on, shuddering prettily.
+
+"I am merely a cog in the great wheel of efficiency. I spoke
+figuratively----"
+
+"But of course you know," she broke in quickly, with another laugh,
+"that I didn't believe you. I haven't really been frightened at all. How
+_could_ I be? You're not in the least alarming. To face the alternative
+you imposed would take courage. I am easily frightened at a mouse. The
+deduction is obvious----"
+
+He laughed and then said soberly, "It is far from my wish to frighten
+you. That kind of brutality has its justification, but this is not the
+occasion, nor you the woman."
+
+"I was sure of it. If I hadn't been I shouldn't have come with you."
+
+"Ah!" Goritz straightened and stared at her. "But--your promise----"
+
+"I should have broken that and asked the first _gendarme_ in the
+Ringstrasse to take me home. You admit that the plan would have been
+feasible?"
+
+He shrugged.
+
+"The Countess Strahni's word of honor----"
+
+"Honor is as honor does and I am here, Captain Goritz."
+
+"I trust that you will have no reason to regret your decision."
+
+"That sounds like another threat."
+
+"It isn't. I actually mean what I say. A secret agent doesn't permit
+himself such a luxury very often," he laughed.
+
+"Then you're not going to murder me offhand----"
+
+"Countess, I protest----"
+
+"You wish my last moments to be graced with courtesy. I shall at least
+die like a rose--in aromatic pain."
+
+Her irony was not lost on him. He was silent a moment, regarding her
+soberly.
+
+"Countess, you are too clever to be unkind--your lips too lovely to
+utter words so painful. I could not do you harm--it is impossible. I
+pray that you will believe me."
+
+"I am merely taking you at face value, Herr Hauptmann," she returned
+coolly. "You have told me that you are merely a thinking machine, or a
+cog in the wheel of efficiency, which plans my elimination----"
+
+"A figure of speech. Your silence was what I meant."
+
+"Ah, silence! Perhaps. It seems that I have already said enough."
+
+"Quite," he smiled. "You have set Europe in a turmoil--another
+Helen----"
+
+"With another Paris in your background?" she shot at him.
+
+He smiled, lowering his gaze to the ash of his cigarette.
+
+"You speak in riddles."
+
+"It's your trade to solve them."
+
+"Do not underestimate my intelligence, I understand you," he laughed.
+"It is a fortunate thing for me that you are not a secret agent. My
+occupation would be gone."
+
+"It is a villainous occupation."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because no secret agent can be himself. It's rather a pity, because I'd
+like to like you."
+
+"And don't you--a little?"
+
+"I might if I thought that I could believe in you. If a man is not true
+to himself, he cannot be true to those that wish to be his friends."
+
+He was silent for a moment.
+
+"I think perhaps," he said quietly at last, "that you do me an
+injustice. I am merely the servant of my government----"
+
+"Which, stops at no means--even death."
+
+"I too look death in the face, Countess," he said with a slow smile. "It
+lurks in every byway--hangs in every bush."
+
+"It is frightful," she sighed, "to live like that, preying upon others,
+and being preyed upon--when the world is so beautiful."
+
+"The world is just what men have made it. I, too, once dreamed----" His
+words trailed off into silence, and he looked out of the window into the
+night.
+
+"And now?" she asked.
+
+Something in the tone of her voice made him straighten and glance at
+her. He had seen the same look in other women's eyes.
+
+"And now, I dream no more, Countess Strahni," he said abruptly.
+
+Marishka's gaze fell before his.
+
+"I am sorry," she said.
+
+There was another silence in which Captain Goritz took out another
+cigarette.
+
+"I do not think that I quite--understand you, Countess Strahni----"
+
+"Naturally," she broke in. "You have known me--let us see--a little less
+than twelve hours."
+
+Her smile disarmed him.
+
+"You are far from transparent, Countess," he said quizzically.
+
+"And if I were?"
+
+"It would probably be because you wished me to see something beyond,"
+with a laugh.
+
+"To one who deals in mystery and intrigue, sincerity must always be
+bewildering."
+
+"H--m! I was once stabbed in the back by a woman who was too sincere."
+
+The smile left Marishka's face. "How terrible!"
+
+"It was. I nearly died. It was my mistake, you see."
+
+Marishka was silent for a long moment. And then,
+
+"I'm afraid, Captain Goritz, that the world has left you bitter."
+
+"To the secret agent the world is neither sweet nor bitter. He has no
+sense of taste or of feeling. He is merely a pair of ears--a pair of
+eyes which nothing must escape----"
+
+"Deaf to music--blind to beauty," sighed Marishka. "From the bottom of
+my heart I pity you."
+
+Captain Goritz gazed at her for a long moment, in silence, then his eyes
+narrowed slightly and his voice was lowered.
+
+"It is rather curious, Countess Strahni, that you should hold in such
+low esteem a profession practiced by one of your most favored friends."
+
+"Mine?" she questioned, startled.
+
+"Herr Renwick," he replied dryly, "is a secret agent of the Serbian
+government."
+
+A gasp escaped her, and she struggled for her composure at the mention
+of Hugh Renwick's name.
+
+"That is impossible."
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said politely, "I happen to know it to be the
+truth."
+
+She laughed uneasily.
+
+"Until two weeks ago Herr Renwick was an attache of the British
+Embassy," she asserted.
+
+"Of course. But he has been also in the pay of the Serbian
+government--Austria's enemy."
+
+"You are misinformed," she gasped.
+
+"I beg your pardon. England and Serbia are on excellent terms. You will
+not deny that Herr Renwick has been to Belgrade in the last two weeks?"
+
+"You--you----" she paused in consternation, aware again of this man's
+omniscience.
+
+"The details had not been clear until my return to Vienna. Think for a
+moment. Herr Renwick visits Belgrade and Sarajevo while a plan is
+arranged to take the life of the Archduke Franz. It is well within the
+bounds of possibility----"
+
+"Your skill in invention does you credit," she put in quickly, "but Herr
+Renwick has no interest in the death of the Archduke. On the contrary,
+he has done what he could to save him."
+
+"You will admit that it was Renwick who gave you the information of this
+plot."
+
+"Yes--but----"
+
+"One moment. You'll also admit that he gave no authority for his
+information."
+
+"But he did what he could to help me warn the Archduke."
+
+"H--m! You did not know perhaps that it is to Serbia's interest and to
+Renwick's to warn the Archduke. Austria needs a pretext to make war on
+Serbia. Every diplomat in Europe is aware of that. If the Archduke is
+attacked in Sarajevo, war will be declared on Serbia within a week."
+
+He paused a moment watching Marishka's face, intent upon its changing
+expressions.
+
+"Herr Renwick is no enemy of Austria," she asserted firmly.
+
+"If he is no enemy of Austria, how could he act for the Serbian
+government, which follows instructions from St. Petersburg? Herr Renwick
+knew of the plot against the life of the Archduke, for he told you of
+it. Where did he learn of it? In Sarajevo or Belgrade, where it was
+hatched. Who informed him? His friends of the Serbian Secret Service who
+live among the anarchists at Sarajevo and Belgrade."
+
+"I do not believe you."
+
+"You must. Serbia has done what she can to prevent this crime. His
+Excellency tells me that today the Serbian Minister in Vienna pleaded
+with the Austrian Ministry to use its efforts to have the visit of the
+Archduke Franz postponed. He was ignored."
+
+He paused and flecked his cigarette out of the window, while Marishka
+gazed straight before her, trying to think clearly of Hugh Renwick. A
+Serbian spy! It was impossible. And yet every word that this man spoke
+hurt her cruelly. Renwick had been in Sarajevo and Belgrade, for he had
+told her so. He alone of all persons outside the Secret Government of
+Austria had been in a position to know the details of the plot and to
+prepare her for them. He had sought to use her in warning the Duchess,
+not as an agent of humanity and Christian charity, but as the emissary
+of the cowardly and vicious government across the border, Austria's
+enemy, Serbia the regicide and the degenerate, about the fate of which
+hung the peace of Europe. Hugh Renwick!
+
+Her mind refused her. Fatigue and want of sleep were making her
+light-headed. She would not believe. She shut her eyes and by an effort
+of will managed to get control of her voice. "I find that I am very
+tired, Captain Goritz," she said quietly.
+
+"Ah, it was very thoughtless--inconsiderate of me," he said, with sudden
+accents of civility. "It is very painful to believe ill of those to whom
+one is attached," he finished suavely.
+
+"You are mistaken," she said slowly. "There is no attachment between
+Herr Renwick and me."
+
+"A friend, let us say, then," he put in keenly, "in whom one is
+disappointed."
+
+"It is nothing to me, Captain Goritz," she said, meeting his eyes
+bravely, "what Herr Renwick is or does."
+
+He smiled and bowed.
+
+"Still," he said with his exasperating pertinacity, "it is of course
+interesting to know the truth. It would perhaps be still more
+interesting to know what Herr Renwick has to say in regard to the
+matter."
+
+"I do not care what Herr Renwick would have to say. I do not expect to
+see Herr Renwick again, Captain Goritz, in Vienna or elsewhere."
+
+He smiled at her politely.
+
+"But you will admit, it is not within the bounds of possibility. Herr
+Renwick is clever--indefatigable----"
+
+Marishka started up in her seat.
+
+"You mean?"
+
+"Merely that Herr Renwick is not easily discouraged. I would not be in
+the least surprised if he followed us on to Sarajevo."
+
+Marishka stared at her companion for a moment and then sank back in her
+seat.
+
+"Oh," she gasped.
+
+Her long sustained effort to keep pace with events had been too much for
+her. Her faculties failed to respond, and she closed her eyes in an
+attempt to obliterate all sight and sound. Dimly she heard the voice of
+Captain Goritz above the grinding of the brakes of the train.
+
+"I am sorry that you are so tired, Countess Strahni. I shall now leave
+you to your own devices. We have reached Brueck, and I shall go to
+another compartment. I shall arrange with the guard to see to your
+comfort."
+
+The train stopped and the guard opened the door.
+
+"Good-night, _liebchen_," he said with a smile. And as she opened her
+eyes in astonishment, she heard him say to the guard:
+
+"Frau Lieutenant von Arnstorf desires to sleep. I am going to smoke with
+a friend in the adjoining carriage. She is not to be disturbed. You
+understand."
+
+The man saluted and closed the door, and Marishka was alone. With an
+effort she rose and mechanically made her dispositions for sleep,
+thinking meanwhile of the words of Captain Goritz and feeling a dull and
+unhappy sense of disappointment and defeat. There was a latent cruelty
+under his air of civility which astonished and terrified her. And the
+revelations with regard to Hugh Renwick, astounding though they were,
+had in them just enough of a leaven of fact to make them almost if not
+quite credible. Hugh Renwick, the man she had chosen--a friend, a paid
+servant of atrocious Serbia! She could not--would not believe it. And
+yet this man's knowledge of European politics was simply uncanny. If his
+civility had disarmed her earlier in the day, if she had been able to
+speak lightly of the threat of her imprisonment, the fear that had
+always been in her heart was now a blind terror--not of the man's
+passions but of his lack of them. He was cold, impenetrable,
+impervious--a mind, a body without a soul. He haunted her. She lay on
+her couch and stared wide-eyed at vacancy. The sound of his voice still
+rang in her ears. She wondered now why the memory of it was so
+unpleasant to her. And then she thought she knew that it was because the
+magnetism of his eyes was missing. His body was a mere shell covering an
+intricate piece of machinery. She tried to think what it must be like to
+be actuated by a mind without a soul. She had pledged herself obedience
+to this man, trusting to her implicit faith in the ultimate goodness of
+every human creature to bring her through this venture safe from harm.
+
+Vaguely, as though in dreams, she remembered that this man had thought
+that Hugh Renwick would follow her to Sarajevo. She had written him a
+note of warning telling him to leave for England at once. Would he
+disregard her message, discover where she had gone, and if so, would he
+follow? Renwick's sins, whatever they were, seemed less important in
+this unhappy moment of her necessity. He had failed her in a crucial
+hour----
+
+She started up from her couch a smile upon her lips. Hugh Renwick was no
+Serbian spy. The man, Goritz, lied. Hugh Renwick and Goritz--it was not
+difficult to choose! One a man who let no personal suffering--not even
+the contempt of the woman he loved interfere with his loyalty to his
+country; the other, one who used a woman's loyalty as a means to an
+end--cruelly, relentlessly--which was the liar? Not Hugh Renwick. Weary
+and tortured, but still smiling, Marishka sank back upon her couch and
+at last, mercifully, she slept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE MAN IN BLACK
+
+
+It was after dark when the train bearing Herr Windt and Renwick reached
+the Franz Josef station, the stolen machine of Altensteig having been
+left at Budweis with Hadwiger, who was to return it to its owner and in
+the name of the state to make proper arrangements for compensation. Herr
+Windt, sadder if no wiser, took a _fiacre_ and drove off hastily,
+leaving Renwick to his own devices.
+
+To the Englishman, Marishka's case seemed desperate, for though the
+identity of the driver of the green limousine was unknown, his
+cleverness in eluding the net which Herr Windt had spread for him
+indicated him to be an agent of the Wilhelmstrasse, a personal emissary
+of those near the Kaiser, who was moving with great skill, using every
+means of a great organization to keep Marishka's mission and identity a
+secret. But Renwick was not the sort of a man that gives up easily. In
+the back of his head an idea persisted, and he planned to follow its
+development for good or ill to its conclusion.
+
+The correctness of his surmise as to the direction of Marishka's flight
+in the green limousine had convinced him that Vienna was not her final
+destination. He, too, took a _fiacre_ and drove at once to the apartment
+of Baroness Racowitz. Marishka's guardian was away, but a fee to the
+Austrian maid put him in possession of the facts.
+
+"No, Herr Renwick," she replied, "Countess Strahni did not return to the
+apartment, but she was in Vienna and had sent for a suitcase and
+clothing, which were delivered to a man who waited in an automobile."
+
+"What sort of a man?"
+
+"I couldn't exactly say, sir, a servant, a butler, perhaps; but there
+was a note for Herr Renwick."
+
+"Ah--give it to me."
+
+"My instructions were to deliver it at eight o'clock at Herr Renwick's
+residence in the Strohgasse. I have but just returned from there."
+
+Renwick started down the steps and then turned. "There was nothing
+else?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"You do not know where Countess Strahni is?"
+
+"I know nothing more than I have told you, sir."
+
+Renwick rushed out to the waiting _fiacre_, and bade the driver go at
+top speed. A note from Marishka! Under different circumstances this
+would not perhaps have been surprising. The difference that the change
+in their personal relations had wrought in the last few weeks, her mood
+during their hurried flight to Konopisht, her desertion of him, all of
+these circumstances made the fact of her writing to him the more
+significant. She had accepted his services in the escape from Windt,
+because he had forced them upon her, but he could not forget that she
+had afterward repudiated him and fled from him without a word of
+explanation of her sudden decision. His own personal danger had warned
+him that Marishka, his companion eavesdropper, would also be in jeopardy
+at the hands of those unseen forces which were working in the interests
+of the Wilhelmstrasse. Marishka had thrown herself into their power and
+was perhaps at this very moment in danger. But he was soon to know the
+facts. At his apartment his servant handed him the note and hastily he
+tore it open and read.
+
+     I have gone to Sarajevo. I must do what I can, but I need you. I am
+     a prisoner and in great personal danger if we are stopped en route.
+     Therefore move secretly, telling no one. Go to the Hotel Europa,
+     where I will try to communicate with you.
+
+     M. S.
+
+Renwick read the communication through twice, and then glanced at his
+watch. Nine o'clock. There was no time to go to the British Embassy in
+the Metternichgasse, though he would have liked to know if anything had
+been seen of Marishka at the German Embassy which was just adjoining.
+But he wrote a note to Sir Herbert, then called his servant, who packed
+a bag while Renwick bathed and dressed. At ten he was seated in the
+train for Budapest--a slow train that he had taken two weeks before on
+his mission to Belgrade.
+
+He had made this move on impulse, without second thought, for Marishka's
+message as to her destination again justified his surmises and
+corroborated his fears as to her perilous situation. No other thoughts
+save those of her danger and her need of him had entered his head, and
+he had moved quickly, aware that any loss of time might be fatal to his
+hope of helping her. But seated in his compartment of the railway
+carriage, he had time to consider the note in all its aspects and in its
+relation to the extraordinary events of the day. There were but two
+other occupants of the carriage, an old gentleman with a white beard,
+and a young Hungarian officer--a vacuous looking youth in
+uniform--neither of them obviously of material from which secret service
+agents are made. After the experience at the Konopisht railway station,
+Renwick had no humor to be shot at in such close quarters, where the
+range would necessarily be deadly. He settled his automatic comfortably
+in his pocket, and after another and more reassuring inspection of his
+travelling companions he took out Marishka's note and examined it
+carefully.
+
+The knowledge he possessed as to her situation suggested caution. An
+agency which could attempt to take his life would not be above forgery.
+Marishka's hand? There seemed no doubt of it. It was not difficult for
+Renwick to remember the peculiarities of her angular writing. The notes
+he had received from her, invitations, appointments, apologies--very
+often apologies, he remembered with a slow smile--dainty, faintly
+scented missives on gray paper which bore her crest, differed from this
+hurriedly written scrawl on a heavier paper which he had no means of
+identifying. Only upon closer inspection did he discover a hesitation in
+the lower curves and upward strokes of the letters which were not
+characteristic of the decisive Marishka.
+
+Without being certain of its spuriousness, he came to the conclusion
+that because of its contents, the note was for the present to be
+regarded as an object for suspicion. Would Marishka--the Marishka who a
+few hours ago had treated him with such acidulous politeness--write, "I
+need you"? Could contemptuous silence be turned so quickly into urgent
+appeal? Her danger made such a transition a possibility, and if she was
+now ready to recant, all the more reason why he should obey. The one
+thing about the message which struck a jarring note was the request for
+secrecy under plea of personal danger. And if a forgery--why should his
+enemies speak of her personal danger? A lure! So obvious a one that only
+the veriest dolt could be deceived by it. The situation then resolved
+itself into this: He was invited to go to Sarajevo--if by Marishka, to
+save her from personal danger or abduction by her captor--if by the
+German agent, with Marishka as a lure, to be the victim of a conspiracy
+which planned either murder or imprisonment. And, however keen his own
+prescience, Renwick realized that the note had so far succeeded in its
+object. He was on his way.
+
+He was too tired tonight to do the situation justice, for the blow at
+the back of his head had taken some of his strength, and he realized
+that without sleep his utility would be impaired for the morrow. And
+after a glance at his companions, he decided to chance it, and settling
+himself comfortably, he was soon heavily sleeping.
+
+Renwick was awakened some while later by the young Hungarian officer's
+cursing as he stumbled over the Englishman's feet. A glance at his watch
+showed Renwick that he had slept four hours. It was dawn. Beside him at
+the further end of the seat the old man with the white beard still
+slept. Renwick glanced out of the window and found that the station was
+Vacz. They were twenty or thirty miles from the Hungarian capital. The
+morning was cool, and Renwick stepped down from the open door upon the
+platform and stretched his limbs, sniffing the air eagerly. He felt
+renewed, invigorated, and the ache at his head was gone. He had made no
+plans beyond the very necessary one of getting money at the British
+Consulate and taking the first train south. The difficulties in making
+proper connections, the probability that somewhere he must desert the
+railroad and beg, buy, or steal a motor car, and the ever present danger
+of a shot from a German agent confronted him, but in his early morning
+humor nothing seemed impossible. He would get through in some way and
+find a means of reaching Marishka! And if Marishka were already spirited
+away? He would find her and the green limousine chap with whom he would
+have a reckoning.
+
+Impatient of the delay of the train, he took out his cigarette case and
+was about to smoke, when the warning of the guard was shouted, and he
+got into his carriage, followed by another traveler who clambered in at
+the last moment and sank into the seat opposite. As the train moved, the
+two men scanned each other in the light of the growing dawn which now
+vied with the flickering light of the overhead lamp in their
+compartment. The stranger was a very tall man in dark clothes, who gave
+an instant impression of long rectangularity. He had a long nose, a long
+upper lip which hung over a thin slit of a mouth which resembled a
+buttonhole slightly frayed by wear. His chin was long and square and,
+like his upper lip, blue, as though a stiff black beard were in constant
+battle with a razor. His eyes were large and regarded Renwick with a
+mild melancholy as he bowed the Englishman a good morning. Renwick
+nodded curtly. He had planned another nap and hardly relished sitting
+awake and staring at the sepulchral visitor. Where last night's
+weariness had sealed his eyes to the ever-present sense of danger,
+morning brought counsel of caution and alertness. The leanness of the
+huge intruder was of the kind that suggested endurance rather than
+malnutrition, a person who for all his pacific and rather gloomy
+exterior, could be counted on to be extremely dangerous.
+
+In a situation where any man might prove to be his hidden enemy, Renwick
+was learning to be wary. And so upon his guard for any movement of
+hostility, he sat bolt upright and smoked his cigarette, puffing it
+indolently into the face of his solemn companion. Beyond the first
+greeting, no words passed between them, and the Englishman, more at his
+ease, looked out of the window at the low marshlands along the river and
+planned the business which brought him. Day came swiftly, and before the
+train reached the city the sun was up in smiling splendor, melting the
+pale fogbanks of the Danube valley beneath its golden glow.
+
+At the Westbahnhof, Renwick got down, and bag in hand made his way to
+the railway restaurant for a cup of coffee. The keen morning air had
+made him hungry, and he breakfasted like a man who does not know where
+his next meal is coming from. It was not until he paid his check and got
+up from the table that he noticed his gigantic companion of the train
+doing likewise, but he gave the matter no thought, and getting into a
+waiting _fiacre_ drove to the British Consulate to make some necessary
+arrangements, including the procuring of money for possible large
+expenses. The Archduke and Duchess, he discovered, had slept in their
+car, which had been shifted to a train that had left for the south in
+the early hours of the morning. The service on the road was none too
+good, except that of the Orient Express, which had gone through last
+night, but by haste Renwick managed to catch the nine o'clock train for
+Belgrade, planning to get off it at Ujvidek and trust to Providence for
+an automobile.
+
+He was no sooner comfortably seated in his compartment and
+congratulating himself upon its emptiness, which would permit of
+opportunity for sleep, when the door was thrown open and his tall
+companion of the early morning solemnly entered. Renwick did not know
+whether to be surprised or angry, and finished by being both, glancing
+at the intruder through his monocle in a manner distinctly offensive.
+But the tall man if aware of the Englishman's antagonism gave no sign of
+it, clasping his cotton umbrella with large bony hands and gazing
+gloomily at the passing landscape.
+
+An accidental meeting of two travelers bound in the same direction?
+Perhaps. But there was too much at stake for Renwick to be willing to
+take chances, and yet he could not kill and throw out of the window an
+entire stranger who looked like the proprietor of a small confectionery
+shop, in mourning for a departed friend. Of course there was nothing to
+be done, but the man's presence irritated Renwick. As the moments went
+on, and the man still silently stared out of the window, Renwick's
+choler diminished. The fellow was quite harmless, a person from whom
+murder and secret missions were miles asunder. If the man of the green
+limousine had foreseen that Renwick would take the nine o'clock train
+for Budapest and had set this behemoth upon him, the man would have made
+an attempt upon his life this morning in the ride between Vacz and the
+capital. And how, since the telegraph lines were closed to the German
+agent, could this person have been put upon the scent? It hardly seemed
+possible that this was an agent of Germany. And yet as the miles flew
+by, the stranger's silence, immobility and unchanging expression got on
+Renwick's nerves. He was in no mood to do a psychopathic duel with a
+sphinx.
+
+The morning dragged slowly. At Szabadka he got down for lunch and was
+not surprised to see his traveling companion at his elbow, eating with a
+deliberation which gave Renwick a momentary hope that the train might
+get off without him. Renwick was already in his carriage and the guard
+calling when the fellow stalked majestically from the eating-room
+munching at the remains of his _Boehmische Dalken_ and entered the
+carriage, still clinging to the cotton umbrella, and quite oblivious of
+the powdered sugar with which he was liberally besmeared. Secret agent!
+The man was a joke--a rectangular comedy in monosyllables.
+
+There was no connection for Brod at Szabadka until late in the afternoon
+and Renwick hoped to make better time by going on to Ujvidek, a large
+town, somewhat sophisticated, where the buying or hiring of a machine
+would be a possibility. During the afternoon he took Marishka's letter
+from his pocket and studied it again, now quite oblivious of the
+creature who had curiously enough resumed the same seat opposite him.
+And in his concentration upon the problem of the note the man was for
+the moment forgotten. It was only when he glanced up quickly and quite
+unintentionally that he saw the gaze of his neighbor eagerly watching
+him. It was only a fleeting glance, but in it, it seemed, the whole
+character of his fellow traveler had changed. His hands still clasped
+the umbrella, the sugar was still smeared upon his sallow cheeks, but it
+seemed that his eyes had glowed with a sudden intentness. A second later
+when Renwick looked at him again, the man was staring dully at the
+passing cornfields and vineyards and he thought he had been mistaken. He
+would have liked to know more of this fellow, and was again tempted to
+try to draw him out but the recollection of his former venture dismayed
+him. So he relapsed into silence and lying back in his seat, one hand in
+his pocket, he closed his eyes and feigned slumber, watching the man
+through his eyelashes. For a long while nothing happened. Then at last
+as Renwick's breathing became regular the giant's head turned, and his
+eyes regarded the Englishman stealthily. Renwick did not move. But he
+saw his companion lean slightly forward while one hand left the umbrella
+handle, unbuttoned his coat and then moved very slowly behind him. That
+was enough for Renwick, who started upright and covered the man with his
+automatic. But the other had merely drawn a large and rather soiled
+handkerchief from a pocket of his trousers and was in the act of blowing
+his nose when he looked up and saw the impending blue muzzle of
+Renwick's weapon.
+
+Then his jaw dropped and his eyes flew wide open.
+
+"_Herr Gott!_" he stammered in a husky whisper. "Don't shoot!"
+
+Whether it was the pleasure of discovering that the man had at last
+found his tongue or whether the innocence of his purpose was explained,
+Renwick found himself much relieved.
+
+"Are you crazy?" the other was saying. "To draw a pistol upon me like
+that! What do you mean?"
+
+But Renwick still held the pistol pointed in his neighbor's direction.
+
+"I will trouble you to stand," he said quietly, "with your hands up and
+back toward me."
+
+The man stared at him wide eyed but at last obeyed, lifting his huge
+back to its full height, and Renwick ran an investigating hand over his
+hip pockets. They were empty.
+
+"Thanks," he said at last, "you may be seated." He felt a good deal of a
+fool but he managed an uncomfortable laugh as he returned the automatic
+to his pocket. "You see," he explained, "I owe you an apology----"
+
+"Yes, sir--such an outrage upon my dignity. I do not understand----"
+
+"Let me explain," went on Renwick, feeling more idiotic every moment; "I
+have an enemy who seeks my life and when you put your hand in your
+pocket I thought that you----"
+
+"It is strange that a gentleman in a railway carriage may not be
+permitted to blow his nose without being threatened with a pistol," he
+said hotly.
+
+"But you will admit, my friend, that your always being next to me in
+trains is at least suspicious."
+
+"_Donnerwetter!_ And why, for the same reason, should I not be
+suspicious of _you_?"
+
+"I trust at least that you have no enemies who seek _your_ life."
+
+"Who knows?" he shrugged. "Every man has enemies. I will thank you, sir,
+to keep your pistol in your pocket."
+
+"Willingly. And in return I may say that you may blow your nose as often
+as you please."
+
+"_Danke_," with some irony. "You are very kind. I suppose, if when
+reaching Ujvidek, I should happen to be going in your direction you
+would shoot me without further question."
+
+"That would depend on which direction you are taking," replied Renwick,
+with a sense of abortive humor.
+
+"I go to Brod--thence to Sarajevo----"
+
+"The devil you do----!" cried Renwick in English, starting forward and
+staring at the man. And then more calmly in German,
+
+"And how are you going?"
+
+The fellow paused and looked out of the window again. "As to that--I do
+not know," he said slowly.
+
+He had resumed his air of settled gloom, the dignity of which was
+somewhat marred by a vestige of powdered sugar upon his chin, but in
+spite of the low esteem in which Renwick had held him, all his former
+suspicions of the creature rushed over him in a moment.
+
+"And suppose that I, too, should be going to Brod and Sarajevo?" he
+asked brusquely.
+
+The stranger turned toward him a slow bovine gaze which gradually
+relaxed into the semblance of a smile.
+
+"_Ach so_," he replied blandly, "then it is just possible that we may go
+together."
+
+His manner was sphinxlike again, and the Englishman eyed him curiously,
+feeling a strong desire to kick him in the shins. But luckily he
+refrained, saying coolly.
+
+"And what means of transportation do you propose to employ? Of course
+you know there are no trains----"
+
+"_Natuerlich._"
+
+"Then how shall you travel?"
+
+"And you, Herr Shooter, how shall you go?"
+
+Renwick smiled indulgently.
+
+"If I took an automobile----"
+
+"I should be constrained to go with you."
+
+"Constrained?"
+
+"If you would invite me--or condescend to permit me to pay my share of
+the expenses."
+
+The man's personality was slowly expanding. Second class confectioners
+who venture on wild goose chases were rare in Renwick's acquaintance. He
+was becoming interesting as well as elusive, but Renwick was in no humor
+for further quibbling.
+
+"I regret that that is impossible. I go on alone," he said decisively.
+
+"_Ach, so_," said the other sadly. "That is too bad----" His words
+trailed off into a melancholy silence and he resumed his occupation of
+looking out of the window. The incident in so far as Renwick was
+concerned, was concluded.
+
+At least he thought that. At Ujvidek, when Renwick, bag in hand, got
+down upon the station platform, the stranger stood beside him, fingering
+his cotton umbrella foolishly and looking this way and that. But when
+the Englishman after an inquiry of a loiterer, started in search of a
+garage, he found his fellow traveler at his heels, and the frown which
+Renwick threw over his shoulder failed utterly to deter him from his
+purpose--which clearly seemed to be that of continuing his journey in
+the Englishman's company.
+
+When Renwick reached the garage and talked with the proprietor, a
+Hungarian whose German was almost negligible, the man of the cotton
+umbrella abandoned the doorway which he had been darkening with his
+shadow, and shuffled forward awkwardly.
+
+"If you will permit me," he said solemnly. "I speak the Hungarian quite
+well. I should be glad to interpret your wishes."
+
+The man's impertinence was really admirable. Renwick's desire to get
+forward on his long journey made him impatient of obstacles. He
+shrugged.
+
+"Very well, then. Tell him I must have a machine and chauffeur to take
+me to Sarajevo by way of Brod. I will pay him handsomely and in advance.
+I must travel today and all night. I must reach Sarajevo in the
+morning."
+
+"_Ach, so_," said the stranger, and Renwick listened to the conversation
+that ensued, endeavoring by the light of his small knowledge of the
+language to make out what was said. But he was lost in the maze of
+consonants.
+
+In a moment the interpreter turned with a smile.
+
+"It is good. There is a machine. This man will drive himself. The price
+is two hundred _kroner_ and the petrol."
+
+"Thank you. That is very good. I must leave within half an hour."
+
+Renwick produced money, the sight of which brought about an amazing
+activity on the part of the garage man. Renwick strolled to and fro
+outside, alternately smoking and watching the preparations for
+departure, while the melancholy giant stood leaning upon his umbrella in
+the doorway. What was he waiting for? Renwick thought that he had made
+his intentions sufficiently explicit. At last, his impatience getting
+the better of him, he stopped before the man with the umbrella.
+
+"I am greatly obliged to you for your kindness. But you understand? I go
+on alone."
+
+The man in black regarded him blandly.
+
+"That is not a part of the arrangement," he said.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"That I am to go with you."
+
+"I asked you to make no such arrangement."
+
+"It is a pity that perhaps I misunderstood."
+
+Renwick angrily approached the garage owner and tried to make him
+understand, but he only proceeded with his work with greater alacrity,
+bowing and pointing to the man in the doorway.
+
+"You observe," said the tall man, "that you will only complicate
+matters?"
+
+Renwick glared at the other, but he returned the look with an impudent
+composure, and Renwick, in fear of losing his self-control, at last
+turned away. Nothing was to be gained by this controversy. After all,
+what difference did the fellow's presence make? As a source of danger he
+had already proved himself a negligible quantity. So Renwick with an ill
+grace at last acquiesced, and within an hour they were on their way,
+crossing the Danube and turning to their right along a rough road by the
+Fruska mountains.
+
+The first accident happened before the machine reached Sarengrad, a
+blowout which made another tire a necessity. The second, a broken leaf
+of a spring, which made rapid travel hazardous. But it was not until
+nightfall, in the midst of a desolation of plains, that carburetor
+trouble of a most disturbing character developed. Renwick paced up and
+down, offering advice and suggestion and then swearing in all the
+languages he knew, but the chauffeur only shrugged and sputtered, while
+the tall man gurgled soothingly. An hour they remained there when
+Renwick's patience became exhausted, and he gave way to the suspicion
+which had for some time obsessed him, that the pair of them were
+conspiring to delay him upon his way.
+
+He came up behind the tall man who was bending over the open hood of the
+car, and catching him roughly by the elbow, swung him around and faced
+him angrily.
+
+"I've had about enough of this," he said. "Either that car moves in five
+minutes or one of you will be hurt."
+
+He moved his hand toward his pocket to draw his weapon but his wrist was
+caught in midair by a grip of steel that held Renwick powerless. The
+Englishman was stronger than most men of his weight and made a sharp
+struggle to get loose, but the man in black disarmed him as he would
+have disarmed a child, and calmly put the pistol into his own pocket. It
+was not until then that his bulk had seemed so significant, and the real
+purpose of his presence been so apparent. There was no use in battling
+with this melancholy Colossus who might, if he wished, break every bone
+in Renwick's body.
+
+"Herr Renwick, if it will please you to be reasonable," he said,
+releasing the Englishman and speaking as if soothing a spoiled child.
+
+At the mention of his name, Renwick drew back in growing wonder.
+
+"Who--who are you?" he asked.
+
+"My name is Gustav Linke," he said suavely. "I have been sent to keep
+you from coming to harm. You see"----and he patted the pocket which
+contained Renwick's pistol, "it is not difficult to run into danger when
+one is always pulling one's pistol out."
+
+"Who sent you?" demanded Renwick furiously.
+
+The man in black coolly picked up his cotton umbrella which in the
+struggle had fallen to the ground.
+
+"That is not a matter which need concern you."
+
+"I insist upon knowing and in going on to Brod without delay."
+
+The other merely shrugged.
+
+"I regret to say that that is impossible."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because my instructions were to keep you from reaching the Bosnian
+border until tomorrow morning."
+
+"You are----?"
+
+"Herr Gustav Linke--that is all, Herr Renwick."
+
+"An agent of----"
+
+"The agent of Providence--let us say. Come. Be reasonable. I am sure
+that the trifling disorder in the carburetor may be corrected. We shall
+go on presently. The night is young. We shall reach Brod perhaps by
+daylight. What do you say? Shall we be friends?"
+
+There was nothing else to be done. The disgusted Renwick shrugged and
+got into the tonneau of the machine, awaiting the pleasure of his
+captor. Out of the chaos of his disappointment came the one consoling
+thought, that whatever Linke was, he was not a German.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+FLIGHT
+
+
+The visions which disturbed Marishka Strahni in that dim borderland
+between sleep and waking persisted in her dreams. And always Goritz
+predominated--sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning but always cold,
+sinister and calculating. He made love to her and spurned her by turns,
+threatened her with the fate of the Duchess, whom she saw dead before
+her eyes, the victim of a shot in the back. There was a smoking pistol
+in Marishka's hand, and another figure lying near, which wore the
+uniform of an Austrian general--the Archduke Franz it seemed, until she
+moved to one side and saw that the figure had the face of Hugh Renwick.
+She started up from her couch, a scream on her lips--calling to
+Hugh----! Was she awake or was this another dream, more dreadful than
+the last? There followed a conflict of bewildering noises, as though
+night had mercifully fallen upon a chaos of disaster. She sat up and
+looked around her. A train.
+
+She gasped a sigh of relief as her gaze pierced the dimness of the
+elusive shadows. She remembered now. Captain Goritz. But she was still
+alone. She lay down again, trying to keep awake in dread of the visions,
+but exhaustion conquered again and she slept, dreaming now of another
+Hugh, a tender and chivalrous lover who held her in his arms and
+whispered of roses.
+
+It was daylight when she awoke. Captain Goritz was now sitting by the
+window smiling at her. She started up drowsily, fingering at her hair.
+
+"You have slept well, Countess?" he asked cheerfully and without waiting
+for her reply. "It is well. You have probably a trying day before you."
+
+Marishka straightened and looked out of the window past him at the
+sunlit morning. Could it be possible that this alert pleasant person was
+the Nemesis of her dreams? The world had taken on a new complexion,
+washed clean of terrors by the pure dews of the night.
+
+"Thanks, Herr Hauptmann," she smiled at him. "I am quite myself again."
+
+"That is fortunate," he said. "We are nearly at our journey's end--at
+least this part of it. Our train goes no further than Marburg."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"An automobile--a long journey."
+
+"I am quite ready."
+
+At Marburg they got down, and after Marishka had made a hurried toilet,
+they breakfasted in comfort at the Bahnhof restaurant. If Captain Goritz
+nourished any suspicion that they were being followed he gave no sign of
+it, and after breakfast, to Marishka's surprise, Karl the chauffeur
+appeared miraculously and announced that their car was awaiting them.
+
+"If I were not sure that you were Herr Lieutenant von Arnstorf," laughed
+Marishka, "I should say you were the fairy of the magic carpet."
+
+"The magic carpet--_ach_, yes--if we but had one!" he said genuinely.
+
+The motion of the automobile soothed and satisfied her. At least she was
+doing what she could to reach Sarajevo before the archducal party
+arrived, and as her companion hopefully assured her, with a fair chance
+of success. If Marishka could see Sophie Chotek, all her troubles would
+be over, for then the Wilhelmstrasse would not care to oppose the dictum
+of the Duchess in favor of one who whatever her political sins in
+Germany's eyes, had made endless sacrifices to atone.
+
+If Marishka succeeded! But if she failed?
+
+The morning was too wonderful for thoughts of grim deeds or the authors
+of them. The poisons distilled in her mind the night before were
+dispelled into the clear air of the mountainside, over which singing
+streams gushed joyously down. Birds were calling--mating; wild creatures
+scampered playfully in thicket and hedge; and the peaceful valleys were
+redolent of sweet odors.
+
+In the long hours of the afternoon Marishka's thoughts were of Hugh
+Renwick. Perspective had given him a finer contour, for she had Goritz
+to compare him with. She loved Hugh. She knew now how much. Her
+happiness had been too sweet to have had such a sudden ending. She had
+been unkind--cruel--broken with him even when he was bending every
+effort to aid her. He was trying to help her now for all that she
+knew.... She had written him a note from the German Embassy--just a few
+lines which she had enclosed with the message to her maid at the
+apartment--warning him that he was in danger and praying that he leave
+the country and return to England, a kindly note which by its anxiety
+for his safety conveyed perhaps more of what was in her heart than she
+would have cared to write had she believed that she was to see him
+again.
+
+What reason had Captain Goritz for believing that Hugh would follow her
+in this mad quest? How could Hugh be sure where she had gone and with
+whom? There had been a quality of the miraculous in the judgment of
+Captain Goritz. What if even now Hugh Renwick were near her? Her pulse
+went a little faster. Pride--the pride which asks in vain--for a while
+had been dashed low, and she had scorned him with her eyes, her voice,
+her mien, her gestures, all, alas! but her heart. The women of the house
+of Strahni----! Hugh Renwick had kissed her. And the memory of those
+kisses amid the red roses of the Archduke was with her now. She felt
+them on her lips--the touch of his firm strong fingers--the honest gaze
+of his gray eyes--these were the tokens she had which came to her as
+evidence that the readings of her heart had not been wrong. A Serbian
+spy----! She smiled confidently.
+
+In a moment she stole a glance at Captain Goritz, who was bent forward
+studying his road map. She waited until he gave directions to the
+chauffeur and then spoke.
+
+"Captain Goritz," she said carelessly, "you manage so cleverly that I am
+beginning to trust implicitly to your guidance and knowledge. But there
+is one thing that puzzles me. It must be more than a whim which makes
+you think that Herr Renwick will follow us to Sarajevo."
+
+"Not _us_, Countess," he smiled; "I said _you_."
+
+"But granting that he would follow me--which I doubt--how could he know
+where I have gone?"
+
+Goritz laughed easily.
+
+"He will find a way."
+
+Marishka's face grew sober.
+
+"I fear Herr Renwick's friendship cannot achieve miracles. The last he
+saw of me was in a hut in Bohemia. What clew could he have----? What
+possible----"
+
+"Ah, Countess," Goritz broke in, "you do not realize as I have done the
+cleverness of the Austrian Secret Service. We have so far eluded them.
+We were very lucky but it cannot be long before the green limousine will
+be discovered, and the direction of our journey."
+
+"But even that----"
+
+"To a clever man like Herr Renwick--to a man whose affections are
+involved," he added slowly, "it would not be difficult to decide where
+you have gone. He knows the discomforts and dangers you have passed
+through to achieve your object. He will, of course, seek your apartment
+and read the meaning of your sending for your clothing just as
+easily"--he paused a moment and smiled at the back of Karl's head--"just
+as easily," he repeated slowly, "as though you yourself had written him
+a note telling him--er--exactly which train you had taken."
+
+Marishka felt the warm color flooding her neck and brows. In writing
+Renwick she had broken her promise to this man not to communicate with
+her friends. Goritz watched her pretty distress for a moment with
+amusement which speedily turned to interest.
+
+"Of course, Countess, you did _not_ write to him?" he said, with sudden
+severity.
+
+"I owe you an explanation, Captain Goritz----" she said timidly.
+
+"You wrote--Countess?" evincing the most admirable surprise.
+
+"I inclosed a few words in my note to my maid--a warning of danger and a
+request that Herr Renwick leave at once for England----"
+
+And as Goritz frowned at her, "Surely there is no harm in that."
+
+"Your word of honor----"
+
+"I betrayed nothing of my whereabouts or plans," she pleaded.
+
+"How can I know that you speak the truth?"
+
+"I swear it."
+
+Goritz shrugged lightly.
+
+"It is, of course, a woman's privilege to change her mind. Still, you
+put me upon my guard. It is unfortunate. How can I be sure that you will
+not be sending other notes without my permission to the Europa when we
+reach Sarajevo?"
+
+"The Europa----? I fail to understand."
+
+"The Europa Hotel," he said with a curious distinctness, "where all
+English people stop, and where of course your friend Mr. Renwick will
+stop."
+
+Marishka examined him keenly.
+
+"Your prescience cannot be infallible."
+
+"No. But Herr Renwick will come to Sarajevo," he repeated confidently.
+
+He was still studying the road map and she was silent, thinking. But in
+a moment he raised his head and shrugged again.
+
+"Of course it is nothing to me. As an English subject he has the
+protection of his Ambassador. Even if my orders demanded his arrest I
+should be without power to carry them out."
+
+"It is easier to deal with the credulity of women," she said quietly.
+
+"Countess Strahni, you make it very difficult for me--doubly difficult
+since I have learned how lightly you hold your promise."
+
+"But confession absolves----"
+
+"With me, perhaps, because I could refuse you nothing, but not with
+those that have sent me."
+
+"But why should you be uneasy at the possibility of Herr Renwick
+following to Sarajevo?"
+
+"I do not relish the disturbance of my plans."
+
+She smiled a little at that.
+
+"I think I should be a little happier if I knew just what those plans
+were."
+
+He did not reply at once. Then he went on slowly, choosing his words
+with care.
+
+"My sentiments of respect must by this time have told you that no harm
+can come to you. Last night His Excellency, the German Ambassador,
+informed me that I shall do a great damage to the friendship between
+your nation and mine, if I presume to take you across the German border
+without your consent. I have been much moved by his advice. He has
+already written to the Wilhelmstrasse in your behalf. I cannot yet
+absolve you from your promise since my own actions in Austria have been
+far from conventional. Herr Renwick, if he chooses, can make my visit to
+Sarajevo most unpleasant. But I see no reason, after our purpose has
+been achieved, why you should not be restored to your friends, even to
+Herr Renwick, if that is your desire," and then in a lower tone, "I can
+assure you, Countess Strahni, that I relinquish you to him with an ill
+grace."
+
+"Herr Renwick is no Serbian spy, Captain Goritz," she said steadily.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"Oh, you do not believe me. Very well. You will discover it for
+yourself."
+
+"How?" she asked timidly.
+
+He looked at her with every mark of admiration, but his reply did not
+answer her question.
+
+"Herr Renwick is indeed fortunate in having so loyal a friend--even
+though, as you say, there is nothing between you in common. I envy him
+the possession. I hope that he may better deserve it."
+
+She smiled but did not speak for a moment and then, "Why is it that you
+so dislike a man whom you do not know--whom you--you have never seen?"
+
+Goritz bent forward toward her, his voice lowered while his strange dark
+eyes gazed full into hers:
+
+"Need I tell you?" he whispered. "You have thought me cruel, because I
+have done my duty, heartless--cold--a mere piece of official machinery
+which could balk at nothing--even the destruction of a woman's
+happiness--because my allegiance to my country was greater than any
+personal consideration. But I am not insensible to the appeals of
+gentleness, not blind to beauty nor deaf to music, Countess Strahni, as
+you have thought. Beneath the exterior which may have seemed forbidding
+to you, I am only human. Last night I took advantage of your weariness
+and weakness in telling you, with cruel bluntness, of Herr Renwick's
+relations with the Serbian government. I learned what you have labored
+to conceal--that you care for him--that you care for one who----"
+
+"It is not true," she broke in calmly. "I do not care for Herr Renwick."
+
+"It would delight me to believe you," he went on with a shake of the
+head, "but I cannot. It has been very painful to me to see you suffer,
+for whatever you have done in a mistaken sense of loyalty to your
+country, nothing can alter the fact of your innocence, your virtue, and
+your dependence upon my kindness in a most trying situation. I have told
+you the facts about Herr Renwick because I have believed it my duty, to
+you and to Austria. If I have hurt you, Countess Strahni," he finished
+gently, "I pray that you will forgive me."
+
+Marishka was silent, now looking straight before her down the mountain
+road which they were descending slowly. The voice of Captain Goritz had
+a sonorous quality which could not have been unpleasant to the ears of
+any woman. She listened to it soberly, trying to detect the tinkle of
+the spurious, but she was forced to admit that beyond and behind the
+mere phrases which might in themselves mean nothing, there was a depth
+of earnestness that might have proved bewildering to one less versed in
+the ways of the world than herself. His eyes, singularly clear and
+luminous, dominated and held her judgment of him in abeyance. For the
+moment she was able to forget her terrors of the night before, his
+enmity for Hugh Renwick, and the threat he had hung over her freedom.
+She did not dare to trust him. Too much still hung in the balance of her
+favor or disfavor. And yet she was forced to admit the constraint of his
+fervor, his kindness and courteous consideration. A woman forgives much
+to those who acknowledge without question the scepter of her femininity.
+
+At last she turned toward him with a smile and gave nun her hand. Nor
+did she withdraw it when bending low he pressed it gently to his lips.
+This was a game that two could play at.
+
+"We are to be friends, then?" he asked quietly.
+
+"Of course," she smiled at him.
+
+Toward six of the afternoon a trifling mishap to the motor delayed them
+for two hours, and it was long after midnight before they reached Brod
+and learned that the train of the Archduke had left within the hour.
+This was a terrible disappointment, which seemed to menace the success
+of their venture. But Captain Goritz determined to go on as rapidly as
+possible, trusting to reach their destination before the royal party
+left its train, hoping that the sight of Countess Strahni by the Duchess
+would be sufficient to let down any official barriers which might be
+interposed. But an unforeseen difficulty at Brod still further delayed
+them, a difficulty which required all of the ingenuity of Captain Goritz
+to get them once more upon their way. It was three o'clock in the
+morning, when having made some necessary repairs to the machine, they
+reached the Austrian end of the great bridge across the Save. Here they
+were halted by an iron chain across the bridge entrance and a police
+officer who, it seemed, looked upon their night traveling with
+suspicion. Captain Goritz protested indignantly and produced his papers,
+which the officer inspected by the dim light of an ancient lantern held
+by a subordinate.
+
+"I am sorry," he said firmly, "but no motor cars are permitted to cross
+into Bosnia until tomorrow morning."
+
+"But, my friend," said Goritz with an air of outraged patience, "I am an
+officer of the Third Regiment of the Fifteenth Army Corps returning to
+Sarajevo from a leave of absence which expires at nine in the morning.
+It is necessary that my party goes through at once."
+
+"I must obey orders, Herr Ober Lieutenant."
+
+"But my papers are correct. They are signed, you will observe, by
+General von Hoetzendorf himself."
+
+"I am sorry, but you cannot go through. If you choose to take up the
+matter with my superior officer, you will find the Kaserne in the main
+street near the mosque. I shall pass you only upon his vise. That is
+final. You will please turn your car and return to the village."
+
+Captain Goritz gazed longingly along the pale beam of the motor lamps
+into the dark reaches of the bridge, and then at the shadow of the heavy
+chain. At last with reluctance he gave the order to turn back. There
+seemed no doubt that the restriction was unusual, and that the visit of
+the Archduke had much to do with the obstruction of traffic between
+Sarajevo and central Europe. The car moved slowly back through the
+darkened village in the direction from which they had come, while Goritz
+planned what was better to be done. The nearest other crossing at Kobas
+was twenty miles away, over the road by which they had come, and they
+knew that the roads upon the Bosnian side of the river were mere cow
+tracks. If the officer at the bridge refused to pass them, how were they
+to be certain that they would fare any better at the hands of his
+superior, probably a crusty village official who would not relish being
+awakened in the small hours of the morning even by a belated army
+officer? At the order of Captain Goritz, the chauffeur Karl backed the
+car into a meadow and put out the lights. Then Goritz lighted a
+cigarette and smoked rapidly.
+
+"Brod is Serbian for ford. Is the passage above the bridge or below?"
+
+"Below, Herr Hauptmann, but dangerous at this season. I should not risk
+it."
+
+"Ah, I see." He paused a moment, thinking rapidly. "Is there a chain at
+the other end of the bridge?"
+
+"I have never seen one, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+"Very good. You will await me here."
+
+And without further words he got down and disappeared into the darkness.
+Marishka sat trembling with uncertainty, trying to pierce the obscurity
+in the direction in which her companion had gone. Silence, except for
+the droning of the insects and the distant rushing of the river.
+Fifteen, twenty minutes in which Marishka sat tensely waiting, hoping,
+fearing she knew not what, and then silently, merely a darker shadow of
+the night itself, a figure appeared and silently mounted into the seat
+beside the waiting Karl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+TRAGEDY
+
+
+She heard a few phrases pass between them and then, without lights, the
+machine suddenly moved forward. The explosions of the engine, muffled
+though they were, seemed like rifle shots to ears newly accustomed to
+the silences of the night. But the speed of the motor increased rapidly,
+and she felt the damp of the river fog brushing her cheek. She could see
+nothing though she peered into the blackness eagerly. The car was
+rushing to destruction for all that she knew, yet Karl was driving
+straight and hard for the entrance of the bridge. Marishka saw the dim
+gleam of a lantern, heard a hoarse shout, and then the sound of shots
+lost in the crashing of the timbers of the bridge as they thundered
+over, the throttle wide, past the bridge house at Bosna-Brod upon the
+other side of the river, and on without pause through the village into
+the open road beyond. All this in darkness, which had made the venture
+the more terrible.
+
+It was with relief that she heard the light laugh and even tones of
+Captain Goritz.
+
+"That is well done, Karl. Your eyes are better than mine. But I have no
+humor for a bath in the Bosna, so we will have the lights, if you
+please."
+
+"They will follow us?" stammered Marishka.
+
+"There is a greater danger of detention at Dervent or Duboj, but I'm
+hoping the bridge-tender may keep silent. It was stupid of him not to
+guard the chain."
+
+"You lowered it----?"
+
+"It made a fearful racket, but the roar of the river helped."
+
+A little further down the road, at a signal, Karl brought the car to a
+stop and silenced the engine, while Goritz got down into the road and
+listened intently, striking a match meanwhile and looking at the dial of
+his watch. There were no sounds in the direction from which they had
+come but the distant roar of the river and the whispering of the wind in
+the trees.
+
+"It is half-past three, Karl. How far have we to go?"
+
+"More than two hundred kilos--two hundred and fifty perhaps."
+
+"Ah, so much?" and he frowned. "I wish to reach the capital by eight
+o'clock, Karl," he said.
+
+"_Zu befehl_, Herr Hauptmann--if it is in the machine. I can at least
+try."
+
+As Goritz got in beside Marishka, he started the engine, and they were
+off again. As a sign that at least the chauffeur was trying to carry out
+his orders, in a moment they were rushing along at a furious pace which
+seemed to threaten destruction to them all. In spite of an impending
+storm which had now, fortunately, passed, at Brod Karl had lowered the
+top of the car in order to make better speed in the final race for their
+goal, and the rush of wind seemed to make breathing difficult, but
+Marishka clung to the bracket at her side, trying to keep her balance as
+they swung around the curves, and silently praying. Conversation was
+impossible until the road rose from the plains of the Save into the
+mountains, where the speed was necessarily diminished. The car,
+fortunately, seemed to be a good one, for no machine unless well proven
+could long stand the strain of such work as Karl was giving it to do.
+Through Dervent they went at full speed, seeing no lights or human
+beings. Beyond Duboj the moon came out, and this made Karl's problems
+less difficult, though the road wound dangerously along the ravines of
+the Brod river, which tumbled from cleft to cleft, sometimes a silver
+thread and again a ragged cataract hundreds of feet below. There were no
+retaining walls, and here and there as they turned sudden and unexpected
+corners it almost seemed to Marishka that the rear wheels of the machine
+swirled out into space. She held her breath and closed her eyes from
+time to time, expecting the car to lose its equilibrium and go whirling
+over and over into the echoing gorge below them, the depth of which the
+shadow of the mountains opposite mercifully hid from view. But Karl had
+no time in which to consider the thoughts of his passengers. He had his
+orders. If achievement were in the metal he intended to carry them out.
+The feudal castles of old Bosnia passed in stately review, Maglaj,
+Usora, clinging leech-like to their inaccessible peaks, grim sentinels
+of the vista of years, frowning at the roaring engine of modernity which
+sent its echoes mocking at their lonely dignity. Marishka could look,
+but not for long, for in a moment would come the terrible down-grade and
+the white, leaping road before them, which held her eyes with fearful
+hypnotism. Death! What right had she to pray for her own safety, when
+her own lips had condemned Sophie Chotek? There was still a chance that
+she would reach Sarajevo in time. She had no thought of sleep. Weary as
+she was, the imminence of disaster at first fascinated--then enthralled
+her. She was drunk with excitement, crying out she knew not what in
+admiration of Karl's skill, her fingers in imagination with his upon the
+wheel, her gaze, like his, keen and unerring upon the road.
+
+Beside her Captain Goritz sat silently, smiling as he watched her.
+
+"It is wonderful, is it not?" he said in a lull, when the machine
+coasted down a straight piece of road. "Fear is the master passion of
+life. Even I, Countess, am in love with fear." And then with a laugh,
+"We shall arrive in time if the tires hold. It is a good machine, a very
+good machine."
+
+Dawn stole slowly across the heavens between the mountain peaks, an opal
+dawn, pale and luminous. Here and there objects defined themselves
+against the velvety surfaces of the hills, a hut by the river brink, a
+thread of smoke rising straight in the still air, a herdsman driving his
+flock in a path across the valley. But Karl, the chauffeur, drove madly
+on, more madly, it seemed, as the light grew better. People appeared as
+if by magic upon the road, with loaded vehicles bound to
+market--awe-stricken peasants, who leaped aside and then turned
+wondering.
+
+The machine climbed a mountain from which a vista of many miles of
+country was spread out before them, but there was no sign of their
+destination. Half-past eight--nine----! The roads became crowded again,
+with vehicles, horsemen, footmen, and groups of soldiers, all traveling
+in the same direction. Sarajevo was not far distant but they went at a
+snail's pace, their nerves leaping in the reaction. Marishka, pallid
+with fatigue, sat leaning forward in her seat, dumb with anxiety. Goritz
+rubbed his chin thoughtfully. But he had not yet begun to despair.
+Suddenly the car came to a turning in the road, and the Bosnian capital
+was spread out at their feet. Goritz looked at his watch. It was nearly
+ten. If the thing they dreaded had not yet come to pass there might
+still be time. As they descended the hill into the valley of the
+Miljacka, it was apparent that the town was in holiday attire. Flags
+floated from many poles, and the streets and bridges were crowded with
+people. At the direction of Captain Goritz, Karl drove quickly to the
+railroad station, where a group of officials stood gesturing and talking
+excitedly.
+
+"Has His Highness gone into the city?" asked Goritz of the man nearest
+him.
+
+The fellow paused and turned at the sight of the Austrian uniform.
+
+"Ah, Herr Lieutenant--you have not heard?"
+
+"I have just come down from the hills. What is the matter?"
+
+"A bomb has been thrown into the automobile of the Archduke----"
+
+"He is killed?" asked Goritz, while Marishka leaned forward in horror.
+
+"Fortunately, no. He cast the bomb into the street, but it exploded
+under the vehicle of his escort, killing several, they say."
+
+"She is safe--Her Highness is safe?" questioned Marishka.
+
+"Yes, but it was a narrow escape," said another man.
+
+"Where is the Archduke now?" asked Goritz.
+
+"At the Rathaus--where he is to receive a testimonial from the
+Burgomaster, in behalf of the city. From there they go to the Governor's
+palace, I think."
+
+"Thanks," said Goritz with a gasp of relief, and gave the word to Karl
+to drive on toward the center of the town.
+
+"'Forewarned is forearmed,'" he muttered to Marishka. "They may not dare
+to attempt it again. I think you need have no further anxiety,
+Countess."
+
+"But I must reach Her Highness. I must let her know everything."
+
+"We shall try." And then to Karl, "Go as far as you can into the town,
+to Franz Josef Street."
+
+But at the tobacco factory the crowd was so great that they could not go
+on, and Goritz after some directions to Karl, helped Marishka down, and
+they went forward through the crowd afoot, listening to its excited
+comments.
+
+"Cabrinobitch----"
+
+"A Serbian, they say. The police seized him."
+
+"I was as near to him as you are. Stovan Kovacevik was hit by a piece of
+the bomb. They have taken him to the hospital."
+
+"Colonel Merizzi--they say he is dead. And Count von Waldeck badly
+wounded."
+
+Marishka shuddered. She had known them both at Konopisht. She caught
+Captain Goritz by the arm and forced her way to the Stadt Park,
+following the crowd of people and at last reaching Franz Josef Street,
+which was filled almost solidly with an excited, gesticulating mass of
+humanity.
+
+"A Serbian plot!" they heard a man in a turban say in polyglot German.
+"Not Serbian nor Bosnian. We have no murderers here."
+
+"So say I," cried another. "They will blame it upon us. Where are the
+police, that the streets are not even cleared."
+
+"Why does he come here to make trouble? We do not love him, but we are
+an orderly people. Let him be gone."
+
+"He was at least brave. They say after the bomb was thrown into his
+machine he threw it into the street."
+
+"Brave! Yes. But he is a soldier. Why shouldn't he be brave?"
+
+"Courage may not save him. There is something back of this. A man told
+me there was a bomb thrower on every street corner."
+
+Marishka pushed forward shuddering, with Captain Goritz close behind
+her.
+
+"I cannot believe it," she whispered.
+
+"The ravings of a crowd," he muttered. "It matters nothing."
+
+But as they neared the corner of Rudolfstrasse, there was a stir and a
+murmur as all heads turned to look up the street in the direction of the
+Carsija.
+
+"He comes again." "The machine is returning from the Rathaus." The word
+flew from lip to lip with the speed of the wind. A few Austrian soldiers
+were riding down the street clearing the way. They were all. No police,
+no other soldiers. It was horrible. The sides of the machine were
+utterly unprotected from the people, who closed in upon it, almost
+brushing its wheels. Marishka pressed forward again, jostled this way
+and that, until she stood upon the very fringe of the crowd at the
+corner of the street. Captain Goritz held her by the elbow. What purpose
+was in her mind he could not know. But every nerve in her--every impulse
+urged her to go forward to the very doors of the machine and protect
+Sophie Chotek, if necessary with her own body, against the dangers
+which, as the people about her said, lurked on every corner. The machine
+approached very slowly. There was no cheering, and it seemed strange to
+Marishka that there could be no joy in the hearts of these people at the
+courage of their Heir Presumptive, who had faced death bravely, and now
+with more hardihood than prudence was facing it again. The car was open,
+and she could see the figures of the royal pair quite clearly, their
+faces very pale, the Archduke leaning forward talking with a man in
+uniform in the front seat opposite him, the Duchess scanning the crowd
+anxiously. As the machine stopped again at the street corner, Marishka
+rushed forward until she stood just at its front wheels, waving a hand
+and speaking the Duchess's name. She saw the gaze of Sophie Chotek meet
+hers, waver and then become fixed again in wonder, in sudden
+recognition, and incomprehension. Words formed on the girl's lips and
+she called,
+
+"It is I--Marishka Strahni, Duchess--I must speak----"
+
+She got no further. Out of the mass of people just at her elbow the
+figure of a man emerging, sprang upon the running board of the machine.
+He seemed to wave his hand, and then there were sounds of shots. The
+Archduke started up, holding a protecting arm before the body of the
+Duchess, who had sunk back into her seat, her hand to her breast. The
+Archduke wavered a moment and then fell forward across the knees of the
+Duchess.
+
+Of the mad moments which followed, Marishka was barely conscious. She
+was pushed roughly back into the turgid crowd and would have fallen had
+not an arm sustained her. Men seized the assassin and hurried him away.
+There were hoarse shouts, glimpses of soldiers, as the machine of death
+pushed its way through the mass of people, and always the strong arm
+sustained her, pushing her, leading her away into a street where there
+were fewer people and less noise.
+
+"Come, Countess, he brave," Goritz was saying. "God knows you have done
+what you could."
+
+"It is horrible," she gasped brokenly. "A moment sooner, perhaps, and I
+should have succeeded. She recognized me--you saw?"
+
+He nodded. "Kismet! It was written," he said grimly.
+
+"But someone must pay--someone--who was----?"
+
+"A Bosnian student--named Prinzep--a man said."
+
+"He was but a boy--a frail boy----"
+
+"He has been well taught to shoot," muttered Goritz.
+
+"Death!" she cried hysterically. "And I----"
+
+"Be quiet. People are watching you," said Goritz sternly. "Lean on my
+arm and go where I shall lead. It is not far."
+
+[Illustration: "Be quiet. People are watching you," said Goritz
+sternly.]
+
+The sight of strange, distorted faces regarding her gave Marishka the
+strength to obey. Mechanically her feet moved, but the sunlight blinded
+her. She passed through a maze of small streets lined with market stalls
+where groups of people shouted excitedly; and dimly as in a dream she
+heard their comments.
+
+"The police--we have police--where were they? The Government will be
+blaming us. We are not murderers! No. It is a shame!"
+
+Marishka shuddered and leaned more heavily upon the arm of her
+companion. She was weary unto death, body and spirit--but still her feet
+moved on, out of the maze of small alleys into a larger alley, where her
+companion stopped before a blue wooden gate let into a stone wall. He
+put his hand upon the latch, the gate yielded, and they entered a small
+garden with well ordered walks and a fountain, beside which was a stone
+bench. Upon this bench at the bidding of Captain Goritz she sank,
+burying her face in her hands, while he went toward the house, which had
+its length at one side of the garden. She put her fingers before her
+eyes trying to shut out the horrors she had witnessed, but they
+persisted, ugly and sinister. Over and over in her mind dinned the
+hoarse murmur of the crowd, "We are not murderers! No!" Who then----?
+Not the frail student with the smoking pistol ... the agent of
+others.... The eyes of Sophie Chotek haunted her--eyes that had looked
+so often into her own with kindness. She had seen terror in them, and
+then--the mad turmoil, the dust, the acrid smell of powder fumes, and
+the silent group of huddled figures in the machine!...
+
+There were sounds of voices and of footsteps approaching, but Marishka
+could not move. She was prone, inert, helpless.
+
+"She is very tired," someone said.
+
+"_Ach_--she must come within and sleep."
+
+A woman's voice, it seemed, deep but not unsympathetic.
+
+"A glass of wine perhaps--and food."
+
+"It shall be as you desire, Excellency. I know what she needs."
+
+Arms raised her, and she felt herself half led, half carried, into the
+house and laid upon a bed in a room upstairs. It was dark within and
+there was a strange odor of spices. Presently someone, the woman, it
+seemed, gave her something to drink, and after awhile the turmoil in her
+head grew less--and she slept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE HARIM
+
+
+Dreams, colorful and strangely vivid, but not unpleasant. It seemed that
+Marishka lay upon a couch so soft that she sank deliciously without end
+to perfect rest. Above, about, below her, perfumed darkness, spangled
+with soft spots of light, which came and went curiously. She tried to
+fix her gaze upon one of them, but it was extinguished immediately and
+appeared elsewhere. She found another--and another, but they fled from
+her like _ignes fatui_. She heard the whir of a machine, fast and then
+slow again, near and then at a distance. Was it an automobile or an
+aeroplane? The notion of an automobile speeding in space was
+incongruous, the milky way--a queer concept! She smiled in her
+dreams.... Then suddenly a bright sunlight peopled with strange figures
+in fez and turban, faces that leered at her, lips that howled in
+excitement, arms that moved threateningly, dust, noise, commotion, from
+which she was trying in vain to escape.... And then darkness again and
+the subdued murmur of voices, one voice familiar, one gruff and
+unfamiliar.
+
+"Ten thousand _kroner_--that is a large sum," said the gruff voice.
+
+"Yours, Effendi, if the thing is accomplished."
+
+"It should not be difficult. You may reply upon me."
+
+"And you are to show the lady every attention--every comfort----"
+
+"_Zu befehl_----"
+
+There was a recurrence of the changing lights and the voices receded.
+Presently she seemed to hear them again.
+
+"She is to be kept in seclusion of course, but otherwise you will accede
+to all her requests--all, you understand----Should she care to
+write--you will send a message. There are more ways than one to kill a
+goose. And this one lays the golden egg, Effendi----"
+
+"I understands--a golden egg."
+
+"Very good--perhaps tonight----We shall see."
+
+"I shall be prepared, Excellency."
+
+The voices died away and melted into the murmur of a crowd, which merged
+curiously into the whir of an automobile. But it was dark again and the
+spots of light in the darkness reappeared. One, two, three, a dozen she
+counted and then they vanished. She was alone, an atom in the expanse of
+infinity, but the darkness and the perfume now oppressed, suffocated
+her, and she tried to escape. But she moved her limbs with difficulty,
+and a weight sealed her eyelids. She struggled up against it and managed
+to rise upon one elbow and look about her.
+
+She was awake. Slowly memory returned, the memory of things which seemed
+to have happened a long while before, and time and distance seemed to
+have robbed them of their sting. She was awake and alone in a dark room,
+lying on a low couch, upon which were spread a number of pillows of
+strange design. A latticed window was near, and outside, the shadows of
+a tree branch fell across the barred rectangle, cutting the lines of
+light into broken lozenges of shadow. The room was furnished somberly
+but richly with heavy hangings and teakwood furniture decorated with
+mother-of-pearl. A lantern of curious design depended from the ceiling.
+There was a figure standing in the corner. She raised herself upon one
+elbow and examined the figure attentively, not frightened yet, but
+merely curious.
+
+It was a suit of ancient armor of a period with which she was
+unfamiliar. She moved her limbs painfully and sat up. Her head throbbed
+for a few moments but she found that she was able to think clearly
+again. Slowly she realized where she was and what had happened. The blue
+door in the wall--this the house that adjoined the garden. She had
+slept--how long she did not know, but the beams of sunlight were orange
+in color and made a brilliant arabesque upon an embroidered hanging on
+the opposite wall. She must have slept long. Her dreams returned to her,
+fleeting and elusive, like the _ignes fatui_ which had been a part of
+them. The whir of wheels, the vision of the vari-colored crowd, the
+murmur of voices speaking--these too had been a dream. She tried to
+recall what the voices had murmured. Phrases came to her. "Ten thousand
+_kroner_--the goose that lays the golden egg----" It was all like a
+story from a fairy tale. She looked about her--a dream--of course. Who
+could have been speaking of _kroners_ and golden eggs here?
+
+There were two doors to the apartment in which she lay, one, ornate with
+Turkish fretwork, which had in its center panel what seemed to be a
+small window, covered by a black grille. At the other end of the room
+another door, open, from which came a flicker of cool light, the soft
+pad of footsteps and the sound of a voice humming some curious Oriental
+air. Marishka did not get up at once, but sat among the pillows, her
+fingers at her temples as she tried to collect her thoughts. She knew
+that she must think. Everything seemed to depend upon the clearness with
+which her mind emerged from the fog of dreams. Slowly, the happenings of
+the last few days recurred--the flight, the wild ride down the ravines
+of the Brod, Sarajevo, the tragedy, the car of Death! She put her
+fingers before her eyes and then straightened bravely. And what now?
+Goritz! What was he going to do with her? She tried to judge the future
+by the past. She had given herself unreservedly into his hands in the
+hope of reaching Sophie Chotek before--before what had happened. Their
+interests had been identical--the saving of life--and if they had
+succeeded, there would have been no need for anxiety as to her own
+future. But now the situation seemed to have changed. Failure had marked
+her for its own, an unbidden guest in a strange country in which she was
+for the present at the mercy of her captor. She could not forget that
+she was his prisoner, and the terms of her promise to him came to her
+with startling clearness. His recantation, his courtesy, his ardent
+looks had allayed suspicion, but had not quite removed the earlier
+impression. In this hour of awakening and depression there seemed to be
+room for any dreadful possibility.
+
+Was she a prisoner? If so, the window was not barred, and she saw that
+it let upon the tiny garden fifteen feet below. If she could gather the
+strength, it might not be difficult to lower herself from the window
+sill--drop to the garden and flee. But where? To whom? She turned
+quickly, listening for the sounds of the footsteps in the adjoining
+room, her hand at her breast, where her heart was throbbing with a new
+hope. Hugh! Hugh in Sarajevo! And yet why not? It came to her in a throb
+of joyous pride that in spite of all that she had done to deter him, he
+had persisted in helping and protecting her, oblivious of her denial of
+him and of her cutting disdain. But would the frail clew of her flight
+through Vienna be enough to point her object and destination? The memory
+of his cleverness and initiative in their night ride to Konopisht gave
+her new hope. Why should he not come to Sarajevo? Between the lines of
+the note she had written him he must have read the tenderness that had
+always been in her heart. He was no coward, and the idea of fleeing to
+England when danger threatened her would, of course, be the last that
+would come into his mind. It was curious that she had not thought of
+this before. He would come to Sarajevo if he could--perhaps he was here
+now----
+
+A heavy figure stood in the doorway regarding her. She could not at
+first decide whether it was a man or a woman for the wide, baggy
+trousers resembled a skirt, and the short, sleeveless jacket was similar
+to that worn by the male Moslems she had seen in the Carsija. But in a
+moment, a voice of rather low pitch spoke kindly, in atrocious German.
+
+"The Fraeulein is at last awake. Does she feel better?"
+
+"Ah, thanks, yes," said Marishka, at last deciding that it was a woman.
+"I have slept long."
+
+"Seven hours at least, and like the dead. But you must be hungry. I will
+prepare something at once."
+
+"Thank you. And if I could wash my face and hands."
+
+"It shall be as you wish. If you will but come with me----"
+
+Marishka rose, and as she did so, the door with the black grille opened
+from within, and a girl came into the room. Like the older woman she
+wore baggy trousers and slippers, but above the waist, typifying the
+meeting of East and West, a somewhat soiled satin blouse which might
+have been made either in Paris or Vienna. The face was very pretty,
+regular of feature and oval in contour, but the effect of its beauty was
+marred by the hair above it, which was dyed with henna a saffron red.
+But she wore a flower at her breast, and in spite of her artificialities
+exhaled the gayety of youth. She smiled very prettily and came forward
+with a confiding air, giving Marishka her hand.
+
+"I have been waiting for you to wake up," she said in a soft voice. "I
+have never known anyone to sleep so soundly."
+
+She laughed like a child who is very much pleased with a new toy, and
+holding Marishka's hand, looked at her curiously from head to foot.
+There was something very genuine in her interest and kindliness, and
+Marishka found herself smiling.
+
+"I must have been very tired," she said.
+
+"I am sorry. You are feeling better now?"
+
+"Yes, but very dirty----"
+
+"Come with me. Zubeydeh will bring food."
+
+She led the way through the door of the black grille, down a short
+passage into a large room at the end of the house. The apartment was
+strewn with rugs, and its furniture was a curious mixture of the color
+of the East and the utility of the West--a French dressing stand beside
+a stove of American make, a Bosnian marriage chest, a table which might
+have come out of the Ringstrasse, a brass tray for burning charcoal, a
+carved teakwood stand upon which stood a nargileh, a box of cigars, some
+cigarettes, and two coffee cups still containing the residue of the last
+draught. There were latticed windows in _meshrebiya_, which overlooked
+the garden and street, and piled beside them were a number of pillows
+and cushions. The room was none too clean, but there were evidences here
+and there of desultory attempts at rehabilitation.
+
+The girl with the red hair led Marishka to one of the window recesses,
+where she bade her sit upon a pile of pillows, bringing a basin and an
+ewer of water which she put upon the rug beside her.
+
+"Ah, I was forgetting," said the girl, and going to the corner of the
+room produced with much pride Marishka's suitcase. "His Excellency left
+it for you this afternoon."
+
+The sight of water and a change of clothing did much to restore
+Marishka's confidence and self-respect, and she opened the bag with
+alacrity, bringing forth from its recesses soap, clean linen and a
+washcloth.
+
+While Marishka ate and drank, the girl with the red hair crouched upon
+her knees beside the suitcase, sniffed at its contents eagerly, and with
+little cries of delight touched with her fingers the delicate articles
+which it contained.
+
+"How pretty! How soft to the touch!" And then rather wistfully, "It is a
+pity that one cannot get such things in Bosna-Seraj."
+
+"You like them?" asked Marishka, reveling in the delight of being free
+from the dust of her journey.
+
+"Oh, they are so beautiful!"
+
+For all her years, and she must have been at least as old as Marishka,
+she had the undeveloped mind of a child.
+
+"You, too, are beautiful," she sighed enviously, "so white, your skin is
+so clear. Your hair is so soft." And then as an afterthought, "But I
+think it would look just as pretty if it were red."
+
+Marishka laughed.
+
+"What is your name, my dear?" she asked.
+
+"I am called Yeva--they say after the first woman who was born."
+
+"Eve--of course. It becomes you well."
+
+"You think so. Was she very beautiful?"
+
+"Yes--the mother of all women."
+
+"The ugly ones?"
+
+"Yes. We cannot all be beautiful."
+
+"It must be dreadful to be old and ugly like Zubeydeh."
+
+As Marishka brought out brush and comb and a towel, Yeva ran quickly and
+procured a mirror--a small cheap affair with tawdry tinsel ornaments.
+
+"You will let me brush your hair, Fraeulein. It will be a great
+privilege."
+
+"Of course, child--if you care to."
+
+And while Yeva combed and brushed, Marishka questioned and she answered.
+The house in which she lived was near the Sirokac Tor. Her lord and
+master was of the Begs of Rataj, once the rulers of a province in
+Bosnia, where his father's fathers had lived, but now shorn of his
+tithes and a dealer in rugs. He was an old man, yes, but he was good to
+her, giving her much to eat and drink, and many clothes. She must ask
+him to get some of these pretty soft undergarments from Vienna. And the
+Excellency. She had seen him twice, some months before through the
+_dutap_, when he had conversed with the Effendi in the adjoining room.
+And was the beautiful Fraeulein in love with the Excellency?
+
+Marishka answered her in some sort, listening to the girl's chatter,
+meanwhile thinking deeply of the plan that had come into her mind.
+Scraps of suggestion that she had gleaned from her talks with Goritz
+gave her at least a hope that she might be successful in reaching Hugh
+Renwick by messenger. "The English always go to the Europa," he had
+said. There, if Hugh Renwick had come to Sarajevo, was the place where a
+note would find him. And so, the hair brushing having been successfully
+accomplished, she asked the girl if there was someone by whom she could
+secretly send a note.
+
+A message! To an Excellency--a Herr Hauptmann--or perhaps a
+General--yes. She was sure that it could be managed. She herself perhaps
+could take it. Had not the Effendi told her that the Fraeulein was to
+want for nothing? And greatly excited at the thought of intrigue,
+brought a tabourette which she placed before Marishka, then found paper,
+ink and envelopes and squatted upon a pillow, watching eagerly over
+Marishka's shoulder. But the girl's scrutiny troubled Marishka. Was she
+in the confidence of Captain Goritz? And if not, could she be persuaded
+to hold her tongue? Instead of writing at once, Marishka relinquished
+the pen and took Yeva's hand.
+
+"It is very necessary for my peace and happiness that the contents of
+this note should be only seen by the person to whom it is delivered----"
+
+"Ah, Fraeulein, it shall be as you say. By Allah, I swear----"
+
+"Do you care enough? I will give you anything I possess if you will keep
+my secret."
+
+"Ah!" her eyes were downcast and her tone was pained. "That the Fraeulein
+should not believe in my friendship----"
+
+"But I _do_ believe in it----"
+
+"Still," broke in Yeva smiling craftily, "I should very much like to
+have something by which to remember the Fraeulein--the pink sleeping
+garment which is so sweetly smelling and soft to the touch."
+
+"It is yours, Yeva. See," and Marishka took it from the valise, "I give
+it to you."
+
+The girl gurgled delightedly, and crooned and kissed the garment like a
+child with a new doll. She was for trying it on at once and, thus for
+the moment relieved of Yeva's scrutiny, Marishka bent over the
+tabourette, pen in hand. But before she wrote she called Yeva again.
+
+"There is no entrance to this house except by the garden, Yeva?" she
+asked.
+
+"Oh, yes, to the _selamlik_, the _mabein_ door and this----"
+
+She walked to the side of the room and thrusting aside a heavy
+Kis-Kelim, showed Marishka a door cunningly concealed in an angle of the
+wall.
+
+"That leads--where?" Marishka asked.
+
+"To a small court of the next house."
+
+"And the street below?"
+
+Yeva nodded and renewed the inspection of her new present in the mirror,
+so Marishka wrote:
+
+     HUGH,
+
+     I am a prisoner in a house near the Sirokac Tor beyond the
+     Carsija--a house with a small garden the gate of which has a blue
+     door. I am treated with every courtesy, but I am frightened. Come
+     tonight at twelve to the small court at the left of the house and
+     knock twice upon the door. I will come to you. Forgive me.
+
+     MARISHKA.
+
+While Yeva was scrutinizing her new adornment in the small mirror
+Marishka reread the note. She did not wish to alarm her lover unduly,
+for perhaps after all there were no need for grave alarm.
+
+The intentions of Captain Goritz were perhaps of the best, his given
+word to liberate her, to free her from her promise and return her to her
+friends, had been spoken with an air of sincerity, which under other
+conditions might have been impressive. But some feminine instinct in her
+still doubted--still doubted and feared him. And in spite of his many
+kindnesses, his few moments of insensibility to her weariness and
+distress there in the motor in the flight from Konopisht, and in the
+railway carriage when he had spoken of Hugh Renwick's connection with
+hated Serbia--these memories of their association lingered and
+persisted. She feared him. The failure of their mission would perhaps
+have made a difference; and the promise of a man whose whole existence
+was a living lie, was but a slender reed to hang upon.
+
+She straightened abruptly and gazed before her in sudden dismay. Her
+word of honor--as a Strahni! She was breaking her promise--had already
+broken it. For she had pledged herself to Goritz--to go with him whither
+he pleased, if he would enable her to save the life of Sophie Chotek.
+
+But he had failed! _But he had failed!_ She clutched at the sophistry
+desperately. Goritz had failed. Under such conditions should she
+consider her promise binding? It had been conditional. Liberty, there in
+the street below, just at her elbow, and Hugh Renwick within reach! She
+came to this conclusion with desperate speed, and quickly addressed and
+sealed the envelope.
+
+Yeva, before the mirror, was wrapped in admiration of her new
+possession.
+
+"Am I not beautiful in it, Fraeulein?" she was asking as she twisted and
+turned, examining herself at every angle.
+
+"Yes, Yeva," said Marishka quietly, "but it is not a garment in which
+one goes out upon the street."
+
+"The street!" Yeva laughed deliciously. "I would make a sensation in
+Bosna-Seraj, I can tell you, attired only in this and a _yashmak_."
+
+And then seeing the note lying upon the tabourette, she came running
+with little childish footsteps. "Ah, you have sealed it! And you are not
+going to let me see?"
+
+"It is nothing, Yeva."
+
+"But I thought----" peevishly.
+
+"How can you be interested in my little affairs?"
+
+"I hoped that he might come and I should see him through the _dutap_."
+
+"Perhaps he may!" said Marishka with an inspiration. "Could you be
+trusted to keep this message a secret? To tell no one?"
+
+"I have already promised----"
+
+"Not even to Zubeydeh----?"
+
+"Of course not. Zubeydeh is old and ugly. She would not understand what
+a young girl thinks about."
+
+"And can you go out without her knowing?"
+
+"By the private stairway. Of course. There is another door below,
+locked, but I can procure a key."
+
+"Then I too----" Marishka paused and Yeva turned, reading her thoughts.
+
+"Ah, I understand. You wish to go to him. It is a pity, but it is
+impossible."
+
+"Impossible! Why?"
+
+"I can do the Fraeulein a favor, since she has been kind to me, but to
+disobey the commands of my lord and master--I would call upon myself the
+curses of Allah."
+
+Marishka pondered for a moment. "The Effendi desires that I remain
+here?" she asked.
+
+"That is his command, Fraeulein."
+
+"I see."
+
+If Marishka had had any doubts as to the intentions of Captain Goritz,
+the Beg of Rataj had now removed them. How much or how little of what
+the girl revealed had been born of innocence or how much of design,
+Marishka could not know, but it hardly seemed possible that the child
+could be meshed so deeply in this intrigue. Marishka felt sure that Yeva
+had promised to deliver her note, because the situation amused and
+interested her, as did her visitor, and because of the pink garment Yeva
+was now so reluctantly laying aside.
+
+Marishka took another garment from the valise, a dainty drapery of silk
+edged with fine lace, and held it up temptingly.
+
+"Yeva," she said.
+
+"Yes, Fraeulein."
+
+"This, too, is very beautiful, do you not think so?"
+
+Yeva sighed wistfully.
+
+"Yes. It is very beautiful."
+
+"And would you care to have this too?"
+
+"Would I----? Oh, Fraeulein! I cannot believe----"
+
+Yeva came forward with arms outstretched, brown fingers curling, but as
+she was about to touch the garment Marishka swept it away and put it
+behind her back.
+
+"I will give it to you----"
+
+"Yes----"
+
+"If you will take me out with you by the secret door to the Europa
+Hotel."
+
+"Fraeulein!" The girl stopped aghast and then slowly turned away.
+
+"You would have me disobey the commands of my lord and master?" she said
+in an awed whisper.
+
+"I am asking only my rights," urged Marishka desperately. "I am an
+Austrian with many friends. I have believed that I was a guest in this
+house, welcome to come and to go as I choose. If the Effendi desires to
+keep me against my will he runs a great risk of offending the government
+of Austria and my friends."
+
+"As to that I do not know----" said Yeva plaintively.
+
+"It will do you no harm to be my friend."
+
+"I am your friend. But to disobey the command of one's lord and
+master----"
+
+"It is worse to disobey the laws of Bosnia."
+
+"But what can I do?" asked the girl, helplessly weaving her fingers to
+and fro.
+
+"You need do nothing but go out to deliver my message. Then you shall
+appear to lock the door below, but the bolt shall not catch. That is
+all. When you are gone I shall follow into the street."
+
+"And I shall not see you--and your lover through the _dutap_?"
+
+"You shall see us there--yonder. I promise you."
+
+"It is a terrible thing that you ask."
+
+"Yeva!" Marishka held the silk garment up before the childish gaze of
+the girl. "Look, Yeva."
+
+It was enough. With a cry, Yeva seized the garment in both hands and
+carried it to her lips, kissing it excitedly.
+
+"And if I do what you ask--you will never tell?"
+
+"Never."
+
+Marishka had won. It was with difficulty that she restrained her
+companion from disrobing again and putting on the new garment, but at
+last by dint of much persuasion she succeeded in getting Yeva to put on
+her own garments, her head dress, veil and _yashmak_, and in a short
+while they were both attired for the street. With a last look around the
+room, a short vigil at the _dutap_ for sounds of watchful Zubeydeh, Yeva
+timorously found the key of the lower door, pushed the hanging aside,
+and with a last rapturous look at the draperies upon the dressing stand,
+vanished into the darkness of the door.
+
+Marishka, her heart beating high with hope, quickly packed a few of her
+belongings into a small package and followed. It was very dark upon the
+narrow stair, but with a hand upon the wall to steady herself, she
+slowly descended. Feeling for the steps with her feet, at last she
+reached the floor below, and stepping cautiously forward came upon a
+blank wall. She turned to the left and found her egress stopped--to the
+right--yes, there was a door. She fingered for the latch and found it,
+opening the door, which let in the daylight. But just as she was about
+to step out, she started back in sudden consternation. Upon the step,
+grim and forbidding, dressed in fez, white shirt, and wide breeches,
+stood a man with folded arms facing her. He made no sign of greeting,
+nor did he change his posture by so much as a millimeter, but she heard
+his voice quite distinctly, though he spoke in a low tone.
+
+"You will be pleased to return at once."
+
+"But I----" It was the courage of desperation--short-lived, alas!
+
+"At once," the man repeated, unfolding his arms. "At once--or shall
+I----"
+
+Marishka waited no more upon the order of her going but went at once,
+finding her way up the dusty stairs, terrified, again a prey to the most
+agonizing fears.
+
+Would Yeva find Hugh at the Hotel Europa?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE LIGHTED WINDOWS
+
+
+The night journey of Mr. Renwick to the Bosnian border with the man in
+black was one long chapter of accidents and delays. But Herr Linke
+commanded the situation. He had taken care not to return the
+Englishman's weapon, and there was nothing for Renwick to do but sit in
+silence by the side of the melancholy Colossus, and pray for an
+opportunity which never came, for Linke had a watchful eye and sat in
+the tonneau of the machine. Toward midnight they reached Vinkovcze,
+where they had supper, and resumed their leisurely journey with a new
+supply of petrol, which only seemed to increase the trouble in the
+carburetor. It was at this time that an uncontrollable drowsiness fell
+upon Renwick. He struggled against it but at last realized that in spite
+of himself sleep was slowly overpowering him. As in a haze he saw the
+huge figure of Linke beside him lean over, smiling, while a deep voice
+which seemed to come from a distance rumbled calmly,
+
+"You are very sleepy, Herr Renwick?"
+
+Renwick dimly remembered muttering a curse.
+
+"You've drugged--cof----"
+
+Then Renwick slept.
+
+When he awoke it was broad daylight. The car was moving smoothly enough
+along a good road between two mountains, and at the side of the road a
+river flowed in the direction from which the machine had come.
+
+Renwick felt light-headed and rather ill, and it was some moments before
+he became conscious of the figure beside him, while he struggled upright
+and found his speech.
+
+"Where are we?" he asked.
+
+"Near Duboj, Herr Renwick, where we shall presently eat our supper----"
+
+"Supper!"
+
+"Yes. You have slept the clock around----"
+
+"Ah, I remember," and he turned upon the man with a renewed and quite
+futile anger. "You drugged me, you----"
+
+"Softly, my friend," the big man broke in soothingly. "You can do no
+good by defaming me."
+
+Renwick shrugged. "You'll pay the score at settling time, nevertheless."
+
+"Perhaps. In the meanwhile I beg you to consider that you are but fifty
+kilometers from your destination. Since we passed the Save we have
+proceeded with greater rapidity."
+
+But Renwick had sunk into a sullen silence. The huge creature, whom he
+had held in such light esteem, had made a fool of him, had reduced him
+to the impotence of a child. As his mind cleared, the object of the
+man's actions became more involved. Whatever he was, he had succeeded in
+preventing Renwick from reaching Sarajevo before the Archduke's party
+should arrive, but why he should wish to drug a man who was meeting his
+wishes and giving no trouble was more than Renwick could answer. Still
+puzzled, he glanced at his watch. It was now five o'clock. The sight of
+the dial startled him. Had Marishka succeeded in reaching the Duchess or
+had----? Forgetting his quarrel with Linke in the new interest in
+portending events, he questioned,
+
+"You have heard from Sarajevo?"
+
+"By wire at Yranduk," said Linke, nodding gravely. "The Archduke Franz
+and the Duchess of Hohenburg were assassinated this morning in the
+streets of Sarajevo."
+
+Renwick's knowledge of the plot and the difficulties which surrounded
+his and Marishka's efforts to prevent its consummation had convinced him
+that the attempt would at least be made, but Herr Linke's bold statement
+of the fact shocked him none the less.
+
+"They are dead?"
+
+"Both," said Linke. "They died before reaching the Landes hospital."
+
+"Who----" Renwick paused, aware that names meant nothing.
+
+"A Serbian student, named Prinzep."
+
+The Englishman said nothing more, for he was again thinking of Marishka.
+She had failed! Had she arrived too late or had her visit to Sarajevo
+been prevented? And if so where was she now? There was nothing for it
+but to go on to the Europa Hotel and inquire for the note that she would
+leave there. In a somewhat desperate mood, he followed Herr Linke into
+the small hotel at Duboj, for he knew that he could not go on without
+food, having eaten nothing since the day before. As he hesitated, the
+_goulash_ upon the dish before him, Linke smiled.
+
+"You need have no further fear, Herr Renwick," he said calmly. "We are
+now friends, engaged upon precisely the same service."
+
+"Indeed! And that----?"
+
+"To find the Countess Stranhni at the earliest possible moment."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"To restore her to her friends."
+
+"You know where she is?"
+
+"No. But I can find her."
+
+It entered Renwick's head at the moment to tell the fellow of the note
+in his pocket, but the events of the night had made him careful.
+
+"Who are you?" he asked again.
+
+But the man evaded.
+
+"I beg that you will eat, Herr Renwick," he said coolly. "We have no
+time to spare."
+
+And so at last, when Herr Linke ponderously helped himself and the
+Hungarian chauffeur from the dish, Renwick followed his lead and ate.
+
+In less than half an hour they were again upon their way, reaching the
+hills above the Bosnian capital just before nightfall. Here, for some
+reason, the machine again halted with a loud explosion of back-fire and
+a prodigious amount of smoke. The chauffeur got out, looked into the
+hood and straightened, gesticulating wildly. Herr Linke followed, and a
+conversation ensued, the import of which was lost upon the Englishman.
+But when it was finished, Linke turned to Renwick and explained that the
+machinery was injured beyond repair and that the car could go no
+further. Two Bosnian policemen who had appeared in the road before them,
+now rode up and made inquiries. Renwick shrugged and was about to walk
+away with the intention of finishing his journey afoot, when the
+chauffeur came forward and caught him by the arm, shouting something in
+an excited and angry voice, appealing to the men on horseback and
+pointing alternately at the Englishman and at the injured machine. The
+Bosnians got down and listened while one of them, who seemed to
+understand, addressed Renwick in German.
+
+"This man says that you engaged to pay for any breakages to the machine,
+and that you have not paid him all that you owe."
+
+"He lies. I paid him at Ujvidek. Herr Linke here will bear me
+witness----" As he turned to address his traveling companion, he paused
+in amazement, for without a word, or a sound, Herr Linke had suddenly
+vanished into space.
+
+But the Hungarian was screaming again, and what he said must have
+impressed the policeman who had spoken to him, for he turned to Renwick,
+scratching his head dubiously, and suggested that the matter be further
+discussed before a magistrate in the city below. Renwick agreed, gave
+the policeman his card with the word that he would find him at the
+Europa Hotel and leaving his suitcase in the car as security for his
+appearance when summoned went hurriedly down the hills toward the city.
+The colloquy had occupied some moments, but when Renwick came to a
+straight reach of road which led toward the tobacco factory buildings he
+was surprised to find that Herr Linke was nowhere in sight. The man was
+an enigma, a curious mixture of desperado and buffoon, but his sudden
+disappearance without a word of thanks, apology or explanation, gave
+Renwick something to puzzle over as he made his way to the bridge. Its
+possible significance escaped him until he had reached the river, when,
+a thought suddenly occurring to him, he put his hand into the breast
+pocket of his coat, feeling for the note from Marishka. It was gone! He
+hunted, feverishly, one pocket after another, and was on the point of
+going back for a search of the machine when the truth suddenly dawned.
+Herr Linke had taken it from him, last night when he slept--had drugged
+him that he might get it without commotion! In an illuminating flash he
+remembered the sharp look in the man's eyes yesterday morning in the
+train from Budapest when Renwick had taken the note from his pocket.
+Linke! He hurried his footsteps, bewailing his own simplicity and
+wondering what this new phase of Herr Linke's activities might signify.
+Renwick had assumed that the Austrian was an agent of Herr Windt, who
+unable to follow him on to Sarajevo had guessed the train upon which he
+had left and had sent this man up from Budapest to get into his
+carriage. But his most recent accomplishment seemed to leave this
+presumption open to doubt. If Herr Linke had stolen the letter in the
+belief that it contained secret information which would be of value to
+Austrian secret service officials, the mere reading of it would have
+convinced him of its innocence in so far as Marishka was concerned. And
+if a forgery! Perhaps something in the message which Renwick had
+overlooked would put him upon the track of the fellow of the green
+limousine. He went along the river bank from the bridge toward the
+hotel, the location of which was familiar to him, hurrying his pace. At
+any rate the note was gone and with it the mysterious Linke, facts which
+clearly indicated one purpose. Herr Linke was bent upon intercepting any
+message which might come to the Hotel Europa for the Englishman. And
+given that to be his purpose, what was his intention with regard to the
+Countess Strahni?
+
+Still puzzling over the mysteries, which gained in elusiveness as he
+hurried into Franz Josef Street, he reached the hotel, which was near
+the Carsija, and made hurried inquiries of the Turkish porter, who
+smiled and professed ignorance, but said to the Excellency that he would
+diligently inquire, bringing Renwick at last to the major-domo, who
+informed him that a note bearing the name of Herr Renwick had been left
+at the hotel an hour before, but that not twenty minutes ago, Herr
+Renwick had called and claimed it.
+
+"That is not possible," said Renwick hotly, "since I am Herr Renwick."
+
+The major-domo shrugged and bowed obsequiously. It was most unfortunate,
+he said, but of course as Excellency must know, the Hotel Europa was not
+a postoffice and could not be held responsible for the proper delivery
+of letters when it knew nothing of the identity of those to whom they
+were addressed.
+
+Renwick paused a moment, and then said quickly, "To whom was the note
+delivered? You saw?"
+
+"Yes, Excellency. The person who said he was Herr Renwick was tall,
+attired in black clothing, and carried an umbrella."
+
+"Who brought the note?"
+
+"As to that--I do not know."
+
+The major-domo moved majestically away, but the Turkish porter who stood
+listening, broke in.
+
+"If your Excellency will permit. It was I who received the note, late
+this afternoon. It was brought by a woman in a _yashmak_--a Turkish
+woman. Of course I could not know her, since one looks with averted eyes
+upon the women of Islam, but she would have come from the Turkish
+quarter of the town--from beyond the Carsija--perhaps. I do not know. I
+can say no more."
+
+Renwick paused irresolutely and giving the man a fee, went out of the
+hotel into the street, mingling with the crowds upon Franz Josef Street,
+where but a few hours before on a nearby corner, the Archduke and
+Duchess had met their deaths. Deciding that at all hazards he must
+remain inconspicuous while he thought out a plan, he crossed the river
+and went into a small park, where he sank wearily into a bench and
+buried himself in new speculations.
+
+A pipe and tobacco soothed, if they failed to stimulate his faculties.
+He had reached an _impasse_. What if the Enigma in black were playing
+some deep game of his own with regard to Marishka? What if, after all,
+he was no agent of Herr Windt, but represented perhaps the military
+party of Austria, which had as deep an interest in Marishka's silence as
+had the Wilhelmstrasse? And yet such a theory was hardly plausible, for
+if Linke were interested in Marishka's silence he would also be
+interested in Renwick's, and this being the case, the easiest way out of
+the business would have been to have dropped Renwick into some deep pool
+of the Save or the Bosna while he slept. Herr Linke puzzled Renwick, but
+reason informed him that the unknown limousine chap was the greater
+menace both to Marishka and himself. That he held Renwick's life cheaply
+was indicated by the frequent attempts upon it in Vienna and in Bohemia
+and the mere fact that he had twice failed was no sign that a third
+attempt might not be successful. The most unfavorable phase of the
+situation was that the German agent knew Renwick by sight, and would
+have every opportunity of following him to some secluded spot--shooting
+him in the back and escaping into a nearby street before the excitement
+subsided. What did the German agent look like? He might pass the fellow,
+elbow to elbow, and the Englishman would not know him. Renwick had no
+fear of meeting the man on even terms, but the thought of being stabbed
+in the back or shot at by any casual passer-by was disturbing to his
+morale. Every innocent bush, every tree was an enemy. What did the green
+limousine chap look like? A Prussian? With a bulky nose, small mustache,
+and no back to his head? Or was he small, clean shaven, and ferret-like?
+How would he be dressed? In mufti? Or in some favoring disguise which
+might better lend itself to his purposes?
+
+Renwick rose suddenly and, with a careful glance about him, made slowly
+for the Lateimer Bridge, sure at least, that he had not been followed,
+and convinced that he must equalize the hazards between this German and
+himself by playing the game according to the standards of the
+Wilhelmstrasse. So he found his way carefully into the Carsija, and
+found a stall where he managed to buy a native Bosnian costume,--fez,
+white shirt, short jacket, wide trousers fitting close below the knee,
+sash and slippers. His automatic having been taken by the prudent Linke,
+he was unarmed, but managed to find a revolver of American make and
+cartridges which fitted it. With his newly acquired purchases he
+returned in the darkness to the other bank of the river, where he found
+a small inn in the Bistrick quarter.
+
+He concealed ten one hundred _kroner_ notes in the lining at the belt of
+the trousers, and pinned it securely. The remainder of his money, a few
+fifty crown notes and coins, he put in his pockets with his watch and
+other valuables, and changed his clothing. When he had finished dressing
+he examined himself in a mirror. His face was tanned by exposure, and
+the dust of the journey which he retained gave him a soiled appearance
+sufficiently Oriental. He was now Stefan Thomasevic, a seller of sheep
+and goats, which he had brought to the market. He left his English
+clothing in a bundle in the care of the innkeeper and advising the man
+that he would return later in the night or at least upon the morrow,
+went forth across the river again, with a sense of greater security from
+the observations of any who meant mischief to Hugh Renwick. If he did
+not know what the green limousine chap looked like, the limousine chap
+at least could not know him.
+
+As he slouched through the alleys of the Carsija, reassured as to the
+completeness of his disguise, he smoked a native cigarette, and asked
+many questions among the keepers of the stalls, squatting cross-legged
+with them upon the ground and learning much of all matters save of the
+one with which he was most concerned.
+
+"Few but Moslem people had passed through the Carsija upon this day,"
+they said, "for the terrible happenings of the morning had kept the
+Austrian Excellencies in their own part of the town and Islam--Islam in
+time of trouble was always wise to find its company among its own
+people."
+
+Renwick's task seemed hopeless, but he did not despair, leaving the
+bazaar at last, and climbing the hill to the old town beyond the
+Bastion. Here he again questioned every passer-by. "Had the Effendi seen
+a tall Excellency dressed in black who carried an umbrella? He, Stefan
+Thomasevic, had sold the Excellency some sheep and goats, but the
+Excellency had not yet paid all of that which he owed. It was not a
+matter about which to laugh. If the Excellency did not soon appear in
+the Carsija, it was a matter for the police."
+
+But no one could help him. Herr Linke was moving with discretion, for it
+was probable that if such a creature had strolled through the Carsija,
+there would be a dozen idlers who would have observed and noted the
+fact. Renwick's chief hopes were crumbling. And yet, if Linke suspected
+that the note which had been sent to the Hotel Europa was a bait, he
+would of course act with great caution. It was nearly midnight when,
+weary and disappointed, Renwick returned from the Kastele quarter in the
+direction of the Carsija. The houses were dark save for a glimmer of
+light in an upper window here and there, but the moon had come out, and
+Renwick, moving silently along in the shadow of walls and houses, gazed
+about him with the eagerness of despair. For a while he stopped in the
+angle of a wall, and listened to the sounds of the city below him, the
+rush of the river below the Bastion, the motor and bell of the electric
+tram-car, the whistle of a freight locomotive at the further end of the
+town--strident noises brought from the West to break the drowsy murmur
+of the Orient, but not a sight nor a sound which could give him a clew
+as to the whereabouts of Linke or Countess Marishka. The inaction was
+maddening. In his belt the American revolver hung its futile weight. Had
+it not been for Linke, he might have had a chance at least to follow the
+instructions of the note of the Hotel Europa to some conclusion whether
+for good or ill--it did not matter. If Marishka herself had written
+it!... She would be awaiting him now--and he could not come to
+her.... In his stead--Linke the gigantic, the mellifluous....
+
+Renwick turned slowly into a side street, and crouched in the dark angle
+of a wall, for a motor car was coming toward him. Motors in the region
+of Franz Josef Street and the river were not uncommon, but as a rule
+they were seldom to be seen in the hilly region near the Bastion. From
+his dark vantage point, Renwick saw the car approach and pass him,
+quietly coasting, and stop a short distance below the angle of the
+street from which he had emerged. He caught a glimpse of the profile of
+the chauffeur, and noted the condition of the car. He judged that it had
+come a long journey, for Sarajevo and the part of Bosnia through which
+his own machine had traveled, had suffered much from the drought. This
+machine was covered with dust, of course, but it was also literally
+spattered with mud. The Englishman watched the machine for a while, but
+the chauffeur having silenced the engine, remained motionless, in deep
+shadow, waiting. Of course belated visitors from the European section of
+the city to the Kastele were a possibility, but the quietness with which
+the chauffeur had approached, and the eager way in which he now leaned
+forward in his seat watching the _meshrebiya_ windows of a house at some
+distance, excited Renwick's curiosity. Why was the man there? Who was he
+watching in the house of the lighted window? Had this mystery anything
+in common with his own? Renwick watched the windows too. A light burned
+dimly within, and once he thought a shadow passed. The window and the
+chauffeur interested him, but he was too far away to distinguish the
+house clearly, and so, moving stealthily, he stole quietly up the hill
+to a cross street, and turning to the left, in the shadow of a wall,
+walked rapidly down to a small alley which he took at random, at the end
+of which he paused for observation. The house with the _meshrebiya_
+windows was now just below where he stood, but opposite him was an
+ancient stone wall, and in its center was a blue door. There were trees
+within the enclosure, and he heard the sound of falling water. He found
+a dark doorway and crouched silently, watching.
+
+A _cul-de-sac_? Perhaps. Disappointment and chagrin had done their worst
+to him. He would wait see what was to happen, and if nothing came of the
+venture he would merely have his labor for his pains. He noted above the
+wall that there were windows of the house which overlooked the garden.
+In one of them, in the room which the chauffeur had been observing, the
+light still dimly burned, but he saw no shadows. Peering out from the
+angle of the alleyway, he thought he had discovered a doorway or court
+between the house he was watching and the one below it toward the
+Carsija, and in a moment fancied that he could distinguish the sound of
+whispering voices, from that direction; but the shadow of a mosque
+nearby threw its shadow upon this part of the street, and he could see
+nothing clearly. If there were men there, they were keeping in the
+shadow of the wall around the turn of the street, beyond the range of
+Renwick's vision, but the night breeze which carried the sound of the
+whispers also wafted the odor of a native cigarette. The smell of it
+made Renwick wish to smoke, for the suspense and inaction were telling
+upon him, but he resisted the impulse, sinking lower into the shadow,
+and awaiting events.
+
+Minutes passed--hours they seemed to the waiting Renwick--and then came
+the deep boom of a bell, which echoing down the silent streets, seemed
+just at Renwick's elbow--another--another--until he counted twelve, of
+the belfry of the cathedral announcing midnight.
+
+He waited, thinking deeply. The machine which had come a long journey?
+The lighted windows which the chauffeur watched? The whisper of voices
+from the street below him? There was mystery here. He crouched lower and
+watched the dark shadow of the arch below the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE BEG OF RATAJ
+
+
+When Marishka reached the top of the stairs, entered the Harim, gazing
+terrified into the darkness from which she had emerged, she pushed aside
+the Kis-Kelim and listening fearfully for sounds of footsteps below,
+then closed the door, turned the key, and put her back against it,
+viewing with a new vision the interior which a while ago had seemed so
+friendly. Without Yeva who had given its disorder a personality, the
+room seemed alien, hostile and madly chaotic. For the first time since
+the reassurances of Captain Goritz in the green limousine as to her
+safety, she had a definite sense of personal danger. She was not
+timorous by nature, and the hope of success in her mission of atonement
+had given her the courage for the venture. She realized now that the
+will which had kept her buoyant through two arduous days and nights had
+suddenly forsaken her and left her supine, without hope or initiative.
+The actions of the man at the doorway below had frightened her. He had
+been so uncompromising in his ugliness. The shock of her awakening had
+been rudely unexpected, and had bewildered her with its brutal
+significance. She was a prisoner in this Turkish house, in an obscure
+quarter of a half Oriental town, and night was imminent, a night which
+seemed to possess untold possibilities for evil. What was to happen? Why
+had not Captain Goritz returned? Enemy though she now knew him to be,
+even Goritz was a refuge in this perilous situation. And yet it seemed
+certain that the man at the foot of the stairs was acting under his
+orders or under the orders of another who was accountable to him.
+
+Weakness overpowered her and she threw herself on the pile of cushions
+in the window and buried her face in her hands, as if by blinding
+herself to the imminent facts of her surroundings she could free her
+spirit of the terrors which were overtaking it. As in her dream, her
+faculties were elusive, thoughts and half-thoughts conflicting and
+interchangeable. The rush and the roar of the hurrying motor car, the
+kaleidoscope of the maddened crowd, the shots, the sunlight and then the
+spangled darkness with the sound of voices. She started upright in her
+cushions, her face pallid and drawn, her thoughts now focusing with
+sudden definiteness. The voices! They were no dream--no more a dream
+than the other horrors that encompassed her. She tried to remember what
+they had said. "Ten thousand _kroner_--the goose that lays the golden
+egg----" What did the phrases mean? Another--"To be kept in seclusion,
+of course, but you will accede to all her wishes." The meaning of the
+voices became clearer, at every moment. "Should she care to write, you
+will send a message!" Marishka put her hand to her lips as though to
+stifle a cry, and then sank back with a gasp of comprehension. Goritz!
+He had expected her to send a message, and had prepared for its
+delivery. But why? How could he have known!... Slowly the meaning of it
+all came to her. His certainty and insistence as to Hugh Renwick's
+pursuit--the belief that Renwick would go at once to the Hotel Europa!
+The power of suggestion! And she had followed it blindly--unawares,
+leading Hugh Renwick into this deadly trap which Goritz had laid. She
+read the plan now in all its insidious perfection. There was something
+malign--hypnotic--in an influence which could so easily compel
+compliance. And Hugh? She had written him to come here--to the door in
+the court below, where men would be waiting--perhaps to take his life.
+It was too horrible!
+
+Nature mercifully intervened. The strain of long days and nights of
+anguish had reached the limit of her endurance, and her nerves, too,
+long under tension, suddenly rebelled. She sank helplessly upon the
+floor, sobs racking her body from head to foot. She did not know how
+long she lay there, but when she raised her head it was already growing
+dark in the room, like the shadows that were stealing about her heart.
+Whichever way she turned, groping mentally for a thought which would
+lead her toward a light, disorder reigned, danger threatened. If there
+was a man at the foot of the stairs to prevent her escape, there would
+be others beneath the windows and at the door into the garden.
+
+Yeva! She clung to the hope of Yeva's sincerity--the last thing left to
+her. It was difficult for her to believe that this child with the body
+of a woman could be guilty of complicity in any plot. She might have
+obeyed instructions to be the bearer of any note that Marishka might
+write--indeed her childish prattle as to the wishes of her lord and
+master verified the voices of Marishka's dream, and suggested that
+Marishka should be permitted to do as she chose--so that Yeva had
+offered, without fear of consequences, to deliver Marishka's note at the
+hotel. She had even consented to leave the lower door open that Marishka
+might escape and follow her. No woman of the world could have acted a
+part as Yeva had played it. If the girl had known of the guardian of the
+lower door, her skill in dissimulation was consummate--so much out of
+keeping with the simplicity of her mind as to be entirely incredible.
+Yeva was innocent, a mere tool in the hands of Captain Goritz, who
+disposed all the pawns in his command to play his game. Yeva had been
+permitted to depart without hindrance. Would Marishka's note reach its
+destination? Or would it be intercepted and its message read by Captain
+Goritz? His cunning had amazed her but it frightened her now. A ruse so
+carefully planned could have for its object nothing less than the
+obliteration of Hugh Renwick, as a prisoner or something worse--perhaps
+Death! She shuddered. She, Marishka, would unwittingly have caused it!
+She had asked him to come at midnight and knock upon the door in the
+court below and she knew enough of Hugh to be sure that if he received
+the message, no matter how great the danger to himself, he would come.
+The note! If she could recall it! She would suffer whatever Goritz had
+in store for her, if Hugh could only be spared. She had already done him
+hurt enough--without the chance of this last most dreadful sacrifice in
+her behalf--in vain. He would come to her and she must wait--without the
+power to warn him, and perhaps see him killed before her very eyes.
+
+Her thoughts made her desperate--and the idea of another attempt to
+escape came into her head. If she could only reach the street, she could
+run--and it would be a better race with her pursuer than she had given
+Hugh in the rose gardens of the Archduke! She made the attempt, quietly
+opening the door by which she had entered the room and passing on
+tip-toe down the corridor to the door with the _dutap_. She drew aside
+the curtain which covered it and noiselessly turned the knob. As she
+peered out she found herself staring straight into the eyes of Zubeydeh.
+The woman's look was cold but full of understanding.
+
+"Does the Fraeulein wish anything?" she asked without the slightest
+change of expression. Her voice was colorless, like the speech which
+might be expected from a graven image.
+
+"I--I was hungry," stammered Marishka helplessly. "I--I am sorry to
+bother you."
+
+"If you will return to the room within, I will bring food at once," she
+said stolidly. And so Marishka, once more balked in her enterprise, went
+back to the Harim. Strong as she was, armed anew with the sudden
+strength of desperation, she knew that even if she could use her
+strength she was no match for this massive creature who, in the
+_selamlik_ nearby, perhaps had men within call. She went to the windows
+and peered out into the street. There was no one in sight, except a tall
+man in black who carried an umbrella. She watched him a moment through
+the carved screen, but he went up the street and disappeared around a
+corner. The garden seemed to be deserted. Would the gate to the street
+be locked? She made an effort to move the lattice of _meshrebiya_, but
+it was nailed fast to the main wood work of the house. Her case was
+hopeless. There was nothing to do but wait upon the clemency--the mercy
+of Captain Goritz. A new idea of her captor was being born in her, of a
+creature who differed from the courteous German official of Vienna and
+Agram. His eyes haunted her, the dark eyes set just a little obliquely
+in his head, a racial peculiarity which she had not been able to
+identify. She knew now. They were Oriental, like Zubeydeh's, like those
+of the man at the door below, alien, hostile and cruel. And yet it was
+curious how the smile in them had disarmed her and she remembered, with
+a futile glow of returning hope, that she had not feared him, that she
+had even had the temerity to defy him. But her courage had ebbed--she
+could not have defied him now and in the darkness while she waited for
+Yeva she feared him--feared him.
+
+It seemed strange that Yeva had not returned. She had been gone an hour
+or more and the Hotel Europa could not be a great distance away. As the
+moments passed she gave up the other hope of persuading the girl, when
+she returned, to go back at once to the hotel and reclaim the note,
+before Hugh could get it. Could anything have happened to her? Marishka
+wanted her--the sound of a voice, the touch of a feminine hand, her airs
+and graces--the foibles of a child perhaps, but intensely virile in
+their childishness and intensely human. It seemed that even Yeva was to
+be denied to her.
+
+For when Zubeydeh brought lights and food the woman made no comment upon
+the absence of the girl--a confirmation of Marishka's suspicions that
+Zubeydeh was aware of the conspiracy and what was to come of it. But as
+Marishka made a pretense of eating what the woman had brought, she
+summoned courage to inquire.
+
+"Yeva went out into the city by the passage to the street. She has not
+yet returned?"
+
+"I do not know," she said in her heavy colorless voice.
+
+The woman lied. Marishka knew it by the shifting glance of her eye.
+
+"Will you kindly inform His Excellency--I need mention no names--that I
+should be very glad if he would meet me at his convenience----"
+
+"Excellency is not here," said the woman.
+
+"Well, when he comes, I should be grateful if you will deliver my
+message."
+
+"I will tell him."
+
+Nothing more. Her manner was not discourteous, but her voice was
+forbidding. She had been given instructions to keep silence. And just
+before leaving the room, a further confirmation of Marishka's conviction
+that Yeva was at that very moment in another part of the house, Zubeydeh
+gathered up the two pieces of drapery which Marishka had given the girl,
+and carried them out of the room.
+
+The hours lengthened while Marishka sat trying to gather the remnants of
+her courage to face Captain Goritz when he should come to her. The
+Turkish lamp which hung from the ceiling burned dimly, casting grotesque
+shadows about the room, flickering in patches of tawdry light upon the
+gilt of the embroidered hangings, and touching the blades of the ancient
+weapons which decorated the wall about the couch, scimitars, swords,
+daggers and spears! Marishka got up and examined them more closely,
+curiously, as though she had not seen them before. She shuddered a
+little as she plucked from its sheath a small dagger with a bronzed
+handle, and found that its blade was very sharp and bright. She reached
+up to put it back, but as she did so there was a sound from the room
+beyond the passage, and a knock upon the door. So she slipped the weapon
+into the waistband of her skirt, beneath her blouse, and went to her
+seat among the pillows. In a moment the knock was repeated, and in reply
+to her call, the door opened and she heard footsteps along the corridor.
+
+The man who entered was tall and slender, with a hooked nose, heavy
+brows, and a beard streaked with white. He wore the turban and bright
+green belt which denoted the Moslem, and the fingers with which he
+touched brow, lips, and heart in salutation were covered with rings.
+
+"_Salaem 'alaikum_," he muttered, bowing.
+
+Marishka knew no reply to this and made none, waiting in some
+trepidation for him to proceed. He was a villainous looking creature,
+but comported himself with an air of some dignity. In a moment he spoke
+again in excellent German.
+
+"I hope that Excellency has been able to make herself quite comfortable
+in my poor house."
+
+As he spoke, Marishka remembered that this was one of the voices of her
+dreams, the gruff voice which talked with Goritz.
+
+Something was required of her in reply, and so, with an effort,
+
+"Yeva has been very kind, Effendi," she managed.
+
+"Yes. Allah has been good to me. Yeva has a heart of gold."
+
+"You are the Beg of Rataj?" Marishka asked.
+
+He salaamed again.
+
+"Will you tell me, then, what has become of Herr Hauptmann Goritz?"
+
+The man's face wore a sudden crafty look of incomprehension.
+
+"Goritz, Excellency?" he asked coolly. "There is no one of that name in
+my acquaintance."
+
+Marishka accepted the rebuke and ventured timidly, "I mean, the--the
+Excellency--who brought me here----"
+
+"Ah! Lieutenant von Arnstorf! He has gone, I think, upon a journey,"
+said the Beg.
+
+Marishka was silent a moment, thinking.
+
+"That is strange. It is very necessary that I should see him."
+
+The man smiled up at the lamp above his head, revealing a void where
+teeth should have been.
+
+"I need not say that he has directed that everything possible shall be
+done for your comfort--and it is my pleasure to obey Excellency's
+orders, in so far as my poor house can afford. And even were these not
+Excellency's instructions," he added with a grin, "it is an honor for
+the house of Rataj to have beneath its roof one so noble and so
+beautiful."
+
+A wave of nerves swept over Marishka for the admiration in his glance
+was unmistakable, but she knew that any possible chance of safety for
+Hugh--for herself--lay in the favor of this man. And so with a shudder
+of repugnance which she concealed with difficulty, she motioned to him
+to be seated. His small eyes appraised her eagerly for a moment, and
+then he sank upon a cushion near her, and without asking permission,
+took out a cigarette.
+
+"I--I shall not forget your kindness, Effendi," said Marishka,
+struggling for her composure. "Already Yeva and I are good friends."
+
+"Ah, that is fortunate, for it was upon the question of the future of
+Yeva that I have come to talk with you."
+
+"In what may I serve you, Effendi?"
+
+He sighed deeply.
+
+"Times change, Excellency. In the days gone by, the Begs of Rataj were
+reckoned among the rulers of Bosnia, high in the counsels of the
+Janissaries, feudal lords of great domains. But I, alas! the last of the
+Begs of Rataj, whose father even held the sway of a king, have been
+deprived of my tithes, and reduced to the low condition of a merchant in
+rugs, a dealer in antiquities, dependent upon the good will of tourists
+from the West, reduced perhaps one day to sit in a stall in the Carsija.
+It is not so much that I am no longer rich, but it is my pride, the
+pride of race which suffers under misfortune."
+
+Whither was the man leading? Much as she distrusted him, her curiosity
+was aroused, and she listened, watching him intently.
+
+"You will perhaps understand," he continued gravely, "that all this is
+very hard upon Yeva, the star of my heart, with whom Allah has blessed
+me. The West has flowed in upon the East at Bosna-Seraj, and engulfed
+it. We are no more a simple Moslem city with the tastes of our fathers;
+and our women are no more satisfied to remain as they were, childish,
+ignorant, and unlettered. The spell of the Occident is upon the land.
+Vienna, Berlin, Paris, have come to Bosna-Seraj. Our women sigh for the
+things which are beyond the mountains. The peace of the home is invaded
+and our women are unhappy, because their lords and masters have no money
+to procure for them the things that they wish."
+
+Money! Thank God! This man could be bought!
+
+"And Yeva?" Marishka asked, trembling in fear for the new hope that had
+risen.
+
+"It is the same with her as with the others, Excellency," he shrugged
+despairingly. "She is but a child. I have been foolishly liberal with
+her--as liberal as my poor means allowed, and she has come to know the
+value of money--the dross for which men perjure their souls, and die if
+need be. Yeva, alas! wishes jewels, the pretty clothing of the women of
+fashion. And I, as I have related, being a mere dealer in rugs,
+Excellency, have not been able to give them to her. It has made
+unhappiness come into my household; it has made me, the Beg of Rataj,
+hereditary ruler of thousands, ashamed to raise my head or my voice in
+her presence--I, Excellency, her lord and master!"
+
+He wagged his head to and fro with an air which might have been comical,
+had not Marishka's need been so desperate. But she read him easily, a
+vile, blackmailing rogue who held no allegiance higher than what he got
+from it--a man who, for all his fine flow of talk, could be dangerous as
+well as unscrupulous. But Marishka met him fairly.
+
+"I have taken a fancy to Yeva, Effendi," she said quietly. "She will
+tell you perhaps that I have already given her several trifles which she
+fancied. Perhaps I can do something to solve your problems. In my own
+country I am considered wealthy and I can be generous with those who
+treat me with kindness."
+
+"Ah!" The Effendi's eyes sparkled hungrily. The Austrian countess was no
+fool. She had already begun to understand him.
+
+"To treat Her Excellency with kindness! And could I do anything else? My
+house, poor as it is----"
+
+"Effendi," Marishka cut in boldly, "let us waste no words. I am a
+prisoner in your house, at the instance of Captain--of Herr Lieutenant
+von Arnstorf----"
+
+"A prisoner? Has not the Excellency----?"
+
+"One moment. I am not aware how much you know of the political situation
+which has brought me to Bosna-Seraj, but I do know that I am confined
+here against my will--a prisoner in a house within the realms of my own
+country. Of course you know that I have sought to escape, that I have
+written to a friend who will do what he can to liberate me."
+
+"Excellency, I beg of you----"
+
+"Please let me finish. For political reasons, the fact of my presence
+here and my mission should be kept a secret. My friends, therefore,
+would not wish to call upon General Potiorek, the governor, for soldiers
+or police, if my liberty can be secured quietly--without commotion. I am
+willing to meet you upon any reasonable grounds."
+
+Marishka paused, for the man had risen and was pacing the floor slowly.
+
+"Ah, Excellency, I, too, will waste no further speech, for I see that
+you are a woman of the world, and I, Beg of Rataj, am only a seller of
+rugs. But I am placed in a difficult position. It has pained me deeply
+to see you constrained to stay in my poor house against your will. And
+yet, what would you? His Excellency has done me many favors, and
+gratitude is one of the strongest traits in a nature which suffers much
+misuse. I do not know anything of politics, or of the controversy
+between you, and I have simply obeyed the dictates of my heart in giving
+his Excellency some proof--some return of his kindnesses to me. But
+since I have seen you, heard your voice, felt the distinction of your
+presence in my poor house, I am torn between my emotions--of gratitude
+and of pity."
+
+"How much do you want?" said Marishka quietly.
+
+"Excellency, the brutality of the words!"
+
+"I mean them. How much?"
+
+The man's keen eyes appraised her quickly and then looked away, but he
+sank upon his cushion again, wagging his head and breathing a deep sigh
+to measure his humiliation.
+
+"I am but a poor man, Excellency," he sighed again.
+
+Upon Marishka's wrist was a bracelet set with diamonds. She slipped it
+off quickly and handed it to him.
+
+"You are a poor man," she said. "I give you this--for Yeva."
+
+"Ah, yes. For Yeva." But his eyes were regarding the bracelet, which he
+was weighing in his hand.
+
+"And if you do what I wish, I shall give you fifteen thousand _kroner_
+more."
+
+"Fifteen thou----!" he whispered. "Excellency, a fortune----"
+
+"If you do what I wish----"
+
+"Anything--Excellency has but to speak."
+
+Marishka deliberated a moment and then, "You will first remove the guard
+at the foot of the private stairway to this----"
+
+"Excellency, the hour is late. If you can be comfortable in my house
+until the morning, all shall be arranged. For tonight I have
+planned----"
+
+"No. It must be as I wish. You will also take a message addressed to Mr.
+Hugh Renwick at the Hotel Europa, and find him----"
+
+"And he will give me money?" the man broke in quickly, his bony fingers
+clutching like talons at the bracelet. "He will give me fifteen thousand
+_kroner_?"
+
+Marishka hesitated. The price she had mentioned was cheap for her
+liberty--for freedom from the fear that had all day obsessed her, but it
+was a large sum, and one which it might be impossible to procure at this
+time of night.
+
+"He will give you such assurances as you may require. At least he will
+give you something. I shall write that I need this sum of money, and he
+will surely do what he can."
+
+"Something--yes," he mused. "Something is, of course, better than
+nothing at all. But how can I be certain that I shall see him?"
+
+"Ah, but you must, Effendi. It is necessary for you, to find him--and at
+once."
+
+"But if he should refuse?"
+
+"He will not. Do you consent?"
+
+He salaamed deeply.
+
+"Excellency's wish is my law."
+
+So Marishka sat before the tabourette and wrote:
+
+     I have promised the bearer of this note fifteen thousand _kroner_,
+     as the condition of my liberation. Give him what you can, and
+     arrange for the payment of the balance tomorrow. This is the cry of
+     desperation. _Do not come here or attempt to see me._ It is
+     dangerous. I will come to you.
+
+     M.
+
+She sealed the note and handed it to him. He turned it over and over in
+his fingers, his gaze aslant.
+
+"But suppose," he repeated slowly, "that I should not be able to find
+him."
+
+"You must," she said with desperate hardihood. "If the note should not
+reach him, the conditions of our agreement change. And be sure of this,
+Effendi--if harm comes to Hugh Renwick, payment will be exacted from you
+to the tenth part of a hair. His safety and my freedom----"
+
+"I do not comprehend," said the man, his brows raised in a
+well-simulated surprise. "What have I to do with the safety of this
+Excellency? He can be in no danger, here in Bosna-Seraj. We are a
+peaceable people----"
+
+"Still--" she said distinctly, "you will remember."
+
+He shrugged and took a pace away from her, still fingering the note.
+
+"I do not comprehend," he repeated. "But I will do as you request. I
+shall go at once," and he moved toward the door, then paused. "As to the
+guard at the door below, that will not be necessary, since you will
+await me in the _mabein_." He went quickly down the corridor, opened the
+door of the _dutap_, and called Zubeydeh, who entered at once. "The
+Countess will wait in the outer room. When I return I shall conduct her
+to the Hotel Europa, where she will spend the night. You will wait upon
+her in the meanwhile, as becomes a distinguished guest of the house of
+Rataj."
+
+Then followed a phrase or two of Turkish, and the woman bowed stolidly.
+
+"It shall be as you wish, Effendi."
+
+And he passed the woman with another phrase, and was gone.
+
+Zubeydeh and Marishka stood facing each other, the elder woman in sullen
+antipathy, illy concealed by the habitual mask of imperturbability.
+Marishka had disliked her from the first, actuated by that rare instinct
+which only women can employ, and now there seemed something ominous in
+her stolid ugliness. Marishka had not fully understood the instructions
+of the Beg, and not until Zubeydeh picked up her suitcase and carried it
+down the corridor, did she realize that she was merely carrying out the
+orders of her master. But Marishka did not move. Before her eyes danced
+the words of her earlier note to Hugh, which asked him to come to her by
+the private passage to the court below. If the Effendi did not succeed
+in finding him, he would come; and she would not be there to meet him.
+Instead of following Zubeydeh, who had returned and stood staring at
+her, her feet refused to obey.
+
+"But I should prefer to remain here----" she said firmly.
+
+A vestige of a smile--slight, but none the less disagreeable--came into
+the woman's yellow face.
+
+"The Harim," she said dryly, "is intended for the daughters of the
+faithful. You cannot stay tonight."
+
+And as Marishka still stood irresolutely, she caught her by the arm with
+a grip which was none too gentle, and pushed her down the corridor and
+out into the _mabein_.
+
+Marishka sat upon the couch in the room into which she had first been
+conducted, her head near the latticed window, through which the pale
+green moonlight vied with the glow from the lantern over her head.
+Though it could not yet be time for him to return, she listened intently
+for the sound of the footsteps of the Beg. Had she succeeded? In spite
+of the danger which threatened Hugh Renwick, and the ominous absence of
+Captain Goritz, she felt that there was a chance that all might still be
+well. Where was Captain Goritz? The tale that he had gone upon a journey
+was an invention, of course. He was here in Sarajevo if not in the house
+where she was held a prisoner, at least somewhere near, where he could
+be sure of the culmination of the plot to remove Hugh Renwick, without
+himself being involved in any unpleasant issues. From the appearance of
+the Beg of Rataj and of the man she had met at the foot of the stairs,
+she knew that any dreadful deed was possible in the darkness of the
+secluded streets outside the house, in the garden below, or in the house
+itself. But she did not despair. It was easier to win money by keeping
+within the law than by breaking it. The Beg was a rogue, but money was
+his fetish, and Marishka's bribe was the larger.
+
+As the moments lengthened and the man did not return, hope ebbed, and
+she grew anxious. The small metal clock on the table in the corner
+indicated the hour. It was half-past eleven. In half an hour, if the Beg
+had not delivered her note, Hugh Renwick would come to find her, unless!
+She breathed a silent prayer--unless he had not yet reached Sarajevo!
+For hours she had prayed that he had followed her, for that was the
+proof of his devotion that her heart required of him; but now she prayed
+just as fervently that he had not come. The notion of another attempt to
+escape occurred to her, but when she got up and peered down into the
+darkness of the stairway which led below, her courage failed her, and
+she remembered the man at the foot of the other stair. Zubeydeh, too,
+was near, and while she was planning, the woman passed into the Harim
+and closed the door behind her.
+
+She peered out of the window into the garden, searching its shadows for
+signs of a guard, but all was quiet, except for the sound of whispering
+voices, which might have come from the street or from the house
+adjoining. In the dim light she watched the hour hand of the clock as it
+slowly moved around the dial. Ten, fifteen minutes passed, and still she
+heard no sound of footsteps. What if Hugh came while the Beg was absent
+searching for him? She knew that there must be other men besides the
+villain she had met at the foot of the stairs. What orders had the Beg
+given his men? And what orders had he countermanded? The silence was
+closing in upon her like a fog. She could not bear it. What if Hugh were
+already at the foot of the stairs, waiting to knock upon the door of the
+Harim as she had directed? The suspense was killing her. She rose
+quietly and tried the door of the _dutap_ into the corridor which led to
+the Harim. It was locked.
+
+She staggered and clung to the wall to keep from falling. She saw it all
+now. Goritz had intercepted the note she had sent by Yeva. _They_ were
+in there--Zubeydeh, the Beg and his men, and perhaps Goritz, too,
+waiting--waiting for the two knocks at the steps below. And then the
+door would be opened, and Hugh----
+
+The bell of the cathedral tolled, and fearfully she counted its strokes.
+It was twelve o'clock.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE MAN IN ARMOR
+
+
+Renwick waited in his place of concealment near the blue door, listening
+and watching eagerly. Something was happening in the house with the
+_meshrebiya_ windows, for it was after midnight, and all Islam was
+asleep. There were sounds of whispering again, but when he peered out
+there was no one in sight. Then he thought he heard footsteps; but
+whether they came from the direction of the house of the lighted window,
+or whether from up the street he could not yet decide. Now he was sure
+of them. Someone was approaching over the rough cobbles--from the alley
+behind him! He crouched into a place of concealment behind a broken
+lattice, flattening himself against the door, and waited--breathless. He
+did not dare to look out, for the figure was almost upon him, but the
+footsteps now silent, now moving rapidly forward, indicated the stealth
+of a man who evades pursuit or fears detection. Presently a shadow
+loomed beside him as a man paused for a moment beside the doorway where
+Renwick stood, so close that the Englishman could hear his breathing,
+and then moved on to the corner of the wider street a few feet away.
+Even yet, Renwick feared to move, but at last, as the man went on toward
+the wall of the blue door, Renwick risked detection, and peered out.
+
+The figure glanced at the blue door, and then turning quickly, went with
+long strides down the street toward the house with the _meshrebiya_
+windows. Renwick's glance had been but a momentary one, but in it he had
+marked a huge figure, in a squarish hat and ill-fitting clothes. Gustav
+Linke! In his hand, clutched like a weapon, he still carried his
+atrocious umbrella. A grotesque outlandish figure, an ink-blot on the
+velvet night! What was he doing here near the house of the lighted
+windows? Renwick sprang from his place of concealment, whispering
+Linke's name; but when he reached the corner of the alley the man was
+twenty paces away, and so bent upon his mission that he heard nothing.
+Renwick halted instinctively, and in the moment of hesitation, his
+opportunity was lost. As wisdom had urged caution while Renwick had
+waited, so doubly it urged it now. Linke moved like a man with a
+mission, and Renwick peered forth from the angle of the wall watching
+eagerly, sure now of what that mission was--the pursuit of Marishka
+Strahni!
+
+He saw the man stop beneath the lighted windows, look up, and then with
+a glance to right and left, enter the shadow of the mosque and disappear
+within the small court beside the house. Renwick thought rapidly and
+clearly. In the court where Linke had disappeared there must be another
+entrance to the house. For a fleeting second, the idea entered Renwick's
+head to follow the man, and trust to fortune; but the wall and blue door
+opposite tempted him. Inside the garden, at least there would be a
+chance for concealment, and a vantage point from which he could watch
+and hear what went on within the house. He waited a moment, trying to
+decide whether or not he had better risk detection in the narrow strip
+of moonlight, or wait and see if anyone moved in the street below. He
+was on the point of taking the chance when from the door of a house just
+below him, several men emerged. It was difficult to determine how many
+there were, but Renwick thought that there were at least four--perhaps
+five; but whether Bosnians or Turks he could not decide. And from their
+stealth and silence, and the rapidity with which they followed the tall
+figure of Linke into the dark passage, the obvious inference was that
+they were bent upon mischief.
+
+There was no further time to plan, so Renwick, with a quick look to
+right and left, darted furtively across to the gate of the blue door and
+tried the latch. It was unlocked, and quickly he entered the garden;
+with his hand upon the revolver in his belt he waited, listening, but
+there was no sound within but the plashing of the water of the fountain.
+His eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, and he searched the
+shadows of the bushes by the reflected moonlight which silvered the
+upper stories of the building. He saw that there was a door near the
+center of the house facing the fountain, and upstairs in the windows
+over it was the dull glow of a lamp or lantern. The windows of the other
+room, which he had observed from across the street, were now darkened.
+This was curious, but there was no time to debate upon it. He must act
+quickly. He was sure now that Marishka was somewhere in this house, a
+prisoner. She had sent for him, or why should Linke be here? He drew the
+revolver from the folds of his sash, and with a keen glance to right and
+left, crouching below the level of the shrubbery, he reached the door of
+the house and tried it.
+
+It was locked. He hesitated for a moment, looking over his shoulder, and
+then slipping his weapon into his belt again, he put a foot into the
+trellis beside the doorway and began climbing. It was a dangerous thing
+to attempt, for as he emerged from the shadows below, his figure would
+be clearly outlined against the moonlit wall, and a well directed shot
+from the garden would send him clattering down like a maimed squirrel
+from a tree. But the game was worth the candle, for he had seen that the
+window in the room above the door was open, and as he had decided to
+enter the house at any cost, this was the only way. But it was slow
+work, for the trellis was old, and creaked beneath his weight, and once,
+when his foot slipped, he thought he must surely be discovered. Then he
+waited, with his fingers almost at the window ledge, listening. He heard
+the low murmur of voices, but they seemed to come from another part of
+the building, and so risking the whole venture in one effort, he quickly
+raised his head above the level of the window-ledge, and peered in. At
+first he saw only the flickering shadows of a lamp hanging from the
+ceiling, and then a figure in the corner opposite, which startled him
+until he saw that it was immovable--a suit of armor upright against the
+wall. The room appeared to be empty, and so he grasped the inside of the
+sill, and hauled himself up until his shoulders were within the window
+opening.
+
+It was then that a female figure started up from a couch just beside
+him, stifling a cry. The light from the lantern above fell full upon her
+face, and her eyes were staring at him in terror. It was Marishka. He
+whispered her name, but still she stared at him wildly, and it was not
+until then that he remembered his disguise. He took off his fez, and
+spoke to her again.
+
+"Marishka, it is I, Hugh!"
+
+He saw her stare and then take a pace toward him as he clambered into
+the room, and in a moment she was in his arms.
+
+"Hugh--beloved!" she murmured brokenly, as she leaned heavily against
+him. "I have been so frightened----"
+
+"Marishka! Your hands are ice cold. They have kept you here--against
+your will?"
+
+"Yes. And you--Hugh--they've tried----"
+
+"Don't fear," he smiled. "I've as many lives as a cat. Didn't you hear
+me scratching my way up the wall? Sh----"
+
+He left her for a moment, and peered out into the darkness of the
+garden. All was silent as before, and so he returned and took her in his
+arms again.
+
+"You've forgiven me?" he whispered.
+
+"Need you ask? Oh, Hugh, I've wanted you so!"
+
+"Thank God for that." Their lips met and she clung to him, all the
+pitiful longings of her days and nights of misery in her caress, the
+dependence of helpless womanhood, but greater than that, the fear for
+his safety, which took precedence over her own.
+
+He kissed her tenderly, the joy of possession the greater for the
+dangers that they ran.
+
+"You're trembling, Marishka. Don't worry."
+
+But she clung to him anew.
+
+"If anything should happen now--that I have you again."
+
+"Dearest! I, too, have suffered with you--but I haven't despaired. I
+would never have given you up, you know," he said with a smile.
+
+"I've never wanted you to give me up, Hugh. I've tested you
+cruelly--because--because--my pride was hurt----"
+
+"It had to be, Marishka. But you've survived it----"
+
+"My love is greater--greater than anything in the world to me," she
+murmured. "Danger has proved it--and yours----"
+
+"It needed nothing. I love you--now and always."
+
+"You forgive?"
+
+He kissed her again and again, and for a long moment they clasped each
+other in silence, their lips together, questioning, replying in broken
+syllables. To the woman, nothing else mattered. If death came now, she
+knew that it would be sweet. And it was Renwick who found his reason
+first. Her hands still in his, he led her to the window, where he
+scanned the garden anxiously. But there was still no sign of anything
+suspicious, nor, in the house, any sound. But Renwick now questioned her
+quickly.
+
+"You sent me a note in Vienna?"
+
+"Yes. A warning. I was afraid. I urged you to return to England, but I
+hoped----"
+
+"Ah! The note--a forgery!"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Your note told me to come to Sarajevo--to the Hotel Europa, where you
+would communicate with me."
+
+"A forgery! Goritz! Now I understand. He said that you would follow."
+
+"Goritz--the limousine chap! He is here?"
+
+"I don't know. I haven't seen him since this morning. Hugh! He has laid
+plans to kill you--a trap----"
+
+"We shall outwit him----"
+
+"But I am frightened, even now with you here beside me, Hugh. He
+is clever--I am no match for him--I wrote you to come--tonight. It
+was what he wished. Don't you understand? A trap! You are in
+danger--here--now----"
+
+But Renwick did not seem to be greatly disturbed. His mind had cleared
+amazingly.
+
+"We shall fight him with his own weapons----"
+
+"I am frightened. Are you sure that no one saw you enter the garden?"
+
+"Positive." And then pursuing his thought, "You sent a note to the Hotel
+Europa?"
+
+"Yes--" she stammered, "this afternoon. I asked you to come
+here--tonight at twelve. You received it?"
+
+"No. It was intercepted."
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+He laughed. "I don't wonder. It's the luckiest thing in the world that
+I've found you."
+
+He kissed her again, and then quickly, "The Harim is--where?"
+
+She pointed to the door with the grille, and he regarded it with a new
+interest. In the silence that followed, they heard again the murmur of
+voices, a woman's and a man's.
+
+"Zubeydeh!" she whispered. "The woman here and--a man's voice."
+
+"We must find a way out quickly. They may come around this way."
+
+He noticed the door upon the other side of the room.
+
+"Where does that lead?"
+
+"To the _selamlik_, I think. But it is better to go by the window. I can
+climb. Let us go."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"It's dangerous. The stairs----"
+
+"It is dark below. I don't know where they lead."
+
+"To the garden. They must. The door is locked on the inside, but perhaps
+there's another exit at the rear. Come."
+
+He drew his revolver from his belt, and taking her by the hand, led her
+to the stair, and there they stopped, for Marishka clutched his arm in
+sudden consternation. From the Harim came a sudden muffled noise--as
+though some one were beating upon a carpet.
+
+"Shots!" whispered Renwick. "We must hurry."
+
+"Shots! What does it mean?"
+
+"I'll explain later. Hurry!"
+
+There were cries now--the shriek of a woman, and above all, a hoarse
+bellow as of some enraged animal. Renwick had already descended a few
+steps, Marishka following him, when the door to the _selamlik_ opened,
+and a female figure clad in Marishka's silk drapery rushed forth. It was
+Yeva.
+
+"Fraeulein----" she whispered in awed tones to Marishka. "Forgive me!"
+she pleaded. "I have seen. It was beautiful. I could not see harm come
+to you. His Excellency has been in the street at the back of the house,
+but when the fighting began came up the rear stairway of the
+_selamlik_----"
+
+"Goritz!" stammered Marishka in terror.
+
+"But I have locked the upper door."
+
+"He will come here, Yeva!"
+
+"Excellency must go--if there is yet time."
+
+"The garden!"
+
+"No," said Renwick, looking about for a place of concealment. "I shall
+stay."
+
+"It is death----" whispered Marishka.
+
+But Yeva was resourceful. "The armor!" she whispered. "I have often
+hidden in it from Zubeydeh. Quickly, Excellency! It stands upon brackets
+in the wall."
+
+And while Marishka watched the stairhead in terror, Yeva helped the
+Englishman into this strange place of concealment. Excited as Yeva was
+at her share in the affair, her fingers were nimble, and she buckled the
+straps quickly, then turning fled into the _selamlik_ and unlocked the
+door. But Goritz by this time had managed to find a way to the stairs to
+the _mabein_, and came up stealthily, listening eagerly to the
+increasing commotion in the Harim. He found Marishka and Yeva hand in
+hand at the door to the _selamlik_ staring in consternation at the door
+of the black grille. There were no more shots, but more ominous even
+than shots were the sounds of voices, strained, subdued, tense with
+effort--the heavy breathing of men, the crashing of furniture, and then
+at last the jar of heavy bodies falling--a cry of triumph--and silence.
+
+Captain Goritz had folded his arms and waited expectant.
+
+"It is very strange," he said coolly to Yeva. "Someone has broken into
+the Harim?"
+
+"Excellency, I do not know. I was at the other end of the house. The
+Fraeulein was frightened and called to me," she lied glibly.
+
+"It is not to be wondered at----" he said with a strange smile. "They
+have made enough noise to raise the dead. I have a pardonable curiosity
+as to what has happened." But as he strode toward the door and laid a
+hand upon the knob, Yeva rushed forward.
+
+"Excellency!" she whispered. "You dare not! The law!"
+
+He looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and turned to Marishka.
+
+"I would suggest, Countess Strahni, that you go with this girl at once
+into the _selamlik_. I have no idea of what has happened, but it must be
+something quite disagreeable--an intruder within the Harim--the penalty
+is severe----"
+
+Marishka was leaning against the rail of the stairway near the suit of
+armor, and Goritz watched her curiously.
+
+"I--shall not go," she stammered faintly, wondering at the growing
+mystery.
+
+He shrugged. "As you please," he muttered, "but I warn you that the
+situation may be--unpleasant----"
+
+"I shall remain--" she said again.
+
+There were sounds of heavy footsteps, and the door of the _dutap_ swung
+open, revealing the Beg of Rataj, torn and dishevelled, his face
+distorted with passion. He paused in the doorway, and looked from Goritz
+to Marishka, breathing rapidly.
+
+"Ah, Excellency," he gasped. "I call you all to witness. A man has
+entered the Harim--a Christian. Yeva, I knew, was not there, but I saw
+him and followed from the street with my friends--my son, my
+brother-in-law, my cousins. He is here. We have killed him."
+
+Goritz glanced at Marishka, but she stared past the dreadful apparition
+into the corridor, behind him, incapable of speech or thought.
+
+"A Christian!" said Goritz. "Incredible!"
+
+"You shall see," said the Effendi. And turning to those within he
+uttered a phrase in Turkish, and presently Zubeydeh and a man came
+forward dragging something behind them. Marishka hid her face in her
+hands, and crouched nearer the corner where the armor was.
+
+She saw Goritz suddenly start forward, his gaze upon the prostrate
+figure in black, which its bearers had deposited none too gently in the
+middle of the rug. Then he peered into the upturned face, starting
+upright and glaring at the Effendi.
+
+"_Vermalerdeiter Haellen_----" he cried. "_It's not the man!_"
+
+"What do you mean, Excellency?" cried the Beg.
+
+"What I say--Idiots!"
+
+"A Christian--in my Harim!" wailed the old ruffian. "He has ruined my
+furniture and killed my brother-in-law and my cousin."
+
+"What do I care?" cried Goritz furiously. "You've got us all into
+trouble with your bungling. Do you know who this man is?" he stormed.
+
+"Who, Excellency?" cried the Effendi.
+
+"Nicholas Szarvas--the most famous secret service agent in Hungary."
+
+"What say you, Excellency?" the Effendi asked bewildered.
+
+"You have heard."
+
+"It is impossible. This was the man----"
+
+"Bah! You are a sheep's head."
+
+"Sheep's head I am not----"
+
+"Then you are a fool!"
+
+"By the beard of the Prophet--he was in my Harim," muttered the Effendi.
+"I call you all to witness----"
+
+"I wash my hands of the matter," said Goritz furiously.
+
+"I am within my rights--the Harim----"
+
+"Bah--You have killed a police officer of the Empire!"
+
+"And you?" The Effendi's face was the color of that of the man upon the
+floor, but his eyes glowed with fear and desperation.
+
+"I know nothing of the matter," continued Goritz. "A Christian comes
+into your Harim and you kill him. If he turns out to be an officer of
+the law, what is it to me?"
+
+"You will pay me that which you owe," shrieked the Effendi. "The man has
+broken my furniture."
+
+"It is a pity he didn't break your head. I pay you nothing."
+
+And then to Marishka, "Come, Countess, we must be upon our way."
+
+Marishka stood staring at Goritz, a new horror in her eyes. She now
+understood. The Effendi thrust himself between them.
+
+"You will pay me that which you owe," he stormed again.
+
+"Stand aside!" said the German, and then to Marishka,
+
+"If the Countess Strahni will be good enough to accompany me?" he said,
+civilly.
+
+But Marishka stood fixed, staring at him with alien eyes, as the Effendi
+rushed forward toward her, his arms extended.
+
+"She shall not go. She will see what has been done. He is _not the man_.
+She will remain here in my house until----"
+
+"Stand aside, Effendi!" cried Goritz furiously, and as the man did not
+move, he caught him by the shoulder and thrust him roughly aside. He
+scorned to use a weapon, and the other man and the woman seemed
+completely dominated by his air of command.
+
+"You will please come at once, Countess Strahni. There is no telling how
+soon the police will be coming."
+
+And as Marishka did not move--
+
+"You heard?"
+
+"I will not go," stammered Marishka.
+
+Goritz paused, examining her keenly, as though he had not quite
+understood.
+
+"I have asked you quite courteously, Countess----"
+
+"I will not go," repeated Marishka. Her voice was ice-cold, like her
+body, which seemed to be frozen into immobility.
+
+"I beg to remind you of your promise--to go with me----"
+
+"I will not go," she said again.
+
+"Then I must take you," he said, striding toward her furiously, and
+reaching out a hand to seize her by the wrist.
+
+Then a strange thing happened. The man in armor, in the corner behind
+Marishka, strode clanking forth into the room, while a voice
+reverberated in the iron helmet. What it said no one understood. The
+Effendi gazed at the moving thing in terror, and then with a shriek fled
+down the stairs, Zubeydeh and her companion, _calling in loud tones upon
+Allah_, at his heels. Goritz glanced at the thing and then stood
+irresolute a moment, as the man in the armor slowly raised an arm, for
+at the end of the arm Goritz saw a revolver pointed directly at him.
+
+"Hold up your hands, Captain Goritz," rang the voice from the depths of
+the helmet. "Quickly, or I'll shoot."
+
+Goritz bit his lips.
+
+"Clever--Herr Renwick," he said coolly in English. "You've taken the
+trick."
+
+"Hold up your hands----"
+
+But Goritz with a sudden leap had sprung behind Marishka. Renwick fired
+once as he jumped, and missed. And now Goritz, shielding himself behind
+Marishka's body, drew his automatic and fired again and again, riddling
+the ancient armor like a sieve. Marishka struggled wildly in the arms of
+the German, and managed to draw the dagger concealed in her waist, but
+he caught her wrist and held her in front of him, taking careful aim at
+the man in the armor and firing deliberately. Renwick tottered forward
+silently and came crashing to the floor in the corner, where after a
+moment of struggle, he relaxed and lay motionless.
+
+Goritz caught Marishka around the waist and disarmed her. But this act
+of precaution was unnecessary, for after one fleeting glance at the
+tangled heap of iron in the corner, she sank a dead weight in his arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+NUMBER 28
+
+
+For a month the Landes Hospital had been greatly interested in the
+mystery of patient Number 28. In spite of the imminence of war, and the
+preparations which were being made to care for the wounded along the
+border, the physicians, the nurses, and the other patients had all
+formed theories as to the man's history and the possible causes of his
+injuries. And during the long period in which he lay unconscious,
+hovering in the dim realm between life and death, not a day passed in
+which his temperature, respiration, and other symptoms were not
+discussed from one end of the hospital to the other. The Head Surgeon,
+Colonel Bohratt, inclined to the opinion that if the man continued for a
+few days longer without change he would recover. But the Head Nurse
+shook her head sagely. The wound in the head had been difficult, as the
+operation was an unusual one, the wound in the shoulder was nothing, but
+the one in the stomach! If the operation of Colonel Bohratt proved
+successful, then a miracle had been performed.
+
+The interest in the case, both from the sentimental as well as the
+professional point of view, was so great that the man's bed had been
+carefully wheeled from a ward where he had been taken from the operating
+table, into a private room, where every chance would be given him to
+recover.
+
+On the twenty-seventh of July, Fraeulein Roth, the nurse on duty at the
+bedside of the man of mystery, noted a slight change in his breathing,
+and saw that he had opened his eyes, which were regarding her calmly,
+but with the puzzled expression of one who has come a great distance
+into a strange country. She knew then that what the Head Surgeon had
+said was true, and that the man of mystery had turned the corner which
+led away from the land of the Great Beyond. But being a prudent person,
+she gave no sign of her delight, merely moving softly closer to the
+bedside, and in German quietly asked him if he felt better.
+
+The man did not or could not reply at once, but she saw that his gaze
+slowly passed beyond her to the bare walls of the room and to the open
+window, beyond which were clouds, sunshine, and the distant drowsy
+murmur of the city.
+
+"You are feeling more comfortable?" she asked again, in German.
+
+"Yes," he _muttered_.
+
+"You have been sick," she whispered softly, smoothing his pillow.
+
+"Ah, yes, sick," the man muttered, and closing his eyes, slept again.
+
+It was not long before the news of the awakening of Number 28 had
+reached the nurses and attending physicians. Colonel Bohratt, greatly
+pleased at the correctness of his prophecy and the end of the period of
+coma, at once a tribute to his wisdom as well as to his professional
+skill, came himself and viewed the patient, gave directions for
+treatment and predicted speedy recovery.
+
+That night, the man of mystery awoke again, exchanged a few words with
+Fraeulein Roth as before, and again slept. And on the morrow, a sure sign
+that all was going well with him, he had gained so much strength that he
+moved freely in his bed, and took more than the casual interest of the
+desperately sick in his situation and surroundings. Fraeulein Roth had
+been given instructions to keep him quiet, but she smiled at him when
+quite rationally he questioned her.
+
+"Is this a hospital?" he asked.
+
+"Yes--the Landes Hospital."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Sarajevo."
+
+"Ah,--Sarajevo."
+
+He remained silent for a long moment.
+
+"I have been here long?" he asked again.
+
+"A month."
+
+"A month! And the date?"
+
+"The twenty-eighth of July----"
+
+"Yes. I understand."
+
+Fraeulein Roth wished him to be quiet, but after a long moment of
+contemplation of the ceiling, in which his brows puckered in a puzzled
+way, he spoke again.
+
+And when Fraeulein Roth anxiously desired him to be quiet, she discovered
+that Number 28 had a will of his own and only smiled at her earnestness.
+
+"I am feeling quite strong," he said weakly. "It will do me no harm to
+talk, for some things puzzle me. I was brought here. Won't you tell me
+how?"
+
+She debated with herself for a moment, but after an inspection of her
+patient she decided to tell him the facts.
+
+"A peasant had discovered two men lying in a strip of woods near the road
+to Gradina. At first he had thought that both were dead, but upon closer
+examination he found that one of the men, although desperately wounded,
+still breathed, and notified the police, who summoned the ambulance."
+
+"I?" asked the sick man.
+
+She nodded. "You were brought here--to the Landes Hospital in a bad
+condition. The other man was dead."
+
+"The other man--dead?"
+
+"Yes," said the nurse, "with stab wounds in the back, and one in the
+heart." She regarded her patient keenly a moment, and then went on.
+"There were no marks of identification upon either of you. You were
+without clothing. Following so closely upon the assassination of the
+Archduke Franz and his wife, the circumstances were suspicious, and the
+police of Sarajevo and the secret service officials have done all they
+could to find some clew to the murderers. You see," she concluded with a
+smile, "you are a man of mystery and all Sarajevo awaits your recovery."
+
+"Oh, I see. They are waiting for me to speak?"
+
+Number 28 lay silent, regarding the ceiling intently, frowning a little.
+His mind worked slowly and Fraeulein Roth saw that he found some
+difficulty in mental concentration.
+
+"We will talk no more at present," she said firmly. "If you are no
+worse--perhaps again tomorrow."
+
+But on the following day and the next the condition of the patient was
+not so favorable, for he lay in a drowsy condition and showed no
+interest in anything. It seemed that the pallid fingers of Death were
+still stretched over him. There were whispered consultations at the
+bedside, and a magistrate came to take a deposition, but the Head
+Surgeon advised delay. He had a reputation at stake.
+
+The wisdom of his advice was soon proved, for at the end of three days
+Number 28 rallied, his fever subsided, and he smiled again at Nurse
+Roth. But she had learned wisdom and refused to talk.
+
+Number 28 straightened in bed and ran his thin fingers through the beard
+with which his face was now covered. He ate of his food with a relish
+and then eagerly questioned.
+
+"I am quite strong again, Fraeulein. See--my hand does not even tremble.
+Will you not talk with me?"
+
+"My orders are to keep you quiet."
+
+"I have been quiet long enough--a month!" he sighed. "The world does not
+stand still for a month."
+
+The nurse smiled. "I see that you are used to having your own way," she
+said.
+
+"Is it not natural that I should wish to know what has happened in the
+world? Tell me. The Archduke Franz was killed. Did they discover a
+plot?"
+
+"A plot? Yes. The boy Prinzep was employed by the Serbians."
+
+"He confessed?"
+
+"Not to that--but it is obvious."
+
+"And what has happened?"
+
+She examined him intently, aware now of what she herself had long
+suspected, that this patient was no ordinary kind of man. His German had
+a slight accent, but whether he came from central Europe or elsewhere
+she could not decide.
+
+"Austria Hungary is on the eve of great events. A week or more ago
+Austria Hungary sent an ultimatum to the Serbian government, to which an
+unsatisfactory reply was received. The Austro-Hungarian minister has
+left Belgrade, and war has been declared upon Serbia."
+
+"War! and Russia?"
+
+"Russia, France and Germany have mobilized."
+
+"And England?"
+
+"Nothing is known of what England will do. But it is feared that she may
+join the cause of Russia and France."
+
+Number 28 lay silent for a moment thinking deeply, and then--
+
+"It has come at last. War. All of Europe----"
+
+"It is frightful. There has already been fighting on the Serbian border.
+We are preparing here to receive the wounded."
+
+He remained silent a moment, his eyes sparkling as he thought of what
+she had told him and then quietly, "War!" he muttered. "I must get well
+very quickly, Nurse, I must----"
+
+_She waited for him to go on, for, being a woman,_ curiosity as to his
+history obsessed her, but he said no more. And in spite of her interest
+in this man whom she had faithfully watched and served for more than a
+month, some delicacy restrained the questions on her tongue.
+
+"You will not get well for a long while, Herr Twenty-Eight, if you do
+not keep quiet," she said quickly.
+
+"You are very good to me," he replied. "I shall do as you wish."
+
+Several days after this, the patient having gained strength rapidly, he
+was permitted solid food. He slept much, and in his waking hours seemed
+to be thinking deeply. He was very obedient, as though concentrating all
+his mind upon an effort toward speedy recovery, but he did not talk of
+himself. His strength now permitting more frequent conversation, the
+nurse brought him the news of the world outside, which included the
+declaration of war by Great Britain against Germany--and the certainty
+of a declaration against Austria Hungary.
+
+"It is as I suspected," he muttered. "England----"
+
+Again her patient was silent, and Nurse Roth glanced at him quickly.
+English!
+
+She did not speak her thought, for the import of her news had sent her
+patient into one of his deep spells of concentration. No Englishman that
+she had ever met had spoken the German language so fluently. But
+concealing her interest and curiosity when he turned toward her again,
+she smiled at him brightly.
+
+"You are now getting much stronger, Herr Twenty-Eight," she said. "The
+Head Surgeon has given permission for your examination."
+
+"Examination?"
+
+"A magistrate will come tomorrow to take your deposition."
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"About all the facts connected with your injuries."
+
+"They have learned nothing?"
+
+"A little. The man who was found with you has been identified."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"As Nicholas Szarvas, a Hungarian police officer----"
+
+"Szarvas!"
+
+"You knew him?"
+
+The patient was silent again. She had come suddenly upon the stone wall
+which had balked all her efforts. Her hand was near him upon the bed. He
+took it and pressed it to his lips.
+
+"Do not think me ungrateful for all your kindnesses, Fraeulein. Some day
+perhaps I can repay you. But there are reasons why I cannot speak."
+
+She drew her hand away from him slowly.
+
+"But you must speak when the magistrate questions," she said gently.
+
+"Perhaps!" And he was silent again.
+
+With his growing strength had come wariness. If England declared war,
+he, Hugh Renwick, at present unknown, would be interned, a prisoner; and
+all hope of finding Marishka and the German, Goritz, would be lost. In
+the first few days of his awakening, he had thought of sending for
+Warwick, the British Consul, and putting the matter entirely in his
+hands. But before he had had the strength to decide what it was best to
+do, had come the declarations of war, and he had determined to remain
+silent and act upon his own initiative. Unless he had muttered something
+of his past in his fever, and this he doubted, or some sign of it would
+have come from Fraeulein Roth, there would he no means of identifying him
+as an Englishman, and when he recovered, they would let him go. As it
+was, he was a man of mystery, and as such he intended to remain. He had
+noted the marks of interest in the face of the nurse, and in her
+questions, and his gratitude to her was very genuine, but he was sure
+now that he was in no position to take chances. War being declared,
+Warwick would have been given his passports, and would have left the
+country. No one in Sarajevo knew the Englishman, Renwick--at least no
+one who would be likely to connect the man of mystery of the Landes
+Hospital with the former secretary of the British Embassy in Vienna.
+
+As his mind had grown clearer, the wisdom of his decision became more
+apparent. If a magistrate came, he would be obliged to see him, but he
+knew that his period of illness could cover a multitude of remembrances.
+
+The magistrate came with a clerk, and questioned with an air of
+importance. Renwick realized that if he refused to answer, he might make
+himself an object of suspicion, and endanger the chances of his release
+upon recovery, and so, as he was not under oath, he invented skillfully.
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"Peter Langer."
+
+"What nationality?"
+
+"Austrian, if you like. I am a citizen of the world."
+
+The magistrate examined him over his glasses.
+
+"The world is large. From what part of Austria did you come?"
+
+"Vienna."
+
+"Your parents are Viennese?"
+
+"They were in Vienna when I was young."
+
+"Were they born there?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"It is necessary that you should."
+
+"I am sorry if it is necessary. I do not know."
+
+"What brought you to Sarajevo?"
+
+"I am a wanderer. I wished to see the world."
+
+"A wish that has almost proved fatal. You have no business?"
+
+"Merely the business of wandering."
+
+The magistrate frowned.
+
+"I beg that you will take this matter seriously, Herr Langer."
+
+"I do. It is not in the least amusing."
+
+The man consulted his notes for a moment.
+
+"Where were you on the night of June twenty-eight?"
+
+"I have been ill for a month. Dates mean nothing to me. My memory is
+bad."
+
+"Ah! Well, then, where were you on the night of the assassination?"
+
+"What assassination----?"
+
+"The assassination of the Archduke," replied the magistrate sternly.
+
+"In Sarajevo, I should say."
+
+"_Natuerlich._ But in what place?"
+
+"In the street, perhaps--or in a house. I don't remember."
+
+"I beg that you make the effort to remember."
+
+"I cannot," said Renwick after a pause.
+
+"You must."
+
+"My mind is clouded."
+
+The magistrate exchanged a glance with the nurse, who stood at the head
+of the bed, and spoke to her. "This man talks to you quite rationally?"
+
+Fraeulein Roth hesitated and then said: "Yes. But he has been very ill. I
+should suggest that you excuse him where possible."
+
+"H--m! This is a matter of great seriousness. A police officer has been
+murdered by a person or persons unknown. This man was found near his
+body, both of them left for dead. It is not possible that he can have
+forgotten the circumstances--the fight, the shooting which preceded his
+unconsciousness." And then to Renwick--"You knew Nicholas Szarvas?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I would remind you that this is the man who was found dead beside you."
+
+"I did not know him."
+
+"What are your recollections of the evening I have mentioned?"
+
+"I have no recollections."
+
+"You said that you were in a house."
+
+"Or the street--I forget."
+
+"You remember having an altercation with someone?"
+
+"In my dreams--yes. Many."
+
+"But before your dreams, when you were conscious?"
+
+"None."
+
+"Szarvas was stabbed. Did you see him attacked?"
+
+"I did not."
+
+"Have you any idea who shot you?"
+
+"A man who was my enemy, I should say."
+
+"Ah--you had an enemy?"
+
+"What man has not?"
+
+"What was his name?"
+
+"I don't remember."
+
+The magistrate got up frowning, and paced up and down the room, his
+hands behind his back.
+
+"I should advise you, Herr Langer, that it is my opinion that you are
+willfully endeavoring to impede the steps of this investigation. I would
+remind you also that those who try to thwart the officers of the law in
+the performance of their duty, are alike amenable to it. Your
+reticence--I can call it by a less pleasant word--is aiding and
+abetting a criminal, who must be brought to justice."
+
+"It is not likely----" He paused.
+
+"What?"
+
+"That I should wish to save a man who had tried to murder me."
+
+"But this is precisely what you are doing."
+
+Renwick smiled.
+
+"What would you? Have me invent a story for your record? I can say no
+more than I remember. I remember nothing."
+
+The magistrate took off his glasses and rubbed them rigorously, as if by
+so doing he could clear his own mind as to what had best be done. Then
+he put them upon his nose and took up his hat and papers. It was certain
+that the patient's brain was still far from strong.
+
+"I shall not pursue this investigation now," he said to Nurse Roth. "I
+shall wait a few days in which Herr Langer may have time to reflect. He
+is still very weak. In the meanwhile, Herr Langer, I would tell you that
+it would be wise for you to recover your memory."
+
+"A desire which I sincerely share," said Renwick with a smile.
+
+"If not," continued the magistrate with his most magisterial manner,
+"you will be detained, as a material witness, in Sarajevo."
+
+"I have no intention of leaving Sarajevo unless someone should happen to
+pay my railroad fare," replied Renwick wearily.
+
+The man left, followed by his clerk, and Nurse Roth closed the door
+behind them. When the sounds of their footsteps had faded away along the
+corridor, she turned to the table where she rearranged some roses in a
+vase.
+
+"You lie very ingeniously, Herr Twenty-eight," she said with a smile.
+
+Renwick regarded her calmly.
+
+"It is not my nature, Nurse Roth. But a cracked skull doesn't improve
+the brains beneath."
+
+She came over to him quickly, and stood beside the bed.
+
+"You have some reason for concealing your identity. I know that you
+remember what happened. But I will protect you as far as I can, upon one
+condition."
+
+"And that?" he asked anxiously.
+
+"That you will give me your word of honor that it was not you who killed
+Nicholas Szarvas."
+
+He caught her by the hand and smiled up at her with a look so genuine
+that there was no question as to his sincerity.
+
+"I give it. I did not kill Nicholas Szarvas."
+
+"Thank you," she said simply. "I believe you."
+
+[Illustration: "Thank you," she said simply. "I believe you."]
+
+"I wish I could tell you," he whispered earnestly, "for I know that you
+are my friend, but"--and he relinquished her hand--"but I _must_ keep
+silent."
+
+She touched him gently upon the shoulder in token of understanding, and
+from that moment said no more.
+
+The days passed slowly, but it was evident to those who were interested
+in the case that Number 28 gained strength very rapidly. His wounds had
+healed, and he was soon permitted to get up and sit in an armchair near
+the window, where he could look out over the minarets of the city below
+the hill. But to all except Nurse Roth, it seemed that the injury to his
+head had done something to retard the recovery of his memory. He spoke
+quite rationally to Colonel Bohratt upon matters regarding his physical
+condition, but sometimes even when the Head Surgeon was talking with
+him, he relapsed into a state of mental apathy which caused that worthy
+man to remove his bandage and examine the wound in his head. After which
+the Colonel would leave the room with a puzzled expression. And in
+consequence of this curious mental condition, it was thought wise to
+defer the visit of the officer of the law until the patient's mind
+should show a change for the better. There was even a consultation upon
+the advisability of another operation upon the head, but the patient
+showed such encouraging marks of growing lucidity that the operation was
+deferred.
+
+It was a dangerous game that he was playing, and Renwick knew it, for
+the time would come when he must tell who he was, or find a chance to
+escape from the hospital. Escape was his hope and each day as he gained
+new strength, he thought of a hundred expedients by which it might be
+accomplished. He knew that even now he was under surveillance, and
+virtually a prisoner of the Austrian government, until he could give
+some account of himself, and of the events of the night of the
+twenty-eighth of June. And so he conserved his energies carefully,
+gaining courage and weight with each new day, playing the game of delay
+until he was assured of his strength and the moment was propitious. The
+chief difficulty which confronted him was a means to procure clothing.
+He was allowed the privileges of the hospital, permitted to walk upon
+the terrace, but he had no clothing except the sleeping suit of cotton
+and a wrapper-like affair which he wore when out of his room. Whether
+his restriction to this costume was by neglect or by design, he did not
+know, for all the other convalescents whom he met out in the air wore
+the clothes in which they had come to the hospital. The fact that he had
+been brought here unclothed was of little comfort to him, and he feared
+to request a change of garments for this might excite suspicion. There
+was nothing for it but to wait, and when strength enough came, seize the
+first opportunity presented to slip quietly away.
+
+He had been studying his chances with a discriminating eye. His room was
+upon the second floor, but there was a rain-spout which passed just
+beside it, and given the strength of hand and wrist to accomplish the
+descent, the matter would be simple. There was a row of shrubbery just
+below the terrace, which led to a path over the hills, where he might be
+lost under cover of the night. But even at night he could not go into
+Sarajevo without clothing. For a while the idea of appealing to Nurse
+Roth occurred to him, but he at last rejected it, aware that she had
+already done much that could not be repaid, and unwilling to subject her
+to the alternatives of refusal or acquiescence--one of which might be
+hazardous to his own chances, the other surely fruitful of
+unpleasantness to herself. He had no right to ask this of her. He wished
+to incur no new obligations, for when the time came, he intended to go,
+and he could not repay her kindness with deceit. And so he waited,
+simulating weakness, exercising in secret, and gaining in strength for
+the hopeless task before him.
+
+He had made no plans. What plans could he make when he had no means of
+making inquiries? Goritz was gone with Marishka,--by this time perhaps
+far beyond the German border, the girl a prisoner--or----? For a moment
+he paused as the new thought came to him. What would be the status of
+the Countess Strahni since the outbreak of war? The conditions which
+existed before the pact of Konopisht were no more. Germany's ambitions
+stultified--Austria forgiving--both nations involved in a great
+undertaking the prosecution of which must make them careless of all less
+vital issues! Had Goritz been recalled from this secret mission to
+another more important? And if so, where was Marishka? Could she have
+been released? There was a chance of it, but it seemed a slender one.
+Goritz! Something--some deeply hidden instinct, some suspicion harbored
+perhaps in the long days and nights of his unconsciousness, some pang of
+fear born of pain and unrest, advised him that, behind the secret duty
+which had first brought Goritz to Vienna, he was now playing a game of
+his own. The brief glimpse he had had of the man, short but fearfully
+significant, had made an unpleasant impression. He had seen the look in
+the eyes of the German as he had asked Marishka to go with him from the
+house of the garden, a look courteous and considerate, that had in it,
+too, something more than mere admiration. If the man were in love with
+her! And what man of any vision, learning to know Marishka could help
+caring for her! Not love, surely! Not love from a man who sheltered
+himself from danger by using her as a shield. He had been safe then.
+Renwick could not have fired then. And Goritz was clever enough to know
+it. But the dastardliness of such a trick! There was a long score to pay
+between Renwick and Goritz, a score the items of which had begun with
+the attempts upon the Englishman's life in Vienna and Konopisht, the
+imprisonment of Marishka, and the shooting in Sarajevo which had
+nothing to do with politics. They were enemies. Their countries were
+enemies. It was written.
+
+Absorbed in these unpleasant meditations, Renwick sat upon the terrace
+of the hospital after supper, idly manicuring his nails with Nurse
+Roth's scissors. As it grew dark, he got up, slowly pacing up and down
+the length of the terrace. The moment was approaching when he would be
+called in to go to his room, but he grudgingly relinquished the moments
+in the soft evening air. It was curious how much latitude they gave
+him--curious, also, that the magistrate, after his second fruitless
+visit a few days ago, had not returned. As Renwick had continued evasive
+the magistrate had grown angry and at last had threatened him with the
+visit of one who would make him speak. Who was this new inquisitor to
+be? Someone in higher authority? Or perhaps some secret service agent
+who had finally succeeded in getting some clews as to the murder of the
+colossal Szarvas?
+
+Of one thing Renwick was sure--that soon he must make a break for
+liberty. Tonight--now--into the dusk beyond the hills. He was not very
+strong yet, but it might be----
+
+"Herr Twenty-Eight," said the voice of Nurse Roth at his elbow, "you are
+to go at once to your room for examination."
+
+"Thanks, Fraeulein. I shall go. It is the magistrate?"
+
+She nodded soberly.
+
+"The magistrate and another whom I have never seen. They are now in the
+office consulting the Head Surgeon."
+
+Renwick smiled at her as he whispered, "I am to be _grilled_?"
+
+"I fear so."
+
+He shrugged. "The time for subterfuge is past." And then, taking her
+hand again, "I shall go at once. But whatever happens I want you to know
+that I shall never forget what you have done for me."
+
+"It is nothing. Now go, please."
+
+He bowed and preceded her into the hallway. As they passed the office
+the door was open and Renwick glanced in. The magistrate was there and
+another man, talking to Colonel Bohratt, all of them unaware of the
+patient in the darker hallway looking at them. Renwick started, and then
+gazed again at the third man leaning over the table facing him. His
+figure seemed familiar, his bowing and gestures more so, and yet for a
+second Renwick could not place him. And then the man smiled, showing a
+gold tooth which caught the reflection of the electric light upon the
+table. A gold tooth----
+
+Nurse Roth was regarding Renwick who glanced at the open door behind him
+and then at Nurse Roth. The pause was momentous. Renwick quickly
+recovered his poise and went on a few steps.
+
+"They wish to see me--in the office?" he asked in a whisper.
+
+"In your room, please. I shall tell them that you are waiting."
+
+"Thanks, again," said Renwick abruptly, with outstretched hand, "and
+good-by."
+
+"Good-by?" she asked in alarm.
+
+He smiled over the shoulder as he went up the stairs.
+
+"I think I shall exchange the hospital--for the jail."
+
+He left her standing there looking up at him in wonder or pity, and then
+turning the stairhead went on down the upper corridor. There were nurses
+conversing here, and a patient or two, so Renwick went slowly until he
+reached his room. But once within the door he acted with speed and
+resolution. First he turned the key in the lock and softly shot the
+bolt, then crossed the room quickly, his heart beating rapidly. He was
+not strong and his nerves already were warning him, but they did not
+fail him. He peered out of the window upon the terrace. It was not yet
+dark and there was a nurse below standing beside a man in a wheel chair.
+He could not go now for they would see him and surely give the alarm,
+and so he waited, going back to the door and listening for the sound of
+approaching male footsteps. As yet no sound. He peered down upon the
+head of the luckless nurse, mutely imprecating. The moments were
+precious. Would they never go in? It was past the hour for loitering on
+the terrace. For a moment the idiotic notion came to him to go out into
+the corridor and call the attention of the nurse in charge of the floor
+to the infraction of rules, but he turned again to the window. The nurse
+was moving now, slowly pushing the wheel chair toward the door. It was
+barely a hundred feet away, but to Renwick it seemed an eternity before
+the pair vanished within. Then taking off his slippers he put them in
+the pocket of his wrapper, and rolling it into a bundle, dropped it
+noiselessly upon the terrace below. His nerves quivered as he sat
+astride the window-sill but he set his jaw and lowered himself from the
+window, catching the iron gutter-pipe with bare fingers and toes. The
+spout seemed to creak horribly, and for a moment he thought that it was
+swaying outward with him. But the sensation was born of his own
+weakness. The pipe held and slowly he descended, reaching the ground,
+his knuckles bruised and torn, but so far, safe.
+
+He paused for a moment to slip into his wrapper and then crossed the
+terrace quietly, reached the lawn and the shelter of the bushes below.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DISGUISE
+
+
+Long ago he had planned the direction in which he should go when the
+time came for him to escape. And so without pausing to look behind him
+he hurried down the hill in the shelter of the hedge until he reached
+its end. A hundred yards away was a hillock. By going forward in a line
+which he had already marked he would have the partial protection of
+rocks and bushes. He paused just a moment to be sure that no one was
+coming after him. All was as before and the dark group of buildings, his
+home for nearly two months, loomed in silent dignity behind him. But
+Renwick knew that it would not be long before the whole countryside
+would be buzzing like a hornet's nest. In his enfeebled condition, he
+could hardly hope to cope with his pursuers in the matter of speed and
+so as he went on across the stream at the base of the hill, he tried to
+plan something that would outwit them. The nearest outlying houses of
+the town were but a few hundred yards distant, but instead of taking the
+road down the hill, he turned sharply to his left after crossing the
+road and entered the Moslem cemetery, laid according to the custom in a
+cypress grove. He now moved slowly and leaning against the bole of a
+tree regained his breath while he listened for the expected sounds of
+pursuit. The cemetery seemed to be deserted, but he decided to take no
+chances, so he found a tree with thick foliage, and climbed from one
+bough to another until he found a crotch of a limb where he disposed
+himself as comfortably as possible to wait until the pursuit had passed
+him by.
+
+His pulses were still pounding furiously from the sudden effort of
+muscles long unused, and his nerves were tingling strangely, but he
+clung to his perch until the period of weakness passed and then planned
+what he had better do. Inside of an hour every policeman in Sarajevo
+would be warned by Herr Windt to look out for a man with a beard,
+wearing a sleeping suit and a blue woolen wrapper. The obvious thing
+therefore was to avoid Sarajevo or else find a means to change his
+costume. But if he begged, borrowed, or stole an outfit of native
+clothing--what then? Where should he turn? He had no money, for that, of
+course, had been taken by the ruffians who had carried his body into the
+woods and stripped him of his clothing. To all intents and purposes he
+had been born again--had come into the world anew, naked save for the
+unsightly flapping things in which he was wrapped. His English clothes
+were at the inn in the Bistrick quarter where he had left them, but to
+seek them now meant immediate capture. And if he wore English clothes in
+the streets of a town full of men in uniform he would be as conspicuous
+as though in sleeping suit and wrapper. A native costume was the
+thing--and a fez which would hide the plaster on his head. But how to
+get it? He heard voices, and two men passed below him weaving in and out
+among the trees; he blessed the inspiration which had bidden him climb.
+He would have known Windt. He was not one of them. They were men from
+the hospital, out of breath with running, and the phrases they exchanged
+gave Renwick comforting notion that they were already wearily impressed
+with the hopelessness of their task. A while they waited, and then he
+saw them go out on the further side of the copse as though glad to be
+well away from so melancholy a spot. Indeed the gray turban-carved
+tombstones were eloquent to Renwick and a newly made grave not far away
+was unpleasantly suggestive of the fate that had so nearly been his. It
+was starlight now, but dark, and the owls were already hooting
+mournfully as though the souls of those who lay in the sod beneath had
+come again to visit by night their last resting places. It was not the
+most cheerful spot for a man who had just come out of a bout with death,
+and Renwick had no mind to stay there. So when the men who had been
+searching for him had gone their ways, he clambered stiffly down. He
+lingered by the newly made grave, obsessed by the rather morbid notion
+of digging up the estimable Moslem who reposed there and exchanging his
+own hospital wrapper for the much to be desired native costume, but
+desperate as was his need the idea was too unpleasant. He would rob, if
+necessary, but not the dead.
+
+As he wandered among the trees in the direction of the nearest lights,
+he felt a pair of scissors in the pocket of his wrapper--Fraeulein
+Roth's. His fingers closed upon them now. A weapon? Better than that. A
+plan had come to him which he proceeded immediately to put into
+practice. Taking off his wrapper he seated himself upon a tombstone and
+began cutting it into pieces, shaping a short sleeveless jacket. He cut
+the sleeves of the wrapper lengthwise and made a turban.
+
+Its skirt made him a belt with something left over. He puzzled for
+awhile over the remnant of cloth left to him, thinking of his legs, but
+at last discarded it as useless, and hid it among the bushes. Then,
+laboriously, he trimmed his mustache and beard. It was low work without
+light or mirror, but he persevered until to the touch of his fingers the
+merest bristle remained, a stubble such as a man would have who had gone
+a few days without shaving. Then, satisfied that under cover of the
+darkness he might pass in a crowd of people unnoticed, he slipped the
+scissors into the coat of his sleeping suit and sallied forth.
+
+At least he was rid of the flowing robe which would have made of him a
+marked man. Fortunately the night was hot and sultry, and so far he
+suffered no inconveniences, but he knew that this disguise was only a
+makeshift and that by fair means or foul, he must come into the
+possession of some sort of costume in which he could face the light of
+day. In the road, he passed a farmer returning from the bazaar, and the
+careless greeting of the man reassured him. A polyglot costume
+surely--but this was a city of polyglots. The disguise would do--at
+least for this night. But the appearance of Windt had seriously alarmed
+him. It meant, if he was taken, that he would surely be interned, or
+worse, perhaps that he might be accused of complicity in the murder of
+Szarvas, Windt's own man. In the back of his head a plan had been
+forming, which meant if not active help in escaping from the city, at
+least a short refuge from pursuit, and perhaps something more. He meant
+to go to the house where Marishka had been--and speak to the girl, Yeva.
+It was the only hope he had of a clew to Marishka's whereabouts--the
+only hope of help in this city of enemies. He was quite sure that he
+would not be a welcome visitor, for it was the old ruffian in the
+turban, of course, who had taken the clothing from Renwick's body and
+left him for dead upon the hillside. The theory in the hospital had been
+that those who had carried Renwick into the woods had intended burying
+the bodies--for a spade had been found later near the place--but that
+the murderers had been frightened away before being able to carry out
+their plan. And lacking information upon the subject, Renwick had come
+to the same conclusion. He might not be welcome at the house of the blue
+door, but he knew the old man's secret and decided to risk danger by
+playing the game with an open hand.
+
+Instead of going into the city by the nearest way, which would have led
+him in a few moments into the European part of the town, he bore to the
+left again, climbing the hill behind the Tekija mosque, until he reached
+an eminence back of the fortress above the Golden Bastion, and then
+slowly descended into the Turkish quarter of the town where the streets
+were narrow and dark and the danger of detection minimized. He had
+already passed many people who had merely glanced at him and gone their
+ways, and the success of his disguise gave him confidence; but as he
+approached the Sirocac Tor he was badly frightened, for on turning the
+corner of a street he ran directly into the arms of a stout Bosnian
+policeman who was looking for him. The man swore at him in bad German
+and Renwick drew back against the wall, sure that the game was up, until
+he realized that the fellow was only cursing because he was almost, if
+not quite as much startled as Renwick. So the Englishman, regaining his
+composure, bowed politely and would have gone on, but the policeman
+spoke.
+
+"Which way have you come?" he asked.
+
+"From the Kastele."
+
+"You have seen no bareheaded man with a beard, wearing a long blue
+coat?"
+
+"A long blue coat? There are none with long blue coats in the Kastele in
+the month of August."
+
+"Pfui--! I do not wonder!" said the fat Bosnian, and hurried on.
+
+But the venture made Renwick more cautious, and he avoided the
+street-lights, moving under the shadows of walls and houses, at last
+reaching the tortuous alleyway down which he had once come to inspect
+the house with the _meshrebiya_ windows. Almost two months had passed
+since he had stood in this spot, watching these same lighted windows,
+unaware of the success that had been almost within his grasp. Outwardly
+nothing was changed. The blue door faced him, and gathering courage, he
+crossed the street and entered the garden. It was very dark under the
+trees and he went quietly forward, stopping by the fountain to listen
+for sounds within the house. He realized that it was growing late, and
+that while the garden offered him a refuge from those who were seeking
+him in the city, daylight would make his tenure precarious even here. If
+the girl Yeva would only come down into the garden! He waited by the
+bench listening, and presently was rewarded by hearing a light rippling
+laugh from the room above the door. She was there--the girl--but not
+alone--with the old woman perhaps, or the man with the beard. Renwick
+listened again and watched the window, but heard nothing more. There
+was nothing for it but to put on a bold front, so summoning his courage,
+he walked to the door of the house and loudly knocked.
+
+There was an exclamation, a sound of footsteps upon the stair, and at
+last the bolt of the door was shot and the door opened. Zubeydeh stood,
+a lantern in her hand, scrutinizing him.
+
+He spoke in German at once. "I come upon an urgent matter," he said
+coolly. "Upon a matter very important to the owner of this house----"
+
+"Speak--what do you want?" she asked.
+
+"I bear a message."
+
+"The Effendi is not at home----"
+
+"Ah--then Yeva may receive it."
+
+"Yeva! Who are you?"
+
+He smiled. "For the present that need not matter."
+
+Zubeydeh blocked the door more formidably with her body.
+
+"No one enters this house in the Effendi's absence."
+
+"I do not desire to enter the house. I merely wish to talk with Yeva,
+here----"
+
+"That is not possible." The woman moved back and made a motion to close
+the door, but Renwick took a pace forward and blocked her effort with
+his foot.
+
+"Wait," he said.
+
+Something in the tone of his voice arrested her, and the hand which held
+the door relaxed. She regarded Renwick with a new curiosity. Her eyes
+narrowed as she peered into his face. She had seen someone who looked
+like this tall beggar, but where----?
+
+"Who are you?" she asked again, this time with a note of anxiety,
+scarcely concealed.
+
+Renwick smiled, but he had not yet removed his foot from the sill of the
+door.
+
+"You do not remember me?"
+
+"No--and yet----" She paused in bewilderment, and Renwick quickly
+followed his advantage.
+
+"I am one who can save this house from a danger."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"I have but to speak yonder," and he gestured eloquently toward the city
+below them, "and the danger will fall." He leaned forward, whispering
+tensely, "The secret police of the Austrian government wish to know more
+about the death of Nicholas Szarvas and----"
+
+Zubeydeh dropped the handle of the door and seized Renwick's arm, while
+her narrow eyes glittered terrified close to his own.
+
+"And you----?"
+
+"It is merely that I did not die," he said coolly.
+
+"You are----?"
+
+"I am the man in the armor, Zubeydeh," he said solemnly.
+
+She started back from him in affright, her hands before her eyes.
+
+"Allah!" she whispered, and then leaned forward again touching his arm
+lightly, imploringly, while she looked past him into the dark recesses
+of the garden.
+
+"Then they are there--the police are coming----?"
+
+He quickly reassured her.
+
+"No. I mean you no harm. Do you understand? I have said nothing--nor
+shall I speak unless----" he paused significantly.
+
+"Unless----?"
+
+"Unless you refuse to permit me to speak with Yeva. That is all. Listen,
+Zubeydeh; since that night I have been in the hospital. They would keep
+me here a prisoner. I have escaped--in this disguise. I make a bargain
+with you. You help me--I will be silent. If you refuse, I shall tell the
+police."
+
+"What do you want?" she asked breathlessly.
+
+"A disguise, a weapon, and some money--not much."
+
+"Money! The Effendi has gone upon a journey."
+
+"A few _kroner_ only--enough to get me out of town."
+
+"And you will keep silent?"
+
+"As the grave. Don't you understand? I wish to go away from
+here--quickly, and then you will not see me again."
+
+"How can I believe you?" she said suspiciously.
+
+"Bah! Don't be stupid! If I had desired to betray you, I should have
+told the truth long ago."
+
+Zubeydeh hesitated.
+
+"You will go away?"
+
+"Yes. I shall go----"
+
+There was a sound upon the stairs behind Zubeydeh and Yeva thrust
+herself forward.
+
+"I was at the window above. I heard. Allah be praised! You are alive?"
+
+"Yeva! You know anything--of _her_?"
+
+"No, nothing," sadly. And then as she examined him closely, "But you
+must come into the house. I will do what you wish."
+
+The matter was now out of Zubeydeh's hands, for whatever her doubts,
+Yeva's swift confidence had swept them away. She stood aside and
+motioned for him to go up the stairs.
+
+"You will not remain long?" she asked.
+
+"Only long enough to change my clothing--you will provide?"
+
+"Yes. There are garments."
+
+"A fez, jacket, breeches, stout _opankas_."
+
+"It shall be as you desire."
+
+Renwick went up the stairs into the room where he and Goritz had met,
+recapitulating briefly in his mind the sequence of events which had led
+to his own downfall. If he had only shot the man when he had stood there
+a fair mark, defenseless! It had not been the sporting thing, but if he
+had known what was to follow, he would have done it nevertheless. At
+least he thought so now. The fateful armor had been restored to its
+place in the corner, and while he anxiously awaited Yeva's return he
+examined it casually with the rather morbid interest which one might
+display in the inspection of one's coffin. It was dented upon the sides
+with the marks of bullets which had glanced aside, but three neatly
+drilled holes, two in the breastplate and one in the helmet, reminded
+him again how narrow had been his escape from death. "Close shooting,
+that," he muttered to himself. "Emptied clip and not one miss."
+
+Yeva, who had gone with Zubeydeh into the Harim, now returned
+(discreetly veiled) and with an air of restraint made a sign to the
+Englishman to be seated while Zubeydeh brought refreshments.
+
+He heard Yeva speaking gently at his ear.
+
+"Allah is good. Excellency, they told me that you were dead--that they
+would bury you. They took your body and that of the other man in a cart
+to the hills above the city. But someone came, and they were forced to
+go away."
+
+"You saw her go with him?"
+
+"Yes. She had fainted. I helped to carry her down through the
+_selamlik_ to the street at the back of the house. Then an automobile
+came, and they took her away."
+
+"There have been no inquiries here?"
+
+"None. And you will say nothing?" she asked anxiously.
+
+"Not a word. Would you have me deliver myself into the hands of my
+enemies?"
+
+"I shall help you, Excellency, if you will try to find her."
+
+"Yes. I shall try. I will follow, if you will provide me with clothing."
+
+"It shall be done. But first you must eat and drink and then we shall
+plan."
+
+Zubeydeh, now completely disarmed, brought cakes and sherbet, and when
+Renwick had eaten and drunk, gave him cigarettes and the clothing,
+showing him into a room where he quickly divested himself of his rags of
+wrapper and put on the garments which she had brought. They were
+curiously familiar. His own disguise--that which he had bought in the
+bazaar and had worn when he had first come to this house. He felt in the
+pockets of his trousers but the money was gone. And when he was dressed,
+Zubeydeh colored his face with some liquid which she brought from the
+kitchen.
+
+The clock on the mantle indicated the hour of eleven when Renwick
+prepared to take his departure. It had been a market day in the Turkish
+quarter, and late at night the farmers would be returning to their
+homes. Aware of the difficulties which might lie in the way of his
+leaving the city, Yeva proposed that Renwick should leave the Carsija in
+the cart of a cousin of Zubeydeh's, a farmer who lived on the Romanja
+Plain; and Renwick, quick to see the advantages of the plan, readily
+agreed, for it was toward the Visegrader Gate, he had learned, that the
+automobile of Captain Goritz had departed.
+
+As he left the lower door with Zubeydeh, who was to accompany him as far
+as the Carsija, Renwick caught Yeva by the hand.
+
+"I cannot thank you, girl. But some day I shall pay. You will remember.
+I promise."
+
+"It is nothing," she said; and then with a laugh: "But if in Vienna or
+Paris or London, you should see a silk dress of blue----"
+
+"You shall have two of them--and two of pink----"
+
+"Excellency----!" she cried, clapping her hand childishly.
+
+"And if I find her--jewels----!"
+
+"It is too much----" she cried. And then eagerly, as though she feared
+he might misinterpret, "Still, I should like them----"
+
+"You shall have them--some day."
+
+"I shall pray to Allah that you may find her. Go, Excellency. Go to her
+and tell her that I have done what I can."
+
+"Allah will bless you."
+
+"May Allah bless you both," she sighed, "for it is all so very
+beautiful."
+
+The last glimpse that Renwick had of her was from the gate of the
+garden, where he turned to wave his hand as she stood, leaning wistfully
+against the doorpost of the house, looking after him.
+
+The arrangements for his journey were readily made and the business of
+the night being concluded, in half an hour Renwick, passing again as
+Stefan Thomasevics on his way to Rogatica to help in gathering the
+harvest, was seated beside Selim Ali, Zubeydeh's cousin, driving in a
+cart through the silent Kastele. Renwick saw several Bosnian police
+officers in uniform, who inspected the empty vehicle, but merely glanced
+at the slouching figures on the seat. At the Visegrader Gate they were
+detained and questioned, but Selim had a clever tongue and told a
+straight story which Renwick corroborated with nods and gestures. It
+would have been dangerous to risk his too fluent German on the officer
+of the guard. No, they had seen no bearded man in a blue coat. It had
+been a hot day in the bazaar. One didn't like to think of blue coats on
+such a day. Even tonight it was still sultry, but soon the harvest time
+would be here, and after that the snows. Would the Excellency like a
+fine melon, for forty _hellers_--the only one left in all the day? No?
+Then we will give it to the Excellency for nothing.
+
+The officer grinned and let them pass, but he took the melon. It was
+after midnight for in the distance behind them they had heard the bell
+of the cathedral tolling the hour. Safely past all military barriers,
+Selim, who had had a long day, yawned and clambered into the tail of the
+cart to sleep, leaving the horse to its own devices. But sleep was not
+for Renwick. His escape had been accomplished without much trouble, and
+given a little luck and some skill he thought he could manage to lose
+himself quickly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But the magnitude of his
+undertaking in finding Marishka was formidable. Most of Bosnia and all
+of Austria Hungary lay between Sarajevo and the German border--five
+hundred miles of enemy's country to be traversed without other resources
+than eighteen _kroner_ pieces and a pair of somewhat worn _opankas_! And
+after that--the heart of the enemy's country!
+
+Eighteen _kroner_! His own, probably, filched from the pockets of the
+clothing he had worn when he had entered the house in search of
+Marishka. His own clothing, the disguise he had bought in the bazaar.
+Then perhaps----! Feverishly he felt along the upper lining, where he
+had pinned the larger sum of money he had taken from his purse when he
+had changed from mufti at the inn over in the Bistrick quarter of the
+town. They had found it? Something crinkled under the pressure of his
+fingers, and a pin pricked his thumb. It was there--his money. They had
+not searched for it, thinking of course that the money they had found in
+the pockets was all that he had possessed. He found the head of the pin
+and opened the lining, counting the notes--ten of them in all--of one
+hundred _kroners_ each.
+
+A thousand _kroners_! He could have shouted for glee. But caution came
+to him in time. He looked around to find that Selim had awakened and was
+sitting up rubbing his eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+RENWICK QUESTIONS
+
+
+Had the man observed him when he was counting his money? The hazard of
+his position made Renwick suspicious. Selim was a crafty rogue as his
+conversation with the officer at the Visegrader Gate had shown, and one
+of Zubeydeh's breed needed watching. But the man yawned and stretched
+his arms, then got up and looked about with so genuine an air of
+drowsiness and fatigue that Renwick concluded that he had been mistaken.
+How much or how little Selim had been told of Renwick's affair the
+Englishman did not know. But the man had already done him a service and
+might be in a position to help him further. So he decided upon an
+attitude of friendliness and gratitude which might perhaps be measured
+by a few of his eighteen _kroners_ but no more.
+
+It was about three o'clock, when having met no adventures upon the way,
+they reached the farm of Selim Ali upon the border of the Romanja Plain.
+Twenty hours at a stretch, nine of which had been spent in the tension
+of his escape, were more than Renwick's strength permitted, and he sank
+upon the straw pallet to which Selim assigned him, weary and shaken, and
+with a hand which instinctively clutched the lining of his trousers
+where his money was pinned, he fell into a deep sleep, from which he
+did not awaken until the sun was high in the heavens.
+
+He did not rise at once, but lay on his cot, gazing at the ceiling, his
+mind adjusting itself slowly to his situation. He felt for the money in
+the lining of his trousers. It had not been touched. If Selim had
+discovered the notes in Renwick's possession he was either without
+design upon them or had concluded to postpone its consummation until
+some later hour. Where was the man? Renwick wanted to talk to him. He
+heard the sound of a voice in another part of the house, and getting up
+went outside and walked around to the rear of the building. A young
+woman in Turkish costume was washing some clothing in a tub by the door.
+
+Renwick greeted her with a bow and a smile, and asked for Selim. She
+pointed toward a distant field, and then asked if he desired food.
+Renwick thanked her and replied that he would wait until Selim returned,
+and went back to bed. There, some moments later the woman brought him
+coffee, bread, and excellent soup, which the Englishman devoured
+hungrily, not aware until the moment that it was precisely food he
+required. When he had finished eating, he smoked a cigarette and planned
+his pilgrimage.
+
+He had but two known facts with regard to the flight of Captain Goritz
+with his prisoner; first, the automobile had gone through the Kastele in
+the direction of the Visegrader Gate, over the very road by which
+Renwick had come with Selim; second, the object of Captain Goritz was to
+reach the German border as speedily as possible.
+
+The fact that Goritz had left town by this road to the north and east
+indicated one of two things: that Goritz, seeking the more quietly to
+escape from the town, had chosen the road through the Kastele quarter,
+intending to make a detour over the mountains and reach the Bosna road,
+by which he would go straight through Hungary and Austria to his
+destination; the other inference was that Goritz had chosen the more
+easterly road to the north in order to avoid passing through Austria,
+seeking the shortest road into Silesia, through central Hungary and
+Galicia by way of Cracow. It seemed probable that Goritz had already
+reached Germany, and yet even this was no assured fact. If Goritz had
+chosen to return through Austria by the main traveled roads, by Bosna,
+by Agram, or by Budapest, there was scarcely a chance that he could have
+eluded the agents of the watchful Windt. The plot against the life of
+the Archduke had consummated in his death. Marishka had failed, but with
+her failure had come a restitution of her complete rights as an Austrian
+citizen. Herr Windt, no longer seeking to restrain her actions, would
+wish to save her from the results of her own imprudences, redoubling his
+efforts to come between Goritz and the German border.
+
+Renwick tried to think as Goritz would think. Why had Goritz come by the
+circuitous road over the Romanja Plain? Surely not to go north by way of
+Serbian territory. Goritz had a reason. The shortest road--the least
+traveled road, the road which avoided Brod, the main gateway into
+Bosnia, was the road by which he would pass through the rural districts
+of eastern Hungary, proceeding all the while along the level country of
+the Danube or the Thiess, reaching Silesia--the long tail of the German
+Empire which thrust out between Poland and Galicia.
+
+Renwick paced the room with quick strides. The theory hung together. And
+given this to be the plan of Goritz, had he succeeded in carrying it
+out? Possibly. But Hungary was wide. It was five hundred miles at least
+from Sarajevo to the Carpathians, and much may happen to an automobile
+in five hundred miles. Marishka, Yeva told him, had fainted. It would
+have been inhuman for Goritz to have taken her such a distance without a
+chance for rest or recuperation. Goritz! Every theory that Renwick
+devised seemed to fall to the ground when he thought of him. The
+cleverness of the man was amazing. And what lay behind his cleverness?
+What of decency or what of deviltry lay behind the mask that Renwick had
+seen? The man had treated her with consideration--for Marishka had not
+complained of his attitude toward her--until there in the Turkish house,
+when he had seized her by the arm....
+
+Deliberation had gained something--only a theory as yet, but if a
+theory, one which stood the acid of inspection from every angle.
+
+Renwick's task seemed hopeless, but that spirit of persistence, of which
+Marishka had once spoken, was one of the dominating characteristics of
+his nature. Given a sound purpose, a worthy desire, he was not easily
+dismayed, and desperate as his chances of finding Marishka now seemed,
+it did not enter his head to give up and seek his way--as he might
+easily have done--to the Serbian border and so to safety. Marishka had
+forgiven him! During the long days of his convalescence the memory of
+their brief joyous moments in the Turkish house had renewed and
+invigorated him. He had heard her calling to him across the
+distances--despairingly, but hoping against hope that the man she loved
+was still alive. It thrilled him to think that he could still come to
+her--if she would wait--come even from the grave and answer her call to
+him--the call of one brave spirit to another, which needed no material
+fact of physical utterance to make itself heard. He would find her--not
+soon perhaps, but all in good time. Providence had not saved him
+miraculously for failure, and it was written that he should succeed. The
+gods would be with him now and arm him against disaster. He rejoiced to
+find how strong he felt today. All the tremors had gone out of his
+nerves, and he was ready to begin his journey whenever it should be
+time. But first he wanted to question Selim--Goritz had passed this
+house--there was a chance ...
+
+Selim Ali returned from the fields at supper time, greeted Renwick with
+bluff heartiness, and together they sat at a substantial meal of
+_Jungfern-Braten_, over which Selim's wife Zaidee presided. In the light
+of events, Renwick willingly reconstructed his estimate of Selim. Last
+night Renwick would have been suspicious of the angel Gabriel, but with
+the courage of the sunlight had come confidence in himself, and faith in
+his star. It seemed that Zubeydeh had told her cousin nothing of
+Renwick's nationality or predicament, but that he was a friend who had
+gotten into a trouble, and that the police of Sarajevo were looking for
+him. Selim was to shelter him and speed him upon his way. Selim asked
+many questions which Renwick answered as he chose, biding his own time.
+Yes, _he_, Stefan Thomasevics, had gotten into trouble in Sarajevo, all
+because of a woman (and this Renwick knew to be true), and desired to
+leave the country. He did not wish to go to the war and he would not
+fight against the Serbians who were not in the wrong. He, Thomasevics,
+wished to go north to Budapest where he would work in the factories and
+amass a fortune. Selim wagged his head wisely and laughed.
+
+"You must work long, my young friend, and spend nothing," he said.
+"Come. You're a strong fellow--a little weak just now from smoking too
+many cigarettes and staying up too late at night. But I will give you
+work here upon my farm and pay you well."
+
+But Thomasevics shook his head.
+
+"Thank you. You are kind, but I have already made up my mind."
+
+Selim shrugged and lighted his long pipe.
+
+"As you will, but I have made you a good offer."
+
+"A good offer. Yes. Which I would accept were my mind not set upon other
+matters." He paused and then, "Selim, you are a good fellow. I will tell
+you the truth. I would like to stay with you, but I am searching for
+something which may take me to the ends of the earth."
+
+"That is a long way, my friend."
+
+"Yes, a long way, when one doesn't know which way to go."
+
+"Ah, that is even longer. There are but two things which will take a man
+like you so far as that--vengeance, or a woman."
+
+Renwick smiled.
+
+"I see that you are wise as well as clever. I go for both, Selim."
+
+"A woman? Young?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Beautiful?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And the vengeance----"
+
+"That shall be beautiful also."
+
+Selim smoked his pipe solemnly and as Renwick hesitated,
+
+"Will it please you to tell me more?" he asked.
+
+Renwick deliberated.
+
+"Yes. I am groping in the dark. And the darkness begins at Sarajevo. She
+left there in the night--with _him_."
+
+"Ah, a man! Of course."
+
+"They fled by the Visegrader Gate and they came upon this road, past
+this very house."
+
+Selim shrugged.
+
+"At night! It is a pity. I might have seen them but I sleep soundly."
+
+"There are no other houses for a long distance in either direction. They
+might have stopped here."
+
+"But they did not!" And as Renwick gave up despairingly, "You see, I
+worked very hard all last week and slept like a dead man."
+
+"It was not last week," said Renwick gloomily, "almost two months
+ago----"
+
+"Ah, as to that----" and Selim shrugged again. "One has no recollection
+of things that happened before the Hegira."
+
+Of course it was hopeless. Renwick had only unraveled the thread to see
+how far it would lead. Here it broke off, and so he relinquished it.
+Rather wearily he sank back into his chair and gazed out of the window
+into the sunset.
+
+Selim's wife entered with a tray to take away the dishes. She wore no
+_yashmak_, for Selim, though professing the Moslem faith, was somewhat
+lax in carrying out its articles. He did not believe in running a good
+thing into the ground, he said. So Zaidee came and went as she chose.
+
+"I have been listening from the kitchen," she said with a smile. "It is
+always a woman that makes the trouble, _nicht wahr_?"
+
+"Then how can Paradise be Paradise?" grunted Selim.
+
+"Thou wouldst get on poorly without us, just the same," said Zaidee
+demurely.
+
+"But I should not go to the ends of the earth, like Stefan, here."
+
+"Thou! Thou dost not know the meaning of love. I wish I could help him."
+
+"It is impossible," sneered Selim.
+
+"But it is interesting," sighed Zaidee. "She went away with another
+man--that is cruel!"
+
+"Perhaps Stefan is better off than he knows," said Selim.
+
+"Selim," said Zaidee with great solemnity, "thou art a pig!"
+
+"Pig I am not."
+
+"Pig!" she repeated with more acerbity.
+
+Renwick was in no mind to take a part in their quarrel and was moving
+toward the door of the adjoining room when a phrase caught his ear.
+
+"And thou art a magpie, Zaidee, always croaking. It will get us into
+trouble, thy talking. I have but to set my foot outside the house and
+thy tongue wags like the clothing of a scarecrow."
+
+"I have done no harm," she said angrily.
+
+"It is no affair of thine--they will come again asking questions. I have
+no humor to talk with any of that accursed breed."
+
+"What harm can come--if we tell the truth----?"
+
+"Bah--what do the police care about the truth?"
+
+Renwick turned and reentered the room.
+
+"The police!" he said quickly.
+
+"Zaidee talks too much. A month ago in my absence they came inquiring."
+
+"And what wouldst _thou_ have said?" cried Zaidee angrily. "To shelter a
+sick woman is no crime----"
+
+"I should have said nothing."
+
+"And what happened?" asked Renwick eagerly, now aware of the bone that
+chance had thrown in the way of a starving man.
+
+"In the middle of the night which followed the day upon which the
+Archduke was assassinated----"
+
+"And whose tongue is wagging now--thou magpie?" put in Zaidee
+spitefully.
+
+"Be quiet----" said Selim.
+
+Renwick glared at the woman as though he would have liked to choke her,
+and she subsided.
+
+"An automobile stopped at my door. There were three people, an Austrian
+officer, a lady who was sick, and a man who drove the car. They asked
+admittance on account of the Excellency who was sick. I could not
+refuse, for they said that they would pay me well."
+
+Selim paused, hunting in his pockets for a match to light his pipe, and
+Renwick, containing his patience with difficulty, stood, his hands
+clenched behind him, waiting. They had stopped here--at this very house.
+
+"And then----?" he asked calmly.
+
+"We put the Excellency to bed----"
+
+"_I_ did," said Zaidee.
+
+"Bah! What matter? They were bound upon a journey over the mountains to
+Vlasenica, where the Excellency was taking his wife for the waters."
+
+"His wife," mumbled Renwick.
+
+"They traveled at night to avoid the heat of midday, but the sudden
+sickness of the Excellency made further travel impossible."
+
+"The officer Excellency lied----!" said Zaidee.
+
+"Be quiet, thou----!" roared Selim.
+
+"Let Zaidee speak. I am no policeman," said Renwick.
+
+"What interest is it of yours?"
+
+Renwick caught the man by the shoulders with both hands and glared at
+him.
+
+"Merely because this is the woman I seek."
+
+"An Excellency like--and you?"
+
+"What I am does not matter. A hundred _kroner_ if you tell the
+truth----"
+
+"A hundred _kroner_----!"
+
+His eyes searched Renwick eagerly, and then, "There is little I would
+not tell for a hundred _kroner_, but----"
+
+"I am not of the police, I tell you. This lady is an Austrian noblewoman
+in danger."
+
+"And the Austrian officer----"
+
+"Is no Austrian, but an enemy of Austria----"
+
+"A Serb----?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"What does that matter?"
+
+Selim shrugged. "Nothing perhaps--still----"
+
+"And if I tell you, you will keep silent?"
+
+"A hundred _kroner_ will make me dumb."
+
+"I am an Englishman," said Renwick after a moment.
+
+"Ah--a spy!"
+
+"No. A prisoner who has escaped."
+
+"That is better."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+And as the man still hesitated Renwick unpinned the notes in his pocket
+and tossed one of them upon the table, in front of him. Selim took it
+eagerly.
+
+"I am quite ready to believe anything you say----"
+
+But Renwick seized his wrist in a strong grip. "You have not spoken
+yet."
+
+"I will speak, then," said Zaidee. "Selim is a fool to hesitate. I
+nursed the Excellency for two nights and a day. I cooked her eggs and
+chicken and soup, but she would not eat. She was very much frightened."
+
+"The man--he treated her badly?"
+
+"Oh, no. Very politely, and paid us for our service, but the Excellency
+was frightened. I was kind to her, and she was grateful, but she spoke
+nothing of where she was going. Perhaps she did not know. But it was not
+to take the waters."
+
+"You, Selim," broke in Renwick, "you heard the men speaking? What did
+they say?"
+
+He shrugged.
+
+"How can I remember? They planned their journey with a map, but I had no
+interest----"
+
+"What map----?"
+
+"A map--how should I know----"
+
+"Of Hungary----"
+
+"Hungary!" And then scratching his head, "Yes, it must have been of
+Hungary, for they spoke of Budapest----"
+
+"And what else? The Danube--the Thiess?"
+
+"I do not remember?"
+
+"You must----!" Renwick's fingers closed again upon the hundred _kroner_
+note which Selim had put back on the table.
+
+"What good would it do if I lied to you?"
+
+"Think, man, think! They made marks upon the map?"
+
+"Marks? Oh, yes--marks."
+
+"Up and down, the way they were sitting?"
+
+"Yes. I think so. By the beard of the Prophet! You can't expect a fellow
+to remember such things as this for two months."
+
+"Did they speak of mountains?"
+
+"Mountains----!" Selim scratched his head again. "How should I know?"
+
+"The Carpathians?"
+
+"The Carpathians. Perhaps. Ah----"
+
+Selim tapped his brow with a stubby forefinger.
+
+"There was a name they spoke many times. It was a strange name."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I can't think."
+
+"Zaidee, you heard?" Renwick asked.
+
+"I was listening, but I could not understand."
+
+"Was it a city?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Was it Cracow? Kaschau? Agram? Was it Bruenn?"
+
+But they made no sign.
+
+"Think!" said Renwick. "At the top of the map--away from them--near the
+edge?"
+
+Selim shrugged hopelessly. "I can't remember," he said.
+
+Renwick despaired.
+
+"Was the map large?"
+
+"Yes. I remember that. It covered this table----"
+
+"Ah--then you can tell me how they stood?"
+
+"Yes. I can tell you that."
+
+He got up and placed himself at the side of the table. "The Excellency
+was here--the map spread out----"
+
+"Did he lean to the left or to the right?"
+
+"He leaned well forward with both elbows upon the table--straight
+forward--yes--almost across--a pencil in his hand--the other was
+pointing. The lamp was just there----" pointing to the left center of
+the table.
+
+"The lamp was on the map?"
+
+"Yes--to keep it in position----"
+
+"On the left-hand side?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And they didn't move the lamp?"
+
+"No. It remained there until they raised it to take the map away."
+
+"I understand. And they made marks up and down with a pencil?"
+
+Selim shrugged.
+
+"It is what I think, merely."
+
+"And the name was----?"
+
+"How can one be sure of a name? It is a wonder just now that I can
+remember my own. Had I known what was to happen----" And he shrugged and
+dropped wearily again into his chair.
+
+"And the police--? What has Zaidee said to the police?"
+
+"Merely that the Excellencies were here--in this house."
+
+"The police are coming again?"
+
+"I do not know. It would seem that they have forgotten."
+
+"And if they come, you will speak?"
+
+"The hundred _kroner_ will make me dumb."
+
+"And Zaidee?"
+
+"I will not speak."
+
+"Nothing of me, you understand. I am but Stefan Thomasevics----"
+
+"It is understood."
+
+"And you remember nothing more?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"You are sure. The Excellency left no message--no note----?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+Renwick pushed the hundred _kroner_ note toward Selim and straightened.
+
+"You have done me a service, Selim. They have gone to the east of the
+Tatra----"
+
+"Tatra!" suddenly shouted Selim triumphantly. "It is the name!"
+
+"Are you sure?" asked Renwick excitedly.
+
+"Yes. Tatra--that is it. They spoke of it for half an hour. Eh--Zaidee?"
+
+"Yes. It is the name."
+
+Renwick paced the floor with long steps.
+
+"Selim," he said at last, "it is now dark. I must go at once."
+
+"Tomorrow."
+
+"Tonight. The stars are out."
+
+He moved to the door and peered out.
+
+"You will keep silent?" he asked.
+
+"Have I not promised?" said Selim.
+
+He caught them both by the hand.
+
+"Allah will bless you."
+
+"A hundred _kroner_--that is blessing enough for one day, Stefan
+Thomasevics," he laughed.
+
+"Adieu!" said Renwick, and walked bravely off into the starlight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+AN IMPERSONATION
+
+
+At least he now had a goal--"the center of the map, near the top"--the
+Tatra region by which Goritz had passed (if he had not been intercepted)
+into Galicia and so into Germany. Aside from the value of Selim's
+information, one other fact stood out. The secret service men who had
+visited Selim a month ago had not returned. Did this mean that Herr
+Windt had already succeeded in closing the door of escape? The passes
+through the Carpathians could of course be easily guarded and closed,
+for there were few of them accessible to traffic by automobile. Was
+Renwick's goal, after all, to be there and not beyond? He had put in one
+summer in the Tatra region with Captain Otway of the Embassy, and he
+knew the district well,--a country of mountain villages, feudal castles,
+and rugged roads. Otway had been interested in the military problems of
+the Austro-Hungarian empire, and Renwick remembered the importance of
+the Tatra as a natural barrier to Russian ambitions. The shortest
+automobile road into Silesia lay to the _east_ of the Tatra range--and
+the passes through the Carpathians at this point were few and well
+known. By process of elimination, Renwick had at last assured himself
+that his first theory was tenable, for Selim had confirmed it. A hundred
+conjectures flashed into the Englishman's mind as he trudged onward, to
+be one by one dismissed and relegated to the limbo of uncertainty. But
+assuming that Selim had told the truth, Renwick had found the trail, and
+would follow wherever it might lead him, to its end.
+
+His idea of traveling afoot by night and of hiding by day, at least for
+the first part of his journey, was born of the desire to leave nothing
+to chance. His own capture meant internment until the end of the war, or
+possibly an exchange for some Austrian in England. But they should not
+catch him! Concealed in his belt he wore the American revolver, and
+carried some cartridges which Zubeydeh had restored to him.
+
+The weather fortunately had been fine, and the days and nights in the
+open were rapidly restoring him to strength. The discomfort at the wound
+in his body which had bothered him for a few days had disappeared. He
+was well. And with health came hope, faith even, in the star of his
+fortunes. It took him two weeks to reach Polishka, below which he
+crossed the Save at night in a boat which he found moored to the bank,
+and daylight found him at a small village through which a railroad ran
+north towards the plains of the Danube. Here he paused dead-tired for
+food and rest.
+
+The innkeeper, who spoke German fairly well, swallowed Renwick's story,
+his taste somewhat stimulated by the sight of the ten-_kroner_ piece
+which the Englishman used in paying for his breakfast.
+
+But the time had now come for the execution of a bold plan which for
+some days and nights Renwick had been turning over and over in his mind.
+It was a good plan, he thought, a brave plan which stood the test of
+argument pro and con. The British Embassy in many of its investigations
+during times of peace,--investigations of a purely personal or financial
+nature,--had been in the habit of calling in the services of one Carl
+Moyer, an Austrian who ran a private inquiry bureau in Vienna. He was an
+able man, not directly connected with the secret service department of
+the Empire, but frequently brought into consultation upon matters
+outside the pale of politics. Renwick's interest in Moyer had been
+limited to the share they had both taken in some inquiries as to the
+standing of a Russian nobleman who had approached the Ambassador with a
+scheme of a rather dubious character. But a physical resemblance to
+Moyer, which had been the subject of frequent jokes with Otway, had now
+given Renwick a new and very vital interest in the personality of the
+man which had nothing to do with their business relations. Moyer was
+thinner than Renwick, and not so tall, but their features were much
+alike. When at first the idea of an impersonation had come to Renwick,
+he had rejected it as dangerous, but the notion obsessed him. The very
+boldness of the project was in its favor. He could now move freely along
+the railroads and if one ignored the hazard of meeting the man himself
+or someone who knew him intimately, he could pursue his object of
+following the trail of Captain Goritz with a brave front which would
+defy suspicion. True, he would have no papers and no credentials, but
+this, too, was a part of the guise of a man who might be moving upon a
+secret mission. Carl Moyer, disguised as an Austrian of the laboring
+class, moving from Bosnia to the Carpathians--what could be more
+natural?
+
+As Renwick ate his breakfast in the small inn at Otok, he came to a
+sudden decision to put this bold plan into practice. And so, exhibiting
+another ten-_kroner_ piece, he made known his wishes to the innkeeper.
+He was a Bosnian, he said, but in Hungary he did not wish to attract
+attention by wearing his native costume. In parts of Hungary there was a
+feeling that the Bosnians who lived near the Serbian border were not
+loyal to the Emperor and this, it had been said, might make it difficult
+for him to obtain employment. His purse was not large but if his host
+would procure for him a suit of western clothing, a coat, a pair of
+trousers, a shirt, a cravat, and a soft hat, he, Thomasevics, would
+offer his Bosnian clothing in exchange and do what was fair in the
+matter of money. The train from Britzka did not go north for an hour.
+Would it be possible to find these things in so short a time? The
+innkeeper regarded the worn and mud-stained garments of his guest rather
+dubiously, but the terms of the offer in the matter of money having been
+made clear, the transformation was accomplished without difficulty and
+Renwick boarded the train rather jubilant at the celerity and speed of
+his journey. By nightfall, with luck, he would be across the Danube and
+well within the borders of Hungary, mingling in crowds where all trace
+of his identity would be lost. He spent most of his afternoon on the
+train trying to recall the mannerisms of the man Moyer, a trick of
+gesture, a drawl and a shrug which he thought he could manage. Carl
+Moyer he now was, on a mission from Bosnia to the North, in which the
+better to disguise himself he was permitting his hair and beard to grow.
+
+Hut success had made him over-confident, for at the Bahnhof at Zombor
+where he had to change into a train for Budapest, something happened
+which drove all thought from his head save that of escape from the
+predicament into which his imprudence had plunged him.
+
+He was sitting upon a bench on the platform waiting for his train when a
+man approached and sat beside him. Renwick needed no second glance to
+reassure himself as to the fellow's identity. He was Spivak, Windt's
+man, the fellow who had kept guard on the cabin at Konopisht. The
+Englishman feared to get up and walk away, for that might attract
+attention. So he sat, slouched carelessly, his hat pulled well down over
+his eyes, awaiting what seemed to be the inevitable. Spivak--one of
+Windt's men sent of course to Zombor, one of the important railway
+junctions, to watch all arrivals from the south. Renwick had been ready
+with his story when he debarked from the train but there had been a
+crowd and he had been in the last carriage. Renwick's mind worked
+rapidly, and to an imagination already prescient of disaster, the man
+seemed to be inspecting him. As Spivak's chin lifted, Renwick faced him
+squarely. Their glances met--and passed. Renwick calmly took out a
+cigarette and bending his head forward lighted it coolly, aware that the
+man was saying something in Hungarian.
+
+Renwick made a gesture of incomprehension, wondering meanwhile how he
+could kill the man on the crowded platform without attracting
+observation.
+
+"The train from the south was crowded today," said Spivak in German.
+
+"Crowded? Yes."
+
+"Do you come from Brod or Britzka?"
+
+"From Britzka," said Renwick without hesitation, and then with the
+courage of desperation--
+
+"I have seen you before," he went on, calmly puffing at his cigarette.
+
+"I have, I think, the same impression."
+
+"Your name is Spivak--of the Secret Service----"
+
+"You----"
+
+"My name is Carl Moyer."
+
+It was a gambler's chance that Renwick took. If Spivak intimately knew
+the man--but he did not and the effrontery disarmed him.
+
+"You are Carl Moyer? I must have seen you," he muttered. "I have been in
+Vienna a little--with Herr Windt, but I am of the Hungarian branch. You
+have been in Sarajevo?"
+
+"Yes," said Renwick easily following out a wild plan that had come into
+his mind. "I have been employed by the Baroness Racowitz to find the
+Countess Marishka Strahni."
+
+"Ah, I see. It has come to that!" And then, regarding his companion with
+a new interest, "When did you come from Sarajevo?"
+
+"Last night. It is a strange case."
+
+"And you have found a lead?"
+
+"Several----"
+
+"You can do nothing against such a man as Goritz."
+
+"It is Goritz--yes--but I will find her if I have to go through Germany
+with a harrow."
+
+"They have not gone to Germany, my friend. Every gate out of Hungary has
+been closed to them since the assassination."
+
+Renwick smiled. The thing had worked. The spirit of the venture glowed
+in him--its very impudence fascinated.
+
+"Perhaps!" he replied. "Still, a man who could outwit Nicholas
+Szarvas----"
+
+Spivak caught him so suddenly by the arm that Renwick trembled.
+
+"You think he killed Szarvas----?" whispered Spivak eagerly.
+
+"If not himself, it was by his orders. And the Englishman--Renck----"
+
+"Renwick."
+
+"I've found the evidence that Renck was lured to Sarajevo. He possessed
+a secret dangerous to Germany and so Goritz killed him."
+
+"And this Peter Langer--who escaped from the hospital----?" asked Spivak
+cynically.
+
+"The chauffeur of Goritz, left for dead in the fight with Szarvas and
+stripped of his clothing to hide all marks of identity. It is no wonder
+that he wished to escape----" The Englishman broke off with a rough
+laugh and rose. "But this won't do, I'm giving you all my thunder. Herr
+Windt does not relish my employment in this service, but since he has
+accomplished nothing you cannot blame my clients. I am on my way to
+Germany. The surest way to catch a fox is to smoke him out of his hole."
+
+Spivak took a few paces away, and then slowly returned.
+
+"What you say is interesting, Herr Moyer, and the theory hangs together,
+but you will waste your time in Germany."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because Captain Goritz is still in Hungary."
+
+"What further reason have you for believing that he is here?"
+
+Spivak smiled and hesitated a moment. And then, "You have talked freely.
+One good turn deserves another. I will tell you. We know that Captain
+Goritz is still in Hungary because within the past week the
+Wilhelmstrasse has sent urgent messages to Vienna inquiring for him."
+
+"Ah--that is interesting," said Renwick slowly, trying to hide the throb
+of triumph in his throat. "Then you think----?"
+
+"Merely that he is in hiding--with the lady," said Spivak with a leer.
+"It is no new thing for a man to go in hiding with a lady."
+
+Renwick's laugh was admirably managed, for fury was in his heart. "This
+information is helpful," he said. "You believe that it is true?"
+
+"I am sure. Berlin is anxious because he has not returned. I do not know
+what they suspect over there, but the situation is changed. The war has
+made a difference. We have no idea where he has gone. All that we know
+is that it will be very difficult for him to get out."
+
+In the distance the train was rumbling up the track, and Renwick was
+thankful. But he caught the fellow by the hand.
+
+"You are a good fellow, Spivak. If at any time you wish to leave the
+government service and take a good place at a fair payment, you will
+come to see me in Vienna."
+
+"Thanks, Herr Moyer. I shall remember. You are going on to Budapest?"
+
+"Yes. And you?"
+
+"I am detained here to watch for a Russian spy who is trying to get
+through to the Galician border." He laughed. "You're sure you're
+not----?"
+
+"That's a good joke, Spivak," he smiled. "A Russian! I'd have precious
+little chance----" And then as the train rolled in--
+
+"Don't forget--Ferdinand Strasse, Number 83----"
+
+"I will not. Adieu!"
+
+"Adieu, my friend."
+
+And with a final wave of the hand Renwick turned and slowly mounted into
+his third class carriage. The plan had worked and the man, it seemed,
+had not the slightest suspicion. He was, as Renwick remembered from
+Konopisht, not infallible, and the ease with which Renwick had
+accomplished his object and the remarkable nature of his newly acquired
+information could only be explained by the fact that Spivak was seeking
+the Russian and not himself, and by the boldness of his impersonation,
+which had immediately pierced the crust of Spivak's professional
+reserve. All had gone well, but it seemed an age before the train drew
+out of the station. Renwick did not dare to look out of the window to
+learn if the man were still there, and until the bell of the locomotive
+rang announcing the departure of the train, he was unpleasantly nervous,
+for fear that a suspicion might dawn in the man's mind which would lead
+him to pursue the conversation.
+
+Renwick never learned whether Spivak's second thoughts had warned him
+that all was not as it should be, for instead of taking any chances, the
+Englishman got down from the train at the first stop and disappeared
+into the darkness.
+
+It was with a feeling of elation mingled with apprehension that Renwick
+made his way forward. Elation because of the new crumbs of information,
+apprehension because of the definite assurance that Goritz still held
+Marishka a prisoner somewhere within the borders of Hungary. Definite it
+seemed, for Spivak had spoken with the utmost confidence of things with
+which he was intimately concerned. The trail narrowed. It seemed as
+though Providence, aware of past impositions, was bent on making amends
+to one who had suffered much from her disfavor. The sudden appearance of
+Spivak, which had seemed to threaten disaster, had been turned by a bold
+stroke from calamity to good fortune. But Renwick determined to avoid
+further such encounters if possible. And so, resuming the mode of
+progress which had been so effective on the way to Tuzla, he walked at
+night, and slept under cover by day, reaching a town upon the banks of
+the Danube, where he bought new clothing, a straw hat, a change of
+linen, and a hand bag with which (representing himself as a grain
+merchant of Ujvidek), he boldly boarded a steamer upon the river,
+reaching Budapest without further incident.
+
+It was not until he had passed the Quai and was safely in the Karoly
+Korut that Renwick breathed easily. He was now safe, finding his way to
+his immediate destination, the house of a person connected with the
+English Secret Service, into whose care he confidently entrusted
+himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK
+
+
+Herr Koulas was by birth a Greek, by citizenship, an Austrian, and by
+occupation, a chemist; but his real metier, concealed under a most
+docile and law abiding exterior, was secret inquiry in behalf of the
+British government into all matters pertaining to its interests, either
+social, political, or military. He knew his Hungary from Odenburg to
+Kronstadt, from the Save to the Carpathians, and Renwick, while somewhat
+dubious as to the wisdom of his visit under the circumstances, found
+himself received at this excellent man's home with a warmth of welcome
+which left no doubt in his own mind as to the unselfishness of his host.
+Even before the war Renwick and Constantine Koulas had met in secret, so
+that if trouble came no plan should mar the man's impeccable character
+in Austrian eyes. And Renwick would not have come to him now, had not
+his own need been great. But Herr Koulas, having heard the tale of his
+adventures and reassured as to the present danger of pursuit, gave
+willingly of his hospitality and counsel, and when he learned the
+character of Renwick's mission, volunteered to procure him a set of
+papers which would rob his pilgrimage to the north, at least, of its
+most obvious dangers. He was ready with information, too, and offered a
+mind with a peculiar genius for the kind of problem that Renwick
+presented. The fact that the great Prussian secret agent, Leo Goritz,
+was involved in the affair lent it an individuality which detracted
+nothing from its other interest. Leo Goritz! Only last year there had
+been a contest of wits between them, both under cover, and Koulas had
+managed to get what he wanted, not, however, without narrowly escaping
+the revelation of his own part in the investigation. Goritz was a clever
+man and a dangerous one, young, brilliant, handsome, unscrupulous, who
+wore an armor of impenetrability which had not yet revealed a single
+weak link. And yet, Herr Koulas reasoned, broodingly, that there must be
+one. A weak link! Where was the man without one? The messages from the
+Wilhelmstrasse! Why had Goritz not returned to Berlin upon the outbreak
+of the war? What was keeping him in Hungary? He was in the Tatra region?
+Possibly. Which were the passes by which he might try to go? Uzoker,
+Dukla, or perhaps even Jablunka. The Russians were already battering at
+Przemysl--Uzoker Pass was out of the question. Jablunka--that was nearer
+the German border, but eagerly watched even in times of peace. Goritz
+would not have dared to try to abduct the Countess Strahni by way of
+Jablunka! The railroad went through Jablunka, a narrow highway with no
+outlet for many miles. It was not the kind of _cul-de-sac_ that Goritz
+would have chosen. Dukla? Perhaps. A little farther to the east, of
+course, but not yet menaced by the Russian advance.
+
+The thing was puzzling, but interesting--very. The abduction of a loyal
+citizen of Austria--a lady of noble birth--a hurried flight by
+unfrequented roads and then an _impasse_! Had Herr Windt blocked the
+way? Was the lady ill? Or had something else detained them?
+
+Renwick sat in the back room of the small laboratory, his arms folded,
+his brows tangled in thought, as Herr Koulas, puffing great clouds of
+smoke from his long pipe, thus analyzed the situation.
+
+"I have thought of all of these things, Herr Koulas," Renwick muttered,
+"and my mind always comes back to the same point. If I know that Goritz
+has come to this region, if I know that he has not gone out of it, I
+also know that he remains. I do not care _why_--my question is
+_where--where_?"
+
+Koulas ran his long forefinger over the map upon the table.
+
+"It is the map Goritz might use--a road map of the government," he
+grumbled.
+
+"The center near the top--Poprad--he would get through there with
+difficulty----"
+
+Renwick had risen and paced the floor slowly.
+
+"I have not been through Dukla. It is accessible?"
+
+"Yes. Svidnik to Przemysl. Rocks--a _schloss_ or two----" He turned. "It
+was there that the Baron Neudeck was killed--you remember--three years
+ago?"
+
+"I have forgotten--Neudeck--an Austrian?"
+
+"A German--Neudeck was selling military plans to the Russians--Goritz!"
+
+Koulas sprang to his feet triumphantly--"Goritz! It was Goritz who
+discovered him----"
+
+Renwick was listening eagerly, and Koulas turned with a shrug. "Nothing
+much, my friend. And yet--a coincidence perhaps--Goritz, Neudeck, Dukla.
+Goritz--Strahni--'the center of the map--at the top.' It might be worth
+trying."
+
+"I shall try it. There is nothing else for me to do. The Pass is used
+for transport?"
+
+"No. The line of communication is through Mezo Laborcz."
+
+"It will be risky----"
+
+"Not unless you make it so. With luck you shall bear a letter to General
+Lechnitz (which you need never deliver) as a writer for a newspaper."
+
+"That can be managed?"
+
+"I hope--I believe--I am confident."
+
+Renwick smiled. Herr Koulas was something of a humorist.
+
+"Tell me more of this Neudeck case," asked the Englishman.
+
+"There is unfortunately little more to tell. Neudeck was a German baron
+with military connections, not too rich and not above dishonesty. Goritz
+traced the plans to Schloss Szolnok, an ancient feudal stronghold which
+an elder Baron Neudeck had bought----"
+
+"In the Dukla?"
+
+"--in the Dukla--where some Russian officers were invited for the
+shooting. They did not know how little they were to enjoy it----" Koulas
+chuckled and blew a cloud of smoke--"for Goritz shot Neudeck before
+their very eyes, and took the plans back to Germany. This is secret
+history--a nine days' wonder--but it passed and with it a clever
+scoundrel who well deserved what he got."
+
+"And since his death who lives in Schloss Szolnok?"
+
+"I don't know." He laughed again. "You jump very rapidly at conclusions,
+my friend."
+
+"Time passes. I must jump at something. I am going to Dukla
+Pass--tomorrow if you will help me."
+
+"That goes without saying. For the present you shall go to bed and sleep
+soundly. I would like to go with you, but alas--I am not so young as I
+was and I can best serve all your interests here."
+
+Renwick shook Koulas by the hand and took the bedroom candle that was
+offered him.
+
+"Good night," he said. "I pray that no harm may come to you from this
+imprudence of mine."
+
+"Do not worry, my friend. I am well hedged about with alibis. Good
+night."
+
+The next evening after dark Renwick, now Herr Max Schoff of the _Wiener
+Zeitung_, supplied with a pass which Herr Koulas by means of his
+underground machinery had managed to procure, took the night train for
+Kaschau, which he reached in the early morning of the following day,
+going on later to Bartfeld, the terminus of the railroad, a small and
+ancient town under the very shadow of the mountains. Here, it being late
+in the afternoon, he found the Hungaria, a hotel to which he had been
+directed, where he made arrangements to stop for the night while he
+leisurely pursued his inquiries.
+
+Now at last, so very near his destination, he was curiously oppressed
+with the futility of his pilgrimage. He had come far, braving the danger
+of detection and death, for he had no illusions regarding the status of
+an Englishman approaching the battle lines under the guise of a
+newspaper writer. If taken, it would be as a spy, and he would be
+treated as such.
+
+Herr Koulas had warned him not to be too sanguine, for the roads out of
+Hungary were many, and Dukla Pass, merely because of a bit of forgotten
+secret history, a possibility not to be neglected. Herr Koulas had also
+warned him that the methods in induction which had been open to him had
+also been open to the Austrian secret service men who, perhaps, had
+already taken measures to follow the same scent. And so it was that the
+golden smile of Herr Windt still persisted in Renwick's dreams by night,
+and in his thoughts by day. If Spivak had told his story of his meeting
+with the spurious Moyer, his conversation about Szarvas would
+immediately identify him as Renwick the Englishman. But however near the
+two trails ran, Windt's men had not yet come up with him, and, until
+they did, Renwick knew that he must move boldly and quickly upon his
+quest. And so at last resolution armed him anew.
+
+It was now approaching dusk, and he cast about for a person to whom he
+might talk without arousing suspicion, and so he turned into an inn at
+the corner of the street and ordering beer sat himself upon a bench
+along the wall before a long wooden table. The few men who sat drinking
+and smoking gave him a curious glance, and the proprietor of the
+establishment, aware of a stranger, felt it to be his duty to learn
+something of his mission to this small town and of his identity. This
+was what Renwick wanted, and as the man spoke in German, he told with
+brief glibness his well rehearsed story, inviting his host to join him
+in a glass, over which they were presently chatting as thick as thieves.
+He was a newspaper writer, Renwick said, upon his way to the front, and
+showed the letter to General Lechnitz. But he had never before been in
+this part of the country and intended to see it, upon the way. It was an
+interesting town, Bartfeld, a fine church too, St. Aegidius. Had his
+host lived in Bartfeld a long time?
+
+The man was a native, and very proud of his traditions, expanding
+volubly in reply to Renwick's careless questions. His father and
+grandfather had kept this very inn, and indeed for all he knew their
+fathers' fathers. A quiet town, but interesting to those who were fond
+of historical associations. Renwick listened patiently, slowly drawing
+the man nearer to the subject that was uppermost in his mind. It was a
+short distance to Dukla Pass, a very picturesque spot, he had been told,
+one well worth a visit, was it not?
+
+"Dukla Pass!" said the man. "A name well known in the annals of the
+country in the days of John Sobieski, long before the railroad went
+through beyond; a wonderful spot with cliffs and ravines. I have been
+there often. In the season, before the war, one drove there--for the
+view. Now alas! what with the Cossacks running over Galicia, the people
+had more serious things to think about."
+
+"It is easily reached?" asked Renwick.
+
+"By the road beyond the town--a short cut--a climb over the mountains,
+but not difficult at this time of the year."
+
+"There is a village there?"
+
+"A few farmhouses merely, in the valley along the streams. The glory of
+the Dukla is its ruins."
+
+"Ah, of course, there are feudal castles----"
+
+"Javorina, Jaegerhorn, Szolnok----"
+
+"Szolnok!" said Renwick with sudden interest. "I have heard that name
+before----"
+
+He paused in a puzzled way.
+
+"It was the summer residence of Baron Neudeck----"
+
+"Ah, then it is not a ruin?"
+
+"Until three years ago he lived there--in the habitable part--when
+something terrible happened. No one about here is sure--but the place
+has an evil name."
+
+"That is interesting. Why?"
+
+"The facts have never been clearly explained. The story goes that Baron
+Neudeck was in the midst of entertaining guests--a hunting party of
+gentlemen; that there was a night of revelry and of drinking. One of the
+servants, entering the dining-hall in the morning, found Baron Neudeck
+lying dead upon the hearth with a bullet wound in his forehead. The
+guests had disappeared--vanished as if the earth had swallowed them."
+
+"And the police?"
+
+"The police came and went. It was very strange. Nothing further was
+heard of the matter. But no one about here will go within a mile of the
+place after nightfall."
+
+"And the servants--what became of them?"
+
+The man shrugged. "They did not come from around here. They were
+Germans, who came with the Baron. If the police are satisfied, I am."
+
+The man shrugged and drained his glass.
+
+"The other castles are ruined, you say? Then it cannot be long before
+Szolnok will share their fate--since it is not occupied," suggested
+Renwick.
+
+"Perhaps," said the man indifferently, rising with a view to closing the
+conversation.
+
+Renwick ordered another glass of beer, and sat looking out of the small
+casement window at the passers-by, thinking deeply.
+
+The inspiration of Herr Koulas had at least set him upon a scent which
+still held him true upon this trail. The information he had received
+might mean much or little. German servants? Had Goritz used the servants
+of Baron Neudeck in unraveling the secret of the stolen plans? Had they
+been implicated in the affair? Did he hold them his creatures by a
+knowledge of their share in the guilty transaction? Three years had
+passed since the killing of Neudeck. What had happened in the meanwhile?
+Had the title of the property passed to others? Had the Schloss been
+occupied since the Baron's death, or was it deserted? He evolved a
+theory rapidly, determining to test it at once. It would perhaps be
+imprudent to question further this innkeeper, a public character, and it
+seemed quite probable that he knew little more than had already been
+told. A visit to the farmhouses in the valley would reveal something. He
+would go----
+
+Renwick had been gazing out of the window, but his attention was
+suddenly arrested by the figure of a man at the corner of the street,
+who stood, smoking a cigarette. There was nothing unusual in his
+clothing or demeanor, but the thing which had startled Renwick into
+sudden alertness was the rather vague impression that somewhere he had
+seen this man's face before. A vague impression, but definite in the
+sense that to Renwick the face had been associated with something
+unpleasant or disagreeable. But even as Renwick looked, the man tossed
+his cigarette into the cobbles and turning on his heel walked up the
+street, passing out of Renwick's range of vision. The Englishman started
+up from his unfinished glass with the notion of following, but a second
+thought urged caution. It was still light outside, and if the stranger's
+memory for faces were better than his own, a meeting face to face would
+merely court unnecessary danger. So Renwick returned to his bench and
+made a pretense of finishing his beer, awaiting in safety the darkness.
+Where had he seen this man before? He searched his mind with painful
+thoroughness--wondering if the injury to his head had robbed his brain
+of some of its clearness. He had seen this man's face before--before his
+sickness--he was sure of that. Hadwiger, Lengelbach, Linder--one by one
+he recalled the secret service men. The face of the stranger was that of
+none of these. Someone--a shadowy someone--out of darkness--or dreams.
+Could the idea have been born of some imaginary resemblance, some
+fancied recollection? The thing was elusive, and so he gave it up, aware
+that if his brain had played him no trick, there was here another
+confirmation of his hope that he was on the true scent. Were the threads
+converging?
+
+The plan that he now had in mind was to go over the mountains afoot and
+make some quiet inquiries among the farmhouses in the valley below the
+Pass, in regard to Schloss Szolnok. And so as the light had grown dim,
+he got up and went forth into the street, pulling his soft hat well down
+over his eyes, and making his way toward the road which led to Dukla
+Pass. He verified the innkeeper's direction by inquiry at the end of the
+main street, and as the night was clear, set forth briskly upon his walk
+over the mountain road, for the idea of spending the evening in
+inactivity was not to be thought of until all the facts regarding this
+Schloss Szolnok were in his possession.
+
+A ruin--uninhabited? And with its crumbling, his own hope.... It was no
+time for despair. Had he not come miraculously from death and traveled
+safely from one border of the enemy's country almost to the other, as
+though led or driven by some secret impelling force--some inspiration,
+some hidden guidon or command? At each turn, at each danger, he
+remembered he had acted with swiftness and decision, and had at no time
+been at a loss. Fortune had favored him at each stage of his journey and
+had directed his steps with rare assurance in this direction. Fortune or
+a will-o'-the-wisp? Or was Marishka calling to him? He had had the
+impression of her nearness often--there in the hospital--and since, at
+Selim Ali's--upon the road. It seemed strange and a little mystifying
+too, that he had never doubted that he would be able to find her.... And
+now--if not at Schloss Szolnok--elsewhere.
+
+As the darkness of the mountain road deepened, swift vision came to him.
+The possible danger of attack ... Out of the gloom of shadowy rocks, he
+had a vision of men who interposed, barring his way, a man in a cap
+asking the time. Vienna--the night that he had left Marishka, when the
+three men had attacked him! The face of the man in the cap, and the
+stranger of Bartfeld--they were the same!
+
+He could have shouted aloud in the joy of the revelation. The man who
+had attacked him in the streets of Vienna--this cigarette-smoking
+stranger in Bartfeld. A German? Who else? Perhaps the man who had shot
+at him--in Vienna--at the Konopisht railroad station, a minion of
+Goritz. Then Goritz could not be far away....
+
+Renwick strode down the mountain side toward the distant lights of the
+valley, like a man in seven-league boots, searching eagerly meanwhile
+the gloomy peaks above him to his left for signs of Schloss Szolnok. He
+could distinguish nothing amid the deep shadows of the mountain side.
+But the lights below beckoned warmly, and finding a road to his right at
+the foot of the declivity, he went toward them rapidly, knocking boldly
+at the door of the first house to which he came.
+
+An old man answered his summons, a tall old man with a long pipe in his
+hand, who inspected the visitor narrowly.
+
+"I have lost my way," said Renwick with a smile, "and thought you might
+let me have a cup of milk and some bread, for which I will pay
+generously."
+
+The man in the doorway waved his hand in assent, and Renwick followed
+him into the house, where his host made a motion for him to be seated. A
+girl and a woman sat by the table knitting, and an old crone sat in a
+large chair by the fireplace, in which some embers still glowed. Renwick
+was hungry, but not nearly so hungry as impatient for the crumbs of
+information that these worthy people might possess, and so he invented a
+story while he ate which the girl, who spoke German more fluently than
+the old man, translated to her elders. The woman at the table spoke a
+little German and shyly added her share to the rather desultory
+conversation. Bartfa was not far, only a few miles over the mountain--a
+short distance by wagon or horseback, but something of a distance for
+one who was weary and footsore. Herr Schoff had come all the way from
+Mezo Laborez--and afoot? A newspaper writer? That was a dangerous
+occupation in times like these.
+
+Renwick, having finished his bread and milk, deftly directed the
+conversation to the possibilities of Dukla Pass from the Russian point
+of view as a means of invasion of the Hungarian plain, and it was soon
+quite clear that this possibility had not been absent from their minds.
+Renwick praised the effectiveness of the Austrian army which he had
+seen, and quickly reassured them. For Dukla Pass, as he had heard, was
+but a slit in the mountains, which the Austrians could easily defend. A
+few guns upon the rocks, and a million Cossacks could not break through.
+
+It was encouraging, the man put in in his patois, for they had been
+greatly disturbed by rumors among the country-folk and many soldiers
+already had passed through.
+
+"It is a place of historical interest," said Renwick easily, "a
+_Schloss_ or two perhaps."
+
+"Javorina--Jaegerhorn, yes--but mere ruins, long ago the property of the
+Rakoczi family. And Szolnok----" Here the man paused, glanced at the
+girl and the woman, and they both made the sign of the cross with their
+forefingers at their breasts.
+
+In the slight period of embarrassment which followed, Renwick regarded
+them with a new interest. The old crone at the fireside, who had been
+leaning forward with a hand cupped at her ear, caught the significance
+of the gesture and solemnly imitated them.
+
+"Ah, I remember now," said Renwick with an air of seriousness which
+matched their own. "Was it not at Szolnok that Baron Neudeck was
+killed?"
+
+The old man glanced at the others before speaking.
+
+"Yes. It was there," he said quietly.
+
+"And the place is no longer occupied?" asked the Englishman.
+
+No one replied.
+
+"There is a mystery attached to Schloss Szolnok?" asked Renwick,
+lighting his pipe.
+
+"He asks if there is a mystery," said the woman dully. And then followed
+as before the strange ceremony of the cross.
+
+"I am a stranger in these parts," Renwick went on, "and no mischief
+maker. This story interests me. I should like to know----" He paused
+again as the old man leaned forward toward him, and laid his skinny
+forefinger along Renwick's knee.
+
+"It is the abode of the devil," he whispered, and then crossed himself
+again.
+
+"Ah--something mysterious----"
+
+"It is not a matter which we talk about in this house. We are poor,
+hard-working people who fear God. But strange things are happening up
+yonder night after night. Here in the valley, we no longer go near by
+day--nor even look."
+
+"Ah, I see. Then the place has long been unoccupied?"
+
+The old man was silent, but the woman, gathering confidence, took up the
+story.
+
+"It was always a place of mystery--even in the days of Baron Neudeck,
+who was an evil man. The servants were strangers to our people and spoke
+not at all. They never came into the valley."
+
+"And they did not come for food--for milk, eggs, butter?"
+
+"Szolnok farm was above the Schloss upon the mountain side. They had
+what they needed."
+
+"Ah, I understand. And since the death of the Baron?"
+
+"We do not know. We do not go there. Two years ago a young man from
+this village went there seeking a sheep which had gone astray. He never
+came back. And the sheep skin was found some days later at the foot of
+the precipice. And scarcely a month ago, a venturesome young man from
+Bartfa climbed the road to the castle in the dead of night on a wager.
+What he saw no one will ever know, for he came running down the road to
+his companion stricken with terror, and has never spoken of the matter
+from that day to this. It was a ghost he saw, they say----"
+
+"Or a devil," put in the old man.
+
+"And by day? You see no one?"
+
+"The Schloss is well within the gorge. I do not go to look, my friend."
+
+"Have there been no lights at night for three years?"
+
+"None that I remember--until now."
+
+"Then it is only for a month or more that they have been seen?"
+
+"Perhaps. I do not know."
+
+The man was growing reticent and his family followed his example. The
+character of the occupants of Szolnok was not a popular topic for
+conversation in Dukla Valley. But this man could help Renwick, and he
+determined to use him. And so as the woman bade him good night and went
+upstairs, Renwick rose and went to the door, where the old man followed
+him.
+
+"It is late, my friend," he said, "and a weary walk for me to Bartfa. I
+will pay you well for a bed."
+
+"Willingly, if we but had the room----"
+
+"Or a pallet of straw in your stable. I am not fastidious."
+
+"Ah, as to that, of course. It can be managed." Renwick took out a
+hundred-_kroner_ note, and held it before the man's eyes.
+
+"If you will do as I ask I will give you this."
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"A place in your stable tonight--breakfast at three in the morning, and
+the clothing you now stand in----"
+
+"My clothing?"
+
+"No questions asked, and silence. Do you agree?"
+
+"But I do not understand."
+
+"It is not necessary that you should. I shall do you no harm."
+
+"A hundred _kroner_--it is a large sum----"
+
+"Yours--if you do what I ask----" And he thrust the note into the old
+man's fingers.
+
+This bound the bargain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+SCHLOSS SZOLNOK
+
+
+The night and day which followed the terrible events in the house of the
+Beg of Rataj were like an evil dream to Marishka Strahni. She slept, she
+awoke, always to be hurried on by her relentless captors, too ill to
+offer resistance or any effort to delay them. Hugh Renwick was dead. All
+the other direful assurances as to her own fate were as nothing beside
+that dreadful fact. And Goritz--the man who sat beside her--Hugh's
+murderer! Fear--loathing--she seemed even too weak and ill for these,
+lying for the first part of their long journey, inert and helpless. The
+man beside her watched her furtively from time to time, venturing
+attention and solicitude for her comfort, but she did not reply to his
+questions or even look at him. At the house of Selim Ali she recovered
+some of her strength, and again upon the following night, at a small inn
+not far from the Serbian border, she fell into a deep sleep of
+exhaustion, from which she was aroused with difficulty. The machine was
+stopped frequently, and its occupants were questioned, but in each case
+Captain Goritz produced papers from his pocket, which let them pass.
+They were now well within the borders of Hungary, and as the girl grew
+stronger, courage came, and with it the thought of escape. But in spite
+of her apparent helplessness she was aware that her captors were
+watching her carefully, permitting no conversation with anyone, locking
+the doors of the rooms in which she slept, at the houses where they
+stopped, and taking turns at keeping guard outside. But their very
+precautions gave her an appreciation of the risks that they ran. She was
+a prisoner in her own country. All those she passed upon the road were
+her friends. She had only to make her identity known, and the object of
+her captors, to gain her freedom. She was somewhere in eastern Hungary,
+but just where she did not know. The chauffeur spoke the language
+fluently, and Marishka's ignorance of it made her task more difficult.
+But one night at an inn in a small village, she found a girl who spoke
+German, and in a moment when the attention of her guards was relaxed,
+she managed to make the girl understand, promising her a sum of money if
+she would summon the police of the town, to whom Marishka would tell her
+story. The girl agreed, and in the early morning just as the machine
+came around to the door Goritz found himself confronted by two men in
+uniform.
+
+Marishka, who had been waiting, trembling, in her room above, came
+running down the stairs and threw herself upon their mercy, telling her
+story and begging their intercession.
+
+But even as she spoke she realized that the very wildness of her
+narrative was against its verity in the minds of these rustic policemen.
+
+"It is an extraordinary tale," said the elder man, "and one which of
+course must be investigated--an abduction!"
+
+"If you will permit me," said Goritz smiling calmly. "This lady is my
+wife. I am taking her to the north for the baths. As you observe, she
+is the subject of delusions----"
+
+"It is not true," cried Marishka despairingly. "I beseech you to
+listen--to investigate----"
+
+"I regret," said Goritz, with a glance at his watch, "that I have no
+time to delay. I am Lieutenant von Arnstorf of the Fifteenth Army Corps,
+bearing a safe conduct from General von Hoetzendorf, which all police
+officers of the Empire are constrained to respect. Read for yourself."
+
+And he handed them the magic paper which already had done him such
+service. The men read it through with respect and not a little awe,
+bestowing at the last a pitying glance upon Marishka, which too well
+indicated their delicacy in interfering in the affairs of one in such
+authority.
+
+"And you will not summon the mayor? What I tell is the truth. In the
+name of the Holy Virgin, I swear it."
+
+One of the men crossed himself and turned away. Goritz had already laid
+his fingers firmly upon her arm and guided her toward the machine.
+
+"Come, Anna," he said in a sober, soothing tone, "all will be well--all
+will be well."
+
+And so Marishka, with one last despairing glance in the direction of the
+two officers, permitted herself to be handed into the machine by Captain
+Goritz who, before the automobile departed, handed a piece of money to
+the girl who had done Marishka this service. The last glimpse that
+Marishka had of the police officers showed them standing side by side,
+their fingers at their caps. Her case was hopeless. She had no friend,
+it seemed, in all Hungary, and she abandoned herself to the depths of
+her despair. How could she have expected to cope with such a man as
+this?
+
+Goritz said nothing to her of warning or of reproach, but in the same
+afternoon, after drinking a cup of coffee which he urged upon her, she
+became drowsy and slept.
+
+She awoke in a large room with walls of panelled wood, and a groined
+ceiling. She lay upon a huge bed, raised high above the floor, over the
+head of which was a faded yellow silken hanging. Her surroundings
+puzzled her, but she seemed to have no desire to learn the meaning of it
+all, lying as one barely alive, gazing half conscious toward the narrow
+Gothic window near by, through which she had a glimpse of mountains and
+blue sky. But the sunlight which fell in patches upon the Turkey rug
+dazzled her aching eyes, and she closed them painfully. She felt
+wretchedly ill. Her throat was parched, and her body was so weak that
+even to move her hand had been an effort. She slept again, woke and
+slept again, aware now, even in her stupor, of someone moving near her
+in the room. At last with all the will-power left at her command, she
+opened wide her eyes and raised herself upon an elbow. It was night, but
+lamps upon two tables shed a generous glow.
+
+As she moved, a figure that had sat near the foot of the bed, rose and
+came toward her. It was a very old woman with a wrinkled face and the
+inturned lips of the toothless. But her face was kindly, and her voice
+when she spoke had in it a note of commiseration.
+
+"The Excellency is feeling stronger?" she asked.
+
+"I--I do not know," said Marishka painfully struggling to make her lips
+enunciate. "I--I still feel ill. What is this place?"
+
+"Schloss Szolnok, Excellency, in the Carpathians." She laid her rough
+hand over Marishka's. "You have some fever. I will get medicine."
+
+"A--a glass of water----"
+
+"At once." The woman moved away into the shadows and Marishka tried to
+focus her eyes upon the objects in the room--large chests of drawers,
+and tables, a cheval glass, a _prie-dieu_, a carved escritoire with
+ormolu mountings, a French dressing table, portraits let into the
+panelling, massive oaken chairs, well upholstered--a room of some
+grandeur. Schloss Szolnok? What mattered it where she was? Death at
+Schloss Szolnok could be no worse than death elsewhere. Weakness
+overpowered her, and she sank back into her pillow, aware of her
+throbbing temples and a terrible pain that racked her breast. Death.
+Hugh, too. He was calling to her. She would come. Hugh! With his name
+upon her lips she sank again into unconsciousness.
+
+For weeks, the very weeks that Hugh Renwick lay in the Landes Hospital,
+Marishka lay upon the tall bed in the great room at Schloss Szolnok,
+struggling slowly back to life from the clutches of pneumonia. There was
+a doctor brought from Mezo Laborcz, who stayed in the castle for a week
+until the danger point had passed, and then came every few days until
+the patient was well upon the road to recovery. Marishka did not learn
+of this until much later when, convalescent, she sat by the window,
+looking out over the sunlit mountains beyond the gorge, and then in
+wonder and something of disappointment that Goritz had not permitted her
+to die. And when the old woman, who bore the name of Ena, related that
+the Herr Hauptmann had himself driven the automobile which brought the
+doctor in the dead of night to Szolnok, the wonder grew. Marishka had
+learned to think of Goritz as one interested only in her death or
+imprisonment, and after Sarajevo she had even believed that her life
+while in his keeping had hung by a hair. He had killed Hugh, brought her
+into this far country against her will, had even drugged her that he
+might avoid a repetition of her attempt at escape. And now he was
+sparing no pains to bring her back to health, daily sending her messages
+of good will and good wishes, with flowers from the garden in the
+courtyard, which, as Ena had reported, he had plucked with his own hand.
+It was monstrous!
+
+A few mornings ago he had written her a note saying that he awaited her
+pleasure, craving the indulgence of a visit at the earliest moment that
+she should care to see him. Marishka, much to Ena's chagrin, had sent no
+reply. The very thought of kindness from such a man as Goritz--a
+kindness which was to pay for Hugh's death and her favor, made a mockery
+of all the beauties of giving--a mockery, too, of her acceptance of
+them, whether tacitly or otherwise. A man who could kill without
+scruple, a woman-baiter, courteous that he might be cruel, tolerant that
+he might torment! By torture of her spirit and of her body he had
+brought her near death that he might gain the flavor of saving her from
+it.
+
+He was of a breed of being with which her experience was unfamiliar. The
+note of sentiment in his notes, while it amazed, bewildered and
+frightened her a little. She was completely in the man's power. What was
+Schloss Szolnok? Who was its owner? Ena would not talk; she had
+received instructions. Before her windows was spread a wonderful vista
+of mountains and ravines, which changed hourly in color, from the
+opalescent tints of the dawn, through the garish spectrum of daylight to
+the deep purple shadows of the sunset, to the crepuscular opalescence
+again. Under any other conditions, she would have been content to sit
+and muse alone with her grief--and Hugh. He was constantly present in
+her thoughts. It was as though his spirit hovered near. She seemed to
+hear him speak, to feel the touch of his hand upon her brow, soothing
+her anguish, praying her to wait and be patient. Sometimes the
+impression of his presence beside her was so poignant that she started
+up from her chair and looked around the vast room, as though expecting
+him to appear in the spirit beside her. And then realizing that the
+illusions were born of her weakness, she would sink back exhausted, and
+resume her gaze upon the restful distance.
+
+Ena, her nurse, was very kind to her, leaving nothing undone for her
+comfort, sitting most of the while beside her, and prattling of her own
+youth and the Fatherland. And so, sure of the woman's growing interest
+and affection, she slowly revealed the story of Konopisht Garden, her
+share in it, and the events that had followed. Marishka could see that
+the woman was greatly impressed by the story which lost no conviction
+from the pallid lips which told it. And of her own volition, that night,
+Ena promised the girl to reveal no word of her confidences, and gave
+unreservedly the outward signs of her friendship for the tender creature
+committed to her care. She had believed that the kindness of the Herr
+Hauptmann had meant the beginnings of a romance. But she understood,
+and aware of the sadness of the sick woman's thoughts, did what she
+could to delay a meeting which she knew must be painful.
+
+In reply to Marishka's questions, now, she was less reticent, and told
+of the long years at Schloss Szolnok under the Barons Neudeck, father
+and son, of the coming of Herr Hauptmann Goritz, and of the threat which
+had hung over them for three years since the dreadful night when her
+young master had been killed. There had been no heirs to the estate and
+no one knew to whom the half-ruined Schloss belonged, but each month
+money had arrived from Germany, and so she and Wilhelm Strohmeyer, her
+man, and two other servants under orders from Germany, had remained. She
+had lived here almost all her life. The people in the village a mile
+away were the nearest human folk, and Baron Neudeck had not endeared
+himself to them, for once he had beaten a farmer who had questioned the
+Excellency's right to shoot upon his land. And so the country people
+passed aside and did not venture up the mountain road which indeed had
+become overgrown with verdure. And for their part the servants were
+contented to stay alone. It was very quiet, but as good a place to die
+in as any other.
+
+Marishka listened calmly, trying to weave the complete story and Captain
+Goritz's part in it. Whether Schloss Szolnok was or was not the property
+of the German government--and it seemed probable that it would have been
+confiscated upon the discovery of Baron Neudeck's treachery--the fact
+was clear that Goritz was now its occupant and master. She had not dared
+to wonder what was still in store for her at the hands of Captain
+Goritz, and had lived from day to day in the hope that something might
+happen which would end her imprisonment and martyrdom. She heard nothing
+from the outside, and Ena, who had long ago given up the world, was in
+no position to inform her.
+
+But as she gained her strength, Marishka knew that she could not longer
+deny herself to Captain Goritz. The mirror showed her that her face,
+while thin and wan, was still comely. Wisdom warned her that however
+much she loathed the man, every hope of liberty hung upon his favor. And
+so she gained courage to look about her and to plan some means of
+outwitting him or some mode of escape from durance. The latter
+alternative seemed hopeless, for it seemed that the castle was built
+upon a lonely crag, its heavy walls, which dated from feudal times,
+imbedded in the solid rock. From her bedroom window, below the
+buttressed stone, were precipitous cliffs which fell sheer and straight
+to the rocky bed of the stream which rushed through the ravine two
+hundred meters below. But there would be other modes of egress, and so,
+feeling that her strength was now equal to the task, she determined to
+go forth and test the cordon which constrained her. One morning,
+therefore, she called Ena's attention to her pallid face and suggested
+the sunlight of the garden as a means to restoration. The woman was
+delighted, and attired in a costume of soft white silk crepe, which she
+had fashioned in her convalescence from some posthumous finery that Ena
+had discovered, Marishka walked forth of her room down a stone stairway
+into the great hall of the castle; and so into the ancient courtyard
+where the flower garden was. She had expected Captain Goritz to join
+her, and in this surmise she was not mistaken, for she had culled an
+armful of blossoms which she sent to her room by Ena when the German
+appeared. She heard his voice behind her, even before she had summoned
+courage for the interview.
+
+"My compliments upon your appearance, Countess," he said soberly. "I
+hope that you find yourself well upon the road to recovery."
+
+"Thanks," she replied in a stifled tone. "I am feeling much stronger."
+
+"It has been a very pitiful experience for you--one which has caused me
+many qualms of conscience," he muttered, "but I have tried to atone and
+would beg you to believe that all my happiness for the future depends
+upon your forgiveness."
+
+"I can--never forgive--never----" said Marishka, her throat closing
+painfully. "I hoped to die," she sighed, "but even that you denied me."
+
+"I have only done my duty--my duty, Countess--a sweeter duty than that
+which urged me to Vienna--to undo the wrong that I have done you, to
+bring again the roses into your cheeks."
+
+She waved her hand in deprecation. "For your courtesy, for the kindness
+of your servants, I thank you. But for what you are yourself--only the
+God that made you can understand--can forgive--that."
+
+He straightened a moment and then slowly leaned against the wall beside
+her, his chin cupped in his hand.
+
+"You are cruel----"
+
+"I am truthful. Anything else from me to you would be beneath my
+womanhood. I would kill you if I had the strength or if I dared." She
+gave a bitter laugh. "It is at least something, that we understand each
+other."
+
+He paused a long moment before replying.
+
+And then, "_Do_ we understand each other? I hope that you will permit me
+to speak a few words in extenuation of a person you have never known--of
+Leo Goritz, the man."
+
+"A man who makes war upon a woman--who uses violence to compel
+obedience----"
+
+"A woman--but an enemy to my country. Between my duty to Germany and my
+own inclinations, I had no choice. I was an instrument of the State,
+pitiless, exact and exacting. You have spoken the truth. So shall I. Had
+my duty to Germany required it of me, I should have killed you with my
+own hand--even if you had been my sister."
+
+She gazed at him with alien eyes.
+
+"It is monstrous! I would to God you had."
+
+He bowed.
+
+"That is merely my official conception of my obligation to the
+Fatherland," he said quietly.
+
+She still gazed at him unbelieving, but he met her glance squarely.
+
+"You need not believe me unless you choose, but I speak the truth. My
+orders were to bring you safely into Germany, or to--to eliminate you.
+Perhaps you will understand now my difficulties in keeping you
+unscathed."
+
+"My death would have relieved you of that responsibility. It would have
+been so easy to have let me die----"
+
+"I could not!" He bent his head over his folded arms. "I could not," he
+repeated. And then, after a silence, "Countess Strahni, I beg that you
+will consider that I have succeeded so far in saving you from personal
+danger."
+
+"And yet you used me as a shield to save yourself from the bullets of
+the man you killed----" She broke off, laughing bitterly.
+
+"He would not fire. I knew it. He was a fool to give me the chance. I
+took it. There was nothing else----"
+
+"It was murder. And you----"
+
+She glanced at him once and then turning away, hid her head in her arm.
+"O God!" she whispered, as though to herself. "How I loathe you!"
+
+Though the words were not even meant for him to hear, he did not miss
+them.
+
+"That is your privilege," he said after a moment, "and mine--to--to
+adore you," he said in deep accents.
+
+Slowly she lowered her hands and gazed at him with eyes that though they
+looked, seemed to see not.
+
+"You--_you_--! You care for _me_!" She dropped her hands to her sides,
+and then with a voice that sought steadiness in its contempt, "What
+object has the Fatherland to gain by this new hypocrisy, Herr Goritz?"
+
+He stood stock still, making no effort to approach her.
+
+"I think you do me some injustice," he said.
+
+"Injustice!" she said coldly. "_I_ do _you_ injustice? I think you
+forget."
+
+"If you will permit--it is only fair at least that you should listen.
+Even if what I say does not interest you."
+
+She waved a hand in a gesture of deprecation--but he went on rapidly in
+spite of her protest, with an air of pride, which somehow robbed the
+confession of its sincerity.
+
+"Your words have been cruel, Countess, but the cruelest were those in
+which you attribute the highest motive of my life to the baseness of
+hypocrisy. I have done many wrongs, broken many oaths, sinned many
+sins--in the interests of my country--the service of which has been the
+only aim of my existence. I have been entrusted by the Emperor himself
+with missions which would have tested the courage of any man, and I have
+not failed. That is my pride--the glory of my manhood, for the means of
+accomplishment no matter how unworthy, are unimportant compared with the
+great mission of the Germanic race in the betterment of humanity."
+
+"I fail to see, Herr Hauptmann, how----"
+
+He commanded her silence with an abrupt gesture.
+
+"If you will be pleased to bear with me a little longer. _Bitte._ I
+shall not be very long. I merely wanted you to understand how my whole
+life has been devoted to the great uses of the State, with the most
+unselfish motives. I have been not a human sentient being, but a highly
+specialized physical organism to which any wish, any emotion, unless of
+service to the state, was forbidden. Charity, kindness, altruism, all
+the gentler emotions--I foreswore them. I relinquished friendship. I
+became a pariah, an outcast, save to those few beings from whom I took
+my orders, and to them I was merely the piece of machinery which always
+accomplished its tasks. I have had no happiness, no friendships, no
+affection, but I am the most famous secret agent in Germany. A somber
+picture, is it not?"
+
+He paused and shrugged expressively. And then his voice lowered a note.
+"Perhaps you will believe me when I say that my whole existence is a
+living lie. Ah, yes, you think that. It is a lie, Countess, because no
+human being can defy the living God that is within him. He cannot
+forever quell the aspirations of the spirit. The spark is always alight.
+Sometimes it glows and fades, but sometimes a worthy motive sets it on
+fire. It is that spark which has survived in me, Countess Strahni, in
+spite of my efforts--my desires even--to deny its existence. Your
+illness----"
+
+"Herr Hauptmann, I beg of you----"
+
+"No. You cannot deny me. I nursed you, there--brought you back to life.
+Ah, you did not know. I brought a doctor at the hazard of the discovery
+of my hiding place. Charity came, love----"
+
+"Herr Hauptmann, I forbid you," whispered Marishka chokingly, wondering
+now why she had listened to him for so long. "I must go--go to my room."
+
+Goritz straightened and stood aside.
+
+"You need not fear me, Countess," he said. "You see?" he added quickly.
+"I do not touch you."
+
+Marishka moved a few paces away and then turned to look at him. He stood
+erect, smiling at her, his cap in his hand.
+
+"I--I must go to my room, Herr Hauptmann," she murmured haltingly. "I--I
+am yet--far from strong."
+
+"I am sorry. I pray that you will feel stronger in the morning. Adieu!"
+
+"Adieu----" she murmured, and hurried through the stone portal, aware of
+the gaze of those dark, slightly oblique eyes which had puzzled, then
+fascinated--then frightened her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+PRISONER AND CAPTIVE
+
+
+It was with mingled feelings that Marishka found the sanctuary of her
+sleeping room. Her abhorrence of Goritz as the murderer of Hugh Renwick
+was uppermost in her breast, her fear of him as her captor of scarcely
+less import, but his tumultuous plea for her forgiveness and his strange
+avowal had given her food for thought. Such a rapid _volte-face_ was
+beyond credence. This man had watched by her bedside, nursed her during
+the week that she had lain unconscious. Her cheeks burned hot at the
+thought of the situation, and quickly she questioned Ena who at last
+reluctantly admitted the truth. Herr Hauptmann Goritz had sat many
+nights by the bedside while she, Ena, had slept so as to be fresh for
+the day to follow. He had commanded her silence, and Ena had obeyed. She
+hoped that the Excellency would understand.
+
+Marishka nodded and sent her from the room, for she wanted to be alone
+with her thoughts. He had watched by her sickbed, carrying out the
+orders of the doctor while she had lain unconscious--Goritz, the master
+craftsman of duplicity--Goritz, the insensible! What did it mean? Had
+the man spoken the truth? Was he--? Love to such a man as Goritz! It was
+impossible.
+
+He had always been courteous and considerate, but there was a new note
+in his voice which rang strangely. Another lie--another hypocrisy? And
+yet the very frankness of his admission with regard to her safety for a
+moment disarmed her. He would have killed her--"eliminated" her--had the
+necessities of his duty demanded it of him. And yet he had confessed his
+love for her. What was the meaning of the paradox? Had he something to
+gain by her favor? Had a change taken place in their situation? A chance
+phrase had revealed the fact that there was now a danger of the
+revelation of this hiding place. They had been pursued--what had balked
+him in the continuance of their flight into Germany? Meditation only
+served to enhance the mystery, and she emerged from an hour of thought
+over the scene in the courtyard with no very clear idea of what the
+future had in store for her, sure only of one thing--that she must not
+hang importance upon the words of this man, who had already proved
+himself a deadly enemy to her happiness. He had hired assassins to kill
+Hugh, and when they had failed, had accomplished his purpose by a vile
+expedient.
+
+Love! She knew what love was. She closed her eyes and buried her face in
+her arms in wordless, silent grief for the man to whom she had given all
+that was best and noblest of her--Hugh! But she could not weep. It
+seemed as though, long since, the fountains of her misery were dry. For
+a long while she crouched in the window, motionless, and when at last
+she raised her head and gazed out down the shimmering vista of the
+gorge, it was with a look of new resolution and intelligence. She must
+escape. Every iota of cleverness must be given to find a way out of
+Schloss Szolnok. What if, in spite of all, the things that Leo Goritz
+had confessed were true! She doubted it and yet--if he loved her--! Here
+was a woman's revenge, to bait, to charm, to spurn; and then to outwit
+him! A test of the sincerity of his professions, and of her own feminine
+art--a dangerous game which she had once before thought of playing,
+until his cruelty had atrophied all impulse.
+
+But now! If he really cared--her power would grow with the venture, her
+own safety the pledge of his purity--a dangerous game, indeed, here
+alone upon this crag in the mountains, but if he were sincere, she was
+armed with a flaming sword to defend--to destroy! If--? She would not
+trust him, but she would fight him with the weapons she had. Her lips
+closed in a thin line, and a glint as of polished metal came into her
+eyes as the scene in the house of the Beg of Rataj shut out the lovely
+landscape before her. To destroy--to fan the spark to flame that she
+might extinguish it; to corrode the spirit with the biting acid of
+contempt; to envenom the soul--newly born, perhaps--to the sweeter uses
+of beneficence, and then escape! If he cared!
+
+And if he did not care--if, as she really believed, he lied to gain an
+end....
+
+This was the thought of him that obsessed her. A liar, always. Why not
+now? Men of his kind were unusual to women of hers, but even in the
+midst of his confession--as near self-abasement as a man of his type
+could come, the note of egotism rang clear above the graceful
+phrases--too graceful to be anything but manufactured in that clear
+inventive brain of his.
+
+She paced the floor, thinking deeply, and at last stopped by the window
+and sought again the counsel of the eternal hills. After a while she
+turned again into the room and peered into a mirror, seeking in her
+face the answer to the riddle. It was pale, resolute, but it was not
+ugly.
+
+She planned her campaign with the calm forethought of a general who
+picks out his own battlefield, disposing his forces to the best
+advantage, for attack or for repulse, for victory, or defeat. She must
+mask her approach, conceal her intentions, and develop slowly the real
+strength of her position. There was much that she wished to learn as to
+Schloss Szolnok, and its security from those who sought to intercept
+them, much in regard to the plans of her captor for the future, but she
+knew that she must act with caution and skill, if she hoped to escape.
+
+Goritz had previously expressed a wish that when she grew strong enough
+to leave her bedroom, she would join him at dinner, which she heard was
+served in one end of the great Hall, but she decided that the first
+skirmish should take place in a situation of her own choosing. And so
+after dusk, the moon coming out, she went again upon the terrace where
+she leaned upon the wall of the bastion and looked down with an air of
+self-sought seclusion, upon the mists of the valley.
+
+Goritz was not long in joining her. She heard his footsteps as he
+approached but did not give any sign or acknowledgment of his presence.
+
+"May I talk with you, Countess Strahni?" he asked easily.
+
+Her shrug, under her cloak, was hardly perceptible.
+
+"Since you have already done so it seems that my own wishes do not
+matter," she said coolly.
+
+"I have no wish to intrude."
+
+Marishka laughed. "I can go in----" She drew her wrap more closely
+about her throat and straightened.
+
+"I hope that you will not do that," he said.
+
+"Is there anything you wished to speak to me about--? That
+is--er--anything of importance?"
+
+Goritz looked past her toward the profile of the distant mountain, and
+smiled.
+
+"I thought that you might be interested to learn something of my reasons
+for stopping here."
+
+"The insect in the web of the spider has little emotion left for
+curiosity."
+
+"The spider! I have always admired your courage, Countess."
+
+"I can die but once."
+
+"Perhaps you may care to know that you are not in the slightest danger
+of death."
+
+"Thanks," she said coolly. "Your kindness is overwhelming. Or is
+my--'elimination' no longer essential?"
+
+The more flippant her tone, the more somber Goritz became.
+
+"My purposes, Countess Strahni, I think, you no longer have any reason
+to doubt. You are quite safe at Schloss Szolnok----"
+
+"So is the insect in the web--from all other insects but the spider."
+She turned away. "You cannot blame me, Herr Hauptmann, if I judge of the
+future by the past."
+
+"I would waste words to make further explanations which are so little
+understood, but there are matters of interest to you."
+
+"Ah."
+
+"You have been ill. Many things have happened. You would like to hear?"
+
+"I am listening."
+
+"It is the trifles of the world which make or prevent its greatest
+disasters. The man with the lantern at the bridgehead at Brod did not
+know that he held the destiny of Europe in his hand. And yet, this is
+the truth. Had he permitted us to pass unquestioned we should have
+reached Sarajevo in time to prevent the greatest cataclysm of all the
+ages."
+
+Marishka turned toward him, her interest now fully aroused.
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"War, Countess Strahni--the most bloody--terrible--in the history of the
+world--the event that I have striven all my life to prevent. All of
+Europe is ablaze. Millions of men are marching--battles have already
+been fought----"
+
+"Horrible? I cannot believe----"
+
+"It is the truth. It followed swiftly upon the assassination at
+Sarajevo----"
+
+"Serbia!"
+
+"Serbia first--then Russia--Germany--Belgium--France--England, too----"
+
+"You are speaking the truth?"
+
+"I swear it."
+
+"And Austria?"
+
+"Germany and Austria--against a ring of enemies bent on exterminating
+us----"
+
+"England--?"
+
+And while with eager ears she listened, he told her the history of the
+long weeks, now growing into months, in which she had been hidden from
+the world--including the defeat of the Austrians by the Serbians along
+the Drina, and the advance of the Russians in East Prussia and Galicia.
+
+She heard him through until the end, questioning eagerly, then aware of
+the dreadful significance of his news, forgetting for the moment her own
+animosities, her own questionable position in the greater peril of her
+country--and his. His country and hers at war against the world!
+
+"Russia has won victories against Austria--in Galicia?" she urged.
+
+"Yes--the Cossacks already are approaching Lemberg----"
+
+"Lemberg!"
+
+"They are less than two hundred kilometers from us at the present
+moment."
+
+"And will they come--here?"
+
+"I hope not," he said with a slow smile. "But Schloss Szolnok is hardly
+equipped to resist a siege of modern ordnance."
+
+"And you--why are you here?"
+
+The ingenuousness of her impetuous question seemed to amuse him.
+
+"I?" he said. "I am here because--well, because you--because I had no
+other place to go."
+
+"Will you explain?"
+
+"I see no reason why I should not. I chose the place as a temporary
+refuge from pursuit. Your illness marred my plans. The war continues to
+mar them."
+
+"How?"
+
+He smiled.
+
+"The insect _has_ curiosity, then? Schloss Szolnok has proved safe. I
+have no desire to take unnecessary risks."
+
+"You were pursued?"
+
+He nodded. "Yes. And I managed to get away--here, but the other end of
+this pass is now strongly guarded. I could have gone through when I
+first came, but you were very ill. You would probably have died if I had
+gone on. Now it is too late. You see," he said with a shrug, "I am quite
+cheerful about it."
+
+She turned and examined him with an air of timidity.
+
+"You mean that--that to save my life you--you have sacrificed all hope
+of winning through to Germany?"
+
+"With you, yes--for the present," he smiled.
+
+She turned away and leaned upon the wall.
+
+"I--I think that I--I have done you some injustice, Herr Hauptmann," she
+murmured with an effort.
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"But I cannot understand. The papers which passed you through
+Hungary--signed by General Von Hoetzendorf----"
+
+"Unfortunately are of no further service. An order for my arrest has
+been issued in Vienna."
+
+"Your arrest? For taking me?"
+
+"For many things----" And he shrugged.
+
+"What do you propose to do?"
+
+"Remain here for the present," he said slowly. "It is doubtful if anyone
+would think of seeking us here. The Schloss has an evil name along the
+countryside. None of the peasants dares to come within a league of the
+place."
+
+"And I--?" she asked.
+
+"It seems, Countess Strahni," he said slowly, smiling at her, "that our
+positions are now reversed--you the captor--I the prisoner. And yet, as
+you see," with a shrug, "I am making no effort to escape. You have led
+captivity captive."
+
+His phrases were too well spoken, and the look in his eyes disturbed
+her.
+
+"You--you wish me to understand that I am free to go----"
+
+"Hardly that," he interrupted with a short laugh. "Only this morning you
+said that you would kill me if you dared. I do not relish the notion of
+being delivered into the hands of the police."
+
+"You think that I would do that?" she questioned.
+
+"Wouldn't you?"
+
+"I don't know. I----"
+
+"I am sure of it. I am no longer under any illusions with regard to your
+sentiments toward myself. This morning I uncovered my heart to you--and
+you plunged a dagger into it. It was too much--beyond my deserts. I am
+no man for a woman to spit upon, Countess Strahni. You are still a
+prisoner--as completely under my power as though you and I were the last
+people left upon the earth."
+
+His tone was mild, but there was a depth of meaning under it.
+
+"I--I can scarcely be unaware of it," she murmured. "What are you going
+to do with me?"
+
+"For the present we shall stay here--until an opportunity presents----"
+
+"For escape?"
+
+"I could go alone tonight--and reach Germany--without you. That is not
+my purpose."
+
+"Then you propose to take me with you?"
+
+"When the coast is clear--yes."
+
+"And if the coast should not be clear?"
+
+"I shall remain."
+
+The situation was as she had supposed, but his motive--the real motive!
+She drew the wrap more closely around her throat and turned away from
+him again. To escape from him! That was the only thing she could think
+of now. Upon the road, his attitude of firm consideration, his cool
+insistence upon compliance with his wishes, had not been nearly so
+ominous as the personal note which he had injected into their relations.
+He frightened her now. But to escape? She was watched, she was sure, for
+in the afternoon, while the drawbridge was lowered, she had made out the
+figure of a man on guard at the end of the causeway. But while her
+conversation with Goritz dismayed her, she studied him keenly, trying to
+read him by what he did not say.
+
+She smiled at him impudently.
+
+"And suppose I attempted to escape?" she asked.
+
+"You would fail. There is but one exit from Szolnok--the drawbridge--and
+that is continually guarded."
+
+"You have ordered your men to shoot me?"
+
+"No--but you will not pass."
+
+"I see. Your contrition does not go as far as that."
+
+"Not beyond the walls of Schloss Szolnok," he said coolly.
+
+"And you ask me to believe in the integrity of your motives? What was
+the use, Herr Hauptmann? I could understand duplicity to me in the
+performance of a duty, but to practice your machine-made emotions upon
+my simplicity--! I could hardly forgive you that."
+
+He kept himself well in hand and even smiled again.
+
+"You wrong me, Countess Strahni. I have spoken the truth."
+
+"You cannot deny me the privilege of doubting you," she replied.
+
+"What further proof would you have me give you that I am honest in my
+love for you?"
+
+She pointed past the drawbridge along the causeway toward the valley
+below.
+
+"Permit me to go--there--alone--tonight."
+
+He laughed quietly.
+
+"Alone? I do not know what danger may lurk in the valley. The fact that
+I wish to keep you here--is a better proof of my tenderness."
+
+She turned away from him and leaned upon the wall. But to him at least
+she did not show fear.
+
+"We cannot remain here indefinitely," she said coolly.
+
+"Are you not comfortable? Is not everything provided for you? It has
+been my pride to make your convalescence agreeable in all ways," he
+said, leaning a little nearer to her. "I have tried to atone for the
+discomforts of your journey. Was it not my solicitude for your health
+which balked my own plans? You have questioned the truth of my
+professions, but you cannot deny the evidences of your safety."
+
+Marishka was thinking quickly. Much as she abhorred the man, she
+realized that, if she were to have any chance of success she must meet
+him with weapons stronger than his own. And so she turned to him with a
+smile which concealed her growing terror.
+
+"Herr Hauptmann, I do not wish you to think that I am ungrateful for the
+many indulgences that you have shown me. Your position has been a
+difficult one. But from the beginning we have been enemies----"
+
+"Before the outbreak of the war--but allies now----"
+
+"Not if you persist in your plan to carry me to Germany."
+
+He asked her permission to smoke, and when she had granted it he went on
+coolly.
+
+"Perhaps something may happen to prevent the execution of my plan," he
+said.
+
+"What?" she stammered.
+
+He searched her face eagerly for a moment.
+
+"You may be sure, Countess Strahni," he said in a half-whisper, "that it
+is very painful to me that you should think of me as an enemy. Enemy I
+am not. It is my duty to take you to Germany, but it is very painful to
+me to do anything which makes you unhappy. Here, safe from detection, I
+am still doing my duty. And in remaining here you, too, are safe. Will
+you not try to be contented--to endure my society just for a little
+while? I want to show you that I can be as other men----"
+
+She laughed to hide her fears.
+
+"All men are alike where a woman is concerned--"
+
+"Will you try? I will be your slave--your servant. Within the castle you
+may come and go as you please. No one shall approach you without your
+permission. You see, I am not an exacting jailer. All I ask is the hope
+of your friendship, a glimpse of your returning smile, and such
+companionship as you care to give me. It is not much. Do I not deserve
+it? _Bitte_, think a little."
+
+Marishka gasped and fought the impulse to run from him, for his face was
+very near her shoulder, his voice very close to her ear.
+
+"I--I think that--we may be friends," she murmured.
+
+"Will you give me your hand, Countess Strahni?"
+
+She extended it slowly and he bowed over it, pressing it to his lips.
+
+She found her excuse in a cough, a vestige of her illness which she
+summoned to her rescue.
+
+"It--it is getting late, Herr Hauptmann," she said. "I must be going in.
+The night air----"
+
+"By all means." He accompanied her to the portal of the hall and then
+she left him.
+
+That night Marishka did not sleep, and the next day, pleading fatigue,
+remained in her bedroom, trying to muster up the courage to go forth and
+meet Goritz at this tragic game of his own choosing. That she had
+stirred some sort of an emotion in the man was not to be doubted. She
+read it in his eyes, in the touch of his fingers, and in the resonant
+tones of his voice, but she read too, the sense of his power, the
+confidence of his egotism to which all things were possible. And much as
+she wished to believe the testimony of his flashes of tenderness, the
+hazard of her position stared her in the face. But she knew that with
+such a man she must play a game of subtlety and courage. And so she
+resolved to meet him frequently, testing every feminine device to win
+him to her service which would obliterate all things but her own wishes,
+and present at last an opportunity for her escape.
+
+In the week that followed she walked out with him across the causeway
+into the mountain road, visiting Szolnok farm and climbing the hills
+adjacent to the castle, but she saw no one except the German farmers,
+and it seemed indeed as though the gorge was taboo to all human beings.
+Goritz made love to her, of course, but she laughed him off, gaining a
+new confidence as the days of their companionship increased. Slowly,
+with infinite patience, with infinite self-control, she established a
+relationship which baffled him, a foil for each of his moods, a parry
+for each attack. With a smile on her lips which masked the lie, she told
+him that Hugh Renwick had been nothing to her.
+
+And Goritz told her of the women he had met in the performance of his
+duty from London to Constantinople, women of the secret service of
+England, France, Russia, who had set their wits to match his. Some of
+them were ugly and clever, some were stupid and beautiful, but they had
+all been dangerous. He had passed them by. No woman in the world that he
+had ever known had had the nobility of spirit, the courage, the
+self-abnegation of the Countess Strahni.
+
+It was in these moods of adulation and self-revelation that Marishka
+found him most difficult. But she managed to keep him at arm's length by
+the mere insistence of her spirituality which accepted his friendship
+upon its face value, telling him that she forgave the past, and vaguely
+suggesting hope for the future. With that he had to be content, though
+at times he was dangerously near rebellion. She promised him many things
+but denied him her lips, hoping day by day for the rescue which came
+not, and praying night after night that the God who watched over her
+would forgive her for her duplicity and for the hatred of him that was
+in her heart.
+
+But there came a day when the walks beyond the causeway ceased, and from
+the window of her bedroom she learned the reason. Far, far below her in
+the valley along the road which wound through the Pass, she saw the
+figures of marching men. Austrian soldiers! What did their presence
+mean? They were going toward the other end of the pass--thousands of
+them. Had the Russians crossed Galicia? That night there were no lights
+in the side of the castle toward the gorge save the candle in her room,
+which was screened by heavy hangings. And when at dinner she questioned
+Goritz he gave her the briefest of replies. The Cossacks were coming?
+Perhaps, but they would not take Dukla Pass. He warned her not to show
+her figure at the castle windows or above the wall of the rampart, and
+she obeyed.
+
+For several days Goritz disappeared, and she gained a breathing space to
+think over her position. She ventured out many times into the courtyard
+in the hope of finding an opportunity to elude her guard, but each time
+she approached the drawbridge she saw the chauffeur Karl seated in the
+shadow of the wall, smoking his pipe. And so she knew that any attempt
+to pass him would be impossible.
+
+At the end of the fourth day, Captain Goritz joined her at the supper
+table. He had now discarded his Austrian uniform and wore a rough suit
+of working clothes, similar to the peasant costume which Ena's husband
+wore. He greeted her gladly, but she asked him no questions as to his
+absence, upon her guard as she always was against the unknown quality in
+the man, which held her in constant anxiety. But after he had eaten, the
+cloud which had hung over him seemed to pass, and he leaned forward,
+smiling at her across the table.
+
+"You have been obedient?" he asked.
+
+"What else is left for me?" she smiled. "I have wondered where you
+were."
+
+"Ah," he laughed, "you missed me? That is good. You wondered what would
+happen to you if I did not come back." He laughed as he lighted his
+cigarette. "I am not so easily to be lost, I assure you. I have been
+through Dukla Pass."
+
+"Many soldiers have gone through the pass today--many this morning--many
+more this afternoon."
+
+"Yes, I saw them."
+
+"And the Russians?"
+
+He was silent for a while, and then spoke very quietly. "They are
+coming."
+
+She made no sound and seemed to be frozen into immobility by the import
+of the information.
+
+"The Austrians have fortified the other end of the Pass, but it is said
+that the Russians are in great numbers, sweeping everything before
+them----"
+
+"Przemysl--! Lemberg--!"
+
+"Lemberg has fallen. The fate of Przemysl hangs in the balance." He
+shrugged. "Tomorrow, perhaps, may see the Cossacks at Dukla Pass."
+
+"And then----"
+
+"I do not wish to alarm you," he said gently. "Six hundred years have
+passed over Schloss Szolnok, and it still stands. I am not going to run
+away."
+
+"But you can do nothing--against so many."
+
+"They will not bother us, I think. The Austrians, you see, have passed
+us by. They are taking all their artillery to Javorina and Jaegerhorn and
+mounting them upon the old emplacements of the ruins. The defense will
+be made there where the gorge is narrower."
+
+"But if they should come--here--the Cossacks--!" she whispered
+fearfully.
+
+He laughed easily. "Ah, Countess, I am not a half-bad jailer, after
+all?"
+
+"The Cossacks!" she repeated.
+
+"They shall not come here."
+
+"What can you do?"
+
+"The place is impregnable--sheer cliffs upon all sides--the causeway two
+hundred meters long. I could pick them off one by one from the top of
+the keep. With the drawbridge up, we are as safe as though we were in
+Vienna."
+
+"But their artillery?"
+
+"They will not think us worth their while. In the armory there are six
+repeating hunting rifles and four shotguns, ammunition plentiful----" He
+broke off and, rising, came over and stood beside her. "But we will not
+think of unpleasant possibilities. It has been so long since I have seen
+you--too long."
+
+She let him take her hand and press it to his lips, but tonight that
+condescension did not seem to be enough. He fell to one knee beside her
+and would have put his arm about her waist if she had not risen and
+struggled away from him.
+
+"You forget, Herr Hauptmann, the dependence of my position here--alone
+with you. Whatever our personal relations, a delicacy for my feelings
+must warn you----"
+
+"Marishka!" he broke in. "What does a man who loves as I do, care for
+the conventions of the sham world you and I have left so far behind. I
+adore you. And you flout me."
+
+"For shame! Would you care for me if I were a woman without delicacy or
+dignity? I beg of you----"
+
+But he had held her by the hand and would not release her.
+
+"I adore you--and you flout me--that is all that I know. Your
+indifference maddens me. Perhaps I am not as other men, and must not be
+judged by other standards than my own which are sufficient for myself as
+they should be sufficient for you. You know that I--I worship you--that
+by staying here I have forgotten my duty to my country at a time when I
+am most needed. Does that mean nothing to you? Can you be callous to a
+love like mine which lives only in your happiness and hangs upon your
+pleasure? I worship you, Marishka. Just one kiss, to tell me that you
+care for me a little. I will be content----"
+
+She struggled in his grasp, her fear of him lending her more strength.
+Her lips--? Hugh's! Never--never--as God witnessed.
+
+"One kiss, Marishka----"
+
+She struggled free and struck him with her clenched fist furiously, full
+in the face, and then ran to the window, as he released her, breathing
+hard, trembling, but full of defiance. The suddenness of the affair and
+its culmination had driven them both dumb, Marishka with terror, Goritz
+with chagrin at his mistake and anger at her temerity. He touched his
+face with the fingers of one hand and stared at her with eyes that
+burned with black fire in the pallor of his face.
+
+"You have struck me," he muttered. And then, with a shrug, "That was not
+a love tap, Countess Strahni."
+
+She could not speak for very terror of the consequences of the
+encounter, but stood watching him narrowly, one hand upon the
+window-ledge beside her.
+
+"Well," he asked presently, "are you dumb?"
+
+"You--you insulted me," she gasped.
+
+"Whatever I have done, you have repaid me," he muttered.
+
+She glanced out of the window into the black void beneath.
+
+"I--I am not afraid to die, Herr Goritz," she said.
+
+He caught the meaning of her glance and her poise by the window-ledge,
+and their significance sobered him instantly. He drew back from her two
+or three paces and leaned heavily against an oaken chair.
+
+"Am I so repellent to you as that?" he whispered.
+
+"My lips--are mine," she said proudly. "I give them willingly or not at
+all."
+
+His gaze flickered and fell before the high resolve that he read in her
+face. And her courage enthralled him.
+
+"_Herr Gott!_" he muttered, "you have never been so beautiful as now,
+Marishka!"
+
+She did not reply or move, but only watched him steadily.
+
+He paced the floor stiffly, his hands behind him, struggling for his
+self-control. And the better instinct in him, the part of him that had
+made life possible for Marishka at Schloss Szolnok, was slowly
+triumphant.
+
+"A kiss means much or little," he said quietly at last. "To me, the
+consecration of a love which has leaped the bounds of mere platitude. A
+woman of your training perhaps cannot grasp the honesty of my
+unconvention. I have meant you no harm. But that you should have
+misunderstood--!"
+
+"One thing only I understand--that you have violated the hospitality of
+Schloss Szolnok."
+
+"I beg of you----"
+
+"It is true. Was your kindness, your courtesy, your consideration, but
+the means to this end? I can never believe in you again."
+
+"Do you mean that?"
+
+"I do----"
+
+"It is a pity."
+
+"It is the truth. Fear and affection cannot survive together."
+
+"Fear?"
+
+"I can never trust you again. Let me go--I beg that you will excuse me."
+
+He bowed. "If that is your wish----" and turned and walked to the window
+opposite, while Marishka found her way up the stairs and so to her room
+where she lay upon her bed fully dressed, in a high state of nervous
+excitement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE RIFT IN THE ROCK
+
+
+Hugh Renwick in his borrowed plumage, strode forth before dawn, and
+reaching a spot where the valley narrowed into the gorge and marked the
+grim outline of Schloss Szolnok against the lightening East, slowly
+climbed the rugged slope of the mountain on his left which faced it. He
+meant to spend the morning in a study of the approaches to the castle,
+and if possible devise some means by which he could inspect it
+unobserved at closer range. Daylight found him perched in a crevice of
+rock among some trees, through the leaves of which he could clearly see
+the distant mass of stone which rose in solitary dignity, an island
+above the mists of the valley, a grim relic of an age when such a
+situation meant isolation and impregnability.
+
+Indeed, it scarcely seemed less impregnable now, for upon two sides at
+least, the cliffs rose sheer from the gorge until they were joined by
+the heavy buttresses which tapered gracefully until they joined the
+walls of the crenelated towers and bastions. In the center of the mass
+of buildings rose the square solid mass of the keep, with its crenelated
+roof and small windows commanding every portion of the space enclosed
+within the gray walls. He marked the dim lines of a road which ascended
+from the valley upon the further mountain, now scarcely visible because
+of the vegetation which grew luxuriantly on the hillsides, and he
+studied this approach to the castle most attentively--the straight reach
+of wall, built to span a branch of the gorge beyond, perhaps two hundred
+feet deep and six hundred wide. This was the main entrance to the
+castle, a narrow causeway, that terminated at the gate where he marked a
+drawbridge now raised, which hung by chains to the heavy walls above.
+
+The only means of access? Perhaps, and if the gate were guarded,
+impassable by night as well as day. But Renwick was not sure that there
+was no other means of ingress. To the left of the keep, and on a level
+with the top of the long curtain of wall, the building fell away in
+ruins, for portions of old bastions were missing, and there was a breach
+in the northern wall, which had tumbled outward over the precipice into
+the ravine below.
+
+As daylight came Renwick watched the windows and ramparts intently.
+There was no sign of life, but remembering that here there was no need
+for early rising, he waited patiently, gazing steadily through the
+leaves across the valley. At last his patience was rewarded, for from a
+building in the courtyard near the central mass, he made out a thin pale
+blue line which ascended straight into the sky. Smoke! Breakfast was
+cooking. His heart gave a leap. There were no devils in Schloss
+Szolnok--but Goritz! In a short while, still watching intently, he saw a
+figure pass from the gate toward the main buildings, where it
+disappeared. Renwick would have given the remainder of his
+hundred-_kroner_ notes for a good pair of field glasses, by which it
+might have been possible to distinguish the identity of any figure that
+could be seen. But he realized that he had accomplished the object of
+his visit, for the raised drawbridge indicated that whoever occupied the
+castle, seclusion was important to him. Deciding that he knew enough to
+warrant closer investigation, Renwick moved slowly along the mountain
+side into the gorge, under the cover of rocks and undergrowth, slowly
+descending toward the road, with the idea of crossing the stream and
+climbing the rugged cliff beyond, from which he could gain a nearer view
+of the northern and ruined end of the castle.
+
+But after an hour of careful progress, as he reached a projection of
+rock which hung over the road below, he crouched, suddenly listening.
+For he heard the sound of voices, a rumble of wheels, and the creaking
+and clanking of heavy metallic objects. The sounds came nearer, swelling
+in proportion, now clearly distinguishable; and so lying flat upon his
+stomach, he parted the bushes at the edge of the rock and peered over.
+There was a cloud of dust and the clatter of iron-shod boots against the
+flints of the road, and in a moment he made out long ranks of soldiers,
+marching rapidly to the northward into the Pass. Renwick knew that the
+northern end of the Pass was already strongly guarded, for his host had
+told him that many soldiers had gone through during the weeks before;
+but the sight of these hurrying men, the shrouded guns which lumbered
+amidst them, and the long line of motor trucks and wagons which
+followed, gave Renwick a notion that events of military importance
+were pending in the Galician plain beyond. He tried to form some
+idea of the number of men that passed. A regiment--two, three,
+four--artillery--three batteries at least. For an hour or more they
+passed, and then at last, silence and solitude.
+
+Although adequately disguised, Renwick was in no position to be stopped
+and searched, for if he wore no marks of identification, his automatic,
+and the money pinned in his trousers lining, would have made him an
+object of suspicion, the more so in a country where soldiers were moving
+in so precarious a military situation.
+
+And so he descended slowly, hiding in a copse at the base of the rocks
+where he waited for a while listening, and then peered cautiously out.
+Then matching his footsteps to those of the soldiers, he crossed the
+road obliquely and plunged through the bushes down over the rocks to the
+bed of the Dukla, where he waited and listened again, crossing the
+stream at last by a fallen tree and reaching the protection of the
+undergrowth upon the farther bank.
+
+Though he had been able to learn little in Budapest of the military
+situation, even from Herr Koulos, the sight of Austrian soldiers
+marching toward the northern end of the Pass assured him that the
+Russians must have won important victories in Galicia, thus placing all
+the passes of the Carpathians in jeopardy. But whatever his interest in
+conjectures regarding the possibility of victory or defeat, his own
+business was too urgent to admit of other issues, and so he made his way
+forward cautiously through the underbrush, which in places was almost
+impenetrable. Four-footed things, startled by this unusual invasion of
+their hunting ground, started up almost beside him and fled--rabbits,
+squirrels, a wolf, and a brown bear, which rocked upon its four legs
+dubiously for a moment, and then lumbered comically away. These
+creatures and the pathless woods advised him that however frequented the
+mountain road below, the inhabitants hereabout were not in the habit of
+traversing the wooded mountain sides. Moving forward slowly he climbed
+the hills in the general direction of the castle, the sunlit bastions of
+which suddenly appeared through the foliage above him and to the right.
+
+He moved more warily now, for if Goritz were in hiding within Schloss
+Szolnok, he would of course take pains that every avenue of approach
+should be watched. But a careful inspection of the crag upon which the
+castle was perched, and from this new angle, led Renwick to the
+conclusion that Goritz might be so sure of its inaccessibility from the
+north that no guard at the ruined end would be thought necessary. At
+first glance, indeed, Renwick was inclined to that opinion himself, for
+the rocks, though fissured and scarred as though by the blasts of
+winter, though not so high, were scarcely less precipitous than upon the
+southern side. At his very feet, perhaps already buried for years in the
+loam and moss, were the huge blocks of stone which had fallen from the
+northern towers and rolled down the steep slope of the natural
+counterscarp which the conformation of the mountain provided.
+
+Renwick scrutinized the beetling wall of rock above the incline with a
+dubious eye, seeking a possible path or succession of footholds by means
+of which he might make his way to the breach in the stone rampart above.
+The task seemed hopeless, but he knew that the most formidable
+difficulties are often solved by the simplest devices, and so he studied
+the wall patiently, his gaze suddenly focusing upon a fissure in the
+cliff, a little to his right, which went upward at an angle, its apex
+passing a projection of the rock which extended for a hundred feet or
+more to the southward. Above that precarious platform, the cliff was
+splintered and torn as though the agencies which had devastated the wall
+above had wreaked their vengeance here too. But there were finger holds
+and footholds, a desperate climb even in the daylight to a member of an
+Alpine club. But Renwick from his ambush studied the face of that rock
+foot by foot, and at last decided that when night came, the
+possibilities of entrance having been denied him elsewhere, he would
+make the effort.
+
+He did not know what he would find among the ruins above, their
+connection with the habitable part of the castle having probably been
+walled up by Baron Neudeck, and granting that Renwick succeeded in
+making his way to the top, his chances of reaching the main buildings
+might be slim indeed. And suppose after all this effort, that Marishka
+were not here--that Goritz had gone on--!
+
+But how could he have gone on? Surely not by a road guarded by an army
+at its other end. And it was only last night that he had seen Goritz's
+fellow assassin and hireling. Marishka was within, and Renwick had not
+permitted a doubt of it to enter his mind since yesterday.
+
+But to make certain of the matter he decided upon further investigation,
+retracing his steps for some hundred yards down the declivity, making
+sure of his landmarks as he went, until he reached the lower level of
+the valley, where crossing a brook he began climbing the steeper slope
+of the northern mountain. Here a greater degree of caution was required,
+for the rock upon which the Schloss was built was close to the northern
+slope and it was over the eastern reaches of the northern crags that
+the road passed which led to the causeway. To make his investigation
+more difficult of accomplishment, most of the mountain side was in
+bright sunlight while the castle was in shadow. And so, it being now the
+middle of the afternoon, he decided to move slowly at first, find a
+secluded spot and eat of the bread and cheese which was to be both his
+breakfast and supper.
+
+From his position, well up among the rocks, he had a view of the
+tree-tops of the valley below with a glimpse of the road a short
+distance from the spot where he had crossed it in the morning. The
+ruined end of the castle he commanded, too, from a new angle. He was now
+above the level of the crag and made out among the twisted mass of stone
+the vestiges of what had once been a chapel, and a watchtower. There was
+an arch which seemed to lead into a vaulted structure, but from his
+position he could not see within it.
+
+Renwick's eyes were good and they searched the valley below him
+ceaselessly. He thought he heard a rumble as of thunder in the distance,
+but as the sky was clear he knew that he must have been mistaken, but
+after a while along the road below him more soldiers passed, riding
+rapidly and silently--into the deeper shadows of the gorge. Their
+clattering wagons followed, and this, Renwick decided, was the cause of
+the distant sound that he had heard. Once or twice he thought that he
+saw motion among the undergrowth at some distance below him, but decided
+that he had been mistaken. Again--nearer and to his right. There was no
+doubt of it now. Renwick crawled deeper into his place of concealment
+and peered out.
+
+Some one was climbing up over the rocks below him, mounting slowly a
+little farther up the gorge. He heard the crackling of twigs and the
+sound of voices in a subdued murmur. There were two of them. Venturing
+his head beyond the leaves he got a glimpse through the trunks of the
+pine-trees--a tall man and a shorter, stouter one. They were more than a
+hundred yards away and moving up the mountain side away from him, but to
+Renwick's mind, fixed only upon the men he sought and those who sought
+himself, the figures, though wearing rough clothing like his own, seemed
+strangely like those of Herr Windt and Spivak. Of course he might have
+been mistaken, for within two miles of this spot at least two hundred
+people lived, but the profusion of game in the valley confirmed the
+report of his host of last night that the peasants who lived in the
+vicinity of Dukla were not in the habit of venturing into the Pass. And
+if not peasants and not the men he had imagined them to be, who were
+they and what were they doing here? He lay quietly, listening for the
+sound of their footsteps which seemed to pass toward the castle above
+him and at last died away in the distance.
+
+Windt here? It seemed incredible that he had traced Renwick so quickly.
+Or was it as Herr Koulos had said, that the same sources of information
+which had been open to Renwick had been open to Herr Windt also? Was he
+seeking Goritz or Renwick or both, trusting to the relations between
+Renwick and Marishka to bring all trails to this converging point? If
+the strangers among the rocks above him were Windt and Spivak, he was
+indeed in danger of detection and capture, and the fate of an Englishman
+taken armed in a region where Austrian troops were massing was
+unpleasant to contemplate. And yet Renwick decided that before he made
+the rash attempt to mount the cliff he must further investigate. And so
+he lay silent until nightfall when with drawn automatic he emerged from
+his hiding place and quietly made his way along the mountain side. He
+searched the undergrowth eagerly, as a man only can when his life
+depends upon the keenness of his senses, and without mishap reached a
+point opposite the castle where he commanded both the courtyard and the
+mass of buildings around the central tower. The distance across the
+narrow gorge at this side of the castle was perhaps two or three hundred
+yards, and Renwick from the shelter of a bush could see the windows
+quite distinctly. As the night grew dark two lights appeared--both, he
+noted, upon the side of the buildings toward where he sat--lights which
+could not be visible from the deeper, wider valley upon the other side
+or from the road below. He saw figures moving--the small bent figure of
+a woman in the building upon the left which seemed to be the kitchen, a
+man in the courtyard near the gate which Renwick had seen from the other
+side. The room upon the right near the keep, seemed to be the Hall, for
+the windows were longer than any others and denoted a high ceiling
+within. There was a light here too, and Renwick watched the windows, his
+heart beating high with hope. In his anxiety to see who was within the
+apartment he forgot the strangers upon the mountain side, the danger of
+his position, the hazardous feat before him--all but the hope that
+Marishka was here.
+
+He had almost given up hope of seeing her when she appeared. He knew her
+instantly, though he could not easily distinguish her features. She sat
+in a chair at a table, conversing with some one whom he could not see.
+A pang of jealousy shot through him. Goritz--!
+
+What if believing him dead Marishka had learned to tolerate the German
+agent, even to the point of friendship. There they were, sitting face to
+face at table, as they had done for two months or more. What were their
+relations? Prisoner and captive? And which was which? How could he have
+blamed Marishka,--Renwick, a dead man?
+
+He knew that she had grieved, that she must have hated the man who had
+done him to death--perhaps still hated him as Renwick did. He peered at
+the fragment of Marishka's white dress, the only part of her that was
+visible to him, and upbraided himself for his unworthy thoughts of her.
+
+And when the dead came to life what would she say to him?
+
+Hedged about with difficulties and dangers as he was, the sight of the
+girl so near him and yet so inaccessible was maddening. Now that he had
+discovered her, every impulse urged him to the feat of scaling the wall.
+And yet, as though fascinated, he still sat, his gaze fixed on the bit
+of white drapery which was a part of Marishka. He tried to imagine what
+Goritz was saying to her, for he seemed to know that Goritz was her
+companion, seemed to hear the murmur of their voices. He waited long and
+then the white drapery vanished, reappeared, and Marishka's figure stood
+in the window, leaning with one hand upon the casement, in silhouette
+against the light. And now quite distinctly against the velvety soft
+background of the breathless night the sound of her voice, refined by
+the distance between them, but fearful in its tone and significance.
+
+"_I--I am not afraid to die, Herr Goritz_," it said.
+
+Renwick started to his feet as though suddenly awaking from a dreadful
+dream into a still more dreadful reality. Marishka still stood in the
+window motionless, but the words that she had spoken seemed to be
+ringing endlessly down the silent gorge and in his brain, which was
+suddenly empty of all but its echoes. He wanted to shout to her a cry of
+encouragement--and hope, but he remained silent, grimly watching and
+listening.
+
+Marishka said something else and then turned into the room, while
+through another window he saw the dark figure of Goritz pass away from
+her toward the outward wall. Of Marishka he saw no more, but at
+intervals he saw Goritz pacing to and fro....
+
+How much longer Renwick watched he did not know, but after a while he
+found himself stumbling along the face of the mountain, descending by
+the way that he had come, Marishka's words singing their message through
+and through him. It was as though the words had been meant for him
+instead of Goritz, that Renwick even in death should know of her danger
+and come to her aid. He was coming now, not as an avenging spirit, but
+in the flesh, armed with righteous wrath and a fearful lust for
+vengeance. He understood what the message meant. Hers was not a cry of
+despair but of defiance.... What had happened? He had not seen.
+
+"I am not afraid to die." Nor was Renwick--but to live were better--to
+live at least for tonight. Fury gave him desperation, but for the task
+before him he needed coolness, too. And realizing that haste might send
+him hurtling to the bottom of the gorge, he moved more cautiously,
+stepping down with infinite pains until he reached the brook, which he
+crossed carefully, and then moved back up the declivity toward the
+castle.
+
+The night was clear, starlit but moonless, and the cliff as he reached
+it looked down upon him with majestic and sullen disdain. The ages had
+passed over and left it scarred and seared but still defiant and
+inaccessible. Renwick paused a moment to be sure of his ground and then
+boldly crawled up over the chaos of tumbled bowlders and broken masonry,
+until he reached the wall of solid rock, where he stopped again to
+regain his breath and examine the fissure that he had studied earlier in
+the day. It was a cleft in the rock, the result of some subterranean
+upheaval which had caused the whole crag to settle into its base; a
+fissure, originally a mere crack which had been widened and deepened by
+the erosion of time. Upon closer inspection, it was larger than it had
+appeared from below, perhaps ten feet in width at the outside, and
+tapering gradually as it rose.
+
+He entered and ran his fingers along its sides, penetrating to its full
+depth until there was just room enough in which to wedge his bent body.
+Then rising cautiously, seated, so to speak, upon the incline which
+seemed to be about thirty degrees from the vertical, he dug the
+iron-shod toes of his peasant's boots into the roughnesses of the wall
+before him and rose, pushing with elbows and arms where the wall was too
+smooth for a foothold. It was hard work, and at the end of ten minutes,
+perspiring profusely, and leg and arm weary, he stopped upon a
+projecting ledge, where he found a perfect balance for his entire body,
+and relaxed. But he had gained fifty feet.
+
+Above him was the long streak of pallid light shimmering against the
+gloom of the rock like the blade of a naked sword, with its point far
+above him among the stars. For a full five minutes he rested, and then
+went upward again, feeling with his finger ends while he braced his
+body, taking advantage of every foothold before and behind. At one spot
+the fissure widened dangerously, but he struggled inward; at another it
+went almost straight upward, requiring sheer strength of fingers; but at
+last he found another ledge and braced himself with his feet for another
+rest. He did not dare to look downward now, for fear of dizziness, but
+he knew that he had already come high. The sword blade was shorter,
+curved now more like a scimitar at its tip, which showed that the angle
+was greater.
+
+But what if before he reached the rocky platform, the cleft should grow
+too narrow to admit the passage of his body? It was too late now to
+think of any such impediment. He struggled upward again, slipping back
+at times, clawing like a cat, with toes and fingers, fighting for his
+breath, but always mounting higher, his gaze upward toward a star in the
+heavens near the point of the scimitar. Would he ever reach the top?
+Bits of the rock crumbled, broke off and flew out into space, and once
+he slipped and slid outward, only saving himself from destruction by the
+aid of a jutting piece of jagged rock which caught in his clothing. A
+desperate venture--but successful, for with one final effort, with
+fingers torn, and knees and elbows bruised and bleeding, he hauled
+himself up to the level of the flat projection of rock upon which he
+dragged himself, exhausted and breathless, but so far, safe.
+
+He lay there for a long time, flat on his back, his eyes dimmed with
+effort, his gaze on the stars, which now seemed to blink in a friendly
+way upon his venture. To succeed so far--failure was now impossible.
+Fearfully he peered over the edge of the cliff upon the velvety
+tree-tops of the valley below. Three hundred feet, four perhaps, and
+beyond to the left where the crag fell down to the very bed of the Dukla
+itself, black void--vacancy.
+
+Above him still was the hazardous climb up the broken face of the rocks,
+but he did not fear it. His nerves were iron now. There were roots
+growing here, and small bushes, stunted trees, growing in the
+interstices of the rocks, and he climbed steadily, always looking
+upward, toward the breach in the wall now so very near, fifty feet,
+forty--and then the wall seemed to hang over him smooth and bare. So he
+hung there by a sturdy branch, one foot clinging, and studied the
+surface, descending a few feet carefully and then rising again to the
+left in a fissure, swinging himself along a narrow ledge where the
+masonry of the bastion joined the rock. Over this he climbed, finding
+solid footing at last, and then rest and a breathing space within the
+broken walls.
+
+He lay behind a pile of rocks which had fallen from the walls of the
+watchtower, recovering his breath again, and the strength of his
+fingers, every bone of which was crying out in protest. He peered over
+into the depths below, trying to measure the distance he had come--three
+hundred feet--perhaps more. Could he find a rope of that length within
+the castle--? After a while he straightened in the shadow of the wall
+and peered cautiously up at the dark bulk of the keep and the tower,
+beyond the ruined chapel, searching its roofs and window for a sign of
+life. Silence. The ruin was deserted. For half an hour he watched and
+waited, and then sure that there was no chance that he had been
+observed, rose to his feet and moved forward stealthily into the shadows
+of the chapel. The roof had long since fallen in and been removed, but
+Renwick stumbled over a dusty tomb, toward the fragment of altar with
+the reredos still showing traces of sculpture, partially protected by a
+fragment of roof over the apse which had been spared by the wind and
+storm. To the right of the altar was a Gothic door, which had at one
+time led into the building adjoining, but upon investigation he found
+that it had been built in with solid blocks of stone. The other arch of
+the vaulted structure outside which he had noted from the mountain side
+was also filled by a wall. So far as Renwick could see, the ruined part
+of Schloss Szolnok was isolated, with no mode of egress from the
+habitable part.
+
+Renwick had screened his movements as far as possible from view of the
+windows in the keep and other buildings, and now discovered that the
+lowest one was at least fifteen feet above the level of this rampart;
+and so before planning any action, he investigated the guardhouse, a
+fallen ruin upon the north bastion. He seemed to make out the forms of
+what had once been the stone treads of a circular stair in a tumbled
+mass. At first the appearance of the place discouraged him, for it
+seemed too far away from the main mass of buildings to furnish any
+communication with them, but as he peered among the fallen masonry he
+thought he detected a darker spot in the obscurity, and bending forward
+was aware of a heavy smell, as of mold and dampness. Upon investigation
+he discovered an irregular hole under the mass of stone, a little wider
+than his body.
+
+He dared not strike a match for fear the glow of it might be observed
+from one of the windows of the keep, but testing the balance of the
+heavy stone steps, he decided to investigate, and so lowering his legs
+into the dark aperture he let himself hang from his waist and found that
+his toes encountered solidity. He tested his footing with his weight,
+and then let go, descending into the hole, which seemed to be a
+stairway, leading from the tower into the bowels of the rock. With a
+touch of fingers upon the efflorescent walls he moved cautiously down,
+step by step, sure now that this was the ancient corridor by which the
+men-at-arms passed from the guardhouse to the other rampart. Sixty-two
+steps down he counted, and then he reached a level, where he paused a
+moment to look at the vague blotch of gray which was the starlight. Even
+with eyes that had now grown accustomed to the darkness he could see
+nothing, and so deeming himself safe from observation, he struck a
+match, which struggled a moment against the foul air and then went out.
+But in the brief moment of partial illumination, Renwick made out a
+corridor extending straight before him, slightly downward. He followed
+it cautiously his hands stretched out, his toes feeling for pitfalls,
+and at last came to a rough wall.
+
+Was this the end--a wall which shut off communication with the ruins?
+Emptiness to the right. He turned and followed the wall blindly, down
+its tortuous way, aware of a difficulty in breathing, and a throbbing at
+his temples down which the moisture was pouring profusely. In a while
+which seemed hours, the rough wall stopped, and his fingers encountered
+a wooden upright--a doorway--open. And testing the stone floor carefully
+he passed through it, the echoes of footfalls advising him that he was
+in a larger space. He peered in all directions, seeking a sign of light
+within, for it seemed that the air had now grown fresher, but he saw
+nothing, and so striking a third match which burned more brightly, he
+held it over his head for a moment and looked about him.
+
+It was a kind of crypt in a good state of preservation, octagonal in
+shape, about twelve feet high, and the ceiling was supported by arches
+which sprang from dwarf columns of stone at the angles. From the center
+of the ceiling by a heavy chain hung an ancient iron lamp which still
+contained the remnants of a candle. There was a heavy wooden table at
+one side, and two heavy chairs, but Renwick's gaze passed these quickly
+to a partition of rough boards in one of the walls opposite, and then
+his match burnt his fingers and expired.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE DEATH GRIP
+
+
+He stood in the middle of the stone floor, matchbox in hand, trying to
+decide what he must do next. As nearly as he could judge by his
+observations during the afternoon, and the direction of the steps and
+passageways, the vault was somewhere under the main group of buildings,
+the keep or one end of the Hall, two or three stories below the level of
+the chapel floor. Part of the corridor through which he had passed was
+hewn from the solid rock, and part was built of masonry. The wooden
+partition opposite him was obviously the beginning of the used part of
+the castle, but admitting that he could pass it, in which direction
+would it lead him? He feared to strike another match, for beyond the
+door perhaps someone might be moving. It was now, as nearly as Renwick
+could judge, about one o'clock in the morning. He crossed the crypt
+carefully and found the partition, feeling its surface, which was made
+of rough boards loosely nailed together. He put his eye to one of the
+cracks and peering in, could see nothing; but a current of warmer air
+which came through the slits, slightly aromatic in odor, warned him that
+the space beyond was surely connected with the habitable part of the
+castle--a wine cellar perhaps, or a storage room. He debated for a
+moment whether it was wise to use another light and then at last decided
+to take the risk, and as matches were scarce, found the ancient candle
+in the iron lamp, which after sputtering feebly for a moment, consented
+to burn. By its aid he examined the dust upon the floor of the crypt,
+which showed the imprint of no footsteps but his own; then the walls of
+the crypt, discovering immediately another door which his eyes had
+missed in the earlier glow of the match,--a narrow door open to the
+left, of thick wood, with heavy iron hinges, the flanges of which formed
+the braces of the door itself. He blew out the candle and put it into
+his pocket. Peering through the keyhole and seeing nothing, he lifted
+the latch and tried to open it.
+
+His efforts proved that it had been unused for many years, for the
+hinges had sagged, and some of its weight rested upon the stone floor.
+But with an effort, he managed to move it an inch or so. Another effort
+swung it clear of its stone sill, and at last he managed to open it wide
+enough to admit the passage of his body. But with this last attempt the
+rusty hinges rasped horribly; and so he waited in silence, listening
+fearfully for any sounds in front or behind him which might indicate
+alertness above.
+
+Another passage lay before him, a narrower one, which soon developed a
+straight flight of narrow stairs leading upwards. He stood for a moment
+staring, for the gloom above him seemed to lighten. He sat upon the
+lower step and took off his heavy boots, then crept up the stairs
+noiselessly, reaching a landing dimly lighted by a small slit of a
+window which looked out upon the night. Pausing here, he was enabled
+definitely to establish his position within the castle walls. Below him
+was the narrower gorge, opposite him the cliff upon which he had
+crouched this afternoon. He was beneath one end of the Hall, and from
+all indications, in an ancient secret passageway, the existence of which
+from its condition had for years been forgotten. At the landing there
+was a heavy wooden door upon his left. This he examined as minutely as
+possible by the dim light of the loophole, peering through the keyhole,
+from which exuded a faint odor of gasoline. It must be here that Goritz
+kept the car. The platform was near the level of the rampart, then.
+Renwick did not pause here long for he saw that the stairs turned and
+mounted again in the opposite direction.
+
+Renwick felt for his automatic, and leaving his shoes on the landing by
+the window, again climbed into the darkness. Another landing--and before
+his eyes, now sensitive to the slightest lessening of the gloom, a thin
+thread of light crossed the narrow passage, terminating at his right in
+an illuminated spot upon the wall. It did not emanate as he had at first
+supposed, from a keyhole, but from a crevice between two stones, where
+the joints had turned to powder. He peered through eagerly, but his
+range of vision was small, covering merely a section of paneled
+woodwork, a mullioned window, and a chair or two. He held his breath and
+listened, for he fancied he heard the sound of footsteps. Yes, there
+they were again, the slowly moving footsteps of a man pacing to and
+fro--and then the footsteps halted suddenly and a voice spoke. It was
+that of Leo Goritz.
+
+"Are you sure that you saw them?"
+
+"There is no mistake. My eyes are good."
+
+"Did they remain long?"
+
+"For twenty minutes or so, but they saw that the thing was impossible
+and went away."
+
+"The situation becomes interesting," said Goritz.
+
+"Rather too risky, I should say," put in the other. "If the Herr
+Hauptmann had only taken my advice last week----"
+
+"I never take advice. But you may have been mistaken. I can scarcely
+believe that Herr Windt had the skill to trace us here--unless----"
+
+"But it was he. I was peering through the slit in the postern, not
+twenty feet away. I could have killed him easily."
+
+"But twenty feet is a long distance when two hundred feet yawn beneath.
+Let him come. We have food enough for a siege--ah, there it is again!"
+
+There was a significant silence between the two men, but Renwick
+listened the more keenly, for he heard the deep rumble, as of thunder,
+which had perplexed him in the afternoon--a reverberation, repeated and
+continued, which seemed to make the very flags beneath him tremble. But
+since he could hear and feel it within these solid walls, much nearer
+and louder, he realized now that it meant the roar of artillery--the
+defiant blasts of the Austrian guns at the end of the Pass, or the
+triumphant salvos of the Russians. And the voice of Goritz confirmed
+him.
+
+"The thing has come rather sooner than I expected," he growled.
+"_Donnerwetter!_ Why couldn't the Russians have put off the attack for a
+week!"
+
+"And if they win the Pass----"
+
+"Perhaps it is just as well for us if they do. Herr Windt may neglect us
+in the general scramble for safety."
+
+"He is not of that sort, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+"Then let him come. Twenty feet is a long jump even for the legs of the
+Windt."
+
+Goritz laughed at his joke and then yawned sleepily.
+
+"You may go now, Karl. Is Strohmeyer at the gate?"
+
+"Yes, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+"You are sure that he will not go to sleep?"
+
+"I think not."
+
+"The signal is one stroke of the postern bell. He understands?"
+
+"Yes, Herr Hauptmann. Any other orders?"
+
+"None except these. That he is on no account to fire unless attacked.
+But this fact is to be understood. No man is to pass into Schloss
+Szolnok tonight."
+
+"_Zu befehl_, Herr Hauptmann."
+
+The chauffeur, Karl, passed across Renwick's range of vision and the
+steps of Goritz resumed their pacing of the floor--more slowly now. The
+Englishman had been kneeling, scarcely daring to breathe, and now he
+wondered what he had better do next. Taking infinite pains to make no
+sound he investigated the wall of the Hall with his finger tips. There
+was a door here, a secret door, he thought, hidden from the interior of
+the Hall in the paneling of the wainscoting. Did Goritz know of its
+existence? The floor of the crypt, it was true, had shown no sign of
+footsteps, and the door below, Renwick was sure, had not been opened for
+many years. But if Goritz knew of this passage, there was a chance of
+his entering and finding him. Renwick dared not strike matches now, and
+determined to go on until he had mastered all the architectural details
+of the passage, and then devise some plan to reach Marishka. Balked in
+other directions he could return to this secret door into the Hall, and
+awaiting the departure of Goritz, force an entrance and trust to luck.
+
+But there might be some other and less dangerous means of reaching
+Marishka. Even if he entered the Hall, he would have no idea which way
+to turn. Better to follow the passage to the upper floors, if it were
+possible, and enter above, thus creating a diversion which might add to
+the advantage of his surprise. But did the passage mount higher? Or
+was--? His advancing toes touched something solid. Bending forward, he
+found steps, and immediately began mounting them on all fours.
+
+The sleeping-rooms, he had supposed, were on the two upper floors of the
+keep and in the buttressed building toward the south which was a part of
+it. This was the direction in which he was going now. He reached another
+landing, as nearly as he could judge by the steps he had taken, almost
+over the crypt, three levels below. This was the keep, then, upon his
+left. With pulse beating rapidly he felt for and found a wooden
+upright--another door. He paused and listened. There was no sound nor
+any light upon the other side. So he went on slowly until at a distance
+above him he saw the starlight coming through another loophole, the
+counterpart of that below the Hall, and mounted noiselessly, peering out
+upon the wider valley to the south. He had therefore traversed the
+castle from one side to the other, and was now near the top of the
+buttressed wing of the keep.
+
+Breathing in deep gasps the keen night air, Renwick waited, listening,
+and now heard again from outside the thunderous reverberations of the
+battle at the head of the Pass. He had been so intent upon his mission
+that he had forgotten it! But now the furious character of the
+engagement was obvious. It was far distant, perhaps four or five miles
+away, and yet the wild heavens were aglow with strange flashing fires,
+the reflections of the bombs and star-shells which paled the ineffectual
+lights of the firmament. Battle! Schloss Szolnok, too, should see
+battle--his own with Goritz! But Renwick would take no chances this
+time.
+
+The heavy reverberations rose and died away, but a fainter spatter of
+sounds continued, the deadly counter-melody of machine-gun and rifle
+fire which went on without intermission. Far below the Schloss, in the
+direction of the road along the Dukla, he heard the clatter of
+transport, and the calls of men.
+
+All of this Renwick's mind assimilated in his moment of rest and
+recuperation, but beside the loophole, clearly defined by the flashes in
+the heavens, his searching glances made out the uprights of another
+door. Here, perhaps----He bent forward, listening at its cracks, and
+then knelt, searching for a latch or keyhole. Nothing. But as he turned
+his back to the loophole, shutting out the starlight, he imagined that
+he saw something white upon the stone flagging. He leaned forward to
+pick it up and found that his fingers were softly illuminated. The spot
+was the reflection of a dim light within the room. He put his face close
+to the floor and found the aperture, a small hole of irregular shape in
+the baseboard of the door. A candle. Someone, then, was within? He put
+his ear to the chink and listened. A muffled sound, faint, but
+agonizingly definite--a woman's sobs! Renwick straightened and then
+listened again. Silence. Perhaps he had been mistaken. No. There it was
+again--fainter now. He ran his fingers softly along the edges of the
+woodwork, seeking a latch, a handle, but could find none. If there were
+a secret spring, it was so deftly hidden that he could not discover it.
+But in the brief moments of his search he had decided that he must enter
+this room at all costs. And so rising to his feet, he gave up trying to
+find the secret of admittance and slowly put his weight against the
+woodwork. It made no sound nor yielded to his pressure. He tried it
+again with the same results. Then despairing, and desperate, he struck a
+match and ran it quickly along the jambs. The hinges were concealed, but
+he found signs of them at the right. To the left, then--another match--a
+handle, a knob--where? And then just as the third match went out he
+found it--a flat, iron lever which moved around a swivel, cunningly let
+into the woodwork. He caught it quickly in his fingers, twisted it down,
+and then, automatic in hand, he pushed upon the door which opened and
+swung inward upon its hinges.
+
+Renwick waited for a moment in the doorway, pistol in hand, blinking at
+the candle upon the table, like a cat emerging from a cellar, searching
+the vast room for its occupant. A huge room with wainscoted walls, with
+heavy hangings at the windows, massive furniture, a high canopied
+bed----
+
+He took a few quick steps forward into the room, for a figure clothed in
+soft white had started up from the bed and was staring at him with
+startled eyes--Marishka!
+
+Renwick was hatless, tattered, covered with dust, his face streaked with
+grime and sweat, and the short beard that he wore still further
+transformed him. But it seemed that a look of recognition struggled
+with the terror in her eyes.
+
+"You, Hugh--again!" she whispered.
+
+A pang shot through him at the pitiful sound of her voice and at the
+words. Had her sufferings----
+
+"Your spirit. It has--has been--with me often, Hugh." She went on
+dreamily.
+
+"Marishka!" he whispered, crossing to her swiftly. "It is I--Hugh. It is
+no dream, no vision. Awake!"
+
+She brushed an arm across her eyes like one arousing from a deep sleep,
+and then straightened suddenly and still uncertainly. But he caught her
+by the arm and brought her face close to his own so that she might see.
+
+"I didn't die, dear. I am here in the flesh--to protect--to take you
+away from this place."
+
+"Then I--I have not dreamed?"
+
+"Not now?"
+
+She clasped his wrists, his shoulders, his face with her hands to assure
+herself of the truth, and he took her in his arms and kissed her
+tenderly.
+
+"Marishka!" he murmured again. And then she seemed to grow heavy in his
+arms, repeating his name breathlessly.
+
+He was frightened for a moment for her head drooped away from him. She
+looked so piteously thin and white, and her hands were ice cold.
+
+"Marishka!" he pleaded. "Marishka."
+
+Her eyes opened again and her smile reassured him.
+
+"Forgive me, Hugh. The joy is almost more than I can bear."
+
+"You are safe now," he whispered. "Safe!" And he clasped her close,
+holding her there in a breathless moment oblivious to their danger.
+
+Then while she still wondered, Renwick suddenly released her, moving
+quickly to the door by which he had entered, and after examining the
+mechanism carefully, quietly closed it. Then he turned to Marishka and
+questioned, while still seated upon the bed, she regarded him with
+bewildered eyes.
+
+"What men are there at Schloss Szolnok, Marishka?" he asked quickly.
+
+"Goritz--the chauffeur--and Ena's husband," she answered slowly, with an
+effort.
+
+"Strohmeyer?"
+
+"Yes. The two men--at the farm--are not here--at night."
+
+"Ah, I see----" And then, "That other door," he whispered tensely. "Is
+it locked?"
+
+"Yes. I--I locked it tonight."
+
+"You feared?"
+
+"Hugh--until tonight----"
+
+She stopped and shuddered, until he came to her and held her for a
+moment in his arms.
+
+"He will not frighten you again," he muttered between set lips.
+
+"Thank God," she whispered, now starting up as though with the first
+realization of their position.
+
+"Have you any plan of what you will do?"
+
+"Yes. Goritz is still below in the Hall. I have a plan, but I can do
+nothing until he goes to bed. Where is his room?"
+
+"In the keep, along the passageway outside."
+
+"I see," thoughtfully; and then, "Do you know where I can find a
+rope--several ropes, stout ones?"
+
+"I do not know. There is a storeroom."
+
+"Do you know where it is?"
+
+"Yes, I think so."
+
+"And you can find it--in the dark?"
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Is there any way of telling when Goritz goes to bed?"
+
+"I hear his steps sometimes in the corridor outside."
+
+He went noiselessly over to the door, listened a moment and then
+returned.
+
+"No sounds. There isn't much sleep for anyone here tonight. The noise
+and the knowledge that Herr Windt is somewhere near----"
+
+"Herr Windt!"
+
+"He has followed us here. I think he found a trace of me at
+Bartfeld--the village beyond the mountain," he whispered.
+
+"But we might go down through the castle and the courtyard--if we could
+pass the man at the drawbridge. Does it make a noise when it is
+lowered?"
+
+"Oh, yes, Hugh--a dreadful noise."
+
+"That's awkward." He crossed to the door into the wainscoting and
+listened there, then at the other door into the corridor, and returned
+to her.
+
+"For the present, at least, we're safe."
+
+He caught her in his arms and held her silently. Her arms clinging to
+him, she raised her head and found his lips.
+
+"Beloved," she whispered, "how did you----"
+
+"I followed you here--on a mere fragment of a clew--but it was enough."
+
+"But he shot you----"
+
+"I was well cared for--in a hospital."
+
+"You were wounded--dangerously?"
+
+"Yes, but I don't die easily. I'm quite well again."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+He laughed. "Could I be here, else? Your cliffs are steep----"
+
+"You climbed----?"
+
+"Yes, up a fissure and through the ruins. I saw you--there in the
+window--from across the gorge. I heard you call, Marishka----"
+
+"Call----?"
+
+"That you were not afraid to die."
+
+"But I _was_ afraid, Hugh--it was so far--so dark below." She shuddered.
+
+He pressed her closer to him. "Has he--has Goritz----"
+
+"Until tonight, Hugh--he has not been unkind," she said slowly. "I was
+sick; he nursed me. But I've feared him--I fear him still----"
+
+He felt her body trembling against his own, and reassured her gently,
+pausing a moment to listen tensely for sounds at either door. And
+then----
+
+"Don't worry, dearest. He cannot harm you. I was not spared from death
+for nothing."
+
+"I am not frightened now, but tonight has been horrible--the noise--my
+terror of I know not what. It has been like the end of the world to me."
+
+"The beginning of our world, yours and mine," he said confidently.
+
+She straightened, drew away from him and put a hand before her eyes
+again. "Even yet I cannot believe." She looked up at him with a wide
+gaze that still held in it something of the reflection of the long days
+of helplessness and misery--something more deeply spiritual than he had
+ever seen. "Hugh, dear," she went on softly, "you will think it strange,
+but I--I have heard you calling to me--speaking to me, like a living
+presence here in this room. Not as you are now, beloved, but
+paler.... I thought that you were dead.... And so when you came--at the
+door--I thought--I must have dreamed----"
+
+"You were frightened, dear."
+
+"Yes--terribly frightened, Hugh," she confessed, "by _him_--and by the
+firing. It seemed at times as though the castle were rocking under me.
+Listen!"
+
+A terrific cannonading began again--louder, more continuous than any
+that had gone before.
+
+"Yes--they are fighting for the end of the Pass," he muttered; "the
+Russians----"
+
+"And will they----?"
+
+"God knows. I pray----" he paused and scanned her face anxiously.
+
+"What, Hugh?"
+
+"That the Russians may win."
+
+She started away from him, her eyes widely inquiring.
+
+"Why?"
+
+He smiled slowly.
+
+"It's simple enough. Because if I am taken by the Austrians I shall be
+shot as a spy."
+
+"You--a spy!"
+
+"No, not really," he said soberly. "But I'm an Englishman, an enemy of
+Austria armed and in disguise. That is enough----"
+
+"They--my people would shoot you!" She whispered, horror-stricken.
+
+"I have no illusions about my fate--if taken----"
+
+"But you have come here--to help me----"
+
+"Unfortunately that does not change matters."
+
+He put her gently aside and went for a while and listened at the doors,
+and then came back to her.
+
+"Silence. But we will wait a little longer," he whispered.
+
+Marishka caught him by the shoulders and looked up into his eyes.
+
+"Hugh, what you have said frightens me. You mean that you--that we are
+enemies--you and I--because our nations are at war----!"
+
+She drew away and held him at arm's length while she scrutinized him in
+the light of the guttering candle.
+
+"You--my enemy, Hugh? I--yours?" A wan smile came proudly to her lips.
+"If I am your enemy, beloved, then love and loyalty have perished from
+the earth. And you, who have risen from the grave to come to me----!"
+
+"Sh----, dear," he whispered. "You must know the truth. Whatever
+happens--here in the castle, the Austrian troops are all around us. Herr
+Windt, too. There is no escape for me unless the Russians come through.
+That is why I hope----"
+
+Marishka put her arms around his shoulders quickly and kissed him on the
+lips.
+
+"Then I, too, pray that they may come through," she whispered fervently.
+
+"Marishka! I do not ask you to give up your allegiance----"
+
+"No, Hugh. I give without asking. Beloved, I want you to understand,"
+she said solemnly. "Those that are your enemies are my enemies. You
+would have died for me--and I, can I do less for you?"
+
+"Sh----, Marishka," he murmured, "there is no death----"
+
+"Death can be no worse for me than the horrible utter loneliness without
+you; but whatever comes, I am yours, Hugh--in life--in death. I owe no
+allegiance, no fealty, but to you, and I have kept the faith, Hugh, even
+here. I can have no country that you may not share, no compatriots that
+are not yours also. My kingdom is in your heart, beloved, there to live
+while you will have it so."
+
+"Marishka!" He caught her in his arms and held her long in his embrace,
+and she clung close to him, her lips on his in this final test of their
+plighted troth. About them the thunder of battle, ever approaching
+nearer; the rumble and din of groaning wagons on the road below; the
+hoarse cries of men; the whine and sputter of laboring motors trying to
+pass in the narrow road--confusion, disorder, chaos; but now they heard
+nothing. For them the earth stood still. Nations might totter and crash,
+but their Empire was in each other....
+
+Renwick raised his head at last. "Marishka," he whispered, "it is time
+that we made a move." He released her suddenly, listened at the doors,
+and then moved to the table beside her.
+
+"First, we had better put out the light--then perhaps we can see if
+there is anyone outside."
+
+Marishka snuffed the candle, and they went to a window overlooking the
+courtyard, drew the hangings and peered out. The din in the valley below
+them was increasing, a hurrying of wagons, horses and guns in the narrow
+road. Were more Austrian reinforcements coming up? It seemed so. From
+the mountains beyond, the rattle of small-arm fire had risen to a steady
+roar, but the detonations of heavy ordnance were less frequent.
+
+"The Austrians--may be winning," he said calmly.
+
+She pressed his hand. "I am sorry," she said bravely.
+
+But there was a world of meaning for Renwick in the way she whispered
+it.
+
+"Your people shall be my people," she murmured again. "And your God, my
+God."
+
+He could only return her pressure in silence.
+
+He would have been little happy if he could have said how much.
+
+Together they peered through the slip of the silken hanging to the
+rampart below. Flashes of reflections from the end of the Pass played
+like sheet lightning, and in the fitful illuminations they could see the
+figure of the old man, Strohmeyer, reclining in the shadow by the
+postern gate. The drawbridge was still raised, and beyond it they could
+see in the flashes, the length of the causeway stretching out into the
+darkness of the mountainside beyond. Strohmeyer did not move. It almost
+seemed as though he were asleep.
+
+"What makes you think that Herr Windt is here?" asked Marishka suddenly.
+
+"I saw him with Spivak yonder," and he pointed to the north beyond the
+gorge.
+
+Marishka was silent, her eyes eagerly searching the shadows. Her hand
+was trembling a little with the excitement of their situation, but her
+voice was firm as she whispered:
+
+"Perhaps tonight my eyes are uncertain, Hugh. But do you not see
+something moving in the shadow of the wall?"
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Of the causeway--there, beyond the chain of the drawbridge----"
+
+He peered eagerly in the direction she indicated.
+
+"A shadow----?" he questioned. "I can't--no--yes--it moves--there!"
+
+"Yes--another and still another. And they are carrying something."
+
+Renwick watched again for a tense moment.
+
+"Windt--and his men," he said with conviction. "They are going to try to
+span the abyss."
+
+"Strohmeyer----"
+
+Here at least was a community of interest with Goritz. "They will win
+their way across, unless he wakes," said Renwick tensely.
+
+"What is it that they are carrying?"
+
+"Timbers--see! There are at least four men to each. They are putting
+them in the shadow of the wall. Will the man never wake up?"
+
+"What can we do?" she whispered desperately. "I could call out to him."
+
+"No----" he said, "I don't want to arouse Goritz yet. Ah! They have
+slunk away again to get more timbers, I think."
+
+"And if they should succeed----?"
+
+"They must not. One man could hold the place indefinitely from the
+protection of the gate. If the man would only wake!"
+
+But Strohmeyer slept on.
+
+"And Goritz?" she said anxiously. "Surely tonight he cannot be
+sleeping."
+
+"Perhaps he is so sure of himself--yes--in the passage below I
+heard--there was to be a signal--one stroke of the postern bell----"
+
+"But if the man sleeps----"
+
+"If they come again--no matter what happens, we must warn him," he
+decided.
+
+"Sh----"
+
+Renwick felt his arm seized suddenly by Marishka's icy fingers and
+turned, following her wild gaze into the room behind them listening. The
+anxieties of the night had made Marishka's senses keen. "The door!" she
+whispered. "The secret door by which you came!"
+
+Renwick listened. In a brief lull in the commotion outside, he heard a
+slight sound, near and startlingly distinct like that of a rat in a
+partition. Then in the blackness of the room, a gray streak appeared,
+slowly widening. The door into the secret passage had opened, and the
+starlight from the loophole beyond now showed a dusky silhouette.
+Renwick felt Marishka's arm clutch his in terror, as Goritz noiselessly
+stepped forward into the room. Renwick had instinctively drawn the
+hanging behind him, and he and Marishka were in deep shadow while every
+move that Goritz made was clearly defined. First he took a pace toward
+the bed, then paused and turning struck a match and searched for the
+candle.
+
+He was in shirt sleeves. Renwick had drawn his automatic and could have
+shot him easily. But murder, in cold blood--even when his life and
+Marishka's depended upon it! Renwick could not. He saw Goritz turn from
+the lighted candle and stare toward the empty bed and then quickly
+search the shadows of the room. It was a long moment before he saw the
+blaze of the candle beside him reflected in Renwick's eyes which peered
+down the barrel of his automatic.
+
+"What nonsense is this--Marishka----?" he began.
+
+But Renwick's voice cut the darkness like a steel blade.
+
+"Don't move--Goritz. Hands up--high!"
+
+"Who----?"
+
+"Hands up, I say----" And as he slowly obeyed, "Now turn toward the
+bed----"
+
+Goritz was now staring at Renwick as though he had seen a ghost, but he
+knew better than to take his hands down.
+
+"You----" he muttered. "You're----"
+
+"I'm Renwick," said the Englishman crisply. "Now do as I tell you
+or----"
+
+He paused uncertainly, for at that moment, behind him through the window
+came the deep boom of a bell.
+
+"The drawbridge!" cried Marishka.
+
+"Ah!" came from Goritz's throat as with an incredibly swift movement he
+smothered the candle. Renwick fired twice and then threw Marishka to one
+side, but there was a crash of the door in the wainscoting, and then
+silence.
+
+"He has gone!" cried Marishka somewhere in the darkness.
+
+"Wait!" shouted Renwick. Some instinct warned him of the trick, and he
+sprang aside just as Goritz darted at the spot where he had been. He
+felt the rush of the man's body and turned, but did not dare to fire,
+for fear of hitting Marishka, so he ran forward toward the window and
+presently they met, body to body, clutching in primitive combat. The
+man's hand went at his throat, but he wrenched it away again--again. His
+arms went around the waist of his adversary low down, in the attempt to
+raise him and bear him to the ground. Goritz was now striking furiously
+at his head, and by this token Renwick knew that the man was unarmed.
+Renwick's furious rush brought them with a thud against the wall, where
+they fell, oversetting a table to the floor. Amid the broken furniture
+they struggled, in the pitch blackness, with their bare hands, for
+Renwick's weapon had been knocked from his fingers. In the rebound from
+the wall Renwick fell beneath, Goritz with one hand upon his throat with
+a grip which was slowly tightening, but Renwick managed to tear it away
+and release himself, striking furiously at the man's face. Goritz was
+young and strong, and Renwick's struggle up the cliff had taken away
+some of his staying power, but he fought on blindly in the darkness;
+grimly, like the bulldog that holds and ever tightens his jaws, no
+matter what the punishment he suffers. The bulldog against the wolf.
+Goritz was agile, and his arms were strong and wiry. He struck and tore,
+but Renwick's arms were cracking his ribs, squeezing the breath from his
+body. He struggled with an effort to one knee, and in the change of
+position managed to get the fingers of one hand around Renwick's throat
+again. They rolled over and over upon the floor, first one uppermost and
+then the other, but the fingers on the Englishman's throat were strong.
+Fires flashed before Renwick's eyes and the blood seemed to be bursting
+from his temples.
+
+His grip was relaxing.... He felt his strength going. Then with his
+remaining consciousness he was aware of a warm moisture upon one of his
+wrists. Blood! Goritz had been struck by one of his bullets. With a
+desperate effort, he let go one arm and struck. The man's grip relaxed
+and he tore it away, gasping greedily for breath.
+
+Marishka in terror had at first slunk into a corner, listening to the
+fearful sounds of the combat--following it with her ears from one part
+of the room to another. What must she do? Gathering courage, she passed
+the foot of the bed, and grasping for the table found the match box and
+managed to light the candle.
+
+They were upon the floor near one of the windows over the valley, locked
+in a deadly grip, breathing in terrible gasps. She must do something to
+help--something--for as the glow fell upon them they seemed to struggle
+upward against the wall by the window, upon the sill. She could not make
+out which was which--but instinctively she seemed to realize their
+deadly purpose--death for one or both on the rocks below! The hanging at
+the window came crashing down and enveloped them, but they did not know.
+They were drunk with the lust of killing--mad!
+
+Out of the confusion she saw Goritz rise smiling, straining with his
+arms, hauling Renwick over the sill. Death! Hers, too, then! With a cry
+of despair she reached them, clinging with her arms around Renwick's
+waist.
+
+Goritz opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came forth. He might have
+struck her down but he did not. Instead he rose with one foot upon the
+sill in one supreme effort to throw Renwick over, but the Englishman,
+already half out of the window, got his right arm loose, and swinging
+with all the strength left to him, launched a terrible blow at his
+adversary. It struck him on the point of the chin. Goritz staggered,
+lost his balance, toppled for a moment in the air, his grip on the
+Englishman's collar, which tore loose as he fell--out--into the black
+abyss....
+
+Renwick sprawled half across the wide sill, but Marishka clung
+desperately, dragging him in--to safety. He toppled in upon the floor
+and lay motionless while Marishka hovered over him.
+
+"Hugh----!" she cried. "Hugh!"
+
+Renwick struggled up slowly, trying to speak, but his chest heaved
+convulsively, and he could only gasp meaninglessly.
+
+"All--right," he managed to utter after a moment.
+
+She got water and he drank of it.
+
+"You're hurt--you're covered with blood."
+
+"No, no----" he gasped, "winded."
+
+"But the blood!"
+
+"His. I had shot him--through the body."
+
+Marishka peered toward the window and shuddered.
+
+"His face--Hugh--I can't forget."
+
+Renwick struggled painfully to his feet.
+
+"Nor I. He almost did for me. If it hadn't been for you----"
+
+"You'd have followed him, Hugh!" And then almost inaudibly, "Holy
+Virgin!" she whispered.
+
+Renwick moved his limbs to be sure that they were sound.
+
+"Close thing, that," he muttered. "Beastly close."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+BESIEGED
+
+
+So desperate had been the struggle that they had forgotten the peril of
+the drawbridge. Shots had already been fired in the courtyard but they
+had not heard them. Now, as an awed silence fell upon them, at the
+passing of Goritz and at their relief from immediate danger, they were
+suddenly aware of the sounds of commotion outside near at hand, the
+sharp crack of small arms, the cries of men and the booming of the
+postern bell--calling Goritz--who would never come!
+
+Renwick staggered to the window over the courtyard, Marishka's hand in
+his, and peered out. Somewhere a great fire was burning, for overhead
+the sky was copper-colored with its reflections, and below they saw
+dimly two figures crouching in the shadow of the postern gate. As they
+looked, three men emerged from the wall of the causeway, carrying a
+timber with which they approached the abyss, but as they neared the edge
+a flash darted from the postern and the foremost man fell. The others,
+with a rush, tried to cast an end of the heavy plank across the
+intervening space, but it fell short and went crashing down into the
+void below.
+
+"They may be able to hold out for a time," whispered Renwick, "long
+enough to let us get away--come, Marishka--the ropes!"
+
+He took the candle, and she opened the door into the corridor which led
+to the keep. Outside they met the old woman Ena, who was crouched upon
+the floor by a window, wringing her hands, half dead with fear. But she
+started up at the sight of Renwick, who led the way, and then looked in
+astonishment at Marishka.
+
+"Who----?" she gasped, and paused.
+
+"A friend, Ena," said Marishka. "Do not fear."
+
+But she still regarded Renwick in terror, for his appearance,
+disheveled, torn and bloody, was not one to inspire confidence.
+
+"The Herr Hauptmann----!"
+
+"He is dead," said Marishka quietly.
+
+"Dead! _Herr Gott!_" And she shrank back into her corner, her head in
+her hands.
+
+But there was no time to delay. Renwick hurried Marishka down the stone
+stairway to the Hall, whence they descended to a lower floor to the
+storeroom.
+
+It was filled with a conglomeration of dusty odds and ends, boxes,
+barrels, bottles innumerable, the relics of the hospitality of Baron
+Neudeck, but at first they could see no sign of what they were seeking.
+Above them shots sounded intermittently, and the roar of the distant
+battle never ceased. Renwick searched feverishly while Marishka held the
+candle above his head, overturning the dusty objects, and at last with a
+cry of triumph found what they sought, a coil of heavy rope in a far
+corner. He dragged it forth and examined it carefully. It was heavy and
+long. Was it long enough? There was no way of telling except by
+measuring in yard lengths, and no time to risk that.
+
+There had been a long interval of silence on the rampart above. Had
+Windt succeeded in winning his way across?
+
+He raised the coil of rope from his shoulder with an effort and took the
+candle from Marishka's hand, moving toward an arch to their left,
+seeking a direct way to the boarded door into the crypt. It should be in
+this direction--yes, the wine cellar--here it was--the boarded
+partition. Marishka took the candle from his hand again while he
+examined the fastenings--nails somewhat rusted, which would not resist
+leverage. He found a piece of plank which he inserted in the edge of the
+door and managed to pry it open a little, and then bracing a foot
+against the stone wall, made an opening wide enough to admit them.
+
+So far, so well. They were within the crypt, but while Marishka waited,
+Renwick pulled the partition back into place to hide their mode of
+retreat if the gate above were taken. Then moving rapidly along the
+tunnel they reached the steps which led to the watchtower, where Renwick
+snuffed the candle; and they climbed, emerging at last among the ruins
+with their precious rope. If they could get down they would crawl
+through the bushes and undergrowth, making their way before daylight to
+the house of the peasant who had sheltered him last night. Another sum
+of money would secure their immunity--at least for the present.
+
+To the northward, the sky was vividly aglow with the reflection of the
+flames of a burning house--fired perhaps by the shells of the Russians,
+which still seemed to be bursting not far away. And now their acrid
+fumes were poisoning the clean night-wind from the north. Below them in
+the valley they still heard the sounds of passing transport, and the
+hoarse calls of men. The battle for the head of the Pass was
+desperate--but with such reenforcements, the Austrians would hold it.
+The crackle of small arms after a slight lull rose in intensity to a
+continuous roar. And while Renwick was making the end of his rope fast
+around a huge granite block, there was a tremendous explosion which
+seemed to tear the bloody sky to tatters.
+
+"A magazine or a mine," muttered Renwick.
+
+She smiled at him bravely, and resumed her watch of the windows of the
+castle. Here in the open, hidden from the courtyard beyond the bulk of
+the buildings, they could hear nothing of what was passing at the
+drawbridge gate. The silence seemed ominous. Had Windt's men succeeded
+in bridging the gap? As yet there were no signs of light in the castle
+windows, except the lurid reflections of the northern sky. But in any
+event there was no time to spare. Renwick tied a large knot and a loop
+in the end of the rope and then carefully lowered it over the northern
+wall, measuring its length by his arms, as it went over. Fifty yards,
+sixty, seventy, eighty--when it stretched taut. Eighty yards! Sick with
+anxiety, he crawled upon his stomach to the edge of the precipice and
+peered over into the abyss.
+
+The rope swung like a giant pendulum from side to side. By the luminous
+heavens he could just see the loop at its end--at least seventy feet
+from the counterscarp. Seventy feet--or fifty or even twenty-five--for
+Marishka sure death among the welter of jagged rocks below!
+
+Slowly he rose and faced her. She read the truth in his dejection.
+
+"The rope is too short," he muttered.
+
+She caught him by the hand.
+
+"I can climb down by----"
+
+"No, no," he said in sudden horror, "it is not to be thought of. You, at
+least, are safe."
+
+"But you----?"
+
+"Perhaps something may happen. We can at least hide in the wall. They
+may not find us. Come."
+
+He descended into the hole among the broken masonry and lowered Marishka
+gently beside him, and there for a moment upon the stairs he held her in
+his arms while they listened again for noise of pursuit along the dark
+passage. Silence.
+
+She drew his head down until their lips met.
+
+"Your fate, Hugh--whatever it is--shall be mine."
+
+He smiled in the darkness. A love like this was worth fighting for. "We
+shall win--somehow," he whispered, "we must!"
+
+Together slowly they retraced their steps to the crypt, where they
+lighted the candle and listened again, and now, faintly above, they
+heard the sound of a shot.
+
+"They have not won through yet, Marishka," he said. "My cause is
+Goritz's now. We must hold the gate."
+
+"I am not afraid," she said. "We can still fight."
+
+He looked at her pale face in admiration, for the fire of resolution
+glowed in her eyes.
+
+"Yes," he muttered grimly, "we can still fight." And then, "Are there
+any weapons here?"
+
+"In the armory--come!" And she led the way up the stair. But as they
+searched the Hall, Ena hobbled down the stone stairway from above,
+shrieking, and threw herself at their feet. They could not make out
+what she said, but Renwick rushed to the door and peered out toward the
+postern. Upon the flagging, a figure lay motionless, and the other man
+was nowhere to be seen. But worse than that, as though aware of their
+advantage, in the causeway beyond, several men were advancing, bearing
+another timber. Renwick's eye appraised the situation hurriedly and he
+planned quickly, for delay would be fatal. As he reloaded the clip of
+his automatic he ordered quickly.
+
+"Marishka, I have a plan. There are two joists at the foot of the
+stair--not very heavy. You and Ena must bring them up here. Then get
+what loaded weapons you can. Bring them here, too. Lose no time. I will
+return."
+
+And leaving her, he dashed out of the door, and running to the right
+gained the protection of the rampart, behind which he crawled toward the
+gate. Where was the other man, the chauffeur, Karl?
+
+In a moment he learned. For as Renwick approached, the men upon the
+other side succeeded in spanning the abyss, and one of them rushed over.
+When the man was halfway across, a shot rang out from the gate and the
+man on the board swayed and fell. Another followed and another shot rang
+out, but the man still came on.
+
+Renwick, running forward, shouted a word of encouragement. He saw the
+man Karl rise from his concealment and meet the fellow just as he
+reached the gate, striking him a blow which made him lose his balance
+and fall. Then he swung the end of the timber free and it fell into the
+gorge as he sprang back to safety, but before he reached the protection
+of the gate, several flashes darted from the causeway and the chauffeur
+staggered and dropped forward upon his face just as Renwick reached him.
+
+"Your orders, Herr Hauptmann," he gasped. "But they're too many--my
+cartridges--are gone----" He turned with a groan, and for the first time
+saw Renwick's face. "You----" he muttered. "You're not----?"
+
+"It doesn't matter who I am. Are you badly hurt?"
+
+"_Donnerweiter!_ Yes--through the breast--I'm done for."
+
+But Renwick stepped past him and found a loophole through which he could
+watch what was passing upon the other side of the abyss.
+
+The last disaster had robbed the besiegers of some of their enthusiasm,
+for they had withdrawn to the other end of the causeway where they were
+holding council. Searching the shadows of the wall for signs of any
+others concealed near at hand, Renwick took the chance of leaving the
+gate unguarded, and in the shadow of the wall rushed back to the Hall.
+There he found Marishka with the two joists, waiting for him.
+
+"They've withdrawn," he said, "but they'll be coming on again in a
+moment. We are alone, dear, to defend the gate. Can you help?"
+
+She was deathly pale, but she smiled at him bravely. He picked up the
+two joists and carried them outside while she followed him, listening.
+
+"You on one side of the gate, I on the other. If they succeed in
+throwing a timber across, we must push it off. In this way neither of us
+need expose ourselves."
+
+"I understand--and there are rifles and shotguns."
+
+"Good! Can you load them?"
+
+"Strohmeyer loaded them while Karl kept the gate, but Ena was afraid to
+take them out."
+
+"Then bring them. You're quite safe if you keep below the wall of the
+rampart. Now go, dear--and God bless you!"
+
+He reached the gate before Windt's men returned to the attack, and put
+one of his new weapons of defense upon each side of it. But he feared to
+leave the gate again and crouched, waiting. Below in the valley the
+commotion had increased and the sounds of firing went on unceasingly. It
+seemed indeed, as Marishka had said, that the end of the world had come.
+Beside him, the man Karl was breathing with difficulty. From his post at
+the loophole, Renwick heard him mutter, and as the road was still clear,
+he listened.
+
+"You're Renwick--the Englishman?" he whispered hoarsely.
+
+"I am."
+
+"And Herr Hauptmann Goritz?"
+
+"He is dead," replied Renwick.
+
+"_Ach--danke_," said the man. "It is well then--you too--soon----"
+
+He nodded forward, toppled sideways and lay still.
+
+The situation was desperate, and yet as Renwick thought calmly, he
+gained courage. With Marishka upon one side and him on the other armed
+with the joists, it would be difficult for the attackers to get a
+lodgment for their bridges, for the stone outside the gate was quite
+smooth, and little effort would be required to push their timbers down.
+Both Strohmeyer and Karl had lost their lives by exposing themselves
+unnecessarily. But with the two joists, both sides of the gate could be
+commanded. In a moment, creeping under the protection of the wall,
+Marishka joined him, bringing two rifles.
+
+"Are they coming?" she asked.
+
+"Not yet. But they will soon."
+
+He explained his plan more fully, then bade her go back for another
+rifle, ammunition; and return in the protection of the opposite wall to
+the post opposite.
+
+"They can do nothing unless they bring artillery," he said confidently.
+"Don't expose yourself or look out, but if a plank comes over, push it
+down."
+
+She smiled and slipped away into the darkness, and Renwick returned to
+his loophole. The sky above was getting lighter, and a glance up the
+mountain side to his left showed it already in clear profile against the
+lightening east, which announced the coming of the dawn. And with the
+dawn--light. Was this what the attackers were waiting for?
+
+He saw the gray figure of Marishka creep along the opposite wall, and in
+a moment she was there, not ten feet away at her post, crouched in
+safety and waiting.
+
+"On no account look through the loophole," he ordered. "As the light
+grows, there will be men to shoot at them. Keep under cover.
+Understand?"
+
+She only laughed hysterically.
+
+In a moment, as the light grew, he warned her that they were coming
+again.
+
+"Keep in," he cried. "Don't try to look at the end of the----"
+
+The warning came just in time, for a fusillade of bullets swept the gate
+and they heard the sounds of many men's voices as they came on the run.
+Another fusillade which sent dust and fragments of stone flying all
+about them! Then a timber crashed across, but before it settled into
+place the two joists had pushed it off the smooth landing. At the same
+time another volley was fired which would have surely found a mark if
+Renwick had exposed himself, but Marishka matched her action to
+Renwick's, crouching low, safe from observation, pole in hand, eagerly
+watching her half of the gate.
+
+Another timber--which fell harmlessly and crashed down into the gorge,
+and another volley--alike harmless to the defenders. High hopes rose in
+Renwick. They could do nothing. Opposite him Marishka, forgetting all
+her fears, had caught the contagion of successful resistance and
+crouched, her jaws set, eyes sparkling, her slender hands grasping the
+rough timber, undaunted and resolute.
+
+"Keep under cover----" he shouted, as another timber came across.
+
+This one was better cast and lodged squarely upon the stone lintel. They
+both shoved at its end, but a man's weight already upon it made their
+task difficult.
+
+"It is on my side. Push, Marishka!"
+
+He aimed his automatic past the edge of the gatepost and shot the
+man--an Austrian soldier--just as he sprang for the landing. He fell
+upon the stone, hung to the timber a moment, and fell. Renwick sprang
+further out and emptied his clip at the next man, who gave a cry and
+dropped. Renwick felt a stinging blow on his left arm, but before
+another man began to cross Marishka managed to shove the timber clear
+and it fell into the abyss below.
+
+They were safe for the moment. He looked at Marishka in the gathering
+light. She was pale as death, but she did not show fear.
+
+"All right?" he asked anxiously.
+
+"Yes--yes," she gasped, "and you?"
+
+"Never better."
+
+His arm burned like a live coal, but the madness of battle was in his
+blood and he did not care--so long as Marishka did not know of his
+injury. The firing had ceased for the moment, as he crawled up and
+peered through the loophole.
+
+"We've beaten them, Marishka," he cried triumphantly. "They've gone
+back--I see no timbers. They're doing something. I can see quite plainly
+now--fastening a handkerchief to the muzzle of a rifle." And as she rose
+to look, "Don't expose yourself. It may be a trick. For God's sake keep
+down."
+
+He picked up the magazine rifle beside him and thrust it through the
+loophole, covering the two men who were advancing to the brink of the
+abyss. In the pale light he marked the figure of Windt quite clearly.
+The other man wore the uniform of an officer of Austrian infantry. And
+now he heard the voice of the officer raised in parley.
+
+"Schloss Szolnok--a truce!"
+
+For reply Renwick thrust the muzzle of his rifle further through the
+loophole.
+
+"In the name of the Emperor of Austria, I command you to deliver Herr
+Hauptmann Leo Goritz."
+
+Renwick laughed madly.
+
+"I regret that that is impossible."
+
+"I beg that you will listen to reason. Austrian troops are all about
+you. You cannot resist by daylight. If you will deliver the person of
+Herr Hauptmann Goritz and Countess Strahni, we will leave you in peace."
+
+Renwick paused. Far below in the valley to his right, a new sound broke
+the stillness of the early morning--rifle-fire close at hand, rapid
+volleys, and then a scattering of shots which echoed with a new
+significance up the mountain side. He peered through one of the
+crenelations of the rampart beside him and could just see through the
+morning mists the moving mass of rushing men,--horses--guns in mad
+confusion.
+
+"Well, what is your reply?" came the voice of the Austrian officer.
+
+Renwick laughed again.
+
+"Why should you leave us in peace if you can take the drawbridge?" he
+shouted.
+
+"Hauptmann Goritz is wanted on the charge of murder. I give you this
+chance. Will you take it?"
+
+"I regret that it is impossible," replied Renwick.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because Herr Hauptmann Goritz is dead."
+
+"Dead? What assurances can I have that this is the truth?"
+
+"You have only to look at the foot of the cliff below."
+
+The two men consulted for a moment and then Herr Windt's voice was
+heard. "Is Countess Strahni there?"
+
+"Yes--and quite safe."
+
+"And who are you?"
+
+"My name is Hugh Renwick, Herr Windt----"
+
+"Renwick--the Englishman----" he heard him gasp.
+
+"Precisely. And if you're going to take this gate, you'd better be in a
+hurry about it--for the Russians are approaching."
+
+"Then you refuse?"
+
+"Positively."
+
+The Austrian officer saluted, and the two men marched up the causeway.
+Marishka, on the other side of the gate, had started up and was
+regarding him anxiously.
+
+"What you say, Hugh--it can't be that----"
+
+"It's true, dear," he almost shouted. "The Russians. They're coming
+below there in the valley. I have just seen. The Austrians are in full
+retreat. The army has been retreating all night, and we thought there
+were reenforcements. If we can hold out a short while longer, we will be
+safe. Are you frightened?"
+
+"No. Will they come again, you think?"
+
+"Yes. They'll hardly give up so easily. But keep down, Marishka,
+further--in the corner. You can see as well. Ah! I wasn't mistaken. Here
+they come!"
+
+Into the squad of Austrian soldiers advancing Renwick emptied the
+magazine of his repeating rifle, and took up the other. Two men fell and
+the remainder paused, only to be brought on by the Austrian officer who
+led them, sword in hand. Renwick could have shot him easily, but he held
+his fire and as the mass of men came on he saw them raise their rifles
+to their shoulders.
+
+"Keep down!" he shouted to Marishka, "they're going to----"
+
+Dust and mortar flew from the ancient gate and behind in the castle,
+windows crashed.
+
+"You are safe?" he shouted.
+
+"Yes," her voice replied.
+
+"Now watch the gateway."
+
+A plank came over, but profiting by their earlier experience, they
+shoved it off before it came to rest. Another, a longer one, and
+another, both of which found lodgment squarely between the gate posts.
+Renwick sprang to the loophole; but the volley that followed spattered
+harmlessly around him.
+
+He was a good shot with a rifle, and aimed deliberately, dropping the
+first man that put his foot on the hazardous bridge. Gasping with her
+exertions Marishka pushed the shorter timber over, but the longer one
+jammed hopelessly against the gate post.
+
+"Hugh," she cried, "we are lost."
+
+But a strange thing happened then. For as the second man approached the
+bridge and had even put one foot upon it, a shrill call rang out at the
+other end of the causeway.
+
+"The retreat!" the officer shouted. "To the rear----"
+
+The look of relief upon the face of the brave fellow who was venturing
+death upon the precarious timber was reflected in Renwick's own heart,
+for he spared the man who, with a startled glance over his shoulder,
+presently caught up with the rapidly vanishing Windt. Renwick rushed out
+and lifting the dangerous timber hurled it down into the gorge.
+
+Then he caught Marishka by the waist and lifted her.
+
+"We're safe, dear--they've gone----" he cried.
+
+She turned one look up at him and then, slowly closing her eyes, sank
+back helpless in his arms.
+
+"Marishka! It has been too much----"
+
+The blood flowed from a slight cut upon her cheek where she had been
+struck by a piece of flying stone, but he saw that it was not deep. He
+laid her gently upon the flagging, and ran to the Hall for water. There
+he found Ena, crouched in a corner, more dead than alive. But he
+commanded her to come and bring water and brandy, and she obeyed.
+
+Marishka had only fainted and the brandy soon restored her.
+
+"They've gone?" she asked of him.
+
+"Yes, dear. We're quite safe. Listen. The Russians are driving them down
+the valley."
+
+He washed the wound in her cheek tenderly.
+
+"It will not scar you, Marishka," he smiled. "But if it does--an
+honorable scar such as no woman of Austria wears."
+
+She touched it with her fingers and smiled.
+
+"I did not even know----"
+
+And then she saw the blood at his shoulder.
+
+"You're hurt?"
+
+"Only a scratch. It's nothing."
+
+But weak as she was she tore away the sleeve of his shirt, and made him
+bathe and bind it with linen from her skirt.
+
+"Will the Russians come here, you think?" she asked.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"If they don't come to us," he said soberly, "we will go to them."
+
+She smiled.
+
+"'And your people shall be my people ... '" she murmured softly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Galenski, Colonel of Russian cavalry, sat on his horse on a slight
+eminence beside the road which descended from Dukla Pass into the valley
+beyond, watching through a pair of field glasses the ramparts of an
+ancient castle perched upon a crag.
+
+Beside him his regiment streamed down the hill at a hand gallop, its
+gray coats flapping, as it spread out fanwise in the meadow below, its
+lances lightly poised in pursuit of the fleeing Austrians. As a company
+captain passed he called out a name, and the officer, with a word to his
+lieutenant, galloped up and saluted.
+
+"Is not that Schloss Szolnok, Captain Kotchukoff?"
+
+"Yes, sir. You remember--the affair of Baron Neudeck."
+
+"Of course. I have been watching it, as we came down the road. Fighting
+has been going on there for an hour or more."
+
+"Fighting?"
+
+"Yes. I don't understand. The Austrians were attacking it. I am certain
+for I clearly made out the kepi of the infantry."
+
+"That is strange."
+
+"Is it possible that some of our advance posts could have occupied it?"
+
+"I should say that that was impossible."
+
+"We must investigate. Detach your company from the command and bring
+your men up the road yonder. I will join you."
+
+Captain Kotchukoff saluted, wheeled his horse and galloped at full speed
+down the road into the meadow, while Colonel Galenski trotted slowly
+down the hill until he found a ford in the stream, and then slowly rode
+up the hill beyond.
+
+"It is very strange," he muttered.
+
+As he reached the road above, the company of Captain Kotchukoff came
+riding up, but he gave the command to walk their horses, and slowly,
+Colonel and Captain riding in front, they approached the end of the long
+causeway which led to the castle. That he had not been mistaken in his
+observations was clearly to be seen, for several men lay either dead or
+severely wounded in the middle of the walled road. As they neared the
+drawbridge three more prostrate figures were seen, one of them hanging
+almost on the lip of the abyss.
+
+The drawbridge was raised and beyond the gate another form lay beyond
+the threshold. But as yet he saw no sign of life. Colonel Galenski
+reined in his horse sharply, raised his hand, and behind him his captain
+shouted the loud order to halt.
+
+At the sound a man suddenly appeared in the gate, and beside him a very
+beautiful young woman. Colonel Galenski was a good officer, but the
+fact, though of no military importance, was quite clearly to be noted--a
+very beautiful woman. The man beside the girl was tall, and bore himself
+well. But he was covered with grime and dust and his clothing was torn
+and streaked with blood. One sleeve of his shirt was missing, and his
+bare arm was bandaged just below the arm-pit with a bloodstained cloth.
+And as he looked, the man smiled and saluted.
+
+Colonel Galenski returned the salute, and spoke in German.
+
+"You will lower the drawbridge if you please. I wish to enter."
+
+The man disappeared for a moment, the girl beside him, and presently,
+with a loud clatter of rusty chains which made necessary some excellent
+feats of horsemanship by the men of the company behind him, the
+drawbridge crashed down, and Colonel Galenski rode forward through the
+gate, followed by the company of horsemen, who wheeled by fours into
+line and halted in the courtyard.
+
+Colonel Galenski dismounted, neglecting no detail of the signs of
+combat, the bullet-scarred flagging, the broken rock, the timbers, the
+two figures lying in the shadow of the wall of the gate.
+
+"From below, with my glasses, I saw the Austrians attacking your
+drawbridge," he said. "There were many of them along the road. Your men
+have well defended the position. Where are they?"
+
+The tall man smiled and took the beautiful young woman by the hand.
+
+"I beg to present you to my garrison," he said with a laugh. "Countess
+Marishka Strahni--and--er----?"
+
+"Colonel Galenski of the Fifth Regiment--horse," said the Colonel with a
+bow. "And you, sir--who are you?"
+
+The tall man extended a grimy hand to the immaculate Russian.
+
+"I will tell you that, sir, if"--and he laughed--"if you'll give me a
+cigarette."
+
+
+
+
+IN REGARD TO THE EVIDENCE IN THE CASE
+
+
+If the reader of this book is not inclined to accept the _prima-facie_
+evidence as presented in the newspapers from official sources with
+regard to the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, the
+Duchess of Hohenberg, he is referred by the publishers to the very
+interesting article by Mr. Henry Wickham Steed called "The Pact of
+Konopisht," printed in the _Nineteenth Century_ for February, 1916. Mr.
+Steed, as is well known, was for twenty years the correspondent in
+Vienna of the _London Times_, and is also the author of the latest and
+presumably the most authoritative work in English on the
+Austro-Hungarian government and the House of Habsburg.
+
+The facts presented in that article beginning with the open breach
+between Franz Joseph and the Archduke on his marriage to Sophie Chotek;
+the _entente_ between Kaiser and Archduke at Eckartzau and Potsdam; the
+seizure of the Archduke's papers by the Austrian government after the
+assassination; the instructions to the Sarajevo police from the military
+authorities of Austria-Hungary to make no special arrangements for the
+Archduke's protection; the fact that no evidence has ever been adduced
+proving the complicity of the Serbian government; the funeral of the
+Archduke and Duchess, at which no wreaths were sent by Emperor Franz
+Joseph, by the Archduke's sister, or any member of the Austro-Hungarian
+Imperial Family; the inadequacy of the formal arrangements for burial
+and the obvious intention of the Court authorities to pay as little
+honor as possible to the dead; the exclamation of the Kaiser, during
+Kiel week when the news of the assassination was brought to him, "Now I
+must begin all over again":--these facts must be considered as
+circumstantial evidence of the most positive sort that the relations
+between Archduke and Kaiser had been looked on with disfavor and
+suspicion by the Imperial Family of Austria. What actually happened at
+Konopisht of course will never be known, but there is strong presumptive
+evidence that a pact of the character suggested in this story was made
+in the rose garden of the castle and that Von Tirpitz was a witness to
+it.
+
+Whatever the police records show with regard to Cabrinovitz and Prinzep,
+the former, who threw the bomb, the latter who did the killing, no
+successful effort has been made to show that they were employed by the
+Serbian government, nor is it probable that Serbia would have promoted a
+plot which would give Austria Hungary a pretext for assailing her, a
+pretext that Austria Hungary had already sought. The story of the
+beginnings of the Great War has shown how she found it.
+
+     In the light of the ascertained facts concerning the production of
+     anti-Serbian forgeries employed by Austria during the annexation
+     crises of 1908-9, and exposed during the Friedjung trial of
+     December, 1909, it certainly would not be beyond the power of
+     Austro-Hungarian Secret Service agents to cook up a plot at
+     Belgrade or Sarajevo, were it considered desirable, for reasons of
+     Imperial policy, either to "remove" obnoxious personages or to
+     provide a pretext for war.
+
+The dream of an empire from Hamburg to Saloniki is as yet a dream, but
+that it was dreamed in Potsdam no one doubts.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Books by George Gibbs
+
+    The Secret Witness
+    Paradise Garden
+    The Yellow Dove
+    The Flaming Sword
+    Madcap
+    The Silent Battle
+    The Forbidden Way
+    The Bolted Door
+    Tony's Wife
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Secret Witness, by George Gibbs
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRET WITNESS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25689.txt or 25689.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/6/8/25689/
+
+Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+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.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.