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diff --git a/36836-h/36836-h.htm b/36836-h/36836-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2bfc6d --- /dev/null +++ b/36836-h/36836-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,21176 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Men Who Wrought, by Ridgwell Cullum +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +P.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +P.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +P.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +P.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 50%; + text-align: center } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%;} + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: 80%; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +.scaps { font-variant: small-caps } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Men Who Wrought, by Ridgwell Cullum + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Men Who Wrought + +Author: Ridgwell Cullum + +Release Date: July 24, 2011 [EBook #36836] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEN WHO WROUGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Andrew Sly, Al Haines and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="He Moved a Step Nearer the Steel Rail." BORDER="2"> +<H4> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">He Moved a Step Nearer the Steel Rail.</SPAN> +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t1"> +THE +<BR> +MEN WHO WROUGHT +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +By +</P> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +RIDGWELL CULLUM +</P> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +<i>Author of "The Night Riders," "The Way of<BR> +the Strong," "The Law Breakers," etc.</i> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +PHILADELPHIA +<BR> +GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY +<BR> +PUBLISHERS +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Copyright, 1916, by +<BR> +George W. Jacobs & Company</SPAN> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t4"> +<i>All rights reserved</i> +<BR> +Printed in U. S. A. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +BY THE SAME AUTHOR +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 15%"> + The Golden Woman<BR> + The Law-Breakers<BR> + The Way of the Strong<BR> + The Twins of Suffering Creek<BR> + The Night-Riders<BR> + The One-Way Trail<BR> + The Trail of the Axe<BR> + The Sheriff of Dyke Hole<BR> + The Watchers of the Plains<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +CONTENTS +</P> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Danger</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">A Strange Meeting</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Mystery</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Mr. Charles Smith</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Lure</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Old Mill Cove</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">On the Grey North Sea</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Borga</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Friendly Deep</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Future</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Back at Dorby Towers</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Kuhlhafen</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">News</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">"<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Kamerads</SPAN>"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Ineradicable Strain</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Enemy Movements</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Crouch of the Tiger</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">From Beneath the Waters</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Tiger Springs</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Bar-Leighton</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Enemy Movements</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">A Means of Escape</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Wreck at Dorby</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Ruxton Arrives at a Great Decision</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Sweetness of Life</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Ruxton Wins a Trick</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Week-End Begins</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Week-End</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Close of the Week-End</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">Gazing Upon a New World</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31"><SPAN CLASS="scaps">After Twelve Months</SPAN></A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +He moved a step nearer the rail . . . . . . . . . <i>Frontispiece</i> +</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +<A HREF="#img-088"> +Out of the grey waters rose the submersible +</A> +</P> + + +<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%"> +<A HREF="#img-160"> +"Go on," he said sharply +</A> +</P> + + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="t2"> +THE MEN WHO WROUGHT +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE DANGER +</H4> + +<P> +"Amongst the many uncertainties which this deplorable, +patched-up peace has brought us, there is, at least, +one significant certainty, my boy. It's the inventor. +He's buzzing about our heads like a fly in summer-time, +and he's just about as—sticky." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew Farlow sighed. His sigh was an expression +of relief; relief at the thought that he and his son, +dining together at Dorby Towers for the first time since +the dissolution of Parliament had released the latter from +his political duties, had at last reached the end of a long +discussion of the position brought about by the hopelessly +patched-up peace, which, for the moment, had +suspended the three years of terrible hostilities which +had hurled the whole of Europe headlong over the precipice +of ruin. +</P> + +<P> +The great ship-owner toyed with the delicate stem of +his liquor glass. There was a smile in his keen blue +eyes. But it was a smile without lightness of heart to +support it. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know. They've been busy enough throughout +the war—and to some purpose. Now we have a +breathing space they'll spread like a—plague." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow sipped his coffee. The weight of the +recent discussion was still oppressing him. His mind +was full of the appalling threat which the whole world +knew to be overshadowing the future. +</P> + +<P> +The dinner was drawing to its close. The butler, grown +old in Sir Andrew's service, had finally withdrawn. The +great Jacobean dining-hall of Dorby Towers, with its aged +oak beams and beautifully carved panelling, was lost in +the dim shadows cast by the carefully shaded table lights. +Father and son were occupying only the extreme end of +the dining-table, which had, at some far-distant age, +served to bear the burden of the daily meals of half a +hundred monks. There were no other lights in the room, +and even the figures of the two diners were only illuminated +by the reflected glow from the spotless damask on +the table, a fashion to which the conservative habits of +the household still ardently clung. It was a fitting setting +for such a meeting as the present. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew Farlow, Baronet, was one of the greatest +magnates of shipping and ship-building in the country, +and was also one of the greatest sufferers by the German +submarine warfare during the late war. His extreme +wealth, and the fact of the enormous Government contracts +in his ship-building yards, had left him practically +immune from the consequences of his losses, but the +losses to his fleet had been felt by the man, who was, before +all things in the world, a shipmaster. +</P> + +<P> +His son, and only partner, had spent those past three +years in the service of his country. Not in the actual +fighting line but in the work of organization, an important +position which his wealth and capacity had entitled +him to. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew pierced and lit a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"We mustn't ridicule them, though," he said, in his +hearty Yorkshire way. "We've laughed at 'em too +often in the past. It's a laugh which cost our country +a couple of thousand millions, and a world-wide suffering +which mankind will never forget." Then his manner +lightened. "Henceforth the inventor must be to us a +rare and precious orchid. We must spend hundreds of +thousands of pounds on him, the same as I spend thousands +on my orchid houses. I count myself well repaid +if I succeed in raising one single perfect bloom on some +rare plant. That is, if my rivals have failed with the +same plant. The inventor is the orchid of modern civilization, +and the perfect blooms he produces are very, very +precious and—rare." +</P> + +<P> +"You are thinking of those diabolical engines of destruction +which were prepared for this war." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton helped himself to a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, I am thinking of the defence, not +the offence, of this old country of ours." +</P> + +<P> +The younger man nodded as he lit his cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"That is it. We must prepare—prepare. We have +only a breathing space for it." +</P> + +<P> +"There must be no more slumbering." +</P> + +<P> +"And no more sacrificing the country to self-seeking +demagogues." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and no more slavery to Party prejudices, as antique +as the timbers of this house." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor the knaveries of men who seek power through +dividing the country into classes, and setting each at the +other's throat." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor must we ever again allow the nation's security, +economic or military, to be hurled into the cockpit of +Party politics." +</P> + +<P> +"Gad! It makes me shiver when I think how near—how +near——" +</P> + +<P> +"We were to destruction," added Sir Andrew gravely. +</P> + +<P> +It was again a moment of intense thought. Each man +was regarding from his own view-point that intangible +threat inspired by the unsatisfactory termination of the +war, which left the Teutonic races in a position to brew +further mischief with which to flood the world. +</P> + +<P> +The pucker of thought, the drawn brows, completed the +likeness of Sir Andrew Farlow to England's national symbolic +figure. His broad shoulders and shortish figure; +his round, strong, Yorkshire face, with its crowning of +snow-white, curly hair, and the old-fashioned, crisp side +whiskers made him a typical John Bull, even in his modern +evening dress. +</P> + +<P> +In the case of his son Ruxton it was almost in every +respect an antithesis. +</P> + +<P> +No foreigner would have taken Ruxton Farlow for anything +but an Englishman, just as no Englishman but +would have charged him with possessing foreign blood in +his veins. And the Englishman would have been right. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew Farlow had spent a brief married life of a +few months over one year with one of the most beautiful +women amongst the Russian nobility, and the birth of his +son left him a widower. +</P> + +<P> +From his mother young Ruxton had inherited all those +characteristics which foreign Europe assigns to the +British born; his great size, his fair, waving hair and his +darkly serious eyes. These things all came from his Russian +mother, who had possessed them herself in a marked +degree. Furthermore he inherited other qualities which +could never be claimed for his Yorkshire father. The +boy from his earliest childhood was an idealist: an idealist +of but a single purpose which developed into a brilliant +specimen of the modern product of an old-fashioned +patriotism. +</P> + +<P> +But he brought more to bear upon his patriotism than +the mere passionate devotion to his country. He was a +fine product of public school and university with the backing +of a keen, well-balanced brain, and a natural aptitude +for statecraft in relation to the rest of the world. He saw +with eyes wide open to those interests dearest to his +heart, and clearly, without one single smudge of the fog +of personal self-interest. +</P> + +<P> +"It's never out of my thoughts, Dad," Ruxton said at +last. "It is with me at all times. It is the purpose of my +life to devote myself to, and associate myself with, only +those who will place their country before all else in life." +</P> + +<P> +"An ideal difficult to realize in Great Britain," observed +his father drily. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think that? Do you really think that?" +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew stirred impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not what I think. It is not what any of us think. +It is what we see and hear—and <i>know</i>. This war has +shown up so many weaknesses in the armor of our social +economy as well as the psychology of our people that one +hardly knows where to hurl one's condemnation the most +forcefully. So many weaknesses and failures stand out +crying aloud for the bitter castigations of national conscience +that it is difficult to point out one worthy feature. +Oh, you think that too sweeping," cried the baronet with +flushed rugged cheeks and brow, as his son raised questioning +eyes in his direction. "That is what every other +man and woman in the country would say in their purblind +vanity. But it is true. True of the country. True +of us all. There is one thing which appeals to me as our +greatest failure, however. One failure preëminent over all +others that has sunk deep down in my heart, and the scar +of which can never be obliterated. I was brought up in +the early Victorian days when patriotism was no mere +head-line in a sensation-loving press. It was something +real. Something big. Something which gripped the +sense of duty and made our men and women yearn for +active participation when danger threatened our Empire, +even to the sacrifice of all they held dear in life. That +national spirit was sick to death when this war broke out. +Our press was divided, our politicians were divided, and, +yes, our people were largely indifferent. But for the +strength of a few of our leaders, men who have deserved +far better of our country than our country has ever yielded +them, thanks to indifference and Party politics, the end of +this war would have come with even more terrible consequences +to our Empire than all that is signified by the +position, almost approaching <i>in status quo ante</i>, in which +we now find ourselves. The ramifications of our lack of +national spirit are so multifarious that it is impossible to +go into them as a whole. One or two, however, are so +prodigious, and have been so pronouncedly marked, that +the veriest optimist has not failed to observe. One which +stood out remarkably was the attitude of the reigning +Government when war was declared. Every newspaper +cried aloud that our ranks had closed up to meet the peril. +They did close up, as far as the will of the country was +concerned, but our machinery was geared to certain +movement, a machine built through years of partizanship +in politics. The result was pitiful. When the party in +power was faced with Labor troubles which threatened +our downfall in the war, they dared not face their task of +drastic remedy because they saw in the dim future the +loss of votes which would return their opponents to power +at the next election. Hence the political crisis, at a time +when we could ill afford such crises, and the formation of +a coalition. Ten months were thus lost in drifting while +Labor played, and our soldiers, inadequately armed, went +to their deaths. The press, a divided press, mark you, +sought a scapegoat in the individual, when they, no less +than our national machinery, were to blame for the disaster. +Is such a condition conceivable in a fervent Latin race, or +an iron-shod Teuton? No, no. Is it right to blame +Labor, who, for the past decade and more, has been coddled +and pampered into the belief that like any baby in its +cradle it has only to cry loud enough to obtain the +alleviating fluid? It at least has cunning enough to +realize that its weight of vote in the country is sufficient +to control the destiny of the demagogues who seek place +and power through its ignorance. Man, but it makes me +sweat to think of it. National spirit? Faugh! Look at +the manufacturers. Patriotism? They were full of newspaper +patriotism until those who were executing Government +contracts discovered that their profits were to be +limited. The Army? Our voluntary system? The +Army was all right. Oh, yes, the Army was great. But +the system? The system was probably the most painful +among all our national systems. The most hopelessly +inadequate. And, from a national spirit view, was +hideously grotesque. But the men who joined and shed +their blood upon those terrible battle-fields abroad were as +the worker in the vineyard who engaged for one penny. +They gave their all, and made up in the execution of their +duty for those who sheltered behind the skirts of their +womenkind, and the race of shopkeepers they left behind. +The spirit of our country when the war broke out was a +sordid commercial spirit. 'Business as usual' was the +cry. Then our press, our wonderful divided press, said +the country was not awake. It was slumbering! I tell +you it was a lie!" The old man banged his fist upon the +table and set the glasses jumping. "Our country was +not asleep. Every man, woman, and child capable of +common understanding realized our peril from the start. +It was the hateful commercial mind seeking to make gain +out of the disaster which had overtaken the world, that +mind that has acquired for us the detestable sobriquet of +'a race of shopkeepers,' that hindered and deterred us. +We were not slumbering. We were awake. Wide +awake! To think that I have lived to see the day when +our women's fair hands should be called upon to distribute +the white feather. Our present-day musicians and +our national bards will tell you that the old songs of England +are out of date. They are right. Our girls and +boys look askance at your Marryats, your Dickenses, +your Thackerays, your Stevensons, and all those great +masters who found their strength in our country's greatest +ages. When war broke out we were floundering in +the mire of sensualism brought about by the years of +peace and security, and so we bred the cult of the +sensualist writers on sex problems, and all the accompaniment +of the other arts to match." +</P> + +<P> +The white-haired veteran, who had spent his early +youth fighting his country's battles on the Empire's +frontiers, and, in later days, had devoted all his energies +to the furthering of Britain's supremacy on the seas, +passed one strong hand over his lined brow. He swallowed +like a man choking back an emotion threatening to +overwhelm him. Then the flush died out of his rugged +cheeks, and he smiled at the son he loved, and who was +his one remaining relative. "Forgive me, my boy, but—but +all I've said is true. I don't think many will deny +it. Anyway those who do are lying to their own consciences, +or—or are purblind in their insane egoism." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton smiled responsively and thrust back his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"There's no forgiveness needed, Dad," he said. "You +have quoted but a few of the hundred signs, of which we +all have proof, that when war broke out patriotism had +only the smallest possible part in the life of this country. +From the beginning to the end of this war England has +had to pay out of her coffers, to those of her people whose +services she needed, a price so extortionate that one +wonders if it is not all some hideous nightmare and in +truth unreal. But tell me, Dad," he went on after a +pause, "you spoke just now of inventors, and your manner +suggested that there was something—important." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew rose from the table and led the way towards +the distant folding doors. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't know if it will prove to be anything—worth +while." +</P> + +<P> +He fumbled at an inner pocket of his dinner coat, and +produced a letter written on thin paper. When they +reached the great hall and stood under the brilliant +electrolier he unfolded it and held it out for his son's +perusal. +</P> + +<P> +"I get lots of them," he said almost apologetically, +"and few enough turn out worth while. This one reads +a little different. That's all." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Sir</SPAN>, +</P> + +<P> +"You are a great shipmaster. You owned a fleet +of merchant shipping when war broke out of forty-two +coastwise and thirty-five ocean-going ships. At the end +of the war you owned thirteen coastwise and twenty-one +ocean-going traders. I have a means of saving you any +such loss by submarine in the future. May I be permitted +to show you my invention? +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Truly yours,<BR> + "<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Charles Smith.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P> +"P.S.—Absolute secrecy is necessary. A simple 'yes' +addressed by wire to Veevee, London, will be sufficient." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"The wording of it is so unusual that it—interested +me," Sir Andrew went on, as Ruxton began to read the +letter a second time. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the younger man looked up from his +reading. +</P> + +<P> +"That's your imagination working, Dad," he said, +smiling. Then he added: "Let it work. Let it run riot. +That's what we want in England—now. I should see this +man. I think he is a foreigner—in spite of his English +name." +</P> + +<P> +The John Bull face of the elder man wreathed into a +warm smile as he looked up at his towering son. +</P> + +<P> +"I had decided to," he said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton handed him back the letter. Then he moved +across to the great mullioned window and looked out +upon the perfect summer night. The moon was shining +at its full and not a cloud was visible anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +"I have some letters to write, my boy," Sir Andrew +went on. "If you want me I shall be in the library. +What are you going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think I shall take a stroll along the cliffs. It'll do +me good, Dad. I want to feel our beloved Yorkshire +cliffs under my feet again, and make sure they're—still +there." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"The General Election is on August 21st, isn't it?" his +father enquired presently. "You've got seven weeks in +which to recuperate, and get the cobwebs blown off you." +</P> + +<P> +"I always get rid of bad fancies up here in my native +air," Ruxton said lightly. "I'm glad we haven't a +strenuous campaign." +</P> + +<P> +"No. We shall win all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Win?" Ruxton laughed. "The National Party will +sweep the polls. Labor will be opposed to us as Labor +will oppose any party. They will always be with us. +But even if the extreme Radicals were to link forces with +them, they couldn't obtain a twenty-five per cent. representation. +No, Dad, whatever the country failed to realize +during the first two years of war, it's been all brought +home to it now. The English housewife has been driven +to a sweeping and garnishing of her home. We've driven +her to that, and the National Party is—<i>going to see she +does it thoroughly</i>." +</P> + +<P> +The younger man's enthusiasm drew an approving +smile from his father. Also a world of pride in this great, +fair-haired idealist shone in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Sweep and garnish. That's it, boy," he said ardently. +"And what a sweeping, what a garnishing is needed. I +wonder. Can it be done?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is what we intend to test. It is to that great +effort my colleagues have pledged their lives. I have +pledged mine to another. I tell you, Dad, that the +sweeping and garnishing isn't sufficient. That is only +the moral side of the campaign that lies before us, and +without it the other side can never be achieved. But +all my future is to be given up to the material security +side of the problem. It may be only my dreaming, but +I seem to see a terrible threat sweeping up over the eastern +horizon. A threat so appalling for us as to make the +late war almost insignificant. Some day, if you have the +patience to listen to a dreamer, I will tell you of the +dread that persistently haunts me. Meanwhile we have +that—breathing space." +</P> + +<P> +Without troubling himself to get a hat Ruxton Farlow +passed through the entrance hall, out into the brilliant, +warm summer night, and strode on towards his destiny. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A STRANGE MEETING +</H4> + +<P> +The peace of the night knocked vainly at the heart +of the man as he moved along over the grass-grown +cart track, which skirted those fields abutting on the +pathway marking the broken line of the lofty Yorkshire +cliffs. +</P> + +<P> +The warmth of the July air left him utterly forgetful of +the light evening clothes in which he was clad, just as +the grass-grown track failed to remind him that the +shoes he wore had never been intended for country +rambles. The soft sea breeze fanned his cheeks, and the +bracing air added vigor of body if it left his mental feelings +wholly uninspired. +</P> + +<P> +For the time, at least, Ruxton Farlow was living +within himself. His mental digestion was devouring +hungrily of that force which had come to make his +contemporaries realize that here was a man of that unusual +calibre which must ultimately make him a leader +of men in whatever walk of life he chose for that strenuous +journey. +</P> + +<P> +The full moon, shedding a ghostly glory on every +hand, yielded him the necessary guidance for his footsteps. +It served his purpose, but its beauty for once +left him unimpressed. The diamond-studded sky suggested +no jewel-bedecked cloak of mysterious night as +at other times it was wont to appeal. All romance was +dead for the time, as though the shutter of his mental +camera had been closed with a slam for the development +of the plates within which held those living, grim pictures +of the life he felt himself surrounded by on every +hand. +</P> + +<P> +He passed the last stile and faced the open sea. That +smooth limitless expanse, sighing and restless, as it gently +rocked its bosom like some aged crone nursing the infant +she was too old to bear herself. He flung himself +full length upon a rustling bed of heather. His head was +towards the sea, and craning over the very edge of the +dizzy cliff. There was no thought in his mind of the +dangerous proximity. He had known these cliffs almost +from his birth up. They were the friends of his whole +life, and their possible latent treachery was unthinkable +to him. He propped his face between his two hands +and sank his elbows deep into the heather. Then, like +some schoolboy, his feet were raised behind him, and +crossed, while his eyes searched that mysterious horizon +lost in the shadows of a perfect night. +</P> + +<P> +It has been said that Ruxton Farlow was an idealist. +But let there be no misapprehension about it. His idealism +was practical and full of sanity. He was no visionary. +His mind was ever groping for the material welfare +of his country. The moral welfare, he felt, should +be in hands far more capable in that direction than his +life and learning had made his. It had been his habit +of life to feed his mind upon hard and incontrovertible +facts which bore upon the goal of his ideals. He accepted +nothing which was merely backed by academic +logic. He demanded the logic of practice. Theory was +impossible to him, unless that theory was demonstrated +in practice. Thus it was he kept his mind alert for facts—and +again facts. +</P> + +<P> +The facts which concerned him at the moment were +many, and he found in them all, when arranged in due +order, one stream like some rushing river which raced on +its tempestuous way to the wide sea of disaster beyond. +</P> + +<P> +The starting-point of his facts was the truth that no +modern combination of force, however superlative its +effort, could crush out of international existence the +power of two peoples with aggregate populations of +virile strength of some hundred and odd million souls. +The war had proved that. And the only possible peace +resulting from it had added the conviction that, from a +peace point of view, the war had proved utterly useless +and damaging. Besides the enormous expenditure of +treasure and the vast sacrifices of human life, it had +given the world a nominal peace backed by an aggravation +of international hatred and spleen a thousand +times greater than had ever been known in history +since the days of bare-limbed savagery. +</P> + +<P> +What then was the outlook? The man stirred with +that nervous suggestion of a disturbed mind. War—war! +On every hand war—again. Once again all the +moral development of the human race towards those +higher planes of light, learning, and religious ideals was +shadowed by the spectre which during the last three +years had flung men back to the shadows of an ancient +savagery and barbarism. +</P> + +<P> +The savage mind of the Teuton had broken out into +a fierce conflagration of barbarism. Again it would +smoulder, like some slumbering volcano, only to break +out again when the arrogance of the German heart told +it that the time was ripe to avenge the indignity of its +earlier failure. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow accepted this as his basis of fact, and +followed the river down its turbulent course towards that +sea of disaster which he already saw looming ahead. It +required no imagination. The course was a straight one, +straight as the crow flies. For that passion of hatred +which inspired the flood brooked no obstruction to its +course. It clamored for its goal and swept all side issues +out of its path. Great Britain lay in that sea beyond. +Great Britain, who, in German eyes, owned the earth, +and incidentally had snatched even those inadequate colonies +from her bosom, which, through long years of +diplomatic trickery, she had contrived to acquire. The +Prussian passion for conquest had been changed through +the late war to the passionate national hatred of the German +people against Great Britain. This was clear. So +clear that the light which shone upon it was painful to +his mental vision. +</P> + +<P> +What then was the resulting position of the country he +loved? The lessons of the war were many—so many. +Yet preëminently outstanding was one fact which smothered +all others in its significance, and reduced them all +almost to nothingness. His father had dwelt upon the +lack of national spirit when war broke out. That had +been remedied. The country had changed during those +three years of suffering and sacrifice. No, his father had +missed the great lesson. Yet it was so simple—so simple. +</P> + +<P> +The man raised his head higher, and folded his arms +under him as a support. He gazed down at the calm +summer moonlit sea. So calm, so peaceful, so—seductive +to the straining mind. +</P> + +<P> +He began to realize the yearning of the suicide for the +peace beyond life. How easy to solve all problems. +How easy to rid oneself of the duties, the harassing, +cruel duties imposed by the Creator of all life. The soft +murmur of the breaking swell upon the beach below. +One plunge beneath that shimmering surface and—nothing. +In that instant there flashed through his mind a +memory of just such another sea. The perfect summer +sea. The great ship, one of the wonders of the age. A +stealing trail of foam across the glass-like surface. An +explosion. Then fifteen hundred souls solve the problem +of that—nothing! Ah, that was it. That was the Danger. +He knew. Every thinking human being knew +that if Germany had begun war with a fleet of some +three or four hundred submarines, three weeks would +have terminated the war so far as Britain was concerned. +</P> + +<P> +He moved over on to his side, and his movement was +a further expression of nervous tension. He propped his +head upon one hand with his eyes fixed on the vague +horizon beyond which the Teutonic giant was peacefully +slumbering, and his thought was spoken aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"Is he slumbering?" he asked of the sea. "Is he? +Will he ever sleep again? No, I think not. Not at least +while there is a chance that his intelligence behind the +machine can render an island home untenable." +</P> + +<P> +"Night claims from the overburdened soul the truth +which daylight is denied." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow sat up with a jolt. His dark, searching +eyes were turned from the sea. They were turned +in the direction whence the voice, which had answered +him, had proceeded. In the brilliant moonlight he saw +the outline of a figure standing upon the footpath which +ran parallel to the coast-line. The figure was not quite +distinct, but it was clearly a woman's, which corroborated +the conviction he had received at the sound of the voice. +</P> + +<P> +"But for once she has betrayed her—trust," he said, +and a feeling of irritation swept over him that he had +permitted himself to respond to the challenge of this +stranger, who was probably something in the nature of +one of life's vagrants, wandering homeless over the deserted +ways of the countryside. +</P> + +<P> +Then he discovered to his further annoyance that his +response had brought forth its logical result. The figure +was moving towards him, and as it drew near he became +aware of that delightful feminine rustle which no man +ever yet found unseductive. +</P> + +<P> +The woman made no verbal reply until she was standing +before him. Ruxton was still sitting on the heather, +but his eyes were wide with astonished admiration, and +his clean-shaven lips were parted, which added to his +whole expression of incredulous amazement. +</P> + +<P> +The woman standing before him was no vagrant, unless +a vagrant could possess a queenly presence, and an attire +which suggested the best efforts of London or Paris. He +stared, stared as might some schoolboy budding into +manhood at the sight of a perfect womanhood. Then, +in a moment, questions raced through his head. Who +was she, and where—where did she come from? What +freak of fortune had set her wandering those cliffs alone—and +at night? +</P> + +<P> +She was beautifully tall and crowned with a royal +wealth of hair which remained hatless. Its color was not +certain in the moonlight, but Ruxton felt that it must be +red-gold. He could think of no other color which could +match such a presence. Her figure, sharply outlined in +the moonlight, was superb. It suggested all he had ever +seen in those ardent dreams of youth. Her face possessed +something of the reflected glory of the moon lit +by eyes whose color was hidden from him, but which +shone like great dull jewels full of a living fire. +</P> + +<P> +All these things he realized in one swift comprehensive +glance. But in another moment his whole attention was +absorbed by the rich voice, the tones of which were like +the softest music of some foreign southern land. +</P> + +<P> +"It is scarcely fair to blame the night," she said, in +smiling protest. +</P> + +<P> +All unprepared for the encounter Ruxton had nothing +but a stupid monosyllable to offer. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said, and a sigh somehow escaped him. +</P> + +<P> +Then, in a moment, the blood was set swiftly pulsating +through his veins. +</P> + +<P> +"May I sit down?" the woman enquired. "I have +had a long walk, and am a little tired," she added in explanation. +</P> + +<P> +But she waited for no permission. And somehow +Ruxton felt that her expression of weariness was far below +the mark. She appeared quite exhausted. +</P> + +<P> +"You are more than a <i>little</i> tired," he said, with urgent +solicitude. +</P> + +<P> +Now that her face was nearer to his level he could see +that she was indeed very, very beautiful. Her eyes were +large and almost oriental in their shape. Her cheeks +were as delicate as the petals of a lily. The contour of +her whole face was a perfect oval with just sufficient +lengthening to give it character. +</P> + +<P> +She did not deny him. But a smile lit her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"This is delicious," she said, with a sigh of content, +turning her face towards the sea, and drinking in deep +draughts of fresh, salt air. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton endeavored to gather his faculties, which had +been completely scattered by the thrilling shock of the +encounter. He felt himself to be like a callow youth of +seventeen rather than a man of over thirty-five, a man +whose public life had made intercourse with women of +society a matter of every day. +</P> + +<P> +"You have had a long walk?" he enquired wonderingly. +"But at night? On these cliffs? You are ten +miles from Dorby, and there is no habitation between—except +Dorby Towers. Beyond this there is a village or +two, but no railway for miles." He had made up his +mind that she did not belong to this district. Her costume +was still in his thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not come from Dorby. Nor from any of those +villages. Still, I have had a long walk. I have been on +my feet nearly three hours." +</P> + +<P> +As she offered no further explanation Ruxton urged her. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you not explain—more?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is it needed?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman faced round, and her Eastern eyes were +smiling frankly into his. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had no alternative. He desired none. The +situation had suddenly gripped him. He was caught in +its toils, and delighted that it was so. This woman's +beauty, her frank unconventionality, were wholly charming. +He asked nothing better than that she should satisfy +her whim, and sit there, beside him, talking—talking of +what she pleased so long as he listened to the rich music +in her voice, and could watch the play of her beautiful, +mobile features. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said deliberately. "There is no need." Then +he made a comprehensive gesture with one hand. "The +night is beautiful, it is a night of romance and adventure. +Let us forget there are such things as conventionality, and +just—talk. Let us talk as this silver night prompts. Let +us try and forget that painful thought which daylight +brings us all. As you say, the night is the time of truth, +while daylight demands the subterfuge which conceals it." +</P> + +<P> +But the woman did not respond to his invitation. A +little pucker of sudden distress marred her brows. +</P> + +<P> +"Conventionality. I had forgotten," she said. Then +her manner became suddenly earnest. She leant slightly +forward, and her shining eyes warned Ruxton of the +genuineness of their appeal. "Yes, I had truly forgotten," +she went on. "Will you—will you forget for the +moment there is the difference of sex between us? Will +you forget that I am a woman who has wilfully thrust her +presence upon a man, a stranger, and laid herself open to +a dreadful interpretation of her actions? Will you simply +regard me as some one who is striving to unravel those +tangled skeins, which, just now, seem to be enveloping a +helpless humanity, and, in her effort, has sought out the +only man whom she feels can help her—Mr. Ruxton Farlow, +the man who will one day rise to be a great ruler in +his country?" +</P> + +<P> +"You sought me out?" enquired Ruxton, ignoring the +tribute so frankly spoken. +</P> + +<P> +"That is why I have been on my feet for three hours. +Will you do as I have asked?" +</P> + +<P> +The charm of this beautiful creature was greater than +the man knew. The situation, as she put it, was wholly +impossible. Yet her fascination was such that he was +impelled to hold out his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"For the time, at least, we are comrades in a common +cause," he said, smiling. "My hand on it." +</P> + +<P> +The woman laid a white-gloved hand in his, and the +thought in the man's mind was regret at the necessity for +gloves. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton stretched himself out on the heather again. This +time he was on his side, supporting his head upon his +hand and facing her. The moon was shining full down +upon her uncovered hair, and illuminating the perfect +features which held the man's gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"And now for the tangled skein," he said with attempted +lightness, while his eyes lit whimsically. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruxton Farlow doesn't need a woman to point the +dreadful tangle in which humanity is involved—just now. +He knows more of the threads than perhaps any man of +his country. He was thinking of them when he was run +to earth here upon this scented waste of Nature's riot. He +was probably pulling apart the wretched threads himself, +seeking hope in his endeavor, hope for the future, hope +for the future of this land we both love, and for its people. +Doubtless he, as others, has found the task something +more than arduous, and no doubt he has searched the +scene that lies below him, yearning for that peace of mind +which oblivion has yielded in recent days to so many +souls which have passed beneath the shining surface +which encircles this iron-bound coast." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's eyes devoured the entrancing animation which +accompanied the words. An added amazement had leapt +within him. She had fathomed his secret feelings as his +eyes had searched the surface of the shimmering summer +sea. Her understanding was even more uncanny than +had been her sudden apparition. Who was she? he kept +reiterating to himself. Who? And where did she come +from? +</P> + +<P> +"I felt all that," he found himself saying. +</P> + +<P> +"I know. I have felt it all, too. But your feeling had +no inspiration in cowardice. It is the mind of the imaginative +that sees an exaggeration in all that offends the +sensibilities. It is the mind that distorts with painful +fancy the threat which has not yet fallen. It is the mind +which is inspired by a heart strong with hope, which in +its turn owes its inspiration to a spirit possessed of a +great power to do. Of such spirit are the leaders of +men. Their mental agony is theirs alone, they suffer and +do for those others who do not possess power to do for +themselves." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's eyes were turned upon the distant horizon +again. Their gaze was introspective, and she talked as +she thought, regardless for the time of the man beside her. +</P> + +<P> +But he was more mindful. No word of hers was lost +upon him. He was marvelling at her depth of understanding, +he was marvelling at her simplicity of expression. +And, through it all, he was noting and endeavoring to +place that suggestion of foreign intonation in her perfect +English accent. More and more was this splendid creature +becoming an enigma. More and more was he becoming +absorbed in her, and more surely was his promise +of simple comradeship becoming an impossibility. +</P> + +<P> +"And the threat—which inspires these phantasms?" he +said, as the musical tones ceased, and the murmur of the +sea came up to them in their eyrie. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a reality." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton stirred. He sat up once more, and his gaze, +for the moment, left the beautiful profile, and wandered +towards the eastern horizon. +</P> + +<P> +"I know," he said simply. +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen," came the impressive rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's eyes came back to the woman's face. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you tell me?" +</P> + +<P> +His request was made without a shadow of excitement. +That was his way when confronted with a crisis. Now he +understood why she had worn herself to weariness for +three hours on her feet. But for all the interest of the +moment his mind was still questioning—Who? +</P> + +<P> +"The telling would be worthless. It would convey +simply—words. There is better than telling." +</P> + +<P> +"But the world is at peace now," Ruxton suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"It was at peace before, when—the telling came from +all ends of the world." +</P> + +<P> +"And no one listened." +</P> + +<P> +"Those who could have helped refused to hear. And +those who heard were powerless." +</P> + +<P> +"So now you come——?" +</P> + +<P> +"To one who, eschewing all that his wealth and position +could give him of life's leisure and delight, has +dedicated his whole future to the land I—have learned to +love." +</P> + +<P> +"And what would you have me do?" Ruxton was +smiling, but behind his smile was a brain searching and +hungry. +</P> + +<P> +"Do? Ah, that is it." The woman turned swiftly. +All her calm had been caught up in a hot emotion. Her +eyes were wide and shining as she leant towards him and +searched his fair face and dark eyes. "There is peace as +you said. But it is only words written upon paper with +ink that is manufactured, and by a pen also manufactured. +The whole peace is only manufactured. There is no peace +in the hearts of the leaders of nations, only hate, which +has inspired a passionate yearning for revenge, a passion +which has intensified a thousandfold all effort towards the +destruction of the hated. Need I tell you of the Teuton +feelings? Ruined, blasted as has been that great +machine, both military and industrial, there is still the +Teuton mind ready and yearning for such a revenge as +will stagger all conscious life. Well may the sensitive +imagination distort and magnify the threat that cannot +yet be grasped. Well may the straining mind contemplate +with ecstasy the oblivion gained by those poor creatures +on the <i>Lusitania</i>. But for those who would learn, +and know, and see, there is a better, braver death to die +than the bosom of the ocean can offer. I tell you there is +work for every true Briton, man and woman. Work that +can offer little else than the reward of a conscience that, +maybe, is rendered easy in death. The men who would +lead Britain must be men with eyes, and ears, and mind +wide open. The time has gone by when England's politicians +may sit down in luxurious offices and enjoy the +liberal salaries this country so generously dispenses. They +must learn first hand of the dangers which threaten these +impregnable shores. Impregnable? That has been the +fetish which has been the ruin of Britain's national spirit. +But I tell you, as surely as the sun will rise to-morrow I +can prove to you that impregnability can never again be +applied to these splendid shores. Remember, these are +the days when victories and destruction are wrought by +thought in peace time. The days of simple brute strength +have died for all time. And that is why I have travelled +far to seek Ruxton Farlow." +</P> + +<P> +"You have sought me to tell me all this that I have +thought for months. That I have felt. That in my heart +I have known as surely as that night follows day. You +have sought <i>me</i>," he added reflectively. +</P> + +<P> +The stranger leant still further towards him, and the +man thrilled at the contiguity. So close was she that her +breath fanned his cheek, and he found himself gazing +into the eager, beautiful eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"And have I not done right? Have I not done right to +come to you, who have felt, and thought, and known these +things for months—if I can show you even more than in +your worst moments you have ever dreamed of?" +</P> + +<P> +It was an intense moment. Its intensity for the man +was well-nigh overpowering. Was this wonderful creature +some brilliant siren luring him to destruction for very +wantonness, or in the interest of others? Was she just as +she represented, just an ardent patriot, to whom chance +had revealed some damaging secret of his country's +enemies, or was she merely a woman endowed with superlative +beauty exercising her attraction in those enemies' interests? +These things flashed through his brain, even as +those feelings of sex stirred his blood and made for denial. +For a moment the mental side of him rose dominant. +</P> + +<P> +"You are a foreigner," he challenged, in a voice he +hardly recognized as his own. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a Pole." +</P> + +<P> +The admission came promptly. +</P> + +<P> +"You speak English—perfectly," he persisted in the +same voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I am—glad." +</P> + +<P> +"Where were you—during the war?" +</P> + +<P> +"In England." +</P> + +<P> +The questions and answers flew back and forth without +a semblance of hesitation. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes." Then the man mused. "There were +thousands of foreigners at large in England—then." +</P> + +<P> +"But not all were—spies." +</P> + +<P> +The man lowered his eyes. A flush stole up to his +brow. It was a flush of shame. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I beg your pardon," he said. The mind had +yielded to the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Why should you? Your country should be first in +your thoughts. You have not hurt me." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton passed one hand across his broad, fair forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"But you—a Pole. It seems——" +</P> + +<P> +"It seems that I must have some motive other than I +have stated. I have." A bitter laugh accompanied the +admission. Quite suddenly she threw her arms wide in +a dramatic gesture. "Look at me," she cried. "You +see a Pole, but before all things you see a woman. Give +riot to your heart, and leave your head for other things. +Then you will understand my motives. I have lived +through centuries of horror during that terrible war. A +horror that even you, who know the horrors committed, +will never be able to understand. The innocent women +and children in Belgium and France, and my own country, +on your own shores, on the high seas. O God," she +buried her face in her hands. Then, in a moment, she +looked up. "Think—think, if at some future time the +Teuton demons overrun this beautiful land I love. The +past, those horrors of which I have spoken are nothing to +that which will be committed here in England. Now do +you understand? Now—will you let me show you what—I +can show you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think I understand—now." +</P> + +<P> +"And you will grant my request?" The urgency was +intense. But in a moment the woman went on in a +changed tone. A soft smile accompanied her next +words. "But no. Don't answer now. It would not be +fair to yourself. It would not be fair to your country. It +would even deny all that I believe of you. Keep your +answer. You will give it to me—later. I will not let you +forget. Now I must go." +</P> + +<P> +She rose to her feet, and Ruxton watched her with +stirring feelings as she occupied herself with that truly +feminine process of smoothing out the creases of the costume +which had suffered by contact with the heather. +</P> + +<P> +At last she held out her white-gloved hand, and Ruxton +sprang to his feet. He realized that she was about to +vanish out of his life as swiftly and mysteriously as she +had entered it. +</P> + +<P> +"You are going?" he said quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But you will be reminded." +</P> + +<P> +The man held the gloved hand a shade longer than +was necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"But on these cliffs? Alone?" Somehow her going +had become impossible to him. +</P> + +<P> +But the woman laughed easily. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be only a few moments on these cliffs. It is +nothing. Remember I have been wandering about for +three hours—alone." +</P> + +<P> +"But—Good-bye!" +</P> + +<P> +The man made his farewell regretfully. He had been +about to ask her how, with ten miles to Dorby, and a +considerable distance to other villages, she would only +be on the cliffs a few moments. But he felt that her coming +and her going were her secret, and he had no right +to pry into it—yet. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye." +</P> + +<P> +The woman turned away, but was promptly arrested +by a swift question. +</P> + +<P> +"May I not know your name?" +</P> + +<P> +The stranger faced him once more, and her smile lit +up her radiant features till Ruxton felt that never in his +life had he seen anything to equal her beauty. +</P> + +<P> +"My name? Yes—why not? It is Vladimir. Vita +Vladimir." +</P> + +<P> +Then, in a moment, the man stood gazing after her, +as the brilliant moonlight outlined the perfect symmetry +of her receding figure. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MYSTERY +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Ruxton Farlow's</SPAN> return home was even more preoccupied +than had been his going. An entirely new sensation +was stirring within him. Before, his thoughts had +been flowing along the troubled channel of affairs, all of +which bore solely upon the purpose of his life. Now +their flow had been further confused by the addition of +an emotion, which, under ordinary circumstances, might +well have leavened the most gloomy forebodings. Instead, +however, it was rather like an artist engaged on +painting a picture of tragic significance who suddenly +discovers that another hand has added some detail, +which, while it is still a part of the subject portrayed, yet +renders the whole a masterpiece of incongruity. +</P> + +<P> +The coming of a woman into the affairs of his life +seemed to him as incongruous as it was pleasant, and, in +the circumstances, justified. It was an element all unconsidered +before. His association with women until +now had been the simple parrying of the feminine shafts +levelled at him in the process of ordinary social intercourse +in the position he occupied in life. He was by no +means a man who took no delight in women's society. +On the contrary. But his purpose in life had always +been too big as yet to permit his dwelling upon those +pleasures which no real manhood can ever ignore. +</P> + +<P> +Women were to him part of the most exalted side of a +man's life. His ideals in that direction were as wholly +unworldly as his ideals were practical in every other direction. +From his earliest youth, due to the death of his +mother at his birth, he had never experienced a woman's +influence upon his life, and thus he had been left to the +riot of imagination, which, in very truth, had been his +safeguarding against the operation of the matrimonial +market of social London in the midst of which he had +found himself plunged. +</P> + +<P> +Now, under conditions wholly robbed of every convention, +he had suddenly been confronted by a wonderful +creature, who, to his vivid imagination, appealed as the +most beautiful of all her beautiful sex. Furthermore the +contact had been brought about through those very +ideals and purposes to which he had devoted his life. +And, moreover, the wonder of it all was that his purpose +was apparently her purpose, and she had sought him because +this was so. Herein lay the extraordinary incongruity +of a sex attraction brought about by the threatened +tragedy overshadowing them all. +</P> + +<P> +Vita Vladimir! +</P> + +<P> +It was a name such as he might have discovered anywhere +amongst the foreign colony in Soho. His attraction +towards the woman afforded no glamor to the name. +None at all. He told himself frankly it did not fit her. +Furthermore it left him unconvinced that it truly belonged +to her. Yet she said she was a Pole. And somewhere +in the back cells of memory there was a sort of +hazy recollection that "Vladimir" had some connection +with Polish history. +</P> + +<P> +However, the question of her name left him cold. +Only the vivid picture of her personality remained in his +mind. Her charm, her ardor, her beauty, and that extraordinary +suggestion of mystery, conveyed in her costume, +and the evasion of the details of her coming and +going—these things had caught the imagination and the +youth in him, and acted upon them like champagne. +</P> + +<P> +He strove to thrust aside these things and consider +her only through the purpose on which she had sought +him out. She knew, and had seen, the realities of the +threat which he believed to be hanging over his country. +She could, and would, show him these things. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly on the impulse of a reasonable incredulity +he asked himself if he were dreaming. The whole thing +must be a mere phantasm, the outcome of all the troubled +thought which had occupied him for so long. But +she had told him he would hear from her again, and +then that tiny white-gloved hand. He felt its clasp now, +as it had lain in his strong palm. No, it was no dream. +She was real—and she was very, very beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +By the time he reached the great colonnade which +formed the entrance porch of his home the woman's +personality had dominated all his endeavor to regard the +incident from any other point of view. The woman had +absorbed all that was in him, and a curious, deep, thrilling +sensation of delight at the encounter had completely +thrust into the background the purpose which had +brought it about. All that which we in our consideration +of the affairs of life are apt to despise, and even +leave out of our reckoning altogether, had asserted itself. +It was the sex instinct, which no power of human mentality +can resist. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had no wish to meet his father again that +night. He wanted solitude. He wanted to think and +dream, as all youth desires to think and dream, when +the floodgates of sex are opened, and it finds itself +caught in the first rush of its tide. +</P> + +<P> +Glancing at his watch he discovered it to be close +upon midnight. But the hour had no significance in his +present mood. His father would have retired, and the +library would be empty, so he passed up the oak stairway +with the determination to smoke a final cigar, and +let his thoughts riot over the delectable banquet the +evening had provided for them. +</P> + +<P> +But that particular pleasure was definitely denied him. +When he entered the library the lights were still on, and +he beheld his father's curly white head still bent over the +table at which he was wont to attend to his private correspondence. +</P> + +<P> +The old man looked up as the other walked down the +long book-lined room towards him. His deep-set eyes +were smiling as they were ever ready to smile upon the +companion of his wifeless life. +</P> + +<P> +"Finished your ramble?" he enquired pleasantly. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton returned the smile and flung himself upon a +long old settle before he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"The ramble is finished," he said, preparing to light +a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +Their eyes met. The father knew there remained +something as yet unspoken behind the reply. He +waited. But Ruxton's decision was not yet taken. +</P> + +<P> +"Finished your letters yet?" he enquired from behind +a cloud of smoke. +</P> + +<P> +The bright blue eyes surveying him twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +"One more," his father said. +</P> + +<P> +"Go ahead then." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew knew by the tone that ultimately the unspoken +word was to come. He glanced down at his +papers with a sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe, after all, I shall have to break with some +of my old-fashioned habits. It is an awful thing to contemplate +at my time of life. I think I must be getting +old. The burden of private correspondence begins to +weigh. I have always held that a private secretary for +such a purpose is waste of money, and the undesirable +admission of another into one's private life." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton stretched out his long legs. His bulk almost +completely filled the settle. +</P> + +<P> +"It's hard work for Yorkshire to change its habit. A +feature applying pretty generally to the Briton. I only +wonder a man of your vast fortune has clung to such +habits so long. I, who possess but a twentieth of the +fortune you possess, find I cannot do without one." +</P> + +<P> +"But then you are a political man," his father smiled +drily. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded. "And in consequence I am saved +much heartburning." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." Sir Andrew gathered up a sheaf of sealed envelopes +and flung them into his post basket. "Twenty-five +letters. Answers to cranks. Answers to those philanthropists +who love to do good with other folks' money. +Answers to beggars, to would-be blackmailers, to public +institutions whose chief asset is a carefully compiled list +of likely subscribers, and then—those whom we have decided +to encourage—the inventors. Here is our friend +Charles Smith." He picked up the last letter remaining +to be dealt with. "What am I going to say to him?" +</P> + +<P> +The old man scratched one shaggy eyebrow with the +point of his penholder—one of his signs of doubt and perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"This secrecy business adds importance to the reply," +he added. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton held out his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's read it again," he said. +</P> + +<P> +His father passed the letter across, and sat watching +the concentrated brows of his son, while the latter re-perused +the contents. +</P> + +<P> +The watching man was about to turn back to his desk +when his eyes abruptly widened questioningly. Ruxton +had suddenly sat bolt upright, and a quick flush of suppressed +excitement spread over his strong expressive features. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"Veevee, London!" he exclaimed. "A code address +which is obviously a word made out of initial letters. +V. V." Then he looked across at his startled parent. +"I say, Dad, there's mystery here all right—mystery +everywhere to-night. V. V. Those initials fit Vita +Vladimir exactly." +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely. Also Vivian Vansittart," smiled his +father. "Or any other high-sounding names beginning +with V." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton passed the letter back with a laugh. Then he +flung himself back on the settle. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait until I have told you what happened to me to-night. +Then write to that man and give him a definite +appointment at some time when you can devote several +hours to him—if necessary." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew pushed his high-backed chair well away +from the desk and helped himself to a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"This is one more than I have any right to to-night, +Rux," he said, as he crossed his stout legs, "but go +ahead." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton seemed in no hurry to begin his story. The +truth was he felt reluctant to let any one share his secret. +Furthermore he was doubtful, in the light of cold words, +if that which he had to tell would carry the conviction +which possessed him. It seemed impossible; and then +the personality of Vita. No. But he felt that the story +must be told, if only in justification of his demand for +Mr. Charles Smith. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Dad," he began at last. "I know you +regard me as a bit of a dreamer, but on more than one +occasion you have been pleased to say you consider my +judgment pretty sound. Perhaps it is. I don't know. +Maybe to-night I have been unduly affected by feelings +which don't usually carry me away; but, even so, I +think I have retained sufficient of our Yorkshire phlegm +to get a right estimate of things, and the things which +have happened to-night I am convinced are connected +with the V. V. in that letter. I was on the cliffs, lying +on the heather, looking out to sea, when a woman came +along who had been endeavoring to hunt me out for +three hours. She was the most beautiful creature I have +ever seen. She does not belong to Dorby, or the neighborhood. +She was dressed to perfection, and was hatless, +and her name was Vita Vladimir. I tell you these +details because they are all significant, and I want you +to understand that first." +</P> + +<P> +"Go on," his father nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on?" Ruxton gave a short laugh. "It's easier +to say than to do—adequately. Anyway this is the whole +story." +</P> + +<P> +Both men's cigars had been entirely consumed by the +time Ruxton Farlow had finished his long recital. He +told his story of his meeting with Vita Vladimir with all +the simple force which was part of the Russian nature in +him. And, in spite of his fears to the contrary, none of +its dramatic significance was lost in the telling. +</P> + +<P> +His father read in the story all his son wanted him to +read. But he read deeper even than that, and the depth +of his reading was a trespass upon the ground which +Ruxton fondly believed he had kept to himself. The +shrewd Yorkshire mind probed deep to the vivid impression +this Vita Vladimir had made upon his only son, +and as yet he was not sure that he shared the boy's enthusiasm. +However, long years of understanding had +convinced him of Ruxton's clarity of judgment in vital +matters, and his earnest recital of the woman's warning +and promises carried the conviction that, in spite of the +boy's attraction, his judgment in this matter had remained +unimpaired. He accepted the facts, but, to himself, deplored +the means by which they had been conveyed. +</P> + +<P> +"It is quite remarkable, boy, quite remarkable," was +his only comment at the conclusion of the story. Then +he held the man Smith's letter in his hand and glanced +at the postscript. +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton was not satisfied with such comment. He +was anxious that his hard-headed father should see eye +to eye with him. +</P> + +<P> +"But what do you think of it?" he demanded, with +suppressed feeling. +</P> + +<P> +The great ship-owner took some moments formulating +his reply. +</P> + +<P> +"One's impression from your telling is the honesty of +the woman," he said deliberately at last. "There are +three possibilities in the matter. First that she is honest. +Second that she—belongs to our enemies. Third that +she is a—crank. But the second and third I think can +be dismissed. Why should our enemies make such an +extraordinary proposal to you, or to anybody, short of a +man important enough to be done away with? The suggestion +of 'crank' is quite dispensable, in view of the +significance of the story as it bears on all the possibilities +of the future we have discussed. Accepting her honesty, +I should say that the answer to this letter will be received +by her for—transmission. Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then answer that letter in the affirmative, and see +this Charles Smith, Dad," cried Ruxton, rising and pacing +the floor. "I am going to probe this matter to the +bottom." Then he came to a halt before the desk, and +gazed down into his father's serious eyes. "There is +mystery abroad, Dad. There is more than mystery. +There is something tangible. A great and threatening +danger which must be nullified. We don't know what it +is yet. We can only surmise, but surmise is futile. We +must go and find out, as she said. We must learn these +things first hand. I shall go." +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I felt you had—decided." The old +man sighed. "I can't disguise my regret, my boy, but +it is—in the light of your life's purpose—your duty to go. +I will do my part. I will see this—Charles Smith." +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +The General Election had come and gone like a +hurricane of emotion sweeping the country from one end +to the other. Passionate opinion had been stirred, it had +been brought to a feverish surface and had been hurled +from lip to lip in that spirit of contention, than which no +more bitter feeling can be roused in the affairs of modern +life. For once, however, Britain was far less divided +than usual. Even prejudice, that blind, unreasoning, +unthinking prejudice which usually characterizes the +voter, who claims for himself "good citizenship," had +somehow been shaken to its foundations. It was an +almost awakened Britain which marched on the polls and +registered its adhesion and support to the men who, out +of the muckhole of demagoguery, had risen superior even +to themselves and yielded to the real needs of the country. +</P> + +<P> +And the voice of the new Britain had been heard like +a clarion across the Empire, so that, at the close of the +polls, the world knew that, as Ruxton Farlow had said, +the British housewife had determined upon that sweeping +and garnishing so sadly needed, and that once and for +all she had decided to bolt and bar the back door through +which for so long she had been assailed by her enemies. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow was on his way to his little old +Georgian house in Smith Square, Westminster. He was +returning from Downing Street, where he had been +summoned hastily and urgently by the new Prime Minister. +He had found that electrical individual busily +engaged in superintending the removal of his effects, +aided by his equally energetic secretary, from one house +in Downing Street to that Mecca of all political aspirations, +"No. 10." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had avoided the vehicles and packing-cases +at the door and was conducted to the great little man's +library. And on his entry the secretary had been +promptly dismissed. The interview was brief. It was +so brief that Ruxton, who understood and preferred such +methods, was not a little disconcerted. There had been +a hearty hand-shake, a few swiftly spoken compliments +and a quick assurance, and once more the big man found +himself picking his way amongst the debris on the doorsteps. +</P> + +<P> +But this time he had scarcely seen the obstructions he +had to avoid. He dodged them almost mechanically. +His heart was beating high with a quiet exultation, for +he had left the presence of the wonderful little man, who +seemed to live his whole life on the edge of his nervous +system, with the assurance of a junior Cabinet rank in +the new Ministry. +</P> + +<P> +But the first rush of his tumultuous feelings quickly +subsided, as was his way, and he remembered that which +was at once his duty and desire. So he turned into a +post-office and despatched a code wire to his father in +Yorkshire that he might be the first person in the world +to learn of his early triumph. Yes, he wanted his to be +the first congratulations. He smiled to himself as he left +the post-office. The entire press had been devoting itself +to forecasting the personnel of the new Cabinet, but not in +one single instance had his name been included in the lists. +</P> + +<P> +It was with a sense bordering on perfect delight that +he turned into the calm backwater of Smith Square. +And for once the dingy atmosphere took on a reflected +glory from his feelings. The square church, with its four +squat towers, handsome enough in its architecture but +drab of hue, might have been some structure of Gothic +splendor. Even the impoverished trees which surrounded +it had something of the verdant splendor of +spring in them on this late summer afternoon. The +sparrows and the pigeons failed even to bring home to +him the greyness of life in a London square. For the +moment those mental anxieties which had haunted him +ever since the Great War were powerless to depress his +outlook. Life was very good—very good indeed. +</P> + +<P> +He crossed the square and let himself into his house +with a latch-key. He crossed the panelled hall and flung +his hat and cane upon a table and hurried up the stairway +to his study. He had been interrupted in his correspondence +by the Prime Minister's summons, and now +he was anxious to be done with it, and be free to contemplate +the new situation in the light of those many purposes +he had in view. +</P> + +<P> +As he sat down at his desk the door in the oak +panelling at the far end of the room was thrust open and +his secretary appeared. In a few moments these two +were absorbed in their work with a thoroughness which +was characteristic of Ruxton. Thus for two hours and +more the memory of his promotion was completely thrust +into the background. +</P> + +<P> +The butler had just brought him in a tray of afternoon +tea, and the two men took the opportunity to abandon +their work for a few minutes' leisure. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton leant back in his chair and lit a cigar, while the +secretary lit a cigarette and poured out the tea. +</P> + +<P> +"Our labors have borne fruit, Heathcote," said Ruxton, +seizing the moment to impart his good news. "We +are raised from the rank and file. Our future lies on the +front benches." +</P> + +<P> +"The Cabinet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, the Cabinet." +</P> + +<P> +Nor could Ruxton quite control the delight surging +through him. +</P> + +<P> +"Now we begin to see the development of all those +long-laid plans we have so ceaselessly worked upon, +Heathcote," he went on. "Now we are getting nearer +to the position which will enable us to bring about +something of that security for this old country for which +we both so ardently long. Now—Heathcote—now!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a passionate triumph underlying the idealist's +words which found ample reflection in the dark eyes of the +keen-faced secretary. +</P> + +<P> +The Honorable Harold Heathcote, a younger son in an +old English family, had been Ruxton's secretary from the +beginning of his political career; he was a brilliant +youngster who had determined upon a political career for +himself, and had, with considerable shrewdness, pinned +his faith to the banner which, from the beginning of his +career, Ruxton Farlow had unfurled for himself. These +two men were working for a common purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew it would come, Mr. Farlow," said Heathcote +with cordial enthusiasm. "And there'll be more to follow, +or I have no understanding of the times. I am glad. +Very glad." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment there was a knock at the door, and +Heathcote rose to answer it. When he returned he +handed two telegrams to his chief. +</P> + +<P> +"Telegrams," he said laconically, and returned to his +seat and to his tea. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton ran a paper knife through the envelopes. The +first message was from his father. It was brief, cordial, +but urgent. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"Heartiest congratulations. Immensely delighted. +Must see you at once. Inventor turned out most important +as well as mysterious.—<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Farlow</SPAN>." +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton read the message over two or three times. +Then he deliberately tore it up into small pieces and +dropped it in the waste-paper basket. +</P> + +<P> +He opened the second message with a preoccupied air. +He was thinking—thinking deeply. But in a moment all +his preoccupation vanished as he glanced over its contents. +He hungrily devoured the words written on the +tinted paper. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Am delighted at your promotion. I anticipated it. +My most heartfelt good wishes. Do not let this success +make you forget our meeting. Dare I hope that you +may find your way to 17, Streamside Mansions, Kensington?—<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Vita +Vladimir</SPAN>." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was some moments before Ruxton's eyes left that +message. A world of unsuspected emotion was stirring +within him. He had not forgotten. He was never likely +to forget. But in the midst of his emotion some freak of +mind had caught and held the significance of this mysterious +creature's congratulations. How—how had she +learned of—his promotion, when no one but himself and +the Prime Minister knew of it? +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he bestirred himself. He carefully refolded +Vita's message, and placed it in his pocket. Then he +turned to Heathcote. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall have to go to Dorby to-night. My father wants +me. It is rather important. Fortunately things here will +not require me just now. But you must notify me of +anything important happening. Meanwhile give orders +to have my things got ready, and look me out a train. I +must run out to send a wire." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't I send it for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No-o. I think not, thanks." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MR. CHARLES SMITH +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">A profound</SPAN> silence reigned in the library at Dorby +Towers. +</P> + +<P> +The pungent aroma of cigars weighed upon the atmosphere +in spite of the wide proportions of the apartment. +Considerable light was shed from the antique sconces +upon the walls, as also by the silver candelabra upon the +long refectory table which ran down the centre of the +room. But withal it was powerless to dispel the dark +suggestion of the old bookcases which lined the walls of +the room. +</P> + +<P> +Two men were occupying one side of the table, and +Ruxton Farlow sat alone at the other. The eyes of all +three were focussed intently upon the object lying upon +the table, which was a ten-foot model of a strange-looking +water craft. +</P> + +<P> +The first to break the spell of the burden of silence was +Sir Andrew Farlow, who, with a bearded stranger, occupied +the side of the table opposite his son. But his was +no attempt at speech. He merely leant forward with an +elbow on the polished oak, and his fingers softly stroking +his square chin and tightly compressed lips. He was humming +softly, an expression of an intently occupied mind. +The fixity of his gaze suggested a desire to bore a way to +the heart of the secrets the strange model contained. +</P> + +<P> +The bearded stranger was watching him closely while +his eyes appeared to be focussed upon the object of interest, +and presently, as though the psychological moment +had arrived, he, too, leant forward, and, with an arm +stretched out, terminating in a long, lean, tenacious-looking +hand, he pressed a button on the side of the model. +Instantly the whole interior of it was lit electrically, and +the light shone through a series of exquisitely finished +glass-covered port-holes extending down the vessel's +entire sides. +</P> + +<P> +He spoke no word, but sat back in his chair and went +on smoking, while he closely watched for any sign of impression +which the two interested spectators displayed. +</P> + +<P> +The moments slipped by. The patient stranger sat on +with his long lean legs crossed, and a benevolent smile +in his large eyes. After a while Ruxton sat back in his +chair. Then Sir Andrew abandoned his inspection, and +turned to the man beside him. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to be the cue awaited, for the stranger +promptly leant forward again and released a spring by +the movement of a switch. Instantly the model split in +half, and, opening much in the fashion of a pea-pod, displayed +the longitudinal sections of its interior. +</P> + +<P> +Simultaneously the two men whose lives had been +hitherto given up to ship construction rose to their feet, +and pored over the wonderful and delicate mechanism +and design the interior revealed. +</P> + +<P> +Then it was that Sir Andrew verbally broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you explain, Mr. Smith?" +</P> + +<P> +The inventor removed his cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"You know—marine mechanism?" he enquired. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, unless there is a new principle here." +</P> + +<P> +"It is the perfected submarine principle which was used +towards the end of the war. There is no fresh detail in +that direction." +</P> + +<P> +"We have a complete knowledge of that principle," +said Ruxton. "We have been constructing for the Admiralty +throughout the war." +</P> + +<P> +"Good." +</P> + +<P> +There was a distinct "T" at the end of the word as +Mr. Smith spoke it. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shot a quick glance in his direction. The +man's whole personality was an unusual one. He was +very tall, and very thin. His intellectual head, quite +nobly formed, was crowned by a shock of snow-white +hair closely hogged, as might be a horse's mane. His +features were almost as lean as his body. But the conformation +of a magnificent forehead and the gently +luminous eyes, beneath eyebrows almost as bushy as a +well-grown moustache, made one forget the fact. Then, +too, the carefully groomed, closely cut snow-white beard +and moustache helped to disguise it still more. It was +the face of a man of great mentality and lofty emotions, a +face of simplicity and kindliness. It was, in fact, a face +which demanded a second scrutiny, and one which inspired +trust and liking. +</P> + +<P> +To the rest must be added certain details which seemed +a trifle extraordinary in view of his profession. If his +tailor did not trade in Bond Street then he certainly must +have served his apprenticeship in those select purlieus. +Perfect cut and excellence of material marked every detail +of his costume, which was of the "morning" order. +</P> + +<P> +"Then there is little enough to explain, except for the +architectural side of the matter," Mr. Smith went on, with +a peculiarly back-of-the-throat tone in his speech, which +also possessed a shadow of foreign accent. "I am not +offering you a submarine principle. That is established +now all over the world. I please to call my invention a +submersible merchantman. You will observe the holds +for merchandise. You will see the engine-rooms," he +went on, rising and pointing out each detail as he enumerated +it. "There are the stateroom decks, with the +accompaniment of saloon and kitchens, and baths, and—and +all the necessities of passenger traffic. Everything +is there on a lesser scale such as you will find on a surface +liner. Its speed and engine power will compare favorably +with any liner afloat up to ten thousand tons. Thus it +has the speed of a surface craft on the surface, with the +added advantages of a submarine. In addition to these +I have a light, in the course of production, which will +serve to render the submarine immune from the dangers +of submersion. I call it the 'U-rays.'" +</P> + +<P> +"The U-rays?" Ruxton's enquiry came like a shot. +</P> + +<P> +"Just so." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Smith replied quite unhesitatingly, and Ruxton's +obvious suspicion was disarmed. +</P> + +<P> +"This vessel," the inventor went on, quite undisturbed, +"solves the last problem of sea traffic under—all conditions." +</P> + +<P> +The light of enthusiasm was shining in the man's +luminous eyes as he made his final pronouncement. It +was as though the thought had filled him with a profound +hope of the fulfillment of some ardent desire. It suggested +to the more imaginative Ruxton that he cared +more for the purpose of his invention than for its commercial +aspect to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"You speak, of course, of—war," Ruxton said. +</P> + +<P> +The large eyes of the stranger widened with horror and +passion. +</P> + +<P> +"I speak of—international murder!" he cried fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew turned from the model at the tone of the +reply. Ruxton would have pursued the subject, but Mr. +Smith gave him no opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +"Your pardon, gentlemen," he said with a sudden, +exquisite smile of childlike simplicity. "Memories are +painful. I have much that I remember, and—but let us +keep to the business in hand." +</P> + +<P> +"Memories are painful to us all—here in England," +said Ruxton gently. "But—this is a beautiful model. +Perfect in every detail." +</P> + +<P> +"It was made in my own shops," returned the inventor +simply. +</P> + +<P> +"And you say this," indicating the model, "has been +tested on a constructed vessel?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have travelled more than ten thousand miles in just +such a vessel. I have travelled on the surface at twenty-four +knots, and under the surface at fifteen. I have carried +mixed cargoes, and I have carried certain passengers. +All these things I have done for experiment, so +that the principle should be perfected. You can judge +for yourselves. A vessel of this type awaits your pleasure +at any hour. A vessel of two thousand tons." +</P> + +<P> +"Two thousand?" The incredulous ejaculation escaped +Sir Andrew before he was aware of it. +</P> + +<P> +"It is nothing," exclaimed Mr. Smith, turning quickly. +"A vessel of ten thousand tons can just as easily be constructed." +</P> + +<P> +The sweeping assertion spoken with so simple a confidence +had the effect of silence upon his audience. It was +overwhelming even to these men who had witnessed the +extraordinary development of invention during the war. +</P> + +<P> +After awhile Ruxton broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"In your original communication to us you assured us +of a means of avoiding the losses we endured during the +war from submarine attack. This I understand is the—means. +Will you point its uses? I see it in my own way, +but I should like to hear another mind on the subject." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Smith folded his arms and settled himself in his +chair. Ruxton was not seeking information on the subject +of the boat. His imagination told him all he wanted +to know in that direction. It was the man he wanted to +study. It was the man he was not certain of. He was +convinced that this man was a foreigner, for all his British +name. He desired to fathom the purpose lying behind +this stranger's actions. +</P> + +<P> +"A great Admiral just before the war," said the inventor, +"declared that the future of naval warfare lay under +the water, and not on the surface, as we have always +believed. He was right. But he did not go as far as he +might have gone. The <i>whole future of shipping</i> lies as +much under water as on the surface. I tell you, gentlemen, +that this boat, here, will afford untold blessings to +humanity. To an island country it affords—existence. +Think. This country, Britain, is not self-supporting. Is +it not so? It could not keep its people alive for more +than months. It depends upon supplies from all ends of +the earth. All roads upon the high seas lead to Britain. +And every helpless surface vessel, carrying life to the +island people at home, is a target for the long-distance +submarine. If an enemy possesses a great fleet of submarines +he does not need to declare a war area about +these shores. Every high sea is a war area where he can +ply his wanton trade. With the submarine as perfect as +it is to-day, Britain, great as she is in naval armaments, +can never face another war successfully. <i>That thought is +in the mind of all men already</i>." The man paused deliberately. +Then with a curious foreign gesture of the +hands he went on. "But there is already established an +axiom. Submarine cannot fight submarine—under the +surface." He shrugged. "It is so simple. How can +an enemy attack my submersible? The moment a submarine +appears, the submersible submerges and the +enemy is helpless. An aerial warship will become a +spectacle for the amused curiosity to the ocean traveller. +In peace time storms will have small enough terror, and +on the calm summer seas we shall speed along at ever-increasing +mileage. I tell you, gentlemen, the days of +wholly surface boats are gone. The days of clumsy +blockades are over, just as are the starvation purposes of +contraband of war. With the submersible how is it possible +to prevent imports to a country which possesses a +seaboard? That is the proposition I put to the world in +support of my submersible." +</P> + +<P> +Father and son sat silently listening to the easy, brief +manner of the man's explanation. Nor was it till he +spoke of the futility of a war submarine's efforts against +his submersible did any note of passion and triumph find +its way into the man's manner. At that point, however, +a definite uplifting made itself apparent. His triumph +was in the new depth vibrating in his musical voice. +There was a light in his eyes such as is to be found in +the triumphant gaze of the victor. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton beheld these things with greater understanding +than his father. Moreover, he interpreted them with +that sympathetic understanding of one who possesses +great ideals of his own. Whoever this man might be, +wherever he came from, one thing was beyond all question +in his mind. Here was no mere huckster seeking to +trade his wares for the sole purpose of gain. Gain might +be his object, but somehow he felt that it was not wholly +so, not even paramount in his consideration. It seemed +to him that the man had spoken the truth when he had +said that his efforts were directed in the service of humanity. +</P> + +<P> +But for all his understanding he had no intention of accepting +his own reading without proof from the only +direction in which proof could come. +</P> + +<P> +"And what is the commercial aspect of the matter—between +us?" he enquired in his most businesslike tone. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Smith looked up in a startled way from the deep +reverie into which his own words had plunged him. +</P> + +<P> +"Commercial?" he echoed a little helplessly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." Ruxton smiled. "The—price." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Smith nodded readily and smiled back. But his +reply carried no conviction. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," he said hurriedly. "I was thinking. Of +course—yes. The price." +</P> + +<P> +His infantile manner brought a smile to the shrewd face +of Sir Andrew. Ruxton only waited. +</P> + +<P> +"I—had forgotten," Mr. Smith went on. Then, with +his curious tenacious hands clasped about one knee, a +hopeless sort of distress slowly filled his eyes. "It—it is +difficult," he stumbled. Then quite suddenly a world of +relief seemed to come to him. "Would it not be better +to leave terms until you have seen, and proved for yourselves, +of what my constructed vessel is capable? You +see, any price I could name now would sound—er—excessive." +</P> + +<P> +The manner of this strange creature was so delightfully +naive that even the keen Yorkshire features of Sir Andrew +were reduced to a smile of enjoyment. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way I like to hear an inventor talk, Mr. +Smith," he cried heartily. "Most of 'em want large sums +in options on the bare model and registered patents. If +your invention—the constructed vessel is capable of what +you claim for it, it is worth—millions." +</P> + +<P> +But the millionaire's encouragement seemed to have an +adverse effect upon the inventor. Trouble crept again into +his eyes, and he passed one thin hand across his splendid +forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"If it serves to save innocent lives in the future, sir, it +has done all that I ask of it," he said at last. "Its value +to me then could never be reckoned in millions. There +would not be enough cyphers in the mind of man to express +that value." +</P> + +<P> +To Ruxton the riddle of this man was growing in +obscurity. For all his understanding Mr. Smith's attitude +demanded explanation which as yet he was unable +to give it. +</P> + +<P> +But something in the nature of solution to the riddle +was nearer than he had supposed. It came in the man's +words which were added in further reply to his father. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no fear but my invention will do these things," +he said with strong conviction. "But," he added almost +sombrely, "I have other fears." +</P> + +<P> +"Others?" +</P> + +<P> +The commercial mind of Sir Andrew was sharply +suspicious. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +Again came that troubled movement of the hand across +the forehead. The man hesitated in a painful, embarrassed +way. Then, with a perfectly helpless gesture, he +blurted out something of that which Ruxton had been +waiting for. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," he cried, his eyes full of a passionate light. +"I have fears, other fears. Nor are they idle. Nor are +they to be belittled. I came here in secret. No one but +my two confidential men, who brought this model, know +of my coming. No one knows my whereabouts at all, +but you, and those two men whom I can trust—even +with my life. Fears. My God, if you only knew. I +tell you there are people in the world, if they knew of +my visit to you, if they saw that model lying on your +table, who would not rest until my life was forfeited, and +the utility of my invention to this country was destroyed +forever." +</P> + +<P> +The man stood up. His great height was drawn up to +its uttermost. He was breathing hard, but the light in +his eyes was not of the fear of which he spoke. They were +burning with a strained defiance of that threat he knew to +be hanging over him. +</P> + +<P> +The others rose from their chairs simultaneously. Both +were startled. But Sir Andrew far more than his son. +Startlingly as the revelation had come, to Ruxton it <i>was</i> +revelation. And now it was he who took the initiative. +He leant across the table. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I understand something that has been puzzling +me all the evening, Mr.—Smith," he said. "And now +that I understand it I am satisfied. You have come to us +to-day at great danger to yourself. You are risking +everything in the world that we shall have the benefit of +your invention. The last thought in your mind is the +commercial aspect of this affair. Your real object in coming +is your secret for the present. I might even hazard a +guess at it. But it is your secret, and one we have no +desire to probe. You desire a pledge from us. That is +obvious. And for myself I give it freely. Your secret is +safe with me—safe as the grave. I shall avail myself of +your offer of a trip in your submersible, and, if you will +permit me, I shall make my own time for it in the near +future. Will you allow me that privilege?" +</P> + +<P> +The inventor impulsively held out his hand, and his +relief was obvious and intense. It was almost as if he had +feared the result of his revelation. +</P> + +<P> +"Your wishes are entirely mine," he said, as Ruxton +wrung his hand. "It was this necessity for secrecy +which has troubled me. I did not think you would accept +it. And—I feared the shattering of all my hopes." He +turned to Sir Andrew, who stood watching the scene +wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"And you, sir?" he asked, with extended hand. +"Have I your word?" +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The bluff tone, and the grip of the Yorkshire hand, +had its prompt effect. +</P> + +<P> +"I need no more." +</P> + +<P> +The man proceeded to close up his model. +</P> + +<P> +"And for communicating with you?" demanded +Ruxton. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Smith looked up. +</P> + +<P> +"The same address. Veevee, London. It will always +find me." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Two hours later Ruxton and his father were alone in +the library. The inventor had gone, and his precious +model had been carefully removed by the two men who +had conveyed it to Dorby Towers. For those two hours +Sir Andrew and his son had thrashed threadbare the +situation created by the stranger's coming. And, incredible +as it seemed, in the minds of both men was a steady +conviction that the work of that evening was to mark an +epoch in the history of their country. +</P> + +<P> +The possibilities were of a staggering nature. Neither +could probe the future under this new aspect. If this new +principle of ocean traffic were to—— But it was "if." +If the man were honest. If the invention were right. If—if, +and again—if. That was it. And so they had talked +it out. +</P> + +<P> +Now it was time to seek that rest which Ruxton +sorely needed. His had been a strenuous day, and he +knew he must return to town to-morrow. He rose and +stretched himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Dad, it's bed for me," he said, in the midst of a +yawn. +</P> + +<P> +His father looked up from his final cigar, which was +poised in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. You must be tired, boy. There's one thing, +though, about that man, that's occurred to me," he +added, his mind still dwelling on the subject of their long +discussion. "Did you notice his speech? He didn't +sound to me English, and yet there—was no real accent." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"I wondered if that had escaped you." Then his eyes +grew serious. "No, he isn't an Englishman. He isn't +even Dutch. That I am sure of. But his nationality—no, +I cannot say." +</P> + +<P> +"No. It's a difficult matter with these foreigners." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But if I can't locate his nationality I am certain +of a very important fact." +</P> + +<P> +"And that is?" +</P> + +<P> +"He belongs to—Germany." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE LURE +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">That</SPAN> Ruxton Farlow was a creature of destiny rather +than a man who wrought only through the force of his +own self-guidance was extraordinarily apparent. The +purpose of his life filled his whole being. It was all +of him, a dim light in the mist and fog of the future, ever +encouraging onwards, yet yielding to him no vision of +the path by which it might be the more easily reached. +It was his lot to flounder on, frequently stumbling and +yawning as the conformation and obscurities of the road +compelled, but every step, every stumble, every bruise +and buffet, added to the sum of progress achieved and +pointed the unyielding nature which inspired his set purpose +of reaching that ray of light beyond. +</P> + +<P> +The coming into his life of the woman who called herself +Vita Vladimir was an incident in his progress of far +greater significance that even he had dreamed. Whither +it inclined his footsteps he knew not. All he knew was +that, almost in a moment, she had become definitely +linked up with his future through a bond, the meaning of +which even he had no full understanding of. All he +knew was that she had some great bearing upon the +ultimate, and that it was his desire to follow blindly the +track she had opened up before him. +</P> + +<P> +Nor had he any delusion as to his desire. There was +not the smallest doubt but that her attraction had influenced +his decision. He had listened to her words with a +brain inspired by the warmth of the manhood within him, +which her extraordinary beauty had stirred as it had +never been stirred before. +</P> + +<P> +It was in answer to this feeling that he left Yorkshire +at the earliest opportunity, and hastened back to town. +He merely gave himself time to change and hold a brief +consultation with his secretary. Then he set out in search +of the rather obscure little flat in Kensington. +</P> + +<P> +His mind was perfectly clear as to the object of this +visit. Just as he perfectly understood that even without +that object it would have been his desire to make it. He +wished to give this woman an answer to her request. +He wished to fathom the manner by which she had +learned of his promotion. And, apart from these things, +he desired ardently to see her again. The recollection of +that moonlit figure was a sharp negative on the photographic +plates of memory, and he was anxious to study +the original in the full light of day. Her undoubted +beauty, and the romance of their first meeting, had left +behind them an irresistible attraction; nor had he any +desire to resist it. +</P> + +<P> +His position in the world as the only son and partner +of the greatest among the ship-owners of Britain, his +political career, and his position as under-secretary in the +Foreign Office of the late Ministry, had brought him into +contact with the social world of London. But, hitherto, +women had had small enough place in his life. The +hunting-field and the coverts, with golf and rowing, had +entirely claimed his leisure, which would have been considered +something very like wasted had it been spent in +Society's drawing-rooms. He was a big, strong, outdoor +man, and possessed a great deal of that curious diffidence +which is more apt to attack men of his bulk than those of +lesser stature. +</P> + +<P> +All these things had served to make him difficult as a +prize worth striving for in the matrimonial market, and, +doubtless, he had been thus saved to the work which he +believed lay before him. He had never been a man of +marked celibate tendencies. It was simply the fact that +the sex question had always been dominated by the +simple, hard-working, outdoor life he lived. Those who +knew him had always taken a delight in prophesying +that one day some woman would get hold of him, he +would get it badly, and it would be a thousand to one +chance she would be the wrong woman, and he would +make a complete mess of things. +</P> + +<P> +Now as he sat, filling to overflowing a small drawing-room +chair, in Vita Vladimir's flat in Kensington, listening +to the musical tones of the wonderful Polish beauty facing +him on a wholly inefficient window seat, with his dark +eyes, shining and intent, fixed upon her mobile features, +it looked as though at least one part of his friends' +prophecy was within measurable distance of being fulfilled. +</P> + +<P> +The woman was talking rapidly, and the light and +shade of emotion passing over her expressive face were +quite irresistible. +</P> + +<P> +"Your coming was more than I dared to hope," she +said. "And yet—I knew you would. I mean underneath +my fears. You know I feel I ought to tell you so +many things that I have purposely hidden, and yet I +know it would be a mistake to do so until—I have shown +you all that which I promised. It makes me feel mean. +It makes me feel almost as if I were not acting honestly. +And yet I know I am. But I think I can tell you one +thing which may astonish you. Our meeting on the +cliffs was the result of nearly two months' preparation +and consideration. It was even in the nature of a plot, +in which I was to be the instrument of communication. +Furthermore it took me nearly two weeks of waiting and +watching before I could decide that the right moment +had arrived. You see, so secretly had we to move that +I dared not chance a thing. The risk for all concerned +was so great. Mr. Farlow, will you believe me when I +say that yours is not the only life at stake in this adventure? +Even now I dare not give you the details. You +must still take me on trust, as you were kind enough to +do—that night." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded soberly, though his eyes were feasting +upon the woman's superlative beauty as she reclined +against the window casing in an all unconscious pose of +considerable grace. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I understand better than you imagine since +I have seen—Mr. Charles Smith and his invention." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's deeply-fringed grey eyes were widely alert. +</P> + +<P> +"You have—associated us?" +</P> + +<P> +"Veevee, London." +</P> + +<P> +The woman nodded. There was no attempt at denial. +</P> + +<P> +"I see," she said, and the grey eyes became interestedly +speculative. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton glanced about him. He was swiftly taking in +the details of the plainly furnished, extremely modern +little drawing-room. It was the preliminary to the next +step in this strange adventure. He saw about him no +single suggestion of the personality of the woman who +claimed it as her home. It might have belonged to anybody, +from a superior business woman, who used it as a +nightly refuge from the cares and worries of a commercial +life, to a foreign visitor to London, desiring a convenient +headquarters. It was to his mind a typical +"furnished flat" as designated in the house agent's +catalogue. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes came back to the woman herself, and a deep, +restrained admiration grew in their depths. +</P> + +<P> +All that he had believed of her in the deceptive moonlight +was more than confirmed in the warm light of day. +He had no thought for her costume. In his man's way +he realized a perfect harmony between that and the +wonderful face and head that adorned it. He was aware +only of the deep sleepy grey eyes so exquisitely fringed. +The smooth, delicately tinted cheeks, and the mouth so +ripe and full of the suggestion of youth. Above all was +that wonderful glory of red-gold hair massed on the head +with all the art of the hair-dresser, which transformed it +into a crown which any queen might well have envied. +</P> + +<P> +"I want to say something that may sound rough, even +brutal," Ruxton said abruptly after the prolonged pause. +"But then there are times in life when the suaveness of +diplomatic methods becomes wholly misplaced—even an +insult to the person towards whom they are directed. +You will permit me to assure you that what I have to +say is the outcome of the interest you have roused in me +by all you have confided." He paused again thoughtfully. +He was endeavoring to shut out of his mind the +picture of the woman's personality which made what he +was about to say seem so harsh and unnecessary. He +nerved himself for the effort and proceeded. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me say at once, that against all my—what shall +I say—better sense? That will do. Against all my +better sense I accepted and believed your story to me on +the cliffs. Had I acted as my sense prompted I should +have thrust it aside and ignored it, regarding you merely +as one of my country's enemies, seeking, for some inexplicable +reason, to leave me at the mercy of your confederates. +</P> + +<P> +"However, for once instinct served me well. I committed +no such injustice. Then on my return home I +discovered a link, as I thought, between you and another +matter which has since proved to be of considerable importance. +I refer to Veevee, London. That link you do +not deny. The combination suggests more fully the importance +and <i>truth</i> of what you told me." +</P> + +<P> +"The combination of the two things was part of the—preparation." +</P> + +<P> +Vita Vladimir smiled. Her smile was like a sunbeam +of early morning, and Ruxton was compelled to respond. +</P> + +<P> +"That is how I now supposed. You must forgive me +for what else I have to say. The natural result of a +mind left groping is the dominance of imagination. +'Fact' is the only thing which can pin imagination +down. At the present moment I am lacking in facts. +I have only been told, and so my imagination has been +turned loose. The result has been one or two things +which I am going to put to you, and you can answer +them or not. But my future action will be undoubtedly +governed by your attitude. First, then, this is not your +actual home. Second, your name is not Vita Vladimir. +Third, you were kind enough to send me congratulation +on my promotion to Cabinet rank when only the Prime +Minister, and his most intimate colleagues, were aware +of it. Even the ubiquitous press had failed to steal the +information." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's challenge came as it was intended to come, +shortly, sharply, even with a suggestion of brutality in it. +He had outraged his own feelings in doing so. He knew +in his heart he had no doubt of this wonderful creature, +but his mind, that simple, keen, straightforward organ, +trained in the hypocritical world of diplomacy, dictated +its will upon him. He had been asked to believe something +very like a fairy-tale, and the lips which had formulated +the request were the most perfect it had ever been +his lot to behold. However, the dictates of his heart, the +warm young manhood in him were still subservient to the +trained mind. The day might come when rebellion would +overthrow such sway, but, for the moment, it held. +</P> + +<P> +The woman took no umbrage. There was a quickening +of the rise and fall of her beautifully rounded bosom, +but that was the only sign of emotion permitted to escape +her. +</P> + +<P> +"Your observation is—quick," she said, with a slightly +heightened color. "And what if these things are—true? +Are they so very significant?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrugged. Something of the warmth had +passed out of his eyes. But he displayed not the smallest +impatience. +</P> + +<P> +Then the woman smiled. Her smile grew into a deep +musical laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I am foolish. I am not clever enough for the work +entrusted to me," she cried, spreading out her hands in a +deprecating manner. "Here am I striving to win your +perfect confidence by methods which might well characterize +the most absurdly cumbersome and blundering +child. I am deputed to urge you to an enterprise that +entails risks—untold; maybe I am striving to send you +to your—death. And this work is vital to the world, and, +more than all, to your country. We are both striving in +the cause of humanity, partners bound by no other tie, +and yet in my endeavor I am raising doubt in your mind. +Doubt of me, doubt of my purpose, even doubt of my +honor. That is so like a woman—isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +The smile which the self-denunciation raised upon the +man's face no longer lacked warmth. +</P> + +<P> +"The clever knave is rarely at a loss for explanation," +he said drily. "The lack of explanation often carries +conviction." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's slumberous eyes only smiled the more +deeply. +</P> + +<P> +"I have explanations for all these things, and I would +give them," she said promptly. "And those explanations +might astonish you—a little. But at present I have only +admission to make, which may have a disastrous effect +upon my hopes. This is not my home. It is only a sort +of—office. My name is not Vita Vladimir, except in part. +And as for my wire to you, the moment the personnel of +the new Cabinet was decided upon by Sir Meeston Harborough +and his colleagues, the news was conveyed by the +usual underground methods—abroad. That is all." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are in touch with—abroad?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is quite simple," the woman went on, with a shrug. +"No political movement, no movement of any significance +goes on here but it is known in foreign official circles +even before the press get it here. Remember the war. +My father, who is interested in this matter I am engaged +upon, is in touch with those official circles, and so I received +the news within a few hours of the time Sir Meeston +knew it himself." +</P> + +<P> +The interest of this woman was very great. Its influence +was growing on the man even more quickly than he +knew. Her ready admission, her obviously true explanation +of how she received the news which inspired her +message of congratulation, these things had immediate +effect. To a lesser mind than that of this youthful statesman, +these things might well have inspired added doubt, +but to Ruxton they told him all he wanted to know with +definite assurance. He was convinced of her absolute +sincerity, as he was convinced of—other things. +</P> + +<P> +The woman was waiting anxiously for the attitude +which was to follow her explanations. Her anxiety did +not display itself in her eyes, which were as calm as +though matters of vital importance were beyond even her +appreciation. Nevertheless, her blood was tingling with +an apprehension which left the silence which had fallen +almost insupportable. +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton was thinking swiftly. For the moment all +thought of the woman herself had been brushed aside. +He was gazing at that dim misty light ahead, which was +his goal, and he seemed to see the shadowy obstacles +looming up which perhaps meant a life and death struggle +in their surmounting. There was no pathway to the +right or left. He must go on. It was the only road, a +dangerous, deadly road, and it was the road this woman +had offered him. He had probed deeply, far deeper than +had seemed possible at first, and his probing had helped +him to his decision. +</P> + +<P> +He rose from his seat and stood towering and large in +that small room. The sleepy eyes of the woman were +raised expectantly to his face, and, deep down in their +depths, a light of admiration, which had only his +manhood for its object, was growing with each passing +moment. She too rose from her seat at the window, and +they stood facing each other perfect in their splendid +youth. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman could no longer restrain her impatience. +Her interrogation broke from her almost unconsciously. +</P> + +<P> +"I came here to—accept your invitation to visit that—to +see those things first hand, which is the duty of our +country's political leaders," he said, with a smile which +thrilled the expectant woman. +</P> + +<P> +"And you will—accept?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded. His fine head, with its fair hair, was +inclined in acquiescence. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God!" +</P> + +<P> +The woman's exclamation was one of unrestrained +thankfulness and relief. Had Ruxton needed any added +proof of her honesty and sincerity, it was in that wonderful +expression of fervid thankfulness which accompanied +her words. But he had needed none, and it was the result +of a coalition of heart and brain. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall communicate with your father and appoint a +time when I can start with him—on his submersible." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's eyes were wide. +</P> + +<P> +"My father!" she exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely—Mr. Charles Smith." +</P> + +<P> +The laugh which followed Ruxton's announcement was +full of delighted admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"And we took so much trouble. We planned so carefully. +We came to you because we believed you to be +the only man approachable on such a subject. We did +not realize we were approaching an intellect capable +of fathoming and turning inside out our closely kept +secrets." +</P> + +<P> +"Intellect?" Ruxton laughed as he held out his hand +in "good-bye." "It is not necessarily intellect which +recognizes strong family likenesses. But I regret to say +that your father, brilliant as he may be as an inventor, +does not do you justice in the matter of his personal appearance. +However, I shall send him a message addressed +Veevee, London, which you will doubtless see, +and I pray that Providence may bless our feeble efforts. +From all I can imagine the immediate future will contain +many uncertainties for me, so I do not know if we shall +ever meet again. But I want to tell you that I thank you +from the bottom of my heart for coming to me. If things +are as bad as you think, then you have done our country +an inestimable service—you and your father." +</P> + +<P> +But his words had a different effect from that which +might have been expected. A shudder of pain seemed +suddenly to affect the woman and a great distress shadowed +her beautiful eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't," she cried. "If you knew all that is in +here," she went on, pressing her hands upon her bosom, +"you would understand all this thing means. Mr. +Farlow, you have never felt terror as a woman can feel +it. How could you? You, a man, so big, and strong, +and fearless. Even your imagination, riot as it may, +could never know the haunt which the sinking of the +<i>Lusitania</i> has created in my woman's mind. Those poor +helpless souls. Think of them, and think of some future, +distant day when—— Oh, God! No, no! The service +you speak of is no service. It is—Duty." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was deeply affected by the evident sincerity of +her distress. He had nothing to add. But Vita Vladimir +brushed her moment of weakness aside, and gazed up at +him with luminous, searching eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I had almost forgotten," she cried. "I am afraid I +am but a poor plotter. The delight that you have accepted +has put so much out of my poor brain." Then +her eyes grew wide with awe and dread. "I told you +that other lives than yours hang upon this matter. So—it +is necessary for inviolable secrecy. Need you tell even +your—father of your going? Need any one know? +Your servants? Any one at all? It is a big thing to +ask, but—life is very dear to us all, and—— No, no, +what am I talking about? I must not beg. I must demand. +For as sure as the sun rises to-morrow you will +be silenced forever if word of this leaks out. We shall +all be." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's manner was far more impressive than her +words. But Ruxton treated the matter almost lightly. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't worry. I have given my promise to go. I +am wilfully thrusting my neck into the noose waiting +for it. I shall not take unnecessary chances. No one, +not even my father, shall hear of this thing from me. So—good-bye +until I return from—Germany." +</P> + +<P> +Vita's relief found expression in a grave sort of smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," she said quietly. "But—but you are +not going to—Germany." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE OLD MILL COVE +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">He</SPAN> had known the mill all his life; at least he believed +he had. He had gazed upon that awesome black ruin, +keeping watch and ward over the wicked little cove below +it, like some sentinel on guard over a dangerous +criminal, with wide, childish eyes, and a mind full of terrified +speculation. He had known it later, when, with +boyish bravado, he had flouted the horrific stories of a +superstitious countryside, and explored its barren, ruined +recesses. He had known it still later, when, with manhood's +eyes opening to a dim appreciation of all those +things which have gone before in the great effort of life, +he had seen in it a picturesque example of the endless +struggle which has gone on since the dawn of life. +</P> + +<P> +So he thought he knew it all. +</P> + +<P> +Now the limitations of his knowledge were forcing +themselves upon him. Now he was realizing that there +were secrets by the score in those every-day things which +a lifetime of contact may never reveal. The strangeness +of it all set him marvelling. The limitations of human +understanding seemed extraordinarily narrow. +</P> + +<P> +He gazed down into the gaping cavity beneath his +feet, and, by the dim rays of a lighted lantern, counted +the worn stone steps until the darkness below swallowed +up their outline. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow straightened himself up and glanced +about him at the bare stone walls, from the joints of +which the cement had long since fallen. He looked up +at the worm-eaten, oaken rafters which had stood the +wear of centuries. The flooring which they supported +had long since fallen into decay, and he only wondered +how much longer those sturdy oaken beams would continue +to support the colossal weight of the millstones now +resting from their grinding labors. +</P> + +<P> +Through the rents which time and weather had wrought +he saw the warm glow of daylight above, for all was +ruin in the great old mill, ruin within and without. As +it was with the walls of stone, and the great tower of +woodwork above them, so it was with the outbuildings +beyond the doorway, within which he stood. The walls +remained, heavily buttressed by the hardy hands of a +race of men who had understood so well the necessity +for fortifying their homes against all eventualities, but +the timbers of the roofs had long since fallen victims to +the inclemencies of the seasons and the ruthless "North-easters" +which, probably, since the time when the iron +shores of Britain first emerged from beneath the waters, +had beaten their relentless wings against the barrier +which held up their freedom. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton set his lantern on the ground and moved away +to the wide doorway, which no longer possessed the remotest +sign of the old wooden doors which had probably +been at one time heavy enough to resist a siege. Here +he drew a letter from his pocket and read it carefully +over by the light of the sunset. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Dear Mr. Farlow</SPAN>: +</P> + +<P> +"I never knew your wonderful coast could be so +interesting, even absorbing. I feel I owe you personal +thanks for a delightful time, simply because you live—where +you live. I have discovered a most wonderful +spot. I say discovered, but probably you have known +it from the days when you were first able to toddle +about by yourself. However, I must tell you of it. It +is an old, old, ruined mill, regarded by the folks on your +coast as an evil place which is haunted by the spirits of +the smugglers who once upon a time used it as the headquarters +for their nefarious trade. But the incredible +part of it is we unearthed a secret in it which has remained +hidden for generations, possibly centuries. Now +listen carefully and I will tell you of this secret. In the +middle of the stone chamber under the mill there is the +entrance to a passage which communicates with that +villainous cove over which the evil eye of the old mill forever +gazes. Six inches beneath the surface of the debris +on the floor there is a slate slab, and, on raising this, you +will discover a stone staircase which goes down, down,—follow +it, and you shall see what you shall see. I have +since discovered that this is the <i>only means of reaching +the beach of the cove—unless you possess wings</i>. But I +began this note with the intention of only telling you +how much I am looking forward to seeing you again on +Thursday evening at eight o'clock. I do hope you are +taking full advantage of your vacation from parliamentary +work, and are storing up plenty of good health +upon your wonderful, wonderful moors. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Yours very sincerely,<BR> + "<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Vita Vladimir</SPAN>."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ruxton refolded the letter and put it away. He understood +it was the final summons to that great adventure +which was to tell him of the threat overshadowing his +beloved country. +</P> + +<P> +He had obeyed it readily, eagerly, and now that the +reality of the whole thing was developing he paused to +consider the motives urging him. +</P> + +<P> +He was going to witness things first hand. He was +glad. His understanding of duty assured him that it +was the only means by which he could hope to convince +others, when the time came. But was this his sole +motive? Was this the motive which had inspired that +feeling of exaltation when he first read the perfumed +note, so carefully written lest it should fall into wrong +hands? He knew it was not. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes were raised to the glistening sea away beyond +the cove. He was gazing straight out through the narrow +opening of the cove where the precipitous cliffs rose +sheer out of the blue waters and marked the entrance +which the country-folk sensationally loved to call "Hell's +Gate." His mind was searching and probing the feelings +which inspired him, and he knew that the beckoning +hand of the woman was exercising a greater power +than any sense of duty. He did not blind himself. He +had no desire to. Those dark Slavonic eyes of his were +wide and bright, and the half smile of them was full of +an eager warmth. The idealist mind behind them was +widely open to its own imagery. He saw through those +Hell's Gates the perfect, palpitating figure which had +poured out its burden of soul to him on the edge of +those very cliffs; and she was—beckoning. +</P> + +<P> +The youth of him had been engulfed in the soul of the +woman. Nor, as yet, did he realize the extent of the +power she was exercising. All he knew was that he +had neither the power nor desire to resist the summons, +and herein lay the distinguishing mark of those whom +Destiny claims. +</P> + +<P> +After a few moments he glanced at his watch. And +at once the alertness of the man was displayed. It was +twenty minutes to eight, and shortly after eight it would +be low tide. The appointment had been made with +regard to that, and that while he approached from the +land, she would come by water. Therefore he must not +delay. +</P> + +<P> +Dismissing every other consideration he turned back +to the mysterious stairway he had unearthed and began +its descent, aided by the light of the lantern he had discovered +secreted upon the top step, ready for his use. +</P> + +<P> +His progress was rapid and easy. The vaulted, declining +passage beneath the mill was high and wide, +and constructed of masonry calculated to withstand the +erosion of ages. It was moist and slimy, and the steps +were at times slippery, but these things were no deterrents. +</P> + +<P> +The stairway, however, seemed endless in the dim +lantern light, and by the time he had completed the +journey he had counted upwards of one hundred steps. +At the bottom he paused and looked back up the way he +had come, but, in the blackness of the tunnel, his light revealed +little more than the first few steps. +</P> + +<P> +Without further pause he turned to ascertain the nature +of the place upon which the stairway had debouched. It +was a wide and lofty cavern of Nature's fashioning, except +that the walls and the natural obstructions of the flooring +had been rendered smooth and clear by the hand of man. +It was easy to estimate the purposes of this subterranean +abode. There was less imagination in the legends of the +old mill than he had supposed. If the books of his childish +reading had any foundation in their local color this +was certainly the den of some old-time smugglers. +</P> + +<P> +He passed rapidly along the declining passage, and the +end of it came as he expected to find it. It was a cave +which opened in the face of the cliff overlooking the cove, +but so ingeniously hidden by Nature that its presence +could never have been even guessed at by any chance +visit from the sea. +</P> + +<P> +He stood at the opening and gazed out upon the +already twilit cove. But he could not see the sea from +where he stood; only along the face of the cliff to his +right, down which, zigzagging and winding, a sort of +rough-hewn stairway communicated with the beach below. +In front of him a great projection of rock, as though +riven from the main cliff at some far-off time by the +colossal forces of Nature, hid the entire entrance of the +cavern. And so narrow was the space intervening that +he could touch it with an outstretching of his arm. It +was a remarkable hiding-place. Nor did he marvel that +he had never heard of it before. But the rapidly deepening +twilight of the cove warned him of the approach of +the hour of his appointment. So he blew out his lantern +and began the descent to the beach nearly fifty feet +below. +</P> + +<P> +Within five minutes he was standing in the centre of a +patch of golden sand with the still ebbing water of the +cove lapping gently at his feet. +</P> + +<P> +A curious change had come over him. All interest +inspired by the journey through the cavern was entirely +gone. Even, for the time, he had no longer any thought +of the purpose for which he was there. His mind was +absorbed in the curious weird of the place, and the dreadful +feeling of overwhelming might bearing in and down +upon him. +</P> + +<P> +The appalling grey barrenness, the height of the +frowning ramparts which surrounded him on all sides, +except the narrow opening to the sea. The absolute +inaccessibility of those frowning walls, and the melancholy +scream of the thousands of gulls which haunted the +place. It was tremendous. It was terrible. But added +to all these things was a discovery which he made almost +upon the instant. With the instinct of personal security +his eyes sought the high-water mark upon the beach. +There was none. It was high up on the cliff sides at no +point less that ten feet above the highest point of the +beach. Herein lay the terror of the cove which lived in +the minds of the dwellers upon the moors. Here was its +real terror. A rising tide, and the secret of the smuggler's +cavern undiscovered, and—death! He smiled as he +thought of the name given to the entrance to the cove. +Hell's Gate! It was surely—— +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy!" +</P> + +<P> +The cry echoed about the grey walls in haunting +fashion. Ruxton was startled out of his reverie. In a +moment his repulsion at what he beheld was forgotten. +He remembered only his purpose, and his searching eyes +gazed out over the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Ahoy!" he replied, when the last echo of the summons +had died out. +</P> + +<P> +He could see no boat. He could discover no human +being. And—it was a man's voice that had hailed him. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments a profound silence prevailed. Even +the gulls ceased their mournful cries at the intrusion of a +human voice upon their solitude. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton searched in every direction. Was this another +surprise of this extraordinarily mysterious place? Was +this——? Quite suddenly his gaze became riveted upon +a spit of low, weed-covered rock, stretching out into the +calm water like a breakwater. There was a sound of +clambering feet, and as his acute hearing caught it, a sort +of instinct thrust his hand into his coat pocket where an +automatic pistol lay. Then he laughed at himself and +withdrew his hand sharply. The figure of a man +scrambled up on to the breakwater. +</P> + +<P> +They stood eyeing each other for several thoughtful +moments. Then without attempting to draw nearer the +stranger called to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Farlow, sir. This way, if you please." +</P> + +<P> +Without hesitation Ruxton crossed over to him and +scrambled on to the rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"You are from——?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +The question was put sharply, but without suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +"The lady's waiting for you out there," replied the man +simply. "We haven't much time, sir. You can't come +in here on a rising tide, and you can't get out of it either. +It's hell's own place for small craft, or any craft for that +matter on a rising tide." He threw an anxious glance at +the water. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was gazing down at the little boat lying the +other side of the natural breakwater. It was a petrol +launch of some kind, but small and light as a cockle-shell. +There was another man in the stern, and he observed +that both he and the man beside him were in some +sort of uniform. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't see you come in," he went on curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"We've been lying here half an hour, sir. Our orders +were to wait till just before the tide turned. We've got +about half an hour, sir," the man added significantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the vessel?" enquired Ruxton. +</P> + +<P> +"Just outside, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't see her." +</P> + +<P> +"She's lying submerged." +</P> + +<P> +"And Miss Vladimir is—aboard?" +</P> + +<P> +"The lady is, sir," replied the man, with a shadow of a +smile in his deep-set blue eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The stranger stood aside, a direct invitation to Ruxton +to climb down into the boat. But the latter made no +move to do so. +</P> + +<P> +Then the man pushed his peaked cap back from his +forehead and displayed a shock of sandy grey hair which +matched his closely trimmed whiskers. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll excuse me, sir," he said, a trifle urgently, +"but we've got to get out smart. Once the tide turns it +races in here like an avalanche. We'll never make Hell's +Gates if we aren't smart, and we don't want to get caught +up in Hell itself." +</P> + +<P> +The man's urgency had the desired effect. Ruxton +stooped down and lowered himself into the bow of the +boat. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, sir, it'll trim the boat," the man approved, +as he dropped lightly in amidships. In a moment +the clutch was let in and the little craft backed out +of its narrow harbor. +</P> + +<P> +It was a moment of crisis. Ruxton Farlow had practically +committed himself to the power of these strangers. +Not quite though. For he had taken the bow seat, and +his loaded automatic was in his pocket still. However, +the position was not without considerable risk. He had +expected to meet Vita. Instead he had been met by two +men in uniform. They were both in middle life, and +burly specimens of the seafaring profession. +</P> + +<P> +He had calculated the chances carefully before taking +his final decision. Moreover he had closely appraised +the men in charge of the boat. They were British. Of +that he was certain. Nor were they men without education. +On the whole he did not see that the balance lay +very much in their favor if any treachery were contemplated. +</P> + +<P> +"You are British," he said to the man in front of him, +as the boat swung round head on to the gates of the cove +and began to gather speed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir. Served my time in the Navy—and had a +billet elsewhere ever since." +</P> + +<P> +"Since the war?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. Before the war." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +The man faced round with a smile, while his comrade +drove the little boat at a headlong pace through the +racing waters. +</P> + +<P> +"Where a good many of our Navy's cast-offs go, sir. +In Germany." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ON THE GREY NORTH SEA +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Brief</SPAN> as was the interval between leaving the treacherous +cove and the moment when Ruxton Farlow found +himself surrounded by the tasteful luxury of the saloon +of the long, low, strange-looking craft waiting just outside +to receive him, it was not without many thrilling +experiences. +</P> + +<P> +To a man of less imagination the very few minutes in +the petrol launch would have meant little more than a +rather exciting experience. But for Ruxton they possessed +a far deeper significance. Nor was the least the +feeling that he had slammed-to the doors of the life behind +him, bolted and barred and locked them, and—flung +away the key. +</P> + +<P> +That was the man. Sensitive to every mood that +assailed him, yet urged on by an indomitable purpose, he +had no more power to raise a hand to stay the tide of +life upon which he was floating than he had to check the +racing current which bore him beyond the threatening +shoals of the Old Mill Cove. +</P> + +<P> +What a mill-race the latter was! The man in charge +of the launch had by no means exaggerated it. The +little craft, urged by its powerful motor, surged through +the water till the sea washed over its prow, and Ruxton +was forced to shelter beneath the decked-in peak, whence +he could observe the man amidships, who never once +desisted from his efforts on the well pump. +</P> + +<P> +Then, just beyond the jaws of the cove, they entered a +stretch of tumultuous popple where the ebb met the +opposing currents along the coast. Here the boat was +tossed about like the proverbial feather, and to navigate +it into the smooth water beyond demanded all +the consummate seamanship of those responsible for its +safety. +</P> + +<P> +Then, out of the heart of the grey waters, came the +abrupt rising of the submersible. There was a tremendous +swirling and upheaval less than fifty yards away, +and the grey-green monster of the deep reared its forlorn-looking +deck, with its conning-tower, its sealed hatchways, +and its desolate deck rails, above the surface, and +lay there, long and low and as evil-looking as only a +mind filled with memories of the late war could have +pictured it. +</P> + +<P> +Two minutes later Ruxton had left the little launch, +had stepped aboard the submersible and passed down +the "companion" to the saloon beneath the flush deck, +once more to be greeted by the woman who seemed to +have become so much a part of the new life opening out +before him. +</P> + +<P> +Her greeting was cordial. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew you would come," she said, as she left her +hand for a moment in his. Then her grey eyes, so full +of warmth, shadowed for a moment. "And now that +you have come I—could almost wish that I had had +nothing to do with it. You see, I haven't the courage of +my convictions. I know they are right, but—I am +afraid." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-088"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-088.jpg" ALT="Out of the Heart of the Waters Rose the Submersible." BORDER="2"> +<H4> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Out of the Heart of the Waters Rose the Submersible</SPAN>. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +When he answered her the influence of the woman was +greater than Ruxton knew. +</P> + +<P> +"You need not be," he said simply. "We are not +fighting for ourselves, so—why fear?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman had no verbal reply. She regarded for +one moment the strong face of the man, and the meaning +of that regard was known only to herself. Had Ruxton +possessed more vanity it is possible he might have +read it aright, but vanity with him was so small a quantity +as to be almost negligible. +</P> + +<P> +Again the woman held out her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"The tide will not wait. I must hurry ashore." Then +she smiled. "I must go, too, while the courage your +words have momentarily inspired remains. My father +will join you immediately. Good-bye and good——" +</P> + +<P> +"You do not travel with us?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's enquiry was frankly disappointed. The other +shook her beautiful head. +</P> + +<P> +"No woman may venture where you are going. No +woman has ever set foot there. I know it all, as you +will understand later, but—no, I return with the launch. +The tide will just serve us. Good-bye and good luck." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was left listening to the sound of her footsteps +mounting the companionway. Then, as he heard the +door of the conning-tower above close with a slam, he +turned about and sought one of the luxurious sofas with +which the saloon was furnished. +</P> + +<P> +As he sat he swayed gently to the motion of the vessel, +and for the first time became aware of the automatic +change to artificial light in the room. He knew at once +that the vessel was returning once more to those depths +whence he had witnessed it emerge. He gazed about +him speculatively. The lights were carefully placed and +diffused to prevent the trying nature of a constant artificial +glare. +</P> + +<P> +He became aware of the splendid appointments of the +saloon, which was a fine example of the marine architect's +handicraft. The apartment itself was some twenty +feet wide, and he judged it to occupy most of the vessel's +beam. It was probably a similar length. The carpet +on which his feet rested was a rich Turkey. Nor were +the rest of the furnishings essentially of the character of +a ship's cabin. True, there was a centre dining-table +bolted to the deck, and the accompanying swinging +chairs, but there was a full grand piano of German make. +There were several comfortably upholstered lounges. +There was exquisite plastic panelling of warm, harmonious +tints on the upper parts of the walls and the ceilings, +while the lower walls were clad in polished carved mahogany. +He sought for the source of the daylight which +had filled the room when he first entered, and discovered +a great skylight overhead which was now covered by a +metal shield on the outside, which, he concluded, must +close over it automatically with the process of submerging. +</P> + +<P> +But his further observations were cut short by the +abrupt opening of a door in the mahogany panelling +and the entrance of—Mr. Charles Smith. He came +swiftly across the room, his steps giving out no sound +upon the soft carpet. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Farlow," he cried, holding out one tenacious +hand in greeting, "you have done me a great honor, sir. +You have done me an inestimable service in coming. +I can—only thank you." +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton was less attentive to his words than to +the man. There was a change in him. A subtle change. +He was no longer the enthusiastic inventor, almost slavishly +striving to enlist sympathy for his invention. There +was something about him which suggested command—even +an atmosphere of the autocrat. Perhaps it was that +here he was in his own natural element—the element +which he had himself created. Perhaps—— +</P> + +<P> +But he left it at that. It was useless to speculate +further. He still experienced the sense of trust and liking +which had been inspired at their first meeting by the +noble forehead and the gentle, luminous eyes, so like, yet +so unlike, those other eyes which so largely filled his +thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +He willingly responded to the extended hand. And +the man seemed to expect no reply, for he went on at +once—— +</P> + +<P> +"I was in my laboratory when you came aboard. +Now I am entirely at your service." +</P> + +<P> +"Good." Ruxton nodded. "I feel there must be a +lot of talk between us—without delay." +</P> + +<P> +The inventor looked at his watch. Then he pointed at +the lounge from which Ruxton had risen, and seated himself +in one of the swivel chairs at the dining-table. +</P> + +<P> +"We have nearly two hours before supper is served. +May I send for some refreshment for you?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton dropped into the seat behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, no," he declined, "I dined early—purposely. +All I am anxious for now is—explanation." +</P> + +<P> +The manner in which his eyelids cut flatly across the +upper part of the pupils of his dark eyes gave his gaze +a keenly penetrating quality. He wanted explanation, +full and exhaustive explanation. Warnings, and mere +intangible suggestions, no longer carried weight. He +must know the whole thing which the future had to +reveal to him. +</P> + +<P> +The white-haired man seemed lost in thought. Again +Ruxton noted a change. The lean face and gentle eyes +yielded to something very like an expression of dejection. +It was almost as if the man shrank from the explanations +demanded of him, while yet he knew they must be made. +</P> + +<P> +At length he raised his eyes and regarded his guest +with an almost pathetic smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Explain? Ah, yes. I must explain everything now." +He sighed. "Where—where shall I begin?" He crossed +his long legs and strove to settle himself more comfortably +in his chair, while Ruxton waited without a sign. +</P> + +<P> +"It is hard to explain—all," he said, after a brief +pause. "But I know it must be. Mr. Farlow, can you +imagine what it means when a man who has always +regarded his honor and his country's honor before all +things in the world suddenly finds himself called upon to +confess that his country's honor has been outraged by his +country, and his own honor has been outraged by himself? +If you can, then perhaps you will understand my +position when explanation is demanded of me." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton averted the steady regard of his eyes. He did +not desire to witness this man's pain. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I know," he said. Then quite abruptly he +changed from the English language to German, which +he spoke with the perfect accent of a man educated in +Frankfurt. "But it may save you much if you begin by +telling me your real name. The name you are known +by in—Germany." +</P> + +<P> +A pair of simple, startled eyes gazed back into his. +</P> + +<P> +"Has—Vita—told you?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Then how did you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Does it matter? I desire to make it easier for you." +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments neither spoke. The artificial light +in the room had merged once more into daylight. There +was again the sound of the opening and shutting of iron +doors on deck above them. There were also the harsh +tones of orders being given. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton knew that it was the return of the launch +which had conveyed this man's daughter ashore, and +that it was being taken on board and stowed within the +parent craft. Presently the sounds died away. Once +more the light in the saloon became artificial, and the +silent throb of engines made themselves felt. The journey +had begun. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had now given himself entirely to the use of +the German language. +</P> + +<P> +The inventor cleared his throat +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Stanislaus. Stanislaus, Prince von +Hertzwohl." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow did not move a muscle. There was +not the quiver of an eyelid, nor one detail of change of +expression. Yet he was not unmoved at the mention of +the man's real name. Although he had half expected it, +it came with something very like a shock. +</P> + +<P> +Stanislaus von Hertzwohl! Did he not know it? Did +not the whole wide world know it? Was it not the one +name, out of all the great German names associated with +the war, which was anathematized more surely even than +that of the Kaiser himself? +</P> + +<P> +Stanislaus von Hertzwohl! The man who had perfected +the German submarine. The man who had made +possible the hideous slaughter of innocent victims upon +the high seas. The man at whose door was laid the responsibility +for that inhuman massacre—the sinking of +the <i>Lusitania</i>. The man whom the world believed was +the father of every diabolical engine of slaughter devised +to combat his country's enemies. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, I know the name," he said simply. +"Everybody knows it." +</P> + +<P> +His reply seemed to fire the powder train of the +Prince's passionate emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach!" he cried, with a desperately helpless gesture +of expressive hands. "That is it. Everybody! Everybody +knows it! They know the name, but they do not +know the truth." +</P> + +<P> +Then, in a moment, the fire of his emotion seemed to +die out. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Farlow, I want you to know that truth," he went +on calmly. "Will you listen to it now? Will you listen +to it with an open mind, or—or have you already sat in +judgment, and, with the rest of an unthinking, unreasoning +world, condemned me?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's thoughts were pacing rapidly with his feelings. +They had travelled swiftly back to that moonlit +night upon the Yorkshire cliffs. To him had come the +woman again, so fair, so radiant in her perfect womanhood, +so passionate in her horror of the tragedy of the +world war. These things had been beyond all doubt in +their sincerity and truth. She was this man's daughter. +She was loyally supporting her father now. Then his +mind passed on to the scene in the library at Dorby +Towers. It had been his work for years to deal with +people whose superficial presentment was only calculated +to cloak real purpose. He had read these two people +out of his experience. +</P> + +<P> +"Judgment is only for those who possess all the facts," +he observed quietly. "Will you continue?" +</P> + +<P> +The decision of his attitude seemed to inspire the white-haired +man so patiently awaiting his reply. He crossed +his legs, and, drawing up one well-shod foot, nursed its +ankle in his clasped hands. He was leaning forward full +of an anxious, nervous expression of attitude. It almost +seemed as if his guest's judgment were to him a last +straw of hope. The noble forehead was a-dew with +moisture. His bushy eyebrows were sharply drawn in a +great effort of concentration. His eyes, so widely simple, +usually so expressive of childhood's innocence, were now +full of a suffering that was almost overwhelming. +</P> + +<P> +"If I had been guilty of a fraction of that of which the +world accuses me could I have dared, or cared, to approach +you with my latest invention, and—the other proposals? +Keep that question in your mind while I talk. +It is so easy to condemn, and, having condemned, reversal +of judgment is well-nigh impossible. If I am +guilty it is only of a patriot's devotion to the country to +which <i>I believed</i> I owed allegiance. That, and an even +greater devotion to the problems of making possible +those things which seemed impossible. In not one of +the problems of invention have I ever possessed a motive +other than that which has inspired every engineer engaged +upon naval armaments in every other country. +Never in my life have I devised any weapon for the army +other than the monster siege mortar. The liquid fire, the +gases, the dozen and one contrivances for slaughter have +found their inception in other brains than mine. I state +these facts simply. You must trust them, or dismiss +them, as you will. I am a marine inventor solely, except +for that one weapon which was legitimate enough—the +siege mortar. You, who understand the nature of marine +invention, must assuredly realize that one man's brain, +one man's lifetime are all too brief and limited to permit +a division of his powers with any hope of success." +</P> + +<P> +He paused as though offering opportunity for comment, +but none was forthcoming. So he went on, his +body slightly swaying to and fro, his eyes assuming a +passionate fire that gave to his whole aspect an atmosphere +of vigorous protest. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a Pole," he went on presently. "I am a Pole, +born in German Poland. My parents were poor, but we +claim direct descent from the ancient royal house. Now +let me make my own thoughts and feelings clear to you. +I was brought up under German methods, German education. +I was taught, as every child within the German +Empire is taught, to believe that Germany is above and +before all the nations of the world, and that, in the brief +life of this earth, nothing else but German national interests +matter to its people. Now mark the obvious result +of such a training. I make no apology. I, beginning +life in my father's little engineering shop, finding myself +with an abnormal capacity for invention, seeking to +make for myself and family a competence—what do I do? +I place whatever ability I may possess at the service of +Germany. I devote myself to discovery in the one direction +in which official Germany has looked since the war +of 1870. +</P> + +<P> +"The next step comes quickly. It came so quickly +that it well-nigh overbalanced my whole sense of proportion. +The problem that appealed to me was the enormous +strength of fortresses being built by our neighbors against +our borders. We were doing the same against theirs. +It was almost a simple problem. I said that if our +fortresses were stronger than theirs, and we possessed a +secret weapon which could destroy theirs, then our empire +was safe from invasion for all time. So it came about +that I took plans of my great siege mortars to the authorities. +They were considered, and the guns were +ultimately made. On experiment they proved an instantaneous +success, and I was at once given rank and +wealth, and ordered to work on the development of the +gun-power of the Navy. It was this that converted me to +marine engineering. From then onwards my career became +one series of triumphs—from Germany's point of +view. Till now, as you know, I have been rewarded +with the revival of an old Polish title, to which by birth I +am entitled, and am placed—as perhaps you do not +know—in supreme command of Germany's naval construction." +</P> + +<P> +There was no atmosphere of triumph in the man's +manner. There was no victorious inspiration in the tones +of his voice. With each word which announced the +progress of his triumph an almost painful dejection seemed +to settle more and more heavily upon him. +</P> + +<P> +Still Ruxton refrained from comment. He knew that +the vital things had yet to be told. Nor had he any +desire to break up the man's train of thought. There +still remained the tragedy of triumph which this man's +life concealed. +</P> + +<P> +The man's voice came again in level tones which had +lost all light and shade. He spoke like one utterly weary +in mind, heart, and body. +</P> + +<P> +"If I had only known," he said, with a dreary shake of +his snow-white head. "But," he added with a shrug, "I +did not know. I was blinded by success, and a passionate +devotion to my work." He drew a deep breath. "But I +knew later. Oh, yes. I knew. The greatest triumph +and the greatest disaster of my life was when I converted +the paltry little coast defence submarines into the ocean-going +pirates they afterwards became. But it was not +until Germany declared a submarine blockade of these +shores that I knew what I had done. Up to that time I +had been a—German patriot. From that moment I became +a simple, heart-broken human being. My legitimate +engines of war had been turned against the innocent lives +of a defenceless people, and when the massacre of fifteen +hundred souls took place with the sinking of the <i>Lusitania</i> +I think for the time I became demented." +</P> + +<P> +He was breathing hard. His face had become almost +stony in its expression. It was the face of a man who for +the time is beyond all further feeling. Quite abruptly, +however, he released his hold upon his foot, and ran his +long fingers through his shock of white hair. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach! How willingly would I have undone all I had +done. I tried to resign on various pleas. Health!" He +laughed, a hollow, mocking laugh. "As well try to +struggle free from the strangling rope of the hangman +with hands tied. To my horror I found that I belonged +body and soul to Germany, and my rank and wealth was +the price the country had paid for my brains. Oh, yes, I +was no honored patriot serving my country. I was its +bond slave, the slave of Prussian militarism. And to the +end of my days that slave I must remain. +</P> + +<P> +"Need I tell you of all the suffering I have since endured? +No, I think not. No repentant murderer could +have suffered more for his crimes than I have done. I +have striven, by every possible argument, to assure myself +that mine was not the blame, but no conviction has +resulted. The world cannot blame more cruelly than I +do myself, and yet—I am innocent of all intent. +</P> + +<P> +"Throughout all the struggle I have had with my own +soul no glimmer of light reached me until my daughter +came to my rescue. And I think it was her woman's wit, +supported by her own brave heart, which has saved me. +She, in her great pity and love of humanity, started a +fresh thought in the poor brain with which Providence +endowed me. It surely was only a woman's mind could +have conceived so simple a solution to my trouble. It +was all done in one brief sentence. She said, 'The brain +that can invent to destroy can invent to save.' And +from that moment hope came to me." +</P> + +<P> +He leant forward urgently. The veins at his temples +stood out with the mental effort of the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Need I detail the result. I came to you as the only +possible person to help on the work. You were selected +after careful thought. I have warned you of the threat +hanging over your country. Now I will show you the +engines of destruction which I have been forced to perfect +to complete the execution of that threat. But I have +already shown you my submersible. You are now on +board the constructed vessel, the development and adoption +of which is the only antidote to the devilish plans of +the country to which I belong, plans which are staggering +in their possibilities. They are so simple, yet so vast +and terrible when made against England. Listen: Germany +has abandoned all other naval construction in +favor of my new boat—the Submersible Dreadnought. +Do you realize the type? It is a heavily armored vessel +with the gun-power of the surface dreadnought, and +its speed, but with all the attributes of the submarine. +A fleet of nominally three hundred is being constructed. +It will be larger by far. In a few years it will be possible +to ring your country round with these lurking machines, +each of which will be capable of engaging successfully +any surface war vessel ever built, while its submarine +attributes will render it practically immune from any +combination of force opposed to it. Do you see? Never +again will England, when at war with Germany, be able +to transport her armies abroad. Never again will she be +able to feed her millions of people through overseas +channels. Henceforth she will be driven to peace under +any conditions and her mastery of the seas will pass from +her forever." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton stirred in his seat. He shifted his position. +The man's words had sunk deeply. +</P> + +<P> +"The submersible mercantile marine is certainly the +obvious retort," he said reflectively. Then he added as +an afterthought, "Temporarily." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Temporarily." +</P> + +<P> +Neither spoke again for some moments. Both were +thinking ahead, much further on than the immediate +future. +</P> + +<P> +"And after the submersible dreadnought?" Ruxton's +question was not addressed to the inventor, but it was +answered by him. +</P> + +<P> +"Who can tell? One of these two countries must go +under." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +Again came a prolonged silence. Again Ruxton shifted +his position. Then at last he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"And you will show me these things. The risk will be +stupendous—for you." +</P> + +<P> +Prince Stanislaus laughed without a shadow of mirth. +</P> + +<P> +"For me it is just a matter of life and death. Life has +few attractions for me now. For you? My power is +sufficient to safeguard you. Shall I show you how?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded. His penetrating gaze was again fixed +upon the almost cadaverous features with their snow-white +crown and noble forehead. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Prince Stanislaus began at once. And talk went on +between them for many minutes. For the most part +Ruxton listened, as was his way, and only occasionally +interpolated a shrewd, incisive question. His dark, +penetrating eyes were watchful and studying. And no +change of expression in the other was lost upon him. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly within him there grew a wide admiration for +the mentality and courage in this strangely simple creature. +He read him down to the remotest depths of his +honest soul. Wherever Prince Stanislaus's devotion to +his life's work had led him, there was no shadow of +doubt left in the Englishman's mind as to his present +sincerity and honesty of purpose. +</P> + +<P> +When the last detail of the plan had been explained +Ruxton stood up. +</P> + +<P> +"The judgment of the world is rarely inspired by +justice," he said. "I thank you, and will gladly place +myself under your guidance. Since the opportunity of +discovering the secrets of Kiel and Cuxhaven has been +vouchsafed to me I should be far less than the patriot +I desire to be did I shirk the risks. My duty is quite +plain." +</P> + +<P> +The relief and satisfaction his words inspired in the +other were obvious. +</P> + +<P> +"I thank you," he said earnestly. "You have helped +me to that peace which I have long sought and I had +come to believe could never again be mine in this life. +But——" +</P> + +<P> +"But?" +</P> + +<P> +The man was smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"But we do not go to either Kiel or Cuxhaven." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was startled. +</P> + +<P> +"Where then?" he demanded shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"To the Baltic. Mr. Farlow, you have no idea of the +subtlety of the people with whom we are dealing. All +eyes of the world are on Cuxhaven and Kiel. Every +vulture of the foreign secret services is hovering over +those places, and the forges and foundries are working +to deceive them. But the real work and preparations +I speak of are not being made in Germany at all. We +go to the Baltic, to the island of Borga, which is off the +coast of Sweden. And there we shall find under German +administration a naval 'Krupps,' and the greatest arsenal +in the whole world." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BORGA +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">A grey</SPAN>, northern day devoid of all sunshine; a forbidding, +rock-bound coast lost in a depressing mist; a +flat, oily sea, as threatening to the mariner as the mounting +hillocks of storm-swept water; a dull sense of hopelessness +prevailing upon the still air. All these things +marked the approach to Borga; for Nature was in a repellent +mood, a thing of repugnance, of distrust and fear. +</P> + +<P> +A long, low craft was approaching the gaping jaws +which marked the entrance to the heart of the island, +somewhere away in the distance, lost in the grey mists +which seemed to envelop the whole land. +</P> + +<P> +The deck was narrow, and guarded by a simple surrounding +of low rails. Amidships was a curious construction +which was at once the support of the periscope, the +conning-tower, and the entrance to the interior of the +vessel. Dotted about the deck were several sealed hatchways, +and the sheen of glassed skylights. The whole +thing was colored to match the surrounding grey-green +waters. +</P> + +<P> +Two uniformed figures were standing for'ard in the +bows. One of them was beating the air with twin flags, +one in each hand. The other stood by contemplating the +book in his hand, and at intervals scanning the repellent +shore through a pair of binoculars. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the signaller spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"One, six, four, seven, nine, three, two," he said, reciting +the combination of numerals in German with the +certainty of familiarity. +</P> + +<P> +"One, six, four, seven, nine, three, two, it is," replied +the observer, in a similar, ill-spoken tongue. "That's +'proceed,'" he added, referring to his book. +</P> + +<P> +Forthwith the signaller produced a pocket telephone +connected with the conning-tower by a long insulated +"flex," and spoke over it. A moment later the throb of +engines made itself felt, and, in response, the spume broke +on the vessel's cut-water, and left a frothing wake astern. +</P> + +<P> +The vessel passed the mist-hooded granite headlands. +It left them behind, and itself became engulfed in the +grey threat lying between the overshadowing heights +towering upwards nearly five hundred feet towards the +leaden sky. +</P> + +<P> +The two men on deck gave no heed to their immediate +surroundings. They were men of the sea, hard and unimaginative. +They were concerned only with the safety +of the vessel under them. They would drive her into the +very gates of Hell, if such were their orders. But they +would avoid, with all their skill, the pitfalls by the way. +They knew that the secrets of this gloomy abode were +many, as many perhaps as those of the very Hades they +would have been willing enough to face. They knew, +too, that those secrets, just as the secrets of the other +place, were calculated to destroy them if they diverged +one iota from the laws which governed the place. So +they worked exactly, and took no chances. +</P> + +<P> +The channel quickly began to narrow. The vast cliffs +drew in upon them in their overpowering might. The +barren shores were visible to the naked eye, and the white +line of heavy surf boomed and boomed again in its incessant +attack upon the grim walls. Higher up small patches +of pine trees clung desperately to insecure root-holds, like +the intrepid Alpini seeking to scale impossible heights. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes passed and a boat, a small petrol-driven +vessel, like some cockle-shell amidst its tremendous surroundings, +shot out from the shore and raced towards +them. It had a high, protected prow, and its great speed +threw up a pair of huge white wings of water till it had +something of the appearance of an enraged swan charging +to the attack of an enemy. Again the signaller +spoke over his telephone, and the vessel slowed down, +and finally hove-to. +</P> + +<P> +The patrol boat drew alongside. Two men, amidships, +in oilskins, held a brief conversation with those on board +the intruder. Then their vessel passed ahead, and the +bigger craft was left to amble leisurely along in its wake. +</P> + +<P> +The cliffs had closed down till less than half a mile of +water divided them. The narrow strip of leaden sky +above looked pinched between them. For a mile and +more ahead there was no change. The narrow passage, +with its racing tide, was full of hidden dangers, not the +least amongst which being a crowded mine-field which +lined either side of the channel. +</P> + +<P> +As the journey proceeded the gloom increased. Added +to the natural mists the atmosphere took on a yellow tint, +which suggested an overhanging pall of smoke. There +was no joy in the aspect anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +The end of the passage came at last, and the pilot boat +dropped astern. Its work was finished, and it raced back +to its watching-post. +</P> + +<P> +Now a complete change came over the scene. But it +was scarcely a change for the better. It was only that +Nature, having done her worst, left the rest in the safe +hands of human ingenuity. +</P> + +<P> +The frowning cliffs abandoned their threat. They +ended as abruptly as they had arisen out of the sea. +They fell back on either hand, carrying the shore with +them, and merged into a mist-crowned hinterland of +dark woods and wide ravines, with a wide-stretching +foreshore, upon which was built a great city, entirely +surrounding what had developed into a miniature, landlocked +sea. +</P> + +<P> +Nature had certainly left her incomplete effort in +capable hands. Whatever beauty a brilliant sunshine, +accompanied by a smart breeze, might have discovered +upon the inhospitable shores of Borga in their pristine +state, man's hand had contrived to destroy it. The whole +prospect was sordid, uncouth, and suggested something +of a nether world of lugubrious fancy. All that could be +said for it was the suggestion of feverish industry on every +hand. The buildings looked all unfinished, yet they were +in full work under a great strain of pressure. Borga had +been built in a hurry, and all connected with it suggested +only haste and industry. +</P> + +<P> +There were no public buildings of classic model. +There were no roads and avenues beautified by Nature's +decorations. Just alleys and thoroughfares there were, +and only sufficiently paved for the needs of the work in +hand. The quays and docks were solid—only. The +great machine shops, staring-eyed and baldly angular, +suggested only the barest necessity. And though their +hundreds of floors sheltered thousands of human workers, +and acres of elaborate machinery, not even a cornice, or +coping, or variation of brickwork had been permitted to +make sightly a structure purely for utilitarian purposes. +The slipways at the water's edge, and the gaunt steel +skeletons they contained, were merely slipways, without +other pretensions. A thousand smokestacks belched out +of their fetid bowels an endless flow of yellow, sulphurous +smoke upon an already overladen atmosphere. They +stood up like the teeth of a broken comb, and added to +the sordidness of the picture. +</P> + +<P> +A faint relief might have been found for the primitive +mind in the numberless blast furnaces to be detected on +almost every hand by their shooting tongues of flame. +Like all else in Borga they never ceased from their +efforts. Theirs it was to give birth to an everlasting +stream of molten metal with which to fill the crudely-wrought +sand moulds for the containing of pig-iron. +The rolling mills, too, might have been not without effect. +Those cavernous worlds of incessant clamor rolled the +hours and days away, and took no count but of the output +from their soulless wombs. The homes of the deep-noted +steam hammers, and the fierce puddling furnaces, +where men, bare to the skin except for a loin-cloth, with +greased bodies, endure under showers of flying sparks +and a heat which no other living creature would face. +These sights were perhaps not without inspiration. But +the sordidness of it all, its crudity, its suggestion of +hideous life were on every hand; in the shrieking locomotives, +with their tails of laden, protesting trucks; in +the beer-drinking booths; in the vast heaps of rubbish +and waste lying about in every direction; even to the +almost bestial type of man whose brain and muscle made +such a waste of industry possible. +</P> + +<P> +What Nature had left unfinished, man had surely completed +for her. Borga was repellent. Its life was ugly. +But ugliest of all was its purpose. +</P> + +<P> +Essen had been the greatest arsenal of all time. But +since the birth and maturity of Borga it had become as +a village compared to a capital city. Borga was the +mechanical soul of an empire. It was the iron heart of +an armored giant, upon which had been wantonly +lavished all the mentality and spiritual force of a nation +bankrupt in every other human feeling. +</P> + +<P> +The incoming vessel moved swiftly. Ahead lay a grey +breakwater which formed one wall of a small harbor. +An open channel clear of all shipping indicated its +purpose. It was obviously the official landing-place. +However, if the channel remained clear it was lined on +either side by a swarm of naval craft, much of which was +still in the hands of artificers; for here, no less than +ashore, the din of construction was going on and the +busy hive remained true to its purpose. +</P> + +<P> +The men on deck remained indifferent to their surroundings. +Familiarity left them free to give undivided +attention to their work. So the boat glided silently in +between the pierheads, and, in five minutes, was lying +against the landing-stage with a gangway run aboard. +</P> + +<P> +Two men emerged from the conning-tower and stepped +ashore, where a small group of uniformed officers were +waiting to receive them. Prince Stanislaus von Hertzwohl +led the way, followed by a younger man, whose +face was full of a keen intelligence, while his dark eyes +were those of a dreamer. Both were dressed in the +uniform of German naval officers, a uniform which +particularly seemed to suit the younger man's fair hair. +</P> + +<P> +But the Prince in Borga was a different man from the +inventor displaying his models. Here he was an autocrat—an +all-powerful, high officer in the work of the place. +Therefore, with a cold acknowledgment of the salute of +the junior officers, he passed them by and stepped up to +a man of elevated military rank, who, in the haughty +aloofness of his position, was standing well apart from the +others. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince addressed him with a cold sort of familiarity. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, Von Salzinger," he cried, "but you are a troublesome +people here. You give us no peace. We are +called to straighten out the muddles of Borga when our +time can be ill spared from our workshops. Let me +present my nephew, who is responsible for this damnation +light. Herr Leder von Bersac—the military governor +of Borga, Captain-General von Salzinger." +</P> + +<P> +The two men acknowledged the presentation, and +their eyes met in a steady, keen regard. Then the Prince +went on— +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, this light? Have your engineers no +thoughts in their heads but beer, or is it that they, like +the asses, have grown long ears? Come, we will go at +once. You can dismiss your ceremonial," he went on, +indicating the group of officers. "I have no time for +that. I am an engineer, as is my nephew. Besides, I +must leave here within the hour. I must be in Berlin +within two days and return to my works first. So——" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, Excellency," replied the Captain-General, +unbending before the man whom he believed through his +genius to be the most powerful influence in the country +at the moment. "But I think the fault is not with us—this +time. No doubt Herr von Bersac will be able to set +the matter right. But an hour is short." +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, so," cried the Prince, with irritation. "Then do +not delay. Lead us to the—place." +</P> + +<P> +Herr von Bersac, watching the scene with his dreamy +eyes, noted the attitude of the two men towards each +other. His uncle's manner was something of a surprise +to him. Nor could he help but realize the other's almost +slavish deference, as, in response to the older man's order, +he hastily moved off shorewards. +</P> + +<P> +The Governor was a typical Teuton. The broad, +square back of his head surmounted a thick, fleshy +neck. His blue eyes were deeply set in puffy sockets. +His cheeks were full, and the chin, below his bristling +moustache, was square and strong. His whole appearance, +in his brilliant uniform, was of cubist inspiration, +and, in spite of his high rank, and the suggestion of grey +about the temples of his close-cropped head, he could +not have been more than midway between thirty and +forty. These things Herr von Bersac noted with almost +unnecessary interest in spite of his abstracted air. +</P> + +<P> +But Herr von Bersac had not had a monopoly of observation. +While the Prince had been talking the military +governor's small, quick eyes had not been idle. He +had taken the nephew's measure to the last inch of his +great height. Such observation was his habit as well as +his duty. His position in the world's greatest secret +arsenal demanded that every visitor must be regarded as +a possible enemy until a due examination of his credentials +proved him otherwise. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince talked as they made their way to an execrable +road by crossing a narrow-gauge railway. They +skirted piles of debris almost as high as some of the +adjoining buildings. And the general impression left was +one of carelessness for anything but the work going on. +</P> + +<P> +"This place is the worst constructed in the world," he +declared, as he stubbed a toe against a pile of broken +concrete. "There is no system in it. Where is the system +for which we Germans are noted? It is gone, with +many other things, since the war. We think so hard for +the downfall of our enemies that we have no time for all +that system which has made our people the greatest in +the world. Ach! I hate Borga. I hate it more every +time I make my visit." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger laughed in his heavy way. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Excellency," he said, "the war has taught us +many things. We thought we knew it all. Through +that very system which was so great we wasted much +money and many years, for our enemies achieved almost +all which we had in less than two years. Now we work +against time. Our object now is no longer system, but—result." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad," observed the Prince with some acerbity. +"You will understand then why I can give you only an +hour." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency," deferred the other. +</P> + +<P> +He had no desire to add to his visitor's obvious ill-humor. +And there were other reasons for his attitude +than the mere fear of his power. He desired this man's +personal favor. When war broke out in 1914, before +the Prince had risen to his present power, he, Von Salzinger, +had been brought into contact with his daughter +Valita von Hertzwohl in the work of the Secret Service. +It had fallen to his lot to endeavor to utilize her in his +country's service. That his efforts had failed was not his +only disaster, for, failing to enlist her coöperation, he +had achieved her displeasure with himself. And her displeasure +had disturbed him more than the other. He had +fallen a victim to her charms in a manner which made +her displeasure something of a tragedy to his vanity. +But he was as vain as he was persevering, and with him +effort was a continuous process, and not spasmodic. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince hurried him through the wilderness of industry, +and the haughty military governor lost much of +his dignity in the scurry, and in his effort to pay deferential +attention to his visitor's incessant complaint. An +overwhelming clanging of machinery, intensified by the +dull thunderous boom of adjacent steam hammers, and +the machine-gun rattle of the riveting hammers, made +talk almost impossible. +</P> + +<P> +Herr von Bersac no longer displayed the least interest +in his companions. Since he had dropped behind them, +and was safe from Von Salzinger's observation, the +dreaming had passed out of his dark eyes. They were +alight with a keen interest, an interest almost excited, as +the wonders of the place revealed themselves to him. +But the works and their busy life had less effect than +other things. His whole mind seemed to be absorbed in +the direction of the water, and the numberless naval craft +lying at their moorings. And out of all these his searching +eyes selected one type, a type he could not miss, a +type which seemed to be prevailing. +</P> + +<P> +One of them lay so near inshore that he could observe +its every detail of outward construction. It was a curious, +ugly vessel of strangely vicious type. He recognized +it at once as of the submersible pattern of the vessel +he had arrived at Borga in. But it was so huge. It was +heavily armored, as it lay there in light draught, high +out of water, and on its deck, in place of the simple conning-tower +and surmounting periscope, there was a central +armored turret, while, fore and aft of this, two other +turrets bristled, each with a pair of 12-inch guns. He +had no time for a closer inspection as he was hurried +along, but he made a mental note that the vessel was a +submarine dreadnought, and that there were nearly fifty +other such vessels lying about at their moorings. +</P> + +<P> +He seemed fearful of concentrating his observation too +long in any one direction. A furtive backward glance +from the Governor promptly diverted his attention. It +almost seemed that he had no desire to invite Captain-General +von Salzinger's regard. No doubt he felt that, +though his uncle's nephew, he was still only admitted to +Borga on sufferance. +</P> + +<P> +Finally they approached a high-walled enclosure with +closed gates, and a line of sentries guarding its entrance. +Immediately he became absorbed in the German characters +of the large printed notice on the gates. The +notice was to the effect that all entrance to this place +without a Governor's permit was "verboten." +</P> + +<P> +He became alert and watchful. Doubtless being the +engineer responsible for the success of the new U-rays +lamp he felt that he must no longer permit his interest to +wander. He watched the square figure of the military +governor as he took the sentry's salute. He observed +the junior officer who promptly threw open one of the +massive gates. Then his whole attention became absorbed +in what he beheld as, with his companion, he +passed within the enclosure. +</P> + +<P> +It was a large dock. And moored at each of its three +sides was a submarine dreadnought of even greater dimensions +than the one he had seen mounting 12-inch guns. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince turned to him. +</P> + +<P> +"This, my Leder, is the place where we deal with the +things, the secret of which the world will never know, +but the effects of which one day our enemies will learn to +dread." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed with the satisfaction of anticipated triumph. +Then, as Leder von Bersac grunted out some unintelligible +acquiescence, he turned to the military governor +with a shrug. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, what will you?" he cried, in apparent disgust. +"He has no delight, no appreciation for these things. +He will think all day. He will work in his light-rooms +till he is nearly blind. All for the destruction of our enemies. +But joy? He does not know it. If you tell him +his work has slain a million of the enemy he will say he +can make it kill more. Himmel! Such joy!" +</P> + +<P> +Ludwig von Salzinger surveyed this enthusiastic product +with curious eyes. But he offered no comment, and +the Prince hurried towards the gangway, and led the way +aboard the nearest vessel. +</P> + +<P> +At the steel doorway of the armored conning-tower +he paused. His whole manner abruptly changed to one +of definite command. +</P> + +<P> +"If there should be a defect we will have the light unshipped, +and take it back with us, Leder," he said decidedly. +"You cannot work in the pandemonium of Borga. +It is only fit for the Captain-General's artillerymen, who +have ears of leather and brains of mud." Then he turned +upon Von Salzinger in a manner that permitted no doubt +of his purpose. "You doubtless have more pressing +duties, Herr Captain-General. Please do not consider +us. Our work is technical, and will have but little interest +for you. Besides, my dear Leder may have to examine +those secrets of the U-rays which even your chief +engineer is not admitted to. I thank you for conducting +us hither. You will leave word for our safe departure at +the gates." +</P> + +<P> +His dismissal came as a shock to Von Salzinger. But +more than anything his vanity was shocked. To feel +that this man had the power to dismiss him, here in +Borga, as he, Von Salzinger, might dismiss one of his +junior officers, was infinitely galling. But even more intensely +galling was the thought that this boor of a nephew +could calmly move about in Borga, penetrate its most +secret workshops, and probe the secrets which lay therein, +while he—he, the military governor—was ordered about +his business. +</P> + +<P> +There was no help for it. Prince von Hertzwohl had +given the order, and he must obey as though the order +had issued from the lips of the All High War Lord. He +bowed a short, square, resentful bow and stood aside to +allow Von Bersac to enter the conning-tower. But the +glance which followed the tall athletic form of the engineer +was no friendly one. +</P> + +<P> +He must obey orders. Well, so must everybody who +entered Borga—unless they were of higher rank than the +military governor. This young man could at least be +put to the indignity of the inquisitorial process of his +officials. And he knew how unpleasant their efforts +could be made. He promised himself this trifling satisfaction, +at least—when the Prince chanced to be out of +the way. It was certainly his duty that this young man +should go through the customary process which all visitors +at Borga were submitted to. +</P> + +<P> +He left the deck of the dreadnought as the Prince and +his <i>protégé</i> vanished down the steel companionway, and +passed out of the docks. Nor did he neglect to give the +necessary orders for his visitors' departure. After that, +however, he went straight to his headquarters. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the Prince, without the least hesitation, led +his companion along the steel passages, past the maze of +machinery which formed the bowels of the dreadnought. +At the extreme peak of the vessel was situated the light-room +of the U-rays, where they found four engineers at +work. +</P> + +<P> +The men saluted and stood by when they realized the +identity of their visitors, and the work of examining the +mechanism of the wonderful new submarine light at once +began. +</P> + +<P> +Von Bersac took small enough part in it. The Prince +at once became the engineer. The skill and deftness, +and the knowledge he displayed were incomparable. He +talked the whole time he was examining, finding fault +here, praising there, and all his talk was addressed to his +nephew as though he were the final authority. Von +Bersac remained the unenthusiastic creature he had appeared +before Von Salzinger, and kept to his attitude of +disjointed grunts. But his eyes were alert and apparently +comprehending, and when, in imitation of the other, +he examined any detail, there was a disarming conviction +about all his movements. Finally they tested the light, +and, after a number of tests, the Prince threw up his +hands in a gesture of almost ludicrous despair. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, Leder," he cried, "it is not the fault of these +good fellows. It is yours—yours and mine. It is a +month's delay at least, is it not so?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Bersac silently acquiesced. +</P> + +<P> +"A month of most valuable time," the Prince went on. +"See here," he cried, and went off into a world of technicalities +beyond even the comprehension of the skilled +engineers present. "It is to be regretted," he finished up +despairingly. "It must be taken down, and sent back to +us. But these, these,"—he laid his hands on two portions +of the delicate mechanism enclosed in polished brass +cylinders, through which the insulated cables passed—"we +will take these with us. They can be trusted in no +other hands." He turned to the chief engineer. "Take +these out without delay. Herr von Bersac will wait for +them, and convey them to my ship. There will be no +difficulty. Sever the cables here, and here," he added, +indicating spots which the engineer chalked where he was +to cut them. "Do not let any one handle them when +they are down, Leder. Bring them yourself." +</P> + +<P> +The tall figure of the Prince departed, and Leder von +Bersac remained while the engineers carried out the work. +</P> + +<P> +It was quite simple. There was no difficulty. The +Prince had made certain of this before he left his nephew +to wait for the two cylinders. But the men worked with +great care, for they knew that in those two simple brass +casings lay the vital secrets which were to transform the +submarine dreadnoughts from lumbering, groping sea +monsters into live, active, vicious creatures of offense. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was just within the hour when Leder von Bersac +passed out of the dockyard gates bearing the two brass +cylinders in his arms, and received the salutes of the +sentries. He remembered the method with which the +Captain-General had received them, and responded in +similar fashion. +</P> + +<P> +He passed on hurriedly in the direction of the landing-stage. +Twenty yards from the dock gates an expression +of doubt crept into his eyes, as he caught sight of a military +officer hurrying towards him from the direction of +what looked like a miniature fortress. +</P> + +<P> +However, he gave no sign. He continued his way. +He could already see the grey wall of the harbor ahead. +But the man was rapidly overhauling him, and, in Von +Bersac's mind, a calculation was going on as to whether +he could reach his uncle's vessel before the officer came +up with him. +</P> + +<P> +This calculation, however, did not prove to his satisfaction. +He knew he would be intercepted before he +reached his destination. And the thought strangely +disturbed him. +</P> + +<P> +Just as he was about to step on to the landing-stage the +officer reached his side and saluted. +</P> + +<P> +He spoke at once, and though his manner was perfectly +deferential, it was quite decided. +</P> + +<P> +"Will Herr von Bersac favor the Captain-General with +a visit at his headquarters before leaving? The Captain-General +requests that he will make it convenient—at +once. It is the formal matter of registering his visit to +Borga." +</P> + +<P> +The dark eyes of the tall engineer dwelt for a moment +upon the immobile features of the man before him. He +saw the authority of the military governor in the whole +swaggering pose of the man, and, for a moment, his firm +lips tightened. Then, as though by a great effort, overcoming +his reluctance for the waste of words, he displayed +an almost unexpected urbanity. +</P> + +<P> +"It will give me very great pleasure to wait upon the +Captain-General—at once," he replied. "It will be +necessary, however, for me to deposit these in our vessel—in +safety—before I do so." He indicated the cylinders. +"You will understand when I assure you they are the +most vital portions of our U-rays light. Perhaps you will +favor me with your company as far as the vessel?" +</P> + +<P> +The officer's pose underwent a slight change. His +manner became even less deferential. +</P> + +<P> +"My orders are—at once," he objected. +</P> + +<P> +Von Bersac's manner remained the same, but his dark +eyes looked straight into the other's. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so. Doubtless my uncle, Prince von Hertzwohl, +will exonerate you for the brief delay. He is on the boat +at this moment." +</P> + +<P> +The words were well calculated. The engineer had +thought rapidly and made his decision with lightning +celerity. He knew that he must reach the vessel lying +less than one hundred yards away. +</P> + +<P> +He had his reward, and a slight sigh of relief escaped +him. The military insolence had left the other's manner. +The mention of the Prince's name had created a modified +atmosphere. After all he was a mere Prussian officer accustomed +all his life to yielding to authority. He, like +every one else in Borga, knew that even the military +governor must yield to the authority of the Prince. +Therefore he yielded. +</P> + +<P> +"It will give me the greatest pleasure to—accompany +you," he said. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FRIENDLY DEEP +</H4> + +<P> +<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Prince Von Hertzwohl</SPAN> looked up from his bureau. +He was sitting in his stateroom, which was of some considerable +size, and opened out of the saloon. His ears +had caught the sound of a hasty entrance of the latter. +His luminous eyes were alert and questioning. The man +was completely changed from the simple inventor who +had told the story of his submersible to Sir Andrew Farlow +and his son. There was a restless, nervous tension +about him, altogether at variance with his customary +calm. +</P> + +<P> +He leapt from his seat. His thin, bent figure moved +almost electrically towards the door. The next moment +he had entered the saloon. The other side of the room, +and just within the entrance doorway, stood Ruxton Farlow, +still clad in his German naval uniform, and still bearing +in his arms the two brass cylinders. There was an +urgent look in his eyes, and, at the sight of it, the Prince's +question came sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" he demanded, with the imperiousness of +a man accustomed to high command. +</P> + +<P> +"Von Salzinger," replied Ruxton quickly. A laugh +followed his pronouncement. It was the laugh of a man +who is alive to the danger of a situation. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" The Prince's further enquiry was surcharged +with eagerness, and in broad contrast. +</P> + +<P> +"He demands my presence. I have to conform to +regulations and register my visit to Borga at—headquarters. +He has sent an officer to conduct me to him—at +once. The officer is awaiting me on the landing-stage. +The situation has possibilities." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's outward calm was not shared by his companion. +The Prince displayed his realization of the +necessities of the moment. His eyes were bright and +concentrated. Ruxton watched the emaciated features +with their crowning, upright white hair. There was an +ominous sparkle beneath the bushy brows. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw it in Von Salzinger's eyes when I sent him +off," the Prince said at last. "That is why I left you. +Had his order come in my presence, while ashore, it +would have been awkward. That is also why I left you +to bring those cylinders, and with instructions to bring +them straight here. I knew you would make this vessel +<i>with me on board</i>." He pressed an electric bell in the +panelling. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later a uniformed officer appeared. He +stood awaiting the Prince's commands. The latter +seemed absorbed in thought. Quite abruptly he broke +the silence with a series of sharp orders. +</P> + +<P> +"Send a man ashore at once, Captain Ludovic. +There is an officer waiting there with certain orders +from the Captain-General. Convey to him my compliments, +and ask him to step aboard as I wish him to +convey an important message to the military governor. +For yourself, you will stand-by. The moment he enters +the tower you will have the moorings cast off. Just keep +the boat held to the quay fore and aft by light lines which +can be released at a moment. When the officer reappears +you will, the instant he has passed ashore, clear the +gangway, cast off the light moorings, and full power +ahead out of the harbor. I do not know the effect of +my message on the military governor, but I expect he +will endeavor to stop me. This must not be permitted. +You understand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency." The man offered no further comment. +</P> + +<P> +"For the present that is all." +</P> + +<P> +The man saluted and retired. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that man a German, or a——?" Ruxton began as +the man disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +"He is a Pole." Then the Prince clasped his fingers +and bent them back, cracking the joints. It was an expression +of intense excitement. He laughed. "He hates +Prussians, and Von Salzinger is a Prussian." +</P> + +<P> +"The matter is going to be serious?" Ruxton's eyes +searched the smiling face of the Prince. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot tell—yet. Von Salzinger has given an +order that is about to be disobeyed. Von Salzinger +is a powerful force in Borga. Even I have no right to +disobey the military governor's regulations here, nor to +defy openly his orders. Von Salzinger may do anything. +Remember, he is a Prussian. One thing is certain, +he does not get you before his inquisitors. No, I +cannot tell what he will do. Ah, here comes our visitor. +Give me the cylinders." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince possessed himself of the cylinders and was +closely contemplating them when the youthful Prussian +officer appeared in the doorway. He was so intent upon +his study of them, tenderly handling their shining cases +with his long fingers, that he did not appear to observe +the officer's entrance, and, in gently modulated voice, +continued to address his pretended nephew. +</P> + +<P> +"You have, my dear Leder, committed the great fault +which belongs to your age. Practice and Principle +must ever go hand in hand. I do not know yet, of +course, but I fear you have let Principle get his nose +in front of Practice. It may mean much serious delay. +We will take these, and have them more fully tested, +and then——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off and looked up as an impatient clearing +of the throat announced the presence of the officer. In a +moment the cylinders were deposited on the table, and the +big eyes were beaming simple kindliness upon the visitor. +</P> + +<P> +"You have an order from the Captain-General, is it +not so?" he enquired blandly. +</P> + +<P> +The young Prussian pulled himself up with due regard +for his office. Just for a moment his conceit had been a +little overborne by the presence of the Prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency," he said, with a sharp return to his +military habit. "It is an imperative order that I conduct, +without delay, Herr Leder von Bersac——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, so!" exclaimed the Prince, his eyes suddenly +flashing and his whole manner absorbing all his recent +blandness in a quick-rising heat. "Does the Captain-General +think he can give his orders to men under the +command of Prince von Hertzwohl? Your Captain-General +has yet to learn. And those who serve under +him also. My nephew, Herr Leder von Bersac, is under +the command of his uncle, and no one else. Your Captain-General +knows that as well as I. The regulations +of Borga are no concern of mine. But when I visit this +pestilential place its manners are. Convey to your Captain-General +that the manners of Borga had best be improved. +I shall not visit here again until I have seen +that they are. You can go back, and tell him that I +leave at once, and that Herr Leder von Bersac has no +time to comply with any order issued by the military +governor of Borga." +</P> + +<P> +The tide of the Prince's anger was too swift for the +youthful Prussian's armor of official effrontery. He +came near to withering before it. It was only the understanding +of Von Salzinger's supreme command in Borga +that helped him to weather the storm. He waited one +moment to see if anything further was to be said, then, +under the stern eyes of the Prince, he saluted and departed, +darting up the companionway with hurried steps, +and made his way ashore to the telephone station on the +landing-stage. +</P> + +<P> +Had he paused to glance about him he might have +been surprised that the Prince's threat had been so +promptly put into execution. As it was he did not +notice even that the gangway followed him ashore, +almost immediately in his wake. But these things, +however they might have surprised him, were no real +concern of his. It was for him to report promptly to +the Captain-General, and make matters as safe as he +could for himself. +</P> + +<P> +By the time he reached the telephone station the vessel +was gliding silently from the landing-stage. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The throb of the powerful engines told Ruxton Farlow +all he wished to know. He sighed quietly, and it was the +outward expression of the relaxing of his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +He was smiling into the face of the man before him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +But the Prince had become curiously abstracted. His +eyes were on the cylinders in an unseeing contemplation. +Ruxton watched him thoughtfully after his monosyllabic +interrogatory. He was filled with not a little wonder at +the alertness of this man's mentality in a moment of crisis. +It was an almost confounding realization in the midst of +his early impressions of him. For himself he could not +see ahead with any degree of certainty. The Prince had +committed himself to a dangerous course in defying the +German Government's representative in the place, which +was the most treasured secret in the Teuton heart. He +judged that certain pursuit would follow, or at least armed +interference. Even with a power such as the Prince's, at +whatever cost, Von Salzinger must enforce obedience to +his order, or—— +</P> + +<P> +The Prince broke in upon his reflections. +</P> + +<P> +"It is good to defy a—Prussian. It did me much good. +But Borga is his nursery. He is its nurse. He must act. +I wonder—— Ach, if he should try to stop us I will see +him in the deepest pit of hell." +</P> + +<P> +He threw up his hands with his final explosion and in an +action of almost schoolboyish delight. Then he smiled into +the Englishman's face, half questioningly, half eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Between us and the open sea lie a hundred batteries +of heavy, compressed-air guns. One shell from any of +those guns could send us to the bottom, if it caught us at +the surface. Then there is the mined channel. We are +without a pilot. If we submerge the mines are thicker +still. For myself and my vessel I do not care. For +you?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"If I am caught and questioned I shall be shot. And +you, too, for bringing me here. A gambler's chance is +always attractive, even to a man who never gambles." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we amuse ourselves at the expense of our friend +Von Salzinger. When you are safe in England I will +forestall him in Berlin. I have no fear when you are—safe. +Let us go on deck." +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes later they were standing on the deck of +the submersible. They were standing at the rail, with +the conning-tower intervening between them and the +shore. They were the only souls visible on the deck. +The captain of the vessel was in the turret, but the crew +were all below. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton observed this at once, as he also observed that +the skylights were all sealed ready for submersion. +</P> + +<P> +"Your captain is ready for any emergency," he said, +indicating these preparations. +</P> + +<P> +But the Prince was searching the harbor side of the +shore with a pair of powerful glasses. +</P> + +<P> +Receiving no reply Ruxton permitted his attention to +wander over the rapidly passing panorama. They were +travelling very fast, and a great white wake was thrown +up behind them. The moored shipping dropped astern +of them at an almost incredible speed. Ahead he could +see the frowning narrows coming towards them shrouded +in their gloomy hood of mist, like the cowled skulls of +skeleton sentinels. But even such a threat was preferable +to the intolerable, sulphurous atmosphere they were leaving +behind. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no movement from the shore," said the +Prince presently, lowering his glasses. Then he passed +into the conning-tower to confer with his chief officer. +</P> + +<P> +In a few moments he returned. +</P> + +<P> +"He thinks it is the narrows where we shall be held up. +He says the Captain-General would not believe a Pole +would face that mine-field. Perhaps it is that he is right—Ludovic, +I mean. We will wait." Then he rubbed his +hands with absurd glee. "It is interesting." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was forced to smile. A delightful sensation of +excitement was growing within him again. He had told +himself that it was life or death, but the full significance +of his assurance had been powerless to possess him. He +had often dreamed of Death. He had imagined it in +almost every form. Nor, in his dreams, had it ever succeeded +in terrifying him any more than the thought of it +did now. +</P> + +<P> +No, the whole situation had contrived an impersonal +atmosphere for himself. He was looking on, watching a +great contest between the brain of this man, his courage +and soul, against the military rule and power of the +Captain-General Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +A low chuckling laugh broke upon his reflections. +</P> + +<P> +"It is an illustration," said the Prince, his eyes now +steadily fixed upon the jaws of the narrows ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"The test is even greater than I could have hoped. +We are an unarmed submersible merchantman. Such +as we have talked of. Here we are, under the enemy's +batteries—at war. We are carrying butter, hey? Butter +to your shores, in war time, in face of a blockade. Your +countrymen are starving for—butter. We must reach +them, and so save your country from destruction—with +butter." +</P> + +<P> +"Make it copper, Prince," smiled Ruxton. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! Yes, copper. It is very necessary in war time." +The Prince smiled in appreciation. Then he pointed +ahead. "But see, Ludovic is right." +</P> + +<P> +He was indicating a dark object moving towards them +on the water out of the gloomy shadows of the rocky +sentries of the narrows. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a patrol. Under normal conditions it would +gladly pilot us through the mine-field. Now it has no +such friendly desire." +</P> + +<P> +His regard became less smiling, and he relapsed into +silence. The dead flat water was thrown up into two +great wings as the patrol boat pressed on towards them. +</P> + +<P> +The excitement was more and more taking possession +of the Englishman. His faith in the Polish prince was +invincible. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall you hear what he has to say?" he enquired +presently, his breathing quickened in spite of an outward +calm. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince did not turn to answer, but his slight laugh +was full of quiet confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"Why waste time—valuable time?" he retorted whimsically. +"We are in a hurry to reach the open sea. No, +I do not listen to the Captain-General's commands to +me. He is my subordinate." Then he added with the +ingenuous subtlety of a schoolboy, "If I listened to the +order to stop, and refused to obey, I should commit myself +in the eyes of Berlin. No. Come below. It is +time." +</P> + +<P> +The patrol boat was less than four hundred yards +away, and travelling at a great pace. It was almost +within hailing distance. Ruxton could even count the +occupants at that distance. He was certain there were +six at least. The other patrol boat had contained only +two officers besides the engineer. The difference was +significant. +</P> + +<P> +He followed his host into the conning-tower and the +steel door was closed with a slam behind them. It +automatically sealed itself. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince's voice at the foot of the steel companion-ladder, +leading up to the chief officer's post, rang out +sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Submerge!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he turned to his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"We will go below. We will go forward, where +Ludovic will join us in a moment. I will show you that +which I hope may interest you. We have seen the last +of Von Salzinger and his command—for some time." +</P> + +<P> +The nervous energy of the Prince led Ruxton at a +rapid rate. They passed down the companion, and, +instead of entering the saloon, turned for'ard, down an +alleyway which took them past the moving steel bowels +of the vessel. The low purr of the great Diesel engines +fell pleasantly upon the Englishman's ears. There was +no hiss of steam. There was none of the clanging of +high-pressure mechanism. Just a steady, powerful throb +which vibrated throughout the length of the vessel's hull, +and told him of the enormous mechanical effort going on. +</P> + +<P> +They left the engine-rooms behind and passed by the +kitchens, to which very careful and elaborate attention +had been given. They left the quarters of the crew, +beautifully kept and equipped, and without a sign or +suggestion of that inferiority of appointment which is to +be found on all commercial vessels. They passed a +number of carefully disguised bulkheads, and finally came +to a doorway in a steel bulkhead which seemed to mark +the limit of the forward end of the vessel. The Prince +withdrew a key from his waistcoat pocket. He opened +the door, and both of them passed within. +</P> + +<P> +Once the door was closed he slid his fingers up the +steel wall in the darkness and pressed a switch. In a +moment the room was flooded with light, and Ruxton +blinked under its power as he gazed about him. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince was standing in front of him gazing half +smilingly at the expression of his face. He was seeking +that surprise which to his simple nature meant much +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was he disappointed. The moment Ruxton recovered +under the dazzling glare he realized that that +which he now beheld he had witnessed in the vessel at +Borga, whence he had brought the cylinders. This was +the U-rays room of the private submersible. It was—yes, +it was the U-rays in active operation. +</P> + +<P> +A question promptly sprang to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"But the light is perfect," he said. "There is nothing +wrong with it here?" +</P> + +<P> +He moved across the narrow triangular room to its +apex, where a great disc of magnifying glass, like a porthole, +came in direct contact with the water outside. He +stood for a moment peering out through it. The water +beyond was lit with a ruddy glow that left it extraordinarily +translucent. It was powerful, and seemingly the +power of the rays extended a considerable distance. But +though the water was thus lit it was not rendered transparent. +For some silent moments he gazed out, then a +shadow moved across the field of light—and he understood. +</P> + +<P> +He turned to the silent inventor. +</P> + +<P> +"That was a fish which crossed our bows," he said, in +suppressed tones which indicated something of his feelings. +"I think—yes, I understand. This light will reveal +any solid body ahead, any obstruction—mines, rocks, +any danger to progress." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince beamed his satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"The submersible need no longer be a blind lumbering +monster," he said. "The mine-field we are shortly going to +pass through is not the danger you may have anticipated. +The moment we have passed the patrol boat we shall rise +till our periscope is above water. Then we shall move +slowly. The helmsman will remain in the conning-tower, +but he will be controlled from here by—— Ah, here is +Captain Ludovic." +</P> + +<P> +The steel door was thrust open and the chief officer +entered the room. +</P> + +<P> +"The mines begin about sixty fathoms on, Excellency," +he said, with a brevity and utter lack of anything +approaching the servility one might have anticipated in +his relation to so powerful a master as the Prince. But +Ruxton understood. The Prince's simple nature demanded +nothing of that from those intimately associated +with him. Hence, perhaps, the devotion of those who +served him. "If you will forgive, Excellency, I will take +_sole_ charge here." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince turned to his guest with a laugh of genial +humor. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, my friend, we will leave the excellent Ludovic +to his work. We are dismissed." Then he turned to +the captain, who had taken his place at the forward porthole, +and had adjusted the telephone receivers over his +ears. He raised his voice so that the man could hear. +"Once clear of the last batteries, Ludovic, we travel on +the surface," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency." The man made no attempt to +turn from his watch upon the ruddy field ahead. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FUTURE +</H4> + +<P> +On the way back to the saloon a further truth began +to dawn upon Ruxton. Nor did he lose a moment in +challenging his host when they reached the luxurious +apartment. +</P> + +<P> +"You have brought those cylinders away. May I ask +why?" he enquired. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince had seated himself, and was in the act of +lighting a cigar. He desisted, and held his case out +towards his guest. Ruxton helped himself and waited. +</P> + +<P> +The other stared thoughtfully at the cigar which remained +poised in his lean fingers. Then he raised his +brilliant eyes, and the Englishman realized that the moment +of lightness, of almost schoolboyish delight at the +sense of danger had entirely passed. The eyes shone +passionately, and reminded him sharply of the expressive +eyes of the woman who had appealed for humanity with +him on the brink of the Yorkshire cliffs. +</P> + +<P> +"Why? Because I have convinced you of my submersible. +Because for that reason I have determined to +deprive the German Government of the use of my U-rays +for an indefinite period. Perhaps forever. Listen, there +is only one man knows that I have an installation of that +light on my ship besides ourselves, and that man is—Ludovic. +I have installed it with my own hands. The +installation on the submersible dreadnought which you +saw was the first effort in that direction, and the Government +believe it to be purely experimental. Well, the +experiment has—failed. That is all." He shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"But you will be forced to try again." +</P> + +<P> +"And it will fail—again. Ach, so! I would rather +unship my plant, and fling my models to the bottom of +the sea, where they may help to light up the world of +crabs, than that my Government should acquire one +single added threat against humanity." +</P> + +<P> +The next few moments were silently occupied in lighting +their cigars. Ruxton had no words with which to +answer him. He was thinking deeply, comparing this +man's attitude towards the country which claimed him +with his own feelings for his island home. He wondered +what his attitude would have been had their positions +been reversed; if he, as an Englishman, had been such a +power, through his discoveries, for aiding his country. +To his shame he was forced to the conclusion that this +white-haired Pole was a greater man than he could ever +hope to be. +</P> + +<P> +The difference between them lay in the difference +between a perfervid patriotism, and the Prince's overwhelming +love of humanity inspired by the abyss of +horror into which a blind devotion to his country had +flung him. This man had passed the great dividing line +where the uplifted spirit renounces the claims of earthly +passion in favor of the call of the voice of the soul. The +cause of humanity now dominated every other emotion. +Somehow his own fervor of patriotism suffered severely +by the comparison, and so he found himself with no +words in which to answer. +</P> + +<P> +The old man rose from his chair and passed into his +private stateroom. A few moments later he returned +with two rolls of papers, neatly secured by tapes and seals. +</P> + +<P> +He had closed the door. He was about to cross over +to his guest. But in a moment he was held rigid where +he stood. A dull boom roared out somewhere overhead +and vibrated down the entire length of the vessel. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes were wide and attentive. But there was no +fear in them. Ruxton started up from the lounge on +which he had been sitting. A thrilling excitement shone +in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it a—mine?" he cried sharply. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"There would be nothing of us left at this moment," +he said. "Wait! You can feel the steady throb of the +engines. No, it was a gun. It was a bursting shell from +one of the silent guns. They can see our periscope, and +are firing across us—to heave to. Hark! There goes +another." +</P> + +<P> +Again came a terrific detonation. But the vessel +ploughed on. +</P> + +<P> +"Presently they will fire to hit our periscope and make +us rise to the surface. Von Salzinger has gone further +than I had dared to hope." +</P> + +<P> +"Hope?" +</P> + +<P> +"He will pay for this with his position." +</P> + +<P> +"But if they hit our periscope?" +</P> + +<P> +The Prince shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"It will make no difference. We shall not rise till it +suits us. We have the light. Already we must be nearly +through the mine-field. Once we are through the mines +Ludovic could make the journey seawards blindfold." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince crossed over to his chair, and laid the +sealed rolls on the table beside him. He did not speak. +He was obviously listening. +</P> + +<P> +Presently another sharp explosion sounded overhead, +and his eyes lit. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I thought Von Salzinger would not resist it. +You see, he is a Prussian." He smiled, but his eyes had +lost their humor. "That was shrapnel," he went on. +"Its bursting is unmistakable. But he will not hit the +periscope." +</P> + +<P> +Again silence fell between them, and both smoked on +with every sense alert. There was another explosion +overhead. Then another and another. Still the vibrations +of the engines continued. The two waited some +time for the next explosion, but it was delayed. At last +the Prince rose from his seat and passed out of the room. +He was away for some moments. During his absence +Ruxton never stirred a muscle. His cigar had gone out. +He was still listening acutely. +</P> + +<P> +Finally the Prince returned, and Ruxton's eyes put +their question plainly. +</P> + +<P> +"We have completely passed the mine-field. We are +also completely submerged," said the Prince. "We need +no longer concern ourselves with Von Salzinger." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton drew a deep breath. He relit his cigar, while +the other seemed to dismiss the subject from his mind +entirely. The excitement of the escape had passed, and +with the passing of it, it had robbed him of all lightness. +His large eyes darkened, and a frowning of his bushy +brows gave him an appearance of depression. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton, watching him, wondered what next was to be +the display of this extraordinary creature. Nor had he +long to wait. +</P> + +<P> +"You have seen at—Borga?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"More—than I was prepared for, in spite of all you and +the Princess had told me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Tell me. Tell me about it." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton drew his feet up on the lounge. His dark eyes +were on the white-whiskered face of his host, but they had +become deeply introspective. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder how many years we have before it—comes." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps—ten." +</P> + +<P> +"Ten? Yes, I suppose so." The Englishman's eyes +were full of a deep pondering. "And then war. War +upon Britain alone. The rest of the world cajoled into +quiescence through self-interest, and the memory of the +horrors of the late war. Yes, a sudden and swift descent +upon our overseas commerce. The wholesale wrecking, +and terrorizing by slaughter. Every ship bound for our +shores must be captured or sunk. This must occur +simultaneously in all parts of the world. Then the complete +ringing round of these islands, and a naval warfare +against us with this new type of battle-ship, the submersible +dreadnought. From a naval point of view, with our +own submarine vessels, doubtless it is calculated that we +might hold our own. But meanwhile our islands would +be starved, and our country brought to its knees. All +our defences against submarine attack in the past would +be rendered useless by the U-rays light. It is certainly a +picture to intimidate the stoutest heart. And then? +What lies behind this? I can see it in your eyes that—there +is more behind it all." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince leant forward with that swiftness of action +which indicates a tumultuous stream of thought surging +to find expression. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, that is so. That is all so. But you are right. +There is more—much more," he cried, his lean hands +tenaciously grasping the polished arms of his chair. +"You have all talked world domination. You have all +vaguely known that that was Germany's object in the +last war, and in which she failed. No one knows better +than Germany why she failed. It does not need the +Englishman to remind her. Since then she has changed +her whole plans, and now they are more far-reaching than +ever. She has abandoned Napoleonic for the ancient +Roman methods. Germany, once she has wrested sea +power from Britain, will live in a state of war with the +whole world. The procedure will be an attack upon, and +annexation of, every small state in turn. And each small +state so acquired will pay its own bill. She will consolidate +each territory as she possesses it, and so long as +her war methods continue they will be bled white. So +she will build up in every corner of the earth, and in the +process she will prosper exceedingly, as did the great +Roman Empire. And throughout this reign of terror, +while the outward seeming of civilization will increase a +hundredfold, all spiritual life, and the culture of the +human soul, will go back some two thousand years. We +are this moment at the world's greatest crisis. One slip, +one wrong move, and the great structure of the human +soul will fall with a crash to the bowels of an abyss two +thousand years deep. For the moment every seeing eye +looks to Britain. For the moment, at this terrible crisis, +Britain alone stands a bulwark that can save the human +race from its tragedy. Salvation lies in the supremacy of +the seas, which, thank God, is still in the keeping of your +country. Britain must keep it. She must hold to it with +all the bulldog tenacity for which she is famous. She +must keep that mastery, not alone for her own security, +but for the security of the whole human race!" +</P> + +<P> +The man ran his lean fingers through his shock of white +hair. And the action was an expression of relief from +tension. A great light was shining in his eyes, a light +which told Ruxton Farlow of the hot soul burning within. +He knew, had known before, the truth of all this man had +just stated, and the corroboration of his own knowledge, +through the lips of another, fell with added weight. +</P> + +<P> +He shifted his position. The urgency of all that had +been said, all he had witnessed, now, as such things always +did, drove him to considerations which bore actively +upon the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said, without emotion, "you have drawn a +true picture. A picture which we, who care, have held in +our imagination ever since the signing of that disastrous +peace. Now I have witnessed for myself all that Germany +is preparing." He paused, in deep thought, and the other +waited anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us consider now the risks and dangers of the moment," +Ruxton went on again presently. He glanced up +at the ceiling. The artificial lights were still shining. +"We are still submerged. Therefore we are not yet in +the open sea. A very real threat still hangs over us—over +you. It will still hang over you when I am safely +landed on my Yorkshire coast." +</P> + +<P> +The shining light of the Prince's eyes was passing. +His interest was not in his own safety. He shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no danger for me. With Van Salzinger it is +different." +</P> + +<P> +"But you have broken the most vital of Borga's regulations. +<i>Can</i> the German naval authorities overlook +that? Will there be no question? Will you not be +forced to produce your nephew to be confronted by—Von +Salzinger?" +</P> + +<P> +A look of doubt crept into the old man's eyes, and +Ruxton knew that his warning had struck home. +</P> + +<P> +"That possibility had not occurred to me," he said, +with undisturbed simplicity. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments Ruxton watched him in silence. +</P> + +<P> +"How will you meet—that?" he demanded at last. +</P> + +<P> +The man shrugged again. +</P> + +<P> +"I must think of it. There will be a way." +</P> + +<P> +"Just so. There is a way, Prince," said Ruxton, suddenly +bestirring himself. "It is simple. Your real cause +is the cause of humanity. Why not defy the claims of +Germany? Abandon her, and yield your life to the cause +so dear to your heart. Will you not land on the Yorkshire +coast with me? A great welcome will await you. +And—your daughter—she is in England already." +</P> + +<P> +Having launched his appeal, Ruxton sat back in his +seat and waited with a tense patience. Vast affairs were +hanging in the balance, waiting upon the decision of this +man, who was perhaps the mechanical genius of the country +which claimed him. +</P> + +<P> +After a while the Prince slowly shook his head. And +the lack of impulse he displayed warned the other that +his decision was irrevocable. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said. "To do so would be to destroy all the +possibilities of the future for our cause. You will see. It +is equally simple. Were I to abandon my work for Germany +in the manner you suggest, they would know that +I had betrayed them—and their secrets. All we have +gained by the knowledge of their secrets would be lost. +Then—though it matters nothing to me, for I do not +value it beyond the help I can give to humanity—my life +would be destroyed as sure as day follows night. No. I +go back to my shops, and to my work. I will meet every +emergency as it arises. Should I fall to this man Von +Salzinger I can always beat the authorities, and—make +my escape." +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Then prepare from this moment for that escape. You +will have to make it. Of that I am equally—sure." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's eyes were smiling, but without lightness. +And the two men smiled into each other's eyes for some +silent moments. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince was the first to break the spell. It was +with a glance up at the skylight overhead. +</P> + +<P> +"See," he cried, not without satisfaction. "There +comes the daylight. We are on the high seas. All +danger is past." +</P> + +<P> +"Immediate danger," corrected Ruxton. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach, so. Yes, 'immediate.'" +</P> + +<P> +The old man turned to the two rolls of paper on the +table beside him. He picked them up and fondled them +tenderly with his long fingers. They were to him something +very precious, and—he was about to part from +them. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he held them out towards his guest. The +shining light had returned to his eyes. Again had +mounted to that splendid brain the hot desire to speak +from the bottom of his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Take them! Take them!" he cried passionately. +"They are my children. I give them for the world. +They must grow, and do for the world all that I have +dreamed of into their creation. They are the plans, +drawn and written in English by my own hands. No +eyes but mine have seen them, and there are no others +in existence. They are the plans of the U-rays light, +which, by taking from them the cylinders you brought +away, I have robbed Germany of the use of, and the +plans of this submersible. Safeguard them as you would +your life, and lose not a moment in forcing your slow +country to construct. We have agreed that you have +ten years, and in ten years you can do much, if you do +not let your country meanwhile sleep." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton took the proffered rolls and held them a moment +while his eyes rested introspectively upon the seals. +</P> + +<P> +"And the price?" he demanded, in a firm voice. +</P> + +<P> +"The price! Himmel, the price!" The Prince threw +up his hands in a gesture of dismay. "The price!" he +repeated. "The price when humanity stands at the +threshold of disaster! Ach! You are a true Englishman." +</P> + +<P> +He rose from his seat and moved hurriedly across to +his stateroom. At the door he paused and turned. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no price," he said, and his big eyes were +alight with a whimsical smile. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BACK AT DORBY TOWERS +</H4> + +<P> +Sir Andrew had listened patiently. His had been +the grave attitude of a man impressed beyond mere +words of agreement or understanding. His reading +glasses had been thrust aside. His grey head was inclined +towards his clasped hands, and his broad chin +found support upon them. His whole poise was of the +closest attention. +</P> + +<P> +"It's like a—fairy-tale," he said at last as Ruxton's +story came to an end, and the deep, calm tones of his +voice died out. +</P> + +<P> +"Or a—nightmare?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ye-es." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew swung round in his ample library chair +and faced his desk. It was the movement of a man +stirred out of his customary calm. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton watched his father closely from his seat on the +settle under the mullioned window. He was seeking the +effect of his story upon a man whom he knew to be typically +British at heart. He had seen it all, had experienced +it all. His father had not. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Sir Andrew faced him again. +</P> + +<P> +"Now your—purpose," he demanded, with the air of +crisp business. "You would set out to revolutionize +our mercantile marine by the adoption of this—submersible." +</P> + +<P> +"As rapidly as is compatible with commercial interests." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean that we are to take the entire risk of the +success of this new departure?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is our contribution to our country's cause." +</P> + +<P> +Then Ruxton drew a deep breath. He sat up, and his +words came swiftly, passionately. +</P> + +<P> +"There must be no hesitation, Dad. The submersible +will be no failure. You must see this thing with my +eyes, you must understand it with my understanding. +What I would do is to take upon ourselves this first +burden in the cause of patriotism. We must take the +lead, cost us what it may. If the thing is a failure, then +we are so much the poorer in this world's goods, but we +shall have wrought honestly in the cause of our country. +If it is the success I am sure of, then our gain is twofold. +But even if the latter is fulfilled beyond my expectations +it is not going to be the easy thing it looks. Listen. +Hertzwohl believes that he can completely cover his +tracks. I am just as certain that he cannot. Germany +will discover the betrayal of her secrets. She will punish +the offender in the complete manner of which she is +so great a mistress. Then, by every art and wile of +which she is capable, by every ruthless persistent purpose +for which she is renowned, she will strive to undo +the harm already achieved. We shall not be left to +peaceful construction, if my understanding of the situation +is correct. We may have to face even personal attack +upon our lives and upon our ship-yards. It is with +ideas of this sort running through my mind that I intend +to lay the whole matter before the Cabinet. I intend to +secure Government patronage and protection for this +scheme. It is the only means by which we can hope to +meet the attack which I am convinced will be forthcoming +from our country's enemies. It is a lot to ask of you, +Dad, at your time of life. Did I not know the great +strength of your character, and the extreme loyalty you +possess for our country, I should have shouldered the +whole of this burden myself. As it is I know that with +all your spirit you would have resented such a course. +Therefore I lay it before you." +</P> + +<P> +The older man made no attempt at agreement or +denial. He sat drumming his fingers upon the edge of +his desk while his keen eyes twinkled in his boy's direction. +He understood the earnestness of the idealist. He +saw the purpose in every line of the strong young face. +He appreciated the perfect poise of the keen, fresh intellect. +And for the moment his mind went back to the +glimpse of Paradise which had been his during the brief +period of his married life. This son of his was that +splendid Russian woman over again, and he was glad. +But when he spoke his manner had undergone no +change from his crisp business practice. +</P> + +<P> +"You would have us build——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Two vessels of three thousand tons each and incorporate +them with our coastwise fleet. Then two +deep-sea craft of say six thousand tons. I would lay +these down at once. Once their success is proved the +plans can be laid open to all our shipping world. +When the time comes the Government must be induced +to foster the new construction by subsidy, and by every +other means in its power. But in the first instance we +alone must bear the burden and all it involves. If disaster +should overtake our efforts our justification remains. +The days of Britain's pre-war ineptitude are so +recent that even an active progressive failure would be +a matter scarcely to be deplored. We must convince the +world of the sincerity of our convictions, and, to do that, +we must, if need be, risk our entire fortune. The danger +we know lies ahead. In Britain it is useless to tell of it. +Only our own actions can speak and carry convictions. +It is our plain and simple duty to put our all into this +thing. If it should bring us disaster or even simple +ruin, I tell you, Dad, I would rather spend the rest of +my life in honest rags, with the knowledge that my +substance has been absorbed in an endeavor to help +my country, than claim this beautiful home of ours as +a view-point from which to watch the triumph of our +country's enemies." +</P> + +<P> +"Ye-es." +</P> + +<P> +The twinkling eyes of Sir Andrew developed a smile +upon his rugged Yorkshire features. But it was a smile +of sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"The most thoroughly unbusinesslike transaction I +was ever asked to countenance," he observed drily. +"This sort of thing, as you have suggested, has come +rather late in my life. But it only makes me regret my +years. But tell me again of this man. His genius, his +curious attitude of mind have left me rather breathless. +This sort of thing in a German——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Pole. There is not a drop of German blood in his +veins." Ruxton caught eagerly at the opportunity of the +man's defence. "His attitude, his personality, has left +you no more breathless than it has left me. Dad, I have +spent nearly a week in his company, a week spent in contact +with the greatest mind it has ever been my good +fortune to encounter. Nor do I think the mind is greater +than the soul. Oh, yes, I know what the unthinking +would say. They would think and speak of treachery. +They would spurn the creature who could betray the +country which claims him, the country which has bestowed +wealth and rank upon him. They would talk of +loyalty and honor, and so, in their shallow way, prove the +vile thing he must be. But I tell you there is something +terrible in the demand for allegiance to a country whose +sole aim is conquest in every phase of life; not the peaceful +conquest which springs from the higher intelligence +and purity of soul, but the brutal conquest of bloodshed, +rapine, and terror. The man who can detach himself +from the commonplace understanding of honor, the man +whose courage is such that he dares to outrage such +understanding in the cause of humanity, is something approaching +my understanding of a demi-god. If Prince +von Hertzwohl is a traitor, then I would gladly be branded +in a like manner." +</P> + +<P> +The father permitted nothing of the effect of the idealist's +words any expression. But he was not the less affected +by them. However, he still bent all his mental force upon +the practical side of the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"And you believe this man's life will pay for his—for +what he has done?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am certain of it." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew drew a deep breath. The assurance carried +conviction. +</P> + +<P> +"I am so certain," Ruxton added, "that I offered him +shelter here." +</P> + +<P> +"He accepted?" +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary—he refused." +</P> + +<P> +His father's manner softened. +</P> + +<P> +"His courage is almost—tragic." +</P> + +<P> +"Or sublime." +</P> + +<P> +"When were the preparations at this Borga begun?" +Sir Andrew asked a moment later. +</P> + +<P> +"During the war." Ruxton gave a short hard laugh. +"Borga was purchased to be used as an alternative base +for submarine construction in case Kiel and Cuxhaven +should be raided from the sea. Germany, even then, was +looking far, far ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +For a few silent moments Ruxton's father continued to +drum his fingers upon the desk before him. Then his keen +eyes were raised again unsmilingly to his son's face. +</P> + +<P> +"And the price? What price does he demand for these +plans?" he enquired sharply. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's eyes levelled themselves at his father's. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no price." +</P> + +<P> +The old man's busy fingers became suddenly still. +</P> + +<P> +"No—price?" +</P> + +<P> +"None. They are a gift—in the cause of humanity." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew ran his strong fingers through his snowy +hair. A whimsical smile began to possess his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"You have left me more convinced than I had thought +possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Of the danger?" +</P> + +<P> +"No—of the man." +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad." +</P> + +<P> +"In England, as elsewhere, humanity is generally helped +at our neighbor's expense." +</P> + +<P> +A flash of disapproval leapt into the younger man's +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"If I did not know better, Dad, I should take you +for——" +</P> + +<P> +"A cynic," broke in his father. Then he went on explosively. +"Believe me, boy, I <i>am</i> a cynic where our country's +splendid character, as depicted in song and verse, +and the ha'penny press, is concerned. On the subject of +our national characteristics the late war was enough to +break the heart of the veriest optimist. As far as I can +see only two things stood the test of that fire. The +fighting power of our people and our naval record. For +the rest, for the men whose duty it was to supply the moral +support, well——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off and leant across the desk and picked up +the telephone receiver. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" he called. "That you, McGrath? Good. +Have you examined those——? Yes. Can you come +up and talk to us about them at once? Yes. Very well. +Please do so." +</P> + +<P> +He replaced the receiver and turned about. His keen +eyes were regarding his son affectionately. There was +pride in them, too. His only son represented the whole +of his life's interests and ambitions. +</P> + +<P> +"You have most of your life before you. Most of mine +is behind me. You, my boy, have been brought up, as +far as was possible to me, in all the simple, beautiful beliefs +which belonged to your dear mother. I was brought +up to the hard life of commercial competition, and all the +moral looseness which that implies. As time goes on I +fear many of your splendid temples and shrines will be +shattered. This must be so, and it is right. With the +passing of youth you will gain a true perspective of +human worth. And when that perspective is attained, if +I have any understanding of my own son, he will not be +unduly affected by it. That perspective is already mine, +I believe, and, since I am first and foremost a commercial +man, you will forgive me if I reduce my understanding to +mere percentages. With exceptions, of course, I have +found that human nature's sense of duty is made up of +about 75 per cent. of regard for itself, 24 per cent. of regard +for the duties of other people towards life, and about +1 per cent. of the milk of human kindness. So that—— Ah, +here is McGrath." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew turned sharply from the amused gaze of +his son to the newcomer. Ian McGrath was a powerfully +built Scot. The sense of strength was displayed in almost +every detail of his appearance. In his short, +bristling, iron-grey hair, his extremely decided, plain +features; the deep-set eyes, the long nose; the hard +mouth, and harder chin and jaw. Even his build and his +gait were loud in their assertion of his normal characteristics. +The broad, lean shoulders, and generally loose-limbed +body was propelled swiftly and alertly at all times. +</P> + +<P> +He had thrust his way in without heralding his coming, +and he came swiftly towards his employer's desk. +His position as chief engineer and marine architect to the +Farlow, Son and Farlow Line at Dorby left him upon an +extremely intimate footing with the heads of the firm. +</P> + +<P> +But just now his manner was even more confident than +usual. There was a light almost of enthusiasm in his +usually cold eyes. He paused at the desk and deposited +the rolls of drawings he had in his hands upon the table. +Then his eyes turned upon the recumbent Ruxton, and, in +a moment, came back almost defiantly to his white-headed +chief. +</P> + +<P> +"They're the most exquisitely drawn plans I've ever +seen, Sir Andrew," he said, in a peculiarly metallic voice. +"If I believed in genius I'd say they are the work of +one." +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, McGrath," said Sir Andrew pleasantly. +"We've got to have a talk." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. McGrath promptly deposited himself in the nearest +chair, and again his questioning eyes passed from one to +the other of his employers. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew drew the plans towards him and idly turned +over the sheets and tracings. He was not considering +them. He was thinking. Thinking rapidly, as was his +habit when engaged upon the work of his enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +"This boat has been built and tested. So has the light. +Mr. Ruxton has travelled in a two-thousand-ton boat of +this description for nearly a week. He has witnessed the +light in operation." +</P> + +<P> +McGrath's eyes were turned half enviously upon Ruxton. +There was something bordering upon incredulity in +them, too. +</P> + +<P> +"Then they are not some crank's—dreaming?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." Sir Andrew raised his eyes from the drawings, +and their unemotional light held the engineer's. +</P> + +<P> +"These plans are for a two-thousand-ton boat. You +will put your department on them and increase the tonnage +to three thousand, approximately. When you have +completed the plans we will lay down the keels of two +vessels of that size and proceed with construction with all +speed, and—<i>in absolute secrecy</i>. So imperative is the +latter that no precaution is too great to take. We will +go into other matters later on." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew's manner was a dismissal, and the +engineer rose to depart. He was accustomed to the +ship-owner's brevity, and it suited his own ideas of things. +But Ruxton detained him. He, too, had risen from his +seat. +</P> + +<P> +"One moment, McGrath," he said quickly. "There is +danger—personal danger in this work. It may even be a +matter of life and death to—all concerned. We shall +probably have no peaceful time over this thing. I expect +that every means—even force—will be used to—wreck us. +It is only right to tell you. Shall you be—willing to +undertake it in the circumstances?" +</P> + +<P> +The engineer regarded him keenly. Then his hard +mouth relaxed, and he seemed to lick his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"This danger. Where does it come from?" +</P> + +<P> +"Germany. The German Government." +</P> + +<P> +The Scot's eyes lit. His face contorted, and he gave a +short hard laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm more than willing," he said briefly. Then, with a +curious unconcern for the warning, he turned to the drawings +and gazed down at them affectionately. "Man, but +they're beautiful. Did you—get them, Mr. Ruxton?" +</P> + +<P> +There was no mistaking the implication. +</P> + +<P> +"They are not stolen, McGrath," said Ruxton quietly. +"At least not in the manner you are thinking. They +were given to us by the inventor, whose property they +were. But—they represent one of Germany's most +treasured secrets." +</P> + +<P> +The Scot nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine," he said, and the ring in his voice left the two +men more than satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew smiled in his most genial fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"Good," he exclaimed. "I shall be free in half an +hour, McGrath. We'll go into details then. Thank +you." +</P> + +<P> +The engineer departed as hastily as he had appeared, +and Ruxton dropped back into his seat. His father was +still contemplating the plans. +</P> + +<P> +At last he spoke without looking up. +</P> + +<P> +"We are committed to it," he said. Then: "I +wonder." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton sprang to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad—glad." +</P> + +<P> +Then he moved round and stood gazing out through +the leaded window, and his thoughts went back to the +beautiful creature who on that one memorable night upon +his beloved Yorkshire cliffs had first opened the doors of +Life to him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +KUHLHAFEN +</H4> + +<P> +The old fortress of Kuhlhafen stands a milestone on the +path of Time. Its vast walls have endured and survived +the ravages of a thousand storms driving in off the sea. +Its gloomy might still rears itself silhouetted against the +grey skies of the Baltic upon its lofty setting of wood-clad +hills. Its dull, unlit eyes still gaze down upon the broad +waters of the shallow, silted harbor from which it takes +its name. And with it all it haunts the primitive mind of +the simple fisher folk beneath its shadows with the grim +romance of the days of martial barbarity which have endured +within its walls. +</P> + +<P> +No one would have associated modern significance +with this survival of the ages. Yet it was sedulously +kept in repair. It still retained its splendid furnishings, +and all the relics of its antiquity. Furthermore, all the +invention of modern days had been applied to add to its +convenience. And it was solicitously cared for by the +retainers of the princely house to which it belonged. +</P> + +<P> +The peasants of Kuhlhafen knew every detail of its +history. Its martial story was part of their lives. Oh, +yes. The information was handed down from father to +son, and was told with all that care for fantastic detail in +which the primitive mind never fails to indulge itself. +</P> + +<P> +The owner? Of course. It was Prince Frederick +von Berger. Did they not have to pay for the tenancy +of their miserable hovels to his steward, who lived in the +castle itself? Oh, yes. He was a great man—a very +great man. This was only one of his estates, and one +which he never visited. One could not blame him. It +was scarcely attractive to a man who owned a palace in +Berlin. Then the storming of the cruel Baltic, which +robbed them of comrades every year. Who would live +on its bitter, desolate shores unless tied there by the stress +of existence? No, he never came, they would tell the +enquirer with a shrug. A man who enjoyed the friendly +patronage of the supreme War Lord had no call to visit +Kuhlhafen, even though the whole of the countryside belonged +to him. +</P> + +<P> +This was the spoken attitude of the people towards +their over-lord. Maybe, deep in their hearts, other feelings +prevailed. But these poor folks had been bred to +the discipline of an iron Prussian rule, and it is just possible +that they had no power to think or feel otherwise than +authority taught them. +</P> + +<P> +But had these simple fisher-folk been less absorbed in +the struggle for their frugal existence; had they sufficient +initiative to go seek out information for themselves; had +they, in fact, been human rather than Prussian peasantry, +they might have discovered that their over-lord was a +different person from the ease-loving creature of wealth +they so fondly supposed. +</P> + +<P> +They would indeed have found that it was by no means +his habit to spend idle days in the gilded courts of Berlin. +On the contrary, it seemed suspiciously as if it were his +lot to have to work very hard indeed. Work which even +the cleverest amongst the fishers could never have hoped +to achieve. +</P> + +<P> +Frederick von Berger was by no means an ordinary +man. Amongst even his intimates he was something of +an enigma. These knew that he occupied an exalted +position in official life. They knew he was on the best +of terms with the Supreme War Lord. This was all +patent enough. But the nature of his work was doubtful. +His name never appeared in the official lists, although +it was understood that he was entitled to the rank +of "General" placed before his name. Nor did he attempt +to offer the least enlightenment on the subject. +</P> + +<P> +But then he was a silent, even morose, man. He was +harsh; a man devoid of any lighter side to his nature. +There were even some who looked upon him as a sort of +restless evil spirit whom it was very much best to avoid. +But, like most men of genuinely strong purpose, public +opinion left Frederick von Berger cold. He came and +went as it suited him quite regardless of anything but his +own objects, and he never failed to avail himself of every +ounce of the power which the favor of the German monarch +endowed him with. +</P> + +<P> +Kuhlhafen, however, was not kept up in its present +condition without having uses in its princely owner's +scheme of things. Although the humble fisher-folk remained +in ignorance of anything that went on within its +austere precincts, it was not so much abandoned by their +over-lord as they believed. +</P> + +<P> +Thus it was that, one night, long after the village had +been wrapped in slumber, a powerful automobile, with +blazing head-lights, flashed through its single main street, +and passed on up the heights towards the dour silhouette +above. Later, a second automobile passed over the same +route. And, with the coming of the second car, there was +a tumult of bustle raised amongst the resident staff at the +castle. +</P> + +<P> +Later on still, there was even a stranger happening. +A single white eye flashed out its searching rays from +the sea and settled its focus upon the castle. Then, as +though satisfied with its inspection, it turned its gaze upon +the surface of the restless waters, and discovered a small +motor-driven boat heading towards the fishing-quay of +the village. Then, as though in answer to a signal, the +blackness of the castle hill was lit by a pair of eyes less +dazzling than the eye from the sea, and an automobile +made its way towards the quay for which the little sea-boat +was heading. +</P> + +<P> +The great secret council-chamber of Kuhlhafen possessed +all the air of a dungeon or crypt. It suggested +no other for its original purpose. But as long as the +present house had ruled within its walls this great underground +apartment had been known as the secret council-chamber. +It was probably the oldest portion of the whole +castle, for it certainly dated back to the days somewhere before +the earliest occupation of the territory by the Romans. +</P> + +<P> +One or two significant additions had been made since +the great dungeon had been converted to the dignity of +a council-chamber. Down the length of the low-roofed +hall, between the central aisle of piers supporting it, a long +iron-bound oaken table filled up the major space. This +was flanked by a number of leather-seated chairs belonging +to a similar period, and of equal crudeness of manufacture. +</P> + +<P> +Table and chairs formed the complete furnishing of +this dreary apartment, whose only beauty lay in the +simple antiquity of its architecture and the characteristic +chiselling of the grey piers which supported its +quartered roof. For the rest, in the dim recesses beyond +the rays of the lamplight on the table, there were +to be found the wrought-iron sconces upon the walls, +which had once doubtless served to support the light of +blazing torches. And further, still more remote from the +light, lost in the dusky corners, were an array of instruments +which had survived the years, and whose evil purpose +there could be no mistaking. +</P> + +<P> +At the head of this long table sat a man with almost +snow-white hair and a moustache of similar color, carefully +trained with a sharp, upward turning of the pointed +ends. His was a handsome face of considerable refinement. +But it was deeply lined, even beyond his years, +and the thin lips, drooping markedly downwards at the +corners of his mouth, gave his whole expression something +of tragedy. +</P> + +<P> +On his right, at the side of the table, the single lamp-light +shining full upon his harsh features, sat Frederick +von Berger, the absolute antithesis of the man at the +head of the table. Here was cold strength and even +ruthlessness, not one whit less than the harsh surroundings +of the council-chamber in which he sat. The cold +eyes of the man possessed not one single lurking shadow +of warmth. He was perhaps forty-five, and the iron +mould of his plain features, and the tremendous air of +physical strength about his body, all added to the impression +that here was the direct descendant, untempered +with the blood of gentler races, of those savage +forbears who had wrested place and power for themselves +from amongst their people by the sheer weight +of the sword. +</P> + +<P> +These two men had remained seated in conference for +some time. The manner of the man at the head of the +table was silent, even morose. Frederick von Berger +did most of the talking, and this fact, combined with +his marked air of deference, gave some indication that his +guest was some one of extremely unusual importance. +</P> + +<P> +After a while Von Berger rose from his seat and was +swallowed up in the shadowy remoteness of the room. +His companion remained seated, leaning back in his +chair, gazing after him with deep, cold, introspective +eyes. His preoccupation was marked, and the drawn +lines of his handsome face gave some clue to the importance, +and even urgency, of his visit to these outlands +of northern Prussia. +</P> + +<P> +When Von Berger returned he was accompanied by +another, who, as he came within the radiance of the +lamp, revealed the angular, erect figure of the Captain-General +of the great arsenal of Borga. The moment +he came within view of the solitary figure at the head +of the table he halted abruptly in perfect military salutation. +His whole attitude underwent a marked and +deferential change. His usual air of arrogant authority +seemed to have dropped from him like a cloak. It was +a perfect example of the effect of the Prussian system. +</P> + +<P> +The man at the table nodded faintly. It was the +signal Von Berger and his companion awaited. They +approached. Von Berger took his original seat, but +Von Salzinger remained standing. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger waited. Then the man at the head of the +table bestirred himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on," he said sharply. And at once the Prince +turned upon the Captain-General. +</P> + +<P> +"The complaint is a serious one, Herr Captain-General. +It is so serious, and affects such deep interests, +that, as you see, it is deemed inadvisable to place +it before a military tribunal. But it is also felt that +the complaint in itself is not all; that there is other +matter of even greater importance lying behind it. +Thus you have been summoned to make your explanations—here." +</P> + +<P> +The cold eyes of the man were turned from Von +Salzinger upon a document lying on the table. Just +for a moment his hard voice ceased from stirring the +echoes of the vaulted chamber. But it was only for a +moment. The next he was reading from the paper before +him. +</P> + +<P> +"It appears that on Prince von Hertzwohl's last visit +to Borga, when he was conveying thither his relative, +his most important engineer, for the rectification of certain +defects in his new light, you displayed towards him +the gratuitous discourtesy of refusing the Prince's guarantee +of his relative, and sought to submit the man to +the interrogatory customary where there is some doubt +of a visitor's credentials. The Prince, somewhat naturally, +refused to submit to such an indignity, and left the +arsenal. Whereupon you persisted in your attitude, and +even went so far as to endanger the Prince's valuable life +by opening the secret batteries upon his vessel—a course +which was utterly unwarranted in view of the Prince's +identity and position. It is necessary that you should +now state your story of this affair without any reservations." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-160"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-160.jpg" ALT=""The Complaint is a Serious One."" BORDER="2"> +<H4> +"<SPAN CLASS="scaps">The Complaint is a Serious One.</SPAN>" +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Von Berger's charge was coldly formal. It was also +distinctly threatening in its final pronouncement. The +arrogant Von Salzinger was bitterly forced to the reflection +that he might expect small enough mercy if he +failed to convince with his explanation. That which +disturbed him more, however, was the identity of at least +one of the men to whom he must explain. He had +counted on a military tribunal, where his rank and the +nature of his office would count. He felt that these +things would by no means count here. +</P> + +<P> +But he dared not display any misgiving. He knew +the value of promptness and brevity, with, at least, one +of his audience. So he replied— +</P> + +<P> +"In every detail the complaint is accurately outlined. +But it avoids entirely Prince von Hertzwohl's offence." +</P> + +<P> +"Offence?" +</P> + +<P> +The interrogation came sharply from the man at the +head of the table, who was almost lost to Von Salzinger's +view behind the bulk of the oil-lamp which lit the scene. +</P> + +<P> +"It was his right, just as it would have been your right, +sir," Von Salzinger replied daringly, "to submit to the +discipline of the place, a discipline which has been ordered +by those who have a right to order such things. The +complaint must come after obedience, not after open +defiance of Berlin's most imperative orders. That is the +case of Prince von Hertzwohl. I could not have acted +otherwise than I did in the interests of our greatest of all +State secrets." +</P> + +<P> +The man at the head of the table nodded in seeming +approval at the robust vindication. Von Berger gave no +sign. His eyes never left the angular figure of the Captain-General. +</P> + +<P> +"But you threatened his life—by your action in the +matter." Von Berger's words came without emotion. +The hard eyes were unchanging. +</P> + +<P> +"I submit that it had been better for the State had I +more than threatened it." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you mean, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +The man at the head of the table was sitting up. His +eyes were angrily alight. +</P> + +<P> +For a second Von Salzinger flinched before this display. +He recovered himself swiftly, however. He knew he +dared not lose a second in such a crisis. +</P> + +<P> +"Your pardon, sir, if my manner should seem rough. +I feel strongly. If a man in Von Hertzwohl's position +refuses to obey the laws he is fully cognizant of, then, I +say, he has reason—grave reason for so doing." +</P> + +<P> +"You imply?" +</P> + +<P> +Again it was the question of the man at the head of the +table. +</P> + +<P> +"He dared not have his—nephew interrogated, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"And if he dared not?" It was still the same speaker. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"There can only be one interpretation, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean—betrayal of Borga's secrets." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The man at the head of the table turned to Von Berger +with a smile that never reached his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him," he said imperiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Your contention loses all its apparent force in the light +of—facts," said Von Berger coldly. "Agents have been +set to work upon the matter. From the moment of Von +Hertzwohl's complaint, in justice to you as Borga's commandant, +the closest secret enquiries have been made. +On the occasion of Hertzwohl's visit to your command his +nephew did accompany him. This nephew is certainly +his most trusted engineer, and is the actual inventor of +the U-light. There is no shadow of doubt about these +matters. Your suspicions are groundless and cannot be +accepted in your defence." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger was taken aback at the concise refutation +of his carefully elaborated suspicions. He began to +see the fabric he had constructed tumbling about his ears. +He had been the victim of his own spleen, he knew, and +his suspicions had had no sound foundation. +</P> + +<P> +He stood flushed and silent. Then the man at the head +of the table unconsciously came to his rescue. +</P> + +<P> +"Show him," he briefly ordered Von Berger. +</P> + +<P> +The latter picked up a photograph—a mere rough print—and +handed it to the troubled Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +"That is Herr von Bersac, the Prince's nephew. It was +taken three days ago, without the man being aware of it. +That is the man who visited Borga with his uncle." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger had taken the picture in his hands, and +his eager eyes scrutinized it carefully. A moment later +he handed it back, and an intense look of triumph had +replaced the embarrassment of a moment before. +</P> + +<P> +"That is not the man to whom Von Hertzwohl displayed +the secrets of Borga. It is not the man I sought to +have interrogated. The man who posed as Hertzwohl's +nephew was a tall man of magnificent physique. Not +slim like that youth. He was a man of nearly forty, with +fair, curling hair and dark eyes, and the face and general +figure of an—Englishman." +</P> + +<P> +"Englishman?" +</P> + +<P> +The man at the head of the table started up. The passionate +hatred flung into his echo of the other's word sent +a wave of rejoicing through Von Salzinger's heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I am morally certain, sir," he added. +</P> + +<P> +Quite abruptly Von Berger had become completely +thrust into the background. The other had taken entire +possession of the scene. He began to pace the stone-flagged +hall with hasty, uneven steps. +</P> + +<P> +"If I thought it could be so," he cried, with a sudden +wave of intemperate heat. "Oh, if I believed it were!" +He raised one clenched fist above his head and shook it +in dire threat. The other arm remained unmoved at his +side. The passionate eyes were flashing a cruel, almost +insane fire as he strode the echoing stones. The others +were held in appalled silence in face of his paroxysm. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment he turned fiercely upon the Captain-General, +standing beyond the table. There was no longer +any dignity or restraint in him. The hectoring nature of +the man was caught in the passion of the moment, and +his innate brutality must find an object upon which to vent +itself. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you, if the secrets of Borga have been betrayed +there shall be such a reckoning as shall stagger our country +from end to end. From the highest to the lowest +those responsible shall pay to the uttermost. Of all the +world—an Englishman! Gott in Himmel, it is unthinkable!" +</P> + +<P> +He glared for a silent moment into the abashed face of +Von Salzinger. Then he went on more calmly— +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you you are wrong. Damnably wrong—somehow. +Hertzwohl dare not betray us. No money in the +world would buy him. We have proved him a hundred +times. English gold to buy Hertzwohl?" He laughed +derisively, but there was no conviction in his manner. +"You understand, sir, you are wrong—utterly wrong. +The matter shall be cleared up. You shall confront +Von Hertzwohl. And if lies have been told, God help +the liars." +</P> + +<P> +The two men stood eye to eye across the table. Von +Salzinger had recovered under stress of emergency. +</P> + +<P> +"I could ask no better, sir—if it were in the best interests +of the secrets of Borga. But is it? I could give +you the names of a number of my junior officers in +Borga, all of whom encountered this—nephew of Hertzwohl. +And without reference to me, there is not one of +them but would deny the identity of that nephew they +saw in Borga with the identity of the original of that +picture. If the liar is to be punished I have no fear, sir. +But would it be in the best interests of Borga to deal +hastily with the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Explain!" The man went back to his seat at the +head of the table. His harsh demand warned his hearers +of the storm still raging within him. +</P> + +<P> +But Von Berger took up the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"I see the Captain-General's point, sir," he said. "If +Hertzwohl is confronted it means his vindication or immediate +punishment. If secrets have been betrayed such +a course will not serve us. This Englishman Von Salzinger +speaks of will still possess them, and—be <i>free to +act upon them</i>. We must recover those secrets, or <i>make +them useless to their possessors</i>. Then we can deal with +those responsible for Borga." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger listened to the cold words and eagerly +awaited the reply of the man at the head of the table. +But none was forthcoming, for he seemed to be lost in +moody contemplation of the whole affair. Therefore the +Captain-General seized his opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +"That is how I see it, sir," he said eagerly. "I submit, +with all deference, that I be nominally punished as +though I had seriously offended. What is that punishment? +Degradation? Degradation and retirement from +the service of the Fatherland. It will satisfy Hertzwohl, +and put him off his guard. He will have no suspicion, +and I shall be free to work. If I am placed on the +Secret Service and sent to—England, it should not be +impossible to discover all we want to know and nullify +the effects of the treachery. Those concerned +can be silenced. We can be guided by developments. +And——" +</P> + +<P> +"The harm is done, man! You talk of nullifying. You +talk like a fool. There can be no undoing the harm done." +</P> + +<P> +The hoarse passion of the man at the table was in +every word he spoke. The gleaming eyes were full of +the burning fire of unrestrained ferocity. +</P> + +<P> +But the cold tones of Von Berger once more dropped +like ice upon a kindling fire. +</P> + +<P> +"It will be the better course, sir," he said. "We do +not yet know the full position. That must be perfectly +established before we can estimate the damage." +</P> + +<P> +But the other seemed absorbed in his own imagery of +the matter. +</P> + +<P> +"An Englishman! Gott!" +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger turned abruptly to Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave us. I will call you when ready. Remain +within call." +</P> + +<P> +The authority was unmistakable. The Captain-General +might have been the veriest conscript for the +courtesy displayed. He left the great chamber with +no outward sign, but with storm sweeping through +his heart. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the door he reviewed the situation. His position +was by no means enviable, but it was not without +possibilities. He realized now that the hand of Fate +had pointed through the whole affair. He knew that +he had had no suspicion of Hertzwohl in Borga. A +thought of treachery had never entered his head. +Hertzwohl had piqued him. He had seriously offended +him, as, long ago, this same man's daughter had offended +his pride. He had intended merely to retaliate through +his official capacity, and now through these trivial pettinesses +a deadly plot had been revealed. He had answered +the summons to Kuhlhafen intending to defend +himself by casting suspicion upon Hertzwohl, and his +defence had turned out to be the true estimate of the +matter. Well—— +</P> + +<P> +But his reflections were cut short by the summons to +return to the council-chamber. Von Berger held the +iron-studded door for him to enter, and, as he passed +within, he closed and carefully secured it. +</P> + +<P> +Then he came back to his place at the table, and his +companion signed for him to proceed. +</P> + +<P> +He faced the waiting officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Captain-General von Salzinger, you are to be degraded +from your rank and office. You will be relieved +of command at Borga at once. You will then report to +the Foreign Office, where you will receive sealed instructions. +On receipt of these instructions you will +proceed to London without delay. When you have +completed the work allotted to you in England—satisfactorily—you +will receive your reinstatement. That is +all." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEWS +</H4> + +<P> +The atmosphere of the little study, or library, or whatever +it was called, in which Ruxton carried on the private +work of his political calling, in the diminutive house in +Smith Square, Westminster, was redolent with that delightful +suggestion of the old world so dear to the collector's +heart. +</P> + +<P> +Its owner was a collector by instinct and training. He +had been brought up to the study of old-world art, and +had learned to appreciate the beauties of all those +delicate and priceless specimens which are the handicraft +of bygone genius. But he was no keeper of a museum. +His little home in the purlieus of Westminster was a +storehouse of beauty and charm. Every piece of furniture, +every tapestry, every rug, every metal gem was full +of significance and harmony with its setting. Not one +detail of this home but had cost him hours of thought +and consideration, and the result was all he asked, a perfectly +harmonious whole, a creation of all that made for +undemonstrative artistry in his nature. +</P> + +<P> +Just now even the dying early autumn sun seemed +graciously disposed towards it. It was peeping in through +the old Georgian windows and searching out the mellow +beauties of the study. Its softened tone seemed to somehow +belong to the picture it discovered within. The +delicate tracery of the deep, ruddy mahogany furnishings, +the design of which must have given hours of delight to +the artist soul of Chippendale; the softened tints of the +ancient Persian rugs upon the crazily uneven flooring; +the exquisite carving of the oaken panels and the delicate +pictures of the hanging tapestries above them,—all these +beauties seemed to belong to a time of softened light +which comes with the ageing of the year. +</P> + +<P> +The calm delight of it all resisted even the touch of a +modern figure suddenly appearing in its midst. Ruxton's +modern blue serge suit and soft felt hat might have +been an anachronism, but it gave no serious offence. +He entered the room and glanced swiftly and appreciatively +upon his treasured friends. Then he laid his hat +aside, took his seat at his desk and prepared to attend to +some work he had on hand. +</P> + +<P> +But, for once, inclination proved stronger than purpose. +He sat back in the ample chair, such as an elderly +ancestor might have revelled in, lit a cigar, and, for +some idle minutes, all effort was abandoned in favor of +the relaxed dreaming of a brain accustomed to high pressure. +</P> + +<P> +It was the late afternoon of a long day spent in endless +interviews in the world of the officialdom to which he belonged +here in London. But his interviews had had little +enough to do with the more commonplace affairs of +State. His portfolio in the Cabinet, which left him responsible +for the affairs of the Duchy of Lancaster, also +left him with ample time to carry out those other plans +which he believed were to have so great a significance in +his country's future. +</P> + +<P> +His day had been spent in completing the negotiations +whereby, for a considerable period, certain portions of the +great ship-building yards at Dorby were to be adopted +and controlled by the Admiralty. It had not been easy +to stir the machinery of departments, and only had it +been made possible by invoking the efforts of the Prime +Minister, Sir Meeston Harborough, and the Foreign +Secretary, the Marquis of Lordburgh, with both of whom +he had already established a confidential understanding. +Admiral Sir Joseph Caistor was purely a naval man, a +brilliant officer, but as yet intolerant of desecrating the +traditions of his department by confusing it with civilian +controlled establishments. +</P> + +<P> +However, the last obstacle had been finally surmounted, +and, with its passing, he discovered the real depths of his +anxiety. A strong conviction of impending action by the +German Government had taken hold of him without his +being fully aware of it. He had been oppressed by it. +And now, at last, he experienced a deep sense of relief +that the cloak of naval secrecy and protection was to be +spread out over the new construction upon which he and +his father had embarked. +</P> + +<P> +He sat thus reviewing these things and smoking +leisurely, in the manner of a satisfied man. He knew he +ought to attend to his letters and then go on down to the +House, which was now sitting. But he had no intention +of doing so. There was no debate of importance going +on, and he had no desire to listen to the silly twaddle of a +number of men whose qualifications as legislators would +have been insufficient to achieve for them squatting room +on a council of Red Indians, and whose minds had no +other conception of greatness than the limelight of a +halfpenny press. +</P> + +<P> +It was five weeks since his return from Borga. Five +weeks of hard, rushing work in which a confusion of affairs +required to be sorted and carried through; in which +plans had to be developed and set in train, and during +which a growing and almost oppressing sense of responsibility +had steadily taken possession of him. There had +been no leisure. It had been work incessant, work, and +again work. Now, at last, he felt that a breathing space +was almost permissible. +</P> + +<P> +In his first moment of leisure he was determined to +carry out a purpose upon which he had resolved, even +amidst the turmoil of the affairs he had been engaged +upon. For not once during all those weeks had the +haunting memory of his beautiful visitor on the Yorkshire +cliffs been lost to him. He had heard no word from her, +he had caught no glimpse of her since he had watched +her finally ascend the companionway of the submersible +to return to the shore. For the first time in his life he had +been made aware that there could be a more imperative +claim upon a man than his simple duty. For the first +time in his life he found himself hearkening to the +mandates of Nature in a yielding spirit. He could no +longer resist the haunting charms of the wonderful creature +who had so appealed to his manhood. +</P> + +<P> +He sat revolving his purpose in his mind. And, so +doing, he idly drew a copy of an evening paper towards +him. He turned its pages in abstracted contemplation. +Then, suddenly, a head-line caught and held his attention. +It was the announcement of the completion of his negotiations +with the naval department. +</P> + +<P> +He read it eagerly, not with any desire to discover +publicity for himself—rather the reverse. He looked to +discover how far the pernicious habit of publicity might +be damaging to the cause in which he was working. He +sighed in relief as he came to the end of the paragraph. +For once the press had exercised laudable restraint. +There was nothing in it calculated to inspire curiosity or +even comment. It simply stated that a department in +the Dorby yards had been taken over by the Board of +Admiralty to relieve the congestion in the Naval Construction +yards. +</P> + +<P> +He thrust the paper aside, drew a telegram pad towards +him, and indited an address upon it. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +"<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Veevee, London.</SPAN>" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then he paused and looked up as the door in the +panelling of the room was thrust open and his secretary +presented himself. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the telephone, and a woman's voice speaking, Mr. +Farlow," he said, with a whimsical smile. "I endeavored +to get her name, but she refused it. I warned her that I +could not call you without she stated her business, or gave +her name. Finally she said I had better tell you that +'Veevee, London,' wished to speak to you urgently. I +wrote the name down so there should be no——" +</P> + +<P> +"You can put me through—at once." +</P> + +<P> +The crisp response was not without significance to the +younger man, and Harold Heathcote departed with the +mental reservation that "even with Cabinet Ministers you +never can tell." +</P> + +<P> +A few moments later the telephone receiver on Ruxton +Farlow's table purred its soft challenge, and he picked it +up in hasty and delighted anticipation. In a moment he +recognized Vita Vladimir's voice. His dark eyes smiled +at the sunlit window as he replied to her enquiry. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It's Ruxton Farlow speaking. How-do-you-do? +Most extraordinary coincidence. I was just writing +out a telegram to you. I was wond—— Yes, it's +ages. I've a lot to tell you about—things. Eh? You +must see me to-night. Why, that's delightful. I am in +great good luck. Not sure about the luck?" He laughed +confidently. "I am. Eh?" His laugh had died out +abruptly. "Bad news. That's—— Well, where shall +I see you? Not at—all right. Could you manage dinner +with me somewhere? Ah, anywhere you choose. +What's that? The Oberon? The West Room? Will +that be all right in view of the—bad news? Yes, I agree. +It is sufficiently secluded. Shall we say at eight o'clock? +You're sure it quite suits you? Splendid. Yes. Then +good-bye—till eight o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton replaced the receiver, and, for a moment, sat +staring out at the sunlit square. His eyes were half smiling +still, but there was a puzzled, slight elevation of his +level brows. He was thinking, speculating as to the +nature of the bad news. But even bad news which again +brought him into contact with the Princess Vita was +robbed of more than half its significance. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Whatever Ruxton Farlow's impressions, drawn from his +earlier encounters with Vita von Hertzwohl, they became +totally eclipsed by the delight in her perfect beauty as it +appeared to him when he kept his appointment for dinner +that night. +</P> + +<P> +Her tall figure, so beautifully rounded, so perfect in its +delicate proportions, and so full of a delicious sinuous +grace, was gowned to perfection. Her wonderful red-gold +hair, tinged with its soft sheen of burnished copper, +was a perfect setting for the delicate tracery of jewels +which completed its exquisitely unconventional dressing. +Her wonderful grey eyes shone eagerly up into his, lighting +the essentially foreign complexion which was hers +with a warm fire of virile mentality. Such were the feelings +she inspired that he wondered absurdly that he could +ever have taken her for anything less than the princess he +now knew her to be. So great was her effect upon him +that it was not until her own low-spoken words, reminding +him of the bad news of which she was the bearer, +permitted the memory of the affairs he was engaged upon +to return to their paramount place in his consideration. +</P> + +<P> +They were seated at a small round table in a remote +corner of the great West Room. The table next to them +was unoccupied, but, for the rest, the room was fairly full, +and amongst the diners were a considerable number of +notables who preferred the quiet harmonious charm of +tasteful surroundings and excellent cooking to the blatancy +of the more advertised caravansaries. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until the <i>pêches-melba</i> had been served, and +the order for coffee had been given to the waiter, that the +cloud was allowed to descend upon Ruxton's perfect enjoyment. +They had talked of all he had seen upon his +visit to Borga. They had talked of Vita's father, and the +services he yearned to perform for humanity. Ruxton +had described in detail their flight from the great arsenal +and its Prussian commandant. And all the time Vita had +withheld her news, fearing for herself, as much as for her +companion, the complete banishment of the delight of this +moment of their meeting again. +</P> + +<P> +But it had to come, and she faced it resolutely. There +had fallen a pause in their talk, and she drew a deep sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"And now—now for the purpose of this meeting," she +said. +</P> + +<P> +Then with a resolute air she rested her elbows upon the +table and clasped her beautiful shapely hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there any other purpose than—the present?" enquired +Ruxton, following her example and leaning forward. +His smile was one of whimsical protest. He knew +that the moment had come when he must once more return +to the harness of his office. "I feel rather like a +navvy," he proceeded. "After tremendous exertions I +have just been lounging away my dinner hour. The +whistle has blown, and I must get to work again. You +have blown the whistle." +</P> + +<P> +Vita smiled faintly. But her eyes lost none of their +seriousness thereby. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid there are liable to be some heavy penalties +if—you do not respond to it promptly. Oh, dear, +I have so enjoyed myself. I wish there were no Prussians +in the world." +</P> + +<P> +"There are fewer than there were." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but so long as one remains there are—too many. +I have had a communication from my father. It came +to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"A letter?" +</P> + +<P> +Vita shook her head. +</P> + +<P> +"We do not communicate by letter. A messenger. +A funny little old man who carries samples of buttons +made in Austria. He represents a button firm, and +sells millions of them over here. He happens to be +my father's brother, although no one is allowed to +guess the relationship. He is my father's most loyal—friend." +</P> + +<P> +"And he has brought you word of——" +</P> + +<P> +"Von Salzinger." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton waited for her to continue. He was watching +her with eyes that left him utterly incapable of forgetting +her wonderful attraction. She was no longer +merely a partner in the work he had marked out for +himself. She was more. She was the woman of his +early youthful dreams come to life, and every word that +fell from her lips had for him a significance which appealed +to the big soul within him apart from any verbal +meaning it might convey. +</P> + +<P> +"You know father is the oddest mixture of simplicity +and shrewdness I have ever known. He is utterly without +fear, and his trust, to a point, is childlike. But when +he is threatened with serious danger he is possessed of +all the subtlety, it seems to me, of the whole world. +That is perhaps why I do not gravely fear for his personal +safety. His message to me illustrates his simplicity, +but gives no inkling of that wonderful shrewdness +which I know him to possess. Perhaps it is worded +purposely so that I should miss its real significance. +You see, father knows I am a coward, and does not like +to distress me. Perhaps, on the other hand, he only sees +in the development the dire result of his protest to Berlin. +You see I have had the story of your visit to Borga from +him weeks ago. But I see more in it, and I am right. +That's why I warned you of 'bad news.'" +</P> + +<P> +"And the news?" Ruxton's imagination had been +stirred by the girl's preliminary. +</P> + +<P> +"In brief it is that Captain-General von Salzinger has +been relieved of his command at Borga, as a result of his +attitude towards you and my father." +</P> + +<P> +"That is what your father assured me would happen. +He assured me that in Berlin his power was almost unlimited—as +regards Borga. I see little to trouble us in +that." +</P> + +<P> +"No-o." +</P> + +<P> +Vita's whole attitude underwent a change. She became +reflective, and her warm grey eyes grew cold with +the bitterness of memory. After some silent moments +she seemed to arrive at a decision. +</P> + +<P> +"To impress you with my point of view I—must +make something like a confession," she went on presently. +</P> + +<P> +She was interrupted by the returning waiter, who +removed the sweet plates and cleared the table for +the coffee. After he had poured it out and departed, +Vita went on. All doubt had gone from her manner, +and her eyes smiled back into the eager face of the man +who had made for himself the discovery of the woman in +Eden. +</P> + +<P> +"It is just a little bit difficult to tell you these things," +she smiled. "But I must do so, or you will not see the +danger as I see it. It is about an early love affair of +mine with—Von Salzinger. Oh, don't make any mistake," +she cried hastily, at the abrupt, ingenuous change +in the man's expression. "I was never in love with him. +But he was with me. Ugh! Von Salzinger. A Prussian +from head to foot. A typical, soulless Prussian. +No, no. This man is ambitious. That is all he cares +for in life—himself and his ambition. My father was a +great man in the country, and would have been an excellent +lever to further his ends. So he strove to—enlist +my sympathies. I was very young, and—well, I think +most women, even at an early age, like being made love +to. I did not so greatly discourage him at first. Then +came the War, and I discovered many things about the +German people I had never dreamed of. I also discovered +the Prussian in Von Salzinger. He strove his +utmost to enlist me in the Secret Service, of which, to +my horror, I discovered he was a prominent member. +Need I tell you what happened? There was a scene—a +dreadful scene, which he has probably never forgiven, +and—may never forgive. Now here is the complication +of which my father is unaware. It is my father who has +brought about his downfall. Do you see? He undoubtedly +has suspicions of you. Consequently he has +suspicions of my father. He is bred to the Secret +Service. Where has he gone, and what will he do? +What has he told Berlin, and—what understanding has +he come to with them? My simple father believes he +has settled the matter definitely in the only way his +position entitled him to settle it. I think he has set an +unusually swift and poisonous snake upon the tracks of +all of us. Now you tell me what you think. You can +probably judge the position better than I. You can look +upon it from a detached point of view." +</P> + +<P> +"Detached?" Ruxton smiled dubiously. But his +interrogation seemed to pass Vita by. She sipped her +coffee and waited. Her grey eyes were completely +veiled beneath her long, dense lashes. Ruxton pushed +his empty cup aside. "The danger I see is for your +father. Not for you, or for anything over here. That, +of course, may come later. The immediate danger is +for your father." +</P> + +<P> +Vita sighed. +</P> + +<P> +"You have lightened my fears." She raised her shining +eyes. "That sounds terrible, doesn't it? But—I +would rather have danger threaten him, personally, than +threaten his project—our project. His position is unique, +and I doubt even if you can appreciate it. And then he +has a means of protecting himself which even Berlin has +no understanding of. Father can escape at any moment +he considers it necessary. That was all thought out, +with many other things, before we approached you. <i>Our +visit to Dorby is still all unsuspected</i>. Remember that." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"But, in spite of your view-point, we shall hear from +Von Salzinger, if I am not very much mistaken. You +see, he knows I am in London. Unless we hear soon +that he has been given another appointment in Germany, +then I feel certain we shall have him swiftly on our tracks. +What can he do—to hurt us?" +</P> + +<P> +There was unmistakable apprehension in the girl's +eyes. There was a gravity in her assertion that would +not be denied, and even Ruxton realized the soundness +of her argument. But he sought to console her, to +lessen her fears. He desired more than all things to see +her warm smile replace the apprehension she was now +displaying. +</P> + +<P> +"He can do nothing here, should he favor us with a +visit," he said lightly. "I have taken no chances. Only +to-day I have completed negotiations by which our new +constructions are definitely placed under the control and +protection of our Admiralty. If your father is safe, then +I think we can snap our fingers at Captain-General +von Salzinger." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm—glad," cried Vita. Then impulsively: "So +glad. Perhaps you don't quite understand <i>our</i> feelings. +You see," she went on warmly, "our project has been +placed before everything else in life. Life and death or +imprisonment are secondary—quite secondary—with us. +It is this effort to save humanity from the disaster which +is being engineered in the Teutonic mind that is all that +we care for. If necessary we shall not shrink from yielding +up our lives to that cause. I wonder. Can you +understand? Yes." She nodded decidedly. "You do +understand. That is why we came to you. Now you +have reassured me. Germany cannot stop the work +going forward. It has become a British national effort." +She sighed again, however. "But for all that my news +is bad. I am sure of it. Perhaps it is only relatively so. +I cannot say. If the work goes on no news can be really +bad. Yes, I am relieved, and I am glad I 'phoned you. +I wish my father had been here to hear you say that the +work would go on. It would have been the greatest +moment of his life." +</P> + +<P> +There was a great striving for reassurance in her manner. +Ruxton watched it, as he watched every other play +of light and shade in her voice and expression. Nor was +it until he witnessed the return of her brilliant smile that +he felt content. With its advent he returned again to the +serene enjoyment of the moment. +</P> + +<P> +At length, no further excuse for remaining would serve, +and at half-past nine they rose to go. For Ruxton it was +the passing of an important milestone on his journey +through life. There remained no longer any doubt of his +feelings. He knew he had met at last the only woman in +the world who could reveal to him the true depths of +happiness in life. His full realization had come with her +frank avowal of the place Von Salzinger had striven to +hold in her life. It had been a threatening cloud, a summer +billow of cloud tossed up by some adverse air-current, +and, for the moment, it had obscured his sun. Its passing +had left him in the full blaze of a radiance which he +now appreciated at its true worth. He knew that he +loved this wonderful Princess Vita. +</P> + +<P> +Once again the hand of Destiny had been revealed. +He was moving blindly at its bidding. Nor had he will +or inclination to diverge from the course marked out. He +was content—more than content, and his only alloy was +the rapidly approaching termination of the all too short +evening. +</P> + +<P> +His car rolled up to the door. He had handed Vita +into it, and stood leaning in through the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"Where shall he drive to?" he enquired, with a smile +of amusement. "Kensington?" +</P> + +<P> +"Please, Kensington." +</P> + +<P> +There was almost a challenge in the smile with which +Vita replied to him. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later he was sitting beside her in the cabriolet +as they drove on towards the crossing of Piccadilly +Circus. +</P> + +<P> +"It is too late to let you take me all the way to my +home," Vita said quietly. "Besides, I would rather remain +in town for the night." Then she broke off in an +undecided fashion. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton caught at the pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not think about it. I have no desire to know anything +but that which you choose to tell me." +</P> + +<P> +Vita laughed. And Ruxton felt that her laugh was +slightly embarrassed. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems strange not to tell you where my real home +is," she said. "There is no adequate reason for not doing +so—and yet—I will tell you the reason that I occupy my +Kensington flat in my two Christian names, and keep my +real home away in the country. Father and I thought +it out when we embarked upon our plans. We decided +that in emergency it would be necessary to have a secure +retreat. We endeavored to forestall all possibilities. +We——" +</P> + +<P> +She broke off, gazing across the car at the open window +of the door beside Ruxton. Her eyes were full of alarm. +The car had stopped in a stream of traffic, held up by the +imperious arm of the point policeman. A taxicab had +come to a stop beside them, and slightly in advance. A +hatless head had been thrust out of the window to observe +the cause of the delay. It was a square head upon still +squarer shoulders. The neck that linked them was fleshy +and powerful. The hair was short and stubbly. +</P> + +<P> +Vita's hand reached swiftly and caught Ruxton's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick," she whispered. "Quick—but cautiously. +Don't let him see you. There, leaning out of that cab. +It is Von Salzinger." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton, his pulses quickened at the touch of Vita's +hand upon his arm and the eager alarm of her whisper, +leant forward and cautiously peered out of the window. +Instantly the inevitable happened. The car moved forward +and closed up on the cab. They had drawn abreast. +The movement distracted the occupant of the cab. His +head turned and Ruxton found himself gazing squarely +into the fleshy features of the Commandant of Borga. +He promptly drew back, but it was too late. Von Salzinger +had no scruples. He had obviously recognized the +Englishman, for now he leant farther out of the window +and deliberately peered into the well-lit interior of the car +for a second look at its occupants. +</P> + +<P> +It was a desperate, trying movement. Ruxton was +helpless. There was nothing to be done. The man's +scrutiny of both himself and his companion remained until +the traffic moved on. Then, and then only, did he withdraw +his head. +</P> + +<P> +"He has lost no time, and has had all the—luck," said +Vita in a hard, bitter tone. +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton smiled and spoke down into the tube to the +chauffeur. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a taxi beside us. Avoid it." Then he put +up the tube and turned to the girl at his side. "Your +fears were well grounded. With Von Salzinger in London +there can be only one possible interpretation of the +fact. But I don't think he has had all the luck. You +forget that I have completed my arrangements with the +Admiralty." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +"KAMERADS" +</H4> + +<P> +Two men walked briskly up Baker Street in the direction +of the Underground Station. At least, one of them +walked briskly. The gait of the other were better described +as hurried. He was obviously making an effort to keep +up with his powerful, square-cut, vigorous companion. +Many eyes were turned upon them as they passed by. It +was the provocative air of the larger man, whose gait was +more than arrogant. +</P> + +<P> +The lesser of the two was not oblivious to the attention. +</P> + +<P> +"It is almost in the nature of a shock to find myself +walking beside you in London, Ludwig. It is the old +days again. But in the old days you were thankful to +disguise the fact that you possessed military training. +Now it is as if you were on parade. These people hate +and distrust anything which suggests the—military." +</P> + +<P> +Ludwig von Salzinger laughed gutturally. His fierce +eyes glanced swiftly about him, ready to challenge any +resentful glance in his direction. +</P> + +<P> +"I care nothing for the pigs," he observed pleasantly. +</P> + +<P> +"No. But you are here for—distraction. I have +work which demands that I attract as little attention as +possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Distraction?" Von Salzinger laughed without any +mirth. Then he became suddenly serious. "Distraction—yes, +that is it." +</P> + +<P> +The smaller man was quick of eye—almost furtive. +His slight figure was well clad in an ordinary blue serge +suit. His boots had once been of patent leather. His +hat was of the Homburg pattern so beloved of the Londoner. +He wore his brown hair fairly long to disguise +the flat back of his head. His face was perfectly clean +shaven, which left it typical of the ordinary man on the +street. The other was so obviously of the Teuton military +caste in spite of his elegant civilian dress, that his +companion was seriously troubled. He protested again. +</P> + +<P> +"If you cannot disguise yourself let us take a cab. +Can you not drop your shoulders like the London 'knut'? +Can you not slouch? Can you not refrain from lifting +your feet as though you would crush a worm, or—an +Englishman? Your moustache is bad enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Ach! you are afraid, like some sick woman. What +is it?" cried Salzinger half angrily, half contemptuously. +"Has the work broken your spirit? It was not so in the +old days. Johann Stryj, you need a holiday—distraction, +like I am seeking." He laughed at his own clumsy humor. +</P> + +<P> +Stryj took no umbrage. He never took umbrage till +he had discovered all the possibilities of a man. Von +Salzinger had arrived just as he had finished his English +breakfast in his essentially English flat in Baker Street. +Johann Stryj had spared no pains to mould his whole life +and person upon London lines. Von Salzinger had explained +nothing as yet of the meaning of his sudden +descent upon London. He had merely demanded that +his erstwhile comrade now accompany him to his hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"And what—distraction do you seek?" +</P> + +<P> +The man's quick eyes were sharply questioning in spite +of the smile accompanying his words. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I conduct you to my hotel to tell you of." +</P> + +<P> +Johann Stryj appeared to acquiesce, and they progressed +in silence for a few paces. Then the quick eyes +were again raised in the direction of Von Salzinger's +square face. +</P> + +<P> +"You have left us all very far behind in the service of +the Fatherland. We hear it all—here. And four years +ago you were with us, waiting upon every message that +came, wondering where the next few hours would find us." +</P> + +<P> +Stryj's words were calculated to set the other talking. +They succeeded. Von Salzinger was obviously pleased. +</P> + +<P> +"You, my Johann, were built for the—service. I was +not. I have not that faculty for making my feelings subservient +to the needs of the moment. I was glad when +the call of the war took me out of it, and—gave me my +chance." +</P> + +<P> +Stryj nodded in an expressionless fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I am at home in the work. I love it." Then +he laughed silently. "I am the servant of every pompous +official who visits London. I am the slave of my +orders. I am a cypher on the official lists, I am nothing +amongst the people of the nation which I serve. Yet I +am the head of the underground system which works +here in England, and, incidentally, my income is four +times that of a Captain-General. Your honor is very +great, Ludwig, but I wonder if you have advanced since—those +days." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger made no reply. He was thinking of +the recent scene in which he had participated in the +castle of Kuhlhafen. His face expressed something of +his feelings of chagrin, and his companion was not slow +to detect them. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a thought of yours too, perhaps," he went on +at once. "The moment a man enters the higher ranks +of our army his troubles begin. He must fight for favor, +and win it or decay in some obscure ditch in the military +office. Nor can he rely for five minutes upon that favor. +Degradation awaits at the first blunder which it is not +humanly possible to avoid. Is it not so?" +</P> + +<P> +All the buoyancy of Von Salzinger seemed to have +vanished from his hard eyes. His old friend was telling +him all that he had only too much reason to be aware of. +He had fought his way up that perilous ladder of Prussian +militarism, and like so many others he had tripped +and fallen, and now was faced with the task of making +good the temporary set-back. He had struggled hard +at the first trip, and he told himself that fortune had +favored him, and he had kept his hold, but well he knew +that unless he recovered his foothold himself he must fall +to the bottom and die in obscurity. +</P> + +<P> +He turned on the Secret Service man. +</P> + +<P> +"It is all as you say. But the very uncertainty of it +makes it all the more worth winning. That is why I am +in London now. When I have finished in London I shall +have achieved the lasting honor, so rare in our Fatherland." +</P> + +<P> +Stryj shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"There is none—no lasting honor in our Fatherland," +he said. +</P> + +<P> +Then with a quick turn he pointed at the window of a +fashionable photographic studio. There was a life-size +portrait standing in the very centre of it. It was a full-length +portrait of a man of over six feet. He was in the +uniform of a British field-marshal. +</P> + +<P> +"There is lasting honor in this country," he said, as +they paused and stood gazing at the wonderful face in +the portrait, with its level, stern brows, its convincing, +powerful eyes, and the heavy moustache that in no way +detracted from the purposeful set of the jaws. "They +are loyal to those they honor here. The man who has +fought a great war for them, as that man has done, need +do no more. His name and fame will go down to history +with the vast material honor they have showered +upon him. That is a name that will never die—in England." +</P> + +<P> +But Von Salzinger had no comment to offer. They +stood gazing for some moments at the stern-faced presentation +of the marshal. Then quite suddenly an iron +grip took hold of the spy's muscular upper arm. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger was pointing at a lesser portrait. It +was one among several comprising the faces of well-known +parliamentarians. +</P> + +<P> +"That man! Quick!" There was excitement in his +voice, and a mild pink had leapt up into his sallow +cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +Stryj was startled, but displayed no emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"The name is underneath," he said, pointing. "He +is a new member of the Cabinet. Ruxton Farlow." +</P> + +<P> +"Donner! I've found him. Quick! We take a taxi." +Then Von Salzinger laughed, all his earlier buoyancy +returned. "You are right, my Johann. I am too military +to walk in London. But the walk has done me +good—much good." +</P> + +<P> +A moment later they were in a taxi speeding on their +way towards Von Salzinger's hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the—distraction?" enquired Stryj, as the cab +swung sharply out of Baker Street. His calmness of +manner was in marked contrast to that of his companion, +who was still breathing heavily under his emotion. He +understood now that a matter, an important mission, was +on hand, and every faculty was alert to miss nothing of +any detail of it, even the mood of his old friend. +</P> + +<P> +"Distraction?" Von Salzinger laughed. "Yes, it is +distraction. But distraction can mean another emotion +than pleasure. Hey?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." Stryj nodded. +</P> + +<P> +Then Von Salzinger leant over and whispered elaborately +into the other's ear, as the cabby changed his gears +with a clatter and the cab began the ascent of the approach +to the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"That man Farlow, as you call him, stole into Borga +when I was in command. I am not in command of +Borga—now." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Johann Stryj faced his companion with eyes that never +seemed to express more than a mild interest. Von Salzinger +was lounging in a large armchair smoking a long +cigar. They were in the latter's private sitting-room in +the hotel. In spite of his leisured attitude, deep emotion +lit the eyes of the late Commandant of Borga, and an +undercurrent of excitement kept his cigar glowing in a +reckless manner. Stryj smoked a Turkish cigarette with +a composure that was in sharp contrast with his companion's +attitude. +</P> + +<P> +"So you see it was not only friendship that fetched me +to your apartment this morning, my good Johann," Von +Salzinger finished up, at the conclusion of his story of +the visit of Ruxton Farlow to the secret heart of the great +Borga arsenal. "I am here for distraction. Hey? Distraction, +and the unravelling of the plot against the most +treasured secret of the Fatherland. I am here for more. +I am here to break it up, and, incidentally, if possible, to +break up those concerned in it." +</P> + +<P> +The man illustrated his purpose viciously, with two +clenched fists breaking an imaginary object. +</P> + +<P> +Stryj inhaled deeply of his cigarette. +</P> + +<P> +"And if you fail?" +</P> + +<P> +He was reading deeply into the less astute mind of the +other. He had grasped fully his position. He knew, +although he asked, what awaited failure for his old +comrade, Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +"There will be no failure, I promise you. I have unlimited +powers, and I shall use them. Oh, yes, I shall +use them." +</P> + +<P> +"What powers?" +</P> + +<P> +The keen eyes of the spy were watchful. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger produced a document from his breast +pocket. He opened it. He glanced over it, and passed +it across to the other. +</P> + +<P> +"My credentials," he said, with triumph in his accompanying +glance. +</P> + +<P> +Johann Stryj took the document and perused it carefully. +He closely examined the signatures. When he +looked up it was obvious that he was almost startled. +</P> + +<P> +"It has never been done before," he said, almost incredulously. +"By this the entire Secret Service is placed +at your disposal—absolutely." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Now do you understand? Now?" he cried violently. +"We believe this Englishman has burrowed out the most +stupendous secret of our Government. We believe he +has tricked us through this traitor, Hertzwohl. Gott! +He has caused me to be—degraded." +</P> + +<P> +Stryj passed the violence of his companion by. His +mind was searching, searching where the less acute +soldier could not follow. +</P> + +<P> +"And what of this Hertzwohl? Has he been shot?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet. We have to prove this thing—first. That +is <i>our</i> work." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah." +</P> + +<P> +Stryj had learned all he wanted to know. +</P> + +<P> +At that moment a waiter entered the room bearing a +copy of <i>Who's Who</i> for the current year. Von Salzinger +seized upon it, and, by the time the man had withdrawn +and shut the door, he had found the page he sought. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach!" cried Von Salzinger. "Here he is. The luck +has served me well. It is as though the plums were ripe, +and ready to drop into my mouth." +</P> + +<P> +Stryj rose and crossed over to his side. He looked +down where the stubby finger of the soldier pointed. +</P> + +<P> +"Farlow, Ruxton. Only son of Sir Andrew Farlow, +Bart. Member of Parliament for ——. Under Secretary +for Foreign Office in 19—. Yes. Partner in firm +of Farlow, Son and Farlow, ship-builders and ship-owners. +Dorby. Hall Dorby, Yorkshire. Residence, Dorby +Towers, Yorkshire. So." Salzinger looked up as he +concluded reading out disjointed fragments of the information +he sought. "They are ripe—ripe, these +plums," he cried exultingly. "Johann, my friend," he +went on, glancing up into the spy's clever face, "it is +good to see the plums hanging—ripe. We have got to +hear all they talk of and contemplate, we have to watch +and discover all that is known by Farlow, Son and Farlow. +That is your work. You, and those under your control. +You will leave for Dorby at once. While I——" +</P> + +<P> +"Watch that the birds do not eat the ripe plums you +would pick. Dorby. I saw the name in the papers +yesterday. Those are the yards some portion of which +have been taken over by the British Admiralty. These +papers tell me something worth while sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +"The British Navy?" The fierce eyes of the soldier +were startled. He ran his fingers through his stubbly +hair. "Curse the British Navy." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +The mild rejoinder seemed to irritate Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +"Talk! Talk! Ach! Those are your orders, Johann. +See to them, and communicate with me here. I must +write." +</P> + +<P> +He moved over to a desk while Stryj deliberately +adjusted his hat and lit another cigarette. Then he +moved towards the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there anything else?" he enquired, with his hand +upon the handle. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger glanced round. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, use every means at your command to get the +information we need. Remember, Stryj, if the secrets of +Borga have been discovered, if our country has been +betrayed, then a harvest of vengeance is going to be +reaped." +</P> + +<P> +He turned back to his desk and began a long communication +addressed to Prince von Berger, while Johann +Stryj passed silently out of the room. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE INERADICABLE STRAIN +</H4> + +<P> +Von Salzinger was gross. He looked it. But he +had not yet arrived at those years when the outward +form loses its atmosphere of virile strength submerged +beneath overwhelming adipose and a general bodily +inertia. That would come as inevitably as reaction +invariably follows upon the heels of excess when vitality +passes its maximum. Von Salzinger was of original +type, and beneath the shallow veneer of the civilizing +process, in him was to be found of a certainty the hairy +hands of the savage. It is the brand which can never be +eradicated from the original Teuton, and particularly +from those who are native of Prussia. The anxious insistence +of the claims to Kultur, emanating more particularly +from Prussian sources, can be taken as something +in the nature of an unconscious admission of the depths +from which they have only been partially lifted. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger was pronouncedly of this type. He +possessed all the physical and mental force which belongs +to it; just as he possessed the full appetite for excess +which is its invariable accompaniment. In him was developed +to an unusual degree the desire for all the bodily +enjoyment that life can offer to a creature in whose veins +flows the full tide of the animal. +</P> + +<P> +Once having completed his arrangements with his erstwhile +comrade Johann Stryj, he returned to the carefully +considered course which he had marked out. With all +the Prussian's scheming mind, from the moment he had +been made aware of the drift of his fortunes he had cast +about for the best outlets which might promise amelioration +for the position which chance had placed him in. +Nor had he been slow to discover what he sought. Possibilities +had promptly opened up before the mental force +which he applied to the problem before him. +</P> + +<P> +He withdrew a letter-case from his breast pocket the +moment he had finished his communication to Von Berger. +He leant back from his desk, and, one by one, turned over +the papers the case contained. Finally he selected a +letter written on thin paper, in a close, spidery hand. He +read this letter through twice. His face was smiling as +he read, but his eyes remained unchanging. +</P> + +<P> +Finally he laid the letter down and copied into a notebook +two addresses which had been carefully detailed in +it. He read them over and verified them. One was in +Kensington, and the other was described as being near a +well-known market town in the county of Buckinghamshire. +With this matter accomplished he glanced at the +clock. Should he wait for lunch in the hotel, or should he +run into the West End and regale himself at one of the +fashionable restaurants? Finally the attractions of the +latter triumphed in their appeal to his gastronomic senses +and he telephoned down to the hall porter for a cab. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Von Salzinger had lunched well. He sat back in the +taxi-cab in the attitude of a man enjoying the satisfaction +of a more than well-lined stomach. Even, for the moment, +as he leisurely smoked a great Corona cigar, and +reflected on the quart bottle of Pol Roger '06 he had consumed, +he felt that the position was not without its compensations, +and, after all, in certain departments, the +French and the long-legged English were not wholly to +be despised. +</P> + +<P> +Such was his satisfaction that his eyes were half closed +by the time the cab jerked to a standstill outside a modest +block of flats in Kensington. But he was alert in a +second, for that was the man. His purpose at all times +dominated, and only in the moments of leisure did he +permit himself the indulgence he craved. +</P> + +<P> +He negotiated with the cabman for a possible continuance +of the journey, and passed into the building, his +alertness and activity in no way impaired by the amplitude +of his luncheon. +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes later he returned with a cloud of annoyance +depressing his heavy brows. He strutted up to the +driver and gave his orders. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll go on to Wednesford," he said, in his heavy +guttural English. "You must have petrol, for I return +to-night by eight o'clock. What is it, the distance? +Twenty-five miles? So. It is easy to do." +</P> + +<P> +The Londoner acquiesced without enthusiasm, and Von +Salzinger reëntered the cab, and slammed the door closed +behind him. That was his mood. He had been prepared +to make the journey, but he was irritated that he +had to do so. +</P> + +<P> +In twenty minutes the cab had threaded its way on to +the Oxford Road, and, regardless of all speed limit, raced +on towards the famous Chiltern Hills. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Already the early autumn leaves were beginning to fall +under the freshening breeze. The hedges were beginning +to lose their trim appearance, and the dust-laden leaves on +the midsummer growths wore a mildewed aspect that +somehow matched the lank, weedy grass of the road +banks. The roads were dry, and the fields looked dry. +There was a weary look about the countryside as though +Nature had completed her summer's work, and was +eagerly looking forward to her winter rest. +</P> + +<P> +A solitary horsewoman was leisurely riding down one +of the tarred roads approaching Wednesford. Her horse +was steaming, and her obvious intent was to cool him +down before reaching her destination. Presently she +turned off upon a narrow country lane, whose surface was +no advertisement for the zeal of the local urban council. +It was rough, and deep in dust, with overgrown hedges +crowding in upon its narrow limits in a manner which +forced her to keep an accurate middle course. +</P> + +<P> +But Princess Vita was not only cooling down her horse +after a joyous gallop upon an adjacent gorse-laden common. +She was thinking deeply, dreaming as only a +woman of romantic ideals can dream. Nor were her +thoughts with the rural picture through which she was +now moving, and which her ardent heart loved. She +was gazing back over past moments so recently spent in +the heart of the great capital. Just now her whole mind +was filled with thoughts of <i>the man</i>. And so she had no +room for any other consideration. +</P> + +<P> +For the moment the affairs which had brought this man +and herself together were powerless to disturb her dreaming. +The sweet, fragrant air of the autumn countryside +was filling her lungs, a sense of well-being pervaded her +body in the exercise in which she delighted, and so the +youthful heart of her had turned aside from the cares +which lurked in the background, and sought only the +image of the man who was already beginning to occupy +so great a part of her life. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess Vita was a well-known figure in the +neighborhood. She was known as Madame Vladimir, +who occupied Redwithy Farm, standing in a sleepy +hollow nearly two miles outside Wednesford. She had +occupied the farmhouse for several years, and gossip, +supported by the reports of the local police during the +late war, declared that she was a refugee from Russian +Poland, and consequently one of our Allies, and so those +who lived sufficiently near by had set themselves to be +kind to her, and, incidentally, to satisfy as much of their +curiosity as possible. +</P> + +<P> +But the Princess was not easily available to the curious. +She was gentle, she was sufficiently ordinary in her methods +of life to please the most exacting of her country +neighbors. Furthermore, while professing some Polish +religion which the country folk had no understanding of, +in the absence of a church of her own she had readily +adopted the Church of England. This was enormously +in her favor, and she quickly became an admittedly proper +person. +</P> + +<P> +But even the most well-meaning never succeeded in +penetrating beneath the surface of acquaintanceship. She +was credited with being extremely well off. Redwithy +Farm was a miniature, restored Elizabethan mansion of +rare antiquity, set in the heart of a parkland of over eighty +acres. During the war she had only kept English servants, +some seven or eight, but from the moment peace +had been declared these had been replaced one by one +with foreigners, retainers from her own home in Poland. +No one seriously questioned the change. One and all +admitted that the conditions of Poland after the war made +it a charity on the part of Madame Vladimir to rescue +these poor people from such a condition of devastation +and afford them the blessings and peace of the English +countryside. +</P> + +<P> +So, through her own consummate tact, Vita was enabled +to live more or less unquestioned in her English +home. And such peace was justly her due, for her objects +were simple and honest for the country of her adoption. +She was preparing, as many another foreigner +had done before her, a refuge in the hospitable heart of +Britain for that father for whom she foresaw the growing +threat of danger. +</P> + +<P> +Half-way down the winding, narrow lane she turned +out through an opening which had once been a five-barred +gate. She crossed a field and passed into another, +and then another. Then, making her way through +a small iron gateway, she entered the twenty-acre patch +of larch and birch woods which stood on a hill on her own +land dominating the farm. +</P> + +<P> +Following the narrow cart track through these woods, +her fine eyes busy in every direction with the scuttling +rabbits, she emerged in full view of the quaint old L-shaped +house. It was a perfect picture of rural England. There +was not another house in sight. Redwithy Farm seemed +to be shut off from the rest of the world by the hilly surroundings +of the Chilterns. The land rose up on every +side but one, and that was the direction in which the +ribbon-like drive wound its way eastwards between the +railed-in pastures of rich grassland. The building was +two-storied for the most part, but here and there dormer +attic windows peeped out under the eaves of the beautifully +cut thatched roof. Then, behind the house itself lay +the old farm buildings, all in excellent repair, and in another +direction were the heavy ancient red walls surrounding +the various fruit gardens and glass ranges. +</P> + +<P> +Vita loved the place, and never more appreciated it +than when gazing at it from this view-point. Just now +there was the added charm of the ripening autumn tints +lending warmth to the scene and adding to it that snug +suggestion of shelter from the coming inclemencies of +winter. +</P> + +<P> +But in the midst of her happy contemplation she became +startled. The wonderful peace of it all was abruptly +broken. Round the corner of the straight-limbed woods, +to the east, a motor vehicle made its appearance. It +came on swiftly down the drive. At first Vita took it to +be the car of some caller from the neighborhood, but, in a +moment, the familiar outline of a taxi-cab impressed itself +upon her. +</P> + +<P> +This realization was the startling part of the apparition, +and, without hesitation, she pressed her horse on towards +the house. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Vita's hasty return to the house was inspired by an intangible +dread. There was no such thing as a taxi-cab +in Wednesford. Therefore her visitor must have come +from farther afield. There was only one place in her mind +associated with taxi-cabs—London. If the cab came from +London, then—— +</P> + +<P> +Her undefined fears received ample confirmation on +reaching the house. Herr von Salzinger was awaiting +her in the drawing-room. And at once she realized, +without having admitted it to herself, that this was the +very thing she had dreaded. How could she have admitted +it? It had seemed impossible. Her retreat was +known to no one but her father. How then had this man +discovered it—and so promptly? +</P> + +<P> +The riddle of it left her troubled. She must somehow +gain time to think. Finally, she gave word to the +sallow dark-eyed man-servant that she would join Herr +von Salzinger in the drawing-room in a few minutes. +Then she passed up-stairs to change her habit. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later she entered the drawing-room, a +picture of such beauty as set the strong pulses of the +Prussian hammering, and made him, for the moment, at +least, remember only one side of the decision which had +brought him to Redwithy Farm. +</P> + +<P> +Vita's ready wit had been active. She had decided on +her course of action, and greeted him now with an assumption +of warmth which flattered him, and helped to disarm. +</P> + +<P> +"Ludwig von Salzinger!" she cried, her hand outheld +in cordial welcome. "You, in London, after all +this time? How have you managed to tear yourself +from the paths of honor, which, if all accounts be true, +you have so familiarly been treading of late? Do you +know, when I saw your familiar features last night in +that cab I really couldn't believe it was you. And how—how +in the name of all that's wonderful did you manage +to find me out here?" +</P> + +<P> +Her assumption of pleasure was perfect. Its sincerity +even convinced the man who had come prepared for a +rebuff. +</P> + +<P> +He laughed in responsive cordiality. But his eyes +somehow retained their normal hardness of expression. +</P> + +<P> +"Do not let us talk of how I found you out," he said. +"It is likely to arouse—memories. You see, I have still +many friends in this England—of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"Mine?" Vita shrugged her superb shoulders, and +crossed over to the mantelpiece, where she stood resting +an elbow upon it. "But I know what you mean." +She sighed a regret. "You found me through your +old Secret Service friends. I ought to have remembered." +Then she smiled, and her eyes fixed themselves +intensely upon the gross face of the man. "But +I wanted to forget that. I wanted to remember only +the man who had risen by the force of his own personality +and attainments to high military command in +our beloved Fatherland. You see, <i>General</i>, there is no +woman but delights in the advancement of her friends +over the open road of honor. The secret, underground +roads,"—she shook her head,—"no, they are not for a +woman's delight in her—friends. They may be necessary, +but—they are—underground." +</P> + +<P> +Her purpose was better achieved than perhaps she +knew. At the same time, however, she was incurring +a serious risk in another direction. The passions of this +Prussian were easily stirred. They had been stirred before +when he had been younger, when perhaps his experience +had not inspired him with so much of the +cynicism and selfishness which had come to him through +the ruthlessness of his recent campaigning. His ideals +of womanhood, if he had ever really possessed any, were +now completely negligible. Never in his doctrine could +woman be anything but the amusement of man. This +Princess at one time had suggested to his mind a means +of advancement in his career. Now she was merely the +daughter of the man who had sought to injure him, a +man whom he was convinced was a traitor to his +country. She was even something more than merely +his daughter. She was something in this man's schemes +and plans. This being so, he was left without compunction +regarding her. She was beautiful and—a woman. +He was a man. Moreover he felt that his was the power +to impress his will upon her in any direction he chose. +This was the Prussian who ever reckons without his adversary. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger settled himself in a comfortable chair +and spread out his legs, while Vita pressed an electric +bell. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," he said drily. "But those underground +channels have served me well—in the present instance. +So I can't feel as you do towards them. Do you know, +Princess," he went on, with greater warmth, "the sight +of you last night left me no longer master of myself. +Even then I knew where to find you. Seeing you again +impelled me here to-day. I could not wait. I have +come here to England in my first leisure to see you—in +the hopes that you have at least forgiven if not forgotten +our last meeting. You see, I was so much younger then, +if not in years at least in the knowledge of those things +which humanly speaking really matter. Four years! +It seems a lifetime since I was with you." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment the man-servant entered with the tea-tray. +Ludwig von Salzinger watched him curiously as +he set it before his mistress, in front of the crackling log +fire. When the man had withdrawn Vita smiled across at +him. +</P> + +<P> +"Tea?" she enquired. "It is British—this tea habit. +There are other refreshments if you prefer them, and—you +may smoke. We have the house to ourselves. I +have given orders. I could not have your visit disturbed +by the possible intrusion of—neighbors." +</P> + +<P> +At this fresh mark of the woman's cordiality even the +cold eyes began to melt. Von Salzinger was rapidly +abandoning himself to the pleasure of the moment. This +woman stirred the full depths of passion in him. None +had stirred them more deeply. He admitted it, and, +with his admission, he promised himself the harvest of +the power that was his. +</P> + +<P> +He accepted a cup of tea and lit a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"Then perhaps you have forgiven the—past?" he said, +with assurance. +</P> + +<P> +Vita shrugged. But her smile was radiant. +</P> + +<P> +"We all make mistakes in—our inexperience." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." The man sipped his tea noisily. Then for a +moment he stirred it. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me," he went on abruptly. "It is four years—nearly—since +you told me all you felt about—espionage. +It is a long time and much has happened. You have +many friends here in England. Still you remain—simply +the daughter of your father? Am I rude?" Vita had +glanced over at him swiftly, seriously. "You see it is +much to me, for—I came over to see you." +</P> + +<P> +He had taken care that she should have no misunderstanding +of his meaning. She displayed no resentment, +but her eyes lowered to the tea-things she was manipulating. +The man abruptly sat forward in his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"I must say what is on my mind. It is my way, Vita. +You know that of old. I saw you last night with a man, +a stranger to me. And"—he smiled, and leant more +urgently towards her,—"I was mad—mad with jealousy. +I did not know him. I had no means of knowing him, +since I have been isolated away on my command, and I +thought, I felt convinced he was your—lover. Ach, it +made me mad—mad. So I dared not delay. I must see +you at once—at once and learn the truth from you. You +must know, Vita, that I love you just as I have always +loved you. All the rest—what is it? My position? +Nothing. Nothing to compare with my love for you. +Then my first sight of you after all this time is with that +man—a good-looking man—in the car. You together—alone. +I thought—oh, I was convinced he was your +husband, and I—I could have killed him. Will you tell +me of him? Is he? Is he your lover? You must tell +me." +</P> + +<P> +Through her drooping lashes Vita was watching him. +There was a curious manner in the man. He was not +pleading. He was telling her of his feelings as though +she had no alternative but to accept them. She was +alarmed, but gave no sign. +</P> + +<P> +She decided swiftly upon her next attitude. It must +be frankness. She must keep, hold this man, and convince +him that she had nothing to do with, and no knowledge +of, Ruxton Farlow's movements. If she failed in +this, then—— +</P> + +<P> +She laughed musically, a deep, soft laugh. The eyes +which were raised to Von Salzinger's were full of amusement. +</P> + +<P> +"The same headstrong, impetuous Ludwig. The years +have not changed you," she said, shaking her head. +"Ruxton Farlow is just one of many men friends I have +over here. You cannot expect a woman of my position +to live the life of a nun. I dined with him last evening. +When we encountered you he was driving me home in +his car. Have I committed a crime?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a subtle brutality in the man's monosyllable. +</P> + +<P> +Vita flushed. The amusement in her eyes had changed +to a sparkle of anger. She shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"If you adopt that tone I have nothing more to say on +the matter." +</P> + +<P> +The man realized his mistake and changed his tone at +once. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, Vita," he cried hastily. "It—it is jealousy. +I cannot bear to think of you with that man—alone—or +any other man. They have no right to you. +They are natural enemies of our country. I—I am a +Prussian, and you—you belong to our country. Can you +not understand my feelings? Ach! It is maddening to +think." +</P> + +<P> +Vita's smile was wholly charming as she glanced at +him across the tea-table. +</P> + +<P> +"You are going to make me quarrel with you—again. +And I don't want to quarrel. Tell me—about yourself +and your affairs. They are more interesting. Tell +me of that upward path—of that high command you +occupy." +</P> + +<P> +For some moments Ludwig von Salzinger did not +reply. He had no desire to change the subject. His +only interest in Vita was her beauty, her splendid womanhood; +her appeal to his baser senses. His hard eyes +regarded her unsmilingly for some moments. Then his +nature drove him to the blunder which the woman had +been awaiting. +</P> + +<P> +"My affairs have no interest just now," he said, almost +sombrely. +</P> + +<P> +Vita caught at his reply with all her readiness. +</P> + +<P> +"But they have—for your friends. Your old friends," +she said, with well-assumed earnestness. +</P> + +<P> +"Have they?" The man laughed bitterly. "I wonder." +Again his greedy eyes had settled upon her with +that curious regard which all good women resent. +</P> + +<P> +At last Vita threw her head up in a manner which +definitely but silently made her protest plain. Von Salzinger +was forced to speech. +</P> + +<P> +"For the moment the upward path is closed to me," +he admitted coldly. "I no longer occupy my command. +Do—you understand?" +</P> + +<P> +But Vita shook her head. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment there came an outburst of passion. It +was the outburst of a headstrong man, which robs him of +half his power in more delicate situations. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been relieved of my command," he cried, +springing to his feet and standing over her before the +little tea-table. "For the moment my enemies have +triumphed. But it will not be for long," he went on, +working himself up till he almost forgot whom he was +addressing. "The enemies of Ludwig von Salzinger do +not triumph for long, and then we shall see. Oh, yes, we +shall see." +</P> + +<P> +Vita nodded sympathetically up at the passionate face. +</P> + +<P> +"And you came to London, and," she added subtly, +"you left your enemies behind you." +</P> + +<P> +The man flung his cigar end in among the glowing +logs with a vicious gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of them," he cried fiercely. Then he abruptly +recovered himself. He began to laugh. The change +was awkward, and the cunning that crept into his eyes +was perfectly apparent to Vita. "Yes, I leave them behind +me, where we are told to put all evil things. London +is safer for me—at present. Besides, does it not bring +me to your side?" +</P> + +<P> +Vita had learned all she wanted to know in his brief +admission. "Some of them," he had flung at her in his +unguarded moment. The rest of it had no interest for +her. She rose from her chair, and forced herself to a +radiant smile. +</P> + +<P> +"You are too deep for me, Ludwig," she cried, purposely +using the intimate form of address. "But no one +realizes your capacity better than I. I have known you +so long. You will fight your battles successfully I am +sure. Must you be going?" +</P> + +<P> +The man was left without alternative. He had not +thought of departure yet. He hesitated. Then he +finally held out a hand. Vita only too readily responded. +In a moment his hot clasp smothered hers. +His eyes narrowed as they held hers, and the woman +gathered something of the threat behind them. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not good to be my enemy," he said unpleasantly. +"Those who make an enemy of me will howl +for mercy before I finish with them." Then his manner +lightened to a tone Vita feared even more than the other. +"But why talk of these things? I only think of you—dream +of you. And some day," he went on, still retaining +her hand in his, "you will be—kind to me. Eh? +Is it not so? Surely—for it is our fate. And what a +fate for any man, my Vita—my beautiful Vita. It will +be—wonderful, wonderful." +</P> + +<P> +The woman withdrew her hand sharply. She could +stand no more of it. A growing terror was taking possession +of her. Von Salzinger laughed as he released +her hand with a final pressure. "It is good-bye now, but +I shall come again, and then—again." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Vita was standing before the fire gazing down into its +ruddy depths. The tea-things had been removed, and +she was alone. She was glad. She was relieved. But +she was not dissatisfied on the whole. +</P> + +<P> +She felt that Von Salzinger was a greater blunderer +than she had hoped. She knew he had blundered twice. +He had blundered in visiting her at all. He had betrayed +his whole purpose as surely as though he had +told her all the details of his plans. +</P> + +<P> +But with her satisfaction was a deep element of fear—personal +fear. But she knew it was a fear—a weakness—that +must not be encouraged. If it mastered her she +would be left powerless to carry through the part she +felt she had yet to play. So she resolutely thrust it from +her. Meanwhile, her first duty must be to communicate +with her father, and that—at once. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ENEMY MOVEMENTS +</H4> + +<P> +Busy days crowded upon Ruxton Farlow. The house +in Smith Square only saw him at night-time, or at the +political breakfasts which had become so great a fashion. +The affairs of his portfolio moved automatically with but +very little personal attention from him, and so he was left +free to prosecute his own more secret plans, almost without +interruption. +</P> + +<P> +Apart from the affairs at the great Dorby works, his +chief effort was a campaign of proselytism amongst the +few of great position in the nation's affairs whose conviction +and prejudice must be overborne. And no one +knew better than he the meaning of such an undertaking +in Britain. +</P> + +<P> +For once, perhaps for the first time in the history of +Great Britain, such an effort had been made possible +through the reaction from ineptitude to the splendid +unity and enthusiasm of the great National Party, of +which he was a member. He had struck, at once, before +the simmering down to conflict of influences had set +in, and his decision and judgment had not been without +their reward. +</P> + +<P> +So his hours were spent in close communion with such +men as Sir Meeston Harborough and the Marquis of +Lordburgh; Sir Joseph Caistor and a few others who +headed the party. Breakfasts and luncheons were his +battle-fields. But week-ends for dilettante golf at Dorby +Towers, which frequently developed into visits to the +great yards at Dorby itself, were no mean factors in the +success of his efforts. +</P> + +<P> +It was from a luncheon in Downing Street that he +emerged one afternoon on foot into the great official +thoroughfare of Whitehall. It had been a very small +but very successful function from his point of view. It +had followed upon a week-end at Dorby Towers, at +which the President of the Board of Admiralty, Sir Reginald +Steele, had given his final verdict upon the new +constructions in process at the Dorby yards. It had +been more than favorable. It had very nearly approached +enthusiasm. And in its expression Sir Reginald +had swept away the final doubts of both the Prime +Minister and the Foreign Secretary. +</P> + +<P> +Even now, as he swung into Whitehall with long vigorous +strides, the Prime Minister's words were still ringing +in his ears. +</P> + +<P> +"You have our approval and support, my boy," he +had said in his quick, nervous way. "Go ahead, and +when the time comes do not hesitate to look to us. We +shall do everything we can to support your efforts; that +is," he added, with a whimsical, twinkling smile, "subject, +of course, to the permission of a certain section of +the ha'penny press." +</P> + +<P> +There was still a suggestion of summer in the autumn +air, but the sky had lost its brilliancy, and the inevitable +grey of smoke was beginning to settle upon the city. +For Ruxton, however, it might have been spring. The +vigor of his gait, his delighted feelings, certainly belonged +to the birth rather than the old age of the summer. +He saw nothing of that which moved and passed +about him. His busy thoughts were alive only with +those enthralling concerns which were his. Nothing +seemed able to stir him out of his abstraction until a +street arab selling papers, who had recognized him, with +the humorous effrontery of his class raised a newspaper +poster for his inspection, and almost thrust it under his +nose. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ere y'are, governor. Better 'ave one. Kaiser Bill +an' old Tirps scrappin' it out in the Baltic." +</P> + +<P> +There was no avoiding it. The boy's persistence would +not be denied. Ruxton glanced at the contents bill, and +a startled look crept into his eyes. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +"HEAVY FIRING IN THE BALTIC<BR> +MYSTERY UNSOLVED" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ruxton purchased a paper and passed on. But his +eager eyes scanned the stop press paragraph as he went. +It was a report from Copenhagen. It stated that heavy +gunfire had been heard off the German coast, and fishermen +stated that a German squadron had been seen twenty +miles from land engaged in what appeared to be a heavy +bombardment of some object in the water. It was also +stated that seaplanes had been seen to be dropping bombs +on the same object. Another report, from a German +source, stated that a portion of the fleet had been engaged +in long-range target practice. This was denied in +a still further account from the captain of one of the +Baltic ferries, who declared that no target had been visible +to those on his vessel, which had suddenly found itself in +the danger zone, with shells dropping in the water within +a radius of a quarter of a mile. +</P> + +<P> +A still later account hinted that the whole thing was an +attempt to sink a foreign submarine discovered in the act +of espionage. +</P> + +<P> +It was this final paragraph which held Ruxton's attention +and permanently altered the whole trend of his +thoughts. The affairs discussed at the recent luncheon +had been abruptly thrust out of his mind. His final +triumph over prejudice and official conservatism seemed +to have lost its meaning for the moment. The whole +centre of his interest had been completely transferred. +He was gazing out across the sea, a grey, dark, troubled +autumn sea. A fierce and awe-inspiring picture filled his +focus. A squadron of battleships; the hawk-like swooping +of great seaplanes; a small, almost indistinct object +bobbing amongst the waves. He remembered his escape +from Borga. Something of such a scene had been acted +there, only in that case the battleships had been absent, +and in their place had been guns trained, with every spot +on the narrow water carefully measured out. Was this +such an adventure as his? He could not tell. But—— +</P> + +<P> +At that moment he hailed a passing taxi, and, giving +the man an address in Kensington, he jumped in. +</P> + +<P> +He folded up his paper and thrust it into a side pocket, +and, with the sudden change of environment, his thoughts +underwent a third development. +</P> + +<P> +Somewhere in the west, there, he knew that a woman +was waiting impatiently for his news. He had 'phoned +her of his coming, and hinted at his success. Her reply +had set every pulse in his body hammering out a reciprocal +emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you have succeeded," she had replied. +"The rapidity with which you have done so only the +more surely points my original conviction. You cannot +fail. I shall be in Kensington until a late hour." +</P> + +<P> +The invitation had been irresistible to a man of Ruxton's +temperament. He snatched at it with an almost +boyish impulse, determined to lose no moment of communion +with this wonderful creature whose attractions +had so overwhelmed the youth that was in him. He +knew that whatever the future might hold for him there +could be nothing comparable with the wonderful stirring +which the bare thought of her created in him. +</P> + +<P> +As he drove along her image was before his smiling +dark eyes. The grey glory of her deeply fringed eyes +had a power to thrill him as nothing else in life could. +Her beautiful, oval face, so full of a power to express +every emotion, suggested to him the mirror-like surface of +a sunlit lake reflecting the wonders of a perfect life. The +radiance of her smile alone seemed to him worth living for. +</P> + +<P> +The heart of the man had been unloosed from the bondage +of early restraint. Now it was a-riot, claiming in its +freedom an excess of interest for its years of deprivation. +He had no power nor desire to check it. It was as though +a new life had opened out before eyes which had all too +long confronted the sober grey of mere existence, a life +which had been hidden behind a dark curtain raised at +last only to dazzle and amaze. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mrs. Jenkins, a hard-faced lady with a sniff, who had +undoubtedly seen "worse" days, had performed her duty +as only a superior British char-lady-turned-cook-housekeeper +could have possibly performed it. She had regarded +Ruxton Farlow on the door-step of Vita's flat for a +few speculative moments. Then she sniffed. +</P> + +<P> +"Name of Farlow, ain't it? She's in." +</P> + +<P> +Then, shuffling down the passage, she thrust her head +through the doorway of the sitting-room and sniffed again. +</P> + +<P> +"It's 'im, miss," she announced, and beat a strategical +retreat to the back regions of the flat, with the virtuous +conviction that she had performed her duty in a manner +which might well have been an example to a superior +parlor-maid, or even a well-trained footman. +</P> + +<P> +There seemed to be no necessity for greeting between +Vita and Ruxton Farlow. For the man it was as if +Vita had become a part of his life, as though she were +always with him, ready to support him at every turn, +ready to lead him on towards those great ideals which +were his. +</P> + +<P> +Just now the commonplaces of social intercourse had +no meaning for Vita. She drew an armchair from its +inevitable place beside the cold fireplace, and faced it +towards the window, flinging the meagre cushion aside, +so useless to a man's comfort. +</P> + +<P> +"Take that chair," she said, with a warm smile of welcome. +"You may smoke, too; I'd like you to. And +there is refreshment on the table beside you." Then she +seated herself upon a low chair in the vicinity. "Now +tell me," she added, as Ruxton flung himself into the +doubtful armchair with a contented sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell you?" he returned, with a smile in his dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Then for some moments he was silent, contemplating +the perfect oval of her face, the masses of her red-gold +hair; the wonderful grace of the exquisitely clad body. +But under his gaze her warm grey eyes were hidden. +She felt the ardor of the man's regard, nor did it leave +her unmoved. +</P> + +<P> +"There ought to be a lot to tell you—there is a lot," +he said presently, in a half-abstracted manner. "And +yet——" +</P> + +<P> +"Begin at the beginning," she helped him, and his +eyes were caught in the upward glance of the wonderful +grey, so eager, so clear, and yet so full of simple +purpose. +</P> + +<P> +"The beginning?" Ruxton smiled. "It makes it +the harder." He shook his head. "No man can tell a +woman the beginning. There is no beginning. It just +comes along without his knowing it, and, in a moment, +he is caught in mid-tide and borne along." +</P> + +<P> +Vita's eyes were gazing up into the strong face in some +doubt. She was demanding the story of his success. +Something she beheld in the man's dark eyes made her +lower her own, and she found herself powerless to urge +him further. An absurdly chaotic feeling had suddenly +taken possession of her, and amidst that chaos was a +great and wonderful dread that had nothing fearful or +terrifying in it. Yet the dread was there, a dread which +urged her to flee from his presence, and hide herself +somewhere, whither he could not follow. But opposed +to such feeling was a fascination which held her waiting, +waiting upon his words. +</P> + +<P> +Her attitude conveyed something of the emotions his +words had inspired, but Ruxton was incapable of interpreting +them. He was absorbed in the triumph of his +own feelings. His success in affairs of that day had intoxicated +him. And their outcome was a wild desire to +go further and crown them with the achievement of the +passion of love which had set fire to his soul. He yearned +for the love of this woman, and such was the impetuous +tide let loose that there, and now, he must stake his whole +future happiness on one single throw. Caution had no +place when his passionate heart was stirred. Caution, +and all its concomitants, were for the business of life. In +the emotional side of him they had no place, they could +never have place. +</P> + +<P> +"I may be mad, I may be dreaming," he cried, suddenly +springing to his feet and confronting the woman +he loved with eyes grown darker with the sudden intensity +of his feelings. "I may be mad to risk forever +losing a companionship which has become so great a part +of my life, so vital to my whole existence. I may be +dreaming to believe, or hope, that my longings can ever +reach fulfillment. But I cannot help it. It is not in me +to act otherwise. The soul-mate of a man either belongs +to him, or is denied to him, as the great controlling forces +ordain. For thirty-five years I have walked through life +alone. I have seen no woman whose companionship I +desired, or could desire, during all that time. Never +once in all that time have the soul-fires in me been stirred. +Never once have I longed for the warm heart of a woman +to beat in unison with mine. Then came a night—a +mentally black and dreary night—when the work seemed +desolate, and existence a condition almost intolerable +in the future. The darkest thoughts of my life passed +through my hot brain that night; darker even than the +thoughts during the darkest days of the great war. That +moment was the one that preceded dawn—my dawn. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Vita," he went on, with deeper, more vibrant +meaning. "That dawn came like the miracle of every +other dawn. But, unlike the dawn which heralds mere +sunrise, it heralded an eternity of beautiful dreams untouched +by the bitternesses and contentions of the human +day. It came with a voice out of the moonlit darkness. +The voice of a woman, who, within a space of time almost +negligible, had changed the despairing blackness of night +to a—wonderful dawn." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton turned from her and began to pace the narrow +length of the room. It was an unstudied expression of +the fierce fire which had leapt up in his passionate, Slavonic +heart. Vita's eyes followed his movements, fascinated +yet unseeing in the tumult which he had roused +within her. For her his words, his sudden outburst, had +reduced to concrete form all that gamut of feeling which +had been hers from the moment of their first encounter. +All unacknowledged, the latent power of this man's personality +had absorbed her every feeling. He was the one +out of all the world. His handsome head, his superb +body, so strong, so perfectly poised, but above all that +wonderful idealism which saw so clearly through the fog +of sordid influences which clogged all real progress. Almost +breathless she waited while he went on. +</P> + +<P> +He paused in his walk and abruptly flung out his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"I can see her now, a figure of perfect beauty, regal, +splendid in the silvery moonlight. The light playing +upon her marbled features, finding reflection in eyes wide +with sincerity, truth and passion. Vita, Vita, I can never +tell you all that picture inspired in me. Suddenly I knew +what life meant. Up till then I had merely existed. Life +had had no meaning for me but the necessity of working +out that simple duty of effort which belongs to us all. +With your coming everything changed. Life became at +once that superb thing of which the dreamer speaks. +Where before only the black shadows of a drear depression +had been, at once life became flooded with a golden +light. It was beautiful, beautiful." +</P> + +<P> +The woman's wondering gaze was now frankly held by +the passionate eyes regarding her. She had no power to +withdraw it, she had no desire to withdraw it. Her +cheeks were flushed. Her lips were parted, revealing +the pearly whiteness of her teeth framed in their ruby +setting, so full, so ripe. +</P> + +<P> +"But this is madness," she breathed without conviction. +It was the burden of her feelings seeking expression. +She leant forward in her chair, her hands so +tightly clasped that the blood was pressed back from her +delicate finger-tips, and the simple rings dug hard into +the tender flesh. +</P> + +<P> +"Madness? Madness?" Ruxton drew nearer. He +laughed as he echoed the word. It was the inconsequent +laugh which is merely an audible expression and +possesses no meaning. "If it is madness let me be mad. +Madness? Then I never want sanity again. Love is +madness, Vita, a madness that is ordained, and without +it love can never be love. The man who can pause to +reason does not know love. He can never love. Leave +reason and sanity for the cold affairs of life. Love can +know no check from such a course. That is how I love +you, Vita. I want you—you. I want you always with +me, near me. I want you so that our life together is +all one. You must be part of me. You must be me. +You speak of the beginning. There is no beginning, +just as there can be no end. Love is all, everything. +Vita—Vita——" +</P> + +<P> +He had bent down from his great height. He had +seized the woman's tightly clasped hands. He had +raised them with gentle force, and, as though caught +by the magnetism of all the love he had endeavored +to express, she rose to her feet, and permitted him to +hold her prisoner before him. +</P> + +<P> +But now with his final appeal the tension seemed to +relax. She stood there for a moment, silent. Then +she sighed faintly. It was as though she had awakened +from some beautiful dream. The flush on her oval +cheeks lessened, and the light in her eyes changed unmistakably. +The man seemed to become suddenly aware +of the change, and a note of apprehension sounded in +his voice as he repeated his appeal. +</P> + +<P> +"Vita—Vita," he cried, with a passion of yearning in +the words. +</P> + +<P> +The woman shook her head, but her hands remained +captive. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no! It can't be. It is too beautiful, too good to +be real. Not in this life. This life in which there is no +peace—nothing that is—beautiful. Besides——" +</P> + +<P> +"Besides?" +</P> + +<P> +Again Vita shook her head. This time she gently +released her hands. Ruxton contemplated her. Something +in her manner was restoring his control of himself. +</P> + +<P> +"We cannot—we dare not think of—ourselves now," +Vita went on. "A time may come when—but not now. +We must not pause—nor step aside." +</P> + +<P> +Each word appeared to be an effort. It was as though +she were fighting temptation in a forlorn hope. Ruxton +saw it. He understood, and his whole Slavonic passion +took fire again. Quite suddenly his two great hands +fell upon the woman's rounded shoulders, and his strong +fingers held the soft flesh firmly. Her face was turned +up to his in a startled fashion, wondering but unresentful. +His passion-lit eyes gazed deeply down into hers. +</P> + +<P> +"Vita, my Vita, these protests are not you. They are +the brave and loyal spirit seeking to abnegate those +selfish claims which in my case are irresistible. You—you +will love me. You do love me! I can see it in +your eyes—now. God, was there ever so wonderful +a sight for man? Tell me. Forget all else and tell me +of it. I am hungry—starving for the love you can give +me. I will not wait. I dare not. I love you with all +that is in me. I love you beyond all earthly duties and +cares. Tell me all that lies behind your beautiful eyes, +hidden deep down in your dear woman's heart." +</P> + +<P> +Vita was powerless. She was utterly powerless to +resist the torrent of the love that leapt from him and +overwhelmed her. All her protests died within her. +She imperceptibly drew closer to him, and, in a moment, +she lay crushed in his arms, her face hidden +against his broad shoulder, the perfume of her hair +intoxicating him still further. His head bent down +against it and his lips rained caresses upon it. Then, +in a second, one hand was raised and he lifted her face +from its hiding-place so that his eyes gazed full upon +it. Then, lower his face bent towards hers, and in a +ravishing silence their lips met, and held for long, long +moments. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The evening shadows were softly drawing their veil +about them. The plain little room had lost its crudeness +of outline. Ruxton was seated in the armchair +which had been set for him, and Vita was crouching +curled up on the cushion on the floor close beside him. +Ruxton was smoking now. He had been smoking for +some minutes. Vita was listening to the voice she +loved, and occasionally interrupted it with a question +or comment. +</P> + +<P> +He had just completed the story of his success, and her +delight in it had held the woman forgetful of those things +she had yet to tell to him. +</P> + +<P> +But now, in the silence which had followed, a flood of +recollection spread over her. She searched for a beginning +with a brave desire to reveal as little of the disquiet +which haunted her as possible. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no such success to recount," she said at last, +gazing up at the strong face above her with a tender +smile of confidence. "I have heard from Von Salzinger, +as I knew I should after that evening in—the car." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton laid a hand firmly over one of Vita's, which +rested on the arm of the chair. It was a gesture which +had in it all a strong man's promise of protection. To +Vita it conveyed a sensation of exquisite reassurance. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it all seems so futile," she cried, with a sudden +helplessness. "I mean when you think of the terrible +Secret Service which seems to know everything. No one +in England except ourselves knows of such a person as +Valita von Hertzwohl. As for my home, only my father +knows that. I have kept it secret even from you. And +yet this Von Salzinger comes to England and—calls upon +me. The refuge I had so carefully prepared for my father +in case of emergency is—no refuge at all. I believe +I am terrified." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me more." Ruxton leant forward in his chair. +All satisfaction at the thought of his own affairs had died +out of his expressive eyes. They were full of concern +and sympathy for the woman he loved. "Where is this +home? I had better know—now." +</P> + +<P> +Vita smiled tenderly. His trifling emphasis on the +final word helped to banish something of her fears. It +was the reminder of the bond between them. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the sweetest of aged Elizabethan farms in Buckinghamshire. +It is called Redwithy Farm, and is less +than two miles from Wednesford. It is the most romantically +beautiful place you could find anywhere, small, +but—I love it." She sighed deeply. "I was out riding +when he called. I had no alternative but to see him." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" The man's earnest gaze was steady. His +alert mind was seeking something, nor did he know the +nature of what he sought. +</P> + +<P> +"Because Vassilitz had admitted him in my absence. +He had no right to, but—he did. I cannot—but it +doesn't matter now. I simply dared not refuse to see +him, so I affected cordiality and—gave him tea." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton made an impatient movement. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Vassilitz? What is he?" he demanded in a +level tone. +</P> + +<P> +"My butler. He is a Pole—a German Pole. All my +servants are Poles. I have known them all my——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah. And you marvel at the power of the Secret +Service?" +</P> + +<P> +The gravity of her lover's tone startled Vita. But she +could not credit his suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +"But I have known them all my life. They are devoted +to me and mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I should know them no longer. But tell me of +Von Salzinger. He has found you out. It does not +much matter how. The purpose of his visit. That is +the important matter." +</P> + +<P> +It was some moments before Vita replied. A fresh +terror was slowly taking possession of her. After a +while, however, she pulled herself together with an effort. +</P> + +<P> +"He told me it was to see me. I have told you that +years ago he made love to me. He pretended his visit +was—to see me." +</P> + +<P> +"Pretended?" +</P> + +<P> +A furious jealousy was suddenly taking possession of +Ruxton. Only by a powerful self-control was he keeping +it under. Vita understood by the tone of his enquiry, +and hastily sought to set his doubts at rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but he is a loathsome creature." Then she +turned to him and looked up into his dark eyes. "Ruxton, +dear," she appealed, "never, never, never believe +anything but that I loathe and fear that man." +</P> + +<P> +The demon of jealousy died out of the man's eyes and +he smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"I never will believe otherwise, Vita," he reassured +her. "Now tell me." +</P> + +<P> +After that Vita told her story briefly and simply. But +at its conclusion she asseverated her conviction emphatically. +</P> + +<P> +"He was lying. It was patent to me. If he desired +to make love to me it was incidental. He came because +he and the rest of them are in hot pursuit of the Borga +affair. He is over here to fight to retrieve the position +from which we know he has fallen. What they will do, +what they can do—here—I cannot imagine. But they +are so subtle—so subtle." +</P> + +<P> +Again that haunting fear had come back to her eyes +Ruxton pressed her hand gently. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you are wrong, dear," he said firmly. "I am +sure of it. As you say, they are subtle. I am convinced +his visit to you was—for you." Ruxton's eyes had grown +darker, and his brows drew together. Apprehension was +stirring, but it was apprehension for Vita. "You must +not receive him again. I do not think it safe for you +down there. I should give the place up—temporarily. +Anyway it can be no safe refuge for your——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off and sat up with a start. His caressing +hand was drawn from hers with a suddenness that communicated +some further anxiety to the woman. She +watched him, searching his face while his hands groped in +the side pockets of his coat. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" she demanded, with a sharp intake of +breath. +</P> + +<P> +For reply Ruxton withdrew a newspaper folded, and +held it out to her, pointing at the stop press paragraph on +the outside fold. +</P> + +<P> +"Read it," he said urgently. +</P> + +<P> +She stood up and moved to the window for better light +He watched her while she read. +</P> + +<P> +"Can it be——?" he demanded, leaving his sentence +unfinished. +</P> + +<P> +Vita looked up at last. Her eyes were wide. A +stunned look was in them. Her parched lips moved. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think it's father?" she asked. "Do you think +he has got away?" Then, with a sudden appealing +gesture: "Oh, say you do." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CROUCH OF THE TIGER +</H4> + +<P> +Johann Stryj had departed as silently and undemonstratively +as he had come. The chief spy was a born +master of his craft. The only matter in which Nature +had been less kind to him in his fitness for the work he +had imposed upon himself was in the slightly furtive restlessness +of his eyes. Otherwise the ideal had been +achieved. His whole air of simple inoffensiveness left +nothing to be desired. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger admitted these things to himself, in spite +of the morose venom which the man's report upon Dorby +had inspired. +</P> + +<P> +This venomous mood, however, was not directed against +his helper. It was inspired by his realization that his +own purpose had been made more difficult of achievement. +He had discovered that his efforts were not +directed against private individuals, but against the +British naval authority, an authority he had reason to +know had nothing of the ineptitude of other departments +of the Government. +</P> + +<P> +Thus he sat back in the largest and most comfortable +chair in his private sitting-room, with his trunk-like legs +supported upon a smaller chair, and divided his savage +mood between outlining the report he must now make +to Berlin and the devouring of the contents of a large +<i>bier-stein</i>, which stood on the table within reach. +</P> + +<P> +He had nearly succeeded in achieving his double purpose, +and incidentally relieving his unpleasant mood, when +a diversion occurred in the form of a telephone summons +from the hotel office below. +</P> + +<P> +A visitor for him. Name of Von Berger. Would he +see him at once? +</P> + +<P> +Yes, Ludwig von Salzinger would be pleased to see him +at once. This is what he 'phoned down. To himself he +cursed bitterly in homely Prussian adjectives. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger was the last person he wanted to see in +England until the outcome of his work was assured. This +man's coming suggested all sorts of vague and disquieting +thoughts. With Von Berger in England he would no +longer be a free agent. He would be forced to yield the +conduct of affairs to another—a man whom he felt had +neither friendliness nor mercy for any soul on earth. He +was more than disquieted. He was awed, and not a little +apprehensive. +</P> + +<P> +The latter was displayed in an almost schoolboy action +that was pathetically humorous. He quickly removed +his <i>bier-stein</i>—and concealed it. +</P> + +<P> +The entrance of Von Berger was characteristic of the +frigid, unyielding aspect he displayed at all times. No +one could have encountered this personality and detected +one soft spot in the whole of its make-up. It was almost +as if something of the iron of his native Baltic shores had +been bred into him through the ages of his ruthless +ancestry. No iceberg in the northern reaches of his +native inland sea could have gleamed more coldly bright +than his hard eyes. No ice-bound crag could have been +cut more sharply than the thin compressed lips of his set +mouth. +</P> + +<P> +He entered the room with cold assurance. He possessed +himself of the chair which had supported Von +Salzinger's legs, and occupied it without invitation. He +indicated the armchair beside which Von Salzinger was +standing, with the certainty of authority. And the lesser +man sat in it, obedient to his visitor's lightest command. +There was no greeting between them. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger's keen eyes searched the room. For a +moment they rested upon the door which shut off the +other's bedroom. +</P> + +<P> +"That door?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"My bedroom, Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Admission that way?" +</P> + +<P> +"I keep the outer door locked." +</P> + +<P> +The cold eyes surveyed the windows. They were +closed. Then his regard came back to the heavy square +face of his host. +</P> + +<P> +"Von Hertzwohl has—escaped." +</P> + +<P> +There was no emphasis; no heat of any sort. The lips +moved, and the pronouncement was made. That was all. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger started. Then a half-smile grew in his +eyes. In a vague way he realized that the Prince's flight +was a triumph and vindication for himself. But his momentary +satisfaction was damped by the cold voice of his +visitor. +</P> + +<P> +"On receipt of your report that you had discovered +the identity of the man who visited Borga, vigilance was +redoubled. For obvious reasons we had no desire to arrest +him until more definite news was received. He had +no suspicion that he was—observed. Then, suddenly he +disappeared. We picked up his tracks. He had escaped +by sea in his submersible. Our squadron very nearly +effected his capture. However, he escaped. He must +have received news from—here. He is probably making +for—here. Have you any additional report to make?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger cleared his throat. He sat up. The +veins stood out upon his square temples. His momentary +satisfaction was completely gone. In its place was +a sickening apprehension that his enemy was slipping +through his fingers, and in doing so it seemed more than +likely he might contrive to make his, Von Salzinger's, +position even less favorable with Berlin. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency. I was about to write one when I +received the telephone message of your arrival." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me have the details quickly and briefly." +</P> + +<P> +"In the yards at Dorby in Yorkshire, owned by Farlow, +Son and Farlow—Ruxton Farlow is a partner—certain +portions of them have been taken over by the British Admiralty. +But these portions are not being used for naval +purposes. They are constructing a new type of mercantile +submersible from foreign plans, which have only +very recently come to England. The submersible portion +of these vessels is the principle perfected by Hertzwohl +in our naval submarines. The rest of them is an +entirely new design. But the complete boat is the design +of—one man." +</P> + +<P> +"Hertzwohl." +</P> + +<P> +"That is how I read it." +</P> + +<P> +"The object of naval authority in these yards is——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Security and secrecy." +</P> + +<P> +"Which proves the plans have either been stolen or +traitorously acquired, and they fear interference and—reprisal." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"And this information?" Von Berger's enquiry came +with even colder incisiveness. +</P> + +<P> +"We have men working in the shops. We have one +man in the drawing office. All hands, even the clerical +staff of these departments, work under oath of secrecy, +and naval discipline." Von Salzinger smiled contemptuously. +"This, however, does not impede our flow of information. +The man in the drawing office has discovered +that the plans are shortly to be photographed by the +naval authorities. Further, they are testing a new light +which seems to correspond with our new U-rays, which +was found to be defective by us, and the vital parts of +which Hertzwohl removed on his last visit to Borga. If +this light should prove to be identical with the U-rays it +suggests a further conspiracy. Hertzwohl contrived its +faultiness himself, and seized the opportunity of removing +the vital parts of the—<i>only</i>—lamp we possessed. It suggests +that the whole thing was carefully planned and +carried out by—Hertzwohl." +</P> + +<P> +The only sign from Von Berger was a curious flicker +of the eyelids. The unyielding expression of his keen +face never varied for one moment. +</P> + +<P> +"This man Farlow—Ruxton Farlow?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"For the moment he is beyond our reach. He is a +Minister in the British Cabinet." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +For some moments neither spoke. Von Salzinger +watched this man whom he feared more than any man +in Berlin. He was wondering at the activity behind +those cold eyes. He was speculating as to the direction +in which that force would drive. He labored under no +delusion. The conduct of this affair was to be removed +from his hands. It was an added bitterness, but a certain +relief left it not without compensation. If this matter +were successfully dealt with, no matter by whom, it must +redound to his advantage. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger did not leave him long in doubt. +</P> + +<P> +"It may be possible to destroy those plans—before +they are copied," he said. "If they have already been +traced, still it will be a proper step. They may even +have neglected to trace them—these English. I must +see Stryj at once. You will telephone him. Not now," +as Von Salzinger rose with alacrity to obey. "There is +another matter to be dealt with first. Hertzwohl has got +away. He must be silenced. He must be punished. If +he is in England—of which I have no doubt, he would be +even less safe elsewhere—he is to be run to earth, and +his power for further mischief must be—cut off. You +understand." +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger's eyes were full of meaning as he +nodded, but there was no fraction of change in the +other's. Von Berger drew a note-book from his pocket, +and turned some odds and ends of papers over. Finally +he selected one. +</P> + +<P> +He held it out, and his level eyes forced Von Salzinger's +till the latter felt that the remotest secrets could +be penetrated by their cold intensity. +</P> + +<P> +"You know that place?" he enquired. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger read— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="t3"> +"<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Redwithy Farm, Wednesford, Bucks</SPAN>." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +He drew a deep breath. At the sound of it Von +Berger's eyelids flickered. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." Von Salzinger's eyes were slowly raised to +the other's. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite so. You visited there the other day. For +what purpose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Information." There was a flush in the man's fleshy +cheeks. He loathed and feared those searching eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Was your visit productive?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"We will visit there together and must make our visit +productive. Vassilitz will expect us there to-night. If +Hertzwohl is in England we must find him through the +Princess Valita. Now send for Stryj." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +FROM BENEATH THE WATERS +</H4> + +<P> +The appeal in Vita's voice, in her yearning, distressed +eyes, when she demanded her lover's reassurance of her +father's escape, was not without a powerful effect on the +romantic chivalry which was so large a part of Ruxton's +nature. It set every nerve in his body tingling to serve +her. Then, too, the debt he owed to the Prince himself, +in the name of his country, urged him. +</P> + +<P> +That night he had bought later editions of the paper, +seeking further news which might throw light upon the +matter, and possibly yield an explanation of the Baltic +incident which might relieve them of all anxiety. But +none was forthcoming. The reports passed from the +"stop press" to the news columns without added detail. +Editorial speculation was added, but this afforded no clue +to the unravelling of the mystery. +</P> + +<P> +Then, at last, Ruxton took a decision. Its purpose was +vague, but the impulse was irresistible. His whole +thoughts focussed themselves upon Dorby and the work +going on there. He had offered this foreigner the shelter +of his home. He had impressed it upon him. It seemed +to him that such being the case, should his anticipation +prove correct, his place, at the moment, was unquestionably +Dorby. +</P> + +<P> +He communicated his feelings on the matter to Vita, +who saw in his ideas the inspiration which he would never +have admitted. +</P> + +<P> +"If it should be that he has escaped those dreadful +guns," she said, her hands clasped in an effort to steady +herself, "Dorby is the place he will make for—the Old +Mill Cove. Oh, my dear, my dear, can you not see what +would happen if he arrived with no one there to caution +him? He would make for Redwithy. He would come +straight to me. And Von Salzinger would be ready for +him. You will go? You will help him for my sake? +Ah, thank you," as the man nodded his silent reassurance. +"Meanwhile I will return home at once that I may be +ready for every eventuality—and Von Salzinger. I will +let you know any development." +</P> + +<P> +So it came about that Ruxton found himself at Dorby +Towers once more, in deep consultation with his father, +who, with steady twinkling eyes, listened and advised +with all the shrewd, calm wisdom of his clear commercial +brain. +</P> + +<P> +Nearly the whole of the next day was spent by Ruxton +upon the cliffs, where, with powerful glasses, he searched +the calm surface of the treacherous grey waters of the +North Sea. His search remained unrewarded, but he was +indefatigable. His watch was kept up with the aid of a +confidential man of his father's to relieve him, and when +evening came he decided that a night watch must follow +the day. He had carefully calculated the time from the +date and hour of the Baltic firing, and, in the light of the +experience of his own journey to Borga, he calculated that +if the Prince had actually escaped, and was making for +Dorby, he would reach the coast some time during the +next twelve hours. +</P> + +<P> +From three o'clock in the afternoon until darkness set +in he had rested, leaving his assistant on guard. Then he +set out alone to keep his night vigil. +</P> + +<P> +His way took him across the wild moorland in the +direction of the black remains of the old mill, and, in setting +out, he remembered that night which now seemed so +far back in his memory, when, out of the darkness, he had +heard those tones he had now come to love so well. +This time, however, his dinner coat and thin shoes had +been abandoned in favor of a heavy tweed ulster and +thick shooting boots. For the autumn night was bitter +with a light breeze from the northeast, and a great silvery +moon, and the cold diamonds of a starlit sky, suggested +that the speeding hours were likely to bring with them +many degrees of frost before he could return to the warmth +of his bed. +</P> + +<P> +His direction gave him no trouble. Every foot of the +moorland cliff was familiar to him with the instinct bred +through childish years of association. Then there was the +great, heavy moon yielding a light by which it would almost +have been possible to read. +</P> + +<P> +So he strode on towards his goal, the blackened +skeleton, which marked the old dishonest times of battles +fought out against authority. With the detachment of +youth his thoughts had been left free to wander from the +purpose of his journey. A deep concentration had completed +every detail of the work that lay before him. And +so the resiliency of his brain had caused a rebound to +those wonderful thoughts which claimed his every human +sensation. +</P> + +<P> +He was thinking of Vita. His mental faculties had +visualized once more the perfections which were hers, +and those with which this love of his endowed her. +His big heart was stirred to its very depths with the +memory of her final, wistful appeal. He felt that if +human effort could serve her, that effort, the whole of it +that was in him, was at her service. He felt that all quite +suddenly a great new power had been vouchsafed him, +a power to do, to act, and to think—all for the woman +who had inspired in him this wonderful, wonderful feeling +of love. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing, no task, no labor, however great, was too +arduous for him to accomplish. More, it was a happiness, +such as never in his life he had known, to be privileged +with the task of contributing to her happiness. +</P> + +<P> +In the mood of the moment he had no desire to look +ahead. The concerns of the future belonged to the future. +For him, in this matter, the present was all-sufficient. +Next to him Vita loved her father. She had fearlessly +undertaken work which might well have daunted +any woman, to help him in his motives of humanity. +Was there any more sublime motive for a woman's +action? He thought not. And a wave of delighted +appreciation swept over him. In the ghostly silvery light +of that autumn night he thanked God that the love of +such a woman had been vouchsafed him. +</P> + +<P> +He reached the decayed surroundings of the old mill +all too soon. But, with a readiness which found him +stoically regretless, he probed once more the mysteries +of the old mill. It was precisely as he had left it on his +return from Borga, which seemed so long ago. He could +detect no sign that any one had been near the place. He +was glad. He felt its secret was still safe, and was yet a +power to serve the woman he loved. +</P> + +<P> +The journey through the bowels of the earth was one +of simple accomplishment now. He even required no +lantern. All that was necessary was the lighting of an +occasional match to verify his positions. +</P> + +<P> +At the cavern mouth he found that it was high tide. +The rock-girt pit was darkly sombre, but the radiance of +the moon was sufficient to outline the restless, lapping +water's edge, which was all he needed. With some care +he scrambled over the slippery boulders and finally made +his way to a great projection which overhung the water +some fifteen feet below, and took up his position upon its +rugged, unyielding extremity. Here he sat in full view +of the mouth of the great inlet, through which the waters +were still churning. Beyond it, miles out to sea, he could +observe every light or object silhouetted against the skyline. +But he knew that if Prince von Hertzwohl were +making for the Old Mill Cove he would not approach it +till the tide was at a low ebb. That would not occur for +some hours. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The tide had long since fallen. It had been ebbing for +nearly three hours and a half. So still was the air, so +oppressive the sense of silent crowding by the towering +cliffs about him, that Ruxton's ears had become attuned to +every change in the sound of the lapping waters below +him. He had recognized the period of slack water. Then +he had caught and read the change of sound with the first +signs of the ebb. Then again he had recognized its increasing +speed. And all the time eyes and ears were +straining for sight or sound from beyond the mouth of the +cove. He had seen lights pass: slow, distinct, as some +trader or trawler passed upon its chilly way. But these +had been far beyond the range at which he expected the +signs of the submersible. +</P> + +<P> +It was warmer down in the cove than upon the moorland, +but the chill of the night air was penetrating, and +he huddled his neck down in the high upturned collar +of his coat and drew its skirts closer about his knees. +It was a dreary vigil, but his determination never +wavered. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later he produced a cigar, prepared to +obtain the trifling comfort which tobacco might afford +him, but, in the act of striking a match he abruptly abandoned +the attempt. He flung it away and raised his +night glasses. Some sound had caught his straining +ears. It came from well beyond the towering gateway. +It seemed to him like the vague and indistinct throb of +powerful engines. After a moment's search the glasses +revealed some dark bulk on the bosom of the sea. In a +moment he was on his feet searching, searching. +</P> + +<P> +Minutes passed. To him it seemed the bulk remained +stationary, but its very indefiniteness left him doubting. +At last he lowered his glasses and gave himself up to +listening. Then he prepared to light his cigar again. +He could hear no sound of engines now. He—— A +light had flashed out! Instantly a responsive thrill passed +down through his sensitive nerves. +</P> + +<P> +Now the rapidly passing moments each brought their +developments. He could hear the voices of men plainly +in the dead silence of the night. They must be near, +dangerously near to the treacherous opening. He could +see other lights, moving lights, like lanterns being borne +along a deck by hand. Then he heard the clanking of +cable chains. Finally a larger light, something in the +nature of a small searchlight, detached itself from the +others, and came directly towards the opening. +</P> + +<P> +He turned away and lit his cigar. Then he scrambled +down to the beach. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had remained in obscurity watching the light +as it passed through the opening. It came on swiftly +against the racing tide. There was no hesitation or indecision. +The light steered straight for the spit of rock +forming a sort of natural quay, upon which he was standing +under cover of a projecting boulder. There was no +longer any doubt in his mind. He remembered that other +time when he had embarked at the same spot. +</P> + +<P> +The launch slowed down and crept towards the rocky +tongue. The landing was brilliantly lit up by the searching +headlight. Slower, slower, it finally glided into the +landing-place and was held fast by two heavy figures now +clearly outlined. +</P> + +<P> +A third figure rose up amidships—a tall, familiar figure, +clad in a long enveloping cloak. He spoke once. Then +he stepped actively on to the landing. Ruxton emerged +from the shadow. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome, Prince. It is I, Ruxton Farlow." +</P> + +<P> +He had stepped forward with hand outheld. +</P> + +<P> +At the first sound of his voice the men in the boat had +become still. The Prince had swung round, and his right +hand had been plunged deeply into the pocket of his +great cloak. But a moment later it was withdrawn, and +a deep-throated laugh expressed his relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my friend," he cried. "I thought"—then he +grasped the outstretched hand in warm cordiality,—"then +I heard your name, and knew my alarms were groundless. +You have come here to—meet me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. We guessed." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah. Forgive me. I must give some orders." +</P> + +<P> +He was about to turn away to the men in the boats, +but Ruxton detained him. +</P> + +<P> +"Before you give orders, I would suggest you send +your vessel round to Dorby. Our dock-master is on the +lookout for you. He is lying off the mouth of the river +to pilot you in to a—<i>safe</i>—mooring. When you hail +him, pass him one word: 'Towers.' My father is awaiting +you at home. We have thought out a plan which +may meet with your approval." +</P> + +<P> +The tall figure moved a step nearer. Again his tenacious +hand was thrust out. +</P> + +<P> +"It is always the same—in Britain. I thank you." +</P> + +<P> +He turned and gave orders in compliance with Ruxton's +instructions. Then the two men stood side by side +while they watched the launch slide back with the tide. +Then, as it swung about, head on for the opening, +they moved away up towards the cavern entrance in the +cliff. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Throughout the passage of the cave, and the long climb +up the rough-hewn staircase to the mill above, no unnecessary +word was spoken. An occasional warning of +trifling pitfalls ahead from Ruxton, on the lead, was the +only sound beyond the clatter of feet upon the rough +stone tread of the journey. +</P> + +<P> +There was much to be said between them, but each +felt that the dank atmosphere of this cavern was scarcely +the place in which to pause for confidences. This was a +meeting between these two full of profound significance, +even of threat, for both knew that a challenge had been +thrown out at a power for vengeance, the extent of which +neither could as yet accurately estimate. +</P> + +<P> +The silence between them was maintained until the +outline of the old mill had fallen away well behind +them, and the intricacies of the footpaths amongst the +black gorse patches permitted of their walking abreast. +Then it was Ruxton who opened the subject between +them. +</P> + +<P> +"I bought a newspaper almost by chance. It contained +news of some action by the German fleet—in the +Baltic. It was vague. But somehow it made me uneasy. +Then Vita seemed to read it aright." +</P> + +<P> +"Vita?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, forgive me," Ruxton smiled. "The Princess interpreted +it. We became convinced that it was something +to warrant alarm for—your safety." +</P> + +<P> +The tall, lean figure pressed nearer to its English +friend. Ruxton felt the clasp of a hand upon his upper +arm. +</P> + +<P> +"And so you came—to the cove?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a deep note of appreciation in the man's +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"It was a friendly act," he added. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"I promised you a welcome in England. It is nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"No. It is nothing—to some people." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton dismissed the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"They have discovered. Von Salzinger is in England." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Vita has told me. But I knew it without the +telling." Then the Prince laughed, and there was ironical +inflection in his mirth. "Oh, yes. It was easy to +watch—these things. I watched every move through +the eyes of my few faithful friends. I saw how they +kept me under surveillance, after—after they sent Von +Salzinger to England. Then, when I began to feel that +their interest in me was becoming threatening, when I +received interrogations that were difficult to answer—easily—interrogations +about the U-rays, then I said to +myself that I must put to the test all those little plans I +had prepared. I abandoned my works by sea." +</P> + +<P> +"Then——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it was not all so simple. The story of it I will +tell you some day. One thing I had not calculated upon +was that my place was watched from the sea by our +naval ships. They are shrewd, these people, but they +are also blundering. These naval men!" His clasp on +Ruxton's arm tightened. A certain scorn crept into the +vibrating tones. "You know them? Your people +know them. They laugh at them—your people, I mean—as +I laughed. The German Navy forgets. They forget +that I am the master of the submarine. They think +they know it all—all that I have in here." He touched +the high forehead under his soft felt hat with a lean forefinger. +"But they do not. They see my boat come out. +They challenge me—as they challenge me at Borga. It +is the same again. I laugh and I keep on my course. I +do not heave-to. Then they open their guns at me to +sink me, but I only submerge. They follow on my line. +I come up. They fire again, and so it goes on. They +make a great commotion and waste many shells. Then +comes night, and—I lose them." He shrugged. Then +after a pause he went on. "Now I come to England +and I join my daughter in her home. Later on maybe +I shall forget these people that have owned my body and +brain, and used them for so long to outrage humanity. +I never go back. Never, never!" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrank from the news he must convey. The +doubt in his monosyllable, however, did not pass the +other by. The Pole's big eyes turned full upon his +companion's face, and enquiry rang in his echo of the +monosyllable. +</P> + +<P> +"No?" +</P> + +<P> +"You cannot go to your daughter's place. Von Salzinger +has discovered it. It will be watched." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is an added reason for my meeting you." +</P> + +<P> +"It is an added complication. So, so." +</P> + +<P> +"But not beyond—straightening out." +</P> + +<P> +"No?" +</P> + +<P> +"My father is awaiting you. There is Dorby." +</P> + +<P> +They walked on in silence. The old man moved with +surprising vigor. He was thinking rapidly. The new +situation involved a readjustment of plans. He was +seeking solution with a fertility of imagination which +might have astonished the Englishman had he known. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton went on. +</P> + +<P> +"Our works are under protection from our naval authority. +They should be safe. My father thinks the +shelter of our home should serve for the present." +</P> + +<P> +Von Hertzwohl seemed to pass the offer by, dwelling +only upon the safety of the works. +</P> + +<P> +"That is good, the works protected," he said abruptly, +his luminous eyes shining. "You are clever. You take +no chance. And the work? It goes on? Good! Ah! +I must see it all." He rubbed his hands. "There is no +hitch? Nothing? The vessels grow—grow while you +look. Ah, yes, I know you British. There will be no +more submarine danger; no more massacre of women +and children at sea. It gives me the greatest joy." +</P> + +<P> +The old man's enthusiasm was beyond all thought of +self. It was so simple, so intense. It was the enthusiasm +of a child for his new toy, and Ruxton marvelled at +the odd mixture which went to make up his strange character. +</P> + +<P> +"The completion of the work is as inevitable as that +your Government means to—hunt you down." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton thought to impress the Pole with the precariousness +of his position. But the man brushed it aside. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach!" he cried, with a gesture of recklessness. +"Yes, they hunt me down. That is it. That is why I +do not burden your father with my safeguard. It is +good to think of. This generous man—your father. It +is good that his son comes to—help me. I feel it all +here." He pressed one hand over his heart. "But no. +I know these people. I do not fear them. They hunt +me down. They kill me. It is not so much. It is so +small a thing I do not think of it. No. But they do not +hunt me down," he went on, with a smile of quiet confidence. +"I will go with you to Dorby. I will talk with +your great father—and then—I go. It will be good to +befool them—and I will befool them." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed a fearless, heart-whole laugh which left the +younger man marvelling. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE TIGER SPRINGS +</H4> + +<P> +The drawing-room at Redwithy Farm was bathed in +the shadows of early autumn evening. A fire of blazing +logs spluttered and crackled in the great open fireplace. +Its ruddy light shed an atmosphere of mellow comfort +and coziness over the entire aspect of the room. Under +ordinary circumstances Vita would have revelled in the +delight of these moments of a great new happiness in her +beautiful home. +</P> + +<P> +She was ensconced in an armchair beside the fire +which had doubtless, in years gone by, supported the +slumbering form of some bewigged country squire. Its +design was perfect for such a purpose. A small tea-table +stood at her elbow. The muffins were cold upon it, but +she had been glad of the mildly stimulating effects of the +tea. +</P> + +<P> +Now she was sitting forward in her chair gazing deep +down into the heart of the fire. A teeming thought was +speeding through a brain which, of late, seemed always +to be working at high pressure. The odd pucker of +thought between her brows added charm and character +to her beautiful face. Her eyes, too, had lost something +of their profound serenity. They were alight and shining +with a certain nervous concentration, while her delicate +lips were unusually firmly compressed. +</P> + +<P> +She had only returned from London an hour earlier, +and now, far from the distractions of the momentous +hours she had spent with the man whose love had been +powerful enough to sweep aside every other consideration +from her mind, she was striving to quell all emotion, +and disentangle the skeins in which she felt hopelessly +caught up. +</P> + +<P> +Paramount, her great love for Ruxton stood out and +tripped her at every effort to concentrate upon those +matters which related to the plans upon which they were +all at work. Her alarm for her father was real and almost +overwhelming. But her joy in her new-found love +robbed it of half its significance. In the happiness of the +moment it was impossible to believe or accept, even, the +suggestion that disaster had overtaken, or could overtake +him. +</P> + +<P> +In the first rush of her dread Ruxton's confidence +had reassured her. Her father must be safe. Her lover's +argument had been so clear and convincing. Then he +had promised to meet him on his arrival in England. +Yes, her father was bound to make for Dorby. That was +their secret landing-place. Ruxton would be there. He +would not fail. He would warn him of Von Salzinger's +discovery of her house. He would arrange for his safety. +To all these things he had given his word, and his word +was all-sufficient for her. As for his ability to put his +promise into effect there could be no question. The +proud thought in her was supreme. +</P> + +<P> +She dwelt upon the glamored picture of her lover +which was always in her mind, and it comforted her and +reassured her as she had never found comfort or reassurance +before. No one who knew him could question, she +felt. Her vivid mental vision dwelt upon the sculptured +beauties of his magnificent face and head. The calmly +assured manner; the great physical strength, which reminded +her of the men in the wonderful history of her +own country,—these things overbore her woman's timidities, +and reacted upon her in a manner which drove all +doubts headlong. +</P> + +<P> +He would write her. How? Through the post, or +would he send a messenger with the news of her father's +safety? It was a useless speculation. All she knew was +that the news would come. He had promised it. +</P> + +<P> +Vassilitz entered the room. Vita knew it because the +door had opened, and the rattle of the handle had disturbed +her. Otherwise the man's movements were +decorously silent. He crossed to the windows and drew +the curtains. He glided across the room, and prepared +to remove the tea-things. +</P> + +<P> +Would madame have the lights? No, madame preferred +the firelight. The brighter lights would have disturbed +her dreaming. The man bore the tea-table away, +his dark eyes and sallow features perfect in their immobility. +</P> + +<P> +As the door closed behind him, memory brought Vita +a fleeting unease. She remembered Ruxton's warning +about Vassilitz. He had suggested his possible connection +with the Secret Service. It seemed impossible. And +yet Ruxton had been definite. How long had she known +him? She cast back in her mind. Why, as long as she +could remember. She remembered him as a village lout, +who sometimes worked for her father in his garden. +Then he had been taken away to the army, as they were +all taken away by the cruel conscript laws. Yes, of +course, he had been away in the army, and—they had +lost sight of him all that time—the time he was in the +army. +</P> + +<P> +Then she dismissed the matter. Ruxton must be +right. She was sure he would not say such a thing without +some reason. She would send Vassilitz back to his +home. There must be no unnecessary risk of her father's +safety. +</P> + +<P> +Having settled the matter, the fiery caverns in the grate +absorbed her attention once more, and every beat of her +heart helped to bridge the distance which separated her +from the lover who had so suddenly thrust himself into +her life. +</P> + +<P> +How long she sat crouching over the crackling fire, +dreaming those dreams of life, which afterwards become +the most sacred treasures of a woman's memory, Vita +never knew. Later, when she reviewed those moments, +conviction remained that never for one moment had her +eyes closed in response to the seductive warmth of the +fire. Yet she knew that in some strange manner oblivion +must have stolen upon her. Without a shadow of warning +she found herself sitting bolt upright, every drop of +blood seeming to have receded from her veins, leaving +her shivering in a frigid panic. The cold, hard tones of a +man's voice were addressing her. +</P> + +<P> +"The Princess will forgive the unceremonious nature of +this visit," it said. "It is imperative, for—it is made +under the direct authority of those who claim all subjects +of the Fatherland." +</P> + +<P> +The words were in German. They were without a +shadow of inflection, and thereby gained in the consummate +tyranny of their meaning. +</P> + +<P> +Vita was on her feet. Nor had the wild panic which +swept through her every nerve centre power to rob her of +the regal poise natural to her. She battled fiercely for +calmness, but only achieved it superficially. +</P> + +<P> +In the dark of the room she could see nothing of the +intruder distinctly. A shadowy outline in the direction of +the closed door was all she could make out. Then, with +a swift movement, one arm was thrust out towards the +wall beside the fireplace. Her fingers encountered a +group of electric switches. In a moment the room was +flooded with a shaded, mellow light. +</P> + +<P> +"Frederick von Berger! You!" +</P> + +<P> +It was the only exclamation that escaped her parched +lips. But it expressed all the terror which would no +longer be denied. +</P> + +<P> +She had recognized the intruder. And behind him she +saw the square figure of Von Salzinger. But the latter +meant nothing compared with the overwhelming personality +of the man whom she, with thousands of others, had +always regarded as the Kaiser's evil genius. Probably +only once or twice in all her years she had seen this man +in the flesh. But his pictures, they were known to everybody +in the Fatherland, just as was the sinister reputation +which dogged his name. +</P> + +<P> +Oh, yes, she knew him—and he was here, here in England, +and had stolen in upon the privacy and obscurity of +her home. What was his purpose? What? Something +of it, at least, was plain to her from the moment of her +recognition. It was the cruel hand of the Teutonic machinery +reaching out towards her and—hers. Hers! +The thought seared itself upon her brain. For herself +she had no thought, but for her father she had become +the veriest coward. +</P> + +<P> +The intruder displayed no interest or feeling at the +manner of Vita's greeting. The lines of his face remained +as stonily graven as chiselled marble. So cold was his +regard that it even seemed incapable of interpreting her +matchless beauty. +</P> + +<P> +"I am honored that the Princess recognizes me," he said, +with a coldness that made his words an offence. "It will +save explanation." +</P> + +<P> +Then he came towards her and stood before the fire +confronting her. His height matched hers, which left +him only of medium height for a man. +</P> + +<P> +"Your father has sold the secrets of Borga to—England. +Now he has made good his escape to—England." +Then without a sign, or gesture, or shadow of significance, +he added: "So you see it was necessary to visit +you here." +</P> + +<P> +It was well-nigh an impossibility ever to fathom the +thought which lay behind this man's spoken word. +There was a directness and simplicity about him which +was utterly confounding. Then there was that dreadful +frigidity of eye and attitude. +</P> + +<P> +Vita realized the impossibility at once. She made no +attempt to guess at that which was in his mind. She +contented herself with his admission of her father's escape. +Without it terror alone would have remained. +Instead, now, a wonderful calmness settled upon her. +Maybe there was a touch of desperation in her calm. +But there was still the assurance of her father's security, +at least temporarily. She must watch. She must strive. +If there were the smallest possibility she must baffle the +purpose which had brought Frederick von Berger to her +home. She waited. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not presumed, of course, that you are aware of +these matters—yet. But it is well known to our agents +that you are in touch with the Prince. Therefore it is +probable on his arrival in England he will communicate +with you. It is not our intention to permit you to thus +incriminate yourself. All possibility of the Prince's communicating +with you must be avoided, or you, a woman, +will fall under the penalty of his crimes. You will prepare +yourself at once to make a journey by road. You +will leave this house at once, and remain away from it +until the whole unpleasant affair has been settled to the +satisfaction of Berlin. These are instructions direct to +you from the authority of the land which still claims you +subject." +</P> + +<P> +Resentment was the dominant emotion the man's pronouncement +stirred in Vita. His authority was unquestioned +in her mind, but the manner of him was infuriating +to her hot Polish blood. The sparkle of her beautiful +eyes could not be concealed. She bit her lips to keep +back the hot words which leapt in retort, and, all the +while he was speaking, she reminded herself of the +necessity for calm. The moment his last word died out +her reply came. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, in England, I am commanded by German +authority to abandon my home and go whithersoever +it pleases you to conduct me. German authority in a +country where German authority does not obtain. You +trespass on my premises, admitted I do not know how. +You dictate this absurd order to me, and expect me to +obey it. This is not Prussia." +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely, Princess. If this were Prussia there would +be no discussion." It was the first shadow of threat the +man had displayed. It was not in his tone. It lay in +the keen, steely cold gleam of his eyes. "As for the +authority," the man shrugged, "there is no corner in +the world where a German subject exists that German +authority does not obtain—for the German subject. If +you have not yet realized this, then I beg you to do so +at once. The method of enforcing that authority alone +differs." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand that. In England it is enforced by +the methods such as any common criminal might +adopt. For instance, the burglar who steals into private +houses." +</P> + +<P> +The biting sarcasm left Frederick von Berger quite undisturbed. +</P> + +<P> +"The chief point is, it is, and will be, enforced," he observed +coolly. "Will you be kind enough to prepare for +that journey?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I refuse?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"You will still make it. The preparations will be made +for you." +</P> + +<P> +"By whom?" +</P> + +<P> +"By your servants." +</P> + +<P> +There was just the faintest flicker of the eyelids as the +man assured her. There was no smile, and yet there was +a change from the frigidity which had been so poignantly +marked up to that moment. +</P> + +<P> +"My servants! Are they, too, bound to obey the +mandates of Berlin in violation of the laws of free +England?" Anger was getting the better of her resolve. +</P> + +<P> +"They, too, are children of the Fatherland." +</P> + +<P> +"Spies!" +</P> + +<P> +The exclamation broke from the angry woman with +fierce heat. +</P> + +<P> +"Certain of them have their orders." +</P> + +<P> +They stood eye to eye. The anger of the Princess +flamed into the cold gaze of the man. There was no +yielding in either at the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I refuse." +</P> + +<P> +The words came full of desperate determination. But +even as Vita pronounced them she felt their futility. +Swiftly she cast about in her mind for a loophole of +escape, but every avenue seemed to be closed. The +house was isolated. It was attended by seven or eight +servants, and bitterly she remembered that they all came +from a country which yielded allegiance to Teutonic +tyranny. Ruxton had been right. Oh, how right! +Which of these servants were under the orders of this +man? She could not be sure, excepting in the case of +Vassilitz. Again panic grew and reached a pitch of +hysteria as she listened to the man's easy level tones. +</P> + +<P> +"You are angry, and your common-sense is blinded +by it," he said without emotion. "Were it not so you +would see the absurdity of your refusal. I am not without +means of enforcing authority. Listen. At the front +door stands a powerful car. A closed car, which is fictitiously +numbered. While we are talking your maid is +packing for you. She has orders to prepare for you +every luxury and comfort you are accustomed to require. +This luggage will be placed in the car, and she will +travel with you. If you persist in your refusal you will +be dealt with. If you seek to call for aid you will be +silenced. The servants in your house will not dare to +raise a finger in your assistance. You will be conducted +to a place already prepared to receive you. You will be +treated with every courtesy your rank and sex entitles +you to. And when these affairs are settled to suit Berlin +you will be released. Do you still refuse?" +</P> + +<P> +The recital of the conditions prevailing possessed a +conviction that suggested the inevitability of Doom, +Vita realized. Coming from another than Frederick +von Berger she might have hoped. But this man—she +shivered. A conscienceless mechanism as soulless as +cold steel. +</P> + +<P> +Her answer was delayed. Her eyes, searching vainly, +swept over the room. Finally they encountered the +square face of Von Salzinger. She had forgotten him. +Her gaze was caught and held, and, in a moment, she +realized that he was endeavoring to convey some meaning +to her. Its nature was obscure, but the expression +of his usually hard face suggested sympathy, and almost +kindliness. Could it be that in the grinding machinery +of Prussian tyranny she possessed one friend? She remembered +Von Salzinger's protestations. She remembered +that he had spoken of love to her. Love—what a +mockery! But might she not hope for support from +him? No, he was bound hand and foot. She dared +hope for no open support. But—— +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger displayed the first sign of impatience. He +withdrew his watch. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot delay," he said. "It is not my desire to use +the force at my command. Being in England, and you +being a woman, discussion has been permitted. You will +now choose definitely, within one minute, whether you +will submit to the orders of Berlin, or resist them. I am +considering your convenience. It is immaterial to me +which course you adopt." +</P> + +<P> +He held the watch in the palm of his hand, and his +eyes were bent upon its face, marking the progress of +the second hand. The influence of his attitude was tremendous. +He was a perfect master of the methods which +he represented. No one could have observed him and +failed to realize that here was a man who, with the same +extraordinary callousness, could easily have stepped to +the side of a fainting woman, and, without a qualm, have +placed the muzzle of a revolver to her temple and blown +her brains out, as had been done in Belgium. +</P> + +<P> +Vita watched him, fascinated and terrified. The silent +moments slipped away with the inevitability which no +human power can stay. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger looked up. The measure of his eyes was +coldly calculating. +</P> + +<P> +"You have ten seconds," he said, and returned to his +contemplation of the moving hand. +</P> + +<P> +The strain was unendurable. Vita felt that she must +scream. Her will was yielding before the moral terror +this man inspired. There was no hope of help. No +hope anywhere. The fire shook down, and she started, +her nerves on edge. She glanced over at Von Salzinger. +Instantly his features stirred to that meaning expression +of sympathy. Now, however, it only revolted her, and, +as though drawn by a magnet, her eyes came back to the +bent head of Von Berger. +</P> + +<P> +Simultaneously the man looked up and snapped his +watch closed and returned it to his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he demanded, and the whole expression of +him had changed. +</P> + +<P> +Vita saw the tigerish light suddenly leap into his eyes. +The man was transfigured. She warned herself he was no +longer a man. She could only regard him as something +in the nature of a human tiger. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go," she said, in a voice rendered thick by her +terror-parched throat. +</P> + +<P> +"Ja wohl!" +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger turned and signed to his confederate. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BAR-LEIGHTON +</H4> + +<P> +The face that gazed out at the driving October rain +was one whose expression of unrelieved misery and hopelessness +might well have melted a heart of flint. The +wide, grey eyes had lost their languorous melting delight, +which had been replaced by one of driven desperation. +Dark, unhealthy rings had sunk their way into the young +surrounding flesh. They were the rings of sleeplessness, +and an ominous indication of the mental attitude behind +them. The oval of the cheeks had become pinched and +pale, while the drooping lips added a pathos that must +have been irresistible to a heart of human feeling. +</P> + +<P> +Vita was a prisoner in the hands of men without scruple +or mercy. At least one of them she knew could claim all +and more than such words expressed. Of the other she +was less convinced. In fact, it was the thought that he +was, perhaps, simply under the control of the other which, +she told herself, made sanity possible. But even so it +was the vaguest, wildest hope, and only in the nature of +a straw to which to cling in her desperation. +</P> + +<P> +The window from which she looked out gave upon a +wildly desolate scene. She was down deep, almost in the +bowels of the earth, she admitted, and the rugged sides of +the chasm, clad in a garment of dark conifers and leafless +branches, rose up abruptly in every direction her window +permitted her gaze to wander. +</P> + +<P> +She had no understanding of where she was. The +journey had been long. It had been swift, too, under +the skillful driving of Frederick von Berger, beside whom +Von Salzinger had travelled. She had a vague understanding +that the moon had been shining somewhere +behind the car most of the time. Therefore she had decided +they were travelling westwards. Then had come +the dawn which had found them racing across a wide +and desolate moorland, in a gale of wind and a deluge +of driving rain, with dense mist clouds filling to overflowing +sharp and narrow hollows which dropped away +from the high level like bottomless pits of mystery and +dread. +</P> + +<P> +There had been nobody inside the car to question but +her maid, Francella, and Vita had steadfastly denied herself +any form of intercourse with the woman, under the +certainty that she formed part of the Secret Service with +which all unknowingly she had been surrounded. +</P> + +<P> +Then had come a moment when her straining eyes, +striving to penetrate the rain-streaming windows, had detected +a distant view of a stretch of water. She had not +been certain at first. But later she had detected the hazy +outline of a steamboat upon it, with a long streaming +smoke-line lying behind it. So she made up her mind it +was the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Even this, however, gave her no real cue to her whereabouts. +For a moment she thought of Dartmoor, but +later on she believed that that desolate wilderness was +well inland. +</P> + +<P> +Later again, all speculation had been yielded up under +the painful interest of the moment. They were driving +along the edge of a deep, mist-laden ravine. Vita had +gazed down upon it in awed contemplation. It was narrow +and precipitous. Then had happened something +which made her shiver and clutch at the sides of the car. +The driver had swung round a fierce hairpin bend in the +road. The next moment the downward incline made her +seek support lest she should slide from her seat. In a +moment the car was swallowed up in the dense white fog +of the ravine. +</P> + +<P> +So she had come to her prison, which she learned accidentally +was called Bar-Leighton. Whether the name +applied to the house or to the locality she never knew. +It was a big rambling mansion, deep hidden in a close +surrounding of trees, nor, as far as Vita could see, was +the ravine occupied by any other habitation. +</P> + +<P> +This was the second day of her imprisonment. It had +been raining when she arrived. It was still raining. It +looked as if it were likely to continue raining for a month. +Vita had spent most of her time gazing out of the window. +She was heart-broken and desperate. +</P> + +<P> +She had no eyes for anything but the cheerless view +beyond the window. Its attraction was small enough in +its repellent austerity, but it represented freedom. It represented +the life which was forbidden her. Somewhere +out there beyond, miles and miles away, was the love of +her life, maybe vainly seeking her. Somewhere out there +all that made for her happiness in life lay beyond her +reach. Would she ever recover it? Would she ever +listen to those calm tones of encouragement, and purpose, +and love again? It seemed impossible. It seemed as +though the end of all things was about to be achieved for +her, now that the savage hand of Prussian tyranny had +been laid upon her. +</P> + +<P> +The treatment meted out to her had been by no means +hard so far. She occupied a suite of apartments unusually +handsome and spacious. But they led from one +into the other, and all the outer doors were securely +locked. She had been handed over to a hard-faced +matron of German nationality on her arrival, nor, from +that moment, had she been permitted sight of either of +her male captors. +</P> + +<P> +It was this dreadful isolation, this suspense, which affected +her. Was she to remain here indefinitely, ignorant +of her father's movements, of all that might be happening +to her lover, of the possible disaster to all those plans to +which she had so completely lent herself? The thought +was maddening. It was completely unbearable. She +wanted to weep, to scream. But she did neither. She +sat on in a window-seat in the splendid sitting-room, and +gazed miserably out on the depressing aspect which +thrust her lower and lower in the deeps of despair. +</P> + +<P> +If Vita had been permitted no further sight of her +captors it was not because they had taken their departure +from the precincts of the prison they had prepared for her. +On the contrary. With the arrival of Prince von Berger +at this retreat, hidden so deeply in the remoteness of +some of the wildest of the west country, the place became +a hive of secret activity. Many visitors came and went, +but mostly at night. And so contrived were their movements, +that never for one moment did the mansion lose +its appearance of neglect in the hands of an indifferent +caretaker. +</P> + +<P> +Amongst those who visited the place at night was Johann +Stryj, and with him a man named Emile Heuferman. +It was a far cry from Dorby to Bar-Leighton, but distance +seemed to have no concern for these people, who were +served by cars of great speed and power. It was obvious +that Frederick von Berger's visit to England had been +the cue for great activity in the underworld of the Secret +Service, and that far-reaching powers were in his control. +</P> + +<P> +While Vita watched the desolation of rain-washed woodlands, +Von Berger was occupied with Johann Stryj and +Heuferman in a library, which had obviously once been +the pride of a previous owner of the house. Von Salzinger +was in attendance, too, and, for more than two +hours, it was pretty evident these four had been in close +consultation on matters of vital interest. +</P> + +<P> +It was obvious, too, that Heuferman was of lesser degree +than his companion, Stryj, for it was to the latter Von +Berger chiefly addressed himself and from whom he extracted +the information he needed. All the talk was of +Dorby, and during it the name of Farlow frequently +mixed itself into the details. The manner of these men +was devoid of all heat. Von Berger might have been a +machine, so frigidly precise was his whole attitude. +Johann Stryj spoke only the words necessary, with an effect +and decision which must have left nothing to be desired +by his exalted superior. Von Salzinger was reduced +to a mere observer, but Heuferman became an object for +the reception of explicit instructions, which, for the most +part, he received with monosyllabic acquiescence. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the middle of the afternoon that the meeting +terminated. When Johann Stryj and his companion had +taken their departure Frederick von Berger turned to the +silent ex-Captain-General. His eyes were speculative. It +was the cold calculation of a mind seeking to complete a +half-formed train of thought. +</P> + +<P> +"What were your relations with this woman—before +the war?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger started. A flush tinted his heavy features +a sort of copper hue. +</P> + +<P> +"I—don't understand, Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +That odd flicker of the eyelids which seemed to be the +only indication of a lighter mood accompanied Von +Berger's next words. +</P> + +<P> +"Yet it is not difficult. Information tells us that you +at one time sought to marry her. Since coming to England +you renewed your acquaintance. I desire the exact +explanation. I may need to use the—relationship." +</P> + +<P> +The flush had left the other's cheeks. His eyes took +on a smile of meaning. +</P> + +<P> +"At one time I had such thoughts. Now I have no +desire to—marry her." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger had faced round from the library table at +which he was seated, and, crossing his legs, sat contemplatively +with his elbows supported on the arms of his +chair and his chin resting upon his clasped hands. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger stirred. +</P> + +<P> +"I regard her now as one of my country's enemies. +There can be no thought of marriage with one's country's +enemy. Such can never receive the consideration we display +towards our own womankind. In war the woman is +the prize of the victor. That is real war." +</P> + +<P> +The callous brutality of the man was revolting. But +the other gave no sign. He contented himself with a +continuance of his cold regard, and a further ejaculation. +</P> + +<P> +Encouraged by this negative sign of approval Von +Salzinger ventured an interrogation. +</P> + +<P> +"How can my relations with her further your plans, +Excellency?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am not quite sure—yet." Then Von Berger bestirred +himself. "It is necessary to lay hands on Von +Hertzwohl—at once, and——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off. At that moment a knock at the door +interrupted him. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger sprang to his feet and hurried across +the room. After reclosing the door he returned to Von +Berger. +</P> + +<P> +"Vassilitz has brought this telegram. It arrived last +night at Redwithy Farm. Does your Excellency wish to +speak to him?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger took the message and opened it. It +was addressed to Madame Vladimir at Redwithy Farm. +The set of his features relaxed as he read the brief +communication. Then he passed it across to Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +"Much news in a few words," was his comment. +</P> + +<P> +The other perused the telegram carefully. It came +from Dorby— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"All's well. Arrived safely. Returning to town. +Love.—<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Ruxton.</SPAN>" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"It means——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Von Hertzwohl has arrived in England. At Dorby. +Also that he returns to London—Farlow, I mean, and +that he is obviously the lover of the woman whom you +regard as the prize of the victor. Tell Vassilitz to return +to the farm without delay, to remain watchful, and to +continue to act as instructed. I must interview the +Princess." +</P> + +<P> +Vita's painful contemplation and misery were rudely +broken in upon. Just as the shadows of the dreary day +were beginning to deepen prematurely the door of her +sitting-room was silently thrust open, and Frederick von +Berger made his unwelcome appearance. +</P> + +<P> +He stood for one moment contemplating the beautiful +drooping figure without the smallest sign of emotion. +Then he moved forward over the polished floor, and the +sound of his approach acted like an electric current upon +the woman at the window. She had been caught at a +disadvantage, but, in an instant, all her pride and courage +rose superior to every other emotion. She sat up, +and the haughty displeasure in her eyes found vent in +cold words which must have stung deeply any other +personality but that of their present object. +</P> + +<P> +"It would be superfluous to protest at an intrusion +where neither honesty, justice, nor a sense of decency +exists. All I can hope for is that whatever your business +may be you will complete it, and relieve me of your +obnoxious presence as quickly as possible." +</P> + +<P> +There was a cold scorn in the simple words which was +enhanced threefold by reason of the calm with which +they were delivered. +</P> + +<P> +If Frederick von Berger appreciated it he gave no sign. +The words might not have been spoken in so far as they +deflected for a second the purpose of his coming. +</P> + +<P> +He came close up to the window in which Vita was +sitting. His gaze avoided her and was directed towards +the gloomy prospect beyond it. His powerful figure was +carried erectly, doubtless from the severity of his early +military training, but it possessed a litheness quite unusual, +a litheness which the angular figure of Von Salzinger +completely lacked. The latent strength of the man +was indomitable, and under other conditions it would +have been something the woman must have admired. +Now she only saw the cruelty in his hard eyes, and the +absolutely cold set of the features which seemed rendered +immobile thereby. +</P> + +<P> +He raised one foot and rested it upon the window-seat, +and, bending so that an arm rested upon his knee, he +glanced down into the averted face. +</P> + +<P> +"I have come to tell you that your position has somewhat +changed since you became my guest here," he said, +in level tones. "To my very great regret it has been +discovered that you are as deeply concerned in the plot +which has cost us the secrets of Borga as those others. +I have received a telegram, intended for you, announcing +your father's arrival in this country. The manner in +which it is written conveys beyond doubt that you are +perfectly intimate with all the plans of the conspiracy, +and even that one of the people most concerned is your +lover. So you see that changes the aspect of the matter +so far as you are concerned." +</P> + +<P> +"You have intercepted a message from Mr. Ruxton +Farlow?" +</P> + +<P> +Vita's face was no longer averted. All her woman's +pride was outraged. To think that this creature's eyes +should have read the lines which Ruxton had meant only +for hers. She thought nothing of the significance of her +own position as a result of that letter. Only was the +sacrilege this man had committed apparent to her. +</P> + +<P> +She believed she was dealing merely with a mechanism +of Prussian tyranny. She was incapable of regarding +this man as anything else. But Frederick von Berger +had calculated every word he had uttered. Human +nature was a lifelong study with him—even that which +he could claim for his own. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly," he replied. "And the fact has made your +position very precarious, very precarious indeed." +</P> + +<P> +The significance of his simple statement would no +longer be denied. Vita caught her breath. Her swift, +upward glance in his direction had something of the +alarm which he desired to witness in it. +</P> + +<P> +He removed his foot from the silken cushion and stood +up. +</P> + +<P> +"Princess," he went on, "I came to England with very +stringent orders——" +</P> + +<P> +"Who gives Frederick von Berger orders?" cried Vita +impulsively. "Not even the Emperor. There is only +one person who gives orders to Prince von Berger in +Germany—himself. It is useless to deny it. All that +you have done here—are doing—is of your own initiative." +</P> + +<P> +But the man continued as though the interruption had +not taken place. +</P> + +<P> +"The orders I have received admit of only one course +of action—the punishment by death of the traitors to my +country, and the complete nullification of the effects of +the plot. These things will be carried out regardless of +all cost and consequence. There will be no tempering +with mercy. Justice, cold justice alone will be meted out—regardless +of sex." +</P> + +<P> +"The question of justice I doubt. The matter of sex is +a foregone conclusion. There is ample precedent for that." +</P> + +<P> +The bitterness of the woman's words came from her +heart. She knew that he was threatening that her life +was forfeit, but the fact seemed to leave her untouched +since that first swift glance of apprehension. +</P> + +<P> +"The point is not one which I care to debate," the +man returned, with his curious, simple directness. "It +is not for me to possess an opinion on any matter where +authority or the conduct of the State is concerned. I +can only assure you that duty will be carried out inexorably. +For you the position becomes deplorable. For +you to have committed yourself to intrigues which have +for their purpose the betrayal of your country is an outrage +which calls for no mercy. You will have to face a +penalty similar to that which awaits your father. That +penalty is—death." +</P> + +<P> +"Death!" +</P> + +<P> +The echo came in a whisper. It was a startled whisper, +as though Vita's brain were striving to grasp the full +significance of the word as applied to herself. Her eyes +were no longer on the man's face. They were contemplating +the scene beyond the window without observing +it. +</P> + +<P> +Then, slowly, a change came over her. Her body +seemed to draw itself erect. The scorn that had lain in +her eyes a few minutes ago had given place to a curious +cold calm. Her shapely lips compressed tightly, and +she faced unflinchingly the man who had pronounced +the sentence. Her eyes regarded him for some thoughtful +moments. It almost seemed as though she were +striving to probe beneath that cold mask to the thoughts +and emotions which she felt must lie behind it. Then a +curious smile grew in them, a smile of renewed contempt +that must have been insupportable to a man of any feeling. +</P> + +<P> +"And the alternative? I suppose there is an alternative. +A death sentence so pronounced is generally +inspired by an all-important alternative. Do you desire +me to betray my friends? Do you desire me to hand my +father over to execution? Do you desire me to tell you +where the secrets you desire to recover are bestowed? +Do you desire me to assist you to restore to your country +the cruel means with which you hope to crush the heart +of humanity some time in the future? Let me hear it all, +the whole depth to which you desire to force me to descend. +I have always wondered at the possible profundity +to which the Prussian mind can descend in its lack of +human understanding. Well, Prince, you had better say +all you have to say now. For after this I shall claim the +privilege of every condemned person to pass out of the +world in peace." Then her contemptuous smile deepened. +"But perhaps I am to be denied that privilege. +Perhaps there is no such privilege in the Prussian code. +Perhaps I am to be placed upon the rack, and tortured +until I confess. I feel it would only be a fitting outcome +of the Kultur to which your countrymen have risen. I +am waiting to hear anything further you have to say." +</P> + +<P> +It would have been impossible to tell from the man's +attitude the effect of these words. Not a muscle of his +features stirred. His regard remained coldly contemplative. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no alternative," he said. "Your crime admits +of none. We place no value upon any information +you could give us. Our means are perfect for obtaining +it ourselves. To prove it I can assure you of things +which perhaps you do not know yourself. The plans +which your friends stole are even now in the yards at +Dorby in Yorkshire. The construction of submersible +vessels is going on under Admiralty supervision and protection, +a matter carefully arranged by your lover, Ruxton +Farlow. Your father is at Dorby, and his private +submersible is moored in an inner dock at Farlow, Son +and Farlow's yards. These are all facts you may be +aware of, but there are others which you certainly are +not. One of them is that these constructions are about +to be destroyed by explosion, and the plans too. Later +on there will be further developments. As for the torture +you suggest, that, too, is unnecessary. I have yet to +learn of a greater torture which a young, rich, and beautiful +woman can endure than the thought of being torn +from the arms of the hero whom she has foolishly permitted +herself to worship. There can be nothing more +painful to her than to contemplate in her last moments +the happiness which she is denied being enjoyed by some +other woman when her own penalty has been paid. My +reasoning is only a man's, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"A devil's!" +</P> + +<P> +Vita's calm had deserted her. Horror and loathing +struggled for place in her wide shining eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The man looked on unmoved. +</P> + +<P> +"As you will, Princess," he said, with that curious +flicker of the eyelids. "But now, since I have completed +the business of my visit, I will relieve you of my obnoxious +presence. When the time comes you will be given +half an hour to prepare yourself for the execution of your +sentence." +</P> + +<P> +He moved away. The shadows of the room swallowed +him up. Then, a moment later, Vita heard the door close +behind him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ENEMY MOVEMENTS +</H4> + +<P> +Ruxton's return to town from Dorby was made by +special train in the middle of the night. It had been +inspired by an irresistible impulse, born of an apprehension +which his great love for Vita inspired. +</P> + +<P> +Prince von Hertzwohl had only sheltered one night +under the roof of Dorby Towers. Sir Andrew had been +urgent that he should remain his guest indefinitely, feeling +that the safety of an Englishman's home was the best +of all havens for this large, simple-minded Pole. But +Vita's father proved something of his daughter's estimate +of him. His gratitude and thanks had been sincere and +cordial, but he displayed an understanding of the situation +which astonished his hosts, and a decision that resisted +all appeal. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear friends," he had urged, "it cannot be. It is a +joy to me, so great, to feel the warm shelter of your perfect +English home. I love the parks, the wide moor, the +white cliffs. But I love more than all the generosity and +kindliness of your friendship. But you do not yet grasp +what all this means. These people will have my life, and +your locks and bars will be no obstacle to their Secret +Service. They will get me here, as they would get me in +their own country. Nor can we say what danger I +might not expose you to. No, my course is quite simple. +I will show you to-night." +</P> + +<P> +Father and son were reluctantly forced to acquiesce. +</P> + +<P> +That night, after dinner, the shrewdness of Vita's father +was displayed. He departed to his bedroom, and, an hour +later, he reappeared in the smoking-room. +</P> + +<P> +The metamorphosis was perfect. An unkempt individual, +lean, dirty, and slouching, entered the room and +made its way to the fire. His beard and moustache were +gone, and he was clad in the greasy clothes and discolored +overalls of a riverside mechanic. The disguise was so +perfect that only with the greatest difficulty both father +and son were able to recognize him. Later on he left the +house, and set out for the town of Dorby. It was his purpose +to lose himself amongst the thousands of workers +who peopled the waterside, and so, while keeping in touch +with Dorby Towers, completely sink his identity. Nor +was it until after profound consideration that Ruxton and +his father realized the wonderful but simple astuteness of +the man's move. +</P> + +<P> +It was the second night following this event that Ruxton's +own resolve was arrived at. It was over forty-eight +hours since he had dispatched his telegram to Vita telling +her of her father's arrival and safety. He should have +received a reply in under six hours. No reply, however, +had been forthcoming. +</P> + +<P> +At first Ruxton had been patient. There had been +much to occupy him of an important nature at the shipyards. +He had had little time to think of anything else. +The constructions were steadily growing under the energetic +hands of his engineers and marine architects. Already +the promise of the future was taking definite shape. +The work, pressed on at his urging, was proceeding +apace. Already the completed outlines of two of the +hulls filled twin slipways. His enthusiasm was growing +with the rapidity of a man of keen imagination. His +dreams were becoming real, tangible. The experiment +was full of a promise which weeks ago had no place in +his almost despairing regard of the future. +</P> + +<P> +But at night there was less occupation for his mind, +and inevitably his thoughts flew at once to the woman +who had opened out to him the radiant possibilities of his +future. No reply had reached him on that first night, and +unease began to make itself felt. He mentioned the matter +to his father with marked unconcern. The shrewd Yorkshire +eyes which regarded him were blandly uncurious. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you word it for reply?" he enquired, glancing up +from the pictorial periodical he was looking at. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had not worded it particularly so, he assured +him, with a glance of trouble in his dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Then the old man went on with his paper. +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't worry about it," he said calmly. "It must +have been delivered, or it would have been returned to you." +</P> + +<P> +But the assurance was without effect upon the lover. +He said no more then, but at dinner the following evening +his anxiety would no longer be denied. +</P> + +<P> +The butler had withdrawn. Ruxton had been unusually +disinclined to talk during the meal. The keen brain of +his father had summed up the reason to a fraction, but, +with quiet understanding, he had waited for the unburdening +which he knew would soon come. +</P> + +<P> +It came as Ruxton, ignoring the dessert, sat back in his +chair and lit a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"I've ordered a special train for town, Dad; I can't +stand the suspense any longer." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean—the answer to your message." Sir Andrew +made no attempt to misunderstand him. "But +where is the suspense? It was a message of—his arrival, +I understand. The answer was optional." +</P> + +<P> +"Optional? Ah, you don't understand." Just for a +moment the trouble seemed to pass out of the younger +man's eyes. He was contemplating the wonderful love +which had come to him. He breathed a deep sigh. +"Look here, Dad, what would you have felt like—you +know, say just before you married my mother, if you sent +her an urgent message by wire and received no reply? +Why, in the past twenty-four hours you'd have been +driving in a stage coach, or something equally slow, to +find out the reason, if I know anything. There are a +dozen things I could have done. I could have kept the +wires humming incessantly—but for possibilities. Those +possibilities have restrained me. But now I can wait no +longer. I must see Vita myself and assure myself that +nothing is—wrong. Dad, it's the whole world to me. I +can't wait any longer. I love her, and I am going to +marry her. That's where the suspense lies." +</P> + +<P> +"That's how I supposed," Sir Andrew nodded, his +shrewd eyes twinkling. "One has to endure many +anxious moments under such circumstances. I have +known them myself. You leave at——" +</P> + +<P> +"Three A. M." +</P> + +<P> +The old man nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"I've not met her yet, boy," he said kindly, "though," +he added slyly, "I seem as if I did know her. You see, +you've spoken of her a lot. Well, if she's half the woman +you have told me she is, I congratulate you heartily. +Somehow, boy, I feel sure she is. Yes, it is as well to go—with +possibilities hanging over us all." +</P> + +<P> +He rose from the table and held out his hand as Ruxton +followed his example. +</P> + +<P> +"The very best of luck, boy, and—will you give +her my love? You can leave the work here in my +hands." +</P> + +<P> +The two men clasped hands with a vigor such as belonged +to two strong natures, and then, as they moved off +to the library, they fell to discussing those "possibilities" +to which Ruxton had alluded. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ruxton's anxiety was no mere impatience of a hotheaded +lover. He had not permitted his imagination to +distort things out of a real proportion. He knew that +their Teutonic enemies were able to lay hands upon Vita +if they decided upon such a course. And all too late he +had realized that his message had been an indiscretion. +Once having arrived at this realization, the rest followed +in painful sequence. If his message, though carefully +worded, had fallen into enemy hands, the possibilities +such an event opened up were illimitable. +</P> + +<P> +It was between ten and eleven in the morning that he +presented himself at the flat in Kensington. +</P> + +<P> +On his way up the stairs he received his first shock. +It was no less than an encounter with Mrs. Jenkins on her +way down them, garbed in her long outdoor ulster, such +as all women of her class seem to possess, bearing under +one arm an ominous-looking bundle. +</P> + +<P> +He stopped her, or rather she provoked attention herself +by a dry cough and a prolonged, moist sniff. +</P> + +<P> +"You goin' up to 'er flat?" she demanded; "'cos if +you are she ain't in." +</P> + +<P> +There was a sort of defiant displeasure in her words +that, to Ruxton, might have been just her natural form +of address, or might not have been. +</P> + +<P> +He paused, glanced down at her bundle, and finally +regarded her severely. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you going?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't see it's your bizness. Any'ow I'm goin' to do +a bit o' shoppin'." +</P> + +<P> +Then Ruxton adopted a high hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, just come back up-stairs a minute. Your shopping +will keep. I want to speak to you on a matter of +importance. Come along." +</P> + +<P> +He moved on up the stairs, and Mrs. Jenkins, used to +obeying somebody at all times, followed him protestingly. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see I got no right any'ow. But wot with her +bein' away, and stoppin' away, and me 'avin' no food to +eat, as you might say, an' my wages overdue, an' the bills +unpaid, I don't know, I'm sure. Maybe you got my +wages with you, bein' a friend of 'ers?" +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton offered no explanation until they reached +the flat and the door of it was securely shut behind them. +Then he turned upon her with a forcefulness that reduced +her to the necessary condition for giving all the information +he needed with the least superfluous verbiage. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Mrs. Jenkins, I just want a few straight +answers to a few plain questions. Remember, the matters +I'm going to question you on are of vital importance—very +vital importance. I just want plain truth and +nothing else." +</P> + +<P> +"Truth! You'll say I'm lyin' next. Wot d'yer want +to know? My motter is allus tell the truth an' shame +the devil." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, that's all right. Where's your mistress?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman sniffed, while she eyed him distrustfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno. Ain't see 'er since you was 'ere last." +</P> + +<P> +"When did you expect her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, next day, o' course. She allus come 'ere every +day 'less she sed. 'Sides, my wages was due next +day, an' there's the 'ousekeepin' money. I ain't got +neither. I writ 'er to 'er home, but ain't 'ad no answer. +I got to eat, an' I ain't got nothin' t' eat in the place, so +I was just goin' to slip round with a pair o' blankets +an' get a loan. Y' see I didn't know wot to do, an' I +tho't——" She broke off with a fresh sniff. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton produced some money and handed her two +sovereigns. +</P> + +<P> +"There, that'll keep you going. Now all I want from +you are these facts. You haven't seen her since I was +here, and you expected her next day. You wrote to her +and received no reply. The last time you saw her she +was leaving for her—home. That so?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman nodded and sniffed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." The gold had impressed her. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. Now I want you to keep on here as if +nothing had happened. You shall have your money +regularly. Look after your mistress's things carefully, +and if any one calls here, any visitors, men, or—or +strangers, let me know. There, that card will give +you my address. If I'm not there my secretary will +take any message for me. I'm afraid some accident +must have happened to your mistress. I am going to +find out with the help of the—police. Do you understand? +Whatever you do, don't talk." +</P> + +<P> +By the time he had finished the poor woman was +thoroughly alarmed, and showed it. +</P> + +<P> +"My, sir, I do 'ope nothin' 'as 'appened serious-like. +She was allus a venturesome one, as you might say, +goin' about, an' I allus was a-tellin' of 'er——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes; that's all right. The thing is, I've got to +find out. Now, you see and do as I have said, and your +mistress will thank you. Nor shall I forget. Remember, +if any one calls for her, get their names and remember +their faces, and—don't talk." +</P> + +<P> +He hurried away, and passed down the uninviting +stairs at a run. Two minutes later he was in a taxi, +driving at a breakneck speed for Smith Square. +</P> + +<P> +Arrived there, he ordered his own car, and, while +awaiting its arrival, gave a string of instructions to +Heathcote. Within another twenty minutes he was +in his car, threading his way through the London +traffic with the reckless inconsequence only to be found +in an ex-naval chauffeur urged by an equally reckless +employer. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A nightmare of apprehension pursued Ruxton over +the switchback Oxford road. With a mind clear and +incisive he had thought at almost electric speed, and +planned the course to be pursued. In his brief twenty +minutes with his secretary he had carefully detailed all +his requirements. Now he could only lie back in his +car, while the sailorman, driving him, obeyed the reckless +instincts which have made him and his comrades +a byword for devotion. Ruxton demanded speed, and +the keen-eyed chauffeur gave it him. Heavy car as it +was, it danced over the greater part of the journey with +the fantastic and dangerous irresponsibility of a runaway. +But the man at the wheel knew his machine. +The pride and joy of his life was that he was the driver +of eighty horse-power. This was the first time he had +ever been permitted to test the accuracy of the maker's +claims. +</P> + +<P> +But to Ruxton the speed was a snail gait, and it +seemed to him, on that brief journey to Wednesford, +that he lived through centuries of despairing anxiety +and doubts. Had these devils got at Vita? The +burden of his cry was based on all the experiences of +the late war. Yet what could they do? What would +they dare do, here in England? He tried to reassure +himself. But it was a vain attempt. He knew, only +too well, the ruthless audacity of these people. Then +he blamed himself that he had not insisted that Vita +should have abandoned her home in Buckinghamshire +when she first told him of Von Salzinger's visit. Was +not that sufficient warning for any sane mind? Did +it not clearly prove that Vita was watched? And, if +she were watched, did it not point the purpose in the +Teutonic mind to act if it suited it? Of course it did. +He was to blame, seriously to blame—if anything had +happened to her. He remembered Vassilitz and the +inspiration his doings had awakened in him. He must +have been mad not to think further—mad or incompetent. +</P> + +<P> +So his feverish imagination ran on and tortured him +as no other anxiety could have tortured him. And then +came the relief of further action. +</P> + +<P> +He reached Wednesford all too soon for his sailorman, +who would have infinitely preferred continuing his reckless +journey to Land's End and then—back again. However, +he removed his foot from the accelerator and drew +up at the police-station of the little old market town in a +perfectly decorous fashion. The local chief was awaiting +the car, and Ruxton was conducted promptly to that +officer's private room. +</P> + +<P> +The chief superintendent was a florid-faced, bulldog-looking +man of about forty, vigorous, alert, but possessing +no outward sign of particular mentality. He was +all deference for his visitor. +</P> + +<P> +"I received the telephone message, sir," he said at +once, "and acted upon it. I sent a plain-clothes man +out to Redwithy with instructions to ascertain if Madame +Vladimir was at her residence, and, if not, to ascertain if +possible something of her recent movements. The man +should return now at any moment." He pulled out his +watch and made a rough calculation. "Yes, he is quite +due now. Would you care to give me more intimate +particulars?" +</P> + +<P> +To find himself dealing with a Cabinet Minister in +matters of his own department was a little overwhelming +to Chief Superintendent Reach, but he saw in it a +possibility of advancement, and was ready to surpass +himself in his efforts. But Ruxton saw no advantage +in laying the inner details of the matter before the local +police. If any such official aid were needed it would be +better demanded of Scotland Yard. +</P> + +<P> +"For the moment nothing more is needed than the +simple local information," he replied. "On that depends +all future movements. I will tell you this, however. +Apart from my personal interest in the matter, +there is certain political significance in it of a very important +nature. More than that I cannot say until your +man——" +</P> + +<P> +The whistle of the tube on the officer's desk interrupted +him. +</P> + +<P> +"That's our man, sir," beamed Superintendent Reach, +more than satisfied at the opportuneness of the interruption. +"Excuse me, sir," he added, and listened at the +tube. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, yes. Send him up here at once," he called +through it. Then glancing over at his visitor, he observed +ungrammatically, "It's him, sir." +</P> + +<P> +A moment later a brisk plain-clothes man entered the +room. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" demanded his chief sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"The lady's been away about three days, sir," he +said, with the stolidity of a policeman giving evidence. +"Couldn't tell me when she'd be back. Hadn't left any +instructions about the heating apparatus for the new +peach-house she is having built. The butler believed the +firm who were constructing the house were to put in the +plant. He said she left after tea with her maid and +luggage for a journey in a motor. Not her own car. +He thought it must have been one she hired from +Wednesford. I have been round the garages, but no +one from Redwithy has hired a car. That's why I am a +bit late, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The chief turned to Ruxton, who was eagerly intent +upon the man's information. +</P> + +<P> +"I sent him"—indicating the plain-clothes man—"as +a heating expert from a well-known horticultural firm." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"You saw the butler—a foreigner?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you gather an—impression from him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He seemed straightforward and quite ready to talk, +sir. I'm sure he knew nothing more, and seemed to believe +what he said." +</P> + +<P> +"There's nothing else?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir, I think not. The place seemed all reg'lar. +You see, sir, I've often 'ad to keep an eye on it when +the lady's been away holiday-makin', and during the +war. You see, she's a foreigner. So I know it pretty +well, though it don't know me. One thing that struck +me he was speaking truth was there was a tidy bunch +of letters on a hall table. Might have been an accumulation." +</P> + +<P> +"Letters—ah." Ruxton turned to the chief. "I think +you'd better come with me and look into things. Those +letters. There should be an important telegram there—if——" +</P> + +<P> +He rose from his chair with a sickening fear at his +heart. The chief dismissed his subordinate and waited +for Ruxton to complete his remark. But as no completion +was forthcoming he attempted one himself. +</P> + +<P> +"If there's been no trickery, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"If she went away of her own free will—that's what +we've got to find out. Come along." +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later Ruxton was addressing himself to +the black-haired, sallow-faced Vassilitz, who was urbanity +itself in the face of the chief of the Wednesford police. +</P> + +<P> +His story was exactly the same as he had told to the +plain-clothes man, and no amount of cross-examination +could elicit the smallest shadow of contradiction. +</P> + +<P> +Madame was frequently in the habit of going away +suddenly and remaining away indefinite periods. But +usually she used her own car, and rarely took her maid. +Sometimes she said when she would be back; sometimes +not. On this occasion she did not. No, she was unaccompanied +except for her maid, Francella, Vassilitz's own +sister. And she, Francella, had given him no information. +Madame was very secret in her movements. Doubtless +madame would return in due course, as she had always +done. He hoped no accident had happened. He was +devoted to madame, whom he had known all his life. +</P> + +<P> +Even the matter of letters in no way disconcerted him. +They were all there on the hall table. But he appealed +to the chief of police for authority to show them. +</P> + +<P> +The chief assumed the responsibility, and they were +produced. +</P> + +<P> +They were examined carefully, and all but one telegram +were duly handed back to the butler. The telegram was +sequestered by the officer, but remained unopened. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing more to be gained from Vassilitz, +and the car rolled away. And as they went, Ruxton, in +an agony of painful conviction, gazed sombrely back at +the beautiful old Elizabethan structure in its perfect +setting, which was the home of the woman he loved. +</P> + +<P> +He was aroused from his despairing contemplation by +the voice of the officer beside him. +</P> + +<P> +"There's trickery afoot, sir," he said emphatically, +"and I'll lay a month's salary that black-haired Vassilitz +is in it." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton turned sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"What makes you so convinced?" he enquired thickly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, the letters. Every one of 'em has been opened. +So has this telegram. Didn't you twig it, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton confessed his oversight, and the officer beamed +pleasant satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"That's where experience comes in, sir," he went on. +"There never was a system of opening letters that +couldn't be detected by those who know. I've made a +study of it. Those letters have all been opened—all of +'em. What about this telegram, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"If it's mine, then the Princess has not left of her own +free will. I'm afraid it's mine." +</P> + +<P> +"Princess, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. She's the Princess von Hertzwohl!" +</P> + +<P> +The officer's face had become a study. He was impressed +more deeply than ever. +</P> + +<P> +"Er—shall I open it, sir?" he hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"You may as well." +</P> + +<P> +The man tore it open and glanced at the contents. A +flush spread over his already florid cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"It's yours, sir," he said. Then he added in a low +tone: "I'm—I'm sorry, sir." +</P> + +<P> +For answer he suddenly felt a forceful clutch on his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"The Princess has been kidnapped," cried Ruxton, +in a voice deep with passionate intensity. "Do you +understand? She was waiting at her house there for +that message. Nothing but force would have caused +her to leave it until she received that message." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Ruxton's extreme dejection on his return to town was +changed abruptly into even greater alarm. +</P> + +<P> +His secretary was nervously awaiting him. Nor could +he restrain his impatience. Heathcote was in the hall +when Ruxton's key turned in the lock. The young man +held a long telegram in his hand and flourished it +towards his employer the moment the door closed. +</P> + +<P> +"It's from Sir Andrew," he said. "There's trouble—trouble +at Dorby." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton snatched at the ominous paper and his eyes +eagerly sought the boldly-written message. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Explosion here at 6 A. M. Drawing offices completely +wrecked. Serious fire. Certain departments +damaged and had narrow escape complete destruction.—<SPAN CLASS="scaps">Farlow.</SPAN>" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was the second blow in a few hours. Ruxton was +hit hard. He read into the message all the ominous facts +which had been left unwritten. +</P> + +<P> +But in a moment he had been roused out of himself. +The loss of the woman he loved had left him stunned +in a curious degree. He had been attacked thereby +through the sensitive organism which controlled all that +belonged to the emotional side of the human heart. A +terrible weight of depression had overwhelmed him for +the moment. Now it was different. Here was a tangible +attack. Here was something that left his heart +untouched, but roused instead all the human fighting +instinct which had lain dormant within him. There was +no deadening apathy, there was no feeling of helplessness. +He was alive, alert, and full of battle. So he prepared +for a second night in succession to be spent on the +railway. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go to Dorby to-night," he said briefly. Then +he added, as he passed up-stairs to his library: "Get +on to Scotland Yard and put me through." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A MEANS OF ESCAPE +</H4> + +<P> +In the valley of Bar-Leighton the climatic pendulum +had swung again. A radiant sort of Indian summer +seemed to have definitely set in. Now the sun was +shining, and fleecy clouds swept along the bosom of a +brisk southeasterly breeze. +</P> + +<P> +But the sinister genius of the place remained unchanging. +It would have been optimism of a superlative order +to claim that Prince von Berger ever really changed. +For those in contact with him it was impossible to believe +him capable of warmth or feeling. Even Ludwig von +Salzinger, whose human feelings were of a grosser, baser +type, regarded him as a mere mechanism, inspired by +some brilliant detached evil genius. He had no love for +him, contact with him depressed him, and his prevailing +emotion was one of fear. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger turned from the table at which he was +sitting. He passed a long document across to Von Salzinger, +who was standing before the log fire crackling in +the great dining-room fireplace. The Prince had read it +through from beginning to end. He had read it again, +and then again, so that its contents had almost been +committed to memory. Von Salzinger accepted it in a +silence which was the effect of his superior's example. +And, still following that example, he read it through with +the closest attention. Meanwhile Von Berger's dispassionate +gaze was turned upon the brilliant sunlight pouring +in through the wide and lofty window, which opened +out upon a vista of parkland and rolling grass. +</P> + +<P> +It was a written report from Johann Stryj, and it had +been delivered that morning by hand. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"By the time this report reaches your Excellency the +completion of our plans of destruction will have been +reached. They will have been put into operation. The +drawing office, where all plans and designs are locked in +a strong-room, has been a simple enough matter to arrange. +One of our agents works in that department. +The development there is timed for 6 A. M. on the morning +you will receive this. It is certain—certain as anything +human can be. +</P> + +<P> +"With regard to the docks and slipways there has +been greater difficulty, infinitely more so, since these are +under direct official control. However, we have seven +agents amongst the operatives, and three of our different +points of attack are under the immediate foremanship of +Heuferman himself, upon whom I wish to report most +favorably. The explosions here are to be synchronized +with the others. +</P> + +<P> +"In the case of the other matter I have a less satisfactory +report to make. Our man certainly landed somewhere +on the coast in this region. He was certainly +traced to one night's shelter at a certain house, of whose +identity your Excellency is aware. The house was penetrated +and searched, but the man had taken his departure. +There is a possibility he has made his way to London, +and our agents there are using every endeavor to +trace him. I have as yet received no report from them. +My own impression, not based upon evidence, is that he +is concealed in our own neighborhood. If this be so I +hope later to have a good report to make on the matter +to your Excellency. +</P> + +<P> +"The movements of the Englishmen are simple to follow. +They are both closely watched. The elder remains +here attendant upon the work of construction. He is in +our hands at any moment, at your Excellency's commands. +The younger, too, can be dealt with effectually. +He passes frequently between here and London, and at +both ends, and on the journey, he is closely observed. It +has now been ascertained that he is working with Scotland +Yard in the interests of the woman. But on the result +of this combination I have instructed the man on the +spot to report himself directly to your Excellency, in accordance +with your orders. I understand, however, and +would call your Excellency's attention—most earnest attention—to +the matter that three of our men in that neighborhood +are closely shadowed by men from Scotland +Yard. Consequently their services are denied us. These +men can be relied on, of course, to give no information, +but it points the energy behind the search for the woman +and the direction of the suspicions aroused. +</P> + +<P> +"My next report to your Excellency I hope will be on +the result of our endeavors here. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Your obedient servant,<BR> + "K 1."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Von Salzinger raised his eyes from the paper. They +encountered the profile of the Prince. He regarded it +for some moments without friendliness. Then he changed +his expression to one of official cordiality. +</P> + +<P> +"Stryj is a capable man," he hazarded. +</P> + +<P> +The reply came without a change in the direction of +the Prince's gaze. +</P> + +<P> +"He seems successful in the things of lesser importance. +Von Hertzwohl has slipped through his fingers. +He may be capable. We shall see. But we want the—body—of +Von Hertzwohl. This man has made no attempt +to communicate with his daughter—yet. Do you +know what that means? I doubt if you do. It means +that your first visit to her alarmed them. It warned the +Prince, through this man Farlow, that there was danger. +You, with your attempt at liaison, are responsible for that. +Perhaps that will appeal to your—imagination. Herr von +Salzinger, you have made two mistakes. The second is +more serious than the first. If we do not secure the person +of this man you will be recalled to Germany." +</P> + +<P> +The calmness with which he spoke robbed his words of +none of their significance. With his final pronouncement +his cold eyes were turned full upon his companion, searching +his gross face with a glance of inflexible resolve. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger's spirit was tame. But the lash and unjust +condemnation goaded him. +</P> + +<P> +"Discipline must be observed, Excellency," he said, +with a thickness which warned the other of the effect of +his words. "If I am recalled, then I must obey. But it +is the authority in Berlin which is to blame for his escape. +I came here to track this other, Farlow, and the work at +his yards. Von Hertzwohl was still in the Baltic when I +visited the Princess. There was no suggestion at the +time that the Berlin authority would be sufficiently blundering +to permit his escape. It would be more just to +find the scapegoat amongst those who were responsible +in Berlin. I submit that this matter was in your department, +Excellency, of which you are the sole head." +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger's reply came with a flicker of the eyelids. +</P> + +<P> +"Those who are responsible for acts which jeopardize +the ends of the Fatherland will reap the consequent punishment—whoever +they be. No distinction will be made. +That is the discipline of our country, Herr von Salzinger." +Then he pointed to a chair. +</P> + +<P> +The other accepted the silent order. But it was with +an ill grace. Von Salzinger, for all his discipline, was no +weakling. At that moment he was ready to rebel against +the iron rod which Von Berger wielded. It would have +required but one more sting to set the man's headstrong +passions loose, whatever, in the end, it might have cost +him. +</P> + +<P> +But the Prince was alive to the danger signal. His +understanding of human nature was something more +than a study—it was an instinct. A secret purpose lay +behind his charge. The value of the terror of authority +upon a Prussian subject was well understood by him, +and none knew better than he that rank and position +afforded no emancipation from its peculiar claims. The +danger signal, however, warned him that in the present +case he was dealing with a man of hot passion and physical +bravery. To gain full effect for his charge he +must not jeopardize his purpose by risking an outbreak +of passion. The effect would come after Von Salzinger's +private reflection through the inborn discipline +that was his. +</P> + +<P> +The two men sat facing each other. The truculent regard +of Von Salzinger would not be denied. But Von +Berger gave no sign. He was entirely master of himself +as always, just as he knew he was master of the +position at the moment, and of this man. +</P> + +<P> +"That which has happened to us is a greater disaster +than the defeat of our armies could have been," he said +slowly. "You, as well as everybody else, must realize +this. If you do not you must be made to. That is why +I have talked plainly. That is why you have indiscreetly +permitted your anger to get the better of you. Now you +must listen to me while I show you how we can achieve +that which Berlin has failed to do, and which this man +Stryj has failed to do. I mean lay our hands upon +Prince von Hertzwohl. The woman up-stairs has been +condemned to death." +</P> + +<P> +"To—death?" +</P> + +<P> +The square figure of Von Salzinger was erect, and his +eyes were alight with a horror unusual to him. Then his +feelings subsided under incredulity. "But that is a threat—merely." +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a reality. She will die, if we do not get her +father. It is part of my plan for trapping him. The +news of her death will be whispered through certain +channels which we know will convey it to him—wherever +he be. Listen, this is the plan, and this is the work +which will be assigned to you." +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later the Prince rose from his chair and +crossed to the window. He stood with his back towards +his companion. He had talked long and earnestly in +his cold, even voice. Now he waited. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he said at last without looking round at the +still recumbent figure behind him. "That is the duty +allotted to you. You accept the position?" +</P> + +<P> +For answer Von Salzinger sprang to his feet. His face +was purple with shame. The diabolical nature of the +plan had sunk deeply into the half-savage heart of the +man and found some small grains of genuine manhood +there. Even he was revolted, and the habit of discipline +tottered and crumpled. +</P> + +<P> +"No! By God, no!" he cried, with a savage clenching +of the fists. +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger remained gazing out at the autumn scene. +</P> + +<P> +"Think again." +</P> + +<P> +But no answer was forthcoming. Von Salzinger's attitude +remained, only now it seemed as if his clenching fists +were a threat to the man at the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Think again, Herr von Salzinger. Berlin gives no +second chance." +</P> + +<P> +The frigidity of the words became a threat that was insupportable. +Von Salzinger was a Prussian. Self-preservation +counted with him before all things. He saw +every hope that had ever been his slipping from his +tenacious grasp. To refuse—to refuse. He knew all it +meant. He must accept or—kill this man. +</P> + +<P> +His clenching fists relaxed. +</P> + +<P> +"Very good, Excellency. If those are my orders I +must execute them." +</P> + +<P> +"Those are your orders." +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger had turned about, and Von Salzinger beheld +that terrible gleam in his eyes which Vita had once +so painfully witnessed. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Von Salzinger spent a bad evening with himself, and a +worse night. +</P> + +<P> +Curiously enough this man regarded himself as not +only a man of honor, but chivalrous towards women. +How he arrived at the latter conclusion was one of those +miracles of psychology which are beyond the understanding +of the human mind. To him woman was +weaker than the man whose plaything she was set on +earth to become. Man's will must be her law. She +possessed no rights of her own. Man's strength to enforce +his will on all weaker vessels was the only right he +could understand. Then woman, in the nature of things, +must be intended as his plaything. +</P> + +<P> +But Von Salzinger drew the line hard and fast at the +limits of this understanding. Woman must be protected +from physical harm and discomfort by the man whose +plaything she became. As soon would he deem it right +to treat ill any other of those things in life which gave +him pleasure. As soon would he expect to see a child +tear and rend its favorite toy. Woman must be cared +for, woman must be sheltered from the buffets of life outside +her own little life. She must be indulged in the +feminine luxuries and pastimes. Any other course he +believed would be an exhibition of brutality by no means +in keeping with the boasted Kultur of his people. The +moral and spiritual side of the woman was something +which failed entirely to enter into his comprehension. +In the moral and spiritual side of life she had no place—no +place whatever. +</P> + +<P> +The plan of Von Berger, and the cruel nature of the +work assigned to him, had outraged all his ideas of his +peculiar form of chivalry. To condemn Vita to death, +and wilfully carry out the sentence, failing the success +of their plans, was an unthinkable and useless cruelty +which he felt he could not take part in. Brutality had +here exceeded itself. +</P> + +<P> +So he endured a painful and troubled night as he revolved +in his mind the diabolical scheme which Von Berger +had unfolded to him. +</P> + +<P> +He contemplated disobedience. Yes, he contemplated +defying the terrible power which Von Berger wielded so +ruthlessly. But the consequence of such defiance left +him panic-stricken, albeit unconvinced. He searched +for a way out. But every mode of egress seemed barred +to him. Every one except—— She was so very, very +beautiful. +</P> + +<P> +A tempting thought possessed him, and surged through +the thickly flowing channels of the animal in him. The +temptation grew and grew, and, with each passing hour, +it more surely took possession of all that was most obstinate +in him. He was yielding to it. He knew. He +left Von Berger out of his calculations, he left all thoughts +of the purposes of his Government out and thought only +of himself, and this new temptation which dangled before +his greedy eyes. Should he yield to the temptation? +</P> + +<P> +His mind went back again of a sudden to the man, +Von Berger, whom he knew he hated as much as he +feared. It seemed so hopeless to oppose him, hopeless +to oppose Berlin. Yet he felt he ought to. Then his +thoughts flew again to Vita, and conjured visions of her +perfect charms—and so he fell asleep. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Vita's days and nights had become one long nightmare +of terror. The terror for herself had undermined +all her confidence for her father, and in her lover's ability +to succor. The hours of racking thought since learning +the fate awaiting herself left her beautiful face drawn, +and her spirit bowed and crushed. There was no hope +anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +From the moment she had first recognized Frederick +von Berger, a dreary hopelessness had set in, and now +she knew that her worst apprehensions were to be more +than fulfilled. She knew something of the machinery he +controlled, and she knew how hopeless it was that Ruxton, +with all his manhood and confidence, could ever +hope to contend with it and defeat it. Her father, she +knew, would be hunted down and—punished. While +she—she must inevitably fall a victim of the sentence +passed upon her here in this desolate, secret prison. +</P> + +<P> +The torture she endured was insupportable. Every +moment of the day she was watched either by the hard-faced +matron of the place, or by her own maid, Francella. +She had railed at the latter for her cruel perfidy, she had +appealed to the former. But in neither case had she +elicited the smallest spark of sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +The matron had merely shrugged her broad shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"You would sell our Fatherland to an enemy. You +are not fit to live," she had said, with a coldness which +none can display more effectively than a woman. +</P> + +<P> +In Francella she met only the heartless cruelty of a +servant who finds it in her power to rend a late mistress. +</P> + +<P> +"Some day I take my children to the grave of the +woman who would have betrayed our country, and I +make them spit upon it." +</P> + +<P> +So Vita was left to nurse her terror in the awful solitude +and silence of the splendid halls of this isolated +mansion. +</P> + +<P> +How long she might have borne it and retained sanity +is doubtful. It surely could not have been long. With +the smallest gleam of sympathy it might have been possible +to endure. But there was no sympathy. The +gloom of her outlook from her windows, the awesome +grandeur of her rooms, the cold antagonism of those who +waited upon her as prison warders,—all these things +aggravated her trouble, just as they were calculated to +aggravate. +</P> + +<P> +Then in the very depths of her despairing misery there +suddenly shone out a vague, flickering light of hope. It +was no less than a stealthy and secret visit from Ludwig +von Salzinger. It came in the night. Vita had +abandoned sleeping at night fearing lest the murder +would be committed during the hours of darkness. She +had allowed her imagination to run riot till she almost +came to fear her own shadow. +</P> + +<P> +She was sitting in an upright chair. She was gazing +straight before her with eyes staring upon the door. +Such was her terror of the night that she had been +reduced to this impotent watching. Her thought was +teeming, going over and over again every horrible fancy +a distorted brain could conjure. Then suddenly, in the +midst of it all, she started. Her straining eyes dilated. +She leapt from her seat and sprang behind her chair, +grasping its back, prepared to defend herself. The door +was slowly and silently opening. +</P> + +<P> +Widely ajar it stopped. The next instant a head was +thrust round it, a square head with a shock of close-cut +hair. The woman breathed a sigh, but remained ready +to defend herself. She had recognized Ludwig von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +The man recognized her attitude, and signed to her +to remain silent. His warning had instant effect. Vita +drew another sigh, and her grip upon the chair-back relaxed. +With eyes wide with doubt and fear she watched +the man's movements. They were stealthy and secret. +</P> + +<P> +He thrust the door further open. Quickly and silently +he stepped into the room. Then, with the door still ajar, +he gazed back cautiously down the corridor beyond, +in both directions. Having satisfied himself he closed +the door with the greatest care and came towards her. +</P> + +<P> +"If you speak," he whispered, "don't raise your voice, +or—we shall be overheard." +</P> + +<P> +"What have you come for?" demanded Vita, nevertheless +obedient to his caution. +</P> + +<P> +The man's brows went up and his eyes were urgent. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, to get you out of this," he said quickly. "Do +you think I can stand by while that devil Von Berger does +you, a woman, to death? You, the woman I love—have +always loved? God! I hate that man," he added, and +an unmistakable ring of truth sounded in his final words. +"Look here, Vita, I'm part of this diabolical machinery, I +know; I can't help it; but to submit to the murder of a +woman—you—God! I can't do it—if it costs me my own +life. Oh, yes, I know what you'll think. You know the +discipline. You know that I was forced into assisting in +bringing you here, under orders I dared not disobey. I +know all that, and you must think of me as you will, but +I love you—madly—and I'll not consent to anything that +threatens your life. I tell you, I've done with it all—all—our +country. I'm going to get out of it all and flee to +America, and—take you with me. You'll come with me? +Say you'll come with me, and together we'll outwit this +devil of a man. You've done nothing, nothing on earth +to warrant the punishment he's preparing for you. Your +father—that's different. But you—you—oh, it's horrible. +Ach! I could kill that man when I think of it, and all he +has said to me yesterday of his devil's plans." +</P> + +<P> +While he was speaking it seemed to Vita that it must +be some angel talking disguised in the angular, hard +exterior of this Prussian. Every nerve in her body which +had been so straining seemed suddenly to have relaxed. +It seemed as though years of suffering had been suddenly +lifted from her poor tortured brain. She recalled how +from the beginning she had thought that if hope there +were for her it must lie in this very Von Salzinger who +had been disgraced through her father's and her agency. +She gazed upon him now in wonder, and was half inclined +to weep with gratitude and relief. +</P> + +<P> +But she restrained herself. And quite suddenly she remembered +something else. She remembered the man +who claimed her love, and she remembered the love this +man was now offering her. The relief of the moment +changed to doubt, and, finally, to a renewed despair. +</P> + +<P> +There was only one course open to her, and she +adopted it frankly and without restraint. She shook her +head. +</P> + +<P> +"I—honor you for the sacrifice you would make, but +I'm afraid it's useless. Besides, I feel it would be impossible +to defeat these people. I must tell you, and by +doing so I may lose forever your good-will. I do not +love you. All the love I have to give has passed from my +keeping——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ruxton Farlow." There was a sharp, brutal ruthlessness +in the manner in which Von Salzinger broke in. +</P> + +<P> +Vita shrank at the tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said. "I love Ruxton Farlow, and have +pledged myself to be his wife." +</P> + +<P> +"Wife?" There was a smile in the man's eyes which +did not conceal his jealous passion. "What chance have +you of becoming his wife? None. There is only one +chance—your escape from here. Your escape from here +can only be contrived by me. Am I—I going to risk my +life, and all my future, to hand over the woman I love to—Ruxton +Farlow? Vita, I am only a man—a mere +human man. I will risk all for you. I will dare even the +vengeance of Von Berger if you but promise me. But no +power on earth can make me stir a hand to deliver up all +I care for in the world to—Ruxton Farlow." +</P> + +<P> +The frank, ruthless honesty of the man's denial was not +without its appeal to Vita. She even smiled a faint, gentle +smile. +</P> + +<P> +"It is as I said—useless. It is only as I could have expected. +I could not hope it would be otherwise. I love +Ruxton Farlow." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom you can never hope to see again." Again +came that savage crudeness of method which Vita recognized +as part of the man. Then his eyes lit with a +deep, primitive passion. "Oh, yes, I must seem brutal, a +devil, like that Von Berger. Maybe I am, but I can see +plain sense. In less than a week you will die here, murdered. +How, I can only guess at. Von Berger knows +no mercy. Your father is surrounded at Dorby, and will +suffer a similar fate. All your plans and schemes will be +frustrated. The works at Dorby are even now destroyed. +There is no power on earth that can give you to this man +you say you love. Well? Is not life still sweet to you? +Is not your father's escape also something to you? I tell +you I can contrive these things. All I ask is that you will +marry me. Your solemn pledge. I love you, and will +teach you to love me and forget this Englishman. It is +madness to refuse. It is your one single chance of life, +and you would fling it away for a shadow, a dream which +can never be realized." +</P> + +<P> +There was something in the man's manner which appealed +to Vita. Perhaps it was the rugged brutality of +his force. The repugnance in which she had held him +had lessened. To her his genuineness was unmistakable. +And he was honest enough to make no claim to generosity +in the course he was prepared to adopt at her bidding. +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger saw something of the effect he had +achieved upon her and resolutely thrust home the advantage. +</P> + +<P> +"Vita," he said, lowering his voice still more, but losing +nothing of the urgency of his manner, "I have a plan +whereby I can save you both—your father and you. +Think of him, that great, but misguided man, who has +lavished a world of affection upon you, and to whom you +are more than devoted. Can you let him die? Think +how he will die under Von Berger's hands. I tell you, Vita, +better endure the agony of death at the hands of a common +murderer a hundred times than be left at the mercy +of that man. Even the torture of the old Inquisition +might be preferable. He has neither soul nor conscience. +And what does it mean to achieve this safety for you +both? It means the sacrifice of your love for this Englishman. +God! Is it so great a sacrifice when it can +never be fulfilled? A passing dream which must end in +the tragedy of your murder. You say you have no love. +I ask for none. That will come. I will teach you a love +which this Englishman could never have inspired. And +I can give you back your life, and your father's life, in the +great country across the Atlantic. Every detail of my +plans are complete, but it must be now or never. Do you +still refuse? Do you still desire to sacrifice your father to +this selfish dream which can never be fulfilled?" +</P> + +<P> +The woman's eyes were yearning. A great struggle +looked out of their grey depths into the passion-lit eyes +of the man. The hope, oh, the hope of it all! But the +price was the price of all that a woman looks forward to +in life. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you swear to me that my father shall be saved?" +she demanded, in a low tone which thrilled to jubilance +every sense in the man's body. +</P> + +<P> +He flung out his arms. +</P> + +<P> +"He shall leave this country with you. The fulfillment +of your solemn word shall not be required of you +till you are both safe across the water. If we fail—then +you have sacrificed nothing. Can I say fairer? Can +you doubt my honesty of purpose after that? Ach! it +maddens me with alarm and impatience to see you +hesitate. For you it is safety—life. For me I risk all—everything—for +a wife who has no love to give me. +If I fail your present lot is nothing to what mine will be. +If I hate Von Berger he has no love for me, and—he is +not human." +</P> + +<P> +But still Vita hesitated. It was not that she doubted +this man, though she knew she had little enough reason +to trust him. It was the love for the man of her choice +holding and claiming her. She strove to set it aside. +She tried to apply reason. But it would not be denied, +and it elbowed reason at every turn. +</P> + +<P> +What was life without this love of hers? No, it was +nothing. Would it matter if death came upon her +and left her cold? No. It would even be preferable to +the life of terrible regret which Von Salzinger offered her. +Her father—she caught her breath. It was the one +thought which her love could not thrust aside. It was +in her power to save him—if she would. +</P> + +<P> +The struggle went on. It shone in her eyes, it was +displayed in the panting rise and fall of her bosom. The +appeal of it was too great. To leave him to his fate +would be the vilest selfishness. This man had promised +that he should leave the country with them—before she +became his wife. +</P> + +<P> +She looked up. A burning excitement shone in her +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you communicate with my father?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +The man shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Then how can you—save him?" she demanded +sharply. "I do not know where he is, and if I did wild +horses would not drag his whereabouts from me—even +for the purpose of saving his life." +</P> + +<P> +But her words did not offend. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not trust me," returned the man, with a +tolerant shake of the head. "I cannot blame you either. +I must prove my sincerity—later. Meanwhile the matter +is simple enough. Give me your solemn pledge that you +will become my wife as soon as we safely land across the +water, you, your father and me. Then I will show you." +</P> + +<P> +For another few silent moments the struggle in Vita's +heart went on. Now it was a struggle of doubt and +credulity. All other feeling had yielded in that earlier +struggle. Dare she trust this man? Dare she? But +he was asking nothing until their safety had been assured. +His seemed the greater risk, unless this were some diabolical +plot with his superior, Von Berger. She could +not reason it out. Reason was beyond her. Her father's +safety lay in the balance. She forgot self for the +time. So she thrust her finger upon the scale. +</P> + +<P> +"I solemnly pledge myself under the conditions you +name," she said in low tones. +</P> + +<P> +The joy in the man's hard eyes was unmistakable, and +Vita, witnessing it, understood that it was real, genuine. +</P> + +<P> +"Then listen," he cried. "Communication with your +father will be simple and safe. We do not need his +whereabouts. I will dictate a letter to you—a letter of +our plans and instructions. We will beat Von Berger +at his own game, and once we are in America we can +snap our fingers at the whole race. I will tell you now +Von Berger threatened me yesterday again. He it was +who deprived me of my command at Borga. He it was +who superseded me over here. He it is who has given +me the life of a cur ever since. Now I shall pay him in +a way he little suspects. I will dictate this letter for you, +Vita, and when it is written you will address it to your +father and enclose it under cover to Sir Andrew Farlow +at Dorby Towers. He will see that it reaches your father. +You will see how sure is my plan. No matter into +whose hands that letter falls it cannot betray his whereabouts +to any one." +</P> + +<P> +And Vita was finally convinced. She was making her +sacrifice for the life and liberty of her father, and through +all the pains and hopelessness of yielding up her love for +Ruxton she had the wholly inadequate assurance that, +whatever it cost her, it was her simple duty for which even +Ruxton himself would never blame her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE WRECK AT DORBY +</H4> + +<P> +A small group of people stood surveying the wreck +of one of the great construction docks in the Dorby +yards. Prominent among them were Sir Andrew Farlow +and his son. They were standing beside a naval officer +of considerable rank. A number of naval uniforms stood +out from the rest of the civilians; but these were of lesser +degree. +</P> + +<P> +The sky was heavily overcast. A light, penetrating +drizzle of rain was falling. Somehow these things seemed +to add to the sense of destruction prevailing. +</P> + +<P> +The corrugated iron roof—thousands of square feet of +it—was lying tumbled and torn upon a tangle of fallen +steel girders. Great slabs of ferro-concrete walls loomed +grey amidst the chaos. Steel stanchions of great height +and strength, used to support the roofing, lay about, bent +or broken, like so much lead piping. The mass of wreckage +was stupendous, and through it all, and beyond it, +towards the water's edge, the rigid steel ribs of twin +vessels stood up defiantly, as though indifferent to the +fierce upheaval which had wrecked their cradles. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton pointed at the latter. +</P> + +<P> +"They've wrecked everything but what they set out to +wreck." +</P> + +<P> +He had voiced a general thought. There was no +answer to his comment. The naval commander displayed +his feelings in the almost childlike regret in his +eyes. The wrecking of anything in the shape of sea +craft smote him to the heart. It was no question of +values to him. The sea and all that belonged to it were +the precious things of life to him. Sir Andrew frowned +down upon the scene. His strong Yorkshire features +were sternly set. +</P> + +<P> +"It means two weeks' delay. That is all." Sir Andrew's +words were the outcome of his resolve. +</P> + +<P> +"All of that," said the commander. "It's curious," +he reflected. "It suggests inexperience or—great hurry. +What of the offices?" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean the drawing office?" Sir Andrew's lips +set grimly as he glanced in Ruxton's direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Burnt to a cinder and scattered to the four winds." +Ruxton emitted a sound like a laugh deprived of all mirth. +</P> + +<P> +"The drawings?" The commander's eyes were gravely +enquiring. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a drawing or tracing saved. Not a single working +plan. Complete. Oh, yes, complete. But——" +</P> + +<P> +"But?" The concern had deepened in the officer's eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"We have duplicates and triplicates of everything, +besides the originals. They must take us for babes or—imbeciles." +</P> + +<P> +The officer was relieved. He even smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"A good many do that. Well, they have told us +their intentions pretty plainly. They'll get no second +opportunity unless they've a staff of miracle workers. +Shall you be present at the enquiry this afternoon, +Sir Andrew?" +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew signified assent. Then he asked: +</P> + +<P> +"What about the inquest?" +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow morning," one of his own staff informed +him. +</P> + +<P> +"Four deaths. Seven injured." It was the officer +again who spoke. "Two of them my men. The others +operatives. One of the injured is believed to be a foreigner. +If he is fit to give evidence it may be interesting." +</P> + +<P> +The talk ceased. There was nothing more to be said. +The wrecking was complete. No further talk could serve +them. +</P> + +<P> +Presently Sir Andrew moved away. His resentment +outweighed his regrets. Ruxton followed him. He displayed +no emotion at the ruin which had been caused. +The loss of life he endeavored to thrust out of his mind. +Nor was it difficult, for, in spite of the seriousness of the +calamity, it was incomparable with the calamity which +had come near to breaking his heart. +</P> + +<P> +The officer remained where he was. His duty lay +there in the work under his guardianship. He knew +well enough he was not likely to escape the official +verdict of "slackness." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton followed his father into the waiting car. In a +moment they were threading their way through a labyrinth +of unkempt buildings, all of which concealed a +teeming activity and laboring life. The lanes were narrow, +winding and unpaved. The car was forever crossing +and recrossing the metal track of a light railway +amongst strings of trucks and snorting locomotives. On +every hand came the din of moving machinery. Then +frequently they were held up by slow-moving horse +vehicles. +</P> + +<P> +The yards at Dorby were in full work. In spite of the +wrecking, work went on just the same. There was no +general dislocation. The phenomenon was typical of the +hard-headed northern worker, and the sureness of the +steady control of the great enterprise. Every unit of that +great army of workers went through the daily routine +with one eye upon the time-sheet, and the other upon the +privileges which his union bestowed upon him. For the +rest, his personal concerns only began when the steam +siren sounded the completion of his day's work. +</P> + +<P> +In the privacy of the offices, just within the gates of the +yards, Ruxton and his father were at liberty to talk more +freely. Yet for some minutes after their arrival their +inclination kept them silent. Each was thinking on the +lines which appealed most. Ruxton was not thinking of +Dorby at all. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew was standing squarely upon the skin rug, +with his back to the fire. More than ever he assumed +the likeness to a pictorial John Bull. Even the somewhat +old-fashioned morning-coat he wore added to the resemblance. +Ruxton had flung himself into a large easy-chair. +The room was lofty and luxurious. Nor was its fashion +extremely modern. It savored of mid-Victorian days, +when luxury in the office of a commercial magnate was +first brought to its perfection. +</P> + +<P> +The rain had increased, and, beyond the lofty windows, +it was now steadily teeming. Sir Andrew was the first +to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm trying to fathom the significance of it," he said, a +little helplessly. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's dark eyes withdrew from the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't," he said. Then he added: "It's not worth +it." +</P> + +<P> +His father's shrewd eyes regarded him speculatively. +</P> + +<P> +"Not worth it? How?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, because you will discover it, and it will have +been trouble for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand." +</P> + +<P> +"It is simple. There is only one meaning to it. +Terror." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of the old man's disturbance his eyes twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll achieve precious little of that. If that's +all——" +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly, Dad. Purposeless destruction is a fetish of +this people. Their psychology has an abnormal belief in +terror. They judge everybody the same. You have +seen it in a hundred ways. Except for this they are anything +but fools. But in this they are almost childlike. +They know they cannot stop the work in these yards. +They know if they destroy a dozen sets of plans there +will still be more forthcoming. They know all this, and +are childishly, impotently furious. Their first thought is +revenge, and then terrorizing. They think they can +frighten us into abandoning the work, perhaps. I don't +know. There is one thing certain: speculation on the +matter is waste of your valuable efforts. Sparling is +right; they have shown their hand. They will get no +second chance on the same lines. They have achieved +two weeks' delay. That is all they have achieved—here." +</P> + +<P> +"Here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I haven't had an opportunity of telling you +before." Ruxton paused. A storm had gathered in his +deep eyes. His fair, even brows were drawn. His father +noted a sudden fullness in the veins at his temples. Then, +in the midst of the affairs of the moment, he remembered +his son's hurried rush to town, and its purpose. +</P> + +<P> +Quite suddenly Ruxton leapt to his feet. He towered +over the staunch figure of his father. His eyes had +become hot and straining. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, what they have achieved here is futile. But +what they have done elsewhere is—damnable," he cried, +with hardly repressed fury. "I feel as if I should go +mad. I've thought and thought till I can no longer +think connectedly upon the matter. I am lost; utterly +lost; groping like a blind man. She has gone. She's +been spirited away, stolen; and God alone knows what +suffering and torture she may not even now be enduring. +I told you revenge and terror are the motives of these +people. Their plans have fallen into our hands, and we +are availing ourselves of them. Remember, the secrets +we possess are the most precious of all the German Government's +plans. They cannot undo that mischief, so +they turn to revenge, for which they have an infinite capacity. +Who are they going to be revenged upon? Us? +Yes, as far as possible. Even our own lives may be +threatened. But more than all they intend to hurt Von +Hertzwohl and—all belonging to him. They mean to +kill him, and possibly the others. But first they will use +his daughter to get at him. Do you see? She will be +tortured until she delivers him into their hands, and then—God +knows." +</P> + +<P> +He flung out his arms in a gesture of despair. +</P> + +<P> +His father's eyes deepened in their anxiety. But the +set of his strong mouth became firmer. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me just what has happened." The demand +spoken so quietly had the effect desired. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton pulled himself together. His father watched +the return of control with satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +He told the story of his journey to Wednesford calmly +and quietly, without missing a detail. Sir Andrew listened +closely, the seriousness of his attitude deepening +with every fresh detail which pointed the certainty of foul +play. At the conclusion of the story he was as gravely +apprehensive as the other, and his sympathy for his boy's +heart-broken condition was from the depths of his devoted +heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got the best Scotland Yard can supply working +for us, and each man has been offered fabulous rewards +if he can ascertain her whereabouts. So far I have no +news; no hope. Dad, I love Vita so that this thing has +nearly set me crazy. I tell you I must find her. I must +save her from these devils, or——" +</P> + +<P> +"Have you seen Von Hertzwohl?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton started. His drawn face and straining eyes +underwent a complete change at the simple enquiry from +his father. +</P> + +<P> +"No. I——" +</P> + +<P> +"It seems to me if their object is to get at him it should +not be impossible that a clue—— Besides, I sent a letter +on to him, which came under cover addressed to me. +That was the first thing this morning, just before you arrived. +It was written in a woman's hand, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"God! Why didn't you speak of it before?" The demand +was almost rough. Such was the rush of blind hope +that suddenly surged through the younger man's heart. +</P> + +<P> +The father's eyes twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +"You had told me nothing. I knew nothing of the +trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. I'm sorry, Dad." Ruxton's whole attitude +had undergone a swift change. +</P> + +<P> +Now he was all eager hope, and strung to a pitch of +desire for action. +</P> + +<P> +"I will go to him at once." +</P> + +<P> +"Now?" The old man shook his head. "You're too +reckless, boy. Think it over carefully. Remember, +Dorby is full of German agents. I should suggest to-night. +I should suggest you adopt the garb of a worker. +Ruxton Farlow visiting a working man's abode. It +would be too inviting to our—enemies." +</P> + +<P> +"Dad, you're right—always right. Yes; to-night. +You think it was a letter from her?" +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't an idea, boy," he said in his deliberate +fashion. "How could I be expected to? The letter +came, and I sent it on by hand. A perfectly trustworthy +hand, under cover of a fresh address to Mr. Charles +Smith. Now it's different. It seems it might be a—clue." +</P> + +<P> +"Might? Of course it is. There is only one woman +who would write to him. But—why not have written to +me?" +</P> + +<P> +The same thought had simultaneously occurred to the +father, and, as it came, something of the lighter manner +which had been steadily gathering died out of his shrewd +eyes. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was a little yellow brick cottage, part of a terrace of +a dozen or so, in a cul-de-sac, guarded at its entrance by +a beer-house on one hand, and, on the other, a general +shop. The brickwork was black with years of fog and +soot, and the English climate. The front of it possessed +three windows and a doorway, with a step that at rare +intervals was tinted with a sort of yellow ochre. The +windows were curtainless, and suggested years of uncleanliness +in the inhabitants. +</P> + +<P> +The interior was little better. The owners of the place +lived down-stairs. The two small rooms above were let +to lodgers of the working class. One of the latter was +employed in one of the shipyards. The other the poor +housewife was doubtful about. He remained unemployed, +and was a foreigner; but he paid his rent, and +didn't seem to require her to do any cooking for him. +Then he seemed fond of her dirty-faced children, of +whom there seemed to be an endless string, who frequently +invaded his quarters, and submitted him to an +interminable catechism of childish enquiry. +</P> + +<P> +Otherwise the tall, lean workman with the hollow +cheeks and luminous eyes was left to prosecute his apparently +fruitless search for work unquestioned. Mrs. +Clark was far too busy with her brood of offspring to +concern herself with his affairs, a small mercy vouchsafed +him, and for which he was duly thankful. Mr. Charles +Smith by no means courted the intimacy of his neighbors, +or his fellow-lodger; at the same time, he avoided +exciting any suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +He had received a letter that morning. He had read +it at once. It was written in German, but the address +upon the outer envelope was in a bold English handwriting. +After reading it he straightened up his meagre +room in a preoccupied fashion. His big, foreign-looking +eyes were more than usually reflective, and a curious +pucker of thought had drawn his shaggy brows together. +Then, as was his rule, he passed out of the house, greeting +the ragged fragments of humanity, who owed—and +rarely yielded—obedience to Mrs. Clark, in his friendly +fashion, and set out on what appeared to be his daily +pursuit of employment. He returned at noon. +</P> + +<P> +He read his letter again, and sat thinking about it until +he was disturbed by one of the children. Then he +again set forth. Nor did he return to his abode until +darkness had closed in, and the army of small children +had been bestowed for the night in their various nooks +and corners of the lower premises. +</P> + +<P> +He lit the cheap oil lamp on his table, seated himself +in the unstable old basket-chair beside his uninviting +bed, and settled himself for a third perusal of his letter. +</P> + +<P> +It was a long letter, and it was signed "Vita." It was +written in a striking feminine hand, which moulded the +spidery German characters into something unusually +strong and characteristic. He displayed a mild wonder +that German characters supervened the signature. But +the wonder passed as he read, lost in the gravity of alarm +which steadily grew in his eyes as he turned each page. +</P> + +<P> +He paused during this third reading at several of +the paragraphs. He reread them, as though he would +penetrate the last fraction of their significance. And at +each pause, at each rereading, his disquiet grew. +</P> + +<P> +That letter had a grave effect upon him. So much so +that he forgot time, he forgot that he had yet to go out +and seek food at some ham-and-beef shop, and that he +was hungry. The final paragraph of the letter perhaps +affected him most of all, and gave him an unease of heart +which none of the rest could have done. It was a paragraph +which opened up for his scrutiny the depths of a +woman's soul in the first great rush of a passionate love. +He had read this with deep emotion, and a great sympathy. +And as he read it he felt something of the wrong +which, through him and his efforts, was being inflicted +upon the woman whom it was his paternal right to cherish +and protect. Then, in the last lines of this outpouring, +he received the final blow which brought him a +realization. It was an example of the wonderful magnanimity +and self-sacrifice of a woman's love. It was the +renunciation of all her hopes and yearnings in the interests +of the man upon whom she had bestowed the wealth +and treasure of her woman's heart. +</P> + +<P> +He mechanically folded up the letter and returned it +to an inner pocket. He rose with a sigh, and gazed +about him uncertainly. The meaning of his sordid surroundings +passed him by. His thoughts were on so +many other things which filled his active faculties, leaving +no room for the consideration of his own comforts. +He even forgot that he had not eaten since noon. He +extracted a sheet of paper from a small locked hand-grip, +and set about writing a brief message—a message such +as he had been asked for. He enclosed it in an envelope +and addressed it to Redwithy Farm in Buckinghamshire. +</P> + +<P> +He had just completed his task when the stairs outside +his door creaked under a heavy footfall. The next moment +there was a knock at his door. +</P> + +<P> +Two minutes later Ruxton Farlow, clad in workman's +clothes, occupied the protesting wicker-chair, while Prince +von Hertzwohl contented himself with a seat upon the +unyielding bed. The oil lamp shone dully upon the +table and threw into dim relief two faces, whose strength +and suggestion of mentality suited ill the quality of the +clothes which covered the bodies beneath them. +</P> + +<P> +To Von Hertzwohl it was as though some miracle of +a none too pleasant nature had been performed. In view +of his letter from Vita, Ruxton Farlow was the last person +he desired to see. On the other hand, he had been +waiting anxiously to hear from him, or see him on the +subject of the happenings at the yards, of which the +whole town of Dorby had become aware. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had his own purpose in view, but the Prince +gave him no opportunity of developing it at the first excitement +of the meeting. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, Mr. Farlow. Tell me of it all," he cried, in +his swift, impulsive way. "I have heard so much and +know so little. I have lived through a fever since yesterday +morning. I have listened to the wildest stories +of conspiracies and plots. It is said, even, that your +father's offices have been destroyed; that he has been +injured. But I knew that was not right. You will tell +me it all." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was reluctantly forced to abandon his own +purpose for the moment. He even smiled in answer to +the old man's wide, eager eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"They have started on us," he said, with quiet confidence. +"Oh, yes, they have started. The purpose +was well intentioned, but of childish inception and indifferent +execution. They have delayed work for perhaps +two weeks. They have become obsessed with the +use of bombs, which was a disease during the war." +</P> + +<P> +"But the explosions—they were terrific. I heard them +here, in this bed." +</P> + +<P> +"The German race can do nothing without bluster, +and they seem to regard bluster as achievement. They +destroyed the slipways of two of the new submersibles, +with little damage to the vessels themselves. They +have destroyed an office, and the working-plans therein. +We have many others, and your originals are safely disposed. +It is nothing. It is scarcely worth discussing." +</P> + +<P> +The old man shook his head—that wonderful head—which +still fascinated the Englishman. The latter noted +the added intellectuality of the face since it had been +clean shaven. It was a splendid face. +</P> + +<P> +"No." There was an anxious light still lurking in +the wide eyes of the inventor. "But it is the beginning. +Only the beginning. Who knows what may +happen next?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton threw up his head. His eyes were full of a +world of pain and suffering. The change had been +wrought by the man's last words. +</P> + +<P> +"That is it," he cried. "It is not the destruction at +the yards. It is that which also they may do—which +they have done. It is that which has brought me here +now. I am nearly mad with anxiety and dread. I am +thinking of your—daughter, sir. I can find no trace +of her at her house, or elsewhere. She has gone, +vanished, spirited away without a word to her—friends." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince's face became a study in bewilderment. +His luminous eyes looked to have grown bigger than +ever. He opened his lips to speak. Then he closed +them. Then he fumbled in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Since when has she——?" +</P> + +<P> +But he was not permitted to complete his question. +</P> + +<P> +"Since the day of your arrival here, sir," Ruxton +cried. "I wired her a message, and it remained unanswered." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me of it." The puzzled expression remained, +but there was more confidence in the Prince's manner. +He was grasping his folded letter in his hand. He +had remembered its contents, and the promise it had +demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton briefly told him of the search he had embarked +on. He told of the services of Scotland Yard +he had employed. And he told of the negative result +of all his efforts. Then he broke out in the passionate +pain of the strong soul within him. He told this father +the simple story of his love. It was simple, and big, +and strong. And the Prince, in the simplicity of his +own soul, understood and approved. +</P> + +<P> +"I know. I have understood it, guessed it—what +you will. I know, and it gives me happiness." He +sighed nevertheless. It seemed to Ruxton as though +his sigh were a denial. The grey head was inclined. +His eyes were bent upon the letter in his hand. He +seemed to be considering deeply. Suddenly he raised +a pair of troubled eyes to Ruxton's. +</P> + +<P> +"But she is at home. She is at Redwithy. Our +enemies have not laid hands upon her. She is not +without her fears, but she is well, and unmolested in +her home. I had this letter from her only this morning. +It came through your father. It must have been +written last night. So she was at Redwithy last night. +See, here is the heading. It is her writing. I would +know it in a thousand. There is a mistake. It must +be a mistake." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had no answer for him. That which he saw +and heard now was incredible. He half reached out +to take the letter, but he drew back. He was burning +to read and examine that letter, but the Prince gave no +sign of yielding it up; and he knew, in spite of all his +anxiety, he had no right to claim such a privilege. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps Von Hertzwohl understood something of that +which was passing in the younger man's mind. Perhaps +the appeal to his sympathy was more than he could +resist. He opened the letter. Then he folded it afresh +so that the heading and the signature were alone visible. +He held it out. +</P> + +<P> +"Look. You know her writing. There it is—and her +signature." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton leant forward eagerly. He examined the writing +closely. Amazement grew in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said, as he sat back in his chair. "It is +hers—undoubtedly." +</P> + +<P> +And he realized by the manner in which the father +had displayed these things to him that it was his way of +assuring him that he was not to be permitted to know +the contents of the letter. +</P> + +<P> +In consequence, a silence fell between them. And +each knew it was a silence of restraint. Ruxton was +endeavoring to discover a possible reason for the +Prince's attitude, and he felt that his reticence must be +attributable to Vita's wish. If it were her wish there +must be some vital reason. What reason could there +be unless——? Was she avoiding him purposely? +Was her absence from Redwithy her own doing? +Was it that now, her work completed, she wished +to——? A sweat broke out upon his broad forehead, +and he stirred uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +Then, in the midst of his trouble, the other spoke, and +his words helped to corroborate all his worst apprehension. +The old man's words were gently spoken. They +were full of a deep and sincere regret. But they were +equally full of an irrevocable decision. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Farlow," he said, in his quaintly formal manner, +"I must leave here. I must leave England. There is +danger—great danger in my remaining. Oh, not for +me," he went on, in response to a question in the other's +eyes. "I do not care that for danger to my life." He +flicked his fingers in the air. "Danger? It is the +breath of life. No, it is not that. I am thinking of my +friends. I am thinking of the project which is so dear to +my heart—to my daughter's heart, as well as mine. My +presence here can only add jeopardy to others. I can +serve no purpose. I have your promise that the work +will go on to its finish. It is all I can ask. And in that +my services are not needed. I shall leave for some part +of America. That is all." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's thoughtful eyes were searching. He was exercising +great restraint. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you be safer in any other part of the world?" +</P> + +<P> +The other hesitated. The awkwardness of his excuses +troubled him. He finally shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not for myself. This place is alive with spies +searching for me. I know it. I—far more than the shipyards—am +the magnet that draws them here. It is not +good for the work. It is not good for you—or your father. +Who knows——?" +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know they have traced you here?" +</P> + +<P> +The Prince's thin cheeks flushed. +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," he said, and the manner of his assertion +warned Ruxton that it was useless to proceed further in +the matter. +</P> + +<P> +He knew beyond a doubt that some influence was at +work, the secret of which he was not to be admitted to. +He knew beyond question that that secret had been communicated +to her father in Vita's letter. He knew that it +was something vital and pressing which she desired kept +from him. What was it? For him there was only one +explanation. For some incomprehensible reason she +meant to abandon him. But was it incomprehensible? +Was it? She was a woman—a beautiful, beautiful +woman. There were other men, doubtless hundreds of +men, who might possess greater attractions for her than +he could ever hope to possess. And yet—no, he could +not, would not believe it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUXTON ARRIVES AT A GREAT DECISION +</H4> + +<P> +Ruxton spent another long day and night travelling. +He reached London and Smith Square in a fog, which by +no means helped to lighten his mood. He visited Scotland +Yard, where he spent an hour in close consultation, +and when he departed thence for Buckinghamshire he +was accompanied by a prominent officer. He spent +several hours at Wednesford and Redwithy, and finally +returned again to town. +</P> + +<P> +His movements were made with a complete disregard for +himself. Weary? Depressed and worn out, he admitted +to himself he had no time for weariness. He was obsessed +by one thought now, one thought which dominated all +others. He had lost Vita. She seemed to be passing +completely and finally out of his life. +</P> + +<P> +On his return to Smith Square he spent the long evening +alone. He would see nobody. He would transact +no business, and the faithful Heathcote was distressed, he +even protested. But for once the usual amenability of his +friend and employer was lost amidst a jarring irritability, +and the secretary was forced to leave him to his ungracious +solitude. +</P> + +<P> +During that long evening alone Ruxton endured a series +of mental tortures such as only the imaginative can ever +be called upon to endure. Every conceivable aspect of +the situation arose before his mind's eye, clad in the drab +of hopelessness, until it seemed there could be no possible +place for one single gleam of promise. Many of these +pictures were based upon the insidious doubts which +never fail to attack those in the throes of a consuming +passion such as his. +</P> + +<P> +At one moment he saw, in the disaster which had befallen +him, the duplicity of a woman whose love has no depth, +whose love is the mere superficial attraction of the moment, +and which, under given conditions, can be flung +aside as a thing of no consequence, no value. Following +upon each such accusation came denial—simple, swift, +emphatic denial, as he remembered the treasured moments +in the little flat in Kensington; as he remembered +the woman of the Yorkshire cliffs; the woman whose +shining eyes had revealed the mother soul within her as +she appealed for the great world of humanity with passionate +denial of self. Doubts of her could not remain +behind such memories. It was like doubting the rise of +the morrow's sun. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, the simplicity of his own loyalty, apart from +all reason, denied for him. It was the simple psychology +of the devoted Slav in him battling and defeating the +more acrimonious and fault-finding nature of his insular +forebears. +</P> + +<P> +There was reason enough for his doubts. He knew +that. The steady balance of reason was markedly his, +and once, after a feverish struggle, he allowed himself to +give it play, and sought to review the case as might a +prosecuting counsel. +</P> + +<P> +The salient points of the situation were so marked that +they could not be missed. Vita had gone to Redwithy in +a fever of anticipation, with assurances of devotion to +him upon her beautiful lips, to await a message from him +of her father's safety. That message is duly dispatched. +It reaches its destination. It is opened by some one and +carefully re-sealed. Vita sends no acknowledgment. +Later it is discovered that Vita has left Redwithy, almost +on the moment of her arrival at her home, since when she +has not returned. Apparently her going is voluntary. +</P> + +<P> +On the face of it, it would appear that she has not received +the message. But subsequently she proves, by +writing to her father, that she is aware of his safe arrival, +which is the news contained in his message. Furthermore, +she addresses her letter from Redwithy, as though +she desires him to communicate with her at that place. +All these facts are so definite that the reasonable conclusion +is that Vita has wilfully endeavored to hide herself +from him—Ruxton. +</P> + +<P> +That, he told himself, was the cold logic of it. +</P> + +<P> +Then, even as he arrived at the conclusion, a hot passion +of denial leapt. It was wrong, wrong. He could +stake his soul on it it was wrong. Logic? Argument? +Reason? They were all fallible; fallible as—as hell. +Anyway, they were in this case, he moodily assured himself. +Vita was above all such petty trickery. So contemptible +a conclusion was an insult to a pure, brave, +beautiful soul. It belonged to the gutter in which, he told +himself, he was floundering. +</P> + +<P> +There must be another reply to every question which +the evidence opened up. What was the other view of +it? He leapt back at once to his first inspiration. +Treachery—treachery of the enemy. His first prompting +had been that Vita had fallen into their hands. +How, then, could this be made to fit in with the letter +Prince von Hertzwohl had received from his daughter? +At the first consideration it seemed that such fitment became +impossible. +</P> + +<P> +But he attacked it; he attacked it with all the vigor +and imagination of a keen, resolute brain, backed by the +passionate yearning of his soul. But dark mists of confusion +obscured the light he sought—mists of confusion +and seeming impossibility through which he must grope +and flounder his way. +</P> + +<P> +For a long time there seemed no promise. A dozen +times hope fell headlong and died the death. But with +each rebuff he started afresh at the given point that—Vita +was in enemy hands, whose will she was forced to obey. +</P> + +<P> +After long hours of defeat his efforts wearied. His +power of concentration lessened. He found himself repeating +over and over again his formula without advancing +one single step. Bodily fatigue was helping to +oppress his mental faculties. He was growing sleepy. +Again and again he strove to rouse himself. But the net +results of his effort was a continuation of the idiotic +repetition of his formula. +</P> + +<P> +He was not really aware of these things. Mental and +bodily weariness had completely supervened. Another +few minutes and—— But something galvanized him +into complete wakefulness. His weariness fell from him, +and he started up in his chair alert—vigorously alert. +By some extraordinary subconscious effort he had become +aware that his formula had changed. He was no +longer repeating it in full—only the latter portion of it: +"Whose will she is forced to obey." And as he thought +of them now the words rang with a new and powerful +significance. +</P> + +<P> +It was the spark of light he had so long sought, and +it had leapt out at him from amidst the deep mists of +confusion. +</P> + +<P> +So it was that when eleven o'clock came, and the hall +gong clanged below, Ruxton went himself to admit his +visitor from Scotland Yard. His whole aspect had completely +changed from the dispirited creature who had +curtly refused to consider matters which Heathcote had +placed before him some hours previously. +</P> + +<P> +Inspector Purdic was a smiling, dark man of athletic +build and decided manner. He was by no means of +senior rank in his profession. But his reputation was +unique amongst his colleagues. It was said of him that +his record could be divided into two parts, as everybody +else's could, but with this difference: his failures came +during his early days of inexperience, and could be +marked off with a sharp line of division. Beneath that +line was nothing but a list of successes. +</P> + +<P> +The officer's manner was deferential. He had had to +deal with many men of considerable position. But this +was the first time he had been brought into contact with +a Cabinet Minister, even of junior rank. +</P> + +<P> +He felt that it was a fresh step up the ladder he had +set for his own climbing. He had made his visit there +late in the hope that the Cabinet Minister might be induced +to give him a protracted and uninterrupted interview, +and was pleasantly surprised at the manner in which +his explanation was received. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, sir," he said, "it's always a difficulty +with us, dealing with a busy public man. So I took a +chance, because there's got to be a lot of close talk +done." +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton denied the need for apology. +</P> + +<P> +"As a matter of fact I'm glad you've called—now. If +it had been earlier I should not have been so pleased." +He laughed, and the smiling eyes of the officer noted the +laugh carefully. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right then, sir." +</P> + +<P> +The two men passed up-stairs to Ruxton's study, and, +while he revelled in the enjoyment of one of his host's +best cigars, Purdic bluntly set out the objects he sought +in this late visit. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Mr. Farlow," he began, "we've been on this +thing some days now, and we're still groping around +like a pair of babes in the wood. We've located a few +bits. We've discovered certain suspicious circumstances, +but nothing's led anywhere, and we're just as far off finding +this Princess as if we were dodging icebergs up +around the Pole. And do you know why, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was not without ideas on the subject, but he +nevertheless shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said. He was lounging in the chair which +had claimed him nearly all the evening. +</P> + +<P> +The other cleared his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"Because you've set up a brick wall between me and +the job you've set me at. The wall's high and thick, and +it's plastered with Government political secrecy. You +mustn't mind my speaking this way, sir. You see, you +want certain work done, and I want to do it. But +miracles don't concern me, and that's what you're asking +of me, unless you break down that wall. With due +respect, sir, it's no use asking men of my profession to +disentangle a skein of fine thread and refuse to let 'em +handle the skein. It can't be done; that's all." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded, and the man with the smiling face +went on. +</P> + +<P> +"I want to know what lies behind, sir. That's what +I've come here for to-night. You'll either tell me, or +you won't. You are the best judge of what is at stake, +and whether you are justified in disclosing secrets in the +hope of discovering the whereabouts of the Princess. +The question is, is the discovery of her worth the risk? +From the moment I began on this I saw the direction +things were taking. Now, this man Vassilitz is a foreigner. +All the servants at Redwithy are foreigners. +The lady herself is a foreign—princess. Her record during +the war tells of her Polish origin. There were three +Polands: Russian, Austrian and German. She claimed +Russian, and was known by a Russian-sounding name. +Her title sounds German. That's all the history of her I +have got. But if I'm any judge there's a lot more, and +in that additional history lies the secret of her present +disappearance. Well, sir, that's my case, and I put it to +you. If you cannot see your way to telling me anything +more, I can hold out very little hope. I shall naturally +continue to work the matter, but——" +</P> + +<P> +The man was still smiling his involuntary smile, which +was due to a curious facial formation. Nor could Ruxton +help realizing the perfect mask it became. But his +demands were startling and a little disconcerting. He +rose from his chair and began to pace the room, his preoccupation +finding expression in the gnawing of one of +his finger-nails. +</P> + +<P> +The other watched him through the veil of smoke +which hung upon the warm air of the room. Finally he +came to a halt on the rug before the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's political," he admitted. Then, with a curious +upward jerk of his head, and a hot light in his dark eyes: +"Damnably political—and secret." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"You want more; much more. You want it all." He +shook his head. "But you can't have it. That's been +the devil of it, eh? No, I can't tell you all you want to +know. But I can tell you this much. It's your brains—our +brains against all the arch-devilry of the German +Government, backed by no less a person than the——" +</P> + +<P> +The detective gave a long, low whistle. +</P> + +<P> +"It's as serious as that?" He stirred in his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Serious? It's likely to involve the death of anybody +concerned. Not only the victims of these machinations, +but of those who interfere on their behalf. There, that's +all I can say of what lies behind, and you must be satisfied, +or pretend to be. Meanwhile I can tell you something +which is going to be helpful to us, which I couldn't +have told you if you had paid your visit an hour or so +earlier. I have discovered a means by which I fancy the +Princess can be rescued from these German demons." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton turned, and again flung himself into his chair. +He was smiling with confidence and hope. The officer +insinuated his chair nearer and waited. Every faculty +was alert. The other took no notice of his movements. +He was absorbed in his own thoughts. He had taken a +great decision, and all his imaginative faculties were at +work piecing together the pictured details. +</P> + +<P> +The officer coughed. The long pause was becoming +too extended for his patience. Ruxton started. He +looked round and smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen to this," he said, "and tell me what you think." +</P> + +<P> +It was well past midnight when Detective-Inspector +Purdic rose to take his departure. The automatic smile +on his face had broadened noticeably, and Ruxton felt +that now, at least, it was inspired. He, too, was smiling. +His own decision had met with something more than approval +from the professional. The man had caught something +of the quiet daring of the brain which had been +keen enough to penetrate the meaning of certain obscure +signs, and reckless enough to evolve a plan of action +which promised a possibility of defeating all the trickery +against which they were pitted. +</P> + +<P> +Furthermore, the officer had been able to point certain +vital matters, and offer suggestions in several directions +of importance out of his long experience. Between them +they had matured carefully, and placed in concrete form, +a plan which, under any other conditions of a less grave +nature, must have appeared the veriest of forlorn hopes, +and which either of them would certainly have classed +amongst the schemes of the most advanced cases confined +within the four walls of a lunatic asylum. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad I came, sir," said the officer, in his blunt +fashion. "I had my doubts about it. It didn't seem to +offer much hope, seeing I was dealing with a Cabinet +Minister who hadn't seen his way, so far, to opening out +on official secrets of his own accord; and on that score, I +admit, it was no use. But you've done better than that, +sir. You've taught me something which twenty years of +my own business wasn't able to teach me—and it's in my +own line, too. I sort of feel, sir, some one's going to +wake up with a horrid start, and—it won't be us. Good-night, +sir, and thank you. I'll set everything in train +without delay. I shall take the five men I mentioned +with me when I go north to-morrow, and look to the local +police for any other force we may need." +</P> + +<P> +"Good." Ruxton shook him by the hand. "I'll see +to the other side of it in—my own way. Good-night, +and thank you for coming." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SWEETNESS OF LIFE +</H4> + +<P> +Von Salzinger was in a bad mood. He was feeling +the effects of close personal contact with the authority +which he had been bred to acknowledge, to obey. In +the abstract he admitted the right of it. In practice he +had little enough complaint. But in personal contact +with the administrators of it the tyranny became maddening. +For once in his life he realized how far short of a +free-acting, free-thinking being he really was, in spite of +the considerable rank of Captain-General to which he had +risen. +</P> + +<P> +He possessed all the dominating personality of his +race, all the hectoring brutality of his fellow-Prussians. +He had no difficulty in submitting to a system which he +found pleasure in enforcing upon those who acknowledged +his authority, but to endure the personal meting +out of such discipline by Von Berger was maddeningly +irritating. He felt that his association with the all-powerful +intimate of the Emperor was nearing the breaking-point, +and when that point was reached he knew that +whatever breaking took place he was bound to be the +chief sufferer. +</P> + +<P> +His irritation lasted all day. He had received a number +of definite instructions, as though he were some +insignificant underling. Von Berger had dictated his +requirements. And Von Salzinger was galled, galled +and furious. Nor was it until Von Berger had taken his +departure that he felt he could again breathe freely. +</P> + +<P> +Then had come a letter by hand. It was a letter for +Vita, who remained in his charge. But though he read +the letter, carefully steaming it open and re-sealing it so +that detection was well-nigh impossible, and its contents +proved satisfactory, still his temper underwent little +betterment. +</P> + +<P> +The day wore on filled with the many duties which +Von Berger had demanded of him, and which he almost +automatically fulfilled. He saw many callers. He held +many consultations. He delivered many instructions in +that harsh autocratic manner which he resented in Von +Berger. But it was not until after he had dined amply in +the evening, and his gastronomic senses had been indulged +with an amplitude of good wine and savory fare, +that he began to forget the glacial frigidity of the man +who had power to reduce his own dominating personality +to the level of an anæmic lackey. +</P> + +<P> +After dinner he moved out onto the terrace which +fronted the dining-room. It was a splendid night with +a bright full moon. It was chilly but refreshing, and +Von Salzinger, whatever else his habits might be, loved +the fresh air. He paced the broad walk under the moon, +and every now and then his eyes were turned upon a +distant portion of the upper part of the mansion, where +shone the lights of Vita's apartments. At last he seemed +to have decided some momentous matter, and returned +within the house and flung aside the heavy overcoat he +was enveloped in. +</P> + +<P> +The heaviness of his military figure was carefully toned +under the perfect lines of his evening clothes. But the +rigidity of his square shoulders and back would not be +denied. Then, too, the shape of his head. He was +Prussian, so Prussian, and every inch a soldier of the +Hohenzollern dynasty. +</P> + +<P> +He made his way down the long corridors which +led towards a distant wing of the house, and passed on +up-stairs. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Vita's days had become poignant with bitterness and +self-reviling. But the despair in her grey eyes had +lessened, and all the youthful beauty had returned to +her cheeks. Her abject dread had given place to a condition +of dreary hope which left her haunted only by the +hideous memory of the price she had yet to pay. +</P> + +<P> +Her mood was one of self-abasement and self-loathing. +She told herself that she was purchasing life, or the chance +of it, with all that was best in her. Sacrifice? She had +told herself that she was sacrificing her love for her +father's life. It was so. She knew she would sacrifice +anything to safeguard that. But as time passed, and her +dejected mood gained ascendancy, she began to question +her purpose with a deplorable cynicism that, in reality, was +no part of her nature. +</P> + +<P> +She reminded herself of the cowardice she knew to be +hers. How much of the sacrifice she asked was for her +father, and how much for herself? Then came the self-castigation. +She was afraid to die. She knew she was +afraid. And, in utter self-contempt, she told herself she +was flinging away the honest love of a man, of which she +could never be worthy, as the price of her life. Yes, there +was no denying the truth. She valued life—her miserable +life—at a price greater than anything else. Her love? +It was a poor thing. It was beneath contempt. She +could sell herself to this brutal Prussian that she might +live on to see the sun rise for a few more seasons, a few +more miserable years of conscious existence. +</P> + +<P> +Such were her feelings as she sat before the cheerful +blaze of the fire in her apartment. The evening had +closed in, her evening meal had been brought her, and +finally cleared away. She had no desire for occupation. +There was only thought left her—painful, hideous thought. +Everything had gone awry. All plans seemed to have +miscarried. She, and her father, and her lover had been +out-manœuvred by the Prussian machine, and now, now +there only remained a sordid struggle for life itself. +</P> + +<P> +But she was roused, as once before she had been +roused, from the depths of her misery by the coming of +the man whom she now knew her whole future life was +bound to. She heard the door open and close. She did +not turn from the contemplation of her fire. Why need +she? It was one of her jailers. If it were the women +she did not desire to see them. If it were Von Berger she +would allow him no sight of her misery. If it were Von +Salzinger—— +</P> + +<P> +"Vita!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Von Salzinger. His manner was eager and +urgent. It also had in it that suggestion of fear of detection +which she had witnessed before. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the answer to your letter. I had it this morning, +and would have conveyed it you earlier, but I dared +not risk it. Now Von Berger is away, and, for the moment, +we are safe. So—here it is. Read it quickly and +tell me of it. On it depends so much. The future. Our +futures. Your father's. Read it." +</P> + +<P> +But Vita's mood permitted no sudden reaction at the +thought of that life and liberty for which she had bartered +her soul. She took the letter, and, before opening it, her +eyes searched the square features of the well-dined man +before her. Her regard was sufficiently cold. +</P> + +<P> +"Where has Von Berger gone?" she demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"To Dorby." +</P> + +<P> +In a moment the coldness had left Vita's eyes. She +was caught again in the hot tide of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"To Dorby? Have they discovered—my father?" +</P> + +<P> +The hard eyes of the Prussian lowered before the +woman's alarm. Then his reply came, conveying a +momentary confidence which Vita clung to. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't be sure," he said. "But I don't think so. +Still it is that possibility which has brought me here now. +That, and your letter. There must be no delay if we are +to get away. Von Berger has to go elsewhere before he +reaches Dorby. He will not reach there until Monday. +He will also leave there on Monday, and be back here on +Tuesday morning. We must be on the sea before Von +Berger reaches Dorby. Now—your letter. Read it." +</P> + +<P> +His final order came sharply. There was no request +in it. +</P> + +<P> +Vita tore it open. The alarm was still in her eyes, although +there had been reassurance in Von Salzinger's +words. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments she read down the two pages of the +letter. Then she sighed in relief. +</P> + +<P> +"It is all right," she said, passing the sheets across to +her companion. "Read it yourself. He will meet us at +the cove on Sunday evening. The submersible will be +standing off to pick us up. And—the whole thing remains +a secret between us. He has merely told Mr. Farlow +that he is going." +</P> + +<P> +If she were relieved there was no enthusiasm in her +manner. Safety was looming ahead, but the price was no +less. The Prussian's eyes were raised from the letter and +a cold severity looked out of them and shone down upon +Vita's unsmiling features. +</P> + +<P> +"It is well. But—you regret?" His gross lips pouted +under their severe compression. +</P> + +<P> +"Regret?" Vita passed one delicate hand across her +brow. It was a movement which expressed something +like unutterable weariness. It was almost as if she were +beyond caring for consequences. "It is more than regret," +she said, and the eyes gazing up into Von Salzinger's +were as hard as his own. +</P> + +<P> +The man drew a whistling breath. He realized. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you hate me," he cried. +</P> + +<P> +Vita shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"Hate? You are about to give me back my life." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." The man passed her back the letter. His +monosyllable conveyed nothing. It was the expression +of one whose thoughts and feelings are entirely preoccupied. +A hot fury was surging through his veins. His +vanity was outraged. He wanted to pour out the tide of +brutal invective which so naturally rose to his lips. But +he drove it back under the powerful lash of almost superhuman +restraint. +</P> + +<P> +"But you do hate me," he said, with simple regret in +his heavy voice. "And I would do anything to change +that hate. Why? Why is it? It was not always so. +You know the discipline under which we live. All I have +done I was compelled to do. Had I not obeyed I could +not be here to serve you now. Had I rebelled, and refused +to carry out my duty, what hope would there be for you +now? None. Farlow could not save you. No one +could save you once you were in the clutches of this +demon Von Berger. It is only that I have performed my +share in your persecution that makes it possible to hold +you out a hand of help. You are hard on me—harder +than you have any right to be. You would say you are +buying your life, I know. Well, do we not buy everything +in life? And do we not have to pay a price which +always seems exorbitant? The price you are paying; +what is it? Wifehood. A future cared for and sheltered +by a strong man's hand. Behind you a memory, a +memory of that which could never have been fulfilled, because +you would have been sacrificed to the discipline of +the country which claims you. Ach! it is unreasonable. +It is ungenerous. I would give my right hand for your +better regard." +</P> + +<P> +But the man's appeal, his arguments, left Vita unmoved. +</P> + +<P> +"Discussion is useless," she said firmly. "We have +entered into an agreement which you had power to force +upon me. Believe me, I shall not be ungrateful for my +father's safety and my own life. But it is a business +agreement which makes no demand for the modification +of any regard. If my love is demanded, then you must +invoke supernatural powers to bring it about. For surely +no earthly power could bring about such a revulsion of +my feelings. Let us keep to the business." +</P> + +<P> +The hard eyes of the man had grown harder, but his +lips smiled, displaying the strong white teeth behind them +sharply clenched. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. To the business. There is much. To-day I +have arranged those things which I could arrange. It is +fortunate that your father has appointed the one day +which we must have chosen ourselves. It must be Sunday +night. Sunday night before Von Berger reaches +Dorby. Vita, it is a pleasant thought to me that I—I can +defeat this man. Ever since he came to England he has +treated me like a conscript. I hate him." +</P> + +<P> +Vita watching him realized the truth. It pleased and +satisfied her that it was so. To her such animus between +these men meant safety. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes? Sunday night?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger shrugged. He understood her manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen," he said sharply. "On Saturday evening at +6:30 you must be ready to get away. At that hour you +must be ready, and I will provide you with a long dark +cloak for travelling. We shall go by car. We dare not +risk any other means. Car the whole way, and the +journey must take us precisely the twenty-four hours. +Now this is it. When the moment comes I will arrange +that your attendants are engaged elsewhere, and that the +doors of the corridor are unfastened. You will slip out +and pass down the long passage till you come to the +main staircase. This you will descend, and reach the +hall below. The entrance door will be open. You will +pass out and down the drive. Beyond the gates a car +will be standing—a cabriolet. The chauffeur will be at +the wheel. Without a word you will get in the car. He +will at once drive off. I shall join you at Bath, where we +shall have a very late meal." +</P> + +<P> +"How will you join me?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger raised his brows. +</P> + +<P> +"It is simple. I am in command here. My word is +absolute. Within ten minutes of your going it will be +discovered. I arrange this. I shall be in a fury, I shall +terrify those with me. There will be three men. Among +them Johann Stryj. I shall curse the women, and then +set about running you down. Each man will be despatched +in a car to certain places, in directions you have +not gone. I shall pursue you alone. So I shall come up +with you at Bath. Then you will continue the journey +to Dorby with me. I shall time it so we reach the—the +cove, eh? at half-past six on Sunday evening. We shall +travel all night." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of herself excitement was growing in Vita. +The prospect of the race for liberty was alluring and +exciting. +</P> + +<P> +"And we go straight for the Old Mill Cove?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is so. This cove. Ha, it is a strange place and—secret. +It is your secret and your father's. You will +have to guide me." His manner became reflective. +"We know so much of the coast, yet we missed this +place. It is strange. You know it and your father, but +Von Berger—no. So it was that your father escaped. +It amuses me now. Still Von Berger does not know. +And so we shall escape. Now write your answer to that +letter. I will help. We must have no hitch, for unless +we get away at that moment—disaster will follow." +</P> + +<P> +Vita had finally thrown off her uncompromising attitude +of coldness. She was alive with a thrilling excitement. +The man's plans were so simple and adequate. Her only +fear was Von Berger's unexpected return. She had +moved to a table where writing materials lay and prepared +to write her letter. +</P> + +<P> +"Von Berger will not change his plans?" she demanded +eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"He will not change them. He has been summoned +to meet—— He is on the sea. He has gone to make +his report. Now write." +</P> + +<P> +The next few minutes were occupied in the writing of +Vita's reply to her father. It was practically dictated by +Von Salzinger, as had been her earlier letter. He left +her no choice in what she must say, and, at the conclusion +of the writing, read it carefully over, and finally +folded it and sealed it himself. He looked on silently +while she addressed the envelope to Sir Andrew Farlow. +Then he took possession of it and placed it in an inner +pocket. +</P> + +<P> +With the completion of the letter his manner seemed +to undergo a change. The smoothness, even deferential +atmosphere of the man merged into one of sharp suspicion. +His brows drew together, and a quick sidelong glance +flashed in the woman's direction, and a surly note sounded +in his next words. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a fool that can trust a woman—a woman in love. +How do I know that your father will not betray me to +this man, Ruxton Farlow? How do I know that you +will fulfil your promise? You, a woman hating me, and +in love with Farlow. I am mad, mad to risk it. You +hate me—because I would save you and your father. If +Farlow knew there would be no mercy for me. For you +I am imperilling my life in every direction. Von Berger, +and all he stands for, shadows me from behind. Before +me is a man robbed of his love." +</P> + +<P> +Vita had risen from the table. She had turned to the +fire and stood leaning against the great mantel. +</P> + +<P> +"Your estimate of human character need not alarm +you. Remember, wanton treachery is almost as rare as +the highest virtues. Men and women do not betray unless +they can see some gain ahead. My father needs +safety and security, not only for himself but for me. I, +too, want these things. Your conditions will be fulfilled +to the letter because we need your aid. Will that satisfy +you? Is it commercial enough? You have set the price, +and I have agreed to it. Nor am I bankrupt. It is an +agreement between us, and the fact that it is not set out +on paper, and duly signed by witnesses, makes it surely +the safer." +</P> + +<P> +The man's hard eyes were fixed steadily upon the +beautiful face. +</P> + +<P> +"Your tongue is bitter," he said in a deep guttural +tone. +</P> + +<P> +"But no more bitter than my lot. Please go now. +Human endurance has its limits. If you force me to +mine I shall fling all to the four winds of heaven, and +accept the fate marked out for me by the merciless +tyrants who prevail at Berlin." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RUXTON WINS A TRICK +</H4> + +<P> +It was the close of a long and busy day for both of +them, and father and son, in the interim preceding dinner, +under a bright moon, paced together the broad stone +paths of the formal terrace gardens of Dorby Towers. +For Ruxton the confined spaces of the house were suffocating. +His nerves were on edge. His father, with the +calm philosophy of his years, merely sought the fresh air +which the work in his office denied him, even though +it possessed the damp chill of an English autumn night. +</P> + +<P> +"Anybody else besides Caistor coming for the week-end?" +Sir Andrew's sidelong glance was penetrating. +</P> + +<P> +"Lordburgh and Reginald Steele. There will be +others—whom they may choose to bring." +</P> + +<P> +His father's scrutiny was lost upon Ruxton, who +seemed to have little inclination to talk. His interest in +the week-end gathering seemed of the slightest. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Caistor and Steele will find plenty to interest +them," Sir Andrew went on. "Lordburgh will probably +content himself with the golf links." +</P> + +<P> +"Lordburgh will spend his time at the yards," Ruxton +said. Then he displayed an increased interest. +"He's a Foreign Secretary who sees further than mere +international policies. He's a man who believes that an +adequate foreign policy can only be built on the foundations +of a sound internal economic basis. Caistor and +Steele are armament men of diverging opinions. Caistor +pins his faith to weight of metal in surface craft, while +Steele places the submarine before the heaviest guns. +Both have sound enough reasoning, but, as I said, they +are armament men. They cannot conceive that a non-military +defence can ever offer sound possibilities. Both +have been shaken up by the mercantile submersible +project. But I think Lordburgh is the more impressed +by it." +</P> + +<P> +"I should have preferred their coming next week," +Sir Andrew went on, a little wearily. "We should be +under full work then. We are nearly clear now, and the +naval mechanics are replacing the civil men next week. +It's been hard work for us all. I shall be glad when +everything has settled down again." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton glanced round at the speaker. There was a +flash of anxiety in his eyes. It was the first time he had +ever heard his father complain of the arduous nature of +his work. A wave of contrition swept over him. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel I've left too much on your shoulders, Dad," +he exclaimed. "I'm afraid I've been very selfish. I've +burdened you with the responsibility of this thing, and +given you no support. Somehow, I never thought—and +you have never complained." +</P> + +<P> +"Tut, tut, boy," his father retorted, in his gruff, hearty +way. "I have yet to learn that I am too old for my +work. It's work I've been born and bred to. Without +it I should be a decaying man. Don't think of it. Your +work is far more responsible, far more harassing. You +are among those active thinkers whose life's work is the +welfare of our country. Leave me to Dorby. Mark out +the work you demand from me, and rest assured it will +be thoroughly carried out. I haven't the imaginative +brain that sees into the future and formulates plans +whereby that future may be safeguarded. But I can +build any fleet you can plan—single-handed." +</P> + +<P> +There was pride and admiration in the smile with +which Ruxton listened to his father's words. But the +man was serious. He knew his limitations, and he also +knew his capacity. Besides, he had no intention of admitting +the strain of the work in hand. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not even doing that, Dad," he protested. "My +time's given up to other affairs. I've simply abandoned +everything for one selfish purpose." +</P> + +<P> +Again came his father's sidelong glance. +</P> + +<P> +"Selfish?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; Vita. I must find her. I must help her. I +must unravel the mystery of it all, or—what is the use +of all that I had hoped to achieve? Dad, I no longer +blind myself. I have only just awakened to life. All +the hopes and longings of the past belong to a time +when I still remained slumbering to the real meaning +of life. Now, compared with the meaning of life which +I have just awakened to, they are mere cold, meaningless +products of the brain. They are nothing, simply +nothing to this new vista which has just opened out to +me. I doubt if you'll understand, if any one can understand +but myself." +</P> + +<P> +"No?" There was that twinkling smile in the old +man's eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"No. There is only one thought in me now. I must +save Vita; I must save Vita from our enemies. Perhaps, +even, I must save her from herself. How can I expect +any one to understand all it means to me, how absurd +seem all those other things which I had counted as vital?" +</P> + +<P> +"And yet I loved your mother." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton walked on a few steps without reply. A flush +had mounted to his handsome cheeks. Then he abruptly +paused, and in the depths of his eyes was a shamefaced smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry, Dad," he cried. "Forgive the egoism of +a man—in love." +</P> + +<P> +His father's smiling eyes were full of a deep sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, boy; no apologies. You are no different +from the rest of us. We all feel the same at some time +in our lives, and we all believe no one else has ever felt +as we do. Work out your plans, boy. Forget Dorby; +forget everything else for the time. Give your whole +heart and time to straightening out the tangle your love +affairs seem to be in. And when you have succeeded, +bring her to me. For the rest, I am your deputy in the +work which must still go on; and, believe me, I shall +not fail you. There goes the gong." +</P> + +<P> +The deep note of the gong seemed to rise out of its +metal bowels; it crescendoed, and finally died away. +The two men passed silently into the house and removed +their light overcoats. Ruxton's emotion was too deep +for words. His father's sympathy and loyalty were almost +overpowering to a nature as sensitive as his. He +wanted to tell him all he felt. He wanted to pour out his +gratitude. He wanted to show him something of the +great love he had always borne him. But it was impossible. +He did none of these things because they were +men—men of a temperament and schooling that made +such a display impossible. So, in silence, they prepared +to make their way to the dining-room. +</P> + +<P> +But affairs were busier than either of them knew. In +a very few minutes every other emotion became lost in +the surge of events. +</P> + +<P> +Just as they were about to leave the hall a man-servant +appeared from the direction of the servants' quarters. +He was about to pass up-stairs, bearing a tray. The +quick eyes of Sir Andrew observed the pile of letters he +was carrying up to the library. Without regard for the +moment he stayed him. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that the post just in?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +The man promptly returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, let me see." +</P> + +<P> +The letters were divided into two small piles: those +that were addressed to Sir Andrew, and those for his son. +Sir Andrew picked his up. He glanced at the superscription +on each envelope, and dealt them back on the +tray as though he were dealing playing-cards. At the +last one he paused. It was the largest envelope. +</P> + +<P> +"That will do," he said, and glanced across at Ruxton +as the man passed on up the staircase. +</P> + +<P> +He tore the envelope open and stood with the contents +of it poised in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruxton." +</P> + +<P> +The younger man turned from the fireplace. His eyes +were expectant. His father's tone had been sharp. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"You'd better deal with this." He handed him the +lesser envelope, which had been enclosed in the other. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton took it and glanced at it. His father's eyes +were watching him closely; they were twinkling. +</P> + +<P> +"It is tempting, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"But Vita trusts us," he said simply. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Once again Ruxton found himself looking into the +wide eyes and remarkable face of Prince von Hertzwohl. +With the simple courtesy which was so much a part of +him, the latter had thrust his guest into the only chair +his uninviting quarters afforded. For himself, he was +more than content with the doubtful flock bed, with its +frowsy patchwork quilt. The chair creaked under Ruxton's +weight, but he said no word. He was waiting, +waiting while the other read the letter he had just put +into his hands. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was disguised in a suit of clothes that left nothing +to be desired. Mrs. Clark, the landlady, could have +possessed no doubts as to his calling. She knew the +type of mechanic too well. Von Hertzwohl was still arrayed +in his work-soiled suit, which his intellectual features +denied as the yellow lamp-rays fell upon them. +Ruxton's outward seeming was calm, but inwardly his +active thoughts were teeming. The opportunity which +otherwise must have been made had been afforded him +without his personal effort. He knew that the crisis in +all his plans had arrived. It was for him to turn the +course of affairs in his own favor, or accept almost certain +defeat. So he waited, coördinating every mental force +he could make available. +</P> + +<P> +It was a serious, almost pathetic pair of eyes which +were at last raised from the letter, which was in Vita's +handwriting. There was something almost like dismay +in their wide depths as they encountered the steady gaze +of Ruxton's. It was a moment of grave embarrassment—but +only for Von Hertzwohl. He felt like a man +hunted before the gaze of the younger man's dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton had no desire to discompose him. His +mind was clear, his course marked out. He saw with +perfect understanding the only road by which he could +achieve his end. The night when, in the midst of all his +doubts and difficulties, he had suddenly caught a glimpse +of daylight, he had realized that Vita's father sat under +pledge to his daughter. The nature of that pledge was +difficult to appraise definitely, but it was obviously directed +towards secrecy to which he must not be admitted. +His hope lay in admitting its inviolability. +</P> + +<P> +"I want you to listen to me, Prince, for some moments," +he began at once. "I have one or two things +to put before you, simply and straightforwardly. In doing +so I want you to realize my motive. I have told you, +her father, of my love for Vita. That love burns as +deeply in my soul for her now as it has done ever since I +first met her. I want you to know that I am fighting for +that love now, that I shall continue to fight for it so long +as I have the power. Nothing will deter me; nothing +our enemies can do, nothing Vita can say, short of a +direct dismissal. This is my motive, simple and honest. +I have not come here to ask you the contents of your letter +from her. I do not want to know them. I have not +come here to press you in any direction which your +honor, your loyalty to your daughter denies. I have +come here to tell you the things I know, and the things I +believe, without exaggeration, and to obtain your consent +to a small favor, which, in common fairness, you cannot +deny me." +</P> + +<P> +The embarrassment in the deep, shining eyes beneath +the shaggy grey brows was growing. To Ruxton they +were almost a child's eyes, so simple and earnest, and so +full of unconcealed trouble. +</P> + +<P> +"It is an ominous prelude," the Pole replied, with a +poor attempt at a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"But not so ominous as the <i>dénouement</i> which, I fear, +is likely to come when you attempt to leave these shores." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's retort came with a quiet emphasis and directness +which completely took the other aback. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not see—— Is that a threat, Mr. Farlow?" All +the childlike trouble had vanished from the man's luminous +eyes. They were shining with a definite challenge +which revealed the ready spirit of the man, which Vita +always told of. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Not from me, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Then from whom?" The words were incisive. +</P> + +<P> +"From your—our enemies across the water." +</P> + +<P> +All the fire had departed out of Von Hertzwohl's eyes; +only was there interest in them. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me," he said simply. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton drew a deep breath. +</P> + +<P> +"There is so little—and yet, to me, so much to tell. I +cannot force my line of argument upon you, because it +is less argument than conviction. I can only tell you +those things which I know, and assure you of my conviction." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince inclined his head in a non-committal +manner. +</P> + +<P> +"This is the second letter you have had from Vita, in +her handwriting, and addressed from her home. These +letters have come through my father, just as you have +received them. I am prepared to believe Vita has +written them, but she has not written them from Redwithy. +That I can swear to. Vita has not been near +Redwithy since the day of your arrival here." +</P> + +<P> +"And that is—true?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a slight change in the Prince's manner, but +it was an undefinable change. +</P> + +<P> +"I will stake my honor upon it. Now," Ruxton went +on after a fractional pause, "let us leave that. It could +be explained—if for some inscrutable reason she wished +to avoid me. Let me point something else. When I +came up here to meet you on your arrival I left Vita, +who had promised ardently to be my wife, waiting, in a +fever of apprehension, for a message from me of your +safe arrival. That message was promptly sent, and it +reached Redwithy. But before it arrived Vita had left +her home with her maid, Francella, in a strange motorcar, +for a destination unnamed. And yet in a perfect +fever of anxiety she had been awaiting that message. +One moment," as the old man, with eyes wide with astonishment, +was about to break in. "When I arrived at +Redwithy that message was lying amongst a pile of +correspondence, all of which had been secretly opened +and re-sealed. Would Vita have arranged for that even +if she wished to avoid me? Would she not simply have +written me a note of dismissal? It is the commonest of +common sense." He paused, with brows raised questioningly. +"Now come these letters to you, sir," he +went on a moment later. "I do not know their contents; +I do not wish to know them. But they prove she +is aware of your safe arrival. And I judge they are urging +you to leave the country, since you expressed no +idea of doing so till you received the first letter. Now, +sir, one last word and I have told you all I know and all +I believe. Either those letters are forgeries or they are +written by Vita under pressure. Vita is aware you are +here at Dorby. Therefore she has been told, for I do +not believe she has seen my message. She has communicated +with you by the only means either she or any +one else could think of—through my father. She does +not know where you are, so she cannot be forced to betray +you. But she can be forced to decoy you, or you +can be decoyed in her name. Prince, a trick is being +played—a clever trick; and my conviction of it is all the +greater, since I would stake my life on Vita's loyalty to +you—and to me." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince remained silent for some moments. Ruxton +had risen from his protesting chair and moved across +the room. He refrained from even glancing in the old +man's direction. He wanted him to have time. He +wanted to exercise no moral influence by appearing to +await urgently his reply. +</P> + +<P> +He had outlined the plain facts without studied effect. +The whole purpose of his visit was still to be achieved. +</P> + +<P> +He turned at last and came back to his chair as the +other cleared his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"There is sense—common sense in what you say." +The big eyes of the man were clear and luminous, but +they were not looking at his visitor. They were gazing +at the oil-lamp on the table. "But you have not read +Vita's letters, or you would see that much of your statement +becomes impossible. I have not the right to show +you those letters, therefore you must accept, or not, what +I say. I assure you if there is a trick, or plot, it is so +deeply laid that Vita cannot see it; and, in view of her +letters, neither can I. Had I not received her letters I +could have accepted your beliefs, but those letters put +the idea beyond possibility. Mr. Farlow, I am sorry. I +could think of no greater delight, or honor, than having +you for my son. If what Vita has done, if her course has +been arranged with a view to breaking with you, then I +can only say I regret more deeply than you can ever +dream. All you have done, and are doing, and have +dared in my interests have endeared you to an old +man's heart just as surely as though you were my son. +It is only very, very rarely that men meet <i>men</i>. In you +and your father I have been doubly fortunate. Will you +believe me when I say it? But for the rest it is not for +me to decide. Your love for my daughter I realize is +deep and sincere. It is for you two to settle it. But +that she is in the hands of our enemies I truly and sensibly +cannot believe. I assure you there is no hint of it +in her letters. One final word. You fear that I am running +headlong into a trap. Do not fear for me. I have +none. My submersible will convey me to safety as it has +done before." +</P> + +<P> +The old man's words, so kindly spoken, so full of regard, +and loyalty and courage, came without any shock +or disappointment to the other. Not a muscle of his +strong face moved. Nor was there a shadow of change +from the determination in his dark eyes. When he +began to speak, however, a dawn of a smile grew in +them. It was a smile of confidence. The attitude of the +other had made his purpose a shade easier. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, in face of my beliefs, you will go, Prince?" he +asked. +</P> + +<P> +The direct challenge seemed to slightly disconcert the +other. Von Hertzwohl had spoken the truth when he +said that his regard for Ruxton had become as that of a +parent. He felt that his reply must hurt him. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be," he said. Then he endeavored to soften +his decision. "It is best so. Best for our work; for you; +for—Vita. Ach! I would like to tell you all I have in +here"—he tapped his broad brow with a forefinger. +"But I cannot. I may not. Dorby has been a haven to +me, and I longed to be near and witness the growth of +that work which is to make impossible the vile cruelty of +men, all the horrors of an indefensible slaughter. I told +myself I would sit here and see my dream slowly, step by +step, fulfilled. I said that you and your father were the +laboring genius setting up the defence which was to serve +humanity in the days to come. And in the pride and joy +of my heart I told myself that mine was the brain that had +conceived this merciful weapon, which I should watch +grow to its final triumph. But now I know that it is not +so. I may not witness the triumph of my labor here, +where it is to be achieved. My presence adds jeopardy +to it. It adds jeopardy to you all. It must not be. I +have made my mind up. I must go." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton inclined his head as though in a measure of +agreement. +</P> + +<P> +"If it can be done in safety perhaps it is as well," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +"Safety?" The wide eyes shining beneath the shaggy +white brows were smiling and full of a boyish delight at +the thought of adventure. "Show me. How can it be +otherwise? Have we not held the secret of our landing? +Who is to know the secrets of our cove? The tides—is +there a Teuton spy who would face the entrance of that +cove and believe that it is free to us to enter or leave it at +will? No one would believe it could serve a landing." +</P> + +<P> +"No. And you will go that way?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I shall leave on Sunday night. The tide will +serve us at half-past six. It is then dark." +</P> + +<P> +The old man's spirits were rising at the thought of +cheating his enemies. His eyes were full of guileless delight. +Ruxton was regarding him with something of the +same spirit lighting his own smiling eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"It would seem safe enough. I can offer no objection. +And yet——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ach! you still fear for me," cried the other impulsively. +"It is the obstinate English in you. Yes, yes. That +temperament. You bite hard and will not let go. So." +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton suddenly bestirred himself. He passed the +simple levity of the other by. His eyes had become serious. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at it my way, sir," he said in a deep, urgent +tone. "I have told you all I feel and fear. Suppose it +was my own father, for some day I hope and believe you +will become my other father. Can you not see all it +means to me—your safety? I feel you are my trust, and +I dare not risk unduly. Will you grant me a favor, sir—a +trifling favor from your point of view? Allow me to +take such measures to safeguard your going as I see fit. +You shall not be made aware of that safeguarding, I +promise you—except in case of the treachery I anticipate. +I shall not interfere with any plan you may have made. +I will, as our naval men say, 'carry on' and 'stand by,' +unseen by you and by our enemies—unless danger +threatens you. It is not much to ask, and it means so +much to me." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince's smile was very gentle as he watched the +eager face of the other. The genuine anxiety of Ruxton +appealed to him in a degree which was only reached out +of his own deep regard. From any other such an appeal +might have been met with ridicule. But in Ruxton it became +something to be delighted in. +</P> + +<P> +"Have your way," he cried cordially. "Do as you +will, and I thank you from my heart for your solicitude. +But it is needless. Believe me, it is needless." +</P> + +<P> +But Ruxton ignored his comment. His sanction was +all he needed. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, sir," he said simply. "Have you given +your man his orders for the submersible?" +</P> + +<P> +The Prince glanced down at his letter unconsciously. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said; "not yet." +</P> + +<P> +And Ruxton understood that his letter had decided the +time of departure for him. +</P> + +<P> +"May I convey them, Prince?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" The smiling eyes were keenly questioning. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Because I would like to make a small arrangement +with him, which will in no way interfere with any orders +you may give him." +</P> + +<P> +"I see." The Prince was silent for some moments, +pondering deeply. Then, quite abruptly, he seemed to +reach a decision. "Yes," he said at last, "I will send him +his orders in writing, with permission to receive certain +instructions from you. But my orders must be obeyed +implicitly. Remember that. You must not change them +in one single detail. Your word of honor, and I will +thank you for conveying them." +</P> + +<P> +"My word of honor," said Ruxton solemnly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE WEEK-END BEGINS +</H4> + +<P> +Vita stood up. The swift rise and fall of her bosom +bespoke an emotion which found added reflection in the +light of her beautiful grey eyes. Her attitude was tense. +It was full of that suggestion of urgency which straining +ears ever convey. She was listening. And every muscle +of her fair body was tuned to the pitch of her nerves. +</P> + +<P> +Her eyes were upon the face of a small brass lantern +clock. The figures on the dial were indistinct in the artificial +light, but she read them with ease under the influence +of the emotion stirring her. The dull metal +hands were almost together. It was on the stroke of +half-past six. +</P> + +<P> +Her masses of red-gold hair were completely hidden +under a brimless hat, which sank low upon her head. A +streaming veil fell to her shoulders, completely covering +her hat, and ready to be secured closely about the fair +oval of her anxious face. Her costume was a stout dark +coat and skirt which displayed to perfection the beauty +of her tall figure. Across the back of a chair lay a heavy +overcoat of semi-military fashioning. It was thick and +warm. It was a man's coat. +</P> + +<P> +The moments ticked away. Vita made no movement. +The room was still; a deathly silence reigned throughout +the house. And yet, to the waiting woman, a hundred +ominous sounds blended with the solemn ticking of the +clock. The long hand was within the smallest fraction +of the half-hour point. At last she raised one long gloved +hand, and the slim fingers were pressed to the temples +hidden under the enveloping hat. Her hand was trembling. +</P> + +<P> +When she removed her fingers it was with a gesture of +impatience. And the gesture was followed by swift +movement. She seized the overcoat and flung it across +her arm, picked up a small hand-bag and moved towards +the door. Again she paused. Her hand was on the +knob of the door. She turned it softly and gently pulled +the door ajar. Her eyes sought the crack. +</P> + +<P> +Lights were burning beyond in the wide hallway. +All was still, silent; and a deep sigh as of relaxing nerves +escaped her. She opened the door wider. It creaked, +and her fine brows drew together in anxiety. Then they +smoothed again as the creaking ceased. Almost imperceptibly +the opening widened. Then, in a twinkling it +seemed, she had vanished, and the room was left empty. +</P> + +<P> +As she went a door opened at the far end of the room +she had left, and a woman's dark face appeared round it. +For a moment she surveyed the empty apartment. Then +she smiled softly. A moment later the face was withdrawn +and the door reclosed. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A creaking stair set panic raging through Vita's heart. +The great staircase was old—so old. She stood, scarcely +daring to breathe, wondering in what direction the betrayal +would display itself. The moments passed and no +sign was given. She moved again, and, in a fever of apprehension, +she left the step and essayed another. +</P> + +<P> +This time there was no alarm. She passed on down +the stairs, swiftly, stealthily. Only the dainty rustle of +her skirts betrayed her movements. This she gave no +heed to. It was always with her. Therefore it possessed +no significance. The bottom of the great oak staircase +was reached. Her breathing was hurried, not with exertion, +but as a result of the nervous tension. She was +relying on a man's word—a Prussian's. She believed it +honest, but—— A swift glance about the wide hall-place, +and, for a moment, her nerves eased. The man +was proving as good as his word. The doors into the +various apartments were closed. The hall was empty. +</P> + +<P> +Fresh courage flowed through her veins. She tiptoed +across the polished marble, avoiding the loose rugs lest a +slip might betray her. Then, in the centre of it, she +stopped dead, her heart pounding out the alarm which +had suddenly possessed her. Voices, men's voices, had +reached her. And they came from immediately beyond +a pair of heavy folding doors. She listened. The sound +was slightly deadened. The doors made it impossible to +hear the words. +</P> + +<P> +Quite suddenly she realized that there was not a moment +to lose. Without any further hesitation she flitted +like a ghost, silently, towards the glass swing-doors which +opened upon the entrance doors. +</P> + +<P> +She thrust them apart. She passed down half a dozen +wide, shallow steps. The outer doors yielded to her +hand. Then she breathed the fresh, chill night air of the +valley beyond. It was good, so good. It was the first +breath of freedom. Deeply, deeply, she drank in the delight +of it. +</P> + +<P> +As the door swung gently to behind her, the folding +doors of the apartment in which had sounded the men's +voices were thrust apart. Von Salzinger and Johann +Stryj stood framed in the archway. +</P> + +<P> +"See, there is movement in the glass doors," observed +Von Salzinger. "She has gone." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard her," was the Secret Service man's cool reply. +</P> + +<P> +Vita had paused only to put on the coat. Then, with +skirts slightly raised, she sped on down the drive at something +approaching a run. It was not easy in the pitch +black of the night. But fear of pursuit lent her added +power, and, surmounting every difficulty, she reached the +iron gateway. +</P> + +<P> +She breathed a great relief. The gates were standing +open, and, away beyond, and to the right, she beheld the +reflection of light upon the roadway. +</P> + +<P> +She hurried towards it. An overwhelming flood of +gratitude and thankfulness swept over her. Von Salzinger +was proving his loyalty. Every detail was working out +as he had promised. Liberty and Life. They +were sweet enough. And even the price lost something +of its horror under her new emotion. +</P> + +<P> +The car was a large one. It carried three great headlights. +The chauffeur was at his wheel, and the purr of +the running engines was music to her ears. The door +stood wide open, and, without demur, without word, or a +single qualm of fear, she stepped within and closed it +after her. Instantly the car rolled away. +</P> + +<P> +A figure moved from the dark window of the unlit +lodge. It crossed the little room and stood against the +wall. Then a groping hand pressed a button, and in the +great hall of the mansion the peal of an electric bell rang +out. +</P> + +<P> +The week-end party had gathered. Saturday had +been spent by the three principal guests under Ruxton +and his father's guidance at the yards. But Ruxton +had been an unimportant member of the party for the +moment. Here in the great works Sir Andrew stood +supreme. His was the chief control. His was the genius +of organization. And to him these men, Sir Joseph +Caistor, Sir Reginald Steele, and the Marquis of Lordburgh, +looked for their information upon the new constructions. +</P> + +<P> +It had been a day to remember for Sir Andrew. +These brilliant technical men were exacting. Their +trained, searching minds displayed a wonderful grasp +of detail. There seemed to be no point too small for +their consideration. Thus the day had to be entirely +given up to them. Nor did Sir Andrew begrudge it. +He was a great shipmaster, and his pride in his yards, +and all they meant in the country's labors, found him +with an almost childlike delight in his guests' interest +and understanding. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton stood aloof. His thoughts and energies were +concentrated elsewhere. Frequently he absented himself +for long stretches of time together. Nor was it until +their naval guests had satisfied their desire to study the +new constructions that he became a factor in the day's +affairs. +</P> + +<P> +It was after the drive back to Dorby Towers that he +slipped into the arena of affairs. It occurred while tea +was served in the library. He drew Sir Joseph Caistor +and Sir Reginald away from the rest of the party, and +held a long private consultation with them. +</P> + +<P> +The result of the consultation was the complete disappearance +of Ruxton before dinner. He came into his +father's room while the old man was in the midst of +dressing. +</P> + +<P> +"They've met me in everything, Dad, and now I'm +off," he announced. +</P> + +<P> +The abruptness of his announcement and the unceremonious +fashion of his visit caused his father to pause in +the act of adjusting his tie. He glanced up into the dark +eyes. He needed no added scrutiny. Ruxton's eyes +were shining with suppressed excitement. The smile in +them was confident, and the set of his jaws told of a determination +that was almost aggressive. +</P> + +<P> +"When shall we see you again, boy?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a gleam of anxiety in the deep-set eyes. +But there was no suggestion of deterring him. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrugged. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell. You see, it will depend entirely on circumstances." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +His father returned to his attack on his tie. Then he +smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"It was a master stroke having the two heads of the +Admiralty on the premises, also our Foreign Secretary. +You left nothing to chance, Ruxton." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing but the chances of the right or wrong of my +beliefs." +</P> + +<P> +The old man sighed as his tie went straight. +</P> + +<P> +"Your imagination is beyond me. I could never have +seen these things as you see them. I am anxious for +you." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't trouble about me. Be anxious if you will, but +let that anxiety be for the woman I love, and whom I +hope even after this to present to you as your daughter. +If she is safe, then—for me nothing else matters. I have +done all that is humanly possible, at least which is possible +to me. The rest is in the lap of the gods. Wish +me luck, Dad, and good-bye." +</P> + +<P> +He held out his hand. In a moment it was enveloped +in both of his father's. +</P> + +<P> +"With all my heart, lad. Good-bye. You will win +out, I'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +Then he turned again to his dressing-table and picked +up his hair-brushes. He attacked his crisply curling +white hair with almost unnecessary violence while his +eyes watched the retreating figure of his only son in the +reflection of the mirror. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Sunday dawned with a clouded, watery sky. All the +morning the threat of rain held. Then, at lunch-time, a +wind sprang out of the northeast, and the atmosphere +grew dry and crisp, and the clouds lightened. The grey +North Sea changed its hue to a lighter green, and at +long intervals whitecaps broke up the oily aspect. The +breeze had freshened by three o'clock and a chill swept +over the moorlands, and the feel and aspect of winter +settled upon the dull-tinted landscape. As evening began +to close in the breeze dropped, and with it fell the +temperature. +</P> + +<P> +Two figures paced the winding footpath at the edge +of the cliffs. Both were clad in heavy civilian ulsters, +and their coat-collars sheltered the lower portions of their +clean-shaven faces. In their shaded eyes was that far-off +gaze which is only to be found in the eyes of men of the +sea. It is an expression which must ever betray the man +who belongs to the sea the moment he approaches that +element, which is at once his friend and his bitterest foe. +</P> + +<P> +Sir Reginald Steele paused and pointed out at the already +darkening horizon. +</P> + +<P> +"What a target," he cried. "Look at her, with her +absurdly proud and vaunting four funnels. Look at the +great upstanding chest like some vain pouter-pigeon. +Man, give me an armored submarine, with a brace of +heavy guns on it, and wirelessly controlled torpedoes, +and I'd—sink her cold. I'd sink her before she got my +range. I'd sink her while she fumbled amongst her +cumbersome armaments." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed the merry laugh of a man who wishes to +probe the open wound of disagreement between two close +friends. +</P> + +<P> +"You're welcome to the submarine, Reggie. I'll take +the 'pouter' every time. I'll give you a dozen shots with +your wireless controlled as a start, and your pop-guns can +amuse themselves indefinitely. She's a handsome craft. +Town class, isn't she? She'd make you hate it in spite of +your steel-clad hide." +</P> + +<P> +Both men were smiling pleasantly as they watched the +distant cruiser steaming slowly and sedately upon the +wintry waters. The challenge had been replied to, and +neither of the men seemed inclined to carry the debate +further. Admiral Sir Reginald Steele had hurled every +argument in favor of his submarine beliefs at the head of +his friend and chief, during official hours, and they had +agreed to differ. Now, in friendly intercourse, he was +ready to add his pin-pricks, but he knew there was nothing +important to be gained. +</P> + +<P> +"The Farlows are smart men," he observed presently, +obviously following out his train of thought aloud. "The +old man is something unusual in the way of a shipmaster. +One doesn't associate these shipping princes with real +understanding of naval force. But once or twice yesterday +I thought there were things he could teach me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Joseph was intent upon the movements of the +cruiser. She had displayed no lights and the dusk was +creeping on. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it is the old man who is the genius of Dorby. +What about young Ruxton? Harborough is keen on him. +So is Lordburgh. I confess to a weakness that way myself. +That was a great stroke of his, getting the secrets of +that place in the Baltic. Apparently there's some one also +who shares your faith in—underwater." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Reginald had become absorbed in the horizon. He +produced a pair of glasses and peered out in the gathering +gloom. +</P> + +<P> +"All far-seeing people do. These Farlows for instance," +he replied. "What's that beyond the cruiser? She's low +in the water." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Joseph produced glasses. For some silent minutes +they remained scouring the sea with eyes long trained to +the work. Finally it was Sir Joseph who spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"You should recognize it," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Underwater, and—a foreigner." +</P> + +<P> +They relapsed into a long silence. The stars came out +and a light frost was settling upon the moor. The air was +brilliantly clear. Their glasses revealed the two distant +objects. +</P> + +<P> +"She's hove-to," observed Sir Reginald later on. +</P> + +<P> +"The cruiser—yes. That's a mistake." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Joseph made a sound of impatience with his tongue. +</P> + +<P> +Again a prolonged silence fell. Both men were absorbed. +The passage of time seemed of no consequence. +The cold of the night seemed to concern them not at all. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," Steele said much later, in answer to +his chief's remark. "You can't tell what's doing from +here. Nor what arrangements young Farlow has made. +Ah!" +</P> + +<P> +"Lights." Sir Joseph waited. +</P> + +<P> +"Green astern. White ahead. Red amidships. The +foreigner has shed a pinnace. It's coming ashore. It's +getting interesting. That boy seemed pretty clear. I +hope things are all right." +</P> + +<P> +The boat was racing towards the shore at a point to the +right of the two watchers. Sir Reginald was following it +closely with his night glasses. The other continued his +survey of the vessels beyond. +</P> + +<P> +Presently he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"She's steaming again—the cruiser." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." The other's glasses were raised towards the +horizon again. +</P> + +<P> +"She's covered the foreigner's lights." Sir Joseph +lowered his glasses. "What's the time?" +</P> + +<P> +His companion lowered his glasses. He glanced at his +watch. +</P> + +<P> +"Nearly half-past six," he said significantly. Then in a +moment his glasses were levelled at a point much nearer +into land. "Ah, here she comes," he said, in his quick +way. "Now the play begins. The curtain's going up. +No lights. A good many regulations are being broken +to-night. Shall we need an enquiry into it, Chief?" Sir +Reginald laughed. "Well, Lordburgh is to blame if any +trouble occurs. He forced us to lend our powerful aid in +this thing. The odds are on that boy Ruxton. I'd bet +my hopes of pension on it. He's keen and confident. +Such romance never came our way, eh? I haven't heard +before of units of the British Navy being used to secure a +man a wife." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Joseph laughed shortly. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a good deal more than a woman in this. According +to Lordburgh this trifling naval episode may secure +the person of Germany's strong man—criminally engaged. +It would be worth while. Sparling's a good man. If they +pull it off it'll be his best day's work. Hello!" +</P> + +<P> +At that moment a great white beam of light shot athwart +the sky. It moved swiftly and rigidly. It swept in a great +arc and settled on the face of the cliff away to their right. +</P> + +<P> +"Look. Three lights just below us." Sir Reginald +pointed out upon the water. "Green astern. White +ahead. Red amidships. It isn't the foreigner from outside. +It's——" +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" Sir Joseph held up a warning hand. +</P> + +<P> +The two men listened acutely. Far away, remote but +distinct, the sound of a pistol-shot reached them. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the second," said Sir Joseph. "Come along, +let's go and see what's happening." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE WEEK-END +</H4> + +<P> +Prince von Hertzwohl gazed about him. His tall +figure was bowed. He was no longer clad in the working +costume which had been his disguise for so many days in +Dorby. His lean face was shaded beneath a wide, soft-brimmed +hat which entirely concealed that wonderful +forehead which had so impressed Ruxton. But the shaven +cheeks added years to his age. Beneath his chin were +displayed those fleshy cords which do not belong to anything +up to the middle life. He certainly looked older +than ever in the foreign-designed clothes which he was now +wearing. +</P> + +<P> +The cold breath of the moor swept by him, it penetrated +the lightish overcoat he was wearing. Once or twice he +shivered as he gazed this way and that, searching the +already hazy sky-line for a sign of any movement. +</P> + +<P> +For some time he seemed in doubt. Then at last he +drew in towards the black shelter of the old mill, which +stood out in the grey light, keeping its ancient watch +over the cove below. He glanced within its shadowed +interior. It was inhospitable. But it was as he had +always known it. Everything was undisturbed. He +drew his coat about him and buttoned it up. The air +was so keen, and he had little relish for it. Presently he +sat down upon a fallen timber under the shelter of the +wall. He must wait. Nothing could be done until the +arrival he was expecting. +</P> + +<P> +It was a desolate spot, and the influence of it was not +unfelt. But the solitude was not altogether unappreciated. +If there were eyes watching they failed to make +their presence felt, and he was glad. He lit a cigar and +sought comfort in it from the bleak northern air. His +thoughtful eyes wandered in every direction his shelter +permitted. To the east, across the sea. To the south, +over the rolling moor. To the west, where the dying +light of day was melting steadily before the grey obscurity +of coming night. +</P> + +<P> +The minutes passed slowly, slowly, as they ever pass +to the anxious mind. But the dark of evening gathered +with all the rapidity of early winter. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The long journey was drawing to its close. Long +since, the great North Road had been left behind. Now +the powerful car swept along, with its monotonous purr, +over the winding coast road, which split the wide-spreading +moorland, and headed on in the teeth of the bitter +northeasterly breeze. +</P> + +<P> +The chill penetrated to the snug interior of the car. +Vita was forced to draw the heavy overcoat more closely +about her. She shivered, but it was not with the actual +cold. Her thoughts were a-riot. They were full of an +intense and painful dread. +</P> + +<P> +She had made the journey north in the company of the +man whom she knew she was now condemned to marry—condemned +beyond reprieve. The only gleam of light +which had struggled through the darkness of her despair +was that he had spared her his company in the car. He +had dismissed the driver of the car at Bath, and taken +upon himself that duty. Thus Vita had been spared an +added torture to the desperate feelings assailing her. +</P> + +<P> +She had no thought of revolt. She felt that destiny +loomed before her in overwhelming force. Escape had +no place in her thought. She had entered into a contract. +A sordid contract, she felt. A contract which had perhaps +been forced upon her, but which had been accepted +by her through an invincible desire to be permitted to +drag out the weary years of life, rather than face bravely +the harsh consequences and penalties of truth and loyalty +to the demands of honor. She admitted the dreadful +cowardice which had driven her, and a wave of loathing +for herself left her crushed under a burden of bitter contempt. +</P> + +<P> +But during the journey, in communion with her own +wretched thoughts, she had searched the future as only +vivid imagination permitted, and the picture she had discovered +was perhaps a thousandfold more dreadful than +her earlier anticipations. Panic had urged her in the +first place. But now the original panic which had driven +her into her contract had passed, leaving her only the +skeleton, which, in the first place, had been clothed in the +brilliant flesh and raiment inspired by the yearning for +life. To think of the right she had given that square, +fleshy figure sitting before her beyond the glass partition +of the car! The right to control her destiny; to be +always near her, to—caress her. And all the while another +image lay treasured in her heart, another voice was +always in her ears, another hand lay in hers, and other +lips—— It was beyond endurance—the thought. To +think that way lay madness. Her eyes grew haggard +with dry tears. She was left beyond ordinary emotion. +She could only stir restlessly, with brain heated almost to +fever by the pressure of dreadful thought. +</P> + +<P> +So the miles had been devoured by the senseless, softly +droning wheels. Merciless wheels they became. Nothing +could stop them, nothing could deter the progress towards +that maelstrom of horror in the direction of which she +was gliding. +</P> + +<P> +Then came the familiar breath of the Yorkshire moorlands. +She remembered it. She remembered every +aspect of the scene about her. It was not possible for it +to be otherwise. She writhed under the lash of memory. +Was it not here she had first looked down upon the prone +figure and upward-glancing dark eyes of Ruxton Farlow? +Was it not here she had poured out to him the vaunting +story of her desires to serve humanity? Had she not +witnessed the light of sympathy leap into his eyes here—here, +at the passionate profession she had made to him? +And now—oh, the pity of it!—the miserable, cowardly +sequel to all her protestations. +</P> + +<P> +The grey of evening filled the car, and somehow Vita +was glad of it. She felt she could hide her worthless self +beneath it. The moorland scene faded, and the great +dark gorse banks merged into one blackening world. +Then, directly ahead, the aged landmark of the skeleton +mill rose sharply out of the dusk. +</P> + +<P> +Her pulses quickened. The journey was at its end. +Her father would be there awaiting her, and she must +face those wide, understanding eyes as she told him the +story of her cowardly yielding. She shrank further into +the corner. She knew the fearless spirit of the man, and +she dreaded his contempt. The secret of her contract +with the man driving the car was still her own, but, in a +few minutes, it must be revealed to one whose contempt +would deal the final crushing blow. +</P> + +<P> +She nerved herself as the car drew up. Then, with +ashen lips and frightened eyes, she became aware of a +tall, lean figure standing out against the sky-line. +</P> + +<P> +She waited for no assistance. She flung the door +wide, and, in a moment, she was enfolded in her father's +embrace. +</P> + +<P> +But she dared not yield to the joy of reunion. She +freed herself, and began to talk. Not a moment must be +lost in telling him her story, the story of all the dread and +horror she had lived through. She knew she dared not +risk delay, or her last vestige of courage would vanish +into thin air. +</P> + +<P> +She poured out the story of the machinations, in the +toils of which they had been caught. She told him the +story of the jeopardy in which he stood; of the power +which had been transferred from Berlin to bring about +his final destruction. She told him of the death sentence +which had been passed upon her by the terrible Von +Berger, and how, in the last moment of her despair, +succor had been proffered in the last quarter from which +it could have reasonably been expected. And then came +the story of her pledge. +</P> + +<P> +To the long story the old man listened with the closest +attention. He gave no sign, he offered no interruption. +At its conclusion Vita paused, breathlessly awaiting the +verdict in the man's luminous eyes. She watched them. +She searched them, seeking that faint spark which might +hold out the smallest hope. She was living for that alone—now. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince stood for a moment, his eyes gazing past +her at the sides of the travel-stained car. Then one long +thin hand went up to his forehead, and his soft hat was +thrust back on his head. The hand pressed down upon +his brows and moved across them, as though brushing +aside some sense of weariness. His eyes shifted their +gaze towards the man standing near the car. They took +in the square, burly figure from the crown of its hat to the +soles of its feet. Then they came back to Vita, and the +smile in them suggested a final sympathetic decision +overriding the natural antagonistic feelings towards the +man whom he looked upon as his enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he—Von Salzinger?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +Vita caught her breath. It was the crisis. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, father. He drove the car." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince's eyes again sought the man. Then he +spoke, and the tone of his voice eased the woman's +tension. +</P> + +<P> +"You have done me a service, Herr von Salzinger. A +service I could hardly have looked for. It is to be paid +for, I understand, and the price is high. However, the +risks you have taken, the sacrifices you have made are +doubtless great, from your point of view. Therefore +I can only—thank you. Come. The vessel should be +lying off by this time. What will you do with the car?" +</P> + +<P> +Von Salzinger stepped forward. The night was dark, +and it was impossible to observe the expression of his face. +</P> + +<P> +"The car can remain. It is—not mine." +</P> + +<P> +The Prince inclined his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we will go down to the cove. Vita!" +</P> + +<P> +At the gentle tone of his voice the woman moved at +once to his side. Whatever his innermost thoughts and +feeling's, he had conveyed to her troubled heart the assurance +of his perfect love and sympathy. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A man stood in the steel doorway of the clumsy tower +which supported a pair of periscopes. The vessel was an +early type of submarine. It was crude in finish and severe +in fashion. Its flush deck was narrow, and a mere +rail protected its sides. +</P> + +<P> +His attention seemed divided between a group of men +in oilskins engaged in launching a motor pinnace, and +the movements of a war-craft standing off some distance +astern. +</P> + +<P> +Night was closing upon an oily sea, which lolled in +listless fashion beneath the starry sheen of a now almost +windless evening. The threatened "northeaster" which +had been developing all the afternoon had suddenly died +out under the influence of a sharp frost. There was a +certain satisfaction in the luck of the weather. This man +knew quite well what he might have been called upon to +face on the bitter northeast coast of Britain. +</P> + +<P> +The stone-grey eyes of the man were no less keen than +the bitter air. Nor were they less watchful than the +peeping stars already beginning to stud the sky. The +rest of his face was lost in the folds of a woollen scarf, +which was in turn enveloped in the high collar of his +overcoat. +</P> + +<P> +There was the sound of footsteps behind him coming +up the steel companion, and in a moment he was joined +by a man in oilskins. The latter were carelessly adjusted +about the neck, and from beneath them peeped the details +of a uniform which was foreign to the coast off which +the vessel was lying. +</P> + +<P> +The newcomer joined in the survey of the war-craft's +dim outline against the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +"She's not there by chance, Excellency," he said warningly, +in the deep guttural of the Teutonic language. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments the other made no reply. His eyes +were upon the men at work. The boat was launched, +and the engine was being started. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said at last. Then his eyes came sharply to +the other's face. "You have had to take big chances +in your time. You've got to take a greater chance now. +This is not war." +</P> + +<P> +"No, Excellency. This is peace." The man laughed +deep-throatedly. +</P> + +<P> +"That is why the warship does not matter. She will +not break the peace, and we are beyond the home-water +limit. We are free to do as we please." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet she is watching us. It interests me what +she intends. These British naval men are a different +race from those ashore. They will do as they think, in +spite of—peace." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." There was a speculative look in the stone-grey +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Finally he gave his whole attention to the men on the +deck. He seemed to have put all speculation aside. +</P> + +<P> +"Von Hertzwohl's submersible will soon be along now. +We shall see her lights. She will carry lights. She +must do so for the shore boat. You have your orders." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency. When you have left in this boat +the other will be prepared. I shall take a party and +board Hertzwohl's vessel, and make myself master of it. +Meanwhile, this vessel will lie off with lights out, standing +by in case of accidents to pick you up. If all goes +well you will return from shore and come aboard Von +Hertzwohl's vessel. Instantly she will submerge and lay +a course for Heligoland Bight. It is clear, and should be +simple." +</P> + +<P> +"It should be simple. Hertzwohl's vessel <i>must</i> go +back with us. She has the U-rays lamp on her." The +grey eyes were turned questioningly in the direction +where the war-vessel had been lying. The darkness had +become such that its outline was scarcely visible. Then +he went on. "This vessel will follow us to the Bight. +Ha!" He thrust out a pointing hand. "The lights. +Red. Green. White." He turned again, and his eyes +were hard and stern in the light of the conning-tower. +"Make no mistakes. Your orders to—the letter." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Excellency." +</P> + +<P> +Both men moved off down the gently swaying deck +towards the break in the rail where the pinnace, with its +complement of four men, was waiting. The man with +the stone-grey eyes leapt into the boat. The next moment +its crew had cast off, and its head had been swung round +shorewards in response to the race of its powerful motor. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a great beam of light shot athwart the sky. +It lowered slowly, and, a moment later, it fell upon the +submarine, on the deck of which a number of men had +replaced those which had just left. For a moment the +officer in charge of them looked up, and his eyes were +caught in the dazzle of the blinding light. Then the +light was raised and swept away landwards. It described +a great arc and fell upon the shore. A moment later it +was withdrawn. Again it settled upon the submarine. +</P> + +<P> +The officer waited for it to pass. A look of deep +anxiety began to fill his eyes. He was thinking of his +orders, and of the man who had given them. But the +light remained focussed full upon his deck, and presently +it dawned upon him that the warship was steaming, +steaming slowly and almost noiselessly towards him. A +feeling of impotence took hold of him. He thought of +his torpedo tubes, but the thought passed, thrust aside +with an impatient remembrance that it was peace and—not +war. His impotence grew. He could only stand +there helpless and stupid. +</P> + +<P> +The great vessel came on slowly, slowly. Soon its +outline became clear, even in the darkness. The silent +threat became unnerving. The officer ordered his men +to desist from their work. The vessel drew abreast. +Then she hove-to. But the terrible glare of the searchlight +remained full upon the long, narrow deck upon +which the officer stood. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes sought for a sign. But the blinding light +held him. He could see nothing. Just a shadowy, +sombre hull. The great guns were not visible to him in +the painful light. +</P> + +<P> +There was no alternative. He turned to the conning-tower, +and his men were sent below. The next moment +the engines were at work, and the vessel submerged. +Minutes later a swirl of water a quarter of a mile distant, +and a great bulk rose to the surface out of the watery +depths. The steel door of the conning-tower opened +again, and the officer looked out. The beam of light +from the war-vessel was gliding over the lolling surface +of the water. It was moving towards him slowly, as +though searching carefully. Again his vessel was caught +in its silvery shaft. Again it held. Again the great vessel +began to move towards him. +</P> + +<P> +With a bitter oath the officer turned back into the conning-tower +and slammed to the heavy steel door. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Vita and her father were standing at the water's edge. +A pace or two behind them stood Von Salzinger. None +of the three seemed inclined for speech. Von Hertzwohl +was gazing out at the narrow opening to the open sea +beyond. His thoughts were busy with the unexpected +phenomenon he beheld. +</P> + +<P> +A searchlight was playing over the water, moving at +intervals, then it would become stationary. The vessel +from which it emanated was a long way out, yet its light +hovered persistently, as though its whole purpose was +riveted upon the definite area which lay in full view from +where he stood. +</P> + +<P> +Vita, too, was gazing out to sea. But though the play +of the lights caught and held her attention, they had no +power to sway the trend of teeming thoughts which were +passing through her brain. The things she beheld meant +nothing to her. They could mean nothing. These were +her last moments on the land she loved—the land which +was the home of the man who had changed her life from +a troubled and anxious existence to a dream of bliss such +as she had believed impossible. She had sold herself at +the price of life. Life? She had gone back again to existence +a thousand times more dreadful than the worst +nightmare could have conjured. Yes, her father was +safe, her beloved father. All their plans would be the +safer for their going. She would be free to witness, in +due regularity, the progress of future seasons. She had +done her duty, and her best. But oh, what a best! +</P> + +<P> +There were moments as she stood there waiting when +she could have flung her arms out and screamed till the +echoes of the cove rang again. There were moments +when she could have flung herself upon the angular +figure she knew and felt to be standing behind her, and +impotently torn at his hated flesh. He was her master, +her future arbiter, the man to whose caresses she must +submit. +</P> + +<P> +Quite suddenly her father raised one thin, pointing hand. +</P> + +<P> +"The boat," he said. And Vita's thoughts were +swept aside for the moment, and her comprehending +gaze became fixed upon a dim object sweeping through +the jaws of the cove. The darkness of the place made +it impossible to distinguish its outline. It was a shadow, +a mere shadow against the moving lights beyond. +</P> + +<P> +Once it was past the jaws, however, the throb of its +engine beat against the rocky walls and echoed again. +It was as though half-a-dozen engines were thrashing the +water. Now, too, a headlight shone out. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Von Hertzwohl caught up the lighted lantern +at his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Ach!" he cried. "The madmen! They are heading +here—for this light. One would think they had +never made the spit before." He turned. "Quick. The +spit, or they will drive on the rocks." +</P> + +<P> +He ran along the beach, followed by Vita and Von +Salzinger. In a few moments he was standing on the +extremity of the rocky spit, waving his lantern and calling +instructions. +</P> + +<P> +"Gott in Himmel!" he cried. "Slow, slow. You will +break on sunken rocks. Are you mad? This way. +Ach! Slower, slower. So. Easy. Bring her nose +round. So. Easy. Now!" +</P> + +<P> +The old man stooped, and, with Von Salzinger, assisted +in fending off the pinnace. Vita had taken up the +lantern. She was holding it to make the most of its +feeble rays. Then of a sudden a sharp exclamation +broke from the Prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Four!" +</P> + +<P> +He had counted the men in the boat. Vita heard the +exclamation without gathering its significance. A man +leapt out of the stern of the boat, and another followed +him. The light of the lantern fell full upon the leader's +face. A cry broke from the woman, an inarticulate cry. +It brought her father to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +Then, swiftly and terribly, was enacted a scene unforgettable +to those who beheld it. The wide, fearless +eyes of the princely Pole gazed with loathing and +hate into the stone-grey eyes of the man who had +leapt first from the boat. It was only for one paralyzed +moment. Then a harsh, furious voice ejaculated +a name, and Vita's lantern clattered as it fell upon the +rocky spit, and went out as it rolled into the lapping +water. +</P> + +<P> +"Von Berger!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Von Hertzwohl's voice; and as he spoke he +stepped back from the hated proximity. Once, once +only his wide eyes swept over the various figures about +him. Then, with a lightning movement, one long arm +was flung out. There was no word spoken. There +was no mercy in either heart of the antagonists. The +penetrating crack of an automatic pistol alone awoke +the echoes. They were flung from rock to rock, and, +blending with them, came the sound of running feet. +</P> + +<P> +But long before the echoes had reached their climax +a second shot rang out—a heavier shot; and as it split +the air Von Hertzwohl fell. His knees gave under him, +and his tall figure toppled almost into the arms of the +man who had fired the shot with such deliberate, deadly +effect. To this sound was added swift movement. Vita, +standing paralyzed with terror, was seized from behind, +and the heavy breath of Von Salzinger fanned the back +of her neck. She was supported bodily, and, in an instant, +the swaying boat caught her struggling body with +brutal force, and for her all sensation abruptly terminated. +Then came Von Berger's voice in sharp command, +as the shouts of men aroused new echoes in the +black arena. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick! Take him! Now cast off!" +</P> + +<P> +The arms of men reached up and caught the inanimate +body of Von Hertzwohl. It was dropped urgently into +the bottom of the boat. Then, to the accompaniment of +scrambling feet, the boat was vigorously propelled backwards +into the ebbing tide. +</P> + +<P> +The headlight was extinguished, and the boat vanished +like a ghost into the blackness of the gaping cove. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later the racing engine pulsated with a +confusion of echoes, and a group of men stood at the +water's edge searching for the direction in which the +speeding craft was moving. It was hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +Then came a voice—the authoritative voice of a +leader. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't fire. Not a shot. You can't be certain who +you'll hit. They won't get far." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CLOSE OF THE WEEK-END +</H4> + +<P> +A sensation of dreadful pain swept through an eternity +of obscurity, impenetrable to all but a subconscious +emotion. Horror floated through a world unseen, unknown. +Terror thrilled senses dead to all reality. An +abyss yawned on every hand, a black abyss in which +stirred, all unseen, a threat so overwhelming that the +victim remained passive, defenceless; waiting, waiting +for the final crushing torture. +</P> + +<P> +The blackness changed. It gave place to a deep, +ruddy light. It was a light which inspired a sensation +of fierce burning. The scorch of it was devastating, +yet the torture went on as if the limit could never be +reached. +</P> + +<P> +The ruddy light faded to a grey twilight, through +which shot tongues of forked flame, and, with each rift +in the grey, pain shot a hundredfold more intense for +its broken continuity. A terrified shrinking resulted. +The moments of respite became a period of mental +torture greater than the reality of the stabs of blinding +light. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed that no suffering could ever equal such agony +again. It was living death. +</P> + +<P> +Again it all changed. The bodily suffering no longer +broke intermittently. Terror had given place to a grinding +physical burden of agony in which something approaching +consciousness had place. It came with a +hammering upon the straining brain, and beat its way +through the body, right down to the very depths of the +tortured soul. It was unbearable, yet its burden seemed +inevitable, and complaint seemed hushed by an irresistible +power. +</P> + +<P> +Then in the midst of all the torture a sound reached +the victim. It was the sound of a voice, of voices. +Harsh, jarring voices, carrying threat in every tone. +It was the magic touch which brought about a vague +semi-consciousness, and Vita's eyes slowly opened. +</P> + +<P> +The pain went on, burning, throbbing pain, but she +did not mind it. She was scarcely aware of it. The +voices held her, and she struggled with all her power to +grasp and hold their meaning. But the effort was beyond +her. Only the words came, and with them a growing, +unaccountable fear inspired by the violence of their +intonation. +</P> + +<P> +"Trapped like rats in a pit," she heard a voice cry out +in thick tones. +</P> + +<P> +"That door. Fool! They must come that way. We +can shoot them down as they come. Trapped? They'll +pay dearly for the trapping." +</P> + +<P> +What were they talking of? And why in such tones? +What were those other sounds she heard? Vita remained +unmoving, helpless, and without understanding. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a crash overwhelmed every other sound. It +left her poor head whirling with uncertainty. +</P> + +<P> +Then something else shivered through her every +nerve. Another sound—different. There was a clatter +and bumping, and strange, sharp explosions, such as +in a vague way she half remembered having heard somewhere +before. What was it? Each sound seemed to +bite the air, echo, then die out. Then quickly on its +heels another followed, and then another. Every explosion +gave her a stab of exquisite pain in the head, her +aching, throbbing head, in which the sufferings of her +body seemed to find a sort of dull, constant echo. +</P> + +<P> +Now came the sound of voices again. But they were +indistinct exclamations which conveyed nothing to her. +What was that tearing and crunching? A perfect pandemonium +had suddenly been let loose, in which voices +and biting explosions blended with the rush and scuttling +of many feet. A dreadful nightmare of noise disturbed +her. The hoarse cries of the voices were distressing. +Something, something—— Hark! What was that? +That voice. She knew it. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold him! Gad! He's like a tiger. Smash his +wrist! Only get that gun from him! Ah! That's it. +Now—see if he has any more weapons." +</P> + +<P> +Full consciousness had suddenly awakened. The familiar +voice had succeeded where pandemonium had +failed. Vita stirred with infinite pain. With a great effort +she moved her body. She could have wept with the +torture of it. That voice. She must see him. She must +gaze upon the face of the speaker. She must—— With +a lurch she strove to raise herself upon her elbow. For +one dreadful second an agony surpassing anything she +had ever endured crowded her brain, and swept through +her nerves to every extremity of her body. Then she +fell back, engulfed in the black abyss of complete unconsciousness. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Three men were seated in the dishevelled saloon of the +gently rocking vessel. Brilliant electric light shone down +upon the wreckage about them. At the far side of the +apartment lay the still form of a woman stretched out +upon a luxurious settee, which was built against the +ship's side. In another direction another inanimate form +was stretched out upon a lounge. But this was the lean +figure of a tall man with grey hair and bushy eyebrows. +His face was ghastly, and his eyes were staring. His +square jaw was hanging loose, and his lips were agape. +</P> + +<P> +These two figures seemed to have no interest for the +three men who sat facing each other. One of them was +seated on a chair that was fixed to the deck with its back +swung round against the table. He was sitting in a +hunched attitude of great pain. One hand was supporting +the other arm just above the wrist. His stone-grey +eyes burned with a desperate light. +</P> + +<P> +The other men were within two yards of him. One, a +youngish-looking man, in British naval uniform, was +seated on the edge of a table. With his right hand he +was grasping the butt of a revolver, whose muzzle was +lying across the fleshy part of his thigh. The other, in +civil dress, was astride of a chair. +</P> + +<P> +The man in civil dress was speaking. His voice was +stern and cold. And, by the expression of his dark eyes, +it was obvious that he was holding himself under a great +restraint. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a bad end for a man holding the great position +which Prince Frederick von Berger occupies," he +said. "I want you to understand, Prince, that it is the +end, just as surely as the sun will rise to-morrow. Do +you grasp the position? I am not here to taunt you +with it. But for your own sake I must make it clear to +you. Your fellow-conspirator, Von Salzinger, has by +this time been lowered to his last resting-place beneath +the waters. For you there will be less mercy." +</P> + +<P> +He paused, narrowly observing the fierce light shining +in the desperate eyes. Ruxton had no desire for unnecessary +cruelty, but Vita was lying injured and unconscious +just across the room, and he had no thought to +spare the author of her troubles. +</P> + +<P> +"Make no mistake, Prince," he went on again, continuing +his use of the Prussian's own tongue, and fighting +down his own deep feelings, "there will be no succor +from your countrymen. You have deliberately caused +the murder of Von Hertzwohl upon British soil, and for +that you will pay the full British penalty. That penalty, +Prince, is the rope which awaits every common murderer." +</P> + +<P> +Von Berger threw up his head in a fury of denial. The +naval man sat alert, and the barrel of his revolver moved +a shade. But the Prussian made no attempt at the violence +which was gleaming in his eyes. His wrist had been +smashed in the struggle which had taken place, and he +knew he had no chance with these men. +</P> + +<P> +"England dare not place me on trial, and condemn me," +he cried fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton raised his brows. +</P> + +<P> +"Dare not? You can put those words out of your +head, Prince. The time has gone by when international +relations could affect the administration of our courts of +justice. Your own country has taught us the absurdity +of such a policy. We have learned the necessity of +protecting our own at any cost—even at the cost of war. +You will be tried, and hanged for the murder you have +committed." +</P> + +<P> +The solemnity of Ruxton's words was not without effect. +A curious questioning incredulity crept into Von Berger's +desperate eyes. His lips parted to protest. Then they +closed again in a spasm of pain. But a moment later his +cold voice was speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no power on earth which can give you the +right to hand a royal prince over to your police," he said. +And his coldness and calmness were a triumph of the man +over physical suffering. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no power on earth which will stop me doing +so—if you land at Dorby, where we shall presently head +for." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's manner was frigidity itself. His dark eyes +looked steadily into the other's. +</P> + +<P> +Quite abruptly a hard, mirthless laugh broke the +silence. +</P> + +<P> +"If I land?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you land." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you explain?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton shrugged coldly. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there need? I am prepared to display a lenience +which is the only mercy you need hope for. You will be +given the freedom of the deck for half an hour. We are +lying awash. There is only a bare rail about it, a rail +between you and the water. After that we return at once +to Dorby—and the authority which deals with every common +felon." +</P> + +<P> +The two men sat eye to eye for a few moments. It +was a rapier-like exchange of glances. It was the Prince +who yielded. He stirred. A sweat had broken out upon +his forehead. His physical suffering was beyond words. +But he rose to his feet and stood firmly confronting his +antagonist. +</P> + +<P> +"I will accept—the freedom of the deck," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Frederick von Berger gazed out over the restless +waters. He swayed easily to the added motion of the +now stationary vessel. Twenty feet away stood the +young naval officer lounging against the steel casing of +the doorway of the conning-tower. His eyes never left +his charge. Nor could he help a faint twinge of regret. +He had been brought up in that wonderful school of the +British Navy in which physical bravery counts for so much, +and he knew that such was not lacking in the man whose +movements he was so closely following. +</P> + +<P> +The night was clear and cold. A great wealth of stars +shone down upon the phosphorescent waste of water. So +intense was their brilliancy that even the distant sky-line, +towards which Von Berger's gaze was turned, stood out +with remarkable clearness. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond that sky-line lay Germany—the country whose +curious fate it had been to breed a race of brave men and +brutes, and to mould them into the single form of a +splendid manhood. To that country the motionless figure +belonged, an epitome of those curious racial characteristics. +Birth had given him the place, and opportunity the +power. Thus, through a soulless intellect and courage, +he had been able to help in the fashioning of the monstrous +machine, as yet unbroken, which was still seeking +to plough its furrows through a world's spiritual civilization +for its own ruthless ends. +</P> + +<P> +Possibly he yearned for the cradle of his aspirations. +Possibly now, now that it lay so far away, hidden beyond +the watery limits, he felt something of the futility of the +cold striving for earthly power. If it were so his +expression gave no sign. The eyes remained the same +coldly shining windows of an empty soul. The hard +mouth was tightly shut, and the muscles of his square +jaw were tense. All he left for the shining eyes of the +night to witness were the beads of moisture upon his +broad forehead. And these were the simple outward +signs of the frailty of the human body, its vulnerability, +its narrow limitations. The spirit alone, whatever its +quality, remained invincible. +</P> + +<P> +He moved a step nearer the steel rail. He leant +against it. Then, for some terrible moments, from the +manner in which he nursed his injured member, agony +seemed to supervene and shut out every other emotion. +</P> + +<P> +The moments passed. The young naval officer shifted +his position. The strain was telling upon him. +</P> + +<P> +The man at the rail moved again. His gaze was withdrawn +from the horizon. It was turned towards the sailor. +The officer averted his gaze. He could not face the eyes +which were yet beyond his discernment. He knew their +expression without seeing it. He understood the man's +object. This was the moment he had awaited. The Teutonic +mind was silently hurling all the power of hate and +defiant contempt of which the distorted spirit was capable +at those who had forced him to his final desperate act. +</P> + +<P> +There was the faintest sound of a splash. The young +officer's eyes came back, searching for his charge. But +where Frederick von Berger had stood there only remained +the unbroken line of the rail. +</P> + +<P> +Then a voice spoke sharply behind him. It was the +voice of Ruxton Farlow conveying orders to Captain +Ludovic in the turret. +</P> + +<P> +"Dorby without delay," he said. "The pilot will pick +us up at the Northbank buoy." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +GAZING UPON A NEW WORLD +</H4> + +<P> +The room was very quiet. A wintry sunbeam glanced +in through the leaded casement and fell slanting across +the floor, lighting up the occupied four-post bed. A +uniformed nurse was occupied at a bureau which stood +in the window-place, framed in the floral chintz hangings +which seemed to suit so well the oaken panelling of the +room, and the beams with which the ceiling was so powerfully +groined. +</P> + +<P> +The doctor, a benevolent, grey-whiskered, cherub-eyed +old man, who had cared for every patient at Dorby +Towers since the Farlows came into occupation, was at +the bedside talking gently but firmly to his patient. +</P> + +<P> +"It is useless, my dear young lady," he said, with, for +him, an almost peevish complaint. "I have done all +that a man can do. I have pulled you clear of that +wretched brain-fever which threatened you. Your poor, +poor arm will soon be out of its plaster, and covered with +nothing more disfiguring than a sling, which can at all +times be made to match your costume, and yet you will +do nothing to help <i>me</i>. It is really distressing. You +should have been on that couch two weeks ago. A week +ago you should have been moving about getting your +bodily strength back. I really can't understand such +obstinacy. Eight weeks in this bed, and you will not, +simply will not, pull yourself up sufficiently to allow +your being moved. You know it's a case of that woman, +Mrs. Somebody, in one of Charles Dickens's books. I +don't remember the name. All I know is she died, or did +something equally silly, because she wouldn't make an +effort." +</P> + +<P> +Vita gazed back languidly into the fresh, wholesome +face of the smiling old man. She was so tired. She was +weary with thought. She knew that the doctor was +making a just complaint. But she knew something +more. She knew, half by instinct, the real cause of the +trouble of which he was complaining. +</P> + +<P> +She smiled up at him in a wan fashion. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not as much to blame as you think, doctor dear. +You have done, oh, so much for me that I feel I can never +be grateful enough. May I sit up?" +</P> + +<P> +The doctor summoned the nurse, and Vita was tenderly +propped up against a perfect nest of pillows. +</P> + +<P> +"That's better. Thank you ever so much. Now I can +talk, and—I want to talk." +</P> + +<P> +Vita remained silent for some moments in spite of her +expressed desire. +</P> + +<P> +The medical man watched her closely. She was a +mere shadow of what she ought to be. There was a +troubled look in her eyes. He felt, somehow he knew, +what was coming. It was a request such as he had been +forced to deny her so many times before. +</P> + +<P> +His smile died out. But Vita's eyes, when she finally +turned them on him, were bright with an emotion which +seemed at first unwarranted. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know why I can't get well?" she enquired +wistfully. "It is not obstinacy. It is not lack of effort. +It is because <i>you</i> won't let me. Doctor dear, the time +has surely gone by when I may not talk of—that night. +You see, you don't understand it—all. My father is +dead. I know that. The thought is always with me. +But that—that is not all. Everybody here is kindness, +kindness itself. Mr. Farlow—Ruxton, all of them. They +come here. But they are never allowed to stay. They +send me everything which—kindness can dictate. But, +under your orders, no one will tell me those things I +must know, and I am not permitted to say a word of that +which I must tell. Doctor dear, it is <i>you</i> who are to +blame. Oh, the worry of it all. It seems to take the +very life out of me. I must talk," she went on, with +growing excitement. "I must tell him all which he can +never learn so long as you keep me silent. Send Ruxton +to me, doctor dear, and give us leave to talk as much as +we want to, and I promise you you shall not regret it. +I—I simply must talk or—or——" +</P> + +<P> +But the growing excitement proved too much for her. +In her weak state Vita suddenly fell to weeping hysterically. +The nurse and doctor leant their energies to calming +her, and, by degrees, their efforts were rewarded. +</P> + +<P> +But the little man's face was troubled. This was what +he feared, dreaded. +</P> + +<P> +The moment Vita had calmed again he chided her as +he might chide some helpless child, but he registered a +mental resolve. Somehow Vita must obtain strength +or—— Well, he had done all he knew. He must leave +medicine and look to the psychological side. Experiment—he +hated experiment at his time of life. But there +seemed to be nothing else for it. So he reassured her +and gave her the promise she asked. +</P> + +<P> +The result was magical. The sick woman's face lit +radiantly. Her beautiful grey eyes were filled with such +a light as the little man had never seen in them before. +He wondered. He was puzzled. It was something +which he could not understand. +</P> + +<P> +He left the room, taking the nurse with him, and as he +went he shook his head and warned himself that the +nervous troubles of modern times were amazing. He +felt that he was professionally old—very old. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was it without serious misgivings that he sought +Ruxton Farlow. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +For an hour Vita endured the efforts of the nurse. +She endured them uncomplainingly. She felt like some +small child being prepared for a party. There was the +pleasant excitement of it, but, unlike the small child, +there was also a dread which all the delight could not +banish. +</P> + +<P> +Her troubles were very real, and in the long days and +nights of illness which had seriously threatened her mental +balance, and the dull bodily suffering from her crushed +arm, they had become exaggerated, as only acute suffering +can distort such things. +</P> + +<P> +With the first return to reason she had hugged to herself +the one outstanding fact that the responsibility of her +father's death lay at her door. It stood out startlingly +from every other thought in the tangle of her poor brain. +She had urged him to his death, unwittingly it is true, +but due solely to the childish credulity she had displayed. +Even now the unforgettable picture of that grey, lean +figure falling forward in response to Von Berger's merciless +gun-shot haunted her every waking moment. The +horror of it, the dreadful cruelty. And all her—her doing. +</P> + +<P> +At the bottom of it all lay her cowardice, her miserable +cowardice. Her life—her wretched life had been threatened, +and to escape death she had dragged him forth and +left him at the mercy of their enemies. To her dying day +the memory of it would haunt her. She knew it could +never be otherwise. +</P> + +<P> +But later, as slowly some strength had begun to return, +an added trouble came to her. It was the natural result +of convalescence. The legitimate selfish interest in life +inspired it. It came at the moment when Ruxton had +been permitted to pay his first brief visit. It was the +sight of him which had filled her with dismay. She had +suddenly remembered that to save her own life she had +not only dragged her father to his death, but she had +sacrificed this man's love and promised to become the +wife of the detestable Von Salzinger. From that moment +the little troubled doctor had noted the check against +which he had been fighting ever since. +</P> + +<P> +All these things were in Vita's mind now as she submitted +to the attentions of her nurse. The blending of +excitement and dread had been with her at first, but +quickly all excitement had given way to the single emotion +which grew almost to a panic, when, finally, the +nurse withdrew, leaving her ready to receive the man +she loved. +</P> + +<P> +Vita leant against her cushions waiting breathlessly. +Her courage was drawn up to an almost breaking point. +She longed to re-summon the nurse, and once even her +uninjured arm was outstretched towards the electric bell. +But she did not ring. She had asked, nay begged for +Ruxton's visit. She resolutely determined to face him +and tell him all the miserable truth. He would despise +her. He would turn from her. She closed her eyes to +escape the picture she had conjured up of the cold look +she knew his handsome dark eyes were so capable of. +But he must know—he must know. She told herself +this, and she told herself that she must accept her fate at +his hands without murmur. It was a just punishment +for her—— +</P> + +<P> +The sound of the door-catch moving startled her. Her +eager, frightened eyes turned swiftly in the direction. In +a moment Ruxton was standing in the room, his deep +eyes smiling down at her from his great height. +</P> + +<P> +"Vita! My Vita!" +</P> + +<P> +Just for one moment the woman's head swam. Her +eyes closed and it seemed that she was about to faint. +But the sensation passed, and when the beautiful grey +depths gazed out once more the man was seated on the +edge of the bed, holding her hand clasped under the +tender pressure of both his. +</P> + +<P> +"My poor little Vita! My poor darling!" +</P> + +<P> +The tones of his voice were tenderly caressing. They +were full of a deep, passionate sympathy and love. Vita +thrilled under their echo in her own soul. But there was +no return of pressure in her hand. Her eyes gazed back +into his full of yearning, but they seemed to have lost +their power of smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruxton, dear——" she began. Then she broke off +as though powerless to bring herself to tell him all that +lay ready marshalled for him to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't distress yourself, dear. Don't bother to talk. +It's enough for me to be here, with you, and know you +are getting well." +</P> + +<P> +It was his final words which spurred her courage. She +began to speak rapidly, and almost it was as if complaint +were in her tone. +</P> + +<P> +"But I am not getting well—yet. That is what Doctor +Mellish says, and that is why I must talk. Oh, Ruxton, +can't you understand? I can never get well until I have +told you—told you all that is on my mind. Dearest, +dearest, I have wronged you, oh, how I have wronged +you, and all because I am a coward, a miserable wretched +coward who dared not face the death which they had +marked out for me. It is that—that which brought about +poor father's death. It is that which made me throw +aside the love which was all the world to me, and +promise to marry the man who pretended that he was +about to save my wretched life." +</P> + +<P> +"Von Salzinger?" +</P> + +<P> +The question came with unerring instinct, but the coldness +for herself Vita had dreaded was lacking. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said, in a childlike, frightened way. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell it me. Tell it me all. I have been waiting all +these weeks to learn the truth of all that happened to you—of +all you have been made to suffer by those devils. +Tell me everything, from the moment I left you to come +up here to await your father's arrival." +</P> + +<P> +His manner was so gentle, yet so firm. His eyes still +held the warm smile with which he had greeted her. +Vita's courage stole back into her veins, and her poor, +hammering heart slackened its beatings, and her thoughts +became less chaotic. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton waited with infinite patience. Time was for +them alone just now. He had no desire to lose one +moment of it. +</P> + +<P> +Presently in a low hurried voice Vita began her story. +She made no attempt to convey to him the terror through +which she had passed. Yet it was all there. It lay under +every word she uttered. It found expression in the brilliancy +of her eyes, and the heated color which leapt to her +thin cheeks. Ruxton read it all as if he were witnessing +the whole action of the scenes she was describing. He +not only read it, but something of a sympathetic dread +swept through him, and his heart set him wondering how +his poor troubled love had managed to survive the horror +of all she must have endured. +</P> + +<P> +Vita told him of Von Berger's coming, silently, secretly +to Redwithy, and the way in which he had forced her to +embark on that journey over the wild moorlands into the +heart of Somersetshire. Then she told him of the imprisonment +in the dreadful valley. She hurried on to the +scene when Von Berger had warned her of her condemnation +to death. After that she paused, gathering her +courage for what was next to come. Her eyes gazed +yearningly into her lover's now serious face. Her courage +was ebbing fast. Then came the heartening tones of +his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell it all, dearest. You have nothing to fear. Perhaps +I can guess it." +</P> + +<P> +Instantly her courage rose, and she poured out the +story of her renunciation of his love, that she might be +permitted to live. And in her renunciation she warned +him that she had been resolved to carry it out to the +hideous completion of marriage with Von Salzinger. +</P> + +<P> +And while she leant back on her cushions pouring out +her passionate story, Ruxton's thoughts were less on her +words than on the wonder at the loyalty and honesty +which made it necessary for her to lay bare her very soul +to him now, revealing every weakness which she believed +to be hers. Its effect upon him was deep and lasting. +Blame? Where could there be blame? The thought +became the maddest thing in the world to him. His +whole soul went out to her in her suffering. All he felt +he longed to do was to place his strong arms about her +and defend her from all the world; to drive off even the +vaguest shadow of memory which might disturb her. +</P> + +<P> +But he did nothing. Her hand lay passive in his, and +he waited while she recounted the details of the night +journey from Somersetshire to the North. Then, when +she came to the final scene of her father's death, passion +surged through his veins, and he rose from his seat on +the bed and paced the limits of the room. +</P> + +<P> +"The treacherous devils!" he muttered. "The +hounds! Gad! they could not beat him, so they played +upon a woman, a defenseless woman. It was German. +But they have paid—both of them. But the old man! +The pity—the pity of it. If I could only have saved +him." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton was not addressing her, but Vita was following +his every word. Now she caught at his final sentence. +</P> + +<P> +"No one could," she said, with a deep sigh. "I led +him to that place of death, as surely as——" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, Vita! You must not say that. You are no +more responsible for his death than I am. Those devils +would have got him. If not in one way, then in another. +He knew it. He was prepared for it. He told me himself. +No, no, you did right. If there were shortcomings +they were mine. I did not see far enough. Thank God, +at least I contrived to save you from the fate they had +prepared for you." +</P> + +<P> +Vita's eyes had followed his restless movement. Now +they rested upon his flushed face and hot eyes as he returned +to his seat on the bed and took possession of her +hand again. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God for your life and safety, dearest," he +cried, raising her hand to his lips and pressing it to them +passionately. "It was the nearest thing. It turns me +cold now when I think how near. Listen and I'll tell you +my side of it all. It's not a very brainy side, dear. +There's not much in it that's particularly creditable to +any thinking man. Most of it was luck, a sort of miraculous +good fortune added to an inspiration for which I +mustn't take any credit. I'll just take up the tale where +you left it, but from the other side—the side whence you +might well have expected succor, and from which, very +nearly, there was none forthcoming." +</P> + +<P> +He paused. He leant over on the bed, supporting +himself on one arm. His dark eyes were shining as they +dwelt upon the well-loved beauty of the woman who was, +perhaps, at that moment, more than ever the centre of +his life. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell how I arrived at the certainty that you +were in the power of these devils, and were being forced +unwittingly to further their schemes. It was instinct, it +was—well, whatever you like to call it. There's no need +to worry you with the manner in which I persuaded your +father to let me watch over him in his going from these +shores. Nor does it matter the small things I prepared +for that watch. I'll just tell you what happened. +</P> + +<P> +"I owe a good deal to a small section of the Navy, including +Sir Joseph Caistor and Sir Reginald Steele, who +were both spending the week-end here. Also Commander +Sparling, and some of his men, who are in +charge of the new constructions at the yards. Captain +Ludovic I owe something to for his shrewdness and +loyalty and tolerance. These are the elements which +contributed so largely in your salvation. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, all day long on that Sunday a light cruiser was +standing off the coast. It had definite instructions. Yes, +Sir Joseph had ordered it there to help me. It was scouting +for a submarine. You see, I had made up my mind +that there would be a German submarine in the matter. +That is to say, if my fears were to prove well founded. +Sure enough one turned up late in the afternoon, and +the cruiser picked her up while she was running awash. +We got the signal that she'd found her. Then was +played a wonderful game of cat and mouse. The cruiser +never for a moment let it out of her sight. When darkness +closed she just ran up closer and played about with +a searchlight. There was no question of interfering with +or even 'speaking' her. She was outside the three miles. +Then about six o'clock there came the development. The +submarine launched a boat for shore. It was well +manned, and she drove away in the direction of the cove. +Then the cruiser settled to her work. She turned her +searchlight right on to the vessel lying awash, and never +left it. The men on the submarine could do nothing +which could not be seen from the cruiser, and, to make +matters more exasperating, the cruiser closed right in +upon her." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton paused as though reviewing and criticizing the +scene, to observe the completeness of the operation. +</P> + +<P> +"You must understand, dear, what was in my mind +to make this necessary," he went on, seeing the need +for explanation. "You see, I knew what your father's +submersible meant to Germany. They had lost the +plans of the U-rays lamp. Nor had they any models. +The only installation of the U-rays was on the submersible. +I had made up my mind that if there was +to be any interference with your father they meant +capturing his vessel too. Besides, it would be simple +from their view-point. Your father's vessel was wholly +unarmed. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. What were the intentions with a submarine +probably full of German naval men? It seemed +to me natural that while their boat went ashore, in pitch +darkness, to take off your father, the men on the submarine +would set about securing possession of the submersible +the moment it hove in sight. How right I was +you will see. However, the submarine never had a +chance. She could not escape that light. She dived +again and again to avoid it, but each time she came up +the light picked her up and held her. Had they attempted +to launch a boat the cruiser would have done +the same, and then followed it up whithersoever it went; +and, had there been an attempt to board the submersible, +our boat would have been there first. The skipper of +that submarine was out-manœuvred, beaten—peaceably, +but—beaten. Nor had he means of communicating his +trouble to those in the boat which had gone ashore." +</P> + +<P> +Now Ruxton's manner become less exultant as he went +on after a brief pause. +</P> + +<P> +"What went on at the cove you know better than +I. That was the chief weakness of my plans. I +stationed a number of the confidential Government +agents ready to lend help if it were needed. But I +had been driven to concentrating on the ultimate 'get +away.' That, to me, stood out as imperative. I had to +chance the other. Therein lay my blame for the sacrifice +of your father. The sound of shots fired told its tale, but +I still hoped." +</P> + +<P> +He drew a deep sigh of regret. His eyes were +troubled. Now he went on, without a sign of elation. +</P> + +<P> +"The crucial moment came when it was seen that the +pinnace, loaded well down, was racing towards the submersible +from the shore. It was more than ticklish. +However, things were carefully planned. They hailed +the submersible, which was lying awash. They found +only two men on the deck—your father's men, and Captain +Ludovic in the conning-tower doorway. Von Berger +led the way aboard, and Von Salzinger followed. The +former glanced at the men, and spoke to Ludovic. In +his words he justified my whole supposition. He asked +for a Lieutenant Rutter, and Ludovic, in assumed sullen +submission, told him he was below in the saloon. Von +Berger was satisfied. He only waited till the crew +was aboard, and you, lying unconscious in the arms +of one of his men, and your father's body supported +by two others, had been conveyed down below. Then +he gave Ludovic orders to head at full speed for Cuxhaven, +and, if followed, to submerge. He said that the +man Rutter would be sent up to see he played no tricks. +Then he and Von Salzinger went below, and the steel +door of the conning-tower was made fast. +</P> + +<P> +"The rest—do you need it? It was a bloody affair. +You and your dead father were taken into the saloon. +Von Berger and Von Salzinger followed. Then Von +Berger dismissed the men, who went out while he +looked round for Rutter. But in a moment he understood +what was happening. As the men left the saloon +they were set upon. They fought like demons, but were +either overpowered or shot down. Von Berger slammed +the saloon door closed, and strove to hold it. But as +well try to hold a rabbit-hutch against a tornado. They +were caught. Caught, as I heard Von Salzinger say, +like rats in a trap." +</P> + +<P> +"You—you were there—in the submersible?" +</P> + +<P> +Vita's eyes were shining with a world of emotion. +The story had caught her and swept her along with it. +A great pride was in her heart. This man had risked +all, everything for her father and herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes. But I wasn't by any means alone. Young +Sparling and twenty of his bluejackets from the yards +had been secreted aboard. But—it was deadly work. +How I escaped without a scratch I don't know. Five +of our men got wounded. Von Berger fought like a +fury. The other, Von Salzinger, went out suddenly at +the outset. I'm not sure who brought him down. +Sparling and I fired simultaneously. I hope it was +my shot that sent him—home. But Von Berger was +wonderful. It was not until we had crushed his wrist +and hand in the fighting that he was overpowered. He +was a veritable Hercules." +</P> + +<P> +Vita had listened almost breathlessly. Now her enquiry +came in a low, eager tone. +</P> + +<P> +"And Von Berger—what happened after he was overpowered?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"It was he who killed my father," Vita reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton had no alternative. +</P> + +<P> +"We had a talk—he and I. The result? He was +given an alternative. The hangman's rope here ashore, +or half an hour's freedom of the submersible's deck." +</P> + +<P> +Vita nodded. She understood. +</P> + +<P> +"And he chose?" +</P> + +<P> +"The deck. You see he was a royal prince." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +Neither seemed inclined to break the silence that followed. +Each was thinking of the scenes which must +have been enacted. Ruxton, as he had witnessed them. +Vita, as her imagination portrayed them. +</P> + +<P> +Finally it was Vita who spoke in a whisper that became +almost startling. +</P> + +<P> +"The others—the crew of the boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"They have been all sent back to Germany—via Holland. +They were all held here till the wounded had recovered. +Then they went away together." +</P> + +<P> +But Vita's eyes were wide with apprehension. +</P> + +<P> +"But the secret. The secret of it all will reach Berlin. +It will reach even to——" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely what was intended and—hoped. It has done +so. We know that. We have had the most curious and +subtle enquiries from the Berlin authorities. They dared +not openly accuse. We have replied. Our Foreign +Office formulated the reply. They have been told that a +murder was committed upon the Yorkshire coast—the +murder of a German named Von Hertzwohl. It was committed +by a rascally crew of Germans, headed by one, +Von Berger, and assisted by another, Von Salzinger. +These seem to have been the names they were known by, +though the police think they were probably aliases. Unfortunately +the gang got away in boats. However, the +leaders came to an untimely end in the pursuit by the +police. One shot himself—the one called Von Salzinger. +The other, Von Berger, who seems to have been injured, +tried to escape by going overboard from the boat in which +he was endeavoring to get away. The Foreign Office has +regretted that it can obtain no further information which +might be of use to Berlin." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is a challenge," cried Vita in an awed voice. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton's smile broadened. +</P> + +<P> +"So it was intended." He shook his head. "But it is +a challenge they dare not take up. Furthermore, it +should leave us in peace to complete the work your poor +father has so well begun." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton rose from his seat on the bed. He moved away, +across to the leaded window, from which the sunbeam had +long since passed. He gazed out across the leafless trees +of the park towards the drab of the moorland beyond. +He was not unaffected by his own story. He knew how +much more it must mean to Vita. He waited. He was +waiting for a summons which he felt would come in Vita's +own good time. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes passed and then it came. He turned +about and smiled over at the sweet grey eyes which were +so frankly appealing. There was a change, a great +change in them. All the trouble seemed to have passed +out of them. And the weary brain behind them seemed +at last to have found that rest it so seriously needed. +</P> + +<P> +"Ruxton," she murmured. "Can you—can you ever +forgive me for—what——" +</P> + +<P> +The man was at the bedside again. This time he was +not sitting. He was leaning across it, and his arms were +outstretched and thrust about her soft, warm body, where +she leant against the cushions. His face was drawn up +within a few inches of hers. His eyes were on a level +with hers. They were smiling into the deeps of grey +beauty before them. Nay, the tragedy of it, he was +laughing into them. +</P> + +<P> +"Promising to marry Von Salzinger? If I had been in +your place I shouldn't have promised. I'd have married +him right off if it were to save me from being murdered." +Then his laugh died out abruptly. "Don't think of it, +my beautiful Vita. Don't ever let the thought of it enter +your dear, dear head again. If ever a poor defenceless +woman went through an earthly hell, you did. Sweetheart, +it's my sole purpose in life now to endeavor to +place you in an earthly heaven." +</P> + +<P> +He drew her to him in a passionate embrace. And so +their lips met and lingered. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AFTER TWELVE MONTHS +</H4> + +<P> +The shock which electrified London was reminiscent of +the shocks to which it was submitted in the early days of +the war, when the "Yellow" press ran riot, and journalists +dipped deeply into their reservoirs of superlatives to +generate the current of sensation which should sell their +papers. +</P> + +<P> +It was a misty afternoon, with an almost intangible yet +saturating drizzle; a setting admirably fitting an evening +newspaper thrill. Spirits were at a sufficiently low ebb +for something of a screaming nature. Fleet Street did its +best; a best at no time to be despised. +</P> + +<P> +It came as the homeward rush began from the offices +of the great metropolis. It stared out from street corners +and the fronting of bookstalls. It looked up from the +greasy pavements. It served to hide a portion of the +rags which hung about the nether limbs of small street +urchins. It came in strident, raucous tones upon the +moisture-laden atmosphere. There was no escaping it. +That which escaped the eyes thrust itself upon defenceless +ear. And its urgent note created the necessary excitement +in minds set upon the task of making the homeward +journey with the least possible delay. +</P> + +<P> +Then, at once, the careless eye was caught and held. +"Under Water: The World Defied," cried one contents +bill. "The New Submersible Merchantman," announced +one of the more sedate journals. "The Great Problem +Solved," cryptically suggested a buff-tinted sheet. "From +Downing Street to the Deeps," smiled the more flippant +pink announcement. And so on through the whole +jargon of the press poster. There was no escape from it. +The word "submersible" seemed to fill the whole of the +wretched winter atmosphere. And, as was intended, it +caught the London fancy, and deflected purpose into the +channel it desired. +</P> + +<P> +London was startled; and when London is startled by +its press it is no niggard. Therefore the rain of coppers +which set in became perilously near a deluge. The small +boys snatched, and the old sinners with grey whiskers +and weather-stained faces swept in their harvest. The +bookstall attendants dealt out their papers in a steady, +accurate stream, and, within an hour, the whole of London's +democracy had formulated its definite opinion upon +the new adventure, in the dogmatic manner of the British +ratepayer. +</P> + +<P> +Strange and mixed were many of the opinions which +flew from lip to lip in the overcrowded homeward bound +trains and 'buses. True, there were many who read the +well-told story of the skilful journalist as they might read +a sensational tale in a sixpenny magazine. They enjoyed +it. They devoured it hungrily. Then they passed on to +the sports page, and considered the doings of their favorites +in the sporting world. But the suburban ratepayer, +the householder whose responsibilities left him no alternative +but to take himself seriously, was of a different +calibre. He possesses to the full the stolid, fault-finding +mind of the British race. He is as full of prejudice as +the egg is supposed to be full of meat. He is ready at +all times to hurl blame and anathema at the heads of +those who conspire to extract from his pocket the necessary +funds to contrive that he shall live in security and +comfort in his home. He is the victim of a splendid pessimism +for all things except his summer holiday. His +opinions come like a shot from a gun. +</P> + +<P> +He read with incredulity until he arrived at the point +where he felt righteously he could open afresh the rut of +his ever-ready disapproval. Then the full force of what +he read percolated heavily through his fog of prejudiced +incredulity, and virtuous indignation supervened. +</P> + +<P> +"What was this absurd nonsense? Who ever heard +of submersible merchantmen? What fresh folly of the +Government was coming now? The Prime Minister on +the trial trip. Why the devil didn't he stick to his job +in Downing Street? The moment these fellows got their +five thousand a year they didn't care a hang for the +country. Playing about with these toys of some crazy +inventor. It made one sick. Anyway, if the Government +were concerned in the scheme, why was it kept +secret? Why wasn't the taxpayer told of it? Who was +making the money out of it? Somebody. There was +always graft in these secret things. There was too much +of this hole-in-the-corner business—entirely too much. +Altogether too much disregard for the liberty of the subject," +etc., etc. +</P> + +<P> +But the Fleet Street chorus of "epochs" and "masterly +moves" and "strokes of statesmanship" found an abiding +echo amongst the optimists. They saw, with eyes +wide open, that which they read. There was no grumble +in them. Why should there be? That which they read +told them clearly of success. It told them that never +again would Britain's overseas commerce be placed in +jeopardy from enemy attack in time of war; that is, if +British enterprise would only rise to the opportunity afforded. +That was simple enough. Of course the ship-owners +would see their advantage. Germany—pah! +</P> + +<P> +The men who personally felt aggrieved, however, were +the professional politicians and the private Member. +These men were seriously perturbed. Here was real +limelight, and they were not in it! Horrible thought! +Their course lay clearly before them. An attack upon +inoffensive paper, by a pen, erroneously believed to be +mightier than the sword, was their only hope of making +up leeway. So those who had sufficient influence hurled +broadcast the next morning, in their favorite daily papers, +a wealth of ill-considered and valueless criticism and +opinion of something which they were splendidly incompetent +to judge. +</P> + +<P> +And the cause of all the sensation? It was so small +an incident, and yet so tremendous in its omen for the +future. Just the story of a number of eminent men, Cabinet +Ministers, naval and army men, and one or two +great ship-builders, running a blockade of warships, and +successfully shipping a cargo of pretended contraband of +war from Dundee to Gravesend. The game had been +played in deadly earnest. It was a test trip for a new +type of submersible cargo and passenger vessel, pitting +its powers against the concentrated might of a large +squadron of the British Navy. It was a test of efficiency. +The details were simple in the extreme. The laden vessel, +carrying a thousand tons of merchandise and its +burden of passengers, was lying at Dundee. Outside, +watching and waiting for its appearance on the high +seas, lay a powerful squadron of the British Navy. The +rules laid down were that the submersible should make +its way to Gravesend, and the naval squadron, under war +conditions, was to capture it, or place it in such a position +as to be sinkable, by any means in its power, at any +point upon its journey. +</P> + +<P> +The result. With all the skill and power at its command +the great surface squadron had proved its helplessness. +The submersible had slipped out of port under +cover of darkness, and from that moment, until its arrival +at Gravesend, the seas had been scoured vainly for so +much as a sight of it. +</P> + +<P> +It was a tremendous thought. It was a splendid victory +for the pacifist hope. The dead Polish inventor had +been justified beyond all question. Never had the word +"epoch," such as Fleet Street loves, been better used. +It was such a moment that those who made the secret +journey, and witnessed the capabilities of the vessel +which had been built at the Dorby yards, were flung +back from all preconceived convictions of maritime +affairs, established during the war, to imaginative speculation +upon the vista of progress now opened up. +</P> + +<P> +Not a man of them, from the Prime Minister of England +down to the junior lieutenant upon the vainly striving +fleet of war-vessels, but realized a picture of the doom of +the magnificent and costly super-Dreadnought as the +pillar of might upon which naval power must rest. Its +proud office gone, it appeared to them as little greater +than a means of defence against the landing of hostile +man power upon Britain's vulnerable shores. The proud +queens of the sea must pass from their exalted thrones to +a lesser degree in naval armaments. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was the realization without pity and regret. How +could it be otherwise in the human heart which ever worships +the actual display of might? It almost seemed as +if the world had been suddenly given over to topsy-turveydom. +</P> + +<P> +The facts, however, were irrefutable. As in the dim +past the troublous surface of the seas had been conquered +by the intrepid and skilful mariner, now at last the +devious submarine channels had been turned into an +almost equally secure highway of traffic by the inventor. +The march of progress was continuing. It was invention +triumphant. The world's sea-borne commerce was secured. +It was held safe from enemy war-craft in the +future. Therefore the doom of the proud battleship had +been sounded. +</P> + +<P> +Some day, perhaps, a new weapon would be achieved. +Some day, perhaps, even the channels of the dark waters +would be rendered insecure by the hand that had now +made them safe. For the present, however, and probably +for years to come, the sea-borne food supplies of Britain +stood in no position of jeopardy. +</P> + +<P> +It was well past midnight. The house in Smith Square +quite suddenly displayed renewed signs of life. A closed +motor had driven up, paused, and then passed on. Then +appeared many lights behind the small-paned Georgian +windows. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton Farlow had returned home with his wife after +a strenuous and exciting day; and with them was their +devoted Yorkshire father, burning with the sense of a +great triumph for his beloved son, and his almost equally +beloved daughter. +</P> + +<P> +Their journey from Gravesend earlier in the evening +had been broken that they might attend an informal +dinner-party at Downing Street. It was a function entirely +in honor of the masters of Dorby; and it had been +arranged that Ruxton's colleagues in the country's +Cabinet might tender their sincere congratulations and +thanks for the work which he, and his father, and his +wife had achieved privately in their country's cause. +</P> + +<P> +It was over; and all three were relieved and thankful. +But the note of triumph surging through their hearts was +still dominant. Scarcely a word had passed between +them in the brief run from Downing Street to Smith +Square. Their hearts were as yet too full, and the +memory of the words addressed to them by Sir Meeston +and his colleagues was still too poignant to permit of +normal conditions. Vita had leant back in the car, with +her husband's arm linked through hers, and one of his +powerful hands clasped in hers. She sat thus with thought +teeming, and a heart thrilling with an unspeakable joy, +and happiness, and triumph, all for the man at her side. +Her own share in the events through which they had +passed was entirely forgotten by her. This man at her +side filled her whole focus. He was all in all to her, as +she felt he was all in all to the cause in which they had +worked. +</P> + +<P> +It was perhaps the profoundest and proudest moment +of her life. It was a moment of perfect happiness. All +she had ever dreamed of was hers; and the hand of the +man she worshipped was even now, warm and strong, +clasped tightly in her own. Hers to keep; hers to lean +on; hers never to yield so long as their lives should last. +</P> + +<P> +In the house they passed up into the small drawing-room, +and, for a few moments, they sat there before +retiring. Slowly the spell of the day's events fell from +them. It was finally Sir Andrew who released them +from it. +</P> + +<P> +He gazed across at Vita with twinkling eyes. His +smile was full of kindly tenderness. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, perhaps, I shall have time to appreciate the fact +that at last I am the happy possessor of a beautiful +daughter as well as a headstrong son," he said. Then, +after the briefest hesitation: "Vita, my dear," he went +on, in his old-fashioned manner, while his gaze took in +the radiant beauty turned abruptly towards him, "it +seems to me that the most wonderful thing in the world +has happened to me. The long, lonely life seems to have +entirely passed. I mean the loneliness which only a man +can feel who is deprived for all time of the association of +his own womankind. Now at last I can draw deep comfort +from the reflection of Ruxton's happiness. Now, +however slight my claim, I can nevertheless <i>claim</i> something +of a woman's filial regard. The grey of life has +been tinted for me since you have chosen to make my +boy happy, and as time goes on I can see that tint develop +into the roseate hue of a happiness I somehow +never thought to feel again. Bless you, my dear, for +coming into an old man's life; and you, too, my boy," +he went on, turning to the smiling Ruxton, "for having +given me such a daughter. I feel this is the moment for +saying this. The work is done now in workmanlike +fashion, and the little triumph of it all makes me want to +tell you of this thing that I feel." +</P> + +<P> +Vita impulsively left her husband's side. She rose from +the settee and crossed over to her second father and held +out both her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"You have made it difficult for me to say a word——" +she began, smiling down upon him with her glorious +eyes. Then she seemed to become speechless. +</P> + +<P> +The oriflamme of her red-gold hair shone with a delicious +burnish under the shaded electric light. Her +flushed oval cheek glowed with a suggestion of thrilling +happiness. The old man caught and held her hands, +and, the next moment, she had bent her slimly graceful +body and impressed upon his rugged cheek a kiss of deep +affection. +</P> + +<P> +Still she remained speechless, and she turned and +glanced with dewy eyes in appeal to the great husband +looking on. +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you help me?" she demanded wistfully. +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton laughed happily. +</P> + +<P> +"Help?" he said quickly. Then he shook his head. +"No, no. You don't need any help. Just tell him what +you once told me. You remember." His eyes became +serious. "You said 'I love him almost as if he were +really my own father.' He won't need more." +</P> + +<P> +And Vita obeyed him, reciting the words almost like +some child. But she meant them, and felt them, and at +the last word her glance was full of a whimsical light as +she added of her own initiative— +</P> + +<P> +"And aren't you two dears going to smoke?" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Half an hour later the two men were sitting alone in +Ruxton's study. The smoke of their cigars hung heavily +upon the air of the room. There had come a moment of +profound silence between them. They had talked of the +happenings of that day: of the test of their new submersible: +its simple triumph, and all it meant in the cause of +humanity, of that progress towards a lasting peace among +nations which mankind was yearning to achieve. +</P> + +<P> +Each man had offered his own view-point for discussion, +and it seemed as if the last word had at length been +spoken. But they sat on in silence, and Sir Andrew +watched the reflective eyes of his idealist son. He was +speculating as to what deep thought still lay unvoiced +behind them, and he urged him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, boy? It has been a long day. Is it bed? Or +are you going to put into words that dream I see moving +behind your eyes?" +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton broke into a short, nervous laugh which died +out with a curious, sober abruptness. +</P> + +<P> +"Dreams, dreams? I wonder if they are only dreams. +If they are dreams they are surely vivid enough—painfully +vivid." He paused for an infinitesimal fraction. +"No, no, Dad, I am no visionary in the sense that +imagination runs away with me. I see many things that +every other man sees, and it is only a question of different +reading. What do you think the majority of people in +this country will do when they really understand all that +our little adventure means? They will metaphorically +fling up their hats, and deride the wretched Teuton, and +his merciless delight in the slaughter of innocent life upon +the high seas. In a few years' time, when they see our +sea-borne traffic carried by great submersibles of eight +and ten thousand tons, their confidence will be unbounded, +and they will reiterate again the old song 'Britannia +Rules the Waves,' and—they will have justice on their +side. But the questions which I ask myself, which I must +keep on asking myself, are—'Does Britannia rule the +waves? Can she continue to rule the waves?'" +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head, and gently removed the ash from +his cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"In spite of all the evidence, in spite of our wholly +promising new move for protecting our overseas traffic, in +spite of the brilliant manner in which our Navy has met, +and defeated, every ingenious method of attack by our +enemies in the past, I do not believe we can ever hope to +continue indefinitely our rule of the seas, or <i>even the safeguarding +of our overseas traffic</i>. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I know what everybody will say in answer to +such a statement," he went on, in reply to the interrogatory +in his father's eyes. "But they are wrong, a thousand +times wrong," he declared, almost passionately. "It +is no sound argument or real logic that what we have +done for the past few hundred years we can continue to +do. Our men are giants among the men of the sea. But +they are only human. The days of 'wait and see' are +over. We must not wait for trouble to arise to attempt +its counter. We must look ahead with all the experience +of the late war behind us. The reason we rule the seas +at the moment—if we do rule them—is because we are an +island country, and because our past necessities have +forced us to stride far ahead in maritime affairs of all +other nations, while they possessed no full realization of +the value of sea power. But the late war has shown us +that now, at last, every country in the world understands +to the full the necessity for wresting from any one Power +the dominance of the seas. Look back. Germany was +fighting for sea power as greatly as she was fighting for +anything else. Russia, that vast land-locked world, could +only hope for an outlet to the sea as a result of all her +sacrifice. The Balkan countries, their national aspirations, +every one of them was a harbor on the high seas. +The whole world intends to possess each its share of +the great waterways, without fear of the dominance of +any one nation. It is plain, plain as the writing on the +wall. +</P> + +<P> +"I solemnly submit that Britain's power, her domination +of the seas, cannot stand for all time. And the +reason—it is so simple, so terribly simple. Just as our +strength now lies in the seas, so does our weakness. +Every moment of our lives the threat of starvation +stares into our haunted eyes, and we, like hunted men, +search and search for a means to ward it off. Do you +see? I could weep for those who will not see. The +Germans were just not clever enough, that is all. They +saw the weakened links in our armor, and endeavored +to drive home the attack when they attempted their +submarine blockade. But their attempt lacked adequate +preparation. This is all ancient history, but it +points in the direction I would have men look. The +result of that has been to make us further consolidate +our defences. The completion of that comes in our new +submersible. But, remember, we are defending only +against known forces—not the unknown. It is the unknown +we have to fear. Every human defence can be +destroyed by human ingenuity. That is why I say that +the new principle will only serve us in itself for just the +amount of time which it takes our rivals to readjust their +focus, and mobilize their powers of offence. The day +will come when some invention will be brought to attack +underwater craft successfully. And then—what then? +In spite of all our territory, our wealth, our nominal +power we shall be driven to yield to the pangs of hunger. +It is not a dream I am showing you. It is a reality. It +is a truism which no logical mind can deny." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Andrew refrained from comment for some moments +as his son ceased speaking. But at last, as the silence +prolonged, he urged him. +</P> + +<P> +"And what is the answer to it all?" he enquired. His +eyes were serious, and his words came crisply. He had +caught something of his boy's gravity although he was +not sure how far he accepted his creed. "There must be +an answer. Every problem of State possesses its solution, +if we can only find it—in time." +</P> + +<P> +Ruxton nodded. Then he rose abruptly from his chair +and flung his cigar-end into the empty fireplace with a +forceful gesture. He began to pace the room. +</P> + +<P> +"That is the crux of the whole situation," he declared +feverishly, his dark eyes burning with an intense light. +"In time! In time! If we could only be induced to +adopt the true solution 'in time'—before we are forced +to adopt it. Oh, yes, there is a solution—a right solution. +It is so simple that one wonders it has not long +since been discussed by every man in the street. The +solution stares us in the face on every hand. It calls +aloud to us in appeal, and we turn from it. Every +country that can ever hope to last out the days of man +must be self-contained, self-supporting. In times of +stress it must be capable of existence upon its own +natural stores. Look at America's position during the +war. She could afford to hold aloof, and continue her +reign of prosperity while she snapped her fingers at +Armageddon. Why? Because she was independent of +the rest of the world both economically and strategically. +Let the whole of the rest of the world blaze. Let the +slaughter go on. She could stand alone though the conflagration +raged a century. No combination of human +forces could defeat America without exterminating her +peoples. Here are we, with territory, blocks of territory +scattered throughout the world so vast as to make America +look small in comparison. They are not tracts of +savage country, but cultivated and highly civilized States, +any one of which can be wholly self-supporting. They +are ours—peopled with our people—governed by codes +of laws similar to our own—with objects and principles +like to our own. And yet we sit here awaiting ultimate +destruction, a tiny group of islands upon the crests of the +Atlantic waters. It makes one think of the foolish bird, +who builds her nest and stocks it full of eggs, and sets it +upon the topmost twigs of a tree, waiting for the gathering +of the storm which must sweep it out of existence, +while the whole protection of the tree's full strength lies +open to her. The position is so absurd as to set one +laughing in very bitterness. I tell you the day will come +when an island home is utterly untenable for any great +nation. I am not even sure that the time has not already +come. If I had my way our empire would be +ruled from the heart of Canada, whose vast tracts of +territory are bursting with an unbroached wealth which +no country in the world can ever hope to match. There, +amidst those fertile plains, I would set up our kingdom, +and gather our limitless resources about us. There, in +the midst of that new world, I would wield me the +sceptre of the greatest Empire of all time, and within +its ramparts I would strive unceasingly for the spiritual +and mundane welfare of our people and all mankind. +No nation in the world was ever more fitted, both in +temper and in power, for the task. No peoples would +more willingly lend themselves to it. All our history +has been one long story of pacific purpose, and only has +our regrettable geographical setting forced upon us any +other course. My most ardent thought and desire is that +some day we may voluntarily remove the obstacles besetting +us, and our pacific purpose may be given the full +development it seeks. But so long as Britain nests upon +the waters of the Atlantic, so long shall we continue to +live under the burden of war. And the end?—Who can +prophesy the—end?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Men Who Wrought, by Ridgwell Cullum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEN WHO WROUGHT *** + +***** This file should be named 36836-h.htm or 36836-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/8/3/36836/ + +Produced by Andrew Sly, Al Haines and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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