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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced from the 1909 Rider and Co. edition by +David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE SHROUD + +by Bram Stoker + + + + +FROM "THE JOURNAL OF OCCULTISM" +MID-JANUARY, 1907. + + + +A strange story comes from the Adriatic. It appears that on the +night of the 9th, as the Italia Steamship Company's vessel +"Victorine" was passing a little before midnight the point known as +"the Spear of Ivan," on the coast of the Blue Mountains, the +attention of the Captain, then on the bridge, was called by the look- +out man to a tiny floating light close inshore. It is the custom of +some South-going ships to run close to the Spear of Ivan in fine +weather, as the water is deep, and there is no settled current; also +there are no outlying rocks. Indeed, some years ago the local +steamers had become accustomed to hug the shore here so closely that +an intimation was sent from Lloyd's that any mischance under the +circumstances would not be included in ordinary sea risks. Captain +Mirolani is one of those who insist on a wholesome distance from the +promontory being kept; but on his attention having been called to the +circumstance reported, he thought it well to investigate it, as it +might be some case of personal distress. Accordingly, he had the +engines slowed down, and edged cautiously in towards shore. He was +joined on the bridge by two of his officers, Signori Falamano and +Destilia, and by one passenger on board, Mr. Peter Caulfield, whose +reports of Spiritual Phenomena in remote places are well known to the +readers of "The Journal of Occultism." The following account of the +strange occurrence written by him, and attested by the signatures of +Captain Mirolani and the other gentleman named, has been sent to us. + +" . . . It was eleven minutes before twelve midnight on Saturday, the +9th day of January, 1907, when I saw the strange sight off the +headland known as the Spear of Ivan on the coast of the Land of the +Blue Mountains. It was a fine night, and I stood right on the bows +of the ship, where there was nothing to obstruct my view. We were +some distance from the Spear of Ivan, passing from northern to +southern point of the wide bay into which it projects. Captain +Mirolani, the Master, is a very careful seaman, and gives on his +journeys a wide berth to the bay which is tabooed by Lloyd's. But +when he saw in the moonlight, though far off, a tiny white figure of +a woman drifting on some strange current in a small boat, on the prow +of which rested a faint light (to me it looked like a corpse- +candle!), he thought it might be some person in distress, and began +to cautiously edge towards it. Two of his officers were with him on +the bridge--Signori Falamano and Destilia. All these three, as well +as myself, saw It. The rest of the crew and passengers were below. +As we got close the true inwardness of It became apparent to me; but +the mariners did not seem to realize till the very last. This is, +after all, not strange, for none of them had either knowledge or +experience in Occult matters, whereas for over thirty years I have +made a special study of this subject, and have gone to and fro over +the earth investigating to the nth all records of Spiritual +Phenomena. As I could see from their movements that the officers did +not comprehend that which was so apparent to myself, I took care not +to enlighten them, lest such should result in the changing of the +vessel's course before I should be near enough to make accurate +observation. All turned out as I wished--at least, nearly so--as +shall be seen. Being in the bow, I had, of course, a better view +than from the bridge. Presently I made out that the boat, which had +all along seemed to be of a queer shape, was none other than a +Coffin, and that the woman standing up in it was clothed in a shroud. +Her back was towards us, and she had evidently not heard our +approach. As we were creeping along slowly, the engines were almost +noiseless, and there was hardly a ripple as our fore-foot cut the +dark water. Suddenly there was a wild cry from the bridge--Italians +are certainly very excitable; hoarse commands were given to the +Quartermaster at the wheel; the engine-room bell clanged. On the +instant, as it seemed, the ship's head began to swing round to +starboard; full steam ahead was in action, and before one could +understand, the Apparition was fading in the distance. The last +thing I saw was the flash of a white face with dark, burning eyes as +the figure sank down into the coffin--just as mist or smoke +disappears under a breeze." + + + +BOOK I: THE WILL OF ROGER MELTON + + + +THE READING OF THE WILL OF ROGER MELTON AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED + +Record made by Ernest Roger Halbard Melton, law-student of the Inner +Temple, eldest son of Ernest Halbard Melton, eldest son of Ernest +Melton, elder brother of the said Roger Melton and his next of kin. + +I consider it at least useful--perhaps necessary--to have a complete +and accurate record of all pertaining to the Will of my late grand- +uncle Roger Melton. + +To which end let me put down the various members of his family, and +explain some of their occupations and idiosyncrasies. My father, +Ernest Halbard Melton, was the only son of Ernest Melton, eldest son +of Sir Geoffrey Halbard Melton of Humcroft, in the shire of Salop, a +Justice of the Peace, and at one time Sheriff. My great-grandfather, +Sir Geoffrey, had inherited a small estate from his father, Roger +Melton. In his time, by the way, the name was spelled Milton; but my +great-great-grandfather changed the spelling to the later form, as he +was a practical man not given to sentiment, and feared lest he should +in the public eye be confused with others belonging to the family of +a Radical person called Milton, who wrote poetry and was some sort of +official in the time of Cromwell, whilst we are Conservatives. The +same practical spirit which originated the change in the spelling of +the family name inclined him to go into business. So he became, +whilst still young, a tanner and leather-dresser. He utilized for +the purpose the ponds and streams, and also the oak-woods on his +estate--Torraby in Suffolk. He made a fine business, and accumulated +a considerable fortune, with a part of which he purchased the +Shropshire estate, which he entailed, and to which I am therefore +heir-apparent. + +Sir Geoffrey had, in addition to my grandfather, three sons and a +daughter, the latter being born twenty years after her youngest +brother. These sons were: Geoffrey, who died without issue, having +been killed in the Indian Mutiny at Meerut in 1857, at which he took +up a sword, though a civilian, to fight for his life; Roger (to whom +I shall refer presently); and John--the latter, like Geoffrey, dying +unmarried. Out of Sir Geoffrey's family of five, therefore, only +three have to be considered: My grandfather, who had three children, +two of whom, a son and a daughter, died young, leaving only my +father, Roger and Patience. Patience, who was born in 1858, married +an Irishman of the name of Sellenger--which was the usual way of +pronouncing the name of St. Leger, or, as they spelled it, Sent +Leger--restored by later generations to the still older form. He was +a reckless, dare-devil sort of fellow, then a Captain in the Lancers, +a man not without the quality of bravery--he won the Victoria Cross +at the Battle of Amoaful in the Ashantee Campaign. But I fear he +lacked the seriousness and steadfast strenuous purpose which my +father always says marks the character of our own family. He ran +through nearly all of his patrimony--never a very large one; and had +it not been for my grand-aunt's little fortune, his days, had he +lived, must have ended in comparative poverty. Comparative, not +actual; for the Meltons, who are persons of considerable pride, would +not have tolerated a poverty-stricken branch of the family. We don't +think much of that lot--any of us. + +Fortunately, my great-aunt Patience had only one child, and the +premature decease of Captain St. Leger (as I prefer to call the name) +did not allow of the possibility of her having more. She did not +marry again, though my grandmother tried several times to arrange an +alliance for her. She was, I am told, always a stiff, uppish person, +who would not yield herself to the wisdom of her superiors. Her own +child was a son, who seemed to take his character rather from his +father's family than from my own. He was a wastrel and a rolling +stone, always in scrapes at school, and always wanting to do +ridiculous things. My father, as Head of the House and his own +senior by eighteen years, tried often to admonish him; but his +perversity of spirit and his truculence were such that he had to +desist. Indeed, I have heard my father say that he sometimes +threatened his life. A desperate character he was, and almost devoid +of reverence. No one, not even my father, had any influence--good +influence, of course, I mean--over him, except his mother, who was of +my family; and also a woman who lived with her--a sort of governess-- +aunt, he called her. The way of it was this: Captain St. Leger had +a younger brother, who made an improvident marriage with a Scotch +girl when they were both very young. They had nothing to live on +except what the reckless Lancer gave them, for he had next to nothing +himself, and she was "bare"--which is, I understand, the indelicate +Scottish way of expressing lack of fortune. She was, however, I +understand, of an old and somewhat good family, though broken in +fortune--to use an expression which, however, could hardly be used +precisely in regard to a family or a person who never had fortune to +be broken in! It was so far well that the MacKelpies--that was the +maiden name of Mrs. St. Leger--were reputable--so far as fighting was +concerned. It would have been too humiliating to have allied to our +family, even on the distaff side, a family both poor and of no +account. Fighting alone does not make a family, I think. Soldiers +are not everything, though they think they are. We have had in our +family men who fought; but I never heard of any of them who fought +because they WANTED to. Mrs. St. Leger had a sister; fortunately +there were only those two children in the family, or else they would +all have had to be supported by the money of my family. + +Mr. St. Leger, who was only a subaltern, was killed at Maiwand; and +his wife was left a beggar. Fortunately, however, she died--her +sister spread a story that it was from the shock and grief--before +the child which she expected was born. This all happened when my +cousin--or, rather, my father's cousin, my first-cousin-once-removed, +to be accurate--was still a very small child. His mother then sent +for Miss MacKelpie, her brother-in-law's sister-in-law, to come and +live with her, which she did--beggars can't be choosers; and she +helped to bring up young St. Leger. + +I remember once my father giving me a sovereign for making a witty +remark about her. I was quite a boy then, not more than thirteen; +but our family were always clever from the very beginning of life, +and father was telling me about the St. Leger family. My family +hadn't, of course, seen anything of them since Captain St. Leger +died--the circle to which we belong don't care for poor relations-- +and was explaining where Miss MacKelpie came in. She must have been +a sort of nursery governess, for Mrs. St. Leger once told him that +she helped her to educate the child. + +"Then, father," I said, "if she helped to educate the child she ought +to have been called Miss MacSkelpie!" + +When my first-cousin-once-removed, Rupert, was twelve years old, his +mother died, and he was in the dolefuls about it for more than a +year. Miss MacKelpie kept on living with him all the same. Catch +her quitting! That sort don't go into the poor-house when they can +keep out! My father, being Head of the Family, was, of course, one +of the trustees, and his uncle Roger, brother of the testator, +another. The third was General MacKelpie, a poverty-stricken Scotch +laird who had a lot of valueless land at Croom, in Ross-shire. I +remember father gave me a new ten-pound note when I interrupted him +whilst he was telling me of the incident of young St. Leger's +improvidence by remarking that he was in error as to the land. From +what I had heard of MacKelpie's estate, it was productive of one +thing; when he asked me "What?" I answered "Mortgages!" Father, I +knew, had bought, not long before, a lot of them at what a college +friend of mine from Chicago used to call "cut-throat" price. When I +remonstrated with my father for buying them at all, and so injuring +the family estate which I was to inherit, he gave me an answer, the +astuteness of which I have never forgotten. + +"I did it so that I might keep my hand on the bold General, in case +he should ever prove troublesome. And if the worst should ever come +to the worst, Croom is a good country for grouse and stags!" My +father can see as far as most men! + +When my cousin--I shall call him cousin henceforth in this record, +lest it might seem to any unkind person who might hereafter read it +that I wished to taunt Rupert St. Leger with his somewhat obscure +position, in reiterating his real distance in kinship with my family- +-when my cousin, Rupert St. Leger, wished to commit a certain idiotic +act of financial folly, he approached my father on the subject, +arriving at our estate, Humcroft, at an inconvenient time, without +permission, not having had even the decent courtesy to say he was +coming. I was then a little chap of six years old, but I could not +help noticing his mean appearance. He was all dusty and dishevelled. +When my father saw him--I came into the study with him--he said in a +horrified voice: + +"Good God!" He was further shocked when the boy brusquely +acknowledged, in reply to my father's greeting, that he had travelled +third class. Of course, none of my family ever go anything but first +class; even the servants go second. My father was really angry when +he said he had walked up from the station. + +"A nice spectacle for my tenants and my tradesmen! To see my--my--a +kinsman of my house, howsoever remote, trudging like a tramp on the +road to my estate! Why, my avenue is two miles and a perch! No +wonder you are filthy and insolent!" Rupert--really, I cannot call +him cousin here--was exceedingly impertinent to my father. + +"I walked, sir, because I had no money; but I assure you I did not +mean to be insolent. I simply came here because I wished to ask your +advice and assistance, not because you are an important person, and +have a long avenue--as I know to my cost--but simply because you are +one of my trustees." + +"YOUR trustees, sirrah!" said my father, interrupting him. "Your +trustees?" + +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, quite quietly. "I meant the +trustees of my dear mother's will." + +"And what, may I ask you," said father, "do you want in the way of +advice from one of the trustees of your dear mother's will?" Rupert +got very red, and was going to say something rude--I knew it from his +look--but he stopped, and said in the same gentle way: + +"I want your advice, sir, as to the best way of doing something which +I wish to do, and, as I am under age, cannot do myself. It must be +done through the trustees of my mother's will." + +"And the assistance for which you wish?" said father, putting his +hand in his pocket. I know what that action means when I am talking +to him. + +"The assistance I want," said Rupert, getting redder than ever, "is +from my--the trustee also. To carry out what I want to do." + +"And what may that be?" asked my father. "I would like, sir, to make +over to my Aunt Janet--" My father interrupted him by asking--he had +evidently remembered my jest: + +"Miss MacSkelpie?" Rupert got still redder, and I turned away; I +didn't quite wish that he should see me laughing. He went on +quietly: + +"MACKELPIE, sir! Miss Janet MacKelpie, my aunt, who has always been +so kind to me, and whom my mother loved--I want to have made over to +her the money which my dear mother left to me." Father doubtless +wished to have the matter take a less serious turn, for Rupert's eyes +were all shiny with tears which had not fallen; so after a little +pause he said, with indignation, which I knew was simulated: + +"Have you forgotten your mother so soon, Rupert, that you wish to +give away the very last gift which she bestowed on you?" Rupert was +sitting, but he jumped up and stood opposite my father with his fist +clenched. He was quite pale now, and his eyes looked so fierce that +I thought he would do my father an injury. He spoke in a voice which +did not seem like his own, it was so strong and deep. + +"Sir!" he roared out. I suppose, if I was a writer, which, thank +God, I am not--I have no need to follow a menial occupation--I would +call it "thundered." "Thundered" is a longer word than "roared," and +would, of course, help to gain the penny which a writer gets for a +line. Father got pale too, and stood quite still. Rupert looked at +him steadily for quite half a minute--it seemed longer at the time-- +and suddenly smiled and said, as he sat down again: + +"Sorry. But, of course, you don't understand such things." Then he +went on talking before father had time to say a word. + +"Let us get back to business. As you do not seem to follow me, let +me explain that it is BECAUSE I do not forget that I wish to do this. +I remember my dear mother's wish to make Aunt Janet happy, and would +like to do as she did." + +"AUNT Janet?" said father, very properly sneering at his ignorance. +"She is not your aunt. Why, even her sister, who was married to your +uncle, was only your aunt by courtesy." I could not help feeling +that Rupert meant to be rude to my father, though his words were +quite polite. If I had been as much bigger than him as he was than +me, I should have flown at him; but he was a very big boy for his +age. I am myself rather thin. Mother says thinness is an "appanage +of birth." + +"My Aunt Janet, sir, is an aunt by love. Courtesy is a small word to +use in connection with such devotion as she has given to us. But I +needn't trouble you with such things, sir. I take it that my +relations on the side of my own house do not affect you. I am a Sent +Leger!" Father looked quite taken aback. He sat quite still before +he spoke. + +"Well, Mr. St. Leger, I shall think over the matter for a while, and +shall presently let you know my decision. In the meantime, would you +like something to eat? I take it that as you must have started very +early, you have not had any breakfast?" Rupert smiled quite +genially: + +"That is true, sir. I haven't broken bread since dinner last night, +and I am ravenously hungry." Father rang the bell, and told the +footman who answered it to send the housekeeper. When she came, +father said to her: + +"Mrs. Martindale, take this boy to your room and give him some +breakfast." Rupert stood very still for some seconds. His face had +got red again after his paleness. Then he bowed to my father, and +followed Mrs. Martindale, who had moved to the door. + +Nearly an hour afterwards my father sent a servant to tell him to +come to the study. My mother was there, too, and I had gone back +with her. The man came back and said: + +"Mrs. Martindale, sir, wishes to know, with her respectful service, +if she may have a word with you." Before father could reply mother +told him to bring her. The housekeeper could not have been far off-- +that kind are generally near a keyhole--for she came at once. When +she came in, she stood at the door curtseying and looking pale. +Father said: + +"Well?" + +"I thought, sir and ma'am, that I had better come and tell you about +Master Sent Leger. I would have come at once, but I feared to +disturb you." + +"Well?" Father had a stern way with servants. When I'm head of the +family I'll tread them under my feet. That's the way to get real +devotion from servants! + +"If you please, sir, I took the young gentleman into my room and +ordered a nice breakfast for him, for I could see he was half +famished--a growing boy like him, and so tall! Presently it came +along. It was a good breakfast, too! The very smell of it made even +me hungry. There were eggs and frizzled ham, and grilled kidneys, +and coffee, and buttered toast, and bloater-paste--" + +"That will do as to the menu," said mother. "Go on!" + +"When it was all ready, and the maid had gone, I put a chair to the +table and said, 'Now, sir, your breakfast is ready!' He stood up and +said, 'Thank you, madam; you are very kind!' and he bowed to me quite +nicely, just as if I was a lady, ma'am!" + +"Go on," said mother. + +"Then, sir, he held out his hand and said, 'Good-bye, and thank you,' +and he took up his cap. + +"'But aren't you going to have any breakfast, sir?' I says. + +"'No, thank you, madam,' he said; 'I couldn't eat here . . . in this +house, I mean!' Well, ma'am, he looked so lonely that I felt my +heart melting, and I ventured to ask him if there was any mortal +thing I could do for him. 'Do tell me, dear,' I ventured to say. 'I +am an old woman, and you, sir, are only a boy, though it's a fine man +you will be--like your dear, splendid father, which I remember so +well, and gentle like your poor dear mother.' + +"'You're a dear!' he says; and with that I took up his hand and +kissed it, for I remember his poor dear mother so well, that was dead +only a year. Well, with that he turned his head away, and when I +took him by the shoulders and turned him round--he is only a young +boy, ma'am, for all he is so big--I saw that the tears were rolling +down his cheeks. With that I laid his head on my breast--I've had +children of my own, ma'am, as you know, though they're all gone. He +came willing enough, and sobbed for a little bit. Then he +straightened himself up, and I stood respectfully beside him. + +"'Tell Mr. Melton,' he said, 'that I shall not trouble him about the +trustee business.' + +"'But won't you tell him yourself, sir, when you see him?' I says. + +"'I shall not see him again,' he says; 'I am going back now!' + +"Well, ma'am, I knew he'd had no breakfast, though he was hungry, and +that he would walk as he come, so I ventured to say: 'If you won't +take it a liberty, sir, may I do anything to make your going easier? +Have you sufficient money, sir? If not, may I give, or lend, you +some? I shall be very proud if you will allow me to.' + +"'Yes,' he says quite hearty. 'If you will, you might lend me a +shilling, as I have no money. I shall not forget it.' He said, as +he took the coin: 'I shall return the amount, though I never can the +kindness. I shall keep the coin.' He took the shilling, sir--he +wouldn't take any more--and then he said good-bye. At the door he +turned and walked back to me, and put his arms round me like a real +boy does, and gave me a hug, and says he: + +"'Thank you a thousand times, Mrs. Martindale, for your goodness to +me, for your sympathy, and for the way you have spoken of my father +and mother. You have seen me cry, Mrs. Martindale,' he said; 'I +don't often cry: the last time was when I came back to the lonely +house after my poor dear was laid to rest. But you nor any other +shall ever see a tear of mine again.' And with that he straightened +out his big back and held up his fine proud head, and walked out. I +saw him from the window striding down the avenue. My! but he is a +proud boy, sir--an honour to your family, sir, say I respectfully. +And there, the proud child has gone away hungry, and he won't, I +know, ever use that shilling to buy food!" + +Father was not going to have that, you know, so he said to her: + +"He does not belong to my family, I would have you to know. True, he +is allied to us through the female side; but we do not count him or +his in my family." He turned away and began to read a book. It was +a decided snub to her. + +But mother had a word to say before Mrs. Martindale was done with. +Mother has a pride of her own, and doesn't brook insolence from +inferiors; and the housekeeper's conduct seemed to be rather +presuming. Mother, of course, isn't quite our class, though her folk +are quite worthy and enormously rich. She is one of the +Dalmallingtons, the salt people, one of whom got a peerage when the +Conservatives went out. She said to the housekeeper: + +"I think, Mrs. Martindale, that I shall not require your services +after this day month! And as I don't keep servants in my employment +when I dismiss them, here is your month's wages due on the 25th of +this month, and another month in lieu of notice. Sign this receipt." +She was writing a receipt as she spoke. The other signed it without +a word, and handed it to her. She seemed quite flabbergasted. +Mother got up and sailed--that is the way that mother moves when she +is in a wax--out of the room. + +Lest I should forget it, let me say here that the dismissed +housekeeper was engaged the very next day by the Countess of Salop. +I may say in explanation that the Earl of Salop, K.G., who is Lord- +Lieutenant of the County, is jealous of father's position and his +growing influence. Father is going to contest the next election on +the Conservative side, and is sure to be made a Baronet before long. + + +Letter from Major-General Sir Colin Alexander MacKelpie, V.C., +K.C.B., of Croom, Ross, N.B., to Rupert Sent Leger, Esq., 14, Newland +Park, Dulwich, London, S.E. +July 4, 1892. + +MY DEAR GODSON, + +I am truly sorry I am unable to agree with your request that I should +acquiesce in your desire to transfer to Miss Janet MacKelpie the +property bequeathed to you by your mother, of which property I am a +trustee. Let me say at once that, had it been possible to me to do +so, I should have held it a privilege to further such a wish--not +because the beneficiare whom you would create is a near kinswoman of +my own. That, in truth, is my real difficulty. I have undertaken a +trust made by an honourable lady on behalf of her only son--son of a +man of stainless honour, and a dear friend of my own, and whose son +has a rich heritage of honour from both parents, and who will, I am +sure, like to look back on his whole life as worthy of his parents, +and of those whom his parents trusted. You will see, I am sure, that +whatsoever I might grant regarding anyone else, my hands are tied in +this matter. + +And now let me say, my dear boy, that your letter has given me the +most intense pleasure. It is an unspeakable delight to me to find in +the son of your father--a man whom I loved, and a boy whom I love-- +the same generosity of spirit which endeared your father to all his +comrades, old as well as young. Come what may, I shall always be +proud of you; and if the sword of an old soldier--it is all I have-- +can ever serve you in any way, it and its master's life are, and +shall be, whilst life remains to him, yours. + +It grieves me to think that Janet cannot, through my act, be given +that ease and tranquillity of spirit which come from competence. +But, my dear Rupert, you will be of full age in seven years more. +Then, if you are in the same mind--and I am sure you will not change- +-you, being your own master, can do freely as you will. In the +meantime, to secure, so far as I can, my dear Janet against any +malign stroke of fortune, I have given orders to my factor to remit +semi-annually to Janet one full half of such income as may be derived +in any form from my estate of Croom. It is, I am sorry to say, +heavily mortgaged; but of such as is--or may be, free from such +charge as the mortgage entails--something at least will, I trust, +remain to her. And, my dear boy, I can frankly say that it is to me +a real pleasure that you and I can be linked in one more bond in this +association of purpose. I have always held you in my heart as though +you were my own son. Let me tell you now that you have acted as I +should have liked a son of my own, had I been blessed with one, to +have acted. God bless you, my dear. + +Yours ever, +COLIN ALEX. MACKELPIE. + + +Letter from Roger Melton, of Openshaw Grange, to Rupert Sent Leger, +Esq., 14, Newland Park, Dulwich, London, S.E. +July 1, 1892. + +MY DEAR NEPHEW, + +Your letter of the 30th ult. received. Have carefully considered +matter stated, and have come to the conclusion that my duty as a +trustee would not allow me to give full consent, as you wish. Let me +explain. The testator, in making her will, intended that such +fortune as she had at disposal should be used to supply to you her +son such benefits as its annual product should procure. To this end, +and to provide against wastefulness or foolishness on your part, or, +indeed, against any generosity, howsoever worthy, which might +impoverish you and so defeat her benevolent intentions regarding your +education, comfort, and future good, she did not place the estate +directly in your hands, leaving you to do as you might feel inclined +about it. But, on the contrary, she entrusted the corpus of it in +the hands of men whom she believed should be resolute enough and +strong enough to carry out her intent, even against any cajolements +or pressure which might be employed to the contrary. It being her +intention, then, that such trustees as she appointed would use for +your benefit the interest accruing annually from the capital at +command, AND THAT ONLY (as specifically directed in the will), so +that on your arriving at full age the capital entrusted to us should +be handed over to you intact, I find a hard-and-fast duty in the +matter of adhering exactly to the directions given. I have no doubt +that my co-trustees regard the matter in exactly the same light. +Under the circumstances, therefore, we, the trustees, have not only a +single and united duty towards you as the object of the testator's +wishes, but towards each other as regards the manner of the carrying +out of that duty. I take it, therefore, that it would not be +consonant with the spirit of the trust or of our own ideas in +accepting it that any of us should take a course pleasant to himself +which would or might involve a stern opposition on the part of other +of the co-trustees. We have each of us to do the unpleasant part of +this duty without fear or favour. You understand, of course, that +the time which must elapse before you come into absolute possession +of your estate is a limited one. As by the terms of the will we are +to hand over our trust when you have reached the age of twenty-one, +there are only seven years to expire. But till then, though I should +gladly meet your wishes if I could, I must adhere to the duty which I +have undertaken. At the expiration of that period you will be quite +free to divest yourself of your estate without protest or comment of +any man. + +Having now expressed as clearly as I can the limitations by which I +am bound with regard to the corpus of your estate, let me say that in +any other way which is in my power or discretion I shall be most +happy to see your wishes carried out so far as rests with me. +Indeed, I shall undertake to use what influence I may possess with my +co-trustees to induce them to take a similar view of your wishes. In +my own thinking you are quite free to use your own property in your +own way. But as, until you shall have attained your majority, you +have only life-user in your mother's bequest, you are only at liberty +to deal with the annual increment. On our part as trustees we have a +first charge on that increment to be used for purposes of your +maintenance, clothes, and education. As to what may remain over each +half-year, you will be free to deal with it as you choose. On +receiving from you a written authorization to your trustees, if you +desire the whole sum or any part of it to be paid over to Miss Janet +MacKelpie, I shall see that it is effected. Believe me, that our +duty is to protect the corpus of the estate, and to this end we may +not act on any instruction to imperil it. But there our warranty +stops. We can deal during our trusteeship with the corpus only. +Further, lest there should arise any error on your part, we can deal +with any general instruction for only so long as it may remain +unrevoked. You are, and must be, free to alter your instructions or +authorizations at any time. Thus your latest document must be used +for our guidance. + +As to the general principle involved in your wish I make no comment. +You are at liberty to deal with your own how you will. I quite +understand that your impulse is a generous one, and I fully believe +that it is in consonance with what had always been the wishes of my +sister. Had she been happily alive and had to give judgment of your +intent, I am convinced that she would have approved. Therefore, my +dear nephew, should you so wish, I shall be happy for her sake as +well as your own to pay over on your account (as a confidential +matter between you and me), but from my own pocket, a sum equal to +that which you wish transferred to Miss Janet MacKelpie. On hearing +from you I shall know how to act in the matter. With all good +wishes, + +Believe me to be, + +Your affectionate uncle, +ROGER MELTON. + + +TO RUPERT SENT LEGER, ESQ. +Letter from Rupert Sent Leger to Roger Melton, +July 5, 1892. + +MY DEAR UNCLE, + +Thank you heartily for your kind letter. I quite understand, and now +see that I should not have asked you as a trustee, such a thing. I +see your duty clearly, and agree with your view of it. I enclose a +letter directed to my trustees, asking them to pay over annually till +further direction to Miss Janet MacKelpie at this address whatever +sum may remain over from the interest of my mother's bequest after +deduction of such expenses as you may deem fit for my maintenance, +clothing, and education, together with a sum of one pound sterling +per month, which was the amount my dear mother always gave me for my +personal use--"pocket-money," she called it. + +With regard to your most kind and generous offer to give to my dear +Aunt Janet the sum which I would have given myself, had such been in +my power, I thank you most truly and sincerely, both for my dear aunt +(to whom, of course, I shall not mention the matter unless you +specially authorize me) and myself. But, indeed, I think it will be +better not to offer it. Aunt Janet is very proud, and would not +accept any benefit. With me, of course, it is different, for since I +was a wee child she has been like another mother to me, and I love +her very much. Since my mother died--and she, of course, was all-in- +all to me--there has been no other. And in such a love as ours pride +has no place. Thank you again, dear uncle, and God bless you. + +Your loving nephew, +RUPERT SENT LEGER. + + +ERNEST ROGER HALBARD MELTON'S RECORD--Continued, + +And now re the remaining one of Sir Geoffrey's children, Roger. He +was the third child and third son, the only daughter, Patience, +having been born twenty years after the last of the four sons. +Concerning Roger, I shall put down all I have heard of him from my +father and grandfather. From my grand-aunt I heard nothing, I was a +very small kid when she died; but I remember seeing her, but only +once. A very tall, handsome woman of a little over thirty, with very +dark hair and light-coloured eyes. I think they were either grey or +blue, but I can't remember which. She looked very proud and haughty, +but I am bound to say that she was very nice to me. I remember +feeling very jealous of Rupert because his mother looked so +distinguished. Rupert was eight years older than me, and I was +afraid he would beat me if I said anything he did not like. So I was +silent except when I forgot to be, and Rupert said very unkindly, and +I think very unfairly, that I was "A sulky little beast." I haven't +forgot that, and I don't mean to. However, it doesn't matter much +what he said or thought. There he is--if he is at all--where no one +can find him, with no money or nothing, for what little he had he +settled when he came of age, on the MacSkelpie. He wanted to give it +to her when his mother died, but father, who was a trustee, refused; +and Uncle Roger, as I call him, who is another, thought the trustees +had no power to allow Rupert to throw away his matrimony, as I called +it, making a joke to father when he called it patrimony. Old Sir +Colin MacSkelpie, who is the third, said he couldn't take any part in +such a permission, as the MacSkelpie was his niece. He is a rude old +man, that. I remember when, not remembering his relationship, I +spoke of the MacSkelpie, he caught me a clip on the ear that sent me +across the room. His Scotch is very broad. I can hear him say, "Hae +some attempt at even Soothern manners, and dinna misca' yer betters, +ye young puddock, or I'll wring yer snoot!" Father was, I could see, +very much offended, but he didn't say anything. He remembered, I +think, that the General is a V.C. man, and was fond of fighting +duels. But to show that the fault was not his, HE wrung MY ear--and +the same ear too! I suppose he thought that was justice! But it's +only right to say that he made up for it afterwards. When the +General had gone he gave me a five-pound note. + +I don't think Uncle Roger was very pleased with the way Rupert +behaved about the legacy, for I don't think he ever saw him from that +day to this. Perhaps, of course, it was because Rupert ran away +shortly afterwards; but I shall tell about that when I come to him. +After all, why should my uncle bother about him? He is not a Melton +at all, and I am to be Head of the House--of course, when the Lord +thinks right to take father to Himself! Uncle Roger has tons of +money, and he never married, so if he wants to leave it in the right +direction he needn't have any trouble. He made his money in what he +calls "the Eastern Trade." This, so far as I can gather, takes in +the Levant and all east of it. I know he has what they call in trade +"houses" in all sorts of places--Turkey, and Greece, and all round +them, Morocco, Egypt, and Southern Russia, and the Holy Land; then on +to Persia, India, and all round it; the Chersonese, China, Japan, and +the Pacific Islands. It is not to be expected that we landowners can +know much about trade, but my uncle covers--or alas! I must say +"covered"--a lot of ground, I can tell you. Uncle Roger was a very +grim sort of man, and only that I was brought up to try and be kind +to him I shouldn't ever have dared to speak to him. But when was a +child father and mother--especially mother--forced me to go and see +him and be affectionate to him. He wasn't ever even civil to me, +that I can remember--grumpy old bear! But, then, he never saw Rupert +at all, so that I take it Master R- is out of the running altogether +for testamentary honours. The last time I saw him myself he was +distinctly rude. He treated me as a boy, though I was getting on for +eighteen years of age. I came into his office without knocking; and +without looking up from his desk, where he was writing, he said: +"Get out! Why do you venture to disturb me when I'm busy? Get out, +and be damned to you!" I waited where I was, ready to transfix him +with my eye when he should look up, for I cannot forget that when my +father dies I shall be Head of my House. But when he did there was +no transfixing possible. He said quite coolly: + +"Oh, it's you, is it? I thought it was one of my office boys. Sit +down, if you want to see me, and wait till I am ready." So I sat +down and waited. Father always said that I should try to conciliate +and please my uncle. Father is a very shrewd man, and Uncle Roger is +a very rich one. + +But I don't think Uncle R- is as shrewd as he thinks he is. He +sometimes makes awful mistakes in business. For instance, some years +ago he bought an enormous estate on the Adriatic, in the country they +call the "Land of Blue Mountains." At least, he says he bought it. +He told father so in confidence. But he didn't show any title-deeds, +and I'm greatly afraid he was "had." A bad job for me that he was, +for father believes he paid an enormous sum for it, and as I am his +natural heir, it reduces his available estate to so much less. + +And now about Rupert. As I have said, he ran away when he was about +fourteen, and we did not hear about him for years. When we--or, +rather, my father--did hear of him, it was no good that he heard. He +had gone as a cabin-boy on a sailing ship round the Horn. Then he +joined an exploring party through the centre of Patagonia, and then +another up in Alaska, and a third to the Aleutian Islands. After +that he went through Central America, and then to Western Africa, the +Pacific Islands, India, and a lot of places. We all know the wisdom +of the adage that "A rolling stone gathers no moss"; and certainly, +if there be any value in moss, Cousin Rupert will die a poor man. +Indeed, nothing will stand his idiotic, boastful wastefulness. Look +at the way in which, when he came of age, he made over all his +mother's little fortune to the MacSkelpie! I am sure that, though +Uncle Roger made no comment to my father, who, as Head of our House, +should, of course, have been informed, he was not pleased. My +mother, who has a good fortune in her own right, and has had the +sense to keep it in her own control--as I am to inherit it, and it is +not in the entail, I am therefore quite impartial--I can approve of +her spirited conduct in the matter. We never did think much of +Rupert, anyhow; but now, since he is in the way to be a pauper, and +therefore a dangerous nuisance, we look on him as quite an outsider. +We know what he really is. For my own part, I loathe and despise +him. Just now we are irritated with him, for we are all kept on +tenterhooks regarding my dear Uncle Roger's Will. For Mr. Trent, the +attorney who regulated my dear uncle's affairs and has possession of +the Will, says it is necessary to know where every possible +beneficiary is to be found before making the Will public, so we all +have to wait. It is especially hard on me, who am the natural heir. +It is very thoughtless indeed of Rupert to keep away like that. I +wrote to old MacSkelpie about it, but he didn't seem to understand or +to be at all anxious--he is not the heir! He said that probably +Rupert Sent Leger--he, too, keeps to the old spelling--did not know +of his uncle's death, or he would have taken steps to relieve our +anxiety. Our anxiety, forsooth! We are not anxious; we only wish to +KNOW. And if we--and especially me--who have all the annoyance of +thinking of the detestable and unfair death-duties, are anxious, we +should be so. Well, anyhow, he'll get a properly bitter +disappointment and set down when he does turn up and discovers that +he is a pauper without hope! + + +To-day we (father and I) had letters from Mr. Trent, telling us that +the whereabouts of "Mr. Rupert Sent Leger" had been discovered, and +that a letter disclosing the fact of poor Uncle Roger's death had +been sent to him. He was at Titicaca when last heard of. So +goodness only knows when he may get the letter, which "asks him to +come home at once, but only gives to him such information about the +Will as has already been given to every member of the testator's +family." And that is nil. I dare say we shall be kept waiting for +months before we get hold of the estate which is ours. It is too +bad! + + +Letter from Edward Bingham Trent to Ernest Roger Halbard Melton. +176, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, +December 28, 1906. + +DEAR SIR, + +I am glad to be able to inform you that I have just heard by letter +from Mr. Rupert St. Leger that he intended leaving Rio de Janeiro by +the S.S. Amazon, of the Royal Mail Company, on December 15. He +further stated that he would cable just before leaving Rio de +Janeiro, to say on what day the ship was expected to arrive in +London. As all the others possibly interested in the Will of the +late Roger Melton, and whose names are given to me in his +instructions regarding the reading of the Will, have been advised, +and have expressed their intention of being present at that event on +being apprised of the time and place, I now beg to inform you that by +cable message received the date scheduled for arrival at the Port of +London was January 1 prox. I therefore beg to notify you, subject to +postponement due to the non-arrival of the Amazon, the reading of the +Will of the late Roger Melton, Esq., will take place in my office on +Thursday, January 3 prox., at eleven o'clock a.m. + +I have the honour to be, sir, +Yours faithfully, +EDWARD BINGHAM TRENT. + + +TO ERNEST ROGER HALBARD MELTON, ESQ., HUMCROFT, SALOP. + +Cable: Rupert Sent Leger to Edward Bingham Trent. Amazon arrives +London January 1. SENT LEGER. + + +Telegram (per Lloyd's): Rupert Sent Leger to Edward Bingham Trent. +THE LIZARD, +December 31. +Amazon arrives London to-morrow morning. All well.--LEGER. + + +Telegram: Edward Bingham Trent to Ernest Roger Halbard Mellon. +Rupert Sent Leger arrived. Reading Will takes place as arranged.-- +TRENT. + + +ERNEST ROGER HALBARD MELTON'S RECORD. +January 4, 1907. + +The reading of Uncle Roger's Will is over. Father got a duplicate of +Mr. Trent's letter to me, and of the cable and two telegrams pasted +into this Record. We both waited patiently till the third--that is, +we did not say anything. The only impatient member of our family was +my mother. She DID say things, and if old Trent had been here his +ears would have been red. She said what ridiculous nonsense it was +delaying the reading of the Will, and keeping the Heir waiting for +the arrival of an obscure person who wasn't even a member of the +family, inasmuch as he didn't bear the name. I don't think it's +quite respectful to one who is some day to be Head of the House! I +thought father was weakening in his patience when he said: "True, my +dear--true!" and got up and left the room. Some time afterwards when +I passed the library I heard him walking up and down. + +Father and I went up to town on the afternoon of Wednesday, January +2. We stayed, of course, at Claridge's, where we always stay when we +go to town. Mother wanted to come, too, but father thought it better +not. She would not agree to stay at home till we both promised to +send her separate telegrams after the reading. + +At five minutes to eleven we entered Mr. Trent's office. Father +would not go a moment earlier, as he said it was bad form to seem +eager at any time, but most of all at the reading of a will. It was +a rotten grind, for we had to be walking all over the neighbourhood +for half an hour before it was time, not to be too early. + +When we went into the room we found there General Sir Colin MacKelpie +and a big man, very bronzed, whom I took to be Rupert St. Leger--not +a very creditable connection to look at, I thought! He and old +MacKelpie took care to be in time! Rather low, I thought it. Mr. +St. Leger was reading a letter. He had evidently come in but lately, +for though he seemed to be eager about it, he was only at the first +page, and I could see that there were many sheets. He did not look +up when we came in, or till he had finished the letter; and you may +be sure that neither I nor my father (who, as Head of the House, +should have had more respect from him) took the trouble to go to him. +After all, he is a pauper and a wastrel, and he has not the honour of +bearing our Name. The General, however, came forward and greeted us +both cordially. He evidently had forgotten--or pretended to have-- +the discourteous way he once treated me, for he spoke to me quite in +a friendly way--I thought more warmly than he did to father. I was +pleased to be spoken to so nicely, for, after all, whatever his +manners may be, he is a distinguished man--has won the V.C. and a +Baronetcy. He got the latter not long ago, after the Frontier War in +India. I was not, however, led away into cordiality myself. I had +not forgotten his rudeness, and I thought that he might be sucking up +to me. I knew that when I had my dear Uncle Roger's many millions I +should be a rather important person; and, of course, he knew it too. +So I got even with him for his former impudence. When he held out +his hand I put one finger in it, and said, "How do?" He got very red +and turned away. Father and he had ended by glaring at each other, +so neither of us was sorry to be done with him. All the time Mr. St. +Leger did not seem to see or hear anything, but went on reading his +letter. I thought the old MacSkelpie was going to bring him into the +matter between us, for as he turned away I heard him say something +under his breath. It sounded like "Help!" but Mr. S-- did not hear. +He certainly no notice of it. + +As the MacS-- and Mr. S-- sat quite silent, neither looking at us, +and as father was sitting on the other side of the room with his chin +in his hand, and as I wanted to show that I was indifferent to the +two S's, I took out this notebook, and went on with the Record, +bringing it up to this moment. + + +THE RECORD--Continued. + +When I had finished writing I looked over at Rupert. + +When he saw us, he jumped up and went over to father and shook his +hand quite warmly. Father took him very coolly. Rupert, however, +did not seem to see it, but came towards me heartily. I happened to +be doing something else at the moment, and at first I did not see his +hand; but just as I was looking at it the clock struck eleven. +Whilst it was striking Mr. Trent came into the room. Close behind +him came his clerk, carrying a locked tin box. There were two other +men also. He bowed to us all in turn, beginning with me. I was +standing opposite the door; the others were scattered about. Father +sat still, but Sir Colin and Mr. St. Leger rose. Mr. Trent not did +shake hands with any of us--not even me. Nothing but his respectful +bow. That is the etiquette for an attorney, I understand, on such +formal occasions. + +He sat down at the end of the big table in the centre of the room, +and asked us to sit round. Father, of course, as Head of the Family, +took the seat at his right hand. Sir Colin and St. Leger went to the +other side, the former taking the seat next to the attorney. The +General knows, of course, that a Baronet takes precedence at a +ceremony. I may be a Baronet some day myself, and have to know these +things. + +The clerk took the key which his master handed to him, opened the tin +box, and took from it a bundle of papers tied with red tape. This he +placed before the attorney, and put the empty box behind him on the +floor. Then he and the other man sat at the far end of the table; +the latter took out a big notebook and several pencils, and put them +before him. He was evidently a shorthand-writer. Mr. Trent removed +the tape from the bundle of papers, which he placed a little distance +in front of him. He took a sealed envelope from the top, broke the +seal, opened the envelope, and from it took a parchment, in the folds +of which were some sealed envelopes, which he laid in a heap in front +of the other paper. Then he unfolded the parchment, and laid it +before him with the outside page up. He fixed his glasses, and said: + +"Gentlemen, the sealed envelope which you have seen me open is +endorsed 'My Last Will and Testament--ROGER MELTON, June, 1906.' +This document"--holding it up--"is as follows: + + +"'I Roger Melton of Openshaw Grange in the County of Dorset; of +number one hundred and twenty-three Berkeley Square London; and of +the Castle of Vissarion in the Land of the Blue Mountains, being of +sound mind do make this my Last Will and Testament on this day Monday +the eleventh day of the month of June in the year of Our Lord one +thousand nine hundred and six at the office of my old friend and +Attorney Edward Bingham Trent in number one hundred and seventy-six +Lincoln's Inn Fields London hereby revoking all other wills that I +may have formerly made and giving this as my sole and last Will +making dispositions of my property as follows: + +"'1. To my kinsman and nephew Ernest Halbard Melton Esquire, justice +of the Peace, Humcroft the County of Salop, for his sole use and +benefit the sum of twenty thousand pounds sterling free of all Duties +Taxes and charges whatever to be paid out of my Five per centum Bonds +of the City of Montreal, Canada. + +"'2. To my respected friend and colleague as co-trustee to the Will +of my late sister Patience late widow of the late Captain Rupert Sent +Leger who predeceased her, Major-General Sir Colin Alexander +MacKelpie, Baronet, holder of the Victoria Cross, Knight Commander of +the Order of the Bath, of Croom in the county of Ross Scotland a sum +of Twenty thousand pounds sterling free of all Taxes and charges +whatsoever; to be paid out of my Five per centum Bonds of the City of +Toronto, Canada. + +"'3. To Miss Janet MacKelpie presently residing at Croom in the +County of Ross Scotland the sum of Twenty thousand pounds sterling +free of all Duties Taxes and Charges whatsoever, to be paid out of my +Five per centum Bonds of the London County Council. + +"'4. To the various persons charities and Trustees named in the +schedule attached to this Will and marked A. the various sums +mentioned therein, all free of Duties and Taxes and charges +whatsoever.'" + +Here Mr. Trent read out the list here following, and announced for +our immediate understanding of the situation the total amount as two +hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Many of the beneficiaries were +old friends, comrades, dependents, and servants, some of them being +left quite large sums of money and specific objects, such as curios +and pictures. + +"'5. To my kinsman and nephew Ernest Roger Halbard Melton presently +living in the house of his father at Humcroft Salop the sum of Ten +thousand pounds sterling. + +"'6. To my old and valued friend Edward Bingham Trent of one hundred +and seventy-six Lincoln's Inn Fields sum of Twenty thousand pounds +sterling free from all Duties Taxes and Charges whatsoever to be paid +out of my Five per centum Bonds of the city of Manchester England. + +"'7. To my dear nephew Rupert Sent Leger only son of my dear sister +Patience Melton by her marriage with Captain Rupert Sent Leger the +sum of one thousand pounds sterling. I also bequeath to the said +Rupert Sent Leger a further sum conditional upon his acceptance of +the terms of a letter addressed to him marked B, and left in the +custody of the above Edward Bingham Trent and which letter is an +integral part of this my Will. In case of the non-acceptance of the +conditions of such letter, I devise and bequeath the whole of the +sums and properties reserved therein to the executors herein +appointed Colin Alexander MacKelpie and Edward Bingham Trent in trust +to distribute the same in accordance with the terms of the letter in +the present custody of Edward Bingham Trent marked C, and now +deposited sealed with my seal in the sealed envelope containing my +last Will to be kept in the custody of the said Edward Bingham Trent +and which said letter C is also an integral part of my Will. And in +case any doubt should arise as to my ultimate intention as to the +disposal of my property the above-mentioned Executors are to have +full power to arrange and dispose all such matters as may seem best +to them without further appeal. And if any beneficiary under this +Will shall challenge the same or any part of it, or dispute the +validity thereof, he shall forfeit to the general estate the bequest +made herein to him, and any such bequest shall cease and be void to +all intents and purposes whatsoever. + +"'8. For proper compliance with laws and duties connected with +testamentary proceedings and to keep my secret trusts secret I direct +my Executors to pay all Death, Estate, Settlement, Legacy, +Succession, or other duties charges impositions and assessments +whatever on the residue of my estate beyond the bequests already +named, at the scale charged in the case of most distant relatives or +strangers in blood. + +"'9. I hereby appoint as my Executors Major-General Sir Colin +Alexander MacKelpie, Baronet, of Croom in the County of Ross, and +Edward Bingham Trent Attorney at Law of one hundred and seventy-six +Lincoln's Inn Fields London West Central with full power to exercise +their discretion in any circumstance which may arise in the carrying +out my wishes as expressed in this Will. As reward for their +services in this capacity as Executors they are to receive each out +of the general estate a sum of one hundred thousand pounds sterling +free of all Duties and impositions whatsoever. + +"12. The two Memoranda contained in the letters marked B and C are +Integral Parts of this my Last Will are ultimately at the Probate of +the Will to be taken as Clauses 10 and 11 of it. The envelopes are +marked B and C on both envelope and contents and the contents of each +is headed thus: B to be read as Clause 10 of my Will and the other C +to be read as Clause 11 of my Will. + +"13. Should either of the above-mentioned Executors die before the +completion of the above year and a half from the date of the Reading +of my Will or before the Conditions rehearsed in Letter C the +remaining Executor shall have all and several the Rights and Duties +entrusted by my Will to both. And if both Executors should die then +the matter of interpretation and execution of all matters in +connection with this my Last Will shall rest with the Lord Chancellor +of England for the time being or with whomsoever he may appoint for +the purpose. + +"'This my Last Will is given by me on the first day of January in the +year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven. + +"'ROGER MELTON. + +"We Andrew Rossiter and John Colson here in the presence of each +other and of the Testator have seen the Testator Roger Melton sign +and seal this document. In witness thereof we hereby set our names + +"'ANDREW ROSSITER clerk of 9 Primrose Avenue London W.C. + +"'JOHN COLSON caretaker of 176 Lincoln's Inn Fields and Verger of St. +Tabitha's Church Clerkenwell London.'" + + +When Mr. Trent had finished the reading he put all the papers +together, and tied them up in a bundle again with the red tape. +Holding the bundle in his hand, he stood up, saying as he did so: + +"That is all, gentlemen, unless any of you wish to ask me any +questions; in which case I shall answer, of course, to the best of my +power. I shall ask you, Sir Colin, to remain with me, as we have to +deal with some matters, or to arrange a time when we may meet to do +so. And you also, Mr. Sent Leger, as there is this letter to submit +to you. It is necessary that you should open it in the presence of +the executors, but there is no necessity that anyone else should be +present." + +The first to speak was my father. Of course, as a county gentleman +of position and estate, who is sometimes asked to take the chair at +Sessions--of course, when there is not anyone with a title present-- +he found himself under the duty of expressing himself first. Old +MacKelpie has superior rank; but this was a family affair, in which +my father is Head of the House, whilst old MacKelpie is only an +outsider brought into it--and then only to the distaff side, by the +wife of a younger brother of the man who married into our family. +Father spoke with the same look on his face as when he asks important +questions of witnesses at Quarter Sessions. + +"I should like some points elucidated." The attorney bowed (he gets +his 120 thou', any way, so he can afford to be oily--suave, I suppose +he would call it); so father looked at a slip of paper in his hand +and asked: + +"How much is the amount of the whole estate?" + +The attorney answered quickly, and I thought rather rudely. He was +red in the face, and didn't bow this time; I suppose a man of his +class hasn't more than a very limited stock of manners: + +"That, sir, I am not at liberty to tell you. And I may say that I +would not if I could." + +"Is it a million?" said father again. He was angry this time, and +even redder than the old attorney. The attorney said in answer, very +quietly this time: + +"Ah, that's cross-examining. Let me say, sir, that no one can know +that until the accountants to be appointed for the purpose have +examined the affairs of the testator up to date." + +Mr. Rupert St. Leger, who was looking all this time angrier than even +the attorney or my father--though at what he had to be angry about I +can't imagine--struck his fist on the table and rose up as if to +speak, but as he caught sight of both old MacKelpie and the attorney +he sat down again. Mem.--Those three seem to agree too well. I must +keep a sharp eye on them. I didn't think of this part any more at +the time, for father asked another question which interested me much: + +"May I ask why the other matters of the Will are not shown to us?" +The attorney wiped his spectacles carefully with a big silk bandanna +handkerchief before he answered: + +"Simply because each of the two letters marked 'B' and 'C' is +enclosed with instructions regarding their opening and the keeping +secret of their contents. I shall call your attention to the fact +that both envelopes are sealed, and that the testator and both +witnesses have signed their names across the flap of each envelope. +I shall read them. The letter marked 'B,' directed to 'Rupert Sent +Leger,' is thus endorsed: + + +"'This letter is to be given to Rupert Sent Leger by the Trustees and +is to be opened by him in their presence. He is to take such copy or +make such notes as he may wish and is then to hand the letter with +envelope to the Executors who are at once to read it, each of them +being entitled to make copy or notes if desirous of so doing. The +letter is then to be replaced in its envelope and letter and envelope +are to be placed in another envelope to be endorsed on outside as to +its contents and to be signed across the flap by both the Executors +and by the said Rupert Sent Leger. + +"'(Signed) ROGER MELTON 1/6/'06. + + +"The letter marked 'C,' directed to 'Edward Bingham Trent,' is thus +endorsed: + + +"'This letter directed to Edward Bingham Trent is to be kept by him +unopened for a term of two years after the reading of my Last Will +unless said period is earlier terminated by either the acceptance or +refusal of Rupert Sent Leger to accept the conditions mentioned in my +letter to him marked 'B' which he is to receive and read in the +presence of my Executors at the same meeting as but subsequent to the +Reading of the clauses (except those to be ultimately numbers ten and +eleven) of my Last Will. This letter contains instructions as to +what both the Executors and the said Rupert Sent Leger are to do when +such acceptance or refusal of the said Rupert Sent Leger has been +made known, or if he omit or refuse to make any such acceptance or +refusal, at the end of two years next after my decease. + +"'(Signed) ROGER MELTON 1/6/'06.'" + + +When the attorney had finished reading the last letter he put it +carefully in his pocket. Then he took the other letter in his hand, +and stood up. "Mr. Rupert Sent Leger," he said, "please to open this +letter, and in such a way that all present may see that the +memorandum at top of the contents is given as - + +"'B. To be read as clause ten of my Will.'" + +St. Leger rolled up his sleeves and cuffs just as if he was going to +perform some sort of prestidigitation--it was very theatrical and +ridiculous--then, his wrists being quite bare, he opened the envelope +and took out the letter. We all saw it quite well. It was folded +with the first page outward, and on the top was written a line just +as the attorney said. In obedience to a request from the attorney, +he laid both letter and envelope on the table in front of him. The +clerk then rose up, and, after handing a piece of paper to the +attorney, went back to his seat. Mr. Trent, having written something +on the paper, asked us all who were present, even the clerk and the +shorthand man, to look at the memorandum on the letter and what was +written on the envelope, and to sign the paper, which ran: + +"We the signatories of this paper hereby declare that we have seen +the sealed letter marked B and enclosed in the Will of Roger Melton +opened in the presence of us all including Mr. Edward Bingham Trent +and Sir Colin Alexander MacKelpie and we declare that the paper +therein contained was headed 'B. To be read as clause ten of my +Will' and that there were no other contents in the envelope. In +attestation of which we in the presence of each other append our +signatures." + +The attorney motioned to my father to begin. Father is a cautious +man, and he asked for a magnifying-glass, which was shortly brought +to him by a clerk for whom the clerk in the room called. Father +examined the envelope all over very carefully, and also the +memorandum at top of the paper. Then, without a word, he signed the +paper. Father is a just man. Then we all signed. The attorney +folded the paper and put it in an envelope. Before closing it he +passed it round, and we all saw that it had not been tampered with. +Father took it out and read it, and then put it back. Then the +attorney asked us all to sign it across the flap, which we did. Then +he put the sealing-wax on it and asked father to seal it with his own +seal. He did so. Then he and MacKelpie sealed it also with their +own seals, Then he put it in another envelope, which he sealed +himself, and he and MacKelpie signed it across the flap. + +Then father stood up, and so did I. So did the two men--the clerk +and the shorthand writer. Father did not say a word till we got out +into the street. We walked along, and presently we passed an open +gate into the fields. He turned back, saying to me: + +"Come in here. There is no one about, and we can be quiet. I want +to speak to you." When we sat down on a seat with none other near +it, father said: + +"You are a student of the law. What does all that mean?" I thought +it a good occasion for an epigram, so I said one word: + +"Bilk!" + +"H'm!" said father; "that is so far as you and I are concerned. You +with a beggarly ten thousand, and I with twenty. But what is, or +will be, the effect of those secret trusts?" + +"Oh, that," I said, "will, I dare say, be all right. Uncle Roger +evidently did not intend the older generation to benefit too much by +his death. But he only gave Rupert St. Leger one thousand pounds, +whilst he gave me ten. That looks as if he had more regard for the +direct line. Of course--" Father interrupted me: + +"But what was the meaning of a further sum?" + +"I don't know, father. There was evidently some condition which he +was to fulfil; but he evidently didn't expect that he would. Why, +otherwise, did he leave a second trust to Mr. Trent?" + +"True!" said father. Then he went on: "I wonder why he left those +enormous sums to Trent and old MacKelpie. They seem out of all +proportion as executors' fees, unless--" + +"Unless what, father?" + +"Unless the fortune he has left is an enormous one. That is why I +asked." + +"And that," I laughed, "is why he refused to answer." + +"Why, Ernest, it must run into big figures." + +"Right-ho, father. The death-duties will be annoying. What a +beastly swindle the death-duties are! Why, I shall suffer even on +your own little estate . . . " + +"That will do!" he said curtly. Father is so ridiculously touchy. +One would think he expects to live for ever. Presently he spoke +again: + +"I wonder what are the conditions of that trust. They are as +important--almost--as the amount of the bequest--whatever it is. By +the way, there seems to be no mention in the will of a residuary +legatee. Ernest, my boy, we may have to fight over that." + +"How do you make that out, father?" I asked. He had been very rude +over the matter of the death-duties of his own estate, though it is +entailed and I MUST inherit. So I determined to let him see that I +know a good deal more than he does--of law, at any rate. "I fear +that when we come to look into it closely that dog won't fight. In +the first place, that may be all arranged in the letter to St. Leger, +which is a part of the Will. And if that letter should be +inoperative by his refusal of the conditions (whatever they may be), +then the letter to the attorney begins to work. What it is we don't +know, and perhaps even he doesn't--I looked at it as well as I could- +-and we law men are trained to observation. But even if the +instructions mentioned as being in Letter C fail, then the corpus of +the Will gives full power to Trent to act just as he darn pleases. +He can give the whole thing to himself if he likes, and no one can +say a word. In fact, he is himself the final court of appeal." + +"H'm!" said father to himself. "It is a queer kind of will, I take +it, that can override the Court of Chancery. We shall perhaps have +to try it before we are done with this!" With that he rose, and we +walked home together--without saying another word. + +My mother was very inquisitive about the whole thing--women always +are. Father and I between us told her all it was necessary for her +to know. I think we were both afraid that, woman-like, she would +make trouble for us by saying or doing something injudicious. +Indeed, she manifested such hostility towards Rupert St. Leger that +it is quite on the cards that she may try to injure him in some way. +So when father said that he would have to go out shortly again, as he +wished to consult his solicitor, I jumped up and said I would go with +him, as I, too, should take advice as to how I stood in the matter. + + +The Contents of Letter marked "B" attached as an Integral Part to the +Last Will of Roger Melton. +June 11, 1907. + +"This letter an integral part of my Last Will regards the entire +residue of my estate beyond the specific bequests made in the body of +my Will. It is to appoint as Residuary Legatee of such Will--in case +he may accept in due form the Conditions herein laid down--my dear +Nephew Rupert Sent Leger only son of my sister Patience Melton now +deceased by her marriage with Captain Rupert Sent Leger also now +deceased. On his acceptance of the Conditions and the fulfilment of +the first of them the Entire residue of my estate after payments of +all specific Legacies and of all my debts and other obligations is to +become his absolute property to be dealt with or disposed of as he +may desire. The following are the conditions. + +"1. He is to accept provisionally by letter addressed to my +Executors a sum of nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand pounds +sterling free of all Duties Taxes or other imposts. This he will +hold for a period of six months from the date of the Reading of my +Last Will and have user of the accruements thereto calculated at the +rate of ten per centum per annum which amount he shall under no +circumstances be required to replace. At the end of said six months +he must express in writing directed to the Executors of my Will his +acceptance or refusal of the other conditions herein to follow. But +if he may so choose he shall be free to declare in writing to the +Executors within one week from the time of the Reading of the Will +his wish to accept or to withdraw altogether from the responsibility +of this Trust. In case of withdrawal he is to retain absolutely and +for his own use the above-mentioned sum of nine hundred and ninety- +nine thousand pounds sterling free of all Duties Taxes and imposts +whatsoever making with the specific bequest of one thousand pounds a +clear sum of one million pounds sterling free of all imposts. And he +will from the moment of the delivery of such written withdrawal cease +to have any right or interest whatsoever in the further disposition +of my estate under this instrument. Should such written withdrawal +be received by my Executors they shall have possession of such +residue of my estate as shall remain after the payment of the above +sum of nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand pounds sterling and the +payment of all Duties Taxes assessments or Imposts as may be entailed +by law by its conveyance to the said Rupert Sent Leger and these my +Executors shall hold the same for the further disposal of it +according to the instructions given in the letter marked C and which +is also an integral part of my Last Will and Testament. + +"2. If at or before the expiration of the six months above-mentioned +the said Rupert Sent Leger shall have accepted the further conditions +herein stated, he is to have user of the entire income produced by +such residue of my estate the said income being paid to him Quarterly +on the usual Quarter Days by the aforesaid Executors to wit Major +General Sir Colin Alexander MacKelpie Bart. and Edward Bingham Trent +to be used by him in accordance with the terms and conditions +hereinafter mentioned. + +"3. The said Rupert Sent Leger is to reside for a period of at least +six months to begin not later than three months from the reading of +my Will in the Castle of Vissarion in the Land of the Blue Mountains. +And if he fulfil the Conditions imposed on him and shall thereby +become possessed of the residue of my estate he is to continue to +reside there in part for a period of one year. He is not to change +his British Nationality except by a formal consent of the Privy +Council of Great Britain. + +"At the end of a year and a half from the Reading of my Will he is to +report in person to my Executors of the expenditure of amounts paid +or due by him in the carrying out of the Trust and if they are +satisfied that same are in general accord with the conditions named +in above-mentioned letter marked C and which is an integral part of +my Will they are to record their approval on such Will which can then +go for final Probate and Taxation. On the Completion of which the +said Rupert Sent Leger shall become possessed absolutely and without +further act or need of the entire residue of my estate. In witness +whereof, etc. + +"(Signed) ROGER MELTON." + +This document is attested by the witnesses to the Will on the same +date. + + +(Personal and Confidential.) +MEMORANDA MADE BY EDWARD BINGHAM TRENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE WILL OF +ROGER MELTON. +January 3, 1907. + +The interests and issues of all concerned in the Will and estate of +the late Roger Melton of Openshaw Grange are so vast that in case any +litigation should take place regarding the same, I, as the solicitor, +having the carriage of the testator's wishes, think it well to make +certain memoranda of events, conversations, etc., not covered by +documentary evidence. I make the first memorandum immediately after +the event, whilst every detail of act and conversation is still fresh +in my mind. I shall also try to make such comments thereon as may +serve to refresh my memory hereafter, and which in case of my death +may perhaps afford as opinions contemporaneously recorded some +guiding light to other or others who may later on have to continue +and complete the tasks entrusted to me. + +I. + +CONCERNING THE READING OF THE WILL OF ROGER MELTON. + +When, beginning at 11 o'clock a.m. on this the forenoon of Thursday, +the 3rd day of January, 1907, I opened the Will and read it in full, +except the clauses contained in the letters marked "B" and "C"; there +were present in addition to myself, the following: + +1. Ernest Halbard Melton, J.P, nephew of the testator. + +2. Ernest Roger Halbard Melton, son of the above. + +3. Rupert Sent Leger, nephew of the testator. + +4. Major-General Sir Colin Alexander MacKelpie, Bart., co-executor +with myself of the Will. + +5. Andrew Rossiter, my clerk, one of the witnesses of the testator's +Will. + +6. Alfred Nugent, stenographer (of Messrs. Castle's office, 21, +Bream's Buildings, W.C.). + + +When the Will had been read, Mr. E. H. Melton asked the value of the +estate left by the testator, which query I did not feel empowered or +otherwise able to answer; and a further query, as to why those +present were not shown the secret clauses of the Will. I answered by +reading the instructions endorsed on the envelopes of the two letters +marked "B" and "C," which were sufficiently explanatory. + +But, lest any question should hereafter arise as to the fact that the +memoranda in letters marked "B" and "C," which were to be read as +clauses 10 and 11 of the Will, I caused Rupert Sent Leger to open the +envelope marked "B" in the presence of all in the room. These all +signed a paper which I had already prepared, to the effect that they +had seen the envelope opened, and that the memorandum marked "B. To +be read as clause ten of my Will," was contained in the envelope, of +which it was to be the sole contents. Mr. Ernest Halbard Melton, +J.P., before signing, carefully examined with a magnifying-glass, for +which he had asked, both the envelope and the heading of the +memorandum enclosed in the letter. He was about to turn the folded +paper which was lying on the table over, by which he might have been +able to read the matter of the memorandum had he so desired. I at +once advised him that the memorandum he was to sign dealt only with +the heading of the page, and not with the matter. He looked very +angry, but said nothing, and after a second scrutiny signed. I put +the memorandum in an envelope, which we all signed across the flap. +Before signing, Mr Ernest Halbard Melton took out the paper and +verified it. I then asked him to close it, which he did, and when +the sealing-wax was on it he sealed it with his own seal. Sir Colin +A. MacKelpie and I also appended our own seals. I put the envelope +in another, which I sealed with my own seal, and my co-executor and I +signed it across the flap and added the date. I took charge of this. +When the others present had taken their departure, my co-executor and +I, together with Mr. Rupert Sent Leger, who had remained at my +request, went into my private room. + +Here Mr. Rupert Sent Leger read the memorandum marked "B," which is +to be read as clause 10 of the Will. He is evidently a man of +considerable nerve, for his face was quite impassive as he read the +document, which conveyed to him (subject to the conditions laid down) +a fortune which has no equal in amount in Europe, even, so far as I +know, amongst the crowned heads. When he had read it over a second +time he stood up and said: + +"I wish I had known my uncle better. He must have had the heart of a +king. I never heard of such generosity as he has shown me. Mr. +Trent, I see, from the conditions of this memorandum, or codicil, or +whatever it is, that I am to declare within a week as to whether I +accept the conditions imposed on me. Now, I want you to tell me +this: must I wait a week to declare?" In answer, I told him that +the testator's intention was manifestly to see that he had full time +to consider fully every point before making formal decision and +declaration. But, in answer to the specific question, I could answer +that he might make declaration when he would, provided it was WITHIN, +or rather not after, the week named. I added: + +"But I strongly advise you not to act hurriedly. So enormous a sum +is involved that you may be sure that all possible efforts will be +made by someone or other to dispossess you of your inheritance, and +it will be well that everything shall be done, not only in perfect +order, but with such manifest care and deliberation that there can be +no question as to your intention." + +"Thank you, sir," he answered; "I shall do as you shall kindly advise +me in this as in other things. But I may tell you now--and you, too, +my dear Sir Colin--that I not only accept my Uncle Roger's conditions +in this, but that when the time comes in the other matters I shall +accept every condition that he had in his mind--and that I may know +of--in everything." He looked exceedingly in earnest, and it gave me +much pleasure to see and hear him. It was just what a young man +should do who had seen so generously treated. As the time had now +come, I gave him the bulky letter addressed to him, marked "D" which +I had in my safe. As I fulfilled my obligation in the matter, I +said: + +"You need not read the letter here. You can take it away with you, +and read it by yourself at leisure. It is your own property, without +any obligation whatever attached to it. By the way, perhaps it would +be well if you knew. I have a copy sealed up in an envelope, and +endorsed, 'To be opened if occasion should arise,' but not otherwise. +Will you see me to-morrow, or, better still, dine with me alone here +to-night? I should like to have a talk with you, and you may wish to +ask me some questions." He answered me cordially. I actually felt +touched by the way he said good-bye before he went away. Sir Colin +MacKelpie went with him, as Sent Leger was to drop him at the Reform. + + +Letter from Roger Melton to Rupert Sent Leger, endorsed "D. re Rupert +Sent Leger. To be given to him by Edward Bingham Trent if and as +soon as he has declared (formally or informally) his intention of +accepting the conditions named in Letter B., forming Clause 10 in my +Will. R. M., 1/1/'07. + +"Mem.--Copy (sealed) left in custody of E. B. Trent, to be opened if +necessary, as directed." +June 11, 1906. + +MY DEAR NEPHEW, + +When (if ever) you receive this you will know that (with the +exception of some definite bequests) I have left to you, under +certain conditions, the entire bulk of my fortune--a fortune so great +that by its aid as a help, a man of courage and ability may carve out +for himself a name and place in history. The specific conditions +contained in Clause 10 of my Will have to be observed, for such I +deem to be of service to your own fortune; but herein I give my +advice, which you are at liberty to follow or not as you will, and my +wishes, which I shall try to explain fully and clearly, so that you +may be in possession of my views in case you should desire to carry +them out, or, at least, to so endeavour that the results I hope for +may be ultimately achieved. First let me explain--for your +understanding and your guidance--that the power, or perhaps it had +better be called the pressure, behind the accumulation of my fortune +has been ambition. In obedience to its compulsion, I toiled early +and late until I had so arranged matters that, subject to broad +supervision, my ideas could be carried out by men whom I had selected +and tested, and not found wanting. This was for years to the +satisfaction, and ultimately to the accumulation by these men of +fortune commensurate in some measure to their own worth and their +importance to my designs. Thus I had accumulated, whilst still a +young man, a considerable fortune. This I have for over forty years +used sparingly as regards my personal needs, daringly with regard to +speculative investments. With the latter I took such very great +care, studying the conditions surrounding them so thoroughly, that +even now my schedule of bad debts or unsuccessful investments is +almost a blank. Perhaps by such means things flourished with me, and +wealth piled in so fast that at times I could hardly use it to +advantage. This was all done as the forerunner of ambition, but I +was over fifty years of age when the horizon of ambition itself +opened up to me. I speak thus freely, my dear Rupert, as when you +read it I shall have passed away, and not ambition nor the fear of +misunderstanding, nor even of scorn can touch me. My ventures in +commerce and finance covered not only the Far East, but every foot of +the way to it, so that the Mediterranean and all its opening seas +were familiar to me. In my journeyings up and down the Adriatic I +was always struck by the great beauty and seeming richness--native +richness--of the Land of the Blue Mountains. At last Chance took me +into that delectable region. When the "Balkan Struggle" of '90 was +on, one of the great Voivodes came to me in secret to arrange a large +loan for national purposes. It was known in financial circles of +both Europe and Asia that I took an active part in the haute +politique of national treasuries, and the Voivode Vissarion came to +me as to one able and willing to carry out his wishes. After +confidential pour-parlers, he explained to me that his nation was in +the throes of a great crisis. As you perhaps know, the gallant +little Nation in the Land of the Blue Mountains has had a strange +history. For more than a thousand years--ever since its settlement +after the disaster of Rossoro--it had maintained its national +independence under several forms of Government. At first it had a +King whose successors became so despotic that they were dethroned. +Then it was governed by its Voivodes, with the combining influence of +a Vladika somewhat similar in power and function to the Prince- +Bishops of Montenegro; afterwards by a Prince; or, as at present, by +an irregular elective Council, influenced in a modified form by the +Vladika, who was then supposed to exercise a purely spiritual +function. Such a Council in a small, poor nation did not have +sufficient funds for armaments, which were not immediately and +imperatively necessary; and therefore the Voivode Vissarion, who had +vast estates in his own possession, and who was the present +representative a family which of old had been leaders in the land, +found it a duty to do on his own account that which the State could +not do. For security as to the loan which he wished to get, and +which was indeed a vast one, he offered to sell me his whole estate +if I would secure to him a right to repurchase it within a given time +(a time which I may say has some time ago expired). He made it a +condition that the sale and agreement should remain a strict secret +between us, as a widespread knowledge that his estate had changed +hands would in all probability result in my death and his own at the +hands of the mountaineers, who are beyond everything loyal, and were +jealous to the last degree. An attack by Turkey was feared, and new +armaments were required; and the patriotic Voivode was sacrificing +his own great fortune for the public good. What a sacrifice this was +he well knew, for in all discussions regarding a possible change in +the Constitution of the Blue Mountains it was always taken for +granted that if the principles of the Constitution should change to a +more personal rule, his own family should be regarded as the Most +Noble. It had ever been on the side of freedom in olden time; before +the establishment of the Council, or even during the rule of the +Voivodes, the Vissarion had every now and again stood out against the +King or challenged the Princedom. The very name stood for freedom, +for nationality, against foreign oppression; and the bold +mountaineers were devoted to it, as in other free countries men +follow the flag. + +Such loyalty was a power and a help in the land, for it knew danger +in every form; and anything which aided the cohesion of its integers +was a natural asset. On every side other powers, great and small, +pressed the land, anxious to acquire its suzerainty by any means-- +fraud or force. Greece, Turkey, Austria, Russia, Italy, France, had +all tried in vain. Russia, often hurled back, was waiting an +opportunity to attack. Austria and Greece, although united by no +common purpose or design, were ready to throw in their forces with +whomsoever might seem most likely to be victor. Other Balkan States, +too, were not lacking in desire to add the little territory of the +Blue Mountains to their more ample possessions. Albania, Dalmatia, +Herzegovina, Servia, Bulgaria, looked with lustful eyes on the land, +which was in itself a vast natural fortress, having close under its +shelter perhaps the finest harbour between Gibraltar and the +Dardanelles. + +But the fierce, hardy mountaineers were unconquerable. For centuries +they had fought, with a fervour and fury that nothing could withstand +or abate, attacks on their independence. Time after time, century +after century, they had opposed with dauntless front invading armies +sent against them. This unquenchable fire of freedom had had its +effect. One and all, the great Powers knew that to conquer that +little nation would be no mean task, but rather that of a tireless +giant. Over and over again had they fought with units against +hundreds, never ceasing until they had either wiped out their foes +entirely or seen them retreat across the frontier in diminished +numbers. + +For many years past, however, the Land of the Blue Mountains had +remained unassailable, for all the Powers and States had feared lest +the others should unite against the one who should begin the attack. + +At the time I speak of there was a feeling throughout the Blue +Mountains--and, indeed, elsewhere--that Turkey was preparing for a +war of offence. The objective of her attack was not known anywhere, +but here there was evidence that the Turkish "Bureau of Spies" was in +active exercise towards their sturdy little neighbour. To prepare +for this, the Voivode Peter Vissarion approached me in order to +obtain the necessary "sinews of war." + +The situation was complicated by the fact that the Elective Council +was at present largely held together by the old Greek Church, which +was the religion of the people, and which had had since the beginning +its destinies linked in a large degree with theirs. Thus it was +possible that if a war should break out, it might easily become-- +whatever might have been its cause or beginnings--a war of creeds. +This in the Balkans must be largely one of races, the end of which no +mind could diagnose or even guess at. + +I had now for some time had knowledge of the country and its people, +and had come to love them both. The nobility of Vissarion's self- +sacrifice at once appealed to me, and I felt that I, too, should like +to have a hand in the upholding of such a land and such a people. +They both deserved freedom. When Vissarion handed me the completed +deed of sale I was going to tear it up; but he somehow recognized my +intention, and forestalled it. He held up his hand arrestingly as he +said: + +"I recognize your purpose, and, believe me, I honour you for it from +the very depths of my soul. But, my friend, it must not be. Our +mountaineers are proud beyond belief. Though they would allow me-- +who am one of themselves, and whose fathers have been in some way +leaders and spokesmen amongst them for many centuries--to do all that +is in my power to do--and what, each and all, they would be glad to +do were the call to them--they would not accept aid from one outside +themselves. My good friend, they would resent it, and might show to +you, who wish us all so well, active hostility, which might end in +danger, or even death. That was why, my friend, I asked to put a +clause in our agreement, that I might have right to repurchase my +estate, regarding which you would fain act so generously." + +Thus it is, my dear nephew Rupert, only son of my dear sister, that I +hereby charge you solemnly as you value me--as you value yourself--as +you value honour, that, should it ever become known that that noble +Voivode, Peter Vissarion, imperilled himself for his country's good, +and if it be of danger or evil repute to him that even for such a +purpose he sold his heritage, you shall at once and to the knowledge +of the mountaineers--though not necessarily to others--reconvey to +him or his heirs the freehold that he was willing to part with--and +that he has de facto parted with by the effluxion of the time during +which his right of repurchase existed. This is a secret trust and +duty which is between thee and me alone in the first instance; a duty +which I have undertaken on behalf of my heirs, and which must be +carried out, at whatsoever cost may ensue. You must not take it that +it is from any mistrust of you or belief that you will fail that I +have taken another measure to insure that this my cherished idea is +borne out. Indeed, it is that the law may, in case of need--for no +man can know what may happen after his own hand be taken from the +plough--be complied with, that I have in another letter written for +the guidance of others, directed that in case of any failure to carry +out this trust--death or other--the direction become a clause or +codicil to my Will. But in the meantime I wish that this be kept a +secret between us two. To show you the full extent of my confidence, +let me here tell you that the letter alluded to above is marked "C," +and directed to my solicitor and co-executor, Edward Bingham Trent, +which is finally to be regarded as clause eleven of my Will. To +which end he has my instructions and also a copy of this letter, +which is, in case of need, and that only, to be opened, and is to be +a guide to my wishes as to the carrying out by you of the conditions +on which you inherit. + +And now, my dear nephew, let me change to another subject more dear +to me--yourself. When you read this I shall have passed away, so +that I need not be hampered now by that reserve which I feel has +grown upon me through a long and self-contained life. Your mother +was very dear to me. As you know, she was twenty years younger than +her youngest brother, who was two years younger than me. So we were +all young men when she was a baby, and, I need not say, a pet amongst +us--almost like our own child to each of us, as well as our sister. +You knew her sweetness and high quality, so I need say nothing of +these; but I should like you to understand that she was very dear to +me. When she and your father came to know and love each other I was +far away, opening up a new branch of business in the interior of +China, and it was not for several months that I got home news. When +I first heard of him they had already been married. I was delighted +to find that they were very happy. They needed nothing that I could +give. When he died so suddenly I tried to comfort her, and all I had +was at her disposal, did she want it. She was a proud woman--though +not with me. She had come to understand that, though I seemed cold +and hard (and perhaps was so generally), I was not so to her. But +she would not have help of any kind. When I pressed her, she told me +that she had enough for your keep and education and her own +sustenance for the time she must still live; that your father and she +had agreed that you should be brought up to a healthy and strenuous +life rather than to one of luxury; and she thought that it would be +better for the development of your character that you should learn to +be self-reliant and to be content with what your dear father had left +you. She had always been a wise and thoughtful girl, and now all her +wisdom and thought were for you, your father's and her child. When +she spoke of you and your future, she said many things which I +thought memorable. One of them I remember to this day. It was +apropos of my saying that there is a danger of its own kind in +extreme poverty. A young man might know too much want. She answered +me: "True! That is so! But there is a danger that overrides it;" +and after a time went on: + +"It is better not to know wants than not to know want!" I tell you, +boy, that is a great truth, and I hope you will remember it for +yourself as well as a part of the wisdom of your mother. And here +let me say something else which is a sort of corollary of that wise +utterance: + +I dare say you thought me very hard and unsympathetic that time I +would not, as one of your trustees, agree to your transferring your +little fortune to Miss MacKelpie. I dare say you bear a grudge +towards me about it up to this day. Well, if you have any of that +remaining, put it aside when you know the truth. That request of +yours was an unspeakable delight to me. It was like your mother +coming back from the dead. That little letter of yours made me wish +for the first time that I had a son--and that he should be like you. +I fell into a sort of reverie, thinking if I were yet too old to +marry, so that a son might be with me in my declining years--if such +were to ever be for me. But I concluded that this might not be. +There was no woman whom I knew or had ever met with that I could love +as your mother loved your father and as he loved her. So I resigned +myself to my fate. I must go my lonely road on to the end. And then +came a ray of light into my darkness: there was you. Though you +might not feel like a son to me--I could not expect it when the +memory of that sweet relationship was more worthily filled. But I +could feel like a father to you. Nothing could prevent that or +interfere with it, for I would keep it as my secret in the very holy +of holies of my heart, where had been for thirty years the image of a +sweet little child--your mother. My boy, when in your future life +you shall have happiness and honour and power, I hope you will +sometimes give a thought to the lonely old man whose later years your +very existence seemed to brighten. + +The thought of your mother recalled me to my duty. I had undertaken +for her a sacred task: to carry out her wishes regarding her son. I +knew how she would have acted. It might--would--have been to her a +struggle of inclination and duty; and duty would have won. And so I +carried out my duty, though I tell you it was a harsh and bitter task +to me at the time. But I may tell you that I have since been glad +when I think of the result. I tried, as you may perhaps remember, to +carry out your wishes in another way, but your letter put the +difficulty of doing so so clearly before me that I had to give it up. +And let me tell you that that letter endeared you to me more than +ever. + +I need not tell you that thenceforth I followed your life very +closely. When you ran away to sea, I used in secret every part of +the mechanism of commerce to find out what had become of you. Then, +until you had reached your majority, I had a constant watch kept upon +you--not to interfere with you in any way, but so that I might be +able to find you should need arise. When in due course I heard of +your first act on coming of age I was satisfied. I had to know of +the carrying out of your original intention towards Janet Mac Kelpie, +for the securities had to be transferred. + +From that time on I watched--of course through other eyes--your chief +doings. It would have been a pleasure to me to have been able to +help in carrying out any hope or ambition of yours, but I realized +that in the years intervening between your coming of age and the +present moment you were fulfilling your ideas and ambitions in your +own way, and, as I shall try to explain to you presently, my +ambitions also. You were of so adventurous a nature that even my own +widely-spread machinery of acquiring information--what I may call my +private "intelligence department"--was inadequate. My machinery was +fairly adequate for the East--in great part, at all events. But you +went North and South, and West also, and, in addition, you essayed +realms where commerce and purely real affairs have no foothold-- +worlds of thought, of spiritual import, of psychic phenomena-- +speaking generally, of mysteries. As now and again I was baffled in +my inquiries, I had to enlarge my mechanism, and to this end started- +-not in my own name, of course--some new magazines devoted to certain +branches of inquiry and adventure. Should you ever care to know more +of these things, Mr. Trent, in whose name the stock is left, will be +delighted to give you all details. Indeed, these stocks, like all +else I have, shall be yours when the time comes, if you care to ask +for them. By means of The Journal of Adventure, The Magazine of +Mystery, Occultism, Balloon and Aeroplane, The Submarine, Jungle and +Pampas, The Ghost World, The Explorer, Forest and Island, Ocean and +Creek, I was often kept informed when I should otherwise have been +ignorant of your whereabouts and designs. For instance, when you had +disappeared into the Forest of the Incas, I got the first whisper of +your strange adventures and discoveries in the buried cities of +Eudori from a correspondent of The Journal of Adventure long before +the details given in The Times of the rock-temple of the primeval +savages, where only remained the little dragon serpents, whose giant +ancestors were rudely sculptured on the sacrificial altar. I well +remember how I thrilled at even that meagre account of your going in +alone into that veritable hell. It was from Occultism that I learned +how you had made a stay alone in the haunted catacombs of Elora, in +the far recesses of the Himalayas, and of the fearful experiences +which, when you came out shuddering and ghastly, overcame to almost +epileptic fear those who had banded themselves together to go as far +as the rock-cut approach to the hidden temple. + +All such things I read with rejoicing. You were shaping yourself for +a wider and loftier adventure, which would crown more worthily your +matured manhood. When I read of you in a description of Mihask, in +Madagascar, and the devil-worship there rarely held, I felt I had +only to wait for your home-coming in order to broach the enterprise I +had so long contemplated. This was what I read: + +"He is a man to whom no adventure is too wild or too daring. His +reckless bravery is a byword amongst many savage peoples and amongst +many others not savages, whose fears are not of material things, but +of the world of mysteries in and beyond the grave. He dares not only +wild animals and savage men; but has tackled African magic and Indian +mysticism. The Psychical Research Society has long exploited his +deeds of valiance, and looked upon him as perhaps their most trusted +agent or source of discovery. He is in the very prime of life, of +almost giant stature and strength, trained to the use of all arms of +all countries, inured to every kind of hardship, subtle-minded and +resourceful, understanding human nature from its elemental form up. +To say that he is fearless would be inadequate. In a word, he is a +man whose strength and daring fit him for any enterprise of any kind. +He would dare and do anything in the world or out of it, on the earth +or under it, in the sea or--in the air, fearing nothing material or +unseen, not man or ghost, nor God nor Devil." + +If you ever care to think of it, I carried that cutting in my pocket- +book from that hour I read it till now. + +Remember, again, I say, that I never interfered in the slightest way +in any of your adventures. I wanted you to "dree your own weird," as +the Scotch say; and I wanted to know of it--that was all. Now, as I +hold you fully equipped for greater enterprise, I want to set your +feet on the road and to provide you with the most potent weapon-- +beyond personal qualities--for the winning of great honour--a gain, +my dear nephew, which, I am right sure, does and will appeal to you +as it has ever done to me. I have worked for it for more than fifty +years; but now that the time has come when the torch is slipping from +my old hands, I look to you, my dearest kinsman, to lift it and carry +it on. + +The little nation of the Blue Mountains has from the first appealed +to me. It is poor and proud and brave. Its people are well worth +winning, and I would advise you to throw in your lot with them. You +may find them hard to win, for when peoples, like individuals, are +poor and proud, these qualities are apt to react on each other to an +endless degree. These men are untamable, and no one can ever succeed +with them unless he is with them in all-in-all, and is a leader +recognized. But if you can win them they are loyal to death. If you +are ambitious--and I know you are--there may be a field for you in +such a country. With your qualifications, fortified by the fortune +which I am happy enough to be able to leave you, you may dare much +and go far. Should I be alive when you return from your exploration +in Northern South America, I may have the happiness of helping you to +this or any other ambition, and I shall deem it a privilege to share +it with you; but time is going on. I am in my seventy-second year . +. . the years of man are three-score and ten--I suppose you +understand; I do . . . Let me point out this: For ambitious projects +the great nationalities are impossible to a stranger--and in our own +we are limited by loyalty (and common-sense). It is only in a small +nation that great ambitions can be achieved. If you share my own +views and wishes, the Blue .Mountains is your ground. I hoped at one +time that I might yet become a Voivode--even a great one. But age +has dulled my personal ambitions as it has cramped my powers. I no +longer dream of such honour for myself, though I do look on it as a +possibility for you if you care for it. Through my Will you will +have a great position and a great estate, and though you may have to +yield up the latter in accordance with my wish, as already expressed +in this letter, the very doing so will give you an even greater hold +than this possession in the hearts of the mountaineers, should they +ever come to know it. Should it be that at the time you inherit from +me the Voivode Vissarion should not be alive, it may serve or aid you +to know that in such case you would be absolved from any conditions +of mine, though I trust you would in that, as in all other matters, +hold obligation enforced by your own honour as to my wishes. +Therefore the matter stands thus: If Vissarion lives, you will +relinquish the estates. Should such not be the case, you will act as +you believe that I would wish you to. In either case the +mountaineers should not know from you in any way of the secret +contracts between Vissarion and myself. Enlightenment of the many +should (if ever) come from others than yourself. And unless such +take place, you would leave the estates without any quid pro quo +whatever. This you need not mind, for the fortune you will inherit +will leave you free and able to purchase other estates in the Blue +Mountains or elsewhere that you may select in the world. + +If others attack, attack them, and quicker and harder than they can, +if such be a possibility. Should it ever be that you inherit the +Castle of Vissarion on the Spear of Ivan, remember that I had it +secretly fortified and armed against attack. There are not only +massive grilles, but doors of chilled bronze where such be needed. +My adherent Rooke, who has faithfully served me for nearly forty +years, and has gone on my behalf on many perilous expeditions, will, +I trust, serve you in the same way. Treat him well for my sake, if +not for your own. I have left him provision for a life of ease; but +he would rather take a part in dangerous enterprises. He is silent +as the grave and as bold as a lion. He knows every detail of the +fortification and of the secret means of defence. A word in your +ear--he was once a pirate. He was then in his extreme youth, and +long since changed his ways in this respect; but from this fact you +can understand his nature. You will find him useful should occasion +ever arise. Should you accept the conditions of my letter, you are +to make the Blue Mountains--in part, at least--your home, living +there a part of the year, if only for a week, as in England men of +many estates share the time amongst them. To this you are not bound, +and no one shall have power to compel you or interfere with you. I +only express a hope. But one thing I do more than hope--I desire, if +you will honour my wishes, that, come what may, you are to keep your +British nationality, unless by special arrangement with and consent +of the Privy Council. Such arrangement to be formally made by my +friend, Edward Bingham Trent, or whomsoever he may appoint by deed or +will to act in the matter, and made in such a way that no act save +that alone of Parliament in all its estates, and endorsed by the +King, may or can prevail against it. + +My last word to you is, Be bold and honest, and fear not. Most +things--even kingship--SOMEWHERE may now and again be won by the +sword. A brave heart and a strong arm may go far. But whatever is +so won cannot be held merely by the sword. Justice alone can hold in +the long run. Where men trust they will follow, and the rank and +file of people want to follow, not to lead. If it be your fortune to +lead, be bold. Be wary, if you will; exercise any other faculties +that may aid or guard. Shrink from nothing. Avoid nothing that is +honourable in itself. Take responsibility when such presents itself. +What others shrink from, accept. That is to be great in what world, +little or big, you move. Fear nothing, no matter of what kind danger +may be or whence it come. The only real way to meet danger is to +despise it--except with your brains. Meet it in the gate, not the +hall. + +My kinsman, the name of my race and your own, worthily mingled in +your own person, now rests with you! + + +Letter from Rupert Sent Leger, 32 Bodmin Street, Victoria, S.W., to +Miss Janet MacKelpie, Croom, Ross-shire. +January 3, 1907. + +MY DEAREST AUNT JANET, + +You will, I know, be rejoiced to hear of the great good-fortune which +has come to me through the Will of Uncle Roger. Perhaps Sir Colin +will have written to you, as he is one of the executors, and there is +a bequest to you, so I must not spoil his pleasure of telling you of +that part himself. Unfortunately, I am not free to speak fully of my +own legacy yet, but I want you to know that at worst I am to receive +an amount many times more than I ever dreamt of possessing through +any possible stroke of fortune. So soon as I can leave London-- +where, of course, I must remain until things are settled--I am coming +up to Croom to see you, and I hope I shall by then be able to let you +know so much that you will be able to guess at the extraordinary +change that has come to my circumstances. It is all like an +impossible dream: there is nothing like it in the "Arabian Nights." +However, the details must wait, I am pledged to secrecy for the +present. And you must be pledged too. You won't mind, dear, will +you? What I want to do at present is merely to tell you of my own +good-fortune, and that I shall be going presently to live for a while +at Vissarion. Won't you come with me, Aunt Janet? We shall talk +more of this when I come to Croom; but I want you to keep the subject +in your mind. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +From Rupert Sent Leger's Journal. +January 4, 1907. + +Things have been humming about me so fast that I have had hardly time +to think. But some of the things have been so important, and have so +changed my entire outlook on life, that it may be well to keep some +personal record of them. I may some day want to remember some +detail--perhaps the sequence of events, or something like that--and +it may be useful. It ought to be, if there is any justice in things, +for it will be an awful swot to write it when I have so many things +to think of now. Aunt Janet, I suppose, will like to keep it locked +up for me, as she does with all my journals and papers. That is one +good thing about Aunt Janet amongst many: she has no curiosity, or +else she has some other quality which keeps her from prying as other +women would. It would seem that she has not so much as opened the +cover of one of my journals ever in her life, and that she would not +without my permission. So this can in time go to her also. + +I dined last night with Mr. Trent, by his special desire. The dinner +was in his own rooms. Dinner sent in from the hotel. He would not +have any waiters at all, but made them send in the dinner all at +once, and we helped ourselves. As we were quite alone, we could talk +freely, and we got over a lot of ground while we were dining. He +began to tell me about Uncle Roger. I was glad of that, for, of +course, I wanted to know all I could of him, and the fact was I had +seen very little of him. Of course, when I was a small kid he was +often in our house, for he was very fond of mother, and she of him. +But I fancy that a small boy was rather a nuisance to him. And then +I was at school, and he was away in the East. And then poor mother +died while he was living in the Blue Mountains, and I never saw him +again. When I wrote to him about Aunt Janet he answered me very +kindly but he was so very just in the matter that I got afraid of +him. And after that I ran away, and have been roaming ever since; so +there was never a chance of our meeting. But that letter of his has +opened my eyes. To think of him following me that way all over the +world, waiting to hold out a helping hand if I should want it, I only +wish I had known, or even suspected, the sort of man he was, and how +he cared for me, and I would sometimes have come back to see him, if +I had to come half round the world. Well, all I can do now is to +carry out his wishes; that will be my expiation for my neglect. He +knew what he wanted exactly, and I suppose I shall come in time to +know it all and understand it, too. + +I was thinking something like this when Mr. Trent began to talk, so +that all he said fitted exactly into my own thought. The two men +were evidently great friends--I should have gathered that, anyhow, +from the Will--and the letters--so I was not surprised when Mr. Trent +told me that they had been to school together, Uncle Roger being a +senior when he was a junior; and had then and ever after shared each +other's confidence. Mr. Trent, I gathered, had from the very first +been in love with my mother, even when she was a little girl; but he +was poor and shy, and did not like to speak. When he had made up his +mind to do so, he found that she had by then met my father, and could +not help seeing that they loved each other. So he was silent. He +told me he had never said a word about it to anyone--not even to my +Uncle Roger, though he knew from one thing and another, though he +never spoke of it, that he would like it. I could not help seeing +that the dear old man regarded me in a sort of parental way--I have +heard of such romantic attachments being transferred to the later +generation. I was not displeased with it; on the contrary, I liked +him better for it. I love my mother so much--I always think of her +in the present--that I cannot think of her as dead. There is a tie +between anyone else who loved her and myself. I tried to let Mr. +Trent see that I liked him, and it pleased him so much that I could +see his liking for me growing greater. Before we parted he told me +that he was going to give up business. He must have understood how +disappointed I was--for how could I ever get along at all without +him?--for he said, as he laid a hand quite affectionately, I thought- +-on my shoulder: + +"I shall have one client, though, whose business I always hope to +keep, and for whom I shall be always whilst I live glad to act--if he +will have me." I did not care to speak as I took his hand. He +squeezed mine, too, and said very earnestly: + +"I served your uncle's interests to the very best of my ability for +nearly fifty years. He had full confidence in me, and I was proud of +his trust. I can honestly say, Rupert--you won't mind me using that +familiarity, will you?--that, though the interests which I guarded +were so vast that without abusing my trust I could often have used my +knowledge to my personal advantage, I never once, in little matters +or big, abused that trust--no, not even rubbed the bloom off it. And +now that he has remembered me in his Will so generously that I need +work no more, it will be a very genuine pleasure and pride to me to +carry out as well as I can the wishes that I partly knew, and now +realize more fully towards you, his nephew." + +In the long chat which we had, and which lasted till midnight, he +told me many very interesting things about Uncle Roger. When, in the +course of conversation, he mentioned that the fortune Uncle Roger +left must be well over a hundred millions, I was so surprised that I +said out loud--I did not mean to ask a question: + +"How on earth could a man beginning with nothing realize such a +gigantic fortune?" + +"By all honest ways," he answered, "and his clever human insight. He +knew one half of the world, and so kept abreast of all public and +national movements that he knew the critical moment to advance money +required. He was always generous, and always on the side of freedom. +There are nations at this moment only now entering on the +consolidation of their liberty, who owe all to him, who knew when and +how to help. No wonder that in some lands they will drink to his +memory on great occasions as they used to drink his health." + +"As you and I shall do now, sir!" I said, as I filled my glass and +stood up. We drank it in bumpers. We did not say a word, either of +us; but the old gentleman held out his hand, and I took it. And so, +holding hands, we drank in silence. It made me feel quite choky; and +I could see that he, too, was moved. + + +From E. B. Trent's Memoranda. +January 4, 1907. + +I asked Mr. Rupert Sent Leger to dine with me at my office alone, as +I wished to have a chat with him. To-morrow Sir Colin and I will +have a formal meeting with him for the settlement of affairs, but I +thought it best to have an informal talk with him alone first, as I +wished to tell him certain matters which will make our meeting to- +morrow more productive of utility, as he can now have more full +understanding of the subjects which we have to discuss. Sir Colin is +all that can be in manhood, and I could wish no better colleague in +the executorship of this phenomenal Will; but he has not had the +privilege of a lifelong friendship with the testator as I have had. +And as Rupert Sent Leger had to learn intimate details regarding his +uncle, I could best make my confidences alone. To-morrow we shall +have plenty of formality. I was delighted with Rupert. He is just +what I could have wished his mother's boy to be--or a son of my own +to be, had I had the good-fortune to have been a father. But this is +not for me. I remember long, long ago reading a passage in Lamb's +Essays which hangs in my mind: "The children of Alice call Bartrum +father." Some of my old friends would laugh to see ME write this, +but these memoranda are for my eyes alone, and no one shall see them +till after my death, unless by my own permission. The boy takes some +qualities after his father; he has a daring that is disturbing to an +old dryasdust lawyer like me. But somehow I like him more than I +ever liked anyone--any man--in my life--more even than his uncle, my +old friend, Roger Melton; and Lord knows I had much cause to like +him. I have more than ever now. It was quite delightful to see the +way the young adventurer was touched by his uncle's thought of him. +He is a truly gallant fellow, but venturesome exploits have not +affected the goodness of heart. It is a pleasure to me to think that +Roger and Colin came together apropos of the boy's thoughtful +generosity towards Miss MacKelpie. The old soldier will be a good +friend to him, or I am much mistaken. With an old lawyer like me, +and an old soldier like him, and a real old gentlewoman like Miss +MacKelpie, who loves the very ground he walks on, to look after him, +together with all his own fine qualities and his marvellous +experience of the world, and the gigantic wealth that will surely be +his, that young man will go far. + + +Letter from Rupert Sent Leger to Miss Janet MacKelpie, Croom. +January 5, 1907. + +MY DEAREST AUNT JANET, + +It is all over--the first stage of it; and that is as far as I can +get at present. I shall have to wait for a few days--or it may be +weeks--in London for the doing of certain things now necessitated by +my acceptance of Uncle Roger's bequest. But as soon as I can, dear, +I shall come down to Croom and spend with you as many days as +possible. I shall then tell you all I am at liberty to tell, and I +shall thank you personally for your consent to come with me to +Vissarion. Oh, how I wish my dear mother had lived to be with us! +It would have made her happy, I know, to have come; and then we three +who shared together the old dear, hard days would have shared in the +same way the new splendour. I would try to show all my love and +gratitude to you both . . . You must take the whole burden of it now, +dear, for you and I are alone. No, not alone, as we used to be, for +I have now two old friends who are already dear to me. One is so to +you already. Sir Colin is simply splendid, and so, in his own way, +is Mr. Trent. I am lucky, Aunt Janet, to have two such men to think +of affairs for me. Am I not? I shall send you a wire as soon as +ever I can see my way to get through my work; and I want you to think +over all the things you ever wished for in your life, so that I may-- +if there is any mortal way of doing so--get them for you. You will +not stand in the way of my having this great pleasure, will you, +dear? Good-bye. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +E. B. Trent's Memoranda. +January 6, 1907. + + +The formal meeting of Sir Colin and myself with Rupert Sent Leger +went off quite satisfactorily. From what he had said yesterday, and +again last night, I had almost come to expect an unreserved +acceptance of everything stated or implied in Roger Melton's Will; +but when we had sat round the table--this appeared, by the way, to be +a formality for which we were all prepared, for we sat down as if by +instinct--the very first words he said were: + +"As I suppose I must go through this formality, I may as well say at +once that I accept every possible condition which was in the mind of +Uncle Roger; and to this end I am prepared to sign, seal, and +deliver--or whatever is the ritual--whatever document you, sir"-- +turning to me--"may think necessary or advisable, and of which you +both approve." He stood up and walked about the room for a few +moments, Sir Colin and I sitting quite still, silent. He came back +to his seat, and after a few seconds of nervousness--a rare thing +with him, I fancy--said: "I hope you both understand--of course, I +know you do; I only speak because this is an occasion for formality-- +that I am willing to accept, and at once! I do so, believe me, not +to get possession of this vast fortune, but because of him who has +given it. The man who was fond of me, and who trusted me, and yet +had strength to keep his own feelings in check--who followed me in +spirit to far lands and desperate adventures, and who, though he +might be across the world from me, was ready to put out a hand to +save or help me, was no common man; and his care of my mother's son +meant no common love for my dear mother. And so she and I together +accept his trust, come of it what may. I have been thinking it over +all night, and all the time I could not get out of the idea that +mother was somewhere near me. The only thought that could debar me +from doing as I wished to do--and intend to do--would be that she +would not approve. Now that I am satisfied she would approve, I +accept. Whatever may result or happen, I shall go on following the +course that he has set for me. So help me, God!" Sir Colin stood +up, and I must say a more martial figure I never saw. He was in full +uniform, for he was going on to the King's levee after our business. +He drew his sword from the scabbard and laid it naked on the table +before Rupert, and said: + +"You are going, sir, into a strange and danger country--I have been +reading about it since we met--and you will be largely alone amongst +fierce mountaineers who resent the very presence of a stranger, and +to whom you are, and must be, one. If you should ever be in any +trouble and want a man to stand back to back with you, I hope you +will give me the honour!" As he said this pointed to his sword. +Rupert and I were also standing now--one cannot sit down in the +presence of such an act as that. "You are, I am proud to say, allied +with my family: and I only wish to God it was closer to myself." +Rupert took him by the hand and bent his head before him as answered: + +"The honour is mine, Sir Colin; and no greater can come to any man +than that which you have just done me. The best way I can show how I +value it will be to call on you if I am ever in such a tight place. +By Jove, sir, this is history repeating itself. Aunt Janet used to +tell me when I was a youngster how MacKelpie of Croom laid his sword +before Prince Charlie. I hope I may tell her of this; it would make +her so proud and happy. Don't imagine, sir, that I am thinking +myself a Charles Edward. It is only that Aunt Janet is so good to me +that I might well think I was." + +Sir Colin bowed grandly: + +"Rupert Sent Leger, my dear niece is a woman of great discretion and +discernment. And, moreover, I am thinking she has in her some of the +gift of Second Sight that has been a heritage of our blood. And I am +one with my niece--in everything!" The whole thing was quite regal +in manner; it seemed to take me back to the days of the Pretender. + +It was not, however, a time for sentiment, but for action--we had met +regarding the future, not the past; so I produced the short document +I had already prepared. On the strength of his steadfast declaration +that he would accept the terms of the Will and the secret letters, I +had got ready a formal acceptance. When I had once again formally +asked Mr. Sent Leger's wishes, and he had declared his wish to +accept, I got in a couple of my clerks as witnesses. + +Then, having again asked him in their presence if it was his wish to +declare acceptance of the conditions, the document was signed and +witnessed, Sir Colin and I both appending our signatures to the +Attestation. + +And so the first stage of Rupert Sent Leger's inheritance is +completed. The next step will not have to be undertaken on my part +until the expiration of six months from his entry on his estate at +Vissarion. As he announces his intention of going within a +fortnight, this will mean practically a little over six months from +now. + + + +BOOK II: VISSARION + + + +Letter from Rupert Sent Leger, Castle of Vissarion, the Spear of +Ivan, Land of the Blue Mountains, to Miss Janet MacKelpie, Croom +Castle, Ross-shire, N.B. +January 23, 1907. + +MY DEAREST AUNT JANET, + +As you see, I am here at last. Having got my formal duty done, as +you made me promise--my letters reporting arrival to Sir Colin and +Mr. Trent are lying sealed in front of me ready to post (for nothing +shall go before yours)--I am free to speak to you. + +This is a most lovely place, and I hope you will like it. I am quite +sure you will. We passed it in the steamer coming from Trieste to +Durazzo. I knew the locality from the chart, and it was pointed out +to me by one of the officers with whom I had become quite friendly, +and who kindly showed me interesting places whenever we got within +sight of shore. The Spear of Ivan, on which the Castle stands, is a +headland running well out into the sea. It is quite a peculiar +place--a sort of headland on a headland, jutting out into a deep, +wide bay, so that, though it is a promontory, it is as far away from +the traffic of coast life as anything you can conceive. The main +promontory is the end of a range of mountains, and looms up vast, +towering over everything, a mass of sapphire blue. I can well +understand how the country came to be called the "Land of the Blue +Mountains," for it is all mountains, and they are all blue! The +coast-line is magnificent--what is called "iron-bound"--being all +rocky; sometimes great frowning precipices; sometimes jutting spurs +of rock; again little rocky islets, now and again clad with trees and +verdure, at other places stark and bare. Elsewhere are little rocky +bays and indentations--always rock, and often with long, interesting +caves. Some of the shores of the bays are sandy, or else ridges of +beautiful pebbles, where the waves make endless murmur. + +But of all the places I have seen--in this land or any other--the +most absolutely beautiful is Vissarion. It stands at the ultimate +point of the promontory--I mean the little, or, rather, lesser +promontory--that continues on the spur of the mountain range. For +the lesser promontory or extension of the mountain is in reality +vast; the lowest bit of cliff along the sea-front is not less than a +couple of hundred feet high. That point of rock is really very +peculiar. I think Dame Nature must, in the early days of her +housekeeping--or, rather, house-BUILDING--have intended to give her +little child, man, a rudimentary lesson in self-protection. It is +just a natural bastion such as a titanic Vauban might have designed +in primeval times. So far as the Castle is concerned, it is alone +visible from the sea. Any enemy approaching could see only that +frowning wall of black rock, of vast height and perpendicular +steepness. Even the old fortifications which crown it are not built, +but cut in the solid rock. A long narrow creek of very deep water, +walled in by high, steep cliffs, runs in behind the Castle, bending +north and west, making safe and secret anchorage. Into the creek +falls over a precipice a mountain-stream, which never fails in volume +of water. On the western shore of that creek is the Castle, a huge +pile of buildings of every style of architecture, from the Twelfth +century to where such things seemed to stop in this dear old-world +land--about the time of Queen Elizabeth. So it is pretty +picturesque. I can tell you. When we got the first glimpse of the +place from the steamer the officer, with whom I was on the bridge, +pointed towards it and said: + +"That is where we saw the dead woman floating in a coffin." That was +rather interesting, so I asked him all about it. He took from his +pocket-book a cutting from an Italian paper, which he handed to me. +As I can read and speak Italian fairly well, it was all right; but as +you, my dear Aunt Janet, are not skilled in languages, and as I doubt +if there is any assistance of the kind to be had at Croom, I do not +send it. But as I have heard that the item has been produced in the +last number of The Journal of Occultism, you will be easily able to +get it. As he handed me the cutting he said: "I am Destilia!" His +story was so strange that I asked him a good many questions about it. +He answered me quite frankly on every point, but always adhering +stoutly to the main point--namely, that it was no phantom or mirage, +no dream or imperfect vision in a fog. "We were four in all who saw +it," he said--"three from the bridge and the Englishman, Caulfield-- +from the bows--whose account exactly agreed with what we saw. +Captain Mirolani and Falamano and I were all awake and in good trim. +We looked with our night-glasses, which are more than usually +powerful. You know, we need good glasses for the east shore of the +Adriatic and for among the islands to the south. There was a full +moon and a brilliant light. Of course we were a little way off, for +though the Spear of Ivan is in deep water, one has to be careful of +currents, for it is in just such places that the dangerous currents +run." The agent of Lloyd's told me only a few weeks ago that it was +only after a prolonged investigation of the tidal and sea currents +that the house decided to except from ordinary sea risks losses due +to a too close course by the Spear of Ivan. When I tried to get a +little more definite account of the coffin-boat and the dead lady +that is given in The Journal of Occultism he simply shrugged his +shoulders. "Signor, it is all," he said. "That Englishman wrote +everything after endless questioning." + +So you see, my dear, that our new home is not without superstitious +interests of its own. It is rather a nice idea, is it not, to have a +dead woman cruising round our promontory in a coffin? I doubt if +even at Croom you can beat that. "Makes the place kind of homey," as +an American would say. When you come, Aunt Janet, you will not feel +lonesome, at any rate, and it will save us the trouble of importing +some of your Highland ghosts to make you feel at home in the new +land. I don't know, but we might ask the stiff to come to tea with +us. Of course, it would be a late tea. Somewhere between midnight +and cock-crow would be about the etiquette of the thing, I fancy! + +But I must tell you all the realities of the Castle and around it. +So I will write again within a day or two, and try to let you know +enough to prepare you for coming here. Till then adieu, my dear. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +From Rupert Sent Leger, Vissarion, to Janet MacKelpie, +Croom. +January 25, 1907. + +I hope I did not frighten you, dear Aunt Janet, by the yarn of the +lady in the coffin. But I know you are not afraid; you have told me +too many weird stories for me to dread that. Besides, you have +Second Sight--latent, at all events. However, there won't be any +more ghosts, or about ghosts, in this letter. I want to tell you all +about our new home. I am so glad you are coming out so soon; I am +beginning to feel so lonesome--I walk about sometimes aimlessly, and +find my thoughts drifting in such an odd way. If I didn't know +better, I might begin to think I was in love! There is no one here +to be in love with; so make your mind easy, Aunt Janet. Not that you +would be unhappy, I know, dear, if I DID fall in love. I suppose I +must marry some day. It is a duty now, I know, when there is such an +estate as Uncle Roger has left me. And I know this: I shall never +marry any woman unless I love her. And I am right sure that if I do +love her you will love her, too, Aunt Janet! Won't you, dear? It +wouldn't be half a delight if you didn't. It won't if you don't. +There, now! + +But before I begin to describe Vissarion I shall throw a sop to you +as a chatelaine; that may give you patience to read the rest. The +Castle needs a lot of things to make it comfortable--as you would +consider it. In fact, it is absolutely destitute of everything of a +domestic nature. Uncle Roger had it vetted on the defence side, and +so far it could stand a siege. But it couldn't cook a dinner or go +through a spring-cleaning! As you know, I am not much up in domestic +matters, and so I cannot give you details; but you may take it that +it wants everything. I don't mean furniture, or silver, or even +gold-plate, or works of art, for it is full of the most magnificent +old things that you can imagine. I think Uncle Roger must have been +a collector, and gathered a lot of good things in all sorts of +places, stored them for years, and then sent them here. But as to +glass, china, delft, all sorts of crockery, linen, household +appliances and machinery, cooking utensils--except of the simplest-- +there are none. I don't think Uncle Roger could have lived here more +than on a temporary picnic. So far as I only am concerned, I am all +right; a gridiron and a saucepan are all _I_ want--and I can use them +myself. But, dear Aunt Janet, I don't want you to pig it. I would +like you to have everything you can imagine, and all of the very +best. Cost doesn't count now for us, thanks to Uncle Roger; and so I +want you to order all. I know you, dear--being a woman--won't object +to shopping. But it will have to be wholesale. This is an enormous +place, and will swallow up all you can buy--like a quicksand. Do as +you like about choosing, but get all the help you can. Don't be +afraid of getting too much. You can't, or of being idle when you are +here. I assure you that when you come there will be so much to do +and so many things to think of that you will want to get away from it +all. And, besides, Aunt Janet, I hope you won't be too long. +Indeed, I don't wish to be selfish, but your boy is lonely, and wants +you. And when you get here you will be an EMPRESS. I don't +altogether like doing so, lest I should offend a millionairess like +you; but it may facilitate matters, and the way's of commerce are +strict, though devious. So I send you a cheque for 1,000 pounds for +the little things: and a letter to the bank to honour your own +cheques for any amount I have got. + +I think, by the way, I should, if I were you, take or send out a few +servants--not too many at first, only just enough to attend on our +two selves. You can arrange to send for any more you may want later. +Engage them, and arrange for their being paid--when they are in our +service we must treat them well--and then they can be at our call as +you find that we want them. I think you should secure, say, fifty or +a hundred--'tis an awfu' big place, Aunt Janet! And in the same way +will you secure--and, of course, arrange for pay similarly--a hundred +men, exclusive of any servants you think it well to have. I should +like the General, if he can give the time, to choose or pass them. I +want clansmen that I can depend on, if need be. We are going to live +in a country which is at present strange to us, and it is well to +look things in the face. I know Sir Colin will only have men who are +a credit to Scotland and to Ross and to Croom--men who will impress +the Blue Mountaineers. I know they will take them to their hearts-- +certainly if any of them are bachelors the girls will! Forgive me! +But if we are to settle here, our followers will probably want to +settle also. Moreover, the Blue Mountaineers may want followers +also! And will want them to settle, too, and have successors! + +Now for the description of the place. Well, I simply can't just now. +It is all so wonderful and so beautiful. The Castle--I have written +so much already about other things that I really must keep the Castle +for another letter! Love to Sir Colin if he is at Croom. And oh, +dear Aunt Janet, how I wish that my dear mother was coming out! It +all seems so dark and empty without her. How she would have enjoyed +it! How proud she would have been! And, my dear, if she could be +with us again, how grateful she would have been to you for all you +have done for her boy! As I am, believe me, most truly and sincerely +and affectionately grateful. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +Rupert Sent Leger, Vissarion, to Janet MacKelpie, Croom. +January 26, 1907. + +MY DEAR AUNT JANET, + +Please read this as if it was a part of the letter I wrote yesterday. + +The Castle itself is so vast that I really can't describe it in +detail. So I am waiting till you come; and then you and I will go +over it together and learn all that we can about it. We shall take +Rooke with us, and, as he is supposed to know every part of it, from +the keep to the torture-chamber, we can spend a few days over it. Of +course, I have been over most of it, since I came--that, is, I went +at various times to see different portions--the battlements, the +bastions, the old guard-room, the hall, the chapel, the walls, the +roof. And I have been through some of the network of rock passages. +Uncle Roger must have spent a mint of money on it, so far as I can +see; and though I am not a soldier, I have been in so many places +fortified in different ways that I am not entirely ignorant of the +subject. He has restored it in such an up-to-date way that it is +practically impregnable to anything under big guns or a siege-train. +He has gone so far as to have certain outworks and the keep covered +with armoured plating of what looks like harveyized steel. You will +wonder when you see it. But as yet I really know only a few rooms, +and am familiar with only one--my own room. The drawing-room--not +the great hall, which is a vast place; the library--a magnificent +one, but in sad disorder--we must get a librarian some day to put it +in trim; and the drawing-room and boudoir and bedroom suite which I +have selected for you, are all fine. But my own room is what suits +me best, though I do not think you would care for it for yourself. +If you do, you shall have it. It was Uncle Roger's own room when he +stayed here; living in it for a few days served to give me more +insight to his character--or rather to his mind--than I could have +otherwise had. It is just the kind of place I like myself; so, +naturally, I understand the other chap who liked it too. It is a +fine big room, not quite within the Castle, but an outlying part of +it. It is not detached, or anything of that sort, but is a sort of +garden-room built on to it. There seems to have been always some +sort of place where it is, for the passages and openings inside seem +to accept or recognize it. It can be shut off if necessary--it would +be in case of attack--by a great slab of steel, just like the door of +a safe, which slides from inside the wall, and can be operated from +either inside or outside--if you know how. That is from my room or +from within the keep. The mechanism is a secret, and no one but +Rooke and I know it. The room opens out through a great French +window--the French window is modern, I take it, and was arranged by +or for Uncle Roger; I think there must have been always a large +opening there, for centuries at least--which opens on a wide terrace +or balcony of white marble, extending right and left. From this a +white marble stair lies straight in front of the window, and leads +down to the garden. The balcony and staircase are quite ancient--of +old Italian work, beautifully carved, and, of course, weather-worn +through centuries. There is just that little tinging of green here +and there which makes all outdoor marble so charming. It is hard to +believe at times that it is a part of a fortified castle, it is so +elegant and free and open. The first glance of it would make a +burglar's heart glad. He would say to himself: "Here is the sort of +crib I like when I'm on the job. You can just walk in and out as you +choose." But, Aunt Janet, old Roger was cuter than any burglar. He +had the place so guarded that the burglar would have been a baffled +burglar. There are two steel shields which can slide out from the +wall and lock into the other side right across the whole big window. +One is a grille of steel bands that open out into diamond-shaped +lozenges. Nothing bigger than a kitten could get through; and yet +you can see the garden and the mountains and the whole view--much the +same as you ladies can see through your veils. The other is a great +sheet of steel, which slides out in a similar way in different +grooves. It is not, of course, so heavy and strong as the safe-door +which covers the little opening in the main wall, but Rooke tells me +it is proof against the heaviest rifle-hall. + +Having told you this, I must tell you, too, Aunt Janet, lest you +should be made anxious by the arriere-pensee of all these warlike +measures of defence, that I always sleep at night with one of these +iron screens across the window. Of course, when I am awake I leave +it open. As yet I have tried only, but not used, the grille; and I +don't think I shall ever use anything else, for it is a perfect +guard. If it should be tampered with from outside it would sound an +alarm at the head of the bed, and the pressing of a button would roll +out the solid steel screen in front of it. As a matter of fact, I +have been so used to the open that I don't feel comfortable shut in. +I only close windows against cold or rain. The weather here is +delightful--as yet, at all events--but they tell me that the rainy +season will be on us before very long. + +I think you will like my den, aunty dear, though it will doubtless be +a worry to you to see it so untidy. But that can't be helped. I +must be untidy SOMEWHERE; and it is best in my own den! + +Again I find my letter so long that I must cut it off now and go on +again to-night. So this must go as it stands. I shall not cause you +to wait to hear all I can tell you about our new home. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +From Rupert Sent Leger, Vissarion, to Janet MacKelpie, +Croom. +January 29, 1907. + +MY DEAR AUNT JANET, + +My den looks out, as I told you in my last letter, on the garden, or, +to speak more accurately, on ONE of the gardens, for there are acres +of them. This is the old one, which must be almost as old as the +Castle itself, for it was within the defences in the old days of +bows. The wall that surrounds the inner portion of it has long ago +been levelled, but sufficient remains at either end where it joined +the outer defences to show the long casemates for the bowmen to shoot +through and the raised stone gallery where they stood. It is just +the same kind of building as the stone-work of the sentry's walk on +the roof and of the great old guard-room under it. + +But whatever the garden may have been, and no matter how it was +guarded, it is a most lovely place. There are whole sections of +garden here of various styles--Greek, Italian, French, German, Dutch, +British, Spanish, African, Moorish--all the older nationalities. I +am going to have a new one laid out for you--a Japanese garden. I +have sent to the great gardener of Japan, Minaro, to make the plans +for it, and to come over with workmen to carry it out. He is to +bring trees and shrubs and flowers and stone-work, and everything +that can be required; and you shall superintend the finishing, if not +the doing, of it yourself. We have such a fine head of water here, +and the climate is, they tell me, usually so lovely that we can do +anything in the gardening way. If it should ever turn out that the +climate does not suit, we shall put a great high glass roof over it, +and MAKE a suitable climate. + +This garden in front of my room is the old Italian garden. It must +have been done with extraordinary taste and care, for there is not a +bit of it which is not rarely beautiful. Sir Thomas Browne himself, +for all his Quincunx, would have been delighted with it, and have +found material for another "Garden of Cyrus." It is so big that +there are endless "episodes" of garden beauty I think all Italy must +have been ransacked in old times for garden stone-work of exceptional +beauty; and these treasures have been put together by some master- +hand. Even the formal borders of the walks are of old porous stone, +which takes the weather-staining so beautifully, and are carved in +endless variety. Now that the gardens have been so long neglected or +left in abeyance, the green staining has become perfect. Though the +stone-work is itself intact, it has all the picturesque effect of the +wear and ruin wrought by many centuries. I am having it kept for you +just as it is, except that I have had the weeds and undergrowth +cleared away so that its beauties might be visible. + +But it is not merely the architect work of the garden that is so +beautiful, nor is the assembling there of the manifold wealth of +floral beauty--there is the beauty that Nature creates by the hand of +her servant, Time. You see, Aunt Janet, how the beautiful garden +inspires a danger-hardened old tramp like me to high-grade sentiments +of poetic fancy! Not only have limestone and sandstone, and even +marble, grown green in time, but even the shrubs planted and then +neglected have developed new kinds of beauty of their own. In some +far-distant time some master-gardener of the Vissarions has tried to +realize an idea--that of tiny plants that would grow just a little +higher than the flowers, so that the effect of an uneven floral +surface would be achieved without any hiding of anything in the +garden seen from anywhere. This is only my reading of what has been +from the effect of what is! In the long period of neglect the shrubs +have outlived the flowers. Nature has been doing her own work all +the time in enforcing the survival of the fittest. The shrubs have +grown and grown, and have overtopped flower and weed, according to +their inherent varieties of stature; to the effect that now you see +irregularly scattered through the garden quite a number--for it is a +big place--of vegetable products which from a landscape standpoint +have something of the general effect of statues without the cramping +feeling of detail. Whoever it was that laid out that part of the +garden or made the choice of items, must have taken pains to get +strange specimens, for all those taller shrubs are in special +colours, mostly yellow or white--white cypress, white holly, yellow +yew, grey-golden box, silver juniper, variegated maple, spiraea, and +numbers of dwarf shrubs whose names I don't know. I only know that +when the moon shines--and this, my dear Aunt Janet, is the very land +of moonlight itself!--they all look ghastly pale. The effect is +weird to the last degree, and I am sure that you will enjoy it. For +myself, as you know, uncanny things hold no fear. I suppose it is +that I have been up against so many different kinds of fears, or, +rather, of things which for most people have terrors of their own, +that I have come to have a contempt--not an active contempt, you +know, but a tolerative contempt--for the whole family of them. And +you, too, will enjoy yourself here famously, I know. You'll have to +collect all the stories of such matters in our new world and make a +new book of facts for the Psychical Research Society. It will be +nice to see your own name on a title-page, won't it, Aunt Janet? + + +From Rupert Sent Leger, Vissarion, to Janet MacKelpie, +Croom. +January 30, 1907. + +MY DEAR AUNT JANET, + +I stopped writing last night--do you know why? Because I wanted to +write more! This sounds a paradox, but it is true. The fact is +that, as I go on telling you of this delightful place, I keep finding +out new beauties myself. Broadly speaking, it IS ALL beautiful. In +the long view or the little view--as the telescope or the microscope +directs--it is all the same. Your eye can turn on nothing that does +not entrance you. I was yesterday roaming about the upper part of +time Castle, and came across some delightful nooks, which at once I +became fond of, and already like them as if I had known them all my +life. I felt at first a sense of greediness when I had appropriated +to myself several rooms in different places--I who have never in my +life had more than one room which I could call my own--and that only +for a time! But when I slept on it the feeling changed, and its +aspect is now not half bad. It is now under another classification-- +under a much more important label--PROPRIETORSHIP. If I were writing +philosophy, I should here put in a cynical remark: + +"Selfishness is an appanage of poverty. It might appear in the stud- +book as by 'Morals' out of 'Wants.'" + +I have now three bedrooms arranged as my own particular dens. One of +the other two was also a choice of Uncle Roger's. It is at the top +of one of the towers to the extreme east, and from it I can catch the +first ray of light over the mountains. I slept in it last night, and +when I woke, as in my travelling I was accustomed to do, at dawn, I +saw from my bed through an open window--a small window, for it is in +a fortress tower--the whole great expanse to the east. Not far off, +and springing from the summit of a great ruin, where long ago a seed +had fallen, rose a great silver-birch, and the half-transparent, +drooping branches and hanging clusters of leaf broke the outline of +the grey hills beyond, for the hills were, for a wonder, grey instead +of blue. There was a mackerel sky, with the clouds dropping on the +mountain-tops till you could hardly say which was which. It was a +mackerel sky of a very bold and extraordinary kind--not a dish of +mackerel, but a world of mackerel! The mountains are certainly most +lovely. In this clear air they usually seem close at hand. It was +only this morning, with the faint glimpse of the dawn whilst the +night clouds were still unpierced by the sunlight, that I seemed to +realize their greatness. I have seen the same enlightening effect of +aerial perspective a few times before--in Colorado, in Upper India, +in Thibet, and in the uplands amongst the Andes. + +There is certainly something in looking at things from above which +tends to raise one's own self-esteem. From the height, inequalities +simply disappear. This I have often felt on a big scale when +ballooning, or, better still, from an aeroplane. Even here from the +tower the outlook is somehow quite different from below. One +realizes the place and all around it, not in detail, but as a whole. +I shall certainly sleep up here occasionally, when you have come and +we have settled down to our life as it is to be. I shall live in my +own room downstairs, where I can have the intimacy of the garden. +But I shall appreciate it all the more from now and again losing the +sense of intimacy for a while, and surveying it without the sense of +one's own self-importance. + +I hope you have started on that matter of the servants. For myself, +I don't care a button whether or not there are any servants at all; +but I know well that you won't come till you have made your +arrangements regarding them! Another thing, Aunt Janet. You must +not be killed with work here, and it is all so vast . . . Why can't +you get some sort of secretary who will write your letters and do all +that sort of thing for you? I know you won't have a man secretary; +but there are lots of women now who can write shorthand and +typewrite. You could doubtless get one in the clan--someone with a +desire to better herself. I know you would make her happy here. If +she is not too young, all the better; she will have learned to hold +her tongue and mind her own business, and not be too inquisitive. +That would be a nuisance when we are finding our way about in a new +country and trying to reconcile all sorts of opposites in a whole new +country with new people, whom at first we shan't understand, and who +certainly won't understand us; where every man carries a gun with as +little thought of it as he has of buttons! Good-bye for a while. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +From Rupert Sent Leger, Vissarion, to Janet MacKelpie, +Croom. +February 3, 1907. + +I am back in my own room again. Already it seems to me that to get +here again is like coming home. I have been going about for the last +few days amongst the mountaineers and trying to make their +acquaintance. It is a tough job; and I can see that there will be +nothing but to stick to it. They are in reality the most primitive +people I ever met--the most fixed to their own ideas, which belong to +centuries back. I can understand now what people were like in +England--not in Queen Elizabeth's time, for that was civilized time, +but in the time of Coeur-de-Lion, or even earlier--and all the time +with the most absolute mastery of weapons of precision. Every man +carries a rifle--and knows how to use it, too. I do believe they +would rather go without their clothes than their guns if they had to +choose between them. They also carry a handjar, which used to be +their national weapon. It is a sort of heavy, straight cutlass, and +they are so expert with it as well as so strong that it is as facile +in the hands of a Blue Mountaineer as is a foil in the hands of a +Persian maitre d'armes. They are so proud and reserved that they +make one feel quite small, and an "outsider" as well. I can see +quite well that they rather resent my being here at all. It is not +personal, for when alone with me they are genial, almost brotherly; +but the moment a few of them get together they are like a sort of +jury, with me as the criminal before them. It is an odd situation, +and quite new to me. I am pretty well accustomed to all sorts of +people, from cannibals to Mahatmas, but I'm blessed if I ever struck +such a type as this--so proud, so haughty, so reserved, so distant, +so absolutely fearless, so honourable, so hospitable. Uncle Roger's +head was level when he chose them out as a people to live amongst. +Do you know, Aunt Janet, I can't help feeling that they are very much +like your own Highlanders--only more so. I'm sure of one thing: +that in the end we shall get on capitally together. But it will be a +slow job, and will need a lot of patience. I have a feeling in my +bones that when they know me better they will be very loyal and very +true; and I am not a hair's-breadth afraid of them or anything they +shall or might do. That is, of course, if I live long enough for +them to have time to know me. Anything may happen with such an +indomitable, proud people to whom pride is more than victuals. After +all, it only needs one man out of a crowd to have a wrong idea or to +make a mistake as to one's motive--and there you are. But it will be +all right that way, I am sure. I am come here to stay, as Uncle +Roger wished. And stay I shall even if it has to be in a little bed +of my own beyond the garden--seven feet odd long, and not too narrow- +-or else a stone-box of equal proportions in the vaults of St. Sava's +Church across the Creek--the old burial-place of the Vissarions and +other noble people for a good many centuries back . . . + +I have been reading over this letter, dear Aunt Janet, and I am +afraid the record is rather an alarming one. But don't you go +building up superstitious horrors or fears on it. Honestly, I am +only joking about death--a thing to which I have been rather prone +for a good many years back. Not in very good taste, I suppose, but +certainly very useful when the old man with the black wings goes +flying about you day and night in strange places, sometimes visible +and at others invisible. But you can always hear wings, especially +in the dark, when you cannot see them. YOU know that, Aunt Janet, +who come of a race of warriors, and who have special sight behind or +through the black curtain. + +Honestly, I am in no whit afraid of the Blue Mountaineers, nor have I +a doubt of them. I love them already for their splendid qualities, +and I am prepared to love them for themselves. I feel, too, that +they will love me (and incidentally they are sure to love you). I +have a sort of undercurrent of thought that there is something in +their minds concerning me--something not painful, but disturbing; +something that has a base in the past; something that has hope in it +and possible pride, and not a little respect. As yet they can have +had no opportunity of forming such impression from seeing me or from +any thing I have done. Of course, it may be that, although they are +fine, tall, stalwart men, I am still a head and shoulders over the +tallest of them that I have yet seen. I catch their eyes looking up +at me as though they were measuring me, even when they are keeping +away from me, or, rather, keeping me from them at arm's length. I +suppose I shall understand what it all means some day. In the +meantime there is nothing to do but to go on my own way--which is +Uncle Roger's--and wait and be patient and just. I have learned the +value of that, any way, in my life amongst strange peoples. Good- +night. + +Your loving +RUPERT. + + +From Rupert Sent Leger, Vissarion, to Janet MacKelpie, +Croom. +February 24, 1907. + +MY DEAR AUNT JANET, + +I am more than rejoiced to hear that you are coming here so soon. +This isolation is, I think, getting on my nerves. I thought for a +while last night that I was getting on, but the reaction came all too +soon. I was in my room in the east turret, the room on the +corbeille, and saw here and there men passing silently and swiftly +between the trees as though in secret. By-and-by I located their +meeting-place, which was in a hollow in the midst of the wood just +outside the "natural" garden, as the map or plan of the castle calls +it. I stalked that place for all I was worth, and suddenly walked +straight into the midst of them. There were perhaps two or three +hundred gathered, about the very finest lot of men I ever saw in my +life. It was in its way quite an experience, and one not likely to +be repeated, for, as I told you, in this country every man carries a +rifle, and knows how to use it. I do not think I have seen a single +man (or married man either) without his rifle since I came here. I +wonder if they take them with them to bed! Well, the instant after I +stood amongst them every rifle in the place was aimed straight at me. +Don't be alarmed, Aunt Janet; they did not fire at me. If they had I +should not be writing to you now. I should be in that little bit of +real estate or the stone box, and about as full of lead as I could +hold. Ordinarily, I take it, they would have fired on the instant; +that is the etiquette here. But this time they--all separately but +all together--made a new rule. No one said a word or, so far as I +could see, made a movement. Here came in my own experience. I had +been more than once in a tight place of something of the same kind, +so I simply behaved in the most natural way I could. I felt +conscious--it was all in a flash, remember--that if I showed fear or +cause for fear, or even acknowledged danger by so much as even +holding up my hands, I should have drawn all the fire. They all +remained stock-still, as though they had been turned into stone, for +several seconds. Then a queer kind of look flashed round them like +wind over corn--something like the surprise one shows unconsciously +on waking in a strange place. A second after they each dropped the +rifle to the hollow of his arm and stood ready for anything. It was +all as regular and quick and simultaneous as a salute at St. James's +Palace. + +Happily I had no arms of any kind with me, so that there could be no +complication. I am rather a quick hand myself when there is any +shooting to be done. However, there was no trouble here, but the +contrary; the Blue Mountaineers--it sounds like a new sort of Bond +Street band, doesn't it?--treated me in quite a different way than +they did when I first met them. They were amazingly civil, almost +deferential. But, all time same, they were more distant than ever, +and all the time I was there I could get not a whit closer to them. +They seemed in a sort of way to be afraid or in awe of me. No doubt +that will soon pass away, and when we know one another better we +shall become close friends. They are too fine fellows not to be +worth a little waiting for. (That sentence, by the way, is a pretty +bad sentence! In old days you would have slippered me for it!) Your +journey is all arranged, and I hope you will be comfortable. Rooke +will meet you at Liverpool Street and look after everything. + +I shan't write again, but when we meet at Fiume I shall begin to tell +you all the rest. Till then, good-bye. A good journey to you, and a +happy meeting to us both. + +RUPERT. + + +Letter from Janet MacKelpie, Vissarion, to Sir Colin MacKelpie, +United Service Club, London. + +DEAREST UNCLE, February 28, 1907. + +I had a very comfortable journey all across Europe. Rupert wrote to +me some time ago to say that when I got to Vissarion I should be an +Empress, and he certainly took care that on the way here I should be +treated like one. Rooke, who seems a wonderful old man, was in the +next compartment to that reserved for me. At Harwich he had +everything arranged perfectly, and so right on to Fiume. Everywhere +there were attentive officials waiting. I had a carriage all to +myself, which I joined at Antwerp--a whole carriage with a suite of +rooms, dining-room, drawing-room, bedroom, even bath-room. There was +a cook with a kitchen of his own on board, a real chef like a French +nobleman in disguise. There were also a waiter and a servant-maid. +My own maid Maggie was quite awed at first. We were as far as +Cologne before she summoned up courage to order them about. Whenever +we stopped Rooke was on the platform with local officials, and kept +the door of my carriage like a sentry on duty. + +At Fiume, when the train slowed down, I saw Rupert waiting on the +platform. He looked magnificent, towering over everybody there like +a giant. He is in perfect health, and seemed glad to see me. He +took me off at once on an automobile to a quay where an electric +launch was waiting. This took us on board a beautiful big steam- +yacht, which was waiting with full steam up and--how he got there I +don't know--Rooke waiting at the gangway. + +I had another suite all to myself. Rupert and I had dinner together- +-I think the finest dinner I ever sat down to. This was very nice of +Rupert, for it was all for me. He himself only ate a piece of steak +and drank a glass of water. I went to bed early, for, despite the +luxury of the journey, I was very tired. + +I awoke in the grey of the morning, and came on deck. We were close +to the coast. Rupert was on the bridge with the Captain, and Rooke +was acting as pilot. When Rupert saw me, he ran down the ladder and +took me up on the bridge. He left me there while he ran down again +and brought me up a lovely fur cloak which I had never seen. He put +it on me and kissed me. He is the tenderest-hearted boy in the +world, as well as the best and bravest! He made me take his arm +whilst he pointed out Vissarion, towards which we were steering. It +is the most lovely place I ever saw. I won't stop to describe it +now, for it will be better that you see it for yourself and enjoy it +all fresh as I did. + +The Castle is an immense place. You had better ship off, as soon as +all is ready here and you can arrange it, the servants whom I +engaged; and I am not sure that we shall not want as many more. +There has hardly been a mop or broom on the place for centuries, and +I doubt if it ever had a thorough good cleaning all over since it was +built. And, do you know, Uncle, that it might be well to double that +little army of yours that you are arranging for Rupert? Indeed, the +boy told me himself that he was going to write to you about it. I +think old Lachlan and his wife, Sandy's Mary, had better be in charge +of the maids when they come over. A lot of lassies like yon will be +iller to keep together than a flock of sheep. So it will be wise to +have authority over them, especially as none of them speaks a word of +foreign tongues. Rooke--you saw him at the station at Liverpool +Street--will, if he be available, go over to bring the whole body +here. He has offered to do it if I should wish. And, by the way, I +think it will be well, when the time comes for their departure, if +not only the lassies, but Lachlan and Sandy's Mary, too, will call +him MISTER Rooke. He is a very important person indeed here. He is, +in fact, a sort of Master of the Castle, and though he is very self- +suppressing, is a man of rarely fine qualities. Also it will be well +to keep authority. When your clansmen come over, he will have charge +of them, too. Dear me! I find I have written such a long letter, I +must stop and get to work. I shall write again. + +Your very affectionate +JANET. + + +From the Same to the Same. +March 3, 1907. + +DEAREST UNCLE, + +All goes well here, and as there is no news, I only write because you +are a dear, and I want to thank you for all the trouble you have +taken for me--and for Rupert. I think we had better wait awhile +before bringing out the servants. Rooke is away on some business for +Rupert, and will not be back for some time; Rupert thinks it may be a +couple of months. There is no one else that he could send to take +charge of the party from home, and I don't like the idea of all those +lassies coming out without an escort. Even Lachlan and Sandy's Mary +are ignorant of foreign languages and foreign ways. But as soon as +Rooke returns we can have them all out. I dare say you will have +some of your clansmen ready by then, and I think the poor girls, who +may feel a bit strange in a new country like this, where the ways are +so different from ours, will feel easier when they know that there +are some of their own mankind near them. Perhaps it might be well +that those of them who are engaged to each other--I know there are +some--should marry before they come out here. It will be more +convenient in many ways, and will save lodgment, and, besides, these +Blue Mountaineers are very handsome men. Good-night. + +JANET. + + +Sir Colin MacKelpie, Croom, to Janet MacKelpie, +Vissarion. +March 9, 1907. + +MY DEAR JANET, + +I have duly received both your letters, and am delighted to find you +are so well pleased with your new home. It must certainly be a very +lovely and unique place, and I am myself longing to see it. I came +up here three days ago, and am, as usual, feeling all the better for +a breath of my native air. Time goes on, my dear, and I am beginning +to feel not so young as I was. Tell Rupert that the men are all fit, +and longing to get out to him. They are certainly a fine lot of men. +I don't think I ever saw a finer. I have had them drilled and +trained as soldiers, and, in addition, have had them taught a lot of +trades just as they selected themselves. So he shall have nigh him +men who can turn their hands to anything--not, of course, that they +all know every trade, but amongst them there is someone who can do +whatever may be required. There are blacksmiths, carpenters, +farriers, saddle-makers, gardeners, plumbers, cutlers, gunsmiths, so, +as they all are farmers by origin and sportsmen by practice, they +will make a rare household body of men. They are nearly all first- +class shots, and I am having them practise with revolvers. They are +being taught fencing and broadsword and ju-jitsu; I have organized +them in military form, with their own sergeants and corporals. This +morning I had an inspection, and I assure you, my dear, they could +give points to the Household troop in matters of drill. I tell you I +am proud of my clansmen! + +I think you are quite wise about waiting to bring out the lassies, +and wiser still about the marrying. I dare say there will be more +marrying when they all get settled in a foreign country. I shall be +glad of it, for as Rupert is going to settle there, it will be good +for him to have round him a little colony of his own people. And it +will be good for them, too, for I know he will be good to them--as +you will, my dear. The hills are barren here, and life is hard, and +each year there is more and more demand for crofts, and sooner or +later our people must thin out. And mayhap our little settlement of +MacKelpie clan away beyond the frontiers of the Empire may be some +service to the nation and the King. But this is a dream! I see that +here I am beginning to realise in myself one part of Isaiah's +prophecy: + +"Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream +dreams." + +By the way, my dear, talking about dreams, I am sending you out some +boxes of books which were in your rooms. They are nearly all on odd +subjects that WE understand--Second Sight, Ghosts, Dreams (that was +what brought the matter to my mind just now), superstitions, +Vampires, Wehr-Wolves, and all such uncanny folk and things. I +looked over some of these books, and found your marks and underlining +and comments, so I fancy you will miss them in your new home. You +will, I am sure, feel more at ease with such old friends close to +you. I have taken the names and sent the list to London, so that +when you pay me a visit again you will be at home in all ways. If +you come to me altogether, you will be more welcome still--if +possible. But I am sure that Rupert, who I know loves you very much, +will try to make you so happy that you will not want to leave him. +So I will have to come out often to see you both, even at the cost of +leaving Croom for so long. Strange, is it not? that now, when, +through Roger Melton's more than kind remembrance of me, I am able to +go where I will and do what I will, I want more and more to remain at +home by my own ingle. I don't think that anyone but you or Rupert +could get me away from it. I am working very hard at my little +regiment, as I call it. They are simply fine, and will, I am sure, +do us credit. The uniforms are all made, and well made, too. There +is not a man of them that does not look like an officer. I tell you, +Janet, that when we turn out the Vissarion Guard we shall feel proud +of them. I dare say that a couple of months will do all that can be +done here. I shall come out with them myself. Rupert writes me that +he thinks it will be more comfortable to come out direct in a ship of +our own. So when I go up to London in a few weeks' time I shall see +about chartering a suitable vessel. It will certainly save a lot of +trouble to us and anxiety to our people. Would it not be well when I +am getting the ship, if I charter one big enough to take out all your +lassies, too? It is not as if they were strangers. After all, my +dear, soldiers are soldiers and lassies are lassies. But these are +all kinsfolk, as well as clansmen and clanswomen, and I, their Chief, +shall be there. Let me know your views and wishes in this respect. +Mr. Trent, whom I saw before leaving London, asked me to "convey to +you his most respectful remembrances"--these were his very words, and +here they are. Trent is a nice fellow, and I like him. He has +promised to pay me a visit here before the month is up, and I look +forward to our both enjoying ourselves. + +Good-bye, my dear, and the Lord watch over you and our dear boy. + +Your affectionate Uncle, +COLIN ALEXANDER MACKELPIE. + + + +BOOK III: THE COMING OF THE LADY + + + +RUPERT SENT LEGER'S JOURNAL. + +April 3, 1907. + +I have waited till now--well into midday--before beginning to set +down the details of the strange episode of last night. I have spoken +with persons whom I know to be of normal type. I have breakfasted, +as usual heartily, and have every reason to consider myself in +perfect health and sanity. So that the record following may be +regarded as not only true in substance, but exact as to details. I +have investigated and reported on too many cases for the Psychical +Research Society to be ignorant of the necessity for absolute +accuracy in such matters of even the minutest detail. + +Yesterday was Tuesday, the second day of April, 1907. I passed a day +of interest, with its fair amount of work of varying kinds. Aunt +Janet and I lunched together, had a stroll round the gardens after +tea--especially examining the site for the new Japanese garden, which +we shall call "Janet's Garden." We went in mackintoshes, for the +rainy season is in its full, the only sign of its not being a +repetition of the Deluge being that breaks in the continuance are +beginning. They are short at present but will doubtless enlarge +themselves as the season comes towards an end. We dined together at +seven. After dinner I had a cigar, and then joined Aunt Janet for an +hour in her drawing-room. I left her at half-past ten, when I went +to my own room and wrote some letters. At ten minutes past eleven I +wound my watch, so I know the time accurately. Having prepared for +bed, I drew back the heavy curtain in front of my window, which opens +on the marble steps into the Italian garden. I had put out my light +before drawing back the curtain, for I wanted to have a look at the +scene before turning in. Aunt Janet has always had an old-fashioned +idea of the need (or propriety, I hardly know which) of keeping +windows closed and curtains drawn. I am gradually getting her to +leave my room alone in this respect, but at present the change is in +its fitful stage, and of course I must not hurry matters or be too +persistent, as it would hurt her feelings. This night was one of +those under the old regime. It was a delight to look out, for the +scene was perfect of its own kind. The long spell of rain--the +ceaseless downpour which had for the time flooded everywhere--had +passed, and water in abnormal places rather trickled than ran. We +were now beginning to be in the sloppy rather than the deluged stage. +There was plenty of light to see by, for the moon had begun to show +out fitfully through the masses of flying clouds. The uncertain +light made weird shadows with the shrubs and statues in the garden. +The long straight walk which leads from the marble steps is strewn +with fine sand white from the quartz strand in the nook to the south +of the Castle. Tall shrubs of white holly, yew, juniper, cypress, +and variegated maple and spiraea, which stood at intervals along the +walk and its branches, appeared ghost-like in the fitful moonlight. +The many vases and statues and urns, always like phantoms in a half- +light, were more than ever weird. Last night the moonlight was +unusually effective, and showed not only the gardens down to the +defending wall, but the deep gloom of the great forest-trees beyond; +and beyond that, again, to where the mountain chain began, the forest +running up their silvered slopes flamelike in form, deviated here and +there by great crags and the outcropping rocky sinews of the vast +mountains. + +Whilst I was looking at this lovely prospect, I thought I saw +something white flit, like a modified white flash, at odd moments +from one to another of the shrubs or statues--anything which would +afford cover from observation. At first I was not sure whether I +really saw anything or did not. This was in itself a little +disturbing to me, for I have been so long trained to minute +observation of facts surrounding me, on which often depend not only +my own life, but the lives of others, that I have become accustomed +to trust my eyes; and anything creating the faintest doubt in this +respect is a cause of more or less anxiety to me. Now, however, that +my attention was called to myself, I looked more keenly, and in a +very short time was satisfied that something was moving--something +clad in white. It was natural enough that my thoughts should tend +towards something uncanny--the belief that this place is haunted, +conveyed in a thousand ways of speech and inference. Aunt Janet's +eerie beliefs, fortified by her books on occult subjects--and of +late, in our isolation from the rest of the world, the subject of +daily conversations--helped to this end. No wonder, then, that, +fully awake and with senses all on edge, I waited for some further +manifestation from this ghostly visitor--as in my mind I took it to +be. It must surely be a ghost or spiritual manifestation of some +kind which moved in this silent way. In order to see and hear +better, I softly moved back the folding grille, opened the French +window, and stepped out, bare-footed and pyjama-clad as I was, on the +marble terrace. How cold the wet marble was! How heavy smelled the +rain-laden garden! It was as though the night and the damp, and even +the moonlight, were drawing the aroma from all the flowers that +blossomed. The whole night seemed to exhale heavy, half-intoxicating +odours! I stood at the head of the marble steps, and all immediately +before me was ghostly in the extreme--the white marble terrace and +steps, the white walks of quartz-sand glistening under the fitful +moonlight; the shrubs of white or pale green or yellow,--all looking +dim and ghostly in the glamorous light; the white statues and vases. +And amongst them, still flitting noiselessly, that mysterious elusive +figure which I could not say was based on fact or imagination. I +held my breath, listening intently for every sound; but sound there +was none, save those of the night and its denizens. Owls hooted in +the forest; bats, taking advantage of the cessation of the rain, +flitted about silently, like shadows in the air. But there was no +more sign of moving ghost or phantom, or whatever I had seen might +have been--if, indeed, there had been anything except imagination. + +So, after waiting awhile, I returned to my room, closed the window, +drew the grille across again, and dragged the heavy curtain before +the opening; then, having extinguished my candles, went to bed in the +dark. In a few minutes I must have been asleep. + +"What was that?" I almost heard the words of my own thought as I sat +up in bed wide awake. To memory rather than present hearing the +disturbing sound had seemed like the faint tapping at the window. +For some seconds I listened, mechanically but intently, with bated +breath and that quick beating of the heart which in a timorous person +speaks for fear, and for expectation in another. In the stillness +the sound came again--this time a very, very faint but unmistakable +tapping at the glass door. + +I jumped up, drew back the curtain, and for a moment stood appalled. + +There, outside on the balcony, in the now brilliant moonlight, stood +a woman, wrapped in white grave-clothes saturated with water, which +dripped on the marble floor, making a pool which trickled slowly down +the wet steps. Attitude and dress and circumstance all conveyed the +idea that, though she moved and spoke, she was not quick, but dead. +She was young and very beautiful, but pale, like the grey pallor of +death. Through the still white of her face, which made her look as +cold as the wet marble she stood on, her dark eyes seemed to gleam +with a strange but enticing lustre. Even in the unsearching +moonlight, which is after all rather deceptive than illuminative, I +could not but notice one rare quality of her eyes. Each had some +quality of refraction which made it look as though it contained a +star. At every movement she made, the stars exhibited new beauties, +of more rare and radiant force. She looked at me imploringly as the +heavy curtain rolled back, and in eloquent gestures implored me to +admit her. Instinctively I obeyed; I rolled back the steel grille, +and threw open the French window. I noticed that she shivered and +trembled as the glass door fell open. Indeed, she seemed so overcome +with cold as to seem almost unable to move. In the sense of her +helplessness all idea of the strangeness of the situation entirely +disappeared. It was not as if my first idea of death taken from her +cerements was negatived. It was simply that I did not think of it at +all; I was content to accept things as they were--she was a woman, +and in some dreadful trouble; that was enough. + +I am thus particular about my own emotions, as I may have to refer to +them again in matters of comprehension or comparison. The whole +thing is so vastly strange and abnormal that the least thing may +afterwards give some guiding light or clue to something otherwise not +understandable. I have always found that in recondite matters first +impressions are of more real value than later conclusions. We humans +place far too little reliance on instinct as against reason; and yet +instinct is the great gift of Nature to all animals for their +protection and the fulfilment of their functions generally. + +When I stepped out on the balcony, not thinking of my costume, I +found that the woman was benumbed and hardly able to move. Even when +I asked her to enter, and supplemented my words with gestures in case +she should not understand my language, she stood stock-still, only +rocking slightly to and fro as though she had just strength enough +left to balance herself on her feet. I was afraid, from the +condition in which she was, that she might drop down dead at any +moment. So I took her by the hand to lead her in. But she seemed +too weak to even make the attempt. When I pulled her slightly +forward, thinking to help her, she tottered, and would have fallen +had I not caught her in my arms. Then, half lifting her, I moved her +forwards. Her feet, relieved of her weight, now seemed able to make +the necessary effort; and so, I almost carrying her, we moved into +the room. She was at the very end of her strength; I had to lift her +over the sill. In obedience to her motion, I closed the French +window and bolted it. I supposed the warmth of the room--though +cool, it was warmer than the damp air without--affected her quickly, +for on the instant she seemed to begin to recover herself. In a few +seconds, as though she had reacquired her strength, she herself +pulled the heavy curtain across the window. This left us in +darkness, through which I heard her say in English: + +"Light. Get a light!" + +I found matches, and at once lit a candle. As the wick flared, she +moved over to the door of the room, and tried if the lock and bolt +were fastened. Satisfied as to this, she moved towards me, her wet +shroud leaving a trail of moisture on the green carpet. By this time +the wax of the candle had melted sufficiently to let me see her +clearly. She was shaking and quivering as though in an ague; she +drew the wet shroud around her piteously. Instinctively I spoke: + +"Can I do anything for you?" + +She answered, still in English, and in a voice of thrilling, almost +piercing sweetness, which seemed somehow to go straight to my heart, +and affected me strangely: "Give me warmth." + +I hurried to the fireplace. It was empty; there was no fire laid. I +turned to her, and said: + +"Wait just a few minutes here. I shall call someone, and get help-- +and fire." + +Her voice seemed to ring with intensity as she answered without a +pause: + +"No, no! Rather would I be"--here she hesitated for an instant, but +as she caught sight of her cerements went on hurriedly--"as I am. I +trust you--not others; and you must not betray my trust." Almost +instantly she fell into a frightful fit of shivering, drawing again +her death-clothes close to her, so piteously that it wrung my heart. +I suppose I am a practical man. At any rate, I am accustomed to +action. I took from its place beside my bed a thick Jaeger dressing- +gown of dark brown--it was, of course, of extra length--and held it +out to her as I said: + +"Put that on. It is the only warm thing here which would be +suitable. Stay; you must remove that wet--wet"--I stumbled about for +a word that would not be offensive--"that frock--dress--costume-- +whatever it is." I pointed to where, in the corner of the room, +stood a chintz-covered folding-screen which fences in my cold sponge +bath, which is laid ready for me overnight, as I am an early riser. + +She bowed gravely, and taking the dressing-gown in a long, white, +finely-shaped hand, bore it behind the screen. There was a slight +rustle, and then a hollow "flop" as the wet garment fell on the +floor; more rustling and rubbing, and a minute later she emerged +wrapped from head to foot in the long Jaeger garment, which trailed +on the floor behind her, though she was a tall woman. She was still +shivering painfully, however. I took a flask of brandy and a glass +from a cupboard, and offered her some; but with a motion of her hand +she refused it, though she moaned grievously. + +"Oh, I am so cold--so cold!" Her teeth were chattering. I was +pained at her sad condition, and said despairingly, for I was at my +wits' end to know what to do: + +"Tell me anything that I can do to help you, and I will do it. I may +not call help; there is no fire--nothing to make it with; you will +not take some brandy. What on earth can I do to give you warmth?" + +Her answer certainly surprised me when it came, though it was +practical enough--so practical that I should not have dared to say +it. She looked me straight in the face for a few seconds before +speaking. Then, with an air of girlish innocence which disarmed +suspicion and convinced me at once of her simple faith, she said in a +voice that at once thrilled me and evoked all my pity: + +"Let me rest for a while, and cover me up with rugs. That may give +me warmth. I am dying of cold. And I have a deadly fear upon me--a +deadly fear. Sit by me, and let me hold your hand. You are big and +strong, and you look brave. It will reassure me. I am not myself a +coward, but to-night fear has got me by the throat. I can hardly +breathe. Do let me stay till I am warm. If you only knew what I +have gone through, and have to go through still, I am sure you would +pity me and help me." + +To say that I was astonished would be a mild description of my +feelings. I was not shocked. The life which I have led was not one +which makes for prudery. To travel in strange places amongst strange +peoples with strange views of their own is to have odd experiences +and peculiar adventures now and again; a man without human passions +is not the type necessary for an adventurous life, such as I myself +have had. But even a man of passions and experiences can, when he +respects a woman, be shocked--even prudish--where his own opinion of +her is concerned. Such must bring to her guarding any generosity +which he has, and any self-restraint also. Even should she place +herself in a doubtful position, her honour calls to his honour. This +is a call which may not be--MUST not be--unanswered. Even passion +must pause for at least a while at sound of such a trumpet-call. + +This woman I did respect--much respect. Her youth and beauty; her +manifest ignorance of evil; her superb disdain of convention, which +could only come through hereditary dignity; her terrible fear and +suffering--for there must be more in her unhappy condition than meets +the eye--would all demand respect, even if one did not hasten to +yield it. Nevertheless, I thought it necessary to enter a protest +against her embarrassing suggestion. I certainly did feel a fool +when making it, also a cad. I can truly say it was made only for her +good, and out of the best of me, such as I am. I felt impossibly +awkward; and stuttered and stumbled before I spoke: + +"But surely--the convenances! Your being here alone at night! Mrs. +Grundy--convention--the--" + +She interrupted me with an incomparable dignity--a dignity which had +the effect of shutting me up like a clasp-knife and making me feel a +decided inferior--and a poor show at that. There was such a gracious +simplicity and honesty in it, too, such self-respecting knowledge of +herself and her position, that I could be neither angry nor hurt. I +could only feel ashamed of myself, and of my own littleness of mind +and morals. She seemed in her icy coldness--now spiritual as well as +bodily--like an incarnate figure of Pride as she answered: + +"What are convenances or conventions to me! If you only knew where I +have come from--the existence (if it can be called so) which I have +had--the loneliness--the horror! And besides, it is for me to MAKE +conventions, not to yield my personal freedom of action to them. +Even as I am--even here and in this garb--I am above convention. +Convenances do not trouble me or hamper me. That, at least, I have +won by what I have gone through, even if it had never come to me +through any other way. Let me stay." She said the last words, in +spite of all her pride, appealingly. But still, there was a note of +high pride in all this--in all she said and did, in her attitude and +movement, in the tones of her voice, in the loftiness of her carriage +and the steadfast look of her open, starlit eyes. Altogether, there +was something so rarely lofty in herself and all that clad her that, +face to face with it and with her, my feeble attempt at moral +precaution seemed puny, ridiculous, and out of place. Without a word +in the doing, I took from an old chiffonier chest an armful of +blankets, several of which I threw over her as she lay, for in the +meantime, having replaced the coverlet, she had lain down at length +on the bed. I took a chair, and sat down beside her. When she +stretched out her hand from beneath the pile of wraps, I took it in +mine, saying: + +"Get warm and rest. Sleep if you can. You need not fear; I shall +guard you with my life." + +She looked at me gratefully, her starry eyes taking a new light more +full of illumination than was afforded by the wax candle, which was +shaded from her by my body . . . She was horribly cold, and her teeth +chattered so violently that I feared lest she should have incurred +some dangerous evil from her wetting and the cold that followed it. +I felt, however, so awkward that I could find no words to express my +fears; moreover, I hardly dared say anything at all regarding herself +after the haughty way in which she had received my well-meant +protest. Manifestly I was but to her as a sort of refuge and +provider of heat, altogether impersonal, and not to be regarded in +any degree as an individual. In these humiliating circumstances what +could I do but sit quiet--and wait developments? + +Little by little the fierce chattering of her teeth began to abate as +the warmth of her surroundings stole through her. I also felt, even +in this strangely awakening position, the influence of the quiet; and +sleep began to steal over me. Several times I tried to fend it off, +but, as I could not make any overt movement without alarming my +strange and beautiful companion, I had to yield myself to drowsiness. +I was still in such an overwhelming stupor of surprise that I could +not even think freely. There was nothing for me but to control +myself and wait. Before I could well fix my thoughts I was asleep. + +I was recalled to consciousness by hearing, even through the pall of +sleep that bound me, the crowing of a cock in some of the out-offices +of the castle. At the same instant the figure, lying deathly still +but for the gentle heaving of her bosom, began to struggle wildly. +The sound had won through the gates of her sleep also. With a swift, +gliding motion she slipped from the bed to the floor, saying in a +fierce whisper as she pulled herself up to her full height: + +"Let me out! I must go! I must go!" + +By this time I was fully awake, and the whole position of things came +to me in an instant which I shall never--can never--forget: the dim +light of the candle, now nearly burned down to the socket, all the +dimmer from the fact that the first grey gleam of morning was +stealing in round the edges of the heavy curtain; the tall, slim +figure in the brown dressing-gown whose over-length trailed on the +floor, the black hair showing glossy in the light, and increasing by +contrast the marble whiteness of the face, in which the black eyes +sent through their stars fiery gleams. She appeared quite in a +frenzy of haste; her eagerness was simply irresistible. + +I was so stupefied with amazement, as well as with sleep, that I did +not attempt to stop her, but began instinctively to help her by +furthering her wishes. As she ran behind the screen, and, as far as +sound could inform me,--began frantically to disrobe herself of the +warm dressing-gown and to don again the ice-cold wet shroud, I pulled +back the curtain from the window, and drew the bolt of the glass +door. As I did so she was already behind me, shivering. As I threw +open the door she glided out with a swift silent movement, but +trembling in an agonized way. As she passed me, she murmured in a +low voice, which was almost lost in the chattering of her teeth: + +"Oh, thank you--thank you a thousand times! But I must go. I MUST! +I MUST! I shall come again, and try to show my gratitude. Do not +condemn me as ungrateful--till then." And she was gone. + +I watched her pass the length of the white path, flitting from shrub +to shrub or statue as she had come. In the cold grey light of the +undeveloped dawn she seemed even more ghostly than she had done in +the black shadow of the night. + +When she disappeared from sight in the shadow of the wood, I stood on +the terrace for a long time watching, in case I should be afforded +another glimpse of her, for there was now no doubt in my mind that +she had for me some strange attraction. I felt even then that the +look in those glorious starry eyes would be with me always so long as +I might live. There was some fascination which went deeper than my +eyes or my flesh or my heart--down deep into the very depths of my +soul. My mind was all in a whirl, so that I could hardly think +coherently. It all was like a dream; the reality seemed far away. +It was not possible to doubt that the phantom figure which had been +so close to me during the dark hours of the night was actual flesh +and blood. Yet she was so cold, so cold! Altogether I could not fix +my mind to either proposition: that it was a living woman who had +held my hand, or a dead body reanimated for the time or the occasion +in some strange manner. + +The difficulty was too great for me to make up my mind upon it, even +had I wanted to. But, in any case, I did not want to. This would, +no doubt, come in time. But till then I wished to dream on, as +anyone does in a dream which can still be blissful though there be +pauses of pain, or ghastliness, or doubt, or terror. + +So I closed the window and drew the curtain again, feeling for the +first time the cold in which I had stood on the wet marble floor of +the terrace when my bare feet began to get warm on the soft carpet. +To get rid of the chill feeling I got into the bed on which SHE had +lain, and as the warmth restored me tried to think coherently. For a +short while I was going over the facts of the night--or what seemed +as facts to my remembrance. But as I continued to think, the +possibilities of any result seemed to get less, and I found myself +vainly trying to reconcile with the logic of life the grim episode of +the night. The effort proved to be too much for such concentration +as was left to me; moreover, interrupted sleep was clamant, and would +not be denied. What I dreamt of--if I dreamt at all--I know not. I +only know that I was ready for waking when the time came. It came +with a violent knocking at my door. I sprang from bed, fully awake +in a second, drew the bolt, and slipped back to bed. With a hurried +"May I come in?" Aunt Janet entered. She seemed relieved when she +saw me, and gave without my asking an explanation of her +perturbation: + +"Oh, laddie, I hae been so uneasy aboot ye all the nicht. I hae had +dreams an' veesions an' a' sorts o' uncanny fancies. I fear that--" +She was by now drawing back the curtain, and as her eyes took in the +marks of wet all over the floor the current of her thoughts changed: + +"Why, laddie, whativer hae ye been doin' wi' yer baith? Oh, the mess +ye hae made! 'Tis sinful to gie sic trouble an' waste . . . " And +so she went on. I was glad to hear the tirade, which was only what a +good housewife, outraged in her sentiments of order, would have made. +I listened in patience--with pleasure when I thought of what she +would have thought (and said) had she known the real facts. I was +well pleased to have got off so easily. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +April 10, 1907. + +For some days after what I call "the episode" I was in a strange +condition of mind. I did not take anyone--not even Aunt Janet--into +confidence. Even she dear, and open-hearted and liberal-minded as +she is, might not have understood well enough to be just and +tolerant; and I did not care to hear any adverse comment on my +strange visitor. Somehow I could not bear the thought of anyone +finding fault with her or in her, though, strangely enough, I was +eternally defending her to myself; for, despite my wishes, +embarrassing thoughts WOULD come again and again, and again in all +sorts and variants of queries difficult to answer. I found myself +defending her, sometimes as a woman hard pressed by spiritual fear +and physical suffering, sometimes as not being amenable to laws that +govern the Living. Indeed, I could not make up my mind whether I +looked on her as a living human being or as one with some strange +existence in another world, and having only a chance foothold in our +own. In such doubt imagination began to work, and thoughts of evil, +of danger, of doubt, even of fear, began to crowd on me with such +persistence and in such varied forms that I found my instinct of +reticence growing into a settled purpose. The value of this +instinctive precaution was promptly shown by Aunt Janet's state of +mind, with consequent revelation of it. She became full of gloomy +prognostications and what I thought were morbid fears. For the first +time in my life I discovered that Aunt Janet had nerves! I had long +had a secret belief that she was gifted, to some degree at any rate, +with Second Sight, which quality, or whatever it is, skilled in the +powers if not the lore of superstition, manages to keep at stretch +not only the mind of its immediate pathic, but of others relevant to +it. Perhaps this natural quality had received a fresh impetus from +the arrival of some cases of her books sent on by Sir Colin. She +appeared to read and reread these works, which were chiefly on occult +subjects, day and night, except when she was imparting to me choice +excerpts of the most baleful and fearsome kind. Indeed, before a +week was over I found myself to be an expert in the history of the +cult, as well as in its manifestations, which latter I had been +versed in for a good many years. + +The result of all this was that it set me brooding. Such, at least, +I gathered was the fact when Aunt Janet took me to task for it. She +always speaks out according to her convictions, so that her thinking +I brooded was to me a proof that I did; and after a personal +examination I came--reluctantly--to the conclusion that she was +right, so far, at any rate, as my outer conduct was concerned. The +state of mind I was in, however, kept me from making any +acknowledgment of it--the real cause of my keeping so much to myself +and of being so distrait. And so I went on, torturing myself as +before with introspective questioning; and she, with her mind set on +my actions, and endeavouring to find a cause for them, continued and +expounded her beliefs and fears. + +Her nightly chats with me when we were alone after dinner--for I had +come to avoid her questioning at other times--kept my imagination at +high pressure. Despite myself, I could not but find new cause for +concern in the perennial founts of her superstition. I had thought, +years ago, that I had then sounded the depths of this branch of +psychicism; but this new phase of thought, founded on the really deep +hold which the existence of my beautiful visitor and her sad and +dreadful circumstances had taken upon me, brought me a new concern in +the matter of self-importance. I came to think that I must +reconstruct my self-values, and begin a fresh understanding of +ethical beliefs. Do what I would, my mind would keep turning on the +uncanny subjects brought before it. I began to apply them one by one +to my own late experience, and unconsciously to try to fit them in +turn to the present case. + +The effect of this brooding was that I was, despite my own will, +struck by the similarity of circumstances bearing on my visitor, and +the conditions apportioned by tradition and superstition to such +strange survivals from earlier ages as these partial existences which +are rather Undead than Living--still walking the earth, though +claimed by the world of the Dead. Amongst them are the Vampire, or +the Wehr-Wolf. To this class also might belong in a measure the +Doppelganger--one of whose dual existences commonly belongs to the +actual world around it. So, too, the denizens of the world of +Astralism. In any of these named worlds there is a material +presence--which must be created, if only for a single or periodic +purpose. It matters not whether a material presence already created +can be receptive of a disembodied soul, or a soul unattached can have +a body built up for it or around it; or, again, whether the body of a +dead person can be made seeming quick through some diabolic influence +manifested in the present, or an inheritance or result of some +baleful use of malefic power in the past. The result is the same in +each case, though the ways be widely different: a soul and a body +which are not in unity but brought together for strange purposes +through stranger means and by powers still more strange. + +Through much thought and a process of exclusions the eerie form which +seemed to be most in correspondence with my adventure, and most +suitable to my fascinating visitor, appeared to be the Vampire. +Doppelganger, Astral creations, and all such-like, did not comply +with the conditions of my night experience. The Wehr-Wolf is but a +variant of the Vampire, and so needed not to be classed or examined +at all. Then it was that, thus focussed, the Lady of the Shroud (for +so I came to hold her in my mind) began to assume a new force. Aunt +Janet's library afforded me clues which I followed with avidity. In +my secret heart I hated the quest, and did not wish to go on with it. +But in this I was not my own master. Do what I would--brush away +doubts never so often, new doubts and imaginings came in their stead. +The circumstance almost repeated the parable of the Seven Devils who +took the place of the exorcised one. Doubts I could stand. +Imaginings I could stand. But doubts and imaginings together made a +force so fell that I was driven to accept any reading of the mystery +which might presumably afford a foothold for satisfying thought. And +so I came to accept tentatively the Vampire theory--accept it, at +least, so far as to examine it as judicially as was given me to do. +As the days wore on, so the conviction grew. The more I read on the +subject, the more directly the evidences pointed towards this view. +The more I thought, the more obstinate became the conviction. I +ransacked Aunt Janet's volumes again and again to find anything to +the contrary; but in vain. Again, no matter how obstinate were my +convictions at any given time, unsettlement came with fresh thinking +over the argument, so that I was kept in a harassing state of +uncertainty. + +Briefly, the evidence in favour of accord between the facts of the +case and the Vampire theory were: + +Her coming was at night--the time the Vampire is according to the +theory, free to move at will. + +She wore her shroud--a necessity of coming fresh from grave or tomb; +for there is nothing occult about clothing which is not subject to +astral or other influences. + +She had to be helped into my room--in strict accordance with what one +sceptical critic of occultism has called "the Vampire etiquette." + +She made violent haste in getting away at cock-crow. + +She seemed preternaturally cold; her sleep was almost abnormal in +intensity, and yet the sound of the cock-crowing came through it. + +These things showed her to be subject to SOME laws, though not in +exact accord within those which govern human beings. Under the +stress of such circumstances as she must have gone through, her +vitality seemed more than human--the quality of vitality which could +outlive ordinary burial. Again, such purpose as she had shown in +donning, under stress of some compelling direction, her ice-cold wet +shroud, and, wrapt in it, going out again into the night, was hardly +normal for a woman. + +But if so, and if she was indeed a Vampire, might not whatever it may +be that holds such beings in thrall be by some means or other +exorcised? To find the means must be my next task. I am actually +pining to see her again. Never before have I been stirred to my +depths by anyone. Come it from Heaven or Hell, from the Earth or the +Grave, it does not matter; I shall make it my task to win her back to +life and peace. If she be indeed a Vampire, the task may be hard and +long; if she be not so, and if it be merely that circumstances have +so gathered round her as to produce that impression, the task may be +simpler and the result more sweet. No, not more sweet; for what can +be more sweet than to restore the lost or seemingly lost soul of the +woman you love! There, the truth is out at last! I suppose that I +have fallen in love with her. If so, it is too late for me to fight +against it. I can only wait with what patience I can till I see her +again. But to that end I can do nothing. I know absolutely nothing +about her--not even her name. Patience! + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +April 16, 1907. + +The only relief I have had from the haunting anxiety regarding the +Lady of the Shroud has been in the troubled state of my adopted +country. There has evidently been something up which I have not been +allowed to know. The mountaineers are troubled and restless; are +wandering about, singly and in parties, and holding meetings in +strange places. This is what I gather used to be in old days when +intrigues were on foot with Turks, Greeks, Austrians, Italians, +Russians. This concerns me vitally, for my mind has long been made +up to share the fortunes of the Land of the Blue Mountains. For good +or ill I mean to stay here: J'y suis, j'y reste. I share henceforth +the lot of the Blue Mountaineers; and not Turkey, nor Greece, nor +Austria, nor Italy, nor Russia--no, not France nor Germany either; +not man nor God nor Devil shall drive me from my purpose. With these +patriots I throw in my lot! My only difficulty seemed at first to be +with the men themselves. They are so proud that at the beginning I +feared they would not even accord me the honour of being one of them! +However, things always move on somehow, no matter what difficulties +there be at the beginning. Never mind! When one looks back at an +accomplished fact the beginning is not to be seen--and if it were it +would not matter. It is not of any account, anyhow. + +I heard that there was going to be a great meeting near here +yesterday afternoon, and I attended it. I think it was a success. +If such is any proof, I felt elated as well as satisfied when I came +away. Aunt Janet's Second Sight on the subject was comforting, +though grim, and in a measure disconcerting. When I was saying good- +night she asked me to bend down my head. As I did so, she laid her +hands on it and passed them all over it. I heard her say to herself: + +"Strange! There's nothing there; yet I could have sworn I saw it!" +I asked her to explain, but she would not. For once she was a little +obstinate, and refused point blank to even talk of the subject. She +was not worried nor unhappy; so I had no cause for concern. I said +nothing, but I shall wait and see. Most mysteries become plain or +disappear altogether in time. But about the meeting--lest I forget! + +When I joined the mountaineers who had assembled, I really think they +were glad to see me; though some of them seemed adverse, and others +did not seem over well satisfied. However, absolute unity is very +seldom to be found. Indeed, it is almost impossible; and in a free +community is not altogether to be desired. When it is apparent, the +gathering lacks that sense of individual feeling which makes for the +real consensus of opinion--which is the real unity of purpose. The +meeting was at first, therefore, a little cold and distant. But +presently it began to thaw, and after some fiery harangues I was +asked to speak. Happily, I had begun to learn the Balkan language as +soon as ever Uncle Roger's wishes had been made known to me, and as I +have some facility of tongues and a great deal of experience, I soon +began to know something of it. Indeed, when I had been here a few +weeks, with opportunity of speaking daily with the people themselves, +and learned to understand the intonations and vocal inflexions, I +felt quite easy in speaking it. I understood every word which had up +to then been spoken at the meeting, and when I spoke myself I felt +that they understood. That is an experience which every speaker has +in a certain way and up to a certain point. He knows by some kind of +instinct if his hearers are with him; if they respond, they must +certainly have understood. Last night this was marked. I felt it +every instant I was talking and when I came to realize that the men +were in strict accord with my general views, I took them into +confidence with regard to my own personal purpose. It was the +beginning of a mutual trust; so for peroration I told them that I had +come to the conclusion that what they wanted most for their own +protection and the security and consolidation of their nation was +arms--arms of the very latest pattern. Here they interrupted me with +wild cheers, which so strung me up that I went farther than I +intended, and made a daring venture. "Ay," I repeated, "the security +and consolidation of your country--of OUR country, for I have come to +live amongst you. Here is my home whilst I live. I am with you +heart and soul. I shall live with you, fight shoulder to shoulder +with you, and, if need be, shall die with you!" Here the shouting +was terrific, and the younger men raised their guns to fire a salute +in Blue Mountain fashion. But on the instant the Vladika {1} held up +his hands and motioned them to desist. In the immediate silence he +spoke, sharply at first, but later ascending to a high pitch of +single-minded, lofty eloquence. His words rang in my ears long after +the meeting was over and other thoughts had come between them and the +present. + +"Silence!" he thundered. "Make no echoes in the forest or through +the hills at this dire time of stress and threatened danger to our +land. Bethink ye of this meeting, held here and in secret, in order +that no whisper of it may be heard afar. Have ye all, brave men of +the Blue Mountains, come hither through the forest like shadows that +some of you, thoughtless, may enlighten your enemies as to our secret +purpose? The thunder of your guns would doubtless sound well in the +ears of those who wish us ill and try to work us wrong. Fellow- +countrymen, know ye not that the Turk is awake once more for our +harming? The Bureau of Spies has risen from the torpor which came on +it when the purpose against our Teuta roused our mountains to such +anger that the frontiers blazed with passion, and were swept with +fire and sword. Moreover, there is a traitor somewhere in the land, +or else incautious carelessness has served the same base purpose. +Something of our needs--our doing, whose secret we have tried to +hide, has gone out. The myrmidons of the Turk are close on our +borders, and it may be that some of them have passed our guards and +are amidst us unknown. So it behoves us doubly to be discreet. +Believe me that I share with you, my brothers, our love for the +gallant Englishman who has come amongst us to share our sorrows and +ambitions--and I trust it may be our joys. We are all united in the +wish to do him honour--though not in the way by which danger might be +carried on the wings of love. My brothers, our newest brother comes +to us from the Great Nation which amongst the nations has been our +only friend, and which has ere now helped us in our direst need--that +mighty Britain whose hand has ever been raised in the cause of +freedom. We of the Blue Mountains know her best as she stands with +sword in hand face to face with our foes. And this, her son and now +our brother, brings further to our need the hand of a giant and the +heart of a lion. Later on, when danger does not ring us round, when +silence is no longer our outer guard; we shall bid him welcome in +true fashion of our land. But till then he will believe--for he is +great-hearted--that our love and thanks and welcome are not to be +measured by sound. When the time comes, then shall be sound in his +honour--not of rifles alone, but bells and cannon and the mighty +voice of a free people shouting as one. But now we must be wise and +silent, for the Turk is once again at our gates. Alas! the cause of +his former coming may not be, for she whose beauty and nobility and +whose place in our nation and in our hearts tempted him to fraud and +violence is not with us to share even our anxiety." + +Here his voice broke, and there arose from all a deep wailing sound, +which rose and rose till the woods around us seemed broken by a +mighty and long-sustained sob. The orator saw that his purpose was +accomplished, and with a short sentence finished his harangue: "But +the need of our nation still remains!" Then, with an eloquent +gesture to me to proceed, he merged in the crowd and disappeared. + +How could I even attempt to follow such a speaker with any hope of +success? I simply told them what I had already done in the way of +help, saying: + +"As you needed arms, I have got them. My agent sends me word through +the code between us that he has procured for me--for us--fifty +thousand of the newest-pattern rifles, the French Ingis-Malbron, +which has surpassed all others, and sufficient ammunition to last for +a year of war. The first section is in hand, and will soon be ready +for consignment. There are other war materials, too, which, when +they arrive, will enable every man and woman--even the children--of +our land to take a part in its defence should such be needed. My +brothers, I am with you in all things, for good or ill!" + +It made me very proud to hear the mighty shout which arose. I had +felt exalted before, but now this personal development almost +unmanned me. I was glad of the long-sustained applause to recover my +self-control. + +I was quite satisfied that the meeting did not want to hear any other +speaker, for they began to melt away without any formal notification +having been given. I doubt if there will be another meeting soon +again. The weather has begun to break, and we are in for another +spell of rain. It is disagreeable, of course; but it has its own +charm. It was during a spell of wet weather that the Lady of the +Shroud came to me. Perhaps the rain may bring her again. I hope so, +with all my soul. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +April 23, 1907. + +The rain has continued for four whole days and nights, and the low- +lying ground is like a quagmire in places. In the sunlight the whole +mountains glisten with running streams and falling water. I feel a +strange kind of elation, but from no visible cause. Aunt Janet +rather queered it by telling me, as she said good-night, to be very +careful of myself, as she had seen in a dream last night a figure in +a shroud. I fear she was not pleased that I did not take it with all +the seriousness that she did. I would not wound her for the world if +I could help it, but the idea of a shroud gets too near the bone to +be safe, and I had to fend her off at all hazards. So when I doubted +if the Fates regarded the visionary shroud as of necessity +appertaining to me, she said, in a way that was, for her, almost +sharp: + +"Take care, laddie. 'Tis ill jesting wi' the powers o' time +Unknown." + +Perhaps it was that her talk put the subject in my mind. The woman +needed no such aid; she was always there; but when I locked myself +into my room that night, I half expected to find her in the room. I +was not sleepy, so I took a book of Aunt Janet's and began to read. +The title was "On the Powers and Qualities of Disembodied Spirits." +"Your grammar," said I to the author, "is hardly attractive, but I +may learn something which might apply to her. I shall read your +book." Before settling down to it, however, I thought I would have a +look at the garden. Since the night of the visit the garden seemed +to have a new attractiveness for me: a night seldom passed without +my having a last look at it before turning in. So I drew the great +curtain and looked out. + +The scene was beautiful, but almost entirely desolate. All was +ghastly in the raw, hard gleams of moonlight coming fitfully through +the masses of flying cloud. The wind was rising, and the air was +damp and cold. I looked round the room instinctively, and noticed +that the fire was laid ready for lighting, and that there were small- +cut logs of wood piled beside the hearth. Ever since that night I +have had a fire laid ready. I was tempted to light it, but as I +never have a fire unless I sleep in the open, I hesitated to begin. +I went back to the window, and, opening the catch, stepped out on the +terrace. As I looked down the white walk and let my eyes range over +the expanse of the garden, where everything glistened as the +moonlight caught the wet, I half expected to see some white figure +flitting amongst the shrubs and statues. The whole scene of the +former visit came back to me so vividly that I could hardly believe +that any time had passed since then. It was the same scene, and +again late in the evening. Life in Vissarion was primitive, and +early hours prevailed--though not so late as on that night. + +As I looked I thought I caught a glimpse of something white far away. +It was only a ray of moonlight coming through the rugged edge of a +cloud. But all the same it set me in a strange state of +perturbation. Somehow I seemed to lose sight of my own identity. It +was as though I was hypnotized by the situation or by memory, or +perhaps by some occult force. Without thinking of what I was doing, +or being conscious of any reason for it, I crossed the room and set +light to the fire. Then I blew out the candle and came to the window +again. I never thought it might be a foolish thing to do--to stand +at a window with a light behind me in this country, where every man +carries a gun with him always. I was in my evening clothes, too, +with my breast well marked by a white shirt. I opened the window and +stepped out on the terrace. There I stood for many minutes, +thinking. All the time my eyes kept ranging over the garden. Once I +thought I saw a white figure moving, but it was not followed up, so, +becoming conscious that it was again beginning to rain, I stepped +back into the room, shut the window, and drew the curtain. Then I +realized the comforting appearance of the fire, and went over and +stood before it. + +Hark! Once more there was a gentle tapping at the window. I rushed +over to it and drew the curtain. + +There, out on the rain-beaten terrace, stood the white shrouded +figure, more desolate-appearing than ever. Ghastly pale she looked, +as before, but her eyes had an eager look which was new. I took it +that she was attracted by the fire, which was by now well ablaze, and +was throwing up jets of flame as the dry logs crackled. The leaping +flames threw fitful light across the room, and every gleam threw the +white-clad figure into prominence, showing the gleam of the black +eyes, and fixing the stars that lay in them. + +Without a word I threw open the window, and, taking the white hand +extended to me, drew into the room the Lady of the Shroud. + +As she entered and felt the warmth of the blazing fire, a glad look +spread over her face. She made a movement as if to run to it. But +she drew back an instant after, looking round with instinctive +caution. She closed the window and bolted it, touched the lever +which spread the grille across the opening, and pulled close the +curtain behind it. Then she went swiftly to the door and tried if it +was locked. Satisfied as to this, she came quickly over to the fire, +and, kneeling before it, stretched out her numbed hands to the blaze. +Almost on the instant her wet shroud began to steam. I stood +wondering. The precautions of secrecy in the midst of her suffering- +-for that she did suffer was only too painfully manifest--must have +presupposed some danger. Then and there my mind was made up that +there should no harm assail her that I by any means could fend off. +Still, the present must be attended to; pneumonia and other ills +stalked behind such a chill as must infallibly come on her unless +precautions were taken. I took again the dressing-gown which she had +worn before and handed it to her, motioning as I did so towards the +screen which had made a dressing-room for her on the former occasion. +To my surprise she hesitated. I waited. She waited, too, and then +laid down the dressing-gown on the edge of the stone fender. So I +spoke: + +"Won't you change as you did before? Your--your frock can then be +dried. Do! It will be so much safer for you to be dry clad when you +resume your own dress." + +"How can I whilst you are here?" + +Her words made me stare, so different were they from her acts of the +other visit. I simply bowed--speech on such a subject would be at +least inadequate--and walked over to the window. Passing behind the +curtain, I opened the window. Before stepping out on to the terrace, +I looked into the room and said: + +"Take your own time. There is no hurry. I dare say you will find +there all you may want. I shall remain on the terrace until you +summon me." With that I went out on the terrace, drawing close the +glass door behind me. + +I stood looking out on the dreary scene for what seemed a very short +time, my mind in a whirl. There came a rustle from within, and I saw +a dark brown figure steal round the edge of the curtain. A white +hand was raised, and beckoned me to come in. I entered, bolting the +window behind me. She had passed across the room, and was again +kneeling before the fire with her hands outstretched. The shroud was +laid in partially opened folds on one side of the hearth, and was +steaming heavily. I brought over some cushions and pillows, and made +a little pile of them beside her. + +"Sit there," I said, "and rest quietly in the heat." It may have +been the effect of the glowing heat, but there was a rich colour in +her face as she looked at me with shining eyes. Without a word, but +with a courteous little bow, she sat down at once. I put a thick rug +across her shoulders, and sat down myself on a stool a couple of feet +away. + +For fully five or six minutes we sat in silence. At last, turning +her head towards me she said in a sweet, low voice: + +"I had intended coming earlier on purpose to thank you for your very +sweet and gracious courtesy to me, but circumstances were such that I +could not leave my--my"--she hesitated before saying--"my abode. I +am not free, as you and others are, to do what I will. My existence +is sadly cold and stern, and full of horrors that appal. But I DO +thank you. For myself I am not sorry for the delay, for every hour +shows me more clearly how good and understanding and sympathetic you +have been to me. I only hope that some day you may realize how kind +you have been, and how much I appreciate it." + +"I am only too glad to be of any service," I said, feebly I felt, as +I held out my hand. She did not seem to see it. Her eyes were now +on the fire, and a warm blush dyed forehead and cheek and neck. The +reproof was so gentle that no one could have been offended. It was +evident that she was something coy and reticent, and would not allow +me to come at present more close to her, even to the touching of her +hand. But that her heart was not in the denial was also evident in +the glance from her glorious dark starry eyes. These glances-- +veritable lightning flashes coming through her pronounced reserve-- +finished entirely any wavering there might be in my own purpose. I +was aware now to the full that my heart was quite subjugated. I knew +that I was in love--veritably so much in love as to feel that without +this woman, be she what she might, by my side my future must be +absolutely barren. + +It was presently apparent that she did not mean to stay as long on +this occasion as on the last. When the castle clock struck midnight +she suddenly sprang to her feet with a bound, saying: + +"I must go! There is midnight!" I rose at once, the intensity of +her speech having instantly obliterated the sleep which, under the +influence of rest and warmth, was creeping upon me. Once more she +was in a frenzy of haste, so I hurried towards the window, but as I +looked back saw her, despite her haste, still standing. I motioned +towards the screen, and slipping behind the curtain, opened the +window and went out on the terrace. As I was disappearing behind the +curtain I saw her with the tail of my eye lifting the shroud, now +dry, from the hearth. + +She was out through the window in an incredibly short time, now +clothed once more in that dreadful wrapping. As she sped past me +barefooted on the wet, chilly marble which made her shudder, she +whispered: + +"Thank you again. You ARE good to me. You can understand." + +Once again I stood on the terrace, saw her melt like a shadow down +the steps, and disappear behind the nearest shrub. Thence she +flitted away from point to point with exceeding haste. The moonlight +had now disappeared behind heavy banks of cloud, so there was little +light to see by. I could just distinguish a pale gleam here and +there as she wended her secret way. + +For a long time I stood there alone thinking, as I watched the course +she had taken, and wondering where might be her ultimate destination. +As she had spoken of her "abode," I knew there was some definitive +objective of her flight. + +It was no use wondering. I was so entirely ignorant of her +surroundings that I had not even a starting-place for speculation. +So I went in, leaving the window open. It seemed that this being so +made one barrier the less between us. I gathered the cushions and +rugs from before the fire, which was no longer leaping, but burning +with a steady glow, and put them back in their places. Aunt Janet +might come in the morning, as she had done before, and I did not wish +to set her thinking. She is much too clever a person to have +treading on the heels of a mystery--especially one in which my own +affections are engaged. I wonder what she would have said had she +seen me kiss the cushion on which my beautiful guest's head had +rested? + +When I was in bed, and in the dark save for the fading glow of the +fire, my thoughts became fixed that whether she came from Earth or +Heaven or Hell, my lovely visitor was already more to me than aught +else in the world. This time she had, on going, said no word of +returning. I had been so much taken up with her presence, and so +upset by her abrupt departure, that I had omitted to ask her. And so +I am driven, as before, to accept the chance of her returning--a +chance which I fear I am or may be unable to control. + +Surely enough Aunt Janet did come in the morning, early. I was still +asleep when she knocked at my door. With that purely physical +subconsciousness which comes with habit I must have realized the +cause of the sound, for I woke fully conscious of the fact that Aunt +Janet had knocked and was waiting to come in. I jumped from bed, and +back again when I had unlocked the door. When Aunt Janet came in she +noticed the cold of the room. + +"Save us, laddie, but ye'll get your death o' cold in this room." +Then, as she looked round and noticed the ashes of the extinct fire +in the grate: + +"Eh, but ye're no that daft after a'; ye've had the sense to light +yer fire. Glad I am that we had the fire laid and a wheen o' dry +logs ready to yer hand." She evidently felt the cold air coming from +the window, for she went over and drew the curtain. When she saw the +open window, she raised her hands in a sort of dismay, which to me, +knowing how little base for concern could be within her knowledge, +was comic. Hurriedly she shut the window, and then, coming close +over to my bed, said: + +"Yon has been a fearsome nicht again, laddie, for yer poor auld +aunty." + +"Dreaming again, Aunt Janet?" I asked--rather flippantly as it seemed +to me. She shook her head: + +"Not so, Rupert, unless it be that the Lord gies us in dreams what we +in our spiritual darkness think are veesions." I roused up at this. +When Aunt Janet calls me Rupert, as she always used to do in my dear +mother's time, things are serious with her. As I was back in +childhood now, recalled by her word, I thought the best thing I could +do to cheer her would be to bring her back there too--if I could. So +I patted the edge of the bed as I used to do when I was a wee kiddie +and wanted her to comfort me, and said: + +"Sit down, Aunt Janet, and tell me." She yielded at once, and the +look of the happy old days grew over her face as though there had +come a gleam of sunshine. She sat down, and I put out my hands as I +used to do, and took her hand between them. There was a tear in her +eye as she raised my hand and kissed it as in old times. But for the +infinite pathos of it, it would have been comic: + +Aunt Janet, old and grey-haired, but still retaining her girlish +slimness of figure, petite, dainty as a Dresden figure, her face +lined with the care of years, but softened and ennobled by the +unselfishness of those years, holding up my big hand, which would +outweigh her whole arm; sitting dainty as a pretty old fairy beside a +recumbent giant--for my bulk never seems so great as when I am near +this real little good fairy of my life--seven feet beside four feet +seven. + +So she began as of old, as though she were about to soothe a +frightened child with a fairy tale: + +"'Twas a veesion, I think, though a dream it may hae been. But +whichever or whatever it was, it concerned my little boy, who has +grown to be a big giant, so much that I woke all of a tremble. +Laddie dear, I thought that I saw ye being married." This gave me an +opening, though a small one, for comforting her, so I took it at +once: + +"Why, dear, there isn't anything to alarm you in that, is there? It +was only the other day when you spoke to me about the need of my +getting married, if it was only that you might have children of your +boy playing around your knees as their father used to do when he was +a helpless wee child himself." + +"That is so, laddie," she answered gravely. "But your weddin' was +none so merry as I fain would see. True, you seemed to lo'e her wi' +all yer hairt. Yer eyes shone that bright that ye might ha' set her +afire, for all her black locks and her winsome face. But, laddie, +that was not all--no, not though her black een, that had the licht o' +all the stars o' nicht in them, shone in yours as though a hairt o' +love an' passion, too, dwelt in them. I saw ye join hands, an' heard +a strange voice that talked stranger still, but I saw none ither. +Your eyes an' her eyes, an' your hand an' hers, were all I saw. For +all else was dim, and the darkness was close around ye twa. And when +the benison was spoken--I knew that by the voices that sang, and by +the gladness of her een, as well as by the pride and glory of yours-- +the licht began to glow a wee more, an' I could see yer bride. She +was in a veil o' wondrous fine lace. And there were orange-flowers +in her hair, though there were twigs, too, and there was a crown o' +flowers on head wi' a golden band round it. And the heathen candles +that stood on the table wi' the Book had some strange effect, for the +reflex o' it hung in the air o'er her head like the shadow of a +crown. There was a gold ring on her finger and a silver one on +yours." Here she paused and trembled, so that, hoping to dispel her +fears, I said, as like as I could to the way I used to when I was a +child: + +"Go on, Aunt Janet." + +She did not seem to recognize consciously the likeness between past +and present; but the effect was there, for she went on more like her +old self, though there was a prophetic gravity in her voice, more +marked than I had ever heard from her: + +"All this I've told ye was well; but, oh, laddie, there was a +dreadful lack o' livin' joy such as I should expect from the woman +whom my boy had chosen for his wife--and at the marriage coupling, +too! And no wonder, when all is said; for though the marriage veil +o' love was fine, an' the garland o' flowers was fresh-gathered, +underneath them a' was nane ither than a ghastly shroud. As I looked +in my veesion--or maybe dream--I expectit to see the worms crawl +round the flagstane at her feet. If 'twas not Death, laddie dear, +that stood by ye, it was the shadow o' Death that made the darkness +round ye, that neither the light o' candles nor the smoke o' heathen +incense could pierce. Oh, laddie, laddie, wae is me that I hae seen +sic a veesion--waking or sleeping, it matters not! I was sair +distressed--so sair that I woke wi' a shriek on my lips and bathed in +cold sweat. I would hae come doon to ye to see if you were hearty or +no--or even to listen at your door for any sound o' yer being quick, +but that I feared to alarm ye till morn should come. I've counted +the hours and the minutes since midnight, when I saw the veesion, +till I came hither just the now." + +"Quite right, Aunt Janet," I said, "and I thank you for your kind +thought for me in the matter, now and always." Then I went on, for I +wanted to take precautions against the possibility of her discovery +of my secret. I could not bear to think that she might run my +precious secret to earth in any well-meant piece of bungling. That +would be to me disaster unbearable. She might frighten away +altogether my beautiful visitor, even whose name or origin I did not +know, and I might never see her again: + +"You must never do that, Aunt Janet. You and I are too good friends +to have sense of distrust or annoyance come between us--which would +surely happen if I had to keep thinking that you or anyone else might +be watching me." + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +April 27, 1907. + +After a spell of loneliness which has seemed endless I have something +to write. When the void in my heart was becoming the receptacle for +many devils of suspicion and distrust I set myself a task which +might, I thought, keep my thoughts in part, at any rate, occupied--to +explore minutely the neighbourhood round the Castle. This might, I +hoped, serve as an anodyne to my pain of loneliness, which grew more +acute as the days, the hours, wore on, even if it should not +ultimately afford me some clue to the whereabouts of the woman whom I +had now grown to love so madly. + +My exploration soon took a systematic form, as I intended that it +should be exhaustive. I would take every day a separate line of +advance from the Castle, beginning at the south and working round by +the east to the north. The first day only took me to the edge of the +creek, which I crossed in a boat, and landed at the base of the cliff +opposite. I found the cliffs alone worth a visit. Here and there +were openings to caves which I made up my mind to explore later. I +managed to climb up the cliff at a spot less beetling than the rest, +and continued my journey. It was, though very beautiful, not a +specially interesting place. I explored that spoke of the wheel of +which Vissarion was the hub, and got back just in time for dinner. + +The next day I took a course slightly more to the eastward. I had no +difficulty in keeping a straight path, for, once I had rowed across +the creek, the old church of St. Sava rose before me in stately +gloom. This was the spot where many generations of the noblest of +the Land of the Blue Mountains had from time immemorial been laid to +rest, amongst them the Vissarions. Again, I found the opposite +cliffs pierced here and there with caves, some with wide openings,-- +others the openings of which were partly above and partly below +water. I could, however, find no means of climbing the cliff at this +part, and had to make a long detour, following up the line of the +creek till further on I found a piece of beach from which ascent was +possible. Here I ascended, and found that I was on a line between +the Castle and the southern side of the mountains. I saw the church +of St. Sava away to my right, and not far from the edge of the cliff. +I made my way to it at once, for as yet I had never been near it. +Hitherto my excursions had been limited to the Castle and its many +gardens and surroundings. It was of a style with which I was not +familiar--with four wings to the points of the compass. The great +doorway, set in a magnificent frontage of carved stone of manifestly +ancient date, faced west, so that, when one entered, he went east. +To my surprise--for somehow I expected the contrary--I found the door +open. Not wide open, but what is called ajar--manifestly not locked +or barred, but not sufficiently open for one to look in. I entered, +and after passing through a wide vestibule, more like a section of a +corridor than an ostensible entrance, made my way through a spacious +doorway into the body of the church. The church itself was almost +circular, the openings of the four naves being spacious enough to +give the appearance of the interior as a whole, being a huge cross. +It was strangely dim, for the window openings were small and high- +set, and were, moreover, filled with green or blue glass, each window +having a colour to itself. The glass was very old, being of the +thirteenth or fourteenth century. Such appointments as there were-- +for it had a general air of desolation--were of great beauty and +richness,--especially so to be in a place--even a church--where the +door lay open, and no one was to be seen. It was strangely silent +even for an old church on a lonesome headland. There reigned a +dismal solemnity which seemed to chill me, accustomed as I have been +to strange and weird places. It seemed abandoned, though it had not +that air of having been neglected which is so often to be noticed in +old 'churches. There was none of the everlasting accumulation of +dust which prevails in places of higher cultivation and larger and +more strenuous work. + +In the church itself or its appending chambers I could find no clue +or suggestion which could guide me in any way in my search for the +Lady of the Shroud. Monuments there were in profusion--statues, +tablets, and all the customary memorials of the dead. The families +and dates represented were simply bewildering. Often the name of +Vissarion was given, and the inscription which it held I read through +carefully, looking to find some enlightenment of any kind. But all +in vain: there was nothing to see in the church itself. So I +determined to visit the crypt. I had no lantern or candle with me, +so had to go back to the Castle to secure one. + +It was strange, coming in from the sunlight, here overwhelming to one +so recently accustomed to northern skies, to note the slender gleam +of the lantern which I carried, and which I had lit inside the door. +At my first entry to the church my mind had been so much taken up +with the strangeness of the place, together with the intensity of +wish for some sort of clue, that I had really no opportunity of +examining detail. But now detail became necessary, as I had to find +the entrance to the crypt. My puny light could not dissipate the +semi-Cimmerian gloom of the vast edifice; I had to throw the feeble +gleam into one after another of the dark corners. + +At last I found, behind the great screen, a narrow stone staircase +which seemed to wind down into the rock. It was not in any way +secret, but being in the narrow space behind the great screen, was +not visible except when close to it. I knew I was now close to my +objective, and began to descend. Accustomed though I have been to +all sorts of mysteries and dangers, I felt awed and almost +overwhelmed by a sense of loneliness and desolation as I descended +the ancient winding steps. These were many in number, roughly hewn +of old in the solid rock on which the church was built. + +I met a fresh surprise in finding that the door of the crypt was +open. After all, this was different from the church-door being open; +for in many places it is a custom to allow all comers at all times to +find rest and comfort in the sacred place. But I did expect that at +least the final resting-place of the historic dead would be held safe +against casual intrusion. Even I, on a quest which was very near my +heart, paused with an almost overwhelming sense of decorum before +passing through that open door. The crypt was a huge place, +strangely lofty for a vault. From its formation, however, I soon +came to the conclusion that it was originally a natural cavern +altered to its present purpose by the hand of man. I could hear +somewhere near the sound of running water, but I could not locate it. +Now and again at irregular intervals there was a prolonged booming, +which could only come from a wave breaking in a confined place. The +recollection then came to me of the proximity of the church to the +top of the beetling cliff, and of the half-sunk cavern entrances +which pierced it. + +With the gleam of my lamp to guide me, I went through and round the +whole place. There were many massive tombs, mostly rough-hewn from +great slabs or blocks of stone. Some of them were marble, and the +cutting of all was ancient. So large and heavy were some of them +that it was a wonder to me how they could ever have been brought to +this place, to which the only entrance was seemingly the narrow, +tortuous stairway by which I had come. At last I saw near one end of +the crypt a great chain hanging. Turning the light upward, I found +that it depended from a ring set over a wide opening, evidently made +artificially. It must have been through this opening that the great +sarcophagi had been lowered. + +Directly underneath the hanging chain, which did not come closer to +the ground than some eight or ten feet, was a huge tomb in the shape +of a rectangular coffer or sarcophagus. It was open, save for a huge +sheet of thick glass which rested above it on two thick balks of dark +oak, cut to exceeding smoothness, which lay across it, one at either +end. On the far side from where I stood each of these was joined to +another oak plank, also cut smooth, which sloped gently to the rocky +floor. Should it be necessary to open the tomb, the glass could be +made to slide along the supports and descend by the sloping planks. + +Naturally curious to know what might be within such a strange +receptacle, I raised the lantern, depressing its lens so that the +light might fall within. + +Then I started back with a cry, the lantern slipping from my +nerveless hand and falling with a ringing sound on the great sheet of +thick glass. + +Within, pillowed on soft cushions, and covered with a mantle woven of +white natural fleece sprigged with tiny sprays of pine wrought in +gold, lay the body of a woman--none other than my beautiful visitor. +She was marble white, and her long black eyelashes lay on her white +cheeks as though she slept. + +Without a word or a sound, save the sounds made by my hurrying feet +on the stone flooring, I fled up the steep steps, and through the dim +expanse of the church, out into the bright sunlight. I found that I +had mechanically raised the fallen lamp, and had taken it with me in +my flight. + +My feet naturally turned towards home. It was all instinctive. The +new horror had--for the time, at any rate--drowned my mind in its +mystery, deeper than the deepest depths of thought or imagination. + + + +BOOK IV: UNDER THE FLAGSTAFF + + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 1, 1907. + +For some days after the last adventure I was in truth in a half-dazed +condition, unable to think sensibly, hardly coherently. Indeed, it +was as much as I could do to preserve something of my habitual +appearance and manner. However, my first test happily came soon, and +when I was once through it I reacquired sufficient self-confidence to +go through with my purpose. Gradually the original phase of +stupefaction passed, and I was able to look the situation in the +face. I knew the worst now, at any rate; and when the lowest point +has been reached things must begin to mend. Still, I was wofully +sensitive regarding anything which might affect my Lady of the +Shroud, or even my opinion of her. I even began to dread Aunt +Janet's Second-Sight visions or dreams. These had a fatal habit of +coming so near to fact that they always made for a danger of +discovery. I had to realize now that the Lady of the Shroud might +indeed be a Vampire--one of that horrid race that survives death and +carries on a life-in-death existence eternally and only for evil. +Indeed, I began to EXPECT that Aunt Janet would ere long have some +prophetic insight to the matter. She had been so wonderfully correct +in her prophetic surmises with regard to both the visits to my room +that it was hardly possible that she could fail to take cognizance of +this last development. + +But my dread was not justified; at any rate, I had no reason to +suspect that by any force or exercise of her occult gift she might +cause me concern by the discovery of my secret. Only once did I feel +that actual danger in that respect was close to me. That was when +she came early one morning and rapped at my door. When I called out, +"Who is that? What is it?" she said in an agitated way: + +"Thank God, laddie, you are all right! Go to sleep again." + +Later on, when we met at breakfast, she explained that she had had a +nightmare in the grey of the morning. She thought she had seen me in +the crypt of a great church close beside a stone coffin; and, knowing +that such was an ominous subject to dream about, came as soon as she +dared to see if I was all right. Her mind was evidently set on death +and burial, for she went on: + +"By the way, Rupert, I am told that the great church on time top of +the cliff across the creek is St. Sava's, where the great people of +the country used to be buried. I want you to take me there some day. +We shall go over it, and look at the tombs and monuments together. I +really think I should be afraid to go alone, but it will be all right +if you are with me." This was getting really dangerous, so I turned +it aside: + +Really, Aunt Janet, I'm afraid it won't do. If you go off to weird +old churches, and fill yourself up with a fresh supply of horrors, I +don't know what will happen. You'll be dreaming dreadful things +about me every night and neither you nor I shall get any sleep." It +went to my heart to oppose her in any wish; and also this kind of +chaffy opposition might pain her. But I had no alternative; the +matter was too serious to be allowed to proceed. Should Aunt Janet +go to the church, she would surely want to visit the crypt. Should +she do so, and there notice the glass-covered tomb--as she could not +help doing--the Lord only knew what would happen. She had already +Second-Sighted a woman being married to me, and before I myself knew +that I had such a hope. What might she not reveal did she know where +the woman came from? It may have been that her power of Second Sight +had to rest on some basis of knowledge or belief, and that her vision +was but some intuitive perception of my own subjective thought. But +whatever it was it should be stopped--at all hazards. + +This whole episode set me thinking introspectively, and led me +gradually but imperatively to self-analysis--not of powers, but of +motives. I found myself before long examining myself as to what were +my real intentions. I thought at first that this intellectual +process was an exercise of pure reason; but soon discarded this as +inadequate--even impossible. Reason is a cold manifestation; this +feeling which swayed and dominated me is none other than passion, +which is quick, hot, and insistent. + +As for myself, the self-analysis could lead to but one result--the +expression to myself of the reality and definiteness of an already- +formed though unconscious intention. I wished to do the woman good-- +to serve her in some way--to secure her some benefit by any means, no +matter how difficult, which might be within my power. I knew that I +loved her--loved her most truly and fervently; there was no need for +self-analysis to tell me that. And, moreover, no self-analysis, or +any other mental process that I knew of, could help my one doubt: +whether she was an ordinary woman (or an extraordinary woman, for the +matter of that) in some sore and terrible straits; or else one who +lay under some dreadful condition, only partially alive, and not +mistress of herself or her acts. Whichever her condition might be, +there was in my own feeling a superfluity of affection for her. The +self-analysis taught me one thing, at any rate--that I had for her, +to start with, an infinite pity which had softened towards her my +whole being, and had already mastered merely selfish desire. Out of +it I began to find excuses for her every act. In the doing so I knew +now, though perhaps I did not at the time the process was going on, +that my view in its true inwardness was of her as a living woman--the +woman I loved. + +In the forming of our ideas there are different methods of work, as +though the analogy with material life holds good. In the building of +a house, for instance, there are many persons employed; men of +different trades and occupations--architect, builder, masons, +carpenters, plumbers, and a host of others--and all these with the +officials of each guild or trade. So in the world of thought and +feelings: knowledge and understanding come through various agents, +each competent to its task. + +How far pity reacted with love I knew not; I only knew that whatever +her state might be, were she living or dead, I could find in my heart +no blame for the Lady of the Shroud. It could not be that she was +dead in the real conventional way; for, after all, the Dead do not +walk the earth in corporal substance, even if there be spirits which +take the corporal form. This woman was of actual form and weight. +How could I doubt that, at all events--I, who had held her in my +arms? Might it not be that she was not quite dead, and that it had +been given to me to restore her to life again? Ah! that would be, +indeed, a privilege well worth the giving my life to accomplish. +That such a thing may be is possible. Surely the old myths were not +absolute inventions; they must have had a basis somewhere in fact. +May not the world-old story of Orpheus and Eurydice have been based +on some deep-lying principle or power of human nature? There is not +one of us but has wished at some time to bring back the dead. Ay, +and who has not felt that in himself or herself was power in the deep +love for our dead to make them quick again, did we but know the +secret of how it was to be done? + +For myself, I have seen such mysteries that I am open to conviction +regarding things not yet explained. These have been, of course, +amongst savages or those old-world people who have brought unchecked +traditions and beliefs--ay, and powers too--down the ages from the +dim days when the world was young; when forces were elemental, and +Nature's handiwork was experimental rather than completed. Some of +these wonders may have been older still than the accepted period of +our own period of creation. May we not have to-day other wonders, +different only in method, but not more susceptible of belief? Obi- +ism and Fantee-ism have been exercised in my own presence, and their +results proved by the evidence of my own eyes and other senses. So, +too, have stranger rites, with the same object and the same success, +in the far Pacific Islands. So, too, in India and China, in Thibet +and in the Golden Chersonese. On all and each of these occasions +there was, on my own part, enough belief to set in motion the powers +of understanding; and there were no moral scruples to stand in the +way of realization. Those whose lives are so spent that they achieve +the reputation of not fearing man or God or devil are not deterred in +their doing or thwarted from a set purpose by things which might +deter others not so equipped for adventure. Whatever may be before +them--pleasant or painful, bitter or sweet, arduous or facile, +enjoyable or terrible, humorous or full of awe and horror--they must +accept, taking them in the onward course as a good athlete takes +hurdles in his stride. And there must be no hesitating, no looking +back. If the explorer or the adventurer has scruples, he had better +give up that special branch of effort and come himself to a more +level walk in life. Neither must there be regrets. There is no need +for such; savage life has this advantage: it begets a certain +toleration not to be found in conventional existence. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 2, 1907. + +I had heard long ago that Second Sight is a terrible gift, even to +its possessor. I am now inclined not only to believe, but to +understand it. Aunt Janet has made such a practice of it of late +that I go in constant dread of discovery of my secret. She seems to +parallel me all the time, whatever I may do. It is like a sort of +dual existence to her; for she is her dear old self all the time, and +yet some other person with a sort of intellectual kit of telescope +and notebook, which are eternally used on me. I know they are FOR +me, too--for what she considers my good. But all the same it makes +an embarrassment. Happily Second Sight cannot speak as clearly as it +sees, or, rather, as it understands. For the translation of the +vague beliefs which it inculcates is both nebulous and uncertain--a +sort of Delphic oracle which always says things which no one can make +out at the time, but which can be afterwards read in any one of +several ways. This is all right, for in my case it is a kind of +safety; but, then, Aunt Janet is a very clever woman, and some time +she herself may be able to understand. Then she may begin to put two +and two together. When she does that, it will not be long before she +knows more than I do of the facts of the whole affair. And her +reading of them and of the Lady of the Shroud, round whom they +circle, may not be the same as mine. Well, that will be all right +too. Aunt Janet loves me--God knows I have good reason to know that +all through these years--and whatever view she may take, her acts +will be all I could wish. But I shall come in for a good lot of +scolding, I am sure. By the way, I ought to think of that; if Aunt +Janet scolds me, it is a pretty good proof that I ought to be +scolded. I wonder if I dare tell her all. No! It is too strange. +She is only a woman, after all: and if she knew I loved . . . I wish +I knew her name, and thought--as I might myself do, only that I +resist it--that she is not alive at all. Well, what she would either +think or do beats me. I suppose she would want to slipper me as she +used to do when I was a wee kiddie--in a different way, of course. + +May 3, 1907. + +I really could not go on seriously last night. The idea of Aunt +Janet giving me a licking as in the dear old days made me laugh so +much that nothing in the world seemed serious then. Oh, Aunt Janet +is all right whatever comes. That I am sure of, so I needn't worry +over it. A good thing too; there will be plenty to worry about +without that. I shall not check her telling me of her visions, +however; I may learn something from them. + +For the last four-and-twenty hours I have, whilst awake, been looking +over Aunt Janet's books, of which I brought a wheen down here. Gee +whizz! No wonder the old dear is superstitious, when she is filled +up to the back teeth with that sort of stuff! There may be some +truth in some of those yarns; those who wrote them may believe in +them, or some of them, at all events. But as to coherence or logic, +or any sort of reasonable or instructive deduction, they might as +well have been written by so many hens! These occult book-makers +seem to gather only a lot of bare, bald facts, which they put down in +the most uninteresting way possible. They go by quantity only. One +story of the kind, well examined and with logical comments, would be +more convincing to a third party than a whole hecatomb of them. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 4, 1907. + +There is evidently something up in the country. The mountaineers are +more uneasy than they have been as yet. There is constant going to +and fro amongst them, mostly at night and in the grey of the morning. +I spend many hours in my room in the eastern tower, from which I can +watch the woods, and gather from signs the passing to and fro. But +with all this activity no one has said to me a word on the subject. +It is undoubtedly a disappointment to me. I had hoped that the +mountaineers had come to trust me; that gathering at which they +wanted to fire their guns for me gave me strong hopes. But now it is +apparent that they do not trust me in full--as yet, at all events. +Well, I must not complain. It is all only right and just. As yet I +have done nothing to prove to them the love and devotion that I feel +to the country. I know that such individuals as I have met trust me, +and I believe like me. But the trust of a nation is different. That +has to be won and tested; he who would win it must justify, and in a +way that only troublous times can allow. No nation will--can--give +full meed of honour to a stranger in times of peace. Why should it? +I must not forget that I am here a stranger in the land, and that to +the great mass of people even my name is unknown. Perhaps they will +know me better when Rooke comes back with that store of arms and +ammunition that he has bought, and the little warship he has got from +South America. When they see that I hand over the whole lot to the +nation without a string on them, they may begin to believe. In the +meantime all I can do is to wait. It will all come right in time, I +have no doubt. And if it doesn't come right, well, we can only die +once! + +Is that so? What about my Lady of the Shroud? I must not think of +that or of her in this gallery. Love and war are separate, and may +not mix--cannot mix, if it comes to that. I must be wise in the +matter; and if I have got the hump in any degree whatever, must not +show it. + +But one thing is certain: something is up, and it must be the Turks. +From what the Vladika said at that meeting they have some intention +of an attack on the Blue Mountains. If that be so, we must be ready; +and perhaps I can help there. The forces must be organized; we must +have some method of communication. In this country, where are +neither roads nor railways nor telegraphs, we must establish a +signalling system of some sort. THAT I can begin at once. I can +make a code, or adapt one that I have used elsewhere already. I +shall rig up a semaphore on the top of the Castle which can be seen +for an enormous distance around. I shall train a number of men to be +facile in signalling. And then, should need come, I may be able to +show the mountaineers that I am fit to live in their hearts . . . + +And all this work may prove an anodyne to pain of another kind. It +will help, at any rate, to keep my mind occupied whilst I am waiting +for another visit from my Lady of the Shroud. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 18, 1907. + +The two weeks that have passed have been busy, and may, as time goes +on, prove eventful. I really think they have placed me in a +different position with the Blue Mountaineers--certainly so far as +those in this part of the country are concerned. They are no longer +suspicious of me--which is much; though they have not yet received me +into their confidence. I suppose this will come in time, but I must +not try to hustle them. Already they are willing, so far as I can +see, to use me to their own ends. They accepted the signalling idea +very readily, and are quite willing to drill as much as I like. This +can be (and I think is, in its way) a pleasure to them. They are +born soldiers, every man of them; and practice together is only a +realization of their own wishes and a further development of their +powers. I think I can understand the trend of their thoughts, and +what ideas of public policy lie behind them. In all that we have +attempted together as yet they are themselves in absolute power. It +rests with them to carry out any ideas I may suggest, so they do not +fear any assumption of power or governance on my part. Thus, so long +as they keep secret from me both their ideas of high policy and their +immediate intentions, I am powerless to do them ill, and I MAY be of +service should occasion arise. Well, all told, this is much. +Already they accept me as an individual, not merely one of the mass. +I am pretty sure that they are satisfied of my personal bona fides. +It is policy and not mistrust that hedges me in. Well, policy is a +matter of time. They are a splendid people, but if they knew a +little more than they do they would understand that the wisest of all +policies is trust--when it can be given. I must hold myself in +check, and never be betrayed into a harsh thought towards them. Poor +souls! with a thousand years behind them of Turkish aggression, +strenuously attempted by both force and fraud, no wonder they are +suspicious. Likewise every other nation with whom they have ever +come in contact--except one, my own--has deceived or betrayed them. +Anyhow, they are fine soldiers, and before long we shall have an army +that cannot be ignored. If I can get so that they trust me, I shall +ask Sir Colin to come out here. He would be a splendid head for +their army. His great military knowledge and tactical skill would +come in well. It makes me glow to think of what an army he would +turn out of this splendid material, and one especially adapted for +the style of fighting which would be necessary in this country. + +If a mere amateur like myself, who has only had experience of +organizing the wildest kind of savages, has been able to advance or +compact their individual style of fighting into systematic effort, a +great soldier like MacKelpie will bring them to perfection as a +fighting machine. Our Highlanders, when they come out, will +foregather with them, as mountaineers always do with each other. +Then we shall have a force which can hold its own against any odds. +I only hope that Rooke will be returning soon. I want to see those +Ingis-Malbron rifles either safely stored in the Castle or, what is +better, divided up amongst the mountaineers--a thing which will be +done at the very earliest moment that I can accomplish it. I have a +conviction that when these men have received their arms and +ammunition from me they will understand me better, and not keep any +secrets from me. + +All this fortnight when I was not drilling or going about amongst the +mountaineers, and teaching them the code which I have now got +perfected, I was exploring the side of the mountain nearest to here. +I could not bear to be still. It is torture to me to be idle in my +present condition of mind regarding my Lady of the Shroud . . . +Strange I do not mind mentioning the word to myself now. I used to +at first; but that bitterness has all gone away. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 19, 1907. + +I was so restless early this morning that before daylight I was out +exploring on the mountain-side. By chance I came across a secret +place just as the day was breaking. Indeed, it was by the change of +light as the first sun-rays seemed to fall down the mountain-side +that my attention was called to an opening shown by a light behind +it. It was, indeed, a secret place--so secret that I thought at +first I should keep it to myself. In such a place as this either to +hide in or to be able to prevent anyone else hiding in might on +occasion be an asset of safety. + +When, however, I saw indications rather than traces that someone had +already used it to camp in, I changed my mind, and thought that +whenever I should get an opportunity I would tell the Vladika of it, +as he is a man on whose discretion I can rely. If we ever have a war +here or any sort of invasion, it is just such places that may be +dangerous. Even in my own case it is much too near the Castle to be +neglected. + +The indications were meagre--only where a fire had been on a little +shelf of rock; and it was not possible, through the results of +burning vegetation or scorched grass, to tell how long before the +fire had been alight. I could only guess. Perhaps the mountaineers +might be able to tell or even to guess better than I could. But I am +not so sure of this. I am a mountaineer myself, and with larger and +more varied experience than any of them. For myself, though I could +not be certain, I came to the conclusion that whoever had used the +place had done so not many days before. It could not have been quite +recently; but it may not have been very long ago. Whoever had used +it had covered up his tracks well. Even the ashes had been carefully +removed, and the place where they had lain was cleaned or swept in +some way, so that there was no trace on the spot. I applied some of +my West African experience, and looked on the rough bark of the trees +to leeward, to where the agitated air, however directed, must have +come, unless it was wanted to call attention to the place by the +scattered wood-ashes, however fine. I found traces of it, but they +were faint. There had not been rain for several days; so the dust +must have been blown there since the rain had fallen, for it was +still dry. + +The place was a tiny gorge, with but one entrance, which was hidden +behind a barren spur of rock--just a sort of long fissure, jagged and +curving, in the rock, like a fault in the stratification. I could +just struggle through it with considerable effort, holding my breath +here and there, so as to reduce my depth of chest. Within it was +tree-clad, and full of possibilities of concealment. + +As I came away I marked well its direction and approaches, noting any +guiding mark which might aid in finding it by day or night. I +explored every foot of ground around it--in front, on each side, and +above. But from nowhere could I see an indication of its existence. +It was a veritable secret chamber wrought by the hand of Nature +itself. I did not return home till I was familiar with every detail +near and around it. This new knowledge added distinctly to my sense +of security. + +Later in the day I tried to find the Vladika or any mountaineer of +importance, for I thought that such a hiding-place which had been +used so recently might be dangerous, and especially at a time when, +as I had learned at the meeting where they did NOT fire their guns +that there may have been spies about or a traitor in the land. + +Even before I came to my own room to-night I had fully made up my +mind to go out early in the morning and find some proper person to +whom to impart the information, so that a watch might be kept on the +place. It is now getting on for midnight, and when I have had my +usual last look at the garden I shall turn in. Aunt Janet was uneasy +all day, and especially so this evening. I think it must have been +my absence at the usual breakfast-hour which got on her nerves; and +that unsatisfied mental or psychical irritation increased as the day +wore on. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 20, 1907. + +The clock on the mantelpiece in my room, which chimes on the notes of +the clock at St. James's Palace, was striking midnight when I opened +the glass door on the terrace. I had put out my lights before I drew +the curtain, as I wished to see the full effect of the moonlight. +Now that the rainy season is over, the moon is quite as beautiful as +it was in the wet, and a great deal more comfortable. I was in +evening dress, with a smoking-jacket in lieu of a coat, and I felt +the air mild and mellow on the warm side, as I stood on the terrace. + +But even in that bright moonlight the further corners of the great +garden were full of mysterious shadows. I peered into them as well +as I could--and my eyes are pretty good naturally, and are well +trained. There was not the least movement. The air was as still as +death, the foliage as still as though wrought in stone. + +I looked for quite a long time in the hope of seeing something of my +Lady. The quarters chimed several times, but I stood on unheeding. +At last I thought I saw far off in the very corner of the old +defending wall a flicker of white. It was but momentary, and could +hardly have accounted in itself for the way my heart beat. I +controlled myself, and stood as though I, too, were a graven image. +I was rewarded by seeing presently another gleam of white. And then +an unspeakable rapture stole over me as I realized that my Lady was +coming as she had come before. I would have hurried out to meet her, +but that I knew well that this would not be in accord with her +wishes. So, thinking to please her, I drew back into the room. I +was glad I had done so when, from the dark corner where I stood, I +saw her steal up the marble steps and stand timidly looking in at the +door. Then, after a long pause, came a whisper as faint and sweet as +the music of a distant AEolian harp: + +"Are you there? May I come in? Answer me! I am lonely and in +fear!" For answer I emerged from my dim corner so swiftly that she +was startled. I could hear from the quivering intake of her breath +that she was striving--happily with success--to suppress a shriek. + +"Come in," I said quietly. "I was waiting for you, for I felt that +you would come. I only came in from the terrace when I saw you +coming, lest you might fear that anyone might see us. That is not +possible, but I thought you wished that I should be careful." + +"I did--I do," she answered in a low, sweet voice, but very firmly. +"But never avoid precaution. There is nothing that may not happen +here. There may be eyes where we least expect--or suspect them." As +she spoke the last words solemnly and in a low whisper, she was +entering the room. I closed the glass door and bolted it, rolled +back the steel grille, and pulled the heavy curtain. Then, when I +had lit a candle, I went over and put a light to the fire. In a few +seconds the dry wood had caught, and the flames were beginning to +rise and crackle. She had not objected to my closing the window and +drawing the curtain; neither did she make any comment on my lighting +the fire. She simply acquiesced in it, as though it was now a matter +of course. When I made the pile of cushions before it as on the +occasion of her last visit, she sank down on them, and held out her +white, trembling hands to the warmth. + +She was different to-night from what she had been on either of the +two former visits. From her present bearing I arrived at some gauge +of her self-concern, her self-respect. Now that she was dry, and not +overmastered by wet and cold, a sweet and gracious dignity seemed to +shine from her, enwrapping her, as it were, with a luminous veil. It +was not that she was by this made or shown as cold or distant, or in +any way harsh or forbidding. On the contrary, protected by this +dignity, she seemed much more sweet and genial than before. It was +as though she felt that she could afford to stoop now that her +loftiness was realized--that her position was recognized and secure. +If her inherent dignity made an impenetrable nimbus round her, this +was against others; she herself was not bound by it, or to be bound. +So marked was this, so entirely and sweetly womanly did she appear, +that I caught myself wondering in flashes of thought, which came as +sharp periods of doubting judgment between spells of unconscious +fascination, how I had ever come to think she was aught but perfect +woman. As she rested, half sitting and half lying on the pile of +cushions, she was all grace, and beauty, and charm, and sweetness-- +the veritable perfect woman of the dreams of a man, be he young or +old. To have such a woman sit by his hearth and hold her holy of +holies in his heart might well be a rapture to any man. Even an hour +of such entrancing joy might be well won by a lifetime of pain, by +the balance of a long life sacrificed, by the extinction of life +itself. Quick behind the record of such thoughts came the answer to +the doubt they challenged: if it should turn out that she was not +living at all, but one of the doomed and pitiful Un-Dead, then so +much more on account of her very sweetness and beauty would be the +winning of her back to Life and Heaven--even were it that she might +find happiness in the heart and in the arms of another man. + +Once, when I leaned over the hearth to put fresh logs on the fire, my +face was so close to hers that I felt her breath on my cheek. It +thrilled me to feel even the suggestion of that ineffable contact. +Her breath was sweet--sweet as the breath of a calf, sweet as the +whiff of a summer breeze across beds of mignonette. How could anyone +believe for a moment that such sweet breath could come from the lips +of the dead--the dead in esse or in posse--that corruption could send +forth fragrance so sweet and pure? It was with satisfied happiness +that, as I looked at her from my stool, I saw the dancing of the +flames from the beech-logs reflected in her glorious black eyes, and +the stars that were hidden in them shine out with new colours and new +lustre as they gleamed, rising and falling like hopes and fears. As +the light leaped, so did smiles of quiet happiness flit over her +beautiful face, the merriment of the joyous flames being reflected in +ever-changing dimples. + +At first I was a little disconcerted whenever my eyes took note of +her shroud, and there came a momentary regret that the weather had +not been again bad, so that there might have been compulsion for her +putting on another garment--anything lacking the loathsomeness of +that pitiful wrapping. Little by little, however, this feeling +disappeared, and I found no matter for even dissatisfaction in her +wrapping. Indeed, my thoughts found inward voice before the subject +was dismissed from my mind: + +"One becomes accustomed to anything--even a shroud!" But the thought +was followed by a submerging wave of pity that she should have had +such a dreadful experience. + +By-and-by we seemed both to forget everything--I know I did--except +that we were man and woman, and close together. The strangeness of +the situation and the circumstances did not seem of moment--not worth +even a passing thought. We still sat apart and said little, if +anything. I cannot recall a single word that either of us spoke +whilst we sat before the fire, but other language than speech came +into play; the eyes told their own story, as eyes can do, and more +eloquently than lips whilst exercising their function of speech. +Question and answer followed each other in this satisfying language, +and with an unspeakable rapture I began to realize that my affection +was returned. Under these circumstances it was unrealizable that +there should be any incongruity in the whole affair. I was not +myself in the mood of questioning. I was diffident with that +diffidence which comes alone from true love, as though it were a +necessary emanation from that delightful and overwhelming and +commanding passion. In her presence there seemed to surge up within +me that which forbade speech. Speech under present conditions would +have seemed to me unnecessary, imperfect, and even vulgarly overt. +She, too, was silent. But now that I am alone, and memory is alone +with me, I am convinced that she also had been happy. No, not that +exactly. "Happiness" is not the word to describe either her feeling +or my own. Happiness is more active, a more conscious enjoyment. We +had been content. That expresses our condition perfectly; and now +that I can analyze my own feeling, and understand what the word +implies, I am satisfied of its accuracy. "Content" has both a +positive and negative meaning or antecedent condition. It implies an +absence of disturbing conditions as well as of wants; also it implies +something positive which has been won or achieved, or which has +accrued. In our state of mind--for though it may be presumption on +my part, I am satisfied that our ideas were mutual--it meant that we +had reached an understanding whence all that might come must be for +good. God grant that it may be so! + +As we sat silent, looking into each other's eyes, and whilst the +stars in hers were now full of latent fire, perhaps from the +reflection of the flames, she suddenly sprang to her feet, +instinctively drawing the horrible shroud round her as she rose to +her full height in a voice full of lingering emotion, as of one who +is acting under spiritual compulsion rather than personal will, she +said in a whisper: + +"I must go at once. I feel the morning drawing nigh. I must be in +my place when the light of day comes." + +She was so earnest that I felt I must not oppose her wish; so I, too, +sprang to my feet and ran towards the window. I pulled the curtain +aside sufficiently far for me to press back the grille and reach the +glass door, the latch of which I opened. I passed behind the curtain +again, and held the edge of it back so that she could go through. +For an instant she stopped as she broke the long silence: + +"You are a true gentleman, and my friend. You understand all I wish. +Out of the depth of my heart I thank you." She held out her +beautiful high-bred hand. I took it in both mine as I fell on my +knees, and raised it to my lips. Its touch made me quiver. She, +too, trembled as she looked down at me with a glance which seemed to +search my very soul. The stars in her eyes, now that the firelight +was no longer on them, had gone back to their own mysterious silver. +Then she drew her hand from mine very, very gently, as though it +would fain linger; and she passed out behind the curtain with a +gentle, sweet, dignified little bow which left me on my knees. + +When I heard the glass door pulled-to gently behind her, I rose from +my knees and hurried without the curtain, just in time to watch her +pass down the steps. I wanted to see her as long as I could. The +grey of morning was just beginning to war with the night gloom, and +by the faint uncertain light I could see dimly the white figure flit +between shrub and statue till finally it merged in the far darkness. + +I stood for a long time on the terrace, sometimes looking into the +darkness in front of me, in case I might be blessed with another +glimpse of her; sometimes with my eyes closed, so that I might recall +and hold in my mind her passage down the steps. For the first time +since I had met her she had thrown back at me a glance as she stepped +on the white path below the terrace. With the glamour over me of +that look, which was all love and enticement, I could have dared all +the powers that be. + +When the grey dawn was becoming apparent through the lightening of +the sky I returned to my room. In a dazed condition--half hypnotized +by love--I went to bed, and in dreams continued to think, all +happily, of my Lady of the Shroud. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +May 27, 1907. + +A whole week has gone since I saw my Love! There it is; no doubt +whatever is left in my mind about it now! Since I saw her my passion +has grown and grown by leaps and bounds, as novelists put it. It has +now become so vast as to overwhelm me, to wipe out all thought of +doubt or difficulty. I suppose it must be what men suffered-- +suffering need not mean pain--under enchantments in old times. I am +but as a straw whirled in the resistless eddies of a whirlpool. I +feel that I MUST see her again, even if it be but in her tomb in the +crypt. I must, I suppose, prepare myself for the venture, for many +things have to be thought of. The visit must not be at night, for in +such case I might miss her, did she come to me again here . . . + +The morning came and went, but my wish and intention still remained; +and so in the full tide of noon, with the sun in all its fiery force, +I set out for the old church of St. Sava. I carried with me a +lantern with powerful lens. I had wrapped it up secretly, for I had +a feeling that I should not like anyone to know that I had such a +thing with me. + +On this occasion I had no misgivings. On the former visit I had for +a moment been overwhelmed at the unexpected sight of the body of the +woman I thought I loved--I knew it now--lying in her tomb. But now I +knew all, and it was to see this woman, though in her tomb, that I +came. + +When I had lit my lantern, which I did as soon as I had pushed open +the great door, which was once again unlocked, I turned my steps to +the steps of the crypt, which lay behind the richly carven wood +screen. This I could see, with the better light, was a noble piece +of work of priceless beauty and worth. I tried to keep my heart in +full courage with thoughts of my Lady, and of the sweetness and +dignity of our last meeting; but, despite all, it sank down, down, +and turned to water as I passed with uncertain feet down the narrow, +tortuous steps. My concern, I am now convinced, was not for myself, +but that she whom I adored should have to endure such a fearful +place. As anodyne to my own pain I thought what it would be, and how +I should feel, when I should have won for her a way out of that +horror, at any rate. This thought reassured me somewhat, and +restored my courage. It was in something of the same fashion which +has hitherto carried me out of tight places as well as into them that +at last I pushed open the low, narrow door at the foot of the rock- +hewn staircase and entered the crypt. + +Without delay I made my way to the glass-covered tomb set beneath the +hanging chain. I could see by the flashing of the light around me +that my hand which held the lantern trembled. With a great effort I +steadied myself, and raising the lantern, turned its light down into +the sarcophagus. + +Once again the fallen lantern rang on the tingling glass, and I stood +alone in the darkness, for an instant almost paralyzed with surprised +disappointment. + +The tomb was empty! Even the trappings of the dead had been removed. + +I knew not what happened till I found myself groping my way up the +winding stair. Here, in comparison with the solid darkness of the +crypt, it seemed almost light. The dim expanse of the church sent a +few straggling rays down the vaulted steps, and as I could see, be it +never so dimly, I felt I was not in absolute darkness. With the +light came a sense of power and fresh courage, and I groped my way +back into the crypt again. There, by now and again lighting matches, +I found my way to the tomb and recovered my lantern. Then I took my +way slowly--for I wished to prove, if not my own courage, at least +such vestiges of self-respect as the venture had left me--through the +church, where I extinguished my lantern, and out through the great +door into the open sunlight. I seemed to have heard, both in the +darkness of the crypt and through the dimness of the church, +mysterious sounds as of whispers and suppressed breathing; but the +memory of these did not count for much when once I was free. I was +only satisfied of my own consciousness and identity when I found +myself on the broad rock terrace in front of the church, with the +fierce sunlight beating on my upturned face, and, looking downward, +saw far below me the rippled blue of the open sea. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +June 3, 1907. + +Another week has elapsed--a week full of movement of many kinds and +in many ways--but as yet I have had no tale or tidings of my Lady of +the Shroud. I have not had an opportunity of going again in daylight +to St. Sava's as I should have liked to have done. I felt that I +must not go at night. The night is her time of freedom, and it must +be kept for her--or else I may miss her, or perhaps never see her +again. + +The days have been full of national movement. The mountaineers have +evidently been organizing themselves, for some reason which I cannot +quite understand, and which they have hesitated to make known to me. +I have taken care not to manifest any curiosity, whatever I may have +felt. This would certainly arouse suspicion, and might ultimately +cause disaster to my hopes of aiding the nation in their struggle to +preserve their freedom. + +These fierce mountaineers are strangely--almost unduly--suspicious, +and the only way to win their confidence is to begin the trusting. A +young American attache of the Embassy at Vienna, who had made a +journey through the Land of the Blue Mountains, once put it to me in +this form: + +"Keep your head shut, and they'll open theirs. If you don't, they'll +open it for you--down to the chine!" + +It was quite apparent to me that they were completing some fresh +arrangements for signalling with a code of their own. This was +natural enough, and in no way inconsistent with the measure of +friendliness already shown to me. Where there are neither +telegraphs, railways, nor roads, any effective form of communication +must--can only be purely personal. And so, if they wish to keep any +secret amongst themselves, they must preserve the secret of their +code. I should have dearly liked to learn their new code and their +manner of using it, but as I want to be a helpful friend to them--and +as this implies not only trust, but the appearance of it--I had to +school myself to patience. + +This attitude so far won their confidence that before we parted at +our last meeting, after most solemn vows of faith and secrecy, they +took me into the secret. This was, however, only to the extent of +teaching me the code and method; they still withheld from me rigidly +the fact or political secret, or whatever it was that was the +mainspring of their united action. + +When I got home I wrote down, whilst it was fresh in my memory, all +they told me. This script I studied until I had it so thoroughly by +heart that I COULD not forget it. Then I burned the paper. However, +there is now one gain at least: with my semaphore I can send through +the Blue Mountains from side to side, with expedition, secrecy, and +exactness, a message comprehensible to all. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +June 6, 1907. + +Last night I had a new experience of my Lady of the Shroud--in so far +as form was concerned, at any rate. I was in bed, and just falling +asleep, when I heard a queer kind of scratching at the glass door of +the terrace. I listened acutely, my heart beating hard. The sound +seemed to come from low down, close to the floor. I jumped out of +bed, ran to the window, and, pulling aside the heavy curtains, looked +out. + +The garden looked, as usual, ghostly in the moonlight, but there was +not the faintest sign of movement anywhere, and no one was on or near +the terrace. I looked eagerly down to where the sound had seemed to +come from. + +There, just inside the glass door, as though it had been pushed under +the door, lay a paper closely folded in several laps. I picked it up +and opened it. I was all in a tumult, for my heart told me whence it +came. Inside was written in English, in a large, sprawling hand, +such as might be from an English child of seven or eight: + +"Meet me at the Flagstaff on the Rock!" + +I knew the place, of course. On the farthermost point of the rock on +which the Castle stands is set a high flagstaff, whereon in old time +the banner of the Vissarion family flew. At some far-off time, when +the Castle had been liable to attack, this point had been strongly +fortified. Indeed, in the days when the bow was a martial weapon it +must have been quite impregnable. + +A covered gallery, with loopholes for arrows, had been cut in the +solid rock, running right round the point, quite surrounding the +flagstaff and the great boss of rock on whose centre it was reared. +A narrow drawbridge of immense strength had connected--in peaceful +times, and still remained--the outer point of rock with an entrance +formed in the outer wall, and guarded with flanking towers and a +portcullis. Its use was manifestly to guard against surprise. From +this point only could be seen the line of the rocks all round the +point. Thus, any secret attack by boats could be made impossible. + +Having hurriedly dressed myself, and taking with me both hunting- +knife and revolver, I went out on the terrace, taking the precaution, +unusual to me, of drawing the grille behind me and locking it. +Matters around the Castle are in far too disturbed a condition to +allow the taking of any foolish chances, either in the way of being +unarmed or of leaving the private entrance to the Castle open. I +found my way through the rocky passage, and climbed by the Jacob's +ladder fixed on the rock--a device of convenience in time of peace-- +to the foot of the flagstaff. + +I was all on fire with expectation, and the time of going seemed +exceeding long; so I was additionally disappointed by the contrast +when I did not see my Lady there when I arrived. However, my heart +beat freely again--perhaps more freely than ever--when I saw her +crouching in the shadow of the Castle wall. From where she was she +could not be seen from any point save that alone which I occupied; +even from there it was only her white shroud that was conspicuous +through the deep gloom of the shadow. The moonlight was so bright +that the shadows were almost unnaturally black. + +I rushed over towards her, and when close was about to say +impulsively, "Why did you leave your tomb?" when it suddenly struck +me that the question would be malapropos and embarrassing in many +ways. So, better judgment prevailing, I said instead: + +"It has been so long since I saw you! It has seemed an eternity to +me!" Her answer came as quickly as even I could have wished; she +spoke impulsively and without thought: + +"It has been long to me too! Oh, so long! so long! I have asked you +to come out here because I wanted to see you so much that I could not +wait any longer. I have been heart-hungry for a sight of you!" + +Her words, her eager attitude, the ineffable something which conveys +the messages of the heart, the longing expression in her eyes as the +full moonlight fell on her face, showing the stars as living gold-- +for in her eagerness she had stepped out towards me from the shadow-- +all set me on fire. Without a thought or a word--for it was Nature +speaking in the language of Love, which is a silent tongue--I stepped +towards her and took her in my arms. She yielded with that sweet +unconsciousness which is the perfection of Love, as if it was in +obedience to some command uttered before the beginning of the world. +Probably without any conscious effort on either side--I know there +was none on mine--our mouths met in the first kiss of love. + +At the time nothing in the meeting struck me as out of the common. +But later in the night, when I was alone and in darkness, whenever I +thought of it all--its strangeness and its stranger rapture--I could +not but be sensible of the bizarre conditions for a love meeting. +The place lonely, the time night, the man young and strong, and full +of life and hope and ambition; the woman, beautiful and ardent though +she was, a woman seemingly dead, clothed in the shroud in which she +had been wrapped when lying in her tomb in the crypt of the old +church. + +Whilst we were together, anyhow, there was little thought of the +kind; no reasoning of any kind on my part. Love has its own laws and +its own logic. Under the flagstaff, where the Vissarion banner was +wont to flap in the breeze, she was in my arms; her sweet breath was +on my face; her heart was beating against my own. What need was +there for reason at all? Inter arma silent leges--the voice of +reason is silent in the stress of passion. Dead she may be, or Un- +dead--a Vampire with one foot in Hell and one on earth. But I love +her; and come what may, here or hereafter, she is mine. As my mate, +we shall fare along together, whatsoever the end may be, or +wheresoever our path may lead. If she is indeed to be won from the +nethermost Hell, then be mine the task! + +But to go back to the record. When I had once started speaking to +her in words of passion I could not stop. I did not want to--if I +could; and she did not appear to wish it either. Can there be a +woman--alive or dead--who would not want to hear the rapture of her +lover expressed to her whilst she is enclosed in his arms? + +There was no attempt at reticence on my part now; I took it for +granted that she knew all that I surmised, and, as she made neither +protest nor comment, that she accepted my belief as to her +indeterminate existence. Sometimes her eyes would be closed, but +even then the rapture of her face was almost beyond belief. Then, +when the beautiful eyes would open and gaze on me, the stars that +were in them would shine and scintillate as though they were formed +of living fire. She said little, very little; but though the words +were few, every syllable was fraught with love, and went straight to +the very core of my heart. + +By-and-by, when our transport had calmed to joy, I asked when I might +next see her, and how and where I might find her when I should want +to. She did not reply directly, but, holding me close in her arms, +whispered in my ear with that breathless softness which is a lover's +rapture of speech: + +"I have come here under terrible difficulties, not only because I +love you--and that would be enough--but because, as well as the joy +of seeing you, I wanted to warn you." + +"To warn me! Why?" I queried. Her reply came with a bashful +hesitation, with something of a struggle in it, as of one who for +some ulterior reason had to pick her words: + +"There are difficulties and dangers ahead of you. You are beset with +them; and they are all the greater because they are, of grim +necessity, hidden from you. You cannot go anywhere, look in any +direction, do anything, say anything, but it may be a signal for +danger. My dear, it lurks everywhere--in the light as well as in the +darkness; in the open as well as in the secret places; from friends +as well as foes; when you are least prepared; when you may least +expect it. Oh, I know it, and what it is to endure; for I share it +for you--for your dear sake!" + +"My darling!" was all I could say, as I drew her again closer to me +and kissed her. After a bit she was calmer; seeing this, I came back +to the subject that she had--in part, at all events--come to me to +speak about: + +"But if difficulty and danger hedge me in so everlastingly, and if I +am to have no indication whatever of its kind or purpose, what can I +do? God knows I would willingly guard myself--not on my own account, +but for your dear sake. I have now a cause to live and be strong, +and to keep all my faculties, since it may mean much to you. If you +may not tell me details, may you not indicate to me some line of +conduct, of action, that would be most in accord with your wishes-- +or, rather, with your idea of what would be best? + +She looked at me fixedly before speaking--a long, purposeful, loving +look which no man born of woman could misunderstand. Then she spoke +slowly, deliberately, emphatically: + +"Be bold, and fear not. Be true to yourself, to me--it is the same +thing. These are the best guards you can use. Your safety does not +rest with me. Ah, I wish it did! I wish to God it did!" In my +inner heart it thrilled me not merely to hear the expression of her +wish, but to hear her use the name of God as she did. I understand +now, in the calm of this place and with the sunlight before me, that +my belief as to her being all woman--living woman--was not quite +dead: but though at the moment my heart did not recognize the doubt, +my brain did. And I made up my mind that we should not part this +time until she knew that I had seen her, and where; but, despite my +own thoughts, my outer ears listened greedily as she went on. + +"As for me, you may not find ME, but _I_ shall find YOU, be sure! +And now we must say 'Good-night,' my dear, my dear! Tell me once +again that you love me, for it is a sweetness that one does not wish +to forego--even one who wears such a garment as this--and rests where +I must rest." As she spoke she held up part of her cerements for me +to see. What could I do but take her once again in my arms and hold +her close, close. God knows it was all in love; but it was +passionate love which surged through my every vein as I strained her +dear body to mine. But yet this embrace was not selfish; it was not +all an expression of my own passion. It was based on pity--the pity +which is twin-born with true love. Breathless from our kisses, when +presently we released each other, she stood in a glorious rapture, +like a white spirit in the moonlight, and as her lovely, starlit eyes +seemed to devour me, she spoke in a languorous ecstasy: + +"Oh, how you love me! how you love me! It is worth all I have gone +through for this, even to wearing this terrible drapery." And again +she pointed to her shroud. + +Here was my chance to speak of what I knew, and I took it. "I know, +I know. Moreover, I know that awful resting-place." + +I was interrupted, cut short in the midst of my sentence, not by any +word, but by the frightened look in her eyes and the fear-mastered +way in which she shrank away from me. I suppose in reality she could +not be paler than she looked when the colour-absorbing moonlight fell +on her; but on the instant all semblance of living seemed to shrink +and fall away, and she looked with eyes of dread as if in I some +awful way held in thrall. But for the movement of the pitiful +glance, she would have seemed of soulless marble, so deadly cold did +she look. + +The moments that dragged themselves out whilst I waited for her to +speak seemed endless. At length her words came in an awed whisper, +so faint that even in that stilly night I could hardly hear it: + +"You know--you know my resting-place! How--when was that?" There +was nothing to do now but to speak out the truth: + +"I was in the crypt of St. Sava. It was all by accident. I was +exploring all around the Castle, and I went there in my course. I +found the winding stair in the rock behind the screen, and went down. +Dear, I loved you well before that awful moment, but then, even as +the lantern fell tingling on the glass, my love multiplied itself, +with pity as a factor." She was silent for a few seconds. When she +spoke, there was a new tone in her voice: + +"But were you not shocked?" + +"Of course I was," I answered on the spur of the moment, and I now +think wisely. "Shocked is hardly the word. I was horrified beyond +anything that words can convey that you--YOU should have to so +endure! I did not like to return, for I feared lest my doing so +might set some barrier between us. But in due time I did return on +another day." + +"Well?" Her voice was like sweet music. + +"I had another shock that time, worse than before, for you were not +there. Then indeed it was that I knew to myself how dear you were-- +how dear you are to me. Whilst I live, you--living or dead--shall +always be in my heart." She breathed hard. The elation in her eyes +made them outshine the moonlight, but she said no word. I went on: + +"My dear, I had come into the crypt full of courage and hope, though +I knew what dreadful sight should sear my eyes once again. But we +little know what may be in store for us, no matter what we expect. I +went out with a heart like water from that dreadful desolation." + +"Oh, how you love me, dear!" Cheered by her words, and even more by +her tone, I went on with renewed courage. There was no halting, no +faltering in my intention now: + +"You and I, my dear, were ordained for each other. I cannot help it +that you had already suffered before I knew you. It may be that +there may be for you still suffering that I may not prevent, +endurance that I may not shorten; but what a man can do is yours. +Not Hell itself will stop me, if it be possible that I may win +through its torments with you in my arms!" + +"Will nothing stop you, then?" Her question was breathed as softly +as the strain of an AEolian harp. + +"Nothing!" I said, and I heard my own teeth snap together. There was +something speaking within me stronger than I had ever known myself to +be. Again came a query, trembling, quavering, quivering, as though +the issue was of more than life or death: + +"Not this?" She held up a corner of the shroud, and as she saw my +face and realized the answer before I spoke, went on: "With all it +implies?" + +"Not if it were wrought of the cerecloths of the damned!" There was +a long pause. Her voice was more resolute when she spoke again. It +rang. Moreover, there was in it a joyous note, as of one who feels +new hope: + +"But do you know what men say? Some of them, that I am dead and +buried; others, that I am not only dead and buried, but that I am one +of those unhappy beings that may not die the common death of man. +Who live on a fearful life-in-death, whereby they are harmful to all. +Those unhappy Un-dead whom men call Vampires--who live on the blood +of the living, and bring eternal damnation as well as death with the +poison of their dreadful kisses! + +"I know what men say sometimes," I answered. "But I know also what +my own heart says; and I rather choose to obey its calling than all +the voices of the living or the dead. Come what may, I am pledged to +you. If it be that your old life has to be rewon for you out of the +very jaws of Death and Hell, I shall keep the faith I have pledged, +and that here I pledge again!" As I finished speaking I sank on my +knees at her feet, and, putting my arms round her, drew her close to +me. Her tears rained down on my face as she stroked my hair with her +soft, strong hand and whispered to me: + +"This is indeed to be one. What more holy marriage can God give to +any of His creatures?" We were both silent for a time. + +I think I was the first to recover my senses. That I did so was +manifest by my asking her: "When may we meet again?"--a thing I had +never remembered doing at any of our former partings. She answered +with a rising and falling of the voice that was just above a whisper, +as soft and cooing as the voice of a pigeon: + +"That will be soon--as soon as I can manage it, be sure. My dear, my +dear!" The last four words of endearment she spoke in a low but +prolonged and piercing tone which made me thrill with delight. + +"Give me some token," I said, "that I may have always close to me to +ease my aching heart till we meet again, and ever after, for love's +sake!" Her mind seemed to leap to understanding, and with a purpose +all her own. Stooping for an instant, she tore off with swift, +strong fingers a fragment of her shroud. This, having kissed it, she +handed to me, whispering: + +"It is time that we part. You must leave me now. Take this, and +keep it for ever. I shall be less unhappy in my terrible loneliness +whilst it lasts if I know that this my gift, which for good or ill is +a part of me as you know me, is close to you. It may be, my very +dear, that some day you may be glad and even proud of this hour, as I +am." She kissed me as I took it. + +"For life or death, I care not which, so long as I am with you!" I +said, as I moved off. Descending the Jacob's ladder, I made my way +down the rock-hewn passage. + +The last thing I saw was the beautiful face of my Lady of the Shroud +as she leaned over the edge of the opening. Her eyes were like +glowing stars as her looks followed me. That look shall never fade +from my memory. + +After a few agitating moments of thought I half mechanically took my +way down to the garden. Opening the grille, I entered my lonely +room, which looked all the more lonely for the memory of the +rapturous moments under the Flagstaff. I went to bed as one in a +dream. There I lay till sunrise--awake and thinking. + + + +BOOK V: A RITUAL AT MIDNIGHT + + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +June 20, 1907. + +The time has gone as quickly as work can effect since I saw my Lady. +As I told the mountaineers, Rooke, whom I had sent on the service, +had made a contract for fifty thousand Ingis-Malbron rifles, and as +many tons of ammunition as the French experts calculated to be a full +supply for a year of warfare. I heard from him by our secret +telegraph code that the order had been completed, and that the goods +were already on the way. The morning after the meeting at the +Flagstaff I had word that at night the vessel--one chartered by Rooke +for the purpose--would arrive at Vissarion during the night. We were +all expectation. I had always now in the Castle a signalling party, +the signals being renewed as fast as the men were sufficiently expert +to proceed with their practice alone or in groups. We hoped that +every fighting-man in the country would in time become an expert +signaller. Beyond these, again, we have always a few priests. The +Church of the country is a militant Church; its priests are soldiers, +its Bishops commanders. But they all serve wherever the battle most +needs them. Naturally they, as men of brains, are quicker at +learning than the average mountaineers; with the result that they +learnt the code and the signalling almost by instinct. We have now +at least one such expert in each community of them, and shortly the +priests alone will be able to signal, if need be, for the nation; +thus releasing for active service the merely fighting-man. The men +at present with me I took into confidence as to the vessel's arrival, +and we were all ready for work when the man on the lookout at the +Flagstaff sent word that a vessel without lights was creeping in +towards shore. We all assembled on the rocky edge of the creek, and +saw her steal up the creek and gain the shelter of the harbour. When +this had been effected, we ran out the boom which protects the +opening, and after that the great armoured sliding-gates which Uncle +Roger had himself had made so as to protect the harbour in case of +need. + +We then came within and assisted in warping the steamer to the side +of the dock. + +Rooke looked fit, and was full of fire and vigour. His +responsibility and the mere thought of warlike action seemed to have +renewed his youth. + +When we had arranged for the unloading of the cases of arms and +ammunition, I took Rooke into the room which we call my "office," +where he gave me an account of his doings. He had not only secured +the rifles and the ammunition for them, but he had purchased from one +of the small American Republics an armoured yacht which had been +especially built for war service. He grew quite enthusiastic, even +excited, as he told me of her: + +"She is the last word in naval construction--a torpedo yacht. A +small cruiser, with turbines up to date, oil-fuelled, and fully armed +with the latest and most perfect weapons and explosives of all kinds. +The fastest boat afloat to-day. Built by Thorneycroft, engined by +Parsons, armoured by Armstrong, armed by Crupp. If she ever comes +into action, it will be bad for her opponent, for she need not fear +to tackle anything less than a Dreadnought." + +He also told me that from the same Government, whose nation had just +established an unlooked-for peace, he had also purchased a whole park +of artillery of the very latest patterns, and that for range and +accuracy the guns were held to be supreme. These would follow before +long, and with them their proper ammunition, with a shipload of the +same to follow shortly after. + +When he had told me all the rest of his news, and handed me the +accounts, we went out to the dock to see the debarkation of the war +material. Knowing that it was arriving, I had sent word in the +afternoon to the mountaineers to tell them to come and remove it. +They had answered the call, and it really seemed to me that the whole +of the land must that night have been in motion. + +They came as individuals, grouping themselves as they came within the +defences of the Castle; some had gathered at fixed points on the way. +They went secretly and in silence, stealing through the forests like +ghosts, each party when it grouped taking the place of that which had +gone on one of the routes radiating round Vissarion. Their coming +and going was more than ghostly. It was, indeed, the outward +manifestation of an inward spirit--a whole nation dominated by one +common purpose. + +The men in the steamer were nearly all engineers, mostly British, +well conducted, and to be depended upon. Rooke had picked them +separately, and in the doing had used well his great experience of +both men and adventurous life. These men were to form part of the +armoured yacht's crew when she should come into the Mediterranean +waters. They and the priests and fighting-men in the Castle worked +well together, and with a zeal that was beyond praise. The heavy +cases seemed almost of their own accord to leave the holds, so fast +came the procession of them along the gangways from deck to dock- +wall. It was a part of my design that the arms should be placed in +centres ready for local distribution. In such a country as this, +without railways or even roads, the distribution of war material in +any quantity is a great labour, for it has to be done individually, +or at least from centres. + +But of this work the great number of mountaineers who were arriving +made little account. As fast as the ship's company, with the +assistance of the priests and fighting-men, placed the cases on the +quay, the engineers opened them and laid the contents ready for +portage. The mountaineers seemed to come in a continuous stream; +each in turn shouldered his burden and passed out, the captain of his +section giving him as he passed his instruction where to go and in +what route. The method had been already prepared in my office ready +for such a distribution when the arms should arrive, and descriptions +and quantities had been noted by the captains. The whole affair was +treated by all as a matter of the utmost secrecy. Hardly a word was +spoken beyond the necessary directions, and these were given in +whispers. All night long the stream of men went and came, and +towards dawn the bulk of the imported material was lessened by half. +On the following night the remainder was removed, after my own men +had stored in the Castle the rifles and ammunition reserved for its +defence if necessary. It was advisable to keep a reserve supply in +case it should ever be required. The following night Rooke went away +secretly in the chartered vessel. He had to bring back with him the +purchased cannon and heavy ammunition, which had been in the meantime +stored on one of the Greek islands. The second morning, having had +secret word that the steamer was on the way, I had given the signal +for the assembling of the mountaineers. + +A little after dark the vessel, showing no light, stole into the +creek. The barrier gates were once again closed, and when a +sufficient number of men had arrived to handle the guns, we began to +unload. The actual deportation was easy enough, for the dock had all +necessary appliances quite up to date, including a pair of shears for +gun-lifting which could be raised into position in a very short time. + +The guns were well furnished with tackle of all sorts, and before +many hours had passed a little procession of them disappeared into +the woods in ghostly silence. A number of men surrounded each, and +they moved as well as if properly supplied with horses. + +In the meantime, and for a week after the arrival of the guns, the +drilling went on without pause. The gun-drill was wonderful. In the +arduous work necessary for it the great strength and stamina of the +mountaineers showed out wonderfully. They did not seem to know +fatigue any more than they knew fear. + +For a week this went on, till a perfect discipline and management was +obtained. They did not practise the shooting, for this would have +made secrecy impossible. It was reported all along the Turkish +frontier that the Sultan's troops were being massed, and though this +was not on a war footing, the movement was more or less dangerous. +The reports of our own spies, although vague as to the purpose and +extent of the movement, were definite as to something being on foot. +And Turkey does not do something without a purpose that bodes ill to +someone. Certainly the sound of cannon, which is a far-reaching +sound, would have given them warning of our preparations, and would +so have sadly minimized their effectiveness. + +When the cannon had all been disposed of--except, of course, those +destined for defence of the Castle or to be stored there--Rooke went +away with the ship and crew. The ship he was to return to the +owners; the men would be shipped on the war-yacht, of whose crew they +would form a part. The rest of them had been carefully selected by +Rooke himself, and were kept in secrecy at Cattaro, ready for service +the moment required. They were all good men, and quite capable of +whatever work they might be set to. So Rooke told me, and he ought +to know. The experience of his young days as a private made him an +expert in such a job. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +June 24, 1907. + +Last night I got from my Lady a similar message to the last, and +delivered in a similar way. This time, however, our meeting was to +be on the leads of the Keep. + +I dressed myself very carefully before going on this adventure, lest +by any chance of household concern, any of the servants should see +me; for if this should happen, Aunt Janet would be sure to hear of +it, which would give rise to endless surmises and questionings--a +thing I was far from desiring. + +I confess that in thinking the matter over during the time I was +making my hurried preparations I was at a loss to understand how any +human body, even though it be of the dead, could go or be conveyed to +such a place without some sort of assistance, or, at least, +collusion, on the part of some of the inmates. At the visit to the +Flagstaff circumstances were different. This spot was actually +outside the Castle, and in order to reach it I myself had to leave +the Castle privately, and from the garden ascend to the ramparts. +But here was no such possibility. The Keep was an imperium in +imperio. It stood within the Castle, though separated from it, and +it had its own defences against intrusion. The roof of it was, so +far as I knew, as little approachable as the magazine. + +The difficulty did not, however, trouble me beyond a mere passing +thought. In the joy of the coming meeting and the longing rapture at +the mere thought of it, all difficulties disappeared. Love makes its +own faith, and I never doubted that my Lady would be waiting for me +at the place designated. When I had passed through the little arched +passages, and up the doubly-grated stairways contrived in the +massiveness of the walls, I let myself out on the leads. It was well +that as yet the times were sufficiently peaceful not to necessitate +guards or sentries at all such points. + +There, in a dim corner where the moonlight and the passing clouds +threw deep shadows, I saw her, clothed as ever in her shroud. Why, I +know not. I felt somehow that the situation was even more serious +than ever. But I was steeled to whatever might come. My mind had +been already made up. To carry out my resolve to win the woman I +loved I was ready to face death. But now, after we had for a few +brief moments held each other in our arms, I was willing to accept +death--or more than death. Now, more than before, was she sweet and +dear to me. Whatever qualms there might have been at the beginning +of our love-making, or during the progress of it, did not now exist. +We had exchanged vows and confidences, and acknowledged our loves. +What, then, could there be of distrust, or even doubt, that the +present might not set at naught? But even had there been such doubts +or qualms, they must have disappeared in the ardour of our mutual +embrace. I was by now mad for her, and was content to be so mad. +When she had breath to speak after the strictness of our embrace, she +said: + +"I have come to warn you to be more than ever careful." It was, I +confess, a pang to me, who thought only of love, to hear that +anything else should have been the initiative power of her coming, +even though it had been her concern for my own safety. I could not +but notice the bitter note of chagrin in my voice as I answered: + +"It was for love's sake that _I_ came." She, too, evidently felt the +undercurrent of pain, for she said quickly: + +"Ah, dearest, I, too, came for love's sake. It is because I love you +that I am so anxious about you. What would the world--ay, or heaven- +-be to me without you?" + +There was such earnest truth in her tone that the sense and +realization of my own harshness smote me. In the presence of such +love as this even a lover's selfishness must become abashed. I could +not express myself in words, so simply raised her slim hand in mine +and kissed it. As it lay warm in my own I could not but notice, as +well as its fineness, its strength and the firmness of its clasp. +Its warmth and fervour struck into my heart--and my brain. Thereupon +I poured out to her once more my love for her, she listening all +afire. When passion had had its say, the calmer emotions had +opportunity of expression. When I was satisfied afresh of her +affection, I began to value her care for my safety, and so I went +back to the subject. Her very insistence, based on personal +affection, gave me more solid ground for fear. In the moment of love +transports I had forgotten, or did not think, of what wonderful power +or knowledge she must have to be able to move in such strange ways as +she did. Why, at this very moment she was within my own gates. +Locks and bars, even the very seal of death itself, seemed unable to +make for her a prison-house. With such freedom of action and +movement, going when she would into secret places, what might she not +know that was known to others? How could anyone keep secret from +such an one even an ill intent? Such thoughts, such surmises, had +often flashed through my mind in moments of excitement rather than of +reflection, but never long enough to become fixed into belief. But +yet the consequences, the convictions, of them were with me, though +unconsciously, though the thoughts themselves were perhaps forgotten +or withered before development. + +"And you?" I asked her earnestly. "What about danger to you?" She +smiled, her little pearl-white teeth gleaming in the moonlight, as +she spoke: + +"There is no danger for me. I am safe. I am the safest person, +perhaps the only safe person, in all this land." The full +significance of her words did not seem to come to me all at once. +Some base for understanding such an assertion seemed to be wanting. +It was not that I did not trust or believe her, but that I thought +she might be mistaken. I wanted to reassure myself, so in my +distress I asked unthinkingly: + +"How the safest? What is your protection?" For several moments that +spun themselves out endlessly she looked me straight in the face, the +stars in her eyes seeming to glow like fire; then, lowering her head, +she took a fold of her shroud and held it up to me. + +"This!" + +The meaning was complete and understandable now. I could not speak +at once for the wave of emotion which choked me. I dropped on my +knees, and taking her in my arms, held her close to me. She saw that +I was moved, and tenderly stroked my hair, and with delicate touch +pressed down my head on her bosom, as a mother might have done to +comfort a frightened child. + +Presently we got back to the realities of life again. I murmured: + +"Your safety, your life, your happiness are all-in-all to me. When +will you let them be my care?" She trembled in my arms, nestling +even closer to me. Her own arms seemed to quiver with delight as she +said: + +"Would you indeed like me to be always with you? To me it would be a +happiness unspeakable; and to you, what would it be?" + +I thought that she wished to hear me speak my love to her, and that, +woman-like, she had led me to the utterance, and so I spoke again of +the passion that now raged in me, she listening eagerly as we +strained each other tight in our arms. At last there came a pause, a +long, long pause, and our hearts beat consciously in unison as we +stood together. Presently she said in a sweet, low, intense whisper, +as soft as the sighing of summer wind: + +"It shall be as you wish; but oh, my dear, you will have to first go +through an ordeal which may try you terribly! Do not ask me +anything! You must not ask, because I may not answer, and it would +be pain to me to deny you anything. Marriage with such an one as I +am has its own ritual, which may not be foregone. It may . . . " I +broke passionately into her speaking: + +"There is no ritual that I fear, so long as it be that it is for your +good, and your lasting happiness. And if the end of it be that I may +call you mine, there is no horror in life or death that I shall not +gladly face. Dear, I ask you nothing. I am content to leave myself +in your hands. You shall advise me when the time comes, and I shall +be satisfied, content to obey. Content! It is but a poor word to +express what I long for! I shall shirk nothing which may come to me +from this or any other world, so long as it is to make you mine!" +Once again her murmured happiness was music to my ears: + +"Oh, how you love me! how you love me, dear, dear!" She took me in +her arms, and for a few seconds we hung together. Suddenly she tore +herself apart from me, and stood drawn up to the full height, with a +dignity I cannot describe or express. Her voice had a new dominance, +as with firm utterance and in staccato manner she said: + +"Rupert Sent Leger, before we go a step further I must say something +to you, ask you something, and I charge you, on your most sacred +honour and belief, to answer me truly. Do you believe me to be one +of those unhappy beings who may not die, but have to live in shameful +existence between earth and the nether world, and whose hellish +mission is to destroy, body and soul, those who love them till they +fall to their level? You are a gentleman, and a brave one. I have +found you fearless. Answer me in sternest truth, no matter what the +issue may be!" + +She stood there in the glamorous moonlight with a commanding dignity +which seemed more than human. In that mystic light her white shroud +seemed diaphanous, and she appeared like a spirit of power. What was +I to say? How could I admit to such a being that I had actually had +at moments, if not a belief, a passing doubt? It was a conviction +with me that if I spoke wrongly I should lose her for ever. I was in +a desperate strait. In such a case there is but one solid ground +which one may rest on--the Truth. + +I really felt I was between the devil and the deep sea. There was no +avoiding the issue, and so, out of this all-embracing, all-compelling +conviction of truth, I spoke. + +For a fleeting moment I felt that my tone was truculent, and almost +hesitated; but as I saw no anger or indignation on my Lady's face, +but rather an eager approval, I was reassured. A woman, after all, +is glad to see a man strong, for all belief in him must be based on +that. + +"I shall speak the truth. Remember that I have no wish to hurt your +feelings, but as you conjure me by my honour, you must forgive me if +I pain. It is true that I had at first--ay, and later, when I came +to think matters over after you had gone, when reason came to the aid +of impression--a passing belief that you are a Vampire. How can I +fail to have, even now, though I love you with all my soul, though I +have held you in my arms and kissed you on the mouth, a doubt, when +all the evidences seem to point to one thing? Remember that I have +only seen you at night, except that bitter moment when, in the broad +noonday of the upper world, I saw you, clad as ever in a shroud, +lying seemingly dead in a tomb in the crypt of St. Sava's Church . . +. But let that pass. Such belief as I have is all in you. Be you +woman or Vampire, it is all the same to me. It is YOU whom I love! +Should it be that you are--you are not woman, which I cannot believe, +then it will be my glory to break your fetters, to open your prison, +and set you free. To that I consecrate my life." For a few seconds +I stood silent, vibrating with the passion which had been awakened in +me. She had by now lost the measure of her haughty isolation, and +had softened into womanhood again. It was really like a realization +of the old theme of Pygmalion's statue. It was with rather a +pleading than a commanding voice that she said: + +"And shall you always be true to me?" + +"Always--so help me, God!" I answered, and I felt that there could be +no lack of conviction in my voice. + +Indeed, there was no cause for such lack. She also stood for a +little while stone-still, and I was beginning to expand to the +rapture which was in store for me when she should take me again in +her arms. + +But there was no such moment of softness. All at once she started as +if she had suddenly wakened from a dream, and on the spur of the +moment said: + +"Now go, go!" I felt the conviction of necessity to obey, and turned +at once. As I moved towards the door by which I had entered, I +asked: + +"When shall I see you again?" + +"Soon!" came her answer. "I shall let you know soon--when and where. +Oh, go, go!" She almost pushed me from her. + +When I had passed through the low doorway and locked and barred it +behind me, I felt a pang that I should have had to shut her out like +that; but I feared lest there should arise some embarrassing +suspicion if the door should be found open. Later came the +comforting thought that, as she had got to the roof though the door +had been shut, she would be able to get away by the same means. She +had evidently knowledge of some secret way into the Castle. The +alternative was that she must have some supernatural quality or +faculty which gave her strange powers. I did not wish to pursue that +train of thought, and so, after an effort, shut it out from my mind. + +When I got back to my room I locked the door behind me, and went to +sleep in the dark. I did not want light just then--could not bear +it. + +This morning I woke, a little later than usual, with a kind of +apprehension which I could not at once understand. Presently, +however, when my faculties became fully awake and in working order, I +realized that I feared, half expected, that Aunt Janet would come to +me in a worse state of alarm than ever apropos of some new Second- +Sight experience of more than usual ferocity. + +But, strange to say, I had no such visit. Later on in the morning, +when, after breakfast, we walked together through the garden, I asked +her how she had slept, and if she had dreamt. She answered me that +she had slept without waking, and if she had had any dreams, they +must have been pleasant ones, for she did not remember them. "And +you know, Rupert," she added, "that if there be anything bad or +fearsome or warning in dreams, I always remember them." + +Later still, when I was by myself on the cliff beyond the creek, I +could not help commenting on the absence of her power of Second Sight +on the occasion. Surely, if ever there was a time when she might +have had cause of apprehension, it might well have been when I asked +the Lady whom she did not know to marry me--the Lady of whose +identity I knew nothing, even whose name I did not know--whom I loved +with all my heart and soul--my Lady of the Shroud. + +I have lost faith in Second Sight. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +July 1, 1907. + +Another week gone. I have waited patiently, and I am at last +rewarded by another letter. I was preparing for bed a little while +ago, when I heard the same mysterious sound at the door as on the +last two occasions. I hurried to the glass door, and there found +another close-folded letter. But I could see no sign of my Lady, or +of any other living being. The letter, which was without direction, +ran as follows: + +"If you are still of the same mind, and feel no misgivings, meet me +at the Church of St. Sava beyond the Creek to-morrow night at a +quarter before midnight. If you come, come in secret, and, of +course, alone. Do not come at all unless you are prepared for a +terrible ordeal. But if you love me, and have neither doubts nor +fears, come. Come!" + +Needless to say, I did not sleep last night. I tried to, but without +success. It was no morbid happiness that kept me awake, no doubting, +no fear. I was simply overwhelmed with the idea of the coming +rapture when I should call my Lady my very, very own. In this sea of +happy expectation all lesser things were submerged. Even sleep, +which is an imperative force with me, failed in its usual +effectiveness, and I lay still, calm, content. + +With the coming of the morning, however, restlessness began. I did +not know what to do, how to restrain myself, where to look for an +anodyne. Happily the latter came in the shape of Rooke, who turned +up shortly after breakfast. He had a satisfactory tale to tell me of +the armoured yacht, which had lain off Cattaro on the previous night, +and to which he had brought his contingent of crew which had waited +for her coming. He did not like to take the risk of going into any +port with such a vessel, lest he might be detained or otherwise +hampered by forms, and had gone out upon the open sea before +daylight. There was on board the yacht a tiny torpedo-boat, for +which provision was made both for hoisting on deck and housing there. +This last would run into the creek at ten o'clock that evening, at +which time it would be dark. The yacht would then run to near +Otranto, to which she would send a boat to get any message I might +send. This was to be in a code, which we arranged, and would convey +instructions as to what night and approximate hour the yacht would +come to the creek. + +The day was well on before we had made certain arrangements for the +future; and not till then did I feel again the pressure of my +personal restlessness. Rooke, like a wise commander, took rest +whilst he could. Well he knew that for a couple of days and nights +at least there would be little, if any, sleep for him. + +For myself, the habit of self-control stood to me, and I managed to +get through the day somehow without exciting the attention of anyone +else. The arrival of the torpedo-boat and the departure of Rooke +made for me a welcome break in my uneasiness. An hour ago I said +good-night to Aunt Janet, and shut myself up alone here. My watch is +on the table before me, so that I may make sure of starting to the +moment. I have allowed myself half an hour to reach St. Sava. My +skiff is waiting, moored at the foot of the cliff on the hither side, +where the zigzag comes close to the water. It is now ten minutes +past eleven. + +I shall add the odd five minutes to the time for my journey so as to +make safe. I go unarmed and without a light. + +I shall show no distrust of anyone or anything this night. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +July 2, 1907. + +When I was outside the church, I looked at my watch in the bright +moonlight, and found I had one minute to wait. So I stood in the +shadow of the doorway and looked out at the scene before me. Not a +sign of life was visible around me, either on land or sea. On the +broad plateau on which the church stands there was no movement of any +kind. The wind, which had been pleasant in the noontide, had fallen +completely, and not a leaf was stirring. I could see across the +creek and note the hard line where the battlements of the Castle cut +the sky, and where the keep towered above the line of black rock, +which in the shadow of the land made an ebon frame for the picture. +When I had seen the same view on former occasions, the line where the +rock rose from the sea was a fringe of white foam. But then, in the +daylight, the sea was sapphire blue; now it was an expanse of dark +blue--so dark as to seem almost black. It had not even the relief of +waves or ripples--simply a dark, cold, lifeless expanse, with no +gleam of light anywhere, of lighthouse or ship; neither was there any +special sound to be heard that one could distinguish--nothing but the +distant hum of the myriad voices of the dark mingling in one +ceaseless inarticulate sound. It was well I had not time to dwell on +it, or I might have reached some spiritually-disturbing melancholy. + +Let me say here that ever since I had received my Lady's message +concerning this visit to St. Sava's I had been all on fire--not, +perhaps, at every moment consciously or actually so, but always, as +it were, prepared to break out into flame. Did I want a simile, I +might compare myself to a well-banked furnace, whose present function +it is to contain heat rather than to create it; whose crust can at +any moment be broken by a force external to itself, and burst into +raging, all-compelling heat. No thought of fear really entered my +mind. Every other emotion there was, coming and going as occasion +excited or lulled, but not fear. Well I knew in the depths of my +heart the purpose which that secret quest was to serve. I knew not +only from my Lady's words, but from the teachings of my own senses +and experiences, that some dreadful ordeal must take place before +happiness of any kind could be won. And that ordeal, though method +or detail was unknown to me, I was prepared to undertake. This was +one of those occasions when a man must undertake, blindfold, ways +that may lead to torture or death, or unknown terrors beyond. But, +then, a man--if, indeed, he have the heart of a man--can always +undertake; he can at least make the first step, though it may turn +out that through the weakness of mortality he may be unable to fulfil +his own intent, or justify his belief in his own powers. Such, I +take it, was the intellectual attitude of the brave souls who of old +faced the tortures of the Inquisition. + +But though there was no immediate fear, there was a certain doubt. +For doubt is one of those mental conditions whose calling we cannot +control. The end of the doubting may not be a reality to us, or be +accepted as a possibility. These things cannot forego the existence +of the doubt. "For even if a man," says Victor Cousin, "doubt +everything else, at least he cannot doubt that he doubts." The doubt +had at times been on me that my Lady of the Shroud was a Vampire. +Much that had happened seemed to point that way, and here, on the +very threshold of the Unknown, when, through the door which I was +pushing open, my eyes met only an expanse of absolute blackness, all +doubts which had ever been seemed to surround me in a legion. I have +heard that, when a man is drowning, there comes a time when his whole +life passes in review during the space of time which cannot be +computed as even a part of a second. So it was to me in the moment +of my body passing into the church. In that moment came to my mind +all that had been, which bore on the knowledge of my Lady; and the +general tendency was to prove or convince that she was indeed a +Vampire. Much that had happened, or become known to me, seemed to +justify the resolving of doubt into belief. Even my own reading of +the books in Aunt Janet's little library, and the dear lady's +comments on them, mingled with her own uncanny beliefs, left little +opening for doubt. My having to help my Lady over the threshold of +my house on her first entry was in accord with Vampire tradition; so, +too, her flying at cock-crow from the warmth in which she revelled on +that strange first night of our meeting; so, too, her swift departure +at midnight on the second. Into the same category came the facts of +her constant wearing of her Shroud, even her pledging herself, and me +also, on the fragment torn from it, which she had given to me as a +souvenir; her lying still in the glass-covered tomb; her coming alone +to the most secret places in a fortified Castle where every aperture +was secured by unopened locks and bolts; her very movements, though +all of grace, as she flitted noiselessly through the gloom of night. + +All these things, and a thousand others of lesser import, seemed, for +the moment, to have consolidated an initial belief. But then came +the supreme recollections of how she had lain in my arms; of her +kisses on my lips; of the beating of her heart against my own; of her +sweet words of belief and faith breathed in my ear in intoxicating +whispers; of . . . I paused. No! I could not accept belief as to +her being other than a living woman of soul and sense, of flesh and +blood, of all the sweet and passionate instincts of true and perfect +womanhood. + +And so, in spite of all--in spite of all beliefs, fixed or +transitory, with a mind whirling amid contesting forces and +compelling beliefs--I stepped into the church overwhelmed with that +most receptive of atmospheres--doubt. + +In one thing only was I fixed: here at least was no doubt or +misgiving whatever. I intended to go through what I had undertaken. +Moreover, I felt that I was strong enough to carry out my intention, +whatever might be of the Unknown--however horrible, however terrible. + +When I had entered the church and closed the heavy door behind me, +the sense of darkness and loneliness in all their horror enfolded me +round. The great church seemed a living mystery, and served as an +almost terrible background to thoughts and remembrances of +unutterable gloom. My adventurous life has had its own schooling to +endurance and upholding one's courage in trying times; but it has its +contra in fulness of memory. + +I felt my way forward with both hands and feet. Every second seemed +as if it had brought me at last to a darkness which was actually +tangible. All at once, and with no heed of sequence or order, I was +conscious of all around me, the knowledge or perception of which--or +even speculation on the subject--had never entered my mind. They +furnished the darkness with which I was encompassed with all the +crowded phases of a dream. I knew that all around me were memorials +of the dead--that in the Crypt deep-wrought in the rock below my feet +lay the dead themselves. Some of them, perhaps--one of them I knew-- +had even passed the grim portals of time Unknown, and had, by some +mysterious power or agency, come back again to material earth. There +was no resting-place for thought when I knew that the very air which +I breathed might be full of denizens of the spirit-world. In that +impenetrable blackness was a world of imagining whose possibilities +of horror were endless. + +I almost fancied that I could see with mortal eyes down through that +rocky floor to where, in the lonely Crypt, lay, in her tomb of +massive stone and under that bewildering coverlet of glass, the woman +whom I love. I could see her beautiful face, her long black lashes, +her sweet mouth--which I had kissed--relaxed in the sleep of death. +I could note the voluminous shroud--a piece of which as a precious +souvenir lay even then so close to my heart--the snowy woollen +coverlet wrought over in gold with sprigs of pine, the soft dent in +the cushion on which her head must for so long have lain. I could +see myself--within my eyes the memory of that first visit--coming +once again with glad step to renew that dear sight--dear, though it +scorched my eyes and harrowed my heart--and finding the greater +sorrow, the greater desolation of the empty tomb! + +There! I felt that I must think no more of that lest the thought +should unnerve me when I should most want all my courage. That way +madness lay! The darkness had already sufficient terrors of its own +without bringing to it such grim remembrances and imaginings . . . +And I had yet to go through some ordeal which, even to her who had +passed and repassed the portals of death, was full of fear. + +It was a merciful relief to me when, in groping my way forwards +through the darkness, I struck against some portion of the furnishing +of the church. Fortunately I was all strung up to tension, else I +should never have been able to control instinctively, as I did, the +shriek which was rising to my lips. + +I would have given anything to have been able to light even a match. +A single second of light would, I felt, have made me my own man +again. But I knew that this would be against the implied condition +of my being there at all, and might have had disastrous consequences +to her whom I had come to save. It might even frustrate my scheme, +and altogether destroy my opportunity. At that moment it was borne +upon me more strongly than ever that this was not a mere fight for +myself or my own selfish purposes--not merely an adventure or a +struggle for only life and death against unknown difficulties and +dangers. It was a fight on behalf of her I loved, not merely for her +life, but perhaps even for her soul. + +And yet this very thinking--understanding--created a new form of +terror. For in that grim, shrouding darkness came memories of other +moments of terrible stress. + +Of wild, mystic rites held in the deep gloom of African forests, +when, amid scenes of revolting horror, Obi and the devils of his kind +seemed to reveal themselves to reckless worshippers, surfeited with +horror, whose lives counted for naught; when even human sacrifice was +an episode, and the reek of old deviltries and recent carnage tainted +the air, till even I, who was, at the risk of my life, a privileged +spectator who had come through dangers without end to behold the +scene, rose and fled in horror. + +Of scenes of mystery enacted in rock-cut temples beyond the +Himalayas, whose fanatic priests, cold as death and as remorseless, +in the reaction of their phrenzy of passion, foamed at the mouth and +then sank into marble quiet, as with inner eyes they beheld the +visions of the hellish powers which they had invoked. + +Of wild, fantastic dances of the Devil-worshippers of Madagascar, +where even the very semblance of humanity disappeared in the +fantastic excesses of their orgies. + +Of strange doings of gloom and mystery in the rock-perched +monasteries of Thibet. + +Of awful sacrifices, all to mystic ends, in the innermost recesses of +Cathay. + +Of weird movements with masses of poisonous snakes by the medicine- +men of the Zuni and Mochi Indians in the far south-west of the +Rockies, beyond the great plains. + +Of secret gatherings in vast temples of old Mexico, and by dim altars +of forgotten cities in the heart of great forests in South America. + +Of rites of inconceivable horror in the fastnesses of Patagonia. + +Of . . . Here I once more pulled myself up. Such thoughts were no +kind of proper preparation for what I might have to endure. My work +that night was to be based on love, on hope, on self-sacrifice for +the woman who in all the world was the closest to my heart, whose +future I was to share, whether that sharing might lead me to Hell or +Heaven. The hand which undertook such a task must have no trembling. + +Still, those horrible memories had, I am bound to say, a useful part +in my preparation for the ordeal. They were of fact which I had +seen, of which I had myself been in part a sharer, and which I had +survived. With such experiences behind me, could there be aught +before me more dreadful? . . . + +Moreover, if the coming ordeal was of supernatural or superhuman +order, could it transcend in living horror the vilest and most +desperate acts of the basest men? . . . + +With renewed courage I felt my way before me, till my sense of touch +told me that I was at the screen behind which lay the stair to the +Crypt. + +There I waited, silent, still. + +My own part was done, so far as I knew how to do it. Beyond this, +what was to come was, so far as I knew, beyond my own control. I had +done what I could; the rest must come from others. I had exactly +obeyed my instructions, fulfilled my warranty to the utmost in my +knowledge and power. There was, therefore, left for me in the +present nothing but to wait. + +It is a peculiarity of absolute darkness that it creates its own +reaction. The eye, wearied of the blackness, begins to imagine forms +of light. How far this is effected by imagination pure and simple I +know not. It may be that nerves have their own senses that bring +thought to the depository common to all the human functions, but, +whatever may be the mechanism or the objective, the darkness seems to +people itself with luminous entities. + +So was it with me as I stood lonely in the dark, silent church. Here +and there seemed to flash tiny points of light. + +In the same way the silence began to be broken now and again by +strange muffled sounds--the suggestion of sounds rather than actual +vibrations. These were all at first of the minor importance of +movement--rustlings, creakings, faint stirrings, fainter breathings. +Presently, when I had somewhat recovered from the sort of hypnotic +trance to which the darkness and stillness had during the time of +waiting reduced me, I looked around in wonder. + +The phantoms of light and sound seemed to have become real. There +were most certainly actual little points of light in places--not +enough to see details by, but quite sufficient to relieve the utter +gloom. I thought--though it may have been a mingling of recollection +and imagination--that I could distinguish the outlines of the church; +certainly the great altar-screen was dimly visible. Instinctively I +looked up--and thrilled. There, hung high above me, was, surely +enough, a great Greek Cross, outlined by tiny points of light. + +I lost myself in wonder, and stood still, in a purely receptive mood, +unantagonistic to aught, willing for whatever might come, ready for +all things, in rather a negative than a positive mood--a mood which +has an aspect of spiritual meekness. This is the true spirit of the +neophyte, and, though I did not think of it at the time, the proper +attitude for what is called by the Church in whose temple I stood a +"neo-nymph." + +As the light grew a little in power, though never increasing enough +for distinctness, I saw dimly before me a table on which rested a +great open book, whereon were laid two rings--one of sliver, the +other of gold--and two crowns wrought of flowers, bound at the +joining of their stems with tissue--one of gold, the other of silver. +I do not know much of the ritual of the old Greek Church, which is +the religion of the Blue Mountains, but the things which I saw before +me could be none other than enlightening symbols. Instinctively I +knew that I had been brought hither, though in this grim way, to be +married. The very idea of it thrilled me to the heart's core. I +thought the best thing I could do would be to stay quite still, and +not show surprise at anything that might happen; but be sure I was +all eyes and ears. + +I peered anxiously around me in every direction, but I could see no +sign of her whom I had come to meet. + +Incidentally, however, I noticed that in the lighting, such as it +was, there was no flame, no "living" light. Whatever light there was +came muffled, as though through some green translucent stone. The +whole effect was terribly weird and disconcerting. + +Presently I started, as, seemingly out of the darkness beside me, a +man's hand stretched out and took mine. Turning, I found close to me +a tall man with shining black eyes and long black hair and beard. He +was clad in some kind of gorgeous robe of cloth of gold, rich with +variety of adornment. His head was covered with a high, over-hanging +hat draped closely with a black scarf, the ends of which formed a +long, hanging veil on either side. These veils, falling over the +magnificent robes of cloth of gold, had an extraordinarily solemn +effect. + +I yielded myself to the guiding hand, and shortly found myself, so +far as I could see, at one side of the sanctuary. + +In the floor close to my feet was a yawning chasm, into which, from +so high over my head that in the uncertain light I could not +distinguish its origin, hung a chain. At the sight a strange wave of +memory swept over me. I could not but remember the chain which hung +over the glass-covered tomb in the Crypt, and I had an instinctive +feeling that the grim chasm in the floor of the sanctuary was but the +other side of the opening in the roof of the crypt from which the +chain over the sarcophagus depended. + +There was a creaking sound--the groaning of a windlass and the +clanking of a chain. There was heavy breathing close to me +somewhere. I was so intent on what was going on that I did not see +that one by one, seeming to grow out of the surrounding darkness, +several black figures in monkish garb appeared with the silence of +ghosts. Their faces were shrouded in black cowls, wherein were holes +through which I could see dark gleaming eyes. My guide held me +tightly by the hand. This gave me a feeling of security in the touch +which helped to retain within my breast some semblance of calm. + +The strain of the creaking windlass and the clanking chain continued +for so long that the suspense became almost unendurable. At last +there came into sight an iron ring, from which as a centre depended +four lesser chains spreading wide. In a few seconds more I could see +that these were fixed to the corners of the great stone tomb with the +covering of glass, which was being dragged upward. As it arose it +filled closely the whole aperture. When its bottom had reached the +level of the floor it stopped, and remained rigid. There was no room +for oscillation. It was at once surrounded by a number of black +figures, who raised the glass covering and bore it away into the +darkness. Then there stepped forward a very tall man, black-bearded, +and with head-gear like my guide, but made in triple tiers, he also +was gorgeously arrayed in flowing robes of cloth of gold richly +embroidered. He raised his hand, and forthwith eight other black- +clad figures stepped forward, and bending over the stone coffin, +raised from it the rigid form of my Lady, still clad in her Shroud, +and laid it gently on the floor of the sanctuary. + +I felt it a grace that at that instant the dim lights seemed to grow +less, and finally to disappear--all save the tiny points that marked +the outline of the great Cross high overhead. These only gave light +enough to accentuate the gloom. The hand that held mine now released +it, and with a sigh I realized that I was alone. After a few moments +more of the groaning of the winch and clanking of the chain there was +a sharp sound of stone meeting stone; then there was silence. I +listened acutely, but could not hear near me the slightest sound. +Even the cautious, restrained breathing around me, of which up to +then I had been conscious, had ceased. Not knowing, in the +helplessness of my ignorance, what I should do, I remained as I was, +still and silent, for a time that seemed endless. At last, overcome +by some emotion which I could not at the moment understand, I slowly +sank to my knees and bowed my head. Covering my face with my hands, +I tried to recall the prayers of my youth. It was not, I am certain, +that fear in any form had come upon me, or that I hesitated or +faltered in my intention. That much I know now; I knew it even then. +It was, I believe, that the prolonged impressive gloom and mystery +had at last touched me to the quick. The bending of the knees was +but symbolical of the bowing of the spirit to a higher Power. When I +had realized that much, I felt more content than I had done since I +had entered the church, and with the renewed consciousness of +courage, took my hands from my face, and lifted again my bowed head. + +Impulsively I sprang to my feet and stood erect--waiting. All seemed +to have changed since I had dropped on my knees. The points of light +about time church, which had been eclipsed, had come again, and were +growing in power to a partial revealing of the dim expanse. Before +me was the table with the open book, on which were laid the gold and +silver rings and the two crowns of flowers. There were also two tall +candles, with tiniest flames of blue--the only living light to be +seen. + +Out of the darkness stepped the same tall figure in the gorgeous +robes and the triple hat. He led by the hand my Lady, still clad in +her Shroud; but over it, descending from the crown of her head, was a +veil of very old and magnificent lace of astonishing fineness. Even +in that dim light I could note the exquisite beauty of the fabric. +The veil was fastened with a bunch of tiny sprays of orange-blossom +mingled with cypress and laurel--a strange combination. In her hand +she carried a great bouquet of the same. Its sweet intoxicating +odour floated up to my nostrils. It and the sentiment which its very +presence evoked made me quiver. + +Yielding to the guiding of the hand which held hers, she stood at my +left side before the table. Her guide then took his place behind +her. At either end of the table, to right and left of us, stood a +long-bearded priest in splendid robes, and wearing the hat with +depending veil of black. One of them, who seemed to be the more +important of the two, and took the initiative, signed to us to put +our right hands on the open book. My Lady, of course, understood the +ritual, and knew the words which the priest was speaking, and of her +own accord put out her hand. My guide at the same moment directed my +hand to the same end. It thrilled me to touch my Lady's hand, even +under such mysterious conditions. + +After the priest had signed us each thrice on the forehead with the +sign of the Cross, he gave to each of us a tiny lighted taper brought +to him for the purpose. The lights were welcome, not so much for the +solace of the added light, great as that was, but because it allowed +us to see a little more of each other's faces. It was rapture to me +to see the face of my Bride; and from the expression of her face I +was assured that she felt as I did. It gave me an inexpressible +pleasure when, as her eyes rested on me, there grew a faint blush +over the grey pallor of her cheeks. + +The priest then put in solemn voice to each of us in turn, beginning +with me, the questions of consent which are common to all such +rituals. I answered as well as I could, following the murmured words +of my guide. My Lady answered out proudly in a voice which, though +given softly, seemed to ring. It was a concern--even a grief--to me +that I could not, in the priest's questioning, catch her name, of +which, strangely enough,--I was ignorant. But, as I did not know the +language, and as the phrases were not in accord literally with our +own ritual, I could not make out which word was the name. + +After some prayers and blessings, rhythmically spoken or sung by an +invisible choir, the priest took the rings from the open book, and, +after signing my forehead thrice with the gold one as he repeated the +blessing in each case, placed it on my right hand; then he gave my +Lady the silver one, with the same ritual thrice repeated. I suppose +it was the blessing which is the effective point in making two into +one. + +After this, those who stood behind us exchanged our rings thrice, +taking them from one finger and placing them on the other, so that at +the end my wife wore the gold ring and I the silver one. + +Then came a chant, during which the priest swung the censer himself, +and my wife and I held our tapers. After that he blessed us, the +responses coming from the voices of the unseen singers in the +darkness. + +After a long ritual of prayer and blessing, sung in triplicate, the +priest took the crowns of flowers, and put one on the head of each, +crowning me first, and with the crown tied with gold. Then he signed +and blessed us each thrice. The guides, who stood behind us, +exchanged our crowns thrice, as they had exchanged the rings; so that +at the last, as I was glad to see, my wife wore the crown of gold, +and I that of silver. + +Then there came, if it is possible to describe such a thing, a hush +over even that stillness, as though some form of added solemnity were +to be gone through. I was not surprised, therefore, when the priest +took in his hands the great golden chalice. Kneeling, my wife and I +partook together thrice. + +When we had risen from our knees and stood for a little while, the +priest took my left hand in his right, and I, by direction of my +guide, gave my right hand to my wife. And so in a line, the priest +leading, we circled round the table in rhythmic measure. Those who +supported us moved behind us, holding the crowns over our heads, and +replacing them when we stopped. + +After a hymn, sung through the darkness, the priest took off our +crowns. This was evidently the conclusion of the ritual, for the +priest placed us in each other's arms to embrace each other. Then he +blessed us, who were now man and wife! + +The lights went out at once, some as if extinguished, others slowly +fading down to blackness. + +Left in the dark, my wife and I sought each other's arms again, and +stood together for a few moments heart to heart, tightly clasping +each other, and kissed each other fervently. + +Instinctively we turned to the door of the church, which was slightly +open, so that we could see the moonlight stealing in through the +aperture. With even steps, she holding me tightly by the left arm-- +which is the wife's arm, we passed through the old church and out +into the free air. + +Despite all that the gloom had brought me, it was sweet to be in the +open air and together--this quite apart from our new relations to +each other. The moon rode high, and the full light, coming after the +dimness or darkness in the church, seemed as bright as day. I could +now, for the first time, see my wife's face properly. The glamour of +the moonlight may have served to enhance its ethereal beauty, but +neither moonlight nor sunlight could do justice to that beauty in its +living human splendour. As I gloried in her starry eyes I could +think of nothing else; but when for a moment my eyes, roving round +for the purpose of protection, caught sight of her whole figure, +there was a pang to my heart. The brilliant moonlight showed every +detail in terrible effect, and I could see that she wore only her +Shroud. In the moment of darkness, after the last benediction, +before she returned to my arms, she must have removed her bridal +veil. This may, of course, have been in accordance with the +established ritual of her church; but, all the same, my heart was +sore. The glamour of calling her my very own was somewhat obscured +by the bridal adornment being shorn. But it made no difference in +her sweetness to me. Together we went along the path through the +wood, she keeping equal step with me in wifely way. + +When we had come through the trees near enough to see the roof of the +Castle, now gilded with the moonlight, she stopped, and looking at me +with eyes full of love, said: + +"Here I must leave you!" + +"What?" I was all aghast, and I felt that my chagrin was expressed +in the tone of horrified surprise in my voice. She went on quickly: + +"Alas! It is impossible that I should go farther--at present!" + +"But what is to prevent you?" I queried. "You are now my wife. This +is our wedding-night; and surely your place is with me!" The wail in +her voice as she answered touched me to the quick: + +"Oh, I know, I know! There is no dearer wish in my heart--there can +be none--than to share my husband's home. Oh, my dear, my dear, if +you only knew what it would be to me to be with you always! But +indeed I may not--not yet! I am not free! If you but knew how much +that which has happened to-night has cost me--or how much cost to +others as well as to myself may be yet to come--you would understand. +Rupert"--it was the first time she had ever addressed me by name, and +naturally it thrilled me through and through--"Rupert, my husband, +only that I trust you with all the faith which is in perfect love-- +mutual love, I dare not have done what I have done this night. But, +dear, I know that you will bear me out; that your wife's honour is +your honour, even as your honour is mine. My honour is given to +this; and you can help me--the only help I can have at present--by +trusting me. Be patient, my beloved, be patient! Oh, be patient for +a little longer! It shall not be for long. So soon as ever my soul +is freed I shall come to you, my husband; and we shall never part +again. Be content for a while! Believe me that I love you with my +very soul; and to keep away from your dear side is more bitter for me +than even it can be for you! Think, my dear one, I am not as other +women are, as some day you shall clearly understand. I am at the +present, and shall be for a little longer, constrained by duties and +obligations put upon me by others, and for others, and to which I am +pledged by the most sacred promises--given not only by myself, but by +others--and which I must not forgo. These forbid me to do as I wish. +Oh, trust me, my beloved--my husband!" + +She held out her hands appealingly. The moonlight, falling through +the thinning forest, showed her white cerements. Then the +recollection of all she must have suffered--the awful loneliness in +that grim tomb in the Crypt, the despairing agony of one who is +helpless against the unknown--swept over me in a wave of pity. What +could I do but save her from further pain? And this could only be by +showing her my faith and trust. If she was to go back to that +dreadful charnel-house, she would at least take with her the +remembrance that one who loved her and whom she loved--to whom she +had been lately bound in the mystery of marriage--trusted her to the +full. I loved her more than myself--more than my own soul; and I was +moved by pity so great that all possible selfishness was merged in +its depths. I bowed my head before her--my Lady and my Wife--as I +said: + +"So be it, my beloved. I trust you to the full, even as you trust +me. And that has been proven this night, even to my own doubting +heart. I shall wait; and as I know you wish it, I shall wait as +patiently as I can. But till you come to me for good and all, let me +see you or hear from you when you can. The time, dear wife, must go +heavily with me as I think of you suffering and lonely. So be good +to me, and let not too long a time elapse between my glimpses of +hope. And, sweetheart, when you DO come to me, it shall be for +ever!" There was something in the intonation of the last sentence--I +felt its sincerity myself--some implied yearning for a promise, that +made her beautiful eyes swim. The glorious stars in them were +blurred as she answered with a fervour which seemed to me as more +than earthly: + +"For ever! I swear it!" + +With one long kiss, and a straining in each others arms, which left +me tingling for long after we had lost sight of each other, we +parted. I stood and watched her as her white figure, gliding through +the deepening gloom, faded as the forest thickened. It surely was no +optical delusion or a phantom of the mind that her shrouded arm was +raised as though in blessing or farewell before the darkness +swallowed her up. + + + +BOOK VI: THE PURSUIT IN THE FOREST + + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +July 3, 1907. + +There is no anodyne but work to pain of the heart; and my pain is all +of the heart. I sometimes feel that it is rather hard that with so +much to make me happy I cannot know happiness. How can I be happy +when my wife, whom I fondly love, and who I know loves me, is +suffering in horror and loneliness of a kind which is almost beyond +human belief? However, what is my loss is my country's gain, for the +Land of the Blue Mountains is my country now, despite the fact that I +am still a loyal subject of good King Edward. Uncle Roger took care +of that when he said I should have the consent of the Privy Council +before I might be naturalized anywhere else. + +When I got home yesterday morning I naturally could not sleep. The +events of the night and the bitter disappointment that followed my +exciting joy made such a thing impossible. When I drew the curtain +over the window, the reflection of the sunrise was just beginning to +tinge the high-sailing clouds in front of me. I laid down and tried +to rest, but without avail. However, I schooled myself to lie still, +and at last, if I did not sleep, was at least quiescent. + +Disturbed by a gentle tap at the door, I sprang up at once and threw +on a dressing gown. Outside, when I opened the door, was Aunt Janet. +She was holding a lighted candle in her hand, for though it was +getting light in the open, the passages were still dark. When she +saw me she seemed to breathe more freely, and asked if she might come +in. + +Whilst she sat on the edge of my bed, in her old-time way, she said +in a hushed voice: + +"Oh, laddie, laddie, I trust yer burden is no too heavy to bear." + +"My burden! What on earth do you mean, Aunt Janet?" I said in reply. +I did not wish to commit myself by a definite answer, for it was +evident that she had been dreaming or Second Sighting again. She +replied with the grim seriousness usual to her when she touched on +occult matters: + +"I saw your hairt bleeding, laddie. I kent it was yours, though how +I kent it I don't know. It lay on a stone floor in the dark, save +for a dim blue light such as corpse-lights are. On it was placed a +great book, and close around were scattered many strange things, +amongst them two crowns o' flowers--the one bound wi' silver, the +other wi' gold. There was also a golden cup, like a chalice, +o'erturned. The red wine trickled from it an' mingled wi' yer +hairt's bluid; for on the great book was some vast dim weight wrapped +up in black, and on it stepped in turn many men all swathed in black. +An' as the weight of each came on it the bluid gushed out afresh. +And oh, yer puir hairt, my laddie, was quick and leaping, so that at +every beat it raised the black-clad weight! An' yet that was not +all, for hard by stood a tall imperial shape o' a woman, all arrayed +in white, wi' a great veil o' finest lace worn o'er a shrood. An' +she was whiter than the snow, an' fairer than the morn for beauty; +though a dark woman she was, wi' hair like the raven, an' eyes black +as the sea at nicht, an' there was stars in them. An' at each beat +o' yer puir bleeding hairt she wrung her white hands, an' the manin' +o' her sweet voice rent my hairt in twain. Oh, laddie, laddie! what +does it mean?" + +I managed to murmur: "I'm sure I don't know, Aunt Janet. I suppose +it was all a dream!" + +"A dream it was, my dear. A dream or a veesion, whilka matters nane, +for a' such are warnin's sent frae God . . . " Suddenly she said in +a different voice: + +"Laddie, hae ye been fause to any lassie? I'm no blamin' ye. For ye +men are different frae us women, an' yer regard on recht and wrang +differs from oors. But oh, laddie, a woman's tears fa' heavy when +her hairt is for sair wi' the yieldin' to fause words. 'Tis a heavy +burden for ony man to carry wi' him as he goes, an' may well cause +pain to ithers that he fain would spare." She stopped, and in dead +silence waited for me to speak. I thought it would be best to set +her poor loving heart at rest, and as I could not divulge my special +secret, spoke in general terms: + +"Aunt Janet, I am a man, and have led a man's life, such as it is. +But I can tell you, who have always loved me and taught me to be +true, that in all the world there is no woman who must weep for any +falsity of mine. If close there be any who, sleeping or waking, in +dreams or visions or in reality, weeps because of me, it is surely +not for my doing, but because of something outside me. It may be +that her heart is sore because I must suffer, as all men must in some +degree; but she does not weep for or through any act of mine." + +She sighed happily at my assurance, and looked up through her tears, +for she was much moved; and after tenderly kissing my forehead and +blessing me, stole away. She was more sweet and tender than I have +words to say, and the only regret that I have in all that is gone is +that I have not been able to bring my wife to her, and let her share +in the love she has for me. But that, too, will come, please God! + +In the morning I sent a message to Rooke at Otranto, instructing him +by code to bring the yacht to Vissarion in the coming night. + +All day I spent in going about amongst the mountaineers, drilling +them and looking after their arms. I COULD not stay still. My only +chance of peace was to work, my only chance of sleep to tire myself +out. Unhappily, I am very strong, so even when I came home at dark I +was quite fresh. However, I found a cable message from Rooke that +the yacht would arrive at midnight. + +There was no need to summon the mountaineers, as the men in the +Castle would be sufficient to make preparations for the yacht's +coming. + +LATER. + +The yacht has come. At half-past eleven the lookout signalled that a +steamer without lights was creeping in towards the Creek. I ran out +to the Flagstaff, and saw her steal in like a ghost. She is painted +a steely blue-grey, and it is almost impossible to see her at any +distance. She certainly goes wonderfully. Although there was not +enough throb from the engines to mar the absolute stillness, she came +on at a fine speed, and within a few minutes was close to the boom. +I had only time to run down to give orders to draw back the boom when +she glided in and stopped dead at the harbour wall. Rooke steered +her himself, and he says he never was on a boat that so well or so +quickly answered her helm. She is certainly a beauty, and so far as +I can see at night perfect in every detail. I promise myself a few +pleasant hours over her in the daylight. The men seem a splendid +lot. + +But I do not feel sleepy; I despair of sleep to-night. But work +demands that I be fit for whatever may come, and so I shall try to +sleep--to rest, at any rate. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL.--Continued. +July 4, 1907. + +I was up with the first ray of sunrise, so by the time I had my bath +and was dressed there was ample light. I went down to the dock at +once, and spent the morning looking over the vessel, which fully +justifies Rooke's enthusiasm about her. She is built on lovely +lines, and I can quite understand that she is enormously fast. Her +armour I can only take on the specifications, but her armament is +really wonderful. And there are not only all the very newest devices +of aggressive warfare--indeed, she has the newest up-to-date +torpedoes and torpedo-guns--but also the old-fashioned rocket-tubes, +which in certain occasions are so useful. She has electric guns and +the latest Massillon water-guns, and Reinhardt electro-pneumatic +"deliverers" for pyroxiline shells. She is even equipped with war- +balloons easy of expansion, and with compressible Kitson aeroplanes. +I don't suppose that there is anything quite like her in the world. + +The crew are worthy of her. I can't imagine where Rooke picked up +such a splendid lot of men. They are nearly all man-of-warsmen; of +various nationalities, but mostly British. All young men--the oldest +of them hasn't got into the forties--and, so far as I can learn, all +experts of one kind or another in some special subject of warfare. +It will go hard with me, but I shall keep them together. + +How I got through the rest of the day I know not. I tried hard not +to create any domestic trouble by my manner, lest Aunt Janet should, +after her lurid dream or vision of last night, attach some new +importance to it. I think I succeeded, for she did not, so far as I +could tell, take any special notice of me. We parted as usual at +half-past ten, and I came here and made this entry in my journal. I +am more restless than ever to-night, and no wonder. I would give +anything to be able to pay a visit to St. Sava's, and see my wife +again--if it were only sleeping in her tomb. But I dare not do even +that, lest she should come to see me here, and I should miss her. So +I have done what I can. The glass door to the Terrace is open, so +that she can enter at once if she comes. The fire is lit, and the +room is warm. There is food ready in case she should care for it. I +have plenty of light in the room, so that through the aperture where +I have not fully drawn the curtain there may be light to guide her. + +Oh, how the time drags! The clock has struck midnight. One, two! +Thank goodness, it will shortly be dawn, and the activity of the day +may begin! Work may again prove, in a way, to be an anodyne. In the +meantime I must write on, lest despair overwhelm me. + +Once during the night I thought I heard a footstep outside. I rushed +to the window and looked out, but there was nothing to see, no sound +to hear. That was a little after one o'clock. I feared to go +outside, lest that should alarm her; so I came back to my table. I +could not write, but I sat as if writing for a while. But I could +not stand it, so rose and walked about the room. As I walked I felt +that my Lady--it gives me a pang every time I remember that I do not +know even her name--was not quite so far away from me. It made my +heart beat to think that it might mean that she was coming to me. +Could not I as well as Aunt Janet have a little Second Sight! I went +towards the window, and, standing behind the curtain, listened. Far +away I thought I heard a cry, and ran out on the Terrace; but there +was no sound to be heard, and no sign of any living thing anywhere; +so I took it for granted that it was the cry of some night bird, and +came back to my room, and wrote at my journal till I was calm. I +think my nerves must be getting out of order, when every sound of the +night seems to have a special meaning for me. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +July 7, 1907 + +When the grey of the morning came, I gave up hope of my wife +appearing, and made up my mind that, so soon as I could get away +without exciting Aunt Janet's attention, I would go to St. Sava's. I +always eat a good breakfast, and did I forgo it altogether, it would +be sure to excite her curiosity--a thing I do not wish at present. +As there was still time to wait, I lay down on my bed as I was, and-- +such is the way of Fate--shortly fell asleep. + +I was awakened by a terrific clattering at my door. When I opened it +I found a little group of servants, very apologetic at awaking me +without instructions. The chief of them explained that a young +priest had come from the Vladika with a message so urgent that he +insisted on seeing me immediately at all hazards. I came out at +once, and found him in the hall of the Castle, standing before the +great fire, which was always lit in the early morning. He had a +letter in his hand, but before giving it to me he said: + +"I am sent by the Vladika, who pressed on me that I was not to lose a +single instant in seeing you; that time is of golden price--nay, +beyond price. This letter, amongst other things, vouches for me. A +terrible misfortune has occurred. The daughter of our leader has +disappeared during last night--the same, he commanded me to remind +you, that he spoke of at the meeting when he would not let the +mountaineers fire their guns. No sign of her can be found, and it is +believed that she has been carried off by the emissaries of the +Sultan of Turkey, who once before brought our nations to the verge of +war by demanding her as a wife. I was also to say that the Vladika +Plamenac would have come himself, but that it was necessary that he +should at once consult with the Archbishop, Stevan Palealogue, as to +what step is best to take in this dire calamity. He has sent out a +search-party under the Archimandrite of Spazac, Petrof Vlastimir, who +is to come on here with any news he can get, as you have command of +the signalling, and can best spread the news. He knows that you, +Gospodar, are in your great heart one of our compatriots, and that +you have already proved your friendship by many efforts to strengthen +our hands for war. And as a great compatriot, he calls on you to aid +us in our need." He then handed me the letter, and stood by +respectfully whilst I broke the seal and read it. It was written in +great haste, and signed by the Vladika. + +"Come with us now in our nation's peril. Help us to rescue what we +most adore, and henceforth we shall hold you in our hearts. You +shall learn how the men of the Blue Mountains can love faith and +valour. Come!" + +This was a task indeed--a duty worthy of any man. It thrilled me to +the core to know that the men of the Blue Mountains had called on me +in their dire need. It woke all the fighting instinct of my Viking +forbears, and I vowed in my heart that they should be satisfied with +my work. I called to me the corps of signallers who were in the +house, and led them to the Castle roof, taking with me the young +messenger-priest. + +"Come with me," I said to him, "and see how I answer the Vladika's +command." + +The National flag was run up--the established signal that the nation +was in need. Instantly on every summit near and far was seen the +flutter of an answering flag. Quickly followed the signal that +commanded the call to arms. + +One by one I gave the signallers orders in quick succession, for the +plan of search unfolded itself to me as I went on. The arms of the +semaphore whirled in a way that made the young priest stare. One by +one, as they took their orders, the signallers seemed to catch fire. +Instinctively they understood the plan, and worked like demigods. +They knew that so widespread a movement had its best chance in +rapidity and in unity of action. + +From the forest which lay in sight of the Castle came a wild +cheering, which seemed to interpret the former stillness of the +hills. It was good to feel that those who saw the signals--types of +many--were ready. I saw the look of expectation on the face of the +messenger-priest, and rejoiced at the glow that came as I turned to +him to speak. Of course, he wanted to know something of what was +going on. I saw the flashing of my own eyes reflected in his as I +spoke: + +"Tell the Vladika that within a minute of his message being read the +Land of the Blue Mountains was awake. The mountaineers are already +marching, and before the sun is high there will be a line of guards +within hail of each other round the whole frontier--from Angusa to +Ilsin; from Ilsin to Bajana; from Bajana to Ispazar; from Ispazar to +Volok; from Volok to Tatra; from Tatra to Domitan; from Domitan to +Gravaja; and from Gravaja back to Angusa. The line is double. The +old men keep guard on the line, and the young men advance. These +will close in at the advancing line, so that nothing can escape them. +They will cover mountain-top and forest depth, and will close in +finally on the Castle here, which they can behold from afar. My own +yacht is here, and will sweep the coast from end to end. It is the +fastest boat afloat, and armed against a squadron. Here will all +signals come. In an hour where we stand will be a signal bureau, +where trained eyes will watch night and day till the lost one has +been found and the outrage has been avenged. The robbers are even +now within a ring of steel, and cannot escape." + +The young priest, all on fire, sprang on the battlements and shouted +to the crowd, which was massing round the Castle in the gardens far +below. The forest was giving up its units till they seemed like the +nucleus of an army. The men cheered lustily, till the sound swung +high up to us like the roaring of a winter sea. With bared heads +they were crying: + +"God and the Blue Mountains! God and the Blue Mountains!" + +I ran down to them as quickly as I could, and began to issue their +instructions. Within a time to be computed by minutes the whole +number, organized by sections, had started to scour the neighbouring +mountains. At first they had only understood the call to arms for +general safety. But when they learned that the daughter of a chief +had been captured, they simply went mad. From something which the +messenger first said, but which I could not catch or did not +understand, the blow seemed to have for them some sort of personal +significance which wrought them to a frenzy. + +When the bulk of the men had disappeared, I took with me a few of my +own men and several of the mountaineers whom I had asked to remain, +and together we went to the hidden ravine which I knew. We found the +place empty; but there were unmistakable signs that a party of men +had been encamped there for several days. Some of our men, who were +skilled in woodcraft and in signs generally, agreed that there must +have been some twenty of them. As they could not find any trail +either coming to or going from the place, they came to the conclusion +that they must have come separately from different directions and +gathered there, and that they must have departed in something of the +same mysterious way. + +However, this was, at any rate, some sort of a beginning, and the men +separated, having agreed amongst themselves to make a wide cast round +the place in the search for tracks. Whoever should find a trail was +to follow with at least one comrade, and when there was any definite +news, it was to be signalled to the Castle. + +I myself returned at once, and set the signallers to work to spread +amongst our own people such news as we had. + +When presently such discoveries as had been made were signalled with +flags to the Castle, it was found that the marauders had, in their +flight, followed a strangely zigzag course. It was evident that, in +trying to baffle pursuit, they had tried to avoid places which they +thought might be dangerous to them. This may have been simply a +method to disconcert pursuit. If so, it was, in a measure, +excellent, for none of those immediately following could possibly +tell in what direction they were heading. It was only when we worked +the course on the great map in the signaller's room (which was the +old guard room of the Castle) that we could get an inkling of the +general direction of their flight. This gave added trouble to the +pursuit; for the men who followed, being ignorant of their general +intent, could not ever take chance to head them off, but had to be +ready to follow in any or every direction. In this manner the +pursuit was altogether a stern chase, and therefore bound to be a +long one. + +As at present we could not do anything till the intended route was +more marked, I left the signalling corps to the task of receiving and +giving information to the moving bands, so that, if occasion served, +they might head off the marauders. I myself took Rooke, as captain +of the yacht, and swept out of the creek. We ran up north to +Dalairi, then down south to Olesso, and came back to Vissarion. We +saw nothing suspicious except, far off to the extreme southward, one +warship which flew no flag. Rooke, however, who seemed to know ships +by instinct, said she was a Turk; so on our return we signalled along +the whole shore to watch her. Rooke held The Lady--which was the +name I had given the armoured yacht--in readiness to dart out in case +anything suspicious was reported. He was not to stand on any +ceremony, but if necessary to attack. We did not intend to lose a +point in this desperate struggle which we had undertaken. We had +placed in different likely spots a couple of our own men to look +after the signalling. + +When I got back I found that the route of the fugitives, who had now +joined into one party, had been definitely ascertained. They had +gone south, but manifestly taking alarm from the advancing line of +guards, had headed up again to the north-east, where the country was +broader and the mountains wilder and less inhabited. + +Forthwith, leaving the signalling altogether in the hands of the +fighting priests, I took a small chosen band of the mountaineers of +our own district, and made, with all the speed we could, to cut +across the track of the fugitives a little ahead of them. The +Archimandrite (Abbot) of Spazac, who had just arrived, came with us. +He is a splendid man--a real fighter as well as a holy cleric, as +good with his handjar as with his Bible, and a runner to beat the +band. The marauders were going at a fearful pace, considering that +they were all afoot; so we had to go fast also! Amongst these +mountains there is no other means of progressing. Our own men were +so aflame with ardour that I could not but notice that they, more +than any of the others whom I had seen, had some special cause for +concern. + +When I mentioned it to the Archimandrite, who moved by my side, he +answered: + +"All natural enough; they are not only fighting for their country, +but for their own!" I did not quite understand his answer, and so +began to ask him some questions, to the effect that I soon began to +understand a good deal more than he did. + + +Letter from Archbishop Stevan Palealogue, Head of the Eastern Church +of the Blue Mountains, to the Lady Janet MacKelpie, Vissarion. +Written July 9, 1907. + +HONOURED LADY, + +As you wish for an understanding regarding the late lamentable +occurrence in which so much danger was incurred to this our Land of +the Blue Mountains, and one dear to us, I send these words by request +of the Gospodar Rupert, beloved of our mountaineers. + +When the Voivode Peter Vissarion made his journey to the great nation +to whom we looked in our hour of need, it was necessary that he +should go in secret. The Turk was at our gates, and full of the +malice of baffled greed. Already he had tried to arrange a marriage +with the Voivodin, so that in time to come he, as her husband, might +have established a claim to the inheritance of the land. Well he +knew, as do all men, that the Blue Mountaineers owe allegiance to +none that they themselves do not appoint to rulership. This has been +the history in the past. But now and again an individual has arisen +or come to the front adapted personally for such government as this +land requires. And so the Lady Teuta, Voivodin of the Blue +Mountains, was put for her proper guarding in the charge of myself as +Head of the Eastern Church in the Land of the Blue Mountains, steps +being taken in such wise that no capture of her could be effected by +unscrupulous enemies of this our Land. This task and guardianship +was gladly held as an honour by all concerned. For the Voivodin +Teuta of Vissarion must be taken as representing in her own person +the glory of the old Serb race, inasmuch as being the only child of +the Voivode Vissarion, last male of his princely race--the race which +ever, during the ten centuries of our history, unflinchingly gave +life and all they held for the protection, safety, and well-being of +the Land of the Blue Mountains. Never during those centuries had any +one of the race been known to fail in patriotism, or to draw back +from any loss or hardship enjoined by high duty or stress of need. +Moreover, this was the race of that first Voivode Vissarion, of whom, +in legend, it was prophesied that he--once known as "The Sword of +Freedom," a giant amongst men--would some day, when the nation had +need of him, come forth from his water-tomb in the lost Lake of Reo, +and lead once more the men of the Blue Mountains to lasting victory. +This noble race, then, had come to be known as the last hope of the +Land. So that when the Voivode was away on his country's service, +his daughter should be closely guarded. Soon after the Voivode had +gone, it was reported that he might be long delayed in his +diplomacies, and also in studying the system of Constitutional +Monarchy, for which it had been hoped to exchange our imperfect +political system. I may say inter alia that he was mentioned as to +be the first king when the new constitution should have been +arranged. + +Then a great misfortune came on us; a terrible grief overshadowed the +land. After a short illness, the Voivodin Teuta Vissarion died +mysteriously of a mysterious ailment. The grief of the mountaineers +was so great that it became necessary for the governing Council to +warn them not to allow their sorrow to be seen. It was imperatively +necessary that the fact of her death should be kept secret. For +there were dangers and difficulties of several kinds. In the first +place it was advisable that even her father should be kept in +ignorance of his terrible loss. It was well known that he held her +as the very core of his heart and that if he should hear of her +death, he would be too much prostrated to be able to do the intricate +and delicate work which he had undertaken. Nay, more: he would +never remain afar off, under the sad circumstances, but would +straightway return, so as to be in the land where she lay. Then +suspicions would crop up, and the truth must shortly be known afield, +with the inevitable result that the Land would become the very centre +of a war of many nations. + +In the second place, if the Turks were to know that the race of +Vissarion was becoming extinct, this would encourage them to further +aggression, which would become immediate should they find out that +the Voivode was himself away. It was well known that they were +already only suspending hostilities until a fitting opportunity +should arise. Their desire for aggression had become acute after the +refusal of the nation, and of the girl herself, that she should +become a wife of the Sultan. + +The dead girl had been buried in the Crypt of the church of St. Sava, +and day after day and night after night, singly and in parties, the +sorrowing mountaineers had come to pay devotion and reverence at her +tomb. So many had wished to have a last glimpse of her face that the +Vladika had, with my own consent as Archbishop, arranged for a glass +cover to be put over the stone coffin wherein her body lay. + +After a little time, however, there came a belief to all concerned in +the guarding of the body--these, of course, being the priests of +various degrees of dignity appointed to the task--that the Voivodin +was not really dead, but only in a strangely-prolonged trance. +Thereupon a new complication arose. Our mountaineers are, as perhaps +you know, by nature deeply suspicious--a characteristic of all brave +and self-sacrificing people who are jealous of their noble heritage. +Having, as they believed, seen the girl dead, they might not be +willing to accept the fact of her being alive. They might even +imagine that there was on foot some deep, dark plot which was, or +might be, a menace, now or hereafter, to their independence. In any +case, there would be certain to be two parties on the subject, a +dangerous and deplorable thing in the present condition of affairs. + +As the trance, or catalepsy, whatever it was, continued for many +days, there had been ample time for the leaders of the Council, the +Vladika, the priesthood represented by the Archimandrite of Spazac, +myself as Archbishop and guardian of the Voivodin in her father's +absence, to consult as to a policy to be observed in case of the girl +awaking. For in such case the difficulty of the situation would be +multiplied indefinitely. In the secret chambers of St. Sava's we had +many secret meetings, and were finally converging on agreement when +the end of the trance came. + +The girl awoke! + +She was, of course, terribly frightened when she found herself in a +tomb in the Crypt. It was truly fortunate that the great candles +around her tomb had been kept lighted, for their light mitigated the +horror of the place. Had she waked in darkness, her reason might +have become unseated. + +She was, however, a very noble girl; brave, with extraordinary will, +and resolution, and self-command, and power of endurance. When she +had been taken into one of the secret chambers of the church, where +she was warmed and cared for, a hurried meeting was held by the +Vladika, myself, and the chiefs of the National Council. Word had +been at once sent to me of the joyful news of her recovery; and with +the utmost haste I came, arriving in time to take a part in the +Council. + +At the meeting the Voivodin was herself present, and full confidence +of the situation was made to her. She herself proposed that the +belief in her death should be allowed to prevail until the return of +her father, when all could be effectively made clear. To this end +she undertook to submit to the terrific strain which such a +proceeding would involve. At first we men could not believe that any +woman could go through with such a task, and some of us did not +hesitate to voice our doubts--our disbelief. But she stood to her +guns, and actually down-faced us. At the last we, remembering things +that had been done, though long ages ago, by others of her race, came +to believe not merely in her self-belief and intention, but even in +the feasibility of her plan. She took the most solemn oaths not to +betray the secret under any possible stress. + +The priesthood undertook through the Vladika and myself to further a +ghostly belief amongst the mountaineers which would tend to prevent a +too close or too persistent observation. The Vampire legend was +spread as a protection against partial discovery by any mischance, +and other weird beliefs were set afoot and fostered. Arrangements +were made that only on certain days were the mountaineers to be +admitted to the Crypt, she agreeing that for these occasions she was +to take opiates or carry out any other aid to the preservation of the +secret. She was willing, she impressed upon us, to make any personal +sacrifice which might be deemed necessary for the carrying out her +father's task for the good of the nation. + +Of course, she had at first terrible frights lying alone in the +horror of the Crypt. But after a time the terrors of the situation, +if they did not cease, were mitigated. There are secret caverns off +the Crypt, wherein in troublous times the priests and others of high +place have found safe retreat. One of these was prepared for the +Voivodin, and there she remained, except for such times as she was on +show--and certain other times of which I shall tell you. Provision +was made for the possibility of any accidental visit to the church. +At such times, warned by an automatic signal from the opening door, +she was to take her place in the tomb. The mechanism was so arranged +that the means to replace the glass cover, and to take the opiate, +were there ready to her hand. There was to be always a watch of +priests at night in the church, to guard her from ghostly fears as +well as from more physical dangers; and if she was actually in her +tomb, it was to be visited at certain intervals. Even the draperies +which covered her in the sarcophagus were rested on a bridge placed +from side to side just above her, so as to hide the rising and +falling of her bosom as she slept under the narcotic. + +After a while the prolonged strain began to tell so much on her that +it was decided that she should take now and again exercise out of +doors. This was not difficult, for when the Vampire story which we +had spread began to be widely known, her being seen would be accepted +as a proof of its truth. Still, as there was a certain danger in her +being seen at all, we thought it necessary to exact from her a solemn +oath that so long as her sad task lasted she should under no +circumstances ever wear any dress but her shroud--this being the only +way to insure secrecy and to prevail against accident. + +There is a secret way from the Crypt to a sea cavern, whose entrance +is at high-tide under the water-line at the base of the cliff on +which the church is built. A boat, shaped like a coffin, was +provided for her; and in this she was accustomed to pass across the +creek whenever she wished to make excursion. It was an excellent +device, and most efficacious in disseminating the Vampire belief. + +This state of things had now lasted from before the time when the +Gospodar Rupert came to Vissarion up to the day of the arrival of the +armoured yacht. + +That night the priest on duty, on going his round of the Crypt just +before dawn, found the tomb empty. He called the others, and they +made full search. The boat was gone from the cavern, but on making +search they found it on the farther side of the creek, close to the +garden stairs. Beyond this they could discover nothing. She seemed +to have disappeared without leaving a trace. + +Straightway they went to the Vladika, and signalled to me by the +fire-signal at the monastery at Astrag, where I then was. I took a +band of mountaineers with me, and set out to scour the country. But +before going I sent an urgent message to the Gospodar Rupert, asking +him, who showed so much interest and love to our Land, to help us in +our trouble. He, of course, knew nothing then of all have now told +you. Nevertheless, he devoted himself whole-heartedly to our needs-- +as doubtless you know. + +But the time had now come close when the Voivode Vissarion was about +to return from his mission; and we of the council of his daughter's +guardianship were beginning to arrange matters so that at his return +the good news of her being still alive could be made public. With +her father present to vouch for her, no question as to truth could +arise. + +But by some means the Turkish "Bureau of Spies" must have got +knowledge of the fact already. To steal a dead body for the purpose +of later establishing a fictitious claim would have been an +enterprise even more desperate than that already undertaken. We +inferred from many signs, made known to us in an investigation, that +a daring party of the Sultan's emissaries had made a secret incursion +with the object of kidnapping the Voivodin. They must have been bold +of heart and strong of resource to enter the Land of the Blue +Mountains on any errand, let alone such a desperate one as this. For +centuries we have been teaching the Turk through bitter lessons that +it is neither a safe task nor an easy one to make incursion here. + +How they did it we know not--at present; but enter they did, and, +after waiting in some secret hiding-place for a favourable +opportunity, secured their prey. We know not even now whether they +had found entrance to the Crypt and stole, as they thought, the dead +body, or whether, by some dire mischance, they found her abroad-- +under her disguise as a ghost. At any rate, they had captured her, +and through devious ways amongst the mountains were bearing her back +to Turkey. It was manifest that when she was on Turkish soil the +Sultan would force a marriage on her so as eventually to secure for +himself or his successors as against all other nations a claim for +the suzerainty or guardianship of the Blue Mountains. + +Such was the state of affairs when the Gospodar Rupert threw himself +into the pursuit with fiery zeal and the Berserk passion which he +inherited from Viking ancestors, whence of old came "The Sword of +Freedom" himself. + +But at that very time was another possibility which the Gospodar was +himself the first to realize. Failing the getting the Voivodin safe +to Turkish soil, the ravishers might kill her! This would be +entirely in accord with the base traditions and history of the +Moslems. So, too, it would accord with Turkish customs and the +Sultan's present desires. It would, in its way, benefit the ultimate +strategetic ends of Turkey. For were once the Vissarion race at an +end, the subjection of the Land of the Blue Mountains might, in their +view, be an easier task than it had yet been found to be. + +Such, illustrious lady, were the conditions of affairs when the +Gospodar Rupert first drew his handjar for the Blue Mountains and +what it held most dear. + +PALEALOGUE, +Archbishop of the Eastern Church, in the Land of the Blue Mountains. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +July 8, 1907. + +I wonder if ever in the long, strange history of the world had there +come to any other such glad tidings as came to me--and even then +rather inferentially than directly--from the Archimandrite's answers +to my questioning. Happily I was able to restrain myself, or I +should have created some strange confusion which might have evoked +distrust, and would certainly have hampered us in our pursuit. For a +little I could hardly accept the truth which wove itself through my +brain as the true inwardness of each fact came home to me and took +its place in the whole fabric. But even the most welcome truth has +to be accepted some time by even a doubting heart. My heart, +whatever it may have been, was not then a doubting heart, but a very, +very grateful one. It was only the splendid magnitude of the truth +which forbade its immediate acceptance. I could have shouted for +joy, and only stilled myself by keeping my thoughts fixed on the +danger which my wife was in. My wife! My wife! Not a Vampire; not +a poor harassed creature doomed to terrible woe, but a splendid +woman, brave beyond belief, patriotic in a way which has but few +peers even in the wide history of bravery! I began to understand the +true meaning of the strange occurrences that have come into my life. +Even the origin and purpose of that first strange visit to my room +became clear. No wonder that the girl could move about the Castle in +so mysterious a manner. She had lived there all her life, and was +familiar with the secret ways of entrance and exit. I had always +believed that the place must have been honeycombed with secret +passages. No wonder that she could find a way to the battlements, +mysterious to everybody else. No wonder that she could meet me at +the Flagstaff when she so desired. + +To say that I was in a tumult would be to but faintly express my +condition. I was rapt into a heaven of delight which had no measure +in all my adventurous life--the lifting of the veil which showed that +my wife--mine--won in all sincerity in the very teeth of appalling +difficulties and dangers--was no Vampire, no corpse, no ghost or +phantom, but a real woman of flesh and blood, of affection, and love, +and passion. Now at last would my love be crowned indeed when, +having rescued her from the marauders, I should bear her to my own +home, where she would live and reign in peace and comfort and honour, +and in love and wifely happiness if I could achieve such a blessing +for her--and for myself. + +But here a dreadful thought flashed across me, which in an instant +turned my joy to despair, my throbbing heart to ice: + +"As she is a real woman, she is in greater danger than ever in the +hands of Turkish ruffians. To them a woman is in any case no more +than a sheep; and if they cannot bring her to the harem of the +Sultan, they may deem it the next wisest step to kill her. In that +way, too, they might find a better chance of escape. Once rid of her +the party could separate, and there might be a chance of some of them +finding escape as individuals that would not exist for a party. But +even if they did not kill her, to escape with her would be to condemn +her to the worst fate of all the harem of the Turk! Lifelong misery +and despair--however long that life might be--must be the lot of a +Christian woman doomed to such a lot. And to her, just happily +wedded, and after she had served her country in such a noble way as +she had done, that dreadful life of shameful slavery would be a +misery beyond belief. + +"She must be rescued--and quickly! The marauders must be caught +soon, and suddenly, so that they may have neither time nor +opportunity to harm her, as they would be certain to do if they have +warning of immediate danger. + +"On! on!" + +And "on" it was all through that terrible night as well as we could +through the forest. + +It was a race between the mountaineers and myself as to who should be +first. I understood now the feeling that animated them, and which +singled them out even from amongst their fiery comrades, when the +danger of the Voivodin became known. These men were no mean +contestants even in such a race, and, strong as I am, it took my +utmost effort to keep ahead of them. They were keen as leopards, and +as swift. Their lives had been spent among the mountains, and their +hearts and souls on were in the chase. I doubt not that if the death +of any one of us could have through any means effected my wife's +release, we should, if necessary, have fought amongst ourselves for +the honour. + +From the nature of the work before us our party had to keep to the +top of the hills. We had not only to keep observation on the flying +party whom we followed, and to prevent them making discovery of us, +but we had to be always in a position to receive and answer signals +made to us from the Castle, or sent to us from other eminences. + + +Letter from Petrof Vlastimir, Archimandrite of Spazac, to the Lady +Janet MacKelpie, of Vissarion. +Written July 8, 1907. + +GREAT LADY, + +I am asked to write by the Vladika, and have permission of the +Archbishop. I have the honour of transmitting to you the record of +the pursuit of the Turkish spies who carried off the Voivodin Teuta, +of the noble House of Vissarion. The pursuit was undertaken by the +Gospodar Rupert, who asked that I would come with his party, since +what he was so good as to call my "great knowledge of the country and +its people" might serve much. It is true that I have had much +knowledge of the Land of the Blue Mountains and its people, amongst +which and whom my whole life has been passed. But in such a cause no +reason was required. There was not a man in the Blue Mountains who +would not have given his life for the Voivodin Teuta, and when they +heard that she had not been dead, as they thought, but only in a +trance, and that it was she whom the marauders had carried off, they +were in a frenzy. So why should I--to whom has been given the great +trust of the Monastery of Spazac--hesitate at such a time? For +myself, I wanted to hurry on, and to come at once to the fight with +my country's foes; and well I knew that the Gospodar Rupert, with a +lion's heart meet for his giant body, would press on with a matchless +speed. We of the Blue Mountains do not lag when our foes are in +front of us; most of all do we of the Eastern Church press on when +the Crescent wars against the Cross! + +We took with us no gear or hamper of any kind; no coverings except +what we stood in; no food--nothing but our handjars and our rifles, +with a sufficiency of ammunition. Before starting, the Gospodar gave +hurried orders by signal from the Castle to have food and ammunition +sent to us (as we might signal) by the nearest hamlet. + +It was high noon when we started, only ten strong--for our leader +would take none but approved runners who could shoot straight and use +the handjar as it should be used. So as we went light, we expected +to go fast. By this time we knew from the reports signalled to +Vissarion that the enemies were chosen men of no despicable prowess. + +The Keeper of the Green Flag of Islam is well served, and as though +the Turk is an infidel and a dog, he is sometimes brave and strong. +Indeed, except when he passes the confines of the Blue Mountains, he +has been known to do stirring deeds. But as none who have dared to +wander in amongst our hills ever return to their own land, we may not +know of how they speak at home of their battles here. Still, these +men were evidently not to be despised; and our Gospodar, who is a +wise man as well as a valiant, warned us to be prudent, and not to +despise our foes over much. We did as he counselled, and in proof we +only took ten men, as we had only twenty against us. But then there +was at stake much beyond life, and we took no risks. So, as the +great clock at Vissarion clanged of noon, the eight fastest runners +of the Blue Mountains, together with the Gospodar Rupert and myself, +swept out on our journey. It had been signalled to us that the +course which the marauders had as yet taken in their flight was a +zigzag one, running eccentrically at all sorts of angles in all sorts +of directions. But our leader had marked out a course where we might +intercept our foes across the main line of their flight; and till we +had reached that region we paused not a second, but went as fast as +we could all night long. Indeed, it was amongst us a race as was the +Olympic race of old Greece, each one vying with his fellows, though +not in jealous emulation, but in high spirit, to best serve his +country and the Voivodin Teuta. Foremost amongst us went the +Gospodar, bearing himself as a Paladin of old, his mighty form +pausing for no obstacle. Perpetually did he urge us on. He would +not stop or pause for a moment, but often as he and I ran together-- +for, lady, in my youth I was the fleetest of all in the race, and +even that now can head a battalion when duty calls--he would ask me +certain questions as to the Lady Teuta and of the strange manner of +her reputed death, as it was gradually unfolded in my answers to his +questioning. And as each new phase of knowledge came to him, he +would rush on as one possessed of fiends: whereat our mountaineers, +who seem to respect even fiends for their thoroughness, would strive +to keep pace with him till they too seemed worked into diabolic +possession. And I myself, left alone in the calmness of sacerdotal +office, forgot even that. With surging ears and eyes that saw blood, +I rushed along with best of them. + +Then truly the spirit of a great captain showed itself in the +Gospodar, for when others were charged with fury he began to force +himself into calm, so that out of his present self-command and the +memory of his exalted position came a worthy strategy and thought for +every contingency that might arise. So that when some new direction +was required for our guidance, there was no hesitation in its coming. +We, nine men of varying kinds, all felt that we had a master; and so, +being willing to limit ourselves to strict obedience, we were free to +use such thoughts as well as such powers as we had to the best +advantage of the doing. + +We came across the trail of the flying marauders on the second +morning after the abduction, a little before noon. It was easy +enough to see, for by this time the miscreants were all together, and +our people, who were woodlanders, were able to tell much of the party +that passed. These were evidently in a terrified hurry, for they had +taken no precautions such as are necessary baffle pursuit, and all of +which take time. Our foresters said that two went ahead and two +behind. In the centre went the mass, moving close together, as +though surrounding their prisoner. We caught not even a single +glimpse her--could not have, they encompassed her so closely. But +our foresters saw other than the mass; the ground that had been +passed was before them. They knew that the prisoner had gone +unwillingly--nay, more: one of them said as he rose from his knees, +where he had been examining of the ground: + +"The misbegotten dogs have been urging her on with their yataghans! +There are drops of blood, though there are no blood-marks on her +feet." + +Whereupon the Gospodar flamed with passion. His teeth ground +together, and with a deep-breathed "On, on!" he sprang off again, +handjar in hand, on the track. + +Before long we saw the party in the distance. They this were far +below us in a deep valley, although the track of their going passed +away to the right hand. They were making for the base of the great +cliff, which rose before us all. Their reason was twofold, as we +soon knew. Far off down the valley which they were crossing we saw +signs of persons coming in haste, who must be of the search party +coming from the north. Though the trees hid them, we could not +mistake the signs. I was myself forester enough to have no doubt. +Again, it was evident that the young Voivodin could travel no longer +at the dreadful pace at which they had been going. Those blood-marks +told their own tale! They meant to make a last stand here in case +they should be discovered. + +Then it was that he, who amongst us all had been most fierce and most +bent on rapid pursuit, became the most the calm. Raising his hand +for silence--though, God knows, we were and had been silent enough +during that long rush through the forest--he said, in a low, keen +whisper which cut the silence like a knife: + +"My friends, the time is come for action. God be thanked, who has +now brought us face to face with our foes! But we must be careful +here--not on our own account, for we wish nothing more than to rush +on and conquer or die--but for the sake of her whom you love, and +whom I, too, love. She is in danger from anything which may give +warning to those fiends. If they know or even suspect for an instant +that we are near, they will murder her . . . " + +Here his voice broke for an instant with the extremity of his passion +or the depth of his feeling--I hardly know which; I think both acted +on him. + +"We know from those blood-marks what they can do--even to her." His +teeth ground together again, but he went on without stopping further: + +"Let us arrange the battle. Though we are but little distance from +them as the crow flies, the way is far to travel. There is, I can +see, but one path down to the valley from this side. That they have +gone by, and that they will sure to guard--to watch, at any rate. +Let us divide, as to surround them. The cliff towards which they +make runs far to the left without a break. That to the right we +cannot see from this spot; but from the nature of the ground it is +not unlikely that it turns round in this direction, making the hither +end of the valley like a vast pocket or amphitheatre. As they have +studied the ground in other places, they may have done so in this, +and have come hither as to a known refuge. Let one man, a marksman, +stay here." + +As he spoke a man stepped to the front. He was, I knew, an excellent +shot. + +"Let two others go to the left and try to find a way down the cliff +before us. When they have descended to the level of the valley--path +or no path--let them advance cautiously and secretly, keeping their +guns in readiness. But they must not fire till need. Remember, my +brothers," said, turning to those who stepped out a pace or two to +the left, "that the first shot gives the warning which will be the +signal for the Voivodin's death. These men will not hesitate. You +must judge yourselves of the time to shoot. The others of us will +move to the right and try to find a path on that side. If the valley +be indeed a pocket between the cliffs, we must find a way down that +is not a path!" + +As he spoke thus there was a blaze in his eyes that betokened no good +to aught that might stand in his way. I ran by his side as we moved +to the right. + +It was as he surmised about the cliff. When we got a little on our +way we saw how the rocky formation trended to our right, till, +finally, with a wide curve, it came round to the other side. + +It was a fearful valley that, with its narrow girth and its towering +walls that seemed to topple over. On the farther side from us the +great trees that clothed the slope of the mountain over it grew down +to the very edge of the rock, so that their spreading branches hung +far over the chasm. And, so far as we could understand, the same +condition existed on our own side. Below us the valley was dark even +in the daylight. We could best tell the movement of the flying +marauders by the flashes of the white shroud of their captive in the +midst of them. + +From where we were grouped, amid the great tree-trunks on the very +brow of the cliff, we could, when our eyes were accustomed to the +shadow, see them quite well. In great haste, and half dragging, half +carrying the Voivodin, they crossed the open space and took refuge in +a little grassy alcove surrounded, save for its tortuous entrance, by +undergrowth. From the valley level it was manifestly impossible to +see them, though we from our altitude could see over the stunted +undergrowth. When within the glade, they took their hands from her. +She, shuddering instinctively, withdrew to a remote corner of the +dell. + +And then, oh, shame on their manhood!--Turks and heathens though they +were--we could see that they had submitted her to the indignity of +gagging her and binding her hands! + +Our Voivodin Teuta bound! To one and all of us it was like lashing +us across the face. I heard the Gospodar's teeth grind again. But +once more he schooled himself to calmness ere he said: + +"It is, perhaps, as well, great though the indignity be. They are +seeking their own doom, which is coming quickly . . . Moreover, they +are thwarting their own base plans. Now that she is bound they will +trust to their binding, so that they will delay their murderous +alternative to the very last moment. Such is our chance of rescuing +her alive!" + +For a few moments he stood as still as a stone, as though revolving +something in his mind whilst he watched. I could see that some grim +resolution was forming in his mind, for his eyes ranged to the top of +the trees above cliff, and down again, very slowly this time, as +though measuring and studying the detail of what was in front of him. +Then he spoke: + +"They are in hopes that the other pursuing party may not come across +them. To know that, they are waiting. If those others do not come +up the valley, they will proceed on their way. They will return up +the path the way they came. There we can wait them, charge into the +middle of them when she is opposite, and cut down those around her. +Then the others will open fire, and we shall be rid of them! + +Whilst he was speaking, two of the men of our party, who I knew to be +good sharpshooters, and who had just before lain on their faces and +had steadied their rifles to shoot, rose to their feet. + +"Command us, Gospodar!" they said simply, as they stood to attention. +"Shall we go to the head of the ravine road and there take hiding?" +He thought for perhaps a minute, whilst we all stood as silent as +images. I could hear our hearts beating. Then he said: + +"No, not yet. There is time for that yet. They will not--cannot +stir or make plans in any way till they know whether the other party +is coming towards them or not. From our height here we can see what +course the others are taking long before those villains do. Then we +can make our plans and be ready in time. + +We waited many minutes, but could see no further signs the other +pursuing party. These had evidently adopted greater caution in their +movements as they came closer to where they expected to find the +enemy. The marauders began to grow anxious. Even at our distance we +could gather as much from their attitude and movements. + +Presently, when the suspense of their ignorance grew too much for +them, they drew to the entrance of the glade, which was the farthest +place to which, without exposing themselves to anyone who might come +to the valley, they could withdraw from their captive. Here they +consulted together. We could follow from their gestures what they +were saying, for as they did not wish their prisoner to hear, their +gesticulation was enlightening to us as to each other. Our people, +like all mountaineers, have good eyes, and the Gospodar is himself an +eagle in this as in other ways. Three men stood back from the rest. +They stacked their rifles so that they could seize them easily. Then +they drew their scimitars, and stood ready, as though on guard. + +These were evidently the appointed murderers. Well they knew their +work; for though they stood in a desert place with none within long +distance except the pursuing party, of whose approach they would have +good notice, they stood so close to their prisoner that no marksman +in the world--now or that ever had been; not William Tell himself-- +could have harmed any of them without at least endangering her. Two +of them turned the Voivodin round so that her face was towards the +precipice--in which position she could not see what was going on-- +whilst he who was evidently leader of the gang explained, in gesture, +that the others were going to spy upon the pursuing party. When they +had located them he, or one of his men, would come out of the opening +of the wood wherein they had had evidence of them, and hold up his +hand. + +That was to be the signal for the cutting of the victim's throat-- +such being the chosen method (villainous even for heathen murderers) +of her death. There was not one of our men who did not grind his +teeth when we witnessed the grim action, only too expressive, of the +Turk as he drew his right hand, clenched as though he held a yataghan +in it, across his throat. + +At the opening of the glade all the spying party halted whilst the +leader appointed to each his place of entry of the wood, the front of +which extended in an almost straight across the valley from cliff to +cliff. + +The men, stooping low when in the open, and taking instant advantage +of every little obstacle on the ground, seemed to fade like spectres +with incredible swiftness across the level mead, and were swallowed +up in the wood. + +When they had disappeared the Gospodar Rupert revealed to us the +details of the plan of action which he had revolving in his mind. He +motioned us to follow him: we threaded a way between the tree- +trunks, keeping all the while on the very edge of the cliff, so that +the space below was all visible to us. When we had got round the +curve sufficiently to see the whole of the wood on the valley level, +without losing sight of the Voivodin and her appointed assassins, we +halted under his direction. There was an added advantage of this +point over the other, for we could see directly the rising of the +hill-road, up which farther side ran the continuation of the mountain +path which the marauders had followed. It was somewhere on that path +that the other pursuing party had hoped to intercept the fugitives. +The Gospodar spoke quickly, though in a voice of command which true +soldiers love to hear: + +"Brothers, the time has come when we can strike a blow for Teuta and +the Land. Do you two, marksmen, take position here facing the wood." +The two men here lay down and got their rifles ready. "Divide the +frontage of the wood between you; arrange between yourselves the +limits of your positions. The very instant one of the marauders +appears, cover him; drop him before he emerges from the wood. Even +then still watch and treat similarly whoever else may take his place. +Do this if they come singly till not a man is left. Remember, +brothers, that brave hearts alone will not suffice at this grim +crisis. In this hour the best safety of the Voivodin is in the calm +spirit and the steady eye!" Then he turned to the rest of us, and +spoke to me: + +"Archimandrite of Plazac, you who are interpreter to God of the +prayers of so many souls, my own hour has come. If I do not return, +convey my love to my Aunt Janet--Miss MacKelpie, at Vissarion. There +is but one thing left to us if we wish to save the Voivodin. Do you, +when the time comes, take these men and join the watcher at the top +of the ravine road. When the shots are fired, do you out handjar, +and rush the ravine and across the valley. Brothers, you may be in +time to avenge the Voivodin, if you cannot save her. For me there +must be a quicker way, and to it I go. As there is not, and will not +be, time to traverse the path, I must take a quicker way. Nature +finds me a path that man has made it necessary for me to travel. See +that giant beech-tree that towers above the glade where the Voivodin +is held? There is my path! When you from here have marked the +return of the spies, give me a signal with your hat--do not use a +handkerchief, as others might see its white, and take warning. Then +rush that ravine. I shall take that as the signal for my descent by +the leafy road. If I can do naught else, I can crush the murderers +with my falling weight, even if I have to kill her too. At least we +shall die together--and free. Lay us together in the tomb at St. +Sava's. Farewell, if it be the last!" + +He threw down the scabbard in which he carried his handjar, adjusted +the naked weapon in his belt behind his back, and was gone! + +We who were not watching the wood kept our eyes fixed on the great +beech-tree, and with new interest noticed the long trailing branches +which hung low, and swayed even in the gentle breeze. For a few +minutes, which seemed amazingly long, we saw no sign of him. Then, +high up on one of the great branches which stood clear of obscuring +leaves, we saw something crawling flat against the bark. He was well +out on the branch, hanging far over the precipice. He was looking +over at us, and I waved my hand so that he should know we saw him. +He was clad in green--his usual forest dress--so that there was not +any likelihood of any other eyes noticing him. I took off my hat, +and held it ready to signal with when the time should come. I +glanced down at the glade and saw the Voivodin standing, still safe, +with her guards so close to her as to touch. Then I, too, fixed my +eyes on the wood. + +Suddenly the man standing beside me seized my arm and pointed. I +could just see through the trees, which were lower than elsewhere in +the front of the wood, a Turk moving stealthily; so I waved my hat. +At the same time a rifle underneath me cracked. A second or two +later the spy pitched forward on his face and lay still. At the same +instant my eyes sought the beech-tree, and I saw the close-lying +figure raise itself and slide forward to a joint of the branch. Then +the Gospodar, as he rose, hurled himself forward amid the mass of the +trailing branches. He dropped like a stone, and my heart sank. + +But an instant later he seemed in poise. He had clutched the thin, +trailing branches as he fell; and as he sank a number of leaves which +his motion had torn off floated out round him. + +Again the rifle below me cracked, and then again, and again, and +again. The marauders had taken warning, and were coming out in mass. +But my own eyes were fixed on the tree. Almost as a thunderbolt +falls fell the giant body of the Gospodar, his size lost in the +immensity of his surroundings. He fell in a series of jerks, as he +kept clutching the trailing beech-branches whilst they lasted, and +then other lesser verdure growing out from the fissures in the rock +after the lengthening branches had with all their elasticity reached +their last point. + +At length--for though this all took place in a very few seconds the +gravity of the crisis prolonged them immeasurably--there came a large +space of rock some three times his own length. He did not pause, but +swung himself to one side, so that he should fall close to the +Voivodin and her guards. These men did not seem to notice, for their +attention was fixed on the wood whence they expected their messenger +to signal. But they raised their yataghans in readiness. The shots +had alarmed them; and they meant to do the murder now--messenger or +no messenger + +But though the men did not see the danger from above, the Voivodin +did. She raised her eyes quickly at the first sound, and even from +where we were, before we began to run towards the ravine path, I +could see the triumphant look in her glorious eyes when she +recognized the identity of the man who was seemingly coming straight +down from Heaven itself to help her--as, indeed, she, and we too, can +very well imagine that he did; for if ever heaven had a hand in a +rescue on earth, it was now. + +Even during the last drop from the rocky foliage the Gospodar kept +his head. As he fell he pulled his handjar free, and almost as he +was falling its sweep took off the head of one of the assassins. As +he touched ground he stumbled for an instant, but it was towards his +enemies. Twice with lightning rapidity the handjar swept the air, +and at each sweep a head rolled on the sward. + +The Voivodin held up her tied hands. Again the handjar flashed, this +time downwards, and the lady was free. Without an instant's pause +the Gospodar tore off the gag, and with his left arm round her and +handjar in right hand, stood face toward his living foes. The +Voivodin stooped suddenly, and then, raising the yataghan which had +fallen from the hand of one of the dead marauders, stood armed beside +him. + +The rifles were now cracking fast, as the marauders--those that were +left of them--came rushing out into the open. But well the marksmen +knew their work. Well they bore in mind the Gospodar's command +regarding calmness. They kept picking off the foremost men only, so +that the onward rush never seemed to get more forward. + +As we rushed down the ravine we could see clearly all before us. But +now, just as we were beginning to fear lest some mischance might +allow some of them to reach the glade, there was another cause of +surprise--of rejoicing. + +From the face of the wood seemed to burst all at once a body of men, +all wearing the national cap, so we knew them as our own. They were +all armed with the handjar only, and they came like tigers. They +swept on the rushing Turks as though, for all their swiftness, they +were standing still--literally wiping them out as a child wipes a +lesson from its slate. + +A few seconds later these were followed by a tall figure with long +hair and beard of black mingled with grey. Instinctively we all, as +did those in the valley, shouted with joy. For this was the Vladika +Milosh Plamenac himself. + +I confess that, knowing what I knew, I was for a short space of time +anxious lest, in the terrific excitement in which we were all lapped, +someone might say or do something which might make for trouble later +on. The Gospodar's splendid achievement, which was worthy of any +hero of old romance, had set us all on fire. He himself must have +been wrought to a high pitch of excitement to dare such an act; and +it is not at such a time that discretion must be expected from any +man. Most of all did I fear danger from the womanhood of the +Voivodin. Had I not assisted at her marriage, I might not have +understood then what it must have been to her to be saved from such a +doom at such a time by such a man, who was so much to her, and in +such a way. It would have been only natural if at such a moment of +gratitude and triumph she had proclaimed the secret which we of the +Council of the Nation and her father's Commissioners had so +religiously kept. But none of us knew then either the Voivodin or +the Gospodar Rupert as we do now. It was well that they were as they +are, for the jealousy and suspicion of our mountaineers might, even +at such a moment, and even whilst they throbbed at such a deed, have +so manifested themselves as to have left a legacy of distrust. The +Vladika and I, who of all (save the two immediately concerned) alone +knew, looked at each other apprehensively. But at that instant the +Voivodin, with a swift glance at her husband, laid a finger on her +lip; and he, with quick understanding, gave assurance by a similar +sign. Then she sank before him on one knee, and, raising his hand to +her lips, kissed it, and spoke: + +"Gospodar Rupert, I owe you all that a woman may owe, except to God. +You have given me life and honour! I cannot thank you adequately for +what you have done; my father will try to do so when he returns. But +I am right sure that the men of the Blue Mountains, who so value +honour, and freedom, and liberty, and bravery, will hold you in their +hearts for ever!" + +This was so sweetly spoken, with lips that trembled and eyes that +swam in tears, so truly womanly and so in accord with the custom of +our nation regarding the reverence that women owe to men, that the +hearts of our mountaineers were touched to the quick. Their noble +simplicity found expression in tears. But if the gallant Gospodar +could have for a moment thought that so to weep was unmanly, his +error would have had instant correction. When the Voivodin had risen +to her feet, which she did with queenly dignity, the men around +closed in on the Gospodar like a wave of the sea, and in a second +held him above their heads, tossing on their lifted hands as if on +stormy breakers. It was as though the old Vikings of whom we have +heard, and whose blood flows in Rupert's veins, were choosing a chief +in old fashion. I was myself glad that the men were so taken up with +the Gospodar that they did not see the glory of the moment in the +Voivodin's starry eyes; for else they might have guessed the secret. +I knew from the Vladika's look that he shared my own satisfaction, +even as he had shared my anxiety. + +As the Gospodar Rupert was tossed high on the lifted hands of the +mountaineers, their shouts rose to such a sudden volume that around +us, as far as I could see, the frightened birds rose from the forest, +and their noisy alarm swelled the tumult. + +The Gospodar, ever thoughtful for others, was the first to calm +himself. + +"Come, brothers," he said, "let us gain the hilltop, where we can +signal to the Castle. It is right that the whole nation should share +in the glad tidings that the Voivodin Teuta of Vissarion is free. +But before we go, let us remove the arms and clothing of these +carrion marauders. We may have use for them later on." + +The mountaineers set him down, gently enough. And he, taking the +Voivodin by the hand, and calling the Vladika and myself close to +them, led the way up the ravine path which the marauders had +descended, and thence through the forest to the top of the hill that +dominated the valley. Here we could, from an opening amongst the +trees, catch a glimpse far off of the battlements of Vissarion. +Forthwith the Gospodar signalled; and on the moment a reply of their +awaiting was given. Then the Gospodar signalled the glad news. It +was received with manifest rejoicing. We could not hear any sound so +far away, but we could see the movement of lifted faces and waving +hands, and knew that it was well. But an instant after came a calm +so dread that we knew before the semaphore had begun to work that +there was bad news in store for us. When the news did come, a bitter +wailing arose amongst us; for the news that was signalled ran: + +"The Voivode has been captured by the Turks on his return, and is +held by them at Ilsin." + +In an instant the temper of the mountaineers changed. It was as +though by a flash summer had changed to winter, as though the yellow +glory of the standing corn had been obliterated by the dreary waste +of snow. Nay, more: it was as when one beholds the track of the +whirlwind when the giants of the forest are levelled with the sward. +For a few seconds there was silence; and then, with an angry roar, as +when God speaks in the thunder, came the fierce determination of the +men of the Blue Mountains: + +"To Ilsin! To Ilsin!" and a stampede in the direction of the south +began. For, Illustrious Lady, you, perhaps, who have been for so +short a time at Vissarion, may not know that at the extreme southern +point of the Land of the Blue Mountains lies the little port of +Ilsin, which long ago we wrested from the Turk. + +The stampede was checked by the command, "Halt!" spoken in a +thunderous voice by the Gospodar. Instinctively all stopped. The +Gospodar Rupert spoke again: + +"Had we not better know a little more before we start on our journey? +I shall get by semaphore what details are known. Do you all proceed +in silence and as swiftly as possible. The Vladika and I will wait +here till we have received the news and have sent some instructions, +when we shall follow, and, if we can, overtake you. One thing: be +absolutely silent on what has been. Be secret of every detail--even +as to the rescue of the Voivodin--except what I send." + +Without a word--thus showing immeasurable trust--the whole body--not +a very large one, it is true--moved on, and the Gospodar began +signalling. As I was myself expert in the code, I did not require +any explanation, but followed question and answer on either side. +The first words the Gospodar Rupert signalled were: + +"Silence, absolute and profound, as to everything which has been." +Then he asked for details of the capture of the Voivode. The answer +ran: + +"He was followed from Flushing, and his enemies advised by the spies +all along the route. At Ragusa quite a number of strangers-- +travellers seemingly--went on board the packet. When he got out, the +strangers debarked too, and evidently followed him, though, as yet, +we have no details. He disappeared at Ilsin from the Hotel Reo, +whither he had gone. All possible steps are being taken to trace his +movements, and strictest silence and secrecy are observed." + +His answer was: + +"Good! Keep silent and secret. Am hurrying back. Signal request to +Archbishop and all members of National Council to come to Gadaar with +all speed. There the yacht will meet him. Tell Rooke take yacht all +speed to Gadaar; there meet Archbishop and Council--give him list of +names--and return full speed. Have ready plenty arms, six flying +artillery. Two hundred men, provisions three days. Silence, +silence. All depends on that. All to go on as usual at Castle, +except to those in secret." + +When the receipt of his message had been signalled, we three--for, of +course, the Voivodin was with us; she had refused to leave the +Gospodar--set out hot-foot after our comrades. But by the time we +had descended the hill it was evident that the Voivodin could not +keep up the terrific pace at which we were going. She struggled +heroically, but the long journey she had already taken, and the +hardship and anxiety she had suffered, had told on her. The Gospodar +stopped, and said that it would be better that he should press on--it +was, perhaps, her father's life--and said he would carry her. + +"No, no!" she answered. "Go on! I shall follow with the Vladika. +And then you can have things ready to get on soon after the +Archbishop and Council arrive." They kissed each other after, on her +part, a shy glance at me; and he went on the track of our comrades at +a great pace. I could see him shortly after catch them up,--though +they, too, were going fast. For a few minutes they ran together, he +speaking--I could note it from the way they kept turning their heads +towards him. Then he broke away from them hurriedly. He went like a +stag breaking covert, and was soon out of sight. They halted a +moment or two. Then some few ran on, and all the rest came back +towards us. Quickly they improvised a litter with cords and +branches, and insisted that the Voivodin should use it. In an +incredibly short time we were under way again, and proceeding with +great rapidity towards Vissarion. The men took it in turns to help +with the litter; I had the honour of taking a hand in the work +myself. + +About a third of the way out from Vissarion a number of our people +met us. They were fresh, and as they carried the litter, we who were +relieved were free for speed. So we soon arrived at the Castle. + +Here we found all humming like a hive of bees. The yacht, which +Captain Rooke had kept fired ever since the pursuing party under the +Gospodar had left Vissarion, was already away, and tearing up the +coast at a fearful rate. The rifles and ammunition were stacked on +the quay. The field-guns, too, were equipped, and the cases of +ammunition ready to ship. The men, two hundred of them, were paraded +in full kit, ready to start at a moment's notice. The provision for +three days was all ready to put aboard, and barrels of fresh water to +trundle aboard when the yacht should return. At one end of the quay, +ready to lift on board, stood also the Gospodar's aeroplane, fully +equipped, and ready, if need were, for immediate flight. + +I was glad to see that the Voivodin seemed none the worse for her +terrible experience. She still wore her shroud; but no one seemed to +notice it as anything strange. The whisper had evidently gone round +of what had been. But discretion ruled the day. She and the +Gospodar met as two who had served and suffered in common; but I was +glad to notice that both kept themselves under such control that none +of those not already in the secret even suspected that there was any +love between them, let alone marriage. + +We all waited with what patience we could till word was signalled +from the Castle tower that the yacht had appeared over the northern +horizon, and was coming down fast, keeping inshore as she came. + +When she arrived, we heard to our joy that all concerned had done +their work well. The Archbishop was aboard, and of the National +Council not one was missing. The Gospodar hurried them all into the +great hall of the Castle, which had in the meantime been got ready. +I, too, went with him, but the Voivodin remained without. + +When all were seated, he rose and said: + +"My Lord Archbishop, Vladika, and Lords of the Council all, I have +dared to summon you in this way because time presses, and the life of +one you all love--the Voivode Vissarion--is at stake. This audacious +attempt of the Turk is the old aggression under a new form. It is a +new and more daring step than ever to try to capture your chief and +his daughter, the Voivodin, whom you love. Happily, the latter part +of the scheme is frustrated. The Voivodin is safe and amongst us. +But the Voivode is held prisoner--if, indeed, he be still alive. He +must be somewhere near Ilsin--but where exactly we know not as yet. +We have an expedition ready to start the moment we receive your +sanction--your commands. We shall obey your wishes with our lives. +But as the matter is instant, I would venture to ask one question, +and one only: 'Shall we rescue the Voivode at any cost that may +present itself?' I ask this, for the matter has now become an +international one, and, if our enemies are as earnest as we are, the +issue is war! + +Having so spoken, and with a dignity and force which is +inexpressible, he withdrew; and the Council, having appointed a +scribe--the monk Cristoferos, whom I had suggested--began its work. + +The Archbishop spoke: + +"Lords of the Council of the Blue Mountains, I venture to ask you +that the answer to the Gospodar Rupert be an instant 'Yes!' together +with thanks and honour to that gallant Englisher, who has made our +cause his own, and who has so valiantly rescued our beloved Voivodin +from the ruthless hands of our enemies." Forthwith the oldest member +of the Council--Nicolos of Volok--rose, and, after throwing a +searching look round the faces of all, and seeing grave nods of +assent--for not a word was spoken--said to him who held the door: +"Summon the Gospodar Rupert forthwith!" When Rupert entered, he +spoke to him: + +"Gospodar Rupert, the Council of the Blue Mountains has only one +answer to give: Proceed! Rescue the Voivode Vissarion, whatever the +cost may be! You hold henceforth in your hand the handjar of our +nation, as already, for what you have done in your valiant rescue of +our beloved Voivodin, your breast holds the heart of our people. +Proceed at once! We give you, I fear, little time; but we know that +such is your own wish. Later, we shall issue formal authorization, +so that if war may ensue, our allies may understand that you have +acted for the nation, and also such letters credential as may be +required by you in this exceptional service. These shall follow you +within an hour. For our enemies we take no account. See, we draw +the handjar that we offer you." As one man all in the hall drew +their handjars, which flashed as a blaze of lightning. + +There did not seem to be an instant's delay. The Council broke up, +and its members, mingling with the people without, took active part +in the preparations. Not many minutes had elapsed when the yacht, +manned and armed and stored as arranged, was rushing out of the +creek. On the bridge, beside Captain Rooke, stood the Gospodar +Rupert and the still-shrouded form of the Voivodin Teuta. I myself +was on the lower deck with the soldiers, explaining to certain of +them the special duties which they might be called on to fulfil. I +held the list which the Gospodar Rupert had prepared whilst we were +waiting for the yacht to arrive from Gadaar. + +PETROF VLASTIMIR. + + +FROM RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +July 9, 1907. + +We went at a terrific pace down the coast, keeping well inshore so as +to avoid, if possible, being seen from the south. Just north of +Ilsin a rocky headland juts out, and that was our cover. On the +north of the peninsula is a small land-locked bay, with deep water. +It is large enough to take the yacht, though a much larger vessel +could not safely enter. We ran in, and anchored close to the shore, +which has a rocky frontage--a natural shelf of rock, which is +practically the same as a quay. Here we met the men who had come +from Ilsin and the neighbourhood in answer to our signalling earlier +in the day. They gave us the latest information regarding the +kidnapping of the Voivode, and informed us that every man in that +section of the country was simply aflame about it. They assured us +that we could rely on them, not merely to fight to the death, but to +keep silence absolutely. Whilst the seamen, under the direction of +Rooke, took the aeroplane on shore and found a suitable place for it, +where it was hidden from casual view, but from which it could be +easily launched, the Vladika and I--and, of course, my wife--were +hearing such details as were known of the disappearance of her +father. + +It seems that he travelled secretly in order to avoid just such a +possibility as has happened. No one knew of his coming till he came +to Fiume, whence he sent a guarded message to the Archbishop, which +the latter alone would understand. But this Turkish agents were +evidently on his track all the time, and doubtless the Bureau of +Spies was kept well advised. He landed at Ilsin from a coasting +steamer from Ragusa to the Levant. + +For two days before his coming there had been quite an unusual number +of arrivals at the little port, at which arrivals are rare. And it +turned out that the little hotel--the only fairly good one in Ilsin-- +was almost filled up. Indeed, only one room was left, which the +Voivode took for the night. The innkeeper did not know the Voivode +in his disguise, but suspected who it was from the description. He +dined quietly, and went to bed. His room was at the back, on the +ground-floor, looking out on the bank of the little River Silva, +which here runs into the harbour. No disturbance was heard in the +night. Late in the morning, when the elderly stranger had not made +his appearance, inquiry was made at his door. He did not answer, so +presently the landlord forced the door, and found the room empty. +His luggage was seemingly intact, only the clothes which he had worn +were gone. A strange thing was that, though the bed had been slept +in and his clothes were gone, his night-clothes were not to be found, +from which it was argued by the local authorities, when they came to +make inquiry, that he had gone or been taken from the room in his +night-gear, and that his clothes had been taken with him. There was +evidently some grim suspicion on the part of the authorities, for +they had commanded absolute silence on all in the house. When they +came to make inquiry as to the other guests, it was found that one +and all had gone in the course of the morning, after paying their +bills. None of them had any heavy luggage, and there was nothing +remaining by which they might be traced or which would afford any +clue to their identity. The authorities, having sent a confidential +report to the seat of government, continued their inquiries, and even +now all available hands were at work on the investigation. When I +had signalled to Vissarion, before my arrival there, word had been +sent through the priesthood to enlist in the investigation the +services of all good men, so that every foot of ground in that +section of the Blue Mountains was being investigated. The port- +master was assured by his watchmen that no vessel, large or small, +had heft the harbour during the night. The inference, therefore, was +that the Voivode's captors had made inland with him--if, indeed, they +were not already secreted in or near the town. + +Whilst we were receiving the various reports, a hurried message came +that it was now believed that the whole party were in the Silent +Tower. This was a well-chosen place for such an enterprise. It was +a massive tower of immense strength, built as a memorial--and also as +a "keep"--after one of the massacres of the invading Turks. + +It stood on the summit of a rocky knoll some ten miles inland from +the Port of Ilsin. It was a place shunned as a rule, and the country +all around it was so arid and desolate that there were no residents +near it. As it was kept for state use, and might be serviceable in +time of war, it was closed with massive iron doors, which were kept +locked except upon certain occasions. The keys were at the seat of +government at Plazac. If, therefore, it had been possible to the +Turkish marauders to gain entrance and exit, it might be a difficult +as well as a dangerous task to try to cut the Voivode out. His +presence with them was a dangerous menace to any force attacking +them, for they would hold his life as a threat. + +I consulted with the Vladika at once as to what was best to be done. +And we decided that, though we should put a cordon of guards around +it at a safe distance to prevent them receiving warning, we should at +present make no attack. + +We made further inquiry as to whether there had been any vessel seen +in the neighbourhood during the past few days, and were informed that +once or twice a warship had been seen on the near side of the +southern horizon. This was evidently the ship which Rooke had seen +on his rush down the coast after the abduction of the Voivodin, and +which he had identified as a Turkish vessel. The glimpses of her +which had been had were all in full daylight--there was no proof that +she had not stolen up during the night-time without lights. But the +Vladika and I were satisfied that the Turkish vessel was watching-- +was in league with both parties of marauders--and was intended to +take off any of the strangers, or their prey, who might reach Ilsin +undetected. It was evidently with this view that the kidnappers of +Teuta had, in the first instance, made with all speed for the south. +It was only when disappointed there that they headed up north, +seeking in desperation for some chance of crossing the border. That +ring of steel had so far well served its purpose. + +I sent for Rooke, and put the matter before him. He had thought it +out for himself to the same end as we had. His deduction was: + +"Let us keep the cordon, and watch for any signal from the Silent +Tower. The Turks will tire before we shall. I undertake to watch +the Turkish warship. During the night I shall run down south, +without lights, and have a look at her, even if I have to wait till +the grey of the dawn to do so. She may see us; but if she does I +shall crawl away at such pace that she shall not get any idea of our +speed. She will certainly come nearer before a day is over, for be +sure the bureau of spies is kept advised, and they know that when the +country is awake each day increases the hazard of them and their +plans being discovered. From their caution I gather that they do not +court discovery; and from that that they do not wish for an open +declaration of war. If this be so, why should we not come out to +them and force an issue if need be?" + +When Teuta and I got a chance to be alone, we discussed the situation +in every phase. The poor girl was in a dreadful state of anxiety +regarding her father's safety. At first she was hardly able to +speak, or even to think, coherently. Her utterance was choked, and +her reasoning palsied with indignation. But presently the fighting +blood of her race restored her faculties, and then her woman's quick +wit was worth the reasoning of a camp full of men. Seeing that she +was all on fire with the subject, I sat still and waited, taking care +not to interrupt her. For quite a long time she sat still, whilst +the coming night thickened. When she spoke, the whole plan of +action, based on subtle thinking, had mapped itself out in her mind: + +"We must act quickly. Every hour increases the risk to my father." +Here her voice broke for an instant; but she recovered herself and +went on: + +"If you go to the ship, I must not go with you. It would not do for +me to be seen. The Captain doubtless knows of both attempts: that +to carry me off as well as that against my father. As yet he is in +ignorance of what has happened. You and your party of brave, loyal +men did their work so well that no news could go forth. So long, +therefore, as the naval Captain is ignorant, he must delay till the +last. But if he saw me he would know that THAT branch of the venture +had miscarried. He would gather from our being here that we had news +of my father's capture, and as he would know that the marauders would +fail unless they were relieved by force, he would order the captive +to be slain." + +"Yes, dear, to-morrow you had, perhaps, better see the Captain, but +to-night we must try to rescue my father. Here I think I see a way. +You have your aeroplane. Please take me with you into the Silent +Tower." + +"Not for a world of chrysolite!" said I, horrified. She took my hand +and held it tight whilst she went on: + +"Dear, I know, I know! Be satisfied. But it is the only way. You +can, I know, get there, and in the dark. But if you were to go in +it, it would give warning to the enemies, and besides, my father +would not understand. Remember, he does not know you; he has never +seen you, and does not, I suppose, even know as yet of your +existence. But he would know me at once, and in any dress. You can +manage to lower me into the Tower by a rope from the aeroplane. The +Turks as yet do not know of our pursuit, and doubtless rely, at all +events in part, on the strength and security of the Tower. Therefore +their guard will be less active than it would at first or later on. +I shall post father in all details, and we shall be ready quickly. +Now, dear, let us think out the scheme together. Let your man's wit +and experience help my ignorance, and we shall save my father!" + +How could I have resisted such pleading--even had it not seemed wise? +But wise it was; and I, who knew what the aeroplane could do under my +own guidance, saw at once the practicalities of the scheme. Of +course there was a dreadful risk in case anything should go wrong. +But we are at present living in a world of risks--and her father's +life was at stake. So I took my dear wife in my arms, and told her +that my mind was hers for this, as my soul and body already were. +And I cheered her by saying that I thought it might be done. + +I sent for Rooke, and told him of the new adventure, and he quite +agreed with me in the wisdom of it. I then told him that he would +have to go and interview the Captain of the Turkish warship in the +morning, if I did not turn up. "I am going to see the Vladika," I +said. "He will lead our own troops in the attack on the Silent +Tower. But it will rest with you to deal with the warship. Ask the +Captain to whom or what nation the ship belongs. He is sure to +refuse to tell. In such case mention to him that if he flies no +nation's flag, his vessel is a pirate ship, and that you, who are in +command of the navy of the Blue Mountains, will deal with him as a +pirate is dealt with--no quarter, no mercy. He will temporize, and +perhaps try a bluff; but when things get serious with him he will +land a force, or try to, and may even prepare to shell the town. He +will threaten to, at any rate. In such case deal with him as you +think best, or as near to it as you can." He answered: + +"I shall carry out your wishes with my life. It is a righteous task. +Not that anything of that sort would ever stand in my way. If he +attacks our nation, either as a Turk or a pirate, I shall wipe him +out. We shall see what our own little packet can do. Moreover, any +of the marauders who have entered the Blue Mountains, from sea or +otherwise, shall never get out by sea! I take it that we of my +contingent shall cover the attacking party. It will be a sorry time +for us all if that happens without our seeing you and the Voivodin; +for in such case we shall understand the worst!" Iron as he was, the +man trembled. + +"That is so, Rooke," I said. "We are taking a desperate chance, we +know. But the case is desperate! But we all have our duty to do, +whatever happens. Ours and yours is stern; but when we have done it, +the result will be that life will be easier for others--for those +that are left." + +Before he left, I asked him to send up to me three suits of the +Masterman bullet-proof clothes of which we had a supply on the yacht. + +"Two are for the Voivodin and myself," I said; "the third is for the +Voivode to put on. The Voivodin will take it with her when she +descends from the aeroplane into the Tower." + +Whilst any daylight was left I went out to survey the ground. My +wife wanted to come with me, but I would not let her. "No," said I; +"you will have at the best a fearful tax on your strength and your +nerves. You will want to be as fresh as is possible when you get on +the aeroplane." Like a good wife, she obeyed, and lay down to rest +in the little tent provided for her. + +I took with me a local man who knew the ground, and who was trusted +to be silent. We made a long detour when we had got as near the +Silent Tower as we could without being noticed. I made notes from my +compass as to directions, and took good notice of anything that could +possibly serve as a landmark. By the time we got home I was pretty +well satisfied that if all should go well I could easily sail over +the Tower in the dark. Then I had a talk with my wife, and gave her +full instructions: + +"When we arrive over the Tower," I said, "I shall lower you with a +long rope. You will have a parcel of food and spirit for your father +in case he is fatigued or faint; and, of course, the bullet-proof +suit, which he must put on at once. You will also have a short rope +with a belt at either end--one for your father, the other for you. +When I turn the aeroplane and come back again, you will have ready +the ring which lies midway between the belts. This you will catch +into the hook at the end of the lowered rope. When all is secure, +and I have pulled you both up by the windlass so as to clear the top, +I shall throw out ballast which we shall carry on purpose, and away +we go! I am sorry it must be so uncomfortable for you both, but +there is no other way. When we get well clear of the Tower, I shall +take you both up on the platform. If necessary, I shall descend to +do it--and then we shall steer for Ilsin." + +"When all is safe, our men will attack the Tower. We must let them +do it, for they expect it. A few men in the clothes and arms which +we took from your captors will be pursued by some of ours. It is all +arranged. They will ask the Turks to admit them, and if the latter +have not learned of your father's escape, perhaps they will do so. +Once in, our men will try to open the gate. The chances are against +them, poor fellows! but they are all volunteers, and will die +fighting. If they win out, great glory will be theirs." + +"The moon does not rise to-night till just before midnight, so we +have plenty of time. We shall start from here at ten. If all be +well, I shall place you in the Tower with your father in less than a +quarter-hour from that. A few minutes will suffice to clothe him in +bullet-proof and get on his belt. I shall not be away from the Tower +more than a very few minutes, and, please God, long before eleven we +shall be safe. Then the Tower can be won in an attack by our +mountaineers. Perhaps, when the guns are heard on the ship of war-- +for there is sure to be firing--the Captain may try to land a shore +party. But Rooke will stand in the way, and if I know the man and +The Lady, we shall not be troubled with many Turks to-night. By +midnight you and your father can be on the way to Vissarion. I can +interview the naval Captain in the morning." + +My wife's marvellous courage and self-possession stood to her. At +half an hour before the time fixed she was ready for our adventure. +She had improved the scheme in one detail. She had put on her own +belt and coiled the rope round her waist, so the only delay would be +in bringing her father's belt. She would keep the bullet-proof dress +intended to be his strapped in a packet on her back, so that if +occasion should be favourable he would not want to put it on till he +and she should have reached the platform of the aeroplane. In such +case, I should not steer away from the Tower at all, but would pass +slowly across it and take up the captive and his brave daughter +before leaving. I had learned from local sources that the Tower was +in several stories. Entrance was by the foot, where the great iron- +clad door was; then came living-rooms and storage, and an open space +at the top. This would probably be thought the best place for the +prisoner, for it was deep-sunk within the massive walls, wherein was +no loophole of any kind. This, if it should so happen, would be the +disposition of things best for our plan. The guards would at this +time be all inside the Tower--probably resting, most of them--so that +it was possible that no one might notice the coming of the airship. +I was afraid to think that all might turn out so well, for in such +case our task would be a simple enough one, and would in all human +probability be crowned with success. + +At ten o'clock we started. Teuta did not show the smallest sign of +fear or even uneasiness, though this was the first time she had even +seen an aeroplane at work. She proved to be an admirable passenger +for an airship. She stayed quite still, holding herself rigidly in +the position arranged, by the cords which I had fixed for her. + +When I had trued my course by the landmarks and with the compass lit +by the Tiny my electric light in the dark box, I had time to look +about me. All seemed quite dark wherever I looked--to land, or sea, +or sky. But darkness is relative, and though each quarter and spot +looked dark in turn, there was not such absolute darkness as a whole. +I could tell the difference, for instance, between land and sea, no +matter how far off we might be from either. Looking upward, the sky +was dark; yet there was light enough to see, and even distinguish +broad effects. I had no difficulty in distinguishing the Tower +towards which we were moving, and that, after all, was the main +thing. We drifted slowly, very slowly, as the air was still, and I +only used the minimum pressure necessary for the engine. I think I +now understood for the first time the extraordinary value of the +engine with which my Kitson was equipped. It was noiseless, it was +practically of no weight, and it allowed the machine to progress as +easily as the old-fashioned balloon used to drift before a breeze. +Teuta, who had naturally very fine sight, seemed to see even better +than I did, for as we drew nearer to the Tower, and its round, open +top began to articulate itself, she commenced to prepare for her part +of the task. She it was who uncoiled the long drag-rope ready for +her lowering. We were proceeding so gently that she as well as I had +hopes that I might be able to actually balance the machine on the top +of the curving wall--a thing manifestly impossible on a straight +surface, though it might have been possible on an angle. + +On we crept--on, and on! There was no sign of light about the Tower, +and not the faintest sound to be heard till we were almost close to +the line of the rising wall; then we heard a sound of something like +mirth, but muffled by distance and thick walls. From it we took +fresh heart, for it told us that our enemies were gathered in the +lower chambers. If only the Voivode should be on the upper stage, +all would be well. + +Slowly, almost inch by inch, and with a suspense that was agonizing, +we crossed some twenty or thirty feet above the top of the wall. I +could see as we came near the jagged line of white patches where the +heads of the massacred Turks placed there on spikes in old days +seemed to give still their grim warning. Seeing that they made in +themselves a difficulty of landing on the wall, I deflected the plane +so that, as we crept over the wall, we might, if they became +displaced, brush them to the outside of the wall. A few seconds +more, and I was able to bring the machine to rest with the front of +the platform jutting out beyond the Tower wall. Here I anchored her +fore and aft with clamps which had been already prepared. + +Whilst I was doing so Teuta had leaned over the inner edge of the +platform, and whispered as softly as the sigh of a gentle breeze + +"Hist! hist!" The answer came in a similar sound from some twenty +feet below us, and we knew that the prisoner was alone. Forthwith, +having fixed the hook of the rope in the ring to which was attached +her belt, I lowered my wife. Her father evidently knew her whisper, +and was ready. The hollow Tower--a smooth cylinder within--sent up +the voices from it faint as were the whispers: + +"Father, it is I--Teuta!" + +"My child, my brave daughter!" + +"Quick, father; strap the belt round you. See that it is secure. We +have to be lifted into the air if necessary. Hold together. It will +be easier for Rupert to lift us to the airship." + +"Rupert?" + +"Yes; I shall explain later. Quick, quick! There is not a moment to +lose. He is enormously strong, and can lift us together; but we must +help him by being still, so he won't have to use the windlass, which +might creak." As she spoke she jerked slightly at the rope, which +was our preconcerted signal that I was to lift. I was afraid the +windlass might creak, and her thoughtful hint decided me. I bent my +back to the task, and in a few seconds they were on the platform on +which they, at Teuta's suggestion, lay flat, one at each side of my +seat, so as to keep the best balance possible. + +I took off the clamps, lifted the bags of ballast to the top of the +wall, so that there should be no sound of falling, and started the +engine. The machine moved forward a few inches, so that it tilted +towards the outside of the wall. I threw my weight on the front part +of the platform, and we commenced our downward fall at a sharp angle. +A second enlarged the angle, and without further ado we slid away +into the darkness. Then, ascending as we went, when the engine began +to work at its strength, we turned, and presently made straight for +Ilsin. + +The journey was short--not many minutes. It almost seemed as if no +time whatever had elapsed till we saw below us the gleam of lights, +and by them saw a great body of men gathered in military array. We +slackened and descended. The crowd kept deathly silence, but when we +were amongst them we needed no telling that it was not due to lack of +heart or absence of joy. The pressure of their hands as they +surrounded us, and the devotion with which they kissed the hands and +feet of both the Voivode and his daughter, were evidence enough for +me, even had I not had my own share of their grateful rejoicing. + +In the midst of it all the low, stern voice of Rooke, who had burst a +way to the front beside the Vladika, said: + +"Now is the time to attack the Tower. Forward, brothers, but in +silence. Let there not be a sound till you are near the gate; then +play your little comedy of the escaping marauders. And 'twill be no +comedy for them in the Tower. The yacht is all ready for the +morning, Mr. Sent Leger, in case I do not come out of the scrimmage +if the bluejackets arrive. In such case you will have to handle her +yourself. God keep you, my Lady; and you, too, Voivode! Forward!" + +In a ghostly silence the grim little army moved forwards. Rooke and +the men with him disappeared into the darkness in the direction of +the harbour of Ilsin. + + +FROM THE SCRIPT OF THE VOIVODE, PETER VISSARION, +July 7, 1907. + +I had little idea, when I started on my homeward journey, that it +would have such a strange termination. Even I, who ever since my +boyhood have lived in a whirl of adventure, intrigue, or diplomacy-- +whichever it may be called--statecraft, and war, had reason to be +surprised. I certainly thought that when I locked myself into my +room in the hotel at Ilsin that I would have at last a spell, however +short, of quiet. All the time of my prolonged negotiations with the +various nationalities I had to be at tension; so, too, on my homeward +journey, lest something at the last moment should happen adversely to +my mission. But when I was safe on my own Land of the Blue +Mountains, and laid my head on my pillow, where only friends could be +around me, I thought I might forget care. + +But to wake with a rude hand over my mouth, and to feel myself +grasped tight by so many hands that I could not move a limb, was a +dreadful shock. All after that was like a dreadful dream. I was +rolled in a great rug so tightly that I could hardly breathe, let +alone cry out. Lifted by many hands through the window, which I +could hear was softly opened and shut for the purpose, and carried to +a boat. Again lifted into some sort of litter, on which I was borne +a long distance, but with considerable rapidity. Again lifted out +and dragged through a doorway opened on purpose--I could hear the +clang as it was shut behind me. Then the rug was removed, and I +found myself, still in my night-gear, in the midst of a ring of men. +There were two score of them, all Turks, all strong-looking, resolute +men, armed to the teeth. My clothes, which had been taken from my +room, were thrown down beside me, and I was told to dress. As the +Turks were going from the room--shaped like a vault--where we then +were, the last of them, who seemed to be some sort of officer, said: + +"If you cry out or make any noise whatever whilst you are in this +Tower, you shall die before your time!" Presently some food and +water were brought me, and a couple of blankets. I wrapped myself up +and slept till early in the morning. Breakfast was brought, and the +same men filed in. In the presence of them all the same officer +said: + +"I have given instructions that if you make any noise or betray your +presence to anyone outside this Tower, the nearest man is to restore +you to immediate quiet with his yataghan. It you promise me that you +will remain quiet whilst you are within the Tower, I can enlarge your +liberties somewhat. Do you promise?" I promised as he wished; there +was no need to make necessary any stricter measure of confinement. +Any chance of escape lay in having the utmost freedom allowed to me. +Although I had been taken away with such secrecy, I knew that before +long there would be pursuit. So I waited with what patience I could. +I was allowed to go on the upper platform--a consideration due, I am +convinced, to my captors' wish for their own comfort rather than for +mine. + +It was not very cheering, for during the daytime I had satisfied +myself that it would be quite impossible for even a younger and more +active man than I am to climb the walls. They were built for prison +purposes, and a cat could not find entry for its claws between the +stones. I resigned myself to my fate as well as I could. Wrapping +my blanket round me, I lay down and looked up at the sky. I wished +to see it whilst I could. I was just dropping to sleep--the +unutterable silence of the place broken only now and again by some +remark by my captors in the rooms below me--when there was a strange +appearance just over me--an appearance so strange that I sat up, and +gazed with distended eyes. + +Across the top of the tower, some height above, drifted, slowly and +silently, a great platform. Although the night was dark, it was so +much darker where I was within the hollow of the Tower that I could +actually see what was above me. I knew it was an aeroplane--one of +which I had seen in Washington. A man was seated in the centre, +steering; and beside him was a silent figure of a woman all wrapped +in white. It made my heart beat to see her, for she was figured +something like my Teuta, but broader, less shapely. She leaned over, +and a whispered "Ssh!" crept down to me. I answered in similar way. +Whereupon she rose, and the man lowered her down into the Tower. +Then I saw that it was my dear daughter who had come in this +wonderful way to save me. With infinite haste she helped me to +fasten round my waist a belt attached to a rope, which was coiled +round her; and then the man, who was a giant in strength as well as +stature, raised us both to the platform of the aeroplane, which he +set in motion without an instant's delay. + +Within a few seconds, and without any discovery being made of my +escape, we were speeding towards the sea. The lights of Ilsin were +in front of us. Before reaching the town, however, we descended in +the midst of a little army of my own people, who were gathered ready +to advance upon the Silent Tower, there to effect, if necessary, my +rescue by force. Small chance would there have been of my life in +case of such a struggle. Happily, however, the devotion and courage +of my dear daughter and of her gallant companion prevented such a +necessity. It was strange to me to find such joyous reception +amongst my friends expressed in such a whispered silence. There was +no time for comment or understanding or the asking of questions--I +was fain to take things as they stood, and wait for fuller +explanation. + +This came later, when my daughter and I were able to converse alone. + +When the expedition went out against the Silent Tower, Teuta and I +went to her tent, and with us came her gigantic companion, who seemed +not wearied, but almost overcome with sleep. When we came into the +tent, over which at a little distance a cordon of our mountaineers +stood on guard, he said to me: + +"May I ask you, sir, to pardon me for a time, and allow the Voivodin +to explain matters to you? She will, I know, so far assist me, for +there is so much work still to be done before we are free of the +present peril. For myself, I am almost overcome with sleep. For +three nights I have had no sleep, but all during that time much +labour and more anxiety. I could hold on longer; but at daybreak I +must go out to the Turkish warship that lies in the offing. She is a +Turk, though she does not confess to it; and she it is who has +brought hither the marauders who captured both your daughter and +yourself. It is needful that I go, for I hold a personal authority +from the National Council to take whatever step may be necessary for +our protection. And when I go I should be clear-headed, for war may +rest on that meeting. I shall be in the adjoining tent, and shall +come at once if I am summoned, in case you wish for me before dawn." +Here my daughter struck in: + +"Father, ask him to remain here. We shall not disturb him, I am +sure, in our talking. And, moreover, if you knew how much I owe to +him--to his own bravery and his strength--you would understand how +much safer I feel when he is close to me, though we are surrounded by +an army of our brave mountaineers." + +"But, my daughter," I said, for I was as yet all in ignorance, "there +are confidences between father and daughter which none other may +share. Some of what has been I know, but I want to know all, and it +might be better that no stranger--however valiant he may be, or no +matter in what measure we are bound to him--should be present." To +my astonishment, she who had always been amenable to my lightest wish +actually argued with me: + +"Father, there are other confidences which have to be respected in +like wise. Bear with me, dear, till I have told you all, and I am +right sure that you will agree with me. I ask it, father." + +That settled the matter, and as I could see that the gallant +gentleman who had rescued me was swaying on his feet as he waited +respectfully, I said to him: + +"Rest with us, sir. We shall watch over your sleep." + +Then I had to help him, for almost on the instant he sank down, and I +had to guide him to the rugs spread on the ground. In a few seconds +he was in a deep sleep. As I stood looking at him, till I had +realized that he vas really asleep, I could not help marvelling at +the bounty of Nature that could uphold even such a man as this to the +last moment of work to be done, and then allow so swift a collapse +when all was over, and he could rest peacefully. + +He was certainly a splendid fellow. I think I never saw so fine a +man physically in my life. And if the lesson of his physiognomy be +true, he is as sterling inwardly as his external is fair. "Now," +said I to Teuta, "we are to all intents quite alone. Tell me all +that has been, so that I may understand." + +Whereupon my daughter, making me sit down, knelt beside me, and told +me from end to end the most marvellous story I had ever heard or read +of. Something of it I had already known from the Archbishop +Paleologue's later letters, but of all else I was ignorant. Far away +in the great West beyond the Atlantic, and again on the fringe of the +Eastern seas, I had been thrilled to my heart's core by the heroic +devotion and fortitude of my daughter in yielding herself for her +country's sake to that fearful ordeal of the Crypt; of the grief of +the nation at her reported death, news of which was so mercifully and +wisely withheld from me as long as possible; of the supernatural +rumours that took root so deep; but no word or hint had come to me of +a man who had come across the orbit of her life, much less of all +that has resulted from it. Neither had I known of her being carried +off, or of the thrice gallant rescue of her by Rupert. Little wonder +that I thought so highly of him even at the first moment I had a +clear view of him when he sank down to sleep before me. Why, the man +must be a marvel. Even our mountaineers could not match such +endurance as his. In the course of her narrative my daughter told me +of how, being wearied with her long waiting in the tomb, and waking +to find herself alone when the floods were out, and even the Crypt +submerged, she sought safety and warmth elsewhere; and how she came +to the Castle in the night, and found the strange man alone. I said: +"That was dangerous, daughter, if not wrong. The man, brave and +devoted as he is, must answer me--your father." At that she was +greatly upset, and before going on with her narrative, drew me close +in her arms, and whispered to me: + +"Be gentle to me, father, for I have had much to bear. And be good +to him, for he holds my heart in his breast!" I reassured her with a +gentle pressure--there was no need to speak. She then went on to +tell me about her marriage, and how her husband, who had fallen into +the belief that she was a Vampire, had determined to give even his +soul for her; and how she had on the night of the marriage left him +and gone back to the tomb to play to the end the grim comedy which +she had undertaken to perform till my return; and how, on the second +night after her marriage, as she was in the garden of the Castle-- +going, as she shyly told me, to see if all was well with her husband- +-she was seized secretly, muffled up, bound, and carried off. Here +she made a pause and a digression. Evidently some fear lest her +husband and myself should quarrel assailed her, for she said: + +"Do understand, father, that Rupert's marriage to me was in all ways +regular, and quite in accord with our customs. Before we were +married I told the Archbishop of my wish. He, as your representative +during your absence, consented himself, and brought the matter to the +notice of the Vladika and the Archimandrites. All these concurred, +having exacted from me--very properly, I think--a sacred promise to +adhere to my self-appointed task. The marriage itself was orthodox +in all ways--though so far unusual that it was held at night, and in +darkness, save for the lights appointed by the ritual. As to that, +the Archbishop himself, or the Archimandrite of Spazac, who assisted +him, or the Vladika, who acted as Paranymph, will, all or any of +them, give you full details. Your representative made all inquiries +as to Rupert Sent Leger, who lived in Vissarion, though he did not +know who I was, or from his point of view who I had been. But I must +tell you of my rescue." + +And so she went on to tell me of that unavailing journey south by her +captors; of their bafflement by the cordon which Rupert had +established at the first word of danger to "the daughter of our +leader," though he little knew who the "leader" was, or who was his +"daughter"; of how the brutal marauders tortured her to speed with +their daggers; and how her wounds left blood-marks on the ground as +she passed along; then of the halt in the valley, when the marauders +came to know that their road north was menaced, if not already +blocked; of the choosing of the murderers, and their keeping ward +over her whilst their companions went to survey the situation; and of +her gallant rescue by that noble fellow, her husband--my son I shall +call him henceforth, and thank God that I may have that happiness and +that honour! + +Then my daughter went on to tell me of the race back to Vissarion, +when Rupert went ahead of all--as a leader should do; of the +summoning of the Archbishop and the National Council; and of their +placing the nation's handjar in Rupert's hand; of the journey to +Ilsin, and the flight of my daughter--and my son--on the aeroplane. + +The rest I knew. + +As she finished, the sleeping man stirred and woke--broad awake in a +second--sure sign of a man accustomed to campaign and adventure. At +a glance he recalled everything that had been, and sprang to his +feet. He stood respectfully before me for a few seconds before +speaking. Then he said, with an open, engaging smile: + +"I see, sir, you know all. Am I forgiven--for Teuta's sake as well +as my own?" By this time I was also on my feet. A man like that +walks straight into my heart. My daughter, too, had risen, and stood +by my side. I put out my hand and grasped his, which seemed to leap +to meet me--as only the hand of a swordsman can do. + +"I am glad you are my son!" I said. It was all I could say, and I +meant it and all it implied. We shook hands warmly. Teuta was +pleased; she kissed me, and then stood holding my arm with one hand, +whilst she linked her other hand in the arm of her husband. + +He summoned one of the sentries without, and told him to ask Captain +Rooke to come to him. The latter had been ready for a call, and came +at once. When through the open flap of the tent we saw him coming, +Rupert--as I must call him now, because Teuta wishes it; and I like +to do it myself--said: + +"I must be off to board the Turkish vessel before it comes inshore. +Good-bye, sir, in case we do not meet again." He said the last few +words in so low a voice that I only could hear them. Then he kissed +his wife, and told her he expected to be back in time for breakfast, +and was gone. He met Rooke--I am hardly accustomed to call him +Captain as yet, though, indeed, he well deserves it--at the edge of +the cordon of sentries, and they went quickly together towards the +port, where the yacht was lying with steam up. + + + +BOOK VII: THE EMPIRE OF THE AIR + + + +FROM THE REPORT OF CRISTOFEROS, WAR-SCRIBE TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL. +July 7, 1907. + +When the Gospodar Rupert and Captain Rooke came within hailing +distance of the strange ship, the former hailed her, using one after +another the languages of England, Germany, France, Russia, Turkey, +Greece, Spain, Portugal, and another which I did not know; I think it +must have been American. By this time the whole line of the bulwark +was covered by a row of Turkish faces. When, in Turkish, the +Gospodar asked for the Captain, the latter came to the gangway, which +had been opened, and stood there. His uniform was that of the +Turkish navy--of that I am prepared to swear--but he made signs of +not understanding what had been said; whereupon the Gospodar spoke +again, but in French this time. I append the exact conversation +which took place, none other joining in it. I took down in shorthand +the words of both as they were spoken: + +THE GOSPODAR. "Are you the Captain of this ship?" + +THE CAPTAIN. "I am." + +GOSPODAR. "To what nationality do you belong?" + +CAPTAIN. "It matters not. I am Captain of this ship." + +GOSPODAR. "I alluded to your ship. What national flag is she +under?" + +CAPTAIN (throwing his eye over the top-hamper). "I do not see that +any flag is flying." + +GOSPODAR. "I take it that, as commander, you can allow me on board +with my two companions?" + +CAPTAIN. "I can, upon proper request being made!" + +GOSPODAR (taking off his cap). "I ask your courtesy, Captain. I am +the representative and accredited officer of the National Council of +the Land of the Blue Mountains, in whose waters you now are; and on +their account I ask for a formal interview on urgent matters." + +The Turk, who was, I am bound to say, in manner most courteous as +yet, gave some command to his officers, whereupon the companion- +ladders and stage were lowered and the gangway manned, as is usual +for the reception on a ship of war of an honoured guest. + +CAPTAIN. "You are welcome, sir--you and your two companions--as you +request." + +The Gospodar bowed. Our companion-ladder was rigged on the instant, +and a launch lowered. The Gospodar and Captain Rooke--taking me with +them--entered, and rowed to the warship, where we were all honourably +received. There were an immense number of men on board, soldiers as +well as seamen. It looked more like a warlike expedition than a +fighting-ship in time of peace. As we stepped on the deck, the +seamen and marines, who were all armed as at drill, presented arms. +The Gospodar went first towards the Captain, and Captain Rooke and I +followed close behind him. The Gospodar spoke: + +"I am Rupert Sent Leger, a subject of his Britannic Majesty, +presently residing at Vissarion, in the Land of the Blue Mountains. +I am at present empowered to act for the National Council in all +matters. Here is my credential!" As he spoke he handed to the +Captain a letter. It was written in five different languages-- +Balkan, Turkish, Greek, English, and French. The Captain read it +carefully all through, forgetful for the moment that he had seemingly +been unable to understand the Gospodar's question spoken in the +Turkish tongue. Then he answered: + +"I see the document is complete. May I ask on what subject you wish +to see me?" + +GOSPODAR. "You are here in a ship of war in Blue Mountain waters, +yet you fly no flag of any nation. You have sent armed men ashore in +your boats, thus committing an act of war. The National Council of +the Land of the Blue Mountains requires to know what nation you +serve, and why the obligations of international law are thus broken." + +The Captain seemed to wait for further speech, but the Gospodar +remained silent; whereupon the former spoke. + +CAPTAIN. "I am responsible to my own--chiefs. I refuse to answer +your question." + +The Gospodar spoke at once in reply. + +GOSPODAR. "Then, sir, you, as commander of a ship--and especially a +ship of war--must know that in thus violating national and maritime +laws you, and all on board this ship, are guilty of an act of piracy. +This is not even piracy on the high seas. You are not merely within +territorial waters, but you have invaded a national port. As you +refuse to disclose the nationality of your ship, I accept, as you +seem to do, your status as that of a pirate, and shall in due season +act accordingly." + +CAPTAIN (with manifest hostility). "I accept the responsibility of +my own acts. Without admitting your contention, I tell you now that +whatever action you take shall be at your own peril and that of your +National Council. Moreover, I have reason to believe that my men who +were sent ashore on special service have been beleaguered in a tower +which can be seen from the ship. Before dawn this morning firing was +heard from that direction, from which I gather that attack was made +on them. They, being only a small party, may have been murdered. If +such be so, I tell you that you and your miserable little nation, as +you call it, shall pay such blood-money as you never thought of. I +am responsible for this, and, by Allah! there shall be a great +revenge. You have not in all your navy--if navy you have at all-- +power to cope with even one ship like this, which is but one of many. +My guns shall be trained on Ilsin, to which end I have come inshore. +You and your companions have free conduct back to port; such is due +to the white flag which you fly. Fifteen minutes will bring you back +whence you came. Go! And remember that whatever you may do amongst +your mountain defiles, at sea you cannot even defend yourselves." + +GOSPODAR (slowly and in a ringing voice). "The Land of the Blue +Mountains has its own defences on sea and land. Its people know how +to defend themselves." + +CAPTAIN (taking out his watch). "It is now close on five bells. At +the first stroke of six bells our guns shall open fire." + +GOSPODAR (calmly). "It is my last duty to warn you, sir--and to warn +all on this ship--that much may happen before even the first stroke +of six bells. Be warned in time, and give over this piratical +attack, the very threat of which may be the cause of much bloodshed." + +CAPTAIN (violently). "Do you dare to threaten me, and, moreover, my +ship's company? We are one, I tell you, in this ship; and the last +man shall perish like the first ere this enterprise fail. Go!" + +With a bow, the Gospodar turned and went down the ladder, we +following him. In a couple of minutes the yacht was on her way to +the port. + + +FROM RUPERT'S JOURNAL. +July 10, 1907. + +When we turned shoreward after my stormy interview with the pirate +Captain--I can call him nothing else at present, Rooke gave orders to +a quartermaster on the bridge, and The Lady began to make to a little +northward of Ilsin port. Rooke himself went aft to the wheel-house, +taking several men with him. + +When we were quite near the rocks--the water is so deep here that +there is no danger--we slowed down, merely drifting along southwards +towards the port. I was myself on the bridge, and could see all over +the decks. I could also see preparations going on upon the warship. +Ports were opened, and the great guns on the turrets were lowered for +action. When we were starboard broadside on to the warship, I saw +the port side of the steering-house open, and Rooke's men sliding out +what looked like a huge grey crab, which by tackle from within the +wheel-house was lowered softly into the sea. The position of the +yacht hid the operation from sight of the warship. The doors were +shut again, and the yacht's pace began to quicken. We ran into the +port. I had a vague idea that Rooke had some desperate project on +hand. Not for nothing had he kept the wheel-house locked on that +mysterious crab. + +All along the frontage was a great crowd of eager men. But they had +considerately left the little mole at the southern entrance, whereon +was a little tower, on whose round top a signal-gun was placed, free +for my own use. When I was landed on this pier I went along to the +end, and, climbing the narrow stair within, went out on the sloping +roof. I stood up, for I was determined to show the Turks that I was +not afraid for myself, as they would understand when the bombardment +should begin. It was now but a very few minutes before the fatal +hour--six bells. But all the same I was almost in a state of +despair. It was terrible to think of all those poor souls in the +town who had done nothing wrong, and who were to be wiped out in the +coming blood-thirsty, wanton attack. I raised my glasses to see how +preparations were going on upon the warship. + +As I looked I had a momentary fear that my eyesight was giving way. +At one moment I had the deck of the warship focussed with my glasses, +and could see every detail as the gunners waited for the word to +begin the bombardment with the great guns of the barbettes. The next +I saw nothing but the empty sea. Then in another instant there was +the ship as before, but the details were blurred. I steadied myself +against the signal-gun, and looked again. Not more than two, or at +the most three, seconds had elapsed. The ship was, for the moment, +full in view. As I looked, she gave a queer kind of quick shiver, +prow and stern, and then sideways. It was for all the world like a +rat shaken in the mouth of a skilled terrier. Then she remained +still, the one placid thing to be seen, for all around her the sea +seemed to shiver in little independent eddies, as when water is +broken without a current to guide it. + +I continued to look, and when the deck was, or seemed, quite still-- +for the shivering water round the ship kept catching my eyes through +the outer rays of the lenses--I noticed that nothing was stirring. +The men who had been at the guns were all lying down; the men in the +fighting-tops had leaned forward or backward, and their arms hung +down helplessly. Everywhere was desolation--in so far as life was +concerned. Even a little brown bear, which had been seated on the +cannon which was being put into range position, had jumped or fallen +on deck, and lay there stretched out--and still. It was evident that +some terrible shock had been given to the mighty war-vessel. Without +a doubt or a thought why I did so, I turned my eyes towards where The +Lady lay, port broadside now to the inside, in the harbour mouth. I +had the key now to the mystery of Rooke's proceedings with the great +grey crab. + +As I looked I saw just outside the harbour a thin line of cleaving +water. This became more marked each instant, till a steel disc with +glass eyes that shone in the light of the sun rose above the water. +It was about the size of a beehive, and was shaped like one. It made +a straight line for the aft of the yacht. At the same moment, in +obedience to some command, given so quietly that I did not hear it, +the men went below--all save some few, who began to open out doors in +the port side of the wheel-house. The tackle was run out through an +opened gangway on that side, and a man stood on the great hook at the +lower end, balancing himself by hanging on the chain. In a few +seconds he came up again. The chain tightened and the great grey +crab rose over the edge of the deck, and was drawn into the wheel- +house, the doors of which were closed, shutting in a few only of the +men. + +I waited, quite quiet. After a space of a few minutes, Captain Rooke +in his uniform walked out of the wheel-house. He entered a small +boat, which had been in the meantime lowered for the purpose, and was +rowed to the steps on the mole. Ascending these, he came directly +towards the signal-tower. When he had ascended and stood beside me, +he saluted. + +"Well?" I asked. + +"All well, sir," he answered. "We shan't have any more trouble with +that lot, I think. You warned that pirate--I wish he had been in +truth a clean, honest, straightforward pirate, instead of the measly +Turkish swab he was--that something might occur before the first +stroke of six bells. Well, something has occurred, and for him and +all his crew that six bells will never sound. So the Lord fights for +the Cross against the Crescent! Bismillah. Amen!" He said this in +a manifestly formal way, as though declaiming a ritual. The next +instant he went on in the thoroughly practical conventional way which +was usual to him: + +"May I ask a favour, Mr. Sent Leger?" + +"A thousand, my dear Rooke," I said. "You can't ask me anything +which I shall not freely grant. And I speak within my brief from the +National Council. You have saved Ilsin this day, and the Council +will thank you for it in due time." + +"Me, sir?" he said, with a look of surprise on his face which seemed +quite genuine. "If you think that, I am well out of it. I was +afraid, when I woke, that you might court-martial me!" + +"Court-martial you! What for?" I asked, surprised in my turn. + +"For going to sleep on duty, sir! And the fact is, I was worn out in +the attack on the Silent Tower last night, and when you had your +interview with the pirate--all good pirates forgive me for the +blasphemy! Amen!--and I knew that everything was going smoothly, I +went into the wheel-house and took forty winks." He said all this +without moving so much as an eyelid, from which I gathered that he +wished absolute silence to be observed on my part. Whilst I was +revolving this in my mind he went on: + +"Touching that request, sir. When I have left you and the Voivode-- +and the Voivodin, of course--at Vissarion, together with such others +as you may choose to bring there with you, may I bring the yacht back +here for a spell? I rather think that there is a good deal of +cleaning up to be done, and the crew of The Lady with myself are the +men to do it. We shall be back by nightfall at the creek." + +"Do as you think best, Admiral Rooke," I said. + +"Admiral?" + +"Yes, Admiral. At present I can only say that tentatively, but by +to-morrow I am sure the National Council will have confirmed it. I +am afraid, old friend, that your squadron will be only your flagship +for the present; but later we may do better." + +"So long as I am Admiral, your honour, I shall have no other flagship +than The Lady. I am not a young man, but, young or old, my pennon +shall float over no other deck. Now, one other favour, Mr. Sent +Leger? It is a corollary of the first, so I do not hesitate to ask. +May I appoint Lieutenant Desmond, my present First Officer, to the +command of the battleship? Of course, he will at first only command +the prize crew; but in such case he will fairly expect the +confirmation of his rank later. I had better, perhaps, tell you, +sir, that he is a very capable seaman, learned in all the sciences +that pertain to a battleship, and bred in the first navy in the +world." + +"By all means, Admiral. Your nomination shall, I think I may promise +you, be confirmed." + +Not another word we spoke. I returned with him in his boat to The +Lady, which was brought to the dock wall, where we were received with +tumultuous cheering. + +I hurried off to my Wife and the Voivode. Rooke, calling Desmond to +him, went on the bridge of The Lady, which turned, and went out at +terrific speed to the battleship, which was already drifting up +northward on the tide. + + +FROM THE REPORT OF CRISTOFEROS, SCRIBE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE +LAND OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. +July 8, 1907. + +The meeting of the National Council, July 6, was but a continuation +of that held before the rescue of the Voivodin Vissarion, the members +of the Council having been during the intervening night housed in the +Castle of Vissarion. When, in the early morning, they met, all were +jubilant; for late at night the fire-signal had flamed up from Ilsin +with the glad news that the Voivode Peter Vissarion was safe, having +been rescued with great daring on an aeroplane by his daughter and +the Gospodar Rupert, as the people call him--Mister Rupert Sent +Leger, as he is in his British name and degree. + +Whilst the Council was sitting, word came that a great peril to the +town of Ilsin had been averted. A war-vessel acknowledging to no +nationality, and therefore to be deemed a pirate, had threatened to +bombard the town; but just before the time fixed for the fulfilment +of her threat, she was shaken to such an extent by some sub-aqueous +means that, though she herself was seemingly uninjured, nothing was +left alive on board. Thus the Lord preserves His own! The +consideration of this, as well as the other incident, was postponed +until the coming Voivode and the Gospodar Rupert, together with who +were already on their way hither. + + +THE SAME (LATER IN THE SAME DAY). + +The Council resumed its sitting at four o'clock. The Voivode Peter +Vissarion and the Voivodin Teuta had arrived with the "Gospodar +Rupert," as the mountaineers call him (Mr. Rupert Sent Leger) on the +armoured yacht he calls The Lady. The National Council showed great +pleasure when the Voivode entered the hall in which the Council met. +He seemed much gratified by the reception given to him. Mr. Rupert +Sent Leger, by the express desire of the Council, was asked to be +present at the meeting. He took a seat at the bottom of the hall, +and seemed to prefer to remain there, though asked by the President +of the Council to sit at the top of the table with himself and the +Voivode. + +When the formalities of such Councils had been completed, the Voivode +handed to the President a memorandum of his report on his secret +mission to foreign Courts on behalf of the National Council. He then +explained at length, for the benefit of the various members of the +Council, the broad results of his mission. The result was, he said, +absolutely satisfactory. Everywhere he had been received with +distinguished courtesy, and given a sympathetic hearing. Several of +the Powers consulted had made delay in giving final answers, but +this, he explained, was necessarily due to new considerations arising +from the international complications which were universally dealt +with throughout the world as "the Balkan Crisis." In time, however +(the Voivode went on), these matters became so far declared as to +allow the waiting Powers to form definite judgment--which, of course, +they did not declare to him--as to their own ultimate action. The +final result--if at this initial stage such tentative setting forth +of their own attitude in each case can be so named--was that he +returned full of hope (founded, he might say, upon a justifiable +personal belief) that the Great Powers throughout the world--North, +South, East, and West--were in thorough sympathy with the Land of the +Blue Mountains in its aspirations for the continuance of its freedom. +"I also am honoured," he continued, "to bring to you, the Great +Council of the nation, the assurance of protection against unworthy +aggression on the part of neighbouring nations of present greater +strength." + +Whilst he was speaking, the Gospodar Rupert was writing a few words +on a strip of paper, which he sent up to the President. When the +Voivode had finished speaking, there was a prolonged silence. The +President rose, and in a hush said that the Council would like to +hear Mr. Rupert Sent Leger, who had a communication to make regarding +certain recent events. + +Mr. Rupert Sent Leger rose, and reported how, since he had been +entrusted by the Council with the rescue of the Voivode Peter of +Vissarion, he had, by aid of the Voivodin, effected the escape of the +Voivode from the Silent Tower; also that, following this happy event, +the mountaineers, who had made a great cordon round the Tower so soon +as it was known that the Voivode had been imprisoned within it, had +stormed it in the night. As a determined resistance was offered by +the marauders, who had used it as a place of refuge, none of these +escaped. He then went on to tell how he sought interview with the +Captain of the strange warship, which, without flying any flag, +invaded our waters. He asked the President to call on me to read the +report of that meeting. This, in obedience to his direction, I did. +The acquiescent murmuring of the Council showed how thoroughly they +endorsed Mr. Sent Leger's words and acts. + +When I resumed my seat, Mr. Sent Leger described how, just before the +time fixed by the "pirate Captain"--so he designated him, as did +every speaker thereafter--the warship met with some under-sea +accident, which had a destructive effect on all on board her. Then +he added certain words, which I give verbatim, as I am sure that +others will some time wish to remember them in their exactness: + +"By the way, President and Lords of the Council, I trust I may ask +you to confirm Captain Rooke, of the armoured yacht The Lady, to be +Admiral of the Squadron of the Land of the Blue Mountains, and also +Captain (tentatively) Desmond, late First-Lieutenant of The Lady, to +the command of the second warship of our fleet--the as yet unnamed +vessel, whose former Captain threatened to bombard Ilsin. My Lords, +Admiral Rooke has done great service to the Land of the Blue +Mountains, and deserves well at your hands. You will have in him, I +am sure, a great official. One who will till his last breath give +you good and loyal service." + +He had sat down, the President put to the Council resolutions, which +were passed by acclamation. Admiral Rooke was given command of the +navy, and Captain Desmond confirmed in his appointment to the +captaincy of the new ship, which was, by a further resolution, named +The Gospodar Rupert. + +In thanking the Council for acceding to his request, and for the +great honour done him in the naming of the ship, Mr. Sent Leger said: + +"May I ask that the armoured yacht The Lady be accepted by you, the +National Council, on behalf of the nation, as a gift on behalf of the +cause of freedom from the Voivodin Teuta?" + +In response to the mighty cheer of the Council with which the +splendid gift was accepted the Gospodar Rupert--Mr. Sent Leger-- +bowed, and went quietly out of the room. + +As no agenda of the meeting had been prepared, there was for a time, +not silence, but much individual conversation. In the midst of it +the Voivode rose up, whereupon there was a strict silence. All +listened with an intensity of eagerness whilst he spoke. + +"President and Lords of the Council, Archbishop, and Vladika, I +should but ill show my respect did I hesitate to tell you at this the +first opportunity I have had of certain matters personal primarily to +myself, but which, in the progress of recent events, have come to +impinge on the affairs of the nation. Until I have done so, I shall +not feel that I have done a duty, long due to you or your +predecessors in office, and which I hope you will allow me to say +that I have only kept back for purposes of statecraft. May I ask +that you will come back with me in memory to the year 1890, when our +struggle against Ottoman aggression, later on so successfully brought +to a close, was begun. We were then in a desperate condition. Our +finances had run so low that we could not purchase even the bread +which we required. Nay, more, we could not procure through the +National Exchequer what we wanted more than bread--arms of modern +effectiveness; for men may endure hunger and yet fight well, as the +glorious past of our country has proved again and again and again. +But when our foes are better armed than we are, the penalty is +dreadful to a nation small as our own is in number, no matter how +brave their hearts. In this strait I myself had to secretly raise a +sufficient sum of money to procure the weapons we needed. To this +end I sought the assistance of a great merchant-prince, to whom our +nation as well as myself was known. He met me in the same generous +spirit which he had shown to other struggling nationalities +throughout a long and honourable career. When I pledged to him as +security my own estates, he wished to tear up the bond, and only +under pressure would he meet my wishes in this respect. Lords of the +Council, it was his money, thus generously advanced, which procured +for us the arms with which we hewed out our freedom. + +"Not long ago that noble merchant--and here I trust you will pardon +me that I am so moved as to perhaps appear to suffer in want of +respect to this great Council--this noble merchant passed to his +account--leaving to a near kinsman of his own the royal fortune which +he had amassed. Only a few hours ago that worthy kinsman of the +benefactor of our nation made it known to me that in his last will he +had bequeathed to me, by secret trust, the whole of those estates +which long ago I had forfeited by effluxion of time, inasmuch as I +had been unable to fulfil the terms of my voluntary bond. It grieves +me to think that I have had to keep you so long in ignorance of the +good thought and wishes and acts of this great man. + +"But it was by his wise counsel, fortified by my own judgment, that I +was silent; for, indeed, I feared, as he did, lest in our troublous +times some doubting spirit without our boundaries, or even within it, +might mistrust the honesty of my purposes for public good, because I +was no longer one whose whole fortune was invested within our +confines. This prince-merchant, the great English Roger Melton--let +his name be for ever graven on the hearts of our people!--kept silent +during his own life, and enjoined on others to come after him to keep +secret from the men of the Blue Mountains that secret loan made to me +on their behalf, lest in their eyes I, who had striven to be their +friend and helper, should suffer wrong repute. But, happily, he has +left me free to clear myself in your eyes. Moreover, by arranging to +have--under certain contingencies, which have come to pass--the +estates which were originally my own retransferred to me, I have no +longer the honour of having given what I could to the national cause. +All such now belongs to him; for it was his money--and his only-- +which purchased our national armament. + +"His worthy kinsman you already know, for he has not only been +amongst you for many months, but has already done you good service in +his own person. He it was who, as a mighty warrior, answered the +summons of the Vladika when misfortune came upon my house in the +capture by enemies of my dear daughter, the Voivodin Teuta, whom you +hold in your hearts; who, with a chosen band of our brothers, pursued +the marauders, and himself, by a deed of daring and prowess, of which +poets shall hereafter sing, saved her, when hope itself seemed to be +dead, from their ruthless hands, and brought her back to us; who +administered condign punishment to the miscreants who had dared to so +wrong her. He it was who later took me, your servant, out of the +prison wherein another band of Turkish miscreants held me captive; +rescued me, with the help of my dear daughter, whom he had already +freed, whilst I had on my person the documents of international +secrecy of which I have already advised you--rescued me whilst I had +been as yet unsubjected to the indignity of search. + +"Beyond this you know now that of which I was in partial ignorance: +how he had, through the skill and devotion of your new Admiral, +wrought destruction on a hecatomb of our malignant foes. You who +have received for the nation the splendid gift of the little warship, +which already represents a new era in naval armament, can understand +the great-souled generosity of the man who has restored the vast +possessions of my House. On our way hither from Ilsin, Rupert Sent +Leger made known to me the terms of the trust of his noble uncle, +Roger Melton, and--believe me that he did so generously, with a joy +that transcended my own--restored to the last male of the Vissarion +race the whole inheritance of a noble line. + +"And now, my Lords of the Council, I come to another matter, in which +I find myself in something of a difficulty, for I am aware that in +certain ways you actually know more of it than even I myself do. It +is regarding the marriage of my daughter to Rupert Sent Leger. It is +known to me that the matter has been brought before you by the +Archbishop, who, as guardian of my daughter during my absence on the +service of the nation, wished to obtain your sanction, as till my +return he held her safety in trust. This was so, not from any merit +of mine, but because she, in her own person, had undertaken for the +service of our nation a task of almost incredible difficulty. My +Lords, were she child of another father, I should extol to the skies +her bravery, her self-devotion, her loyalty to the land she loves. +Why, then, should I hesitate to speak of her deeds in fitting terms, +since it is my duty, my glory, to hold them in higher honour than can +any in this land? I shall not shame her--or even myself--by being +silent when such a duty urges me to speak, as Voivode, as trusted +envoy of our nation, as father. Ages hence loyal men and women of +our Land of the Blue Mountains will sing her deeds in song and tell +them in story. Her name, Teuta, already sacred in these regions, +where it was held by a great Queen, and honoured by all men, will +hereafter be held as a symbol and type of woman's devotion. Oh, my +Lords, we pass along the path of life, the best of us but a little +time marching in the sunlight between gloom and gloom, and it is +during that march that we must be judged for the future. This brave +woman has won knightly spurs as well as any Paladin of old. So is it +meet that ere she might mate with one worthy of her you, who hold in +your hands the safety and honour of the State, should give your +approval. To you was it given to sit in judgment on the worth of +this gallant Englisher, now my son. You judged him then, before you +had seen his valour, his strength, and skill exercised on behalf of a +national cause. You judged wisely, oh, my brothers, and out of a +grateful heart I thank you one and all for it. Well has he justified +your trust by his later acts. When, in obedience to the summons of +the Vladika, he put the nation in a blaze and ranged our boundaries +with a ring of steel, he did so unknowing that what was dearest to +him in the world was at stake. He saved my daughter's honour and +happiness, and won her safety by an act of valour that outvies any +told in history. He took my daughter with him to bring me out from +the Silent Tower on the wings of the air, when earth had for me no +possibility of freedom--I, that had even then in my possession the +documents involving other nations which the Soldan would fain have +purchased with the half of his empire. + +"Henceforth to me, Lords of the Council, this brave man must ever be +as a son of my heart, and I trust that in his name grandsons of my +own may keep in bright honour the name which in glorious days of old +my fathers made illustrious. Did I know how adequately to thank you +for your interest in my child, I would yield up to you my very soul +in thanks." + +The speech of the Voivode was received with the honour of the Blue +Mountains--the drawing and raising of handjars + + +FROM RUPERT'S JOURNAL. +July 14, 1907. + +For nearly a week we waited for some message from Constantinople, +fully expecting either a declaration of war, or else some inquiry so +couched as to make war an inevitable result. The National Council +remained on at Vissarion as the guests of the Voivode, to whom, in +accordance with my uncle's will, I had prepared to re-transfer all +his estates. He was, by the way, unwilling at first to accept, and +it was only when I showed him Uncle Roger's letter, and made him read +the Deed of Transfer prepared in anticipation by Mr. Trent, that he +allowed me to persuade him. Finally he said: + +"As you, my good friends, have so arranged, I must accept, be it only +in honour to the wishes of the dead. But remember, I only do so but +for the present, reserving to myself the freedom to withdraw later if +I so desire." + +But Constantinople was silent. The whole nefarious scheme was one of +the "put-up jobs" which are part of the dirty work of a certain order +of statecraft--to be accepted if successful; to be denied in case of +failure. + +The matter stood thus: Turkey had thrown the dice--and lost. Her +men were dead; her ship was forfeit. It was only some ten days after +the warship was left derelict with every living thing--that is, +everything that had been living--with its neck broken, as Rooke +informed me, when he brought the ship down the creek, and housed it +in the dock behind the armoured gates--that we saw an item in The +Roma copied from The Constantinople Journal of July 9: + + +"LOSS OF AN OTTOMAN IRONCLAD WITH ALL HANDS. + +"News has been received at Constantinople of the total loss, with all +hands, of one of the newest and finest warships in the Turkish fleet- +-The Mahmoud, Captain Ali Ali--which foundered in a storm on the +night of July 5, some distance off Cabrera, in the Balearic Isles. +There were no survivors, and no wreckage was discovered by the ships +which went in relief--the Pera and the Mustapha--or reported from +anywhere along the shores of the islands, of which exhaustive search +was made. The Mahmoud was double-manned, as she carried a full extra +crew sent on an educational cruise on the most perfectly +scientifically equipped warship on service in the Mediterranean +waters." + + +When the Voivode and I talked over the matter, he said: + +"After all, Turkey is a shrewd Power. She certainly seems to know +when she is beaten, and does not intend to make a bad thing seem +worse in the eyes of the world." + +Well, 'tis a bad wind that blows good to nobody. As The Mahmoud was +lost off the Balearics, it cannot have been her that put the +marauders on shore and trained her big guns on Ilsin. We take it, +therefore, that the latter must have been a pirate, and as we have +taken her derelict in our waters, she is now ours in all ways. +Anyhow, she is ours, and is the first ship of her class in the navy +of the Blue Mountains. I am inclined to think that even if she was-- +or is still--a Turkish ship, Admiral Rooke would not be inclined to +let her go. As for Captain Desmond, I think he would go straight out +of his mind if such a thing was to be even suggested to him. + +It will be a pity if we have any more trouble, for life here is very +happy with us all now. The Voivode is, I think, like a man in a +dream. Teuta is ideally happy, and the real affection which sprang +up between them when she and Aunt Janet met is a joy to think of. I +had posted Teuta about her, so that when they should meet my wife +might not, by any inadvertence, receive or cause any pain. But the +moment Teuta saw her she ran straight over to her and lifted her in +her strong young arms, and, raising her up as one would lift a child, +kissed her. Then, when she had put her sitting in the chair from +which she had arisen when we entered the room, she knelt down before +her, and put her face down in her lap. Aunt Janet's face was a +study; I myself could hardly say whether at the first moment surprise +or joy predominated. But there could be no doubt about it the +instant after. She seemed to beam with happiness. When Teuta knelt +to her, she could only say: + +"My dear, my dear, I am glad! Rupert's wife, you and I must love +each other very much." Seeing that they were laughing and crying in +each other's arms, I thought it best to come away and leave them +alone. And I didn't feel a bit lonely either when I was out of sight +of them. I knew that where those two dear women were there was a +place for my own heart. + +When I came back, Teuta was sitting on Aunt Janet's knee. It seemed +rather stupendous for the old lady, for Teuta is such a splendid +creature that even when she sits on my own knee and I catch a glimpse +of us in some mirror, I cannot but notice what a nobly-built girl she +is. + +My wife was jumping up as soon as I was seen, but Aunt Janet held her +tight to her, and said: + +"Don't stir, dear. It is such happiness to me to have you there. +Rupert has always been my 'little boy,' and, in spite of all his +being such a giant, he is so still. And so you, that he loves, must +be my little girl--in spite of all your beauty and your strength--and +sit on my knee, till you can place there a little one that shall be +dear to us all, and that shall let me feel my youth again. When +first I saw you I was surprised, for, somehow, though I had never +seen you nor even heard of you, I seemed to know your face. Sit +where you are, dear. It is only Rupert--and we both love him." + +Teuta looked at me, flushing rosily; but she sat quiet, and drew the +old lady's white head on her young breast. + + +JANET MACKELPIE'S NOTES. +July 8, 1907. + +I used to think that whenever Rupert should get married or start on +the way to it by getting engaged--I would meet his future wife with +something of the same affection that I have always had for himself. +But I know now that what was really in my mind was jealousy, and that +I was really fighting against my own instincts, and pretending to +myself that I was not jealous. Had I ever had the faintest idea that +she would be anything the least like Teuta, that sort of feeling +should never have had even a foothold. No wonder my dear boy is in +love with her, for, truth to tell, I am in love with her myself. I +don't think I ever met a creature--a woman creature, of course, I +mean--with so many splendid qualities. I almost fear to say it, lest +it should seem to myself wrong; but I think she is as good as a woman +as Rupert is as a man. And what more than that can I say? I thought +I loved her and trusted her, and knew her all I could, until this +morning. + +I was in my own room, as it is still called. For, though Rupert +tells me in confidence that under his uncle's will the whole estate +of Vissarion, Castle and all, really belongs to the Voivode, and +though the Voivode has been persuaded to accept the position, he (the +Voivode) will not allow anything to be changed. He will not even +hear a word of my going, or changing my room, or anything. And +Rupert backs him up in it, and Teuta too. So what am I to do but let +the dears have their way? + +Well, this morning, when Rupert was with the Voivode at a meeting of +the National Council in the Great Hall, Teuta came to me, and (after +closing the door and bolting it, which surprised me a little) came +and knelt down beside me, and put her face in my lap. I stroked her +beautiful black hair, and said: + +"What is it, Teuta darling? Is there any trouble? And why did you +bolt the door? Has anything happened to Rupert?" When she looked up +I saw that her beautiful black eyes, with the stars in them, were +overflowing with tears not yet shed. But she smiled through them, +and the tears did not fall. When I saw her smile my heart was eased, +and I said without thinking: "Thank God, darling, Rupert is all +right." + +"I thank God, too, dear Aunt Janet!" she said softly; and I took her +in my arms and laid her head on my breast. + +"Go on, dear," I said; "tell me what it is that troubles you?" This +time I saw the tears drop, as she lowered her head and hid her face +from me. + +"I'm afraid I have deceived you, Aunt Janet, and that you will not-- +cannot--forgive me." + +"Lord save you, child!" I said, "there's nothing that you could do +that I could not and would not forgive. Not that you would ever do +anything base, for that is the only thing that is hard to forgive. +Tell me now what troubles you." + +She looked up in my eyes fearlessly, this time with only the signs of +tears that had been, and said proudly: + +"Nothing base, Aunt Janet. My father's daughter would not willingly +be base. I do not think she could. Moreover, had I ever done +anything base I should not be here, for--for--I should never have +been Rupert's wife!" + +"Then what is it? Tell your old Aunt Janet, dearie." She answered +me with another question: + +"Aunt Janet, do you know who I am, and how I first met Rupert?" + +"You are the Voivodin Teuta Vissarion--the daughter of the Voivode-- +Or, rather, you were; you are now Mrs. Rupert Sent Leger. For he is +still an Englishman, and a good subject of our noble King." + +"Yes, Aunt Janet," she said, "I am that, and proud to be it--prouder +than I would be were I my namesake, who was Queen in the old days. +But how and where did I see Rupert first?" I did not know, and +frankly told her so. So she answered her question herself: + +"I saw him first in his own room at night." I knew in my heart that +in whatever she did had been nothing wrong, so I sat silent waiting +for her to go on: + +"I was in danger, and in deadly fear. I was afraid I might die--not +that I fear death--and I wanted help and warmth. I was not dressed +as I am now!" + +On the instant it came to me how I knew her face, even the first time +I had seen it. I wished to help her out of the embarrassing part of +her confidence, so I said: + +"Dearie, I think I know. Tell me, child, will you put on the frock . +. . the dress . . . costume you wore that night, and let me see you +in it? It is not mere idle curiosity, my child, but something far, +far above such idle folly." + +"Wait for me a minute, Aunt Janet," she said, as she rose up; "I +shall not be long." Then she left the room. + +In a very few minutes she was back. Her appearance might have +frightened some people, for she was clad only in a shroud. Her feet +were bare, and she walked across the room with the gait of an +empress, and stood before me with her eyes modestly cast down. But +when presently she looked up and caught my eyes, a smile rippled over +her face. She threw herself once more before me on her knees, and +embraced me as she said: + +"I was afraid I might frighten you, dear." I knew I could truthfully +reassure her as to that, so I proceeded to do so: + +"Do not worry yourself, my dear. I am not by nature timid. I come +of a fighting stock which has sent out heroes, and I belong to a +family wherein is the gift of Second Sight. Why should we fear? We +know! Moreover, I saw you in that dress before. Teuta, I saw you +and Rupert married!" This time she herself it was that seemed +disconcerted. + +"Saw us married! How on earth did you manage to be there?" + +"I was not there. My Seeing was long before! Tell me, dear, what +day, or rather what night, was it that you first saw Rupert?" She +answered sadly: + +"I do not know. Alas! I lost count of the days as I lay in the tomb +in that dreary Crypt." + +"Was your--your clothing wet that night?" I asked. + +"Yes. I had to leave the Crypt, for a great flood was out, and the +church was flooded. I had to seek help--warmth--for I feared I might +die. Oh, I was not, as I have told you, afraid of death. But I had +undertaken a terrible task to which I had pledged myself. It was for +my father's sake, and the sake of the Land, and I felt that it was a +part of my duty to live. And so I lived on, when death would have +been relief. It was to tell you all about this that I came to your +room to-day. But how did you see me--us--married?" + +"Ah, my child!" I answered, "that was before the marriage took place. +The morn after the night that you came in the wet, when, having been +troubled in uncanny dreaming, I came to see if Rupert was a'richt, I +lost remembrance o' my dreaming, for the floor was all wet, and that +took off my attention. But later, the morn after Rupert used his +fire in his room for the first time, I told him what I had dreamt; +for, lassie, my dear, I saw ye as bride at that weddin' in fine lace +o'er yer shrood, and orange-flowers and ithers in yer black hair; an' +I saw the stars in yer bonny een--the een I love. But oh, my dear, +when I saw the shrood, and kent what it might mean, I expeckit to see +the worms crawl round yer feet. But do ye ask yer man to tell ye +what I tell't him that morn. 'Twill interest ye to know how the +hairt o' men can learn by dreams. Has he ever tellt ye aught o' +this?" + +"No, dear," she said simply. "I think that perhaps he was afraid +that one or other of us, if not both, might be upset by it if he did. +You see, he did not tell you anything at all of our meeting, though I +am sure that he will be glad when he knows that we both know all +about it, and have told each other everything." + +That was very sweet of her, and very thoughtful in all ways, so I +said that which I thought would please her best--that is, the truth: + +"Ah, lassie, that is what a wife should be--what a wife should do. +Rupert is blessed and happy to have his heart in your keeping." + +I knew from the added warmth of her kiss what I had said had pleased +her. + + +Letter from Ernest Roger Halbard Melton, Humcroft, Salop, to Rupert +Sent Leger, Vissarion, Land of the Blue Mountains. +July 29, 1907. + +MY DEAR COUSIN RUPERT, + +We have heard such glowing accounts of Vissarion that I am coming out +to see you. As you are yourself now a landowner, you will understand +that my coming is not altogether a pleasure. Indeed, it is a duty +first. When my father dies I shall be head of the family--the family +of which Uncle Roger, to whom we were related, was a member. It is +therefore meet and fitting that I should know something of our family +branches and of their Seats. I am not giving you time for much +warning, so am coming on immediately--in fact, I shall arrive almost +as soon as this letter. But I want to catch you in the middle of +your tricks. I hear that the Blue Mountaineer girls are peaches, so +don't send them ALL away when you hear I'm coming! + +Do send a yacht up to Fiume to meet me. I hear you have all sorts of +craft at Vissarion. The MacSkelpie, I hear, said you received her as +a Queen; so I hope you will do the decent by one of your own flesh +and blood, and the future Head of the House at that. I shan't bring +much of a retinue with me. _I_ wasn't made a billionaire by old +Roger, so can only take my modest "man Friday"--whose name is +Jenkinson, and a Cockney at that. So don't have too much gold lace +and diamond-hilted scimitars about, like a good chap, or else he'll +want the very worst--his wyges ryzed. That old image Rooke that came +over for Miss McS., and whom by chance I saw at the attorney man's, +might pilot me down from Fiume. The old gentleman-by-Act-of- +Parliament Mr. Bingham Trent (I suppose he has hyphened it by this +time) told me that Miss McS. said he "did her proud" when she went +over under his charge. I shall be at Fiume on the evening of +Wednesday, and shall stay at the Europa, which is, I am told, the +least indecent hotel in the place. So you know where to find me, or +any of your attendant demons can know, in case I am to suffer +"substituted service." + +Your affectionate Cousin, + +ERNEST ROGER HALBARD MELTON. + + +Letter from Admiral Rooke to the Gospodar Rupert. +August 1, 1907. + +SIR, + +In obedience to your explicit direction that I should meet Mr. Ernest +R. H. Melton at Fiume, and report to you exactly what occurred, +"without keeping anything back,"--as you will remember you said, I +beg to report. + +I brought the steam-yacht Trent to Fiume, arriving there on the +morning of Thursday. At 11.30 p.m. I went to meet the train from +St. Peter, due 11.40. It was something late, arriving just as the +clock was beginning to strike midnight. Mr. Melton was on board, and +with him his valet Jenkinson. I am bound to say that he did not seem +very pleased with his journey, and expressed much disappointment at +not seeing Your Honour awaiting him. I explained, as you directed, +that you had to attend with the Voivode Vissarion and the Vladika the +National Council, which met at Plazac, or that otherwise you would +have done yourself the pleasure of coming to meet him. I had, of +course, reserved rooms (the Prince of Wales's suite), for him at the +Re d'Ungheria, and had waiting the carriage which the proprietor had +provided for the Prince of Wales when he stayed there. Mr. Melton +took his valet with him (on the box-seat), and I followed in a +Stadtwagen with the luggage. When I arrived, I found the maitre +d'hotel in a stupor of concern. The English nobleman, he said, had +found fault with everything, and used to him language to which he was +not accustomed. I quieted him, telling him that the stranger was +probably unused to foreign ways, and assuring him that Your Honour +had every faith in him. He announced himself satisfied and happy at +the assurance. But I noticed that he promptly put everything in the +hands of the headwaiter, telling him to satisfy the milor at any +cost, and then went away to some urgent business in Vienna. Clever +man! + +I took Mr. Melton's orders for our journey in the morning, and asked +if there was anything for which he wished. He simply said to me: + +"Everything is rotten. Go to hell, and shut the door after you!" +His man, who seems a very decent little fellow, though he is as vain +as a peacock, and speaks with a Cockney accent which is simply +terrible, came down the passage after me, and explained "on his own," +as he expressed it, that his master, "Mr. Ernest," was upset by the +long journey, and that I was not to mind. I did not wish to make him +uncomfortable, so I explained that I minded nothing except what Your +Honour wished; that the steam-yacht would be ready at 7 a.m.; and +that I should be waiting in the hotel from that time on till Mr. +Melton cared to start, to bring him aboard. + +In the morning I waited till the man Jenkinson came and told me that +Mr. Ernest would start at ten. I asked if he would breakfast on +board; he answered that he would take his cafe-complet at the hotel, +but breakfast on board. + +We left at ten, and took the electric pinnace out to the Trent, which +lay, with steam up, in the roads. Breakfast was served on board, by +his orders, and presently he came up on the bridge, where I was in +command. He brought his man Jenkinson with him. Seeing me there, +and not (I suppose) understanding that I was in command, he +unceremoniously ordered me to go on the deck. Indeed, he named a +place much lower. I made a sign of silence to the quartermaster at +the wheel, who had released the spokes, and was going, I feared, to +make some impertinent remark. Jenkinson joined me presently, and +said, as some sort of explanation of his master's discourtesy (of +which he was manifestly ashamed), if not as an amende: + +"The governor is in a hell of a wax this morning." + +When we got in sight of Meleda, Mr. Melton sent for me and asked me +where we were to land. I told him that, unless he wished to the +contrary, we were to run to Vissarion; but that my instructions were +to land at whatever port he wished. Whereupon he told me that he +wished to stay the night at some place where he might be able to see +some "life." He was pleased to add something, which I presume he +thought jocular, about my being able to "coach" him in such matters, +as doubtless even "an old has-been like you" had still some sort of +an eye for a pretty girl. I told him as respectfully as I could that +I had no knowledge whatever on such subjects, which were possibly of +some interest to younger men, but of none to me. He said no more; so +after waiting for further orders, but without receiving any, I said: + +"I suppose, sir, we shall run to Vissarion?" + +"Run to the devil, if you like!" was his reply, as he turned away. +When we arrived in the creek at Vissarion, he seemed much milder-- +less aggressive in his manner; but when he heard that you were +detained at Plazac, he got rather "fresh"--I use the American term-- +again. I greatly feared there would be a serious misfortune before +we got into the Castle, for on the dock was Julia, the wife of +Michael, the Master of the Wine, who is, as you know, very beautiful. +Mr. Melton seemed much taken with her; and she, being flattered by +the attention of a strange gentleman and Your Honour's kinsman, put +aside the stand-offishness of most of the Blue Mountain women. +Whereupon Mr. Melton, forgetting himself, took her in his arms and +kissed her. Instantly there was a hubbub. The mountaineers present +drew their handjars, and almost on the instant sudden death appeared +to be amongst us. Happily the men waited as Michael, who had just +arrived on the quay-wall as the outrage took place, ran forward, +wheeling his handjar round his head, and manifestly intending to +decapitate Mr. Melton. On the instant--I am sorry to say it, for it +created a terribly bad effect--Mr. Melton dropped on his knees in a +state of panic. There was just this good use in it--that there was a +pause of a few seconds. During that time the little Cockney valet, +who has the heart of a man in him, literally burst his way forward, +and stood in front of his master in boxing attitude, calling out: + +"'Ere, come on, the 'ole lot of ye! 'E ain't done no 'arm. He honly +kissed the gal, as any man would. If ye want to cut off somebody's +'ed, cut off mine. I ain't afride!" There was such genuine pluck in +this, and it formed so fine a contrast to the other's craven attitude +(forgive me, Your Honour; but you want the truth!), that I was glad +he was an Englishman, too. The mountaineers recognized his spirit, +and saluted with their handjars, even Michael amongst the number. +Half turning his head, the little man said in a fierce whisper: + +"Buck up, guv'nor! Get up, or they'll slice ye! 'Ere's Mr. Rooke; +'e'll see ye through it." + +By this time the men were amenable to reason, and when I reminded +them that Mr. Melton was Your Honour's cousin, they put aside their +handjars and went about their work. I asked Mr. Melton to follow, +and led the way to the Castle. + +When we got close to the great entrance within the walled courtyard, +we found a large number of the servants gathered, and with them many +of the mountaineers, who have kept an organized guard all round the +Castle ever since the abducting of the Voivodin. As both Your Honour +and the Voivode were away at Plazac, the guard had for the time been +doubled. When the steward came and stood in the doorway, the +servants stood off somewhat, and the mountaineers drew back to the +farther sides and angles of the courtyard. The Voivodin had, of +course, been informed of the guest's (your cousin) coming, and came +to meet him in the old custom of the Blue Mountains. As Your Honour +only came to the Blue Mountains recently, and as no occasion has been +since then of illustrating the custom since the Voivode was away, and +the Voivodin then believed to be dead, perhaps I, who have lived here +so long, may explain: + +When to an old Blue Mountain house a guest comes whom it is wished to +do honour, the Lady, as in the vernacular the mistress of the house +is called, comes herself to meet the guest at the door--or, rather, +OUTSIDE the door--so that she can herself conduct him within. It is +a pretty ceremony, and it is said that of old in kingly days the +monarch always set much store by it. The custom is that, when she +approaches the honoured guest (he need not be royal), she bends--or +more properly kneels--before him and kisses his hand. It has been +explained by historians that the symbolism is that the woman, showing +obedience to her husband, as the married woman of the Blue Mountains +always does, emphasizes that obedience to her husband's guest. The +custom is always observed in its largest formality when a young wife +receives for the first time a guest, and especially one whom her +husband wishes to honour. The Voivodin was, of course, aware that +Mr. Melton was your kinsman, and naturally wished to make the +ceremony of honour as marked as possible, so as to show overtly her +sense of her husband's worth. + +When we came into the courtyard, I held back, of course, for the +honour is entirely individual, and is never extended to any other, no +matter how worthy he may be. Naturally Mr. Melton did not know the +etiquette of the situation, and so for that is not to be blamed. He +took his valet with him when, seeing someone coming to the door, he +went forward. I thought he was going to rush to his welcomer. Such, +though not in the ritual, would have been natural in a young kinsman +wishing to do honour to the bride of his host, and would to anyone +have been both understandable and forgivable. It did not occur to me +at the time, but I have since thought that perhaps he had not then +heard of Your Honour's marriage, which I trust you will, in justice +to the young gentleman, bear in mind when considering the matter. +Unhappily, however, he did not show any such eagerness. On the +contrary, he seemed to make a point of showing indifference. It +seemed to me myself that he, seeing somebody wishing to make much of +him, took what he considered a safe opportunity of restoring to +himself his own good opinion, which must have been considerably +lowered in the episode of the Wine Master's wife. + +The Voivodin, thinking, doubtless, Your Honour, to add a fresh lustre +to her welcome, had donned the costume which all her nation has now +come to love and to accept as a dress of ceremonial honour. She wore +her shroud. It moved the hearts of all of us who looked on to see +it, and we appreciated its being worn for such a cause. But Mr. +Melton did not seem to care. As he had been approaching she had +begun to kneel, and was already on her knees whilst he was several +yards away. There he stopped and turned to speak to his valet, put a +glass in his eye, and looked all round him and up and down--indeed, +everywhere except at the Great Lady, who was on her knees before him, +waiting to bid him welcome. I could see in the eyes of such of the +mountaineers as were within my range of vision a growing animosity; +so, hoping to keep down any such expression, which I knew would cause +harm to Your Honour and the Voivodin, I looked all round them +straight in their faces with a fixed frown, which, indeed, they +seemed to understand, for they regained, and for the time maintained, +their usual dignified calm. The Voivodin, may I say, bore the trial +wonderfully. No human being could see that she was in any degree +pained or even surprised. Mr. Melton stood looking round him so long +that I had full time to regain my own attitude of calm. At last he +seemed to come back to the knowledge that someone was waiting for +him, and sauntered leisurely forward. There was so much insolence-- +mind you, not insolence that was intended to appear as such--in his +movement that the mountaineers began to steal forward. When he was +close up to the Voivodin, and she put out her hand to take his, he +put forward ONE FINGER! I could hear the intake of the breath of the +men, now close around, for I had moved forward, too. I thought it +would be as well to be close to your guest, lest something should +happen to him. The Voivodin still kept her splendid self-control. +Raising the finger put forward by the guest with the same deference +as though it had been the hand of a King, she bent her head down and +kissed it. Her duty of courtesy now done, she was preparing to rise, +when he put his hand into his pocket, and, pulling out a sovereign, +offered it to her. His valet moved his hand forward, as if to pull +back his arm, but it was too late. I am sure, Your Honour, that no +affront was intended. He doubtless thought that he was doing a +kindness of the sort usual in England when one "tips" a housekeeper. +But all the same, to one in her position, it was an affront, an +insult, open and unmistakable. So it was received by the +mountaineers, whose handjars flashed out as one. For a second it was +so received even by the Voivodin, who, with face flushing scarlet, +and the stars in her eves flaming red, sprang to her feet. But in +that second she had regained herself, and to all appearances her +righteous anger passed away. Stooping, she took the hand of her +guest and raised it--you know how strong she is--and, holding it in +hers, led him into the doorway, saying: + +"You are welcome, kinsman of my husband, to the house of my father, +which is presently my husband's also. Both are grieved that, duty +having called them away for the time, they are unable to be here to +help me to greet you." + +I tell you, Your Honour, that it was a lesson in self-respect which +anyone who saw it can never forget. As to me, it makes my flesh +quiver, old as I am, with delight, and my heart leap. + +May I, as a faithful servant who has had many years of experience, +suggest that Your Honour should seem--for the present, at any rate-- +not to know any of these things which I have reported, as you wished +me to do. Be sure that the Voivodin will tell you her gracious self +aught that she would wish you to know. And such reticence on your +part must make for her happiness, even if it did not for your own. + +So that you may know all, as you desired, and that you may have time +to school yourself to whatever attitude you think best to adopt, I +send this off to you at once by fleet messenger. Were the aeroplane +here, I should take it myself. I leave here shortly to await the +arrival of Sir Colin at Otranto. + +Your Honour's faithful servant, + +ROOKE. + + +JANET MACKELPIE'S NOTES. +August 9, 1907. + +To me it seems very providential that Rupert was not at home when +that dreadful young man Ernest Melton arrived, though it is possible +that if Rupert had been present he would not have dared to conduct +himself so badly. Of course, I heard all about it from the maids; +Teuta never opened her lips to me on the subject. It was bad enough +and stupid enough for him to try to kiss a decent young woman like +Julia, who is really as good as gold and as modest as one of our own +Highland lassies; but to think of him insulting Teuta! The little +beast! One would think that a champion idiot out of an Equatorial +asylum would know better! If Michael, the Wine Master, wanted to +kill him, I wonder what my Rupert and hers would have done? I am +truly thankful that he was not present. And I am thankful, too, that +I was not present either, for I should have made an exhibition of +myself, and Rupert would not have liked that. He--the little beast! +might have seen from the very dress that the dear girl wore that +there was something exceptional about her. But on one account I +should have liked to see her. They tell me that she was, in her true +dignity, like a Queen, and that her humility in receiving her +husband's kinsman was a lesson to every woman in the Land. I must be +careful not to let Rupert know that I have heard of the incident. +Later on, when it is all blown over and the young man has been got +safely away, I shall tell him of it. Mr. Rooke--Lord High Admiral +Rooke, I should say--must be a really wonderful man to have so held +himself in check; for, from what I have heard of him, he must in his +younger days have been worse than Old Morgan of Panama. Mr. Ernest +Roger Halbard Melton, of Humcroft, Salop, little knows how near he +was to being "cleft to the chine" also. + +Fortunately, I had heard of his meeting with Teuta before he came to +see me, for I did not get back from my walk till after he had +arrived. Teuta's noble example was before me, and I determined that +I, too, would show good manners under any circumstances. But I +didn't know how mean he is. Think of his saying to me that Rupert's +position here must be a great source of pride to me, who had been his +nursery governess. He said "nursemaid" first, but then stumbled in +his words, seeming to remember something. I did not turn a hair, I +am glad to say. It is a mercy Uncle Colin was not here, for I +honestly believe that, if he had been, he would have done the +"cleaving to the chine" himself. It has been a narrow escape for +Master Ernest, for only this morning Rupert had a message, sent on +from Gibraltar, saying that he was arriving with his clansmen, and +that they would not be far behind his letter. He would call at +Otranto in case someone should come across to pilot him to Vissarion. +Uncle told me all about that young cad having offered him one finger +in Mr. Trent's office, though, of course, he didn't let the cad see +that he noticed it. I have no doubt that, when he does arrive, that +young man, if he is here still, will find that he will have to behave +himself, if it be only on Sir Colin's account alone. + +THE SAME (LATER). + +I had hardly finished writing when the lookout on the tower announced +that the Teuta, as Rupert calls his aeroplane, was sighted crossing +the mountains from Plazac. I hurried up to see him arrive, for I had +not as yet seen him on his "aero." Mr. Ernest Melton came up, too. +Teuta was, of course, before any of us. She seems to know by +instinct when Rupert is coming. + +It was certainly a wonderful sight to see the little aeroplane, with +outspread wings like a bird in flight, come sailing high over the +mountains. There was a head-wind, and they were beating against it; +otherwise we should not have had time to get to the tower before the +arrival. + +When once the "aero" had begun to drop on the near side of the +mountains, however, and had got a measure of shelter from them, her +pace was extraordinary. We could not tell, of course, what sort of +pace she came at from looking at herself. But we gathered some idea +from the rate at which the mountains and hills seemed to slide away +from under her. When she got over the foot-hills, which are about +ten miles away, she came on at a swift glide that seemed to throw the +distance behind her. When quite close, she rose up a little till she +was something higher than the Tower, to which she came as straight as +an arrow from the bow, and glided to her moorings, stopping dead as +Rupert pulled a lever, which seemed to turn a barrier to the wind. +The Voivode sat beside Rupert, but I must say that he seemed to hold +on to the bar in front of him even more firmly than Rupert held to +his steering-gear. + +When they had alighted, Rupert greeted his cousin with the utmost +kindness, and bade him welcome to Vissarion. + +"I see," he said, "you have met Teuta. Now you may congratulate me, +if you wish." + +Mr. Melton made a long rodomontade about her beauty, but presently, +stumbling about in his speech, said something regarding it being +unlucky to appear in grave-clothes. Rupert laughed, and clapped him +on the shoulder as he answered: + +"That pattern of frock is likely to become a national dress for loyal +women of the Blue Mountains. When you know something of what that +dress means to us all at present you will understand. In the +meantime, take it that there is not a soul in the nation that does +not love it and honour her for wearing it." To which the cad +replied: + +"Oh, indeed! I thought it was some preparation for a fancy-dress +ball." Rupert's comment on this ill-natured speech was (for him) +quite grumpily given: + +"I should not advise you to think such things whilst you are in this +part of the world, Ernest. They bury men here for much less." + +The cad seemed struck with something--either what Rupert had said or +his manner of saying it--for he was silent for several seconds before +he spoke. + +"I'm very tired with that long journey, Rupert. Would you and Mrs. +Sent Leger mind if I go to my own room and turn in? My man can ask +for a cup of tea and a sandwich for me." + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL. +August 10, 1907. + +When Ernest said he wished to retire it was about the wisest thing he +could have said or done, and it suited Teuta and me down to the +ground. I could see that the dear girl was agitated about something, +so thought it would be best for her to be quiet, and not worried with +being civil to the Bounder. Though he is my cousin, I can't think of +him as anything else. The Voivode and I had certain matters to +attend to arising out of the meeting of the Council, and when we were +through the night was closing in. When I saw Teuta in our own rooms +she said at once: + +"Do you mind, dear, if I stay with Aunt Janet to-night? She is very +upset and nervous, and when I offered to come to her she clung to me +and cried with relief." + +So when I had had some supper, which I took with the Voivode, I came +down to my old quarters in the Garden Room, and turned in early. + +I was awakened a little before dawn by the coming of the fighting +monk Theophrastos, a notable runner, who had an urgent message for +me. This was the letter to me given to him by Rooke. He had been +cautioned to give it into no other hand, but to find me wherever I +might be, and convey it personally. When he had arrived at Plazac I +had left on the aeroplane, so he had turned back to Vissarion. + +When I read Rooke's report of Ernest Melton's abominable conduct I +was more angry with him than I can say. Indeed, I did not think +before that that I could be angry with him, for I have always +despised him. But this was too much. However, I realized the wisdom +of Rooke's advice, and went away by myself to get over my anger and +reacquire my self-mastery. The aeroplane Teuta was still housed on +the tower, so I went up alone and took it out. + +When I had had a spin of about a hundred miles I felt better. The +bracing of the wind and the quick, exhilarating motion restored me to +myself, and I felt able to cope with Master Ernest, or whatever else +chagrinable might come along, without giving myself away. As Teuta +had thought it better to keep silence as to Ernest's affront, I felt +I must not acknowledge it; but, all the same, I determined to get rid +of him before the day was much older. + +When I had had my breakfast I sent word to him by a servant that I +was coming to his rooms, and followed not long behind the messenger. + +He was in a suit of silk pyjamas, such as not even Solomon in all his +glory was arrayed in. I closed the door behind me before I began to +speak. He listened, at first amazed, then disconcerted, then angry, +and then cowering down like a whipped hound. I felt that it was a +case for speaking out. A bumptious ass like him, who deliberately +insulted everyone he came across--for if all or any of his efforts in +that way were due to mere elemental ignorance he was not fit to live, +but should be silenced on sight as a modern Caliban--deserved neither +pity nor mercy. To extend to him fine feeling, tolerance, and such- +like gentlenesses would be to deprive the world of them without +benefit to any. So well as I can remember, what I said was something +like this: + +"Ernest, as you say, you've got to go, and to go quick, you +understand. I dare say you look on this as a land of barbarians, and +think that any of your high-toned refinements are thrown away on +people here. Well, perhaps it is so. Undoubtedly, the structure of +the country is rough; the mountains may only represent the glacial +epoch; but so far as I can gather from some of your exploits--for I +have only learned a small part as yet--you represent a period a good +deal farther back. You seem to have given our folk here an +exhibition of the playfulness of the hooligan of the Saurian stage of +development; but the Blue Mountains, rough as they are, have come up +out of the primeval slime, and even now the people aim at better +manners. They may be rough, primitive, barbarian, elemental, if you +will, but they are not low down enough to tolerate either your ethics +or your taste. My dear cousin, your life is not safe here! I am +told that yesterday, only for the restraint exercised by certain +offended mountaineers on other grounds than your own worth, you would +have been abbreviated by the head. Another day of your fascinating +presence would do away with this restraint, and then we should have a +scandal. I am a new-comer here myself--too new a comer to be able to +afford a scandal of that kind--and so I shall not delay your going. +Believe me, my dear cousin, Ernest Roger Halbard Melton, of Humcroft, +Salop, that I am inconsolable about your resolution of immediate +departure, but I cannot shut my eyes to its wisdom. At present the +matter is altogether amongst ourselves, and when you have gone--if it +be immediately--silence will be observed on all hands for the sake of +the house wherein you are a guest; but if there be time for scandal +to spread, you will be made, whether you be alive or dead, a European +laughing-stock. Accordingly, I have anticipated your wishes, and +have ordered a fast steam yacht to take you to Ancona, or to whatever +other port you may desire. The yacht will be under the command of +Captain Desmond, of one of our battleships--a most determined +officer, who will carry out any directions which may be given to him. +This will insure your safety so far as Italian territory. Some of +his officials will arrange a special carriage for you up to Flushing, +and a cabin on the steamer to Queenboro'. A man of mine will travel +on the train and steamer with you, and will see that whatever you may +wish in the way of food or comfort will be provided. Of course, you +understand, my dear cousin, that you are my guest until you arrive in +London. I have not asked Rooke to accompany you, as when he went to +meet you, it was a mistake. Indeed, there might have been a danger +to you which I never contemplated--a quite unnecessary danger, I +assure you. But happily Admiral Rooke, though a man of strong +passions, has wonderful self-control." + +"Admiral Rooke?" he queried. "Admiral?" + +"Admiral, certainly," I replied, "but not an ordinary Admiral--one of +many. He is THE Admiral--the Lord High Admiral of the Land of the +Blue Mountains, with sole control of its expanding navy. When such a +man is treated as a valet, there may be . . . But why go into this? +It is all over. I only mention it lest anything of a similar kind +should occur with Captain Desmond, who is a younger man, and +therefore with probably less self-repression." + +I saw that he had learned his lesson, and so said no more on the +subject. + +There was another reason for his going which I did not speak of. Sir +Colin MacKelpie was coming with his clansmen, and I knew he did not +like Ernest Melton. I well remembered that episode of his offering +one finger to the old gentleman in Mr. Trent's office, and, moreover, +I had my suspicions that Aunt Janet's being upset was probably in +some measure due to some rudeness of his that she did not wish to +speak about. He is really an impossible young man, and is far better +out of this country than in it. If he remained here, there would be +some sort of a tragedy for certain. + +I must say that it was with a feeling of considerable relief that I +saw the yacht steam out of the creek, with Captain Desmond on the +bridge and my cousin beside him. + +Quite other were my feelings when, an hour after, The Lady came +flying into the creek with the Lord High Admiral on the bridge, and +beside him, more splendid and soldier-like than ever, Sir Colin +MacKelpie. Mr. Bingham Trent was also on the bridge. + +The General was full of enthusiasm regarding his regiment, for in +all, those he brought with him and those finishing their training at +home, the force is near the number of a full regiment. When we were +alone he explained to me that all was arranged regarding the non- +commissioned officers, but that he had held over the question of +officers until we should have had a suitable opportunity of talking +the matter over together. He explained to me his reasons, which were +certainly simple and cogent. Officers, according to him, are a +different class, and accustomed to a different standard altogether of +life and living, of duties and pleasures. They are harder to deal +with and more difficult to obtain. "There was no use," he said, "in +getting a lot of failures, with old-crusted ways of their own +importance. We must have young men for our purpose--that is, men not +old, but with some experience--men, of course, who know how to behave +themselves, or else, from what little I have seen of the Blue +Mountaineers, they wouldn't last long here if they went on as some of +them do elsewhere. I shall start things here as you wish me to, for +I am here, my dear boy, to stay with you and Janet, and we shall, if +it be given to us by the Almighty, help to build up together a new +'nation'--an ally of Britain, who will stand at least as an outpost +of our own nation, and a guardian of our eastern road. When things +are organized here on the military side, and are going strong, I +shall, if you can spare me, run back to London for a few weeks. +Whilst I am there I shall pick up a lot of the sort of officers we +want. I know that there are loads of them to be had. I shall go +slowly, however, and carefully, too, and every man I bring back will +be recommended to me by some old soldier whom I know, and who knows +the man he recommends, and has seen him work. We shall have, I dare +say, an army for its size second to none in the world, and the day +may come when your old country will be proud of your new one. Now +I'm off to see that all is ready for my people--your people now." + +I had had arrangements made for the comfort of the clansmen and the +women, but I knew that the good old soldier would see for himself +that his men were to be comfortable. It was not for nothing that he +was--is--looked on as perhaps the General most beloved by his men in +the whole British Army. + +When he had gone, and I was alone, Mr. Trent, who had evidently been +waiting for the opportunity, came to me. When we had spoken of my +marriage and of Teuta, who seems to have made an immense impression +on him, he said suddenly: + +"I suppose we are quite alone, and that we shall not be interrupted?" +I summoned the man outside--there is always a sentry on guard outside +my door or near me, wherever I may be--and gave orders that I was not +to be disturbed until I gave fresh orders. "If," I said, "there be +anything pressing or important, let the Voivodin or Miss MacKelpie +know. If either of them brings anyone to me, it will be all right." + +When we were quite alone Mr. Trent took a slip of paper and some +documents from the bag which was beside him. He then read out items +from the slip, placing as he did so the documents so checked over +before him. + +1. New Will made on marriage, to be signed presently. + +2. Copy of the Re-conveyance of Vissarion estates to Peter +Vissarion, as directed by Will of Roger Melton. + +3. Report of Correspondence with Privy Council, and proceedings +following. + +Taking up the last named, he untied the red tape, and, holding the +bundle in his hand, went on: + +"As you may, later on, wish to examine the details of the +Proceedings, I have copied out the various letters, the originals of +which are put safely away in my strong-room where, of course, they +are always available in case you may want them. For your present +information I shall give you a rough synopsis of the Proceedings, +referring where advisable to this paper. + +"On receipt of your letter of instructions regarding the Consent of +the Privy Council to your changing your nationality in accordance +with the terms of Roger Melton's Will, I put myself in communication +with the Clerk of the Privy Council, informing him of your wish to be +naturalized in due time to the Land of the Blue Mountains. After +some letters between us, I got a summons to attend a meeting of the +Council. + +"I attended, as required, taking with me all necessary documents, and +such as I conceived might be advisable to produce, if wanted. + +"The Lord President informed me that the present meeting of the +Council was specially summoned in obedience to the suggestion of the +King, who had been consulted as to his personal wishes on the +subject--should he have any. The President then proceeded to inform +me officially that all Proceedings of the Privy Council were +altogether confidential, and were not to be made public under any +circumstances. He was gracious enough to add: + +"'The circumstances of this case, however, are unique; and as you act +for another, we have thought it advisable to enlarge your permission +in the matter, so as to allow you to communicate freely with your +principal. As that gentleman is settling himself in a part of the +world which has been in the past, and may be again, united to this +nation by some common interest, His Majesty wishes Mr. Sent Leger to +feel assured of the good-will of Great Britain to the Land of the +Blue Mountains, and even of his own personal satisfaction that a +gentleman of so distinguished a lineage and such approved personal +character is about to be--within his own scope--a connecting-link +between the nations. To which end he has graciously announced that, +should the Privy Council acquiesce in the request of +Denaturalization, he will himself sign the Patent therefor. + +"'The Privy Council has therefore held private session, at which the +matter has been discussed in its many bearings; and it is content +that the change can do no harm, but may be of some service to the two +nations. We have, therefore, agreed to grant the prayer of the +Applicant; and the officials of the Council have the matter of the +form of Grant in hand. So you, sir, may rest satisfied that as soon +as the formalities--which will, of course, require the formal signing +of certain documents by the Applicant--can be complied with, the +Grant and Patent will obtain.'" + +Having made this statement in formal style, my old friend went on in +more familiar way: + +"And so, my dear Rupert, all is in hand; and before very long you +will have the freedom required under the Will, and will be at liberty +to take whatever steps may be necessary to be naturalized in your new +country. + +"I may tell you, by the way, that several members of the Council made +very complimentary remarks regarding you. I am forbidden to give +names, but I may tell you facts. One old Field-Marshal, whose name +is familiar to the whole world, said that he had served in many +places with your father, who was a very valiant soldier, and that he +was glad that Great Britain was to have in the future the benefit of +your father's son in a friendly land now beyond the outposts of our +Empire, but which had been one with her in the past, and might be +again. + +"So much for the Privy Council. We can do no more at present until +you sign and have attested the documents which I have brought with +me. + +"We can now formally complete the settlement of the Vissarion +estates, which must be done whilst you are a British citizen. So, +too, with the Will, the more formal and complete document, which is +to take the place of that short one which you forwarded to me the day +after your marriage. It may be, perhaps, necessary or advisable +that, later on, when you are naturalized here, you shall make a new +Will in strictest accordance with local law." + + +TEUTA SENT LEGER'S DIARY. +August 19, 1907. + +We had a journey to-day that was simply glorious. We had been +waiting to take it for more than a week. Rupert not only wanted the +weather suitable, but he had to wait till the new aeroplane came +home. It is more than twice as big as our biggest up to now. None +of the others could take all the party which Rupert wanted to go. +When he heard that the aero was coming from Whitby, where it was sent +from Leeds, he directed by cable that it should be unshipped at +Otranto, whence he took it here all by himself. I wanted to come +with him, but he thought it better not. He says that Brindisi is too +busy a place to keep anything quiet--if not secret--and he wants to +be very dark indeed about this, as it is worked by the new radium +engine. Ever since they found radium in our own hills he has been +obsessed by the idea of an aerial navy for our protection. And after +to-day's experiences I think he is right. As he wanted to survey the +whole country at a glimpse, so that the general scheme of defence +might be put in hand, we had to have an aero big enough to take the +party as well as fast enough to do it rapidly, and all at once. We +had, in addition to Rupert, my father, and myself, Sir Colin and Lord +High Admiral Rooke (I do like to give that splendid old fellow his +full title!). The military and naval experts had with them +scientific apparatus of various kinds, also cameras and range- +finders, so that they could mark their maps as they required. +Rupert, of course, drove, and I acted as his assistant. Father, who +has not yet become accustomed to aerial travel, took a seat in the +centre (which Rupert had thoughtfully prepared for him), where there +is very little motion. I must say I was amazed to see the way that +splendid old soldier Sir Colin bore himself. He had never been on an +aeroplane before, but, all the same, he was as calm as if he was on a +rock. Height or motion did not trouble him. Indeed, he seemed to +ENJOY himself all the time. The Admiral is himself almost an expert, +but in any case I am sure he would have been unconcerned, just as he +was in the Crab as Rupert has told me. + +We left just after daylight, and ran down south. When we got to the +east of Ilsin, we kept slightly within the border-line, and went +north or east as it ran, making occasional loops inland over the +mountains and back again. When we got up to our farthest point +north, we began to go much slower. Sir Colin explained that for the +rest all would be comparatively plain-sailing in the way of defence; +but that as any foreign Power other than the Turk must attack from +seaward, he would like to examine the seaboard very carefully in +conjunction with the Admiral, whose advice as to sea defence would be +invaluable. + +Rupert was fine. No one could help admiring him as he sat working +his lever and making the great machine obey every touch. He was +wrapped up in his work. I don't believe that whilst he was working +he ever thought of even me. He IS splendid! + +We got back just as the sun was dropping down over the Calabrian +Mountains. It is quite wonderful how the horizon changes when you +are sailing away up high on an aeroplane. Rupert is going to teach +me how to manage one all by myself, and when I am fit he will give me +one, which he is to have specially built for me. + +I think I, too, have done some good work--at least, I have got some +good ideas--from our journey to-day. Mine are not of war, but of +peace, and I think I see a way by which we shall be able to develop +our country in a wonderful way. I shall talk the idea over with +Rupert to-night, when we are alone. In the meantime Sir Colin and +Admiral Rooke will think their plans over individually, and to-morrow +morning together. Then the next day they, too, are to go over their +idea with Rupert and my father, and something may be decided then. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +August 21, 1907. + +Our meeting on the subject of National Defence, held this afternoon, +went off well. We were five in all, for with permission of the +Voivode and the two fighting-men, naval and military, I brought Teuta +with me. She sat beside me quite quietly, and never made a remark of +any kind till the Defence business had been gone through. Both Sir +Colin and Admiral Rooke were in perfect agreement as to the immediate +steps to be taken for defence. In the first instance, the seaboard +was to be properly fortified in the necessary places, and the navy +largely strengthened. When we had got thus far I asked Rooke to tell +of the navy increase already in hand. Whereupon he explained that, +as we had found the small battleship The Lady of an excellent type +for coast defence, acting only in home waters, and of a size to take +cover where necessary at many places on our own shores, we had +ordered nine others of the same pattern. Of these the first four +were already in hand, and were proceeding with the greatest +expedition. The General then supplemented this by saying that big +guns could be used from points judiciously chosen on the seaboard, +which was in all so short a length that no very great quantity of +armament would be required. + +"We can have," he said, "the biggest guns of the most perfect kind +yet accomplished, and use them from land batteries of the most up-to- +date pattern. The one serious proposition we have to deal with is +the defence of the harbour--as yet quite undeveloped--which is known +as the 'Blue Mouth.' Since our aerial journey I have been to it by +sea with Admiral Rooke in The Lady, and then on land with the +Vladika, who was born on its shores, and who knows every inch of it. + +"It is worth fortifying--and fortifying well, for as a port it is +peerless in Mediterranean seas. The navies of the world might ride +in it, land-locked, and even hidden from view seawards. The +mountains which enclose it are in themselves absolute protection. In +addition, these can only be assailed from our own territory. Of +course, Voivode, you understand when I say 'our' I mean the Land of +the Blue Mountains, for whose safety and well-being I am alone +concerned. Any ship anchoring in the roads of the Blue Mouth would +have only one need--sufficient length of cable for its magnificent +depth. + +"When proper guns are properly placed on the steep cliffs to north +and south of the entrance, and when the rock islet between has been +armoured and armed as will be necessary, the Mouth will be +impregnable. But we should not depend on the aiming of the entrance +alone. At certain salient points--which I have marked upon this map- +-armour-plated sunken forts within earthworks should be established. +There should be covering forts on the hillsides, and, of course, the +final summits protected. Thus we could resist attack on any side or +all sides--from sea or land. That port will yet mean the wealth as +well as the strength of this nation, so it will be well to have it +properly protected. This should be done soon, and the utmost secrecy +observed in the doing of it, lest the so doing should become a matter +of international concern." + +Here Rooke smote the table hard. + +"By God, that is true! It has been the dream of my own life for this +many a year." + +In the silence which followed the sweet, gentle voice of Teuta came +clear as a bell: + +"May I say a word? I am emboldened to, as Sir Colin has spoken so +splendidly, and as the Lord High Admiral has not hesitated to mention +his dreaming. I, too, have had a dream--a day-dream--which came in a +flash, but no less a dream, for all that. It was when we hung on the +aeroplane over the Blue Mouth. It seemed to me in an instant that I +saw that beautiful spot as it will some time be--typical, as Sir +Colin said, of the wealth as well as the strength of this nation; a +mart for the world whence will come for barter some of the great +wealth of the Blue Mountains. That wealth is as yet undeveloped. +But the day is at hand when we may begin to use it, and through that +very port. Our mountains and their valleys are clad with trees of +splendid growth, virgin forests of priceless worth; hard woods of all +kinds, which have no superior throughout the world. In the rocks, +though hidden as yet, is vast mineral wealth of many kinds. I have +been looking through the reports of the geological exports of the +Commission of Investigation which my husband organized soon after he +came to live here, and, according to them, our whole mountain ranges +simply teem with vast quantities of minerals, almost more precious +for industry than gold and silver are for commerce--though, indeed, +gold is not altogether lacking as a mineral. When once our work on +the harbour is done, and the place has been made secure against any +attempt at foreign aggression, we must try to find a way to bring +this wealth of woods and ores down to the sea. + +"And then, perhaps, may begin the great prosperity of our Land, of +which we have all dreamt." + +She stopped, all vibrating, almost choked with emotion. We were all +moved. For myself, I was thrilled to the core. Her enthusiasm was +all-sweeping, and under its influence I found my own imagination +expanding. Out of its experiences I spoke: + +"And there is a way. I can see it. Whilst our dear Voivodin was +speaking, the way seemed to clear. I saw at the back of the Blue +Mouth, where it goes deepest into the heart of the cliffs, the +opening of a great tunnel, which ran upward over a steep slope till +it debouched on the first plateau beyond the range of the +encompassing cliffs. + +Thither came by various rails of steep gradient, by timber-shoots and +cable-rails, by aerial cables and precipitating tubes, wealth from +over ground and under it; for as our Land is all mountains, and as +these tower up to the clouds, transport to the sea shall be easy and +of little cost when once the machinery is established. As everything +of much weight goes downward, the cars of the main tunnel of the port +shall return upward without cost. We can have from the mountains a +head of water under good control, which will allow of endless +hydraulic power, so that the whole port and the mechanism of the town +to which it will grow can be worked by it. + +"This work can be put in hand at once. So soon as the place shall be +perfectly surveyed and the engineering plans got ready, we can start +on the main tunnel, working from the sea-level up, so that the cost +of the transport of material will be almost nil. This work can go on +whilst the forts are building; no time need be lost. + +"Moreover, may I add a word on National Defence? We are, though old +in honour, a young nation as to our place amongst Great Powers. And +so we must show the courage and energy of a young nation. The Empire +of the Air is not yet won. Why should not we make a bid for it? As +our mountains are lofty, so shall we have initial power of attack or +defence. We can have, in chosen spots amongst the clouds, depots of +war aeroplanes, with which we can descend and smite our enemies +quickly on land or sea. We shall hope to live for Peace; but woe to +those who drive us to War!" + +There is no doubt that the Vissarions are a warlike race. As I +spoke, Teuta took one of my hands and held it hard. The old Voivode, +his eyes blazing, rose and stood beside me and took the other. The +two old fighting-men of the land and the sea stood up and saluted. + +This was the beginning of what ultimately became "The National +Committee of Defence and Development." + +I had other, and perhaps greater, plans for the future in my mind; +but the time had not come for their utterance. + +To me it seems not only advisable, but necessary, that the utmost +discretion be observed by all our little group, at all events for the +present. There seems to be some new uneasiness in the Blue +Mountains. There are constant meetings of members of the Council, +but no formal meeting of the Council, as such, since the last one at +which I was present. There is constant coming and going amongst the +mountaineers, always in groups, small or large. Teuta and I, who +have been about very much on the aeroplane, have both noticed it. +But somehow we--that is, the Voivode and myself--are left out of +everything; but we have not said as yet a word on the subject to any +of the others. The Voivode notices, but he says nothing; so I am +silent, and Teuta does whatever I ask. Sir Colin does not notice +anything except the work he is engaged on--the planning the defences +of the Blue Mouth. His old scientific training as an engineer, and +his enormous experience of wars and sieges--for he was for nearly +fifty years sent as military representative to all the great wars-- +seem to have become directed on that point. He is certainly planning +it all out in a wonderful way. He consults Rooke almost hourly on +the maritime side of the question. The Lord High Admiral has been a +watcher all his life, and very few important points have ever escaped +him, so that he can add greatly to the wisdom of the defensive +construction. He notices, I think, that something is going on +outside ourselves; but he keeps a resolute silence. + +What the movement going on is I cannot guess. It is not like the +uneasiness that went before the abduction of Teuta and the Voivode, +but it is even more pronounced. That was an uneasiness founded on +some suspicion. This is a positive thing, and has definite meaning-- +of some sort. We shall, I suppose, know all about it in good time. +In the meantime we go on with our work. Happily the whole Blue Mouth +and the mountains round it are on my own property, the portion +acquired long ago by Uncle Roger, exclusive of the Vissarion estate. +I asked the Voivode to allow me to transfer it to him, but he sternly +refused and forbade me, quite peremptorily, to ever open the subject +to him again. "You have done enough already," he said. "Were I to +allow you to go further, I should feel mean. And I do not think you +would like your wife's father to suffer that feeling after a long +life, which he has tried to live in honour." + +I bowed, and said no more. So there the matter rests, and I have to +take my own course. I have had a survey made, and on the head of it +the Tunnel to the harbour is begun. + + + +BOOK VIII: THE FLASHING OF THE HANDJAR + + + +PRIVATE MEMORANDUM OF THE MEETING OF VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL +COUNCIL, HELD AT THE STATE HOUSE OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AT PLAZAC ON +MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1907. +(Written by Cristoferos, Scribe of the Council, by instruction of +those present.) + +When the private meeting of various Members of the National Council +had assembled in the Council Hall of the State House at Plazac, it +was as a preliminary decided unanimously that now or hereafter no +names of those present were to be mentioned, and that officials +appointed for the purposes of this meeting should be designated by +office only, the names of all being withheld. + +The proceedings assumed the shape of a general conversation, quite +informal, and therefore not to be recorded. The nett outcome was the +unanimous expression of an opinion that the time, long contemplated +by very many persons throughout the nation, had now come when the +Constitution and machinery of the State should be changed; that the +present form of ruling by an Irregular Council was not sufficient, +and that a method more in accord with the spirit of the times should +be adopted. To this end Constitutional Monarchy, such as that +holding in Great Britain, seemed best adapted. Finally, it was +decided that each Member of the Council should make a personal +canvass of his district, talk over the matter with his electors, and +bring back to another meeting--or, rather, as it was amended, to this +meeting postponed for a week, until September 2nd--the opinions and +wishes received. Before separating, the individual to be appointed +King, in case the new idea should prove grateful to the nation, was +discussed. The consensus of opinion was entirely to the effect that +the Voivode Peter Vissarion should, if he would accept the high +office, be appointed. It was urged that, as his daughter, the +Voivodin Teuta, was now married to the Englishman, Rupert Sent Leger- +-called generally by the mountaineers "the Gospodar Rupert"--a +successor to follow the Voivode when God should call him would be at +hand--a successor worthy in every way to succeed to so illustrious a +post. It was urged by several speakers, with general acquiescence, +that already Mr. Sent Leger's services to the State were such that he +would be in himself a worthy person to begin the new Dynasty; but +that, as he was now allied to the Voivode Peter Vissarion, it was +becoming that the elder, born of the nation, should receive the first +honour. + +THE SAME--Continued. + +The adjourned meeting of certain members of the National Council was +resumed in the Hall of the State House at Plazac on Monday, September +2nd, 1907. By motion the same chairman was appointed, and the rule +regarding the record renewed. + +Reports were made by the various members of the Council in turn, +according to the State Roll. Every district was represented. The +reports were unanimously in favour of the New Constitution, and it +was reported by each and all of the Councillors that the utmost +enthusiasm marked in every case the suggestion of the Voivode Peter +Vissarion as the first King to be crowned under the new Constitution, +and that remainder should be settled on the Gospodar Rupert (the +mountaineers would only receive his lawful name as an alternative; +one and all said that he would be "Rupert" to them and to the nation- +-for ever). + +The above matter having been satisfactorily settled, it was decided +that a formal meeting of the National Council should be held at the +State House, Plazac, in one week from to-day, and that the Voivode +Peter Vissarion should be asked to be in the State House in readiness +to attend. It was also decided that instruction should be given to +the High Court of National Law to prepare and have ready, in skeleton +form, a rescript of the New Constitution to be adopted, the same to +be founded on the Constitution and Procedure of Great Britain, so far +as the same may be applicable to the traditional ideas of free +Government in the Land of the Blue Mountains. + +By unanimous vote this private and irregular meeting of "Various +National Councillors" was then dissolved. + + +RECORD OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE LAND OF +THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, HELD AT PLAZAC ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 1907, TO +CONSIDER THE ADOPTION OF A NEW CONSTITUTION, AND TO GIVE PERMANENT +EFFECT TO THE SAME IF, AND WHEN, DECIDED UPON. +(Kept by the Monk Cristoferos, Scribe to the National Council.) + +The adjourned meeting duly took place as arranged. There was a full +attendance of Members of the Council, together with the Vladika, the +Archbishop, the Archimandrites of Spazac, of Ispazar, of Domitan, and +Astrag; the Chancellor; the Lord of the Exchequer; the President of +the High Court of National Law; the President of the Council of +Justice; and such other high officials as it is customary to summon +to meetings of the National Council on occasions of great importance. +The names of all present will be found in the full report, wherein +are given the ipsissima verba of the various utterances made during +the consideration of the questions discussed, the same having been +taken down in shorthand by the humble scribe of this precis, which +has been made for the convenience of Members of the Council and +others. + +The Voivode Peter Vissarion, obedient to the request of the Council, +was in attendance at the State House, waiting in the "Chamber of the +High Officers" until such time as he should be asked to come before +the Council. + +The President put before the National Council the matter of the new +Constitution, outlining the headings of it as drawn up by the High +Court of National Law, and the Constitution having been formally +accepted nem. con. by the National Council on behalf of the people, +he proposed that the Crown should be offered to the Voivode Peter +Vissarion, with remainder to the "Gospodar Rupert" (legally, Rupert +Sent Leger), husband of his only child, the Voivodin Teuta. This +also was received with enthusiasm, and passed nem. con. + +Thereupon the President of Council, the Archbishop, and the Vladika, +acting together as a deputation, went to pray the attention of the +Voivode Peter Vassarion. + +When the Voivode entered, the whole Council and officials stood up, +and for a few seconds waited in respectful silence with heads bowed +down. Then, as if by a common impulse--for no word was spoken nor +any signal given--they all drew their handjars, and stood to +attention--with points raised and edges of the handjars to the front. + +The Voivode stood very still. He seemed much moved, but controlled +himself admirably. The only time when be seemed to lose his self- +control was when, once again with a strange simultaneity, all present +raised their handjars on high, and shouted: "Hail, Peter, King!" +Then lowering their points till these almost touched the ground, they +once again stood with bowed heads. + +When he had quite mastered himself, the Voivode Peter Vissarion +spoke: + +"How can I, my brothers, sufficiently thank you, and, through you, +the people of the Blue Mountains, for the honour done to me this day? +In very truth it is not possible, and therefore I pray you to +consider it as done, measuring my gratitude in the greatness of your +own hearts. Such honour as you offer to me is not contemplated by +any man in whose mind a wholesome sanity rules, nor is it even the +dream of fervent imagination. So great is it, that I pray you, men +with hearts and minds like my own, to extend to me, as a further +measure of your generosity, a little time to think it over. I shall +not want long, for even already, with the blaze of honour fresh upon +me, I see the cool shadow of Duty, though his substance is yet hardly +visible. Give me but an hour of solitude--an hour at most--if it do +not prolong this your session unduly. It may be that a lesser time +will serve, but in any case I promise you that, when I can see a just +and fitting issue to my thought, I shall at once return." + +The President of the Council looked around him, and, seeing +everywhere the bowing heads of acquiescence, spoke with a reverent +gravity: + +"We shall wait in patience whatsoever time you will, and may the God +who rules all worthy hearts guide you to His Will!" + +And so in silence the Voivode passed out of the hall. + +From my seat near a window I could watch him go, as with measured +steps he passed up the hill which rises behind the State House, and +disappeared into the shadow of the forest. Then my work claimed me, +for I wished to record the proceedings so far whilst all was fresh in +my mind. In silence, as of the dead, the Council waited, no man +challenging opinion of his neighbour even by a glance. + +Almost a full hour had elapsed when the Voivode came again to the +Council, moving with slow and stately gravity, as has always been his +wont since age began to hamper the movement which in youth had been +so notable. The Members of the Council all stood up uncovered, and +so remained while he made announcement of his conclusion. He spoke +slowly; and as his answer was to be a valued record of this Land and +its Race, I wrote down every word as uttered, leaving here and there +space for description or comment, which spaces I have since then +filled in. + +"Lords of the National Council, Archbishop, Vladika, Lords of the +Council of Justice and of National Law, Archimandrites, and my +brothers all, I have, since I left you, held in the solitude of the +forest counsel with myself--and with God; and He, in His gracious +wisdom, has led my thinking to that conclusion which was from the +first moment of knowledge of your intent presaged in my heart. +Brothers, you know--or else a long life has been spent in vain--that +my heart and mind are all for the nation--my experience, my life, my +handjar. And when all is for her, why should I shrink to exercise on +her behalf my riper judgment though the same should have to combat my +own ambition? For ten centuries my race has not failed in its duty. +Ages ago the men of that time trusted in the hands of my ancestors +the Kingship, even as now you, their children, trust me. But to me +it would be base to betray that trust, even by the smallest tittle. +That would I do were I to take the honour of the crown which you have +tendered to me, so long as there is another more worthy to wear it. +Were there none other, I should place myself in your hands, and yield +myself over to blind obedience of your desires. But such an one +there is; dear to you already by his own deeds, now doubly dear to +me, since he is my son by my daughter's love. He is young, whereas I +am old. He is strong and brave and true; but my days of the +usefulness of strength and bravery are over. For myself, I have long +contemplated as the crown of my later years a quiet life in one of +our monasteries, where I can still watch the whirl of the world +around us on your behalf, and be a counsellor of younger men of more +active minds. Brothers, we are entering on stirring times. I can +see the signs of their coming all around us. North and South--the +Old Order and the New, are about to clash, and we lie between the +opposing forces. True it is that the Turk, after warring for a +thousand years, is fading into insignificance. But from the North +where conquests spring, have crept towards our Balkans the men of a +mightier composite Power. Their march has been steady; and as they +came, they fortified every step of the way. Now they are hard upon +us, and are already beginning to swallow up the regions that we have +helped to win from the dominion of Mahound. The Austrian is at our +very gates. Beaten back by the Irredentists of Italy, she has so +enmeshed herself with the Great Powers of Europe that she seems for +the moment to be impregnable to a foe of our stature. There is but +one hope for us--the uniting of the Balkan forces to turn a masterly +front to North and West as well as to South and East. Is that a task +for old hands to undertake? No; the hands must be young and supple; +and the brain subtle, as well as the heart be strong, of whomsoever +would dare such an accomplishment. Should I accept the crown, it +would only postpone the doing of that which must ultimately be done. +What avail would it be if, when the darkness closes over me, my +daughter should be Queen Consort to the first King of a new dynasty? +You know this man, and from your record I learn that you are already +willing to have him as King to follow me. Why not begin with him? +He comes of a great nation, wherein the principle of freedom is a +vital principle that quickens all things. That nation has more than +once shown to us its friendliness; and doubtless the very fact that +an Englishman would become our King, and could carry into our +Government the spirit and customs which have made his own country +great, would do much to restore the old friendship, and even to +create a new one, which would in times of trouble bring British +fleets to our waters, and British bayonets to support our own +handjars. It is within my own knowledge, though as yet unannounced +to you, that Rupert Sent Leger has already obtained a patent, signed +by the King of England himself, allowing him to be denaturalized in +England, so that he can at once apply for naturalization here. I +know also that he has brought hither a vast fortune, by aid of which +he is beginning to strengthen our hands for war, in case that sad +eventuality should arise. Witness his late ordering to be built nine +other warships of the class that has already done such effective +service in overthrowing the Turk--or the pirate, whichever he may +have been. He has undertaken the defence of the Blue Mouth at his +own cost in a way which will make it stronger than Gibraltar, and +secure us against whatever use to which the Austrian may apply the +vast forces already gathered in the Bocche di Cattaro. He is already +founding aerial stations on our highest peaks for use of the war +aeroplanes which are being built for him. It is such a man as this +who makes a nation great; and right sure I am that in his hands this +splendid land and our noble, freedom-loving people will flourish and +become a power in the world. Then, brothers, let me, as one to whom +this nation and its history and its future are dear, ask you to give +to the husband of my daughter the honour which you would confer on +me. For her I can speak as well as for myself. She shall suffer +nothing in dignity either. Were I indeed King, she, as my daughter, +would be a Princess of the world. As it will be, she shall be +companion and Queen of a great King, and her race, which is mine, +shall flourish in all the lustre of the new Dynasty. + +"Therefore on all accounts, my brothers, for the sake of our dear +Land of the Blue Mountains, make the Gospodar Rupert, who has so +proved himself, your King. And make me happy in my retirement to the +cloister." + +When the Voivode ceased to speak, all still remained silent and +standing. But there was no mistaking their acquiescence in his most +generous prayer. The President of the Council well interpreted the +general wish when he said: + +"Lords of the National Council, Archbishop, Vladika, Lords of the +Councils of Justice and National Law, Archimandrites, and all who are +present, is it agreed that we prepare at leisure a fitting reply to +the Voivode Peter of the historic House of Vissarion, stating our +agreement with his wish?" + +To which there was a unanimous answer: + +"It is." He went on: + +"Further. Shall we ask the Gospodar Rupert of the House of Sent +Leger, allied through his marriage to the Voivodin Teuta, daughter +and only child of the Voivode Peter of Vissarion, to come hither to- +morrow? And that, when he is amongst us, we confer on him the Crown +and Kingship of the Land of the Blue Mountains?" + +Again came the answer: "It is." + +But this time it rang out like the sound of a gigantic trumpet, and +the handjars flashed. + +Whereupon the session was adjourned for the space of a day. + + +THE SAME--Continued. +September 10, 1907. + +When the National Council met to-day the Voivode Peter Vissarion sat +with them, but well back, so that at first his presence was hardly +noticeable. After the necessary preliminaries had been gone through, +they requested the presence of the Gospodar Rupert--Mr. Rupert Sent +Leger--who was reported as waiting in the "Chamber of the High +Officers." He at once accompanied back to the Hall the deputation +sent to conduct him. As he made his appearance in the doorway the +Councillors stood up. There was a burst of enthusiasm, and the +handjars flashed. For an instant he stood silent, with lifted hand, +as though indicating that he wished to speak. So soon as this was +recognized, silence fell on the assembly, and he spoke: + +"I pray you, may the Voivodin Teuta of Vissarion, who has accompanied +me hither, appear with me to hear your wishes?" There was an +immediate and enthusiastic acquiescence, and, after bowing his +thanks, he retired to conduct her. + +Her appearance was received with an ovation similar to that given to +Gospodar Rupert, to which she bowed with dignified sweetness. She, +with her husband, was conducted to the top of the Hall by the +President, who came down to escort them. In the meantime another +chair had been placed beside that prepared for the Gospodar, and +these two sat. + +The President then made the formal statement conveying to the +"Gospodar Rupert" the wishes of the Council, on behalf of the nation, +to offer to him the Crown and Kingship of the Land of the Blue +Mountains. The message was couched in almost the same words as had +been used the previous day in making the offer to the Voivode Peter +Vissarion, only differing to meet the special circumstances. The +Gospodar Rupert listened in grave silence. The whole thing was +manifestly quite new to him, but he preserved a self-control +wonderful under the circumstances. When, having been made aware of +the previous offer to the Voivode and the declared wish of the +latter, he rose to speak, there was stillness in the Hall. He +commenced with a few broken words of thanks; then he grew suddenly +and strangely calm as he went on: + +"But before I can even attempt to make a fitting reply, I should know +if it is contemplated to join with me in this great honour my dear +wife the Voivodin Teuta of Vissarion, who has so splendidly proved +her worthiness to hold any place in the government of the Land. I +fain would . . . " + +He was interrupted by the Voivodin, who, standing up beside him and +holding his left arm, said: + +"Do not, President, and Lords all, think me wanting in that respect +of a wife for husband which in the Blue Mountains we hold so dear, if +I venture to interrupt my lord. I am here, not merely as a wife, but +as Voivodin of Vissarion, and by the memory of all the noble women of +that noble line I feel constrained to a great duty. We women of +Vissarion, in all the history of centuries, have never put ourselves +forward in rivalry of our lords. Well I know that my own dear lord +will forgive me as wife if I err; but I speak to you, the Council of +the nation, from another ground and with another tongue. My lord +does not, I fear, know as you do, and as I do too, that of old, in +the history of this Land, when Kingship was existent, that it was +ruled by that law of masculine supremacy which, centuries after, +became known as the Lex Salica. Lords of the Council of the Blue +Mountains, I am a wife of the Blue Mountains--as a wife young as yet, +but with the blood of forty generations of loyal women in my veins. +And it would ill become me, whom my husband honours--wife to the man +whom you would honour--to take a part in changing the ancient custom +which has been held in honour for all the thousand years, which is +the glory of Blue Mountain womanhood. What an example such would be +in an age when self-seeking women of other nations seek to forget +their womanhood in the struggle to vie in equality with men! Men of +the Blue Mountains, I speak for our women when I say that we hold of +greatest price the glory of our men. To be their companions is our +happiness; to be their wives is the completion of our lives; to be +mothers of their children is our share of the glory that is theirs. + +"Therefore, I pray you, men of the Blue Mountains, let me but be as +any other wife in our land, equal to them in domestic happiness, +which is our woman's sphere; and if that priceless honour may be +vouchsafed to me, and I be worthy and able to bear it, an exemplar of +woman's rectitude." With a low, modest, graceful bow, she sat down. + +There was no doubt as to the reception of her renunciation of Queenly +dignity. There was more honour to her in the quick, fierce shout +which arose, and the unanimous upward swing of the handjars, than in +the wearing of any crown which could adorn the head of woman. + +The spontaneous action of the Gospodar Rupert was another source of +joy to all--a fitting corollary to what had gone before. He rose to +his feet, and, taking his wife in his arms, kissed her before all. +Then they sat down, with their chairs close, bashfully holding hands +like a pair of lovers. + +Then Rupert arose--he is Rupert now; no lesser name is on the lips of +his people henceforth. With an intense earnestness which seemed to +glow in his face, he said simply: + +"What can I say except that I am in all ways, now and for ever, +obedient to your wishes?" Then, raising his handjar and holding it +before him, he kissed the hilt, saying: + +"Hereby I swear to be honest and just--to be, God helping me, such a +King as you would wish--in so far as the strength is given me. +Amen." + +This ended the business of the Session, and the Council showed +unmeasured delight. Again and again the handjars flashed, as the +cheers rose "three times three" in British fashion. + +When Rupert--I am told I must not write him down as "King Rupert" +until after the formal crowning, which is ordained for Wednesday, +October 16th,--and Teuta had withdrawn, the Voivode Peter Vissarion, +the President and Council conferred in committee with the Presidents +of the High Courts of National Law and of Justice as to the +formalities to be observed in the crowning of the King, and of the +formal notification to he given to foreign Powers. These proceedings +kept them far into the night. + + +FROM "The London Messenger." +CORONATION FESTIVITIES OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. +(From our Special Correspondent.) +PLAZAC, +October 14, 1907. + +As I sat down to a poorly-equipped luncheon-table on board the +Austro-Orient liner Franz Joseph, I mourned in my heart (and I may +say incidentally in other portions of my internal economy) the +comfort and gastronomic luxury of the King and Emperor Hotel at +Trieste. A brief comparison between the menus of to-day's lunch and +yesterday's will afford to the reader a striking object-lesson: + +Trieste. Steamer. +Eggs a la cocotte. Scrambled eggs on toast. +Stewed chicken, with paprika. Cold chicken. +Devilled slices of Westphalian ham Cold ham. + (boiled in wine). Bismarck herrings. +Tunny fish, pickled. Stewed apples. +Rice, burst in cream. Swiss cheese. +Guava jelly. + +Consequence: Yesterday I was well and happy, and looked forward to a +good night's sleep, which came off. To-day I am dull and heavy, also +restless, and I am convinced that at sleeping-time my liver will have +it all its own way. + +The journey to Ragusa, and thence to Plazac, is writ large with a +pigment of misery on at least one human heart. Let a silence fall +upon it! In such wise only can Justice and Mercy join hands. + +Plazac is a miserable place. There is not a decent hotel in it. It +was perhaps on this account that the new King, Rupert, had erected +for the alleged convenience of his guests of the Press a series of +large temporary hotels, such as were in evidence at the St. Louis +Exposition. Here each guest was given a room to himself, somewhat +after the nature of the cribs in a Rowton house. From my first night +in it I am able to speak from experience of the sufferings of a +prisoner of the third class. I am, however, bound to say that the +dining and reception rooms were, though uncomfortably plain, adequate +for temporary use. Happily we shall not have to endure many more +meals here, as to-morrow we all dine with the King in the State +House; and as the cuisine is under the control of that cordon bleu, +Gaston de Faux Pas, who so long controlled the gastronomic (we might +almost say Gastonomic) destinies of the Rois des Diamants in the +Place Vendome, we may, I think, look forward to not going to bed +hungry. Indeed, the anticipations formed from a survey of our meagre +sleeping accommodation were not realized at dinnertime to-night. To +our intense astonishment, an excellent dinner was served, though, to +be sure, the cold dishes predominated (a thing I always find bad for +one's liver). Just as we were finishing, the King (nominated) came +amongst us in quite an informal way, and, having bidden us a hearty +welcome, asked that we should drink a glass of wine together. This +we did in an excellent (if rather sweet) glass of Cliquot '93. King +Rupert (nominated) then asked us to resume our seats. He walked +between the tables, now and again recognizing some journalistic +friend whom he had met early in life in his days of adventure. The +men spoken to seemed vastly pleased--with themselves probably. +Pretty bad form of them, I call it! For myself, I was glad I had not +previously met him in the same casual way, as it saved me from what I +should have felt a humiliation--the being patronized in that public +way by a prospective King who had not (in a Court sense) been born. +The writer, who is by profession a barrister-at-law, is satisfied at +being himself a county gentleman and heir to an historic estate in +the ancient county of Salop, which can boast a larger population than +the Land of the Blue Mountains. + + +EDITORIAL NOTE.--We must ask our readers to pardon the report in +yesterday's paper sent from Plazac. The writer was not on our +regular staff, but asked to be allowed to write the report, as he was +a kinsman of King Rupert of the Blue Mountains, and would therefore +be in a position to obtain special information and facilities of +description "from inside," as he puts it. On reading the paper, we +cabled his recall; we cabled also, in case he did not obey, to have +his ejectment effected forthwith. + +We have also cabled Mr. Mordred Booth, the well-known correspondent, +who was, to our knowledge, in Plazac for his own purposes, to send us +full (and proper) details. We take it our readers will prefer a +graphic account of the ceremony to a farrago of cheap menus, comments +on his own liver, and a belittling of an Englishman of such noble +character and achievements that a rising nation has chosen him for +their King, and one whom our own nation loves to honour. We shall +not, of course, mention our abortive correspondent's name, unless +compelled thereto by any future utterance of his. + + +FROM "The London Messenger." +THE CORONATION OF KING RUPERT OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. +(By our Special Correspondent, Mordred Booth.) +PLAZAC, +October 17, 1907. + +Plazac does not boast of a cathedral or any church of sufficient +dimensions for a coronation ceremony on an adequate scale. It was +therefore decided by the National Council, with the consent of the +King, that it should be held at the old church of St. Sava at +Vissarion--the former home of the Queen. Accordingly, arrangements +had been made to bring thither on the warships on the morning of the +coronation the whole of the nation's guests. In St. Sava's the +religious ceremony would take place, after which there would be a +banquet in the Castle of Vissarion. The guests would then return on +the warships to Plazac, where would be held what is called here the +"National Coronation." + +In the Land of the Blue Mountains it was customary in the old days, +when there were Kings, to have two ceremonies--one carried out by the +official head of the national Church, the Greek Church; the other by +the people in a ritual adopted by themselves, on much the same basis +as the Germanic Folk-Moot. The Blue Mountains is a nation of +strangely loyal tendencies. What was a thousand years ago is to be +to-day--so far, of course, as is possible under the altered condition +of things. + +The church of St. Sava is very old and very beautiful, built in the +manner of old Greek churches, full of monuments of bygone worthies of +the Blue Mountains. But, of course, neither it nor the ceremony held +in it to-day can compare in splendour with certain other ceremonials- +-for instance, the coronation of the penultimate Czar in Moscow, of +Alfonso XII. in Madrid, of Carlos I. in Lisbon. + +The church was arranged much after the fashion of Westminster Abbey +for the coronation of King Edward VII., though, of course, not so +many persons present, nor so much individual splendour. Indeed, the +number of those present, outside those officially concerned and the +Press of the world, was very few. + +The most striking figure present--next to King Rupert, who is seven +feet high and a magnificent man--was the Queen Consort, Teuta. She +sat in front of a small gallery erected for the purpose just opposite +the throne. She is a strikingly beautiful woman, tall and finely- +formed, with jet-black hair and eyes like black diamonds, but with +the unique quality that there are stars in them which seem to take +varied colour according to each strong emotion. But it was not even +her beauty or the stars in her eyes which drew the first glance of +all. These details showed on scrutiny, but from afar off the +attractive point was her dress. Surely never before did woman, be +she Queen or peasant, wear such a costume on a festive occasion. + +She was dressed in a white Shroud, and in that only. I had heard +something of the story which goes behind that strange costume, and +shall later on send it to you. {2} + +When the procession entered the church through the great western +door, the national song of the Blue Mountains, "Guide our feet +through darkness, O Jehovah," was sung by an unseen choir, in which +the organ, supplemented by martial instruments, joined. The +Archbishop was robed in readiness before the altar, and close around +him stood the Archimandrites of the four great monasteries. The +Vladika stood in front of the Members of the National Council. A +little to one side of this body was a group of high officials, +Presidents of the Councils of National Law and Justice, the +Chancellor, etc.--all in splendid robes of great antiquity--the High +Marshall of the Forces and the Lord high Admiral. + +When all was ready for the ceremonial act of coronation, the +Archbishop raised his hand, whereupon the music ceased. Turning +around, so that he faced the Queen, who thereon stood up, the King +drew his handjar and saluted her in Blue Mountain fashion--the point +raised as high possible, and then dropped down till it almost touches +the ground. Every man in the church, ecclesiastics and all, wear the +handjar, and, following the King by the interval of a second, their +weapons flashed out. There was something symbolic, as well as +touching, in this truly royal salute, led by the King. His handjar +is a mighty blade, and held high in the hands of a man of his +stature, it overtowered everything in the church. It was an +inspiriting sight. No one who saw will ever forget that noble +flashing of blades in the thousand-year-old salute . . . + +The coronation was short, simple, and impressive. Rupert knelt +whilst the Archbishop, after a short, fervent prayer, placed on his +head the bronze crown of the first King of the Blue Mountains, Peter. +This was handed to him by the Vladika, to whom it was brought from +the National Treasury by a procession of the high officers. A +blessing of the new King and his Queen Teuta concluded the ceremony. +Rupert's first act on rising from his knees was to draw his handjar +and salute his people. + +After the ceremony in St. Sava, the procession was reformed, and took +its way to the Castle of Vissarion, which is some distance off across +a picturesque creek, bounded on either side by noble cliffs of vast +height. The King led the way, the Queen walking with him and holding +his hand . . . The Castle of Vissarion is of great antiquity, and +picturesque beyond belief. I am sending later on, as a special +article, a description of it . . . + +The "Coronation Feast," as it was called on the menu, was held in the +Great Hall, which is of noble proportions. I enclose copy of the +menu, as our readers may wish to know something of the details of +such a feast in this part of the world. + +One feature of the banquet was specially noticeable. As the National +Officials were guests of the King and Queen, they were waited on and +served by the King and Queen in person. The rest of the guests, +including us of the Press, were served by the King's household, not +the servants--none of that cult were visible--but by the ladies and +gentlemen of the Court. + +There was only one toast, and that was given by the King, all +standing: "The Land of the Blue Mountains, and may we all do our +duty to the Land we love!" Before drinking, his mighty handjar +flashed out again, and in an instant every table at which the Blue +Mountaineers sat was ringed with flashing steel. I may add +parenthetically that the handjar is essentially the national weapon. +I do not know if the Blue Mountaineers take it to bed with them, but +they certainly wear it everywhere else. Its drawing seems to +emphasize everything in national life . . . + +We embarked again on the warships--one a huge, steel-plated +Dreadnought, up to date in every particular, the other an armoured +yacht most complete in every way, and of unique speed. The King and +Queen, the Lords of the Council, together with the various high +ecclesiastics and great officials, went on the yacht, which the Lord +High Admiral, a man of remarkably masterful physiognomy, himself +steered. The rest of those present at the Coronation came on the +warship. The latter went fast, but the yacht showed her heels all +the way. However, the King's party waited in the dock in the Blue +Mouth. From this a new cable-line took us all to the State House at +Plazac. Here the procession was reformed, and wound its way to a +bare hill in the immediate vicinity. The King and Queen--the King +still wearing the ancient bronze crown with which the Archbishop had +invested him at St. Sava's--the Archbishop, the Vladika, and the four +Archimandrites stood together at the top of the hill, the King and +Queen being, of course, in the front. A courteous young gentleman, +to whom I had been accredited at the beginning of the day--all guests +were so attended--explained to me that, as this was the national as +opposed to the religious ceremony, the Vladika, who is the official +representative of the laity, took command here. The ecclesiastics +were put prominently forward, simply out of courtesy, in obedience to +the wish of the people, by whom they were all greatly beloved. + +Then commenced another unique ceremony, which, indeed, might well +find a place in our Western countries. As far as ever we could see +were masses of men roughly grouped, not in any uniform, but all in +national costume, and armed only with the handjar. In the front of +each of these groups or bodies stood the National Councillor for that +district, distinguishable by his official robe and chain. There were +in all seventeen of these bodies. These were unequal in numbers, +some of them predominating enormously over others, as, indeed, might +be expected in so mountainous a country. In all there were present, +I was told, over a hundred thousand men. So far as I can judge from +long experience of looking at great bodies of men, the estimate was a +just one. I was a little surprised to see so many, for the +population of the Blue Mountains is never accredited in books of +geography as a large one. When I made inquiry as to how the frontier +guard was being for the time maintained, I was told: + +"By the women mainly. But, all the same, we have also a male guard +which covers the whole frontier except that to seaward. Each man has +with him six women, so that the whole line is unbroken. Moreover, +sir, you must bear in mind that in the Blue Mountains our women are +trained to arms as well as our men--ay, and they could give a good +account of themselves, too, against any foe that should assail us. +Our history shows what women can do in defence. I tell you, the +Turkish population would be bigger to-day but for the women who on +our frontier fought of old for defence of their homes!" + +"No wonder this nation has kept her freedom for a thousand years!" I +said. + +At a signal given by the President of the National Council one of the +Divisions moved forwards. It was not an ordinary movement, but an +intense rush made with all the elan and vigour of hardy and highly- +trained men. They came on, not merely at the double, but as if +delivering an attack. Handjar in hand, they rushed forward. I can +only compare their rush to an artillery charge or to an attack of +massed cavalry battalions. It was my fortune to see the former at +Magenta and the latter at Sadowa, so that I know what such +illustration means. I may also say that I saw the relief column +which Roberts organized rush through a town on its way to relieve +Mafeking; and no one who had the delight of seeing that inspiring +progress of a flying army on their way to relieve their comrades +needs to be told what a rush of armed men can be. With speed which +was simply desperate they ran up the hill, and, circling to the left, +made a ring round the topmost plateau, where stood the King. When +the ring was complete, the stream went on lapping round and round +till the whole tally was exhausted. In the meantime another Division +had followed, its leader joining close behind the end of the first. +Then came another and another. An unbroken line circled and circled +round the hill in seeming endless array, till the whole slopes were +massed with moving men, dark in colour, and with countless glittering +points everywhere. When the whole of the Divisions had thus +surrounded the King, there was a moment's hush--a silence so still +that it almost seemed as if Nature stood still also. We who looked +on were almost afraid to breathe. + +Then suddenly, without, so far as I could see, any fugleman or word +of command, the handjars of all that mighty array of men flashed +upward as one, and like thunder pealed the National cry: + +"The Blue Mountains and Duty!" + +After the cry there was a strange subsidence which made the onlooker +rub his eyes. It seemed as though the whole mass of fighting men had +partially sunk into the ground. Then the splendid truth burst upon +us--the whole nation was kneeling at the feet of their chosen King, +who stood upright. + +Another moment of silence, as King Rupert, taking off his crown, held +it up in his left hand, and, holding his great handjar high in his +right, cried in a voice so strong that it came ringing over that +serried mass like a trumpet: + +"To Freedom of our Nation, and to Freedom within it, I dedicate these +and myself. I swear!" + +So saying, he, too, sank on his knees, whilst we all instinctively +uncovered. + +The silence which followed lasted several seconds; then, without a +sign, as though one and all acted instinctively, the whole body stood +up. Thereupon was executed a movement which, with all my experience +of soldiers and war, I never saw equalled--not with the Russian Royal +Guard saluting the Czar at his Coronation, not with an impi of +Cetewayo's Zulus whirling through the opening of a kraal. + +For a second or two the whole mass seemed to writhe or shudder, and +then, lo! the whole District Divisions were massed again in +completeness, its Councillors next the King, and the Divisions +radiating outwards down the hill like wedges. + +This completed the ceremony, and everything broke up into units. +Later, I was told by my official friend that the King's last +movement--the oath as he sank to his knees--was an innovation of his +own. All I can say is, if, in the future, and for all time, it is +not taken for a precedent, and made an important part of the +Patriotic Coronation ceremony, the Blue Mountaineers will prove +themselves to be a much more stupid people than they seem at present +to be. + +The conclusion of the Coronation festivities was a time of unalloyed +joy. It was the banquet given to the King and Queen by the nation; +the guests of the nation were included in the royal party. It was a +unique ceremony. Fancy a picnic-party of a hundred thousand persons, +nearly all men. There must have been made beforehand vast and +elaborate preparations, ramifying through the whole nation. Each +section had brought provisions sufficient for their own consumption +in addition to several special dishes for the guest-tables; but the +contribution of each section was not consumed by its own members. + +It was evidently a part of the scheme that all should derive from a +common stock, so that the feeling of brotherhood and common property +should be preserved in this monumental fashion. + +The guest-tables were the only tables to be seen. The bulk of the +feasters sat on the ground. The tables were brought forward by the +men themselves--no such thing as domestic service was known on this +day--from a wood close at hand, where they and the chairs had been +placed in readiness. The linen and crockery used had been sent for +the purpose from the households of every town and village. The +flowers were plucked in the mountains early that morning by the +children, and the gold and silver plate used for adornment were +supplied from the churches. Each dish at the guest-tables was served +by the men of each section in turn. + +Over the whole array seemed to be spread an atmosphere of joyousness, +of peace, of brotherhood. It would be impossible to adequately +describe that amazing scene, a whole nation of splendid men +surrounding their new King and Queen, loving to honour and serve +them. Scattered about through that vast crowd were groups of +musicians, chosen from amongst themselves. The space covered by this +titanic picnic was so vast that there were few spots from which you +could hear music proceeding from different quarters. + +After dinner we all sat and smoked; the music became rather vocal +than instrumental--indeed, presently we did not hear the sound of any +instrument at all. Only knowing a few words of Balkan, I could not +follow the meanings of the songs, but I gathered that they were all +legendary or historical. To those who could understand, as I was +informed by my tutelary young friend, who stayed beside me the whole +of this memorable day, we were listening to the history of the Land +of the Blue Mountains in ballad form. Somewhere or other throughout +that vast concourse each notable record of ten centuries was being +told to eager ears. + +It was now late in the day. Slowly the sun had been dropping down +over the Calabrian Mountains, and the glamorous twilight was stealing +over the immediate scene. No one seemed to notice the coming of the +dark, which stole down on us with an unspeakable mystery. For long +we sat still, the clatter of many tongues becoming stilled into the +witchery of the scene. Lower the sun sank, till only the ruddiness +of the afterglow lit the expanse with rosy light; then this failed in +turn, and the night shut down quickly. + +At last, when we could just discern the faces close to us, a +simultaneous movement began. Lights began to flash out in places all +over the hillside. At first these seemed as tiny as glow-worms seen +in a summer wood, but by degrees they grew till the space was set +with little circles of light. These in turn grew and grew in both +number and strength. Flames began to leap out from piles of wood, +torches were lighted and held high. Then the music began again, +softly at first, but then louder as the musicians began to gather to +the centre, where sat the King and Queen. The music was wild and +semi-barbaric, but full of sweet melody. It somehow seemed to bring +before us a distant past; one and all, according to the strength of +our imagination and the volume of our knowledge, saw episodes and +phases of bygone history come before us. There was a wonderful +rhythmic, almost choric, force in the time kept, which made it almost +impossible to sit still. It was an invitation to the dance such as I +had never before heard in any nation or at any time. Then the lights +began to gather round. Once more the mountaineers took something of +the same formation as at the crowning. Where the royal party sat was +a level mead, with crisp, short grass, and round it what one might +well call the Ring of the Nation was formed. + +The music grew louder. Each mountaineer who had not a lit torch +already lighted one, and the whole rising hillside was a glory of +light. The Queen rose, and the King an instant after. As they rose +men stepped forward and carried away their chairs, or rather thrones. +The Queen gave the King her hand--this is, it seems, the privilege of +the wife as distinguished from any other woman. Their feet took the +time of the music, and they moved into the centre of the ring. + +That dance was another thing to remember, won from the haunting +memories of that strange day. At first the King and Queen danced all +alone. They began with stately movement, but as the music quickened +their feet kept time, and the swing of their bodies with movements +kept growing more and more ecstatic at every beat till, in true +Balkan fashion, the dance became a very agony of passionate movement. + +At this point the music slowed down again, and the mountaineers began +to join in the dance. At first slowly, one by one, they joined in, +the Vladika and the higher priests leading; then everywhere the whole +vast crowd began to dance, till the earth around us seemed to shake. +The lights quivered, flickered, blazed out again, and rose and fell +as that hundred thousand men, each holding a torch, rose and fell +with the rhythm of the dance. Quicker, quicker grew the music, +faster grew the rushing and pounding of the feet, till the whole +nation seemed now in an ecstasy. + +I stood near the Vladika, and in the midst of this final wildness I +saw him draw from his belt a short, thin flute; then he put it to his +lips and blew a single note--a fierce, sharp note, which pierced the +volume of sound more surely than would the thunder of a cannon-shot. +On the instant everywhere each man put his torch under his foot. + +There was complete and immediate darkness, for the fires, which had +by now fallen low, had evidently been trodden out in the measure of +the dance. The music still kept in its rhythmic beat, but slower +than it had yet been. Little by little this beat was pointed and +emphasized by the clapping of hands--at first only a few, but +spreading till everyone present was beating hands to the slow music +in the darkness. This lasted a little while, during which, looking +round, I noticed a faint light beginning to steal up behind the +hills. The moon was rising. + +Again there came a note from the Vladika's flute--a single note, +sweet and subtle, which I can only compare with a note from a +nightingale, vastly increased in powers. It, too, won through the +thunder of the hand-claps, and on the second the sound ceased. The +sudden stillness, together with the darkness, was so impressive that +we could almost hear our hearts beating. And then came through the +darkness the most beautiful and impressive sound heard yet. That +mighty concourse, without fugleman of any sort, began, in low, +fervent voice, to sing the National Anthem. At first it was of so +low tone as to convey the idea of a mighty assembly of violinists +playing with the mutes on. But it gradually rose till the air above +us seemed to throb and quiver. Each syllable--each word--spoken in +unison by the vast throng was as clearly enunciated as though spoken +by a single voice: + +"Guide our feet through darkness, O Jehovah." + +This anthem, sung out of full hearts, remains on our minds as the +last perfection of a perfect day. For myself, I am not ashamed to +own that it made me weep like a child. Indeed, I cannot write of it +now as I would; it unmans me so! + +* * * + +In the early morning, whilst the mountains were still rather grey +than blue, the cable-line took us to the Blue Mouth, where we +embarked in the King's yacht, The Lady, which took us across the +Adriatic at a pace which I had hitherto considered impossible. The +King and Queen came to the landing to see us off. They stood +together at the right-hand side of the red-carpeted gangway, and +shook hands with each guest as he went on board. The instant the +last passenger had stepped on deck the gangway was withdrawn. The +Lord High Admiral, who stood on the bridge, raised his hand, and we +swept towards the mouth of the gulf. Of course, all hats were off, +and we cheered frantically. I can truly say that if King Rupert and +Queen Teuta should ever wish to found in the Blue Mountains a colony +of diplomatists and journalists, those who were their guests on this +great occasion will volunteer to a man. I think old Hempetch, who is +the doyen of English-speaking journalists, voiced our sentiments when +he said: + +"May God bless them and theirs with every grace and happiness, and +send prosperity to the Land and the rule!" I think the King and +Queen heard us cheer, they turned to look at our flying ship again. + + + +BOOK IX: BALKA + + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued (Longe Intervallo). +February 10, 1908. + +It is so long since I even thought of this journal that I hardly know +where to begin. I always heard that a married man is a pretty busy +man; but since I became one, though it is a new life to me, and of a +happiness undreamt of, I KNOW what that life is. But I had no idea +that this King business was anything like what it is. Why, it never +leaves me a moment at all to myself--or, what is worse, to Teuta. If +people who condemn Kings had only a single month of my life in that +capacity, they would form an opinion different from that which they +hold. It might be useful to have a Professor of Kingship in the +Anarchists' College--whenever it is founded! + +Everything has gone on well with us, I am glad to say. Teuta is in +splendid health, though she has--but only very lately--practically +given up going on her own aeroplane. It was, I know, a great +sacrifice to make, just as she had become an expert at it. They say +here that she is one of the best drivers in the Blue Mountains--and +that is in the world, for we have made that form of movement our own. +Ever since we found the pitch-blende pockets in the Great Tunnel, and +discovered the simple process of extracting the radium from it, we +have gone on by leaps and bounds. When first Teuta told me she would +"aero" no more for a while, I thought she was wise, and backed her up +in it: for driving an aeroplane is trying work and hard on the +nerves. I only learned then the reason for her caution--the usual +one of a young wife. That was three months ago, and only this +morning she told me she would not go sailing in the air, even with +me, till she could do so "without risk"--she did not mean risk to +herself. Aunt Janet knew what she meant, and counselled her strongly +to stick to her resolution. So for the next few months I am to do my +air-sailing alone. + +The public works which we began immediately after the Coronation are +going strong. We began at the very beginning on an elaborate system. +The first thing was to adequately fortify the Blue Mouth. Whilst the +fortifications were being constructed we kept all the warships in the +gulf. But when the point of safety was reached, we made the ships do +sentry-go along the coast, whilst we trained men for service at sea. +It is our plan to take by degrees all the young men and teach them +this wise, so that at the end the whole population shall be trained +for sea as well as for land. And as we are teaching them the airship +service, too, they will be at home in all the elements--except fire, +of course, though if that should become a necessity, we shall tackle +it too! + +We started the Great Tunnel at the farthest inland point of the Blue +Mouth, and ran it due east at an angle of 45 degrees, so that, when +complete, it would go right through the first line of hills, coming +out on the plateau Plazac. The plateau is not very wide--half a mile +at most--and the second tunnel begins on the eastern side of it. +This new tunnel is at a smaller angle, as it has to pierce the second +hill--a mountain this time. When it comes out on the east side of +that, it will tap the real productive belt. Here it is that our +hardwood-trees are finest, and where the greatest mineral deposits +are found. This plateau is of enormous length, and runs north arid +south round the great bulk of the central mountain, so that in time, +when we put up a circular railway, we can bring, at a merely nominal +cost, all sorts of material up or down. It is on this level that we +have built the great factories for war material. We are tunnelling +into the mountains, where are the great deposits of coal. We run the +trucks in and out on the level, and can get perfect ventilation with +little cost or labour. Already we are mining all the coal which we +consume within our own confines, and we can, if we wish, within a +year export largely. The great slopes of these tunnels give us the +necessary aid of specific gravity, and as we carry an endless water- +supply in great tubes that way also, we can do whatever we wish by +hydraulic power. As one by one the European and Asiatic nations +began to reduce their war preparations, we took over their disbanded +workmen though our agents, so that already we have a productive staff +of skilled workmen larger than anywhere else in the world. I think +myself that we were fortunate in being able to get ahead so fast with +our preparations for war manufacture, for if some of the "Great +Powers," as they call themselves, knew the measure of our present +production, they would immediately try to take active measures +against us. In such case we should have to fight them, which would +delay us. But if we can have another year untroubled, we shall, so +far as war material is concerned, be able to defy any nation in the +world. And if the time may only come peacefully till we have our +buildings and machinery complete, we can prepare war-stores and +implements for the whole Balkan nations. And then--But that is a +dream. We shall know in good time. + +In the meantime all goes well. The cannon foundries are built and +active. We are already beginning to turn out finished work. Of +course, our first guns are not very large, but they are good. The +big guns, and especially siege-guns, will come later. And when the +great extensions are complete, and the boring and wire-winding +machines are in working order, we can go merrily on. I suppose that +by that time the whole of the upper plateau will be like a +manufacturing town--at any rate, we have plenty of raw material to +hand. The haematite mines seem to be inexhaustible, and as the +raising of the ore is cheap and easy by means of our extraordinary +water-power, and as coal comes down to the plateau by its own gravity +on the cable-line, we have natural advantages which exist hardly +anywhere else in the world--certainly not all together, as here. +That bird's eye view of the Blue Mouth which we had from the +aeroplane when Teuta saw that vision of the future has not been in +vain. The aeroplane works are having a splendid output. The +aeroplane is a large and visible product; there is no mistaking when +it is there! We have already a large and respectable aerial fleet. +The factories for explosives are, of course, far away in bare +valleys, where accidental effects are minimized. So, too, are the +radium works, wherein unknown dangers may lurk. The turbines in the +tunnel give us all the power we want at present, and, later on, when +the new tunnel, which we call the "water tunnel," which is already +begun, is complete, the available power will be immense. All these +works are bringing up our shipping, and we are in great hopes for the +future. + +So much for our material prosperity. But with it comes a larger life +and greater hopes. The stress of organizing and founding these great +works is practically over. As they are not only self-supporting, but +largely productive, all anxiety in the way of national expenditure is +minimized. And, more than all, I am able to give my unhampered +attention to those matters of even more than national importance on +which the ultimate development, if not the immediate strength, of our +country must depend. + +I am well into the subject of a great Balkan Federation. This, it +turns out, has for long been the dream of Teuta's life, as also that +of the present Archimandrite of Plazac, her father, who, since I last +touched this journal, having taken on himself a Holy Life, was, by +will of the Church, the Monks, and the People, appointed to that +great office on the retirement of Petrof Vlastimir. + +Such a Federation had long been in the air. For myself, I had seen +its inevitableness from the first. The modern aggressions of the +Dual Nation, interpreted by her past history with regard to Italy, +pointed towards the necessity of such a protective measure. And now, +when Servia and Bulgaria were used as blinds to cover her real +movements to incorporate with herself as established the provinces, +once Turkish, which had been entrusted to her temporary protection by +the Treaty of Berlin; when it would seem that Montenegro was to be +deprived for all time of the hope of regaining the Bocche di Cattaro, +which she had a century ago won, and held at the point of the sword, +until a Great Power had, under a wrong conviction, handed it over to +her neighbouring Goliath; when the Sandjack of Novi-Bazar was +threatened with the fate which seemed to have already overtaken +Bosnia and Herzegovina; when gallant little Montenegro was already +shut out from the sea by the octopus-like grip of Dalmatia crouching +along her western shore; when Turkey was dwindling down to almost +ineptitude; when Greece was almost a byword, and when Albania as a +nation--though still nominally subject--was of such unimpaired +virility that there were great possibilities of her future, it was +imperative that something must happen if the Balkan race was not to +be devoured piecemeal by her northern neighbours. To the end of +ultimate protection I found most of them willing to make defensive +alliance. + +And as the true defence consists in judicious attack, I have no doubt +that an alliance so based must ultimately become one for all +purposes. Albania was the most difficult to win to the scheme, as +her own complications with her suzerain, combined with the pride and +suspiciousness of her people, made approach a matter of extreme +caution. It was only possible when I could induce her rulers to see +that, no matter how great her pride and valour, the magnitude of +northern advance, if unchecked, must ultimately overwhelm her. + +I own that this map-making was nervous work, for I could not shut my +eyes to the fact that German lust of enlargement lay behind Austria's +advance. At and before that time expansion was the dominant idea of +the three Great Powers of Central Europe. Russia went eastward, +hoping to gather to herself the rich north-eastern provinces of +China, till ultimately she should dominate the whole of Northern +Europe and Asia from the Gulf of Finland to the Yellow Sea. Germany +wished to link the North Sea to the Mediterranean by her own +territory, and thus stand as a flawless barrier across Europe from +north to south. + +When Nature should have terminated the headship of the Empire- +Kingdom, she, as natural heir, would creep southward through the +German-speaking provinces. Thus Austria, of course kept in ignorance +of her neighbour's ultimate aims, had to extend towards the south. +She had been barred in her western movement by the rise of the +Irredentist party in Italy, and consequently had to withdraw behind +the frontiers of Carinthia, Carniola, and Istria. + +My own dream of the new map was to make "Balka"--the Balkan +Federation--take in ultimately all south of a line drawn from the +Isle of Serpents to Aquileia. There would--must--be difficulties in +the carrying out of such a scheme. Of course, it involved Austria +giving up Dalmatia, Istria, and Sclavonia, as well as a part of +Croatia and the Hungarian Banat. On the contrary, she might look for +centuries of peace in the south. But it would make for peace so +strongly that each of the States impinging on it would find it worth +while to make a considerable sacrifice to have it effected. To its +own integers it would offer a lasting settlement of interests which +at present conflicted, and a share in a new world-power. Each of +these integers would be absolutely self-governing and independent, +being only united for purposes of mutual good. I did not despair +that even Turkey and Greece, recognizing that benefit and safety +would ensue without the destruction or even minimizing of +individuality, would, sooner or later, come into the Federation. The +matter is already so far advanced that within a month the various +rulers of the States involved are to have a secret and informal +meeting. Doubtless some larger plan and further action will be then +evolved. It will be an anxious time for all in this zone--and +outside it--till this matter is all settled. In any case, the +manufacture of war material will go on until it is settled, one way +or another. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +March 6, 1908. + +I breathe more freely. The meeting has taken place here at +Vissarion. Nominal cause of meeting: a hunting-party in the Blue +Mountains. Not any formal affair. Not a Chancellor or Secretary of +State or Diplomatist of any sort present. All headquarters. It was, +after all, a real hunting-party. Good sportsmen, plenty of game, +lots of beaters, everything organized properly, and an effective +tally of results. I think we all enjoyed ourselves in the matter of +sport; and as the political result was absolute unanimity of purpose +and intention, there could be no possible cause of complaint. + +So it is all decided. Everything is pacific. There is not a +suggestion even of war, revolt, or conflicting purpose of any kind. +We all go on exactly as we are doing for another year, pursuing our +own individual objects, just as at present. But we are all to see +that in our own households order prevails. All that is supposed to +be effective is to be kept in good working order, and whatever is, at +present, not adequate to possibilities is to be made so. This is all +simply protective and defensive. We understand each other. But if +any hulking stranger should undertake to interfere in our domestic +concerns, we shall all unite on the instant to keep things as we wish +them to remain. We shall be ready. Alfred's maxim of Peace shall be +once more exemplified. In the meantime the factories shall work +overtime in our own mountains, and the output shall be for the +general good of our special community--the bill to be settled +afterwards amicably. There can hardly be any difference of opinion +about that, as the others will be the consumers of our surplus +products. We are the producers, who produce for ourselves first, and +then for the limited market of those within the Ring. As we +undertake to guard our own frontiers--sea and land--and are able to +do so, the goods are to be warehoused in the Blue Mountains until +required--if at all--for participation in the markets of the world, +and especially in the European market. If all goes well and the +markets are inactive, the goods shall be duly delivered to the +purchasers as arranged. + +So much for the purely mercantile aspect. + + +THE VOIVODIN JANET MACKELPIE'S NOTES. +May 21, 1908. + +As Rupert began to neglect his Journal when he was made a King, so, +too, I find in myself a tendency to leave writing to other people. +But one thing I shall not be content to leave to others--little +Rupert. The baby of Rupert and Teuta is much too precious a thing to +be spoken of except with love, quite independent of the fact that he +will be, in natural course, a King! So I have promised Teuta that +whatever shall be put into this record of the first King of the Sent +Leger Dynasty relating to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince shall +only appear in either her hand or my own. And she has deputed the +matter to me. + +Our dear little Prince arrived punctually and in perfect condition. +The angels that carried him evidently took the greatest care of him, +and before they left him they gave him dower of all their best. He +is a dear! Like both his father and his mother, and that says +everything. My own private opinion is that he is a born King! He +does not know what fear is, and he thinks more of everyone else than +he does of his dear little self. And if those things do not show a +truly royal nature, I do not know what does . . . + +Teuta has read this. She held up a warning finger, and said: + +"Aunt Janet dear, that is all true. He is a dear, and a King, and an +angel! But we mustn't have too much about him just yet. This book +is to be about Rupert. So our little man can only be what we shall +call a corollary." And so it is. + +I should mention here that the book is Teuta's idea. Before little +Rupert came she controlled herself wonderfully, doing only what was +thought best for her under the circumstances. As I could see that it +would be a help for her to have some quiet occupation which would +interest her without tiring her, I looked up (with his permission, of +course) all Rupert's old letters and diaries, and journals and +reports--all that I had kept for him during his absences on his +adventures. At first I was a little afraid they might harm her, for +at times she got so excited over some things that I had to caution +her. Here again came in her wonderful self-control. I think the +most soothing argument I used with her was to point out that the dear +boy had come through all the dangers safely, and was actually with +us, stronger and nobler than ever. + +After we had read over together the whole matter several times--for +it was practically new to me too, and I got nearly as excited as she +was, though I have known him so much longer--we came to the +conclusion that this particular volume would have to be of selected +matter. There is enough of Rupert's work to make a lot of volumes +and we have an ambitious literary project of some day publishing an +edition de luxe of his whole collected works. It will be a rare +showing amongst the works of Kings. But this is to be all about +himself, so that in the future it may serve as a sort of backbone of +his personal history. + +By-and-by we came to a part when we had to ask him questions; and he +was so interested in Teuta's work--he is really bound up body and +soul in his beautiful wife, and no wonder--that we had to take him +into full confidence. He promised he would help us all he could by +giving us the use of his later journals, and such letters and papers +as he had kept privately. He said he would make one condition--I use +his own words: "As you two dear women are to be my editors, you must +promise to put in everything exactly as I wrote it. It will not do +to have any fake about this. I do not wish anything foolish or +egotistical toned down out of affection for me. It was all written +in sincerity, and if I had faults, they must not be hidden. If it is +to be history, it must be true history, even if it gives you and me +or any of us away." + +So we promised. + +He also said that, as Sir Edward Bingham Trent, Bart.--as he is now-- +was sure to have some matter which we should like, he would write and +ask him to send such to us. He also said that Mr. Ernest Roger +Halbard Melton, of Humcroft, Salop (he always gives this name and +address in full, which is his way of showing contempt), would be sure +to have some relevant matter, and that he would have him written to +on the subject. This he did. The Chancellor wrote him in his most +grandiloquent style. Mr. E. R. H. Melton, of H., S., replied by +return post. His letter is a document which speaks for itself: + + +HUMCROFT, SALOP, +May 30, 1908. + +MY DEAR COUSIN KING RUPERT, + +I am honoured by the request made on your behalf by the Lord High +Chancellor of your kingdom that I should make a literary contribution +to the volume which my cousin, Queen Teuta, is, with the help of your +former governess, Miss MacKelpie, compiling. I am willing to do so, +as you naturally wish to have in that work some contemporary record +made by the Head of the House of Melton, with which you are +connected, though only on the distaff side. It is a natural ambition +enough, even on the part of a barbarian--or perhaps semi-barbarian-- +King, and far be it from me, as Head of the House, to deny you such a +coveted privilege. Perhaps you may not know that I am now Head of +the House; my father died three days ago. I offered my mother the +use of the Dower House--to the incumbency of which, indeed, she is +entitled by her marriage settlement. But she preferred to go to live +at her seat, Carfax, in Kent. She went this morning after the +funeral. In letting you have the use of my manuscript I make only +one stipulation, but that I expect to be rigidly adhered to. It is +that all that I have written be put in the book in extenso. I do not +wish any record of mine to be garbled to suit other ends than those +ostensible, or whatever may be to the honour of myself or my House to +be burked. I dare say you have noticed, my dear Rupert, that the +compilers of family histories often, through jealousy, alter matter +that they are allowed to use so as to suit their own purpose or +minister to their own vanity. I think it right to tell you that I +have had a certified copy made by Petter and Galpin, the law +stationers, so that I shall be able to verify whether my stipulation +has been honourably observed. I am having the book, which is +naturally valuable, carefully packed, and shall have it forwarded to +Sir Edward Bingham Trent, Baronet (which he now is--Heaven save the +mark!), the Attorney. Please see that he returns it to me, and in +proper order. He is not to publish for himself anything in it about +him. A man of that class is apt to advertise the fact of anyone of +distinction taking any notice of him. I would bring out the MS. to +you myself, and stay for a while with you for some sport, only your +lot--subjects I suppose you call them!--are such bounders that a +gentleman's life is hardly safe amongst them. I never met anyone who +had so poor an appreciation of a joke as they have. By the way, how +is Teuta? She is one of them. I heard all about the hatching +business. I hope the kid is all right. This is only a word in your +ear, so don't get cocky, old son. I am open to a godfathership. +Think of that, Hedda! Of course, if the other godfather and the +godmother are up to the mark; I don't want to have to boost up the +whole lot! Savvy? Kiss Teuta and the kid for me. I must have the +boy over here for a bit later on--when he is presentable, and has +learned not to be a nuisance. It will be good for him to see +something of a real first-class English country house like Humcroft. +To a person only accustomed to rough ways and meagre living its +luxury will make a memory which will serve in time as an example to +be aimed at. I shall write again soon. Don't hesitate to ask any +favour which I may be able to confer on you. So long! + +Your affectionate cousin, + +ERNEST ROGER HALBARD MELTON. + + +Extract from Letter from E. Bingham Trent to Queen Teuta of the Blue +Mountains. + +. . . So I thought the best way to serve that appalling cad would be +to take him at his word, and put in his literary contribution in +full. I have had made and attested a copy of his "Record," as he +calls it, so as to save you trouble. But I send the book itself, +because I am afraid that unless you see his words in his own writing, +you will not believe that he or anyone else ever penned seriously a +document so incriminating. I am sure he must have forgotten what he +had written, for even such a dull dog as he is could never have made +public such a thing knowingly. + +Such a nature has its revenges on itself. In this case the officers +of revenge are his ipsissima verba. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +February 1, 1909. + +All is now well in train. When the Czar of Russia, on being asked by +the Sclavs (as was meet) to be the referee in the "Balkan +Settlement," declined on the ground that he was himself by inference +an interested party, it was unanimously agreed by the Balkan rulers +that the Western King should be asked to arbitrate, as all concerned +had perfect confidence in his wisdom, as well as his justice. To +their wish he graciously assented. The matter has now been for more +than six months in his hands, and he has taken endless trouble to +obtain full information. He has now informed us through his +Chancellor that his decision is almost ready, and will be +communicated as soon as possible. + +We have another hunting-party at Vissarion next week. Teuta is +looking forward to it with extraordinary interest. She hopes then to +present to our brothers of the Balkans our little son, and she is +eager to know if they endorse her mother-approval of him. + + +RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued. +April 15, 1909. + +The arbitrator's decision has been communicated to us through the +Chancellor of the Western King, who brought it to us himself as a +special act of friendliness. It met with the enthusiastic approval +of all. The Premier remained with us during the progress of the +hunting-party, which was one of the most joyous occasions ever known. +We are all of good heart, for the future of the Balkan races is now +assured. The strife--internal and external--of a thousand years has +ceased, and we look with hope for a long and happy time. The +Chancellor brought messages of grace and courtliness and friendliness +to all. And when I, as spokesman of the party, asked him if we might +convey a request of His Majesty that he would honour us by attending +the ceremony of making known formally the Balkan Settlement, he +answered that the King had authorized him to say that he would, if +such were wished by us, gladly come; and that if he should come, he +would attend with a fleet as an escort. The Chancellor also told me +from himself that it might be possible to have other nationalities +represented on such a great occasion by Ambassadors and even fleets, +though the monarchs themselves might not be able to attend. He +hinted that it might be well if I put the matter in train. (He +evidently took it for granted that, though I was only one of several, +the matter rested with me--possibly he chose me as the one to whom to +make the confidence, as I was born a stranger.) As we talked it +over, he grew more enthusiastic, and finally said that, as the King +was taking the lead, doubtless all the nations of the earth friendly +to him would like to take a part in the ceremony. So it is likely to +turn out practically an international ceremony of a unique kind. +Teuta will love it, and we shall all do what we can. + + +JANET MACKELPIE'S NOTES. +June 1, 1909. + +Our dear Teuta is full of the forthcoming celebration of the Balkan +Federation, which is to take place this day month, although I must +say, for myself, that the ceremony is attaining to such dimensions +that I am beginning to have a sort of vague fear of some kind. It +almost seems uncanny. Rupert is working unceasingly--has been for +some time. For weeks past he seems to have been out day and night on +his aeroplane, going through and round over the country arranging +matters, and seeing for himself that what has been arranged is being +done. Uncle Colin is always about, too, and so is Admiral Rooke. +But now Teuta is beginning to go with Rupert. That girl is simply +fearless--just like Rupert. And they both seem anxious that little +Rupert shall be the same. Indeed, he is the same. A few mornings +ago Rupert and Teuta were about to start just after dawn from the top +of the Castle. Little Rupert was there--he is always awake early and +as bright as a bee. I was holding him in my arms, and when his +mother leant over to kiss him good-bye, he held out his arms to her +in a way that said as plainly as if he had spoken, "Take me with +you." + +She looked appealingly at Rupert, who nodded, and said: "All right. +Take him, darling. He will have to learn some day, and the sooner +the better." The baby, looking eagerly from one to the other with +the same questioning in his eyes as there is sometimes in the eyes of +a kitten or a puppy--but, of course, with an eager soul behind it-- +saw that he was going, and almost leaped into his mother's arms. I +think she had expected him to come, for she took a little leather +dress from Margareta, his nurse, and, flushing with pride, began to +wrap him in it. When Teuta, holding him in her arms, stepped on the +aeroplane, and took her place in the centre behind Rupert, the young +men of the Crown Prince's Guard raised a cheer, amid which Rupert +pulled the levers, and they glided off into the dawn. + +The Crown Prince's Guard was established by the mountaineers +themselves the day of his birth. Ten of the biggest and most +powerful and cleverest young men of the nation were chosen, and were +sworn in with a very impressive ceremony to guard the young Prince. +They were to so arrange and order themselves and matters generally +that two at least of them should always have him, or the place in +which he was, within their sight. They all vowed that the last of +their lives should go before harm came to him. Of course, Teuta +understood, and so did Rupert. And these young men are the persons +most privileged in the whole Castle. They are dear boys, every one +of them, and we are all fond of them and respect them. They simply +idolize the baby. + +Ever since that morning little Rupert has, unless it is at a time +appointed for his sleeping, gone in his mother's arms. I think in +any other place there would be some State remonstrance at the whole +royal family being at once and together in a dangerous position, but +in the Blue Mountains danger and fear are not thought of--indeed, +they can hardly be in their terminology. And I really think the +child enjoys it even more than his parents. He is just like a little +bird that has found the use of his wings. Bless him! + +I find that even I have to study Court ritual a little. So many +nationalities are to be represented at the ceremony of the "Balkan +Settlement," and so many Kings and Princes and notabilities of all +kinds are coming, that we must all take care not to make any +mistakes. The Press alone would drive anyone silly. Rupert and +Teuta come and sit with me sometimes in the evening when we are all +too tired to work, and they rest themselves by talking matters over. +Rupert says that there will be over five hundred reporters, and that +the applications for permission are coming in so fast that there may +be a thousand when the day comes. Last night he stopped in the +middle of speaking of it, and said: + +"I have an inspiration! Fancy a thousand journalists,--each wanting +to get ahead of the rest, and all willing to invoke the Powers of +Evil for exclusive information! The only man to look after this +department is Rooke. He knows how to deal with men, and as we have +already a large staff to look after the journalistic guests, he can +be at the head, and appoint his own deputies to act for him. +Somewhere and sometime the keeping the peace will be a matter of +nerve and resolution, and Rooke is the man for the job." + +We were all concerned about one thing, naturally important in the +eyes of a woman: What robes was Teuta to wear? In the old days, +when there were Kings and Queens, they doubtless wore something +gorgeous or impressive; but whatever it was that they wore has gone +to dust centuries ago, and there were no illustrated papers in those +primitive days. Teuta was talking to me eagerly, with her dear +beautiful brows all wrinkled, when Rupert who was reading a bulky +document of some kind, looked up and said: + +"Of course, darling, you will wear your Shroud?" + +"Capital!" she said, clapping her hands like a joyous child. "The +very thing, and our people will like it." + +I own that for a moment I was dismayed. It was a horrible test of a +woman's love and devotion. At a time when she was entertaining Kings +and notabilities in her own house--and be sure they would all be +decked in their finery--to have to appear in such a garment! A plain +thing with nothing even pretty, let alone gorgeous, about it! I +expressed my views to Rupert, for I feared that Teuta might be +disappointed, though she might not care to say so; but before he +could say a word Teuta answered: + +"Oh, thank you so much, dear! I should love that above everything, +but I did not like to suggest it, lest you should think me arrogant +or presuming; for, indeed, Rupert, I am very proud of it, and of the +way our people look on it." + +"Why not?" said Rupert, in his direct way. "It is a thing for us all +to be proud of; the nation has already adopted it as a national +emblem--our emblem of courage and devotion and patriotism, which will +always, I hope, be treasured beyond price by the men and women of our +Dynasty, the Nation, that is--of the Nation that is to be." + +Later on in the evening we had a strange endorsement of the national +will. A "People's Deputation" of mountaineers, without any official +notice or introduction, arrived at the Castle late in the evening in +the manner established by Rupert's "Proclamation of Freedom," wherein +all citizens were entitled to send a deputation to the King, at will +and in private, on any subject of State importance. This deputation +was composed of seventeen men, one selected from each political +section, so that the body as a whole represented the entire nation. +They were of all sorts of social rank and all degrees of fortune, but +they were mainly "of the people." They spoke hesitatingly--possibly +because Teuta, or even because I, was present--but with a manifest +earnestness. They made but one request--that the Queen should, on +the great occasion of the Balkan Federation, wear as robes of State +the Shroud that they loved to see her in. The spokesman, addressing +the Queen, said in tones of rugged eloquence: + +"This is a matter, Your Majesty, that the women naturally have a say +in, so we have, of course, consulted them. They have discussed the +matter by themselves, and then with us, and they are agreed without a +flaw that it will be good for the Nation and for Womankind that you +do this thing. You have shown to them, and to the world at large, +what women should do, what they can do, and they want to make, in +memory of your great act, the Shroud a garment of pride and honour +for women who have deserved well of their country. In the future it +can be a garment to be worn only by privileged women who have earned +the right. But they hope, and we hope with them, that on this +occasion of our Nation taking the lead before the eyes of the world, +all our women may wear it on that day as a means of showing overtly +their willingness to do their duty, even to the death. And so"--here +he turned to the King--"Rupert, we trust that Her Majesty Queen Teuta +will understand that in doing as the women of the Blue Mountains +wish, she will bind afresh to the Queen the loyal devotion which she +won from them as Voivodin. Henceforth and for all time the Shroud +shall be a dress of honour in our Land." + +Teuta looked all ablaze with love and pride and devotion. Stars in +her eyes shone like white fire as she assured them of the granting of +their request. She finished her little speech: + +"I feared that if I carried out my own wish, it might look arrogant, +but Rupert has expressed the same wish, and now I feel that I am free +to wear that dress which brought me to you and to Rupert"--here she +beamed on him, and took his hand--"fortified as I am by your wishes +and the command of my lord the King." + +Rupert took her in his arms and kissed her fondly before them all, +saying: + +"Tell your wives, my brothers, and the rest of the Blue Mountain +women, that that is the answer of the husband who loves and honours +his wife. All the world shall see at the ceremony of the Federation +of Balka that we men love and honour the women who are loyal and can +die for duty. And, men of the Blue Mountains, some day before long +we shall organize that great idea, and make it a permanent thing-- +that the Order of the Shroud is the highest guerdon that a noble- +hearted woman can wear." + +Teuta disappeared for a few moments, and came back with the Crown +Prince in her arms. Everyone present asked to be allowed to kiss +him, which they did kneeling. + + +THE FEDERATION BALKA. +By the Correspondents of "Free America." + +The Editors of Free America have thought it well to put in +consecutive order the reports and descriptions of their Special +Correspondents, of whom there were present no less than eight. Not a +word they wrote is omitted, but the various parts of their reports +are placed in different order, so that, whilst nothing which any of +them recorded is left out, the reader may be able to follow the +proceedings from the various points of view of the writers who had +the most favourable opportunity of moment. In so large an assemblage +of journalists--there were present over a thousand--they could not +all be present in one place; so our men, in consultation amongst +themselves, arranged to scatter, so as to cover the whole proceeding +from the various "coigns of vantage," using their skill and +experience in selecting these points. One was situated on the summit +of the steel-clad tower in the entrance to the Blue Mouth; another on +the "Press-boat," which was moored alongside King Rupert's armoured +yacht, The Lady, whereon were gathered the various Kings and rulers +of the Balkan States, all of whom were in the Federation; another was +in a swift torpedo-boat, with a roving commission to cruise round the +harbour as desired; another took his place on the top of the great +mountain which overlooks Plazac, and so had a bird's-eye view of the +whole scene of operations; two others were on the forts to right and +left of the Blue Mouth; another was posted at the entrance to the +Great Tunnel which runs from the water level right up through the +mountains to the plateau, where the mines and factories are situate; +another had the privilege of a place on an aeroplane, which went +everywhere and saw everything. This aeroplane was driven by an old +Special Correspondent of Free America, who had been a chum of our +Special in the Japanese and Russian War, and who has taken service on +the Blue Mountain Official Gazette. + + +PLAZAC, +June 30, 1909. + +Two days before the time appointed for the ceremony the guests of the +Land of the Blue Mountains began to arrive. The earlier comers were +mostly the journalists who had come from almost over the whole +inhabited world. King Rupert, who does things well, had made a camp +for their exclusive use. There was a separate tent for each--of +course, a small one, as there were over a thousand journalists--but +there were big tents for general use scattered about--refectories, +reading and writing rooms, a library, idle rooms for rest, etc. In +the rooms for reading and writing, which were the work-rooms for +general use, were newspapers, the latest attainable from all over the +world, Blue-Books, guides, directories, and all such aids to work as +forethought could arrange. There was for this special service a body +of some hundreds of capable servants in special dress and bearing +identification numbers--in fact, King Rupert "did us fine," to use a +slang phrase of pregnant meaning. + +There were other camps for special service, all of them well +arranged, and with plenty of facility for transport. Each of the +Federating Monarchs had a camp of his own, in which he had erected a +magnificent pavilion. For the Western King, who had acted as +Arbitrator in the matter of the Federation, a veritable palace had +been built by King Rupert--a sort of Aladdin's palace it must have +been, for only a few weeks ago the place it occupied was, I was told, +only primeval wilderness. King Rupert and his Queen, Teuta, had a +pavilion like the rest of the Federators of Balka, but infinitely +more modest, both in size and adornments. + +Everywhere were guards of the Blue Mountains, armed only with the +"handjar," which is the national weapon. They wore the national +dress, but so arranged in colour and accoutrement that the general +air of uniformity took the place of a rigid uniform. There must have +been at least seventy or eighty thousand of them. + +The first day was one of investigation of details by the visitors. +During the second day the retinues of the great Federators came. +Some of these retinues were vast. For instance, the Soldan (though +only just become a Federator) sent of one kind or another more than a +thousand men. A brave show they made, for they are fine men, and +drilled to perfection. As they swaggered along, singly or in mass, +with their gay jackets and baggy trousers, their helmets surmounted +by the golden crescent, they looked a foe not to be despised. +Landreck Martin, the Nestor of journalists, said to me, as we stood +together looking at them: + +"To-day we witness a new departure in Blue Mountain history. This is +the first occasion for a thousand years that so large a Turkish body +has entered the Blue Mountains with a reasonable prospect of ever +getting out again." + +July 1, 1909. + +To-day, the day appointed for the ceremony, was auspiciously fine, +even for the Blue Mountains, where at this time of year the weather +is nearly always fine. They are early folk in the Blue Mountains, +but to-day things began to hum before daybreak. There were bugle- +calls all over the place--everything here is arranged by calls of +musical instruments--trumpets, or bugles, or drums (if, indeed, the +drum can be called a musical instrument)--or by lights, if it be +after dark. We journalists were all ready; coffee and bread-and- +butter had been thoughtfully served early in our sleeping-tents, and +an elaborate breakfast was going on all the time in the refectory +pavilions. We had a preliminary look round, and then there was a +sort of general pause for breakfast. We took advantage of it, and +attacked the sumptuous--indeed, memorable--meal which was served for +us. + +The ceremony was to commence at noon, but at ten o'clock the whole +place was astir--not merely beginning to move, but actually moving; +everybody taking their places for the great ceremony. As noon drew +near, the excitement was intense and prolonged. One by one the +various signatories to the Federation began to assemble. They all +came by sea; such of them as had sea-boards of their own having their +fleets around them. Such as had no fleets of their own were attended +by at least one of the Blue Mountain ironclads. And I am bound to +say that I never in my life saw more dangerous craft than these +little warships of King Rupert of the Blue Mountains. As they +entered the Blue Mouth each ship took her appointed station, those +which carried the signatories being close together in an isolated +group in a little bay almost surrounded by high cliffs in the +farthest recesses of the mighty harbour. King Rupert's armoured +yacht all the time lay close inshore, hard by the mouth of the Great +Tunnel which runs straight into the mountain from a wide plateau, +partly natural rock, partly built up with mighty blocks of stone. +Here it is, I am told, that the inland products are brought down to +the modern town of Plazac. Just as the clocks were chiming the half- +hour before noon this yacht glided out into the expanse of the" +Mouth." Behind her came twelve great barges, royally decked, and +draped each in the colour of the signatory nation. On each of these +the ruler entered with his guard, and was carried to Rupert's yacht, +he going on the bridge, whilst his suite remained on the lower deck. +In the meantime whole fleets had been appearing on the southern +horizon; the nations were sending their maritime quota to the +christening of "Balka"! In such wonderful order as can only be seen +with squadrons of fighting ships, the mighty throng swept into the +Blue Mouth, and took up their stations in groups. The only armament +of a Great Power now missing was that of the Western King. But there +was time. Indeed, as the crowd everywhere began to look at their +watches a long line of ships began to spread up northward from the +Italian coast. They came at great speed--nearly twenty knots. It +was a really wonderful sight--fifty of the finest ships in the world; +the very latest expression of naval giants, each seemingly typical of +its class--Dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers. They came in a wedge, +with the King's yacht flying the Royal Standard the apex. Every ship +of the squadron bore a red ensign long enough to float from the +masthead to the water. From the armoured tower in the waterway one +could see the myriad of faces--white stars on both land and sea--for +the great harbour was now alive with ships and each and all of them +alive with men. + +Suddenly, without any direct cause, the white masses became eclipsed- +-everyone had turned round, and was looking the other way. I looked +across the bay and up the mountain behind--a mighty mountain, whose +slopes run up to the very sky, ridge after ridge seeming like itself +a mountain. Far away on the very top the standard of the Blue +Mountains was run up on a mighty Flagstaff which seemed like a shaft +of light. It was two hundred feet high, and painted white, and as at +the distance the steel stays were invisible, it towered up in lonely +grandeur. At its foot was a dark mass grouped behind a white space, +which I could not make out till I used my field-glasses. + +Then I knew it was King Rupert and the Queen in the midst of a group +of mountaineers. They were on the aero station behind the platform +of the aero, which seemed to shine--shine, not glitter--as though it +were overlaid with plates of gold. + +Again the faces looked west. The Western Squadron was drawing near +to the entrance of the Blue Mouth. On the bridge of the yacht stood +the Western King in uniform of an Admiral, and by him his Queen in a +dress of royal purple, splendid with gold. Another glance at the +mountain-top showed that it had seemed to become alive. A whole park +of artillery seemed to have suddenly sprung to life, round each its +crew ready for action. Amongst the group at the foot of the +Flagstaff we could distinguish King Rupert; his vast height and bulk +stood out from and above all round him. Close to him was a patch of +white, which we understood to be Queen Teuta, whom the Blue +Mountaineers simply adore. + +By this time the armoured yacht, bearing all the signatories to +"Balka" (excepting King Rupert), had moved out towards the entrance, +and lay still and silent, waiting the coming of the Royal Arbitrator, +whose whole squadron simultaneously slowed down, and hardly drifted +in the seething water of their backing engines. + +When the flag which was in the yacht's prow was almost opposite the +armoured fort, the Western King held up a roll of vellum handed to +him by one of his officers. We onlookers held our breath, for in an +instant was such a scene as we can never hope to see again. + +At the raising of the Western King's hand, a gun was fired away on +the top of the mountain where rose the mighty Flagstaff with the +standard of the Blue Mountains. Then came the thunder of salute from +the guns, bright flashes and reports, which echoed down the hillsides +in never-ending sequence. At the first gun, by some trick of +signalling, the flag of the Federated "Balka" floated out from the +top of the Flagstaff, which had been mysteriously raised, and flew +above that of the Blue Mountains. + +At the same moment the figures of Rupert and Teuta sank; they were +taking their places on the aeroplane. An instant after, like a great +golden bird, it seemed to shoot out into the air, and then, dipping +its head, dropped downward at an obtuse angle. We could see the King +and Queen from time waist upwards--the King in Blue Mountain dress of +green; the Queen, wrapped in her white Shroud, holding her baby on +her breast. When far out from the mountain-top and over the Blue +Mouth, the wings and tail of the great bird-like machine went up, and +the aero dropped like a stone, till it was only some few hundred feet +over the water. Then the wings and tail went down, but with +diminishing speed. Below the expanse of the plane the King and Queen +were now seen seated together on the tiny steering platform, which +seemed to have been lowered; she sat behind her husband, after the +manner of matrons of the Blue Mountains. That coming of that +aeroplane was the most striking episode of all this wonderful day. + +After floating for a few seconds, the engines began to work, whilst +the planes moved back to their normal with beautiful simultaneity. +There was a golden aero finding its safety in gliding movement. At +the same time the steering platform was rising, so that once more the +occupants were not far below, but above the plane. They were now +only about a hundred feet above the water, moving from the far end of +the Blue Mouth towards the entrance in the open space between the two +lines of the fighting ships of the various nationalities, all of +which had by now their yards manned--a manoeuvre which had begun at +the firing of the first gun on the mountain-top. As the aero passed +along, all the seamen began to cheer--a cheering which they kept up +till the King and Queen had come so close to the Western King's +vessel that the two Kings and Queens could greet each other. The +wind was now beginning to blow westward from the mountain-top, and it +took the sounds towards the armoured fort, so that at moments we +could distinguish the cheers of the various nationalities, amongst +which, more keen than the others, came the soft "Ban Zai!" of the +Japanese. + +King Rupert, holding his steering levers, sat like a man of marble. +Behind him his beautiful wife, clad in her Shroud, and holding in her +arms the young Crown Prince, seemed like a veritable statue. + +The aero, guided by Rupert's unerring hand, lit softly on the after- +deck of the Western King's yacht; and King Rupert, stepping on deck, +lifted from her seat Queen Teuta with her baby in her arms. It was +only when the Blue Mountain King stood amongst other men that one +could realize his enormous stature. He stood literally head and +shoulders over every other man present. + +Whilst the aeroplane was giving up its burden, the Western King and +his Queen were descending from the bridge. The host and hostess, +hand in hand--after their usual fashion, as it seems--hurried forward +to greet their guests. The meeting was touching in its simplicity. +The two monarchs shook hands, and their consorts, representatives of +the foremost types of national beauty of the North and South, +instinctively drew close and kissed each other. Then the hostess +Queen, moving towards the Western King, kneeled before him with the +gracious obeisance of a Blue Mountain hostess, and kissed his hand. + +Her words of greeting were: + +"You are welcome, sire, to the Blue Mountains. We are grateful to +you for all you have done for Balka, and to you and Her Majesty for +giving us the honour of your presence." + +The King seemed moved. Accustomed as he was to the ritual of great +occasions, the warmth and sincerity, together with the gracious +humility of this old Eastern custom, touched him, monarch though he +was of a great land and many races in the Far East. Impulsively he +broke through Court ritual, and did a thing which, I have since been +told, won for him for ever a holy place in the warm hearts of the +Blue Mountaineers. Sinking on his knee before the beautiful shroud- +clad Queen, he raised her hand and kissed it. The act was seen by +all in and around the Blue Mouth, and a mighty cheering rose, which +seemed to rise and swell as it ran far and wide up the hillsides, +till it faded away on the far-off mountain-top, where rose +majestically the mighty Flagstaff bearing the standard of the Balkan +Federation. + +For myself, I can never forget that wonderful scene of a nation's +enthusiasm, and the core of it is engraven on my memory. That +spotless deck, typical of all that is perfect in naval use; the King +and Queen of the greatest nation of the earth {3} received by the +newest King and Queen--a King and Queen who won empire for +themselves, so that the former subject of another King received him +as a brother-monarch on a history-making occasion, when a new world- +power was, under his tutelage, springing into existence. The fair +Northern Queen in the arms of the dark Southern Queen with the starry +eyes. The simple splendour of Northern dress arrayed against that of +almost peasant plainness of the giant King of the South. But all +were eclipsed--even the thousand years of royal lineage of the +Western King, Rupert's natural dower of stature, and the other +Queen's bearing of royal dignity and sweetness--by the elemental +simplicity of Teuta's Shroud. Not one of all that mighty throng but +knew something of her wonderful story; and not one but felt glad and +proud that such a noble woman had won an empire through her own +bravery, even in the jaws of the grave. + +The armoured yacht, with the remainder of the signatories to the +Balkan Federation, drew close, and the rulers stepped on board to +greet the Western King, the Arbitrator, Rupert leaving his task as +personal host and joining them. He took his part modestly in the +rear of the group, and made a fresh obeisance in his new capacity. + +Presently another warship, The Balka, drew close. It contained the +ambassadors of Foreign Powers, and the Chancellors and high officials +of the Balkan nations. It was followed by a fleet of warships, each +one representing a Balkan Power. The great Western fleet lay at +their moorings, but with the exception of manning their yards, took +no immediate part in the proceedings. + +On the deck of the new-comer the Balkan monarchs took their places, +the officials of each State grading themselves behind their monarch. +The Ambassadors formed a foremost group by themselves. + +Last came the Western King, quite alone (save for the two Queens), +bearing in his hand the vellum scroll, the record of his arbitration. +This he proceeded to read, a polyglot copy of it having been already +supplied to every Monarch, Ambassador, and official present. It was +a long statement, but the occasion was so stupendous--so intense-- +that the time flew by quickly. The cheering had ceased the moment +the Arbitrator opened the scroll, and a veritable silence of the +grave abounded. + +When the reading was concluded Rupert raised his hand, and on the +instant came a terrific salvo of cannon-shots from not only the ships +in the port, but seemingly all up and over the hillsides away to the +very summit. + +When the cheering which followed the salute had somewhat toned down, +those on board talked together, and presentations were made. Then +the barges took the whole company to the armour-clad fort in the +entrance-way to the Blue Mouth. Here, in front, had been arranged +for the occasion, platforms for the starting of aeroplanes. Behind +them were the various thrones of state for the Western King and +Queen, and the various rulers of "Balka"--as the new and completed +Balkan Federation had become--de jure as well as de facto. Behind +were seats for the rest of the company. All was a blaze of crimson +and gold. We of the Press were all expectant, for some ceremony had +manifestly been arranged, but of all details of it we had been kept +in ignorance. So far as I could tell from the faces, those present +were at best but partially informed. They were certainly ignorant of +all details, and even of the entire programme of the day. There is a +certain kind of expectation which is not concerned in the mere +execution of fore-ordered things. + +The aero on which the King and Queen had come down from the mountain +now arrived on the platform in the charge of a tall young +mountaineer, who stepped from the steering-platform at once. King +Rupert, having handed his Queen (who still carried her baby) into her +seat, took his place, and pulled a lever. The aero went forward, and +seemed to fall head foremost off the fort. It was but a dip, +however, such as a skilful diver takes from a height into shallow +water, for the plane made an upward curve, and in a few seconds was +skimming upwards towards the Flagstaff. Despite the wind, it arrived +there in an incredibly short time. Immediately after his flight +another aero, a big one this time, glided to the platform. To this +immediately stepped a body of ten tall, fine-looking young men. The +driver pulled his levers, and the plane glided out on the track of +the King. The Western King, who was noticing, said to the Lord High +Admiral, who had been himself in command of the ship of war, and now +stood close behind him: + +"Who are those men, Admiral?" + +"The Guard of the Crown Prince, Your Majesty. They are appointed by +the Nation." + +"Tell me, Admiral, have they any special duties?" + +"Yes, Your Majesty," came the answer: "to die, if need be, for the +young Prince!" + +"Quite right! That is fine service. But how if any of them should +die?" + +"Your Majesty, if one of them should die, there are ten thousand +eager to take his place." + +"Fine, fine! It is good to have even one man eager to give his life +for duty. But ten thousand! That is what makes a nation!" + +When King Rupert reached the platform by the Flagstaff, the Royal +Standard of the Blue Mountains was hauled up under it. Rupert stood +up and raised his hand. In a second a cannon beside him was fired; +then, quick as thought, others were fired in sequence, as though by +one prolonged lightning-flash. The roar was incessant, but getting +less in detonating sound as the distance and the hills subdued it. +But in the general silence which prevailed round us we could hear the +sound as though passing in a distant circle, till finally the line +which had gone northward came back by the south, stopping at the last +gun to south'ard of the Flagstaff. + +"What was that wonderful circle?" asked the King of the Lord High +Admiral. + +"That, Your Majesty, is the line of the frontier of the Blue +Mountains. Rupert has ten thousand cannon in line." + +"And who fires them? I thought all the army must be here." + +"The women, Your Majesty. They are on frontier duty to-day, so that +the men can come here." + +Just at that moment one of the Crown Prince's Guards brought to the +side of the King's aero something like a rubber ball on the end of a +string. The Queen held it out to the baby in her arms, who grabbed +at it. The guard drew back. Pressing that ball must have given some +signal, for on the instant a cannon, elevated to perpendicular, was +fired. A shell went straight up an enormous distance. The shell +burst, and sent out both a light so bright that it could be seen in +the daylight, and a red smoke, which might have been seen from the +heights of the Calabrian Mountains over in Italy. + +As the shell burst, the King's aero seemed once more to spring from +the platform out into mid-air, dipped as before, and glided out over +the Blue Mouth with a rapidity which, to look at, took one's breath +away. + +As it came, followed by the aero of the Crown Prince's Guard and a +group of other aeros, the whole mountain-sides seemed to become +alive. From everywhere, right away up to the farthest visible +mountain-tops, darted aeroplanes, till a host of them were rushing +with dreadful speed in the wake of the King. The King turned to +Queen Teuta, and evidently said something, for she beckoned to the +Captain of the Crown Prince's Guard, who was steering the plane. He +swerved away to the right, and instead of following above the open +track between the lines of warships, went high over the outer line. +One of those on board began to drop something, which, fluttering +down, landed on every occasion on the bridge of the ship high over +which they then were. + +The Western King said again to the Gospodar Rooke (the Lord High +Admiral): + +"It must need some skill to drop a letter with such accuracy." + +With imperturbable face the Admiral replied: + +"It is easier to drop bombs, Your Majesty." + +The flight of aeroplanes was a memorable sight. It helped to make +history. Henceforth no nation with an eye for either defence or +attack can hope for success without the mastery of the air. + +In the meantime--and after that time, too--God help the nation that +attacks "Balka" or any part of it, so long as Rupert and Teuta live +in the hearts of that people, and bind them into an irresistible +unity. + + + +Footnotes: + +{1} Vladika, a high functionary in the Land of the Blue Mountains. +He is a sort of official descendant of the old Prince-Bishops who +used at one time to govern the State. In process of time the system +has changed, but the function--shorn of its personal dominance-- +remains. The nation is at present governed by the Council. The +Church (which is, of course, the Eastern Church) is represented by +the Archbishop, who controls the whole spiritual functions and +organization. The connecting-link between them--they being quite +independent organizations--is the Vladika, who is ex officio a member +of the National Council. By custom he does not vote, but is looked +on as an independent adviser who is in the confidence of both sides +of national control. + +{2} EDITORIAL NOTE--We shall, in our issue of Saturday week, give a +full record of the romantic story of Queen Teuta and her Shroud, +written by Mr. Mordred Booth, and illustrated by our special artist, +Mr. Neillison Browne, who is Mr. Booth's artistic collaborateur in +the account of King Rupert's Coronation. + +{3} Greatest Kingdom--Editor Free America. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Lady of the Shroud, by Bram Stoker + |