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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e2e7ba --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66751 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66751) diff --git a/old/66751-0.txt b/old/66751-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 83738d5..0000000 --- a/old/66751-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11302 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Heir, by Sydney C. Grier - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Heir - -Author: Sydney C. Grier - -Illustrator: George Percy Jacomb-Hood - -Release Date: November 16, 2021 [eBook #66751] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEIR *** - - - - - THE HEIR - - BY - SYDNEY C. GRIER - - AUTHOR OF - ‘AN UNCROWNED KING,’ ‘THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES,’ - ETC. - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE PERCY JACOMB-HOOD_ - - (_First in the Balkan Series II._) - - - WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS - EDINBURGH AND LONDON - MCMVI - - - [IMAGE: images/img_000.jpg - Caption: - _Maurice, his arm gripped by one of the brigands, ... trudged silently - beside her horse._] - - - - - CONTENTS. - - I. DE JURE - II. OF THE STOCK OF THE EMPERORS - III. THE ORIENT EXPRESS - IV. A FULL STOP - V. THE JEWEL-CASE - VI. A TRAP - VII. A NIGHT’S LODGING - VIII. THE HISTORY OF A DAY - IX. ONE TOO MANY - X. THE OTHER SIDE - XI. TOO MUCH ZEAL - XII. THE DIVINE FIGURE OF THE NORTH - XIII. THE FALLING-OUT OF FAITHFUL FRIENDS - XIV. AN EMISSARY - XV. THE GIRDLE OF ISIDORA - XVI. HAGIOS ANTONIOS - XVII. UNMASKED - XVIII. “SPLENDIDE MENDAX” - XIX. ART WITH A PURPOSE - XX. BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION - XXI. “THERE’S MANY A SLIP----” - XXII. UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS - XXIII. A FUSION OF INTERESTS - XXIV. THROUGH ANOTHER MAN’S EYES - XXV. “POUR MIEUX SAUTER” - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS. - - MAURICE, HIS ARM GRIPPED BY ONE OF THE BRIGANDS, ... TRUDGED SILENTLY - BESIDE HER HORSE - - “THIS IS WHAT WILL INTEREST YOU MOST, I EXPECT,” SAID MAURICE, ... - UNROLLING A LONG PARCHMENT SCROLL AS HE SPOKE - - “TAKE YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF HER, YOU BRUTE!” GROWLED MAURICE - - “WELL, I SHALL SIT OUTSIDE AS LONG AS I CAN,” SAID EIRENE OBSTINATELY - - “WHY, THERE IS A LITTLE HOUSE AT THE VERY TOP! HOW DO THEY GET UP?” - - TOUCHED EIRENE’S HAND WITH A HIGHLY WAXED MOUSTACHE - - “I CAN’T BEAR YOU TO GO.” “BUT I MUST,” SHE MURMURED - - - - - THE HEIR. - - CHAPTER I. - DE JURE. - -“I really feel quite guilty,” said the Master of St Saviour’s -College to the distinguished foreigner whom he was escorting to the -Senate House. “Your time in Cambridge is so short that every moment -must be needed for your work.” - -“Pray do not reproach yourself, sir,” replied Professor Panagiotis, -with the deliberate precision of one who has learned English from -books. “What greater honour could be afforded me than permission to -observe the contests of your youthful heroes for the rewards of poetry -and oratory?” - -“You mustn’t expect too much,” said the Master, with some anxiety; -“though if it had been merely the usual recitation of prize exercises, -I should have left you in peace in the Library. But the subject of the -English Poem has such a close connection with that of your great -book--not, of course, that it was intentionally chosen; merely a -coincidence,” he added conscientiously--“that I felt you ought to be -present.” - -“I am entirely agreed with you,” responded the author of the famous -German work on the fall of the Eastern Empire, wondering why his host -was so determined not to let him see a compliment where none was -meant. “The subject, then, is historical?” - -“The Fall of Czarigrad,” replied the Master, “and the medal has come -to a St Saviour’s man, which has not happened for many years. I -understand that he studied your book very carefully before writing his -poem, and that is my reason for dragging you here.” - -It was in the Professor’s mind to wish that his book had not been -studied, as he sat in the Senate House and heard various agitated -young men, their faces vying sometimes with the white of the M.A. -hoods and sometimes with the Doctors’ scarlet, declaim compositions in -various languages, with all the grace and dignity to be expected from -extreme nervousness subject to the perpetual encouragement of -well-meaning friends. Latin the Professor despised, and the Cambridge -Greek, from the difference of pronunciation, he scarcely recognised as -his own language, but the English Poem roused in him a certain amount -of interest, though he felt a mighty longing to relieve the author of -the task of reciting it. The medallist was fortunate in being pale, -and not red, for Professor Panagiotis considered blushing a purely -feminine exercise, but he shared with his fellows the English -incapacity for letting himself go. In his most thrilling passages the -note of shamed self-consciousness was clearly audible, and he endured -the applause accorded him with a stolid resignation that seemed to -inquire why he could not be allowed to perform a distasteful duty in -peace. This was the more irritating to Professor Panagiotis because -the poem, whenever he could catch the words, struck him as remarkable. -The author had chosen as his theme the final day in the long struggle -of the Cross against the Crescent, when the Moslem tide overflowed at -last the grand bulwark of Christendom, and the Emperor John Theophanis -fell fighting as a common soldier in the breach. The recital was -placed in the mouth of the Emperor, and the description of the night’s -vigil, the dawn of the fatal day, the fanatic fury of the assault, the -desertion of the Christian cause by its allies, and the last desperate -fight, into which Theophanis was to hurl himself, determined to -perish, impressed the listener with a curious sense of realism. He had -lived for months and years among the records of these scenes, but he -could not have described them with the sure hand of this -undergraduate. The tale was plain and unvarnished, the telling crude -and bald, but as the fragmentary lines, unassisted by any rhetorical -graces in the reciter, reached the hearer, he felt such a thrill as -the unadorned narrative of an eyewitness might produce. The young man -must be a poet of quite unusual power, and Professor Panagiotis forgot -the manuscripts awaiting him at the Library in the determination to -cultivate his acquaintance. - -“But, my dear friend, you have a genius there!” he cried, when the -Master rejoined him at the close of the ceremony. “Who is this poet of -yours, whose name I could not hear on account of the noise of the -envious relatives of his fellow-students?” - -An irrepressible smile crossed the Master’s face, but he answered with -all gravity. “Teffany--Maurice Teffany--a third-year man. He goes down -next week, after he has taken his degree.” - -“Teffany! _Himmel und Erde_, is it possible?” cried the Professor. -“And yet I might have known. The thing is the most extraordinary -coincidence! Pardon me,” as his host looked at him in surprise, “but I -have associations with the name. I am all interest. He is the pride of -the college, this young man?” - -“Not at all,” said the Master, laughing. “In fact, it’s a curious -case. Teffany has always been rather a puzzle to me. He is not what -you would call a popular man, but he has exercised a good deal of -influence in a quiet way. I must confess I found him a little -disappointing, especially in comparison with his sister, a very clever -girl. She used to attend my lectures with other Girtham students, and -did extremely good work for me, showing a distinct capacity for -original research. Teffany worked well, but in a plodding, uninspired -sort of way. I was always irritated by the feeling that we had never -yet hit on his special line.” - -“But now--since this poem--you can have no doubt?” asked Professor -Panagiotis quickly. - -The Master shook his head. “I am still doubtful,” he said. “I asked -his tutor to find out whether he had done anything else in the -poetical line--one would expect reams of amateur verse, you know--but -there was not a scrap. He had never written verses before, and he -seems to have no wish to do it again.” - -“The young man interests me,” said the Professor. “His name alone----” -he stopped abruptly, as though he had changed his mind. “Quite -independently of his name, I mean.” - -“Ah, of course, his subject would appeal to you,” said the Master -unsuspiciously. “You would like to meet him, perhaps? I will invite -him to dine with us to-night. He has reflected honour on the college, -and I shall be glad to mark my sense of it.” - -At dinner that evening Professor Panagiotis scanned his neighbour -narrowly whenever he found an opportunity. To him, as to the Master, -the young man was a disappointment. He was extraordinarily ordinary. -Neither tall nor short, neither dark nor fair, neither foppish nor -careless, neither talkative nor silent, he seemed in no way -distinguished or distinguishable. It was only on comparing him with -the other guests that the Professor arrived at a conclusion which gave -him something of a shock. There was a strength and decision about the -jaw and chin which did not amount to obstinacy, but suggested that the -owner might be difficult to turn aside, and a steady calmness about -the eyes which bespoke an indisposition to be hurried. - -“The worst type in the world to manage!” was the Professor’s inward -groan. “I must do what I can to gain his confidence, but I foresee it -will be necessary to approach him through the brilliant sister.” - -Presently Maurice Teffany found himself addressed by the distinguished -guest, the great Greek man of letters who had made his German -university famous all over the world. His previous silence, coupled -with his keen glances, had made him appear somewhat formidable, but he -now talked pleasantly enough, and the young man became confidential on -the subject of the prize poem, which he seemed to his questioner to -regard as a huge joke. - -“It’s an utter fraud, my getting the medal,” he said. “It ought to -have gone to my sister--or perhaps to you, sir. My sister was awfully -keen on my trying for it, because there were a lot of old books about -Czarigrad which we were very fond of as children, but I hadn’t the -slightest idea of it. Then this last winter I sprained my ankle badly -at the very beginning of the vac.--only about six weeks before the -poems had to be sent in--and couldn’t get out, and she gave me no -peace. She had your book, and she translated all the most thrilling -bits and read them to me, and then--well, it got hold of me somehow, -and I seemed to know all about it. So I just wrote it down, and she -criticised it, and copied it out for me, and it got the medal! The -Master says it’s brutal and rugged and everything that a poem ought -not to be, but that there’s _vision_ in it--whatever he may mean by -that.” - -“And you agree with him?” - -“Oh, I suppose so. Anyhow, he’s sure to know the right thing to say. -You see, sir, I don’t feel that I wrote it. It just came--as if I had -been there and seen it. My sister and I always call it ‘The Finest -Story in the World’ between ourselves--but perhaps you don’t know -Kipling?” - -“I fear not, if you allude to some English writer on the subject of -reincarnation. But I am going to ask you a rude question on a point of -psychology. Is it possible that the poem was actually your sister’s -composition, but that she impressed it upon your mind, so that you -accepted and wrote it as your own?” - -Young Teffany considered the matter gravely, and then laughed. “Rather -not!” he said. “Zoe’s an awfully clever girl, and writes a good bit, -but she has never dabbled in poetry any more than me. She was just as -much surprised at the way the thing turned out as I was. And as to -making her poem pass into my mind without my knowing it--why, she -couldn’t do it. I’m as certain of that as I am of anything, though I -think a lot of her--but of course I don’t tell her so.” - -“My dear sir, you have already grasped one of the main secrets of the -management of the female sex,” said the Professor sententiously. “But -may I suggest a variation of your reincarnation theory? I am at -present engaged in following up my larger work by tracing the -dispersal of the Greeks who survived the fall of Czarigrad, and it -occurs to me that your family may be descended from one of them.” - -He scanned his companion’s face closely, as though to discover whether -the idea was new to him, but the young man only laughed. “A case of -inherited memory? I’m afraid it’s no go, sir. There’s nothing in the -least Greek about us.” - -“Four centuries of English marriages would go far to obliterate racial -traits,” was the dry reply. “Your Christian name is Greek, at any -rate.” - -“All our names are. It’s a kind of tradition in the family. My father -was Theodore, and his father and grandfather were both Constantine. -However far back you go, it’s always Basil and Gregory and so on for -the men, and Dorothea and Katharine and names of that sort for the -women.” - -“That is very curious,” with repressed eagerness. “And you are sure -there is no tradition of a Greek ancestry?” - -“None that I know of. But my sister would be a better person to ask. -She’s had flu., you know, with a touch of bronchitis, or else she’d -have been here to-day, and she said she was going to forget her -sorrows in rummaging among the family papers. There are a few at home, -and some at the lawyer’s. But really, I’m afraid there’s not much to -find out. We have only been settled at our present place for sixty or -seventy years--horribly new, you see.” - -“Then where was your family established before that?” The Professor -leaned forward anxiously. - -“Oh, somewhere in the wilds of Cornwall. My grandfather could just -remember the old place. My sister and I talk sometimes of making a -pilgrimage down there--seeking the cradle of our race, you know--but I -believe it’s only a farmhouse now.” - -“The cradle of your race!” with measureless contempt. “My dear Mr -Teffany”--the Professor modified the eagerness of his tone as his -hearer looked at him in astonishment--“I must see those papers--any -family relics you may possess. What this identification, if it is -established, may mean to me--to you--I hardly dare think. I--I had -traced the family of which I am in search as far as Penteffan on the -Cornish coast, and there all sign of them was lost. This is like new -life to me. You will not refuse your help?” - -“Of course, we shall be glad to do anything we can,” was the reply, -given without effusion. “Penteffan was the name of my -great-grandfather’s place, certainly. We have a picture of it--‘The -Seat of Constantine Teffany, Esq.’ Will you come down with me next -week, and look over the papers with my sister--if you are not afraid -of the flu.?” - -“No, no; I have paid toll to the devil,” replied the Professor -hurriedly. His hearer interpreted the somewhat startling assertion -correctly as referring to the influenza-fiend, and they proceeded to -discuss ways and means. It was settled at last that Maurice should go -home the next week, as he had intended, and obtain the papers of which -his lawyer had charge, and that the Professor, who was to receive an -honorary degree from the University, should follow as soon as -possible, when they would go through the documents together. - - * * * * * * * - -“Maurice, an awful blow!” Zoe Teffany sprang up to meet her brother as -he put his head in at the door of the library where she was at work. -“I believe our name is really Smith!” - -“That’s cheerful. What makes you think so?” - -“Why, I was tidying the top shelves of the bookcases, and I found a -lot of grandpapa’s old schoolbooks, and every one of them had ‘C. -Smith’ or ‘Constantine Smith’ inside. Then I remembered those old -letters of great-grandmamma’s--about buying this place, you know--and -when I looked at them they were all addressed to ‘Mrs Smith.’ The -address was written in the middle of one side of the paper, in the old -way--there were no envelopes--and I had not noticed it when I saw them -before.” - -“What a frightful sell for Professor Panagiotis!” chuckled Maurice. -“Shall we wire, and put the old fellow out of his misery?” - -“Oh no, no! Why, it mayn’t be true; we’ll hope it isn’t. I have been -looking at everything else I can think of, to try and be certain one -way or the other, and I can only find the name Smith just when -grandpapa was a boy. His parents were Teffany before he was born, and -we know he was Teffany when we knew him. What can it mean?” - -“Well, since he was a small boy at school when he called himself -Smith, it can hardly mean that he had done something and was in -hiding. There’s one piece of comfort for you, at any rate. But I tell -you what, I’ll ask old Lake, when I ride over to-morrow to get the -papers. He ought to know, if any one does.” - -“Oh, do; and be sure and hurry back. I shall be dying to know. I hope -there’s some romantic reason, at any rate. Smith is such a terribly -unromantic name. Couldn’t you go to-day?” - -“Scarcely, since my appointment with Lake is for to-morrow.” - -“Oh, how prosaic you are--talking of appointments, when you ought to -saddle your fleetest steed and spur him headlong over hill and dale to -discover the truth!” - -“Ah, I’m not a budding novelist, you know.” - -“No, only a full-blown tragic poet.” Zoe raised her voice as Maurice -beat a hasty retreat. The varying literary fortunes of the two -afforded endless opportunity for mutual chaff, but whereas Zoe gloried -in her abortive efforts at fiction, on the ground that they were too -good for any publisher to accept, Maurice was inclined to be ashamed -of his success. The romantic was Zoe’s province, not his, and the only -excitement he felt over her momentous discovery was due to the -possible disappointment in store for Professor Panagiotis, for whom he -had conceived a certain distrust, due to his mysterious hints and -half-revelations. There was no enthusiasm, therefore, in his tone when -he entered the library on the following afternoon. - -“Well,” he said, “our name is Teffany all right. I have interviewed -old Lake, and you may sleep in peace. There was a reason for the Smith -business, and I suppose you would call it romantic. I call it -cracked.” - -“Oh, do tell me!” cried Zoe. “Was it a feud?” - -“Nobody knows. Lake could only tell me what his father told him, and -what they guessed. His father had just gone into the office when our -great-grandmother and her little boy arrived in the neighbourhood -about seventy years ago. She had excellent bankers’ references, and -began to negotiate for the purchase of this place. She told them that -she was left sole guardian of her son, and that she had been obliged -to remove from her former part of the country on account of grave -dangers threatening his life. For safety’s sake, they would be known -for the present by the name of Smith. She was a handsome woman, and -the Lakes thought there must be some revengeful discarded lover in the -case. She bought this place and lived here unmolested, and when her -son was twenty-one, he resumed the name of Teffany, which the lawyers -heard then for the first time. At the same time, he sold Penteffan, -which had been managed by a London firm. He would have liked to go -back there, but his mother objected so vehemently that he humoured -her, especially since the old house had been allowed to fall into -decay. The Lakes could never discover anything to account for her -horror of the place, except that the people remembered two foreigners -coming and making inquiries about the family soon after she left. -That’s absolutely all they know.” - -“Oh, Maurice, how thrilling!” cried Zoe, drawing a long breath. “Do -you think the house was haunted? or--no, I am sure it was smugglers. -Perhaps she had betrayed them to the revenue officers, and they meant -to kidnap her child in revenge. I wonder if there’s anything about it -in the papers you have brought. Shall we look at them now?” - -“No, nonsense! Leave them till the Professor comes. Let’s go and see -how the new croquet-lawn is getting on.” - -The Professor arrived the next day, casting keen, curious glances -about him. The sober stateliness of the house, the old family -servants, the unobtrusive perfection of every detail indoors and out, -and the easy kindliness of the young master and mistress--all were, so -to speak, noted in his memory and labelled for reference. He remarked -also Zoe’s unconcealed eagerness for the hour when the family papers -were to be examined, and the tolerant resignation with which Maurice -awaited it. He would find the motive force in the sister, the staying -power in the brother, he assured himself again. - -“This is what will interest you most, I expect,” said Maurice, when -they had retired to the library after dinner, unrolling a long -parchment scroll as he spoke. “It is our family tree, properly drawn -out.” - -Professor Panagiotis peered at the document with a hungry look. “You -are right,” he said; “it is priceless. Your family has dwindled -strangely, Mr Teffany. I cannot tell you how many collateral branches -I have followed up, only to find that they died out, while the direct -line was in existence unknown to me.” - -“Yes, my sister and I are the sole representatives of the name, as far -as this pedigree shows,” said Maurice. - -“Exactly--so far as this pedigree shows,” agreed the guest, comparing -the document with the entries in a note-book which he had brought with -him. - -“Oh, Maurice, look!” cried Zoe. “Isn’t it funny? Do you see that the -beginning of the parchment is sealed down? There must be some secret -charge, or something of that sort, inside.” - -“Lake said that our grandfather sealed it in his presence,” returned -Maurice. “But it must have been sealed a good many times before, to -judge by all the old seals.” - -“Oh dear, I hoped it would reveal the mystery!” sighed Zoe. The -Professor looked up sharply. - -“My sister gave us a great fright two days ago,” explained Maurice. -“It appears that my grandfather and his mother adopted the name of -Smith for about fifteen years after they moved here from Penteffan.” - - [Image: images/img_012.jpg - Caption: - “_This is what will interest you most, I expect_,” _said Maurice, ... - unrolling a long parchment scroll as he spoke._] - -“Indeed?” with growing excitement. “This gives me my last link, -explains the one fact for which I could not account--the sudden and -absolute disappearance of the Teffanys from Penteffan seventy-two -years ago. I could find no record of the death of the widow of the -last proprietor and her infant son, and yet I could not succeed in -tracing them.” - -“Then you know who the foreigners were who made inquiries?” “Then you -can explain why she called herself Smith?” burst from Maurice and Zoe -simultaneously. - -“I can explain it now. The foreigners were delegates from the Greek -National Assembly, seeking a leader whose very name would rally round -him the contentious factions that disgraced the cause of liberty, each -fighting for its own hand. The widowed Mrs Teffany, herself the -daughter of an Englishman who had fallen in the cause of Greece, had -too little faith in that cause to devote her son to it, and removed -him effectually out of sight.” - -“But why should they want a little boy of five, who couldn’t even -fight?” cried Zoe. “It wasn’t as if he was a king.” - -“He would have been proclaimed king, doubtless. It was not the person, -so much as the name, that was of importance.” - -“But why the name? Is there something we don’t know? Is it here, under -these seals?” - -“Possibly.” The Professor cast a side glance at Maurice. “Mr Teffany -desires me to continue?” - -“Yes, yes!” cried Zoe, as Maurice nodded. “Tell us, quick!” - -She seized the parchment, but the Professor removed it from her hands. -“It is your brother’s right,” he said. “He is the head of the house. -You observe that the pedigree goes back to Alexius Teffany, who -settled in Cornwall in the sixteenth century. Now break the seals, -sir, if you please. You observe that Alexius was the son of John, who -was the son of Manuel, who was the son of Basil----” - -“Who was the son of John Theophanis, Roman Emperor, who died -gloriously on the walls of Czarigrad!” shrieked Zoe. “Oh, Maurice, -isn’t it splendid?” - -“That is not all,” said Professor Panagiotis. “You, Maurice Teffany, -are at this moment the rightful Emperor of the East.” - - - - - CHAPTER II. - OF THE STOCK OF THE EMPERORS. - -“Oh, Maurice!” gasped Zoe, almost voiceless in her excitement. - -“Well,” said Maurice, perhaps with greater carelessness than he felt, -“it sounds very nice, but plenty of people are the rightful something -or other, and it makes no difference to practical politics. Besides, -there’s almost certain to be some flaw.” - -“Flaw!” cried the Professor, “no flaw is possible. Here is the table -of your descent, as kept by your family, agreeing exactly with that -which I have compiled from old local histories and the registers and -monuments at Penteffan. Every member of the family in direct descent -is buried there, except one.” - -“And there the chain breaks, I suppose?” said Maurice. - -“By no means, sir. The missing Nicholas is buried in Westminster -Abbey. Doubtless he died when on a visit to London.” - -“Westminster Abbey!” breathed Zoe softly. “Think of having a relation -buried there, and not knowing it!” - -“This will interest you,” said the Professor, passing her a paper. It -was the copy of a seventeenth-century entry in a marriage register, -and she read the name of the bride aloud. - -“‘_Eugenia Theophanes, de stirpe imperatorum_.’ Oh, and that----” - -“That is what you are,” said the Professor, with a bow. - -“_Zoe Theophanes, de stirpe imperatorum_,” she murmured under her -breath. - -“Don’t be ecstatic, Zoe,” said Maurice sharply. “What difference can -it make, our knowing this? It’s quite clear that our grandfather knew -it, and it made no difference to him.” - -“Yes, he knew it,” agreed Professor Panagiotis, glancing from the -pedigree on the table to the decorations of the room, in which the -family crest, a golden eagle with its feet resting on two gates, was -unobtrusively repeated again and again. Zoe had been her grandfather’s -assistant in designing the frieze and the carvings of the high -mantelshelf, little guessing the meaning attaching to them in the old -man’s mind, or that the two gates were those of Rome and of Czarigrad. - -“He spent his life quietly here, doing his duty to his tenants,” -persisted Maurice, as though combating something that had been said. - -“He did,” responded the Professor; “but when he reached manhood, and -learned for the first time of his lofty ancestry, the present kingdom -of Morea had long been established under a German prince. In the -crisis of 1862, his countrymen, ignorant of his existence, made no -attempt to summon him to their head, and a constitutional -reticence--resembling, shall I say, that of his grandson?--withheld -him from putting himself forward, so that the crown passed without -opposition to the present Cimbrian ruler.” - -“I presume you are not suggesting that I should deprive King William -of Morea of his throne?” asked Maurice, with an angry laugh. - -“No,” said the Professor emphatically. “The Morean kingdom, grievously -as it has disappointed the hopes fixed upon it, may be disregarded -until the day comes for it to take its place among the federal States -of the revived Empire. It is Unredeemed Greece which claims your -attention--the only portion of Europe still groaning under the Roumi -yoke.” - -“I see; you are an Emathian agitator,” was the chilling answer. - -“I am and I am not,” replied the Professor. “I am an Emathian Greek, -cherishing warm hopes of the deliverance of my country; but I have -nothing in common with those bands of miscreants which, financed and -directed by interested committees in Thracia and Dardania, have -brought the name of Emathia into discredit throughout Europe by their -wholesale assassinations. I hold them in the utmost detestation. Even -the Roumis are less to be feared.” - -“No connection with any one else in the same line of business,” -murmured Maurice. “Surely,” he observed aloud, “you would do better if -you could unite into one body all who had the same object in view? -Then you could moderate the Balkan passion for assassination, and they -would bring you a welcome accession of numbers and money.” - -Professor Panagiotis laughed bitterly. “Your words prove that you -share the usual English ignorance of the state of affairs in Emathia,” -he said. “To the schismatic Thracians and Dardanians, an Orthodox -Christian is equally hateful with a Roumi, and the same treatment is -meted out to him.” - -“A pleasant prospect for the future!” said Maurice. The Professor -turned upon him almost savagely. - -“Joke, jest, mock, Mr Teffany--anything to drive away from your mind -the conviction that you are called upon to espouse the cause of your -country, your subjects! This is the difference between your case and -your grandfather’s--that the crisis which had not arisen in his day -now confronts you. We Emathian Greeks are faced by an organised -conspiracy to despoil us, slay us, make renegades of us--in fact, to -wipe us out, as you would say, from our own country.” - -“But how is it? who is doing it?” cried Zoe. - -“The schismatics, with Scythia working behind them,” was the reply. -“By immemorial right and tradition Emathia is a Greek country, but -agitators are being sent among the people--ours predominantly by race, -converted, shepherded, educated by us--to persuade them by bribes and -threats to declare themselves Thracians, Dardanians, even -Dacians--anything that may give colour to the fiction of Slav descent, -and consequently alienate them from us.” - -“But which are they really? Or are they so mixed that they may be -anything?” - -“The mixture of races and languages is extraordinary,” conceded the -Professor unwillingly. “But in the incredible confusion that exists, -we Greeks alone present a clear issue. Until recently, every Christian -in the Roumi dominions was styled a Greek without question, and if our -people are not tampered with, we can continue to supply them with -education and religious ministrations, and confine their agitation for -release from Roum within legal limits. But this unites against us all -the aspiring nationalities--as they call themselves--that covet -Emathian territory, and the result is that our churches are -desecrated, and whole families massacred for the sole crime of -fidelity to Orthodoxy. I dare not recount in the presence of your -sister the fate that has befallen young Greek schoolmistresses, living -unprotected in the villages of the parents of their pupils.” - -“Why send unprotected girls to run such risks?” - -“The girls accepted them of their own free will,” returned the -Professor smartly. “They placed the Greek cause--the cause of their -race--above life itself.” - -“What do you want me to do?” demanded Maurice. - -“Your countrymen in Emathia need a rallying-point, a hope. Inevitably -many of them succumb, less to the temptations held out than to the -reign of terror that surrounds them, and declare themselves Thracians -or Dardanians. A Thracian or Dardanian priest takes charge of them, a -school follows, and the next generation will actually be Thracians or -Dardanians by education. But let it be whispered among them secretly -that a deliverer is at hand, that the descendant of their ancient -rulers is waiting to place himself at their head, and they will hold -out. At the same time, the minds of the wealthy Greeks in the cities, -in Czarigrad itself, will also be prepared, and when the outrages of -the revolutionary committees have stirred Europe from its lethargy, we -shall appeal against them. The impossibility of discovering a suitable -ruler for Emathia, who would also be acceptable to its inhabitants, -has been the great difficulty of the past, but when a man appears who -has actually the right to rule, and yet is willing to stand as the -nominee of the Powers, as Vali, Commissioner, Prince--what you -will--they must accept the solution with relief, from pure weariness -of the subject. It has been the case already in Minoa. Once you were -established, the Roumis could not long hold Czarigrad. For four -centuries they have occupied European soil, though only as birds of -passage. They will leave no monuments, their very houses are temporary -lodging-places. They have always kept one eye on Asia, and when the -moment comes they will return thither--perhaps without striking a -blow. You will have delivered Europe from its most shameful stain.” - -“Oh, Maurice, you will do it?” entreated Zoe. - -“You don’t understand,” said Maurice harshly. “The Professor is -talking of success, but what about failure? And this is not the kind -of thing that can be lightly begun, and laid down if it seems to be -going to fail. If we once take it up, we can never drop it.” - -Zoe would have remonstrated, but the Professor stopped her. - -“Your brother is right, Miss Teffany,” he said, “and I rejoice at the -spirit in which he approaches the matter. That he should perceive so -clearly that the contest can end only with his life, and yet -contemplate entering upon it, gives me the most vivid hope for the -future. But as I have been instrumental in placing this choice before -him, may I be permitted to make a suggestion? Do not decide at once, -sir. Pay a visit to Emathia, and do me the honour of being my guest at -my villa near Therma. My house in the city itself is untenanted during -the summer, but in the hills you and your sister will find the climate -pleasant and salubrious. My wife, a most estimable woman, with the -heart of a cook and the form of the Niederwald Germania, will rejoice -to display for your benefit the resources of her skill.” - -“But if you are constantly exposed to these revolutionary raids, a -country house can scarcely be safe for ladies,” said Maurice, -frowning. - -“There is a Roumi garrison not far off, and I am on good terms with -the officers. You must understand that, before quitting my -professorial chair at Benna, I had become heir to the very -considerable possessions of a relative. All that I own is consecrated -to the Greek cause, and a portion of it smoothes my way with the Roumi -authorities, and thus enables me to maintain communication with the -Greeks scattered throughout Emathia. The Committees accuse us, of -course, of being traitors to the Christian faith, but can they wonder -that we should prefer the Roumis to such Christians as they are? But -come and visit me at Kallimeri, and you shall see the state of things -for yourself. You shall meet the leaders of the Greek party, and you -shall have every opportunity I can contrive to become acquainted with -the methods of the Slav propagandists. You are committed to nothing -unless you choose.” - -“I will think about it, and give you an answer to-morrow.” - -“Oh, Maurice, to-night, to-night!” entreated Zoe. “Think of the copy I -could get! I shan’t sleep a wink.” - -“To-morrow,” replied Maurice inexorably, and Zoe went to bed murmuring -“_Zoe Theophanes, de stirpe imperatorum_,” with loving iteration. - -“You mustn’t think that Maurice is slack or cold-hearted,” she said to -the Professor, meeting him in the garden the next morning. “He won’t -be hurried into anything, and he never lets any one make up his mind -for him, but when once he sees that a thing is right, he holds on to -it like grim death.” - -“Precisely my own reading of your brother’s character,” agreed the -Professor. “Shall I confess that I was at first a little disappointed -at not finding in Mr Teffany that enthusiasm for our persecuted -compatriots which is so manifest in his sister? But I perceived -quickly the tenacity of his purpose--a quality which it is even more -important to enlist on our side.” - -“Yes,” said Zoe warmly, “if he once decides to join you, you will -never be disappointed in him. He is so thoroughly dependable. Of -course, I never let him know what I think of him,” she added -inconsequently--“it wouldn’t be good for him--but he is splendid. Very -few men would have gone to college, as he did, at a good deal over the -usual age, after practically managing the estate for my grandfather -for years. But he felt it was the right thing to do, and as soon as he -was free he did it.” - -“But surely you did the same?” - -“Yes, I went up to Girtham at the same time. But a girl is always -thankful to get an education, you know, just as a boy is always -thankful to escape it. So you won’t hurry Maurice, will you, or try to -influence his judgment?” - -“My lips are sealed, unless Mr Teffany himself addresses me on the -subject. But I am infinitely indebted to Miss Teffany for her -warning.” - -The Professor’s thanks gave Zoe an uncomfortable feeling of disloyalty -to Maurice, and, in flat contradiction of the advice she had just -given, she attacked her brother on the momentous subject when she saw -him next. - -“Oh, Maurice, you will do it, won’t you? It is so splendid to think of -your driving the Roumis from Czarigrad, and establishing peace in -Emathia.” - -“The question at present before the House is that of our summer trip,” -was the discouraging reply. - -“But that shows you are inclined to take up the matter, doesn’t it? If -it doesn’t, why hesitate about going to Therma?” - -“Because I can’t bring myself to trust the Professor absolutely. I -should object to be entirely in his hands.” - -“I know; I saw you were not quite satisfied. But why?” - -“Did you like the way he spoke of his wife? I should have thought that -would have rubbed you the wrong way at once.” - -“Why, Maurice, it was a whole life’s tragedy compressed into two -lines! I thought how artistically he did it, revealing the state of -affairs without unduly obtruding his sorrows upon us. I do adore a -light touch.” - -“Oh, don’t talk shop! Well, then, didn’t it strike you how determined -he was that we should see everything in Emathia from one side--his -side, of course? It isn’t reasonable that the Greek Emathians should -possess all the virtues and the other fellows all the vices. I want to -know what the Thracians and Dardanians have to say for themselves.” - -“Well, perhaps you will be able to manage that.” - -“Not if I am exhibited from the very beginning as the private property -of Professor Panagiotis. The man may be perfectly straight, but it’s -unlikely, to say the least, that he doesn’t expect to reap a full -equivalent for any services he may render.” - -“Oh, you think he would want to be Premier or something?” - -“Something a good deal more, I should say. Keeper of my conscience, -power behind the throne, and that sort of thing. And you see, he has -the game in his hands. I have nothing but my name, he has the sinews -of war, the local knowledge, the political organisation, and he thinks -that corners me. ‘Such cunning they who dwell on high Have given unto -the Greek.’ No, I haven’t decided, Zoe. I’m thinking it out, and if I -can see a way of going to Therma without delivering myself over body -and soul to Panagiotis, you shall have your trip. I know that ‘copy’ -is more important than anything in heaven or earth.” - -Somewhat abashed, Zoe retired, and if she said little, thought the -more until, after dinner, Maurice again suggested a move into the -library. She waited in breathless suspense. - -“My sister and I have been talking over your kind invitation, sir,” he -said, rather formally, “and if you can assure us on one or two points, -we shall accept it with pleasure. It is understood that we come purely -as your private guests, and that we are at liberty to cultivate the -society of the opposite party, as well as of your own friends, as far -as opportunity offers?” - -“You shall enjoy every opportunity that I can give you,” returned the -Professor heartily. “I will not pretend that Committee leaders are -often to be found near Kallimeri, for the Roumi garrison close at hand -is too strong, but their dupes, the peasants, you will be able to -question. And as for your first condition, I shall surprise you by -asking for a greater degree of privacy than you expect. I am going to -request that you will conceal your too-significant surname under an -alias.” - -“I don’t see the necessity,” said Maurice stiffly. - -“Without this precaution, I cannot guarantee your safety. Consider, my -dear sir; the difference between Theophanis and Teffany is not so -great but that their identity may occur to a watchful enemy--or to -many at once. Then you and your sister are at once set up as a target -for the efforts of the many whose interest it is to have you removed.” - -“Then there are other claimants?” asked Maurice, conscious that Zoe -had turned a little pale. - -“Who is not a claimant? The King of Thracia would like to add Emathia -to his dominions, but we need not fear him since he has got rid of his -English Prime Minister. That firebrand, the Princess Dowager of -Dardania, who filched from us the province of Rhodope a few years ago, -intended to merge her son’s petty principality in a State comprising -the whole of Emathia. She has now quarrelled with him, but she -continues her intrigues on behalf of her younger son, an officer in -the Scythian army. I need not remind you of the desires of Scythia, -Pannonia, and Morea, and you have always to consider the revolutionary -committees, many of whose members are fanatical republicans. No, Mr -Teffany, I cannot accept the responsibility of your visit unless you -will consent to pass by a less distinctive name.” - -“Very well,” said Maurice reluctantly, this sudden turning of the -tables upon him serving, perhaps, to stimulate his unfixed resolution. - -“Then we will be Smiths, of course,” said Zoe joyfully. “We have a -hereditary right to the name, and it is splendid for an alias, because -no one will think it is one.” - -“Moreover,” proceeded the Professor, “you must remember that you are -not altogether unprovided with relations, outside the limits of that -pedigree there. For instance, your ancestor Alexius Theophanis, the -first of the name to settle in England, came to Cornwall from Italy, -where many of the Greek families preserved their nationality and faith -for more than a century. He left there a sister, Eudoxia, who married -Romanos Christodorides, and became the ancestress of the powerful -family of Christodoridi, Despots of the island of Strio. Her -descendants would not succeed until after those of her brother, of -course.” - -“And they would naturally not be sorry to see the brother’s -descendants wiped out, you mean?” suggested Maurice. - -“Hardly that. Prince Christodoridi would probably prefer to base his -claim on the invalidity of the marriage of Alexius Theophanis with a -foreigner and a member of another church, contrary to the law of the -Imperial house.” - -“If that’s true, he holds a pretty strong card,” said Maurice. - -“The law was disregarded several times,” said Zoe quickly. “Gibbon -says so.” - -The Professor regarded her approvingly. “Quite so. But as we do not -wish to incite the Christodoridis to take action, we will not bring -your existence to their ears before it is necessary. In any case, -Prince Christodoridi’s claims are unimportant. The Emperor John, your -heroic ancestor, left another son and two daughters besides your -progenitor Basil. Anna, the eldest daughter, married Boris, Grand -Prince of Scythia, and carried the blood of the Cæsars into the -Scythian Imperial house. Helena, the younger, married into the Dacian -family of Gratianco, from which is descended the mother of Prince -Timoleon Malasorte, the Neustrian Imperial claimant. But these claims -through females are merely curious. The only person whose right at all -approaches yours is the descendant of Leo, second son of John -Theophanis. About forty years ago the officiousness of Scythian agents -ferreted out in Dacia an obscure landed proprietor directly descended -from Leo. He was invited to Pavelsburg, decorated, given the title of -Royal Highness, with estates and a pension to support it, and -complimented with the hope of being restored to his ancestor’s throne. -Of course there was no thought of fulfilling the promises made him; -the only intention was to keep him under surveillance. He wore out his -life in fruitless attempts to get his cause adopted, and when I -managed to approach him, as I have now approached you, he had not the -energy to take the steps to which my advice and the detestation he had -conceived for Scythia would have urged him. He left only a daughter, -and it was this disappointment which sent me to England to make one -more attempt to trace the descendants of Basil. A male heir in the -male line is what we want. The work before us is not for women.” - -“This man was a Theophanis, then?” asked Maurice. - -“Prince Nicolai Andréivitch Féofan--so they call it in Scythia. It -seems that his family had preserved the memory of their Imperial -descent through the centuries, though fear of the Roumis kept them -from disclosing it. When he was summoned to Pavelsburg, he thought it -only an ante-room to Czarigrad, and when he found himself deceived, he -wished to retire to Dacia again, but this was not permitted. At his -death, he was little better than a State prisoner, and he left his -daughter in the same position. No doubt a marriage will be arranged -for her with one of the less important Grand Dukes, that her claim -also may be safely vested in the Imperial family.” - -“Poor thing!” said Zoe. Now that Maurice’s claim was incontestably -established to be the strongest, she felt a curious pity for the girl -who must believe herself to be what Maurice actually was, the rightful -inheritor of the glories of the Empire of the East. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - THE ORIENT EXPRESS. - -Not more than three weeks later, Maurice and Zoe stood on the -platform of the Gare de l’Est, about to enter upon the second stage of -their journey eastwards. Professor Panagiotis had urged that they -should start as soon as possible, before the increasing heat should -make railway travelling disagreeable, but he scouted Zoe’s suggestion -that they should go when he did. Their visiting him at Kallimeri would -attract quite sufficient attention, he said, and it was most important -that no idea of their being connected in any way with his political -schemes should get abroad. He had made the arrangements for their -journey, procuring them passports as Maurice and Zoe Smith, and, at -his suggestion, Maurice had requested his bankers to honour cheques -bearing their signatures in these names. It was understood among their -friends that Zoe had persuaded Maurice to take her to Eastern Europe -that she might lay the scene of a novel there, and she gave colour to -the opinion by the number of note-books of different sorts and sizes -which made her luggage heavy, if not bulky. These were destined to -cause endless trouble at the several frontiers, for the official mind, -unable to understand why so many blank volumes should be needed, -conceived the idea that they contained Anarchist literature written in -invisible ink, and insisted on subjecting them to severe tests. But -this was still in the future, and Zoe was rejoicing in the imminent -prospect of romance, to be not only written but lived. During the few -hours they spent in London, she had dragged Maurice to Westminster -Abbey, that they might visit the obscure grave of “Mr Nicholas -Thephany.” Maurice refused sternly to allow her to take a wreath for -it, but she succeeded, behind his back, in dropping upon the stone the -handful of carnations which had been tucked into her belt. -Unfortunately, they were carefully gathered up and returned to her by -a polite verger, which spoilt the significance of the act, and exposed -her to Maurice’s sarcasms. But nothing could detract from the joy of -having an ancestor buried in the Abbey, or of tracing one’s lineage -back to the Cæsars. - -At the Paris station Zoe’s eyes met Maurice’s, in a kind of -half-ashamed smile, across the pile of luggage conspicuously labelled -“Smith,” while he was directing the porter, but before she had time to -make any remark a uniformed attendant approached. - -“The other ladies of Monsieur’s party are here,” he said, and they -followed him mechanically, too much astonished to protest. He led the -way to a compartment intended for four, in which two ladies were -already seated, one elderly, with an almost aggressive air of high -breeding, the other a girl rather younger than Zoe, in a smart -travelling-gown, which had not come from the hands of any English -tailor. Zoe, surveying it from the satisfactory standpoint of her own -workmanlike coat and skirt, remarked mentally that it simply shrieked -“Vindobona!” The ladies’ luggage, which occupied the other two seats, -was labelled “Smith.” With a wave of his hand the attendant motioned -Maurice and Zoe to enter, and departed. Zoe imagined that he received -an approving glance from the younger lady, who sprang up and began to -move her possessions. - -“Oh, we are to be fellow-passengers, then?” she cried pleasantly, -speaking with a slight foreign accent. “That is excessively agreeable. -Pray come in.” - -“There must be some mistake----” began Maurice. - -“A mistake? But let us convert it into an advantage! We shall be -delighted to enjoy your society.” - -“Edith! Heart’s dearest!” cried the other lady, speaking English with -an obvious effort, “you outrage the proprieties, you affront Monsieur -and Mademoiselle. Recall the position, I beg of you.” - -“It does not seem to me that Monsieur and Mademoiselle are in the -least affronted,” said the girl readily, but with a heightened colour. -“Is it not natural for us to travel together--as compatriots, and -doubtless distant relations?” with a little bow which had a suspicion -of mockery in its politeness. - -“You are very kind----” said Zoe stiffly, but the elderly lady -interrupted her. - -“Did I not tell you so, Emily?” Zoe intercepted an angry glance of -warning from the girl. “The young lady is scandalised--shocked--at -your behaviour. Pray do not persist.” - -“We are very much obliged,” said Zoe firmly, “but we have chosen our -seats elsewhere, and our things are waiting for us.” - -“But you could have them brought here,” suggested the irrepressible -Miss Smith. - -“Thank you, but we are going to have dinner as soon as the train -starts.” - -“Ah, we have dined already, but after this evening we might share a -table. Why are you so little kind?” the girl’s voice followed Zoe -pleadingly as she closed the discussion by turning away. She had an -odd feeling of self-reproach, though she had only acted in the most -prudent and proper way, and Maurice offered her no comfort. He could -not bring himself to say that the unconventional invitation ought to -have been accepted, but it was evident he thought she might have -managed to decline it without hurting Miss Smith’s feelings. It was -not until they were half-way through dinner that the sense of -constraint produced by the incident wore off, and Zoe felt inclined to -talk freely. - -“I feel so delightfully thrilled!” she said, leaning back luxuriously. -“My heart always leaps up when I see the words ‘Orient Express’--just -as the sight of a cabin-trunk with a P. & O. label makes me think of -the Black Hole and the Mutiny and all sorts of interesting things--and -now to be actually on board! Have you found out yet which is the -compartment always reserved for an emissary of the British -Government?” - -“Patience, patience!” entreated Maurice. “Give a man a little time.” - -“Well, I have spotted the man--the emissary I mean,” said Zoe -triumphantly. “He has J. G. W. on his bag, and he is a soldier and has -been in India, and he has the most startlingly blue eyes I ever saw.” - -“Now, why startling?” asked Maurice tolerantly. - -“Why, with that brown face and fairly dark hair you expect dark eyes, -and it gives you quite a shock when he looks up and you see how blue -they are.” - -“I expect the startling man with the blue eyes got a shock when he -looked up and found you staring at him. I know the fellow you mean, -but when you managed to find out the details of his personal history -beats me.” - -“Purely inference, my dear boy. Any one could see he was a soldier, -and he has the Indian look about the eyebrows.” - -“My good girl, Sherlock Holmes was nothing to you.” - -“Thanks, so much! I believe he is a King’s messenger.” - -“Inference again, I suppose?” - -“Well, he seems to have something on his mind. I can’t quite decide -whether he’s in charge of something very precious, or whether he has -lived so much among enemies that he’s got into the habit of being -always on the alert for an attack.” - -“It’s just as well you are a little modest, for I’m pretty certain -that a King’s messenger wears a badge of some sort, and lugs a -despatch-box about with him.” - -“Oh, Maurice, you are dense! Of course he is on very special service, -and has been warned not to exhibit anything that would reveal his -identity.” - -“And he is so clever in concealing it that he lets himself be spotted -by the first girl he runs across who’s been reading detective stories! -Tell you what, I’ll make up to him and break his self-betrayal to him -gently. He really ought to know.” - -“Oh no, don’t ask him outright what he is! It’s so much more -interesting to think of him as a King’s messenger than as somebody’s -nephew on his way to spend part of his leave at Czarigrad. He doesn’t -look important enough for a military attaché.” - -“Look here, Zoe, you really must curb your unbridled imagination. -You’ll have the whole train peopled with mysterious personalities in -no time. By the bye,” with elaborate carelessness, “what do you make -of our namesakes?” - -“Mrs Smith may possibly have married an Englishman,” meditatively, -“but her name is the only English thing about her. As for the girl, -her name is no more Smith than----” - -“Ours is!” cried Maurice. “The plot thickens. Go on.” - -“I believe she is a Scythian spy,” said Zoe calmly. - -“Oh, draw it mild! That girl? I say, this fitting people with -imaginary characters is all very well, but you have no right---- Do -spies generally go about chaperoned by elderly aunts?” - -“If it is her aunt. Why, Maurice, don’t you see? She has designs upon -the document which the King’s messenger is in charge of, of course, -and even the very youngest and greenest of King’s messengers would be -suspicious of a fascinating unchaperoned young lady by this time.” - -“Well, I should have said if she had designs on any one, it was on -you.” - -“Oh, that’s only a blind. No; I see it! She isn’t sure about the -King’s messenger. He has effaced himself so carefully that she is -wavering between you and him. My presence may be intended to divert -suspicion from you, as the aunt’s is from her, and she will try to -attack you by getting round me. Then in the night I shall catch her, -with a dark lantern, ransacking my dressing-bag, because she will -think I have the document concealed in it. There, Maurice!” - -“If you must make up these idiotic things, you might as well try to -put just a touch of probability into them.” - -“Probability! Why, it’s all but certainty. Of course, she’s not a -professional spy. She is some one of very high rank who has got -herself into the power of the Scythian Government, either by gambling -or by being mixed up in political movements. That explains why, with -all her anxiety for our acquaintance, she was determined to keep me in -my place. Don’t you know how gratified a City lady feels when she has -been presented to Royalty at a bazaar? She tells all her friends how -affable the dear Princess was, but that no one would dream of taking a -liberty with her. I don’t in the least want to take liberties with -Miss Edith Emily Smith, but she is afraid I might, and so she adopts -this superior tone. Oh, Maurice, if she only knew! Isn’t it perfectly -lovely to think of?” - -“The waiter has been watching despairingly for your plate for some -time,” said Maurice. “When you have quite finished, I shall be glad to -go and get a smoke.” - -“And you are to be sure and make friends with the King’s messenger, -mind,” said Zoe, hastily finishing her dessert; but Maurice replied -darkly, as he turned towards the smoking-car, that he would not -promise. - -Returning to her own compartment, not without a secret intention of -glancing in at Mrs and Miss Smith as she passed, Zoe had a narrow -escape of falling headlong over a travelling-bag which the younger -lady, with reckless disregard for the safety of the public, was -thrusting out into the corridor. The offender was profuse in her -apologies. - -“Oh, how careless I am!” she cried. “You might have hurt yourself -seriously. I should never have forgiven myself if my negligence had -injured you, of all people.” - -“Your malignity, rather, for it’s quite clear you did it on purpose,” -was Zoe’s mental comment. “Why am I so much more precious than all the -other people on board?” she asked. - -“Oh, because----” with arch hesitation--“because of that mistake about -our names, you know, and because you and I are the only young girls in -the train. Certainly we ought to help one another.” - -“I should say you needed about as little help as any person I know. -And you needn’t try to flirt with _me_!” thought the unbelieving Zoe. -“How could I help you?” she inquired aloud. - -“Oh, come and talk to me a little. My aunt is always sleeping. I feel -idle. All the people in the train have some acquaintance, some -occupation, except ourselves”--she indicated the slumbering Mrs Smith -and herself. “Even you are doubtless travelling for the sake of the -business of your respectable brother? Oh!” as she caught the shadow of -a smile on Zoe’s face, “is that bad English? Now you see what help you -can give me in teaching me to speak my own language.” - -“Oh, we have no business to see to; we are only out on a spree--if you -know that word?” said Zoe wickedly. “My brother has just done with -college, and we felt he deserved a holiday. If we have any business, -it’s mine--looking for local colour. You know what that is--the stuff -which you have to put into a book if you’re writing it, but which you -always skip in reading it? Everybody that knows about my writing is -always saying, ‘Oh, you must travel. It will enlarge your mind so -much, and think of the local colour you will gain!’ I have note-books -crammed full of local colour, only waiting for the stories which are -to bring it in, and the worst of it is that when I do write anything, -I am always so frightfully interested in the people that the local -colour gets crowded out.” - -Miss Smith looked somewhat bewildered by this fragment of literary -autobiography. “Then you are an author--a Bohemian?” she said, with a -distinct touch of disapproval. - -“An author? Well, in a sort of way--a very humble way at present. But -a Bohemian--oh, no! I only wish I was! Who ever heard such a stolid, -steady-going name as Smith associated with Bohemianism?---- I knew it! -I knew her name wasn’t Smith!” she told herself delightedly, noticing -that the other girl did not wince. - -“And I have not even the excuse of looking for local colour!” remarked -the self-styled Miss Smith. “I wanted to travel--to be really -English--and I made my aunt come. She is a foreigner--you may have -noticed?--and she has brought me up abroad with her.” - -“I fancy you brought yourself up, wherever you were. I don’t think -poor Mrs Smith had much voice in the matter,” thought Zoe. “Well, you -ought to be satisfied now,” she said aloud. - -“I know I ought, but do you know”--the girl bent towards her -confidentially--“I am a little--almost frightened. We have never -travelled unattended before, and my aunt is so nervous.” - -“But why in the world didn’t you bring a maid or a courier, or both?” -cried Zoe, astonished. - -“That is what we ought to have done, of course, and at Therma I shall -insist on our finding suitable attendants. But I was going to propose -that we should join forces for the journey. If you and your brother -will favour us with your society--especially at meals--we should have -no fear of making disagreeable acquaintances.” She spoke with the -utmost coolness, and without any of the blushing diffidence that might -have been expected--almost as if the suggestion, which should surely -in any case have come from her aunt, was an honour not to be declined. - -“My good girl, what _is_ your game?” thought the scandalised Zoe. “Is -it Maurice?” with a sister’s instinctive vigilance. “If it is, you are -the very coolest hand I ever saw. I don’t think you need be in the -least frightened,” she said frigidly. “English ladies are not likely -to be molested when there are so many Englishmen in the train.” - -“What did I tell you, Eirene?” cried Mrs Smith, waking at an -inopportune moment. “You have too little regard for the conventions. -This young lady finds your freedom altogether shocking.” - -“Edith--Emily--Irene! How many more names has she got?” was Zoe’s -mental comment as she watched, rather mercilessly, the flush which -rose into Miss Smith’s face. - -“I have requested you already to leave this matter to me,” said the -young lady coldly, and the aunt collapsed. “Yes, my name is Eirene,” -turning to Zoe with a radiant smile. “Spelt with an E, you know,” as -Zoe’s eyes wandered to the “E. E. Smith” upon a jewel-case. “We were -so anxious to be English that my aunt has been trying to call me by a -real English name, but it is no use. I hope you will call me Eirene in -future. And you will relieve my curiosity by telling me your name? Z -is such a strange initial, and I saw it upon your bag.” - -“My name is Zoe,” admitted the owner of the name reluctantly as she -rose to leave the compartment. - -“A Greek name, surely, like my own? Perhaps we are really distant -cousins after all! Then it is settled that you and your brother join -us at meals?” - -“I beg your pardon, we have already made our arrangements, and secured -a table that only holds two,” said the exasperated Zoe, flinging this -Parthian shaft as she departed with all the dignity that the motion of -the train would allow. - -“What is she after?” she asked herself again as she reached her own -compartment, whither Maurice had not yet returned. “Can she really be -a spy? If so, I suppose the best thing will be to appear quite -innocent and unsuspicious. She can’t make us tell anything we don’t -want to. I must give Maurice a hint not to let her worm things out of -him. The funny part is that I believe she really is frightened. Her -eyes were upon every one who passed. Pardon me, that seat is engaged,” -as some one pressed past her. “Oh, this is really too much!” for the -intruder was Miss Smith, who sat down in Maurice’s place, gripping the -arms of the seat as though she feared Zoe would eject her by force. - -“I wished to tell you that they will place us at the same table at -breakfast,” she said hurriedly. “The man came to ask me just as a -matter of course, and I--I said, ‘_Mais sans doute_.’ I meant to do -it, and yet--it slipped out at the moment. I am come to entreat you -not to countermand the order. You can’t understand what a difference -it will make to me to be allowed to travel as a member of a party--of -a family.” - -The wildest suspicions were seething in Zoe’s brain. What was this -girl--a murderess, a Nihilist, or a thief? What designs might she not -have on Maurice, on his prospects? Anxiety for him made her manner -glacial. “I am sorry we cannot add to our party,” she said. “We are -going to stay with friends.” - -“But it is only for the journey!” cried the girl eagerly. “Once at -Therma, you go your way, I mine. We do not meet again, but you will -hear--yes, you will certainly hear about me, and I assure you that you -won’t find me ungrateful.” - -“I don’t care about your gratitude,” said Zoe bluntly. “What I want to -be sure of is that you are not doing anything wrong.” - -“Wrong? What wrong should I do? Do you think I am an Anarchist, laden -with bombs to fling at the Grand Seignior? I find your suspicions -singularly insulting.” - -“I am sorry for it. Has it occurred to you that I might think the same -of your persistent efforts to force your company upon us?” “That will -fetch her, if anything will!” said Zoe triumphantly to herself. - -The girl’s eyes flamed. “You are insolent!” she flashed out. “How dare -you---- But no, I have drawn it upon myself. Mademoiselle, will you -accept my assurance that I have no evil-doing in view? I am taking my -journey upon a purely family matter, confided to me by a dying parent. -I carry with me my jewels, which are of considerable -value--inestimable value to me. Upon their safety may hang the success -of my expedition. Once more I ask you to grant me the protection of -your company and that of Monsieur your brother, and pray do not think -that it is easy for me to entreat. I am not accustomed to it.” - -“I think we ought to have some idea of your object before being asked -to mix ourselves up with it,” said Zoe, but less firmly. - -“If it affected myself alone, I would reveal it to you without a -moment’s hesitation, but it concerns others. No, if my assurance is -not enough for you, you must continue to regard me as an adventuress, -a spy--what you will--and I must endure it.” She folded her hands in -her lap with sorrowful dignity, but her lips were quivering, and a -tear rolled slowly down her face. - -“Oh, don’t cry!” said Zoe hastily, with the modern woman’s horror of -tears. “Of course you can have your meals with us, and we’ll travel -together if you really want it. Only I can’t say that you belong to us -if I’m asked.” - -“You will not be asked. A family party will pass unquestioned. It is -two ladies alone who would attract attention. Oh, I am so glad!” she -cried, abandoning disguise, and drying her eyes vigorously. “Evdotia -Vladimirovna--my aunt, I mean--is so frightened, and I have been -obliged to encourage her, and I was so frightened myself. Every one -might be a spy or a secret agent. Then I saw the luggage with the name -‘Smith,’ and I saw you and your brother, and your faces looked -trustworthy, and I thought we should be safe with you. I shall never -forget this service, you may be sure,” with a return to stateliness, -as she rose and departed. - -“I feel a regular fool!” said Zoe viciously to herself. “But, after -all, she did play fair. If she had attacked Maurice instead of me, she -wouldn’t have had a quarter of the trouble.” - -“I have scraped acquaintance with your startling-eyed friend,” said -Maurice, coming in. “He is not a King’s messenger, you will be -interested to hear, but an Indian officer going back after his leave. -He’s to stay a week or two with a friend who’s in the Emathian -Gendarmerie, and his name’s Wylie.” - -“Well, I told you nearly as much about him simply from inference. Did -you hear anything about Miss Smith?” - -“Oh, one fat old chap, who seems to come this way about once a week -and knows all the officials, was very busy hinting that he had it from -the sleeping-car attendant that she was somebody very big travelling -_incog_.” - -“A Princess running away from school, I should think!” murmured Zoe. -“Well, to-morrow morning either she will sink in the general -estimation or we shall go up, for we are to breakfast together.” - -“You don’t mean to say that you have taken her up after all?” cried -Maurice. “Well, don’t say it was my doing.” But his warning tone was -not wholly devoid of satisfaction. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - A FULL STOP. - -In after days it seemed to Zoe that the stages of the journey were -marked by the progress of her intimacy with Eirene Smith. There was -that terrible midnight hour when, sleepy and bewildered, she was -called upon by a ferocious German customs officer to explain the -nature and purpose of the note-books in her dressing-bag, and could -reply in nothing but scraps of French, Latin, and Greek, which ought -to have increased the official’s respect for her, but only deepened -his suspicions. Not a word of German would come to her mind, and the -occupant of the other berth, an elderly French lady in an astonishing -nightcap, was not only of no practical use, but was evidently watching -between her curtains with awful joy to see Zoe haled from the train -and arraigned before the authorities. Never was anything more welcome -than the appearance of Eirene from the next cabin in an exquisite -embroidered dressing-gown. She had heard the altercation, and, coming -upon the scene, assumed the direction of affairs. Her German did not -forsake her, and the customs officer went away placated, but grimly -assuring Zoe that she might thank _Ihre Fräulein Schwester_ that she -and her possessions were not detained. The relief was great, and Zoe -thanked Eirene heartily in rather tremulous tones. The French lady, -disappointed of her expected sensation, transferred herself easily to -the side of the victor, and inveighed against the brutality of the -official while eulogising the courage and coolness of Eirene. - -“And the prudence also of mademoiselle!” she cried. “She has there -even her jewel-case, not forgetting to snatch it up at a moment of the -greatest tension!” - -“I never let it leave me,” said Eirene simply. “See, madame, they are -very precious to me, these jewels. They are of the possessions of my -late dear mother.” - -She opened the box, and took out one or two of the trinkets it -contained, handsome and old-fashioned; not at all sufficient, in Zoe’s -opinion, to account for the anxiety she had expressed in speaking of -them to her. - -“Ah, very pretty,” said madame, regarding them with greedy eyes. “Too -old in style for a young girl, but you will doubtless have them reset. -But how comes it that all the jewels are yours, mademoiselle, while -your elder sister wears not so much as a pin?” - -“We are not own sisters, madame,” returned Eirene, with a fascinating -mixture of truth and audacity. “But that makes no difference to our -love, does it, my Zoe?” - -Eirene had the jewel-case with her again when she and Zoe met in the -dressing-room the next morning. They had been charged to make haste, -as the elder ladies desired the room to themselves for the process of -hair-dressing, which could not properly be performed before youthful -eyes, but Eirene fastened the doors and opened her box a second time. - -“Now I will show you!” she said gleefully. “You shall see that I trust -you, though you don’t trust me, and that I am willing to confide to -you anything that affects myself alone. Look, then!” and Zoe gazed, -astonished, as the satin lining of the lid fell forward on the -pressure of a spring, revealing a wonderful necklace of huge pearls -fitting into a shallow receptacle evidently constructed for it. In -like manner the sides and trays of the box, judiciously manipulated, -revealed a number of emerald and diamond sprays--the stones -extraordinarily fine--which might either be used separately, or united -to form a necklace or tiara, and a bodice ornament of great rubies in -the shape of a globe flanked by spreading wings, with a deep pendant. -Lastly, Eirene showed that the box had also a false bottom. - -“This is my greatest treasure,” she said, exhibiting a number of -golden plaques which could be fastened one to another to form a -girdle. Each plaque was curiously embossed with the figure of a saint, -apparently raised in enamel upon the gold background, while the halo -and portions of the dress were encrusted with precious stones. “I am -obliged to take it to pieces for travelling, but I do it with terror, -for it is old--yes, of an astonishing antiquity, and there is nothing -like it in the whole world.” - -“It must be Byzantine work, surely?” asked Zoe, examining it with -intense interest. - -Eirene looked at her with something like suspicion. “Yes,” she said -coldly, and, taking the massive clasp from Zoe’s hands, she returned -it to its place and snapped down the false bottom over it. Her -displeasure was so uncalled for that Zoe experienced a return of the -unamiable feelings of the evening before, but before the box had been -restored to its usual appearance the momentary cloud had passed away, -and Eirene was replying with gay defiance to Mrs Smith’s remonstrances -through the closed door on her delay. - -The next stage in Zoe’s appreciation of her new friend’s personality -came at breakfast-time, when Eirene remarked with smiling effrontery -to Maurice, whom Zoe had just introduced to her with a formality -intended to show that the acquaintance of the day before was -insufficient-- - -“It is so kind of Zoe to have arranged everything, so that we need not -enter upon any tiresome explanations. Please be assured of my best -thanks for adopting me as a sister during the journey. Until we part -at Therma I am Eirene, if you please. You, if I am not mistaken, are -Maurice?” - -As much astonished as his rightful sister, and conscious of Mrs -Smith’s face of wrathful agony in the background, Maurice had -sufficient presence of mind to accept the situation, and mutter -something about pleasure and honour. The only unembarrassed member of -the party was Eirene herself, who motioned Zoe to the seat beside her -at the table, and Maurice to that opposite, informing her outraged -aunt that she would find her step-nephew _bien gentil_ and truly -conversable. Taking the lead herself as a matter of course, she -insisted on making the talk general, and before long Maurice and Zoe -found their embarrassment fading away. Mrs Smith remained implacable, -and answered only when she was directly addressed; but the other three -were able to laugh and talk quite naturally. From his solitary table -on the other side of the gangway, the man whom Zoe had styled the -King’s messenger watched them with wistful amusement. - -“It’s pretty clear the younger girl is only Smith’s step-sister,” he -said to himself, “and the aunt is her private property. I suppose the -aunt married the father’s brother, as her name is Smith too. No, that -would make her their aunt as well. It’s a sort of puzzle in -relationships; but with such a common name it may well be a mere -coincidence. I should say the aunt and the younger girl’s mother were -foreign and noble, and a good deal inclined to look down on the plain -English part of the family. Smith will soon get tired of being -tyrannised over by that little minx, and I could see Miss Smith didn’t -half like it when they came in. It’s the sort of thing that palls -pretty quickly. I suppose they wanted to make the step-sister’s -acquaintance, but why bring the aunt, who has evidently made her the -sun and centre of things? What a pity we can’t eliminate Mrs Smith! If -she was out of the way--a convenient headache, now--I think Smith -might take pity upon my loneliness and ask me to their table. They -sound awfully jolly all together, and with three of us against her, it -would be hard if we couldn’t take Miss Eirene down a peg. Her brother -and sister are much too meek.” - -Mrs Smith was not accommodating enough to have a headache--indeed, her -expression implied that heartily as she detested her present position, -wild horses should not drag her from it--but Captain Wylie was not -forbidden the introduction he desired. “My sister, Miss Smith--Miss -Eirene Smith,” said Maurice, bringing him up to the girls after -breakfast, and receiving a smile from Eirene for his adroitness, -though the presentation did not seem altogether to please her, -apparently because her consent had not been secured beforehand. She -gave Wylie the cold shoulder, as though she had read his sentiments -towards her and reciprocated them, but Zoe, who had incited Maurice to -introduce him, was quite satisfied. Wylie was the kind of man she -liked. If he would talk, he could tell her things about India which -might be useful in future; if not, she could look at him and make up -far more wonderful things about him herself. He was not much of a -talker, as it turned out, but sufficiently articulate to answer -informingly when he was questioned, and Zoe was a past mistress in the -art of what she called drawing people out, and Maurice, picking their -brains. - -As the day wore on it became evident to Zoe that Eirene was growing -increasingly nervous. She could not rest for a moment, but roamed from -one compartment to another, and up and down the corridor, shaking with -agitation when she came face to face with any of the other passengers -or an official. At last Maurice brought out his travelling chess-board -and induced her to sit down to a game, promising that she should walk -off her restlessness at Vindobona, so far as a stop of twenty minutes -and the limits of the station would allow. But when they were -approaching the Imperial city, and Maurice had gone to get his hat, -she clutched Zoe’s arm convulsively. - -“Oh, I dare not leave the train! It is here I shall be recognised if -anywhere. Begin a game, quick; then I can keep my head bent over the -board. May I hold your hand?” - -Cold and trembling, her hand gripped Zoe’s under the flap of the -table, and she was arranging the pieces when Maurice was heard -returning. The clutch tightened. - -“Don’t let them go far from the carriage. Oh, make them return to us -continually! Couldn’t they stay here with us? No, it would excite -suspicion. But tell them not to go far.” - -Maurice and Wylie were much puzzled by the girls’ obstinate absorption -in what appeared a singularly erratic game, and their firm refusal to -walk about on the platform, but they made themselves useful by first -going to the bookstall to see what Tauchnitz volumes were in stock, -then making an expedition to buy one for Eirene, a second to get one -for Zoe, and a third to change Eirene’s, which she discovered she had -read before. Zoe was almost as much excited as Eirene by the time this -point was reached. It was all very well to want to keep Maurice near -at hand, but if Eirene was arrested, as she seemed to fear might be -the case, what did she expect him to do? She could scarcely imagine -that he and Wylie would attempt to rescue her from the Pannonian -police. Of course they would appeal to the British Ambassador; but Zoe -did not now believe that Eirene was even a British subject, and -Maurice would probably have to declare his real name, with what danger -to the purpose of his journey who could tell? - -“Oh, Zoe, how carelessly you play! Check!” cried Eirene. “You are -worse than you were months ago.” This for the benefit of a guard who -had approached near enough to hear what they said. “Ah, it is nearly -over!” with a sigh of relief. Zoe, looking up with the hasty idea of -asking Maurice to get her some chocolate, by way of manufacturing -another errand, saw to her delight the passengers returning hurriedly -to the train. The dreaded twenty minutes was at an end. - -“You know, I ran away,” said Eirene softly to her, as the train glided -out of the station. - -“I thought so,” responded Zoe; “but it can’t have been so very bad, as -you took your aunt with you.” - -“But I could never have gone alone!” in horror. - -“No, I know it isn’t usual,” drily. - -“Some day I will tell you how I did it,” pursued Eirene. “I thought I -was safe, but if any of my precautions had failed, I knew it would be -here they would catch me. Oh, and there is still another station -before we are out of Vindobona! Begin another game, quickly!” - -But the second station was comparatively unimportant, and the interval -of terror of the briefest, and Zoe and Eirene released one another’s -hands, and pretended to Maurice that a sudden intense interest in -chess had prevented their having any desire to look out at the city -and its buildings. At dinner, notwithstanding Mrs Smith’s objections, -Wylie was accommodated with a temporary and most uncomfortable seat at -the end of the table, and found himself very graciously treated, owing -partly to Eirene’s sense of relief from her fears, and partly to the -alacrity with which he had assisted Maurice in running her errands at -the station. The night passed without alarm, for though the Thracian -frontier had to be crossed, the Customs examination was considerately -delayed until the morning, though it was necessary to get it over -before reaching Tatarjé, where the passengers for Therma changed into -another train, the Express going on to Czarigrad. As she watched it -out of sight, Zoe sighed that half the romance was gone out of the -journey, for the new train was unknown to fame, and by no means -comparable with the wonderful microcosm which had been their home for -nearly two days. Moreover, it moved as deliberately as the most local -of English local trains, and its rusty engine groaned complaints as it -dragged itself reluctantly out of the station. - -Tatarjé naturally called up memories of Count Mortimer, the great -English Minister whom the young King of Thracia had discarded on -attaining his majority, and who was one of Zoe’s heroes. Wylie, who -had heard little of him, was quite willing to be instructed and to -share her enthusiasm, but Eirene was contemptuous. It was easy for any -man to rise to power when he served a Queen who was willing to resign -everything into his hands, she said; dealing with men was another -matter. The discussion which ensued was of the nature of those -parallel lines which can never meet, for it appeared that Eirene’s -information was entirely derived from Scythian sources, and possessed -nothing but the statesman’s name in common with Zoe’s. The crossing of -the Roumi frontier gave a desirable change to the conversation, and -Zoe sprang up to look out at “our own country,” as she whispered to -Maurice. Her own country received her inhospitably, for rain was -falling in torrents, and the general aspect was bare and neglected in -the extreme. A squalid little station reached early in the afternoon, -apparently unconnected with any town or village, was crowded with -Roumi soldiers, and Wylie’s professional interest was aroused. He and -Maurice left the carriage, taking with them all the cigarettes they -possessed, and distributed them to the dripping, patient men. An -elderly non-commissioned officer, who had been in Egypt, and -recognising Wylie as a British officer, stood rigorously to attention -when addressed, answered his questions in Arabic. The detachment had -been ordered up to guard the railway, owing to a report that there was -a band of Thracian revolutionaries in the neighbourhood with designs -upon it. They had been at the station since early morning, without -shelter or food, their uniforms ragged, their boots in holes. The -station buildings were occupied by the Kaimakam of the district, under -whose orders they were acting; he was immersed in business, but when -he had time, would doubtless remember the needs of his troops. Some of -the younger and more impatient spirits had spoken of bribing his -secretary to draw his attention to the matter, but apart from the fact -that with their pay months in arrears they could not offer enough to -tempt so great a man, the sergeant considered that such an attempt -would be an improper interference with the decrees of destiny. He -saluted smartly, and stood back among his men, a stolid, shivering -figure of military virtue in evil case. - -“Some of the best material in the world!” said Wylie wrathfully to -Maurice. “What soldiers we could make of them in India! British troops -would have mutinied six hours ago. Look at the two sick men in that -goods-shed, with the rain falling on them--and the Kaimakam, no doubt, -is soothing himself with _hashish_ in the station-master’s quarters!” - -“Let’s go and rout him out, and shame him into putting the men in -shelter,” said Maurice. - -Wylie shook his head. “I daren’t,” he said. “It would only mean -quartering them upon the Christian inhabitants of the village over -there. That’s what’s bound to be done at last, I suppose, but one -wouldn’t care for the responsibility of hurrying it on.” - -He looked over the straggling houses of the place, which was visible -at this point round the shoulder of a hill, flat-roofed, dingy white, -huddled together apparently for the sake of company rather than -protection, then brought his eyes back to the face of the old -sergeant, who had advanced and was saluting again. - -“Is the Bimbashi Bey come hither to serve in the new Gendarmerie?” he -asked respectfully. - -“No; merely to visit a friend,” answered Wylie. - -“God be praised!” responded the old man, with evident satisfaction. - -“Now why?” demanded Maurice, when Wylie had translated the question. -“Make him say.” - -The sergeant needed some pressing, but at length gave his reason -boldly. “The Bey Effendi’s eyes are of the cruel colour,” he said. -“Never have I beheld eyes more cruel, and I have seen many men.” - -Wylie’s disconcerted face made Maurice insist upon a translation, -which delighted him extremely. “Ask the old blighter if he really -believes that rot,” he demanded. - -“The Bimbashi Bey’s eyes will indeed strike terror into his enemies, -so that they will flee before him and he will grind them to powder,” -returned the sergeant, anxious to be conciliatory. “But his own men -would fain see his eyes like those of the young Effendi, his friend.” - -“There! They think you’re squeezable, you see,” said Wylie in triumph. -“When you’re made High Commissioner of Emathia, you’d better send for -me to be your commander-in-chief, and put a little stiffening into -you.” - -“All right. Mind, it’s a bargain!” cried Maurice, returning to the -train at the summons of the guard, and smiling to think how closely -Wylie’s jest had approached the possible truth. - -“Oh, Maurice, it’s an omen!” came in an awestruck whisper from Zoe, -who had been at the window. - -“A fiddlestick!” responded Maurice lightly. “Now for thrilling -mountain scenery, with revolutionary bands thrown in gratis!” - -The train was now entering the mountains, and the four young people -established themselves at the corridor window, which presented the -most extensive views, but Mrs Smith refused to leave the compartment. -Emathia possessed the most brutal and savage scenery in the world, she -declared, and it made her shiver even to look at it. She would -endeavour to forget it, and if a French novel and slumber are aids to -forgetfulness, it was not long before she did so. The prospect from -her side of the carriage was certainly not inspiriting, since it was -limited to the rocky cliff in which the track had been blasted out, -but on the other side there was something like a view, as Maurice -said. From the very edge of the line, dark woods sank down, down, to -depths which the eye could not penetrate, rising again on the other -side of the valley to heights behind which the sun was already -setting, at barely five o’clock on a summer afternoon. In one or two -places there was a glimpse of foaming water, but generally the woods -alone were visible. They made her feel weird, Zoe said; it was like an -enchanted forest. She did not mind going through them in the train, -but to think of venturing into them on foot was enough to make the -bravest heart quail. - -“We ought to reach the great viaduct which crosses the river -presently,” said Wylie. “I believe the line winds so much just there -that from this end of the train you see the engine and the first half -apparently at right angles with you as it enters on the bridge.” - -“There it is!” cried Eirene presently. She and Zoe were sitting on the -seat below the window, Maurice and Wylie standing behind them. They -all looked out eagerly to see the famous bridge, and withdrew their -heads again laughing, with ruffled hair, for in this narrow valley the -wind was strong. Eirene drew back to adjust a hairpin, the two men -were laughing at one another’s dishevelled aspect, and only Zoe was -still looking out when that happened which she would never forget, -though she could not determine exactly the sequence of the several -events. In anticipation of the appearance of the head of the train, -she was keeping her eyes fixed upon the bridge, when the end nearest -her rose suddenly in the air, suddenly and, as it seemed, quietly. She -had opened her mouth to cry, “Look at the bridge!” when the words were -drowned by the sound of an explosion, which must have been -simultaneous with the upheaval, but seemed to follow at a perceptible -interval. The train rocked and staggered, the glass from the windows -and lamps shivered and fell in showers with a curious tinkling noise, -Maurice and Wylie were thrown violently across the corridor. Zoe found -herself and Eirene on their feet, gazing at one another with dilated -eyes, heard Wylie shout to them angrily to sit down, had a vague idea -that the train had left the metals and was trying to climb the -mountain--or what was the meaning of those agonised jerks which felt -like earthquakes? She knew that she was saying something foolish--“the -hill above the line was not quite so steep here, was it?”--but the -words were frozen on her lips. The floor was slipping away beneath -her, the place where the window had been was somehow rising to the -roof, then there came a great crash, a sensation of falling through -space, and all was silence. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - THE JEWEL-CASE. - -When Zoe came to herself, the first sensation of which she was -conscious was a stinging taste in her mouth, the next the dark woods -cutting the sky opposite her. She cried out weakly, and closed her -eyes to shut out the sight. - -“That’s right!” said a voice. “How do you feel?” - -“All smashed up,” she murmured feebly. - -“Nonsense! Stretch out your arms!” The tone was so peremptory that she -obeyed mechanically. “Now your feet,” and she gave two spasmodic -kicks. “You’re all right,” said the voice, which was gradually -becoming familiar. “A little more brandy?” - -“Oh, no!” said Zoe in disgust, wriggling away from the offered flask, -and discovering that her head was supported on Wylie’s arm. “I’m quite -well now. Did I faint? Where’s Maurice? Oh!” as recollection rushed -upon her, “is Maurice safe?” - -“He’s all right, helping to dig out your sister. We could hear her -voice, and I left him to get her out, while I brought you up here. Now -I am going to get you something for a pillow, and then I shall leave -you.” - -Raising herself with difficulty on her elbow, Zoe found that she was -lying on a steep bank of stones and rubble, sparsely covered with -grass. Below her was the wrecked train, lying on its side on the -slope. Men were standing on the sides of the carriages and dragging -others through the holes where the windows had been, or thrusting -aside distorted pieces of iron and masses of splintered wood. Some of -the rescued were sitting on the slope bemoaning themselves, or -stanching wounds in head or hands with their handkerchiefs; others -were being carried towards a tree at one side, under which a man in -his shirt-sleeves was bending over a woman lying on the ground. Thus -much Zoe was able to see before Wylie ran up the bank again with a -small box, which had been thrown aside out of the way of the rescuers, -in his hand. - -“I’ll put this under your head,” he said hastily, “and with that big -stone at your feet you won’t slip down the bank. Just shut your eyes -and lie quiet, and the shock will soon pass off.” - -“Can’t I come down and help?” asked Zoe. - -“No, no. Keep out of the way, that’s the best thing you can do. I’ll -call you when we get your sister out.” - -Zoe disobeyed him only so far as to watch the men at work on the train -until she had distinguished Maurice, and then lay down, unable to -repress a hysterical little laugh at the thought of Wylie’s sending -him to the rescue of a stranger while she was left to the care of -others. It was not long before she heard herself summoned. - -“Miss Smith, we are taking your sister to the doctor. She is hurt, but -I hope not badly. You would like to come?” - -Rising unsteadily to her feet, she was glad to accept the aid of -Wylie’s hand down the slope. Eirene was half unconscious, and moaned -when she was touched, and Maurice and Wylie carried her to the -improvised field-hospital, where a French surgeon, who had fortunately -been among the passengers, was giving such aid as he could to the -injured. One or two ladies who had escaped unhurt were tearing up -their dust-cloaks for temporary bandages, and behind the tree at the -back lay several quiet forms, reverently covered with rugs and -macintoshes hastily collected. Zoe shivered at the sight, but the -doctor had no time to waste. Discovering that Eirene’s most serious -injury was a dislocated shoulder, he reduced the dislocation by rough -and ready means, and bound her arm tightly into place, then told Zoe -to take her away, since cuts and contusions must await a more -opportune moment for treatment. Maurice came forward to help her, and -whispered to the doctor, who nodded vigorously. - -“By all means get her to bed as soon as possible. An emotional -temperament--I have observed it myself--fever very likely to -supervene. I will see that she goes with the first batch of wounded.” - -But as Maurice and Wylie laid her gently on the slope, Eirene -struggled into a sitting position. “My jewel-case!” she screamed. “My -jewel-case! where is it?” - -“It must be in the carriage still,” said Maurice. “We shall come upon -it.” - -“Bring it to me!” she cried angrily. “I must have it.” - -“It will be found,” said Zoe soothingly, “but no one has seen it yet. -Don’t worry yourself, Eirene; it will be all right.” Her tone had -grown a little impatient, for she had gathered from Maurice’s whisper -to the doctor that Mrs Smith was among the killed, and Eirene had not -even asked after her. - -“It is lost, stolen!” cried Eirene. “I threw it out of the window when -the train began to turn over. Offer a reward, quickly--a million -francs, anything!” - -“Your wealth must be greater than your prudence, mademoiselle, or you -would hardly carry such valuables about with you,” remarked the doctor -drily. Like every one else in her immediate vicinity, he had been -attracted by Eirene’s shriek. - -“They are all I have in the world. My jewels are everything to me,” -she cried wildly. “I will not leave this place without them. I will -search the line on my hands and knees. It is marked ‘E. E. Smith’--a -small box covered with leather, with brass ornaments. Has no one seen -it?” - -Zoe gave a gasp, and seized Maurice’s arm, pointing to the box as it -lay neglected high up the slope. The next moment he had fetched it -down, and between tears and laughter she restored it to its owner. - -“Oh, Eirene, I am so sorry! Captain Wylie brought it me for a pillow, -and I hadn’t an idea what it was. But when you mentioned brass -ornaments, I remembered how uncomfortable the handle was. Now it’s all -right, isn’t it?” - -Eirene lay down, almost fainting, but gripping the box, while the -bystanders dispersed, whispering and muttering, and much disappointed -with this tame conclusion. Communication had now been established with -the nearest station--a mere hill-hamlet, compared with which the -village where the Roumi soldiers were to be quartered was a town--and -presently a trolley came down the line with an official and several -workmen. They brought the news that help had been telegraphed for from -the larger station, but that it was not likely to amount to more than -an engine and open trucks, which might not arrive that night. It was, -therefore, for the passengers to choose whether they would remain -where they were, or walk back to the small station in company with the -men in charge of the trolley. The purpose which this was intended to -serve was quickly evident, for several heavy cases were extracted with -great difficulty from a locked van, which had been specially guarded -since the accident, and piled upon it. The doctor obtained leave for -Eirene and three other passengers, whose injuries were not so severe -as to prevent their sitting up, to use the chests as seats, and they -were lifted to their places as gently as possible, Eirene gripping the -jewel-case fast in her uninjured hand. The passengers who chose to -walk were asked to keep close to the trolley, so as to form a guard, -headed by the two armed officials who were in charge of the treasure. -Owing to the prohibition of the import of arms, Wylie had sent his -regulation weapons by sea, and though both he and Maurice had brought -sporting guns (which it had cost them much time and trouble to get -through the customs), these could not yet be extricated from the -confused heap of luggage in the train. Wylie had a miniature revolver, -from which a long experience of danger had taught him never to -separate himself, and he showed it reassuringly to Zoe as they set -out, lighted in the gathering twilight by the fires kindled on the -banks for the passengers who chose to remain by the train. - -“Why, what is there to be afraid of?” she asked him. “Wolves?” - -“Possibly; but I didn’t mean to frighten you, only to calm your fears -if you had any.” - -“Wylie doesn’t follow the bewildering changes of your mind,” said -Maurice, who was carrying Zoe’s dressing-bag, the only thing they had -been able to bring. “You professed to be afraid of the forest when you -were perfectly safe in the train, but now you seem to think it rather -a lark to be walking through it at this particularly ghostly hour.” - -“Oh no, I know what you mean,” cried Zoe, “the people who destroyed -the bridge! You do think it was done on purpose, then?” - -“Dynamite, undoubtedly,” returned Wylie, “worked by one of those -clockwork arrangements which are timed to go off at a certain moment. -This one went off about forty seconds too soon. The guard actually saw -the bridge blow up, and had just time to put the brakes on hard. If -the train had been on the bridge, as the fiends who laid the dynamite -intended, not a soul would have escaped.” - -“I saw it too,” said Zoe, with a shudder. “And who do you think it -was?” - -“Why, the Thracian revolutionaries we heard of from the sergeant, of -course,” said Maurice. “The troops had been carefully got out of the -way by a false alarm, and the bridge was left defenceless. It was very -neatly arranged. They were saying at the train that all these Thracian -bands are under the orders of the Bishop of Tatarjé, who is a great -pan-Slavist.” - -“But what good would it have done them to destroy a whole train-load -of people who had nothing to do with their troubles?” said Zoe. “Were -they after the treasure?” - -“Very likely,” said Wylie. “Money means more dynamite and more rifles. -But even if it had all gone down into the river and been lost, the -moral effect on Europe of the destruction of a train like this would -have been immense. It would have called attention to their grievances, -and advertised them as heroes who stick at nothing.” - -“And you think they may be hiding in the trees now?” - -“No, since their blow failed, I should imagine they are off -double-quick march to some other part of the country, so as to -establish a serviceable alibi. But even if they were here, I don’t -think we look worth attacking.” - -“We are a disreputable lot,” said Maurice, trying to scan his torn -hands and ragged clothes in the twilight. “You will have to doctor our -wounds and bruises when we get to the station, Zoe. She is one of -those people who pride themselves on travelling with a specimen of -every conceivable kind of thing that may possibly be wanted,” he -explained to Wylie, “so she is sure to have plaster.” - -“Plenty in my luggage, but only a little here,” said Zoe, “so we must -use it economically. I suppose,” she added nervously, “you don’t think -they may be lying in wait somewhere in front to get the treasure?” - -“Not a bit of it,” said Wylie. “We are prepared for them now, and they -know it. And to-morrow, I understand, the treasure is to be sent on at -once with an armed escort. If I may offer a piece of advice, it is -that the jewellery your sister is so anxious about should be sent on -too.” - -“She will never part with it,” said Zoe, with conviction. “Oh, don’t -look at me as if I could persuade her. If I had the least influence -over her, do you think she would be carrying it about with her as she -does?” - -“We are almost strangers to her, you see,” explained Maurice rather -lamely. “We can’t expect to have much influence.” - -“Well, it seems to me to be distinctly a case for the exercise of -fraternal authority. Make him speak seriously to her, Miss Smith, and -not shove off all the disagreeable things on you. I’m afraid you’ll -have a bad time breaking the news of Mrs Smith’s death to your sister. -By the bye, she was not your aunt, was she?” - -“Oh no, no relation to us whatever,” said Zoe. - -“We never met her before this journey,” added Maurice. - -“That was what I said to myself when I saw you first,” said Wylie to -Zoe. “Then her being named Smith was merely a coincidence?” - -“Purely a coincidence,” said Zoe emphatically, and Maurice added, “You -must think us a queer set.” - -“Not at all,” returned Wylie politely and falsely. - -“Oh, but you must!” cried Zoe. “I am sure, if we met ourselves, we -should think we were the most extraordinary family that ever lived. -But how can we help it?” - -“One’s family is one of the things that have to be lived down,” said -Wylie, with the kindest intentions, and went on to give instances in -point from the history of people he had known, while Maurice and Zoe -wished vainly that they could explain the true state of -affairs--vainly, for how could they betray the history of their -acquaintance with Eirene without her consent? - -“It’s awful, Maurice,” lamented Zoe afterwards. “What will he think -when he sees us separate at Therma, or if he ever meets her without -us, or us without her? It will seem as if we had deliberately deceived -him all along.” - -But this was after they had arrived at the village, and accepted -without enthusiasm the only quarters available. The Han, or inn, might -have served satisfactorily to accommodate one or two sportsmen who did -not mind roughing it, but now, invaded by a crowd of tired, hungry -travellers, many of them bringing nothing but the clothes they wore, -its resources were hopelessly overtaxed. The railway officials, -securing Wylie, whose experience they recognised, as an ally, set to -work to house their charges as best they could. The long loft which -formed the upper storey of the inn was devoted to the ladies, and all -the beds in the establishment--which were not above suspicion--were -transferred thither, while rugs and sacks were requisitioned to -provide couches for the men below. Bowls of coarse porridge, and -platters of hastily boiled mutton, were forthcoming after a time, meal -and a sheep having been commandeered from the neighbourhood, but there -were no knives and forks, and spoons quickly ran short. Wylie shared -in the abuse heaped upon the railway management, who ought, it -appeared, to have provided a perfectly equipped hotel, with -restaurant, hair-dressing saloons, bathrooms, and a large stock of -borrowable clothing, at this particular spot, but he went on his way -with a polite smile and unbending courtesy, arranging for breakfast on -the morrow. Bare-footed, untidy girls, called in to help, fell over -one another on the ladder-like staircase, or stood saucer-eyed to -watch the “European” ladies and gentlemen, seated most uncomfortably -on the floor, and grumbling over what seemed to Emathian minds a -highly luxurious banquet. Hot water was absolutely unattainable, even -if there had been cans to contain it, and the brushes and combs of -such passengers as possessed them were passed from hand to hand for -the benefit of the less fortunate. Zoe was happy in escaping early -from the turmoil, for being in charge of Eirene, she was allowed to -take her upstairs as soon as a bed could be prepared, and Maurice -brought them a bowl of broth--or rather, water in which the mutton had -been boiled--with pieces of meat floating in it. Eirene would eat -nothing. While they sat outside the Han, waiting for the loft to be -got ready, she had raised her head suddenly from Zoe’s shoulder, as if -waking from a stupor, and demanded-- - -“Where is Evdotia Vladimirovna? I have not seen her.” - -“I--I think she stayed behind, at the bridge,” stammered Zoe. - -“Is she wounded? She would not have left me to you. What is the matter -with her? Is she dead?” - -Zoe struggled to say something, and failed, and Eirene read the truth -from her broken accents. - -“She is dead, then?” she said. “And I made her come with me!” - -She would say nothing more, and the tears for which Zoe hoped would -not come. Eirene allowed herself to be helped upstairs, and lay down -obediently, but not to sleep. When the noise and confusion that -reigned throughout the inn had at last subsided, Zoe was roused by -hearing her voice. Sometimes she spoke in French or English, sometimes -in an unknown tongue, which Zoe thought must be Scythian, rambling on -and on, and moaning pitifully. Once she called out for her jewel-case, -and Zoe, fearing that the other passengers would be disturbed, rose -and brought it to her, leaving it on the bed, so that she might be -sure it was safe. She held long conversations with some one, -apparently urging some course of action, and Zoe guessed that her mind -was recurring to the difficulty she had experienced in inducing Mrs -Smith to accompany her on her quest, whatever it was. The delirium had -passed off in the morning, but Eirene remained weak and feverish, and -Zoe welcomed the appearance of the doctor, who came up from the scene -of the accident with the rest of his patients in the emergency train -as soon as it was light. Bustle was everywhere again, and the -officials and Wylie had their hands full in producing order out of -chaos. The most serious cases among the injured were to be sent back -to Tatarjé, while those who were only slightly wounded, and the -unhurt, were to proceed by road as fast as carriages could be provided -to convey them, following the old route through the mountains which -had preceded the railway, crossing the river by a Roman bridge at some -distance lower down, and rejoining the line at the nearest station on -the other side, where a train would be waiting to take them on to -Therma. This would have been the natural course for Maurice and Zoe to -follow, but there was Eirene to consider, and Zoe felt no surprise -when the doctor remarked airily-- - -“She must not be moved, of course. A few days’ perfect rest and -freedom from strain is necessary. You will be able to renew the -dressings, mademoiselle, and I will leave you sufficient material. -Your interesting sister is in no danger, but she will certainly not be -fit to travel for a week.” - -“Of course we must stay and look after her,” said Maurice, when he -heard the verdict. “We can’t leave her here alone.” - -This was Zoe’s own opinion, but for some reason Maurice’s ready -agreement displeased her. “She has no claim on us whatever,” she said, -rather tartly. “She simply tacked herself on to us.” - -“What a low thing to say!” cried Maurice, really angry. “And the poor -little girl in such trouble!” - -“Of course she’s in trouble, but whose fault is it? You may say what -you like, but you know you’d be horribly, frightfully angry if I went -running about Europe and hooked myself on to a strange man and his -sister.” - -“That would be quite different. I mean, it would be quite different -with strangers. She had sense enough to pick out us. At any -rate”--Maurice had a dim idea that there was something not quite -conclusive about his argument--“we ought to be very thankful that she -did.” - -“We? Scarcely. But I think she ought,” snapped Zoe, and having -permitted herself this licence, set to work to atone for it. “Don’t -look so righteously angry, Maurice. I never dreamed for a moment of -leaving her alone here; only it struck me all at once how different it -would have seemed to you if I had been in her place. Don’t be afraid; -I’ll be her guide, philosopher, and friend as long as she’ll let me, -and hand her over to her parents and guardians a reformed character, -when they turn up at last.” - -“Yes, one forgets that,” said Maurice, with what Zoe felt was -unnecessary solemnity, and she turned away a little hastily. - -“Is she going to come between Maurice and me?” she asked herself. “No, -that she can’t do unless I let her. She isn’t a bad child, really--for -a child, always seeing how far she can go, and half frightened at the -things she does, and expecting other people to take the -responsibility. I do wonder who she really is.” - -“Good morning,” said Wylie, meeting her. “You look none the worse for -your adventures, I’m glad to see. I met the doctor just now. Horribly -bad luck for you to be fixed here. I hope you are not anxious about -your sister?” - -“The doctor says it is only rest she needs, thank you. I suppose this -is ‘good-bye’?” noticing that he was equipped for a journey. - -“Not exactly. I’m only going down with your brother to see if we can -disinter your family luggage from the wreck. Er--I found I was more -knocked about than I thought,” as Zoe looked at him in surprise, “and -I thought a--a little rest wouldn’t do me any harm, so I’m staying on -too--if you don’t mind, that is?” - -“Why should I mind?” asked Zoe coolly. “I think it will be very nice -for my brother to have a companion, as I shall be so much taken up. I -hope you are not seriously hurt?” - -“Oh no, no--nothing at all,” he assured her. “I am sending a message -to my friend not to expect me just yet. Oh, by the bye, they will soon -be packing off the treasure. What about your sister’s jewel-case? It -has been a good deal talked of already, and the villagers are prepared -to regard your party as possessed of illimitable wealth. I really -think we should be safer without it.” - -“I’ll speak to her at once,” said Zoe, as she mounted the stair. By -way of proceeding in a gentle and diplomatic manner, she began by -telling Eirene that Wylie was remaining with them, which seemed to -fill her with compunction. - -“I have not deserved this fidelity,” she said feebly, “for I have -never shown him any special distinction. But he shall not go -unrewarded. Oh,” meeting Zoe’s astonished and rather indignant eyes, -“I forgot; he does not know. But his intention is kind.” - -“He thinks you had better send your jewel-case on with the treasure, -and get it placed in safety,” said Zoe bluntly, unreasonably irritated -by Eirene’s assumption that Wylie was staying on her account. - -“Never!” said Eirene decisively. “I won’t part with it.” - -“Oh, very well. Every one is talking about it, and the revolutionaries -are sure to hear. Then they will come and besiege the inn, and you -will have to give it up.” - -“Not while I live.” - -“Well, if you think Maurice and Captain Wylie--or any one--would -sacrifice the lives of a whole houseful of people just for the sake of -your jewels, I don’t.” - -Eirene wavered a little. “What does Maurice say?” she asked. - -“He thinks, as I do, that if you are our sister, your brother’s wishes -ought to have some effect on you.” - -“If I only knew they would be safe!” sighed Eirene. - -“Why, they are sure to be safe. You will be given a receipt for them, -I expect, and then the railway people would be responsible.” - -“If I thought that----!” Eirene was still gripping the box. “Zoe, will -you find out at once? If the railway people will guarantee the safety -of the case, I will entrust it to them.” - -Much relieved by this reasonable attitude, Zoe went downstairs again, -found the official in charge of the treasure, obtained all possible -assurances from him, and returned to Eirene, who had opened the -jewel-case, and with reluctant fingers was rearranging its more -obvious contents--the trinkets which, as she had told the French lady, -had belonged to her mother--in their proper places. - -“Take it quickly, before I change my mind,” she said, locking it -hastily. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - A TRAP. - -The week’s stay at the Han was drawing to a close. Twice the train -from “Europe” had deposited its passengers at the station, and they -had been sent on by road, as those of the wrecked train had been, to -rejoin the line on the other side of the river. Gangs of navvies were -at work on the repairs to the bridge, and the passage of -construction-trains kept the station staff busy. Maurice and Wylie had -extricated as much as possible of their possessions and those of the -girls from the pile of damaged and partially plundered luggage (for -the navvies had enjoyed first choice) rescued from among the -_débris_, and the village carpenter found himself overworked, or so -he asserted, with orders for making new boxes and repairing others. -The party at the inn had been increased by the addition of Haji Ahmad, -a trusted Roumi servant of Wylie’s friend Captain Palmer, who had been -sent to make himself generally useful, which he did. Poor Mrs Smith -had been buried in the neglected churchyard, a ragged and dirty priest -hurrying through a service which seemed little more intelligible to -himself than to the three English who listened, and displaying an -indecent keenness as to the fees due to him. - -“Eirene,” said Zoe, on the fifth day of their stay, “Maurice wanted me -to ask you what you would like put on the tombstone. He has found a -man who can carve letters, and he would like to make sure that it is -properly done before we leave.” - -“‘Evdotia Vladimirovna’--nothing else,” replied Eirene, after a -moment’s reflection. “Some day I shall build a memorial church here, -to commemorate her fidelity, but it is not the time for that yet.” - -Zoe wondered silently whether the poor lady might not have preferred a -peaceful life to this honoured death, and Eirene caught her look. “You -know that she was not really my aunt?” she said doubtfully. - -“I have thought it might be so,” returned Zoe. - -“She was my mother’s--companion,” said Eirene, hesitating over the -word, “and then she was one of my governesses. I was obliged to tell -her what I meant to do, and she could not let me come alone. I said I -should go without her, but of course I could not have done it. I knew -she would come sooner than that. And I told her what to do, and she -really tried to do it. You don’t know how cunningly I laid my plans!” -with sudden enthusiasm. “I made use of my father’s steward to take -passages to America for us from Havre, and get American passports for -us as Mrs Silas Lapham and Miss Philadelphia Lapham, and to transfer -money in that name to a bank in New York. He is a Jew, and I knew that -however heavily I bribed him to silence, he would betray me if he -found himself in danger, so I let him think he was wholly in my -confidence, and yet I never trusted him at all. Through an English -merchant with whom my father had dealings, I got these English -passports, and then all was clear. We had been staying at a French -watering-place, and we left it in our proper characters and embarked -on the Nord Express. Our maids went on unsuspiciously with the luggage -to--where we used to live, but Evdotia Vladimirovna and I had left the -train at the first stopping-place and returned to Paris. A duplicate -set of luggage was sent through to Havre in the name of Lapham, to -make further confusion, while we, with entirely different luggage, -took tickets for the Orient Express as Mrs and Miss Smith. I knew that -if Levinssohn betrayed us, he could only direct pursuit to Havre, -where the false luggage would be stopped; but it would be some days -before they would suspect we were not coming that way at all, and by -that time our traces in Paris would be lost. I was foolish in being so -frightened at Vindobona, for it was most unlikely that my precautions -should have failed, but it was terrible to think that after such a -bold stroke I might be dragged back.” - -“Well, I only hope you had a good reason for it all,” was Zoe’s -unsympathetic rejoinder. Eirene looked offended. - -“Arrangements were proposed for me which I could not possibly accept,” -she said, with much dignity. “My reasons were absolutely valid, as you -will acknowledge if I ever explain them to you. I should like to -justify myself by doing so now, but it is out of the question, -unless---- Zoe,” she broke off suddenly, “it occurs to me sometimes -that you and Maurice may not be what you seem. You also--I mean, you -yourselves--may be travelling _incognito_. If it was so----?” - -The possibilities of the situation flew through Zoe’s mind as Eirene’s -voice ceased. If she were to make a bargain--to exchange her secret -for Eirene’s? But the secret was not hers alone, but Maurice’s, and -Wylie was still in ignorance of it. Besides, what if Eirene were -really the spy she had at first imagined her, and this was a bold bid -on her part for success in her nefarious schemes? Zoe’s decision was -taken in an instant. “You mustn’t be so fanciful,” she said. “Maurice -and I have lived the most unromantic life you can imagine. He is -really an English country gentleman, as he has told you. We do really -live in a nice, square, ugly, old Georgian house, with good grounds. -When we are ambitious we call them the park. We have a good many -tenants, who are a continual bother through wanting things done for -them and not paying their rents. We are exactly like our neighbours, -except that we have both been to college.” A prudential instinct, for -which she commended herself, restrained her from mentioning the Gold -Medal, though she had already exulted in Wylie’s undisguised -astonishment when he was made acquainted with Maurice’s poetical fame. - -Eirene sighed. “I am so sorry,” she said. “I had fancied---- There is -something so striking about your brother--a mingling of strength and -gentleness and carelessness--no, that is the wrong word; _insouciance_ -is what I mean--that I could not help hoping he was really noble.” - -The temptation to reveal the truth was so overwhelming that Zoe took -refuge in a highly moral tone. “You have such a horribly snobbish way -of looking at things,” she said severely, “thinking whether people are -noble instead of whether they are nice. Maurice and Captain Wylie are -English gentlemen, and an English gentleman is the equal of any one in -the world.” - -“And an English lady?” demanded Eirene smartly. - -“Superior to any one in the world, I should think, judging by the way -in which foreign royalties employ English governesses,” retorted Zoe. - -“I had an English governess,” said Eirene, closing her eyes languidly. -“She was very highly connected, she said so; and she believed that one -of the foresters--gamekeepers, you say?--was in love with her. She -used to drop her handkerchief for him to pick up.” - -“Poor thing! No doubt she wanted some consolation--or perhaps she was -going crazy,” said Zoe. “I expect you led her a life.” - -“You consider me very unamiable?” asked Eirene curiously. “Tell me, -then; what do you think of me, honestly?” - -“I don’t think you are unamiable really, but you seem to think of no -one but yourself, and you are always thinking of yourself. You told me -to say what I thought.” - -“I know; I suppose it is true. You consider me selfish. Well, I will -try to improve. And to begin, I beg you will go to Maurice and ask him -from me to take you for a long walk. I have kept you too much with -me.” - -“Oh, nonsense!” said Zoe, laughing; “it’s very nice here. I’m not -going to leave you all alone.” - -“I insist that you go. And don’t fear my being dull. I have much to -do, for I must mend my skirt before I put it on to-morrow. Pray leave -me your workbox.” - -“Why, I never noticed it,” said Zoe, turning to the skirt as it hung -on the wall. Five or six inches of braid were hanging in a loop. “But -I’ll do it for you in a minute.” - -“No,” said Eirene stiffly, “you are not my maid.” - -“Then we’ll do it together, if you are so proud. But you can’t work -with one hand in a sling.” - -“It is only the left, and it will suffice to hold the work,” persisted -Eirene. “Go!” she cried, with sudden anger. “I will not have you -criticising my untidy stitches. I will do it by myself, if it takes me -till dark.” - -Shrugging her shoulders, Zoe took her hat and left the room. When she -returned at dusk, after a glorious walk through the hills, Eirene had -accomplished her task, and was trying the skirt on. Zoe looked at it -in surprise. - -“Why, how funny it looks!” she said. “You must have puckered it -dreadfully. It sticks out in such a queer way above the hem. Let me -pull it down.” - -She knelt to try and twitch the folds into place, but Eirene pulled -them away pettishly. - -“How tiresome you are, Zoe! It will look all right. I have put in some -weights to keep it down better. If you don’t call attention to it, -nobody will notice, and it will fall perfectly when I have worn it a -day or two.” - -“Well, I must say I don’t admire your tailoring,” said Zoe, rising -from her knees. “You must have put in too many weights. Your tailor -would simply break his heart if he saw that skirt. I believe I could -have done it better, though I don’t profess to be great at sewing.” - -“I have arranged it as I like it,” said Eirene, with so much dignity -that her companion dropped the subject, though the ill-hung skirt was -an eyesore to her all the next day, when Eirene came downstairs and -was escorted on a short walk through the village. On the following day -they left the Han to resume their interrupted journey, but intending -to spend a night at the station on the other side of the river, lest -Eirene should be over-tired by the long drive. They took only their -hand-luggage with them in the carriage, leaving the larger boxes to -follow with those of the passengers who would be due to join the train -the next morning. The whole population of the village seemed to have -turned out to see them start, from the priest to the most slipshod -drudge at the inn, and Zoe flattered herself that they presented an -imposing appearance, with Haji Ahmad, armed to the teeth, on the box -beside the driver. The carriage itself, a nondescript vehicle of the -victoria species, stood much in need of a visit to the coachbuilder’s, -but it was large enough to allow of Eirene’s being made comfortable -with cushions, and Wylie gave it as his mature opinion that, with -reasonable care on the driver’s part, it ought to hold out until the -end of the day. The road did not lead through the dark forests of -evergreen oak, but through much more cheerful beechwoods, and the -scenery was less savage than that in the river-gorge. It was just like -a picnic, Zoe declared, and she only wished they could finish their -journey to Therma in this way instead of by train. - -About noon they stopped to change horses, and ate their lunch in a -rickety shelter of poles and vines attached in lean-to fashion to the -post-station. A little beyond this the road divided, presenting a -fairly steep ascent on the right, and a more gradual descent on the -left. The driver took the road to the right without hesitation, and -Maurice and Wylie and Haji Ahmad got out to make it easier for the -horses. Maurice walked by the side of the carriage, chatting with the -girls, but Wylie and the servant fell behind, and it seemed to Zoe -that they were talking earnestly. When the top of the hill was -reached, showing a prospect of further hills, the road through which -was barely distinguishable, Wylie went forward and spoke sharply to -the driver, using a jargon of his own invention of broken Thracian -helped out with Roumi and Arabic words, in which he had managed to -make himself understood at the Han. The driver answered at first only -by a broad stare and a look of bewilderment, but presently his face -cleared, and he poured forth a torrent of words, gesticulating -vehemently with his whip. The explanation he offered seemed to satisfy -Wylie, though Haji Ahmad still looked uneasy as he climbed to his -place. As soon as Wylie was in the carriage again, Zoe asked him what -had passed. - -“Haji Ahmad thought we were taking the wrong road,” he answered -lightly, “but the driver says this is shorter than the other, and the -landlord told him to take it in order to make the journey as short as -possible for your sister.” - -“But it is much rougher,” objected Zoe. - -“So I told him, but he says that he had not allowed for our stopping -for lunch, and that to go back down that long hill would lose so much -time that we shouldn’t get in till after dark, which would be no joke -on these roads. I don’t think there’s any fear of his losing himself. -As he says, it’s obvious that both roads lead to the river and the -Roman bridge, though this one goes across the hill and the other goes -round it.” - -Maurice and Eirene had scarcely noticed what had been said, and under -cover of their talk and laughter Zoe ventured to ask, “But what if he -did lead us wrong?” - -“I’m afraid I should be guilty of conniving at Roumi oppression, and -leave him to Haji Ahmad to deal with,” said Wylie, laughing. They went -on into the hills, the track becoming rougher as they advanced, until -Maurice wedged Eirene in with all the luggage of the party, that she -might not be thrown out. Zoe heard Wylie muttering maledictions on the -driver under his breath, and saw him casting glances alternately at -the sun and the way they had come, evidently calculating whether there -was time even now to retrace their steps. The driver was obviously -anxious to escape as soon as possible from the resentment of his -passengers, who were being rattled about like peas in a pod, for he -was driving furiously, making the dilapidated carriage bound from -hillock to hollow. Zoe looked across at Wylie, and, raising her voice, -asked if he could not tell the man to go more quietly; but before he -could turn his head, the driver had disappeared suddenly from her -view. Something whirred over the carriage, sweeping Haji Ahmad from -the box to the ground with a clatter of weapons, and the driver was in -his place again as if by magic, pulling up his horses frantically in -obedience to hoarse shouts in front. He must have ducked to avoid a -rope fastened across the road, was Zoe’s last coherent thought. The -carriage stopped violently, half across the track, and events came -with a rush. Zoe saw Maurice and Wylie spring up from their seats, saw -Maurice felled with the butt-end of a gun, and Wylie raging, furiously -helpless, in a noose which the driver had dexterously thrown over him, -pinioning his arms to his sides. Huge, hairy hands seized her and -Eirene, dragged them out and flung them roughly on the ground, while -fierce voices cursed them by saints with uncouth names. A wild -struggle was going on, and the two prostrate girls were undoubtedly in -the way, so that they were trampled upon impartially by both sides. -Zoe had an awful glimpse of Haji Ahmad, his face streaming with blood, -fighting desperately for his life, before she succeeded in dragging -herself out of the fray, to find Maurice flung aside stunned and -bleeding, and Eirene, who had fallen on her wounded arm, moaning -faintly. The mob of ruffians in dirty white kilts who were yelling and -struggling round the carriage paid no attention to her, and she crept -towards the other two. - -“Don’t look that way--don’t!” cried Wylie, breaking out of the crowd -and thrusting himself between her and them--a ludicrous figure enough, -with torn coat, no hat, and arms bound tightly behind him. “That’s all -right,” as she lifted Maurice’s head. “There’s a flask in my pocket if -you can get at it. Buck up, Miss Eirene! Don’t let these fellows hear -an English girl making that noise.” - -“I am not English!” cried Eirene, sitting up indignantly. “At least, I -mean---- Oh, what are they doing?” as a single awful cry of agony came -from the centre of the throng of robbers, and made Zoe almost drop the -flask. - -“Don’t look, don’t look!” entreated Wylie. “That’s it, Miss Smith, try -and get a drop into his mouth. Now, Miss Eirene”--sharply--“can’t you -unfasten your brother’s collar, and hold up his head?” - -“I’ll do it,” said Zoe, as Eirene touched Maurice’s tie delicately; -“you take the flask. Oh!” stopping short with trembling fingers, as a -second and feebler cry was heard. - -“It’s over now, at any rate,” said Wylie, setting his lips. “Get your -brother’s head tied up quickly, before these fiends have time to -remember us. Each man is bound to give the poor wretch a stab, dead -though he may be.” - -“Is it Haji Ahmad?” asked Zoe faintly, as she folded her handkerchief -into a pad. - -“Yes. A Roumi need expect no mercy from these fellows. Take my -handkerchief for a bandage; it’s larger than yours. Oh, good heavens! -have you no knife or scissors that you could cut this rope with, and -give me a chance to stand up to them when they turn round?” - -“In the carriage?” suggested Zoe, measuring the distance with her eye. -“Oh, Maurice has a knife, of course.” - -“Leave it, leave it!” he cried quickly; “they’re coming. Stand up if -you can, Smith,” as Maurice opened his eyes feebly. “No, it’s no good. -Keep quiet.” - -He stood before the girls, and it seemed to Zoe that the advancing -robbers quailed when they met his eye, and shuffled their -blood-stained yataghans out of sight, as though suddenly conscious of -the awful mass on the ground behind them. - -“Can any of you speak English?” he cried. - -“Me--a leetle,” said a small, slim man, pushing his way to the front. - -“What do you want with us?” - -“We take all you got, zen get moch money for you,” was the reply, -given with an ingratiating grin. - -“So I thought. Well, I have this to say to you. You can pillage my -friend and me if you like, but you won’t lay a finger upon the ladies. -They will turn out their pockets and show you what they’ve got, and -you can take what you want.” - -The interpreter turned to his friends, apparently not sorry to escape -from Wylie’s glance, and explained the terms to them. Absurd though it -seemed, the will of the bound and defenceless prisoner prevailed above -the murmurs that arose, and the interpreter undertook, on behalf of -the chief of the band, that the girls should not be searched if Wylie -would swear on the Evangelists that they had given up everything. - -“Turn out your pockets, quickly,” he said to them, as two of the men -seized him, and two others dragged Maurice to his feet and propped him -against a tree. - -“I won’t!” cried Eirene, her eyes flaming. - -“Nonsense! you must. Didn’t you hear me promise for you?” He spoke -with difficulty, trying to turn round while his captors thrust and -pulled him about. - -“I don’t care. I never gave you leave to make promises for me. If they -touch me, I’ll kill them.” - -What she held in her hand neither Zoe nor Wylie could see, but the -brigands were clamouring and the interpreter insistent. - -“Let me talk to her,” cried Wylie, wrenching himself, with his collar -loose and his coat hanging by one sleeve, from the hands that held -him. “Look here, Miss Eirene, you must. You are not going to expose -your sister to the risk of being searched by these fellows?” - -“She can do as she likes. I won’t be searched, and I will give up -nothing.” - -“Smith, make your sister behave rationally. She will have all our -blood on her head in a minute.” Maurice, held up by the two men who -were searching him, made an effort to speak, but in vain, and Eirene -turned her back on him. One of the brigands seized Zoe by the arm, and -Wylie grew desperate. - -“For the last time, turn out your pockets!” he said low and fiercely -to Eirene. “If you don’t, I swear to you, on my word and honour, I’ll -get my hands loosed and do it myself.” - -Eirene was cowed. A muttered “Your honour!” passed her lips, but -slowly and reluctantly she extracted from all the many pockets with -which the Vindobona tailor had provided her such spoils as struck the -brigands dumb with awe and astonishment, while Zoe looked on -stupefied. Nearly all the jewellery Eirene had exhibited in the train -seemed to be secreted about her person--pearls, rubies, emeralds, -everything except the quaint enamelled plaques which she had said she -prized most of all. There could be no doubt that before parting with -her jewel-case she had removed all its most valuable contents. - -“Is that all?” asked Wylie sternly, and she drew a bracelet from under -her sleeve, and hurled it passionately on the heap at her feet. - -“That is everything,” she said defiantly. “And I wish you and your -friends joy of it. Of course I knew from the first that you were in -league with them.” - -“Now it is your turn,” said Wylie to Zoe, and she added to the heap a -collection which filled the brigands with indignation, noticing as she -did so that Eirene’s bracelet bore an eagle upon it--a design which -seemed in some way familiar. A shabby purse moderately filled, two -note-books, one very small, and the other large enough to require a -special pocket for its accommodation, and a serviceable -pencil-case--these were all that the robbers cared to appropriate of -her possessions, but Maurice and Wylie were despoiled of everything -their pockets contained. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - A NIGHT’S LODGING. - -For a minute or two the captives were left standing together while -the brigands divided the spoil, each man stowing his share away in the -bag slung knapsack-wise over his shoulder, and Wylie said hastily to -Zoe, “You had better pick up what you can of the things they have -left. Of course we shall be rescued to-morrow, but you will be more -comfortable to-night.” - -Obediently Zoe gathered together various odds and ends of clothing, -one or two of Eirene’s hair-brushes, deprived of their silver backs, -and such other trifles as the cupidity or ingenuity of the brigands -saw no use for. Her note-books and writing materials, the contents of -her travelling workbox, and the little “first-aid” case on which she -prided herself, had all been seized upon as valuable spoils, and she -found herself as destitute as the most heedless traveller could -deserve to be. Eirene, brooding sullenly over her wrongs, gave her no -help in her search, and she rolled up the poor remains of their joint -possessions into a bundle and tied it round with a broken -umbrella-strap. This was only done just in time, for the brigands, -their delightful task accomplished with a good deal of squabbling and -murmuring against the decisions of the chief, had leisure to think of -their prisoners. Accompanied by two others leading the horses which -had been taken from the carriage, the interpreter came towards them. - -“Behold! we beneficent beings,” he observed genially. “We furnish even -horses zat ze women may ride.” - -“I fancied we provided the horses,” murmured Maurice, from his seat on -the ground. - -“I won’t ride,” said Zoe quickly. “Maurice must. He can’t walk.” - -“Nonsense! I can walk perfectly well,” said Maurice. - -“For goodness’ sake do what they tell you,” said Wylie anxiously. -“It’s only for one night.” - -“Your eyes most be blinded,” pursued the interpreter. Zoe gasped. - -“He means blindfolded,” explained Maurice, as the man produced the -dirtiest handkerchief any of the captives had ever seen. - -“Oh no, no!” entreated Zoe, breaking down at last. “Why, they might -take us and you in different directions, and we should never know. -I’ll shut my eyes--anything, but don’t let us be blindfolded. Do speak -to them,” she begged of Wylie. “They listen to you.” - -“Pull yourself together,” he said sternly. “I should never have -suspected you of being hysterical.” The accusation told, and Zoe, with -both hands pressed to her chest, fought down the threatening sobs. -Wylie turned to the interpreter. “Look here,” he said, “the ladies are -frightened. If they think they are to be separated from their brother -they will give you a lot of trouble. Why should you blindfold them? If -you lead the horses they can’t possibly escape.” - -“I know a treek----” began the interpreter airily, but here his memory -failed him; “double valuable to zat one,” he concluded hastily, -beckoning to another brigand for the rope twisted round his waist. -Cutting off a short length, he fastened one end round Wylie’s neck, -and made a loop at the other. “Ze lady may hold zat,” he said, -chuckling. - -“All right,” said Wylie, checking with a glance a horrified outburst -from Zoe. “Quite mediæval, isn’t it, Miss Smith--mounted ladies -leading captive knights on foot? Lucky for me that I’m not assigned to -your sister, or she might avenge her wrongs by strangling -me--accidentally, of course.” - -“Will you endure it?” demanded Eirene fiercely of Maurice, as Zoe, -trembling with indignation, submitted to be blindfolded and lifted on -one of the horses, with a rug for a saddle. - -“What can’t be cured must be endured,” he responded easily. “What -would you suggest I should do?” - -“Die!” she hurled at him. “I would, in your place.” - -“If you really wish that, I can oblige you in a minute or two. You -have only to refuse to be blindfolded or to mount your horse. The -brigands will naturally proceed to handle you roughly, and I shall -feel bound to throw myself forward in your defence. I think I could -manage to get killed then. Wylie will be there to look after you and -Zoe, and you will be able to think well of me.” - -“You say that to prevent my offering any resistance!” she said -angrily. - -“Well, do you wonder that I prefer living to dying?” - -“You English have no sense of honour! But I am unjust. You are not -noble; why should you prefer death to disgrace?” - -At this Maurice laughed, quite unintentionally, disgusting Eirene so -much that she submitted as meekly as Zoe had done to be blindfolded -and mounted, and slipped the loop of cord over her wrist with a kind -of fierce satisfaction. After this humiliation, she thought, even Zoe -could no longer pretend that Maurice and Wylie were her equals! The -reflection pleased her, and she rode along almost contentedly, -reviewing her own past conduct and approving it, which is always a -soothing occupation. Maurice, his arm gripped by one of the brigands, -who acted both as guide and guard, trudged silently beside her horse, -which was led by another of the band. Behind them came Zoe and Wylie, -similarly escorted, and the rest of the brigands acted as front and -rear guards respectively, their moccasin-clad feet making no sound on -the stony soil. The chief had commanded perfect silence, and the -horses’ feet were muffled. - -Zoe’s heart was full to bursting. The humiliations inflicted on her -brother and Wylie touched her to the quick, and she experienced on -their behalf all the indignation that they pretended not to feel. Most -incongruously, the thought of the utter absurdity of the position -afflicted her at times with an agony of mirth, and moment by moment -she was forced to choke down the inclination to scream or to break -into wild laughter. The occasional touch of Wylie’s shoulder against -her knee as he stumbled over the rough ground comforted and calmed -her, bringing a sense of the known and the ordinary into the fantastic -circumstances of the present. Once or twice she put out a timid hand -to make sure that he was still there, receiving a muttered word of -encouragement in answer, and the friendly contact enabled her to -repress the hysterical outburst she dreaded. - -The journey seemed already to have lasted for hours when, after -descending a very steep hill, the interpreter announced that there was -a “reever” in front, and that Maurice and Wylie must submit to be -carried across. With one voice they assured him that they would prefer -to wade, but he explained that the chief’s solicitude for their health -was so great that he would not hear of their running the risk of -catching cold. Zoe laughed involuntarily on hearing this, and thus -relieved her feelings a little, though horribly ashamed of her lack of -sympathy. The brigands must either be adepts in the art of torture by -pin-pricks, or totally destitute of a sense of humour. Maurice -muttered that he did not see the joke, as he was carried off by two -stalwart ruffians down a sloping bank, across, and up again, but Wylie -manufactured a creditable response to her laugh. “A Gilbert and -Sullivan melodrama, isn’t it?” he said, as he also was safely conveyed -across the twenty feet or so of what must be presumed to be a rushing -torrent, from the way in which the bearers slipped and tumbled about. -The horses crossed with surprising steadiness, and the journey was -resumed, the track now trending generally up instead of down. Zoe had -lost all inclination to laugh by this time. She was cold and tired, -and stiff and miserable, and full of terrible apprehensions. If Wylie -had not been close at hand she would have defied the opinion of the -brigands and cried like a baby, but she could not break down in his -presence. He expected her to be brave, and she tried to forget her -aching limbs and think only of the literary use to which she could put -this disagreeable experience in the future. This was the way in which -she usually comforted herself in her troubles, but it did not seem -quite adequate now, and a weary sigh broke from her. The mere physical -feat of sitting her horse without pommel or stirrup seemed no longer -possible. If only she could slide to the ground and sleep! - -“Keep up!” murmured Wylie. “Milosch--that’s the interpreter chap--says -it’s only a little farther.” - -Once more she pulled herself together and replied cheerfully, and -before long the necessity for endurance ceased. A subtle change in the -muffled sounds surrounding her showed her that the horse was being led -into a building of some sort, and when he stopped she slid off -helplessly, much to the amusement of the brigands. Amid their -laughter, Milosch took the handkerchief from her eyes, and as soon as -she could distinguish her surroundings she found that she was -crouching close to a recently kindled fire in a low shed built of -rough stones. There was a square hole in the roof, approached by a -ladder, and the intense blackness above seemed to show that there was -a second storey of some sort. Eirene, Maurice, and Wylie were standing -near her, blinking in the firelight, and the brigands were arranging -their cloaks on the ground, or rummaging in their bags. - -“Ascend up!” commanded Milosch, seizing Maurice by the arm and -pointing to the ladder. “We are charitable, we give you food when you -deposited safe in supernal regions.” - -“He can’t climb that ladder with his hands tied!” cried Zoe -indignantly. “Why don’t you untie him?” - -Milosch looked doubtfully at the chief, who shrugged his shoulders -contemptuously, and the cords were removed, care being taken not to -cut them. “We tie you again morning,” observed the interpreter, with -his cheerful smile. Maurice mounted the ladder, the girls followed, -and Wylie, who had lingered to secure the rugs which had served as -saddles, and request the loan of two of the brigands’ large overcoats, -brought up the rear. - -“It’s nothing but a hay-loft!” cried Zoe in horrified accents. - -“Excuse me,” said Wylie; “it is a loft with hay in it, which is a much -better thing, since it provides us all with beds. You’ll see, Miss -Smith. While we are waiting until our friends below send us up some -supper, we will curtain off the space at the end for you and your -sister. Smith and I will keep close to the hole, so that if the -brigands are up to any mischief in the night, they must wake us before -they can get near you.” - -His tone was so cheerful and matter-of-fact that Zoe forgot her -fatigue and her fears, and held the rug for him while he tied one -corner by its fringe to a jagged nail he had discovered in the sloping -roof. The other side of the improvised curtain presented some -difficulty, for there was nothing to which to fasten it, until she -produced a stout hat-pin, which Wylie hammered into a crevice with the -heel of his boot. Eirene disapproved of this use of the hat-pin. - -“You should keep it for a better purpose,” she said. “Mine I regard as -a dagger.” - -“Do you mean to say that was all you had in your hand this afternoon?” -cried Zoe. - -“Why not? I would have used it, as I said, and it would kill if one -struck hard enough.” - -“I only wish I had known!” murmured Wylie, with heartfelt earnestness. -“There, Miss Smith! now your room is ready, you see. You can make -capital nests in the hay, and here are these two greatcoats to cover -you. It won’t be luxurious, of course, but it’s only for one----” He -broke off suddenly, and changed the subject. “Smith and I have this -other rug, so we shall do well. We shall all sleep without rocking -to-night, I think.” - -“But can’t we manage to escape while the brigands are asleep?” said -Maurice, lowering his voice. - -“Scarcely, since they are safe to take away the ladder, and it -wouldn’t do much good to drop down in the middle of them. The fire’s -there, you know.” - -“If we were in a Henty book,” said Zoe thoughtfully, “we should cut a -hole through the roof and let ourselves down outside.” - -“Unfortunately they have sentries all round,” said Wylie. “I heard the -chief placing them. The only chance would be to bribe one, and we have -nothing to do it with.” - -Eirene laughed. “If you had not robbed me of my jewels this afternoon, -we should not have been destitute,” she remarked, as if to explain her -mirth. - -“I shall begin to wish I had left you to be searched in Balkan -fashion,” muttered Wylie. - -“Now look here, Eirene,” said Maurice, in his most elder-brotherly -tone, “just drop it. If you are our sister, you must put up with -things, and not make yourself unpleasant to our friends. You were -frightfully silly this afternoon, and might have risked all our lives, -and you ought to thank Wylie for what he did. We are all in one boat, -and it’s simply idiotic to keep up grudges in this way. Wylie is an -old campaigner, and Zoe and I are quite content to put ourselves under -his orders. You must do the same, content or not.” - -He expected a fierce protest from Eirene, but the authoritative tone -seemed to cow her. “You don’t understand what my jewels were to me,” -she pleaded. “They were my whole fortune, and the pledge of my -birthright, and now I have lost them. But do not fear. You shall all -experience my gratitude in the future, and I shall bear no malice -against Captain Wylie for his excess of zeal.” - -“Much obliged, I’m sure,” grunted Wylie, looking as if he thought -Eirene a little mad, and Zoe hastened to cover the indiscretion by -remarking-- - -“When you talk in that way, Eirene, you always make me think of Miss -Flite promising to ‘confer estates.’ Don’t you think it’s horribly -unfair, Captain Wylie, that she should be able to patronise Maurice -and me in this way?” - -Wylie’s reply was fortunately anticipated by the arrival of Milosch, -who came up the ladder bearing a small collection of lumps of black -bread and very ancient cheese, and a skin bottle of water. - -“Are we not beneficents?” he asked proudly, depositing his burden on -the rug. “We give you our own food!” - -“That’s all very well,” said Maurice, peering down after him as he -descended. “They are eating the white bread and things we left in the -luncheon-basket.” - -“How can we eat such stuff as this?” asked Zoe in dismay, for bread -and cheese were alike as hard as a rock. - -“Ask them to send up a little white bread for the ladies,” suggested -Wylie; and Maurice, who was sitting nearest the hole in the floor, -obeyed, only to receive the answer, “You are our guests. We give you -our own food.” - -Prudently refraining from increasing the girls’ aversion for the food -by mentioning that he had seen it collected from the sacks of the -different brigands, where it had reposed in close contact with wax, -tobacco, thread and leather for soling moccasins, rag for cleaning -guns, and other useful articles, Maurice broke off a piece of the -bread by knocking it against the roof, and tasting it, pronounced it -not so bad when you were hungry. Eirene confessed to having tasted -black bread before, when paying visits to peasants’ huts, but added -contemptuously that she had never expected to find it actually set -before her for a meal. However, since there was nothing else, they all -managed to nibble a little, and then the girls, almost asleep already, -retired behind their curtain, and were soon slumbering peacefully, -undisturbed by the loud snores from below, which showed that however -guilty the collective conscience of the brigands might be, it did not -keep them awake. - -It seemed to Zoe and Eirene that they had scarcely slept at all when -they heard Maurice’s voice warning them that it was time to get up, -and they looked at one another in dismay by the light which poured -through the holes in the roof, realising that their faces were haggard -and their hair full of hay. - -“I suppose we can do our hair without a looking-glass,” said Zoe. “But -do you think there is any hot water?” - -The question sounded so absurdly incongruous that she was not -surprised to hear it answered by a laugh from Maurice on the other -side of the curtain. “There is a stream,” he said, “and you have leave -to wash your faces and hands. You’re lucky to have kept your -tooth-brushes, for Wylie and I have to use twigs, like the mild -Hindu.” - -“I shouldn’t have thought the brigands would care for tooth-brushes,” -said Zoe. - -“They don’t--for their teeth; they use them for cleaning their -guns--I’ve seen them. So be thankful, and don’t shirk the cold water. -I can even supply you with soap, for Milosch has just lent me a piece -of our own, with strict injunctions to return it, and much -self-congratulation on his generosity.” - -“I think the estimable Milosch is becoming rather a bore,” said Zoe -viciously, trying to shake the hay off her skirt. “Don’t go down until -I have bandaged your head again, Maurice. I want to do it properly by -daylight.” - -“Considering the want of water and light up here, wouldn’t it be as -well to do it downstairs?” suggested Maurice; and Zoe, agreeing, -presently found herself and her patient the centre of interest to the -brigands. This publicity had its advantages in that she quickly -distinguished the man to whom her first-aid case had fallen, and with -some difficulty obtained through Milosch its temporary restoration. -While the interpreter strutted about, proclaiming loudly to the -prisoners the magnanimity of their captors in thus providing them with -surgical treatment, she cut away the hair round the cut, joined the -edges with strips of plaster, and crowned Maurice with a turban of -bandages, to the intense admiration of the spectators. As soon as she -had finished, they hustled forward one of their number, who had -received a somewhat similar wound in Haji Ahmad’s last desperate -fight, and informed her, through Milosch, that he also required -medical attendance. - -“Don’t touch the dirty brute,” said Wylie. “I’ll tie him up -roughly--quite good enough for him. He’s not fit for you to handle.” - -“Oh no, I’ll do it,” said Zoe reluctantly, for the aspect of the -wounded man was not alluring. “I never realised before ‘how very hard -it is to be a Christian,’” she said, rather faintly, when the task was -over, and one of the men filled the rough leathern bucket with fresh -water that she might wash her hands. - -“I don’t think practical Christianity need go quite so far,” said -Wylie savagely, but the chief was calling to Zoe. - -“Stoyan ze Voivoda say, ‘Here, girl!’” explained Milosch, and Zoe -hesitated. The chief held out a piece of her own chocolate, with an -attempt at a smile, and after a struggle with herself, she advanced -and accepted it. It was better than the black bread and hard cheese. - -“Lo, ze munificence of our autocrat!” exclaimed Milosch, striking an -attitude of reverential admiration. “He provide his guests with -sweetmeats!” - -“Oh, stow that, Milosch!” entreated Maurice; “it’s getting stale. -Considering that the things are our own, it would be in better taste -to say nothing about them.” - -Milosch smiled uncomfortably, and joined Stoyan for a murmured -confabulation, returning quickly to the prisoners, who were mitigating -their hard fare with minute fragments of the chocolate. - -“Ze Voivoda say he not tie your hands to-day if you plight your -gentlemanly faith to try not to escape,” he said to Maurice and Wylie. -“We going into mountains, where ze women most walk, and zey need your -help.” - -“To try not to escape?” said Zoe. “Oh, he means not to try to escape. -You can promise that, can’t you?” - -“No, no,” said Eirene eagerly. “It is a deception, a snare--I am sure -of it. Doubtless the way is easy, and lies through villages, where it -would cause suspicion if you were seen to be fettered, and the -brigands think they will make us appear as tourists guided by them. -Surely you won’t cripple yourselves by such a promise?” - -“It does seem rather insane,” agreed Maurice. “What do you say, Wylie? -We should feel pretty small if we found we had debarred ourselves from -accepting a good chance of escape.” - -“I confess I don’t quite see how we are to escape with two ladies -through a country which we don’t know and the brigands do,” said -Wylie. “Even Miss Smith’s Henty heroes would have found it a large -order. But don’t think I want to back out of any unpleasantness that’s -going.” - -“Well, let us split the difference,” said Maurice, “and refuse to give -our parole until we see the sort of way they take us. If it is very -bad for the girls, we can still ask to be undone.” - -“You fools one and ozer,” remarked Milosch sardonically, when he heard -their decision. “Behold our slighted consideration avenge itself in -severity.” - -The meaning of this cryptic sentence appeared immediately, for the -brigands, offended by the rejection of their offer, bound the two -men’s arms behind them so tightly that the cords cut into the flesh. -Wylie laughed grimly. “We can’t choose to be bound, and then complain -because they bind us,” he said. “I am sorry to be unkind, Miss Smith, -but the sooner you find the track too difficult for you, the better we -shall be pleased.” - -Even now there was some time to wait before the start, while two men, -detailed for the purpose, removed the ashes of the fire and other -traces of the night’s occupation from the cattle-shed where it had -been spent, and the rest of the brigands made up their loads, those -who carried the rugs complaining angrily because the prisoners were -obviously unable to do so. Then the procession set out, with the -captives in the middle, the girls uneasily silent, frightened by the -unpleasant result of Eirene’s advice. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - THE HISTORY OF A DAY. - -Eirene’s ingenious idea had been signally mistaken. This was evident -almost as soon as the little clearing in which the cattle-shed stood -had been left behind, and, indeed, it could never have been -entertained if the prisoners had been able to see their way and the -nature of their surroundings the night before. Far from being an easy -road, leading through villages, the path was a mere goat-track, -plunging into the very heart of the mountains. To the active brigands, -in their flexible moccasins, it presented no particular difficulty, -but it was full of perils and alarms for inexperienced climbers -wearing boots. At first, Zoe and Eirene shrank nervously from the gaps -in the pathway, and the narrow ledges on which they were expected to -creep round corners of rock; but the curses and threats which followed -the slightest hesitation soon drove them on in blind terror. The -brigands were worse than the mountain. Realising that Maurice and -Wylie were helpless, the girls maintained sufficient resolution not to -appeal to them, even by a glance, as they stumbled painfully up the -track, their arms tortured by the cords. Not only curses, but blows, -were showered on them whenever they missed their footing; but the -treatment meted out to the girls was what they found hardest to bear. -At last, when Zoe slipped and almost fell, and the nearest brigand’s -grimy paw clutched her and shook her savagely, Wylie could stand it no -longer. - -“Smith, we must give our parole!” he called to Maurice. “Your sisters -can’t get on alone. Here, you interpreter, tell them we’ll promise not -to try to escape.” - -A halt was called, and a good deal of discussion ensued among the -brigands. There was an evident disposition to allow Maurice and Wylie -to bear the consequences of their refusal to the bitter end, but the -men who were carrying the rugs objected, and so did the two who were -charged with seeing to the girls’ safety. It was unreasonable, they -pointed out with much cogency, to expect them to be bothered with -these troublesome women and their parcels, when the task could be -imposed upon their natural protectors, and the plea commended itself -at length to the rest. While Milosch delivered an oration on the -unsurpassed kindness of the brigands in allowing the captives to -change their minds, the chief cut the cords with his knife, and -ordered an immediate advance. Chafing his numbed wrists, Wylie joined -Zoe. - -“We may have prevented you from escaping!” she said miserably. - -“Not a bit of it. At least, if you see any chance of escape here in -these atrocious hills, I must say I don’t. Take my arm, won’t you? the -path is wider just here. Oh, I say”--he had caught sight of tears in -her eyes--“please don’t! You’re not fagged out yet?” - -“It’s--not that,” came in a series of gasps. “It’s seeing you--and -Maurice--knocked about--and not being--able to do--anything. I -hate--being a woman.” - -“It’s all in the day’s work,” with discreet evasiveness. “Come, now, -make up your mind you’re campaigning--‘climbing the Afghan -mountain-track,’ you know.” - -“In the Khoord-Cabul disaster?” with the ghost of a smile. - -“What a cheerful mind you have! But after all, the captives were -rescued that time, so it’s a good omen. There! that’s right,” as Zoe -stumbled and saved herself by catching at him. “Don’t make us feel -that our tremendous sacrifice was in vain. I’m afraid your sister -hasn’t forgiven me yet. She refused my help so decidedly just now that -I had no choice but to leave her to your brother.” - -“She has rather strained ideas of honour,” said Zoe hesitatingly, “and -I think she imagines you lead Maurice wrong. You see, it was you who -offered to give the parole, and I suppose that sends you down in her -estimation.” - -“Well, it’s a good fault, at any rate--too keen a sense of honour. We -English are too ready, no doubt, to think that because a thing is a -compromise it must be right. Your sister will be a fine woman when her -angles are a little rubbed off, if she sticks to her creed.” - -“But she doesn’t stick to it in little things!” broke out Zoe -involuntarily. “Oh, I oughtn’t to have said that!” she cried in -distress, realising how her speech must sound from Wylie’s standpoint. -“We have been brought up so differently, you know; she is always -surprising us.” - -“It was rather an experiment bringing her on a trip of this kind, -wasn’t it? Take my hand across here. I mean, some people are all right -as long as everything goes well, and they have all their own things -about them; but trouble or strangeness of any kind seems to bring all -their rough edges to light. Of course, she only wants to knock about -a bit--that’ll make all the difference,” he added hastily. - -“I--I can’t explain all the circumstances,” said Zoe, in some -confusion, “but it seemed the only thing we could do, to have her with -us. And she really means to be sisterly, I am sure. It’s only that she -doesn’t quite understand things. And we must all sink or swim -together, of course.” - -“Quite so; and I hope I may be considered a brother in that particular -sense. You wouldn’t all make your escape, and leave me in the hands of -these fellows, would you?” - -“Do you think it likely?” asked Zoe indignantly. “And I don’t think we -should have much chance of escaping without you, either. Oh,” lowering -her voice, “do tell me why you suddenly changed your mind about our -being rescued? At first, you said over and over again that we should -only be prisoners for one night, but when we got to the shed yesterday -evening you stopped in the middle of a sentence and seemed to remember -something, and since then you have made no more prophecies.” - -“It wasn’t that I remembered something, but that I realised -something,” said Wylie, shifting the rugs he was carrying from his arm -to his shoulder, and speaking under their shelter. “When I expected to -be rescued to-day, I thought we should still be inside the triangle -formed by the road, the railway, and the river, in which we were -captured. When we did not arrive last night, the people across the -river would inquire by telegraph whether we had started, and it would -be seen at once that something had happened to us on the road. There -are enough soldiers and gendarmes within easy reach to sweep the -triangle thoroughly from the road and railway to the river, and we -were bound to be discovered.” - -“And it was after we crossed the river that you saw we were no longer -inside the triangle? But I thought the country to the south was much -more settled. Would the brigands really take us there?” - -“Ah, that’s their artfulness. Did you truly think it was the river we -crossed last night--only twenty feet wide, and shallow enough to wade -through?” - -“But what else could it have been--just a stream? Then we should still -be inside the triangle.” - -“It was not water at all; it was the railway.” - -“Oh!” said Zoe blankly. “How could you tell?” she added. - -“Didn’t you notice that there was no sound of water? One would have -expected a good deal of noise from the way in which the brigands -pretended to stumble about, as if the current was a swift and broken -one. That struck me at one, and I listened hard. If the men carrying -me had been wearing boots, I should have heard them crunching on the -ballast, or knocking against the rails, but of course their moccasins -made no noise. But I noticed that they lifted their feet to avoid -something four times, and by calculating the length of their steps I -found it was just where the rails would naturally come. Then I was -sure.” - -“Then it’s no good our hoping to be rescued soon?” - -“We won’t give up hope, certainly. But it’s a stern-chase now--no -chance of our being surrounded. And this is the brigands’ own country, -where the Grand Seignior’s writ can hardly be said to run.” - -“Then it may be days--or weeks--or months?” breathed Zoe faintly. “How -can we stand it?” - -“Only a day at a time, at any rate, and any day may be the last. Think -you are on the North-West Frontier, as that appeals to you so much. -I’ll fight my battles, or rather scrambles, o’er again for your -benefit. Do you mind telling me why it should be more comforting to be -climbing, under equally unpleasant conditions, in the Suleiman Koh -than in the Balkans?” - -“I don’t know; it’s just the feeling,” said Zoe. “Oh!” stepping on a -rolling stone and clutching at him wildly. “Oh, what shall we do? Look -at that place in front!” - -“It’s a bad bit,” said Wylie judicially. “I shall want both my hands -free.” He was twisting the rugs rapidly into a long roll, which he -passed over one of his shoulders and under the other arm. “Now if you -could lend me the hat-pin I honourably restored to you this morning, I -shall have nothing to think of but getting you across. Your brother -has done some climbing, hasn’t he? Otherwise I had better take you -over first, and come back for your sister.” - -Zoe’s lips moved, but no sound came from them as she returned him the -hat-pin, a good deal bent by its use as a peg, and he fastened the -ends of the rugs across his chest. “Now, don’t be frightened,” he said -cheerfully. “We’ll get you across all right. You may be quite sure you -are much too valuable to the brigands for them to let you get killed -here. Here’s your own particular pet ruffian coming to our help. What -a blessing it isn’t Milosch! He would stop in the middle of the most -awful places to gas about his self-sacrifice in lending his aid. And -Zeko has a rope, too. This is first-class.” - -Zeko, the brigand whose head Zoe had bound up, made signs as he came -that Wylie and he would fasten the ends of the rope round their own -waists, and take Zoe between them; and thus they started on their -perilous journey. For a hundred yards or so the path was non-existent, -the bare rock running sheer down with only a very slight slope. -Happily, the stone was soft enough to allow the cutting of holes for -feet and hands, but the brigands had not considered the comfort of -ladies in preparing these. It was almost impossible for Zoe to support -both feet or both hands at the same time, and she spent some of the -most frightful moments in her life in standing with one foot wedged -into a crevice while Zeko, hanging in some miraculous way below her in -front, guided the other to the next foothold, and Wylie, gripping the -rock firmly with one hand, held out the other that she might cling to -it as she swung herself on. The brigands in front were sitting down to -watch and criticise the performance, and those behind were quarrelling -who should pilot Maurice and Eirene, for Zeko had refused -contemptuously to trouble himself about them. A man was impressed into -the service at last, and Zoe, now safely on the path again, but sick -and faint after her terrible experience, hid her eyes that she might -not see the transit. It seemed impossible that Maurice could -accomplish it successfully, for, in addition to the difficulties Wylie -had surmounted, he had the brigand rearguard pressing on his heels, -cursing him for not quitting each foothold quicker, and even striking -his hands with their sticks to make him loose his hold of the rock. He -paid no attention to them, and would not allow Eirene to hurry, as she -was inclined to try to do, finally bringing her safely across. - -“I couldn’t have done it,” whispered Wylie to Zoe, and she welcomed -the tribute to Maurice gratefully. - -This was the worst experience in the day’s journey, but the track -still wound round projecting rocks, above precipices, and up -torrent-beds. The girls were utterly exhausted before the end was -reached, and Maurice and Wylie could only drag them ruthlessly on, -scolding, encouraging, even threatening, though not with the -cold-blooded realism of the brigands, whose untranslated menaces -betrayed an ingenuity springing from long practice in torture. At last -a thick patch of wood in a sheltered cleft on the mountain-side was -pointed out as the halting-place for the night, and two of the -brigands, who had gone on in advance some time before, rejoined the -rest with a couple of goats, which they mentioned casually that they -had requisitioned from a goatherd who was so unfortunate as to pasture -his flock in the neighbourhood. Instantly the wood became a scene of -pleasant bustle. Some of the band cleared a space for a camp, others -began to prepare huge fires where the trees would prevent the lights -being seen from the valley below, and the rest devoted themselves to -culinary operations of a brief and sketchy character. - -The prisoners were left to themselves, in the comfortable security -that they could not possibly run away, however much they might wish -it. The girls sat obediently where they had been placed, leaning -against a tree, and went to sleep forthwith, while Maurice and Wylie, -with a knife borrowed from Zeko, cut down branches and bushes and -built a hut for them--an attention which it had not occurred to the -brigands to offer. The hut was just large enough to hold the two -comfortably. Its floor was of pine-boughs covered with a rug, and it -had a kind of screen of twisted branches for a door. In front of it -the captives were allowed to kindle a small fire of their own, and at -this Wylie began to cook their supper. Milosch, with much ostentation, -had brought them a piece of goat’s-flesh as a proof of Stoyan’s -solicitude for their welfare, and Wylie cut this up into kabobs, which -he toasted on improvised wooden skewers. The smell was so savoury that -it penetrated the girls’ slumbers and woke them, and they sat up and -displayed an intelligent interest in Wylie’s proceedings as they -waited till the meat was ready. Never had they tasted anything so -delicious in their lives, they declared, as the scorched morsels of -meat, eaten as fast as they were ready, without plates or knives and -forks, from the skewers on which they were cooked. Zoe even began to -moralise on the readiness of civilised humanity to revert to savagery, -which was a proof, as Maurice said, that she was getting over her -fatigue already. After the meal the girls refused to go to bed at -once, declaring that they wanted to enjoy the sensation of resting -instead of losing it in sleep, and the faithful Zeko brought them an -offering of four cigarettes to round off the entertainment. Zoe felt -obliged to light hers and pretend to smoke it, though she dropped it -into the fire as soon as Zeko’s back was turned, but Eirene smoked as -calmly and with as much enjoyment as the men. The cigarettes, though -treated with the utmost tenderness, were soon finished, and Maurice -and Wylie stretched themselves luxuriously upon the carpet of -pine-needles which covered the ground, to enjoy a well-earned rest -after their labours. - -“If I may offer a piece of practical advice,” said Wylie to the girls, -“it is that you should take off your boots, and rest your feet as much -as possible.” - -“It’s quite clear that you have been here before, so to speak,” said -Zoe, as she prepared to comply. “When the commanding officer advises -just what one was longing to do, it’s delightful to obey.” - -“Oh, don’t!” cried Eirene, with an ostentatious groan, as she pulled -off a sadly disfigured little shoe. “I have heard you talking in that -way for hours--pretending, always pretending. ‘These are the Shinwari -Hills, all brown and burnt and bare. Below in the valley is the tower -of a Waziri chief. There is an Afridi force waiting for us round the -next corner. We are carrying rifles and rations and water-bottles and -all sorts of utterly useless things----’” - -“I appeal to you,” protested Wylie to Zoe; “did I really talk such -piffle as all that? If I did, our misfortunes must have turned my -brain.” - -“Oh, you didn’t say exactly those things,” said Eirene--“though I -heard the names so often that I know they are right--but it was always -that sort of thing, pretending that there was eternal snow on one side -and a precipice a mile deep on the other, instead of disagreeable -rough hills, covered with ugly trees, which are always either tripping -you up with their roots, or knocking off your hat with their branches. -In a day or two I shall have to wear a handkerchief on my head like a -peasant woman,” and she contemplated ruefully the remains of her hat, -which had started in life as a smart straw, with a peculiarly -deceptive and Parisian air of simplicity about it. “And instead of -noble, chivalrous Orientals”--a protest from Wylie--“with snow-white -robes and splendid turbans, we have these detestable rogues who call -themselves Christians, with kilts black with dirt, and no more feeling -than a stone. What is the use of pretending about it?” - -“It seems to have called up heroic and romantic visions in your mind, -at any rate,” said Zoe, “and that ought to have lightened the tedium -of the march.” - -“And, anyhow, I didn’t inflict it on you,” said Maurice. - -“Indeed you did not. You were too cross or too miserable--I don’t know -which--to talk, so that I heard the others the whole time.” - -“Awfully sorry to have bored you,” said Wylie. “You see, I thought it -might help your sister along if I drew on my recollections of old -days.” - -“It did,” cried Zoe. “I don’t believe I could have kept up without it. -Why did you listen, if you were bored, Eirene?” - -“It wasn’t that exactly,” explained Eirene; “but it seemed so silly. -We are not children; what good can it do to pretend?” - -“If it helps us to bear things more cheerfully, surely that’s some -good?” suggested Zoe. - -“But what is the use of pretending to be cheerful? All the first part -of the day, before I was too tired myself to care to listen, I used to -hear Captain Wylie say to you, ‘Awf’ly fagged?’ and you conjured up a -sprightly voice, and said, ‘Oh dear, no--hardly at all.’ It wasn’t -true, and he knew it. What good did it do to pretend?” - -“It was true,” said Zoe stoutly. “The mere fact of being asked the -question made one feel less tired for the moment. And you do say the -horridest things, Eirene.” - -“She is like the old woman whose clergyman remonstrated with her for -bearing her troubles so badly,” said Maurice. “The old lady told him -that when chastening was sent us, it meant that we should be -chastened, and she wasn’t going to pretend not to be.” - -“Well,” said Wylie, rather tartly, “it has grown to be a sort of -tradition, I suppose, among English people that each should keep up -for the sake of the rest, and all I can say is that I hope it’ll go -on. I don’t see the use of asking questions and speculating about it.” - -“I am inquiring into national character,” said Eirene, undaunted. “The -people I know, when they are asked if they are in trouble, acknowledge -it at once, and point out what a dreadful trouble it is, and how no -one was ever quite so sorely tried before----” - -“And turn it round and inside out, and hold it up to catch the light,” -put in Zoe. - -“But if you ask an Englishman, he looks down at you as if he was a -mile high, and says with an icy smile, ‘Not at all. Rather enjoy it -than otherwise!’” with a very fair imitation of Wylie’s displeased -manner. - -“How awfully smart you are this evening, Eirene!” drawled Maurice. -“Hairbreadth escapes seem to sharpen your wits. But I think it’s about -time all good little girls were in bed.” - -“I could talk all night when I am interested,” persisted Eirene. - -“I haven’t the very faintest, slightest shadow of doubt of it. But Zoe -is half-asleep, and Wylie is nodding, and my eyes would shut of -themselves if they were not fixed on your speaking countenance. Hullo, -what’s up?” - -There was a commotion among the brigands feasting round the other -fire, caused by the sudden arrival of a man, who was gesticulating -violently towards the direction from which they had come. By the -firelight the prisoners recognised him as their treacherous driver of -the day before. - -“Is it help? Are we going to be rescued?” cried Zoe eagerly. - -“No such luck; I wish it were,” said Wylie, who had caught some of the -newcomer’s words. “Never mind about me,” he went on, rising, “just go -to bed. I want to hear what this chap has to say.” - -He went towards the other fire, and to the horror of the three left -behind, the brigands sprang at him like one man, with howls of fury. -Curses and execrations were poured on him, he was hustled and dragged -hither and thither, and angry men threatened him with pistols and -drawn daggers. - -“What can it be?” murmured Zoe, with white lips. - -“I don’t know. Keep quiet,” said Maurice, buttoning his coat and -squaring his fists. For the girls’ sake he would keep out of it as -long as he could, but if Wylie was struck he must go in and back him -up, little as two unarmed men could hope to do against a crowd with -knives. To his relief, order was presently restored by the -intervention of the chief, after which Milosch made a long and -evidently moving oration, and Wylie returned to his friends, scowls -and murmurs of hatred following him. - -“Oh, what was it?” cried Zoe as he reached them. - -“Nothing; merely the penalty for playing the fool,” he replied. “You -know how long they kept us standing about with our hands tied before -we started this morning? I was standing rather by myself, and the -ground was sandy, so the bright idea seized me of leaving our rescuers -a clue to the way we were going. With my boot I drew ‘N.W.’ fairly -deep in the sand, shuffling about as if I was tired of standing so -long. Unfortunately, the gentleman who has just arrived reached the -place before the rescuers, and twigged what the letters meant. This -diffusion of Western learning in the East is a nuisance. Hence all the -fuss. Milosch was particularly severe on my ingratitude in trying to -betray the brigands after all they had done for us, and I had to -remind them of the way in which we were tied at that very moment. So -they calmed down, as you see.” - -“I should have done it if I had thought about it,” confessed Maurice. -“And yet--these chaps can make things so beastly uncomfortable for the -girls, you know.” - -“Oh, Maurice, don’t be so ungrateful!” cried Zoe. “If it had -succeeded, we should all be saying what a splendid idea it was, and -how clever Captain Wylie was to think of it. And, at any rate, it’s -over now.” - -“Is it over?” asked Eirene. Wylie hesitated. - -“Well,” he said, “I believe they are taking the night to think about -it. But, after all, what can they do? It wouldn’t be to their interest -to treat any of us badly, you know. They might refuse to accept my -parole and tie my hands again, but they haven’t, so far. So let us be -cheerful.” - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - ONE TOO MANY. - -“Oh, I say! It can’t be time to get up yet,” groaned Maurice, -rolling over resentfully on his couch of pine-needles as a hand was -laid on his shoulder. But the hand shook him slightly, and Wylie’s -voice said, “Wake up, and don’t make a row.” - -Throwing off the rug, Maurice sat up, blinking in the grey light of -dawn. He and Wylie had chosen their sleeping-places in front of the -hut, so that the girls might know they were at hand in case of an -alarm in the night; but Wylie was now beckoning him away from it. On -the other side of the ashes where the fire had been stood the brigands -in a row, grim and silent, with their rifles ready. Maurice stared. - -“What’s up?” he asked in bewilderment. - -“We desire not so moch to guard,” responded Milosch. “You too many for -us. Ze women are precious, and zere most be one man for to attend upon -zem. Ze ozer most go. We make you draw ze lot.” - -“All right, all right! but you needn’t do it where the ladies can hear -you,” said Wylie impatiently. “Come along, Smith.” Wide awake by this -time, Maurice rose, and they followed the brigands into the wood, -Wylie grasping Maurice’s arm to draw him out of earshot of Milosch. -“Look here,” he said. “If the lot falls upon you, of course I’ll take -it, for your sisters can’t do without you, but I’m pretty certain it’s -only a trick to get rid of me. They’ve been planning this all night.” - -“But you don’t think they’d dare--to _kill_ you?” - -“Why not? They killed Haji Ahmad without compunction. Their lives are -forfeit already, you see, and so long as your sisters are alive, they -know that no Government will dare to hunt them down.” - -“Zese woods of different shortness,” said Milosch, advancing with a -couple of twigs. “You select each, and we tell you which has drawn ze -black ball.” - -“But which represents the black ball--the long one or the short one?” -demanded Maurice. - -“Zat not for you to know. We tell you when ze lot is drawn.” - -“I told you so,” murmured Wylie. “Whichever I draw is the fatal one. -Here, Milosch, let me choose.” - -He took one of the twigs, the shorter, and Maurice found himself with -the other in his hand. Stoyan, coming forward, measured their length -with great deliberation, and announced that the lot had fallen upon -Wylie. Maurice sprang forward furiously, but Wylie pinned his arms to -his sides. - -“Now don’t let us give ourselves away,” the doomed man entreated. “I -know what you feel like, and what you would like to do, but your -business just now is to think of your sisters. They must not be left -in the hands of these scoundrels without a protector. You’ll have to -look after them both now. Don’t let them know what’s happened to me if -you can help it. Can’t you let them think I have been taken away to be -kept safe somewhere? Remember, they have a lot to bear already.” - -“I can’t stand by and see you murdered,” panted Maurice. - -“I don’t want you to. Go back to the hut. Your sisters will be -terrified if they wake and find us both gone. Good-bye, and good luck -to you. I wouldn’t ask for a better comrade at a pinch than you have -been all through this.” - -“Any messages?” asked Maurice shortly. - -“No, I have no one to trouble about me, and my affairs are all in -order. Some day you might tell your eldest sister that I was sorry to -leave without saying good-bye to her.” - -“Ze Voivoda say he exhausted of waiting,” said Milosch, coming up with -a handkerchief, which he proceeded to tie over Wylie’s eyes. - -“Now go, go!” entreated Wylie of Maurice. “You must think of the -girls, as I ought to have done yesterday instead of playing the fool.” - -Maurice wrung his hand and withdrew, slowly and reluctantly. At the -edge of the wood he turned, hearing his friend’s voice raised angrily. -“For heaven’s sake, leave me my hands free!” Wylie cried, but Maurice -gathered that the demand was refused. He went on into the clearing, -and sat down beside the extinguished fire, a prey to the deepest -despondency he had ever known. Without Wylie, how were he and the -hapless girls to face the trials before them? He himself might be the -next sacrifice to the savagery of the brigands, and what would then -become of Zoe and Eirene, since neither fear nor avarice seemed potent -to restrain their captors? Wylie’s resourcefulness, his restless -energy, his cheerfulness, and the underlying force of character which -manifested itself only occasionally, but was therefore all the more -telling, had made him a tower of strength, and Maurice felt bitterly -his own comparative futility. His life had taught him to exercise a -certain amount of initiative, clogged by the habit, inculcated as a -duty, of weighing the merits of a question before deciding on it, but -while he was thinking, Wylie would act--would have acted, rather. The -thought swept over Maurice with desolating effect. The man of action -was taken, the man who could only feel sure of himself in the humdrum -routine of daily life was left. It did not occur to him that Wylie had -not grown to his full mental height in a day, or that he himself might -draw from the depths of his present desolation the experience which -would complete the measure of his manhood. - -“Maurice, how slack you look!” cried Zoe, putting out a dishevelled -head gingerly at the door of the hut. “Mind you tell Captain Wylie -that he must give us some more kabobs for breakfast.” - -“All right. They’ll be ready. Provided,” with a sudden happy -inspiration, “that you promise faithfully to eat them before you begin -to talk. It’s no good my--our cooking if you let the things get cold -when they ought to be eaten at once.” - -“I promise, honour bright!” said Zoe, and Maurice began to collect -wood for a fresh fire, half fearing that orders for the march would be -issued before he had time to do any cooking. But the brigands came -back into camp and sat down round their own fire with the evident -intention of taking their ease, and when the girls came out of the hut -they found Maurice busy toasting his face as well as a bountiful -supply of kabobs. - -“Where’s Captain Wylie?” they cried. - -“What did you promise?” asked Maurice repressively. “Sit down and -begin at once, and I’ll be doing some more.” - -“Maurice, you are eating none yourself,” cried Zoe, having kept her -promise until hunger was satisfied. “And where is Captain Wylie? He -didn’t get his face nearly as much burnt as you do.” - -“Oh, I don’t know. Somewhere about, I suppose,” mumbled Maurice. “Have -some more?” - -“No, thanks; I don’t want any more. Maurice, has anything happened to -him? Do you really know where he is?” - -“Can’t you let the poor chap alone?” demanded Maurice desperately. “He -hasn’t escaped by himself and left us in the lurch--I can tell you -that, at any rate.” - -“No, but has he been taken away? I believe something has happened. -Tell me honestly, Maurice; where is he?” - -“They took him away early this morning,” admitted Maurice. “He thought -himself it was out of spite for his trying to get us rescued. He asked -me to say how sorry he was not to bid you good-bye.” - -“Good-bye? Then he thought---- They weren’t going to kill him?” - -“How can I tell? They didn’t do it when I was there.” - -“But you think they have done it? And you let them?” - -“Look here,” said Maurice; “I’d better tell you all I know, and you -can see what you think.” He told his story as fast as he could, with -involuntary pauses here and there. - -“Then there can be no doubt,” said Zoe slowly at last. “He is dead -now.” - -“I admire you both,” said Eirene, with her gracious air of -distributing praise impartially. “Your duty was to the living, and he -knew it. He could only die, and he did that well. Some day----” - -“Eirene,” said Zoe, with concentrated bitterness, “if you say you will -raise a memorial church in his honour, I shall hate you till I die.” - -She rose and went into the hut, and Eirene turned to Maurice. - -“You think he is dead?” she said. - -“Why, of course. What else could I think?” - -“I don’t believe it in the least. I think they were trying to frighten -him--as a punishment for yesterday, you know. I think they will -blindfold him and tie his hands and pretend to take him to the edge of -a rock and throw him over, but he will only fall one or two feet.” - -“Good gracious, Eirene! how can you think of such diabolical things?” -cried Maurice. - -“But it is not as if it would hurt him really. They would wish to see -him show fear; that would be most natural. It would be foolish for -them to kill him. If they found themselves hotly pressed--do you -say?--they might kill one of us as a warning to the pursuers, but to -do it without any purpose would only diminish their power of -bargaining for a ransom and an amnesty.” - -“Well, if you’re so certain, why don’t you tell Zoe?” - -Eirene shrugged her shoulders. “She is determined that he is dead; how -could my sole opinion change her mind? If I thought it would comfort -her I would tell her; but suppose that we see him no more again until -we are all ransomed and set free? She would determine again that he -was dead, and suffer twice over.” - -“I only hope you may be right, and that he is alive,” said Maurice -gloomily. - -The brigands had finished their meal, and were peacefully employed in -mending their clothes and moccasins, while the chief was seated under -a tree, in close confabulation with Milosch. A sentry was stationed at -the head of the track leading to the clearing, there was another on -the brow of the mountain above, and a third, as Maurice knew, at the -lower end of the wood. Everything seemed to portend a quiet day, -without further wandering, and Maurice felt the fact an added trial, -welcome though the prospect of rest was. If Wylie was not already -dead, where was he, and what fate was intended for him? It was -maddening to think of repeating these questions for a whole day, -uninterrupted by any possibility of useful occupation. - -As Maurice sat engrossed in his dreary meditations, Zoe came out of -the hut, red-eyed and gruff-voiced, but overflowing with nervous -energy. - -“Do let us find something to do, Maurice, if we are to stay here all -day,” she said. “Let us make a hut for you. I’m sure it will be better -for you than sleeping in the open another night.” - -Maurice rose at once, receiving a wholly unnecessary glance of advice -from Eirene, which said, “Humour her; she needs something to divert -her mind,” and going into the wood, began to choose fresh branches, -and cut them down with the useful knife which served so many purposes. -Zoe threw herself into the work with determination, and Eirene sat -enthroned on a hillock at the foot of a tree and gave counsel. - -“Make it large enough for Captain Wylie as well,” she said, as -Maurice, thinking he had cut enough twigs, was gathering them into a -bundle to carry back to the clearing; “he may be back to-night.” - -“Eirene, how can you?” cried Zoe indignantly, and stopped, unable to -say more. - -“Look here, Eirene,” said Maurice, exasperated, “can’t you get -something to do? It’s all very well to sit there looking on----” - -“Oh, she can’t,” broke in Zoe. “Her arm got strained again in crossing -that awful place yesterday, and it was rather bad when I dressed it -this morning. Let her alone; I suppose she has her own idea of a -joke.” - -Eirene’s glance at Maurice said, “What did I tell you?” as she rose -and picked her way daintily back to the clearing. When they returned -thither with their burdens, she retired to a rock at some little -distance, with an ostentatious air of leaving them to their obstinate -ill-humour in peace. Finding that they took no notice of her, however, -she came gradually nearer, in order to give them the benefit of her -valuable advice, which proved more useful than might have been -expected, since, as she said, she had often watched her father’s -foresters build huts of birch-boughs in her childhood. When she -repeated her suggestion that the hut should be made large enough for -two, however, Maurice felt obliged to intervene with a pacific -compromise. - -“We have all day to spend over it,” he said, “so we can make a better -job of it than the one we ran up in a hurry last night. You girls -shall move into it, do you see? and I’ll succeed to the old one.” - -Zoe accepted the suggestion in silence, and they went on with their -work, interweaving the slanting branches which formed the sides with -smaller boughs and twigs. They worked hard most of the day, and talked -so little that Eirene found them very dull company. At last she left -them in despair, and wandered up the hill towards the rock where the -sentry stood, taking care to keep within sight of the clearing. They -saw her seat herself on a convenient stone and begin to study the -landscape, and then they forgot all about her until an exclamation -from her, simultaneously with a shout from the sentry, made them start -to their feet and the brigands grasp their rifles. - -“Can we have been traced after all?” cried Maurice. - -“A day too late!” murmured Zoe. “Oh, if they had only come up with us -last night!” - -“Well, all our work won’t be much good, for they’ll be sure to hurry -us away somewhere else,” said Maurice, noticing that the brigands were -hastily cramming their possessions into their sacks. But presently -another shout from the sentry, following on a faint hail from the -distance, announced that only three men were in sight, and they were -friends. Almost at the same moment, Eirene came rushing frantically -down the hillside. - -“It is himself! I told you so!” she cried. “It is Captain Wylie and -two of the brigands. I was sure of it. They were only trying to -frighten him, and he is coming back.” - -“Oh, let us go and meet him!” cried Zoe. - -“Let Maurice go,” said Eirene primly. “Your eyes are so red, Zoe,” she -added in a low voice. - -“Don’t be Early-Victorian, Eirene,” was the crushing reply. “Do you -think I mind his seeing that I cried because I thought he was killed? -I should be ashamed if I hadn’t!” - -They went down the track in the wake of the brigands, who were -jostling one another in mingled surprise, irritation, and alarm. The -two members of the band who accompanied Wylie began to pour forth -explanations and excuses at the top of their voices long before any -words could be clearly distinguished, and while they were seized and -cross-examined by their fellows, Wylie was able to reach his friends. - -“You haven’t quite done with me yet!” he said, giving one hand to Zoe -and the other to Maurice, while Eirene waited for a more ceremonious -greeting. “I shall be able to cook one more supper for you before I am -sent off.” - -“Then it was all a trick?” asked Maurice. - -“Well, in a way. You would have been left to think that I was dead, as -a warning to you against playing the fool, I suppose, but what I was -really picked out for was a very serious matter--getting your ransom. -The brutes over-reached themselves utterly in the way they went to -work, and the result is that here I am.” - -“What a lot you must have to tell us!” said Zoe. “Wait till we get to -the camp, so that we can listen comfortably.” - -“Why, you must have spent the day in house-building!” said Wylie, as -they reached the clearing. - -“That’s exactly what we did--to drown our misery,” said Maurice. “Now -begin. Did they pretend to shoot you, or any vile trick like that?” - -“No, only cuffed and hustled me down these goat-tracks for ever so -far, which was no joke with my eyes covered and my hands tied. I -really do wonder that I’m here to tell the tale, for I did more -slipping than walking. At last we seemed to come to a comparatively -level place, and they took the handkerchief off my eyes and set me -free, and instructed me to make the best of my way back to -civilisation and tell your friends to send fifteen thousand pounds by -this day month if they wanted to see you again alive.” - -“Fifteen thousand pounds!” gasped Zoe. - -“Yes, it sounds a large order, but that wasn’t what stumped me. It was -that I really know nothing about you, except that I gather you have a -place in Homeshire. I know that Smith was at Cambridge and won a prize -for poetry, but I could hardly go there and open a subscription list, -or ask the Dons to mortgage the college revenues for his ransom, could -I? It sounds absurd that after all we have gone through together we -should know so little about each other, and I couldn’t make my guards -believe it. They evidently thought that we lived next door to one -another at home, or something of that sort, and laboured to explain to -me that if there had been only three of us they would have made us -write a letter, but as there were four, they sent one of us instead. -But at last I managed to make them understand that nothing could -induce me to show my face in Therma without proper credentials, and -that unless I knew who to apply to, there would be no chance of their -getting the money, so they decided to send back here for instructions. -But when it came to the point, neither of them would be left alone -with me, and as I declined to remain where I was and wait for them, -the only thing to do was to bring me back.” - -“You said you were no longer blindfolded?” said Eirene, for Maurice -and Zoe were looking at one another in consternation. “Ah, yes, that -is it. The guards were afraid of you--of your eyes. They hate them.” - -“Horribly bad taste in them,” said Wylie lightly. “Why, here’s our -friend Milosch coming--bringing us something for supper, I see.” - -A sheep had been procured during the day--by nefarious means, of -course--and Milosch brought a portion of its flesh for the captives; -but he carried also Zoe’s safety inkstand, a leaf torn out of one of -her note-books, and a pen of unknown origin. - -“You write now, before ze sun falls,” he said to Maurice, “a letter -signified by all of you. Ze ransom we demand is fifteen sousand -Ingliss pounds, to be placed in gold zis day month on a spot zat will -be indicated to your messager. If ze ransom comes not forth, or if -deception is adventured, we shall kill you, beginning wiz”--he looked -round with a calculating eye upon the three, who all afterwards -confessed to feeling cold shivers down their backs, and then -laughed--“No, I say not who we begin wiz. Perhaps we let you draw ze -lot again. From zis time you hold no communion wiz your messager but -in my presence; zerefore seek not to cook up fraud among yourselves.” - -Maurice looked at Zoe in despair. How could they let Wylie proceed on -his quest in absolute ignorance of their real name? and yet, how could -they reveal it in the hearing of Milosch, who possessed the -disconcerting faculty of being able to understand English much better -than he spoke it? Zoe came to her brother’s help. - -“Captain Wylie had better go to Professor Panagiotis,” she said. - -“Professor Panagiotis!” said Eirene sharply. “What do you know about -him?” - -“He is the friend we were going to stay with,” answered Zoe, in -surprise. “Do you know him?” - -“He was an acquaintance of my father,” said Eirene, with some -hesitation. “I don’t remember that I have ever seen him.” - -“Well, if he wouldn’t remember you we needn’t mention you separately,” -said Zoe quickly, wondering if Wylie was trying once more, as she -herself would have done, to reconcile the relationships of this -remarkable family. “If you will just say that we are all here -together?” she added to Wylie. - -“Yes, I think the letter had better go to the Professor,” agreed -Maurice, “and then he can post you up, Wylie. There are some things -that can’t very well be explained here, but that have a tremendous -bearing on the case.” - -The letter was written, duly signed by Maurice Smith, Zoe Smith, and -Eirene Smith, and addressed to the Professor at his villa at -Kallimeri. Milosch was highly entertained by the idea that the head of -the Greek party in Emathia should find himself compelled to finance -his Slavic opponents to so large an extent, and shouted the news to -the rest of the brigands as a huge joke. They chuckled over it without -him, for he did not quit the prisoners again. It was evidently his -business to see that no one exchanged a word with Wylie that might -cover any suggestion designed to cheat the band of their destined -spoil, or lead to their being hunted down, and even when Maurice and -Wylie rolled themselves up in their rugs to sleep, he sat between -them, revolver in hand. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - THE OTHER SIDE. - -“Good-bye. I’m awfully sorry to leave you like this,” said Wylie to -Zoe, as he shook hands with her before his departure, while Milosch, -for the twentieth time, read over the letter to make sure there was no -deception about it. - -“But how much better than the way you left us yesterday!” she said, -smiling. - -“Oh, I didn’t mean that. I meant that I feel I am deserting you -personally. You and I have always been comrades, haven’t we? And I -don’t quite see how Smith is to squire two ladies at once along these -paths.” - -“Perhaps we shan’t be moved on,” suggested Zoe. “I should think this -place is as safe and secluded as any they could find.” - -“I only hope it may be so. Do you know”--he lowered his voice--“I -almost think I could find my way up here from the place to which they -took me yesterday? They forgot to cover my eyes again, you know. If -they take me down the same way to-day, I shall be quite sure of it.” - -“But what good would that be?” - -“Why, you don’t imagine I shall be content to leave you in these -fellows’ hands a whole month? I shall kick up the biggest row that -ever was, and simply force the Government to take action. I have a -little account of my own to work off with the brigands, you must -remember, and I don’t feel like putting fifteen thousand pounds into -their pockets.” - -“But if we are not ransomed they will kill us.” - -“Not if you are rescued first,” said Wylie promptly. “Don’t be afraid. -You don’t think I would let a hair of your head be hurt, do you? But -if I can save you three weeks or a fortnight of this sort of thing, -and at the same time do the brigands out of their prospective gains, -do you honestly expect me to lose the chance?” - -He waved his hand to her gaily as he went down the hill-track with his -custodians, and Zoe fell into a reverie, from which she roused herself -with a vigorous mental shake. - -“It’s a good thing he’s gone,” she said to herself. “We have been -comrades, as he said, and it has been very nice. In a few days more I -shouldn’t have been able to do without him, and that is out of the -question. I have the world to see and my name to make before I think -of anything of that sort. Yes, it is a good thing.” - -But this decision was no sort of justification for Eirene’s taking it -upon herself to remark that she was glad Captain Wylie was gone, -because he ordered Maurice about. A coolness ensued between the two -girls, which lasted until Eirene, who wanted to mend her torn shoe, -was obliged to apply to Zoe to obtain a needle and thread from Zeko. - -Very early on the morning after Wylie’s departure the other prisoners -found that the brigands were not quite so simple as he had hoped. They -had no intention whatever of remaining at the spot where he had left -them until he might choose to return. The clearing and the huts were -forsaken before dawn, and another day of painful wandering and -climbing by devious tracks followed. Zeko, in a lordly and -contemptuous way, hauled Zoe over the worst places, so that Maurice -was free to look after Eirene, but both girls were utterly spent -before the crowning trial of the march occurred. This was a long stiff -climb up the bed of a torrent, which, in spite of the summer weather, -had quite enough water in it to make the girls miserably wet, and -destroy the last possibility of usefulness in their shoes. They were -practically bare-footed when they staggered into the little valley -from which the torrent flowed down the hillside, and discovered that -they were now so high up in the mountains that cold was to be added to -their other discomforts. Even the brigands were stirred to pity by -their white faces and chattering teeth, or perhaps they feared lest -hardship should release their prisoners before they could be ransomed, -for they helped Maurice to collect wood for a good fire, and made the -girls sit down close to it to dry their skirts. The chief went so far -as to administer a small quantity of a potent, if smoky spirit, which -took away their breath and made their eyes water, and he also -requisitioned a pair of moccasins for each of them from two members of -the band who were unwary or fastidious enough to carry more than was -needed for immediate wear. The trees up here were too sparse to allow -of building huts, but in the rocks by the side of the stream there -were hollows which might almost be called caves, and Maurice swept one -of these out with a branch, made a smaller fire in it, and arranged -the rugs for beds. He himself was accustomed now to sleeping outside, -wrapped in one of the brigands’ greatcoats, but although he was -allowed to lie near the fire, he never forgot the piercing cold of -that night, while inside the cave the girls lay close together with -both the rugs over them, and shivered in spite of all. Their -appearance alarmed the brigands in the morning, and greatcoats and -leggings, such as the men wore, were allotted to them in addition to -the moccasins. Their feet were so badly bruised that they could not -walk alone, but they were helped up to a sort of ledge on the sunny -side of the gorge, where they were at last able to feel warm again. -Needles and thread were lent them to alter the clothes into some -approach to fit, and on the return of three of the band from an -absence of some duration, the chief presented them with large coarse -handkerchiefs to replace their battered hats. Maurice, whose broken -head was now sufficiently recovered to dispense with bandages, was -invested with a fez, from which Stoyan solemnly removed the tassel -with his knife, on the ground that it was unbecoming for a captive to -wear a tassel to his fez. - -Maurice had not been idle during the day. He had collected all the -loose pieces of rock he could find, and built them up into a rough -wall, cemented with mud from a spot where the stream formed a marshy -pool, to keep the wind from blowing into the cave. The brigands who -had brought the handkerchiefs had carried also a large truss of straw, -and this was spread thickly on the floor, so that the girls found -their second night’s quarters far more restful than the first. The -exhaustion which was the result of the forced march was also passing -away, and on the second day they were able to begin to practice -walking in the moccasins, which was an art needing some caution. - -A week passed quietly, varied only by the expeditions of the brigands -to obtain food and news. They seemed to have a well-organised -intelligence system, by means of which they learned that there was -much activity among the Roumi authorities, civil and military, and -that soldiers were being sent into the mountains in various -directions. The brigands displayed amusement rather than apprehension -over this news, and there was no lack of food, which would have argued -that the peasants were losing their fear of their unacknowledged -masters. The girls spent a good deal of time in patching their -tattered garments with pieces of the rough brown stuff some of the -brigands wore, and also relieved Maurice of his domestic duties, thus -leaving him free to execute wonderful engineering works in connection -with the stream, damming it in one place to make a pool where the -girls might get water close to their cave, and arranging pieces of -rock as steps. The energy of the prisoners astonished their captors, -who seemed to think it the height of bliss to lie in the sun, smoking -and quarrelling, or playing various rudimentary games of chance, and -at first every movement was regarded with suspicion. But by degrees -Maurice established with them a feeling almost akin to good -fellowship, and would sit among them round the fire, listening to -their talk, which he was beginning to understand without the -intervention of Milosch. Eirene objected strongly to this habit of -his, and, as was her wont, spoke her mind freely on the subject. - -“It is so undignified, so contemptible!” she declared angrily. “A man -of elevated soul would suffer anything rather than associate on -familiar terms with wretches from whom he had received such vile -treatment.” - -“But it’s to please myself, not them,” said Maurice. “I want to find -out why all these strapping fellows have turned brigands--to inquire -into their grievances, in fact.” - -“Grievances! What business have they with grievances?” - -“I don’t know; but they have got some, unfortunately.” - -“But what have their grievances to do with you?” - -“Why, I am a sufferer by them, so are you. Therefore I naturally feel -an interest in getting to know what they are.” - -“And what are they, Maurice?” asked Zoe. “I thought these men all came -from Thracia or Dardania.” - -“No, they are nearly all Illyrians--the Christian kind, such as it is. -They are Emathians born, though they are under foreign direction; -there’s no doubt of that. And very few of them seem to have become -brigands for the fun of the thing. Most of them are pretty sick of the -life, but they have made their own villages too hot to hold them.” - -“But that was their own fault,” objected Eirene. - -“Partly, but it was other people’s fault too. They have failed to pay -their taxes in bad years, or have mortgaged their land and been sold -up. Some of them have taken to the hills after assaulting -tax-collectors, and some on account of blood-feuds. They boast that -they only rob the rich, whom they hate most heartily; but I fancy that -the poor haven’t much choice about keeping them supplied with food and -clothes, especially if they are Greek poor.” - -“Why, Maurice, you are hearing the other side!” cried Zoe. - -“What other side?” asked Eirene sharply. - -“When we heard Professor Panagiotis talk, Maurice said he should like -to hear the other side, and now he is doing it,” replied Zoe promptly. -Maurice, absorbed in his subject, might have revealed secrets if she -had allowed him to answer. - -“Yes, it’s just as I thought, there are two very distinct sides to the -case,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s something appalling the way these -fellows hate the Orthodox Church and everything connected with it. It -seems they have been dragooned into belonging to it for generations, -with no alternative but Mohammedanism. The priests don’t appear to -have been examples to their flocks by any means, but were tremendously -keen on their dues, though they could only gabble through services -which neither they nor the people understood. All education was in -Greek, and the people hadn’t even the Bible in their own language, so -that the only chance for a man to rise was to turn his back on his own -nationality altogether.” - -“And it was right he should!” cried Eirene, with flashing eyes. “Would -you degrade the Holy Scriptures and the sacred liturgies by -translating them from the glorious Greek into the uncouth dialects of -these barbarians?” - -“What a very curious thing!” exclaimed Zoe involuntarily. - -“What do you mean?” demanded Eirene. - -“Why, it’s no use pretending that we don’t know you’re a Scythian, -Eirene, for you’ve said lots of things that show it. And it’s very -funny to hear you talking just as Professor Panagiotis did, when -Scythia is doing all she can to stir up the barbarians, as you call -them, against the Greeks.” - -“Because I have been brought up in Scythia, must I be insensible to -truth and rightness?” cried Eirene. “It surprises me, I confess, to -find an Englishman supporting the guileful designs of the Slavs in -opposition to the noble cause of heroic and persecuted Greece.” - -“I’m not supporting Slavs or anybody,” said Maurice. “If you are -anxious to define my attitude, I am blaming both sides impartially. -They have got things into such a muddle that it looks as if the whole -structure of society in Emathia would have to be built up again from -the foundations. If the taxes were honestly assessed and collected, -and the middleman eliminated, it would do a good deal, of course, -especially if you could also get rid of the money-lender by a system -of agricultural banks. But you would want to establish a system of -village responsibility, as they have done in Burmah, before you could -begin to stamp out blood-feuds and religious faction-fights. I must -ask Wylie how they manage to get a police-force which is not -prejudiced on one side or the other. Side by side with that, you would -have to be opening up the country with roads and railways, and getting -the priests better educated, and books translated, and schools -established, and the army thrown open to Christians and popularised, -so that brigandage would no longer be----” - -“The only career for a young man of spirit,” supplied Zoe, as he -paused. - -“Well,” burst forth Eirene, who had been listening in speechless -indignation as Maurice elaborated his views on the regeneration of -Emathia, “I should like to know what business it is of yours?” - -“But why should it affect you?” asked Maurice, warned by an anxious -glance from Zoe. - -“It is just like you English,” continued Eirene, disregarding the -question. “You meddle all over the world with countries which do not -concern you, while your own usurped India is ground under the iron -heel of men like Captain Wylie, of whom the very brigands are afraid!” - -“Why, you say that as if it was to Wylie’s discredit!” said Maurice. -“I should have thought it was a distinct feather in his cap. You don’t -seem to see that just because we are English, every country that -doesn’t come up to our own high standard does concern us.” - -Eirene lifted her head, almost tossed it. “When,” she began, then -changed the form of her sentence--“If I am ever a ruler, I will allow -no English to dictate to me. I shall recognise no grievances. If the -people disobey me, I shall stamp them out.” - -“Making a solitude and calling it peace, indeed!” said Zoe. - -“Cheerful country yours will be to live in!” said Maurice. “Are you -going to have periodical killings-out, like King Twala? or shall you -set half the population to kill the other half, and make the survivors -fight among themselves till they are all killed, like the Kilkenny -cats? Or is it only the present generation that is to be wiped out, so -that you may have the children brought up in the way they should go? A -lively time you’ll have when the hereditary tendencies begin to come -out! Why, they’ll all have blood-feuds against you.” - -“I used the wrong word,” said Eirene, with heightened colour. “I meant -to say that I would stamp the people down. I will listen to no one who -is in revolt; but when all rebellion has been suppressed, I shall see -for myself if there are any grievances.” - -“You’ll allow people to complain of them peacefully, then?” - -“Certainly not; that is rebellion. But I shall oversee everything -myself. Not a peasant shall be prosecuted for non-payment of taxes but -the case shall come before me for revision, and the same in all -departments of the state.” - -“I don’t think your magistrates will hold office long,” said Maurice. - -“Besides,” said Zoe, “that’s just the system that works so badly with -the Roumis, Eirene. The Grand Seignior will insist on managing -everything himself, and of course he can’t do more than a certain -amount, and so business gets into frightful arrears all over the -empire.” - -“I don’t care,” said Eirene stubbornly. “I shall trust no one; that is -the lesson life has taught me. The ruler’s eye will be everywhere, the -ruler’s hand always ready.” - -“Maternal or elder-sisterly government,” muttered Maurice. “Well, -Eirene, have it your own way, and go ahead, and Zoe and I will come -and preach revolution to your people. What would you do to us?” - -“I would have you brought to the palace and treated as my dearest -friends and honoured guests,” responded Eirene, with a promptitude -which seemed to show that she had thought the matter out; “but you -would not leave it except to be conducted to the frontier.” - -“And if we came back?” - -“Then I should conclude that you wished to remain with me, and I -should assign you permanent quarters in the palace, where I could see -that you did no harm.” - -“Well, we shall know what to do when we feel we can’t exist without -you any longer,” said Zoe lightly. A curious thought, almost a -certainty, had occurred to her, and she put a question which had to do -with it. “But won’t there be a king or prince to be considered in this -kingdom of yours? or do you expect your husband will let you do as you -like with his possessions?” - -“There will be no husband,” said Eirene haughtily. “The possessions -will be mine, mine alone. And you are making attempts to discover who -I am.” - -“We aren’t,” said Maurice indignantly, while the guilty Zoe maintained -a judicious silence. “How horribly suspicious you are, Eirene! Go and -whisper your secret to the reeds, if you like. We shan’t try to -listen.” - -“I have been led into saying more than I intended,” said Eirene, -trying to extricate herself from an awkward situation with dignity. “I -see that, according to your views, I have no right to object to your -making imaginary schemes of reform for Emathia, and I do not object to -it, while you understand that they are imaginary. That makes the whole -difference.” - -Maurice stared at her. “What a lofty benediction!” he said. “Eirene, -I’m afraid I shall offend again; but do you think your head is a -little bit affected by all you have gone through? If it is, only tell -us, and we shall know what to do. We will treat you as a queen in -exile with pleasure.” - -“Now you are joking,” smiled Eirene. “No, my dear brother and sister, -continue to treat me as one of yourselves. Circumstances may divide us -in the future, but I shall never forget what you have been to me -during these weeks.” - -“Good gracious!” murmured Maurice, and laying his head back on his -arms he whistled softly at the stars, while Zoe shook from head to -foot in an unconquerable spasm of silent laughter, and Eirene sat -gazing at the fire with a look of gentle melancholy. - -The next evening Maurice returned smiling from his colloquy with the -brigands. “Well,” he said, “my undignified and contemptible pursuits -have given me quite an exciting piece of news for you. Wylie is -looking us up.” - -“Oh, Maurice, what do you mean?” cried Zoe. - -“Why, it seems that Demo and three others went down to-day to get -food. At the village, wherever it is, they were told that an English -traveller with one servant and a large quantity of luggage had stayed -the night there, and gone on into the mountains, refusing a guide. Our -fellows decided that such a chance was not to be lost, and having -found out which way the traveller had gone, went across country by -short cuts, and arranged a satisfactory ambush. They thought he must -either be mad, or riding through in bravado after hearing about us, -but the luggage would be all right, at any rate. I suppose he really -was a newspaper man. Well, they waited in cover, and presently the -traveller and his servant came along. The luggage looked so new and -wealthy that it made their mouths water, but happily for themselves -they didn’t act in a hurry. ‘They came near,’ said Demo, ‘and I -recognised the servant. It was the Capitan. He was wearing Nizam -dress, but I knew him by his accursed eyes; he couldn’t disguise them. -Then we saw that it was a trap, and we let them pass.’” - -“But how was it a trap?” asked Eirene. - -“Why, either Wylie and the other man were much better armed than they -looked, and meant to capture a brigand or two, so as to make them -reveal the hiding-places of the band, or they meant to be captured -themselves, and had spies to follow them up and see where they were -taken. I don’t see why Wylie wanted to disguise himself, though. He -might have known he would be recognised if he was caught, and then -they would be safe to kill him. As it was, he and the other man seem -to have ridden through the brigands’ country quite unmolested.” - -“I wish he wouldn’t do such things!” said Zoe anxiously. - -“Yes,” said Eirene, “he ought to remember that we depend upon him for -our ransom and rescue. He has no right to risk his life in foolish -bravado.” - -“I think we may be pretty sure that Wylie had some ’cute idea in his -head,” said Maurice. “I don’t quite see what it is; but he certainly -risked being captured over again.” - -“And this captivity is certainly not tempting,” said Zoe. - -Wylie’s plan declared itself unexpectedly the very next day. The -prisoners had climbed up to what they called their afternoon ledge, a -shelf of rock which caught the westering sun, and were looking out -over the chaos of hills and valleys below them, and speculating for -the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time upon the prospects of their -release. Suddenly one of the brigands’ sentries, who was stationed -round a corner on their left, whence a view of the country to the -eastward could be obtained, ran in and shouted to his comrades. Wild -confusion instantly prevailed among the loungers in the hollow. Some -of them quenched the fires with earth, a heap of which was kept ready -for the purpose, and the rest caught up their weapons, and scaling the -ledge, flung themselves upon the prisoners, who expected nothing but -instant death. Not daring to move, they yielded helplessly to the -violence of the brigands, who dragged them as far back as possible, so -that they could only just see over the ledge, tore off the girls’ -head-handkerchiefs, which showed white against the dark of the cliff, -and ordered them, if they valued their lives, to make no sound or -movement. Presently, the cause of the commotion came in sight far -below--a column of Roumi soldiers, led by an officer on horseback. In -front walked a man in plain clothes, examining the ground narrowly as -he went. - -“Captain Wylie! He has tracked us!” murmured Zoe, under her breath. -Milosch turned upon her with a diabolical grin. - -“Promise candles to ze saints zat he track you no furzer, zen. If he -find ze way up ze stream, you go down ze mountain to meet him--you -see?” He lifted Zoe’s chin, and with the point of his knife traced a -line upon her neck. She shrank away from him, sick and almost fainting -with horror, and he laughed. “We begin wiz you, after all,” he said. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - TOO MUCH ZEAL. - -“Take your dirty hands off her, you brute!” growled Maurice, -struggling ineffectually with the two men who were holding him down. -Milosch smiled again. - -“You ze next,” he said. “We leave you at ze camp--dead, oh, yes! and -ze Roumi dogs will see how you died. Zere will be tree--four hours -while zey find ze way, but for you it will experience tree or four -days. And ze ozer girl,”--he cast a critical eye upon Eirene, who -shivered in spite of her utmost efforts to maintain a firm front,--“we -not kill her, no. We leave her also at ze camp, but living, to tell -what she see.” - -The strain was too great, and, with a little gasp, Eirene fainted -away. Milosch chuckled. “Make not no mistakes,” he added impressively -to the furious Maurice. “It may be your friend achieve to discover -you--yes; but you will compensate in blood for ze ransom he hope to -defraud.” - -Maurice turned away with as much impassivity as he could muster. -“Don’t you go and faint too, Zoe,” he said to his sister; “he’s only -trying to make our flesh creep. But don’t trouble about Eirene. I -don’t suppose it will hurt her to stay as she is for the present, and -it can’t be any pleasure to her to hear him talk.” - -Zoe, who had been trying to get to Eirene, ceased her struggles, and -let her eyes return to the moving figures in the valley below. This -was evidently a critical moment, for the brigands were watching their -progress with strained attention. At last, when Wylie had passed a -particular point, a gasp of satisfaction showed that, in the opinion -of the band, the immediate danger was over. - -“It’s the stream that has thrown him out,” muttered Maurice. “He’ll go -on ever so far looking for tracks before he guesses where we turned -off.” - -“But how has he tracked us?” asked Zoe, who had now been released, and -was holding Eirene’s head on her knee, as the younger girl struggled -slowly back to consciousness. - -“By the marks of our boots, of course,” said Maurice. “No one else in -the mountains wears boots, and there has been no rain since we came up -here. I say, I shall tell Wylie what I think of him when I see him -next. He has no business to sacrifice us to his grudge against the -brigands. That’s the worst of him, he’s an unforgiving brute, and the -trick they played on him the day they pretended they were going to -kill him rankles.” - -“Maurice, you are absurd!” Zoe was engrossed in her ministrations to -Eirene, and could only talk in snatches. “He has some special reason -for this. I am sure of it. He may have a grudge against the brigands, -as you say, but he will wait to work it off until we are safe.” - -“Then what’s he up to now?” demanded Maurice, and Zoe could offer no -explanation. Eirene laughed weakly. - -“Zoe would say to him with her last breath, ‘I know you couldn’t help -it,’ and Maurice, ‘You brute! it’s all your fault,’” she said. - - [Image: images/img_138.jpg - Caption: - “_Take your dirty hands off her, you brute!_” _growled Maurice._] - -“And you?” asked Zoe, rather tartly. - -“It is not to be my last breath, you know”--Eirene shivered again as -she rose shakily to her feet, with the help of Maurice’s hand--“but I -should say to him when we met, ‘You see, sir, the results of an excess -of zeal.’” - -“Awfully scathing!” said Maurice, guiding her along the ledge. “I’m -coming back for you, Zoe; wait for me. No wonder you feel shaky, after -that sickening rascal’s talk.” - -The camp seemed a haven of refuge after the experiences of the last -half-hour, and the girls sank down thankfully on their straw bed, -while Maurice seated himself on a stone at the door, and tried to make -conversation and distract their minds, not very successfully. Stoyan -succeeded where Maurice failed, however, for he made his appearance -suddenly, and saying something in his own language, threw down a pair -of leggings and moccasins before him, and held out his hand. - -“He says I’m to put these on, and give him my boots,” explained -Maurice ruefully. “I’m afraid Wylie has let us in for it. He says, ‘No -sleep to-night, thanks to your friend.’” - -“I suppose we had better pack up,” said Zoe, as the chief retired with -the boots. - -“How I admire your common-sense, Zoe!” said Eirene, not offering to -move. “Why don’t you rest as long as you can, like me?” - -“Because she knows you would look pretty blue if there were no coats -and things at the next halting-place,” said Maurice. “Come, get up. -You can luxuriate in the straw as long as they’ll let you, but we must -roll up the rugs.” - -The rugs, wrapped round the scanty possessions of the party, were -Maurice’s burden, while the girls carried the coats, rolled up as -Wylie had shown them, so as to leave their arms free. But when they -were summoned to start, about an hour before sunset, the brigands made -them unfold the coats and put them on, drawing the hoods over their -heads, so that they could not be recognised from a distance. They felt -some surprise at starting in daylight, but the reason was soon -evident. They were to climb down the torrent-bed, up which they had -come to reach the valley, and not even the brigands cared to risk the -descent in the dark. Scouts had been sent to follow Wylie and the -Roumi force, and make sure that they were not returning, and these -brought word that the troops had taken up their quarters in a village -for the night, so that the move might safely be made. Going down the -torrent-bed was rather worse than going up, so far as slips and -tumbles and sudden sousings went, and the girls were bruised and -drenched when they reached the bottom. They were only allowed a moment -to wring their dripping skirts, and then the brigands set out briskly -in the dusk, taking the direction in which Wylie had gone. They knew -the rocky paths, and how to take advantage of the smoothest places, -but to the prisoners, unused to walking in moccasins, every step was a -lottery, which might prove painless, but was far more likely to be -agonising. Even when a rare stretch of comparatively soft ground -appeared, they were not allowed to take advantage of it, the brigands -casting about carefully until they found a way past it on the rocks, -lest any trail should remain to show that a number of people had -passed there after the soldiers. Darkness came on, and the prisoners -stumbled painfully along between their guards, who never stretched out -a hand to help them, but reviled them horribly when they slipped. -Regardless of dignity, the girls were reduced at last to clutching the -sleeves of the men on each side of them--more the brigands would not -permit, for fear of finding their arms encumbered in case of -danger--and even Eirene made no protest. After what seemed weary hours -of walking, the brigands suddenly stopped and closed round the -prisoners, two of the band stealing off into the darkness. - -“We are going right through the village,” whispered Maurice. “Those -fellows are off to quiet the dogs.” - -“And if you raise exclamation, we quiet you,” muttered Milosch, -unsheathing his long dagger. - -It was some time before the two men returned, with the assurance that -all was well. The troops were comfortably quartered in the houses and -cattle-sheds, and they had located the watch-fires and the sentries, -and could guide the rest past them. Wylie and the Roumi officer were -at the house of the chief man of the place, and Stoyan breathed a -vehement and highly coloured aspiration that it had been prudent to -creep in and make an end of them. But as this was impossible if the -prisoners were to be placed in safe keeping, he repressed his -bloodthirsty inclinations, and the scouts led the party in and out -among huts and sheds, sometimes creeping on all-fours across a space -dimly illuminated by a watch-fire, sometimes pausing behind a wall -while a sentry passed. Every man among the brigands held his dagger -unsheathed, ready to strike if any of the prisoners made the slightest -attempt to raise an alarm, and the precaution was sufficient. Warmth, -shelter, safety, friends, were in the village, and with bursting -hearts the girls passed them by, and went on again into the dark cold -night. They were so tired by this time that their immediate guards -were forced to sheathe their daggers and take each of them by the -elbows to help her on, and as if to crown their misfortunes, a cold, -drenching rain began to fall. It put the finishing touch also to the -brigands’ ill-humour, and they pushed and dragged their shivering -captives roughly along, muttering angrily at every step. - -“Maurice, tell them we can’t go any faster!” cried Zoe at last. “We -are keeping up with them on these awful roads, and we can’t do more.” - -“Oh, that’s not what’s the matter,” returned Maurice from behind, in a -Mark-Tapleyan tone of voice. “They’re calling us names for making them -turn out of their nice comfortable camp and go wandering about the -mountains in the dark and the wet. They say they have taken such care -of us, and treated us as honoured guests, and our ingratitude is -something detestable.” - -“Anybody might think we wanted to come!” said Zoe. - -“Well, it certainly is our fault in a way,” said Maurice. “If we -didn’t exist, or weren’t here, they wouldn’t be running away from -Wylie.” - -They relapsed into silence again, and the grumbling curses of the -brigands were the only sounds to be heard above the plashing of -footsteps and the swish of the rain. The girls were half-unconscious -with fatigue and want of sleep, and stumbled on in a kind of waking -dream. It must have been drawing near dawn, though the blank black -skies showed no sign of it, when the brigands paused again, in the -shelter of a clump of stunted trees, hardly more than bushes, and the -scouts glided forth on their errand. They returned unexpectedly soon, -and their report called forth ominous curses. - -“There are soldiers holding the path in front,” explained Maurice in a -whisper to the girls. “Wylie knows what he is doing, bad luck to him! -He’s got us between two fires, with all his precautions.” - -For the moment it looked as though Wylie had actually brought about -the death of his friends, for the brigands were now thoroughly roused. -“Kill the European dogs, kill them and get rid of them!” was the -murmur. “They have brought us to this pass. Let us kill them and leave -their bodies here on the track for their friend to find.” Daggers were -once more unsheathed, and revolvers drawn. - -“Why don’t you pray? Are you an atheist?” demanded Eirene of Zoe, -breaking off in the middle of a catalogue of saints, whose aid she was -audibly imploring. - -“No; I am praying,” said Zoe, but she felt curiously resigned. Death -would be such a rest after this dreadful night. But the reference to -Wylie, which Maurice translated under pressure, disturbed her. He -would never be able to forgive himself if he realised what he had -done. If only one of them could escape, it might make him a little -less miserable. She sat up with an effort, and grasped Maurice’s arm. - -“Maurice, even if they kill us, you might escape. You can run, and -your things don’t cling so. We will make as much fuss as possible, to -give you time to get away to the soldiers.” - -“Don’t be an owl,” said Maurice brusquely. “Is it likely? I ask you, -is it likely?” - -“But so much depends on you. We don’t signify.” - -“What depends on Maurice?” demanded Eirene, with keen curiosity. Zoe -recollected herself, in part. - -“Oh, well, he is the last of the name, you know,” she said. - -“The last of the name of Smith?” asked Eirene innocently. - -“No--er--the last of our Smiths,” Zoe managed to say, and broke into -hopeless laughter, until Maurice shook her, and asked her whether she -wanted the brigands to think that terror had driven her mad. It seemed -that their fate was no longer in suspense, since Milosch, of all -people, had come to the rescue. This was not through any softness of -heart, but because, representing, as he did, the Thracian committee -which directed the brigands’ movements, he had been able to paint in -vivid terms the wrath and disappointment which would pervade that -august body on the discovery that the prisoners whose ransom was to -have added so largely to its funds had simply been wasted. - -“There must be a way up the mountain,” he said, “so that we could turn -aside from the path without even approaching the Roumi dogs.” - -“There is,” said Zeko, “but it is such a way that a man must cling to -the rocks with both hands and his toes and his teeth. How can women -climb it?” - -“Women can do what they are obliged to do,” said Milosch, with his -evil grin. - -“This settles it,” said Zoe, as Maurice translated the words. “If our -lives depend on our climbing up there, or even walking any farther, -why, we shall have to be killed. Look, Maurice, our moccasins are cut -to pieces, and my feet are bleeding--so are Eirene’s. We can’t walk -another step, and you can tell them so.” - -It was unnecessary for Maurice to speak, however, for one of the -brigands came in to report, with much indignation, that Zoe’s feet had -left spots of blood on the track, which the rain had not quite washed -off, and the rest were forced to perceive that the girls were really -incapable of walking farther. Again there were suggestions of a short -and sharp way out of the difficulty, and again Milosch interposed as -_deus ex machinâ_. - -“You say that these Roumi swine have two sentries on the path, and -that the rest are sheltering in the ruined hut below? Well, be sure -that the sentries will join the rest as soon as it is daylight, for -what sane man would stand out in the rain when he might be in shelter? -They will not expect us to break through by day, and if the saints -only grant them sleep after they have eaten, we may pass without their -even seeing us. If they should seek to prevent us, we can use the -prisoners as a screen against their bullets, and escape ourselves.” - -“It is well said,” remarked the chief, whose own financial stake in -the matter was considerable. “At least we will do what we can to save -the ransom. We will remain here for the present.” - -The prospect was not very cheering, for the rain dripped down from the -sodden trees on the soaked ground, and everything was wet. Maurice -took matters into his own hands. Gathering together some fallen -branches, he arranged them on the driest spot he could find, and asked -Zeko for matches. The brigands laughed grimly at the request. - -“If you must kill the ladies, you may as well do it at once,” he -responded promptly, “and not leave them to die of cold and wet. No one -could distinguish smoke in this mist, even if there was any one -looking out.” - -Unless the suggestion had accorded with the brigands’ own -inclinations, it would probably still have been scouted, but in the -prevailing cold and discomfort the idea of a fire appealed to them -powerfully, and they collected more sticks, and laboured strenuously -to get the wet wood to burn. It was a very smoky and cheerless fire, -at best, but it put a little warmth into the girls’ shivering frames, -and Maurice toasted the soaked morsels of black bread and dingy cheese -which were thrown to them, and induced them to eat. The brigands had -been consulting together during the meal, and at its close Stoyan -called Maurice aside, addressing him in a reasonable, -“man-and-brother” way, which amused him by its cool assumption that -their interests were the same. - -“You must see clearly,” he said, “that we cannot remain here. At any -cost we must pass the soldiers in front. Out of consideration for your -sisters we have refrained from dragging them up the rocks, and you -must, therefore, make them understand that they must walk a little way -farther. Let them bind up their feet, so as to leave no track, and -once beyond the pass we shall be able to procure horses for them. We -are bound for a safe hiding-place, where they will find rest and -comfort, and women to attend upon them. Surely you can see that it is -better for them to make this slight effort than to be left dead upon -the road?” - -“I do quite see it,” responded Maurice, after a moment’s thought. It -was clear that, for the moment, their interests did indeed lie with -those of the brigands, since any attempt to reach the soldiers or -delay the march meant death. He went back to the girls and explained -things to them, and they set to work wearily to tie up their wounded -feet in such rags as they could muster, replacing the torn moccasins -over them. Presently one of the scouts came in to report that the -Roumi sentries had rejoined their comrades at the ruined hut, thus -leaving the way above clear, and the march was resumed immediately, -the girls tottering as best they could on either side of Maurice, who -alone had an arm to spare for them. The brigands had all unslung their -rifles and looked to the cartridges, and were proceeding in a rough -open order, with the scouts a little way in advance. Suddenly they -came to a standstill, with an involuntary gasp of astonishment. Facing -them, climbing the slope from the ruined hut, were the Roumi soldiers, -whose surprise was equally patent with their own. It would have been -difficult to say which party had less expected to see the other, but -the brigands were prepared for the emergency, while the soldiers were -not. Their rifles were slung on their backs for convenience in -climbing, and they were scattered on the face of the slope. A sharp -order from the brigand chief confronted them with the muzzles of -twenty rifles, and with a howl of horror they turned and fled. Half of -the band pursued them--the rest remaining to guard the -prisoners--firing off their rifles and whooping with delight. The -pursuit was not a long one, for Stoyan’s whistle recalled his men -quickly, and sending one back to discover whether the sounds of the -skirmish had penetrated to the force with which Wylie was, he led the -rest forward for some distance, till they came to a place where two -tracks met. One man was sent on down the lower and left-hand path, -while the main body disposed themselves among the rocks, well out of -sight of the road, and Milosch, approaching the prisoner, said to -Zoe-- - -“You give ze Voivoda cutting.” - -This mild horticultural request was so surprising that Zoe looked at -him in perplexity, whereupon he pointed impatiently to her dress. The -neat striped flannel coat and skirt on which she had so long ago -prided herself was now in sadly reduced circumstances, the skirt -especially having been curtailed to the most approved “mountaineering -length.” - -“Oh, give them a piece of yours, Eirene, can’t you?” she said. “You -really have more left.” - -“Oh no, it is yours he wants,” said Eirene quickly. “He thinks Captain -Wylie will recognise it.” - -Zoe glared at her for this tactless speech, and reluctantly tore off a -strip which was hanging loose between two of the brown patches she had -put in. Watching the chief with some curiosity, she saw that he tore -it in two, and dexterously entangled one piece in a thorny bush some -little way up the ascending path on the right, and then went on up the -hill, evidently intending to do the same with the other farther on. -The intention of the manœuvre was obvious, and the prisoners did not -know whether to sigh for the deception to be practised on Wylie, or to -rejoice that his perilous presence was to be removed from them. After -some time, the brigand who had gone down the hill reappeared with an -ancient horse, very thin and almost blind, and the girls were, without -ceremony, mounted one behind the other, with the rugs as an apology -for a saddle. They and Maurice were then blindfolded, and the descent -began, the brigands displaying their usual distrust of smooth or soft -ground, and leading the horse down the rockiest places, which was good -strategy, but made exceedingly uncomfortable riding. For once, each -girl was really thankful that her companion’s eyes were unable to see -the shifts to which she was put in order to maintain her balance. At -length the descent became somewhat less steep, and the old horse -stumbled gallantly along a fairly level track, his two riders almost -asleep, in spite of their uneasy position. They stopped with a jerk at -last, and heard some one pouring forth an exciting narrative to the -chief. Maurice came up to them softly. - -“It is the fellow who was sent back,” he said. “He followed the -retreating soldiers until they came to the village, and met Wylie’s -force just setting out in this direction. Wylie meant to sweep the -country, you see, and if the sentries above here had not left their -posts, the two detachments must have caught the brigands between them. -Of course, it’s just as well for us personally that they didn’t.” - -“What did Captain Wylie say?” asked Zoe. - -“When he heard we had broken through? Oh, Demo says, ‘Their own -Bimbashi beat the flying soldiers with his sword, but the Capitan -cursed them in bitter, biting words, far worse than any beating, for -if the evil eye ever rested on any man, it did on them!’” - -“If I were Captain Wylie, I should curse myself,” said Eirene -succinctly, just as Milosch summoned her and Zoe to dismount. Followed -by Maurice, they were led a wearying round, in and out of doors, up -and down stairs, into a tower, a farmyard, a granary, and a kitchen -(as they judged by the smells that met them), until they were -hopelessly confused as to the direction in which they had come. Then -they were pushed in at a low door, and the bandages were suddenly -removed from their eyes. They were in darkness, but other senses than -that of sight convinced them that they stood in a cattle-stable. - -“Oh, Maurice, the dirt!” gasped Zoe, as her foot sank into yielding -mud. - -“Go on! go on!” cried Milosch behind, prodding Maurice in the back -with the muzzle of his rifle--an action which has a distinctly -disquieting effect upon the person acted on--and Zeko’s voice in front -called them to come forward. Following the direction of the words, -they saw a faint glimmer of grey, defining the shape of another -doorway, with the outline of Zeko’s beckoning arm dark against it. -Stumbling through the mud, they reached the threshold, and found -themselves in a cave or underground room hewn out in the rock. Part of -the ceiling was of rock, the rest, through which the light glimmered, -was apparently the badly fitting flooring of a room above. Sacks and -large earthenware jars, with various boxes, seemed to show that the -place was the receptacle for all the household valuables, but there -was nothing that could be called furniture. Zeko shut the door with a -bang, and they heard him piling up fodder--or something else that -deadened sound--against it on the outside. They were imprisoned -underground. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - THE DIVINE FIGURE OF THE NORTH. - - “Dear Wylie,--I am sorry to have to tell you that in consequence of - the action of the authorities in sending troops against them, Stoyan - and his band have now increased the ransom they demand for us to - twenty thousand pounds. They also say that if the pursuit continues, - first one and then another of us will be killed, and the ransom for - the remaining one will be raised by five thousand pounds a-week. I - tell you honestly that the efforts of the troops can have no result - beyond irritating the brigands and making our position worse, and that - we are at this moment hidden where I believe no power on earth could - find us. The ladies agree with me, very reluctantly.--Yours truly, - - “Maurice Smith. - “Zoe Smith. - “Eirene Smith.” - - -This was written on the upper half of a sheet from Zoe’s large -note-book, and at the foot appeared the following, which could be torn -off before the recipient made the first portion public:-- - -“For goodness’ sake, Wylie, drop it. Your intentions are excellent, -but they don’t seem to come off. The girls are half-dead with -exhaustion after the way you have been hunting us about, and we are at -present cheerfully accommodated underground, with only the faintest -glimmer of light. I couldn’t tell you where we are if I would, and I -wouldn’t if I could. For some reason or other the brigands have taken -a dislike to you, and if you persist in staying up here, I am given to -understand that you will find yourself confronted with our dead bodies -in various uncomfortable attitudes. Cut away to Therma and hurry up -that ransom. This is the kindest thing you can do for us.” - -On his return from the vain pursuit of the brigands which followed the -meeting with the routed detachment, Wylie discovered this letter -pinned with a dagger to the doorpost of the house where he had taken -up his quarters. None of the villagers had seen who brought it, and no -one could offer any suggestion on the subject, but whether the -universal ignorance was real, or the result of a secret understanding -with the brigands, did not appear. The letter had the desired effect, -sending Wylie back to Therma in something more nearly approaching -panic than he had ever known. He was not as reckless of the lives of -his friends as he had appeared, but he had undoubtedly brought them -into imminent peril, though his course had been adopted in utter -desperation. His first appearance at Therma, bearing the story of what -had happened and the demand for a ransom, had been the signal for the -commencement of a wild tragi-comedy of irresponsibility. The Roumi -authorities declared flatly that there were no brigands in Emathia, so -that it was obviously impossible that the travellers could have been -carried off by brigands. The British representatives, to whom Wylie -appealed at the same time, cherished grave doubts as to the wisdom of -paying a ransom, since no British traveller in Emathia would be safe -after such a precedent had been set. Professor Panagiotis, torn by -conflicting emotions, proved almost equally unsatisfactory. He had -found himself of late subjected to a disquieting espionage, which -filled him with fear lest his plans had in some way been divined. In -such a case, it seemed to him that his only chance was to grip his -important secret more tightly than ever. Lest Wylie should make use of -it to bring pressure on any of the Governments concerned, he kept it -even from him, pooh-poohing his reminder of the explanations Maurice -had promised him, and showing an uneasy curiosity on the subject of -Eirene, for whose existence he could not account. He volunteered, -indeed, to write to Maurice’s bankers, asking them to advance the -money for the ransom, with the natural result that they demanded -either a cheque signed by Maurice or an interview with Wylie and a -sight of his authority, and Wylie could not bring himself to leave -Emathia while his friends’ fate hung in the balance. The Professor’s -sole useful contribution to the debate was the conviction that the -outrage had been perpetrated by a band of Thracian marauders, with -which the newspapers in his interest made Europe ring. The Thracian -Government, approached on the subject, replied with virtuous -indignation that its attitude was perfectly correct. It had always -studiously discouraged--in the most official manner--the formation of -such bands, and refused them permission to cross the frontier into -Emathia. If the reprehensible activity of private persons had managed -to organise a band, the authorities viewed it with entire detachment, -and the Roumi Government was welcome to do as it liked with the -members, when it caught them. - -This acknowledgment that there might be foreign, though not native, -brigands on the sacred soil of Emathia stirred the Roumi officials to -a pitch of activity positively dangerous. Urged on by Professor -Panagiotis and his adherents, they sent troops into the hills, and -loudly proclaimed their intention of sweeping the miscreants from the -face of the earth, and rescuing the captives without fee or reward. -Into the vortex of this expedition Wylie was whirled, partly by the -demand of the authorities that he should accompany the troops and -behold the vengeance exacted, partly by his own hope that he might be -able to make the measures taken effectual. His friend Palmer, smarting -under the loss of the faithful Haji Ahmad, had willingly joined him in -a bold journey through the heart of the brigands’ country, in the hope -that the luggage so lavishly displayed would prove a bait sufficient -to ensure their being carried off also, when the best trackers in the -country, provided by Professor Panagiotis, would follow them up, and -thus discover the brigands’ stronghold. Demo’s recognition of Wylie in -his disguise had prevented this, but the journey had its fruit in the -discovery of the boot-tracks of the captives, and thus enabled Wylie -to lay his plans for a systematic search. As Maurice had conjectured, -it was the torrent-bed, the use of which as a path he had not -suspected, which had thrown him out when he felt certain that he had -the brigands safe in one particular group of hills, and the -carelessness of the detachment which had been sent on to hold the pass -enabled his prey to slip through his fingers. Thus baffled, he had no -alternative but to hurry back to Therma, in compliance with Maurice’s -earnest request, only to find fresh discouragements awaiting him. -Before leaving for the hills, he had written a full account of the -capture to Maurice’s bankers, enclosing a certified copy of the first -letter signed by the three captives, in the hope that they might be -induced to depart from their attitude of severe correctness. Their -answer had now arrived, making it evident that the worthy country -gentlemen, who had known Maurice and Zoe all their lives, and their -parents and grandparents before them, regarded the intrusion of Eirene -into the letter as evidence of a not very cleverly constructed plot, -concocted, it was to be presumed, by Wylie and Professor Panagiotis, -for the purpose of extorting money. Whether they imagined the -Professor and Wylie were holding the captives in durance, or doubted -their being in durance at all, or what they thought Eirene had to do -with the matter, they did not say, but they wound up a lengthy refusal -to do anything without seeing Wylie, with the coldly sarcastic remark -that the Roumi Government was obviously the proper channel from which -to obtain the ransom. - -“Why can’t the old idiots see that it’s a matter of life and death?” -mused Wylie bitterly, as he read the letter on the terrace of his -hotel. “I’m not going cap in hand to them to be treated like a -pickpocket and sent off with a flea in my ear, while the Smiths are -being massacred. I’d rather pay the money myself. I wonder if I could -manage to raise it in the time? I don’t see where it’s to come from. -Or is there any one else I could worry into taking action?” - -He thought over the long list of people to whom he had written urgent -letters--every one he had ever heard of who was likely to have -influence with the press or with any of the Governments interested in -Emathia--and realised wrathfully that, though his journalistic appeals -had produced a good deal of frothy rhetoric and bloodthirsty -declamation in the columns of newspapers of the baser sort, the -practical effect appeared to be _nil_. True, an artist on the staff of -the ‘Plastic,’ who happened to be in the neighbourhood--as distances -go in Eastern Europe--had been ordered to the scene of the capture, -which was now, on the well-established principle of the steed and the -stable-door, kept constantly patrolled by police, and had made many -sketches of the localities concerned, but without stirring the placid -blood of the public to any extraordinary heat. He had moved on to -Therma now, and was staying at the hotel, and as Wylie halted -irresolutely in his anger and perplexity outside the window of the -smoking-room, he came out and joined him. - -“I say, you don’t mind my speaking to you, do you?” he asked, in a -pleasant, boyish voice. “I know you’re the man who was captured with -the Smiths, and I want to find out something about them. I’m sick of -sketching a set of rotten roadsides--might as well be a camera at -once--and there’s not a sensation in the whole lot. What I’m thinking -of is a full-page drawing of the outrage itself--call it a fancy -picture if you like, but that’s the sort of thing that tells. Besides, -if I work up the figures from your description, it’s not a fancy -picture. Do you mind?” - -“I don’t mind what I do that’s likely to give the slightest help in -rescuing them,” said Wylie emphatically. - -“I know. Horribly rough on them and you too--all this red tape. Let’s -go ahead, then. What sort of a chap is Smith?” - -“Cambridge man, usual style, nothing particular about him, but an -awfully good sort. His eldest sister told me that he got a gold medal -for poetry this spring, but you’d never think it to look at him.” - -“A gold medal? Not for an English poem? I was there myself, and there -was no Smith in. My young brother got a medal for a Greek epigram, and -he was so keen on my seeing him in all his glory that I ran down for -the day. Took the opportunity to get half a page of sketches for the -‘Daily Plastic,’ too, as the affair isn’t much known. They keep the -date dark lest the men should get in and rag--so my brother told me. -Now what was the chap’s name who got the English medal? It was a St -Saviour’s man, and the Master was so proud he talked of nothing else -for a week.” - -“Miss Smith told me her brother got it,” said Wylie, in the tone which -implies that there is no more to be said. - -“But there must be a mistake somewhere. Look here; I believe I have -that very sketch-book in my room. I’ll get it, and we can see the -fellow’s name.” - -He vanished indoors, and presently returned breathless, flicking over -the leaves of a well-filled sketch-book. - -“Here it is!” he cried. “Teffany! I knew there was something queer -about the name.” He put the book into his companion’s hands, and Wylie -found himself confronted with an unmistakable portrait of Maurice in -cap and gown, wearing a rather strained smile, and gripping a roll of -paper very tight. In close proximity was a sketch of Professor -Panagiotis, all alert attention, bending forward to listen. - -“Why, that’s Smith!” cried Wylie, “and this----” - -“Yes, it’s awfully rummy, isn’t it? That’s the old johnny who hangs -out at Kallimeri, close here. It gave me quite a shock when I met him -in the street, but then I remembered that my brother told me he was -some Greek bigwig. Then my man is your man, after all? I say, this is -something like a joke!” - -“But what possible reason can he have had for changing his name?” -cried Wylie, trying to recall anything that ought to have prepared him -for the discovery. - -“And there’s another thing,” said the artist, who was enjoying himself -hugely. “He’s got a sister too many. Teffany has only one, I know. She -came up to Girtham at the same time that he entered at St Saviour’s, -and they were called ‘The Orphans’ everywhere, because they used to go -about together in deep mourning. It was for their grandfather, though. -Their father was killed in the Soudan years before, and their mother -died from the shock. So where does the other girl come in?” - -“Of course she is only a half-sister; I knew that.” - -“But younger than either of them, you say? Oh, this is -brain-splitting! She must be a cousin.” - -“Really,” said Wylie stiffly, “I see no reason for us to trouble about -the matter. No one ever doubted that she was their sister.” - -“Well, we seem to have come upon a nice little double mystery. Look -here, monsieur,” the artist cried to a man who was standing just -inside the smoking-room, “come and adjudicate. What reason could a man -have, whose name wasn’t Smith, for calling himself Smith, when he was -doing nothing more heinous than coming with his sisters to stay with -Professor Panagiotis?” - -“English, of course?” said the stranger, joining them, and speaking -with a slight foreign accent. “Why need one seek a reason, then? The -pseudo-Smith is rich--perhaps noble--at home, and he desires a new -sensation. Therefore he obtains one by travelling _incognito_.” - -“Well, I suppose Teffany is comfortably off”--the stranger’s eyelid -flickered as the artist spoke--“but there are no titles in the family, -that I know of. Why in the world should he do it?” - -“The natural modesty of the British character,” suggested the -stranger. - -“And there’s another thing. Why should he call a girl his sister who -isn’t his sister?” - -“If you ask me,” said the stranger waggishly, “I should say that it -was some one else’s sister.” - -“Oh, but two of them?” cried the artist. “Or, if one was genuine, how -do you account for her tolerating the bogus one?” - -“Look here,” said Wylie, “that will do. You, and Smith’s--I mean -Teffany’s--bankers, and Professor Panagiotis, all persist that there -can’t be a second sister. I tell you there is, for I have seen her and -talked to her. I have the honour of both the Miss Smiths’--the Miss -Teffanys’, I mean--acquaintance, and whatever stupid mystery you may -manage to cook up, I’m certain there’s the most ordinary explanation -if we only knew it. I don’t want any more jokes on the subject.” - -“Awfully sorry,” said the artist hastily, as the stranger withdrew -with a smile; “but it is funny, you know.” - -“To you, perhaps. Who’s your grinning friend?” - -“A Greek--Mitsopoulo his name is--good sort of chap. Knows the ropes, -puts me up to all sorts of things. His sister is married to the -Scythian Consul-General--frightfully handsome woman. But he’s only -staying here.” - -“I don’t know why you called him in,” said Wylie uneasily. “We don’t -want Scythia mixed up in this business.” - -The artist stared at him. “Oh, I say,” he laughed, “there’s no doubt -where you come from, is there? ‘Keep your powder dry, and hate a -Scythian like the devil’--that’s about the mark of you North-West -Frontier men, isn’t it?” - -“What do you know about the North-West Frontier?” growled Wylie. “I’m -off to Professor Panagiotis to get this thing cleared up. I shall end -by wringing the old blighter’s neck for him, I know.” - -“So long!” said the artist pacifically, for he had not yet got all the -information he wanted, and he settled down to a sketch for his -picture, leaving the girls’ faces blank, while Wylie, refusing the -offers of donkey-boys and cab-drivers, tramped off to Kallimeri. The -Professor had learnt to dread his coming, and distinguished on this -occasion in the very sound of his footsteps fresh cause for alarm. -Wylie gave him no opportunity of denying the identification -established by the sketch, but demanded bluntly the reason of the -change of name, and why he had not been told of it before. The only -course was to explain the whole of the circumstances, and this the -Professor took. - -“You see, then,” he ended, “that not a breath of this must creep out. -Our young friend stands in the way of both Scythian and -Thraco-Dardanian ambitions, and if it was known who he was, it would -be fatally easy to arrange for his death--at the hands of the -brigands, by a fall in the mountains, by a shot from a Roumi rifle. It -would occur so naturally that there would be no room for inquiry, and -his sister, who would otherwise inherit his claims, would share his -fate. Now do you see why I kept you in the dark? It was for their -sake. I feared that by some inadvertence”--Wylie moved angrily--“Well, -now that you know the truth, and what hangs upon your silence, you -will see that nothing must be said. There is a dangerous man at your -hotel--Nicetas Mitsopoulo, a Greek traitor in Scythian employ--beware -of him.” - -“Your warning comes a little late. The gentleman you mention was -present when I discovered the truth.” - -Professor Panagiotis flung up his hands in despair. “Then Maurice -Teffany and his sister are as good as dead! My hopes are destroyed.” - -“Don’t blither about your hopes,” said Wylie savagely, “but think what -we can do. What chance have we of saving them?” - -“If we can raise the ransom by the very day stipulated--the brigands -are generally faithful to their word--but if it is an hour late----” - -“Then the ransom must be raised, by hook or by crook. Can you advance -it? I will give you my bond for all I am worth, and I am certain Smith -will regard the rest as a debt of honour.” - -“Alas, no! It is not in my power,” groaned the Professor. - -“Nonsense! you are well known to be a rich man. How much can you lay -your hands upon in ten days?” - -“I--I must explain to you,” said the Professor diffidently, “that -events have advanced since I had the good fortune to discover Mr -Teffany. In view of the happy prospects of the Greek cause, I have -felt justified in promoting a certain degree of organisation among its -adherents--enabling them to defend their homes against their ruthless -Slavic assailants----” - -“And institute reprisals, no doubt?” said Wylie. “This means, of -course, that you have been arming the Emathian Greeks against the -Slavs, by way of improving matters?” - -“And the cost has been very heavy,” pursued the Professor, with -humility, “and one large consignment of--defence weapons--fell, -unfortunately, into the hands of one of the Thracian committees, so -that I am actually straitened.” - -“Well, can you beg, borrow, or steal five thousand pounds by the end -of next week? I think I ought to be able to manage the other fifteen -thousand, by realising everything I have in the world. If not, you -must scrape together the difference. At any cost we must stop Mr -Mitsopoulo’s little games.” - -Had Wylie been present at a certain discussion at the Scythian -Consulate that evening, he would have realised that Nicetas Mitsopoulo -was playing even a deeper game than he imagined. The Greek arrived at -a private door, which was opened to him by the Consul-General himself, -a big, fair man, whose bluff exterior concealed a very serviceable -share of diplomatic _finesse_. - -“Welcome, Nikita Feodorovitch!” he said pleasantly. “You will find -Chariclea ready for you. Curiously enough, immediately after your -message arrived, a sudden headache prevented her from going to the -party at the Cimbrian Consul’s.” - -M. Mitsopoulo pushed past his brother-in-law rather impatiently, for -the Consul-General was always ready to find amusement, such as the -professional plotter had long since outgrown, in these tricks of the -trade. Much more in sympathy with him was his sister, Madame Ladoguin, -or Chariclea Feodorovna, as she was called by her Scythian -acquaintances. A handsome woman in a loose Levantine dress, with her -dark hair hanging below her waist in two heavy plaits, she awaited him -on a cushioned divan in her boudoir, with cigarettes and the -ever-ready samovar at hand. M. Ladoguin lounged in after him, and sat -down at a little distance, ready to act as friend of the court. - -“This has been a day of events and surprises,” said Mitsopoulo, -accepting a glass of tea, with thin slices of lemon floating in it, -from his sister. “I have made such progress that I am almost -bewildered, and I bring the results of my labours to you, Chariclea, -that you may check them and assure me I have not deceived myself.” - -“I will scrutinise them as rigorously as if they were the report of a -Reform Scheme,” she answered, with a lazy smile. - -“That is just what I want. You have guessed, I am sure, Chariclea, -that my visit here was in connection with the disappearance, which was -not made known to the public, of a young lady of high rank. All the -indications seemed to point to her having escaped to America, but as -the Greek Panagiotis was known to have tampered with her father, it -was thought well to watch for her here. I placed the amiable -Panagiotis under surveillance, which I fear he has found inconvenient, -but as it did not appear that he was either holding or expecting any -communication with the Princess, I was about to withdraw it. Then, -only a week ago, one of my agents brought word that a breast-ornament -of gold and rubies, of a unique Byzantine design, had been offered for -sale secretly by a Jew in this city. The description corresponded with -that of one of the jewels which had disappeared with the Princess, and -I authorised the man to secure it at any cost, but, alas! at the first -hint of inquiry it disappeared again, and has probably been broken up. -Until to-day, therefore, I thought it probable that the Princess had -eluded my vigilance and was in hiding here, subsisting by the sale of -her jewels until she found it safe to communicate with Panagiotis.” He -paused impressively. - -“Yes, and now?” asked Mme. Ladoguin. - -“To-day I was summoned to assist at a conversation between a brainless -artist staying at the hotel, and the English officer who was captured -with the renowned Smiths----” - -“Are you quite sure you were not assisting before you were summoned, -Nikita?” laughed the Consul-General. His brother-in-law passed over -the question as unworthy of an answer. - -“--And I discovered a very curious fact, vouched for by three separate -authorities, that one of the ladies passing as Miss Smith is not a -Miss Smith at all. Mr and Miss Smith have no sister, and Panagiotis, -with whom they were to stay, did not expect a second lady guest.” - -“Well?” demanded Mme. Ladoguin, her eyes glowing sombrely. - -“The idea came to me in a flash, but it was too improbable to accept -without investigation. I went at once to the station, and by great -good fortune succeeded in finding the guard of the train that was -wrecked near Przlepka. Otherwise I might have had to wait two or three -days. He recollected the party perfectly, and described them--the -brother an ordinary, impassive Englishman, one sister vivacious in the -wooden English way, but the other totally different. He said himself -that he would have guessed her to be a Scythian, as also the aunt who -was killed in the accident. With another happy flash, I asked him if -he had happened to visit the aunt’s grave at Przlepka. He had done so, -and the name upon the stone was Evdotia Vladimirovna. That was the -Christian name of Madame Lyofsky, the lady-in-waiting who vanished -with the Princess.” - -“Excellent! Well done! Continue, pray!” cried Mme. Ladoguin, clapping -her hands softly. - -“I could get no more from the man, for he had, of course, only been -able to observe the Smiths from Tatarjé to Przlepka. To obtain -further information, I must go myself to Tatarjé and question the -car-attendant on the Orient Express, who must have plenty to tell. But -at present, what is your view of the case, my dear Chariclea?” - -“There can only be one view,” she responded quickly. “The Princess -fell in with these Smiths in Paris, and either by bribery or entreaty, -induced them to adopt Mme. Lyofsky and herself as members of their -party, flattering herself that she would thus escape discovery.” - -“So I should have thought but for something else that I learned -to-day. The man Smith and his sister are in reality no more Smith than -the Princess is. Their true name is Teffany.” - -“Well?” asked the Consul-General curiously. - -“Teffany--which is Theophanis,” said M. Mitsopoulo. His sister sprang -up from her cushions. - -“What! Nicetas, you don’t mean----” - -“I mean that Panagiotis has succeeded, where his predecessors failed, -in unearthing or manufacturing an English representative of the senior -male line of the descendants of John Theophanis.” - -“But why then trouble himself with the Princess?” asked M. Ladoguin -helplessly. - -“Oh, that’s clear enough,” was the contemptuous reply of his wife. -“She is to marry the claimant.” - -“Now there I can’t agree with you, Chariclea,” said her brother. -“Panagiotis is far too wise for that. The united claims of the two -would be absolutely unassailable, and there would be no room for him. -He might choose to arrange such a marriage by slow degrees, inventing -hindrances and delays so as to make his own services appear -indispensable, but it would be madness to begin by throwing the two -young people together.” - -“But we can hardly charge the worthy Professor with the railway -accident and the capture by the brigands, can we?” asked M. Ladoguin, -laughing. “We know better than that.” - -“No, that was certainly unforeseen on his part. But why plot so -clumsily as to let them travel by the same train?” - -“He must have had some scheme for separating them as soon as they -became interested in one another,” suggested Mme. Ladoguin, without -much conviction. - -“Now I am going to propound a common-sense view of the matter, since -you two clever people are at a loss,” said her husband. “What if -Panagiotis has washed his hands of the girl--the Princess, I -mean--since he discovered his male heir; and what if she took the -journey entirely on her own account, enraged at the neglect of her -claims? That would account for his not expecting her. The meeting with -the Smiths would then be a pure coincidence.” - -“Absurd!” said Mme. Ladoguin sharply, following the sound Higher -Critical rule of rejecting the obvious. “Do you suggest that these -young people, whose interests are diametrically opposed, fell in love -at first sight, like characters of Shakespeare, and agreed to--to pool -their respective claims?” - -“Possibly. Isn’t it more reasonable than to suppose that Panagiotis -brought them together and explained the situation, with a view to a -State marriage?” - -“Stop!” cried Mitsopoulo suddenly. “Adopting the coincidence theory -provisionally, must we suppose that the situation is explained at all? -In my view, Panagiotis arranged the disappearance of the Princess, but -she was too impatient to await the date he had fixed. He had intended -to produce her a month or so hence, when the young man was entirely in -his power; but naturally he says nothing to either of them. She -escapes sooner than he wished, and falls in with the other claimant -and his sister in Paris. There was the coincidence. Now, is it likely -that either party would even be aware of the other’s existence, since -it is to the interest of Panagiotis to keep them in ignorance for his -own purposes? Therefore, why should they confide in each other at -all?” - -“Oh, but everything must have come out since--or at least, half of -everything,” said M. Ladoguin, generalising unwisely on a common-sense -basis. “The man and his sister, who are new to the idea of their -dignity, could not possibly keep silence.” Mitsopoulo nodded, -remembering Zoe’s confidence to Wylie about the gold medal, and his -brother-in-law went on, much encouraged. “With the Princess it is -different. She must be capable of determined secrecy, from the skill -with which she concealed her preparations for escape, and she has long -believed herself the heir of the Eastern Empire. Finding herself -confronted with a claim antagonistic and superior to her own, what -will be her impulse? Will it not be to retain her secret haughtily, -watching for the chance of crushing her rival? I should say that if -you want her back, you will find her thankful to come.” - -“Do you want her back?” asked Mme. Ladoguin. - -“Most certainly,” replied her brother; “she is an invaluable asset, -tracing an uninterrupted Greek and Orthodox descent from John -Theophanis. The Englishman’s claim is the best by the ordinary law of -Europe, but would break down hopelessly when tried by the Imperial -family statutes. She ought to have been married long ago, and her -claim carried into the Scythian Imperial house; but she is in a -troublesome position--too important and yet not important enough. It -is believed that she aspired to an alliance with the Emperor -himself--and if I had had the direction of affairs I fancy I should -have settled it in that way. But it was otherwise decided, and she -rejected with contumely the Grand Duke Ivan Petrovitch, who was -suggested to her as a suitor. She also took matters into her own -hands, or Panagiotis persuaded her that she did.” - -“Then she must be taken care of, I suppose,” drawled Mme. Ladoguin, -“which is a pity, or she might have been disposed of with the other -inconveniences. They are merely inconveniences, are they not? A -judicious massacre, now, or an accident with the dynamite which these -reprehensible bands of brigands manage somehow to get hold of?” - -“No, I think not,” said her brother, after a moment’s reflection. “You -forget Panagiotis, and that blue-eyed swashbuckler who was captured -with them. They will make out that we were anxious to get rid of the -man and his claims, and there will be unpleasantness. What must be -done is to make him confess the baselessness of his pretensions. He -must own that he was tempted by Panagiotis to put himself forward as -a Theophanis, without the slightest ground for the assertion. That -will dispose of both him and his sister. How the details are to be -arranged we must discuss another day.” - -“I should recommend the monastery of Hadgi-Antoniou if you want any -one kept out of the way for an indefinite time,” smiled M. Ladoguin. - -“Just so; and plenty of palm-oil to obviate any difficulties. I must -get an order for funds from Pavelsburg,” said Mitsopoulo. - -Wylie also was seeking funds at that moment. A letter to his lawyers -was directing them to sell out all his securities, and to mortgage to -its utmost value the little Border estate which called him master. -However onerous the conditions, he must have fifteen thousand pounds -in ten days. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - THE FALLING-OUT OF FAITHFUL FRIENDS. - -Cheerless though the underground prison might be, it offered a -respite from further journeying, and for the moment the captives could -think of nothing else. Exhausted by the long night spent in tramping -through the rain, the girls asked only for rest, and a sack of corn -for pillow, with a rug for coverlet, furnished as luxurious a couch as -they could need. They were asleep in a moment, and Maurice envied -them. He had chosen his own sleeping-place close to the door, but he -could not rest until he had built up the boxes and sacks into a -barricade which might shelter the girls from prying eyes. It seemed to -him that the noise he made would wake anybody, but Zoe and Eirene -never stirred, and he erected a very fair partition, and retired -thankfully to his own sack and rug on the threshold. He was not -allowed to sleep, however, for a beam of light appeared at the other -end of the cellar, and a voice called him. Rising with much -reluctance, he found that a board of the crazy flooring above had been -lifted, and a basket containing writing materials was being lowered -down, while Milosch instructed him through the hole as to the terms of -the letter he was to write to Wylie. The circumstances might excuse a -certain acerbity in the wording, and Maurice was conscious of a savage -satisfaction as he added his postscript, scarcely able to see, so -drowsy was he. Even when he had finished his letter, it was sent down -to him again that the girls might add their signatures, and he was -obliged to wake them in turn, and actually guide their hands over the -paper. Then at last he was left in peace, and lay down and slept for -eight hours without waking. It was the girls’ voices that roused him -at last. He could hear them talking. - -“Do you think they mean to starve us?” murmured Eirene. - -“I don’t know. I’m _frightfully_ hungry,” returned Zoe. - -The suggestion reminded Maurice that he was very conscious of the -pangs of hunger himself, but it was difficult to see how the fact was -to be brought home to the brigands. On testing the door by repeated -knocks, he found that it was still blocked up on the outside, and he -had nothing with which to reach the ceiling, and so disturb the floor -of the room above. In these circumstances, the bright idea seized him -of rolling about some of the empty jars, which made a most -satisfactory noise, and presently the board was lifted again, and -Milosch ordered the prisoners angrily to be quiet. When the state of -things was explained, he deigned to parley, assuring them that it only -wanted half an hour to sunset, and that as soon as it was twilight -they should be released and bountifully fed, but that for the present -they must keep absolute silence, if they valued their lives. The -reason for this became apparent in the course of one of the longest -half-hours they had ever spent, when the boards above rattled with the -not very distant sound of regular tramping. - -“That’s Wylie and his army going home,” said Maurice. “Fancy their -being so close to us! I suppose we must have come back quite near the -village we passed through last night. If the old chap only knew!” - -The sound of the tramping died away, the dim religious light which -filtered through the chinks between the boards vanished altogether, -and they waited in darkness until there was a welcome noise at the -door. The fodder which had concealed it was being flung away, and they -were ordered to come out. Passing from the noisome stable, they were -hurried through the yard into the house, and while room was made for -Maurice in the jovial circle of brigands who occupied the stone divans -in a large ground-floor room, deeply interested in the extensive -cooking operations going on over and before an enormous fireplace, the -girls were taken up into the tower they had already visited, and -handed over to the women of the family. The grandmother and two or -three elderly dependants were doing the cooking downstairs, where also -were the men of the house, acting as more or less willing hosts to the -brigands, but there were matrons and girls and children enough to make -the household a puzzle in relationships. The women were shy at first, -but when they saw by the rays of their primitive lamp the plight of -their guests they forgot their timidity. They bathed and bound up -their wounded feet, pressed upon them clean head-handkerchiefs and the -loose embroidered shirts they themselves wore on feast-days, and -brought them a plentiful supply of food. After the meal they made them -comfortable with loose sheepskins upon the divans, and sat upon the -floor to make conversation. The girls had picked up something of the -language by this time--Eirene helping herself out with Scythian -words--and an abundant use of gesture helped towards mutual -comprehension. The prisoners were able to indicate the names of their -respective countries, the manner of their capture, and their -wanderings since that event, while the women expressed their pity and -sympathy, together with their unbiassed opinion of the brigands. - -That was the first of five nights passed in the tower, the days being -spent underground, and the curious relations of the brigands with the -rural population became manifest. The peasant-farmer had the privilege -of providing the brigand with food, clothes, shelter if he demanded -it, and intelligence of the doings of the authorities, in return for -which he received protection against rival bands, and was secured -against wilful damage to his property, while the brigands winked at -the prompt disappearance of every article of value from the house and -from the dress of the women when a visit from them was expected. There -was no love lost between protectors and protected, guests and hosts, -for the women had much to say of the ruthless demands of the brigands -for food and clothing when the family had barely enough for -themselves, and laughed at their boast of plundering only the rich. -Money they took from the rich alone, certainly, but if the poor man, -who had no money, tried to hide his last sheep to save it from their -clutches, he might be thankful if he escaped with his life. With all -this, the family were discussing--with as little constraint as if the -priesthood had been the career in question--whether the eldest son of -one of its numerous branches should become a brigand instead of -submitting to the vicissitudes of rural life. Brigandage was the best -profession for an active young man, it was generally agreed, and it -was both a protection and a distinction to have a relation in a -well-known band, but it gave the authorities a pretext for additional -exactions, and if the long course of serving two masters should happen -to end unfortunately, it was not desirable for the chief to have at -hand a hostage for the conduct of the family. Not that the authorities -could do much harm to a band like Stoyan’s, declared the grandmother, -who was the chief advocate of brigandage as a career, for Stoyan had -his own agent, receiving a regular salary, among the underlings of the -Vali himself, who sent him early news of any offensive action that -might be contemplated. It was only when troublesome foreigners rushed -things, as Wylie had done, that the arrangement broke down. - -All these things Zoe stored up in her mind for Maurice’s benefit, -against the time when he should appear as the Michael who was to -deliver Emathia from oppression on the one side and lawlessness on the -other. It struck her as almost overpoweringly pathetic that when the -women learned that her father and mother were both dead, they should -ask, scarcely waiting for a reply, “The Roumis killed them, of -course?” but the effect was spoilt when she discovered that they -regarded the inhabitants of a Greek-speaking village near them with a -hatred as rancorous as that which they cherished towards the Moslems -whose name they never mentioned without a curse. It was the irony of -fate that the last representatives of Greek ascendency should be -dependent on these fanatical Slavs for the commonest offices of -kindness, but what hope was there of reconciling the divergent -elements? “If one could spend a lifetime travelling about the country, -and getting to know the people personally, there might be some -chance,” thought Zoe; “but even if there was the time to spare, the -jealousy of the Powers would prevent it.” She was sitting on the -divan, wearing the best clothes of one of the women, who was adding a -border of brown homespun to the much-patched grey skirt, and the woman -looked up and smiled at her. Eirene, who had refused any help rather -abruptly, was sitting close to the lamp, mending her own skirt, having -left Zoe to explain, with much futile gesticulation, that her sister -was very independent, and would insist on doing everything for -herself. “I wonder what would happen if I could make them understand -who we are?” thought Zoe, but she did not try it. - -The days in the underground dungeon were long and trying, for the -absence of light prevented the girls from having recourse even to -needlework, and much as they needed rest, they could not sleep all day -as well as all night. On the second day they organised a mutual -entertainment society, or rather Zoe did her part without being asked, -and worried the others into doing theirs. She led off, and also filled -up gaps, with a serial story of such length and complexity that there -seemed no reason for it ever to come to an end, of which Maurice -remarked ungratefully that he knew now why no publishers would have -anything to do with her novels; they feared for their reason if they -were once drawn into examining them. Eirene told Scythian folk-tales, -gathered from her nurses in the very early years before she was -afflicted with English, French, and German governesses simultaneously, -and Maurice drew on his store of Cambridge stories, which was running -very low before the imprisonment ended. - -It was not until the sixth day after their night of wandering that -they left the farm, and though the Roumi troops had presumably quitted -the district, they were conducted away with as much precaution as had -been observed in reaching it. Zoe suggested that the brigands feared -their eyes might suffer from the daylight after such a long -deprivation of it, and that this was the reason for blindfolding them -afresh, for they actually quitted the place without having seen it, or -the faces of the inhabitants, by any but artificial light. The women -expressed their condolence and pity loudly, and would have loaded them -with more gifts of food and clothes than they could well carry, but -the brigand chief interfered. They had a long march before them, he -said, and no one was going to carry the prisoners’ parcels for them. -The gifts were therefore reduced to their smallest dimensions, and the -start was made, each of the helpless captives walking between two of -the brigands. To their relief, the track was neither so steep nor so -rough as the one they had followed in reaching the farm, and after two -hours’ walking, their guards removed the handkerchiefs from their -eyes. To their weakened sight, all appeared dark even then, and it was -only by degrees they distinguished that they were in a thick forest, -the trees arching over the narrow path on which they stood. They were -allowed little time to accustom themselves to the half-light, for the -march was continued at once, the trend of the path being uniformly -upward, but the ascent fairly gradual. A brief rest at midday was -welcomed by the girls, who were already flagging, much to the -annoyance of the brigands, and a hasty consultation took place between -Stoyan and his lieutenants. As a result, it was evidently decided not -to attempt to push on as far as had been intended, for the pace was -less severe when they started again, and the halt for the night was -called in a small clearing as early as four o’clock in the afternoon. - -Adversity had done wonders in teaching the girls to bear their part in -a backwoods life, and Maurice was no longer left to construct the -usual hut by himself. He cut the poles and fixed them in the ground, -but Zoe and Eirene twisted in and out the smaller branches which -formed both roof and sides, and collected leaves and twigs for beds. -Eirene was openly proud of her handiwork, but for Zoe it was -associated with a regretful thought of Wylie. “What a lot of trouble -we used to give him at first!” she mused; “and we never offered to do -anything for ourselves. He must have thought us disgustingly -helpless.” The recollection that if Wylie had thought so, he had, at -any rate, put a good face on the matter, afforded some comfort, and by -a peculiar process of thought she derived consolation also from the -reflection that on the whole it was better he should think so. - -There were no kabobs to cook to-night, for the food brought from the -farm supplied a plentiful supper, but the brigands lighted a fire for -the sake of keeping off wild beasts and evil spirits, and sat round it -in great contentment. The prisoners declined the offer of a fire of -their own, and sat on the ground at the upper part of the clearing, -luxuriously propped against tree trunks, to watch the sunset glow -which pierced the black canopy of leaves and branches overhead. To -Eirene it suggested similar sunsets seen through boughs of pine or -birch on the great plains of Scythia, and as though the magic of the -hour had unloosed her tongue, she began to talk of the long summer -evenings, when there was scarcely any actual night, and she had donned -peasant costume, and attended by the governess who happened to be in -favour at the moment, joined in the games and dances of the peasant -girls on her father’s estate. Maurice listened, fascinated, half by -the suggestion of a new side to Eirene’s character, half by the -conviction that in any disguise she would still infallibly be a queen -among subjects. If the subjects were recalcitrant, so much the worse -for them. He drew her on by questions, laughed at her answers, and -owned that he wished he had been there to take part in the revels--a -suggestion which served to jar upon Zoe, who had been sitting silent. - -“I do wish,” she said, opening her eyes wearily, “you wouldn’t disturb -my meditations in this frivolous way. You forget the literary -exigencies of the moment.” - -“What are they?” asked Maurice. “Is it particularly literary to go to -sleep leaning against a tree?” - -“I said I was meditating,” was the severe answer. “You seem to forget -that as all my note-books have been heartlessly reft from me, I have -to store up all our experiences in my head.” - -“Ready for the book? Is it to be a plain tale--or a decorated one--or -a novel?” - -“Both,” said Zoe decisively. “I find it would be a waste of good -material to lavish it all on one. The plain tale of our adventures and -sufferings will sell like wildfire, and pay for the novel, which will -be all local colour. I shall keep all the choice bits of folklore and -that sort of thing for it.” - -“I know you said once that people always skipped the local colour in -reading a book,” objected Eirene. - -“How can they, if it’s all local colour?” - -“They needn’t read the book,” said Maurice. - -“That’s why I shall need the success of the plain tale to pay for it,” -returned Zoe calmly. “I shall have a _succès d’estime_ with the -novel. And after that, I shall never have to trouble about local -colour again all my life.” - -“I really believe,” came in accents of considerable irritation from -Eirene, “that you enjoy being imprisoned in underground dungeons, and -climbing up and down these atrocious hills with your skirts in -ribbons, and wearing horrid moccasins because you have no shoes, and -being cursed and threatened if you stop to rest for a moment, just -because you mean to put it into your books.” - -“No, I can’t say that I enjoy it, certainly--but I can’t help knowing -how well it will look in the book.” - -“You are mad upon your books!” said Eirene tartly. “If it was -painting, or music, or anything of that kind, I could understand it, -but mere novel-writing!” - -“Of course you can’t understand it yet. Only wait until you have an -object in life, and then you will.” - -“How can you say I have not an object in life? Am I not suffering for -it at this very moment?” - -“You might have the politeness to say that the suffering isn’t so bad -because we are here,” suggested Zoe. - -“Oh, I am not skilful in putting things politely. I am not literary!” -with deep contempt. - -“And don’t you wish you were?” asked Maurice lazily. - -“No, I am not like Zoe. She says that when she marries, the man must -have fallen in love with her through reading her books.” - -“And none of them are written yet? Well, my future brother-in-law has -plenty of time to spare,” chuckled Maurice. - -“Eirene, you are the very meanest----” began Zoe. - -“Look here,” said Maurice hastily, “you’re both tired out, aren’t you? -I was sure the march was too much for you. Let us all meditate if you -think it’ll be restful. Or what do you think of turning in at once?” - -“No,” said Eirene, “it is not that we are tired, it is that we are -both cross. I was cross because Zoe always seems to think that if she -has described a thing in suitable language it is all right--and -besides, she said I had no object in life. Why were you cross, Zoe?” - -“I don’t know--and,” added Zoe with emphasis, “I never knew that -telling people they were cross made them less so.” - -“But it’s part of Eirene’s system,” said Maurice. “Don’t you remember -how we discussed it with Wylie quite a long time ago--her view that -you ought never to mask disagreeable facts for the sake of other -people’s feelings?” - -“And you were all against me!” sighed Eirene. Later on, when she and -Zoe had rolled themselves up in their rugs for the night, she recurred -to the question. - -“Zoe, why were you so angry? You could hardly speak. Did I say -anything very dreadful?” - -Zoe turned upon her with flashing eyes. “A girl who will tell a man -what another girl said to her in private isn’t worthy the name of -girl,” she said tersely. - -“But Maurice! I never thought----” - -“Maurice is a man, and men don’t understand. You seem to have had -something left out of your composition, Eirene. You ought to know that -sort of thing without thinking.” - -“I suppose it is because I had no brothers and sisters and no friends -of my own rank,” said Eirene, in a choking voice. “I think I would -make almost any sacrifice for you and Maurice, and yet I do these -dreadful things without even knowing they are dreadful.” - -“Oh, don’t cry!” entreated Zoe anxiously. “I suppose it isn’t your -fault, as you say. Lots of people would have an arm cut off for their -relations, though they can’t manage not to say nasty things to them.” - -“I would give up everything for you and Maurice--except my object in -life,” repeated Eirene. - -“How funny it would be if you found yourself called upon to give up -just that!” mused Zoe aloud, and then realised with a shock that she -was approaching dangerous ground. - -“What do you mean?” asked Eirene quickly. “How could I be obliged to -give that up for you?” and Zoe embarked hastily upon a lame and -rambling explanation. - -“Why, you see, it struck me suddenly that some one might make you -choose between giving up--your object, and having us killed. The sort -of thing that happens in a book, don’t you know? I don’t know what -made me think of it; I suppose it was my literary mind, which you -dislike so much. I can’t help it, I’m always like that. Whatever -happens--or even little everyday things which are not happenings at -all, simply chances for things to happen--my mind always jumps forward -to the end, and I think of all sorts of developments, and they work -themselves out on their own lines. You see, this situation is so full -of possibilities----” - -“But why that one? Why do you think of such fearful things?” moaned -Eirene. Zoe, who hoped she had guided the conversation into the safe -paths of literary disquisition, was obliged to begin again. - -“Oh, it was only nonsense. How could such a thing happen? Whatever -your object may be----” - -“You shall judge,” said Eirene. “I will tell it you.” - -“Oh, no!” cried Zoe, who was by no means anxious to find herself -officially burdened with the secret she had discovered unaided. “Why, -if there was no other reason, don’t you see that it might be safer for -Maurice and me to know nothing if we were questioned? I mean--you -don’t tell me what there is to be afraid of, but you seem to think -there’s something. Surely, as you have kept your mouth shut so long, -you had better do it still?” - -“I suppose so,” agreed Eirene, with considerable hesitation. “But you -understand--you know--that whatever happens, Maurice and you are my -dear brother and sister, and nothing is to come between us?” - -“If anything does, it won’t be on our side,” said Zoe heartily, and -immediately wondered whether this was likely to be strictly true. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - AN EMISSARY. - -“It’s a church!” said Eirene, in tones of horror. - -“Well, I suppose it was a church once, but it’s only a ruin now,” said -Zoe. Another day of climbing had brought them out of the forest, and -up to an isolated building standing on the saddle between two -mountain-peaks, which they were informed was to be their dwelling for -the present. - -“But to live in it--it is sacrilege! And they say that we are to sleep -behind the _ikonostasis_!” - -“Well, I think it’s rather nice of them. It has a roof, at any rate, -and the rest of the church hasn’t much.” - -“But it is the sanctuary, where no woman may even set foot! Let us -tell them we refuse to enter.” - -“And sleep out in the open, I suppose? No, thank you. Why, Eirene, the -brigands wouldn’t do anything that they thought would make the saints -angry, and they belong to the Greek Church just as much as you do.” - -“They? They are miserable schismatics--followers of the upstart -heretical church of Thracia, outcasts from Orthodoxy!” cried Eirene. - -“Oh, do be quiet!” cried Zoe anxiously. “That new man whom Milosch -brought with him to-day may understand English. I saw him staring hard -at you when you were kissing all those old worn-out saints on the -screen.” - -“But what harm could it do if he did? These men know that they are -schismatics.” - -“Yes, but it isn’t natural that a Scythian girl should think them so. -How will you account for your Greek sympathies?” A pause of horror, as -Zoe realised what she had said, then she rallied her forces. “You -know, the time for the ransom is getting so near now that I am feeling -horribly nervous. How dreadful it would be if any of us did anything -that made the brigands suspicious, so that they refused to let us go! -Do be sensible, and let us be thankful we have this nice little place -to ourselves.” - -“Well, I shall sit outside as long as I can,” said Eirene obstinately. -“I suppose I must come in when it gets dark, but I feel we shall -deserve whatever may happen to us after this.” - -Undisturbed by these religious, or superstitious, fears, Zoe went on -with the work of preparing the room, on the threshold of which Eirene -had been standing, declining to enter. It was the chancel, or apse, of -the ruined church, and the half-dome which formed its roof was still -in place, together with the _ikonostasis_, or wooden screen painted -with figures of saints, which separated it from the body of the -building, though the plates of metal which had formerly represented -haloes and details of clothing had been wrenched away. Beneath the -steps which led up to the sanctuary from the church was an underground -chamber, approached by a door and staircase on one side, and this was -the only place where a fire could be made, lest the light or smoke -should betray that the building was inhabited. The brigands were -already lighting the fire, and the smoke dispersed itself by way of -the staircase into the church, and penetrated through the cracks of -the screen into the sanctuary. It seemed curious that the wild bands -which made the place one of their haunts had not torn down the screen -for firewood, but apparently their sacrilegious impulses had stopped -short after depriving the saints of their haloes. Zoe went to work -methodically, spreading on the stone floor for beds the pine-branches -Maurice had cut, and unrolling the rugs. Maurice would sleep on the -threshold, on the broad topmost step, and Zoe felt an unusual sense of -comfort and security in the fact that this bare little room was to be -their own for some days. The end of the captivity was in sight--for -she entertained not the smallest doubt of the success of Wylie’s -efforts--and from the ruined church they might hope to make their last -journey as prisoners, to the spot where the ransom was to be paid. - - [Image: images/img_184.jpg - Caption: - “_Well, I shall sit outside as long as I can_,” _said Eirene - obstinately._] - -Her work done, Zoe sat down to rest, too tired even to pass down the -ruined nave and seek Eirene outside. Maurice was helping some of the -brigands to cut firewood in the forest, Zeko and another man were in -charge of the underground kitchen, and the rest were mending their -moccasins or lounging idly in the church. It was not dark yet, and Zoe -had accepted Eirene’s decision as unshakable, so that it was with -surprise she saw her coming up the steps, and entering the sanctuary -without protest or hesitation. Her face was aglow with hope, and she -threw herself down on the rug beside Zoe. - -“Zoe,” she whispered eagerly, “we have a friend. It is Vlasto, the man -who came to-day with Milosch.” - -“But have you been talking to him all this time? Oh, Eirene, suppose -he is a spy!” - -“No, listen. I was sitting outside, when he came up the hill with a -bundle of wood. He stumbled and nearly fell, and called out in -Scythian--not in the mixed language the others speak. Then he -recollected himself, and looked round to see whether any one had -heard. I thought it was curious, and spoke to him in Scythian, and he -told me Professor Panagiotis had sent him.” - -“The Professor? To Maurice?” - -“No, to me. He guessed which I was when he saw me venerate the -_ikons_, and the stumble and the exclamation in Scythian were meant to -draw my attention.” - -“But how did the Professor know you were here?” - -“I asked him that, but he did not seem to know--seemed to think that -Professor Panagiotis had been expecting me as he had you, but I told -him no. Then he said the Professor must have put two and two together -when he heard I had disappeared, but he had not told him about it.” - -“I hope it’s all right,” murmured Zoe doubtfully. - -“What could there be wrong about it? He said that he was to warn me of -a plan the Professor hoped to carry out--and that I should not go down -to Therma with you when we are released, lest I should be recognised -by some one belonging to the Scythian colony. But I refused to -contemplate such a thing. I said I would not be separated from my -faithful friends until we were all in safety.” - -“Eirene, I don’t believe the man came from Professor Panagiotis at -all!” cried Zoe. “I can’t imagine the Professor would choose a -messenger who talked Scythian, and why should he send him to you -instead of to us?” - -The question in her mind was, naturally, whether the Professor could -have changed his mind and be playing Maurice false, but to Eirene her -doubt seemed the outcome of self-esteem wounded by an apparent slight. - -“I must really explain things to you, Zoe,” she said, with a -gentleness which she did not intend to be patronising. “I am Eirene -Nicolaievna Féofan, and the Professor is intrusted with the -honourable task of restoring to me the throne of my imperial -ancestors.” - -“Oh dear, yes, I know that,” said Zoe impatiently; “but why should he -do such a foolish thing as to send messages about it to you now?” - -“You knew?” gasped Eirene. “How?” - -“Oh, the Professor had told us about you, and it came to me suddenly. -You see, you fitted in with all that I knew of Eirene Féofan, and of -nobody else.” - -“Does Maurice know?” - -“No, I’m sure he doesn’t, and there’s no reason why he should. Let us -keep it to ourselves.” - -“I particularly wish Maurice to be told,” said Eirene decisively. “If -you won’t do it, I must.” - -“Oh, I will,” cried Zoe quickly. - -“Very well, then; as soon as possible, please. I am glad to put things -on a right footing at last. If I had known and trusted you as I do now -when we first met, I should have told you then, as I ought.” - -“Good gracious, Eirene, don’t talk as if you were suddenly removed -miles above us! We are ourselves, and you are yourself, just as -before. I can promise you that your wonderful news won’t make any -difference to us, and I have respect enough for your character to -trust that it won’t to you.” - -Eirene smiled in a puzzled way. “Perhaps you would have preferred me -to follow the Professor’s advice, and say nothing to you?” she said. - -“Did he tell you to say nothing to us?” - -“That was his message by Vlasto, that I was not to reveal this scheme -of his to you.” - -“And you go and do it at once?” - -“Professor Panagiotis has no control over my actions,” said Eirene, -with dignity. “He may tender his advice, but it is for me to accept or -reject it as I think well.” - -“What could have been his reason?” mused Zoe. - -“He also asked whether I had told you who I was, and entreated me to -keep the secret if I had not. It made me feel that I was not treating -you fairly--that a peasant should know what my trusted companions had -not been told.” - -“Did he cross-question you any more?” asked Zoe, too anxious to care -much about Eirene’s mental perplexities. - -“He was very eager to know whether all the family jewels I took with -me when I escaped were hopelessly lost. It seems that the ruby _plaque -de corsage_ was exposed for sale in Therma, and has since been -destroyed--the one with the wings, you know. That made me very sad for -a moment, but I was able to assure him that I had saved the most -important of all.” - -It was dark now, but she took Zoe’s hand and guided it over her skirt. -“The girdle of the Empress Isidora,” she said, as Zoe’s fingers came -in contact with something round and hard, once, again, some dozen -times in all. - -“Eirene, the weights you put in your skirt! you have had them there -all this time? That was the reason you would never let any one touch -it!” cried Zoe. - -“Yes, I sewed them in that day when I made you go out for a walk at -Przlepka. Doesn’t it seem a long time ago? I dared not hide them in my -pockets. The girdle is the most precious thing in the world. It has -been handed down in secret in my father’s family since the fall of -Czarigrad.” - -“But, Eirene, you had it--on you--when you told the brigands you had -given up everything, and you let Captain Wylie swear that you had? He -believed what you said.” - -Eirene’s face showed perplexity. “Yes,” she said, “I know. Sometimes I -have wished that I had not done it, when I saw how you and Maurice -thought of such things. But then I remembered that I could not -possibly have let it go, so I felt that there was nothing else to be -done.” - -“You are not really sorry,” said Zoe with severity. “If you were, I -suppose you would give it up to the brigands now.” - -“That is quite impossible,” said Eirene calmly. - -“Well, you must have a funny sort of conscience. You are afraid -something will happen to you because you have to sleep in a church, -and yet you tell a deliberate lie without a qualm.” - -“We need not have slept in the church. The other could not be -avoided,” said Eirene. - -“Well, I expect the something has happened already, through your -talking to Vlasto. I feel more and more certain he is a spy, and no -doubt he will manage to get the girdle from you somehow. Milosch is -quite capable of having told him what to say.” - -“But how should Milosch know who I am?” - -“By putting two and two together, I suppose, like the Professor. Oh, -Eirene, if you have kept us from being set free next week, I shall -never---- Well, do you think that we could ever forgive you?” - -“But it would be as bad for me.” - -“I don’t know--perhaps not.” Eirene looked at her in wonder. “At any -rate, you would have only yourself to blame.” - -“Here is Maurice,” said Eirene. “Now remember.” - -Very unwillingly Zoe obeyed her instructions, and succeeded in -catching Maurice by himself the next morning. - -“Eirene is particularly anxious that I should tell you something,” she -said. “She is Eirene Féofan, the girl the Professor told us about, -our very distant cousin, and the next heir after you and me.” - -Maurice sat in stupefied silence for a moment. “Did you ever?” he -remarked slowly at last. “To think that we have had her with us all -this time without finding it out!” - -“I found it out long ago,” said Zoe calmly. - -“No, really? How?” - -“Why, of course, I had been trying to place her ever since we first -met. It was clear she came from Scythia, but I didn’t think she could -belong to the Imperial family, for how could she have got away, and -why should she be wandering about on a solitary mission? Then, one -evening, in the cave, we were talking, do you remember? and it came -out that she knew the Professor, and that she sympathised with the -Greeks against the Slavs, and that she was expecting a kingdom in her -own right. She simply couldn’t be any one but Eirene Féofan.” - -“But I heard it all, and never twigged.” - -“Oh, you were thinking of other things--of Eirene herself, and of -ameliorating the lot of the brigands. I nearly exploded when she -accused us of trying to find out who she was, and you declared so -indignantly that we were doing nothing of the kind. It was after I had -asked her a leading question.” - -Maurice frowned. “Well, I suppose you have told her who we are?” he -said. - -“Certainly not, and I am not going to.” - -“Then I shall.” - -“No, you won’t. It wouldn’t be safe. You know what Eirene is--or, -rather, you can’t tell what she will do. Only yesterday afternoon she -made a confidant of that new brigand, Vlasto, and told him everything -she could tell, just because he said he had been sent to her by -Professor Panagiotis.” - -“That’s just it. If she knew about us, she would realise that the -Professor wouldn’t send to her. It isn’t fair, Zoe. It’s placing her -under a disadvantage for us to know her secret while she doesn’t know -ours.” - -“Why, what difference would it make if she did?” - -Maurice appeared to find a difficulty in answering. “Well, I should -think she’d be rather pleased,” he said, after some hesitation, “to -find that we were her equals and relations and that sort of thing, -don’t you know?” - -“My dear boy!” with superb scorn. “Do you know Eirene as little as -that after all this time? Do you really think she would welcome us as -relations and equals? You seem to forget that we stand for the ruin of -all her schemes. She is simply not wanted if you are recognised as the -heir.” - -“Oh, I say, but this is vile!” cried Maurice. “To go and rob a poor -girl of what she has always looked forward to as her own----! Look -here, Zoe, let’s chuck it.” - -“You forget the Professor,” said Zoe. - -“Oh, blow the Professor! What did he mean by mixing things up in this -way? Why couldn’t he have left Eirene alone, instead of feeding her up -with the thought that she was the heir, and then bringing her here -only to disappoint her? You don’t seem to see what a low business it -is, or how much worse it makes it that we have got to know her and -find out what it means to her.” - -“I can quite see why the Professor might have brought her into contact -with us, but unfortunately he didn’t. As far as I can make out, he -dropped her father finally because he would do nothing but -shilly-shally instead of taking action, but the father was indiscreet -enough to let Eirene know about the offers that had been made him. She -takes action on her own account, in a way which would have been most -embarrassing for the poor Professor but for the railway accident. In -the meantime he has found you, and thinks no more about Eirene. But if -the train had reached Therma all right, we should probably have -separated at the station only to meet upon the Professor’s doorstep, -and he would have had to decide point-blank between his rival -candidates.” - -“You seem to be enjoying the whole thing,” said Maurice indignantly. -“It doesn’t occur to you how much more it is to Eirene than to us. We -have only to go home again if the thing doesn’t come off, but it’s -everything to her. She has cut herself off entirely from her friends -and everybody in Scythia, and she has no money, and even her jewellery -is gone. What is she to do?” - -“It all depends on whether you care more for Eirene’s feelings or for -what you felt to be your duty when we started,” said Zoe. “You have -heard her talk; you can imagine what sort of ruler she would make if -any possible concurrence of disasters drove the Powers in desperation -to revive the Empire for her. You know, too, the lines on which you -would work if the task fell to you. Besides, it’s not a question of -feeling, but of right.” - -“I always heard that women were hard on women, but I didn’t think you -were like that.” - -Zoe restrained her anger with an effort. “My dear Maurice,” she said -impatiently, “you compel me to remind you that there is one very -simple and obvious way of reconciling your rights and Eirene’s. It is -still open to you.” - -“What are you suggesting?” demanded Maurice. - -“I suggest nothing,” Zoe replied, with a wooden face. - -“You are suggesting that I should be a cad.” - -“Then I will add the further suggestion that you should not be an -idiot,” said Zoe, thoroughly roused. “I merely want you to leave -things as they are until we get to Therma. Then you can do as you -like, and I fail to see where the caddishness comes in. But if we tell -Eirene who we are now, she will simply regard us as impostors, and she -will be utterly unmanageable. I have a stake in the matter as well as -you, and I absolutely refuse to allow you to tell her. I own I do put -a little value on my life.” - -“I beg your pardon. I thought you meant that I was to try and make -sure of her now, when she has no one else to turn to, and can’t get -away from us.” - -“Why will men always read detestable meanings into the simplest -advice?” cried Zoe, still angry; then, softening, “Dear boy, do be -sensible. What chance do you think you would have with Eirene as -things are? Wait until she knows the truth, and can realise that it is -not quite a case of Queen Cophetua and a beggar-man. But don’t risk -all our lives, just when we are within a week of safety, by giving her -the idea that you are either an impostor or a dangerous rival. I don’t -suppose for a moment that she would mean to harm you, but she acts on -impulse, and that makes her do all sorts of things. Why--I didn’t mean -to tell you, because it seems to reflect on her--but she actually told -this man Vlasto that she has carried about with her a priceless -Byzantine girdle all this time, sewn up in pieces in her skirt.” - -“But I thought she gave up everything when we were captured?” said -Maurice. - -“She said she did,” said Zoe reluctantly. “We were discussing whether -she ought not to give it up to the brigands now. What do you think?” - -“Oh, nonsense! It isn’t as if it belonged to the brigands,” said -Maurice contemptuously. “But,” he changed the subject with an effort, -“what about this man Vlasto? Why should he address himself to her?” - -“That’s exactly what makes me think he doesn’t come from the Professor -at all,” cried Zoe. “He evidently thought the Professor knew she was -coming to Therma, and brought her a message based on that, but the -Professor had no idea of her journey, or that she was with us.” - -“Did she tell you what the message was?” - -“It was to try to get her to separate from us when we are ransomed--on -the plea that she might be recognised in Therma. Happily, she refused, -but---- Maurice, you know it was Milosch who brought this man here. We -thought, when we saw he was not with the band the day before -yesterday, that he had gone to meet some members of his Committee, and -get fresh orders. Suppose it was a Scythian agent he went to meet, and -that Scythia had got the idea that Eirene might be here with us, and -sent Vlasto to make sure? She has given everything away.” - -“We mustn’t be seeing Scythians in every bush,” said Maurice gloomily, -“but it looks bad. What can they want to get her away from us for? It -can’t mean any good to her. Zoe, will you do your level best to keep -her firm in sticking to us? You see, she is practically an outlaw, -having cut herself off from Scythian protection, but if anything -happened to you or me the matter would be looked into.” - -“I will. And you won’t make any attempt to tell her who we are?” - -“No. I see that it’s better not to disturb her mind.” - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - THE GIRDLE OF ISIDORA. - -“It’s a dog’s life!” said Zeko, leaning against one of the columns -of the deserted church, and rolling a cigarette. - -“I should have thought you had rather a good time, on the whole,” said -Maurice, who was sitting on the steps below the _ikonostasis_. The -girls sat on the top step behind him, looking out through the ruined -west doorway, the lower part of which was blocked by the remains of -the narthex. Rain was falling heavily, and they could not go out, but -between the battered columns they could see the wild mountain -landscape like a picture in a frame. Most of the brigands were -luxuriating in the warmth of the underground kitchen, but the chief, -with Milosch and Vlasto, had gone out into the rain some time before, -and Zeko and one other were keeping an eye upon the prisoners. - -“A good time!” repeated Zeko scornfully. “It’s hard work, and constant -danger, and no comfort, and what does it lead to? Sometimes we pull -off a good thing, as when we got hold of you, but what good will it do -us? The Committee will take nearly all the money; it isn’t as if we -could retire and settle down upon what we do get. It’s all very well -to swagger through a village with your belt full of weapons, with all -the girls pointing at you, and whispering, ‘There goes the valiant -Zeko of Stoyan’s band,’ and all the lads wanting to join you, but it’s -different when you come to the village, frozen and starving, on a -winter’s night, and want food and shelter. The people dare not refuse -you, but you can see their black looks, and you know they are cursing -you under their breath. We say we don’t rob the poor, but they know, -and we know, that our bags must be filled with bread, though the -children go hungry, and we must have greatcoats, if we take them from -the old grandfathers. Then if the Vali gets to know of our being in -the neighbourhood, and wishes to get a good name for activity with the -foreign consuls, he doesn’t go after us, but down he comes on the poor -souls who have fed us, and robs them of what we have left them. And -they don’t venture to denounce, much less betray us, for they are more -afraid of us than him.” - -“But if you are so sorry for the people, why expose them to all this?” -asked Maurice. - -Zeko shrugged his shoulders. “We must live,” he said. “And our own -relations are supporting other bands in our own villages in the same -way. We don’t remain in our own neighbourhood, for it would make it -too easy for the Vali. He could destroy our village if he wanted to be -revenged on us. But since we all come from different villages, and -work at long distances from our homes, he knows it would do no good to -destroy any particular village. Of course, it means that we can only -visit our own people by stealth, and with great precautions, perhaps -at intervals of many months.” - -“But if the life is so hard, why go on with it?” persisted Maurice. - -“What else is there to do? There are the taxes, and the troubles with -the police, and the blood-feuds--all the different reasons that made -us take to the hills; how can we go back to them? All you rich people -who grind the faces of the poor shriek loud enough when we make you -taste a little of what our life is, but you drive us to it. Perhaps -you will pity us a little now that you have tried what hunger and cold -and hardship really are.” - -“I pitied you long before I came to Emathia,” said Maurice, “but I -pity you less now. Your misfortunes are so much your own fault. -United, you Emathian Christians might have wrung concessions, even -self-government, from Roum, and extorted the respect of Europe, but -you have made yourselves a byword by your dissensions. Village fights -village, and one side of a street the other side. When you should be -all banded together against the Roumis, you Illyrians and Thracians -and Dardanians are murdering Greeks, and the Greeks are preparing for -revenge. Christian hates Christian worse than Roumi.” - -“Of course,” said Zeko, with entire acquiescence. “Are not the -Patriarchists--curse them to the lowest depths of hell!”--he spat on -the ground--“worse than the Roumis? If we could get rid of them we -should have no more trouble.” - -“And so you waste and weaken your strength in fighting one another!” -said Maurice. “I tell you, if I were your leader, I would not trouble -about the Roumis, but I would put down with an iron hand these feuds -among Christians.” - -He had spoken with more earnestness than he realised, and the brigands -laughed, while Zoe thought of the youthful Pompey in the pirate -stronghold, and Eirene frowned, not approving of this imaginary -encroachment upon her rights. Before any one had taken the trouble to -controvert Maurice’s absurd theories, the talk was interrupted. The -chief and Milosch came up the church, and Stoyan, with a lowering -brow, gripped Eirene by the shoulder. - -“Is it true that you still have jewels concealed about you, though you -declared you had given up everything?” he demanded. - -Eirene had turned pale, but she answered boldly, “Yes.” - -“And you were aware of this?” asked the chief of Maurice. - -“I did not know----” began Maurice. Then he changed the form of his -sentence. “Yes, I know.” - -“Don’t hold me,” said Eirene. “I will give it up.” - -“No, you are welcome to it. I hear it brings ill-luck. It has done so -already to you. Keep it, and its ill-luck with it.” - -Zeko and his companion, who had begun to murmur, were appeased on -hearing this, and withdrew to discuss the matter with their comrades, -while the chief and Milosch strode out again. Zoe grasped Maurice’s -arm and drew him aside. - -“Why didn’t you say you had no idea of it?” she asked indignantly. - -“How could I give her away? It sounds so insane of her to have tried -to deceive even us.” - -“You think only of her. Don’t you see they believe that Captain Wylie -knew, and deliberately took a false oath?” - -“Oh, nonsense! how could they? But I don’t quite see what I could do -now, anyhow. They wouldn’t believe me if I explained.” - -“No, you have done the mischief--you and Eirene between you,” said Zoe -bitterly. “I suppose you will both be convinced now that Vlasto was a -spy?” - -No further reference was made to the matter, for Eirene, realising -what she had done, shrank painfully from any approach to it, but the -prisoners found themselves regarded with deep suspicion. They were not -allowed to move outside the church unescorted, or to enter the forest -at all, and two additional sentries, with rifles which they loaded -ostentatiously, kept guard on the sanctuary steps at night, one on -each side of Maurice. Zeko and one or two others, who had shown some -approach to friendliness, now scowled whenever their eyes fell on the -captives, and most ominous of all, Milosch went about bubbling over -with malicious and irrepressible glee. Thus a week went by, until it -was the day before that appointed for the ransom and the release. Once -more the prisoners were ordered to collect their belongings for a -march, and they obeyed with fast-beating hearts. Was freedom before -them at last? - -Leaving the ruined church, they spent the morning on the rugged tracks -to which they were now becoming accustomed, climbing up and down and -winding round mountain-shoulders in a seemingly purposeless way. At -noon they sheltered in a cave, while two of the brigands went on, -apparently to spy out the land. About an hour later these men -returned, in a state of great excitement, and much talking and -discussion ensued. Finally Stoyan vouchsafed to tell the prisoners -that they would not march again until dark, and this for a -sufficiently disquieting reason. By the road they had been taking it -was necessary to pass through the district terrorised by a rival -chief, of the name of Kayo, and his band, and it had only been chosen -because it was the nearest way, and because Kayo was believed to be -busy besieging a recalcitrant Greek notable at the farther end of his -territory. But it appeared that he had become aware of the fact that -the ransom was about to be paid, and he was on the watch for Stoyan -and his band, intending either to capture the prisoners from him, and -secure the money for himself, or at least to enforce a division of the -spoil. It was necessary, therefore, to turn back and take a more -roundabout way, which would occupy at least two days more than the -other. In spite of his bitter disappointment, Maurice could not but -realise the reasonableness of Stoyan’s contention that if there was a -fight between the two bands, the girls were very likely to come off -badly, while they would not suffer from the extra journey, since he -had succeeded in procuring horses for them. Maurice suggested that -Wylie would be made very anxious by the non-appearance of his friends, -but received the assurance that a message would be despatched to him -through the country people, and that he need not pay over the ransom -until he was satisfied. The girls resigned themselves to the -inevitable, when Maurice brought them the news, with as good grace as -they could, and rested during the afternoon in preparation for the -night journey, having learnt, among other things, to utilise every -opportunity for repose that offered itself while on the march. - -At dusk the two men stole out again and brought back the horses, or -rather ponies, and as soon as the girls were mounted the party set -out, proceeding at first very slowly, and with intense caution. By the -time the moon rose they were far enough from Kayo’s boundaries to be -able to move on at a good pace, though the track was so narrow, and -the precipices so steep, that the girls found it more comfortable to -shut their eyes, and leave the guidance of their steeds to the -brigands who led them. They were tired and thoroughly chilled when the -moonlight began to fail them, and welcomed the decision of Stoyan that -he could not find the way in this unfamiliar region in the dark. A -halt was called on a shelf of rock--a mere widening of the track--and -the girls lay down on their rugs on the inner side, sheltered by the -horses from the biting wind, and Maurice and the brigands on the track -itself. Hard rock and sharp stones vied with the cold in making their -resting-place uncomfortable, but they succeeded in getting a little -sleep, and were ready to go on in the morning. It was now necessary, -they were told, for them to be blindfolded again, as they were about -to pass through a passage in the mountains which the brigands were all -pledged not to show to any eyes but their own, and to this they -submitted. But when Milosch produced a cake of beeswax from his bag, -and ordered them to stop their ears as well, they rebelled. - -“We spare you fright,” he asserted. “Zere is Roumi garrison in front. -If you hear ze drum, you scream, and zat betray us all. Wiz ears -obstructed, you hear nossing.” - -“We shan’t scream,” declared Zoe indignantly. “We won’t make a sound, -whatever we hear.” - -Milosch appealed to the chief, who pondered the matter gloomily. - -“We owe you no consideration,” he grumbled. “For a whole month we have -clothed and fed you, and provided you with shelter while we lay in the -cold, and you have been deceiving us the whole time. For your sakes we -have been hunted from our usual haunts, have made forced marches, and -wandered about whole nights. You have no gratitude. If you see a -chance of betraying us to the Roumis, you will do it.” - -“We are not such fools,” said Maurice. “If it came to a fight we -should be the first to suffer, as you said yesterday. We have promised -not to try to escape, and we don’t mean to.” - -“What are your promises worth?” sneered Stoyan; but nothing more was -said about the wax, and the girls rode on in darkness, Maurice being -led between them. They had been marching about two hours when a sudden -tension made itself felt among the brigands. Rifles were cocked, and -there were excited whispers. The horses were turned and made to stand -across the road, with their tails to the rock, and Maurice was placed -between them and ordered to hold the bridles of both, while all the -brigands apparently went forward to reconnoitre. It was some time -before the soft pad of moccasined feet announced their return. -Milosch’s voice said, in a strident whisper, “Utter not one single -word, or ze price is death.” The bridles were taken from Maurice’s -hands, he felt a man on each side of him as before, and the march was -resumed. It was continued, still in absolute silence, for hours, until -the girls were nearly dropping from their horses with fatigue; but at -last those in front stopped, and the handkerchief was removed from -Maurice’s eyes. He stared about him in astonishment. They had halted -in a stony valley, with towering peaks all round it, and the sun was -nearing its setting. A number of men were standing round, leaning on -their rifles, but they wore rough brown clothes instead of the dirty -kilts and long leggings of Stoyan and his band. There was not a -familiar face to be seen. As if by magic, an entirely new set of -brigands had taken the place of the old. - -“Do help us down, Maurice,” said Zoe, rather impatiently. “I am too -stiff to move,” and he complied mechanically. But while he fumbled -with the knot of the handkerchief which covered her eyes, he tried to -prepare her. - -“Zoe--Eirene--there’s something wrong. None of our brigands are here. -These are all strangers.” - -“Our brigands? How funny to call them that!” said Eirene, twisting off -the handkerchief for herself. “Oh!” and she and Zoe stared blankly at -their new companions. - -“Ask them what it means, Maurice,” said Zoe, in a rather shaky voice, -and Maurice obeyed. But the strangers proved, or pretended, to be -ignorant of all the languages which their prisoners could muster among -them, though they talked to one another in an unknown tongue which -Eirene thought must be Mœsian. They declined also to understand, or -at any rate to answer, questions asked by means of signs, though when -Maurice pointed the way they had come, and signified that he and the -girls wished to go back, they quickly barred his progress, patting -their rifles meaningly. Baffled and worn out, the prisoners sat down, -whereupon the chief of the new brigands smiled upon them approvingly, -and pointed to the preparations which were being made for the night. A -pole was thrust into a crevice of the rock, and a long piece of rough -canvas hung over it and pegged down at each side to form a tent, a -second piece, fastened to the projecting end of the pole, serving as a -curtain. Maurice advised the girls to take possession, and the chief -beamed approval. A fire had been kindled, and food of some kind was -cooking in a large pot, watched eagerly by the brigands. There was the -usual deficiency of plates, but the captives were accommodated with -their share in the lid, while their guards ate out of the pot, and as, -like them, they now each possessed a wooden spoon, given them by the -women at the farm, they found no difficulty in making a meal. The fare -was a kind of hasty-pudding, made of flour boiled with grape-treacle, -very sweet and sticky, and eminently satisfying. The girls had soon -had enough, and then came the moment Maurice had been dreading. He -advised them to go to bed as soon as they had finished, but neither of -them stirred. - -“Maurice, what does it mean? We must know,” said Zoe. “Has Kayo’s band -got hold of us after all?” - -“How could they, without a fight? One can’t believe that Stoyan and -all his men were wiped out without a shot or a cry. No, I’m afraid it -is that Stoyan has handed us over to some other band.” - -“And where are they taking us?” asked Eirene harshly. - -Maurice hesitated, then decided that it was no use to attempt -concealment. “As far as I can tell, we ought to have gone south-east -to get to Therma,” he said, “but we seemed to be going south-west, in -the direction of the Morean frontier.” - -“And no one will know! Perhaps we shall never be rescued,” said Zoe, -with quivering lips. - -“And it is all my fault!” cried Eirene. “I have brought you into this -trouble, and I can do nothing.” - -“Oh, don’t!” said Zoe hastily, forcing back her own tears when she saw -Eirene’s. “We have been in worse troubles than this, and have got -through. It’s--it’s just that everything seemed to be all right, and -now we have to begin it all over again. And we’re tired, too. We shall -look at these things more cheerfully in the morning.” - -If the girls cried themselves to sleep that night, Maurice was not to -know it, and in the morning they were almost ostentatiously cheerful, -though the line of march still led away from Therma and towards the -unknown. The character of the mountains was changing. The familiar -sloping hillsides and tapering peaks were giving place to -perpendicular or even overhanging cliffs, and stupendous pillars of -rock towering in isolated masses. - -“It’s like being at the bottom of a cañon,” said Zoe, late in the -afternoon, looking up at the walls of rock. “How curiously it widens -in front, Maurice! And there is another of those rock columns. Why, -there is a little house at the very top! How do they get up? No, it is -a big one--a castle.” - -“It must be a rock monastery,” said Maurice, “though I didn’t know -there were any in Emathia.” - -They gazed up into the sky, where the monastery of Hadgi-Antoniou -stood on its pillar like a bud at the end of a long stalk. - - [Image: images/img_206.jpg - Caption: - “_Why, there is a little house at the very top! How do they get up?_”] - - * * * * * * * - -The day before, Wylie, with his friend Armitage, the artist, who had -insisted on being present at the release of the captives, had made his -way to the spot agreed upon, convoying the ransom, carefully packed -and carried on donkeyback. The rendezvous was a wayside inn, or _han_, -of doubtful character, providing the same accommodation for man as for -beast, and little enough for either. The brigands had stipulated that -no soldiers or armed men of any kind were to escort the treasure, and -for this reason Wylie and Armitage were obliged to come alone, even -the donkey-drivers declining the last stage, lest they should find -themselves marked men in future. Before they would embark on the -adventure at all, they had insisted that the value of their beasts, -liberally calculated, should be deposited with the British -Consul-General, and they were therefore quite at their ease in the -more attractive _han_ where they remained. Wylie had indulged in a -faint hope that he might be able to pay over the ransom at once, -receive back his friends, and carry them off the same day to these -more desirable quarters, where he had left a large collection of -clothes and other comforts, contributed by Madame Panagiotis, the -ladies at the British Consulate, and other sympathisers; but when he -suggested this to the ill-favoured landlord of the brigands’ inn, the -man only laughed at him. Did the Capitan Bey really expect the band to -be waiting to receive him, without making sure that he had kept his -word and brought no soldiers? he asked. He himself was to send word to -a point farther on in the mountains that the ransom had arrived, and -from thence notice would be sent to the brigands, who would scour the -neighbourhood before trusting themselves in the vicinity of the inn. -Wylie set his teeth doggedly. He had not sacrificed everything to -raise the ransom that it might be stolen from him now, and he and -Armitage carried in the boxes of gold with their own hands, and spread -their carpet over them. All night they relieved each other, one -sleeping above the treasure while the other, armed with sword and -revolver, kept watch. - -The early part of the next day passed wearily, for they durst not -leave the boxes unguarded; but at last the innkeeper announced that -Stoyan was awaiting them at the point he had mentioned, and they -loaded the donkeys again and followed him. Stoyan and Milosch came -forward to meet them on the outskirts of a small wood, and led the way -to a clearing in the middle of it. No one else was officially present, -but Wylie was persuaded that the bushes had eyes, and that -rifle-barrels protruded through the underwood. The boxes were lifted -down, the gold counted and tested, and the chief announced that he was -satisfied. - -“Then where are our friends?” asked Wylie. - -“They are already released,” was the answer. - -“But why? I thought they were to be given up to us here?” - -“Ah, we know the Capitan of old, that he baits traps for us,” smiled -Stoyan. “If he had his friends safe, what should prevent him from -calling forward soldiers to seize us before we could escape with the -gold? Therefore he will not meet his friends while he is in our -district. They are already on the way to Therma, and he can catch them -up.” - -“But why release them before the ransom was paid?” - -“It was promised, and we know that an Englishman always keeps his -word. It is so, is it not? An Englishman’s word is never broken?” - -“Never. But who is with them?” asked Wylie, puzzled and uneasy, he -knew not why. - -“None of us. We despatched them alone, the two women riding on horses. -Hasten after them, lest some other harm befall them. See!” He -whistled, and brigands rose out of every bush, like the clansmen of -Roderick Dhu. “We are all here. The Capitan can count the whole band.” - -Wylie counted, and found none absent, and he and Armitage withdrew, -awkwardly enough. As they reached the inn, a peasant who was talking -to the landlord turned and looked at them. - -“You are the person for whom I had a message,” he said. “I met a man -and two women riding towards Therma, and they bade me watch for a -European gentleman with blue eyes, and tell him that they would reach -the city first.” - -Wylie flung the man a coin, and shouting to Armitage to pay the -reckoning, rushed indoors to fetch their belongings. These were soon -piled upon the donkeys, and they set out, Wylie keeping the cavalcade -moving at a smart pace, for the desire to see his friends again was -heightened by the anxiety inspired by Stoyan’s words. As they hurried -on, a voice hailed them suddenly from the mountain-side, and, looking -up, they saw Milosch standing on a jutting crag. - -“When you not find zat you seek,” he cried, “remember ze perjured -oass!” - -“What in the world is a perjured oass?” said Armitage. “Does he mean -oaf?” with vague reminiscences of Kipling. - -“From what I know of the gentleman, I should say he meant a broken -oath,” said Wylie. “But I don’t know of any broken oath, unless -they’ve broken theirs. Come on.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - HAGIOS ANTONIOS. - -The monastery of Hadgi-Antoniou towered aloft on its rocky pillar, -and the prisoners and their guards stood below looking up at it, for -there was no apparent means of reaching the top. Here and there -ladders were visible on the face of the rock, but they ceased in the -most capricious way at the points of greatest danger, and the lowest -was something like a hundred and fifty feet above the ground. But the -brigands did not share the perplexity of their captives, and two or -three of them fired off their rifles. This was evidently the -recognised way of attracting the attention of the inhabitants, for two -heads, with long beards and high square caps, appeared far above -against the sky, and a few words were exchanged, after which a rope, -with something fastened to the end, seemed to come crawling down the -rock from a projecting tower. - -“Oh, Maurice, what is going to happen?” whispered Zoe, gazing -fascinated at the slowly moving rope. - -“I suppose they will draw us up one by one,” he answered. - -“One by one? Then we shall be separated,” said Eirene fearfully. - -“I hope not, but in any case, let us make a compact together that none -of us will come to any decision, or enter into any promise, without -the other two. If they try to work upon us separately, let us each -demand to be confronted with the others. It’s our only chance.” - -The girls promised hastily, eyeing the parcel at the end of the rope, -which had now reached the ground, and revealed itself as a large net, -attached by its four corners to a stout hook. The brigands unhooked -the corners, and laying the net flat, made signs to the prisoners. - -“Have we to go up in that?” said Zoe, turning white. - -“I had better go first,” said Maurice. “Then you’ll see what it’s -like.” - -Eirene uttered an inarticulate protest, but he sat down on the net, -the corners were gathered together and hooked above his head, and he -was slowly raised from the ground. The girls watched the ascent with -panting breath and a sick feeling of horror, for the rope moved -jerkily, and at each jerk the net swung backwards and forwards, now -sending Maurice against the rock, from which he was obliged to ward -himself off with his hands, and now out into mid-air. It seemed to -them that they had given him up for lost a hundred times before the -net was grasped by sturdy hands and hauled into the tower, and they -discovered that they were standing with their arms round one another, -locked in a tight grip. A voice shouted something from the tower as -the rope began to descend again, and almost before they had realised -that one of them must make the journey next, the brigand chief was -spreading out the net, and indicating that they might go up together. -But Maurice’s voice called from above, “Not both at once. The rope -isn’t strong enough,” and Zoe pushed Eirene forward. “You next,” she -said, and immediately, after her usual fashion, began to wonder -whether she had really chosen the harder part for herself in watching -a second ascent, or had merely deprived Eirene of the encouragement of -example. - -Eirene’s journey was much less exciting than Maurice’s, and Zoe -guessed that her brother was exercising a guiding influence on the -rope, for the terrifying oscillations had almost ceased. Be that as it -might, the ascent was sufficiently awful, and Zoe wished vigorously -that she had not possessed such good sight. Looking resolutely -upwards, when it was her turn to be enclosed in the net, she saw, with -a thrill of horror, that the rope, which cut the clear sky like a -black line, was old and frayed, reduced in some places, as she -persuaded herself, almost to a single strand. Looking down gave her no -comfort, for the ground seemed immeasurably distant, and the swinging -motion, slight as it now was, made her giddy, so that at last she shut -her eyes, and kept them closed until she felt herself seized and -dragged roughly sideways, then deposited upon some sort of floor, and -the net unhooked. - -“Come, Zoe, it’s safely over, and you’re all right,” said Maurice, as -she sat trembling in every limb and unable to move. “They want to send -the net down for our things.” - -“The rope, Maurice--it’s breaking!” she managed to articulate, -grasping his arm to help herself up. - -“Oh, you noticed that, did you? That was why I wouldn’t let you come -up together. But one of the monks who speaks Thracian says that they -often draw up two men at once, and nothing has ever happened yet. The -rope is only in its fourth year now, and it’s due to last for six.” - -“I hope I shan’t have to go up by it in its sixth year,” said Zoe, -forcing a smile. “Where’s Eirene?” - -“In a state of collapse inside somewhere, being looked after by the -grandmother of all old women. Pull yourself together, Zoe. I think she -wants you. And we might as well get out of the way of these reverend -gentlemen.” - -There was little room in the tower for anything but the rude capstan -or windlass which worked the rope and the monks who pushed at its -bars, and Zoe tottered out with the help of Maurice’s arm, to find -herself in a stone-paved court, with Eirene lying on the stones in a -dead faint, and an old woman wailing over her, while a group of monks -wavered at a discreet distance, alternately drawn by curiosity and -withheld by the consciousness that they ought not to be present. - -“I say, what’s this?” cried Maurice. “She wasn’t fainting just -now--only rather shaky. Look here, Zoe, can’t you do anything? What’s -the proper thing--brandy?” - -“Water,” answered Zoe reprovingly, and Maurice shouted for water in -English, Latin, Greek, French, and Thracian. It was the French that -proved effectual at last, for one of the monks understood sufficiently -to summon another old woman with a water-jar. - -“Oh, Zoe, you are here!” gasped Eirene, when she opened her eyes. -“Stay with me. Don’t let them take me away. I won’t be separated from -you and Maurice.” - -The French-speaking monk approached Maurice softly. “Pray reassure her -Royal Highness,” he entreated. “We have prepared for her the best -accommodation in our power, and if she desires to be attended by the -other young woman, there is no difficulty. She is to enjoy every -indulgence suited to her rank, if it is not inconsistent with her -safety.” - -Much puzzled, Maurice conveyed the desired assurance to Eirene, who -took in its significance at once, and inquired sharply how he was to -be treated, in reply to which the monk declared that he would be the -guest of the monastery. Satisfied with this answer, Eirene asked to be -shown her room, to which she and Zoe were conducted by one of the -officials of the monastery and the two old women. It was a large, low -chamber, opening from a corridor, with a stone floor, and stone divans -all round it, above which was a decoration of light arcading in -plaster. There was a large fireplace projecting into the room, with a -hearth piled with logs, and three windows, all innocent of glass, but -provided with shutters. From two of these windows views of the -surrounding country far below could be obtained; the other looked out -on a smaller courtyard and across to another of the curiously -irregular buildings which occupied the summit of the rock, and from a -window in this the girls presently saw Maurice looking out. It was too -far to talk, but he signalled to them that he was all right, and they -returned into the room, much comforted, to find that the old women had -lighted the fire and spread a carpet on the divan near it. Presently -they brought in a tray of savoury food, the nature of which was not -evident, save that it contained no meat, and set it on a stool close -to the divan, when the girls were thankful to partake of it. Too tired -even for surmises, they went to bed immediately afterwards, sleeping -so soundly on their hard couch that even the thunder of a mallet on a -board, which summoned the monks to service at midnight, failed to wake -them. - -They slept far into the next day, and it was late in the afternoon -when they looked out into the courtyard, to see Maurice, in full Greek -costume, wandering disconsolately about, and gazing up at their -window. They wondered that he had made no attempt to reach them, but -another glance showed one of the old women sitting like Cerberus at -the foot of the steps leading to their corridor, with the evident -purpose of preventing any intrusion. - -“Oh, Maurice, how nice and respectable you look!” cried Zoe. “That -kilt suits you beautifully.” - -“It doesn’t,” said Eirene indignantly. “He looks as if he was going to -a masked--no, a fancy ball. He ought always to wear English country -clothes.” - -“And go to the opera in them, like the proverbial British tourist, I -suppose?” said Zoe. “But why didn’t you get some clothes for us, -Maurice, if they let you go out shopping?” - -“They don’t, but there’s a Greek village somewhere near, and the old -monk who looks after me--who is second in command, or prior, or -something--got me these things through a _kosmikos_, who seems to be a -sort of lay-brother. But the women’s dress round here seems to be -distinctly advanced--rather markedly rational, in fact--and I didn’t -think you’d care to wear it.” - -“Oh, well, tell them to send us two blouses and some stuff, and we’ll -make skirts for ourselves--and scissors and needles and cotton, of -course--and some hairpins. But how are we to pay?” - -“With promises, I suppose. The people seem to share Stoyan’s touching -faith in an Englishman’s word--which is rather rudely shaken in his -case now, unfortunately. I told the monk I’d pay when we got back to -civilisation.” - -“But why are we here at all?” asked Eirene. - -“That they either can’t or won’t tell me. It has something to do with -one of the Committees, evidently--trust them to have a finger in the -pie--but I can’t make out how long we are to be kept here, or whether -anything is to happen or not. The monks are not half bad old fellows. -The Hegoumenos--that’s the abbot--has been trotting me round this -morning to show me the church and the library and all the chapels, and -at dinner last night he was full of the most infantile questions. Of -course, he had to ask them all through Papa Athanasios, who is my -particular monk, and what with his French and mine, the abbot must -have amassed some wonderful information.” - -“It’s all very well their being nice, but will they let us out?” broke -in Zoe. - -“Certainly not at present, but I shall work at them patiently. I -haven’t quite got at the state of affairs yet, but there seem to be -two parties among the monks, and one of them may be more pliable than -the other.” - -“And are they going to keep us shut up in this room?” - -“Why, you see, you really have no business here at all. Thanks to -Eirene’s greatness, you are in the quarters reserved for lady pilgrims -of the very highest rank, but you can’t be let out while the monks are -about, lest you should distract their minds. I believe that when they -are safely in church you will be allowed to walk about outside, and -then you will have to spend part of your time in sitting under my -window and talking to me, for I shall be locked up. The idea is that -if we were all free at once, we might escape, you see. But there are -little bits of garden mixed up with the buildings, where you may walk, -only you must take care not to go too near the edge of the rock, for -there’s no protection whatever. And of course your wardress, or -duenna, or whatever her capacity is, will chaperon you everywhere. -Isn’t she a caution? I spent ever so long trying to get her to go up -and ask you if I mightn’t come and call, and her only answer to my -blandishments was to threaten to brain me with her keys. Ah, there -goes the _semantron_--the wooden gong thing that calls the monks to -church. I’ll retire gracefully to my cell, and you will profit by my -self-effacement.” - -The exterior of the buildings of Hadgi-Antoniou became well and -wearily known to the two girls during the days that followed, as they -paced from courtyard to garden-patch and back again, to the -accompaniment of the lusty shouts from the church which marked the -monks’ responses to the service. The regularity noticeable in western -monastic edifices was here conspicuous by its absence, for though the -church, the refectory, and the two blocks of rooms devoted to visitors -might be conceived to have been intended to occupy the sides of a -square, all symmetry had been destroyed by the crowd of smaller -chapels, and of cottages occupied by the monks, which seemed to have -been dropped down anywhere and at every angle. There was no encircling -wall, which the impregnable position of the monastery rendered -unnecessary, and though here and there a tower, or the end of a -building, reached the very edge of the plateau, its fringes were -generally occupied by uninteresting pieces of garden, in which the -girls would sit, looking at the cloudy mountains to the north, or the -dim country to the south, until their gaoler would rattle her keys to -intimate that the service was nearing its end, and they must return to -the custody of their room. Once they stood in the narthex, or porch, -of the church, which was decorated in fresco with lively -representations of the Torments of the Lost, and with infinite -precaution, peeped in, to see the monks at worship, leaning on their -crutched staves, and shouting incessant responses, while the metalled -and jewelled figures on the _ikonostasis_ made a blaze of light and -colour in the prevailing dimness. - -Permission to see Maurice any nearer than the courtyard was still -rigorously refused, but he spent most of his free time under their -window; and when the difficulties of cutting out with a hopeless pair -of scissors had been overcome, Zoe, congratulating herself on her -diplomacy, announced that the need of clothes was too urgent to allow -of his being entertained by more than one at a time. Accordingly, she -sat working at one of the farther windows while Eirene talked to -Maurice at that looking into the courtyard, but she would have found -it difficult to formulate definite reasons for her altruism. A vague -feeling that the more closely Eirene’s interests were linked with -theirs, the more hope there would be of a satisfactory compromise in -the future, was perhaps her strongest impression. But one afternoon -Eirene called to her excitedly to come, since Maurice had news. Zoe -flew to her side. - -“No, no, not news from outside,” said Maurice quickly. “Why did you -put it like that, Eirene? It’s only that I have found out what’s wrong -among the monks here. It seems that there are two parties, a Greek and -a Thracian party, as in Emathia generally. The Greeks are in -possession, of course, and the Hegoumenos is a Greek, but the other -lot are pretty strong, and have been gradually ousting the Greeks from -the minor offices of the community. Their idea is to carry the -monastery over to the Exarchist side--what you and Professor -Panagiotis call the schismatics, Eirene--and Scythia is giving them a -helping hand. The poor old Hegoumenos has only one idea--to keep -matters from coming to a crisis; for though he knows the few he can -trust, and the ringleaders on the other side, he doesn’t know how the -main body of the monks would vote, but he fears the worst. It seems to -have been a Scythian emissary who arranged for our being brought here, -on the pretext that Eirene’s life was in danger outside. At least, -that was what they told him, but I should say that the Thracian party -knew something more. At any rate, I have some hope of getting him to -let us go if we are left alone long enough. I’m on the track of the -dodge by which they let the ladders down so as to make a way to the -ground, with a rope-ladder at the bottom, and if they would leave us -unguarded one night we might get down by that, for we could never work -the capstan without half the monks to help. Then we might hide in the -village till we could get a message through to Wylie.” - -“But why not send the message at once?” cried Zoe. - -Maurice held up empty hands. “Unfortunately, we can only pay in -promises,” he said. - -“But can’t you get the Hegoumenos to let us go?” - -“He daren’t. Only a definite order from the Patriarch would give him -courage to override the opposition of the Thracian monks, and that -would probably mean the loss of the monastery for the Greeks. No, our -only hope is a little calculated carelessness one night, and that I -trust we may be able to arrange.” - -But the very next day Maurice appeared with a long face. “I’m afraid -it’s all up,” he said. “I wouldn’t have told you, only I thought you -ought to be prepared. There’s some Scythian official coming here, and -he’s due to-night.” - -“It mayn’t be about us,” suggested Zoe, without conviction. - -“It is. He’s coming to ascertain Eirene’s wishes, so the Hegoumenos -told me--for the purpose of frustrating them, I should imagine.” - -“Oh, what can Captain Wylie be doing?” cried Zoe. - -“Why, how could he possibly know where we are? Who would think of -looking for us here? If he paid the ransom----” - -“But I thought the brigands were honest in a way. Would they take the -ransom without giving us up?” - -“Ah, Stoyan thought he had a grievance against us, you see----” -Maurice broke off suddenly. “I only hope he gave poor old Wylie a -safe-conduct. We know that if he’s all right he’ll be moving heaven -and earth to find us.” - -“Maurice,” cried Eirene eagerly, “if I gave you the girdle of Isidora -now, would there be time? Could you bribe them to let us go before -this man comes?” - -Maurice shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s too late,” he said. “Money -might do it, but a thing like that would be clear evidence that they -had been bribed, and the Hegoumenos would suffer. After all, you can’t -wonder that when the whole future of the monastery is at stake, he -should think more of it than of us.” - -“Well,” said Zoe, with aggressive cheerfulness, “I am going to finish -my work. I won’t face a presumably civilised man--even if he is only a -Tartar underneath--in a skirt like a _vivandière’s_. You had better -do yours too, instead of going out this morning, Eirene. There’s the -_semantron_, Maurice. Retire to your cell.” - -“How can you be so flippant?” said Eirene indignantly, taking up her -work with languid fingers. - -“If I wasn’t, I should cry, which would be both useless and -disgraceful. We seem fated to fall back again every time we think our -troubles are at an end.” - -“I suppose you hate me?” said Eirene. - -“Oh no, I don’t. We’re all in the same boat, for one thing, and you -didn’t mean to do all the things you have done, you know. It was -Eirene-ism, not deliberate wickedness.” - -“I think you are the most absolutely heartless person I ever met!” -cried Eirene, with flashing eyes. - -“Very well. I’m sure it’s better to be heartless in our present -circumstances. It will save us loads of misery.” - -They worked in silent mutual indignation for some little time, and -then Eirene spoke suddenly, with an obvious effort. - -“I have a plan,” she said. “I think I see how to put things right.” - -“Then please forget it. It was your last bright idea that got us into -this fix, you know.” - -“I know it was, and I will atone for it. When this Scythian comes, I -will announce boldly who I am, and promise to submit in future. Of -course they think that you and Maurice were concerned in my escape; -but I will assure them that you had nothing to do with it--that I -merely seized on you to help me, and that you had no idea who I was -until it was impossible for you to do anything. They would make you -promise to keep all that had happened a secret, no doubt, but I think -they would let you go, and take me back to Scythia. Shouldn’t you be a -little sorry for me, Zoe? We have been so much together--and it would -mean that I had given up my mission. You asked me if I would do even -that for you and Maurice, you know, and now I am going to do it. We -shall never see each other again. If they were to forgive me, I -suppose you might possibly hear that I was married to somebody, but if -not, you would never hear of me any more.” - -“Oh, don’t be tragic!” said Zoe, the more impatiently that she was -feeling rather ashamed of herself. “How can you go on in this way?” - -“But it is tragedy. Why won’t you understand, Zoe, that there are some -things in life that can’t be put right by making an epigram, and then -thinking of something else? Some day you will know, perhaps. Have you -ever heard of the Black Nuns?” - -“No, I didn’t know there were any nuns in Scythia.” - -“There are many, and the Black Nuns are particularly useful in taking -charge of people who won’t do what they are told, or who have -committed indiscretions--people of high rank, I mean. I committed an -indiscretion in running away. The disobedient girls return to the -world obedient. The indiscreet ones die, sooner or later, and there is -a grand funeral. A grand funeral can’t hurt any one, can it? And it -shows that the relatives have nothing to conceal.” - -“Oh, do stop!” cried Zoe. “You are letting things get upon your mind. -I’m sorry I said that about your having got us into this scrape; I was -a beast to do it. Let us talk about something else.” - -“I think I could do it--I am almost sure I could--if it saved you--and -Maurice,” pursued Eirene, lingering over Maurice’s name with the -tenderness that spoke volumes to Maurice’s sister. “But it’s no use -pretending that I don’t know what it would mean, or that I should like -it.” - -“Oh, do try and have a little sense!” entreated Zoe. “Can you imagine -for a moment that Maurice--or any real man--would let a girl sacrifice -herself to save him? I don’t know what kind of creatures you can have -known, Eirene; you have such hopeless ideas. You may be quite sure -that Maurice would never go away into safety and leave you to be -unkindly treated.” - -“He might not have the choice. I should be carried off secretly. But -you and Maurice will think of me sometimes, and talk about me----” - -“And come and shed tears on your grave, I suppose? Eirene, will you -have the goodness not to be sentimental? If you were carried off to -Scythia, Maurice and I would go after you and rescue you. I would -pretend to be you and remain in your place, while Maurice got you -away, and then I should appeal to the British Ambassador and get -rescued myself.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - UNMASKED. - -In spite of her optimistic view of the situation, Zoe passed a -disturbed night, which the shouts and the persistent creaking of the -windlass announcing the arrival of the Scythian emissary did not tend -to soothe. She was oppressed by the conviction that she ought to -confide in Eirene, while at the same time she was resolved to do -nothing of the kind. It was unfair, she owned, to receive her -confidence and give her none in return, but the risks were too great. -Eirene might welcome the disclosure, since it would bridge the -infinite gulf she must believe to exist between herself and Maurice, -but it might make her all the more determined to sacrifice herself, if -she realised how important it was that he should not remain in -Scythian hands. And, on the other hand, she might refuse to believe -it, and in her pique insist on acting alone, when common action on the -part of the three was indispensable. Impatiently Zoe wished that it -had been possible to predict what Eirene would do in any given -circumstances. It was the uncertainty that made her so difficult to -deal with, and Zoe almost regretted that she had not done as Maurice -advised, and told her earlier, since things could not well have fallen -out worse than they had done. At last, as she tossed and turned on the -unyielding divan, she decided on a compromise. She would not tell -Eirene before the interview with the Scythian official, lest she -should do anything rash, but as soon as they had some idea what was to -happen she would make the disclosure. - -The Scythian was evidently not inclined to waste time, for the girls -had only just breakfasted when a large and imposing letter was brought -in by the old woman. In it M. Boris Constantinovitch Kirileff did -himself the honour to recall himself to her Royal Highness’s -recollection, and craved humbly permission to wait upon her, either in -her own apartments or in the guest-room of the monastery. - -“Now comes the tug of war!” said Eirene. “We don’t want him up here, -do we, Zoe? We will see him in the guest-room, then. I remember him at -Pavelsburg. He is in the Imperial Chancellery.” - -The old woman had brought a pen and ink, but the only paper available -was the back of M. Kirileff’s beautiful un-folded epistle, on which -the answer was duly written by Zoe. When it had been despatched, she -and Eirene looked at one another rather anxiously. It was undeniable -that their appearance was not distinguished. A badly fitting blouse, a -home-made skirt, moccasins instead of shoes, and a paucity of -hairpins--for none had been obtainable in the village--are drawbacks -which only beauty of a very exceptional order can successfully -surmount. - -“I shouldn’t mind a bit, if it wasn’t that we want to look so -particularly dignified,” said Zoe. “Suppose you put on the famous -girdle, Eirene. That ought to make an impression.” - -“Hasn’t it brought us enough bad luck already?” asked Eirene, with a -shudder. “No, it shall stay where it is.” - -“Look here, Eirene; don’t do anything rash,” Zoe entreated her. “This -man may merely have orders to escort you to Therma, so don’t begin by -making a tragic submission.” - -“I assure you I shall be altogether the Princess in my dealings with -M. Kirileff,” returned Eirene, as the old woman appeared on the -threshold and beckoned to them. “I shall resort to brag.” - -“You mean bluff,” said Zoe, in a stage whisper, as they descended the -stairs. “Shall we see Maurice, I wonder?” - -There was no sign of Maurice in the courtyard, but when they mounted -the steps to the guest-room they caught sight of him among a number of -monks, who were gathered round him as though responsible for his -safe-keeping. But they had no time to ask one another what this meant, -for a well-preserved man of uncertain age, in immaculate morning -dress, advanced with every demonstration of respectful delight, and -touched Eirene’s hand with a highly waxed moustache. She had meant to -present him to Zoe, but as though he had divined her intention, he led -her immediately up the room to the divan on which the old Hegoumenos -was seated, a picture of puzzled, anxious willingness to oblige. He -indicated to Eirene the place next him, and M. Kirileff, on her -invitation, also seated himself, but at a respectful distance. Zoe’s -eyes met Maurice’s with keen amusement. - -“You are the bearer of some message for me, I suppose?” said Eirene to -the Scythian. He bowed profoundly. - -“On the contrary, madame, I have only an apology--an apology on my own -account for the measures taken on your behalf. I know how presumptuous -and uncalled for they must appear, and nothing but the conviction that -they have secured your safety at a moment of imminent danger could -give me courage to appear in your presence.” - - [Image: images/img_226.jpg - Caption: - _Touched Eirene’s hand with a highly waxed moustache._] - -“Then I am to attribute my being brought here to your influence?” said -Eirene, with the slightest possible lifting of the eyebrows. “I -confess, monsieur, my own impression would be that you had left me to -pass unaided through a month of incessant danger, and only interposed -to destroy my hopes when I was upon the very verge of safety.” - -“Madame, the greatness of your mind will quickly set my conduct in the -true light. As a man of honour and the faithful servant of my august -master, whose affection for your illustrious house needs no assurances -from me, I humbly assure you that at the moment you supposed yourself -on the verge of safety you were in more frightful peril than during -the whole month with the brigands.” - -“You astonish me, monsieur. From whom was this danger to arise?” - -“It was not a matter of the future, madame; it existed already--in -your very _entourage_. Has your Royal Highness any knowledge of the -true character of the young man and woman who shared your captivity?” - -“A month in their company in such circumstances ought to be -conclusive, monsieur. I have the pleasure to be able to assure you -that they have both displayed a fidelity which would be praiseworthy -in dependants of my own, but which must be unique in the case of -strangers united to me only by the bond of a common disaster.” - -“You call them strangers, madame. I am to understand they were unknown -to you at the time you undertook your--pilgrimage?” - -“At the time I undertook my--pilgrimage,” replied Eirene, with an -intonation which brought an involuntary smile to Zoe’s lips, “I was as -absolutely ignorant of the existence of Mr and Miss Smith as they were -of my identity when chance threw us together on our journey.” - -“Chance? Ah, yes, the meeting was casual on your part, no doubt, -madame. But the ignorance of the brother and sister Smith exists only -in your mind, so guileless, so unsuspicious of treachery.” - -“I assure you, monsieur, I am by no means unsuspicious by nature,” -said Eirene, with distinct resentment. “So determined was I to -preserve my _incognito_ that I communicated the route and object of -my--pilgrimage to no one but the lady who attended me, and who is -since dead. It was impossible for any one else to be acquainted with -it.” - -Zoe waited eagerly for the answer. The artistic way in which M. -Kirileff was leading up to his _dénouement_ appealed to her critical -faculty. From a purely literary point of view she could have applauded -the unblushing lie with which he countered Eirene’s declaration. - -“Ah, madame, these things leak out somehow. If we were acquainted with -your intention--I speak of the office I have the honour to -represent--and were watching over your safety without your knowledge, -if it was known also to the plotter Panagiotis, why should it be -unknown to these tools of his?” - -“If you were watching over my safety, monsieur, I can only say that -your measures left something to be desired,” said Eirene smartly. “I -will remind you that you have just applied a very offensive term to a -lady and gentleman whom the events of the past month have taught me to -hold in the highest esteem.” - -“I could wish, madame, that they had betrayed themselves in their true -colours, since that would have released me from the sad duty of -acquainting you with their worthlessness. They are the creatures of -the arch-conspirator Panagiotis in an attempt to deprive you of the -rights bequeathed to you by your imperial ancestors.” - -“Monsieur, you speak in riddles. The thing is too absurd.” - -“Precisely, madame. It is too absurd. But if you ask this man, this -woman”--he pointed an accusing finger at Maurice, who was laboriously -endeavouring to follow the rapidly spoken French, and succeeding at -intervals, and at the deeply interested Zoe--“who they really are, -they will assure you that their true name is not Smith, but Teffany, -and that they are descended from Basil, the elder brother of your -ancestor Leo, son of the Emperor John Theophanis.” - -“But this is preposterous!” cried Eirene. - -“Madame, you have chosen the only word that fits the situation. It is -preposterous. They were brought up by their grandfather, a respectable -landed proprietor named Smith, who became possessed, late in life, -with the delusion that he was a descendant of the last Christian -Emperor. The delusion would, no doubt, have died with him, but, -unfortunately, it came to the ears of the firebrand Panagiotis in one -of his visits to England for the purpose of stirring up support for -his incendiary propaganda. He had been repulsed by your illustrious -father, who preferred to await in dignified passivity the results of -the diplomacy of his august friend the Emperor of Scythia, rather than -put himself forward as the figurehead of a revolutionary conspiracy. -Thus deprived of a _raison d’être_ for his schemes, this man -Panagiotis finds himself confronted with the means at once of -forwarding his plots and of revenging himself upon your father’s -daughter. He will produce a nearer heir. Now, madame, mark the course -of events. Your impetuous resolution to proceed on pilgrimage to the -shrines most nearly associated with the devotion of your illustrious -race has the effect of bringing you within the range of the -conspiracy, which has been so deftly engineered that even we, who are -secretly protecting your movements, are unacquainted with its full -purpose. The fiend Panagiotis sees his opportunity, and instructs his -tools to worm themselves by insidious means into your confidence----” - -“You are mistaken, monsieur,” with a last effort of dignity. “It was I -who addressed myself to Miss Smith.” - -“Alas, madame! must I point out that this apparent reserve was but a -means of piquing the curiosity of a young lady who had just -emancipated herself from the safeguards of her rank, and might be -supposed to possess an innocent curiosity as to the concerns of her -_bourgeois_ fellow-travellers?” Eirene grew scarlet, and Zoe, -remembering their early acquaintance, could not repress a smile. “The -ruse was successful. By the time the Roumi frontier was crossed, the -conspirators, with a confederate who poses as an officer of the -British Army, were in possession of your Royal Highness’s confidence. -I tell you frankly, with a full sense of the seriousness of my words, -that but for the accident to the bridge, which I cannot help regarding -as providential--I am no atheist, thank the saints!--I do not know -what the result would have been. Whether you would ever have been -permitted to reach Therma I cannot tell. It was the apparently -commonplace and innocuous character of your companions that baffled -all suspicion, and I doubt if our agents would have penetrated their -true nature in time. But if you had once reached Therma, and accepted -the treacherous hospitality of Panagiotis at his country villa, there -can be no doubt that you would never have left it alive and free. You -were an obstacle to his plans. Only your death, or your acceptance of -an alternative, too degrading to you as a Princess and a woman for me -to do more than hint at it, would have made his schemes safe.” - -“Zoe,” broke in Maurice, as Eirene changed colour again when her eyes, -vainly seeking a resting-place, met his, “what is this blackguard -saying? Tell him to talk English, or if he can’t, to let you -interpret. I can’t understand what he says, but he is making Eirene -miserable.” - -“He says that we are impostors, and that we made up to her on the -journey that we might decoy her to the Professor’s and kill her,” said -Zoe succinctly. - -“Rubbish!” said Maurice. “Eirene, how can you listen to such nonsense? -You know us too well to believe it, I should hope. Zoe and I will -explain the whole thing to you in five minutes, if you will see us -somewhere without this man, who seems to be mixing himself up in -things which don’t concern him in the least.” - -“I do not speak English,” observed M. Kirileff mildly, and--so Zoe -averred afterwards--untruthfully, “but it appears to me that this -young man is presuming upon the confidence with which you have -honoured him, madame. He has to learn that you are no longer -unprotected, but that the shield of Scythia is interposed between your -royal person and his presumptuous designs. I cannot sufficiently -admire the way in which Providence has utilised the atrocious crime of -the brigands to preserve you from actual danger to your life and -peace. The impostor durst not announce himself in his pretended -character, knowing the devotion of the miscreants--however -misdirected--to the Slavic and Exarchist idea, and the necessity of -retaining your confidence forced him to treat you with respect and -reserve. It was when the ransom was paid, and you were once more at -his mercy, that you would have been again in extreme danger. That -danger I had the happiness to avert by bringing you here. My measures -were hasty, even violent, I confess--I had no choice--but they were -successful.” - -“Your fidelity calls for my highest gratitude, monsieur,” said Eirene, -rallying her forces. “I do not mind confessing that I am overwhelmed -by the news you have brought me. Such treachery--such duplicity--where -I saw only loyalty and respect, is almost incredible. This impudent -assertion, which touches my rights--what course is to be taken -respecting it?” - -“In my opinion, madame--which is not without weight, if I may -respectfully say so, with my superiors--there could be no more -suitable place for the detention of the culprits than this. It is the -most humane, as well as the most convenient, view of the case to -regard them as suffering from hereditary mania, but they cannot be -allowed to impose their wild hallucinations upon the world. We must -have from each of them a definite confession of the imposture, and of -the steps by which they were induced to acquiesce in it, as well as of -their motives in forcing themselves upon you. Until that confession is -signed, they may well remain here in safety, carefully looked after by -the good monks, and causing scandal to no one.” - -“The idea is excellent,” said Eirene. “Tell me,” she added harshly, -turning to Maurice, “are you willing to sign a confession of the -imposture of which you have been guilty, and to entreat my pardon for -your treachery?” - -“I’m not going to sign anything that isn’t true,” returned Maurice. “I -don’t carry all my family papers about with me, but I have them safe -at home. It’s as certain that we are descended from the elder son of -John Theophanis as that you are from the younger.” - -Eirene raised her head disdainfully. “The comparison shows your state -of mind,” she said. “You are undoubtedly labouring under a delusion, -and it is only charity to see that you are kept in safety until it has -passed away.” - -“Oh, very well. Tell the first British Consul you come across your -idea of charity, and see what he will say.” - -“The British Consul would do nothing,” she said sharply. “You seem to -forget that by alleging a Greek descent you have deliberately -renounced your British citizenship, and placed yourself among my -subjects--mine.” - -“I am sorry to appear to contradict you, but when you come to think of -it, isn’t it just the other way about?” - -“Oh, this is too much!” cried Eirene, rising from her seat. “Am I to -endure these insults--to be defied to my very face? And this from one -whom I trusted!” - -“Calm yourself, madame,” said M. Kirileff, seizing the opportunity to -point a judicious moral. “All your friends must regret that your -impatience of restraint, your love of the bizarre, led you into such a -situation, but you will not be left to cope with it alone. My -instructions are to inquire your wishes for the future?” - -“Oh, to go anywhere, away from here!” She sank upon the divan again. - -“I fear”--M. Kirileff’s tone was slightly severe--“that your Royal -Highness can hardly expect to be received at Court as before, at any -rate until your reputation for--shall I say eccentricity of -behaviour?--has been in some degree forgotten. You would not care to -remain here?” - -“Here?” Eirene shuddered. “I detest every stone of the place. No, -monsieur, I must be in a town. My health, my nerves, have suffered -cruelly from the miseries of the past month, and from this crowning -trial. I need medical care, female attendance.” - -“I can well understand your feelings, madame. As I came here, Madame -Ladoguin, the wife of our Consul-General at Therma, begged me to place -her house and her services at your disposal for as long as you -required them. She is a charming and accomplished woman, and her -society will cheer and refresh you.” - -“Very well,” said Eirene, rising. “I hardly dare indulge hope for the -future, after what I have suffered to-day. You will pardon me if I -leave you now, monsieur. I can endure no more.” - -“I am grieved to have been the means of inflicting this pain upon you, -madame.” M. Kirileff escorted her to the door, noticing the stony -glance of disdain she bestowed upon Maurice as she swept past him, and -returned to his seat with a complete change of manner, while the monks -pushed forward to listen. - -“I need not waste much time on you,” he said contemptuously to Maurice -and Zoe. “You know why you are here, and the step you must take to -obtain your release. Until you take that step, you may be very sure -you will remain in safe custody. Understand that you are prisoners, no -longer guests. We do not propose to furnish troublesome people like -you with the luxuries of a first-class hotel. You will see that the -man is placed in one of your dungeons,” he added authoritatively to -Papa Athanasios, “and the woman in one of the less commodious cells -reserved for female pilgrims.” - -“But, lord, the dungeons have not been used for hundreds of years!” -protested the monk in his bad French. - -“Then have one cleared for the prisoner. If there are rats, so much -the better. It is unnecessary for me to use threats,” he addressed -Maurice again; “your own mind--dull-witted Englishman though you -are--will paint the truth for you. Here you are, and here you stay -until you write out and sign the confession I shall leave you. No one -knows where you are, or would think of looking for you here, and even -if your prison was known, an army could not rescue you. Her Royal -Highness is not vindictive, but we allow no tampering with the -heritage of a princess under Scythian protection. I may as well tell -you that your accomplice, the alleged British officer, is on the point -of leaving Emathia, on the plea that he is summoned back to his -military duties.” - -“He doesn’t know Wylie, does he, Zoe?” said Maurice, as they were left -standing together for a moment while M. Kirileff conversed with the -Hegoumenos, and Papa Athanasios was absent preparing the dungeon. - -“Of course not. Oh, Maurice, do you believe now what I said to you -about Eirene? I knew she would take it like this.” - -“It’s only for the first few minutes,” said Maurice, unruffled. “When -she gets by herself, and this fellow isn’t by to make vile -suggestions, she’ll remember all we’ve been through together, and -she’ll know we simply couldn’t have meant any harm to her. Of course, -it was bound to give her a shock, but she’ll be frightfully sorry when -she realises the things she has said.” - -“Maurice, you would contentedly lie down and let Eirene trample on -you! She is--no, I won’t say it.” - -“It’s awfully hard on you, I know,” said Maurice. “I wish you could -dissociate yourself from me in some way.” - -“As if I would ever give away your case! Why, it’s mine as much as -yours. No, we will stick to each other, Maurice, if all the Eirenes in -the world turn against us. I shall set to work on a novel at -once--making it up in my mind, of course. I have never been able to -find time to get to work absolutely undisturbed before. And you will -frame a plan for governing Emathia, no doubt. Dear boy, keep up -heart!” - -The tears were in Zoe’s eyes as she spoke, and her cheerful voice -shook. Maurice patted her on the shoulder. - -“All right, Zoe. Papa Athanasios will look after me, you may be sure. -Don’t get dismal. Wylie will be here before long, trust him. And don’t -think too hardly of Eirene.” - -“Always Eirene!” Zoe stamped her foot as Maurice was led away. He -turned and nodded gaily to her, and a curious thought came into her -mind. “Could it be?” she asked of herself. “Shall I suggest it to -Maurice? No, it would be worse for him if it turned out not to be -true. I wish it might be that, for his sake--and hers and mine, too, -for the matter of that. But I don’t believe she could do it.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - “SPLENDIDE MENDAX.” - -It seemed to Zoe that, save for the fact that Maurice’s place of -confinement was called a dungeon and hers a cell, the change in the -state of affairs pressed rather more hardly on her than on him. Her -new room was very small, very dirty, absolutely devoid of furniture, -and almost destitute of light, a small grated aperture just under the -ceiling offering the only approach to a window. Moreover, Maurice had -the friendly Papa Athanasios to look after him, while the old woman -who acted as Zoe’s gaoler seemed positively to gloat over her -humiliation. This attitude was in itself a challenge, and before Zoe -had been in her new quarters half an hour she had bullied old Marigo -into providing a broom and fetching her rug and other possessions from -the room she had occupied with Eirene. The cell looked much less -hopeless when a certain amount of the dust of ages had been removed, -the rug spread on the stone divan, and Zoe’s few clothes neatly rolled -up as cushions. In the homely work of tidying up, moreover, she wore -off some of her indignation against Eirene, and was able to turn her -mind to other subjects. Her words to Maurice had not been idle, or -designed merely to console him. The idea for a story had come into her -mind, and was working itself out all the more vividly for her removal -during the past month from her usual surroundings and pursuits. It was -going to be splendid, she felt, with the curious leaping of heart -which the self-development of a new theme always caused in her. If -only she had her note-books at hand! But since they were not to be -had, she must work more carefully than usual, more by rule and line, -so as to be able to reproduce the story from memory when she regained -her freedom. The whitewashed walls of her cell offered a ready-made -tablet for memoranda, and a rusty nail she had discovered in the -course of her sweepings would serve as a stylus. In marked contrast -with the excitement of the morning, she passed a quiet and perfectly -happy afternoon absorbed in blocking out her chapters, raising -horrible suspicions in the mind of her gaoler, who could only imagine -that the mysterious signs on the wall were some kind of sorcery -directed against the welfare of the monastery. - -The next morning Zoe was at work again as soon as she had put her room -tidy, and it was with unconcealed impatience that she found herself -summoned by old Marigo to follow her. “Come, O girl, quickly!” she -could understand this, at any rate, though neither now nor at any -other time could she extract any rational information from the -wardress, as Maurice called her. Following her down the steep -time-worn stairs, she found Eirene, escorted by M. Kirileff, awaiting -her in the courtyard, and she was not too much engrossed with her -story to derive some pleasure from noticing that Eirene looked pale -and ill at ease. It was M. Kirileff who spoke, after receiving an -imperious gesture. - -“Her Royal Highness is anxious even now to save you from the penalty -due to your brother’s obstinacy,” he said. “If you choose to sign the -confession I have drawn out, you will be permitted to attend her to -Therma, and she will graciously see that you are sent home from -there.” - -“Thank you, I prefer to be here,” returned Zoe briskly. “You don’t -know what a kindness you are doing me by keeping me where there are no -visitors. I have not had an idle moment yet, and my time is fully -occupied far ahead.” - -M. Kirileff looked unaffectedly astonished, and Eirene interposed, in -the languid tones of one weary of the subject. - -“I regard you with compassion,” she said, “for I know that your facile -imagination can make the wildest dreams appear realities to you. Your -brother I cannot trust myself to see, for he has not the same excuse. -If it was you who suggested the imposture, and induced him to -acquiesce in it, I can only advise you to undo the harm you have done -in leading astray an otherwise worthy young man. The good Father -Athanasios will convey to him any message from you advising him to -submit, but no others.” - -“I’m sorry you took the trouble to make such an arrangement, for it -won’t be wanted,” said Zoe. “And when you have had time to think -things over, and realise what you have done, I shall be sorry for you, -Eirene.” - -“There is no use in prolonging this discussion, I think,” said Eirene -to M. Kirileff. “We are not likely to meet again,” she added, over her -shoulder, to Zoe, “but should you return to a better mind, I shall -have pleasure in extending my patronage to you.” - -Zoe returned to her cell fuming, and it was some time before she was -sufficiently calm to resume her work, while Eirene turned away to -begin her journey to Therma in M. Kirileff’s company. He had horses, -servants and tents awaiting him below the rock, and a girl from the -village had been impressed to wait upon her. She was treated with the -utmost deference; her tent was pitched apart from the rest; her -pleasure was consulted as to the hours of halting or starting again; -but she was kept perpetually under surveillance. In her tent her maid -watched her; if she wandered outside it, two _cavasses_ kept her -faithfully in sight; on the march M. Kirileff, riding beside her, at -precisely the right distance to the rear, divided his attention -between her face and the track. He had a way of leading the -conversation round to Maurice and Zoe, or to her experiences in the -brigands’ camp, but her replies baffled him. They told so little that -he could draw no conclusions, and they expressed still less. It was -with a mixture of resentment and relief that he handed her over at -last to the care of Madame Ladoguin, and gave his final instructions -to that lady in private. - -“I hope you may have better success with our charming Princess than I -have had,” he said. “I no longer wonder that she was able to plan and -effect her escape from Scythia as she did.” - -“Well, you could hardly expect her, after her late experiences, to -confide in so youthful and _débonnaire_ a person as yourself, could -you?” smiled his hostess. “But with a woman, and one who has seen -something of her world, it may be different.” - -“If there is any one in the world who can win her confidence, it is -Chariclea Feodorovna,” said M. Kirileff, with every appearance of -fervent conviction; “and I only trust she may.” - -“Why?” the quick note of alarm in the lady’s voice showed that she -scented danger. “You don’t imagine that she has any sympathy with the -impostor?” - -“None whatever--at present; but with a woman one always fears a change -of mind. There is something most wearisomely convincing about the -youth Smith. A man of any other nation, convicted of base treachery in -the presence of a lady whose good opinion he must surely prize, would -have protested, entreated, asseverated his innocence. But this stolid -Englishman does not even give himself the trouble to offer a -statement. He contents himself with asserting that he is in the right, -in a tone which implies that it signifies nothing whether she believes -it or not, and proceeds to drive her to frenzy by insisting on his -pretensions. There is something impressive in this brutal simplicity.” - -“Quite so,” said Mme. Ladoguin. “And you think it impressed her, or -will yet succeed in doing so?” - -“I am trusting to your influence that it may not. I will own that I -have had moments of alarm. I imagined that I distinguished on her face -a look resembling relief when I first revealed to her the nature of -the deception. But it passed quickly when I pointed out its sordid -motive, and the _bourgeois_ origin of the plotters. A peasant would -have been infinitely more welcome as a rival than a respectable youth -of the middle class.” - -“But I had the idea that these Teffanys--these Smiths, I should -say--belonged to the _petite noblesse_, what the English call -‘gentry,’” said Mme. Ladoguin. M. Kirileff smiled meaningly. - -“That is an idea I must beg you to banish from your mind. For the -purposes of conversation with the Princess, they are of a superior -order of agriculturists. I brought the thing home to her when I -pointed out that she would have been offered a marriage with young -Smith as the price of her life had she fallen into the hands of -Panagiotis.” - -“You have prepared the ground well, Boris Constantinovitch. She -exhibited disgust?” - -“More than disgust--agony. And thereupon the innocent Monsieur Smith -spoils the effect by demanding with fury what I have been saying to -make her unhappy!” - -“Ah, these unrehearsed effects--how they ruin our best scenes! But the -young man is certainly impossible. I suppose”--with sudden -keenness--“it has not struck you to hint to the young lady that in -case of any further escapades on her part, Scythia might be driven to -abandon her claim, and take up that of this pretender instead? That -would make it easier to manage her.” - -“You terrify me!” cried M. Kirileff, with genuine alarm. “Is it -possible you do not see that our only hold over her is to maintain her -in the assurance that hers is the only claim worth considering? The -merest suggestion that the youth might conceivably have right on his -side would ruin everything. Down would go the barrier of disgust I -have erected with so much pains, she would see herself as the usurper -instead of him, and even if we continued to support her, the moral -support of her own whole-hearted confidence in her rights would be -gone.” - -“I see,” said Mme. Ladoguin slowly. “Well, frankly, if that is the -case, I wonder at your bringing her here. I will keep a careful watch -over her, of course; but in a place like this there are endless -opportunities for mischief. Panagiotis is always at hand, and that -Captain Wylie is a perfect terror. Since he was tricked into paying -the ransom without rescuing his friends, he has given the city no -peace. The consular body are just as tired of him as the authorities -are, and he is bringing the Ambassadors at Czarigrad into the matter. -He is certain to insist on seeing the Princess when he finds out she -is here, to try and discover from her where the Smiths are, and he may -persuade her of the truth of their claims.” - -“He must not see her,” was the prompt reply. “Do you think I should -have entrusted her to your care if I had not had full confidence in -you? You must manage--somehow--anyhow--to keep them apart. A word to -the doctor will ensure a certain amount of quiet and retirement for -the Princess--she sees only your very intimate friends, and no -foreigners, you perceive? Your brother will keep you informed of -Captain Wylie’s movements, and when he is in the city you will go to -no place where you would be likely to meet him, and you will take care -that the direction of your drives does not leak out through the -servants. He will scarcely force his way into the Consulate, or if he -did, I have no doubt your husband would repel force with force, and -public opinion would justify him. If he should obtain an entrance by -any stratagem, I can trust you to deal with him.” - -“Oh, I’m not afraid of that. It is the scandal, the unpleasantness. -The man is so atrociously persistent.” - -“I understand. I don’t mind telling you that I dislike this delay in -Therma as much as you can. But what is to be done? It is all very well -to give out that the Princess went on pilgrimage, but every one in the -Court circle knows the real state of the case, and she cannot be -received as if nothing had happened. Their Imperial Majesties are -deeply incensed. I shall represent as strongly as I can the expediency -of bringing her back quickly, and you must prevail upon her to write a -letter of penitence and submission, which will help matters on. Short -of a convent--and I should not care to trust her in one outside -Scythia--she is safer with you than she could be anywhere else.” - -“I suppose a letter signed by her would not be sufficient?” - -M. Kirileff shook his head. “It would appear too casual. No, the -writing must be her own throughout. But I hope much from your -persuasions. You will keep constantly before her, of course, the peril -and disgrace from which she has been rescued, and point out that her -only hope for the future lies in a return to Court favour. One warning -I must give you. Don’t attempt to represent the young man Smith as a -plotter, or as intending anything but the most honourable and -_bourgeois_ of marriages. One glance at his face shows you that he is -absolutely incapable of the slightest approach to art or _finesse_ of -any kind. Remember that he is a mere tool in the hands of the -remorseless Panagiotis, who spares no one who comes in the way of his -schemes.” - -“I will remember,” laughed the lady. “It is a comfort that you think -the Princess is willing to be persuaded.” - -“I do, but I think she needs to be kept in the same mind. I saw signs -of wavering myself, on the morning we left Hadgi-Antoniou, when she -expressed a wish to see Smith’s sister in private. I pointed out that -the girl--who is endowed with more vivacity than her brother--might -very probably, in her rage at the discovery of their plot, attempt -some violence, and she agreed at once that I had better be present. -That is the sort of assistance I hope for from you--an unobtrusive -influence constantly exerted, both to protect her from intrusion and -to turn her thoughts in the right direction.” - -This conference put Eirene’s two guardians into a state of the highest -mutual appreciation, and M. Kirileff went on his way to Scythia with -an easy mind, leaving his confederate to make Eirene’s life a burden -to her. The next few weeks were the most absolutely miserable the girl -had ever experienced, for she knew exactly what Maurice and Zoe must -think of her, and she had no means of fulfilling the task she had set -herself. The realisation of the part she must play had come to her in -a flash as she sat beside the Hegoumenos on the divan, and listened to -the measured periods of M. Kirileff. Her first feeling had been -something more than the relief he had read in her face--positive -triumph. She had been right, after all, when she suspected Maurice of -being a prince in disguise. But even as the thought crossed her mind, -she read in the Scythian’s expression that she had betrayed herself, -and she saw her course clear before her. To remain at Hadgi-Antoniou, -throwing in her lot with that of Maurice and Zoe, would do no good. -The monastery which had guarded the faith for centuries could guard -secrets as well. The prisoners might remain in a living death, -unsuspected by the outside world, while it would be announced to -Europe that they had met their fate at the hands of the brigands. The -Embassies would demand an indemnity and the punishment of the -murderers, and Scythia would supply the Roumi Government with the -necessary money, while the crime would be added to the record of the -next few criminals who had not the wherewithal to grease the palms of -justice. Even Wylie would be deceived by a circumstantial story, -perhaps by the production of relics of his friends, and would return -sorrowfully to India, taking away their last hope. Eirene saw it all, -even while she called up the look of resentment and disgust which had -assured M. Kirileff of the success of his rearrangement of facts. She -must efface from his mind the memory of her momentary slip, she must -deceive even Maurice and Zoe, lest he should see in their faces that -he was being played with. She must return to civilisation, and in some -way communicate with Wylie, and that she might do this, she must throw -dust in the eyes of friend and foe alike. - -It was a curious feature of her state of mind that the momentous news -which she had heard from M. Kirileff scarcely occurred to her, except -as a cogent reason why Maurice and Zoe would not be allowed to go free -save as discredited and self-confessed impostors. She did not ask -herself what its effect might be on her own future, for the exigencies -of the present occupied all her thoughts. The magnitude of her task -kept her sleepless during her last night at the monastery, and led her -to the desperate attempt, which M. Kirileff had frustrated, to secure -Zoe as a confederate. It would be so much easier to communicate with -Wylie, or with some British representative, if there were two to watch -for opportunities instead of one, that she conceived the idea of -inducing Zoe to make an apparent submission and accompany her. The -envoy’s watchfulness had not only destroyed this hope, but had obliged -her to deepen the bitterness with which Zoe must regard her, and she -entered on the journey with feelings almost of despair. Without -protest she acquiesced in M. Kirileff’s suggestion that it should be -announced that her Royal Highness had returned from a pilgrimage to -the shrine of Hadgi-Antoniou, and was resting at Therma after the -hardships she had undergone, while the friends who had shared with her -the experience of being captured by brigands were making a more -extended tour among the rock monasteries near the Morean frontier. The -announcement would, at any rate, give Wylie some idea of the -whereabouts of his friends, and surely, surely, it must lead him to -insist on seeing her, and learning from her the true state of the -case. - -But in this forecast Eirene had reckoned without Chariclea Feodorovna, -and the very capable staff of assistants she had gathered round her. -The Princess was received with the tenderest affection and respect, -and promptly bound hand and foot with bonds too imperceptible to -resent, too strong to break. The doctor who was called in to prescribe -for her shattered nerves ordered quiet and retirement, with a very -little society of a cheerful and familiar kind. What could be more in -accordance with the prescription than to limit Eirene’s visitors to -selected members of the Scythian colony and a few favoured -representatives of those other Powers which were in sympathy with -Scythian aims? At the same time, Madame Ladoguin, whose own appearance -was a testimony to her skill, took in hand the restoration of her -guest’s complexion, which had suffered from a month’s exposure to all -kinds of weather, without the protection of hat or veil. It was clear -that Eirene could not appear at the Scythian Court--whither she was so -soon to return--with a brown face and red hands, and her adviser acted -the beneficent tyrant to the life, forbidding her to go out on days -when a particular wind--or any wind--was blowing, and applying healing -balms which required, in order to produce their full effect, that the -patient should spend a day in bed. Resistance was useless, and Eirene -acquiesced helplessly for fear of arousing suspicion, but in one thing -she would not yield. All Madame Ladoguin’s persuasions and -encouragements could not induce her to write the desired letter of -penitence to the Scythian Court. To such expedients was she driven -that she would spend whole mornings in writing out drafts of the -letter and making beginnings, which were all torn up. “I will not -leave Therma until I have done something to help Maurice and Zoe,” she -said to herself. “After that, it doesn’t signify what happens to me. I -suppose I must go back to Pavelsburg, but I won’t write what isn’t -true to make them treat me better. Maurice wouldn’t, and I won’t.” - -All this time Wylie made no sign. As soon as she reached Therma, -Eirene had asked her hostess about him, saying frankly that she wished -to thank him for his efforts in procuring her ransom; but she was told -that he had returned to India, satisfied that his friends were safe. -She did not believe this, but she thought it very probable that he -wished it to be believed, in order that he might have more freedom to -act, and in her drives she looked narrowly among the crowd of many -nationalities that thronged the streets for the tell-tale eyes which -no disguise could hide. But she never saw them. Once or twice she -ventured casually to inquire of Madame Ladoguin’s guests if they knew -anything of Captain Wylie, and was always assured, with a look of -astonishment, that he had made himself only too well known in the city -while he remained there, but that he had now, happily, left it. Still, -this did not necessarily prove that he had not returned to it, and -Eirene began to wonder whether she could not write to him, as he -seemed so strangely slow in seeking her. She did not know his address, -but the British Consul-General would certainly forward a letter. Would -it be best to send it by post or by one of the servants? So far as she -knew, she was free to correspond with any one she would, and it was -merely the feeling that she had very careful and subtle adversaries to -deal with that made her hesitate. She could not afford unsuccessful -experiments. If it was discovered that she was attempting to -communicate with Wylie, the fact would give the lie to the attitude -she had so resolutely maintained, and even if it were only discovered -that she had written to him, it would enable the Ladoguins to -anticipate any step he might take. - -Curiously enough, the danger attending both the means of communication -she had contemplated was made clear to her on the same day. She was -well supplied with money, and had been occupied in the very necessary -task of getting some new clothes. One of her orders had been sent to a -British firm in Vindobona. It was written in Eirene’s name by Madame -Ladoguin, who acted as a kind of unofficial lady-in-waiting, but it -chanced that she was called out of the room before it was finished, -and Eirene addressed and fastened the envelope in a hurry, in order to -catch the post. The answer arrived in due time, but the tradesman -begged to know whether there had been more than one enclosure, as the -letter had been skilfully unclosed and refastened before it reached -him. The incident spoke volumes as to the safety of letters confided -to the Consulate post-bag, and Eirene realised that, though she had -not discovered it, she was under as strict surveillance as that which -had proved so irksome on the journey. Was it safe to attempt to bribe -the servants, she wondered? They all seemed anxious to oblige--even, -so it struck her, to be bribed--especially Madame Ladoguin’s French -maid, whose services she shared. Were they also spies, eager to tempt -her to employ them, that they might carry a report to their mistress? -An impulse, for which she could not account, prompted her to look at -the money with which she had been furnished. It was all in gold, and -every coin was marked with a tiny scratch in exactly the same place. -Eirene gave up the idea of bribing the servants. - -One attempt she did actually make, which might have ended more -disastrously than it did. She was driving with Madame Ladoguin, and -the latter had stopped the carriage at a shop in order to leave a -message. Before the _cavass_ had time to return, she caught sight of a -lady advancing towards the carriage. - -“Pardon, dearest Princess!” she said, stepping out hastily, “but that -is the Pannonian Consul-General’s wife, who has not been presented to -you. I won’t inflict her on you, if you will permit me to go to her, -for she is a sad bore.” - -Not guessing that the lady in question was really the wife of the -British Consul-General, and one of the persons in all Therma whom -Madame Ladoguin least wished her to meet, Eirene looked round for some -means of utilising this opportunity. The programme of a concert which -was to take place for some charity lay on the seat opposite her, and -she snatched it up and wrote on it in pencil:-- - -“The Princess Eirene Féofan will be glad to receive Captain Wylie at -any time convenient to him. Let him see that his name is taken to her -direct.” - -She folded the paper, addressed it to the care of the British -Consul-General, and beckoned to a beggar whom the absence of the -_cavass_ had tempted to draw near the carriage. In her hand she held a -gold piece. - -“For Sir Frank Francis, at the Consulate of Great Britain,” she -whispered in French. “This is for you, if you will take it to him.” - -He looked up at her with greedy, uncomprehending eyes, and she waved -him hastily away as Madame Ladoguin turned round. “The British -Consul-General!” she repeated, in an agony, and saw that he understood -her; but he shambled away down an alley in the opposite direction to -that in which the British Consulate lay. Eirene never heard anything -more of him or her message, but she realised gradually that she ought -to be thankful she had lighted on a rogue too unsophisticated to -double his gains by carrying it to the Scythian instead of the British -Consul-General. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - ART WITH A PURPOSE. - -Akin to Eirene’s feelings at this time were those of Wylie. As soon -as he heard of her arrival in Therma he tried to see her, but was -assured that she was too ill to receive visitors. Losing no time, he -took ship with Armitage for Morea, and paid a sufficiently exhaustive -visit to the rock monasteries on that side of the frontier to make -sure that his friends were not and had not been at any of them. There -remained only Hadgi-Antoniou, but on trying to penetrate to it he was -promptly turned back by the frontier guards, who asserted that he was -attempting to lead a Greek band into Emathian territory. Returning to -Therma, with the intention of reaching the monastery from thence, he -found himself confronted with obstacles of every description. The Vali -had become intolerably solicitous for his safety, and refused to let -him go without an escort, while declining either to provide the escort -or to allow Wylie to raise one for himself. It was the same with the -purveyors of guides, horses, servants, all the necessaries of a -traveller, but Wylie was stolidly combating one objection after -another, when the distant sight one day of Eirene in the Ladoguins’ -carriage gave a new direction to his thoughts. His determination to -see her was, however, only the prelude to a fresh series of -disappointments. Once, and only once, he obtained an entrance into the -Scythian Consulate, where he was received by Madame Ladoguin, who in -honeyed accents conveyed to him her Royal Highness’s thanks for his -past services, and regret that she was unable to see him. Entreaties, -arguments, threats, fell powerless against the armour of her suave -impenetrability, and though Wylie retired with the determination to -try his luck another day, he was not admitted again. - -After this, he tried writing to Eirene. His first letter was answered -in her name by Madame Ladoguin, and conveyed the same message that he -had already received from her lips, but couched in more formal terms, -as though to rebuke his presumptuous importunity. Two or three -succeeding letters remained unanswered, and those that followed were -returned unopened. Bribery was the next resort, and he found many -itching palms among the servants and underlings of the Consulate; but -it was not long before he was forced to the conclusion that none of -his messages had been allowed to reach their destination. - -There was a certain obstinacy in Wylie that refused to be baffled. He -watched the doors of the Consulate, he laid ambushes at spots which -Madame Ladoguin and her guest were likely to pass in their drives. But -his adversaries were equally obstinate, and far more subtle. Nicetas -Mitsopoulo dogged his movements with unfailing watchfulness, and -reported daily, sometimes hourly, to his sister. False information as -to the direction to be taken by the ladies in their drives was -liberally supplied, and the carriage never issued from the Consulate -when Wylie was on the watch. And yet his persistence was not without -its effect at last. An Englishwoman would have said that it got upon -Madame Ladoguin’s nerves. If this wretched Englishman continued to -picket the approaches to her house in this way, some accident must at -length give him the interview which he sought, for she could not -always be on the watch everywhere. After mature consideration, and -consultation with her brother, she took one of those bold steps which -are possible only to great minds. She called on the wife of the -British Consul-General and requested a private interview, in the -course of which she complained to her with deep regret of the -ungentlemanly conduct of one of her husband’s nationals. This person -had been one of the party captured by brigands at the same time as -Madame Ladoguin’s royal guest, and had so far presumed upon the -circumstance as to fall violently in love with the Princess, and to -persecute her, even now that she had returned to civilisation, with -attentions that were as insulting as they were undesired. He waylaid -her daily, bribed servants to convey amorous notes to her, and had -filled her with such terror and disgust that she could scarcely bring -herself to venture beyond the precincts of the Consulate. - -To Lady Francis this revelation supplied at once a key to Wylie’s -persistent efforts, and a new and intense interest in life. In all -innocence she lent herself to Madame Ladoguin’s manipulation, moved by -a sincere pity for him, coupled with a gratifying sense of personal -importance in thus becoming involved in the love affairs of a royal -personage. She conveyed Madame Ladoguin’s appeal to her husband, and -Sir Frank, who liked Wylie and was now doubly sorry for him, requested -his presence, and talked to him like a father. - -“No discredit to you--most natural, I’m sure--but you see, in the case -of a young lady of such high rank, this sort of thing won’t do,” was -the burden of his song, and the impossibility of convincing him of the -truth drove Wylie nearly frantic. Sir Frank persisted in regarding his -solemn denials as attempts not to compromise the lady, and sturdily -demanded why he laid wait for her and annoyed her with letters if he -was not in love with her. - -“But don’t you see, sir,” cried Wylie at last, “that the Princess is -the last person who saw the Smiths? I only want to know from her the -truth about them.” - -“But you have heard that they are exploring among the monasteries. Why -should you wish to discredit the Princess’s word and that of M. -Kirileff?” - -“Why haven’t the Smiths written to me? Why can I find out nothing -about them? They must want clothes and things--and money. How can they -go exploring without it?” - -“I see,” said Sir Frank, beginning for the first time to regard the -mystery as something more than a figment of Wylie’s brain. “But what -exactly do you want to find out from the Princess?” - -“I want to ask her where she left them, and in what circumstances, and -how they proposed to manage.” - -“But you don’t need a private interview for that.” - -“I have never asked for a private interview, sir. I shall be delighted -to ask her the questions in the presence of yourself and Ladoguin and -the full staff of both Consulates.” - -“Well, perhaps Lady Francis and Madame Ladoguin would be sufficient -for the purpose, and less alarming to the young lady,” chuckled Sir -Frank. “I’ll see about it, then. You leave the matter in my hands, and -don’t hang about the Scythian Consulate meanwhile--you understand?” - -Wylie acquiesced and departed, to rage furiously over the matter in -the hearing of Armitage, who was still waiting at Therma to see him -through his troubles, and incidentally to make Emathian sketches for -the ‘Plastic.’ He listened placidly to Wylie’s wrathful -declaration--when his fury at the absolute injustice and stupidity of -the accusation allowed him intelligible utterance--that he had been -made to look a fool before the whole city. Not even the suggestion of -ungentlemanly behaviour appeared to sting him so deeply as the charge -of having fallen in love with Eirene. - -“Calm yourself,” said the artist coolly, when Wylie had anathematised -all concerned to an extent that seemed to him sufficient. “You are the -lion in the net; well, will you allow me the honour of being the -mouse?” - -“What’s this?” growled Wylie, taking up the large envelope addressed -to Eirene which his friend placed before him. - -“That is a letter from Princess Florence, Duchess of Inverness, -introducing an English artist of the name of Armitage to the Princess -Eirene Féofan, whom H.R.H. met in France in the spring.” - -“And how in the world did you get to know the Duchess of Inverness?” - -“I really don’t know, unless I say like the old Italian chap, ‘I also -am a painter.’ I had the cheek to ask for a letter in her own writing, -lest the Ladoguins should suppress it and answer it themselves, like -yours. Of course, I didn’t say why I was so anxious to see Princess -Eirene, but the lady-in-waiting says that the Duchess has suggested -she should let me wait upon her with my sketches, and perhaps paint -her portrait if she happens to want it done. So I suppose she thinks -I’m hard up.” - -“Well, and am I to go instead of you?” demanded Wylie. - -“Oh, blessed innocence! Do you think you would ever be admitted into -the Scythian Consulate if you brought a letter from the Emperor of -Scythia himself? or that your appearance, and especially your eyes, -aren’t known to every bootboy about the place? Of course I shall go. -You don’t catch me abusing the Duchess’s kindness by sending an -objectionable fire-eater like you--objectionable to Scythia, I -mean--to represent me. But I shall have a try at doing your business. -What is it you want exactly?” - -“To see her, to know from her own lips what has become of them!” cried -Wylie. “Tell her that if I still hear nothing of them I shall follow -her wherever she goes until I get the truth out of her.” - -“Gently. This is eminently a case for the use of guile. Now let us -devise a scheme. You must remember that it’s quite possible you won’t -be allowed to see her even now. Let us try if we can’t arrange it so -that I may manage to get hold of the needed information in any case.” - -They laid their plans, and in due time Armitage delivered his letter -at the Consulate, where it caused great searchings of heart. As he had -anticipated, it proved impossible to treat an introduction from the -art-loving British Princess in the cavalier fashion which was good -enough for Wylie’s notes, and he was gratified by an intimation that -the Princess Eirene would receive him the next day. When he presented -himself with his portfolio of sketches, it was no surprise to him to -be received first by Madame Ladoguin, who desired to impress upon him, -with an unspeakably frank air of taking him into her inmost -confidence, that he must not mention in her Royal Highness’s hearing -the name of Captain Wylie. He had probably learnt from the rumours of -the city of that person’s extraordinary behaviour with regard to the -Princess, but he could not possibly guess what pain it had given her. -Armitage faced the ambassador with a mien as open as her own. - -“Thanks so much for telling me,” he said, in his boyish way. “I don’t -suppose I should, in any case, have mentioned him unless the Princess -had done it first, but now I’ll be extra careful.” - -When he was ushered into Eirene’s presence, he caught a momentary look -of disappointment on her face, a glance to see whether any one was -following him, which told him in a moment that she had been cherishing -the wild hope of seeing Wylie in disguise. The discovery took away -half the difficulty of his task, by resolving at once the question -whether she was or was not a willing accomplice in the conspiracy of -silence. The weary languor of her tones when she asked him where he -had studied, and how the Duchess had become acquainted with him, was -welcome, as calculated to lull the suspicions of Mme. Ladoguin. It was -quickly evident, however, that no temporary assurance was to be -allowed to blind that lady’s vigilance. She stood between Eirene and -Armitage, and handed to the former each sketch as it was taken from -the portfolio. It was not until the entire contents had passed through -her hands that she retreated to the end of the table, and sat down -with some fancy work. Armitage observed that the work was not of a -very engrossing nature, for while her hands were busy with it, her -eyes were free to roam as before. Eirene was still looking through the -sketches, now guaranteed harmless by her guardian herself. - -“It has been a great pleasure to me to see your work,” she said -graciously to the painter. “I only wish you had brought more -portraits. The Duchess of Inverness says you have painted a -half-length of the Duke for her.” - -“I have a photograph of it here, ma’am,” and Armitage took the card -from a pocket in the portfolio, contriving rather ostentatiously to -exhibit first one side and then the other to the vigilant gaze of Mme. -Ladoguin, somewhat in the manner of the conjurer who desires to assure -his audience that there is no deception. - -“Yes, I like that very much,” said Eirene, after studying the -photograph carefully; “but I have never seen the Duke--or indeed any -of the people you have shown me. Have you no portrait of any one I -know?” - -“Only one, I’m afraid, ma’am--a sketch of Captain Wylie,” with a -deprecating glance at Madame Ladoguin. - -“I must have missed that. Let me see it, please.” Armitage produced -the portrait from under the others, where Madame Ladoguin had -dexterously slipped it instead of passing it on to Eirene. It was a -pencil sketch, worked up with a good deal of care. One foot -impatiently advanced, Wylie seemed almost to be stepping out of the -picture, with a look of reckless resolution on his face. - -“Oh, this is lifelike. How well I know that expression!” said Eirene, -with a smile and a sigh over the memories called up by the portrait. -“But the picture should be coloured. Nothing can do justice to Captain -Wylie that does not show the colour of his eyes.” - -“This is merely a rough sketch, ma’am. I happened to catch him in an -attitude I liked. I tell him I shall work it up into a picture of him -terrorising an army with a riding-whip, _à la_ General Gordon.” - -“You will be obliged to alter the background, then. Why place a -soldier in such sylvan surroundings?” - -“Oh, that was a bit of woodland I wanted to get in somewhere,” said -the artist frankly. “I was rather proud of it, because I thought I had -got the look of that particular kind of bush rather well. You don’t -like it, ma’am?” with some disappointment. “Perhaps if you saw it in a -better light----?” He moved towards the window, and Eirene turned in -her chair. - -“I see you have made him sign it. What a bold hand he writes!” she -observed easily. “Yes, Mr Armitage, I think I did you an injustice. -The growth of that particular shrub must be very difficult to render. -It is the sweet-scented plant that grows in thickets, is it not?” - -She spoke lightly, almost at random, for Armitage had placed the -sketch in her hands upside-down, and all the shading of the bushes was -discernible as writing. - - - “You must manage to receive me. When can I see you? Where are the - Smiths? I am certain there has been foul play. I have been trying in - every possible way for weeks to get an interview with you, but have - been assured that you refused it. Only tell me where Smith and his - sister are, and how to help them, and I will give you no more trouble. - You cannot be so heartless as to abandon them to no one knows what - fate.--James Graham Wylie.” - - -“When was this taken? Captain Wylie looks thinner than when I saw -him,” Eirene went on. - -“Two days ago, ma’am.” - -“Two days ago? but not here? He is not in Therma? I have several times -said that I wished to receive Captain Wylie, to thank him for his -services to me, but I was always assured he had returned to India. -What does this mean?” - -“He is staying at my hotel, ma’am, and I know he is most anxious to -wait on you.” Armitage cast a glance at Madame Ladoguin which blended -cleverly perplexity and a request for pardon, and she responded to it. - -“I am grieved to tell you, madame, that since Captain Wylie’s return -to Therma, his conduct has been such as to call down the reprobation -even of his own Consul. The kindest thing is to attribute it to a -disordered brain. I can’t enter into the details, but it is absolutely -impossible for you to receive him.” - -“I see,” said Eirene, with a slight frown. “I must ask you, Mr -Armitage, to inform Captain Wylie that it is not convenient to me to -receive him.” - -“It is not for me to question your decision, ma’am,” said the artist, -“but I think I could explain things to your satisfaction if you would -allow it?” She made no sign, and he continued bluntly, “I fancy, -ma’am, that my friend could dispense with paying his respects if you -would be good enough to send him the information he wants about Mr and -Miss Smith.” - -Eirene raised her eyebrows. “I thought it was understood that when I -parted from them they were in perfect health?” she said. - -“And cheerfulness, madame,” put in Madame Ladoguin. “You have -mentioned to me more than once Miss Smith’s extreme cheerfulness when -you quitted her.” - -“Yes,” said Eirene, with a little smile, “I rather resented her -cheerfulness, for I did not like her staying behind, and had exhausted -all my powers of persuasion to induce her to return with me to Therma, -but in vain. I am afraid that is all I can tell you, Mr Armitage. And -now about your own work. Could you undertake a portrait of me--now, -while I am still here?” - -“I should be highly honoured, ma’am.” - -“Then let us decide----” began Eirene, but Madame Ladoguin interposed. - -“Dearest Princess, pardon me, but what will Dr Simovics say? He -ordered you complete rest from anything that might try the nerves, and -you have no idea of the strain of sitting for a portrait. If you like, -I can send and ask his advice, but I fear I know what his answer will -be.” - -“So do I,” said Eirene resentfully. “This means that I must give up my -portrait, then. But I must have a picture of yours,” turning to -Armitage. “I wonder”--she took up some of the sketches--“whether you -would object to try a view of Hadgi-Antoniou from my description -merely? I like the pictures of the Morean monasteries extremely, but -as I have never seen them they do not appeal to me as Hadgi-Antoniou -does.” - -“I will try my best, ma’am; but I fear the picture would not be very -satisfactory. If you could give me just a rough sketch of your -own----?” - -“Unfortunately I can’t draw at all. But I suppose I could show you -roughly what it is like. I should like a picture of the church, but I -know it would be hopeless for me to try to do that. The view must be -from the ground below. Now you must not laugh at my crude efforts,” as -Armitage supplied her with a pencil and an unused sheet of paper. “The -rock goes up, up, nearly straight, like this, and the monastery is at -the very top, hanging over in some places. This is the rope and net by -which visitors are drawn up. These things which look like caterpillars -on the face of the rock are ladders. The monks must have some more to -bridge the gaps, but I never saw them in use, and I don’t know where -they keep them. Here at the edge of the summit are the monks’ gardens. -Don’t expect me to draw bushes as you do.” She was scribbling with -intense energy, and Armitage, looking over her, read-- - - - “They are here--Z. in pilgrims’ rooms, M. in underground dungeon. - Monks are divided into two parties, Greek and Thracian. Hegoumenos and - Greeks friendly but timid. Thracians under Scythian orders. Greeks - will yield to definite order from Œcumenical Patriarch for release of - prisoners. Be prepared to bribe Thracians heavily, and to threaten, or - even use, force. Be secret, or prisoners may be removed.” - - -“This is an overhanging forest, ma’am, I presume?” asked Armitage. -Eirene laughed consciously. - -“Oh no, only bushes, and in some places grass.” - -“Then--pardon me--I think, perhaps, this kind of touch would express -it better.” He took the pencil, and wrote-- - - - “Are you in danger? Can we help you first?” - - -“I think I shall get you to give me some drawing lessons,” said Eirene -admiringly. “Is this it?” and she wrote-- - - - “You can do nothing for me. I shall be taken back to Scythia. Show - disappointment about the portrait.” - - -“If I might venture to offer a suggestion, ma’am, bushes don’t -generally wear their branches on the outside,” said Armitage drily, -taking the pencil again, and covering Eirene’s writing with light and -dark shading bearing a sufficient resemblance to foliage. - -“I really must have some lessons,” said she, with renewed admiration. -“Chariclea, you are not to tell me that Dr Simovics would object to -that.” - -“Alas, dearest Princess!” lamented Mme. Ladoguin, who was firm in a -not unnatural determination to save herself the wear and tear of the -perpetual surveillance any further visits from the artist would -entail. “The doctor was most particular in ordering complete rest for -mind and eye and hand.” - -“If I might have the honour of painting your portrait, ma’am,” -ventured Armitage, “I am sure I could manage so that you would find -the sittings very little strain. Once we had settled on a -characteristic attitude, you could move about as you liked.” - -“I knew it wouldn’t be so bad,” said Eirene triumphantly. “You hear, -Chariclea?” - -“How unfortunate I am, compelled to represent the doctor, and bear the -odium of his measures!” cried Mme. Ladoguin distractedly. “I can only -say as I did before, let us ask him, madame.” - -“I know what that means,” said Eirene, with a pout. “A princess in -disgrace is a very helpless person, Mr Armitage.” - -“You don’t know what a disappointment it is to me, ma’am,” he -answered, while Madame Ladoguin made a deprecating movement. “I had -hoped so much from the Duchess’s introduction.” - -“When you see her you must tell her that it was not my fault,” said -Eirene, scribbling vigorously. “The rock is grey, the walls are white, -the roofs red tiles, the bushes grey-green, the sky very blue. I have -written the colour on each, so that you may remember. There, -Chariclea, what do you think of it?” - -Madame Ladoguin viewed the work of art with a caustic eye. - -“Indeed, madame, I fear I should hardly recognise Hadgi-Antoniou from -your picture of it.” - -“Then you must make it right, Mr Armitage,” said Eirene, rising. “Cure -its defects instead of mine, if you please.” - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. - -“Now that you have your information,” said Armitage, when he had -recounted to Wylie what had passed during his audience of Eirene, -“what do you think of doing?” - -“There can’t be much doubt about that. We must go to Czarigrad and get -hold of the Patriarch. Panagiotis must go, I suppose, as he is the -only one likely to have influence in that quarter, and I must go to -keep him up to the mark when he gets discouraged.” - -“You won’t exactly publish abroad the object of your journey, I -suppose?” - -“What do you take me for? We go to Czarigrad to stir up the Embassy, -of course.” - -“And what is my part in the programme?” - -“To stay here and keep an eye on Princess Eirene, I presume. She may -manage to send us some further particulars. You are sure she is -staunch?” - -“Not a doubt of it, and wild to give what help she can, I should say. -All right, I’ll look out. But how if at the same time I make -unostentatious preparations for a visit to Hadgi-Antoniou, for the -purpose of painting a picture of it for the devout and orthodox -Imperial Princess Eirene Theophanis? She gave me a commission for the -outside, and said she would like one of the church as well. They will -probably grant me a passport all right, if you are known to be safe at -Czarigrad, for it won’t do to keep all Europeans away from -Hadgi-Antoniou, or people will begin to think there’s something wrong -there. Sir Frank will back me up, too, when he has got you off his -mind. Then you must cover up your tracks at Czarigrad, and come -across, preferably by sea, and join me without passing through Therma. -There’s a little port called Myriaki where we could rendezvous -comfortably, and at the worst I can leave one of my servants behind -and take you in his place.” - -“You must have done a good deal of thinking between the Scythian -Consulate and here,” said Wylie drily. - -“Ah, you don’t know how my brain works when it’s put to it. I’m bound -to see this thing through now. How are you off for the wherewithal?” - -“Oh, the Professor has just come into another quarter’s income, and -he’s quite chirpy.” - -“That’s all right for Czarigrad, but at Hadgi-Antoniou we may have to -outbid the Scythian agent. I can raise anything up to a -thousand--shall I do it?” - -“I suppose it would be as well,” said Wylie unwillingly. “It sounds -awfully odd to hear you talking about ‘we,’” he explained, rather -ashamed of his coldness. “I seem to have let you in for a good deal, -when you remember that the Smiths have nothing to do with you.” - -“Well, for the matter of that, they have nothing to do with you -either, have they? It was a mere accident of association that brought -you together. Of course, you went through a lot in their company, but -I hope I may do what little I can to help an English lady in distress, -though I haven’t had the honour of being introduced to her.” - -“Right you are! You must think me a surly brute. I’m glad you have -pulled me up--honestly I am. I suppose I might have gone on to wish -the Smiths not to be rescued unless I had the chief hand in it.” - -“You shall have the chief hand in it, so far as it depends on me,” -said Armitage heartily. “After all you have done, it would be a black -shame to rob you of the honour. I’m under your orders, remember, and -you may be sure I shall say so. I’ll get things ready here, while you -do the Czarigrad part of the business, and then we’ll meet and achieve -our final _coup_ in company.” - -There was no hesitation in Wylie’s agreement, but during the next week -or two he was inclined to consider that Armitage had chosen -conspicuously the easier task. Nothing but iron resolution on his part -would have dragged the Professor to Czarigrad, and kept him there when -he had arrived. His dislike of approaching the Patriarch was so marked -that Wylie began to suspect that the tales he had heard of the secret -organisation of Greek bands in Emathia were true, and that the -Professor intended to employ them to rescue Maurice by force, thus -committing him to their cause, and them to his. But since the -Professor vouchsafed no account of his plans, Wylie could only proceed -with his own, which were not rendered easier of execution by the -reluctance of the Patriarch and his _entourage_ to do their part. -There could be little doubt that Scythian agents had been beforehand -with him, for it required weary days of waiting, and persistent -refusals to depart, before he could gain a sight of any one in -authority. By this time Professor Panagiotis seemed to have made up -his mind to work heartily with him, and they went together to the -Patriarchal palace, where they were received by a kind of domestic -chaplain, or clerical private secretary, a dark-robed, high-capped -monk with a keen, astute face. Having heard their request, the -secretary addressed himself to the Professor, apparently regarding him -as the more reasonable being of the two. - -“If you realised the state of the community at Hadgi-Antoniou, you -would know that what you ask is impossible,” he said. “Since the first -Thracian monks were unfortunately admitted, under an agreement that -their number was never to exceed one-fourth of the whole, they have -steadily aimed at dominating the monastery. The agreement is still -nominally in force, but certainly half the brethren must be Thracian, -and in a year or two they will swamp the Greek element altogether. At -present the community remains faithful to the Patriarchate because the -Hegoumenos and other officials are Greeks, but should anything -precipitate a collision between the two bodies, it is almost certain -that they would be out-voted. To avoid such a collision is our -perpetual aim. How, then, can you expect us, for the sake of a couple -of unknown English tourists, to bring about the loss of an important -outpost?” - -“You would wink at murder, if you might keep your monastery?” asked -Wylie. The monk shrugged his shoulders. - -“Why don’t you apply to your Embassy?” he asked. - -“Because we know that before any demand for the release of the -prisoners could be made effective, they would be carried away -somewhere else, or handed over to one of the brigand bands to be -murdered.” - -“We are alike, then,” smiled the secretary. “You will not do what you -might, for fear of the consequences. Neither will we. There is no -question of any immediate danger to your friends, I believe? Why -trouble about them, then?” - -Wylie rose angrily, but Professor Panagiotis laid a hand upon his -sleeve. “We have not taken into consideration the fact that the -prisoners are not unknown English tourists, but the heirs of the -blessed John Theophanis,” he said. - -“The fact is curious, but no more,” said the secretary, with a wooden -face. “Living, as we do, under the tolerant and enlightened rule of -the Grand Seignior, survivals of the kind you mention have no interest -for us.” - -“In certain eventualities, it might be inconvenient for the -Patriarchate if the heir of John Theophanis had a just cause of -resentment against it,” pursued the Professor. - -“It is not for us to consider possible eventualities, but to maintain -truth and loyalty in the present,” was the answer, which filled Wylie -with helpless fury. The Professor remained calm. - -“Very well: we will consider the present alone. The only other heir is -in the hands of the Scythians, pledged supporters of the schismatical -Exarchate. Is it or is it not a matter of importance that a nearer -heir should exist, attached by bonds of gratitude and affection to the -Patriarchate, and capable of being brought forward whenever Scythia -shows signs of asserting the claims of her candidate?” - -“This sounds more businesslike,” said the secretary approvingly. “You -can answer for the young man’s strict Orthodoxy?” - -“I have myself instructed him, and the experiences he has since -undergone at the hands of the schismatics can hardly have attracted -him to their cause. If the Patriarch intervened to rescue him, it -would bind the youth to him indissolubly.” - -“The idea is good, but there are difficulties in the way of carrying -it out. To give you an order directing the release of the prisoners -would probably lead to their disappearance--we are surrounded by -spies--and would certainly lose us the monastery. It must be in -general terms. But even then you are too well known,” to the -Professor, “and I have been warned against this English gentleman, -your companion, so that he also will be watched for. You must find -some trustworthy agent, who may receive the Patriarchal letter, and do -your business by its aid.” - -“Make it out in the name of Harold Armitage, an English painter, who -is commissioned to obtain views of the monastery for the Princess -Eirene Theophanis,” said Wylie. - -“The Scythian candidate? You are ingenious, monsieur, to make the -devout purpose of the Princess contribute to her undoing. Well, the -letter shall be prepared, and all possible assistance desired for Mr -Armitage in his pious task. The rest of the business you must manage -for yourselves.” - -He bowed them out, and as soon as they had crossed the threshold Wylie -expressed his candid opinion of the Patriarchal surroundings. The -Professor smiled grimly. - -“When the Morean insurrection broke out, the Patriarch of the day was -hanged at his own church door,” he said. “We are not all ready to be -martyrs nowadays.” - -Wylie said nothing, for the explanation was evidently all-sufficient -in the Professor’s eyes, but he wondered how much affection and -gratitude Maurice was expected to feel towards the Patriarchate, and -whether too much had not been promised in his name. - -The Patriarchal letter arrived next day, its preparation having been -quickened by a discreet distribution of gifts among the persons -concerned, and Wylie was able to carry out his plans. The Professor -was to remain some days in Czarigrad, visiting the British Embassy -daily, and apparently devoting all his energies to obtaining the -release of the prisoners by its means, while Wylie took his departure -in a small fast sailing-vessel for Myriaki. The boat was chartered by -the Professor exclusively for this service, and Wylie suspected that -it was not the first time he had employed it on secret errands, so -knowing did the captain show himself with respect to ships and -customs-stations which it was advisable to avoid. Arriving off Myriaki -late one evening, Wylie, standing in the bows, raised and dipped a -light three times. The signal was answered from the shore, and -presently Armitage came off, brimming over with excitement. - -“It’s all right,” he said. “You are my _cavass_, Spiridion Istriotis, -and I have brought you a suit of his clothes. The real Spiro is -remaining in the seclusion of the paternal mansion, on full wages, -until I send him word. You had better get the things on before coming -on shore, hadn’t you? Your cabin is large enough to allow of that, -though it certainly wouldn’t hold us both at once.” - -“What about the passport?” demanded Wylie, as he made the change -rapidly in his little shelter under the half-deck, while Armitage -leaned against the bulkhead outside. - -“Oh, that’s the greatest joke! The _teskereh_ they’ve given me would -apply to you, or your friend Smith, or any mortal man, just as well as -to me. I believe they keep a form in stock with the description of an -ideal Englishman--tall, fair hair, blue eyes, and so on--and simply -copy it. It will really fit you best, for the eyes will be right, at -any rate. What coloured eyes has Smith?” - -“I don’t know--ordinary, I suppose,” growled Wylie, with whom the -point was a sore one. - -“Well, it can’t be more unlike him than it is to me, so we ought all -to be able to use the same passport, if we can bribe the police to -look away while we pass it from one to the other. But you’ll go as -Spiro, of course, so you won’t want it. Ready? I sculled myself off, -to the great disapproval of the seafaring population on the quay, -because I had something I wanted to say without eavesdroppers.” - -Wylie’s possessions were transferred to the boat, and he bade farewell -to the captain of the vessel, arranging with him to lie off Myriaki -for the next fortnight. In the boat he took the oars, and Armitage -pushed off. When they were about half-way to the shore, the artist -produced a small but weighty parcel contained in a chamois-leather -bag. - -“Put that in the safest and best-hidden pocket you can find in Spiro’s -garments,” he said. “It has two hundred and fifty pounds in English -gold in it, and I have another just the same. I have scarcely dared to -sleep since I left Therma. The rest of my money is in notes and cash -of various fancy currencies peculiar to this delectable peninsula, and -is contained in an imposing cash-box, which all my servants have been -taught to regard with profound respect. But I thought it might be -desirable to have a secret store in an attractive form, and I’m -thankful to shift half the responsibility--and weight--off on you.” - -“Good man!” said Wylie, concealing the bag inside his shirt, and -securing it with his girdle, and they rowed to the quay, where -Armitage was quartered in a villainous little Greek inn, having chosen -it that he might be able to keep watch for the vessel. He had allowed -it to become known that he was expecting the arrival of a special -messenger with a letter from the Patriarch to assist him in his work -at Hadgi-Antoniou, and Wylie was an object of intense veneration to -the Greeks of the port as he swaggered in front of Armitage, clearing -the way as the absent Spiro would have done. A number of the notables -of the place visited them after supper, anxious to enjoy the honour of -beholding the outside of the Patriarchal letter, and one or two of the -chief of them were allowed the supreme distinction of kissing it. In -the morning they escorted the letter and its bearers some distance on -their way, and parted from them the best of friends, amid much festive -firing of guns. - -Armitage had neglected no precaution for ensuring the success of his -journey that the wisdom of many advisers in Therma could suggest to -him. The four men whom he called servants were really guards, -Mohammedan Illyrians, armed to the teeth, and faithful unto death -until the job for which they were engaged was over, after which they -would be quite ready to murder their late employer at the bidding of a -new one. Their presence ensured a friendly reception whenever Roumis -were met with, and the unofficial rulers of the country were -recognised by a letter to the principal brigand chief in the district, -who rejoiced in the name of Fido--a letter of safe-conduct obtained, -for a consideration, from Fido’s accredited agent in Therma. Armitage -had not ventured to make any preparations that might suggest his -intention of rescuing the prisoners, but he calculated that by the -time they reached Hadgi-Antoniou the stores would have diminished so -much that there would be a mule for Zoe to ride coming back, and he -had laid in a lavish provision of scented soap, handkerchiefs, and -other minor luxuries, ostensibly for his own benefit. - -The journey proved to be uneventful, for such trifling incidents as -the frequent stopping of the cavalcade by bands of armed men could not -be considered events when the exhibition--with due discrimination--of -the Patriarchal letter, the brigand’s safe-conduct, or the Roumi -passport, according to circumstances, sufficed to close them. One of -Armitage’s precautions had been to provide a large store of -sugar-candy and other sweets, and the unfriendliness of the most -ferocious brigand or densest commissary of police was never proof -against a gift from it. The arrival at Hadgi-Antoniou was the close of -a triumphal progress, and Armitage and Wylie looked up at the -monastery on its pillar of rock, and wondered whether the rest of -their work was to be as easy. - -The firing of the rifles of the escort brought the monks, as usual, to -their watch-tower, and questions and answers were bellowed up and down -the cliff. The news that the English lord was the bearer of a letter -from the Œcumenical Patriarch caused great excitement, and the net -was let down at once. Wylie went up in it, lest the monks should -refuse to admit him if Armitage went first. He was grabbed and hauled -in as the prisoners had been, and while he waited for his friend to -make the ascent he examined the tower and capstan with a keen eye. -Armitage having been landed, rather pale and uncomfortable-looking, -they were led first into the church, where the monks bowed to the -ikons and chanted with extreme rapidity a very brief service, which -might have been intended either as a welcome to the visitors or a -thanksgiving for their safe arrival. Wylie accepted it gratefully as -the latter. He was once more within a few yards of his friends, after -their long separation. - -The old Hegoumenos, who had sent an apology for not welcoming the -strangers immediately, was awaiting them in the guest-room, with his -monks assembled round him. Armitage presented the Patriarch’s letter, -which the Hegoumenos kissed and laid to his forehead, and handed to -Papa Athanasios to read. The artist’s devout intention of painting -pictures of the monastery for the illustrious Princess who had so -lately been their guest was announced to the brethren with high -commendation, and after the letter had been handed round for them to -kiss, they retired. The last, and apparently the most reluctant to -quit the room, was a grey-bearded man with a look of authority, who -had been watching Wylie narrowly. When he had gone, a young and rather -foolish-looking monk came back furtively and peered at the visitors, -and they heard him saying something to his fellows outside. Papa -Athanasios looked annoyed, but he also cast an inquisitive glance at -Wylie. - -“What are they saying?” asked Armitage. - -“Oh, our younger brethren are foolish--they are like children, -unaccustomed to strangers--there is a silly saying among them----” -said the monk incoherently. “They do not often see any one like the -English lord’s _cavass_.” - -“But what is the saying? Is it an old one?” - -“No, not very--in fact, it is only a few weeks old. The Scythian lord -who came to escort the Princess to Therma bade one of our brethren -beware of the man with blue eyes, and they think they have found him. -But this is foolishness. The Lord Hegoumenos desires to know what else -he can do for you, since the sacred letter of the Universal Patriarch -orders him to pleasure you not only in your devout purpose, but in -other matters which you will confide to his ear.” - -But when Armitage had asked for the release of the two English -prisoners, Papa Athanasios and the Hegoumenos looked at one another, -puzzled, timid, and anxious. Then they began to explain in low tones -that if it had depended on them, the prisoners would never have been -detained, but that M. Kirileff had arranged matters with Papa Demetri, -the treasurer of the monastery, and the only Thracian who had as yet -attained office. Papa Demetri was a most wonderful treasurer, his two -superiors confessed reluctantly; everything he touched seemed to turn -to gold, and the monastic revenues had never been so elastic. The -church was being entirely redecorated--this merely meant that the -frescoes and ikons were being painted over in exactly the same forms -and colours as before--and even the Greek brethren would support him -through thick and thin for making such a thing possible. The reason -for the wonderful advance of the Thracian element in the monastery was -now clear to the listeners, but they could not bring themselves to -point out to the two old monks that they were--however delicately the -transaction might be disguised--selling their nationality for Scythian -gold. - -“Papa Demetri must be getting something out of Kirileff for this -business,” said Armitage to Wylie. “We must outbid him. Did the -Scythian traveller make any gift to the monastery?” he asked of Papa -Athanasios. - -“He promised a very great gift, through Brother Demetri”--the monk -named a sum which worked out at about four hundred pounds. “The -brethren have all been rejoicing because it will restore the -_ikonostasis_, and complete the renewing of the church.” - -“If he only promised it, whether it was through prudence or because he -hadn’t it with him, it’s a most lucky thing for us,” said Wylie. -“Offer them the five hundred down if they’ll give the prisoners up at -once.” - -But this was much too summary a suggestion. The matter must be laid -before the monks in full conclave, it appeared, and they must choose -between five hundred pounds certain and a possible four hundred. Wylie -suggested that it might make the choice easier if they were not asked -actually to release the prisoners, but only to leave their cells -unlocked and unguarded, and the ladders on the face of the rock -available for use. The capstan he did not venture to advise, since no -one in the monastery could remain ignorant when it was being used. The -idea seemed to remove much of the two old men’s alarm, and the -Hegoumenos announced quite cheerfully that he would call a conclave -for the next day to consider the generous offer of the English lord. - -“Can’t you show us where the prisoners are?” asked Wylie of Papa -Athanasios, as they paused in the courtyard, after leaving the -guest-room, to allow Armitage to make a hasty sketch of a corner of -the church. The old monk had already shepherded back the supposed -_cavass_, gently but firmly, from so many unauthorised excursions into -other buildings and courtyards, that he began to think M. Kirileff’s -warning not uncalled for, and he answered with some asperity-- - -“The lodging of the monastery’s guests is no concern of yours.” - -“At least tell us how they are,” entreated Wylie, and Papa Athanasios -answered more gently-- - -“They are both in good health. I myself have allowed the youth to walk -in the courtyard at hours when Brother Demetri thought him safely -locked unto his cell, so eagerly did he entreat leave to smell the -air, and I have talked much with him at other times. The girl is left -to the charge of a devout woman, who has been much edified to behold -her continually rapt in contemplation, so that, had she been Orthodox, -she would have imagined her to be a seer of holy visions. One thing -perturbed our sister greatly--that her prisoner made many strange -signs on her wall with a nail, which she feared might be unholy -spells. So much was she troubled, that on a certain feast-day--was it -Holy Trinity or Holy John? I forget-- I allowed the girl also to walk -in the garden, and examined the marks for myself. But there was -nothing evil in them; they were such foolish and meaningless scrawls -as might be made by one distraught, and I quieted our sister’s mind -with this assurance.” - -Armitage was laughing involuntarily, but to Wylie the thought of Zoe -enjoying a glimpse of liberty on Trinity Sunday, unconscious that her -scribbles were being scrutinised for evidences of witchcraft, was pure -pathos, and he turned away abruptly. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - “THERE’S MANY A SLIP----” - -The conclave was held, and despite the strenuous efforts of Papa -Demetri, the monks decided by a large majority to accept Armitage’s -offer, and wink at the escape of the prisoners. Had M. Kirileff paid -down his two thousand five hundred roubles, the monastery would have -been bound in honour to fulfil his conditions, as the aged Papa -Apostolos pertinently observed, but since he had merely promised it, -and had not so far fulfilled his promise, it would be folly to refuse -an additional sum which would allow the silver-gilt haloes of the -saints on the _ikonostasis_ to be replaced by plates of pure gold. -And, after all, they were not asked to promote the prisoners’ escape; -it was merely a matter of leaving the ladders down for a few nights -instead of drawing them up, and of a temporary mislaying of his keys -by Papa Athanasios. It was also arranged--the suggestion came from -Brother Nikola, the vacuous-faced young monk who had identified -Wylie--that the escape should not take place until Armitage had -finished his picture of the church, lest the Princess Eirene should be -disappointed of her devout desires. The good news was carried by Papa -Athanasios to Armitage, who was diligently at work in the courtyard, -and he conveyed it to Wylie, whose indiscreet behaviour the day -before, coupled with M. Kirileff’s warning, had caused him to be -denied further admittance. He bore the monks no ill-will for his -exclusion, since Brother Evangelos, who was in charge of the ladders, -was authorised to show him how they were managed, and he spent the -afternoon of the day of the conclave in crawling up and down the -cliff-face like a fly on a wall. The next evening, however, when -Armitage descended in the net after a long day’s work, Wylie met him -and drew him aside from their camp. - -“Those venerable frauds at the top there are up to some mischief,” he -said. - -“How? what do you mean?” asked Armitage. - -“Fellow came down the ladders this morning with a basket--apparently a -lay-brother going to the village for provisions. It struck me he -seemed to look about him a good deal, as if he was afraid of being -followed, so I promptly followed him, stalking him through the -brushwood on hands and knees. It was just as I expected. When he had -got well out of sight of our camp, he put down his basket, tucked up -his gown, and scampered off as hard as he could in the opposite -direction from the village. I tried to follow him, but as I didn’t -dare to stand upright he distanced me easily, so I took cover near his -basket to see when he came back. He was about an hour gone, then he -came and picked up his basket again, and went off to the village as -jauntily as you please.” - -“But where do you think he went?” - -“Clearly to some one who acts as go-between for Papa Demetri and the -Scythians--probably a brigand. The village is Greek, you see, so they -would have to look elsewhere. Of course, the plan is to fetch Kirileff -back with larger offers before we can get away. I distrusted that -stipulation about your finishing the picture, you know. When are you -likely to get it done?” - -“Not for a good many years, if the monks are to be the judges. They -expect a regular Byzantine arrangement, showing every stone in the -walls and every tile that’s missing from the roof. They aren’t -educated up to modern methods, you see, and I’m putting as much detail -into it as I conscientiously can, just to please them. Still, with -another day’s work I ought to be able to produce a daub that will -pass, at any rate.” - -“That’s all right. We couldn’t start to-night, anyhow. I am going up -the ladders when it’s dark, so as to know my way about them. I -couldn’t undertake to get Miss Smith down without. It’s a bad enough -climb to take a woman anyhow, and in the dark----! But perhaps that’s -just as well, since she won’t see what it’s like.” - -“I wish I had your cool head. I suffer agonies every time I go up and -down in the net, even. By the bye, to avoid further artistic -controversy with the brethren, can you make a drawing, roughly to -scale, of the place for me to-morrow, from the ground, and jot down -the colours, so that I can paint from it afterwards? They’re so full -of the church that they haven’t remembered the outside view yet, but -Papa Demetri is quite capable of making use of it to delay us.” - -“All right. It’ll be very rough, but that won’t signify. Meanwhile, -you tip the wink to Papa Athanasios to lose his keys before locking-up -time to-morrow night, will you?” - - * * * * * * * - -Only one incident occurred to trouble the conspirators during the -following day, and this was a mishap to Brother Evangelos, who, in -passing through a dark passage, tripped over one of the crutches on -which the monks supported themselves during the long services, and -sprained his ankle so severely that he could not leave his cell. But -Wylie had ascended and descended the ladders safely during the night, -and was confident that he knew his way from one to the other, so that -there seemed no reason for delay. Papa Athanasios had warned Maurice -to be ready when the _semantron_ sounded for midnight service, and the -judicious gift of a rosary from the Holy Mountain had induced old -Marigo to convey the same message to Zoe. A dark robe and high cap, -such as were worn by the monks, had also been smuggled into the cell -of each, in case any belated brother, hurrying into church, should run -across the two strangers. - -Wylie was half-way up the ladders when the clangour of the _semantron_ -smote upon his ear, and he climbed the rest of the way in entire -forgetfulness of the perilous nature of his path. The sound was still -reverberating through the monastery when he reached the tower to which -the ladders led, and he could see the last-awakened among the monks -scurrying through the courtyard. Presently the noise died away, the -brother who had been wielding the mallet followed the rest into -church, and Wylie went softly across to the quarters of the Hegoumenos -and laid upon his divan the second packet containing two hundred and -fifty pounds, the first having been handed over as soon as the result -of the conclave was declared. Then he returned to the shelter of his -tower, and waited with beating heart, not daring to make his presence -known, even when two figures appeared round the end of the church, for -in the monkish garb it was impossible to distinguish who they were. -But they came unhesitatingly straight to the tower, and stepping out -from the doorway to meet them, he grasped a hand of each and led the -way to the ladder, sternly silencing their eager questions. Without -giving them time to consider the means by which they were to descend, -he went a few steps down, with his face to the ladder, then told Zoe -to follow him, and guided her feet to the steps, which were by no -means evenly placed. Maurice came last, well behind Zoe, that she -might have full liberty to cling to the sides of the ladder, and thus -they worked their way down, the cold sweat standing on Wylie’s brow. -The camp fire looked so small and so distant below--almost as distant -as the great clear stars, which seemed unnaturally bright in that -cloudless atmosphere. Had Maurice alone been in question, he would -have faced the adventure with a laugh, but that Zoe should be hanging -between heaven and earth on that rickety ladder, with the night-wind -whistling round her, was something unspeakably horrible. His feet -seemed like lead, and he could hardly feel the next rung as he moved -down to it, but Zoe distinguished no trembling as he guided her slowly -lower and lower. She followed his muttered directions as if in a -dream, for the imaginary world in which she had spent the greater part -of her captivity still lay about her, and it was as though her mind -received and her body obeyed his orders, while her real self was not -there at all. - -At last they came to a ledge of rock, on which Wylie allowed a rest -from sheer necessity, for he found himself forced to cling to the -ladder even when standing on firm ground. But no sooner had Zoe’s feet -touched the rock than an exclamation from her turned his nerves to -iron again. - -“What’s that?” she cried. “There’s some one here! Something high and -dark went round the corner.” - -Neither Wylie nor Maurice, with their faces to the ladder, had seen -anything, but she had turned her head to see where Wylie was, and she -persisted that in that moment some one who had been standing close to -him had vanished. Peering round the corner, they could see nothing, -but Wylie drew a revolver as he led the way along the path which -formed the link between this ladder and the next. Still there was no -one to be seen, and he returned the weapon to his sash before stooping -to feel for the head of the ladder. All along the brink he groped -without success before the truth dawned upon him. The ladder was not -there. It was not a very long one, but it crossed slantwise a deep -chasm in the rock, which offered an insurmountable obstacle to any one -trying to ascend the cliff without it. - -“The ladder is gone,” he said, turning to the other two, and hoping -that his voice did not betray his feelings. “We must let ourselves -down. Take off those monks’ gowns you have on. They will have to do -for ropes.” - -They obeyed, and Wylie slit the long shapeless garments in two from -neck to hem with his dagger, then tied the halves together by their -huge sleeves, and the two gowns to one another. “I’ll go first,” he -said, “and you had better both hang on to the rope, for it’ll be a big -strain.” - -They obeyed, not understanding how he meant to get across; but to -their horror, when he had let himself down over the edge, the rope -began to oscillate violently. He had fastened the end round his waist, -so as to leave his hands free, and he was doing his utmost to swing -across the chasm. Again and again his efforts fell short, and he swung -back bruised; but at last, with a wild clutch, he caught hold of the -bushes growing on the other side, and hauled himself up. - -“Now, Miss Smith,” he said breathlessly, “recall your gym. days at -school. Do you think you can come down this rope hand over hand?” - -Zoe would have died sooner than confess to inability or fear at that -moment, though the clumsy knotted cable had little resemblance to a -gymnasium-rope. “Rather!” she said promptly, and Wylie twisted the end -he held round and round, so as to make the bridge as strong as -possible. Sliding down it was out of the question, on account of the -knots, and she saw that she must work her way along. Maurice put his -end of the rope under the largest stone he could find, as an added -security against slipping, then, bracing himself firmly, held it as -taut as he could. Zoe gripped it with hands and feet, thankful for the -flexible moccasins, which were so much more serviceable than shoes, -and dropped slowly from knot to knot, descending diagonally until -Wylie, standing on his end of the rope, was able to catch her in his -arms. She stood aside, panting, while he asked Maurice whether the -stone was large enough to balance his weight. - -“Nothing like,” was the reply. “I shall jump. In case I miss, I shall -tie the rope round my waist, and you must pull me up. Zoe had better -hold on to it as well, for fear the jerk might drag you over. Stand -clear.” - -Wylie and Zoe stood well back, and waited for the shock, but Maurice -had judged his distance so well that though he did not land on the -rock where they were standing, he was able to grasp the bushes which -grew below it, and before they could give way, Wylie had him by the -hand. The bushes afforded sufficient foothold to enable him to raise -himself over the edge of the rock, and winding the rope round him in -case it should be needed again, he followed the other two to the head -of the next ladder. This was duly in place, and they began to descend -it in the same order as before, but about midway Wylie’s heart stood -still. What if the unknown enemy who had removed the second ladder -should have sawn through the supports of this one? He said nothing to -his friends, and they went on steadily until they reached the foot of -this ladder, and passed through a hole cut in the rock to the head of -a fourth. This also was passed in safety, and they stood on a rocky -platform, extending some way into the rock in the form of a cave. This -was only some hundred and fifty feet above the ground, and the -rope-ladder was hanging from its two iron stanchions ready for their -descent. - -“I say,” said Maurice, “I don’t like the look of this cave. We can’t -very well search it without a light, for any one hiding in it could -see us against the stars, but if Zoe’s phantom is there, he might -think it rather a good dodge to cut the ladder while we were all on -it. You take Zoe down first, Wylie, and I’ll stay on guard until you -are safe down.” - -“All right,” said Wylie. “Take my revolver, and don’t hesitate to -shoot. I wonder if Armitage is down below?” - -He whistled softly, and an answering whistle came up, while the limp, -dangling ladder became firm. Once again Zoe was thankful for her -moccasins, for it was much more nervous work descending the loose -rungs of rope than those of the wooden ladders. Wylie guided her feet -as before, and slowly and steadily they came nearer to the darkness -which meant firm ground. She had kept up valiantly hitherto, but when -it came to the last step she could not induce herself to take it. She -seemed to have been crawling down shaking ladders for unnumbered -hours, and she clung shivering to the ropes, utterly unable to quit -her hold. Wylie unclasped her hands gently at last, and lifted her -down, saying, in a commonplace, society voice which dried up her -threatening tears, “I want to introduce my friend Armitage, Miss -Smith. You have to thank him for getting you out, for he wasn’t -suspected as I was.” - -“Awfully glad to see you safe on firm ground,” said Armitage. “I’m -afraid you’ll find things rather rough, but if you’ll kindly put up -with it----” - -“We should like to have brought a whole outfit, and a lady’s-maid, and -all sorts of Eastern luxuries for you,” said Wylie, who was holding -the ladder steady for Maurice to descend; “but we were afraid of -rousing suspicion. As your sister--I mean Princess Eirene--isn’t here, -may I say that you must think you are on active service?” - -Zoe had been laughing rather nervously, but the question roused her to -recollection. “Oh,” she cried, “have you brought me any note-books?” - -“No, really, I’m afraid not,” said Wylie, dismayed. “Why?” - -“Oh, I have been living the most splendid story all the time I have -been in the monastery, and I wanted to write it down before I forget. -I know it will all fade when I get with other people.” - -Her tone spoke of such complete absorption in the story that Wylie was -conscious of a jealous feeling that the absence of the note-books was -not an unmixed misfortune. - -“I’m awfully sorry,” he said hypocritically. “We’ll bring you -cartloads of note-books as soon as we get to Th----” - -An exclamation from Armitage broke into his sentence. Above, on the -edge of the rocky platform, a high cap and a bearded face were -momentarily outlined against the starry sky, and something shining -caught the light. One side of the ladder seemed to drop, and the rungs -hung drooping. Wylie felt for his revolver, but it was in Maurice’s -sash as he clung half-way down the ladder, and before Armitage could -thrust his into his hand, the remaining side-rope parted with a sound -like the report of a gun, and Maurice seemed to fly outwards through -the air. He came to the ground with a thud which drew an agonised -shriek from Zoe, and Wylie scarcely doubted that he must be killed. He -was unconscious when they reached him, but as they were anxiously -feeling his limbs, he opened his eyes for a moment. - -“Broken, I think,” he said, as Armitage touched his right arm, and -Wylie confirmed the opinion. - -“Well, better than a leg,” said Maurice feebly. “You’d have had to -leave me here if it had been that.” - -“Nonsense, we’d have rigged you up a cacolet, and carried you on a -baggage-mule,” said Wylie, examining into the extent of the injury by -the light of the vestas which Armitage struck. “You may think yourself -jolly lucky if this is all that’s wrong with you, Smith. I can -manufacture some splints and strap it up, but if it had been an elbow, -or a compound fracture of any sort, it would have been beyond me. Now, -can you get to the camp if we help you along?” - -Maurice set his teeth, and submitted to be helped up and supported as -far as the tents, where Zoe, much to her indignation, was ruthlessly -ordered to rest for an hour or so, on the ground of having gone -through quite enough already. In vain she recalled her possession of -First Aid certificates, Wylie was adamant, and even the ungrateful -Maurice entreated her to go and lie down and not make a fuss. When she -was called, in the early morning, the arm was set, and Maurice, though -pale and in considerable pain, was quite ready to start. Wylie gave up -his horse to him and walked at his side, and Zoe was mounted, as had -been arranged, on the mule. What the guards thought of the additions -to the party no one knew, for they asked no questions and made no -remarks, and all went smoothly. There was one disagreeable moment -during the day, when a peripatetic police official, travelling with an -escort, was encountered. He accepted with enthusiasm the assurance -that Maurice and Zoe were the two famous Europeans whose capture and -detention by brigands had produced such a stir, and immediately -afterwards declared his intention of arresting them for travelling in -the interior of the country without a passport. Asked what he intended -to do with them, he replied that it was his duty to conduct them -immediately to the nearest port, whereupon he was assured that they -were going thither as fast as they could. To this he rejoined that he -felt it right to escort them there, and as his room, and that of his -ragged regiment, was infinitely to be preferred to his company, it was -clear that an attempt must be made to overcome his sense of duty. The -means of doing this was simple, but expensive, and to the last it was -doubtful whether his affection for the travellers would not lead him -to attach himself to them as long as they had anything left that -commended itself to his fancy. They succeeded in freeing themselves -from him, however, and the rest of the return journey was as -uneventful as that from the coast had been. Maurice bore the -travelling well, and he and Zoe took unfeigned delight in the open-air -life after four weeks within stone walls. - -The only person who was not satisfied was Wylie. He had accomplished -the object to which all his efforts had been bent, he had the society -of his friends again, but the reality was not equal to the -anticipation. Zoe and he were not close comrades, as they had been in -the early days of their captivity. Sometimes he tried to look at the -fact from a common-sense point of view, deciding that Maurice’s -accident was enough to account for the change, but at other times he -told himself bitterly that it was all his own fault for forgetting the -note-books. Of course, Zoe must think that he was utterly and wilfully -indifferent to the things that interested her. It was so unfair, too, -for though, like most men of his type, he had little fancy for any -woman with whom he had to do “mixing herself up with writing,” he was -sure that Zoe could not have discovered this. He had acquiesced in the -jesting, matter-of-fact way in which she chose to allude to her -literary efforts, and had even congratulated himself that the taste -could not be very deep-rooted. And now this wretched story of hers was -coming between them, he was sure of it. When she rode for an hour in -silence, and had to be recalled to her present surroundings with a -start, he knew she was living in that world of hers in which he had no -part. It did not affect his feelings towards her. If she chose to -write novels all day and every day, he would accept the fact, and -prize the results, however little he could enter into them, because -they were hers, but the sense of aloofness came from her side. As she -had put it to herself after their parting in the forest, she had been -learning to do without him, and with her mind preoccupied with her -story, she had found it easy. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS. - -“I am so dreadfully worried about Maurice,” said Zoe, meeting Wylie -in the courtyard of the Professor’s villa at Kallimeri, to which they -had come immediately on reaching Therma by sea from Myriaki. - -“Why, is the arm worse? I thought that Greek doctor was too -complimentary to my surgery. Shall I ride in and find a European -surgeon and bring him out?” - -“No, I don’t think it’s that. I can’t help fancying Maurice must have -got a touch of fever the night we lay off the harbour. He is worrying -about Eirene, and says that he feels she’s in some great danger. That -sort of thing is so unlike Maurice--thought-transference and things of -that kind, I mean--and I think he must be ill. He talks of going into -Therma himself and insisting on seeing her, and you know the doctor -said he was to keep perfectly quiet. I suppose they may be carrying -Eirene off to Scythia, but I don’t see how he knows about it. At any -rate I’m sure he’s not fit to go and contend with all the obstacles -they would put in his way at the Scythian Consulate.” - -“Well, I’m not exactly a favoured visitor there myself, and it’s -pretty clear that Armitage isn’t either, since they have sent back his -pictures without even undoing them.” - -“Oh, I hadn’t heard that,” said Zoe. - -“They arrived this morning, with a note from Mme. Ladoguin to say that -the duplicity of Armitage’s behaviour since his audience of her had so -shocked the Princess that she considered herself released from any -obligation to him. They have found out what happened at -Hadgi-Antoniou, you see. I suppose Papa Demetri’s messenger got -through just too late for them to stop us.” - -“I wonder if it would be any good my going?” mused Zoe. “I scarcely -like leaving Maurice for a whole day, but----” - -“You musn’t think of it. You don’t imagine that if they let you in it -would be for any good? The next thing we should find out would be that -you were smuggled away to Scythia, and we should have to begin the -hunt all over again.” - -Zoe laughed. “Perhaps if I wrote a note to Eirene, they would let her -answer it,” she said. “I suppose Maurice would be satisfied if he knew -she was well, and not utterly miserable. You don’t think she has -started already, do you?” - -“There was nothing of that kind in the note, and they could just as -well have said that the pictures had arrived too late, if they wanted -to snub Armitage. Well, shall I ride in with the note, and do my best -to get it into the Princess’s hands? More I can’t promise, but it’s -just possible that they won’t be looking out for me now, and I may -manage to see her.” - -“I don’t like giving you so much trouble----” - -“It’s no trouble. In fact, I must have gone in to-day or to-morrow to -report to Sir Frank Francis, who has done what he could for us all -along, in a blundering, slow-coach, civilian sort of way. He’s a good -old chap. The Professor has been talking of going in too, to see the -Vali. He believes he’s on the track of a Thraco-Dardanian conspiracy -to destroy all the Greek and Roumis in Emathia at one fell swoop, so -he’s naturally excited, and thinks he’ll make the Vali so too.” Wylie -spoke lightly, for his pride had imposed upon him the expediency of -treating Zoe as she treated him. If she did not care to remember the -days in which they had faced death and hardship together, he was quite -willing to behave as a mere ordinary acquaintance. He would serve her -in any possible way--that much his love for her demanded of him--but -he would not court rebuff by exhibiting his feelings. The natural -result of this course of conduct was that Zoe, missing something in -his manner which she liked, while objecting to what it implied, began -to make delicate experiments for the purpose of ascertaining how far -she could go. She declined now to be drawn aside from the topic she -had started. - -“It doesn’t seem fair that you should always be running errands for -us. We seem to have annexed you altogether. How is it you haven’t had -to go back to India yet?” - -“Got an extension of leave,” said Wylie, unmoved. “Always glad to make -myself useful when I can, you know. Well, if you will write that note, -I’ll find out whether the Professor is going into town, and go without -him if he isn’t. I should think we shall spend the night at his house, -and come out to-morrow, which will give me a little more time to -besiege the Princess.” - -“I don’t know how I shall keep Maurice quiet all day,” sighed Zoe. - -“Oh, he’ll be all right when he knows some one is trying to see her. -Are you going to ask her to come out?” - -“Oh, not in the note. They would never let it reach her. But if you -see her, you might suggest that she should spend a day here. The -Professor knew her father, you know. Of course, Madame Ladoguin must -come too, but I’ll manage her.” - -“You will be the first person that ever did that,” said Wylie, as he -went off to find his host. - -Professor Panagiotis was quite willing to accept him as a companion, -and they rode off early in the afternoon. At the Professor’s house in -the town they separated, the Professor going to the Konak to seek an -interview with the Roumi Governor, and Wylie to the British Consulate. -Sir Frank was busy, but asked him to come to dinner that evening and -tell his story afterwards, and he went on at once to the Scythian -Consulate, where the comedy of which he had formerly grown so tired -recommenced. Servant after servant poured forth floods of eloquence in -the attempt to convince him that the Princess was indisposed, that she -received no one, that she was out driving, that she was preparing for -her journey to Scythia, that he might safely leave the note to be -delivered to her. This Wylie declined, and asked for an interview with -Madame Ladoguin, which was denied him, and he put the note back into -his pocket, and took up his old position opposite the Consulate. Here -he remained until it was very nearly dark, without seeing the ladies -return, so that it became pretty clear that one of the excuses, at any -rate, was false. He quitted his post reluctantly, and finding that he -had barely left himself sufficient time to go back and dress for -dinner, called a cab to take him to the Professor’s house. - -He had scarcely departed when the great gates were thrown open, and -Madame Ladoguin and Eirene drove out. They were going to dine at the -Hercynian Consulate, one of the “safe” houses where there was no fear -of meeting any meddling English people. Even in cases like this, -however, Madame Ladoguin insisted on the list of guests being -submitted to her beforehand, representing that the Princess was very -strict on such points of etiquette, and refused to waive them even -when paying visits, as at present, under a partial _incognito_. There -was a cloud on Madame Ladoguin’s brow. Wylie’s unexpected reappearance -had much perturbed her, and she scented a deep-laid scheme for -carrying off Eirene before she could be safely removed to Scythia. She -had sent anxious messages to her husband and brother to ask them to -come to her before starting, but M. Ladoguin had been out all the -afternoon, discussing with his fellow-Consuls the alarming rumours -which were prevalent in the town of impending revolutionary movements, -and Nicetas Mitsopoulo was still away on one of his mysterious -errands. As a last resource, Madame Ladoguin ordered her coachman to -stop at a club much frequented by the European representatives, in the -hope of finding her husband there, intending to send him to complain -to Sir Frank Francis that his troublesome fellow-countryman was -renewing his intolerable persecution of the Princess. - -M. Ladoguin was at the club, but his wife would not have him summoned -to speak to her. Apologising to Eirene, she left the victoria and went -into the hall, where her charge could not hear what was said. Eirene, -left alone, looked out indifferently down the brightly lighted street. -Here, in the European quarter, thanks to the efforts of the consular -body, paving and lighting conformed to Western rather than Eastern -standards. Next door to the club towered the dark bulk of a building, -which she knew to be the Seignorial Bank, now closed for the night, -but something moving on its steps attracted her attention. It was -difficult to see what it was in the shadow, but she thought that a -porter must be laying down his burden there while he rested. At this -moment her thoughts were distracted by a cab, which drove up -furiously, its wheels almost grazing those of the carriage, and by the -bad language which ensued between the driver and the consular -_cavass_. Then--it all happened in a moment--the houses seemed to -reel, she was thrown violently forward, and the air was filled with -the sound of a tremendous explosion. The frightened horses went off -like the wind, further terrified by the crash of falling fragments of -masonry which came hurtling through the air. Eirene crouched dazed at -the bottom of the carriage, face and shoulders cut and bruised by the -stony shower. The sound of fresh explosions showed her that she was -not deafened, but she could not hear the coachman’s voice calling to -his horses, and guessed that he had been thrown from the box. At the -same moment she became aware that she was in pitch darkness. Her first -horrified thought was that she had been struck blind, but as she -looked up through the tattered hood of the carriage she saw a jet of -flame soar into the sky, and realised that whoever had caused the -explosions must also have cut off the gas supply of the town. The -horses had now turned out of the foreign quarter into one of the -native streets, as she could tell by the way the carriage swayed and -bumped over the cobbles, and it was a marvel to her that it was not -every moment upset, as the wheels now collided with a post and now -grazed a projecting shop-front. - -The air was full of shrieks and cries, still punctuated by an -occasional explosion, and there was a distant sound which she thought -must be firing. Sitting helpless, as the maddened horses tore along, -she analysed probabilities with a calmness that surprised herself, and -wondered whether the wild race would end in the waters of the harbour -or in one comprehensive smash. Then there happened something that -struck her with greater horror than all that had gone before. She had -raised herself to the front seat, and kneeling, was trying to look out -ahead to see where she was going, when a black figure gained the box -with a mad spring, and seizing the whip, lashed the horses on. By the -glare in the sky she could see that it wore the high cap and flowing -robes of a monk, with unkempt hair and beard. They dashed on into -another street, which Eirene had a vague idea belonged to the Moslem -quarter, and peering out she saw a dark mass of people in front. She -shrieked to them to stop the horses, but they did not understand, and -scattered to let the carriage through. This brought it opposite a -large building, and the man on the box, dropping the whip, stood -upright and hurled something with all his strength. The explosion that -followed was no surprise to Eirene; it seemed to her that she waited -for the sound. The building appeared to crumple up, and the horses -sprang forward again with a jerk, which threw the monk from the box; -but a minaret at the side fell across the street, and they could not -face the ruin which came crashing down. Driven on by the shouts from -behind, they dashed at the obstacle formed by the heap, turned when -they found themselves thwarted, and dragged the carriage violently -round, with one wheel high on the stones. Eirene had just sufficient -presence of mind to spring clear as it went over, and to crouch -against the houses on one side while the horses kicked and struggled -furiously to free themselves. One succeeded, and rushed wildly down -the street, but the other, which had fallen and was entangled in the -harness, tried in vain to raise itself from the ground. - -Seeing that the danger was past, the people behind came running up, -and Eirene found herself dragged from her shelter. The monk had -disappeared, and, to her horror, she perceived that the mob evidently -took her for the person who had destroyed their mosque. They were all -Moslems, armed with knives and daggers, and they poured blood-curdling -imprecations upon her as she stood surrounded by a ring of steel. In -every language she knew she entreated them to take her back to the -Consulate, or merely to let her go, but no one would listen, or seemed -to understand. She tore off her rings and the diamond stars from her -hair and threw them among them, then her pearl necklace--not the -historic necklace which had been given up to the brigands, but a less -valuable one which had been sent on into safety in the jewel-case -after the railway accident. The string snapped as she pulled it off, -and she caught the pearls in her hands and offered them to the mob if -they would let her go, but in vain. They forced her hands open, and -fought for the pearls, but never so eagerly as to leave a gap by which -she could escape. She would have given even the girdle of Isidora as -the price of her life if she had had it with her, but it was reposing -safely at the Consulate. - -After the first moment it gave her no comfort that she was not cut to -pieces at once, for she guessed from the gestures of her assailants -that while some of them advocated this course, others were proposing -to take her into one of the houses and torture her in order to -discover her accomplices. In another moment she must have fainted from -sheer horror, when the prostrate horse, which every one had forgotten, -created a diversion by struggling to its feet and lashing out -furiously, clearing a space round it. Seeing her chance, she tore -herself from the men who held her, leaving her cloak in their hands, -and sprang up the heap of rubbish which blocked the road. She could -never have crossed it in cold blood, for the foothold was insecure, -and the projecting pieces of rough stone and jagged wood caught her -clothes and tore her hands; but she descended like a thunderbolt into -a second crowd which had collected on the farther side, and burst -through them before they could understand the agonised shouts which -reached them from her defrauded captors. - -Gathering her long skirt over her arm that it might not impede her -movements, she ran headlong down the street, slipping on the horrible -cobbles. Very soon she heard the hue and cry after her, and knew she -must quickly be overtaken, for her high-heeled shoes caught in the -treacherous interstices between the stones and nearly threw her down. -Passing the mouth of another street, a desperate expedient suggested -itself. The door of the first house stood open, and she slipped -inside, hearing her pursuers rage by. As soon as the last was past the -door, she crept out, and ran down the side street, more slowly now, -for one shoe had lost its heel, and she could only get on with -difficulty. Before she reached the end of the street she heard the -shouts of the mob growing nearer again, and knew that they must have -discovered her evasion. Two narrow passages between overhanging houses -were before her, and she darted down the nearest, which was unsavoury -to a degree. It ended at last, and she came out on a wide open space, -surrounded by squalid hovels, the outlines of which were just -discernible by the dull glare in the sky. Panting, she paused for a -moment, took off the shoe which still possessed a heel, and tried -vainly to hammer it off with a stone. It was beyond her efforts, and -she pushed back her hair, tied her handkerchief across her face below -the eyes, so that it hung down like an Egyptian face-veil, and turned -the skirt of her evening gown over her head, hoping that she might -pass for a Roumi woman, whose veil would be a safeguard to her in the -event of meeting any Moslem. Happily for her peace of mind, it did not -occur to her that the frills of silk and lace at the edge of the -lining would betray her at once, and she began to limp across the open -space, which she recognised as the remains of a Roman amphitheatre -which forms one of the sights of Therma. - -She had scarcely emerged from the shadow of the houses when she heard -footsteps behind her. She stopped, but they came on, and she broke -into a feeble run, hearing the footsteps following and coming nearer. -She thought she heard a voice, but she drew the skirt more closely -over her head and tottered on, until the treacherous heel caught in -something and she fell. The footsteps approached at a run, and she -shut her eyes and waited for death. - -“I’m awfully sorry I frightened you,” said a voice in English. “Can I -help you in any way?” - -The revulsion of feeling was so great that Eirene crouched helplessly -where she had fallen, and looked up at her questioner. With a gasp of -relief, such as she had never expected to feel in the circumstances, -she recognised the blue eyes bent upon her. - -“Oh, Captain Wylie!” she sobbed. - -“Why, who is it?” he asked, helping her up. “Is it possible--not Miss -Eirene?--I mean the Princess.” - -“Oh, yes,” she cried, pulling off the handkerchief; “and there is a -crowd trying to kill me, and I can’t get away. Oh, what shall I do?” - -“Gently,” said Wylie, drawing her back into the shadow of the houses. -“Are you hurt? You seemed to walk lame.” - -“It’s my shoes. I have only one heel left.” She took off the shoe, and -he amputated the offending heel with his knife. - -“I can’t promise to get you back to the Consulate,” he said, steering -her across the corner of the open space, “for most of the outrages -have taken place in the foreign quarter, and the troops are out, and -firing wild. I like the Roumis generally, but to-night I must confess -I would as soon meet a mob as soldiers. It’s natural enough after what -has happened.” - -“But what has happened?” cried Eirene. “Did some one blow up the -Seignorial Bank?” - -“Yes, and a good many other places as well. I gave up trying to count -the explosions at last. I am staying with Professor Panagiotis, and -was driving back to his house when the first explosion came and the -gas failed. My driver refused to take me any farther, saying the -Professor’s house would certainly be one of those blown up. I tried to -get there the nearest way on foot, but there were troops pursuing -imaginary revolutionists in all the foreign streets, and too many -bullets were flying about for the atmosphere to be healthy.” - -“But are we going to the Professor’s house now? What is the good, if -it’s blown up?” - -“I have no reason to think that it is. As far as I can see, the -outrages have been mostly directed against foreign buildings. I -suppose the malcontents are displaying their disgust and contempt for -the reforms forced on the Grand Seignior by the Powers. At any rate, -as the Professor’s guest, I should be more likely to find shelter in -the Greek quarter than elsewhere.” - -“But why do you say the troops are shooting imaginary revolutionists? -Who do you think threw the bombs? There was a monk who jumped up on -the carriage--oh, it was terrible!” - -“Agents of the Thraco-Dardanian Committees, certainly, but I don’t -think they will wait to be shot. They will have provided for their -escape, and it’s only poor wretched passers-by, who have nothing to do -with the outrages, and are too terrified to get away, that will suffer -in this moment of panic.” - -“But how can I go to the Professor’s?” asked Eirene, her thoughts -returning to her own situation, as, clinging to Wylie’s arm, she -traversed the deserted streets. - -“Well, I should think it was better than staying out of doors,” -returned Wylie grimly. “I shall be thankful if we can get there.” - -There was a significance in his tone which she did not at first -understand, for his trained ear had caught sooner than she did the -regular tramp of soldiers, disentangling it from the confusion of -sounds which still filled the air--not close at hand, for the -shuttered houses might have been the abodes of the dead, but coming -from the quarter they were approaching. Reaching the corner of a -street, Wylie peered round it cautiously, and drew Eirene back with an -exclamation. - -“There’s a detachment of the troops who are clearing the streets -coming this way. There! they’ve got some poor devil,” as the sound of -a volley and a piercing shriek rent the air. “Stand in this doorway. -They may go straight on and not see us.” - -Eirene shrank as far into the shelter of the doorway as she could, and -Wylie stood in front of her, concealing her as much as possible. - -“They’ve got the jumps badly, and are firing at everything they see. -That’s the worst of it,” he said over his shoulder. “If I go down, you -must try to make them understand what an enormity they’ve committed in -firing on a European, and invoke Sir Frank Francis till all is blue.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - A FUSION OF INTERESTS. - -The soldiers came down the street talking loudly and excitedly, for -the bonds of discipline were evidently relaxed. Every now and then a -stray shot told that one of them thought he had seen a figure lurking -in the shadow, and was taking the surest way of making things safe. -The fitful beams of an old and inefficient lantern wavered from side -to side as the leading man swung it towards each doorway in turn, but -the light was so feeble that Wylie, standing rigid in his corner, -almost hoped not to be seen. But his tweed clothes stood out against -the dark and greasy stonework of the porch, and as the beam fluttered -over him a voice called, “There’s a man hiding in that door!” -Instantly the ready rifles were focussed upon him, and even before he -could step forward two or three random shots struck the stonework and -spattered up the dust at his feet, but these were only due to nervous -men with twitching fingers. Before the order could be given to fire, -his voice rang out, “Cease firing!” in Roumi, and, taken by surprise, -the soldiers obeyed. He seized his opportunity, and called out that he -was English, and demanded their protection as far as the British -Consulate. - -“Why, it is a dog of a Christian, after all!” said one. - -“If he did not throw the bombs, he stirred up the rascals to do it,” -said another. - -“And what is he doing here, anyhow?” demanded a third. - -“Discovered under suspicious circumstances,” growled the sergeant. “He -can’t do any harm dead.” - -“He can do you a lot of harm when his body is found, you old fool!” -said Wylie vigorously. The sergeant jumped. - -“Here! give me the lantern,” he said, and taking it from the man who -held it, swung it so that the light fell on Wylie’s face. “Why, it is -the Bimbashi Bey with the cruel eyes, who gave us cigarettes when we -were up in the north three months ago!” he cried. “He is a good man, -Christian or not. Let there be no more talk of shooting him. What does -the Bimbashi Bey desire?” - -“Can you get us to the Consulate?” asked Wylie, moving aside. The -men’s eyes grew round as they distinguished Eirene crouching in the -shadow behind him. - -“It will be very difficult to take the lady such a long way through -the streets,” mused the sergeant. “Has the Bimbashi Bey no friends in -the Greek quarter?” - -“I am staying with Professor Panagiotis,” said Wylie. - -“Oh, the chief of the Greeks! That is well, unless his house is one of -those destroyed. We can soon see.” - -The soldiers opened out, and Wylie and Eirene took their places in the -midst. The sergeant, stalking just ahead, conversed with Wylie over -his shoulder. Ever since their meeting in the north, he and his men -had been sent hither and thither to places where outbreaks were -expected, but the outbreaks always occurred in the districts they had -just left, or, as now, had been allowed to come to a head instead of -being nipped in the bud. Every one had been expecting this particular -outbreak for days, or even weeks, he declared. It might have been -entirely prevented, but some one must have been heavily bribed. -Undoubtedly it was all due to the representatives of the Powers, who -with one hand egged on the revolutionists to their outrages, and with -the other held back the Roumis from punishing them as they deserved. - -Argument of this kind did not admit of much reply, and Wylie attempted -no defence of the action of the Powers, which had certainly not been -marked by any particular success. They were now in the Greek quarter, -and scared faces peeped at them from upper windows, while every door -was fast shut. Arrived at the end of the street in which Professor -Panagiotis lived, they found a cordon of soldiers drawn across it, -guarding a carriage which was waiting ready to start. About the middle -of the street, a gap in the row of houses dark against the sky showed -where the Professor’s dwelling had stood. The sergeant questioned his -colleague in charge of the guard, and found that they had been -detailed by the Vali to escort the Professor home, as his life was -considered to be in danger, but on arriving they discovered from the -neighbours that the house had been destroyed almost simultaneously -with the first explosion--that at the Seignorial Bank. The Professor -was now examining the ruins, to see whether any of his property could -be saved, but in a few minutes he was to be escorted to the city gate, -and set safely on his way to Kallimeri. - -“This is most fortunate,” said Wylie to Eirene. “I will make bold to -offer you the shelter of the Professor’s villa instead of his house -here, and you will meet the Teffanys again. They are longing to see -you.” - -“Teffany? Oh, you mean Maurice and Zoe. I always think of them as -Smith. I should rejoice to meet them again, but not--not like this.” -Eirene looked down at her torn clothes and ruined shoes. “It would not -be proper--becoming. We are not now in the mountains.” - -Wylie laughed involuntarily. “They must have seen you in much worse -trim often in the mountains,” he said. “Why is it improper now, if it -wasn’t then?” - -“The circumstances are different,” she said, flushing. “They know now -who I am. I cannot thrust myself upon them and ask help. At least we -were all in the same plight in the mountains.” - -“I can relieve your mind on one point, at any rate. There’s no -question of thrusting yourself upon them, for they are most anxious to -see you. I have a letter from Miss Teffany for you here, if you can -see to read it, and I was charged in addition to use all the arts of -diplomacy to persuade you to visit Kallimeri, if only for a day, and -even if you had to be accompanied by Madame Ladoguin.” - -“You really mean it?” she asked, looking up at him doubtfully. “You -are not saying it merely to make me willing to come? You may not quite -understand, but it is a tremendous step for me to take. I mean, if the -Ladoguins choose, they may say--things about me, and I may be cast off -entirely--if I don’t go back to the Consulate at once, you know.” - -Wylie cut short her halting utterances. “Don’t be afraid,” he said -kindly. “You shall go back to the Consulate as early as you like -to-morrow. To-night you simply can’t get there. Slander itself could -say nothing against your accepting a night’s shelter from your -father’s old friend and his wife. Now, will you get into the carriage -and read your letter, while I go and look for the Professor? You will -promise me to wait here until I come back?” - -Much to his relief, Eirene uttered no protest, and the idea which had -occurred to him that she might slip away when his back was turned, and -lose herself in the mazes and dangers of the streets, had evidently -not entered her mind. She was too much exhausted by all she had -undergone to have energy left to make plans for herself, and it was an -untold relief to find her movements settled for her. Gratefully she -accepted Wylie’s help, and entered the carriage, receiving Zoe’s -letter from him with a word of thanks, and leaning forward eagerly to -read it by the light of the sergeant’s lantern. Her piteous little -white face, as she looked up at him in utter bewilderment of fatigue, -was in Wylie’s thoughts as he passed the cordon to find the Professor, -and it made him very determined to obtain success in a task which he -foresaw, though without exactly knowing why, would have its -difficulties. He met the Professor returning to the carriage, and -condoled with him on his losses. - -“Oh, it was only to be expected,” was the philosophical reply. “It -would have been something of a slight if I had been left unmolested on -such an occasion. Of course, the miscreants hoped to benefit -themselves,--I hear there were a dozen Jews raking over the ruins -almost before the fire had ceased, under pretence of helping to save -my possessions,--but I need not tell you they found nothing. We shall -save nothing of the furniture or contents of the house, unfortunately; -the destruction was too thorough. Two or three bombs must have been -used, I should say, and remarkably well placed. The caretaker’s wife, -who escaped, tells me she noticed a very tall woman, whom she -suspected to be a man in disguise, hanging about just at dusk. Well, -we had better get back to Kallimeri. I am sorry it is no use looking -for your bag, if that was your reason for coming down here.” - -“Never once thought of it,” said Wylie, detaining him. “No, I have -picked up a European lady in distress, and I want to take her back -with us. There’s nothing else to be done.” - -“Who is the lady?” asked the Professor sharply. - -“The Princess Eirene Féofan.” - -“I suspected as much. No; let her go back to the Scythian Consulate. I -have no responsibility for her.” - -“She can’t. The streets are impassable. You knew her father; you can’t -refuse her shelter.” - -“I will have nothing to do with her. Do you realise that she is a -Scythian tool, the only person whose right to the Greek Imperial crown -approaches--in some eyes even overshadows--that of Maurice Teffany? -Let Scythia look after her own candidate; my interests are -diametrically opposed to hers.” - -“Professor,” said Wylie, a bright idea seizing him, and enabling him -to choke down his indignation, “you can’t deceive me. Don’t try to -tell me that the same thought isn’t in your head as in mine. The game -is in your hands, and it’s no use trying to persuade me that you think -of throwing away your advantage. If you can get the Princess to -Kallimeri, and marry her to Teffany, you and he are both made men.” - -The Professor drew in his breath with a hissing sound. “He might be,” -he said. “I should be left out.” - -“Oh, nonsense! when both of them would owe you a debt of gratitude -ever after for having brought them together? Why, it would give you -the strongest possible influence at once.” - -The Professor considered the matter, and it was evident to Wylie that -he was weighing the merits of various courses in his mind. Like -Maurice, the soldier had the unpleasant feeling that in the -Professor’s cogitations his wishes or arguments had little part. The -issue would be decided by considerations far less obvious. - -“Your idea is excellent,” he heard at last, with sensible relief. -“Such a marriage would at once checkmate Scythia, and strengthen -enormously Mr Teffany’s position. I will represent the propriety of it -to him as soon as we reach Kallimeri, and there need be no difficulty -with the lady. She will be in our hands.” - -“Are you mad?” demanded Wylie, seizing him again by the arm as he -turned quickly towards the carriage. “You can’t be serious in -proposing to put pressure upon the Princess. Why, Teffany would become -your enemy for life. The Princess comes to Kallimeri purely for -refuge, and incidentally to see her old friends before returning to -Scythia. If Teffany can induce her to stay, it’s all right. Otherwise, -we must take her back to the Consulate to-morrow.” - -“That will be too late,” muttered the Professor. “The streets will be -clear again, and she will pass safely.” - -“Look here,” said Wylie; “let me give you a word of advice. You and I -are men of the world, and know exactly how much and how little you -mean when you say things like that. But it would not sound well to the -Teffanys, and they might believe you meant it. Do you see?” - -The Professor signified reluctantly that he did, and asked, “Then what -is the good of taking the Princess to Kallimeri?” - -“Simply to bring them together. If Teffany wants her, he won’t let her -go again, after his sister and I have piled up the agony about endless -separation and the dangers that will surround the Princess in -Scythia.” - -“Ah, and what interest have you and Miss Teffany in the affair?” -demanded the Professor, severely. - -“Miss Teffany hopes to gratify her brother, who would have come into -Therma to-day to try and see the Princess, if I had not insisted on -coming instead. My only interest is to gratify a wish expressed by -Miss Teffany.” - -Baffled by the unmoved tone, Professor Panagiotis went on towards the -carriage, where Eirene, tired out, had fallen asleep in her corner. -Wylie presented the Professor to her, and gave what money he had with -him to the friendly sergeant, to distribute among his men, before -taking his seat. The soldiers who had formed the cordon surrounded the -carriage, and they drove slowly towards the gate nearest Kallimeri. -Many streets were blocked with the ruins of houses which had been -destroyed, in others fires were raging and troops forbade passage, in -others the search for revolutionists was still being carried on, to -the accompaniment of shots and shrieks, others again were empty, save -for rigid forms prone in the shadow of the houses. At the gate, the -Vali’s seal, exhibited by the officer of the escort, obtained them a -speedy passage, and the soldiers convoyed them through the environs of -the town until they were safely on the upland road leading to -Kallimeri. Then the escort was dismissed, the driver was at length -allowed to whip up his horses, and in the wild, headlong style dear to -him and his tribe they rattled up to the villa. - -“Oh, what has been happening?” cried Zoe, rushing down from a point of -vantage beside the gate. “We have seen explosions, and the most -dreadful fires--not the ordinary kind that happen every night, but -whole streets must have been burnt. We were all so frightened. I have -been watching here for hours.” - -“That was very dangerous,” said Wylie, his heart leaping, -nevertheless. He had jumped out of the carriage to meet her, and the -Professor and Eirene, the latter still slumbering, had driven on. “If -a revolutionist had been hanging about ready to blow up the villa, he -would have killed you, lest you should give the alarm.” - -“But in that case I shouldn’t have been much better off in the house,” -said Zoe flippantly. “It was revolutionists, then--who have been -blowing up the town, I mean? So you were not able to deliver my note, -I suppose?” - -“Wasn’t I?” said Wylie triumphantly. “Why, I’ve brought the Princess -back. She’s in the carriage.” - -“In the carriage? Eirene? and you have kept me walking slowly here! -What will she think of me?” - -“Wait one minute,” said Wylie, as Zoe quickened her pace to a run; -“I’m very proud of myself for the way in which I did your errand, for -I have had to employ all the resources of diplomacy to overcome the -Princess’s objections to coming here, and the Professor’s objections -to having her. But we must manage to rush things a bit to-morrow -morning, for she means to go back.” - -“And if she does, we may as well give it up, for she will be out of -our reach,” said Zoe. “Clearly we must precipitate matters. Oh, but -how did you know what I was hoping for?” she cried suddenly. “I never -told you.” - -“I guessed, from what you told me about your brother, and then it came -to me in a flash that we might get things settled at once, thanks to -all this affair in the city. Nobody knows where the Princess is, you -see, and it’ll take some time to track her.” - -“You mean they could get married before she is found? Oh, how -splendid! We must manage it. I will think about it to-night, and you -must play up to me to-morrow.” - -“Trust me!” said Wylie, as they arrived at the door, where Madame -Panagiotis, a very correct German lady of commanding proportions, was -looking with evident suspicion at Eirene, with her bare shoulders and -tattered evening gown. With a cry of delight the two girls rushed into -each other’s arms, and on Zoe’s guarantee, Madame Panagiotis consented -to receive the dishevelled-looking stranger. There was a room next to -Zoe’s she could have, she said, and she herself would lend her decent -clothes, unless Miss Teffany cared to do so. Zoe declared joyfully -that no one else should look after her friend, and carried her off -upstairs at once, pausing only to say aside to Wylie-- - -“Just tell Maurice, as you pass, that she is here. Then perhaps he -will be able to sleep.” - -Returning to Eirene, she found the Professor saying pointedly how glad -he was to receive under his roof a younger branch of the illustrious -house to which his honoured guests belonged, and she swept her off at -once, afraid that he might go on to say something that would spoil her -plans. - -“Isn’t Madame Panagiotis funny?” she asked of Eirene, when they were -by themselves. “Maurice and I used to wonder whether she would sit on -the floor and eat with her fingers, and you can imagine our feelings -when we found her such a monument of propriety. Do you know, the -Professor called her at first ‘the Mrs Professor’ when he talked -English--_die Frau Professorin_, you know--but he must have seen it -sounded queer, and he gave it up.” - -Eirene sat listening passively while Zoe took down her hair and -brushed it. “Oh, Zoe,” she broke out suddenly, “it is such a rest to -be here. I don’t mind any one else--Professor or Professorin--if I can -be near you and Maurice. You can’t guess how I have longed for you!” - -“It’s awfully sweet of you to say it,” said Zoe, penitently. “I know I -was perfectly horrid to you often.” - -“You weren’t!” was the indignant reply. “You and Maurice were always -just the same to me, whether you thought I was Miss Smith or a -Princess. You were quite right to scold me when I said silly things. -And, Zoe, you were right about Vlasto, and I was too silly. He was -Nicetas Mitsopoulo, Chariclea Ladoguin’s brother, in disguise. I -recognised him as soon as he was presented to me, and I thought how -you would triumph. I deserved it.” - -“At any rate, it’s quite new for us to be paying each other -compliments. And have you brought the girdle of Isidora with you?” - -“Oh no, how could I? I did not dare to carry it in my dress any -longer, because of the maid. Do you know, Zoe, they were so anxious -that I should send it as a peace-offering to the Empress? Chariclea -and her brother both hinted at it. But I would not do it. It seemed -like buying back her favour by giving up my rights--your rights, too. -I found out a hiding-place for it, but I don’t know whether it’s safe. -Perhaps they will discover it this evening while I am away, and send -it to Pavelsburg, pretending that it comes from me!” - -“Well, if they do, you can’t help it,” said Zoe. “Let it alone for -to-night. Are you frightfully tired, Eirene? There are such a lot of -things I want to ask you. Look here, let us bring your bed into my -room, and then we can talk without disturbing any one till we go to -sleep. I know Maurice will want you all the morning.” - -Loss of sleep, and her adventures of the evening, did not seem to have -told on Eirene’s spirits when she appeared the next day. Zoe had -dressed her hair low to hide the cuts and bruises received in the -explosion, and she looked very pretty in a white gown, which Zoe -surrendered to her heroically, though she had just had it made for -herself to replace the horrible German ready-made garments with which -she had been obliged to content herself on reaching Therma. The two -girls were sitting in the verandah looking into the inner courtyard of -the house, when Wylie, already primed for his part, brought up the -steps first an armful of cushions, and then Maurice, and established -him in a long chair. - -“Could I speak to you a minute?” he said to Zoe, as they had agreed, -and she went to the other end of the verandah with him. - -“I really have something to say,” he said. “It’s quite impossible for -the Princess to get back this morning. Firing is still going on in the -town, and they don’t think things will quiet down until fresh troops -arrive, which won’t be till to-night. What do you think of my riding -in and asking the Ladoguins to send a proper escort for her?” - -“It would provide the necessity for decision, which is what we want,” -said Zoe gravely. “I will call her away to write a letter to Madame -Ladoguin when it is time for you to start. Perhaps they will have -settled things before that. I shall leave them to themselves for the -morning, as soon as I have explained to Eirene that she must stay here -till she is sent for.” - -“Won’t that be rather pointed--leaving them to themselves, I mean?” -asked Wylie solicitously. - -Zoe gave him a look of pity. “I shall stay here,” she said. “If they -talk loud, I can hear them, and join in, but if they choose to talk -low, I shall work quietly.” - -“I suppose I mayn’t come and share your vigil?” - -“No, your company would be too distracting. I must be unobtrusively on -the watch, you know.” - -Wylie departed without a murmur, possibly a little to Zoe’s -disappointment, and only returned, equipped for riding, about two -hours later. - -“Now for it!” said Zoe. “I must take my courage in both hands. Shall I -save the situation, or shall I ruin it?” - -“But don’t you think it’s all right by this time?” - -“Not a bit. Every now and then I have heard what they said, and it was -always ‘Do you remember?’ like children talking over a Sunday-school -treat. I might have sat with them the whole time. Well, now to -interrupt them. Doesn’t it make you feel a brute?” - -“Not in the least, nor you either. You know perfectly well that you -feel like a whole three-volume novel, or a goddess out of a machine, -or anything else that annihilates time and space to make two lovers -happy.” - -Zoe looked at him critically. “You mustn’t thought-read to such an -extent,” she said, “or I shall be afraid of you. It’s uncanny. Now I -am going to make the plunge. Eirene, are you ready? Captain Wylie is -waiting to start.” - -“Start? Where to?” demanded Maurice. - -“For Therma, of course, to take Eirene’s letter. If she is to get back -to-night, she must be sent for.” - -“With these outrages still going on, when she has barely escaped with -her life already? Nonsense! she can’t go back.” - -“I can’t stay away any longer,” said Eirene. - -“It’s awfully hard that you should just get this one glimpse of us, -like a condemned man saying good-bye to his friends, and then go away -for ever,” said Zoe. - -“Why should she go away at all?” said Maurice suddenly. “Zoe, give us -two minutes more. And just tell Wylie, will you? Eirene,” as Zoe -vanished, “do you want to go back?” - -“I must,” she said, smiling at him bravely. - -“Can you bear to go back? I can’t bear you to go.” - -“But I must,” she murmured, trying to draw away her hand. - -“Oh no, you needn’t, if--Eirene, I know it will sound frightful cheek -to you, but I must say it--if you would marry me.” - -“You are sorry for me,” she said quickly, “because you know I am no -longer the heir.” - -“I never thought of it. I am sorry for you, but only because it’s so -rough on you to give you the alternative of taking me or going back to -a life you dread.” - - [Image: images/img_318.jpg - Caption: - “_I can’t bear you to go_.” “_But I must_,” _she murmured._] - -“I suppose you understand,” said Eirene with energy, “that if I went -back to Scythia I should be replaced in my old position, and be rich -and received at Court?” - -“Yes, I know, and I can only offer you a country life in England--for -certain. Anything else is mere possibility.” - -“Do you imagine I am thinking of that? I want to be sure you do not -say this out of pity.” - -“But I do. I want you to take pity on me.” - -Sunshine succeeded momentary dismay on Eirene’s face. - -“You know,” she said softly, “there was a condition to be fulfilled -before I could be received at Court again?” - -“That you should marry some one, I suppose? Who is the brute?” - -“Oh no, they would not say that in words. The condition was that I -should write to ask forgiveness, and say I was sorry for running -away.” - -“Well, and did you do it?” - -“No, I would not--because I am glad, glad, glad, that I ran away. If I -had not----” - -“Yes?” Maurice had her hand fast by this time. - -“I should still have been a rebel, opposing the head of my house,” -said Eirene demurely. - -“We might even have been pitted against one another,” said Maurice, -with equal solemnity. “By the bye, have you gone into my claims at -all?” - -“No, they are yours, and you believe they are just--that is enough,” -said Eirene. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - THROUGH ANOTHER MAN’S EYES. - -“Well, did I play up to you?” asked Wylie, finding Zoe in the -verandah the next day. - -“You did, indeed. Your booted and spurred impatience was most telling. -I’m sure it woke Maurice to a sense of the desperate nature of the -situation, and so brought about the happy result. Don’t you feel proud -of your first attempt at match-making? I do.” - -“You were the match-maker; I only acted under your orders. What am I -to have for it?” demanded Wylie. - -“A promise of further employment if your services should at any time -be needed,” said Zoe, with unnatural coolness, looking round -desperately for a way of escape. “Oh, here are Maurice and Eirene, -released at last from their conference with the Professor!” she cried, -with real relief. “Well, what have you settled?” as they came up the -steps, Maurice obviously quivering with excitement, Eirene reluctant -and blushing. - -“Everything!” cried Maurice triumphantly. “No, Eirene, I’m not going -to shout or chortle, or do anything I promised you not to, but I must -tell these two, because they’ll have to know, and we want Wylie’s -help. Where are you off to, Wylie? Come back at once. You are our -stand-by, our victim, our resource, as you have been all along.” - -“Didn’t know you’d want me,” muttered Wylie, returning, and Maurice -perceived that they had arrived at an inopportune moment, but was wise -enough to take no notice. - -“We want you tremendously,” he said. “I must tell you that Eirene is -behaving like a brick. She is willing to marry me as soon as ever it -can be arranged. It’s a proof of confidence I should never have -ventured to ask of her, and if ever I fail to justify it, I hope you -two will just talk to me as I deserve.” He took Eirene’s hand gently -in his, and she gave him a smile which was not far removed from tears, -and then drew back into the shadow behind him, unable to meet the eyes -of the others. “You see,” he went on, “it will save us no end of -bother if we can only get married before the Ladoguins can track -Eirene. It seems that the Professor made it right with the soldiers -who escorted you here, and the gate-keepers, so that no one will know -there was a lady with you, and most happily, no one will dare to make -inquiries openly, lest it should be asked why Madame Ladoguin didn’t -take better care of her charge. The Professor thinks that when they -find no trace of Eirene near the wrecked carriage--for, of course, the -Roumis who attacked her will say nothing, for their own sakes--they -will give out boldly that she was killed in the first explosion. We -can’t let that remain uncontradicted, for the sake of her claims, but -it will be much safer if she only comes forward again as my wife.” - -“Look here,” said Wylie, “I don’t want to spoil your pleasant -arrangement, but where is the danger from Scythia now? The Princess is -of age; how can any one prevent her from marrying you if she likes?” - -“What’s to keep them from saying that she’s under age, or mad, or -anything?” demanded Maurice. “We could call for an inquiry, but she -wouldn’t be allowed to remain with us, and you ought to know, if any -one does, how hard it would be to get at her if they once got her into -their hands again. And besides, they could bring such pressure to bear -that no Greek priest in the world would dare to marry us.” - -“I should like to join Maurice’s Church,” explained Eirene softly to -Zoe, “but he thinks it would be such a good example for the Emathians -if they saw that people of different creeds needn’t necessarily -quarrel.” - -“Poor thing! Is he offering you up as a political sacrifice already?” -said Zoe. - -“But, I say,” said Wylie hastily, “you seem to forget that a religious -marriage isn’t enough. You’ll certainly need a civil ceremony as well, -if not two. Do you propose to drive up to the Scythian Consulate and -request Ladoguin to perform his duties as registrar?” - -“Scarcely,” said Maurice, “though for a long time we couldn’t make out -how we were to manage without his services. A declaration that we were -Sovereign Princes and could legislate for ourselves would hardly meet -the case. But, happily, Eirene has remembered that her father never -surrendered his Dacian nationality. When he went to Scythia he held on -to his estate in Dacia--I suppose to have something to fall back upon -if things went wrong--and now it belongs to her. The simplest thing -would be for us all to migrate there, and be married by the village -pope and at the British Legation, but the trains are sure to be -watched, however unobtrusively. So we must take advantage of the -nearest spot of Dacian ground, which is their Consulate in Therma. The -Professor is on the best of terms with the Consul, for Dacia has not -so far joined in the scramble for influence in Emathia, and sides -rather with the Greeks than any one else. No doubt she hopes to have -her reward some day, but that doesn’t signify now. There’s a church -quite close to the Consulate which is regarded as their special -preserve, so we can have both ceremonies complete.” - -“The Princess will be married fast enough, but I’m pretty sure you -won’t,” objected Wylie. - -“I shall be if the British Consul or acting-Consul is present, and -registers the marriage,” said Maurice. “The Professor has been looking -it up. Now, Wylie, this is where you come in. We want you to get round -your friend Sir Frank Francis. The best of it is”--Maurice’s voice -became unsteady--“that if the Ladoguins have told him anything about -Eirene’s disappearance, he’ll suspect _you_ of having carried her off, -and of wanting his kind offices for yourself. So the first thing -you’ll have to do will be to disabuse his mind on that point. Then you -must swear him to secrecy, and tell him the real state of the case. -Tell him nothing would have induced us to patronise the rival -establishment if we hadn’t felt certain that, if we came to him, his -conscience would have driven him to give Ladoguin an opportunity of -forbidding the banns. As it is, he is only asked to attend at the -Dacian church and Consulate, and register the marriage of a British -subject in the usual way. If he feels that even that is too much, ask -him to take a day off, and appoint his chief clerk acting-Consul for -the occasion.” - -“But if he won’t, what is to happen?” said Zoe. - -“Why, we should have to escape in a half-married condition, and find a -less Scythia-ridden British Consul. But Wylie must put things so -movingly that he won’t have the heart to refuse. After all, I am the -head of Eirene’s family, and who has the right to arrange for her -marriage if I haven’t? And if I choose to marry her myself, instead of -handing her over to some one else, and she doesn’t object, who has any -right to prevent me?” - -“All very well,” said Wylie. “It sounds most logical and convincing, -but you know there are a good many people who both could and would -prevent you. Don’t be afraid; I’ll exhaust my eloquence on Sir Frank, -and if nothing else will bring him, I’ll persuade him it’s his duty to -be present to make sure that I am not marrying the Princess after all. -Well, consider the ceremony safely accomplished. What next?” - -“Next we are to be very snobbish, and send detailed announcements of -our marriage--showing that it means the union of the elder and younger -branches of the descendants of John Theophanis--to the principal -papers of the world. Also, Eirene is to announce it to the various -royalties whose acquaintance she enjoys.” - -“And where are you to be when the announcement bursts upon the -universe?” - -“At home, I hope, for our honeymoon. The Professor seems inclined to -allow us a breathing-space. I can’t quite make out what he’s up to, -but apparently he thinks of nothing at present but getting the wedding -over. I fancy winter is a close time in Emathia, too. I should like to -show Stone Acton to Eirene, and we should be out of the way until the -fuss had blown over.” - -“Well, I hope you mean to apply for police protection,” growled Wylie. - -“Or import a detachment of Pinkerton men from America to garrison the -house, with instructions to shoot at sight any foreigner who appears -in the village,” suggested Zoe. - -“And what next?” persisted Wylie. - -“That’s what I can’t quite make out. Eirene’s got an idea that the -Professor has in his mind’s eye--or even in his actual -possession--some fortified island in the Archipelago, where we might -practise sovereignty, so to speak; but that makes him a sort of -benevolent magician, and I can’t quite fit it in with the other things -I know of him.” - -“Oh, but it’s such a delightful idea!” cried Zoe. “You would stay -quietly in your island when nothing particular was going on, and when -adventures were going to begin, you would be close at hand. But you -must be sure and let me know whenever that is, and I shall come from -the ends of the earth.” - -“But what are you proposing to do?” demanded Maurice. - -“My dear Maurice, allow me a little liberty. You didn’t expect me to -trail about after you and Eirene, did you? I have so many plans that I -don’t know which to carry out first. I am going to write my great -book, and to pose as a Balkan expert in literary society, and to -travel all over the world.” - -“Oh, well, I daresay circumstances will make the decision for you,” -said Maurice, with a significance which Zoe recognised and resented. -There was a touch of defiance in her rejoinder. - -“On the whole, I think I shall choose the literary part first. I shall -shut myself up, and write and write; but every now and then I shall -pounce out on unhappy people who think that the Emathian problem is a -simple one, or who make mistakes in spelling Balkan names.” - -“But who is going to accept you as a critic?” asked Maurice. - -“Every one,” triumphantly. “I have the one great qualification. I have -failed in literature.” - -“But I thought you were going to succeed now. You’ll find yourself in -a glass house--a mark for all the other critics.” - -“Maurice, I have had to tell you before that you were dense, but I am -sorry to have to repeat it in Eirene’s presence. When my success has -come--as soon as ever I am sure of it--I shall start upon my travels. -In Tibet or the Sahara I shan’t be bothered by what people are saying -about me. I shall have quite enough to do with taking care of myself.” - -“I am sorry to break in on these blissful dreams of the future,” said -Wylie, in rather a forced voice, “but the fact is, my extended leave -is nearly out, and my time here is limited. How soon am I to intimate -to Sir Frank that his presence will be required at the Dacian -Consulate?” - -“This day week,” returned Maurice promptly. “Eirene is pledged not to -protest, and the Professor has promised to get her the Patriarch’s -blessing as a reward.” - -“Then I shall just have time to see you through. I sail in the -afternoon.” - -“If there’s any risk, we’ll put the wedding earlier,” said Maurice. -“Don’t mind my feelings; tell me if it’s necessary. I must have you to -support me.” - -“Oh, you’ll have Armitage.” - -“I shall have Armitage anyhow. The Professor says two best men are -necessary. But you I must have--as better best man, I suppose. So let -me know the worst, or I’ll keep you back by force, and get you -cashiered.” - -“Oh, that’ll be all right,” said Wylie, compassionating Eirene’s -blushes. “I hope you realise what a lucky fellow you are, and that the -Princess won’t let you forget it.” - -“How could I forget it, when I have got her?” demanded Maurice. “He -talks treason, doesn’t he, Eirene? Let us depart in dudgeon, and leave -him and Zoe to plot the subjugation of Sir Frank. No, Zoe, we don’t -want you. I am surprised that a person of your discernment should try -to make a third in the walks of an engaged couple. _You’re not the -only one in the family to take up match-making_,” he added in a -whisper, as Zoe sat down again, somewhat discomposed. But the -emergency put her on her mettle, and she turned to Wylie with smiling -coolness as Maurice and Eirene went down the steps into the garden. - -“It’s delicious to see them looking so happy, isn’t it?” she remarked. -“It makes one feel quite choky.” - -“Doesn’t it make you feel that such perfect bliss ought to be -infectious? Don’t you think you and I----” - -“Oh no, please don’t!” she cried. - -“What am I not to do?” - -“Don’t say it. I like you tremendously, of course, and I think you are -the most splendid friend any one ever had, but I want to travel about -for ever so long, just as I like, and write, and be _in_ things, you -know.” - -“Then you haven’t been in things enough the last three months?” - -“I should think not! It has only whetted my appetite for more. Things -are so frightfully interesting. I should like to plunge right into the -midst of life.” - -“Is it absolutely necessary to take the plunge alone?” - -“Oh, I know what you are going to say. But don’t you see that I want -to be without responsibilities for a time? I have always had Maurice -on my mind, but now I can hand the dear boy over with an easy -conscience to Eirene, and do just as I like. I want to be able to shut -myself up and write, or start off on my travels, and go on, or come -back, or break my journey, just as the fancy takes me--not to have to -feel that I ought to be doing anything whatever.” - -“You would soon get tired of that sort of life.” - -“So everybody would say, but I want to try it. But you are better than -most people. You are the only man I ever met who wouldn’t have been -scandalised at what I have said, and done everything to keep me back.” - -“Perhaps I know better than to say all I feel. Or perhaps I am trying -to allure you by a deceptive show of sympathy. Honestly, Zoe, your -life shouldn’t be a dull one if I could help it--with me, I mean,” he -added lamely. “And you can’t think I should try to stop your writing. -I should be awfully proud of your books.” - -“I know. It’s very nice of you to say it, but you don’t understand. -Think of me stuck down in a small Indian station----” Wylie opened his -lips, but closed them again. “You told me long ago you were to be -stationed in a horrid, humdrum little place when you went back. -Nothing would happen, there would be the same dull, deadly monotony of -duties every day--and yet I couldn’t have a writing fit in peace. It -isn’t even as if you were still on the frontier.” - -“It’s rather a good thing I’m not, if your feelings would be liable to -change the moment I was transferred anywhere else. But I should have -thought a quiet, regular life would have been the best possible thing -for your writing.” - -“For manufacturing books, not for writing. Why, just think, if I woke -up one day with a perfectly splendid idea, and wanted simply to sit -down and work it out--not to bother about meals or anything, except -coffee and biscuits, or something of that kind, which I could eat -without thinking about it. You would come--I know you would--and sweep -my books away ruthlessly, and insist upon my taking proper food, and -expect me to be grateful to you for doing it!” - -“And I should be disappointed? Well, I will try to moderate my -expectations. It might come to our both having scratch meals, -surrounded by books, at opposite corners of the table.” - -“No, you would never get like that, and it’s quite right you -shouldn’t. You would have your duties, demanding punctuality and -regularity, and all the things I want to escape from for a time, and -you would insist on them. It would be different if you were more -easy-going.” - -“I’m afraid the woman who marries me will have to take me as I -am--unless she can change me. Zoe, take me in hand, won’t you? I’ll -give you a free hand to make all the alterations and improvements you -like.” - -“But it’s just those very qualities that I like in you. No, you won’t -see. When--I mean if--I marry, I shall really do my duty and settle -down. If I went back with you now, I should sink my own life in yours. -I should think of nothing but seeing that your meals were in time and -as you liked them, and that the house and everything did you credit, -and you would congratulate yourself on having driven all my foolish -aspirations out of my head. And then one day I should wake up to find -that I was growing old, and had done nothing, and the visions had -faded, and I should--_hate_ you. No, I shall never be young again, I -shan’t always feel my heart leap up with a great idea coming -suddenly--I must follow the gleam while I can. It will be different in -a few years, but at present I have such lots of interests, and I can’t -narrow them all down to----” - -“To one man and his career? Well, put it that you spend these years as -you suggest. What then?” - -“Why, whether I succeed or fail, I shall have tried my wings, ‘proved -my soul,’ like Paracelsus. Perhaps the visions will fade naturally, -perhaps they will be more under control. Then I shall have time for -the other side of life.” - -“In other words, you might be willing then to turn to the man who -loved you and had spent his best years waiting for you?” - -“You are trying to make me out perfectly horrid! I--I----” Zoe blushed -and stammered--“I shouldn’t mind very much being engaged, if it was -quite certain that the engagement was a long one.” - -“But I should. Do you really expect me to go on working quietly, not -knowing where you were, or in what wild scrapes you might be involving -yourself? Suppose you were again in circumstances like this summer’s. -Another man is thrown with you, as I have been, falls in love with -you, as I have done; you discourage him steadily, as you have -discouraged me, but he forces an explanation--also like me. You plead -that you are already engaged. ‘Why, what kind of double-distilled fool -can the fellow be, to let you run about by yourself like this? He -can’t care for you much!’ And it would be perfectly just.” - -“I have said more to you than I could ever have imagined I should say -to any man on earth,” said Zoe resolutely, but with a tremor in her -voice. “If you won’t wait, it is not for me to offer concessions. Why -are you so impatient?” - -“Because life is short and apt to end suddenly, I suppose. What’s the -good of talking, Zoe? I want you, and you don’t want me, and that’s -all about it.” - -“Oh,” said Zoe impulsively, “when you talk like that, I have a feeling -as if I saw your real self for a moment. The rest of the time you seem -not to be putting forth all your strength. If you did, I---- What is -it?” - -“It is just that. I believe that if I looked you straight in the eyes, -and said, ‘Come,’ you would come. I could make you listen to me, but I -won’t. I don’t want my will merely to triumph over yours; I want your -sober judgment to decide that you care for me enough to give up -everything else, no matter what, for my sake, and not regret it.” - -Her puzzled face was a mute request to him to go on. - -“Remember what I have learnt, since I knew you first, about your -brother’s future prospects. The Professor has been rubbing it in -diligently. If Teffany’s claims were once recognised, or even -influentially taken up, think of the gulf between you and me. Married -to a poor and undistinguished soldier, you would be heavily -handicapped; free, you could aspire to almost any position. Unless you -really loved me, heart and soul, you must feel that I was a drag on -you, and resent it, and I--I could stand anything but seeing you -repent that you had married me.” - -“Oh, how unkind you are!” cried Zoe. “As if anything that could -possibly happen could make me change! Why, if I were a princess, and -you came in as a stranger, I should step down to you and hold out my -hand.” - -“And I should kiss it and pass on.” - -“You are cruel. Don’t you see how terribly I should be wanting you if -I did such a thing as that? Oh, promise, promise, that if I ever do it -you won’t pass on!” - -Wylie laughed bitterly. “What a queer girl you are!” he said. “Your -eyes are full of tears at the mere thought that you may want me some -day, and yet you won’t take me now.” - -“I was feeling it as if it was in a book,” murmured Zoe shamefacedly. -“But you will promise?” - -“No, I won’t, because I shouldn’t do it. I shall do my level best to -forget you from the day I leave this.” - -This was high treason, and cried aloud for condign punishment. - -“Can you forget when you like?” asked Zoe incisively. - -“No, I wish I could! It won’t be much comfort for me, away in the -Soudan, to think of you wandering about the world and getting into all -sorts of difficulties.” - -“The Soudan? But aren’t you going back to India?” - -“No, I am to be lent to the Egyptian Government for special work in -the Soudan. That was how I got longer leave.” - -He went away abruptly, and Zoe gazed after him with mingled feelings. - -“Of course we shall meet again,” she said to herself. “It’s all -nonsense about forgetting. He can’t forget if he really cares. And we -shall be older then, and more tolerant, and get into one another’s -ways better.” A vision crossed her mind of herself and Wylie placed -farther apart by the passage of years, both more fixed in their own -ways and opinions, each finding it more difficult to understand the -other, but she brushed it aside. “I have a right to live my own life, -just as he has a right to try and get me to live his, if he can. I -wonder whether he could have made me marry him, as he said? It would -be hard to refuse, I know, if he had looked at me. I--I almost wish he -had tried. And why didn’t he tell me about the Soudan until just at -the end?” - -She wondered in vain, but Wylie vouchsafed enlightenment later to -Eirene, who felt that her own engagement supplied a vantage-ground -from which to stretch out helping hands to those who were less -fortunate in their love affairs. With the gracious little air of -condescension which she had now laid aside in Maurice’s case, she took -Wylie to task. - -“The Soudan is just what Zoe would love,” she said. “You should have -told her about it sooner--quite at the beginning. Why didn’t you?” - -“Because I didn’t want her to marry me merely as a purveyor of -adventures.” - -“You are a very rude man,” said Eirene, with dignity. - -“Sorry,” said Wylie. “It’s not the first time you’ve had that against -me, is it?” - -“But it makes me unhappy that you should manage things so badly, for -you are the very person for Zoe.” - -“You mustn’t flatter my self-conceit by agreeing with me. She doesn’t -think so, you see.” - -“Oh, but she will, some day. Don’t think me meddling, prying”--she -blushed--“but you won’t suddenly marry some one else in despair, will -you?” - -“There won’t be much chance of marrying any one where I shall be,” he -said, looking down at her kindly, “so I can reassure your mind by -saying that it’s in my work I hope to forget all this.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXV. - “POUR MIEUX SAUTER.” - -Maurice and Eirene were married. In the little church of Hagios -Gerasimos, Maurice the servant of God had been crowned for Eirene the -handmaid of God, and Eirene the handmaid of God for Maurice the -servant of God. They had drunk of the Common Cup, walked in procession -round the church with the crowns held over their heads by the -groomsmen, exchanged wedding-rings, to Maurice’s surprise and -gratification, and they had been dismissed with the blessing of -Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. Sir Frank -Francis was duly present to register the marriage. Wylie had again -displayed his diplomatic powers by laying siege first to Lady Francis, -whose fertile imagination, defying probabilities and dates, swept her, -as soon as she heard his story, to the wild conclusion that he had -been wooing Eirene for his friend during those trying weeks when he -had maintained so assiduous a watch on the Scythian Consulate. Even -when approached through the person who might be presumed to know his -weak points best, Sir Frank was not easy to persuade. His promise of -secrecy prevented his revealing everything at once to M. Ladoguin, but -he declared long and loudly that he would have nothing to do with any -clandestine, hole-and-corner business. It was by working on his -feelings of sympathy for Eirene that his wife at length extorted his -consent. The poor girl would be indubitably married; was it to be -thought of that her bridegroom should be bound only by honour? Once -away from Therma, he might or might not repeat the ceremony before a -British Consul, and was it just to subject the bride to such a risk? -Maurice would certainly not have recognised his own character had he -heard Lady Francis expatiating on the danger of Eirene’s too probably -finding herself a deserted wife, and Wylie was filled with grim -amusement when the injustice of it occurred to him; but the natural -desire of an honest man to see that a young fellow did honestly by the -girl who trusted him carried the day over Sir Frank’s sense of his -duty to his colleague. Two stipulations he made, which were promptly -accepted, namely, that he should see Eirene alone before the ceremony, -in order to ascertain her true wishes and make sure that she was not -breaking any former contract of betrothal, and that on the day after -the wedding he should be allowed to make a clean breast of the matter -to M. Ladoguin. - -The arrangements of the wedding-day were curious, for though the -wedding itself was obliged to take place in the morning to allow Wylie -to be present, the ship in which the bridal pair and Zoe had taken -their passage for England did not sail till the evening. Accordingly, -after the ceremony Armitage escorted Wylie to his steamer, and the -rest of the party returned to Kallimeri, Eirene wearing Greek peasant -costume and passing as the maid of Madame Panagiotis, for there was to -be no relaxation of vigilance until they were safely at sea. Zoe was -in specially high spirits, accusing the bride and bridegroom of -sharing the sense of depression which is usually believed to settle -down upon a wedding-party after the departure on their honeymoon of -the chief actors. - -“Stuff!” said Maurice. “Why, my wedding-ring alone would keep me from -being depressed,” regarding his hand proudly. “It’s really awfully -swagger. Makes a man feel so undeniably married, don’t you know?” - -“Oh, that’s all very well,” said Zoe. “It’s no use trying to wear a -mask before me. You forget that I have an advantage which no other -living bridesmaid possesses. I am like the Infant Phenomenon, going -away with Mr and Mrs Lillyvick on their wedding tour. Have you read -‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ Eirene? Not? What a lot of things we have to -teach her, haven’t we, Maurice?” - -“There’s one thing I should like to teach you, and that is to know a -good man when you see one,” growled Maurice. - -Zoe turned upon him. “If you think you are doing Captain Wylie any -good by the way you have behaved to me all this week, you are very -much mistaken,” she said. “Any one would think I was a child who -didn’t know her own mind, instead of a reasonable being, acting -deliberately. I told him exactly how I felt, and he understands. He -doesn’t wish to marry me while I feel as I do; he said so. And now I -hope you will leave off treating me in this absurd way, as if I was in -disgrace, and allow me the liberty I allow you.” - -“Oh, Zoe, Maurice didn’t mean that!” cried Eirene anxiously. “He was -only so sorry for Captain Wylie.” - -“I hope, Maurice,” said Zoe, unappeased, “that you realise how -detestably you have behaved, when you see that it’s necessary for -Eirene to interpret your intentions to me.” - -She left the verandah with great dignity, but found herself confronted -by Armitage on the steps. - -“Oh, are you back already?” she cried. “Well, did you see him off?” - -“Yes, the steamer was actually punctual; we had barely time, in fact. -He begged me to give his farewells and good wishes all over again. I -only stayed to watch him out of the harbour, and hurried back here, -because I thought Mrs Teffany might let me make a sketch of her in -that Greek dress. It’s awfully fetching, and I shan’t have another -chance.” - -Armitage was to wait until the next steamer, so as to cover the -retreat of the rest, or rather, to find out if any measures were -likely to be taken against them. What his paper thought of his long -delay at Therma he did not inquire, trusting to be able to placate it -with a terrific double-page drawing of the city on the night of the -dynamite outrages, as seen from Kallimeri, as well as by a whole -supplement illustrating the adventures of his friends, whose capture -by the brigands had first brought him south. - -“If you would stand just as you are now, leaning against that pillar, -Mrs Teffany,” he continued persuasively. “You see, I have your husband -in Greek dress already, and I could work up the two sketches into a -tremendously telling portrait.” - -“I bag it, then,” said Maurice. “All right, Eirene, let him do it if -he’s taken that way. It’s only like being photographed at an ordinary -wedding.” - -“It ought to have been a group,” objected Zoe, whose anger had -evaporated before the duty of arranging Eirene so that her costume -showed to the best advantage. With skilful fingers she pulled out here -and patted down there, until Armitage begged her not to make the -effect too studied. - -“Talking about groups, we really ought to have had one taken before -Wylie left,” said Maurice. “Just the four of us who were captured -together. He always seems rather left out, and yet he worked so -tremendously for us.” - -“Oh, that reminds me,” said Armitage. “I can’t help thinking”--he went -on, with some embarrassment--“at least, I know I should like to be -reminded if it was my case. It doesn’t seem quite fair to Wylie---- -You know he paid your ransom?” - -“No!” cried Maurice. “I thought my bankers did it. Why, this explains -the apologetic, self-congratulatory letter they wrote to me this week. -I was too busy to bother about it, but I was going to ask for an -explanation when I got home. Wylie paid, you say?” - -“I believe the Professor raised some of it. But I know Wylie scraped -together fifteen thousand, by selling out every shilling of his -investments, and mortgaging the little place he has in the north. You -see, your bankers had refused to advance the money, and the brigands -had sworn to kill you if it wasn’t forthcoming.” - -“But why in the world has he said nothing about it? What a set of -ungrateful brutes he must think us! Oh, I say, this is the rankest -thing I ever heard!” cried Maurice, tramping about the verandah in his -perturbation. - -“Why, you see, the money didn’t actually ransom you. The brigands -bagged it all right, but Scythia had been beforehand with us, and we -might as well have chucked it into the sea. I only found out Wylie’s -feeling about it just now. He forbade me to say a word to you--said -his pay gave him enough for his wants, and his place would do as well -with a mortgage on it as without--but I thought you ought to know.” - -“I’m jolly glad you did!” cried Maurice. “I feel a perfect hound. -After all Wylie has done for us--and everything----” - -Zoe had risen suddenly and gone down the steps, her face resolutely -turned from the rest, her hands clenched until the nails made deep -marks in the palms. A rush of overwhelming shame, unavailing regret, -had swept over her. Stiffly she walked along the garden paths, guiding -herself instinctively, her head held rigidly, her eyes seeing nothing. -Presently, in the shelter of a clump of bushes, out of sight of the -verandah, Eirene caught her up. - -“Oh, Zoe, don’t look so dreadful!” she entreated. “He must know you -didn’t know.” - -“‘There are strange punishments for such,’” came harshly from Zoe’s -lips. “It’s only what I deserve.” - -“But,” suggested Eirene timidly, “Maurice will pay him back. He won’t -really suffer.” - -“It’s not that. It is that he could do it, and say nothing, even -when---- Oh, Eirene, you don’t understand, you can’t understand. Be -thankful you can’t. You didn’t shut your heart against love; you took -it and were thankful. I chose to live my own life, and I have got it.” - -“But if he really cares----” ventured Eirene, with increasing -nervousness. “Oh, Zoe, I don’t like to say it, but if I could do -anything----?” An angry flush rose to Zoe’s face, but faded quickly. - -“No, you can’t. He knows me now as I am, you see, and it would be no -use. You understand, Eirene, there is nothing to be done--nothing -whatever. Swear that you won’t try anything.” Eirene promised hastily. -“Just let me alone for a little. I should like to go out somewhere and -howl, but that would attract attention. Leave me alone here and go -back to the others. I shall be all right presently.” - -Eirene obeyed, the more readily that the sight of Zoe in this mood -frightened her horribly. A sense of duty had made her follow her, but -she ran back gladly to the verandah and Maurice. He met her below the -steps, and she nestled close to him. - -“Oh, Maurice, I am so glad I have you!” she whispered. “It is horrible -to be a woman alone, even if you can’t help it.” - -Into the meaning of this cryptic utterance Maurice did not inquire, -but it was some little time before he rearranged the floating odds and -ends of the Greek dress, and led her up the steps into the field of -view of the patient Armitage, demanding sternly what she meant by -running away when she was sitting for her portrait. She was posed -afresh against the pillar, and Armitage went on with his sketch, but -it seemed that fate was warring against its completion. Only a few -strokes had been added when Professor Panagiotis appeared on the -verandah and invited Maurice’s attention. - -“It is rather a serious matter, though the cause is a trifling one,” -he said. “Perhaps you would prefer to discuss it privately?” - -“I knew we were not married enough!” groaned Maurice. “Wylie always -said we ought to have four weddings at least, and we have only had two -and a half--counting Sir Frank’s presence as the half. Well, Eirene, -you’re just as much concerned as I am, so you had better come. Put in -some background or something, can’t you, Armitage, while we’re gone?” - -The Professor ushered them into his private room with some ceremony, -as though to remind them of the position they held in his plans for -the future. On the table lay a document written on parchment in Greek -characters. - -“It was about this that the slight difficulty arose,” said the -Professor. “I thought it well to draw up a brief statement of the -circumstances of your marriage, with the signatures of the witnesses, -in view of possible developments. One copy you would take to England -and place among your family papers, the other I would either entrust -to the custody of the Œcumenical Patriarch or put in a safe place of -my own, as you prefer. In these days of dynamite, one can never be -sure that some night the British and Dacian Consulates will not be -blown up simultaneously, and both the original registers destroyed. I -have the signatures of the Consuls, you see, but unfortunately Papa -Sotirios, the old priest whom we chose to perform the ceremony on -account of the simplicity of his character and his detachment from -politics, makes a difficulty. You noticed, of course”--turning -suddenly to Maurice--“that you were described in the service as ‘the -Orthodox Prince Maurice, son of Theodore,’ just as your bride was -termed ‘the Orthodox Princess Eirene, daughter of Nicholas’?” - -“Not I,” said Maurice. “I knew it was Greek he was reading, and of -course I grasped the general drift, but I couldn’t follow his -pronunciation a bit.” Eirene’s eyes were anxious. - -“Well, it is really very troublesome and absurd,” said the Professor, -in hearty, paternal tones, “but it seems Papa Sotirios observed that -you did not venerate the ikons on leaving the church, and when I saw -him afterwards, he insisted on knowing whether you were truly -Orthodox. It sounds ridiculous, but actually, in the hurry of -arranging for the wedding, and the difficulty of doing so without -arousing notice, I never thought of mentioning that you had not yet -joined the Greek Church. Your name disarmed suspicion, and the -Patriarch sent his blessing, as Papa Sotirios performed his office, in -ignorance of your schismatical standpoint.” - -“But does that vitiate the marriage?” cried Maurice. “Nonsense! of -course it can’t. The civil ceremony in the presence of the two Consuls -can never be upset.” - -“Oh no, quite so,” said the Professor hurriedly. “Nothing can touch -the validity of the marriage. But in the eyes of the people, you -see--well, any informality about the religious ceremony----” - -“Would the marriage not have been allowed to take place if it had been -known that I was not a Greek?” demanded Maurice. - -“Well, it is true that, strictly speaking, mixed marriages are -forbidden. Of course, the prohibition often yields to special -circumstances. And as the marriage has taken place, I don’t see that -its religious validity could be questioned. It is merely that we ought -to avoid the slightest suspicion of any informality in your case. You -must remember that Prince Christodoridi will be on the watch for any -flaw in your title from the moment you come into the public eye.” - -“But according to him, my title is nothing but a series of flaws, by -what you told me at first. You said he would declare every foreign and -non-Orthodox marriage in my family a bar to my succeeding.” - -“Exactly, but--there is a further consideration. From that point of -view, the Princess, your wife, has now contracted a heterodox -marriage, and therefore loses her right of succession, the only one -incontestably superior to Prince Christodoridi’s.” - -“Well, but what’s to be done?” cried Maurice, after a pause of dismay. -“We must be married over again, I suppose. But no, that would be no -good, and you say they wouldn’t allow the wedding to take place. I -have always known that my rights were not worth much if the bigots got -the upper hand, but I can’t let my wife lose her rights through me. I -suppose you have something to suggest?” - -“A very simple and practicable expedient, happily. You have only to -announce your adhesion to the Orthodox Church at once. A brief -renunciation of the errors of your former schismatical creed, and a -profession of faith--equally short--uttered in the presence of Papa -Sotirios and other accredited witnesses, will put everything right.” - -“But how? I don’t see----” began Maurice. - -“The conversion and the marriage will have taken place on the same -day,” said the Professor, patiently and impressively, “and it will -naturally be accepted that the conversion came first. The priest will -be glad to fall in with the wishes of so distinguished a convert, the -Consuls can say nothing either way, as the subject was not broached in -their presence, my silence may be relied on. The Princess’s claims are -safe, while yours are infinitely strengthened.” - -“But I have no intention----” - -“It will merely be anticipating a step which you must have taken -eventually, and which will come from you now with a much better grace. -No one not belonging to the Orthodox Church could be considered as a -serious candidate for the heritage of John Theophanis.” - -“And yet you have invited me to consider myself a serious candidate -without saying a word about this?” - -“The thing was so obvious that no mention was needed. It was certain -that the necessity would force itself upon you as soon as you -considered the question at your leisure.” The Professor’s tone was -bold, but his eyes were shifty. - -“Well, it hasn’t. What’s more, the exact opposite has. If I had felt -any drawing towards the Greek Church before I came to Emathia, what I -have seen would have altered my views. My object is to unite the -Emathian Christians, not to accentuate their divisions. To throw -myself on the side of the Patriarchists would make every Slav in -Emathia my bitter enemy. Why, I would almost rather turn Exarchist, as -my wife is already enlisted on the Greek side.” - -“A heterodox Emperor is no Emperor,” said the Professor, with deadly -meaning. - -“A good many of my ancestors were not particularly Orthodox,” said -Maurice drily. - -“All the Christians in Emathia--Greeks and Slavs alike--would unite -against the heretic who dared to aspire to----” - -“I’m very glad to hear it,” Maurice broke in. “First time in their -history they ever united for or against anything. I should have -achieved a triumph. But I don’t believe they would. If they have never -united against the Moslem they would scarcely do it against me.” - -“Are you so false to your race that you could bring yourself to adopt -a neutral, even a hostile, attitude towards it?” cried the Professor. -“Are our sufferings, our sacrifices, our efforts towards emancipation, -clogged by the dead weight of the sullen indifference of the Slavs, -nothing to you?” - -“I think the Greeks are getting hard measure at present, undoubtedly, -but it’s only what they have given in the past. Your ignorant, -avaricious priests and self-seeking Bishops and Patriarchs have much -to answer for in alienating the people upon whom they were forced. -Your men of letters have stifled all culture but their own, and they -have their reward in a population bitterly hostile to Greek and -ignorant of everything else.” - -“Mr Teffany,” said the Professor angrily, “this is very fine, but it -is not business. It is absurd to think that the party I represent will -consent to throw its influence on the side of a candidate who derides -its most cherished institutions and ideals. I ask you plainly, are you -prepared to join the Orthodox Church and accept whole-heartedly the -Hellenising programme of the Greek party in Emathia, as the price--if -you choose to call it so--of its support of your claims?” - -“And I answer you plainly--I am not.” - -“Don’t decide hastily,” urged the Professor. “You may not be aware -that since your rescue I have made some progress in sounding the -representatives of the Powers on the subject of your claims. Sick of -the clamour for reform, and the slight success of the steps already -achieved, they did not turn an unfriendly ear. A Christian -Governor-General, with the support of the most influential section of -the population assured to him, ought to succeed, and the neutral -Powers seemed to think so. There remain Scythia and Pannonia. Scythia -never fights against the inevitable; you are far more likely to suffer -from her patronage than her hostility. Pannonia cannot afford to be -outdone in unselfish magnanimity by Scythia. In fact, the signs are so -favourable that we cannot pause. If you desert us, we must press the -claims of Prince Christodoridi, whose way will be cleared by your -destruction of the claims of the Princess, your wife.” - -“Eirene,” said Maurice, “do you want me to secure your rights at the -Professor’s price?” His tone was harsh, and Eirene knew the reason. He -could not be sure which side she would take. She responded to the -unuttered appeal. - -“Not at the price of your conscience. Do what you feel is right. Our -claims remain as just as they ever were.” - -Maurice’s hand sought hers in the joyful assurance of confidence not -misplaced. “My wife and I are agreed,” he said. “We maintain our -independence.” - -“I am sorry to hear it, but there is no more to be said. You have -chosen your own course, and you know the consequences----” The -sentences shot out venomously. - -“Most certainly, but we hold ourselves at liberty to take any steps -that may commend themselves to us in support of our rights. We are -still the heirs of John Theophanis, and both the common law of Europe -and actual Byzantine usage are on our side. Come, Eirene.” - -They left the Professor moodily gnawing the end of a penholder at his -table, and once outside the room, Maurice put his arm round his wife. -“You know I would rather have cut off my right hand than married you -if I had known what you would lose by it,” he said. - -“Maurice,” she said quickly, “you know I don’t mind. If you had -yielded to him, it would have destroyed all my faith in you. I was -afraid--oh, dreadfully afraid for a moment, that you would do it for -my sake, but something seemed to keep me from saying a word. And now -I am glad. But you don’t see”--she broke into something very like -hysterics--“that even what he wanted you to do would not have put -things right. It would only have been a trick, a dishonest compact -between you and him and the priest. I should have married a schismatic -after all!” - -“By Jove, so you would!” cried Maurice. “The Professor’s too deep for -me. Why, he would have had us completely under his thumb. If we had -kicked, he would only have had to hint that the priest’s conscience -was becoming uneasy about his share in the business, or that he -himself could give Prince Christodoridi an important piece of -information if he liked, and we should have had to cave in. Little -girl, we have not only told the truth, but shamed the--tempter!” - - * * * * * * * * - -“‘My native land--good night’!” said Maurice impressively, looking -back from the deck of the steamer at the semicircle of twinkling -lights which represented Therma. - -“‘A long, a last adieu’!” said Zoe, not without regret. - -“Not a bit of it!” said Maurice. “We’re only going to recruit our -strength for further efforts.” - -“My dear boy,” said Zoe solemnly, “Cambridge ought to reject you with -ignominy, and Oxford gather you to her bosom with tears of joy. You -are a lost cause in yourself.” - -“I’m a made man,” declared Maurice, feeling Eirene’s hand creep -sympathetically into his. “I came out with an open mind and a sense of -duty. Now I have a wife whom I have robbed of her rights. Clearly I am -bound in honour to recover them for her.” - -“Men always say that it’s women who lose sight of a cause in an -individual,” said Zoe sententiously. - -“I don’t quite follow you, Zoe. I am the cause--the lost cause--you -said so just this minute; and Eirene is the individual. Oh, I see--and -we are one. That’s all right.” - - THE END. - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES. - -Sydney C. Grier was the pseudonym of Hilda Caroline Gregg. - -This book is part of the author’s “Balkan Series II.” The series, in -order, being: _The Heir_, _The Heritage_, and _The Prize_. - -The second image was missing from the PDF I used to prepare this book, -so I had to use a secondary source of inferior quality. A quality copy -will be substituted if it ever becomes available. If you can provide a -better copy of this image please contact Project Gutenberg support. - -Alterations to the text: - -Punctuation corrections: quotation mark pairing. - -[Title Page] - -Add illustrator’s credit and brief note indicating this novel’s -position in the series. See above. - -[Images] - -Images that divided a paragraph were moved to either the beginning or -end of said paragraph. - -[Chapter II] - -Change “Don’t be _estatic_, Zoe” to _ecstatic_. - -[Chapter VII] - -“said Zoe _thoughfully_” to _thoughtfully_. - -[End of Text] - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEIR *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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Grier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Heir</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Sydney C. Grier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: George Percy Jacomb-Hood</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 16, 2021 [eBook #66751]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEIR ***</div> - -<div class="tp"> -<h1> -THE HEIR -</h1> - -<span class="font80">BY</span><br/> -SYDNEY C. GRIER -<br/> -<span class="font80">AUTHOR OF<br/> -‘AN UNCROWNED KING,’ ‘THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES,’<br/> -ETC.</span> - -<br/><br/> -<i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE PERCY JACOMB-HOOD</i> - -<br/><br/> -(<i>First in the Balkan Series II.</i>) - -<br/><br/><br/><br/> -WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS<br/> -EDINBURGH AND LONDON<br/> -<span class="font80">MCMVI</span> -</div> - - -<div class="fig" id="img_000"> -<a href="images/img_000.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_000_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -<i>Maurice, his arm gripped by one of the brigands, ... trudged silently -beside her horse.</i> -</div></div> - - -<h2> -CONTENTS. -</h2> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch01">I. DE JURE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch02">II. OF THE STOCK OF THE EMPERORS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch03">III. THE ORIENT EXPRESS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch04">IV. A FULL STOP</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch05">V. THE JEWEL-CASE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch06">VI. A TRAP</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch07">VII. A NIGHT’S LODGING</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch08">VIII. THE HISTORY OF A DAY</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch09">IX. ONE TOO MANY</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch10">X. THE OTHER SIDE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch11">XI. TOO MUCH ZEAL</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch12">XII. THE DIVINE FIGURE OF THE NORTH</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch13">XIII. THE FALLING-OUT OF FAITHFUL FRIENDS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch14">XIV. AN EMISSARY</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch15">XV. THE GIRDLE OF ISIDORA</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch16">XVI. HAGIOS ANTONIOS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch17">XVII. UNMASKED</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch18">XVIII. “SPLENDIDE MENDAX”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch19">XIX. ART WITH A PURPOSE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch20">XX. BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch21">XXI. “THERE’S MANY A SLIP——”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch22">XXII. UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch23">XXIII. A FUSION OF INTERESTS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch24">XXIV. THROUGH ANOTHER MAN’S EYES</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch25">XXV. “POUR MIEUX SAUTER”</a> -</p> - - -<h2> -ILLUSTRATIONS. -</h2> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_000">MAURICE, HIS ARM GRIPPED BY ONE OF THE BRIGANDS, ... TRUDGED SILENTLY -BESIDE HER HORSE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_012">“THIS IS WHAT WILL INTEREST YOU MOST, I EXPECT,” SAID MAURICE, ... -UNROLLING A LONG PARCHMENT SCROLL AS HE SPOKE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_138">“TAKE YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF HER, YOU BRUTE!” GROWLED MAURICE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_184">“WELL, I SHALL SIT OUTSIDE AS LONG AS I CAN,” SAID EIRENE OBSTINATELY.</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_206">“WHY, THERE IS A LITTLE HOUSE AT THE VERY TOP! HOW DO THEY GET UP?”</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_226">TOUCHED EIRENE’S HAND WITH A HIGHLY WAXED MOUSTACHE.</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi_1"> -<a href="#img_318">“I CAN’T BEAR YOU TO GO.” “BUT I MUST,” SHE MURMURED.</a> -</p> - - -<h2> -THE HEIR. -</h2> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ch01"> -CHAPTER I.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">DE JURE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">I really</span> feel quite guilty,” said the Master of St Saviour’s -College to the distinguished foreigner whom he was escorting to the -Senate House. “Your time in Cambridge is so short that every moment -must be needed for your work.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray do not reproach yourself, sir,” replied Professor Panagiotis, -with the deliberate precision of one who has learned English from -books. “What greater honour could be afforded me than permission to -observe the contests of your youthful heroes for the rewards of poetry -and oratory?” -</p> - -<p> -“You mustn’t expect too much,” said the Master, with some anxiety; -“though if it had been merely the usual recitation of prize exercises, -I should have left you in peace in the Library. But the subject of the -English Poem has such a close connection with that of your great -book—not, of course, that it was intentionally chosen; merely a -coincidence,” he added conscientiously—“that I felt you ought to be -present.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am entirely agreed with you,” responded the author of the famous -German work on the fall of the Eastern Empire, wondering why his host -was so determined not to let him see a compliment where none was -meant. “The subject, then, is historical?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Fall of Czarigrad,” replied the Master, “and the medal has come -to a St Saviour’s man, which has not happened for many years. I -understand that he studied your book very carefully before writing his -poem, and that is my reason for dragging you here.” -</p> - -<p> -It was in the Professor’s mind to wish that his book had not been -studied, as he sat in the Senate House and heard various agitated -young men, their faces vying sometimes with the white of the M.A. -hoods and sometimes with the Doctors’ scarlet, declaim compositions in -various languages, with all the grace and dignity to be expected from -extreme nervousness subject to the perpetual encouragement of -well-meaning friends. Latin the Professor despised, and the Cambridge -Greek, from the difference of pronunciation, he scarcely recognised as -his own language, but the English Poem roused in him a certain amount -of interest, though he felt a mighty longing to relieve the author of -the task of reciting it. The medallist was fortunate in being pale, -and not red, for Professor Panagiotis considered blushing a purely -feminine exercise, but he shared with his fellows the English -incapacity for letting himself go. In his most thrilling passages the -note of shamed self-consciousness was clearly audible, and he endured -the applause accorded him with a stolid resignation that seemed to -inquire why he could not be allowed to perform a distasteful duty in -peace. This was the more irritating to Professor Panagiotis because -the poem, whenever he could catch the words, struck him as remarkable. -The author had chosen as his theme the final day in the long struggle -of the Cross against the Crescent, when the Moslem tide overflowed at -last the grand bulwark of Christendom, and the Emperor John Theophanis -fell fighting as a common soldier in the breach. The recital was -placed in the mouth of the Emperor, and the description of the night’s -vigil, the dawn of the fatal day, the fanatic fury of the assault, the -desertion of the Christian cause by its allies, and the last desperate -fight, into which Theophanis was to hurl himself, determined to -perish, impressed the listener with a curious sense of realism. He had -lived for months and years among the records of these scenes, but he -could not have described them with the sure hand of this -undergraduate. The tale was plain and unvarnished, the telling crude -and bald, but as the fragmentary lines, unassisted by any rhetorical -graces in the reciter, reached the hearer, he felt such a thrill as -the unadorned narrative of an eyewitness might produce. The young man -must be a poet of quite unusual power, and Professor Panagiotis forgot -the manuscripts awaiting him at the Library in the determination to -cultivate his acquaintance. -</p> - -<p> -“But, my dear friend, you have a genius there!” he cried, when the -Master rejoined him at the close of the ceremony. “Who is this poet of -yours, whose name I could not hear on account of the noise of the -envious relatives of his fellow-students?” -</p> - -<p> -An irrepressible smile crossed the Master’s face, but he answered with -all gravity. “Teffany—Maurice Teffany—a third-year man. He goes down -next week, after he has taken his degree.” -</p> - -<p> -“Teffany! <i>Himmel und Erde</i>, is it possible?” cried the Professor. -“And yet I might have known. The thing is the most extraordinary -coincidence! Pardon me,” as his host looked at him in surprise, “but I -have associations with the name. I am all interest. He is the pride of -the college, this young man?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all,” said the Master, laughing. “In fact, it’s a curious -case. Teffany has always been rather a puzzle to me. He is not what -you would call a popular man, but he has exercised a good deal of -influence in a quiet way. I must confess I found him a little -disappointing, especially in comparison with his sister, a very clever -girl. She used to attend my lectures with other Girtham students, and -did extremely good work for me, showing a distinct capacity for -original research. Teffany worked well, but in a plodding, uninspired -sort of way. I was always irritated by the feeling that we had never -yet hit on his special line.” -</p> - -<p> -“But now—since this poem—you can have no doubt?” asked Professor -Panagiotis quickly. -</p> - -<p> -The Master shook his head. “I am still doubtful,” he said. “I asked -his tutor to find out whether he had done anything else in the -poetical line—one would expect reams of amateur verse, you know—but -there was not a scrap. He had never written verses before, and he -seems to have no wish to do it again.” -</p> - -<p> -“The young man interests me,” said the Professor. “His name alone——” -he stopped abruptly, as though he had changed his mind. “Quite -independently of his name, I mean.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, of course, his subject would appeal to you,” said the Master -unsuspiciously. “You would like to meet him, perhaps? I will invite -him to dine with us to-night. He has reflected honour on the college, -and I shall be glad to mark my sense of it.” -</p> - -<p> -At dinner that evening Professor Panagiotis scanned his neighbour -narrowly whenever he found an opportunity. To him, as to the Master, -the young man was a disappointment. He was extraordinarily ordinary. -Neither tall nor short, neither dark nor fair, neither foppish nor -careless, neither talkative nor silent, he seemed in no way -distinguished or distinguishable. It was only on comparing him with -the other guests that the Professor arrived at a conclusion which gave -him something of a shock. There was a strength and decision about the -jaw and chin which did not amount to obstinacy, but suggested that the -owner might be difficult to turn aside, and a steady calmness about -the eyes which bespoke an indisposition to be hurried. -</p> - -<p> -“The worst type in the world to manage!” was the Professor’s inward -groan. “I must do what I can to gain his confidence, but I foresee it -will be necessary to approach him through the brilliant sister.” -</p> - -<p> -Presently Maurice Teffany found himself addressed by the distinguished -guest, the great Greek man of letters who had made his German -university famous all over the world. His previous silence, coupled -with his keen glances, had made him appear somewhat formidable, but he -now talked pleasantly enough, and the young man became confidential on -the subject of the prize poem, which he seemed to his questioner to -regard as a huge joke. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s an utter fraud, my getting the medal,” he said. “It ought to -have gone to my sister—or perhaps to you, sir. My sister was awfully -keen on my trying for it, because there were a lot of old books about -Czarigrad which we were very fond of as children, but I hadn’t the -slightest idea of it. Then this last winter I sprained my ankle badly -at the very beginning of the vac.—only about six weeks before the -poems had to be sent in—and couldn’t get out, and she gave me no -peace. She had your book, and she translated all the most thrilling -bits and read them to me, and then—well, it got hold of me somehow, -and I seemed to know all about it. So I just wrote it down, and she -criticised it, and copied it out for me, and it got the medal! The -Master says it’s brutal and rugged and everything that a poem ought -not to be, but that there’s <i>vision</i> in it—whatever he may mean by -that.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you agree with him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I suppose so. Anyhow, he’s sure to know the right thing to say. -You see, sir, I don’t feel that I wrote it. It just came—as if I had -been there and seen it. My sister and I always call it ‘The Finest -Story in the World’ between ourselves—but perhaps you don’t know -Kipling?” -</p> - -<p> -“I fear not, if you allude to some English writer on the subject of -reincarnation. But I am going to ask you a rude question on a point of -psychology. Is it possible that the poem was actually your sister’s -composition, but that she impressed it upon your mind, so that you -accepted and wrote it as your own?” -</p> - -<p> -Young Teffany considered the matter gravely, and then laughed. “Rather -not!” he said. “Zoe’s an awfully clever girl, and writes a good bit, -but she has never dabbled in poetry any more than me. She was just as -much surprised at the way the thing turned out as I was. And as to -making her poem pass into my mind without my knowing it—why, she -couldn’t do it. I’m as certain of that as I am of anything, though I -think a lot of her—but of course I don’t tell her so.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear sir, you have already grasped one of the main secrets of the -management of the female sex,” said the Professor sententiously. “But -may I suggest a variation of your reincarnation theory? I am at -present engaged in following up my larger work by tracing the -dispersal of the Greeks who survived the fall of Czarigrad, and it -occurs to me that your family may be descended from one of them.” -</p> - -<p> -He scanned his companion’s face closely, as though to discover whether -the idea was new to him, but the young man only laughed. “A case of -inherited memory? I’m afraid it’s no go, sir. There’s nothing in the -least Greek about us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Four centuries of English marriages would go far to obliterate racial -traits,” was the dry reply. “Your Christian name is Greek, at any -rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“All our names are. It’s a kind of tradition in the family. My father -was Theodore, and his father and grandfather were both Constantine. -However far back you go, it’s always Basil and Gregory and so on for -the men, and Dorothea and Katharine and names of that sort for the -women.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is very curious,” with repressed eagerness. “And you are sure -there is no tradition of a Greek ancestry?” -</p> - -<p> -“None that I know of. But my sister would be a better person to ask. -She’s had flu., you know, with a touch of bronchitis, or else she’d -have been here to-day, and she said she was going to forget her -sorrows in rummaging among the family papers. There are a few at home, -and some at the lawyer’s. But really, I’m afraid there’s not much to -find out. We have only been settled at our present place for sixty or -seventy years—horribly new, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then where was your family established before that?” The Professor -leaned forward anxiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, somewhere in the wilds of Cornwall. My grandfather could just -remember the old place. My sister and I talk sometimes of making a -pilgrimage down there—seeking the cradle of our race, you know—but I -believe it’s only a farmhouse now.” -</p> - -<p> -“The cradle of your race!” with measureless contempt. “My dear Mr -Teffany”—the Professor modified the eagerness of his tone as his -hearer looked at him in astonishment—“I must see those papers—any -family relics you may possess. What this identification, if it is -established, may mean to me—to you—I hardly dare think. I—I had -traced the family of which I am in search as far as Penteffan on the -Cornish coast, and there all sign of them was lost. This is like new -life to me. You will not refuse your help?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course, we shall be glad to do anything we can,” was the reply, -given without effusion. “Penteffan was the name of my -great-grandfather’s place, certainly. We have a picture of it—‘The -Seat of Constantine Teffany, Esq.’ Will you come down with me next -week, and look over the papers with my sister—if you are not afraid -of the flu.?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; I have paid toll to the devil,” replied the Professor -hurriedly. His hearer interpreted the somewhat startling assertion -correctly as referring to the influenza-fiend, and they proceeded to -discuss ways and means. It was settled at last that Maurice should go -home the next week, as he had intended, and obtain the papers of which -his lawyer had charge, and that the Professor, who was to receive an -honorary degree from the University, should follow as soon as -possible, when they would go through the documents together. -</p> - -<p class="spacer"> -* * * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, an awful blow!” Zoe Teffany sprang up to meet her brother as -he put his head in at the door of the library where she was at work. -“I believe our name is really Smith!” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s cheerful. What makes you think so?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, I was tidying the top shelves of the bookcases, and I found a -lot of grandpapa’s old schoolbooks, and every one of them had ‘C. -Smith’ or ‘Constantine Smith’ inside. Then I remembered those old -letters of great-grandmamma’s—about buying this place, you know—and -when I looked at them they were all addressed to ‘Mrs Smith.’ The -address was written in the middle of one side of the paper, in the old -way—there were no envelopes—and I had not noticed it when I saw them -before.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a frightful sell for Professor Panagiotis!” chuckled Maurice. -“Shall we wire, and put the old fellow out of his misery?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no! Why, it mayn’t be true; we’ll hope it isn’t. I have been -looking at everything else I can think of, to try and be certain one -way or the other, and I can only find the name Smith just when -grandpapa was a boy. His parents were Teffany before he was born, and -we know he was Teffany when we knew him. What can it mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, since he was a small boy at school when he called himself -Smith, it can hardly mean that he had done something and was in -hiding. There’s one piece of comfort for you, at any rate. But I tell -you what, I’ll ask old Lake, when I ride over to-morrow to get the -papers. He ought to know, if any one does.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do; and be sure and hurry back. I shall be dying to know. I hope -there’s some romantic reason, at any rate. Smith is such a terribly -unromantic name. Couldn’t you go to-day?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely, since my appointment with Lake is for to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how prosaic you are—talking of appointments, when you ought to -saddle your fleetest steed and spur him headlong over hill and dale to -discover the truth!” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, I’m not a budding novelist, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, only a full-blown tragic poet.” Zoe raised her voice as Maurice -beat a hasty retreat. The varying literary fortunes of the two -afforded endless opportunity for mutual chaff, but whereas Zoe gloried -in her abortive efforts at fiction, on the ground that they were too -good for any publisher to accept, Maurice was inclined to be ashamed -of his success. The romantic was Zoe’s province, not his, and the only -excitement he felt over her momentous discovery was due to the -possible disappointment in store for Professor Panagiotis, for whom he -had conceived a certain distrust, due to his mysterious hints and -half-revelations. There was no enthusiasm, therefore, in his tone when -he entered the library on the following afternoon. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he said, “our name is Teffany all right. I have interviewed -old Lake, and you may sleep in peace. There was a reason for the Smith -business, and I suppose you would call it romantic. I call it -cracked.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do tell me!” cried Zoe. “Was it a feud?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nobody knows. Lake could only tell me what his father told him, and -what they guessed. His father had just gone into the office when our -great-grandmother and her little boy arrived in the neighbourhood -about seventy years ago. She had excellent bankers’ references, and -began to negotiate for the purchase of this place. She told them that -she was left sole guardian of her son, and that she had been obliged -to remove from her former part of the country on account of grave -dangers threatening his life. For safety’s sake, they would be known -for the present by the name of Smith. She was a handsome woman, and -the Lakes thought there must be some revengeful discarded lover in the -case. She bought this place and lived here unmolested, and when her -son was twenty-one, he resumed the name of Teffany, which the lawyers -heard then for the first time. At the same time, he sold Penteffan, -which had been managed by a London firm. He would have liked to go -back there, but his mother objected so vehemently that he humoured -her, especially since the old house had been allowed to fall into -decay. The Lakes could never discover anything to account for her -horror of the place, except that the people remembered two foreigners -coming and making inquiries about the family soon after she left. -That’s absolutely all they know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, how thrilling!” cried Zoe, drawing a long breath. “Do -you think the house was haunted? or—no, I am sure it was smugglers. -Perhaps she had betrayed them to the revenue officers, and they meant -to kidnap her child in revenge. I wonder if there’s anything about it -in the papers you have brought. Shall we look at them now?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, nonsense! Leave them till the Professor comes. Let’s go and see -how the new croquet-lawn is getting on.” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor arrived the next day, casting keen, curious glances -about him. The sober stateliness of the house, the old family -servants, the unobtrusive perfection of every detail indoors and out, -and the easy kindliness of the young master and mistress—all were, so -to speak, noted in his memory and labelled for reference. He remarked -also Zoe’s unconcealed eagerness for the hour when the family papers -were to be examined, and the tolerant resignation with which Maurice -awaited it. He would find the motive force in the sister, the staying -power in the brother, he assured himself again. -</p> - -<p> -“This is what will interest you most, I expect,” said Maurice, when -they had retired to the library after dinner, unrolling a long -parchment scroll as he spoke. “It is our family tree, properly drawn -out.” -</p> - -<p> -Professor Panagiotis peered at the document with a hungry look. “You -are right,” he said; “it is priceless. Your family has dwindled -strangely, Mr Teffany. I cannot tell you how many collateral branches -I have followed up, only to find that they died out, while the direct -line was in existence unknown to me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, my sister and I are the sole representatives of the name, as far -as this pedigree shows,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly—so far as this pedigree shows,” agreed the guest, comparing -the document with the entries in a note-book which he had brought with -him. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, look!” cried Zoe. “Isn’t it funny? Do you see that the -beginning of the parchment is sealed down? There must be some secret -charge, or something of that sort, inside.” -</p> - -<p> -“Lake said that our grandfather sealed it in his presence,” returned -Maurice. “But it must have been sealed a good many times before, to -judge by all the old seals.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear, I hoped it would reveal the mystery!” sighed Zoe. The -Professor looked up sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“My sister gave us a great fright two days ago,” explained Maurice. -“It appears that my grandfather and his mother adopted the name of -Smith for about fifteen years after they moved here from Penteffan.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_012"> -<a href="images/img_012.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_012_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“<i>This is what will interest you most, I expect</i>,” <i>said Maurice, ... -unrolling a long parchment scroll as he spoke.</i> -</div></div> - -<p> -“Indeed?” with growing excitement. “This gives me my last link, -explains the one fact for which I could not account—the sudden and -absolute disappearance of the Teffanys from Penteffan seventy-two -years ago. I could find no record of the death of the widow of the -last proprietor and her infant son, and yet I could not succeed in -tracing them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you know who the foreigners were who made inquiries?” “Then you -can explain why she called herself Smith?” burst from Maurice and Zoe -simultaneously. -</p> - -<p> -“I can explain it now. The foreigners were delegates from the Greek -National Assembly, seeking a leader whose very name would rally round -him the contentious factions that disgraced the cause of liberty, each -fighting for its own hand. The widowed Mrs Teffany, herself the -daughter of an Englishman who had fallen in the cause of Greece, had -too little faith in that cause to devote her son to it, and removed -him effectually out of sight.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why should they want a little boy of five, who couldn’t even -fight?” cried Zoe. “It wasn’t as if he was a king.” -</p> - -<p> -“He would have been proclaimed king, doubtless. It was not the person, -so much as the name, that was of importance.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why the name? Is there something we don’t know? Is it here, under -these seals?” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly.” The Professor cast a side glance at Maurice. “Mr Teffany -desires me to continue?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, yes!” cried Zoe, as Maurice nodded. “Tell us, quick!” -</p> - -<p> -She seized the parchment, but the Professor removed it from her hands. -“It is your brother’s right,” he said. “He is the head of the house. -You observe that the pedigree goes back to Alexius Teffany, who -settled in Cornwall in the sixteenth century. Now break the seals, -sir, if you please. You observe that Alexius was the son of John, who -was the son of Manuel, who was the son of Basil——” -</p> - -<p> -“Who was the son of John Theophanis, Roman Emperor, who died -gloriously on the walls of Czarigrad!” shrieked Zoe. “Oh, Maurice, -isn’t it splendid?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is not all,” said Professor Panagiotis. “You, Maurice Teffany, -are at this moment the rightful Emperor of the East.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch02"> -CHAPTER II.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">OF THE STOCK OF THE EMPERORS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Oh</span>, Maurice!” gasped Zoe, almost voiceless in her excitement. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Maurice, perhaps with greater carelessness than he felt, -“it sounds very nice, but plenty of people are the rightful something -or other, and it makes no difference to practical politics. Besides, -there’s almost certain to be some flaw.” -</p> - -<p> -“Flaw!” cried the Professor, “no flaw is possible. Here is the table -of your descent, as kept by your family, agreeing exactly with that -which I have compiled from old local histories and the registers and -monuments at Penteffan. Every member of the family in direct descent -is buried there, except one.” -</p> - -<p> -“And there the chain breaks, I suppose?” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“By no means, sir. The missing Nicholas is buried in Westminster -Abbey. Doubtless he died when on a visit to London.” -</p> - -<p> -“Westminster Abbey!” breathed Zoe softly. “Think of having a relation -buried there, and not knowing it!” -</p> - -<p> -“This will interest you,” said the Professor, passing her a paper. It -was the copy of a seventeenth-century entry in a marriage register, -and she read the name of the bride aloud. -</p> - -<p> -“‘<i>Eugenia Theophanes, de stirpe imperatorum</i>.’ Oh, and that——” -</p> - -<p> -“That is what you are,” said the Professor, with a bow. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Zoe Theophanes, de stirpe imperatorum</i>,” she murmured under her -breath. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be ecstatic, Zoe,” said Maurice sharply. “What difference can -it make, our knowing this? It’s quite clear that our grandfather knew -it, and it made no difference to him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, he knew it,” agreed Professor Panagiotis, glancing from the -pedigree on the table to the decorations of the room, in which the -family crest, a golden eagle with its feet resting on two gates, was -unobtrusively repeated again and again. Zoe had been her grandfather’s -assistant in designing the frieze and the carvings of the high -mantelshelf, little guessing the meaning attaching to them in the old -man’s mind, or that the two gates were those of Rome and of Czarigrad. -</p> - -<p> -“He spent his life quietly here, doing his duty to his tenants,” -persisted Maurice, as though combating something that had been said. -</p> - -<p> -“He did,” responded the Professor; “but when he reached manhood, and -learned for the first time of his lofty ancestry, the present kingdom -of Morea had long been established under a German prince. In the -crisis of 1862, his countrymen, ignorant of his existence, made no -attempt to summon him to their head, and a constitutional -reticence—resembling, shall I say, that of his grandson?—withheld -him from putting himself forward, so that the crown passed without -opposition to the present Cimbrian ruler.” -</p> - -<p> -“I presume you are not suggesting that I should deprive King William -of Morea of his throne?” asked Maurice, with an angry laugh. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said the Professor emphatically. “The Morean kingdom, grievously -as it has disappointed the hopes fixed upon it, may be disregarded -until the day comes for it to take its place among the federal States -of the revived Empire. It is Unredeemed Greece which claims your -attention—the only portion of Europe still groaning under the Roumi -yoke.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see; you are an Emathian agitator,” was the chilling answer. -</p> - -<p> -“I am and I am not,” replied the Professor. “I am an Emathian Greek, -cherishing warm hopes of the deliverance of my country; but I have -nothing in common with those bands of miscreants which, financed and -directed by interested committees in Thracia and Dardania, have -brought the name of Emathia into discredit throughout Europe by their -wholesale assassinations. I hold them in the utmost detestation. Even -the Roumis are less to be feared.” -</p> - -<p> -“No connection with any one else in the same line of business,” -murmured Maurice. “Surely,” he observed aloud, “you would do better if -you could unite into one body all who had the same object in view? -Then you could moderate the Balkan passion for assassination, and they -would bring you a welcome accession of numbers and money.” -</p> - -<p> -Professor Panagiotis laughed bitterly. “Your words prove that you -share the usual English ignorance of the state of affairs in Emathia,” -he said. “To the schismatic Thracians and Dardanians, an Orthodox -Christian is equally hateful with a Roumi, and the same treatment is -meted out to him.” -</p> - -<p> -“A pleasant prospect for the future!” said Maurice. The Professor -turned upon him almost savagely. -</p> - -<p> -“Joke, jest, mock, Mr Teffany—anything to drive away from your mind -the conviction that you are called upon to espouse the cause of your -country, your subjects! This is the difference between your case and -your grandfather’s—that the crisis which had not arisen in his day -now confronts you. We Emathian Greeks are faced by an organised -conspiracy to despoil us, slay us, make renegades of us—in fact, to -wipe us out, as you would say, from our own country.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how is it? who is doing it?” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“The schismatics, with Scythia working behind them,” was the reply. -“By immemorial right and tradition Emathia is a Greek country, but -agitators are being sent among the people—ours predominantly by race, -converted, shepherded, educated by us—to persuade them by bribes and -threats to declare themselves Thracians, Dardanians, even -Dacians—anything that may give colour to the fiction of Slav descent, -and consequently alienate them from us.” -</p> - -<p> -“But which are they really? Or are they so mixed that they may be -anything?” -</p> - -<p> -“The mixture of races and languages is extraordinary,” conceded the -Professor unwillingly. “But in the incredible confusion that exists, -we Greeks alone present a clear issue. Until recently, every Christian -in the Roumi dominions was styled a Greek without question, and if our -people are not tampered with, we can continue to supply them with -education and religious ministrations, and confine their agitation for -release from Roum within legal limits. But this unites against us all -the aspiring nationalities—as they call themselves—that covet -Emathian territory, and the result is that our churches are -desecrated, and whole families massacred for the sole crime of -fidelity to Orthodoxy. I dare not recount in the presence of your -sister the fate that has befallen young Greek schoolmistresses, living -unprotected in the villages of the parents of their pupils.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why send unprotected girls to run such risks?” -</p> - -<p> -“The girls accepted them of their own free will,” returned the -Professor smartly. “They placed the Greek cause—the cause of their -race—above life itself.” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you want me to do?” demanded Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Your countrymen in Emathia need a rallying-point, a hope. Inevitably -many of them succumb, less to the temptations held out than to the -reign of terror that surrounds them, and declare themselves Thracians -or Dardanians. A Thracian or Dardanian priest takes charge of them, a -school follows, and the next generation will actually be Thracians or -Dardanians by education. But let it be whispered among them secretly -that a deliverer is at hand, that the descendant of their ancient -rulers is waiting to place himself at their head, and they will hold -out. At the same time, the minds of the wealthy Greeks in the cities, -in Czarigrad itself, will also be prepared, and when the outrages of -the revolutionary committees have stirred Europe from its lethargy, we -shall appeal against them. The impossibility of discovering a suitable -ruler for Emathia, who would also be acceptable to its inhabitants, -has been the great difficulty of the past, but when a man appears who -has actually the right to rule, and yet is willing to stand as the -nominee of the Powers, as Vali, Commissioner, Prince—what you -will—they must accept the solution with relief, from pure weariness -of the subject. It has been the case already in Minoa. Once you were -established, the Roumis could not long hold Czarigrad. For four -centuries they have occupied European soil, though only as birds of -passage. They will leave no monuments, their very houses are temporary -lodging-places. They have always kept one eye on Asia, and when the -moment comes they will return thither—perhaps without striking a -blow. You will have delivered Europe from its most shameful stain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, you will do it?” entreated Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t understand,” said Maurice harshly. “The Professor is -talking of success, but what about failure? And this is not the kind -of thing that can be lightly begun, and laid down if it seems to be -going to fail. If we once take it up, we can never drop it.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe would have remonstrated, but the Professor stopped her. -</p> - -<p> -“Your brother is right, Miss Teffany,” he said, “and I rejoice at the -spirit in which he approaches the matter. That he should perceive so -clearly that the contest can end only with his life, and yet -contemplate entering upon it, gives me the most vivid hope for the -future. But as I have been instrumental in placing this choice before -him, may I be permitted to make a suggestion? Do not decide at once, -sir. Pay a visit to Emathia, and do me the honour of being my guest at -my villa near Therma. My house in the city itself is untenanted during -the summer, but in the hills you and your sister will find the climate -pleasant and salubrious. My wife, a most estimable woman, with the -heart of a cook and the form of the Niederwald Germania, will rejoice -to display for your benefit the resources of her skill.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if you are constantly exposed to these revolutionary raids, a -country house can scarcely be safe for ladies,” said Maurice, -frowning. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a Roumi garrison not far off, and I am on good terms with -the officers. You must understand that, before quitting my -professorial chair at Benna, I had become heir to the very -considerable possessions of a relative. All that I own is consecrated -to the Greek cause, and a portion of it smoothes my way with the Roumi -authorities, and thus enables me to maintain communication with the -Greeks scattered throughout Emathia. The Committees accuse us, of -course, of being traitors to the Christian faith, but can they wonder -that we should prefer the Roumis to such Christians as they are? But -come and visit me at Kallimeri, and you shall see the state of things -for yourself. You shall meet the leaders of the Greek party, and you -shall have every opportunity I can contrive to become acquainted with -the methods of the Slav propagandists. You are committed to nothing -unless you choose.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will think about it, and give you an answer to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, to-night, to-night!” entreated Zoe. “Think of the copy I -could get! I shan’t sleep a wink.” -</p> - -<p> -“To-morrow,” replied Maurice inexorably, and Zoe went to bed murmuring -“<i>Zoe Theophanes, de stirpe imperatorum</i>,” with loving iteration. -</p> - -<p> -“You mustn’t think that Maurice is slack or cold-hearted,” she said to -the Professor, meeting him in the garden the next morning. “He won’t -be hurried into anything, and he never lets any one make up his mind -for him, but when once he sees that a thing is right, he holds on to -it like grim death.” -</p> - -<p> -“Precisely my own reading of your brother’s character,” agreed the -Professor. “Shall I confess that I was at first a little disappointed -at not finding in Mr Teffany that enthusiasm for our persecuted -compatriots which is so manifest in his sister? But I perceived -quickly the tenacity of his purpose—a quality which it is even more -important to enlist on our side.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Zoe warmly, “if he once decides to join you, you will -never be disappointed in him. He is so thoroughly dependable. Of -course, I never let him know what I think of him,” she added -inconsequently—“it wouldn’t be good for him—but he is splendid. Very -few men would have gone to college, as he did, at a good deal over the -usual age, after practically managing the estate for my grandfather -for years. But he felt it was the right thing to do, and as soon as he -was free he did it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely you did the same?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I went up to Girtham at the same time. But a girl is always -thankful to get an education, you know, just as a boy is always -thankful to escape it. So you won’t hurry Maurice, will you, or try to -influence his judgment?” -</p> - -<p> -“My lips are sealed, unless Mr Teffany himself addresses me on the -subject. But I am infinitely indebted to Miss Teffany for her -warning.” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor’s thanks gave Zoe an uncomfortable feeling of disloyalty -to Maurice, and, in flat contradiction of the advice she had just -given, she attacked her brother on the momentous subject when she saw -him next. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, you will do it, won’t you? It is so splendid to think of -your driving the Roumis from Czarigrad, and establishing peace in -Emathia.” -</p> - -<p> -“The question at present before the House is that of our summer trip,” -was the discouraging reply. -</p> - -<p> -“But that shows you are inclined to take up the matter, doesn’t it? If -it doesn’t, why hesitate about going to Therma?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I can’t bring myself to trust the Professor absolutely. I -should object to be entirely in his hands.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know; I saw you were not quite satisfied. But why?” -</p> - -<p> -“Did you like the way he spoke of his wife? I should have thought that -would have rubbed you the wrong way at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Maurice, it was a whole life’s tragedy compressed into two -lines! I thought how artistically he did it, revealing the state of -affairs without unduly obtruding his sorrows upon us. I do adore a -light touch.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t talk shop! Well, then, didn’t it strike you how determined -he was that we should see everything in Emathia from one side—his -side, of course? It isn’t reasonable that the Greek Emathians should -possess all the virtues and the other fellows all the vices. I want to -know what the Thracians and Dardanians have to say for themselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, perhaps you will be able to manage that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not if I am exhibited from the very beginning as the private property -of Professor Panagiotis. The man may be perfectly straight, but it’s -unlikely, to say the least, that he doesn’t expect to reap a full -equivalent for any services he may render.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you think he would want to be Premier or something?” -</p> - -<p> -“Something a good deal more, I should say. Keeper of my conscience, -power behind the throne, and that sort of thing. And you see, he has -the game in his hands. I have nothing but my name, he has the sinews -of war, the local knowledge, the political organisation, and he thinks -that corners me. ‘Such cunning they who dwell on high Have given unto -the Greek.’ No, I haven’t decided, Zoe. I’m thinking it out, and if I -can see a way of going to Therma without delivering myself over body -and soul to Panagiotis, you shall have your trip. I know that ‘copy’ -is more important than anything in heaven or earth.” -</p> - -<p> -Somewhat abashed, Zoe retired, and if she said little, thought the -more until, after dinner, Maurice again suggested a move into the -library. She waited in breathless suspense. -</p> - -<p> -“My sister and I have been talking over your kind invitation, sir,” he -said, rather formally, “and if you can assure us on one or two points, -we shall accept it with pleasure. It is understood that we come purely -as your private guests, and that we are at liberty to cultivate the -society of the opposite party, as well as of your own friends, as far -as opportunity offers?” -</p> - -<p> -“You shall enjoy every opportunity that I can give you,” returned the -Professor heartily. “I will not pretend that Committee leaders are -often to be found near Kallimeri, for the Roumi garrison close at hand -is too strong, but their dupes, the peasants, you will be able to -question. And as for your first condition, I shall surprise you by -asking for a greater degree of privacy than you expect. I am going to -request that you will conceal your too-significant surname under an -alias.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t see the necessity,” said Maurice stiffly. -</p> - -<p> -“Without this precaution, I cannot guarantee your safety. Consider, my -dear sir; the difference between Theophanis and Teffany is not so -great but that their identity may occur to a watchful enemy—or to -many at once. Then you and your sister are at once set up as a target -for the efforts of the many whose interest it is to have you removed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then there are other claimants?” asked Maurice, conscious that Zoe -had turned a little pale. -</p> - -<p> -“Who is not a claimant? The King of Thracia would like to add Emathia -to his dominions, but we need not fear him since he has got rid of his -English Prime Minister. That firebrand, the Princess Dowager of -Dardania, who filched from us the province of Rhodope a few years ago, -intended to merge her son’s petty principality in a State comprising -the whole of Emathia. She has now quarrelled with him, but she -continues her intrigues on behalf of her younger son, an officer in -the Scythian army. I need not remind you of the desires of Scythia, -Pannonia, and Morea, and you have always to consider the revolutionary -committees, many of whose members are fanatical republicans. No, Mr -Teffany, I cannot accept the responsibility of your visit unless you -will consent to pass by a less distinctive name.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well,” said Maurice reluctantly, this sudden turning of the -tables upon him serving, perhaps, to stimulate his unfixed resolution. -</p> - -<p> -“Then we will be Smiths, of course,” said Zoe joyfully. “We have a -hereditary right to the name, and it is splendid for an alias, because -no one will think it is one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Moreover,” proceeded the Professor, “you must remember that you are -not altogether unprovided with relations, outside the limits of that -pedigree there. For instance, your ancestor Alexius Theophanis, the -first of the name to settle in England, came to Cornwall from Italy, -where many of the Greek families preserved their nationality and faith -for more than a century. He left there a sister, Eudoxia, who married -Romanos Christodorides, and became the ancestress of the powerful -family of Christodoridi, Despots of the island of Strio. Her -descendants would not succeed until after those of her brother, of -course.” -</p> - -<p> -“And they would naturally not be sorry to see the brother’s -descendants wiped out, you mean?” suggested Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Hardly that. Prince Christodoridi would probably prefer to base his -claim on the invalidity of the marriage of Alexius Theophanis with a -foreigner and a member of another church, contrary to the law of the -Imperial house.” -</p> - -<p> -“If that’s true, he holds a pretty strong card,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“The law was disregarded several times,” said Zoe quickly. “Gibbon -says so.” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor regarded her approvingly. “Quite so. But as we do not -wish to incite the Christodoridis to take action, we will not bring -your existence to their ears before it is necessary. In any case, -Prince Christodoridi’s claims are unimportant. The Emperor John, your -heroic ancestor, left another son and two daughters besides your -progenitor Basil. Anna, the eldest daughter, married Boris, Grand -Prince of Scythia, and carried the blood of the Cæsars into the -Scythian Imperial house. Helena, the younger, married into the Dacian -family of Gratianco, from which is descended the mother of Prince -Timoleon Malasorte, the Neustrian Imperial claimant. But these claims -through females are merely curious. The only person whose right at all -approaches yours is the descendant of Leo, second son of John -Theophanis. About forty years ago the officiousness of Scythian agents -ferreted out in Dacia an obscure landed proprietor directly descended -from Leo. He was invited to Pavelsburg, decorated, given the title of -Royal Highness, with estates and a pension to support it, and -complimented with the hope of being restored to his ancestor’s throne. -Of course there was no thought of fulfilling the promises made him; -the only intention was to keep him under surveillance. He wore out his -life in fruitless attempts to get his cause adopted, and when I -managed to approach him, as I have now approached you, he had not the -energy to take the steps to which my advice and the detestation he had -conceived for Scythia would have urged him. He left only a daughter, -and it was this disappointment which sent me to England to make one -more attempt to trace the descendants of Basil. A male heir in the -male line is what we want. The work before us is not for women.” -</p> - -<p> -“This man was a Theophanis, then?” asked Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Prince Nicolai Andréivitch Féofan—so they call it in Scythia. It -seems that his family had preserved the memory of their Imperial -descent through the centuries, though fear of the Roumis kept them -from disclosing it. When he was summoned to Pavelsburg, he thought it -only an ante-room to Czarigrad, and when he found himself deceived, he -wished to retire to Dacia again, but this was not permitted. At his -death, he was little better than a State prisoner, and he left his -daughter in the same position. No doubt a marriage will be arranged -for her with one of the less important Grand Dukes, that her claim -also may be safely vested in the Imperial family.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor thing!” said Zoe. Now that Maurice’s claim was incontestably -established to be the strongest, she felt a curious pity for the girl -who must believe herself to be what Maurice actually was, the rightful -inheritor of the glories of the Empire of the East. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch03"> -CHAPTER III.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE ORIENT EXPRESS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Not</span> more than three weeks later, Maurice and Zoe stood on the -platform of the Gare de l’Est, about to enter upon the second stage of -their journey eastwards. Professor Panagiotis had urged that they -should start as soon as possible, before the increasing heat should -make railway travelling disagreeable, but he scouted Zoe’s suggestion -that they should go when he did. Their visiting him at Kallimeri would -attract quite sufficient attention, he said, and it was most important -that no idea of their being connected in any way with his political -schemes should get abroad. He had made the arrangements for their -journey, procuring them passports as Maurice and Zoe Smith, and, at -his suggestion, Maurice had requested his bankers to honour cheques -bearing their signatures in these names. It was understood among their -friends that Zoe had persuaded Maurice to take her to Eastern Europe -that she might lay the scene of a novel there, and she gave colour to -the opinion by the number of note-books of different sorts and sizes -which made her luggage heavy, if not bulky. These were destined to -cause endless trouble at the several frontiers, for the official mind, -unable to understand why so many blank volumes should be needed, -conceived the idea that they contained Anarchist literature written in -invisible ink, and insisted on subjecting them to severe tests. But -this was still in the future, and Zoe was rejoicing in the imminent -prospect of romance, to be not only written but lived. During the few -hours they spent in London, she had dragged Maurice to Westminster -Abbey, that they might visit the obscure grave of “Mr Nicholas -Thephany.” Maurice refused sternly to allow her to take a wreath for -it, but she succeeded, behind his back, in dropping upon the stone the -handful of carnations which had been tucked into her belt. -Unfortunately, they were carefully gathered up and returned to her by -a polite verger, which spoilt the significance of the act, and exposed -her to Maurice’s sarcasms. But nothing could detract from the joy of -having an ancestor buried in the Abbey, or of tracing one’s lineage -back to the Cæsars. -</p> - -<p> -At the Paris station Zoe’s eyes met Maurice’s, in a kind of -half-ashamed smile, across the pile of luggage conspicuously labelled -“Smith,” while he was directing the porter, but before she had time to -make any remark a uniformed attendant approached. -</p> - -<p> -“The other ladies of Monsieur’s party are here,” he said, and they -followed him mechanically, too much astonished to protest. He led the -way to a compartment intended for four, in which two ladies were -already seated, one elderly, with an almost aggressive air of high -breeding, the other a girl rather younger than Zoe, in a smart -travelling-gown, which had not come from the hands of any English -tailor. Zoe, surveying it from the satisfactory standpoint of her own -workmanlike coat and skirt, remarked mentally that it simply shrieked -“Vindobona!” The ladies’ luggage, which occupied the other two seats, -was labelled “Smith.” With a wave of his hand the attendant motioned -Maurice and Zoe to enter, and departed. Zoe imagined that he received -an approving glance from the younger lady, who sprang up and began to -move her possessions. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we are to be fellow-passengers, then?” she cried pleasantly, -speaking with a slight foreign accent. “That is excessively agreeable. -Pray come in.” -</p> - -<p> -“There must be some mistake——” began Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“A mistake? But let us convert it into an advantage! We shall be -delighted to enjoy your society.” -</p> - -<p> -“Edith! Heart’s dearest!” cried the other lady, speaking English with -an obvious effort, “you outrage the proprieties, you affront Monsieur -and Mademoiselle. Recall the position, I beg of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“It does not seem to me that Monsieur and Mademoiselle are in the -least affronted,” said the girl readily, but with a heightened colour. -“Is it not natural for us to travel together—as compatriots, and -doubtless distant relations?” with a little bow which had a suspicion -of mockery in its politeness. -</p> - -<p> -“You are very kind——” said Zoe stiffly, but the elderly lady -interrupted her. -</p> - -<p> -“Did I not tell you so, Emily?” Zoe intercepted an angry glance of -warning from the girl. “The young lady is scandalised—shocked—at -your behaviour. Pray do not persist.” -</p> - -<p> -“We are very much obliged,” said Zoe firmly, “but we have chosen our -seats elsewhere, and our things are waiting for us.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you could have them brought here,” suggested the irrepressible -Miss Smith. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, but we are going to have dinner as soon as the train -starts.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, we have dined already, but after this evening we might share a -table. Why are you so little kind?” the girl’s voice followed Zoe -pleadingly as she closed the discussion by turning away. She had an -odd feeling of self-reproach, though she had only acted in the most -prudent and proper way, and Maurice offered her no comfort. He could -not bring himself to say that the unconventional invitation ought to -have been accepted, but it was evident he thought she might have -managed to decline it without hurting Miss Smith’s feelings. It was -not until they were half-way through dinner that the sense of -constraint produced by the incident wore off, and Zoe felt inclined to -talk freely. -</p> - -<p> -“I feel so delightfully thrilled!” she said, leaning back luxuriously. -“My heart always leaps up when I see the words ‘Orient Express’—just -as the sight of a cabin-trunk with a P. & O. label makes me think of -the Black Hole and the Mutiny and all sorts of interesting things—and -now to be actually on board! Have you found out yet which is the -compartment always reserved for an emissary of the British -Government?” -</p> - -<p> -“Patience, patience!” entreated Maurice. “Give a man a little time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I have spotted the man—the emissary I mean,” said Zoe -triumphantly. “He has J. G. W. on his bag, and he is a soldier and has -been in India, and he has the most startlingly blue eyes I ever saw.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, why startling?” asked Maurice tolerantly. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, with that brown face and fairly dark hair you expect dark eyes, -and it gives you quite a shock when he looks up and you see how blue -they are.” -</p> - -<p> -“I expect the startling man with the blue eyes got a shock when he -looked up and found you staring at him. I know the fellow you mean, -but when you managed to find out the details of his personal history -beats me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Purely inference, my dear boy. Any one could see he was a soldier, -and he has the Indian look about the eyebrows.” -</p> - -<p> -“My good girl, Sherlock Holmes was nothing to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, so much! I believe he is a King’s messenger.” -</p> - -<p> -“Inference again, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, he seems to have something on his mind. I can’t quite decide -whether he’s in charge of something very precious, or whether he has -lived so much among enemies that he’s got into the habit of being -always on the alert for an attack.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s just as well you are a little modest, for I’m pretty certain -that a King’s messenger wears a badge of some sort, and lugs a -despatch-box about with him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, you are dense! Of course he is on very special service, -and has been warned not to exhibit anything that would reveal his -identity.” -</p> - -<p> -“And he is so clever in concealing it that he lets himself be spotted -by the first girl he runs across who’s been reading detective stories! -Tell you what, I’ll make up to him and break his self-betrayal to him -gently. He really ought to know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, don’t ask him outright what he is! It’s so much more -interesting to think of him as a King’s messenger than as somebody’s -nephew on his way to spend part of his leave at Czarigrad. He doesn’t -look important enough for a military attaché.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Zoe, you really must curb your unbridled imagination. -You’ll have the whole train peopled with mysterious personalities in -no time. By the bye,” with elaborate carelessness, “what do you make -of our namesakes?” -</p> - -<p> -“Mrs Smith may possibly have married an Englishman,” meditatively, -“but her name is the only English thing about her. As for the girl, -her name is no more Smith than——” -</p> - -<p> -“Ours is!” cried Maurice. “The plot thickens. Go on.” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe she is a Scythian spy,” said Zoe calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, draw it mild! That girl? I say, this fitting people with -imaginary characters is all very well, but you have no right—— Do -spies generally go about chaperoned by elderly aunts?” -</p> - -<p> -“If it is her aunt. Why, Maurice, don’t you see? She has designs upon -the document which the King’s messenger is in charge of, of course, -and even the very youngest and greenest of King’s messengers would be -suspicious of a fascinating unchaperoned young lady by this time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I should have said if she had designs on any one, it was on -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s only a blind. No; I see it! She isn’t sure about the -King’s messenger. He has effaced himself so carefully that she is -wavering between you and him. My presence may be intended to divert -suspicion from you, as the aunt’s is from her, and she will try to -attack you by getting round me. Then in the night I shall catch her, -with a dark lantern, ransacking my dressing-bag, because she will -think I have the document concealed in it. There, Maurice!” -</p> - -<p> -“If you must make up these idiotic things, you might as well try to -put just a touch of probability into them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Probability! Why, it’s all but certainty. Of course, she’s not a -professional spy. She is some one of very high rank who has got -herself into the power of the Scythian Government, either by gambling -or by being mixed up in political movements. That explains why, with -all her anxiety for our acquaintance, she was determined to keep me in -my place. Don’t you know how gratified a City lady feels when she has -been presented to Royalty at a bazaar? She tells all her friends how -affable the dear Princess was, but that no one would dream of taking a -liberty with her. I don’t in the least want to take liberties with -Miss Edith Emily Smith, but she is afraid I might, and so she adopts -this superior tone. Oh, Maurice, if she only knew! Isn’t it perfectly -lovely to think of?” -</p> - -<p> -“The waiter has been watching despairingly for your plate for some -time,” said Maurice. “When you have quite finished, I shall be glad to -go and get a smoke.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you are to be sure and make friends with the King’s messenger, -mind,” said Zoe, hastily finishing her dessert; but Maurice replied -darkly, as he turned towards the smoking-car, that he would not -promise. -</p> - -<p> -Returning to her own compartment, not without a secret intention of -glancing in at Mrs and Miss Smith as she passed, Zoe had a narrow -escape of falling headlong over a travelling-bag which the younger -lady, with reckless disregard for the safety of the public, was -thrusting out into the corridor. The offender was profuse in her -apologies. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how careless I am!” she cried. “You might have hurt yourself -seriously. I should never have forgiven myself if my negligence had -injured you, of all people.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your malignity, rather, for it’s quite clear you did it on purpose,” -was Zoe’s mental comment. “Why am I so much more precious than all the -other people on board?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, because——” with arch hesitation—“because of that mistake about -our names, you know, and because you and I are the only young girls in -the train. Certainly we ought to help one another.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should say you needed about as little help as any person I know. -And you needn’t try to flirt with <i>me</i>!” thought the unbelieving Zoe. -“How could I help you?” she inquired aloud. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, come and talk to me a little. My aunt is always sleeping. I feel -idle. All the people in the train have some acquaintance, some -occupation, except ourselves”—she indicated the slumbering Mrs Smith -and herself. “Even you are doubtless travelling for the sake of the -business of your respectable brother? Oh!” as she caught the shadow of -a smile on Zoe’s face, “is that bad English? Now you see what help you -can give me in teaching me to speak my own language.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we have no business to see to; we are only out on a spree—if you -know that word?” said Zoe wickedly. “My brother has just done with -college, and we felt he deserved a holiday. If we have any business, -it’s mine—looking for local colour. You know what that is—the stuff -which you have to put into a book if you’re writing it, but which you -always skip in reading it? Everybody that knows about my writing is -always saying, ‘Oh, you must travel. It will enlarge your mind so -much, and think of the local colour you will gain!’ I have note-books -crammed full of local colour, only waiting for the stories which are -to bring it in, and the worst of it is that when I do write anything, -I am always so frightfully interested in the people that the local -colour gets crowded out.” -</p> - -<p> -Miss Smith looked somewhat bewildered by this fragment of literary -autobiography. “Then you are an author—a Bohemian?” she said, with a -distinct touch of disapproval. -</p> - -<p> -“An author? Well, in a sort of way—a very humble way at present. But -a Bohemian—oh, no! I only wish I was! Who ever heard such a stolid, -steady-going name as Smith associated with Bohemianism?—— I knew it! -I knew her name wasn’t Smith!” she told herself delightedly, noticing -that the other girl did not wince. -</p> - -<p> -“And I have not even the excuse of looking for local colour!” remarked -the self-styled Miss Smith. “I wanted to travel—to be really -English—and I made my aunt come. She is a foreigner—you may have -noticed?—and she has brought me up abroad with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I fancy you brought yourself up, wherever you were. I don’t think -poor Mrs Smith had much voice in the matter,” thought Zoe. “Well, you -ought to be satisfied now,” she said aloud. -</p> - -<p> -“I know I ought, but do you know”—the girl bent towards her -confidentially—“I am a little—almost frightened. We have never -travelled unattended before, and my aunt is so nervous.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why in the world didn’t you bring a maid or a courier, or both?” -cried Zoe, astonished. -</p> - -<p> -“That is what we ought to have done, of course, and at Therma I shall -insist on our finding suitable attendants. But I was going to propose -that we should join forces for the journey. If you and your brother -will favour us with your society—especially at meals—we should have -no fear of making disagreeable acquaintances.” She spoke with the -utmost coolness, and without any of the blushing diffidence that might -have been expected—almost as if the suggestion, which should surely -in any case have come from her aunt, was an honour not to be declined. -</p> - -<p> -“My good girl, what <i>is</i> your game?” thought the scandalised Zoe. “Is -it Maurice?” with a sister’s instinctive vigilance. “If it is, you are -the very coolest hand I ever saw. I don’t think you need be in the -least frightened,” she said frigidly. “English ladies are not likely -to be molested when there are so many Englishmen in the train.” -</p> - -<p> -“What did I tell you, Eirene?” cried Mrs Smith, waking at an -inopportune moment. “You have too little regard for the conventions. -This young lady finds your freedom altogether shocking.” -</p> - -<p> -“Edith—Emily—Irene! How many more names has she got?” was Zoe’s -mental comment as she watched, rather mercilessly, the flush which -rose into Miss Smith’s face. -</p> - -<p> -“I have requested you already to leave this matter to me,” said the -young lady coldly, and the aunt collapsed. “Yes, my name is Eirene,” -turning to Zoe with a radiant smile. “Spelt with an E, you know,” as -Zoe’s eyes wandered to the “E. E. Smith” upon a jewel-case. “We were -so anxious to be English that my aunt has been trying to call me by a -real English name, but it is no use. I hope you will call me Eirene in -future. And you will relieve my curiosity by telling me your name? Z -is such a strange initial, and I saw it upon your bag.” -</p> - -<p> -“My name is Zoe,” admitted the owner of the name reluctantly as she -rose to leave the compartment. -</p> - -<p> -“A Greek name, surely, like my own? Perhaps we are really distant -cousins after all! Then it is settled that you and your brother join -us at meals?” -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon, we have already made our arrangements, and secured -a table that only holds two,” said the exasperated Zoe, flinging this -Parthian shaft as she departed with all the dignity that the motion of -the train would allow. -</p> - -<p> -“What is she after?” she asked herself again as she reached her own -compartment, whither Maurice had not yet returned. “Can she really be -a spy? If so, I suppose the best thing will be to appear quite -innocent and unsuspicious. She can’t make us tell anything we don’t -want to. I must give Maurice a hint not to let her worm things out of -him. The funny part is that I believe she really is frightened. Her -eyes were upon every one who passed. Pardon me, that seat is engaged,” -as some one pressed past her. “Oh, this is really too much!” for the -intruder was Miss Smith, who sat down in Maurice’s place, gripping the -arms of the seat as though she feared Zoe would eject her by force. -</p> - -<p> -“I wished to tell you that they will place us at the same table at -breakfast,” she said hurriedly. “The man came to ask me just as a -matter of course, and I—I said, ‘<i>Mais sans doute</i>.’ I meant to do -it, and yet—it slipped out at the moment. I am come to entreat you -not to countermand the order. You can’t understand what a difference -it will make to me to be allowed to travel as a member of a party—of -a family.” -</p> - -<p> -The wildest suspicions were seething in Zoe’s brain. What was this -girl—a murderess, a Nihilist, or a thief? What designs might she not -have on Maurice, on his prospects? Anxiety for him made her manner -glacial. “I am sorry we cannot add to our party,” she said. “We are -going to stay with friends.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is only for the journey!” cried the girl eagerly. “Once at -Therma, you go your way, I mine. We do not meet again, but you will -hear—yes, you will certainly hear about me, and I assure you that you -won’t find me ungrateful.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care about your gratitude,” said Zoe bluntly. “What I want to -be sure of is that you are not doing anything wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wrong? What wrong should I do? Do you think I am an Anarchist, laden -with bombs to fling at the Grand Seignior? I find your suspicions -singularly insulting.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry for it. Has it occurred to you that I might think the same -of your persistent efforts to force your company upon us?” “That will -fetch her, if anything will!” said Zoe triumphantly to herself. -</p> - -<p> -The girl’s eyes flamed. “You are insolent!” she flashed out. “How dare -you—— But no, I have drawn it upon myself. Mademoiselle, will you -accept my assurance that I have no evil-doing in view? I am taking my -journey upon a purely family matter, confided to me by a dying parent. -I carry with me my jewels, which are of considerable -value—inestimable value to me. Upon their safety may hang the success -of my expedition. Once more I ask you to grant me the protection of -your company and that of Monsieur your brother, and pray do not think -that it is easy for me to entreat. I am not accustomed to it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think we ought to have some idea of your object before being asked -to mix ourselves up with it,” said Zoe, but less firmly. -</p> - -<p> -“If it affected myself alone, I would reveal it to you without a -moment’s hesitation, but it concerns others. No, if my assurance is -not enough for you, you must continue to regard me as an adventuress, -a spy—what you will—and I must endure it.” She folded her hands in -her lap with sorrowful dignity, but her lips were quivering, and a -tear rolled slowly down her face. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t cry!” said Zoe hastily, with the modern woman’s horror of -tears. “Of course you can have your meals with us, and we’ll travel -together if you really want it. Only I can’t say that you belong to us -if I’m asked.” -</p> - -<p> -“You will not be asked. A family party will pass unquestioned. It is -two ladies alone who would attract attention. Oh, I am so glad!” she -cried, abandoning disguise, and drying her eyes vigorously. “Evdotia -Vladimirovna—my aunt, I mean—is so frightened, and I have been -obliged to encourage her, and I was so frightened myself. Every one -might be a spy or a secret agent. Then I saw the luggage with the name -‘Smith,’ and I saw you and your brother, and your faces looked -trustworthy, and I thought we should be safe with you. I shall never -forget this service, you may be sure,” with a return to stateliness, -as she rose and departed. -</p> - -<p> -“I feel a regular fool!” said Zoe viciously to herself. “But, after -all, she did play fair. If she had attacked Maurice instead of me, she -wouldn’t have had a quarter of the trouble.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have scraped acquaintance with your startling-eyed friend,” said -Maurice, coming in. “He is not a King’s messenger, you will be -interested to hear, but an Indian officer going back after his leave. -He’s to stay a week or two with a friend who’s in the Emathian -Gendarmerie, and his name’s Wylie.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I told you nearly as much about him simply from inference. Did -you hear anything about Miss Smith?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, one fat old chap, who seems to come this way about once a week -and knows all the officials, was very busy hinting that he had it from -the sleeping-car attendant that she was somebody very big travelling -<i>incog</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -“A Princess running away from school, I should think!” murmured Zoe. -“Well, to-morrow morning either she will sink in the general -estimation or we shall go up, for we are to breakfast together.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t mean to say that you have taken her up after all?” cried -Maurice. “Well, don’t say it was my doing.” But his warning tone was -not wholly devoid of satisfaction. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch04"> -CHAPTER IV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A FULL STOP.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">In</span> after days it seemed to Zoe that the stages of the journey were -marked by the progress of her intimacy with Eirene Smith. There was -that terrible midnight hour when, sleepy and bewildered, she was -called upon by a ferocious German customs officer to explain the -nature and purpose of the note-books in her dressing-bag, and could -reply in nothing but scraps of French, Latin, and Greek, which ought -to have increased the official’s respect for her, but only deepened -his suspicions. Not a word of German would come to her mind, and the -occupant of the other berth, an elderly French lady in an astonishing -nightcap, was not only of no practical use, but was evidently watching -between her curtains with awful joy to see Zoe haled from the train -and arraigned before the authorities. Never was anything more welcome -than the appearance of Eirene from the next cabin in an exquisite -embroidered dressing-gown. She had heard the altercation, and, coming -upon the scene, assumed the direction of affairs. Her German did not -forsake her, and the customs officer went away placated, but grimly -assuring Zoe that she might thank <i>Ihre Fräulein Schwester</i> that she -and her possessions were not detained. The relief was great, and Zoe -thanked Eirene heartily in rather tremulous tones. The French lady, -disappointed of her expected sensation, transferred herself easily to -the side of the victor, and inveighed against the brutality of the -official while eulogising the courage and coolness of Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“And the prudence also of mademoiselle!” she cried. “She has there -even her jewel-case, not forgetting to snatch it up at a moment of the -greatest tension!” -</p> - -<p> -“I never let it leave me,” said Eirene simply. “See, madame, they are -very precious to me, these jewels. They are of the possessions of my -late dear mother.” -</p> - -<p> -She opened the box, and took out one or two of the trinkets it -contained, handsome and old-fashioned; not at all sufficient, in Zoe’s -opinion, to account for the anxiety she had expressed in speaking of -them to her. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, very pretty,” said madame, regarding them with greedy eyes. “Too -old in style for a young girl, but you will doubtless have them reset. -But how comes it that all the jewels are yours, mademoiselle, while -your elder sister wears not so much as a pin?” -</p> - -<p> -“We are not own sisters, madame,” returned Eirene, with a fascinating -mixture of truth and audacity. “But that makes no difference to our -love, does it, my Zoe?” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene had the jewel-case with her again when she and Zoe met in the -dressing-room the next morning. They had been charged to make haste, -as the elder ladies desired the room to themselves for the process of -hair-dressing, which could not properly be performed before youthful -eyes, but Eirene fastened the doors and opened her box a second time. -</p> - -<p> -“Now I will show you!” she said gleefully. “You shall see that I trust -you, though you don’t trust me, and that I am willing to confide to -you anything that affects myself alone. Look, then!” and Zoe gazed, -astonished, as the satin lining of the lid fell forward on the -pressure of a spring, revealing a wonderful necklace of huge pearls -fitting into a shallow receptacle evidently constructed for it. In -like manner the sides and trays of the box, judiciously manipulated, -revealed a number of emerald and diamond sprays—the stones -extraordinarily fine—which might either be used separately, or united -to form a necklace or tiara, and a bodice ornament of great rubies in -the shape of a globe flanked by spreading wings, with a deep pendant. -Lastly, Eirene showed that the box had also a false bottom. -</p> - -<p> -“This is my greatest treasure,” she said, exhibiting a number of -golden plaques which could be fastened one to another to form a -girdle. Each plaque was curiously embossed with the figure of a saint, -apparently raised in enamel upon the gold background, while the halo -and portions of the dress were encrusted with precious stones. “I am -obliged to take it to pieces for travelling, but I do it with terror, -for it is old—yes, of an astonishing antiquity, and there is nothing -like it in the whole world.” -</p> - -<p> -“It must be Byzantine work, surely?” asked Zoe, examining it with -intense interest. -</p> - -<p> -Eirene looked at her with something like suspicion. “Yes,” she said -coldly, and, taking the massive clasp from Zoe’s hands, she returned -it to its place and snapped down the false bottom over it. Her -displeasure was so uncalled for that Zoe experienced a return of the -unamiable feelings of the evening before, but before the box had been -restored to its usual appearance the momentary cloud had passed away, -and Eirene was replying with gay defiance to Mrs Smith’s remonstrances -through the closed door on her delay. -</p> - -<p> -The next stage in Zoe’s appreciation of her new friend’s personality -came at breakfast-time, when Eirene remarked with smiling effrontery -to Maurice, whom Zoe had just introduced to her with a formality -intended to show that the acquaintance of the day before was -insufficient— -</p> - -<p> -“It is so kind of Zoe to have arranged everything, so that we need not -enter upon any tiresome explanations. Please be assured of my best -thanks for adopting me as a sister during the journey. Until we part -at Therma I am Eirene, if you please. You, if I am not mistaken, are -Maurice?” -</p> - -<p> -As much astonished as his rightful sister, and conscious of Mrs -Smith’s face of wrathful agony in the background, Maurice had -sufficient presence of mind to accept the situation, and mutter -something about pleasure and honour. The only unembarrassed member of -the party was Eirene herself, who motioned Zoe to the seat beside her -at the table, and Maurice to that opposite, informing her outraged -aunt that she would find her step-nephew <i>bien gentil</i> and truly -conversable. Taking the lead herself as a matter of course, she -insisted on making the talk general, and before long Maurice and Zoe -found their embarrassment fading away. Mrs Smith remained implacable, -and answered only when she was directly addressed; but the other three -were able to laugh and talk quite naturally. From his solitary table -on the other side of the gangway, the man whom Zoe had styled the -King’s messenger watched them with wistful amusement. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s pretty clear the younger girl is only Smith’s step-sister,” he -said to himself, “and the aunt is her private property. I suppose the -aunt married the father’s brother, as her name is Smith too. No, that -would make her their aunt as well. It’s a sort of puzzle in -relationships; but with such a common name it may well be a mere -coincidence. I should say the aunt and the younger girl’s mother were -foreign and noble, and a good deal inclined to look down on the plain -English part of the family. Smith will soon get tired of being -tyrannised over by that little minx, and I could see Miss Smith didn’t -half like it when they came in. It’s the sort of thing that palls -pretty quickly. I suppose they wanted to make the step-sister’s -acquaintance, but why bring the aunt, who has evidently made her the -sun and centre of things? What a pity we can’t eliminate Mrs Smith! If -she was out of the way—a convenient headache, now—I think Smith -might take pity upon my loneliness and ask me to their table. They -sound awfully jolly all together, and with three of us against her, it -would be hard if we couldn’t take Miss Eirene down a peg. Her brother -and sister are much too meek.” -</p> - -<p> -Mrs Smith was not accommodating enough to have a headache—indeed, her -expression implied that heartily as she detested her present position, -wild horses should not drag her from it—but Captain Wylie was not -forbidden the introduction he desired. “My sister, Miss Smith—Miss -Eirene Smith,” said Maurice, bringing him up to the girls after -breakfast, and receiving a smile from Eirene for his adroitness, -though the presentation did not seem altogether to please her, -apparently because her consent had not been secured beforehand. She -gave Wylie the cold shoulder, as though she had read his sentiments -towards her and reciprocated them, but Zoe, who had incited Maurice to -introduce him, was quite satisfied. Wylie was the kind of man she -liked. If he would talk, he could tell her things about India which -might be useful in future; if not, she could look at him and make up -far more wonderful things about him herself. He was not much of a -talker, as it turned out, but sufficiently articulate to answer -informingly when he was questioned, and Zoe was a past mistress in the -art of what she called drawing people out, and Maurice, picking their -brains. -</p> - -<p> -As the day wore on it became evident to Zoe that Eirene was growing -increasingly nervous. She could not rest for a moment, but roamed from -one compartment to another, and up and down the corridor, shaking with -agitation when she came face to face with any of the other passengers -or an official. At last Maurice brought out his travelling chess-board -and induced her to sit down to a game, promising that she should walk -off her restlessness at Vindobona, so far as a stop of twenty minutes -and the limits of the station would allow. But when they were -approaching the Imperial city, and Maurice had gone to get his hat, -she clutched Zoe’s arm convulsively. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I dare not leave the train! It is here I shall be recognised if -anywhere. Begin a game, quick; then I can keep my head bent over the -board. May I hold your hand?” -</p> - -<p> -Cold and trembling, her hand gripped Zoe’s under the flap of the -table, and she was arranging the pieces when Maurice was heard -returning. The clutch tightened. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t let them go far from the carriage. Oh, make them return to us -continually! Couldn’t they stay here with us? No, it would excite -suspicion. But tell them not to go far.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice and Wylie were much puzzled by the girls’ obstinate absorption -in what appeared a singularly erratic game, and their firm refusal to -walk about on the platform, but they made themselves useful by first -going to the bookstall to see what Tauchnitz volumes were in stock, -then making an expedition to buy one for Eirene, a second to get one -for Zoe, and a third to change Eirene’s, which she discovered she had -read before. Zoe was almost as much excited as Eirene by the time this -point was reached. It was all very well to want to keep Maurice near -at hand, but if Eirene was arrested, as she seemed to fear might be -the case, what did she expect him to do? She could scarcely imagine -that he and Wylie would attempt to rescue her from the Pannonian -police. Of course they would appeal to the British Ambassador; but Zoe -did not now believe that Eirene was even a British subject, and -Maurice would probably have to declare his real name, with what danger -to the purpose of his journey who could tell? -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Zoe, how carelessly you play! Check!” cried Eirene. “You are -worse than you were months ago.” This for the benefit of a guard who -had approached near enough to hear what they said. “Ah, it is nearly -over!” with a sigh of relief. Zoe, looking up with the hasty idea of -asking Maurice to get her some chocolate, by way of manufacturing -another errand, saw to her delight the passengers returning hurriedly -to the train. The dreaded twenty minutes was at an end. -</p> - -<p> -“You know, I ran away,” said Eirene softly to her, as the train glided -out of the station. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought so,” responded Zoe; “but it can’t have been so very bad, as -you took your aunt with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I could never have gone alone!” in horror. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I know it isn’t usual,” drily. -</p> - -<p> -“Some day I will tell you how I did it,” pursued Eirene. “I thought I -was safe, but if any of my precautions had failed, I knew it would be -here they would catch me. Oh, and there is still another station -before we are out of Vindobona! Begin another game, quickly!” -</p> - -<p> -But the second station was comparatively unimportant, and the interval -of terror of the briefest, and Zoe and Eirene released one another’s -hands, and pretended to Maurice that a sudden intense interest in -chess had prevented their having any desire to look out at the city -and its buildings. At dinner, notwithstanding Mrs Smith’s objections, -Wylie was accommodated with a temporary and most uncomfortable seat at -the end of the table, and found himself very graciously treated, owing -partly to Eirene’s sense of relief from her fears, and partly to the -alacrity with which he had assisted Maurice in running her errands at -the station. The night passed without alarm, for though the Thracian -frontier had to be crossed, the Customs examination was considerately -delayed until the morning, though it was necessary to get it over -before reaching Tatarjé, where the passengers for Therma changed into -another train, the Express going on to Czarigrad. As she watched it -out of sight, Zoe sighed that half the romance was gone out of the -journey, for the new train was unknown to fame, and by no means -comparable with the wonderful microcosm which had been their home for -nearly two days. Moreover, it moved as deliberately as the most local -of English local trains, and its rusty engine groaned complaints as it -dragged itself reluctantly out of the station. -</p> - -<p> -Tatarjé naturally called up memories of Count Mortimer, the great -English Minister whom the young King of Thracia had discarded on -attaining his majority, and who was one of Zoe’s heroes. Wylie, who -had heard little of him, was quite willing to be instructed and to -share her enthusiasm, but Eirene was contemptuous. It was easy for any -man to rise to power when he served a Queen who was willing to resign -everything into his hands, she said; dealing with men was another -matter. The discussion which ensued was of the nature of those -parallel lines which can never meet, for it appeared that Eirene’s -information was entirely derived from Scythian sources, and possessed -nothing but the statesman’s name in common with Zoe’s. The crossing of -the Roumi frontier gave a desirable change to the conversation, and -Zoe sprang up to look out at “our own country,” as she whispered to -Maurice. Her own country received her inhospitably, for rain was -falling in torrents, and the general aspect was bare and neglected in -the extreme. A squalid little station reached early in the afternoon, -apparently unconnected with any town or village, was crowded with -Roumi soldiers, and Wylie’s professional interest was aroused. He and -Maurice left the carriage, taking with them all the cigarettes they -possessed, and distributed them to the dripping, patient men. An -elderly non-commissioned officer, who had been in Egypt, and -recognising Wylie as a British officer, stood rigorously to attention -when addressed, answered his questions in Arabic. The detachment had -been ordered up to guard the railway, owing to a report that there was -a band of Thracian revolutionaries in the neighbourhood with designs -upon it. They had been at the station since early morning, without -shelter or food, their uniforms ragged, their boots in holes. The -station buildings were occupied by the Kaimakam of the district, under -whose orders they were acting; he was immersed in business, but when -he had time, would doubtless remember the needs of his troops. Some of -the younger and more impatient spirits had spoken of bribing his -secretary to draw his attention to the matter, but apart from the fact -that with their pay months in arrears they could not offer enough to -tempt so great a man, the sergeant considered that such an attempt -would be an improper interference with the decrees of destiny. He -saluted smartly, and stood back among his men, a stolid, shivering -figure of military virtue in evil case. -</p> - -<p> -“Some of the best material in the world!” said Wylie wrathfully to -Maurice. “What soldiers we could make of them in India! British troops -would have mutinied six hours ago. Look at the two sick men in that -goods-shed, with the rain falling on them—and the Kaimakam, no doubt, -is soothing himself with <i>hashish</i> in the station-master’s quarters!” -</p> - -<p> -“Let’s go and rout him out, and shame him into putting the men in -shelter,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -Wylie shook his head. “I daren’t,” he said. “It would only mean -quartering them upon the Christian inhabitants of the village over -there. That’s what’s bound to be done at last, I suppose, but one -wouldn’t care for the responsibility of hurrying it on.” -</p> - -<p> -He looked over the straggling houses of the place, which was visible -at this point round the shoulder of a hill, flat-roofed, dingy white, -huddled together apparently for the sake of company rather than -protection, then brought his eyes back to the face of the old -sergeant, who had advanced and was saluting again. -</p> - -<p> -“Is the Bimbashi Bey come hither to serve in the new Gendarmerie?” he -asked respectfully. -</p> - -<p> -“No; merely to visit a friend,” answered Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“God be praised!” responded the old man, with evident satisfaction. -</p> - -<p> -“Now why?” demanded Maurice, when Wylie had translated the question. -“Make him say.” -</p> - -<p> -The sergeant needed some pressing, but at length gave his reason -boldly. “The Bey Effendi’s eyes are of the cruel colour,” he said. -“Never have I beheld eyes more cruel, and I have seen many men.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie’s disconcerted face made Maurice insist upon a translation, -which delighted him extremely. “Ask the old blighter if he really -believes that rot,” he demanded. -</p> - -<p> -“The Bimbashi Bey’s eyes will indeed strike terror into his enemies, -so that they will flee before him and he will grind them to powder,” -returned the sergeant, anxious to be conciliatory. “But his own men -would fain see his eyes like those of the young Effendi, his friend.” -</p> - -<p> -“There! They think you’re squeezable, you see,” said Wylie in triumph. -“When you’re made High Commissioner of Emathia, you’d better send for -me to be your commander-in-chief, and put a little stiffening into -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right. Mind, it’s a bargain!” cried Maurice, returning to the -train at the summons of the guard, and smiling to think how closely -Wylie’s jest had approached the possible truth. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, it’s an omen!” came in an awestruck whisper from Zoe, -who had been at the window. -</p> - -<p> -“A fiddlestick!” responded Maurice lightly. “Now for thrilling -mountain scenery, with revolutionary bands thrown in gratis!” -</p> - -<p> -The train was now entering the mountains, and the four young people -established themselves at the corridor window, which presented the -most extensive views, but Mrs Smith refused to leave the compartment. -Emathia possessed the most brutal and savage scenery in the world, she -declared, and it made her shiver even to look at it. She would -endeavour to forget it, and if a French novel and slumber are aids to -forgetfulness, it was not long before she did so. The prospect from -her side of the carriage was certainly not inspiriting, since it was -limited to the rocky cliff in which the track had been blasted out, -but on the other side there was something like a view, as Maurice -said. From the very edge of the line, dark woods sank down, down, to -depths which the eye could not penetrate, rising again on the other -side of the valley to heights behind which the sun was already -setting, at barely five o’clock on a summer afternoon. In one or two -places there was a glimpse of foaming water, but generally the woods -alone were visible. They made her feel weird, Zoe said; it was like an -enchanted forest. She did not mind going through them in the train, -but to think of venturing into them on foot was enough to make the -bravest heart quail. -</p> - -<p> -“We ought to reach the great viaduct which crosses the river -presently,” said Wylie. “I believe the line winds so much just there -that from this end of the train you see the engine and the first half -apparently at right angles with you as it enters on the bridge.” -</p> - -<p> -“There it is!” cried Eirene presently. She and Zoe were sitting on the -seat below the window, Maurice and Wylie standing behind them. They -all looked out eagerly to see the famous bridge, and withdrew their -heads again laughing, with ruffled hair, for in this narrow valley the -wind was strong. Eirene drew back to adjust a hairpin, the two men -were laughing at one another’s dishevelled aspect, and only Zoe was -still looking out when that happened which she would never forget, -though she could not determine exactly the sequence of the several -events. In anticipation of the appearance of the head of the train, -she was keeping her eyes fixed upon the bridge, when the end nearest -her rose suddenly in the air, suddenly and, as it seemed, quietly. She -had opened her mouth to cry, “Look at the bridge!” when the words were -drowned by the sound of an explosion, which must have been -simultaneous with the upheaval, but seemed to follow at a perceptible -interval. The train rocked and staggered, the glass from the windows -and lamps shivered and fell in showers with a curious tinkling noise, -Maurice and Wylie were thrown violently across the corridor. Zoe found -herself and Eirene on their feet, gazing at one another with dilated -eyes, heard Wylie shout to them angrily to sit down, had a vague idea -that the train had left the metals and was trying to climb the -mountain—or what was the meaning of those agonised jerks which felt -like earthquakes? She knew that she was saying something foolish—“the -hill above the line was not quite so steep here, was it?”—but the -words were frozen on her lips. The floor was slipping away beneath -her, the place where the window had been was somehow rising to the -roof, then there came a great crash, a sensation of falling through -space, and all was silence. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch05"> -CHAPTER V.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE JEWEL-CASE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">When</span> Zoe came to herself, the first sensation of which she was -conscious was a stinging taste in her mouth, the next the dark woods -cutting the sky opposite her. She cried out weakly, and closed her -eyes to shut out the sight. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s right!” said a voice. “How do you feel?” -</p> - -<p> -“All smashed up,” she murmured feebly. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense! Stretch out your arms!” The tone was so peremptory that she -obeyed mechanically. “Now your feet,” and she gave two spasmodic -kicks. “You’re all right,” said the voice, which was gradually -becoming familiar. “A little more brandy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, no!” said Zoe in disgust, wriggling away from the offered flask, -and discovering that her head was supported on Wylie’s arm. “I’m quite -well now. Did I faint? Where’s Maurice? Oh!” as recollection rushed -upon her, “is Maurice safe?” -</p> - -<p> -“He’s all right, helping to dig out your sister. We could hear her -voice, and I left him to get her out, while I brought you up here. Now -I am going to get you something for a pillow, and then I shall leave -you.” -</p> - -<p> -Raising herself with difficulty on her elbow, Zoe found that she was -lying on a steep bank of stones and rubble, sparsely covered with -grass. Below her was the wrecked train, lying on its side on the -slope. Men were standing on the sides of the carriages and dragging -others through the holes where the windows had been, or thrusting -aside distorted pieces of iron and masses of splintered wood. Some of -the rescued were sitting on the slope bemoaning themselves, or -stanching wounds in head or hands with their handkerchiefs; others -were being carried towards a tree at one side, under which a man in -his shirt-sleeves was bending over a woman lying on the ground. Thus -much Zoe was able to see before Wylie ran up the bank again with a -small box, which had been thrown aside out of the way of the rescuers, -in his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll put this under your head,” he said hastily, “and with that big -stone at your feet you won’t slip down the bank. Just shut your eyes -and lie quiet, and the shock will soon pass off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t I come down and help?” asked Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no. Keep out of the way, that’s the best thing you can do. I’ll -call you when we get your sister out.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe disobeyed him only so far as to watch the men at work on the train -until she had distinguished Maurice, and then lay down, unable to -repress a hysterical little laugh at the thought of Wylie’s sending -him to the rescue of a stranger while she was left to the care of -others. It was not long before she heard herself summoned. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Smith, we are taking your sister to the doctor. She is hurt, but -I hope not badly. You would like to come?” -</p> - -<p> -Rising unsteadily to her feet, she was glad to accept the aid of -Wylie’s hand down the slope. Eirene was half unconscious, and moaned -when she was touched, and Maurice and Wylie carried her to the -improvised field-hospital, where a French surgeon, who had fortunately -been among the passengers, was giving such aid as he could to the -injured. One or two ladies who had escaped unhurt were tearing up -their dust-cloaks for temporary bandages, and behind the tree at the -back lay several quiet forms, reverently covered with rugs and -macintoshes hastily collected. Zoe shivered at the sight, but the -doctor had no time to waste. Discovering that Eirene’s most serious -injury was a dislocated shoulder, he reduced the dislocation by rough -and ready means, and bound her arm tightly into place, then told Zoe -to take her away, since cuts and contusions must await a more -opportune moment for treatment. Maurice came forward to help her, and -whispered to the doctor, who nodded vigorously. -</p> - -<p> -“By all means get her to bed as soon as possible. An emotional -temperament—I have observed it myself—fever very likely to -supervene. I will see that she goes with the first batch of wounded.” -</p> - -<p> -But as Maurice and Wylie laid her gently on the slope, Eirene -struggled into a sitting position. “My jewel-case!” she screamed. “My -jewel-case! where is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“It must be in the carriage still,” said Maurice. “We shall come upon -it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Bring it to me!” she cried angrily. “I must have it.” -</p> - -<p> -“It will be found,” said Zoe soothingly, “but no one has seen it yet. -Don’t worry yourself, Eirene; it will be all right.” Her tone had -grown a little impatient, for she had gathered from Maurice’s whisper -to the doctor that Mrs Smith was among the killed, and Eirene had not -even asked after her. -</p> - -<p> -“It is lost, stolen!” cried Eirene. “I threw it out of the window when -the train began to turn over. Offer a reward, quickly—a million -francs, anything!” -</p> - -<p> -“Your wealth must be greater than your prudence, mademoiselle, or you -would hardly carry such valuables about with you,” remarked the doctor -drily. Like every one else in her immediate vicinity, he had been -attracted by Eirene’s shriek. -</p> - -<p> -“They are all I have in the world. My jewels are everything to me,” -she cried wildly. “I will not leave this place without them. I will -search the line on my hands and knees. It is marked ‘E. E. Smith’—a -small box covered with leather, with brass ornaments. Has no one seen -it?” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe gave a gasp, and seized Maurice’s arm, pointing to the box as it -lay neglected high up the slope. The next moment he had fetched it -down, and between tears and laughter she restored it to its owner. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Eirene, I am so sorry! Captain Wylie brought it me for a pillow, -and I hadn’t an idea what it was. But when you mentioned brass -ornaments, I remembered how uncomfortable the handle was. Now it’s all -right, isn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene lay down, almost fainting, but gripping the box, while the -bystanders dispersed, whispering and muttering, and much disappointed -with this tame conclusion. Communication had now been established with -the nearest station—a mere hill-hamlet, compared with which the -village where the Roumi soldiers were to be quartered was a town—and -presently a trolley came down the line with an official and several -workmen. They brought the news that help had been telegraphed for from -the larger station, but that it was not likely to amount to more than -an engine and open trucks, which might not arrive that night. It was, -therefore, for the passengers to choose whether they would remain -where they were, or walk back to the small station in company with the -men in charge of the trolley. The purpose which this was intended to -serve was quickly evident, for several heavy cases were extracted with -great difficulty from a locked van, which had been specially guarded -since the accident, and piled upon it. The doctor obtained leave for -Eirene and three other passengers, whose injuries were not so severe -as to prevent their sitting up, to use the chests as seats, and they -were lifted to their places as gently as possible, Eirene gripping the -jewel-case fast in her uninjured hand. The passengers who chose to -walk were asked to keep close to the trolley, so as to form a guard, -headed by the two armed officials who were in charge of the treasure. -Owing to the prohibition of the import of arms, Wylie had sent his -regulation weapons by sea, and though both he and Maurice had brought -sporting guns (which it had cost them much time and trouble to get -through the customs), these could not yet be extricated from the -confused heap of luggage in the train. Wylie had a miniature revolver, -from which a long experience of danger had taught him never to -separate himself, and he showed it reassuringly to Zoe as they set -out, lighted in the gathering twilight by the fires kindled on the -banks for the passengers who chose to remain by the train. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what is there to be afraid of?” she asked him. “Wolves?” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly; but I didn’t mean to frighten you, only to calm your fears -if you had any.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wylie doesn’t follow the bewildering changes of your mind,” said -Maurice, who was carrying Zoe’s dressing-bag, the only thing they had -been able to bring. “You professed to be afraid of the forest when you -were perfectly safe in the train, but now you seem to think it rather -a lark to be walking through it at this particularly ghostly hour.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, I know what you mean,” cried Zoe, “the people who destroyed -the bridge! You do think it was done on purpose, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dynamite, undoubtedly,” returned Wylie, “worked by one of those -clockwork arrangements which are timed to go off at a certain moment. -This one went off about forty seconds too soon. The guard actually saw -the bridge blow up, and had just time to put the brakes on hard. If -the train had been on the bridge, as the fiends who laid the dynamite -intended, not a soul would have escaped.” -</p> - -<p> -“I saw it too,” said Zoe, with a shudder. “And who do you think it -was?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, the Thracian revolutionaries we heard of from the sergeant, of -course,” said Maurice. “The troops had been carefully got out of the -way by a false alarm, and the bridge was left defenceless. It was very -neatly arranged. They were saying at the train that all these Thracian -bands are under the orders of the Bishop of Tatarjé, who is a great -pan-Slavist.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what good would it have done them to destroy a whole train-load -of people who had nothing to do with their troubles?” said Zoe. “Were -they after the treasure?” -</p> - -<p> -“Very likely,” said Wylie. “Money means more dynamite and more rifles. -But even if it had all gone down into the river and been lost, the -moral effect on Europe of the destruction of a train like this would -have been immense. It would have called attention to their grievances, -and advertised them as heroes who stick at nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you think they may be hiding in the trees now?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, since their blow failed, I should imagine they are off -double-quick march to some other part of the country, so as to -establish a serviceable alibi. But even if they were here, I don’t -think we look worth attacking.” -</p> - -<p> -“We are a disreputable lot,” said Maurice, trying to scan his torn -hands and ragged clothes in the twilight. “You will have to doctor our -wounds and bruises when we get to the station, Zoe. She is one of -those people who pride themselves on travelling with a specimen of -every conceivable kind of thing that may possibly be wanted,” he -explained to Wylie, “so she is sure to have plaster.” -</p> - -<p> -“Plenty in my luggage, but only a little here,” said Zoe, “so we must -use it economically. I suppose,” she added nervously, “you don’t think -they may be lying in wait somewhere in front to get the treasure?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit of it,” said Wylie. “We are prepared for them now, and they -know it. And to-morrow, I understand, the treasure is to be sent on at -once with an armed escort. If I may offer a piece of advice, it is -that the jewellery your sister is so anxious about should be sent on -too.” -</p> - -<p> -“She will never part with it,” said Zoe, with conviction. “Oh, don’t -look at me as if I could persuade her. If I had the least influence -over her, do you think she would be carrying it about with her as she -does?” -</p> - -<p> -“We are almost strangers to her, you see,” explained Maurice rather -lamely. “We can’t expect to have much influence.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it seems to me to be distinctly a case for the exercise of -fraternal authority. Make him speak seriously to her, Miss Smith, and -not shove off all the disagreeable things on you. I’m afraid you’ll -have a bad time breaking the news of Mrs Smith’s death to your sister. -By the bye, she was not your aunt, was she?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no relation to us whatever,” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“We never met her before this journey,” added Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“That was what I said to myself when I saw you first,” said Wylie to -Zoe. “Then her being named Smith was merely a coincidence?” -</p> - -<p> -“Purely a coincidence,” said Zoe emphatically, and Maurice added, “You -must think us a queer set.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all,” returned Wylie politely and falsely. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but you must!” cried Zoe. “I am sure, if we met ourselves, we -should think we were the most extraordinary family that ever lived. -But how can we help it?” -</p> - -<p> -“One’s family is one of the things that have to be lived down,” said -Wylie, with the kindest intentions, and went on to give instances in -point from the history of people he had known, while Maurice and Zoe -wished vainly that they could explain the true state of -affairs—vainly, for how could they betray the history of their -acquaintance with Eirene without her consent? -</p> - -<p> -“It’s awful, Maurice,” lamented Zoe afterwards. “What will he think -when he sees us separate at Therma, or if he ever meets her without -us, or us without her? It will seem as if we had deliberately deceived -him all along.” -</p> - -<p> -But this was after they had arrived at the village, and accepted -without enthusiasm the only quarters available. The Han, or inn, might -have served satisfactorily to accommodate one or two sportsmen who did -not mind roughing it, but now, invaded by a crowd of tired, hungry -travellers, many of them bringing nothing but the clothes they wore, -its resources were hopelessly overtaxed. The railway officials, -securing Wylie, whose experience they recognised, as an ally, set to -work to house their charges as best they could. The long loft which -formed the upper storey of the inn was devoted to the ladies, and all -the beds in the establishment—which were not above suspicion—were -transferred thither, while rugs and sacks were requisitioned to -provide couches for the men below. Bowls of coarse porridge, and -platters of hastily boiled mutton, were forthcoming after a time, meal -and a sheep having been commandeered from the neighbourhood, but there -were no knives and forks, and spoons quickly ran short. Wylie shared -in the abuse heaped upon the railway management, who ought, it -appeared, to have provided a perfectly equipped hotel, with -restaurant, hair-dressing saloons, bathrooms, and a large stock of -borrowable clothing, at this particular spot, but he went on his way -with a polite smile and unbending courtesy, arranging for breakfast on -the morrow. Bare-footed, untidy girls, called in to help, fell over -one another on the ladder-like staircase, or stood saucer-eyed to -watch the “European” ladies and gentlemen, seated most uncomfortably -on the floor, and grumbling over what seemed to Emathian minds a -highly luxurious banquet. Hot water was absolutely unattainable, even -if there had been cans to contain it, and the brushes and combs of -such passengers as possessed them were passed from hand to hand for -the benefit of the less fortunate. Zoe was happy in escaping early -from the turmoil, for being in charge of Eirene, she was allowed to -take her upstairs as soon as a bed could be prepared, and Maurice -brought them a bowl of broth—or rather, water in which the mutton had -been boiled—with pieces of meat floating in it. Eirene would eat -nothing. While they sat outside the Han, waiting for the loft to be -got ready, she had raised her head suddenly from Zoe’s shoulder, as if -waking from a stupor, and demanded— -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Evdotia Vladimirovna? I have not seen her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I think she stayed behind, at the bridge,” stammered Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Is she wounded? She would not have left me to you. What is the matter -with her? Is she dead?” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe struggled to say something, and failed, and Eirene read the truth -from her broken accents. -</p> - -<p> -“She is dead, then?” she said. “And I made her come with me!” -</p> - -<p> -She would say nothing more, and the tears for which Zoe hoped would -not come. Eirene allowed herself to be helped upstairs, and lay down -obediently, but not to sleep. When the noise and confusion that -reigned throughout the inn had at last subsided, Zoe was roused by -hearing her voice. Sometimes she spoke in French or English, sometimes -in an unknown tongue, which Zoe thought must be Scythian, rambling on -and on, and moaning pitifully. Once she called out for her jewel-case, -and Zoe, fearing that the other passengers would be disturbed, rose -and brought it to her, leaving it on the bed, so that she might be -sure it was safe. She held long conversations with some one, -apparently urging some course of action, and Zoe guessed that her mind -was recurring to the difficulty she had experienced in inducing Mrs -Smith to accompany her on her quest, whatever it was. The delirium had -passed off in the morning, but Eirene remained weak and feverish, and -Zoe welcomed the appearance of the doctor, who came up from the scene -of the accident with the rest of his patients in the emergency train -as soon as it was light. Bustle was everywhere again, and the -officials and Wylie had their hands full in producing order out of -chaos. The most serious cases among the injured were to be sent back -to Tatarjé, while those who were only slightly wounded, and the -unhurt, were to proceed by road as fast as carriages could be provided -to convey them, following the old route through the mountains which -had preceded the railway, crossing the river by a Roman bridge at some -distance lower down, and rejoining the line at the nearest station on -the other side, where a train would be waiting to take them on to -Therma. This would have been the natural course for Maurice and Zoe to -follow, but there was Eirene to consider, and Zoe felt no surprise -when the doctor remarked airily— -</p> - -<p> -“She must not be moved, of course. A few days’ perfect rest and -freedom from strain is necessary. You will be able to renew the -dressings, mademoiselle, and I will leave you sufficient material. -Your interesting sister is in no danger, but she will certainly not be -fit to travel for a week.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course we must stay and look after her,” said Maurice, when he -heard the verdict. “We can’t leave her here alone.” -</p> - -<p> -This was Zoe’s own opinion, but for some reason Maurice’s ready -agreement displeased her. “She has no claim on us whatever,” she said, -rather tartly. “She simply tacked herself on to us.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a low thing to say!” cried Maurice, really angry. “And the poor -little girl in such trouble!” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course she’s in trouble, but whose fault is it? You may say what -you like, but you know you’d be horribly, frightfully angry if I went -running about Europe and hooked myself on to a strange man and his -sister.” -</p> - -<p> -“That would be quite different. I mean, it would be quite different -with strangers. She had sense enough to pick out us. At any -rate”—Maurice had a dim idea that there was something not quite -conclusive about his argument—“we ought to be very thankful that she -did.” -</p> - -<p> -“We? Scarcely. But I think she ought,” snapped Zoe, and having -permitted herself this licence, set to work to atone for it. “Don’t -look so righteously angry, Maurice. I never dreamed for a moment of -leaving her alone here; only it struck me all at once how different it -would have seemed to you if I had been in her place. Don’t be afraid; -I’ll be her guide, philosopher, and friend as long as she’ll let me, -and hand her over to her parents and guardians a reformed character, -when they turn up at last.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, one forgets that,” said Maurice, with what Zoe felt was -unnecessary solemnity, and she turned away a little hastily. -</p> - -<p> -“Is she going to come between Maurice and me?” she asked herself. “No, -that she can’t do unless I let her. She isn’t a bad child, really—for -a child, always seeing how far she can go, and half frightened at the -things she does, and expecting other people to take the -responsibility. I do wonder who she really is.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good morning,” said Wylie, meeting her. “You look none the worse for -your adventures, I’m glad to see. I met the doctor just now. Horribly -bad luck for you to be fixed here. I hope you are not anxious about -your sister?” -</p> - -<p> -“The doctor says it is only rest she needs, thank you. I suppose this -is ‘good-bye’?” noticing that he was equipped for a journey. -</p> - -<p> -“Not exactly. I’m only going down with your brother to see if we can -disinter your family luggage from the wreck. Er—I found I was more -knocked about than I thought,” as Zoe looked at him in surprise, “and -I thought a—a little rest wouldn’t do me any harm, so I’m staying on -too—if you don’t mind, that is?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why should I mind?” asked Zoe coolly. “I think it will be very nice -for my brother to have a companion, as I shall be so much taken up. I -hope you are not seriously hurt?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no—nothing at all,” he assured her. “I am sending a message -to my friend not to expect me just yet. Oh, by the bye, they will soon -be packing off the treasure. What about your sister’s jewel-case? It -has been a good deal talked of already, and the villagers are prepared -to regard your party as possessed of illimitable wealth. I really -think we should be safer without it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll speak to her at once,” said Zoe, as she mounted the stair. By -way of proceeding in a gentle and diplomatic manner, she began by -telling Eirene that Wylie was remaining with them, which seemed to -fill her with compunction. -</p> - -<p> -“I have not deserved this fidelity,” she said feebly, “for I have -never shown him any special distinction. But he shall not go -unrewarded. Oh,” meeting Zoe’s astonished and rather indignant eyes, -“I forgot; he does not know. But his intention is kind.” -</p> - -<p> -“He thinks you had better send your jewel-case on with the treasure, -and get it placed in safety,” said Zoe bluntly, unreasonably irritated -by Eirene’s assumption that Wylie was staying on her account. -</p> - -<p> -“Never!” said Eirene decisively. “I won’t part with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well. Every one is talking about it, and the revolutionaries -are sure to hear. Then they will come and besiege the inn, and you -will have to give it up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not while I live.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if you think Maurice and Captain Wylie—or any one—would -sacrifice the lives of a whole houseful of people just for the sake of -your jewels, I don’t.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene wavered a little. “What does Maurice say?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“He thinks, as I do, that if you are our sister, your brother’s wishes -ought to have some effect on you.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I only knew they would be safe!” sighed Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, they are sure to be safe. You will be given a receipt for them, -I expect, and then the railway people would be responsible.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I thought that——!” Eirene was still gripping the box. “Zoe, will -you find out at once? If the railway people will guarantee the safety -of the case, I will entrust it to them.” -</p> - -<p> -Much relieved by this reasonable attitude, Zoe went downstairs again, -found the official in charge of the treasure, obtained all possible -assurances from him, and returned to Eirene, who had opened the -jewel-case, and with reluctant fingers was rearranging its more -obvious contents—the trinkets which, as she had told the French lady, -had belonged to her mother—in their proper places. -</p> - -<p> -“Take it quickly, before I change my mind,” she said, locking it -hastily. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch06"> -CHAPTER VI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A TRAP.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> week’s stay at the Han was drawing to a close. Twice the train -from “Europe” had deposited its passengers at the station, and they -had been sent on by road, as those of the wrecked train had been, to -rejoin the line on the other side of the river. Gangs of navvies were -at work on the repairs to the bridge, and the passage of -construction-trains kept the station staff busy. Maurice and Wylie had -extricated as much as possible of their possessions and those of the -girls from the pile of damaged and partially plundered luggage (for -the navvies had enjoyed first choice) rescued from among the -<i>débris</i>, and the village carpenter found himself overworked, or so -he asserted, with orders for making new boxes and repairing others. -The party at the inn had been increased by the addition of Haji Ahmad, -a trusted Roumi servant of Wylie’s friend Captain Palmer, who had been -sent to make himself generally useful, which he did. Poor Mrs Smith -had been buried in the neglected churchyard, a ragged and dirty priest -hurrying through a service which seemed little more intelligible to -himself than to the three English who listened, and displaying an -indecent keenness as to the fees due to him. -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene,” said Zoe, on the fifth day of their stay, “Maurice wanted me -to ask you what you would like put on the tombstone. He has found a -man who can carve letters, and he would like to make sure that it is -properly done before we leave.” -</p> - -<p> -“‘Evdotia Vladimirovna’—nothing else,” replied Eirene, after a -moment’s reflection. “Some day I shall build a memorial church here, -to commemorate her fidelity, but it is not the time for that yet.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe wondered silently whether the poor lady might not have preferred a -peaceful life to this honoured death, and Eirene caught her look. “You -know that she was not really my aunt?” she said doubtfully. -</p> - -<p> -“I have thought it might be so,” returned Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“She was my mother’s—companion,” said Eirene, hesitating over the -word, “and then she was one of my governesses. I was obliged to tell -her what I meant to do, and she could not let me come alone. I said I -should go without her, but of course I could not have done it. I knew -she would come sooner than that. And I told her what to do, and she -really tried to do it. You don’t know how cunningly I laid my plans!” -with sudden enthusiasm. “I made use of my father’s steward to take -passages to America for us from Havre, and get American passports for -us as Mrs Silas Lapham and Miss Philadelphia Lapham, and to transfer -money in that name to a bank in New York. He is a Jew, and I knew that -however heavily I bribed him to silence, he would betray me if he -found himself in danger, so I let him think he was wholly in my -confidence, and yet I never trusted him at all. Through an English -merchant with whom my father had dealings, I got these English -passports, and then all was clear. We had been staying at a French -watering-place, and we left it in our proper characters and embarked -on the Nord Express. Our maids went on unsuspiciously with the luggage -to—where we used to live, but Evdotia Vladimirovna and I had left the -train at the first stopping-place and returned to Paris. A duplicate -set of luggage was sent through to Havre in the name of Lapham, to -make further confusion, while we, with entirely different luggage, -took tickets for the Orient Express as Mrs and Miss Smith. I knew that -if Levinssohn betrayed us, he could only direct pursuit to Havre, -where the false luggage would be stopped; but it would be some days -before they would suspect we were not coming that way at all, and by -that time our traces in Paris would be lost. I was foolish in being so -frightened at Vindobona, for it was most unlikely that my precautions -should have failed, but it was terrible to think that after such a -bold stroke I might be dragged back.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I only hope you had a good reason for it all,” was Zoe’s -unsympathetic rejoinder. Eirene looked offended. -</p> - -<p> -“Arrangements were proposed for me which I could not possibly accept,” -she said, with much dignity. “My reasons were absolutely valid, as you -will acknowledge if I ever explain them to you. I should like to -justify myself by doing so now, but it is out of the question, -unless—— Zoe,” she broke off suddenly, “it occurs to me sometimes -that you and Maurice may not be what you seem. You also—I mean, you -yourselves—may be travelling <i>incognito</i>. If it was so——?” -</p> - -<p> -The possibilities of the situation flew through Zoe’s mind as Eirene’s -voice ceased. If she were to make a bargain—to exchange her secret -for Eirene’s? But the secret was not hers alone, but Maurice’s, and -Wylie was still in ignorance of it. Besides, what if Eirene were -really the spy she had at first imagined her, and this was a bold bid -on her part for success in her nefarious schemes? Zoe’s decision was -taken in an instant. “You mustn’t be so fanciful,” she said. “Maurice -and I have lived the most unromantic life you can imagine. He is -really an English country gentleman, as he has told you. We do really -live in a nice, square, ugly, old Georgian house, with good grounds. -When we are ambitious we call them the park. We have a good many -tenants, who are a continual bother through wanting things done for -them and not paying their rents. We are exactly like our neighbours, -except that we have both been to college.” A prudential instinct, for -which she commended herself, restrained her from mentioning the Gold -Medal, though she had already exulted in Wylie’s undisguised -astonishment when he was made acquainted with Maurice’s poetical fame. -</p> - -<p> -Eirene sighed. “I am so sorry,” she said. “I had fancied—— There is -something so striking about your brother—a mingling of strength and -gentleness and carelessness—no, that is the wrong word; <i>insouciance</i> -is what I mean—that I could not help hoping he was really noble.” -</p> - -<p> -The temptation to reveal the truth was so overwhelming that Zoe took -refuge in a highly moral tone. “You have such a horribly snobbish way -of looking at things,” she said severely, “thinking whether people are -noble instead of whether they are nice. Maurice and Captain Wylie are -English gentlemen, and an English gentleman is the equal of any one in -the world.” -</p> - -<p> -“And an English lady?” demanded Eirene smartly. -</p> - -<p> -“Superior to any one in the world, I should think, judging by the way -in which foreign royalties employ English governesses,” retorted Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“I had an English governess,” said Eirene, closing her eyes languidly. -“She was very highly connected, she said so; and she believed that one -of the foresters—gamekeepers, you say?—was in love with her. She -used to drop her handkerchief for him to pick up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor thing! No doubt she wanted some consolation—or perhaps she was -going crazy,” said Zoe. “I expect you led her a life.” -</p> - -<p> -“You consider me very unamiable?” asked Eirene curiously. “Tell me, -then; what do you think of me, honestly?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think you are unamiable really, but you seem to think of no -one but yourself, and you are always thinking of yourself. You told me -to say what I thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know; I suppose it is true. You consider me selfish. Well, I will -try to improve. And to begin, I beg you will go to Maurice and ask him -from me to take you for a long walk. I have kept you too much with -me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense!” said Zoe, laughing; “it’s very nice here. I’m not -going to leave you all alone.” -</p> - -<p> -“I insist that you go. And don’t fear my being dull. I have much to -do, for I must mend my skirt before I put it on to-morrow. Pray leave -me your workbox.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, I never noticed it,” said Zoe, turning to the skirt as it hung -on the wall. Five or six inches of braid were hanging in a loop. “But -I’ll do it for you in a minute.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Eirene stiffly, “you are not my maid.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we’ll do it together, if you are so proud. But you can’t work -with one hand in a sling.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is only the left, and it will suffice to hold the work,” persisted -Eirene. “Go!” she cried, with sudden anger. “I will not have you -criticising my untidy stitches. I will do it by myself, if it takes me -till dark.” -</p> - -<p> -Shrugging her shoulders, Zoe took her hat and left the room. When she -returned at dusk, after a glorious walk through the hills, Eirene had -accomplished her task, and was trying the skirt on. Zoe looked at it -in surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, how funny it looks!” she said. “You must have puckered it -dreadfully. It sticks out in such a queer way above the hem. Let me -pull it down.” -</p> - -<p> -She knelt to try and twitch the folds into place, but Eirene pulled -them away pettishly. -</p> - -<p> -“How tiresome you are, Zoe! It will look all right. I have put in some -weights to keep it down better. If you don’t call attention to it, -nobody will notice, and it will fall perfectly when I have worn it a -day or two.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I must say I don’t admire your tailoring,” said Zoe, rising -from her knees. “You must have put in too many weights. Your tailor -would simply break his heart if he saw that skirt. I believe I could -have done it better, though I don’t profess to be great at sewing.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have arranged it as I like it,” said Eirene, with so much dignity -that her companion dropped the subject, though the ill-hung skirt was -an eyesore to her all the next day, when Eirene came downstairs and -was escorted on a short walk through the village. On the following day -they left the Han to resume their interrupted journey, but intending -to spend a night at the station on the other side of the river, lest -Eirene should be over-tired by the long drive. They took only their -hand-luggage with them in the carriage, leaving the larger boxes to -follow with those of the passengers who would be due to join the train -the next morning. The whole population of the village seemed to have -turned out to see them start, from the priest to the most slipshod -drudge at the inn, and Zoe flattered herself that they presented an -imposing appearance, with Haji Ahmad, armed to the teeth, on the box -beside the driver. The carriage itself, a nondescript vehicle of the -victoria species, stood much in need of a visit to the coachbuilder’s, -but it was large enough to allow of Eirene’s being made comfortable -with cushions, and Wylie gave it as his mature opinion that, with -reasonable care on the driver’s part, it ought to hold out until the -end of the day. The road did not lead through the dark forests of -evergreen oak, but through much more cheerful beechwoods, and the -scenery was less savage than that in the river-gorge. It was just like -a picnic, Zoe declared, and she only wished they could finish their -journey to Therma in this way instead of by train. -</p> - -<p> -About noon they stopped to change horses, and ate their lunch in a -rickety shelter of poles and vines attached in lean-to fashion to the -post-station. A little beyond this the road divided, presenting a -fairly steep ascent on the right, and a more gradual descent on the -left. The driver took the road to the right without hesitation, and -Maurice and Wylie and Haji Ahmad got out to make it easier for the -horses. Maurice walked by the side of the carriage, chatting with the -girls, but Wylie and the servant fell behind, and it seemed to Zoe -that they were talking earnestly. When the top of the hill was -reached, showing a prospect of further hills, the road through which -was barely distinguishable, Wylie went forward and spoke sharply to -the driver, using a jargon of his own invention of broken Thracian -helped out with Roumi and Arabic words, in which he had managed to -make himself understood at the Han. The driver answered at first only -by a broad stare and a look of bewilderment, but presently his face -cleared, and he poured forth a torrent of words, gesticulating -vehemently with his whip. The explanation he offered seemed to satisfy -Wylie, though Haji Ahmad still looked uneasy as he climbed to his -place. As soon as Wylie was in the carriage again, Zoe asked him what -had passed. -</p> - -<p> -“Haji Ahmad thought we were taking the wrong road,” he answered -lightly, “but the driver says this is shorter than the other, and the -landlord told him to take it in order to make the journey as short as -possible for your sister.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is much rougher,” objected Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“So I told him, but he says that he had not allowed for our stopping -for lunch, and that to go back down that long hill would lose so much -time that we shouldn’t get in till after dark, which would be no joke -on these roads. I don’t think there’s any fear of his losing himself. -As he says, it’s obvious that both roads lead to the river and the -Roman bridge, though this one goes across the hill and the other goes -round it.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice and Eirene had scarcely noticed what had been said, and under -cover of their talk and laughter Zoe ventured to ask, “But what if he -did lead us wrong?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid I should be guilty of conniving at Roumi oppression, and -leave him to Haji Ahmad to deal with,” said Wylie, laughing. They went -on into the hills, the track becoming rougher as they advanced, until -Maurice wedged Eirene in with all the luggage of the party, that she -might not be thrown out. Zoe heard Wylie muttering maledictions on the -driver under his breath, and saw him casting glances alternately at -the sun and the way they had come, evidently calculating whether there -was time even now to retrace their steps. The driver was obviously -anxious to escape as soon as possible from the resentment of his -passengers, who were being rattled about like peas in a pod, for he -was driving furiously, making the dilapidated carriage bound from -hillock to hollow. Zoe looked across at Wylie, and, raising her voice, -asked if he could not tell the man to go more quietly; but before he -could turn his head, the driver had disappeared suddenly from her -view. Something whirred over the carriage, sweeping Haji Ahmad from -the box to the ground with a clatter of weapons, and the driver was in -his place again as if by magic, pulling up his horses frantically in -obedience to hoarse shouts in front. He must have ducked to avoid a -rope fastened across the road, was Zoe’s last coherent thought. The -carriage stopped violently, half across the track, and events came -with a rush. Zoe saw Maurice and Wylie spring up from their seats, saw -Maurice felled with the butt-end of a gun, and Wylie raging, furiously -helpless, in a noose which the driver had dexterously thrown over him, -pinioning his arms to his sides. Huge, hairy hands seized her and -Eirene, dragged them out and flung them roughly on the ground, while -fierce voices cursed them by saints with uncouth names. A wild -struggle was going on, and the two prostrate girls were undoubtedly in -the way, so that they were trampled upon impartially by both sides. -Zoe had an awful glimpse of Haji Ahmad, his face streaming with blood, -fighting desperately for his life, before she succeeded in dragging -herself out of the fray, to find Maurice flung aside stunned and -bleeding, and Eirene, who had fallen on her wounded arm, moaning -faintly. The mob of ruffians in dirty white kilts who were yelling and -struggling round the carriage paid no attention to her, and she crept -towards the other two. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t look that way—don’t!” cried Wylie, breaking out of the crowd -and thrusting himself between her and them—a ludicrous figure enough, -with torn coat, no hat, and arms bound tightly behind him. “That’s all -right,” as she lifted Maurice’s head. “There’s a flask in my pocket if -you can get at it. Buck up, Miss Eirene! Don’t let these fellows hear -an English girl making that noise.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am not English!” cried Eirene, sitting up indignantly. “At least, I -mean—— Oh, what are they doing?” as a single awful cry of agony came -from the centre of the throng of robbers, and made Zoe almost drop the -flask. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t look, don’t look!” entreated Wylie. “That’s it, Miss Smith, try -and get a drop into his mouth. Now, Miss Eirene”—sharply—“can’t you -unfasten your brother’s collar, and hold up his head?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll do it,” said Zoe, as Eirene touched Maurice’s tie delicately; -“you take the flask. Oh!” stopping short with trembling fingers, as a -second and feebler cry was heard. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s over now, at any rate,” said Wylie, setting his lips. “Get your -brother’s head tied up quickly, before these fiends have time to -remember us. Each man is bound to give the poor wretch a stab, dead -though he may be.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it Haji Ahmad?” asked Zoe faintly, as she folded her handkerchief -into a pad. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. A Roumi need expect no mercy from these fellows. Take my -handkerchief for a bandage; it’s larger than yours. Oh, good heavens! -have you no knife or scissors that you could cut this rope with, and -give me a chance to stand up to them when they turn round?” -</p> - -<p> -“In the carriage?” suggested Zoe, measuring the distance with her eye. -“Oh, Maurice has a knife, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“Leave it, leave it!” he cried quickly; “they’re coming. Stand up if -you can, Smith,” as Maurice opened his eyes feebly. “No, it’s no good. -Keep quiet.” -</p> - -<p> -He stood before the girls, and it seemed to Zoe that the advancing -robbers quailed when they met his eye, and shuffled their -blood-stained yataghans out of sight, as though suddenly conscious of -the awful mass on the ground behind them. -</p> - -<p> -“Can any of you speak English?” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -“Me—a leetle,” said a small, slim man, pushing his way to the front. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you want with us?” -</p> - -<p> -“We take all you got, zen get moch money for you,” was the reply, -given with an ingratiating grin. -</p> - -<p> -“So I thought. Well, I have this to say to you. You can pillage my -friend and me if you like, but you won’t lay a finger upon the ladies. -They will turn out their pockets and show you what they’ve got, and -you can take what you want.” -</p> - -<p> -The interpreter turned to his friends, apparently not sorry to escape -from Wylie’s glance, and explained the terms to them. Absurd though it -seemed, the will of the bound and defenceless prisoner prevailed above -the murmurs that arose, and the interpreter undertook, on behalf of -the chief of the band, that the girls should not be searched if Wylie -would swear on the Evangelists that they had given up everything. -</p> - -<p> -“Turn out your pockets, quickly,” he said to them, as two of the men -seized him, and two others dragged Maurice to his feet and propped him -against a tree. -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t!” cried Eirene, her eyes flaming. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense! you must. Didn’t you hear me promise for you?” He spoke -with difficulty, trying to turn round while his captors thrust and -pulled him about. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care. I never gave you leave to make promises for me. If they -touch me, I’ll kill them.” -</p> - -<p> -What she held in her hand neither Zoe nor Wylie could see, but the -brigands were clamouring and the interpreter insistent. -</p> - -<p> -“Let me talk to her,” cried Wylie, wrenching himself, with his collar -loose and his coat hanging by one sleeve, from the hands that held -him. “Look here, Miss Eirene, you must. You are not going to expose -your sister to the risk of being searched by these fellows?” -</p> - -<p> -“She can do as she likes. I won’t be searched, and I will give up -nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Smith, make your sister behave rationally. She will have all our -blood on her head in a minute.” Maurice, held up by the two men who -were searching him, made an effort to speak, but in vain, and Eirene -turned her back on him. One of the brigands seized Zoe by the arm, and -Wylie grew desperate. -</p> - -<p> -“For the last time, turn out your pockets!” he said low and fiercely -to Eirene. “If you don’t, I swear to you, on my word and honour, I’ll -get my hands loosed and do it myself.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene was cowed. A muttered “Your honour!” passed her lips, but -slowly and reluctantly she extracted from all the many pockets with -which the Vindobona tailor had provided her such spoils as struck the -brigands dumb with awe and astonishment, while Zoe looked on -stupefied. Nearly all the jewellery Eirene had exhibited in the train -seemed to be secreted about her person—pearls, rubies, emeralds, -everything except the quaint enamelled plaques which she had said she -prized most of all. There could be no doubt that before parting with -her jewel-case she had removed all its most valuable contents. -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all?” asked Wylie sternly, and she drew a bracelet from under -her sleeve, and hurled it passionately on the heap at her feet. -</p> - -<p> -“That is everything,” she said defiantly. “And I wish you and your -friends joy of it. Of course I knew from the first that you were in -league with them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now it is your turn,” said Wylie to Zoe, and she added to the heap a -collection which filled the brigands with indignation, noticing as she -did so that Eirene’s bracelet bore an eagle upon it—a design which -seemed in some way familiar. A shabby purse moderately filled, two -note-books, one very small, and the other large enough to require a -special pocket for its accommodation, and a serviceable -pencil-case—these were all that the robbers cared to appropriate of -her possessions, but Maurice and Wylie were despoiled of everything -their pockets contained. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch07"> -CHAPTER VII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A NIGHT’S LODGING.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">For</span> a minute or two the captives were left standing together while -the brigands divided the spoil, each man stowing his share away in the -bag slung knapsack-wise over his shoulder, and Wylie said hastily to -Zoe, “You had better pick up what you can of the things they have -left. Of course we shall be rescued to-morrow, but you will be more -comfortable to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -Obediently Zoe gathered together various odds and ends of clothing, -one or two of Eirene’s hair-brushes, deprived of their silver backs, -and such other trifles as the cupidity or ingenuity of the brigands -saw no use for. Her note-books and writing materials, the contents of -her travelling workbox, and the little “first-aid” case on which she -prided herself, had all been seized upon as valuable spoils, and she -found herself as destitute as the most heedless traveller could -deserve to be. Eirene, brooding sullenly over her wrongs, gave her no -help in her search, and she rolled up the poor remains of their joint -possessions into a bundle and tied it round with a broken -umbrella-strap. This was only done just in time, for the brigands, -their delightful task accomplished with a good deal of squabbling and -murmuring against the decisions of the chief, had leisure to think of -their prisoners. Accompanied by two others leading the horses which -had been taken from the carriage, the interpreter came towards them. -</p> - -<p> -“Behold! we beneficent beings,” he observed genially. “We furnish even -horses zat ze women may ride.” -</p> - -<p> -“I fancied we provided the horses,” murmured Maurice, from his seat on -the ground. -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t ride,” said Zoe quickly. “Maurice must. He can’t walk.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense! I can walk perfectly well,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“For goodness’ sake do what they tell you,” said Wylie anxiously. -“It’s only for one night.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your eyes most be blinded,” pursued the interpreter. Zoe gasped. -</p> - -<p> -“He means blindfolded,” explained Maurice, as the man produced the -dirtiest handkerchief any of the captives had ever seen. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no!” entreated Zoe, breaking down at last. “Why, they might -take us and you in different directions, and we should never know. -I’ll shut my eyes—anything, but don’t let us be blindfolded. Do speak -to them,” she begged of Wylie. “They listen to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pull yourself together,” he said sternly. “I should never have -suspected you of being hysterical.” The accusation told, and Zoe, with -both hands pressed to her chest, fought down the threatening sobs. -Wylie turned to the interpreter. “Look here,” he said, “the ladies are -frightened. If they think they are to be separated from their brother -they will give you a lot of trouble. Why should you blindfold them? If -you lead the horses they can’t possibly escape.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know a treek——” began the interpreter airily, but here his memory -failed him; “double valuable to zat one,” he concluded hastily, -beckoning to another brigand for the rope twisted round his waist. -Cutting off a short length, he fastened one end round Wylie’s neck, -and made a loop at the other. “Ze lady may hold zat,” he said, -chuckling. -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” said Wylie, checking with a glance a horrified outburst -from Zoe. “Quite mediæval, isn’t it, Miss Smith—mounted ladies -leading captive knights on foot? Lucky for me that I’m not assigned to -your sister, or she might avenge her wrongs by strangling -me—accidentally, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“Will you endure it?” demanded Eirene fiercely of Maurice, as Zoe, -trembling with indignation, submitted to be blindfolded and lifted on -one of the horses, with a rug for a saddle. -</p> - -<p> -“What can’t be cured must be endured,” he responded easily. “What -would you suggest I should do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Die!” she hurled at him. “I would, in your place.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you really wish that, I can oblige you in a minute or two. You -have only to refuse to be blindfolded or to mount your horse. The -brigands will naturally proceed to handle you roughly, and I shall -feel bound to throw myself forward in your defence. I think I could -manage to get killed then. Wylie will be there to look after you and -Zoe, and you will be able to think well of me.” -</p> - -<p> -“You say that to prevent my offering any resistance!” she said -angrily. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, do you wonder that I prefer living to dying?” -</p> - -<p> -“You English have no sense of honour! But I am unjust. You are not -noble; why should you prefer death to disgrace?” -</p> - -<p> -At this Maurice laughed, quite unintentionally, disgusting Eirene so -much that she submitted as meekly as Zoe had done to be blindfolded -and mounted, and slipped the loop of cord over her wrist with a kind -of fierce satisfaction. After this humiliation, she thought, even Zoe -could no longer pretend that Maurice and Wylie were her equals! The -reflection pleased her, and she rode along almost contentedly, -reviewing her own past conduct and approving it, which is always a -soothing occupation. Maurice, his arm gripped by one of the brigands, -who acted both as guide and guard, trudged silently beside her horse, -which was led by another of the band. Behind them came Zoe and Wylie, -similarly escorted, and the rest of the brigands acted as front and -rear guards respectively, their moccasin-clad feet making no sound on -the stony soil. The chief had commanded perfect silence, and the -horses’ feet were muffled. -</p> - -<p> -Zoe’s heart was full to bursting. The humiliations inflicted on her -brother and Wylie touched her to the quick, and she experienced on -their behalf all the indignation that they pretended not to feel. Most -incongruously, the thought of the utter absurdity of the position -afflicted her at times with an agony of mirth, and moment by moment -she was forced to choke down the inclination to scream or to break -into wild laughter. The occasional touch of Wylie’s shoulder against -her knee as he stumbled over the rough ground comforted and calmed -her, bringing a sense of the known and the ordinary into the fantastic -circumstances of the present. Once or twice she put out a timid hand -to make sure that he was still there, receiving a muttered word of -encouragement in answer, and the friendly contact enabled her to -repress the hysterical outburst she dreaded. -</p> - -<p> -The journey seemed already to have lasted for hours when, after -descending a very steep hill, the interpreter announced that there was -a “reever” in front, and that Maurice and Wylie must submit to be -carried across. With one voice they assured him that they would prefer -to wade, but he explained that the chief’s solicitude for their health -was so great that he would not hear of their running the risk of -catching cold. Zoe laughed involuntarily on hearing this, and thus -relieved her feelings a little, though horribly ashamed of her lack of -sympathy. The brigands must either be adepts in the art of torture by -pin-pricks, or totally destitute of a sense of humour. Maurice -muttered that he did not see the joke, as he was carried off by two -stalwart ruffians down a sloping bank, across, and up again, but Wylie -manufactured a creditable response to her laugh. “A Gilbert and -Sullivan melodrama, isn’t it?” he said, as he also was safely conveyed -across the twenty feet or so of what must be presumed to be a rushing -torrent, from the way in which the bearers slipped and tumbled about. -The horses crossed with surprising steadiness, and the journey was -resumed, the track now trending generally up instead of down. Zoe had -lost all inclination to laugh by this time. She was cold and tired, -and stiff and miserable, and full of terrible apprehensions. If Wylie -had not been close at hand she would have defied the opinion of the -brigands and cried like a baby, but she could not break down in his -presence. He expected her to be brave, and she tried to forget her -aching limbs and think only of the literary use to which she could put -this disagreeable experience in the future. This was the way in which -she usually comforted herself in her troubles, but it did not seem -quite adequate now, and a weary sigh broke from her. The mere physical -feat of sitting her horse without pommel or stirrup seemed no longer -possible. If only she could slide to the ground and sleep! -</p> - -<p> -“Keep up!” murmured Wylie. “Milosch—that’s the interpreter chap—says -it’s only a little farther.” -</p> - -<p> -Once more she pulled herself together and replied cheerfully, and -before long the necessity for endurance ceased. A subtle change in the -muffled sounds surrounding her showed her that the horse was being led -into a building of some sort, and when he stopped she slid off -helplessly, much to the amusement of the brigands. Amid their -laughter, Milosch took the handkerchief from her eyes, and as soon as -she could distinguish her surroundings she found that she was -crouching close to a recently kindled fire in a low shed built of -rough stones. There was a square hole in the roof, approached by a -ladder, and the intense blackness above seemed to show that there was -a second storey of some sort. Eirene, Maurice, and Wylie were standing -near her, blinking in the firelight, and the brigands were arranging -their cloaks on the ground, or rummaging in their bags. -</p> - -<p> -“Ascend up!” commanded Milosch, seizing Maurice by the arm and -pointing to the ladder. “We are charitable, we give you food when you -deposited safe in supernal regions.” -</p> - -<p> -“He can’t climb that ladder with his hands tied!” cried Zoe -indignantly. “Why don’t you untie him?” -</p> - -<p> -Milosch looked doubtfully at the chief, who shrugged his shoulders -contemptuously, and the cords were removed, care being taken not to -cut them. “We tie you again morning,” observed the interpreter, with -his cheerful smile. Maurice mounted the ladder, the girls followed, -and Wylie, who had lingered to secure the rugs which had served as -saddles, and request the loan of two of the brigands’ large overcoats, -brought up the rear. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s nothing but a hay-loft!” cried Zoe in horrified accents. -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me,” said Wylie; “it is a loft with hay in it, which is a much -better thing, since it provides us all with beds. You’ll see, Miss -Smith. While we are waiting until our friends below send us up some -supper, we will curtain off the space at the end for you and your -sister. Smith and I will keep close to the hole, so that if the -brigands are up to any mischief in the night, they must wake us before -they can get near you.” -</p> - -<p> -His tone was so cheerful and matter-of-fact that Zoe forgot her -fatigue and her fears, and held the rug for him while he tied one -corner by its fringe to a jagged nail he had discovered in the sloping -roof. The other side of the improvised curtain presented some -difficulty, for there was nothing to which to fasten it, until she -produced a stout hat-pin, which Wylie hammered into a crevice with the -heel of his boot. Eirene disapproved of this use of the hat-pin. -</p> - -<p> -“You should keep it for a better purpose,” she said. “Mine I regard as -a dagger.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean to say that was all you had in your hand this afternoon?” -cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Why not? I would have used it, as I said, and it would kill if one -struck hard enough.” -</p> - -<p> -“I only wish I had known!” murmured Wylie, with heartfelt earnestness. -“There, Miss Smith! now your room is ready, you see. You can make -capital nests in the hay, and here are these two greatcoats to cover -you. It won’t be luxurious, of course, but it’s only for one——” He -broke off suddenly, and changed the subject. “Smith and I have this -other rug, so we shall do well. We shall all sleep without rocking -to-night, I think.” -</p> - -<p> -“But can’t we manage to escape while the brigands are asleep?” said -Maurice, lowering his voice. -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely, since they are safe to take away the ladder, and it -wouldn’t do much good to drop down in the middle of them. The fire’s -there, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“If we were in a Henty book,” said Zoe thoughtfully, “we should cut a -hole through the roof and let ourselves down outside.” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately they have sentries all round,” said Wylie. “I heard the -chief placing them. The only chance would be to bribe one, and we have -nothing to do it with.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene laughed. “If you had not robbed me of my jewels this afternoon, -we should not have been destitute,” she remarked, as if to explain her -mirth. -</p> - -<p> -“I shall begin to wish I had left you to be searched in Balkan -fashion,” muttered Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“Now look here, Eirene,” said Maurice, in his most elder-brotherly -tone, “just drop it. If you are our sister, you must put up with -things, and not make yourself unpleasant to our friends. You were -frightfully silly this afternoon, and might have risked all our lives, -and you ought to thank Wylie for what he did. We are all in one boat, -and it’s simply idiotic to keep up grudges in this way. Wylie is an -old campaigner, and Zoe and I are quite content to put ourselves under -his orders. You must do the same, content or not.” -</p> - -<p> -He expected a fierce protest from Eirene, but the authoritative tone -seemed to cow her. “You don’t understand what my jewels were to me,” -she pleaded. “They were my whole fortune, and the pledge of my -birthright, and now I have lost them. But do not fear. You shall all -experience my gratitude in the future, and I shall bear no malice -against Captain Wylie for his excess of zeal.” -</p> - -<p> -“Much obliged, I’m sure,” grunted Wylie, looking as if he thought -Eirene a little mad, and Zoe hastened to cover the indiscretion by -remarking— -</p> - -<p> -“When you talk in that way, Eirene, you always make me think of Miss -Flite promising to ‘confer estates.’ Don’t you think it’s horribly -unfair, Captain Wylie, that she should be able to patronise Maurice -and me in this way?” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie’s reply was fortunately anticipated by the arrival of Milosch, -who came up the ladder bearing a small collection of lumps of black -bread and very ancient cheese, and a skin bottle of water. -</p> - -<p> -“Are we not beneficents?” he asked proudly, depositing his burden on -the rug. “We give you our own food!” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s all very well,” said Maurice, peering down after him as he -descended. “They are eating the white bread and things we left in the -luncheon-basket.” -</p> - -<p> -“How can we eat such stuff as this?” asked Zoe in dismay, for bread -and cheese were alike as hard as a rock. -</p> - -<p> -“Ask them to send up a little white bread for the ladies,” suggested -Wylie; and Maurice, who was sitting nearest the hole in the floor, -obeyed, only to receive the answer, “You are our guests. We give you -our own food.” -</p> - -<p> -Prudently refraining from increasing the girls’ aversion for the food -by mentioning that he had seen it collected from the sacks of the -different brigands, where it had reposed in close contact with wax, -tobacco, thread and leather for soling moccasins, rag for cleaning -guns, and other useful articles, Maurice broke off a piece of the -bread by knocking it against the roof, and tasting it, pronounced it -not so bad when you were hungry. Eirene confessed to having tasted -black bread before, when paying visits to peasants’ huts, but added -contemptuously that she had never expected to find it actually set -before her for a meal. However, since there was nothing else, they all -managed to nibble a little, and then the girls, almost asleep already, -retired behind their curtain, and were soon slumbering peacefully, -undisturbed by the loud snores from below, which showed that however -guilty the collective conscience of the brigands might be, it did not -keep them awake. -</p> - -<p> -It seemed to Zoe and Eirene that they had scarcely slept at all when -they heard Maurice’s voice warning them that it was time to get up, -and they looked at one another in dismay by the light which poured -through the holes in the roof, realising that their faces were haggard -and their hair full of hay. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose we can do our hair without a looking-glass,” said Zoe. “But -do you think there is any hot water?” -</p> - -<p> -The question sounded so absurdly incongruous that she was not -surprised to hear it answered by a laugh from Maurice on the other -side of the curtain. “There is a stream,” he said, “and you have leave -to wash your faces and hands. You’re lucky to have kept your -tooth-brushes, for Wylie and I have to use twigs, like the mild -Hindu.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shouldn’t have thought the brigands would care for tooth-brushes,” -said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“They don’t—for their teeth; they use them for cleaning their -guns—I’ve seen them. So be thankful, and don’t shirk the cold water. -I can even supply you with soap, for Milosch has just lent me a piece -of our own, with strict injunctions to return it, and much -self-congratulation on his generosity.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think the estimable Milosch is becoming rather a bore,” said Zoe -viciously, trying to shake the hay off her skirt. “Don’t go down until -I have bandaged your head again, Maurice. I want to do it properly by -daylight.” -</p> - -<p> -“Considering the want of water and light up here, wouldn’t it be as -well to do it downstairs?” suggested Maurice; and Zoe, agreeing, -presently found herself and her patient the centre of interest to the -brigands. This publicity had its advantages in that she quickly -distinguished the man to whom her first-aid case had fallen, and with -some difficulty obtained through Milosch its temporary restoration. -While the interpreter strutted about, proclaiming loudly to the -prisoners the magnanimity of their captors in thus providing them with -surgical treatment, she cut away the hair round the cut, joined the -edges with strips of plaster, and crowned Maurice with a turban of -bandages, to the intense admiration of the spectators. As soon as she -had finished, they hustled forward one of their number, who had -received a somewhat similar wound in Haji Ahmad’s last desperate -fight, and informed her, through Milosch, that he also required -medical attendance. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t touch the dirty brute,” said Wylie. “I’ll tie him up -roughly—quite good enough for him. He’s not fit for you to handle.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, I’ll do it,” said Zoe reluctantly, for the aspect of the -wounded man was not alluring. “I never realised before ‘how very hard -it is to be a Christian,’” she said, rather faintly, when the task was -over, and one of the men filled the rough leathern bucket with fresh -water that she might wash her hands. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think practical Christianity need go quite so far,” said -Wylie savagely, but the chief was calling to Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Stoyan ze Voivoda say, ‘Here, girl!’” explained Milosch, and Zoe -hesitated. The chief held out a piece of her own chocolate, with an -attempt at a smile, and after a struggle with herself, she advanced -and accepted it. It was better than the black bread and hard cheese. -</p> - -<p> -“Lo, ze munificence of our autocrat!” exclaimed Milosch, striking an -attitude of reverential admiration. “He provide his guests with -sweetmeats!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, stow that, Milosch!” entreated Maurice; “it’s getting stale. -Considering that the things are our own, it would be in better taste -to say nothing about them.” -</p> - -<p> -Milosch smiled uncomfortably, and joined Stoyan for a murmured -confabulation, returning quickly to the prisoners, who were mitigating -their hard fare with minute fragments of the chocolate. -</p> - -<p> -“Ze Voivoda say he not tie your hands to-day if you plight your -gentlemanly faith to try not to escape,” he said to Maurice and Wylie. -“We going into mountains, where ze women most walk, and zey need your -help.” -</p> - -<p> -“To try not to escape?” said Zoe. “Oh, he means not to try to escape. -You can promise that, can’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no,” said Eirene eagerly. “It is a deception, a snare—I am sure -of it. Doubtless the way is easy, and lies through villages, where it -would cause suspicion if you were seen to be fettered, and the -brigands think they will make us appear as tourists guided by them. -Surely you won’t cripple yourselves by such a promise?” -</p> - -<p> -“It does seem rather insane,” agreed Maurice. “What do you say, Wylie? -We should feel pretty small if we found we had debarred ourselves from -accepting a good chance of escape.” -</p> - -<p> -“I confess I don’t quite see how we are to escape with two ladies -through a country which we don’t know and the brigands do,” said -Wylie. “Even Miss Smith’s Henty heroes would have found it a large -order. But don’t think I want to back out of any unpleasantness that’s -going.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, let us split the difference,” said Maurice, “and refuse to give -our parole until we see the sort of way they take us. If it is very -bad for the girls, we can still ask to be undone.” -</p> - -<p> -“You fools one and ozer,” remarked Milosch sardonically, when he heard -their decision. “Behold our slighted consideration avenge itself in -severity.” -</p> - -<p> -The meaning of this cryptic sentence appeared immediately, for the -brigands, offended by the rejection of their offer, bound the two -men’s arms behind them so tightly that the cords cut into the flesh. -Wylie laughed grimly. “We can’t choose to be bound, and then complain -because they bind us,” he said. “I am sorry to be unkind, Miss Smith, -but the sooner you find the track too difficult for you, the better we -shall be pleased.” -</p> - -<p> -Even now there was some time to wait before the start, while two men, -detailed for the purpose, removed the ashes of the fire and other -traces of the night’s occupation from the cattle-shed where it had -been spent, and the rest of the brigands made up their loads, those -who carried the rugs complaining angrily because the prisoners were -obviously unable to do so. Then the procession set out, with the -captives in the middle, the girls uneasily silent, frightened by the -unpleasant result of Eirene’s advice. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch08"> -CHAPTER VIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE HISTORY OF A DAY.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Eirene’s</span> ingenious idea had been signally mistaken. This was evident -almost as soon as the little clearing in which the cattle-shed stood -had been left behind, and, indeed, it could never have been -entertained if the prisoners had been able to see their way and the -nature of their surroundings the night before. Far from being an easy -road, leading through villages, the path was a mere goat-track, -plunging into the very heart of the mountains. To the active brigands, -in their flexible moccasins, it presented no particular difficulty, -but it was full of perils and alarms for inexperienced climbers -wearing boots. At first, Zoe and Eirene shrank nervously from the gaps -in the pathway, and the narrow ledges on which they were expected to -creep round corners of rock; but the curses and threats which followed -the slightest hesitation soon drove them on in blind terror. The -brigands were worse than the mountain. Realising that Maurice and -Wylie were helpless, the girls maintained sufficient resolution not to -appeal to them, even by a glance, as they stumbled painfully up the -track, their arms tortured by the cords. Not only curses, but blows, -were showered on them whenever they missed their footing; but the -treatment meted out to the girls was what they found hardest to bear. -At last, when Zoe slipped and almost fell, and the nearest brigand’s -grimy paw clutched her and shook her savagely, Wylie could stand it no -longer. -</p> - -<p> -“Smith, we must give our parole!” he called to Maurice. “Your sisters -can’t get on alone. Here, you interpreter, tell them we’ll promise not -to try to escape.” -</p> - -<p> -A halt was called, and a good deal of discussion ensued among the -brigands. There was an evident disposition to allow Maurice and Wylie -to bear the consequences of their refusal to the bitter end, but the -men who were carrying the rugs objected, and so did the two who were -charged with seeing to the girls’ safety. It was unreasonable, they -pointed out with much cogency, to expect them to be bothered with -these troublesome women and their parcels, when the task could be -imposed upon their natural protectors, and the plea commended itself -at length to the rest. While Milosch delivered an oration on the -unsurpassed kindness of the brigands in allowing the captives to -change their minds, the chief cut the cords with his knife, and -ordered an immediate advance. Chafing his numbed wrists, Wylie joined -Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“We may have prevented you from escaping!” she said miserably. -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit of it. At least, if you see any chance of escape here in -these atrocious hills, I must say I don’t. Take my arm, won’t you? the -path is wider just here. Oh, I say”—he had caught sight of tears in -her eyes—“please don’t! You’re not fagged out yet?” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s—not that,” came in a series of gasps. “It’s seeing you—and -Maurice—knocked about—and not being—able to do—anything. I -hate—being a woman.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s all in the day’s work,” with discreet evasiveness. “Come, now, -make up your mind you’re campaigning—‘climbing the Afghan -mountain-track,’ you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“In the Khoord-Cabul disaster?” with the ghost of a smile. -</p> - -<p> -“What a cheerful mind you have! But after all, the captives were -rescued that time, so it’s a good omen. There! that’s right,” as Zoe -stumbled and saved herself by catching at him. “Don’t make us feel -that our tremendous sacrifice was in vain. I’m afraid your sister -hasn’t forgiven me yet. She refused my help so decidedly just now that -I had no choice but to leave her to your brother.” -</p> - -<p> -“She has rather strained ideas of honour,” said Zoe hesitatingly, “and -I think she imagines you lead Maurice wrong. You see, it was you who -offered to give the parole, and I suppose that sends you down in her -estimation.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it’s a good fault, at any rate—too keen a sense of honour. We -English are too ready, no doubt, to think that because a thing is a -compromise it must be right. Your sister will be a fine woman when her -angles are a little rubbed off, if she sticks to her creed.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she doesn’t stick to it in little things!” broke out Zoe -involuntarily. “Oh, I oughtn’t to have said that!” she cried in -distress, realising how her speech must sound from Wylie’s standpoint. -“We have been brought up so differently, you know; she is always -surprising us.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was rather an experiment bringing her on a trip of this kind, -wasn’t it? Take my hand across here. I mean, some people are all right -as long as everything goes well, and they have all their own things -about them; but trouble or strangeness of any kind seems to bring all -their rough edges to light. Of course, she only wants to knock about -a bit—that’ll make all the difference,” he added hastily. -</p> - -<p> -“I—I can’t explain all the circumstances,” said Zoe, in some -confusion, “but it seemed the only thing we could do, to have her with -us. And she really means to be sisterly, I am sure. It’s only that she -doesn’t quite understand things. And we must all sink or swim -together, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so; and I hope I may be considered a brother in that particular -sense. You wouldn’t all make your escape, and leave me in the hands of -these fellows, would you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you think it likely?” asked Zoe indignantly. “And I don’t think we -should have much chance of escaping without you, either. Oh,” lowering -her voice, “do tell me why you suddenly changed your mind about our -being rescued? At first, you said over and over again that we should -only be prisoners for one night, but when we got to the shed yesterday -evening you stopped in the middle of a sentence and seemed to remember -something, and since then you have made no more prophecies.” -</p> - -<p> -“It wasn’t that I remembered something, but that I realised -something,” said Wylie, shifting the rugs he was carrying from his arm -to his shoulder, and speaking under their shelter. “When I expected to -be rescued to-day, I thought we should still be inside the triangle -formed by the road, the railway, and the river, in which we were -captured. When we did not arrive last night, the people across the -river would inquire by telegraph whether we had started, and it would -be seen at once that something had happened to us on the road. There -are enough soldiers and gendarmes within easy reach to sweep the -triangle thoroughly from the road and railway to the river, and we -were bound to be discovered.” -</p> - -<p> -“And it was after we crossed the river that you saw we were no longer -inside the triangle? But I thought the country to the south was much -more settled. Would the brigands really take us there?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, that’s their artfulness. Did you truly think it was the river we -crossed last night—only twenty feet wide, and shallow enough to wade -through?” -</p> - -<p> -“But what else could it have been—just a stream? Then we should still -be inside the triangle.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was not water at all; it was the railway.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” said Zoe blankly. “How could you tell?” she added. -</p> - -<p> -“Didn’t you notice that there was no sound of water? One would have -expected a good deal of noise from the way in which the brigands -pretended to stumble about, as if the current was a swift and broken -one. That struck me at one, and I listened hard. If the men carrying -me had been wearing boots, I should have heard them crunching on the -ballast, or knocking against the rails, but of course their moccasins -made no noise. But I noticed that they lifted their feet to avoid -something four times, and by calculating the length of their steps I -found it was just where the rails would naturally come. Then I was -sure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it’s no good our hoping to be rescued soon?” -</p> - -<p> -“We won’t give up hope, certainly. But it’s a stern-chase now—no -chance of our being surrounded. And this is the brigands’ own country, -where the Grand Seignior’s writ can hardly be said to run.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it may be days—or weeks—or months?” breathed Zoe faintly. “How -can we stand it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Only a day at a time, at any rate, and any day may be the last. Think -you are on the North-West Frontier, as that appeals to you so much. -I’ll fight my battles, or rather scrambles, o’er again for your -benefit. Do you mind telling me why it should be more comforting to be -climbing, under equally unpleasant conditions, in the Suleiman Koh -than in the Balkans?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know; it’s just the feeling,” said Zoe. “Oh!” stepping on a -rolling stone and clutching at him wildly. “Oh, what shall we do? Look -at that place in front!” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a bad bit,” said Wylie judicially. “I shall want both my hands -free.” He was twisting the rugs rapidly into a long roll, which he -passed over one of his shoulders and under the other arm. “Now if you -could lend me the hat-pin I honourably restored to you this morning, I -shall have nothing to think of but getting you across. Your brother -has done some climbing, hasn’t he? Otherwise I had better take you -over first, and come back for your sister.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe’s lips moved, but no sound came from them as she returned him the -hat-pin, a good deal bent by its use as a peg, and he fastened the -ends of the rugs across his chest. “Now, don’t be frightened,” he said -cheerfully. “We’ll get you across all right. You may be quite sure you -are much too valuable to the brigands for them to let you get killed -here. Here’s your own particular pet ruffian coming to our help. What -a blessing it isn’t Milosch! He would stop in the middle of the most -awful places to gas about his self-sacrifice in lending his aid. And -Zeko has a rope, too. This is first-class.” -</p> - -<p> -Zeko, the brigand whose head Zoe had bound up, made signs as he came -that Wylie and he would fasten the ends of the rope round their own -waists, and take Zoe between them; and thus they started on their -perilous journey. For a hundred yards or so the path was non-existent, -the bare rock running sheer down with only a very slight slope. -Happily, the stone was soft enough to allow the cutting of holes for -feet and hands, but the brigands had not considered the comfort of -ladies in preparing these. It was almost impossible for Zoe to support -both feet or both hands at the same time, and she spent some of the -most frightful moments in her life in standing with one foot wedged -into a crevice while Zeko, hanging in some miraculous way below her in -front, guided the other to the next foothold, and Wylie, gripping the -rock firmly with one hand, held out the other that she might cling to -it as she swung herself on. The brigands in front were sitting down to -watch and criticise the performance, and those behind were quarrelling -who should pilot Maurice and Eirene, for Zeko had refused -contemptuously to trouble himself about them. A man was impressed into -the service at last, and Zoe, now safely on the path again, but sick -and faint after her terrible experience, hid her eyes that she might -not see the transit. It seemed impossible that Maurice could -accomplish it successfully, for, in addition to the difficulties Wylie -had surmounted, he had the brigand rearguard pressing on his heels, -cursing him for not quitting each foothold quicker, and even striking -his hands with their sticks to make him loose his hold of the rock. He -paid no attention to them, and would not allow Eirene to hurry, as she -was inclined to try to do, finally bringing her safely across. -</p> - -<p> -“I couldn’t have done it,” whispered Wylie to Zoe, and she welcomed -the tribute to Maurice gratefully. -</p> - -<p> -This was the worst experience in the day’s journey, but the track -still wound round projecting rocks, above precipices, and up -torrent-beds. The girls were utterly exhausted before the end was -reached, and Maurice and Wylie could only drag them ruthlessly on, -scolding, encouraging, even threatening, though not with the -cold-blooded realism of the brigands, whose untranslated menaces -betrayed an ingenuity springing from long practice in torture. At last -a thick patch of wood in a sheltered cleft on the mountain-side was -pointed out as the halting-place for the night, and two of the -brigands, who had gone on in advance some time before, rejoined the -rest with a couple of goats, which they mentioned casually that they -had requisitioned from a goatherd who was so unfortunate as to pasture -his flock in the neighbourhood. Instantly the wood became a scene of -pleasant bustle. Some of the band cleared a space for a camp, others -began to prepare huge fires where the trees would prevent the lights -being seen from the valley below, and the rest devoted themselves to -culinary operations of a brief and sketchy character. -</p> - -<p> -The prisoners were left to themselves, in the comfortable security -that they could not possibly run away, however much they might wish -it. The girls sat obediently where they had been placed, leaning -against a tree, and went to sleep forthwith, while Maurice and Wylie, -with a knife borrowed from Zeko, cut down branches and bushes and -built a hut for them—an attention which it had not occurred to the -brigands to offer. The hut was just large enough to hold the two -comfortably. Its floor was of pine-boughs covered with a rug, and it -had a kind of screen of twisted branches for a door. In front of it -the captives were allowed to kindle a small fire of their own, and at -this Wylie began to cook their supper. Milosch, with much ostentation, -had brought them a piece of goat’s-flesh as a proof of Stoyan’s -solicitude for their welfare, and Wylie cut this up into kabobs, which -he toasted on improvised wooden skewers. The smell was so savoury that -it penetrated the girls’ slumbers and woke them, and they sat up and -displayed an intelligent interest in Wylie’s proceedings as they -waited till the meat was ready. Never had they tasted anything so -delicious in their lives, they declared, as the scorched morsels of -meat, eaten as fast as they were ready, without plates or knives and -forks, from the skewers on which they were cooked. Zoe even began to -moralise on the readiness of civilised humanity to revert to savagery, -which was a proof, as Maurice said, that she was getting over her -fatigue already. After the meal the girls refused to go to bed at -once, declaring that they wanted to enjoy the sensation of resting -instead of losing it in sleep, and the faithful Zeko brought them an -offering of four cigarettes to round off the entertainment. Zoe felt -obliged to light hers and pretend to smoke it, though she dropped it -into the fire as soon as Zeko’s back was turned, but Eirene smoked as -calmly and with as much enjoyment as the men. The cigarettes, though -treated with the utmost tenderness, were soon finished, and Maurice -and Wylie stretched themselves luxuriously upon the carpet of -pine-needles which covered the ground, to enjoy a well-earned rest -after their labours. -</p> - -<p> -“If I may offer a piece of practical advice,” said Wylie to the girls, -“it is that you should take off your boots, and rest your feet as much -as possible.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s quite clear that you have been here before, so to speak,” said -Zoe, as she prepared to comply. “When the commanding officer advises -just what one was longing to do, it’s delightful to obey.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t!” cried Eirene, with an ostentatious groan, as she pulled -off a sadly disfigured little shoe. “I have heard you talking in that -way for hours—pretending, always pretending. ‘These are the Shinwari -Hills, all brown and burnt and bare. Below in the valley is the tower -of a Waziri chief. There is an Afridi force waiting for us round the -next corner. We are carrying rifles and rations and water-bottles and -all sorts of utterly useless things——’” -</p> - -<p> -“I appeal to you,” protested Wylie to Zoe; “did I really talk such -piffle as all that? If I did, our misfortunes must have turned my -brain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you didn’t say exactly those things,” said Eirene—“though I -heard the names so often that I know they are right—but it was always -that sort of thing, pretending that there was eternal snow on one side -and a precipice a mile deep on the other, instead of disagreeable -rough hills, covered with ugly trees, which are always either tripping -you up with their roots, or knocking off your hat with their branches. -In a day or two I shall have to wear a handkerchief on my head like a -peasant woman,” and she contemplated ruefully the remains of her hat, -which had started in life as a smart straw, with a peculiarly -deceptive and Parisian air of simplicity about it. “And instead of -noble, chivalrous Orientals”—a protest from Wylie—“with snow-white -robes and splendid turbans, we have these detestable rogues who call -themselves Christians, with kilts black with dirt, and no more feeling -than a stone. What is the use of pretending about it?” -</p> - -<p> -“It seems to have called up heroic and romantic visions in your mind, -at any rate,” said Zoe, “and that ought to have lightened the tedium -of the march.” -</p> - -<p> -“And, anyhow, I didn’t inflict it on you,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed you did not. You were too cross or too miserable—I don’t know -which—to talk, so that I heard the others the whole time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully sorry to have bored you,” said Wylie. “You see, I thought it -might help your sister along if I drew on my recollections of old -days.” -</p> - -<p> -“It did,” cried Zoe. “I don’t believe I could have kept up without it. -Why did you listen, if you were bored, Eirene?” -</p> - -<p> -“It wasn’t that exactly,” explained Eirene; “but it seemed so silly. -We are not children; what good can it do to pretend?” -</p> - -<p> -“If it helps us to bear things more cheerfully, surely that’s some -good?” suggested Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“But what is the use of pretending to be cheerful? All the first part -of the day, before I was too tired myself to care to listen, I used to -hear Captain Wylie say to you, ‘Awf’ly fagged?’ and you conjured up a -sprightly voice, and said, ‘Oh dear, no—hardly at all.’ It wasn’t -true, and he knew it. What good did it do to pretend?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was true,” said Zoe stoutly. “The mere fact of being asked the -question made one feel less tired for the moment. And you do say the -horridest things, Eirene.” -</p> - -<p> -“She is like the old woman whose clergyman remonstrated with her for -bearing her troubles so badly,” said Maurice. “The old lady told him -that when chastening was sent us, it meant that we should be -chastened, and she wasn’t going to pretend not to be.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Wylie, rather tartly, “it has grown to be a sort of -tradition, I suppose, among English people that each should keep up -for the sake of the rest, and all I can say is that I hope it’ll go -on. I don’t see the use of asking questions and speculating about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am inquiring into national character,” said Eirene, undaunted. “The -people I know, when they are asked if they are in trouble, acknowledge -it at once, and point out what a dreadful trouble it is, and how no -one was ever quite so sorely tried before——” -</p> - -<p> -“And turn it round and inside out, and hold it up to catch the light,” -put in Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“But if you ask an Englishman, he looks down at you as if he was a -mile high, and says with an icy smile, ‘Not at all. Rather enjoy it -than otherwise!’” with a very fair imitation of Wylie’s displeased -manner. -</p> - -<p> -“How awfully smart you are this evening, Eirene!” drawled Maurice. -“Hairbreadth escapes seem to sharpen your wits. But I think it’s about -time all good little girls were in bed.” -</p> - -<p> -“I could talk all night when I am interested,” persisted Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t the very faintest, slightest shadow of doubt of it. But Zoe -is half-asleep, and Wylie is nodding, and my eyes would shut of -themselves if they were not fixed on your speaking countenance. Hullo, -what’s up?” -</p> - -<p> -There was a commotion among the brigands feasting round the other -fire, caused by the sudden arrival of a man, who was gesticulating -violently towards the direction from which they had come. By the -firelight the prisoners recognised him as their treacherous driver of -the day before. -</p> - -<p> -“Is it help? Are we going to be rescued?” cried Zoe eagerly. -</p> - -<p> -“No such luck; I wish it were,” said Wylie, who had caught some of the -newcomer’s words. “Never mind about me,” he went on, rising, “just go -to bed. I want to hear what this chap has to say.” -</p> - -<p> -He went towards the other fire, and to the horror of the three left -behind, the brigands sprang at him like one man, with howls of fury. -Curses and execrations were poured on him, he was hustled and dragged -hither and thither, and angry men threatened him with pistols and -drawn daggers. -</p> - -<p> -“What can it be?” murmured Zoe, with white lips. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know. Keep quiet,” said Maurice, buttoning his coat and -squaring his fists. For the girls’ sake he would keep out of it as -long as he could, but if Wylie was struck he must go in and back him -up, little as two unarmed men could hope to do against a crowd with -knives. To his relief, order was presently restored by the -intervention of the chief, after which Milosch made a long and -evidently moving oration, and Wylie returned to his friends, scowls -and murmurs of hatred following him. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what was it?” cried Zoe as he reached them. -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing; merely the penalty for playing the fool,” he replied. “You -know how long they kept us standing about with our hands tied before -we started this morning? I was standing rather by myself, and the -ground was sandy, so the bright idea seized me of leaving our rescuers -a clue to the way we were going. With my boot I drew ‘N.W.’ fairly -deep in the sand, shuffling about as if I was tired of standing so -long. Unfortunately, the gentleman who has just arrived reached the -place before the rescuers, and twigged what the letters meant. This -diffusion of Western learning in the East is a nuisance. Hence all the -fuss. Milosch was particularly severe on my ingratitude in trying to -betray the brigands after all they had done for us, and I had to -remind them of the way in which we were tied at that very moment. So -they calmed down, as you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should have done it if I had thought about it,” confessed Maurice. -“And yet—these chaps can make things so beastly uncomfortable for the -girls, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, don’t be so ungrateful!” cried Zoe. “If it had -succeeded, we should all be saying what a splendid idea it was, and -how clever Captain Wylie was to think of it. And, at any rate, it’s -over now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it over?” asked Eirene. Wylie hesitated. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he said, “I believe they are taking the night to think about -it. But, after all, what can they do? It wouldn’t be to their interest -to treat any of us badly, you know. They might refuse to accept my -parole and tie my hands again, but they haven’t, so far. So let us be -cheerful.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch09"> -CHAPTER IX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">ONE TOO MANY.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Oh</span>, I say! It can’t be time to get up yet,” groaned Maurice, -rolling over resentfully on his couch of pine-needles as a hand was -laid on his shoulder. But the hand shook him slightly, and Wylie’s -voice said, “Wake up, and don’t make a row.” -</p> - -<p> -Throwing off the rug, Maurice sat up, blinking in the grey light of -dawn. He and Wylie had chosen their sleeping-places in front of the -hut, so that the girls might know they were at hand in case of an -alarm in the night; but Wylie was now beckoning him away from it. On -the other side of the ashes where the fire had been stood the brigands -in a row, grim and silent, with their rifles ready. Maurice stared. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s up?” he asked in bewilderment. -</p> - -<p> -“We desire not so moch to guard,” responded Milosch. “You too many for -us. Ze women are precious, and zere most be one man for to attend upon -zem. Ze ozer most go. We make you draw ze lot.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right, all right! but you needn’t do it where the ladies can hear -you,” said Wylie impatiently. “Come along, Smith.” Wide awake by this -time, Maurice rose, and they followed the brigands into the wood, -Wylie grasping Maurice’s arm to draw him out of earshot of Milosch. -“Look here,” he said. “If the lot falls upon you, of course I’ll take -it, for your sisters can’t do without you, but I’m pretty certain it’s -only a trick to get rid of me. They’ve been planning this all night.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you don’t think they’d dare—to <i>kill</i> you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why not? They killed Haji Ahmad without compunction. Their lives are -forfeit already, you see, and so long as your sisters are alive, they -know that no Government will dare to hunt them down.” -</p> - -<p> -“Zese woods of different shortness,” said Milosch, advancing with a -couple of twigs. “You select each, and we tell you which has drawn ze -black ball.” -</p> - -<p> -“But which represents the black ball—the long one or the short one?” -demanded Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Zat not for you to know. We tell you when ze lot is drawn.” -</p> - -<p> -“I told you so,” murmured Wylie. “Whichever I draw is the fatal one. -Here, Milosch, let me choose.” -</p> - -<p> -He took one of the twigs, the shorter, and Maurice found himself with -the other in his hand. Stoyan, coming forward, measured their length -with great deliberation, and announced that the lot had fallen upon -Wylie. Maurice sprang forward furiously, but Wylie pinned his arms to -his sides. -</p> - -<p> -“Now don’t let us give ourselves away,” the doomed man entreated. “I -know what you feel like, and what you would like to do, but your -business just now is to think of your sisters. They must not be left -in the hands of these scoundrels without a protector. You’ll have to -look after them both now. Don’t let them know what’s happened to me if -you can help it. Can’t you let them think I have been taken away to be -kept safe somewhere? Remember, they have a lot to bear already.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t stand by and see you murdered,” panted Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t want you to. Go back to the hut. Your sisters will be -terrified if they wake and find us both gone. Good-bye, and good luck -to you. I wouldn’t ask for a better comrade at a pinch than you have -been all through this.” -</p> - -<p> -“Any messages?” asked Maurice shortly. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I have no one to trouble about me, and my affairs are all in -order. Some day you might tell your eldest sister that I was sorry to -leave without saying good-bye to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ze Voivoda say he exhausted of waiting,” said Milosch, coming up with -a handkerchief, which he proceeded to tie over Wylie’s eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Now go, go!” entreated Wylie of Maurice. “You must think of the -girls, as I ought to have done yesterday instead of playing the fool.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice wrung his hand and withdrew, slowly and reluctantly. At the -edge of the wood he turned, hearing his friend’s voice raised angrily. -“For heaven’s sake, leave me my hands free!” Wylie cried, but Maurice -gathered that the demand was refused. He went on into the clearing, -and sat down beside the extinguished fire, a prey to the deepest -despondency he had ever known. Without Wylie, how were he and the -hapless girls to face the trials before them? He himself might be the -next sacrifice to the savagery of the brigands, and what would then -become of Zoe and Eirene, since neither fear nor avarice seemed potent -to restrain their captors? Wylie’s resourcefulness, his restless -energy, his cheerfulness, and the underlying force of character which -manifested itself only occasionally, but was therefore all the more -telling, had made him a tower of strength, and Maurice felt bitterly -his own comparative futility. His life had taught him to exercise a -certain amount of initiative, clogged by the habit, inculcated as a -duty, of weighing the merits of a question before deciding on it, but -while he was thinking, Wylie would act—would have acted, rather. The -thought swept over Maurice with desolating effect. The man of action -was taken, the man who could only feel sure of himself in the humdrum -routine of daily life was left. It did not occur to him that Wylie had -not grown to his full mental height in a day, or that he himself might -draw from the depths of his present desolation the experience which -would complete the measure of his manhood. -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, how slack you look!” cried Zoe, putting out a dishevelled -head gingerly at the door of the hut. “Mind you tell Captain Wylie -that he must give us some more kabobs for breakfast.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right. They’ll be ready. Provided,” with a sudden happy -inspiration, “that you promise faithfully to eat them before you begin -to talk. It’s no good my—our cooking if you let the things get cold -when they ought to be eaten at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“I promise, honour bright!” said Zoe, and Maurice began to collect -wood for a fresh fire, half fearing that orders for the march would be -issued before he had time to do any cooking. But the brigands came -back into camp and sat down round their own fire with the evident -intention of taking their ease, and when the girls came out of the hut -they found Maurice busy toasting his face as well as a bountiful -supply of kabobs. -</p> - -<p> -“Where’s Captain Wylie?” they cried. -</p> - -<p> -“What did you promise?” asked Maurice repressively. “Sit down and -begin at once, and I’ll be doing some more.” -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, you are eating none yourself,” cried Zoe, having kept her -promise until hunger was satisfied. “And where is Captain Wylie? He -didn’t get his face nearly as much burnt as you do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I don’t know. Somewhere about, I suppose,” mumbled Maurice. “Have -some more?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, thanks; I don’t want any more. Maurice, has anything happened to -him? Do you really know where he is?” -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t you let the poor chap alone?” demanded Maurice desperately. “He -hasn’t escaped by himself and left us in the lurch—I can tell you -that, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, but has he been taken away? I believe something has happened. -Tell me honestly, Maurice; where is he?” -</p> - -<p> -“They took him away early this morning,” admitted Maurice. “He thought -himself it was out of spite for his trying to get us rescued. He asked -me to say how sorry he was not to bid you good-bye.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good-bye? Then he thought—— They weren’t going to kill him?” -</p> - -<p> -“How can I tell? They didn’t do it when I was there.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you think they have done it? And you let them?” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Maurice; “I’d better tell you all I know, and you -can see what you think.” He told his story as fast as he could, with -involuntary pauses here and there. -</p> - -<p> -“Then there can be no doubt,” said Zoe slowly at last. “He is dead -now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I admire you both,” said Eirene, with her gracious air of -distributing praise impartially. “Your duty was to the living, and he -knew it. He could only die, and he did that well. Some day——” -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene,” said Zoe, with concentrated bitterness, “if you say you will -raise a memorial church in his honour, I shall hate you till I die.” -</p> - -<p> -She rose and went into the hut, and Eirene turned to Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“You think he is dead?” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, of course. What else could I think?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t believe it in the least. I think they were trying to frighten -him—as a punishment for yesterday, you know. I think they will -blindfold him and tie his hands and pretend to take him to the edge of -a rock and throw him over, but he will only fall one or two feet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good gracious, Eirene! how can you think of such diabolical things?” -cried Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“But it is not as if it would hurt him really. They would wish to see -him show fear; that would be most natural. It would be foolish for -them to kill him. If they found themselves hotly pressed—do you -say?—they might kill one of us as a warning to the pursuers, but to -do it without any purpose would only diminish their power of -bargaining for a ransom and an amnesty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if you’re so certain, why don’t you tell Zoe?” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene shrugged her shoulders. “She is determined that he is dead; how -could my sole opinion change her mind? If I thought it would comfort -her I would tell her; but suppose that we see him no more again until -we are all ransomed and set free? She would determine again that he -was dead, and suffer twice over.” -</p> - -<p> -“I only hope you may be right, and that he is alive,” said Maurice -gloomily. -</p> - -<p> -The brigands had finished their meal, and were peacefully employed in -mending their clothes and moccasins, while the chief was seated under -a tree, in close confabulation with Milosch. A sentry was stationed at -the head of the track leading to the clearing, there was another on -the brow of the mountain above, and a third, as Maurice knew, at the -lower end of the wood. Everything seemed to portend a quiet day, -without further wandering, and Maurice felt the fact an added trial, -welcome though the prospect of rest was. If Wylie was not already -dead, where was he, and what fate was intended for him? It was -maddening to think of repeating these questions for a whole day, -uninterrupted by any possibility of useful occupation. -</p> - -<p> -As Maurice sat engrossed in his dreary meditations, Zoe came out of -the hut, red-eyed and gruff-voiced, but overflowing with nervous -energy. -</p> - -<p> -“Do let us find something to do, Maurice, if we are to stay here all -day,” she said. “Let us make a hut for you. I’m sure it will be better -for you than sleeping in the open another night.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice rose at once, receiving a wholly unnecessary glance of advice -from Eirene, which said, “Humour her; she needs something to divert -her mind,” and going into the wood, began to choose fresh branches, -and cut them down with the useful knife which served so many purposes. -Zoe threw herself into the work with determination, and Eirene sat -enthroned on a hillock at the foot of a tree and gave counsel. -</p> - -<p> -“Make it large enough for Captain Wylie as well,” she said, as -Maurice, thinking he had cut enough twigs, was gathering them into a -bundle to carry back to the clearing; “he may be back to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene, how can you?” cried Zoe indignantly, and stopped, unable to -say more. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Eirene,” said Maurice, exasperated, “can’t you get -something to do? It’s all very well to sit there looking on——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, she can’t,” broke in Zoe. “Her arm got strained again in crossing -that awful place yesterday, and it was rather bad when I dressed it -this morning. Let her alone; I suppose she has her own idea of a -joke.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene’s glance at Maurice said, “What did I tell you?” as she rose -and picked her way daintily back to the clearing. When they returned -thither with their burdens, she retired to a rock at some little -distance, with an ostentatious air of leaving them to their obstinate -ill-humour in peace. Finding that they took no notice of her, however, -she came gradually nearer, in order to give them the benefit of her -valuable advice, which proved more useful than might have been -expected, since, as she said, she had often watched her father’s -foresters build huts of birch-boughs in her childhood. When she -repeated her suggestion that the hut should be made large enough for -two, however, Maurice felt obliged to intervene with a pacific -compromise. -</p> - -<p> -“We have all day to spend over it,” he said, “so we can make a better -job of it than the one we ran up in a hurry last night. You girls -shall move into it, do you see? and I’ll succeed to the old one.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe accepted the suggestion in silence, and they went on with their -work, interweaving the slanting branches which formed the sides with -smaller boughs and twigs. They worked hard most of the day, and talked -so little that Eirene found them very dull company. At last she left -them in despair, and wandered up the hill towards the rock where the -sentry stood, taking care to keep within sight of the clearing. They -saw her seat herself on a convenient stone and begin to study the -landscape, and then they forgot all about her until an exclamation -from her, simultaneously with a shout from the sentry, made them start -to their feet and the brigands grasp their rifles. -</p> - -<p> -“Can we have been traced after all?” cried Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“A day too late!” murmured Zoe. “Oh, if they had only come up with us -last night!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, all our work won’t be much good, for they’ll be sure to hurry -us away somewhere else,” said Maurice, noticing that the brigands were -hastily cramming their possessions into their sacks. But presently -another shout from the sentry, following on a faint hail from the -distance, announced that only three men were in sight, and they were -friends. Almost at the same moment, Eirene came rushing frantically -down the hillside. -</p> - -<p> -“It is himself! I told you so!” she cried. “It is Captain Wylie and -two of the brigands. I was sure of it. They were only trying to -frighten him, and he is coming back.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, let us go and meet him!” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Let Maurice go,” said Eirene primly. “Your eyes are so red, Zoe,” she -added in a low voice. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be Early-Victorian, Eirene,” was the crushing reply. “Do you -think I mind his seeing that I cried because I thought he was killed? -I should be ashamed if I hadn’t!” -</p> - -<p> -They went down the track in the wake of the brigands, who were -jostling one another in mingled surprise, irritation, and alarm. The -two members of the band who accompanied Wylie began to pour forth -explanations and excuses at the top of their voices long before any -words could be clearly distinguished, and while they were seized and -cross-examined by their fellows, Wylie was able to reach his friends. -</p> - -<p> -“You haven’t quite done with me yet!” he said, giving one hand to Zoe -and the other to Maurice, while Eirene waited for a more ceremonious -greeting. “I shall be able to cook one more supper for you before I am -sent off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it was all a trick?” asked Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, in a way. You would have been left to think that I was dead, as -a warning to you against playing the fool, I suppose, but what I was -really picked out for was a very serious matter—getting your ransom. -The brutes over-reached themselves utterly in the way they went to -work, and the result is that here I am.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a lot you must have to tell us!” said Zoe. “Wait till we get to -the camp, so that we can listen comfortably.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you must have spent the day in house-building!” said Wylie, as -they reached the clearing. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s exactly what we did—to drown our misery,” said Maurice. “Now -begin. Did they pretend to shoot you, or any vile trick like that?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, only cuffed and hustled me down these goat-tracks for ever so -far, which was no joke with my eyes covered and my hands tied. I -really do wonder that I’m here to tell the tale, for I did more -slipping than walking. At last we seemed to come to a comparatively -level place, and they took the handkerchief off my eyes and set me -free, and instructed me to make the best of my way back to -civilisation and tell your friends to send fifteen thousand pounds by -this day month if they wanted to see you again alive.” -</p> - -<p> -“Fifteen thousand pounds!” gasped Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it sounds a large order, but that wasn’t what stumped me. It was -that I really know nothing about you, except that I gather you have a -place in Homeshire. I know that Smith was at Cambridge and won a prize -for poetry, but I could hardly go there and open a subscription list, -or ask the Dons to mortgage the college revenues for his ransom, could -I? It sounds absurd that after all we have gone through together we -should know so little about each other, and I couldn’t make my guards -believe it. They evidently thought that we lived next door to one -another at home, or something of that sort, and laboured to explain to -me that if there had been only three of us they would have made us -write a letter, but as there were four, they sent one of us instead. -But at last I managed to make them understand that nothing could -induce me to show my face in Therma without proper credentials, and -that unless I knew who to apply to, there would be no chance of their -getting the money, so they decided to send back here for instructions. -But when it came to the point, neither of them would be left alone -with me, and as I declined to remain where I was and wait for them, -the only thing to do was to bring me back.” -</p> - -<p> -“You said you were no longer blindfolded?” said Eirene, for Maurice -and Zoe were looking at one another in consternation. “Ah, yes, that -is it. The guards were afraid of you—of your eyes. They hate them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Horribly bad taste in them,” said Wylie lightly. “Why, here’s our -friend Milosch coming—bringing us something for supper, I see.” -</p> - -<p> -A sheep had been procured during the day—by nefarious means, of -course—and Milosch brought a portion of its flesh for the captives; -but he carried also Zoe’s safety inkstand, a leaf torn out of one of -her note-books, and a pen of unknown origin. -</p> - -<p> -“You write now, before ze sun falls,” he said to Maurice, “a letter -signified by all of you. Ze ransom we demand is fifteen sousand -Ingliss pounds, to be placed in gold zis day month on a spot zat will -be indicated to your messager. If ze ransom comes not forth, or if -deception is adventured, we shall kill you, beginning wiz”—he looked -round with a calculating eye upon the three, who all afterwards -confessed to feeling cold shivers down their backs, and then -laughed—“No, I say not who we begin wiz. Perhaps we let you draw ze -lot again. From zis time you hold no communion wiz your messager but -in my presence; zerefore seek not to cook up fraud among yourselves.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice looked at Zoe in despair. How could they let Wylie proceed on -his quest in absolute ignorance of their real name? and yet, how could -they reveal it in the hearing of Milosch, who possessed the -disconcerting faculty of being able to understand English much better -than he spoke it? Zoe came to her brother’s help. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain Wylie had better go to Professor Panagiotis,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“Professor Panagiotis!” said Eirene sharply. “What do you know about -him?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is the friend we were going to stay with,” answered Zoe, in -surprise. “Do you know him?” -</p> - -<p> -“He was an acquaintance of my father,” said Eirene, with some -hesitation. “I don’t remember that I have ever seen him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if he wouldn’t remember you we needn’t mention you separately,” -said Zoe quickly, wondering if Wylie was trying once more, as she -herself would have done, to reconcile the relationships of this -remarkable family. “If you will just say that we are all here -together?” she added to Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I think the letter had better go to the Professor,” agreed -Maurice, “and then he can post you up, Wylie. There are some things -that can’t very well be explained here, but that have a tremendous -bearing on the case.” -</p> - -<p> -The letter was written, duly signed by Maurice Smith, Zoe Smith, and -Eirene Smith, and addressed to the Professor at his villa at -Kallimeri. Milosch was highly entertained by the idea that the head of -the Greek party in Emathia should find himself compelled to finance -his Slavic opponents to so large an extent, and shouted the news to -the rest of the brigands as a huge joke. They chuckled over it without -him, for he did not quit the prisoners again. It was evidently his -business to see that no one exchanged a word with Wylie that might -cover any suggestion designed to cheat the band of their destined -spoil, or lead to their being hunted down, and even when Maurice and -Wylie rolled themselves up in their rugs to sleep, he sat between -them, revolver in hand. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch10"> -CHAPTER X.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE OTHER SIDE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Good-bye</span>. I’m awfully sorry to leave you like this,” said Wylie to -Zoe, as he shook hands with her before his departure, while Milosch, -for the twentieth time, read over the letter to make sure there was no -deception about it. -</p> - -<p> -“But how much better than the way you left us yesterday!” she said, -smiling. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I didn’t mean that. I meant that I feel I am deserting you -personally. You and I have always been comrades, haven’t we? And I -don’t quite see how Smith is to squire two ladies at once along these -paths.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps we shan’t be moved on,” suggested Zoe. “I should think this -place is as safe and secluded as any they could find.” -</p> - -<p> -“I only hope it may be so. Do you know”—he lowered his voice—“I -almost think I could find my way up here from the place to which they -took me yesterday? They forgot to cover my eyes again, you know. If -they take me down the same way to-day, I shall be quite sure of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what good would that be?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you don’t imagine I shall be content to leave you in these -fellows’ hands a whole month? I shall kick up the biggest row that -ever was, and simply force the Government to take action. I have a -little account of my own to work off with the brigands, you must -remember, and I don’t feel like putting fifteen thousand pounds into -their pockets.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if we are not ransomed they will kill us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not if you are rescued first,” said Wylie promptly. “Don’t be afraid. -You don’t think I would let a hair of your head be hurt, do you? But -if I can save you three weeks or a fortnight of this sort of thing, -and at the same time do the brigands out of their prospective gains, -do you honestly expect me to lose the chance?” -</p> - -<p> -He waved his hand to her gaily as he went down the hill-track with his -custodians, and Zoe fell into a reverie, from which she roused herself -with a vigorous mental shake. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a good thing he’s gone,” she said to herself. “We have been -comrades, as he said, and it has been very nice. In a few days more I -shouldn’t have been able to do without him, and that is out of the -question. I have the world to see and my name to make before I think -of anything of that sort. Yes, it is a good thing.” -</p> - -<p> -But this decision was no sort of justification for Eirene’s taking it -upon herself to remark that she was glad Captain Wylie was gone, -because he ordered Maurice about. A coolness ensued between the two -girls, which lasted until Eirene, who wanted to mend her torn shoe, -was obliged to apply to Zoe to obtain a needle and thread from Zeko. -</p> - -<p> -Very early on the morning after Wylie’s departure the other prisoners -found that the brigands were not quite so simple as he had hoped. They -had no intention whatever of remaining at the spot where he had left -them until he might choose to return. The clearing and the huts were -forsaken before dawn, and another day of painful wandering and -climbing by devious tracks followed. Zeko, in a lordly and -contemptuous way, hauled Zoe over the worst places, so that Maurice -was free to look after Eirene, but both girls were utterly spent -before the crowning trial of the march occurred. This was a long stiff -climb up the bed of a torrent, which, in spite of the summer weather, -had quite enough water in it to make the girls miserably wet, and -destroy the last possibility of usefulness in their shoes. They were -practically bare-footed when they staggered into the little valley -from which the torrent flowed down the hillside, and discovered that -they were now so high up in the mountains that cold was to be added to -their other discomforts. Even the brigands were stirred to pity by -their white faces and chattering teeth, or perhaps they feared lest -hardship should release their prisoners before they could be ransomed, -for they helped Maurice to collect wood for a good fire, and made the -girls sit down close to it to dry their skirts. The chief went so far -as to administer a small quantity of a potent, if smoky spirit, which -took away their breath and made their eyes water, and he also -requisitioned a pair of moccasins for each of them from two members of -the band who were unwary or fastidious enough to carry more than was -needed for immediate wear. The trees up here were too sparse to allow -of building huts, but in the rocks by the side of the stream there -were hollows which might almost be called caves, and Maurice swept one -of these out with a branch, made a smaller fire in it, and arranged -the rugs for beds. He himself was accustomed now to sleeping outside, -wrapped in one of the brigands’ greatcoats, but although he was -allowed to lie near the fire, he never forgot the piercing cold of -that night, while inside the cave the girls lay close together with -both the rugs over them, and shivered in spite of all. Their -appearance alarmed the brigands in the morning, and greatcoats and -leggings, such as the men wore, were allotted to them in addition to -the moccasins. Their feet were so badly bruised that they could not -walk alone, but they were helped up to a sort of ledge on the sunny -side of the gorge, where they were at last able to feel warm again. -Needles and thread were lent them to alter the clothes into some -approach to fit, and on the return of three of the band from an -absence of some duration, the chief presented them with large coarse -handkerchiefs to replace their battered hats. Maurice, whose broken -head was now sufficiently recovered to dispense with bandages, was -invested with a fez, from which Stoyan solemnly removed the tassel -with his knife, on the ground that it was unbecoming for a captive to -wear a tassel to his fez. -</p> - -<p> -Maurice had not been idle during the day. He had collected all the -loose pieces of rock he could find, and built them up into a rough -wall, cemented with mud from a spot where the stream formed a marshy -pool, to keep the wind from blowing into the cave. The brigands who -had brought the handkerchiefs had carried also a large truss of straw, -and this was spread thickly on the floor, so that the girls found -their second night’s quarters far more restful than the first. The -exhaustion which was the result of the forced march was also passing -away, and on the second day they were able to begin to practice -walking in the moccasins, which was an art needing some caution. -</p> - -<p> -A week passed quietly, varied only by the expeditions of the brigands -to obtain food and news. They seemed to have a well-organised -intelligence system, by means of which they learned that there was -much activity among the Roumi authorities, civil and military, and -that soldiers were being sent into the mountains in various -directions. The brigands displayed amusement rather than apprehension -over this news, and there was no lack of food, which would have argued -that the peasants were losing their fear of their unacknowledged -masters. The girls spent a good deal of time in patching their -tattered garments with pieces of the rough brown stuff some of the -brigands wore, and also relieved Maurice of his domestic duties, thus -leaving him free to execute wonderful engineering works in connection -with the stream, damming it in one place to make a pool where the -girls might get water close to their cave, and arranging pieces of -rock as steps. The energy of the prisoners astonished their captors, -who seemed to think it the height of bliss to lie in the sun, smoking -and quarrelling, or playing various rudimentary games of chance, and -at first every movement was regarded with suspicion. But by degrees -Maurice established with them a feeling almost akin to good -fellowship, and would sit among them round the fire, listening to -their talk, which he was beginning to understand without the -intervention of Milosch. Eirene objected strongly to this habit of -his, and, as was her wont, spoke her mind freely on the subject. -</p> - -<p> -“It is so undignified, so contemptible!” she declared angrily. “A man -of elevated soul would suffer anything rather than associate on -familiar terms with wretches from whom he had received such vile -treatment.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it’s to please myself, not them,” said Maurice. “I want to find -out why all these strapping fellows have turned brigands—to inquire -into their grievances, in fact.” -</p> - -<p> -“Grievances! What business have they with grievances?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know; but they have got some, unfortunately.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what have their grievances to do with you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, I am a sufferer by them, so are you. Therefore I naturally feel -an interest in getting to know what they are.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what are they, Maurice?” asked Zoe. “I thought these men all came -from Thracia or Dardania.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, they are nearly all Illyrians—the Christian kind, such as it is. -They are Emathians born, though they are under foreign direction; -there’s no doubt of that. And very few of them seem to have become -brigands for the fun of the thing. Most of them are pretty sick of the -life, but they have made their own villages too hot to hold them.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that was their own fault,” objected Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Partly, but it was other people’s fault too. They have failed to pay -their taxes in bad years, or have mortgaged their land and been sold -up. Some of them have taken to the hills after assaulting -tax-collectors, and some on account of blood-feuds. They boast that -they only rob the rich, whom they hate most heartily; but I fancy that -the poor haven’t much choice about keeping them supplied with food and -clothes, especially if they are Greek poor.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Maurice, you are hearing the other side!” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“What other side?” asked Eirene sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“When we heard Professor Panagiotis talk, Maurice said he should like -to hear the other side, and now he is doing it,” replied Zoe promptly. -Maurice, absorbed in his subject, might have revealed secrets if she -had allowed him to answer. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it’s just as I thought, there are two very distinct sides to the -case,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s something appalling the way these -fellows hate the Orthodox Church and everything connected with it. It -seems they have been dragooned into belonging to it for generations, -with no alternative but Mohammedanism. The priests don’t appear to -have been examples to their flocks by any means, but were tremendously -keen on their dues, though they could only gabble through services -which neither they nor the people understood. All education was in -Greek, and the people hadn’t even the Bible in their own language, so -that the only chance for a man to rise was to turn his back on his own -nationality altogether.” -</p> - -<p> -“And it was right he should!” cried Eirene, with flashing eyes. “Would -you degrade the Holy Scriptures and the sacred liturgies by -translating them from the glorious Greek into the uncouth dialects of -these barbarians?” -</p> - -<p> -“What a very curious thing!” exclaimed Zoe involuntarily. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you mean?” demanded Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, it’s no use pretending that we don’t know you’re a Scythian, -Eirene, for you’ve said lots of things that show it. And it’s very -funny to hear you talking just as Professor Panagiotis did, when -Scythia is doing all she can to stir up the barbarians, as you call -them, against the Greeks.” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I have been brought up in Scythia, must I be insensible to -truth and rightness?” cried Eirene. “It surprises me, I confess, to -find an Englishman supporting the guileful designs of the Slavs in -opposition to the noble cause of heroic and persecuted Greece.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not supporting Slavs or anybody,” said Maurice. “If you are -anxious to define my attitude, I am blaming both sides impartially. -They have got things into such a muddle that it looks as if the whole -structure of society in Emathia would have to be built up again from -the foundations. If the taxes were honestly assessed and collected, -and the middleman eliminated, it would do a good deal, of course, -especially if you could also get rid of the money-lender by a system -of agricultural banks. But you would want to establish a system of -village responsibility, as they have done in Burmah, before you could -begin to stamp out blood-feuds and religious faction-fights. I must -ask Wylie how they manage to get a police-force which is not -prejudiced on one side or the other. Side by side with that, you would -have to be opening up the country with roads and railways, and getting -the priests better educated, and books translated, and schools -established, and the army thrown open to Christians and popularised, -so that brigandage would no longer be——” -</p> - -<p> -“The only career for a young man of spirit,” supplied Zoe, as he -paused. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” burst forth Eirene, who had been listening in speechless -indignation as Maurice elaborated his views on the regeneration of -Emathia, “I should like to know what business it is of yours?” -</p> - -<p> -“But why should it affect you?” asked Maurice, warned by an anxious -glance from Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“It is just like you English,” continued Eirene, disregarding the -question. “You meddle all over the world with countries which do not -concern you, while your own usurped India is ground under the iron -heel of men like Captain Wylie, of whom the very brigands are afraid!” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you say that as if it was to Wylie’s discredit!” said Maurice. -“I should have thought it was a distinct feather in his cap. You don’t -seem to see that just because we are English, every country that -doesn’t come up to our own high standard does concern us.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene lifted her head, almost tossed it. “When,” she began, then -changed the form of her sentence—“If I am ever a ruler, I will allow -no English to dictate to me. I shall recognise no grievances. If the -people disobey me, I shall stamp them out.” -</p> - -<p> -“Making a solitude and calling it peace, indeed!” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Cheerful country yours will be to live in!” said Maurice. “Are you -going to have periodical killings-out, like King Twala? or shall you -set half the population to kill the other half, and make the survivors -fight among themselves till they are all killed, like the Kilkenny -cats? Or is it only the present generation that is to be wiped out, so -that you may have the children brought up in the way they should go? A -lively time you’ll have when the hereditary tendencies begin to come -out! Why, they’ll all have blood-feuds against you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I used the wrong word,” said Eirene, with heightened colour. “I meant -to say that I would stamp the people down. I will listen to no one who -is in revolt; but when all rebellion has been suppressed, I shall see -for myself if there are any grievances.” -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll allow people to complain of them peacefully, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not; that is rebellion. But I shall oversee everything -myself. Not a peasant shall be prosecuted for non-payment of taxes but -the case shall come before me for revision, and the same in all -departments of the state.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think your magistrates will hold office long,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Besides,” said Zoe, “that’s just the system that works so badly with -the Roumis, Eirene. The Grand Seignior will insist on managing -everything himself, and of course he can’t do more than a certain -amount, and so business gets into frightful arrears all over the -empire.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care,” said Eirene stubbornly. “I shall trust no one; that is -the lesson life has taught me. The ruler’s eye will be everywhere, the -ruler’s hand always ready.” -</p> - -<p> -“Maternal or elder-sisterly government,” muttered Maurice. “Well, -Eirene, have it your own way, and go ahead, and Zoe and I will come -and preach revolution to your people. What would you do to us?” -</p> - -<p> -“I would have you brought to the palace and treated as my dearest -friends and honoured guests,” responded Eirene, with a promptitude -which seemed to show that she had thought the matter out; “but you -would not leave it except to be conducted to the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if we came back?” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I should conclude that you wished to remain with me, and I -should assign you permanent quarters in the palace, where I could see -that you did no harm.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, we shall know what to do when we feel we can’t exist without -you any longer,” said Zoe lightly. A curious thought, almost a -certainty, had occurred to her, and she put a question which had to do -with it. “But won’t there be a king or prince to be considered in this -kingdom of yours? or do you expect your husband will let you do as you -like with his possessions?” -</p> - -<p> -“There will be no husband,” said Eirene haughtily. “The possessions -will be mine, mine alone. And you are making attempts to discover who -I am.” -</p> - -<p> -“We aren’t,” said Maurice indignantly, while the guilty Zoe maintained -a judicious silence. “How horribly suspicious you are, Eirene! Go and -whisper your secret to the reeds, if you like. We shan’t try to -listen.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have been led into saying more than I intended,” said Eirene, -trying to extricate herself from an awkward situation with dignity. “I -see that, according to your views, I have no right to object to your -making imaginary schemes of reform for Emathia, and I do not object to -it, while you understand that they are imaginary. That makes the whole -difference.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice stared at her. “What a lofty benediction!” he said. “Eirene, -I’m afraid I shall offend again; but do you think your head is a -little bit affected by all you have gone through? If it is, only tell -us, and we shall know what to do. We will treat you as a queen in -exile with pleasure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now you are joking,” smiled Eirene. “No, my dear brother and sister, -continue to treat me as one of yourselves. Circumstances may divide us -in the future, but I shall never forget what you have been to me -during these weeks.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good gracious!” murmured Maurice, and laying his head back on his -arms he whistled softly at the stars, while Zoe shook from head to -foot in an unconquerable spasm of silent laughter, and Eirene sat -gazing at the fire with a look of gentle melancholy. -</p> - -<p> -The next evening Maurice returned smiling from his colloquy with the -brigands. “Well,” he said, “my undignified and contemptible pursuits -have given me quite an exciting piece of news for you. Wylie is -looking us up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, what do you mean?” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, it seems that Demo and three others went down to-day to get -food. At the village, wherever it is, they were told that an English -traveller with one servant and a large quantity of luggage had stayed -the night there, and gone on into the mountains, refusing a guide. Our -fellows decided that such a chance was not to be lost, and having -found out which way the traveller had gone, went across country by -short cuts, and arranged a satisfactory ambush. They thought he must -either be mad, or riding through in bravado after hearing about us, -but the luggage would be all right, at any rate. I suppose he really -was a newspaper man. Well, they waited in cover, and presently the -traveller and his servant came along. The luggage looked so new and -wealthy that it made their mouths water, but happily for themselves -they didn’t act in a hurry. ‘They came near,’ said Demo, ‘and I -recognised the servant. It was the Capitan. He was wearing Nizam -dress, but I knew him by his accursed eyes; he couldn’t disguise them. -Then we saw that it was a trap, and we let them pass.’” -</p> - -<p> -“But how was it a trap?” asked Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, either Wylie and the other man were much better armed than they -looked, and meant to capture a brigand or two, so as to make them -reveal the hiding-places of the band, or they meant to be captured -themselves, and had spies to follow them up and see where they were -taken. I don’t see why Wylie wanted to disguise himself, though. He -might have known he would be recognised if he was caught, and then -they would be safe to kill him. As it was, he and the other man seem -to have ridden through the brigands’ country quite unmolested.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish he wouldn’t do such things!” said Zoe anxiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Eirene, “he ought to remember that we depend upon him for -our ransom and rescue. He has no right to risk his life in foolish -bravado.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think we may be pretty sure that Wylie had some ’cute idea in his -head,” said Maurice. “I don’t quite see what it is; but he certainly -risked being captured over again.” -</p> - -<p> -“And this captivity is certainly not tempting,” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -Wylie’s plan declared itself unexpectedly the very next day. The -prisoners had climbed up to what they called their afternoon ledge, a -shelf of rock which caught the westering sun, and were looking out -over the chaos of hills and valleys below them, and speculating for -the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time upon the prospects of their -release. Suddenly one of the brigands’ sentries, who was stationed -round a corner on their left, whence a view of the country to the -eastward could be obtained, ran in and shouted to his comrades. Wild -confusion instantly prevailed among the loungers in the hollow. Some -of them quenched the fires with earth, a heap of which was kept ready -for the purpose, and the rest caught up their weapons, and scaling the -ledge, flung themselves upon the prisoners, who expected nothing but -instant death. Not daring to move, they yielded helplessly to the -violence of the brigands, who dragged them as far back as possible, so -that they could only just see over the ledge, tore off the girls’ -head-handkerchiefs, which showed white against the dark of the cliff, -and ordered them, if they valued their lives, to make no sound or -movement. Presently, the cause of the commotion came in sight far -below—a column of Roumi soldiers, led by an officer on horseback. In -front walked a man in plain clothes, examining the ground narrowly as -he went. -</p> - -<p> -“Captain Wylie! He has tracked us!” murmured Zoe, under her breath. -Milosch turned upon her with a diabolical grin. -</p> - -<p> -“Promise candles to ze saints zat he track you no furzer, zen. If he -find ze way up ze stream, you go down ze mountain to meet him—you -see?” He lifted Zoe’s chin, and with the point of his knife traced a -line upon her neck. She shrank away from him, sick and almost fainting -with horror, and he laughed. “We begin wiz you, after all,” he said. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch11"> -CHAPTER XI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">TOO MUCH ZEAL.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Take</span> your dirty hands off her, you brute!” growled Maurice, -struggling ineffectually with the two men who were holding him down. -Milosch smiled again. -</p> - -<p> -“You ze next,” he said. “We leave you at ze camp—dead, oh, yes! and -ze Roumi dogs will see how you died. Zere will be tree—four hours -while zey find ze way, but for you it will experience tree or four -days. And ze ozer girl,”—he cast a critical eye upon Eirene, who -shivered in spite of her utmost efforts to maintain a firm front,—“we -not kill her, no. We leave her also at ze camp, but living, to tell -what she see.” -</p> - -<p> -The strain was too great, and, with a little gasp, Eirene fainted -away. Milosch chuckled. “Make not no mistakes,” he added impressively -to the furious Maurice. “It may be your friend achieve to discover -you—yes; but you will compensate in blood for ze ransom he hope to -defraud.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice turned away with as much impassivity as he could muster. -“Don’t you go and faint too, Zoe,” he said to his sister; “he’s only -trying to make our flesh creep. But don’t trouble about Eirene. I -don’t suppose it will hurt her to stay as she is for the present, and -it can’t be any pleasure to her to hear him talk.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe, who had been trying to get to Eirene, ceased her struggles, and -let her eyes return to the moving figures in the valley below. This -was evidently a critical moment, for the brigands were watching their -progress with strained attention. At last, when Wylie had passed a -particular point, a gasp of satisfaction showed that, in the opinion -of the band, the immediate danger was over. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s the stream that has thrown him out,” muttered Maurice. “He’ll go -on ever so far looking for tracks before he guesses where we turned -off.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how has he tracked us?” asked Zoe, who had now been released, and -was holding Eirene’s head on her knee, as the younger girl struggled -slowly back to consciousness. -</p> - -<p> -“By the marks of our boots, of course,” said Maurice. “No one else in -the mountains wears boots, and there has been no rain since we came up -here. I say, I shall tell Wylie what I think of him when I see him -next. He has no business to sacrifice us to his grudge against the -brigands. That’s the worst of him, he’s an unforgiving brute, and the -trick they played on him the day they pretended they were going to -kill him rankles.” -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, you are absurd!” Zoe was engrossed in her ministrations to -Eirene, and could only talk in snatches. “He has some special reason -for this. I am sure of it. He may have a grudge against the brigands, -as you say, but he will wait to work it off until we are safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then what’s he up to now?” demanded Maurice, and Zoe could offer no -explanation. Eirene laughed weakly. -</p> - -<p> -“Zoe would say to him with her last breath, ‘I know you couldn’t help -it,’ and Maurice, ‘You brute! it’s all your fault,’” she said. -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_138"> -<a href="images/img_138.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_138_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“<i>Take your dirty hands off her, you brute!</i>” <i>growled Maurice.</i> -</div></div> - -<p> -“And you?” asked Zoe, rather tartly. -</p> - -<p> -“It is not to be my last breath, you know”—Eirene shivered again as -she rose shakily to her feet, with the help of Maurice’s hand—“but I -should say to him when we met, ‘You see, sir, the results of an excess -of zeal.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully scathing!” said Maurice, guiding her along the ledge. “I’m -coming back for you, Zoe; wait for me. No wonder you feel shaky, after -that sickening rascal’s talk.” -</p> - -<p> -The camp seemed a haven of refuge after the experiences of the last -half-hour, and the girls sank down thankfully on their straw bed, -while Maurice seated himself on a stone at the door, and tried to make -conversation and distract their minds, not very successfully. Stoyan -succeeded where Maurice failed, however, for he made his appearance -suddenly, and saying something in his own language, threw down a pair -of leggings and moccasins before him, and held out his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“He says I’m to put these on, and give him my boots,” explained -Maurice ruefully. “I’m afraid Wylie has let us in for it. He says, ‘No -sleep to-night, thanks to your friend.’” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose we had better pack up,” said Zoe, as the chief retired with -the boots. -</p> - -<p> -“How I admire your common-sense, Zoe!” said Eirene, not offering to -move. “Why don’t you rest as long as you can, like me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because she knows you would look pretty blue if there were no coats -and things at the next halting-place,” said Maurice. “Come, get up. -You can luxuriate in the straw as long as they’ll let you, but we must -roll up the rugs.” -</p> - -<p> -The rugs, wrapped round the scanty possessions of the party, were -Maurice’s burden, while the girls carried the coats, rolled up as -Wylie had shown them, so as to leave their arms free. But when they -were summoned to start, about an hour before sunset, the brigands made -them unfold the coats and put them on, drawing the hoods over their -heads, so that they could not be recognised from a distance. They felt -some surprise at starting in daylight, but the reason was soon -evident. They were to climb down the torrent-bed, up which they had -come to reach the valley, and not even the brigands cared to risk the -descent in the dark. Scouts had been sent to follow Wylie and the -Roumi force, and make sure that they were not returning, and these -brought word that the troops had taken up their quarters in a village -for the night, so that the move might safely be made. Going down the -torrent-bed was rather worse than going up, so far as slips and -tumbles and sudden sousings went, and the girls were bruised and -drenched when they reached the bottom. They were only allowed a moment -to wring their dripping skirts, and then the brigands set out briskly -in the dusk, taking the direction in which Wylie had gone. They knew -the rocky paths, and how to take advantage of the smoothest places, -but to the prisoners, unused to walking in moccasins, every step was a -lottery, which might prove painless, but was far more likely to be -agonising. Even when a rare stretch of comparatively soft ground -appeared, they were not allowed to take advantage of it, the brigands -casting about carefully until they found a way past it on the rocks, -lest any trail should remain to show that a number of people had -passed there after the soldiers. Darkness came on, and the prisoners -stumbled painfully along between their guards, who never stretched out -a hand to help them, but reviled them horribly when they slipped. -Regardless of dignity, the girls were reduced at last to clutching the -sleeves of the men on each side of them—more the brigands would not -permit, for fear of finding their arms encumbered in case of -danger—and even Eirene made no protest. After what seemed weary hours -of walking, the brigands suddenly stopped and closed round the -prisoners, two of the band stealing off into the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -“We are going right through the village,” whispered Maurice. “Those -fellows are off to quiet the dogs.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if you raise exclamation, we quiet you,” muttered Milosch, -unsheathing his long dagger. -</p> - -<p> -It was some time before the two men returned, with the assurance that -all was well. The troops were comfortably quartered in the houses and -cattle-sheds, and they had located the watch-fires and the sentries, -and could guide the rest past them. Wylie and the Roumi officer were -at the house of the chief man of the place, and Stoyan breathed a -vehement and highly coloured aspiration that it had been prudent to -creep in and make an end of them. But as this was impossible if the -prisoners were to be placed in safe keeping, he repressed his -bloodthirsty inclinations, and the scouts led the party in and out -among huts and sheds, sometimes creeping on all-fours across a space -dimly illuminated by a watch-fire, sometimes pausing behind a wall -while a sentry passed. Every man among the brigands held his dagger -unsheathed, ready to strike if any of the prisoners made the slightest -attempt to raise an alarm, and the precaution was sufficient. Warmth, -shelter, safety, friends, were in the village, and with bursting -hearts the girls passed them by, and went on again into the dark cold -night. They were so tired by this time that their immediate guards -were forced to sheathe their daggers and take each of them by the -elbows to help her on, and as if to crown their misfortunes, a cold, -drenching rain began to fall. It put the finishing touch also to the -brigands’ ill-humour, and they pushed and dragged their shivering -captives roughly along, muttering angrily at every step. -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, tell them we can’t go any faster!” cried Zoe at last. “We -are keeping up with them on these awful roads, and we can’t do more.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s not what’s the matter,” returned Maurice from behind, in a -Mark-Tapleyan tone of voice. “They’re calling us names for making them -turn out of their nice comfortable camp and go wandering about the -mountains in the dark and the wet. They say they have taken such care -of us, and treated us as honoured guests, and our ingratitude is -something detestable.” -</p> - -<p> -“Anybody might think we wanted to come!” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it certainly is our fault in a way,” said Maurice. “If we -didn’t exist, or weren’t here, they wouldn’t be running away from -Wylie.” -</p> - -<p> -They relapsed into silence again, and the grumbling curses of the -brigands were the only sounds to be heard above the plashing of -footsteps and the swish of the rain. The girls were half-unconscious -with fatigue and want of sleep, and stumbled on in a kind of waking -dream. It must have been drawing near dawn, though the blank black -skies showed no sign of it, when the brigands paused again, in the -shelter of a clump of stunted trees, hardly more than bushes, and the -scouts glided forth on their errand. They returned unexpectedly soon, -and their report called forth ominous curses. -</p> - -<p> -“There are soldiers holding the path in front,” explained Maurice in a -whisper to the girls. “Wylie knows what he is doing, bad luck to him! -He’s got us between two fires, with all his precautions.” -</p> - -<p> -For the moment it looked as though Wylie had actually brought about -the death of his friends, for the brigands were now thoroughly roused. -“Kill the European dogs, kill them and get rid of them!” was the -murmur. “They have brought us to this pass. Let us kill them and leave -their bodies here on the track for their friend to find.” Daggers were -once more unsheathed, and revolvers drawn. -</p> - -<p> -“Why don’t you pray? Are you an atheist?” demanded Eirene of Zoe, -breaking off in the middle of a catalogue of saints, whose aid she was -audibly imploring. -</p> - -<p> -“No; I am praying,” said Zoe, but she felt curiously resigned. Death -would be such a rest after this dreadful night. But the reference to -Wylie, which Maurice translated under pressure, disturbed her. He -would never be able to forgive himself if he realised what he had -done. If only one of them could escape, it might make him a little -less miserable. She sat up with an effort, and grasped Maurice’s arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, even if they kill us, you might escape. You can run, and -your things don’t cling so. We will make as much fuss as possible, to -give you time to get away to the soldiers.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be an owl,” said Maurice brusquely. “Is it likely? I ask you, -is it likely?” -</p> - -<p> -“But so much depends on you. We don’t signify.” -</p> - -<p> -“What depends on Maurice?” demanded Eirene, with keen curiosity. Zoe -recollected herself, in part. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, he is the last of the name, you know,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“The last of the name of Smith?” asked Eirene innocently. -</p> - -<p> -“No—er—the last of our Smiths,” Zoe managed to say, and broke into -hopeless laughter, until Maurice shook her, and asked her whether she -wanted the brigands to think that terror had driven her mad. It seemed -that their fate was no longer in suspense, since Milosch, of all -people, had come to the rescue. This was not through any softness of -heart, but because, representing, as he did, the Thracian committee -which directed the brigands’ movements, he had been able to paint in -vivid terms the wrath and disappointment which would pervade that -august body on the discovery that the prisoners whose ransom was to -have added so largely to its funds had simply been wasted. -</p> - -<p> -“There must be a way up the mountain,” he said, “so that we could turn -aside from the path without even approaching the Roumi dogs.” -</p> - -<p> -“There is,” said Zeko, “but it is such a way that a man must cling to -the rocks with both hands and his toes and his teeth. How can women -climb it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Women can do what they are obliged to do,” said Milosch, with his -evil grin. -</p> - -<p> -“This settles it,” said Zoe, as Maurice translated the words. “If our -lives depend on our climbing up there, or even walking any farther, -why, we shall have to be killed. Look, Maurice, our moccasins are cut -to pieces, and my feet are bleeding—so are Eirene’s. We can’t walk -another step, and you can tell them so.” -</p> - -<p> -It was unnecessary for Maurice to speak, however, for one of the -brigands came in to report, with much indignation, that Zoe’s feet had -left spots of blood on the track, which the rain had not quite washed -off, and the rest were forced to perceive that the girls were really -incapable of walking farther. Again there were suggestions of a short -and sharp way out of the difficulty, and again Milosch interposed as -<i>deus ex machinâ</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“You say that these Roumi swine have two sentries on the path, and -that the rest are sheltering in the ruined hut below? Well, be sure -that the sentries will join the rest as soon as it is daylight, for -what sane man would stand out in the rain when he might be in shelter? -They will not expect us to break through by day, and if the saints -only grant them sleep after they have eaten, we may pass without their -even seeing us. If they should seek to prevent us, we can use the -prisoners as a screen against their bullets, and escape ourselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well said,” remarked the chief, whose own financial stake in -the matter was considerable. “At least we will do what we can to save -the ransom. We will remain here for the present.” -</p> - -<p> -The prospect was not very cheering, for the rain dripped down from the -sodden trees on the soaked ground, and everything was wet. Maurice -took matters into his own hands. Gathering together some fallen -branches, he arranged them on the driest spot he could find, and asked -Zeko for matches. The brigands laughed grimly at the request. -</p> - -<p> -“If you must kill the ladies, you may as well do it at once,” he -responded promptly, “and not leave them to die of cold and wet. No one -could distinguish smoke in this mist, even if there was any one -looking out.” -</p> - -<p> -Unless the suggestion had accorded with the brigands’ own -inclinations, it would probably still have been scouted, but in the -prevailing cold and discomfort the idea of a fire appealed to them -powerfully, and they collected more sticks, and laboured strenuously -to get the wet wood to burn. It was a very smoky and cheerless fire, -at best, but it put a little warmth into the girls’ shivering frames, -and Maurice toasted the soaked morsels of black bread and dingy cheese -which were thrown to them, and induced them to eat. The brigands had -been consulting together during the meal, and at its close Stoyan -called Maurice aside, addressing him in a reasonable, -“man-and-brother” way, which amused him by its cool assumption that -their interests were the same. -</p> - -<p> -“You must see clearly,” he said, “that we cannot remain here. At any -cost we must pass the soldiers in front. Out of consideration for your -sisters we have refrained from dragging them up the rocks, and you -must, therefore, make them understand that they must walk a little way -farther. Let them bind up their feet, so as to leave no track, and -once beyond the pass we shall be able to procure horses for them. We -are bound for a safe hiding-place, where they will find rest and -comfort, and women to attend upon them. Surely you can see that it is -better for them to make this slight effort than to be left dead upon -the road?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do quite see it,” responded Maurice, after a moment’s thought. It -was clear that, for the moment, their interests did indeed lie with -those of the brigands, since any attempt to reach the soldiers or -delay the march meant death. He went back to the girls and explained -things to them, and they set to work wearily to tie up their wounded -feet in such rags as they could muster, replacing the torn moccasins -over them. Presently one of the scouts came in to report that the -Roumi sentries had rejoined their comrades at the ruined hut, thus -leaving the way above clear, and the march was resumed immediately, -the girls tottering as best they could on either side of Maurice, who -alone had an arm to spare for them. The brigands had all unslung their -rifles and looked to the cartridges, and were proceeding in a rough -open order, with the scouts a little way in advance. Suddenly they -came to a standstill, with an involuntary gasp of astonishment. Facing -them, climbing the slope from the ruined hut, were the Roumi soldiers, -whose surprise was equally patent with their own. It would have been -difficult to say which party had less expected to see the other, but -the brigands were prepared for the emergency, while the soldiers were -not. Their rifles were slung on their backs for convenience in -climbing, and they were scattered on the face of the slope. A sharp -order from the brigand chief confronted them with the muzzles of -twenty rifles, and with a howl of horror they turned and fled. Half of -the band pursued them—the rest remaining to guard the -prisoners—firing off their rifles and whooping with delight. The -pursuit was not a long one, for Stoyan’s whistle recalled his men -quickly, and sending one back to discover whether the sounds of the -skirmish had penetrated to the force with which Wylie was, he led the -rest forward for some distance, till they came to a place where two -tracks met. One man was sent on down the lower and left-hand path, -while the main body disposed themselves among the rocks, well out of -sight of the road, and Milosch, approaching the prisoner, said to -Zoe— -</p> - -<p> -“You give ze Voivoda cutting.” -</p> - -<p> -This mild horticultural request was so surprising that Zoe looked at -him in perplexity, whereupon he pointed impatiently to her dress. The -neat striped flannel coat and skirt on which she had so long ago -prided herself was now in sadly reduced circumstances, the skirt -especially having been curtailed to the most approved “mountaineering -length.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, give them a piece of yours, Eirene, can’t you?” she said. “You -really have more left.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, it is yours he wants,” said Eirene quickly. “He thinks Captain -Wylie will recognise it.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe glared at her for this tactless speech, and reluctantly tore off a -strip which was hanging loose between two of the brown patches she had -put in. Watching the chief with some curiosity, she saw that he tore -it in two, and dexterously entangled one piece in a thorny bush some -little way up the ascending path on the right, and then went on up the -hill, evidently intending to do the same with the other farther on. -The intention of the manœuvre was obvious, and the prisoners did not -know whether to sigh for the deception to be practised on Wylie, or to -rejoice that his perilous presence was to be removed from them. After -some time, the brigand who had gone down the hill reappeared with an -ancient horse, very thin and almost blind, and the girls were, without -ceremony, mounted one behind the other, with the rugs as an apology -for a saddle. They and Maurice were then blindfolded, and the descent -began, the brigands displaying their usual distrust of smooth or soft -ground, and leading the horse down the rockiest places, which was good -strategy, but made exceedingly uncomfortable riding. For once, each -girl was really thankful that her companion’s eyes were unable to see -the shifts to which she was put in order to maintain her balance. At -length the descent became somewhat less steep, and the old horse -stumbled gallantly along a fairly level track, his two riders almost -asleep, in spite of their uneasy position. They stopped with a jerk at -last, and heard some one pouring forth an exciting narrative to the -chief. Maurice came up to them softly. -</p> - -<p> -“It is the fellow who was sent back,” he said. “He followed the -retreating soldiers until they came to the village, and met Wylie’s -force just setting out in this direction. Wylie meant to sweep the -country, you see, and if the sentries above here had not left their -posts, the two detachments must have caught the brigands between them. -Of course, it’s just as well for us personally that they didn’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“What did Captain Wylie say?” asked Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“When he heard we had broken through? Oh, Demo says, ‘Their own -Bimbashi beat the flying soldiers with his sword, but the Capitan -cursed them in bitter, biting words, far worse than any beating, for -if the evil eye ever rested on any man, it did on them!’” -</p> - -<p> -“If I were Captain Wylie, I should curse myself,” said Eirene -succinctly, just as Milosch summoned her and Zoe to dismount. Followed -by Maurice, they were led a wearying round, in and out of doors, up -and down stairs, into a tower, a farmyard, a granary, and a kitchen -(as they judged by the smells that met them), until they were -hopelessly confused as to the direction in which they had come. Then -they were pushed in at a low door, and the bandages were suddenly -removed from their eyes. They were in darkness, but other senses than -that of sight convinced them that they stood in a cattle-stable. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, the dirt!” gasped Zoe, as her foot sank into yielding -mud. -</p> - -<p> -“Go on! go on!” cried Milosch behind, prodding Maurice in the back -with the muzzle of his rifle—an action which has a distinctly -disquieting effect upon the person acted on—and Zeko’s voice in front -called them to come forward. Following the direction of the words, -they saw a faint glimmer of grey, defining the shape of another -doorway, with the outline of Zeko’s beckoning arm dark against it. -Stumbling through the mud, they reached the threshold, and found -themselves in a cave or underground room hewn out in the rock. Part of -the ceiling was of rock, the rest, through which the light glimmered, -was apparently the badly fitting flooring of a room above. Sacks and -large earthenware jars, with various boxes, seemed to show that the -place was the receptacle for all the household valuables, but there -was nothing that could be called furniture. Zeko shut the door with a -bang, and they heard him piling up fodder—or something else that -deadened sound—against it on the outside. They were imprisoned -underground. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch12"> -CHAPTER XII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE DIVINE FIGURE OF THE NORTH.</span> -</h3> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Dear Wylie</span>,—I am sorry to have to tell you that in consequence of -the action of the authorities in sending troops against them, Stoyan -and his band have now increased the ransom they demand for us to -twenty thousand pounds. They also say that if the pursuit continues, -first one and then another of us will be killed, and the ransom for -the remaining one will be raised by five thousand pounds a-week. I -tell you honestly that the efforts of the troops can have no result -beyond irritating the brigands and making our position worse, and that -we are at this moment hidden where I believe no power on earth could -find us. The ladies agree with me, very reluctantly.—Yours truly, -</p> - -<p class="sign2"> -“<span class="sc">Maurice Smith</span>.<br/> -“<span class="sc">Zoe Smith</span>.<br/> -“<span class="sc">Eirene Smith</span>.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -This was written on the upper half of a sheet from Zoe’s large -note-book, and at the foot appeared the following, which could be torn -off before the recipient made the first portion public:— -</p> - -<p> -“For goodness’ sake, Wylie, drop it. Your intentions are excellent, -but they don’t seem to come off. The girls are half-dead with -exhaustion after the way you have been hunting us about, and we are at -present cheerfully accommodated underground, with only the faintest -glimmer of light. I couldn’t tell you where we are if I would, and I -wouldn’t if I could. For some reason or other the brigands have taken -a dislike to you, and if you persist in staying up here, I am given to -understand that you will find yourself confronted with our dead bodies -in various uncomfortable attitudes. Cut away to Therma and hurry up -that ransom. This is the kindest thing you can do for us.” -</p> - -<p> -On his return from the vain pursuit of the brigands which followed the -meeting with the routed detachment, Wylie discovered this letter -pinned with a dagger to the doorpost of the house where he had taken -up his quarters. None of the villagers had seen who brought it, and no -one could offer any suggestion on the subject, but whether the -universal ignorance was real, or the result of a secret understanding -with the brigands, did not appear. The letter had the desired effect, -sending Wylie back to Therma in something more nearly approaching -panic than he had ever known. He was not as reckless of the lives of -his friends as he had appeared, but he had undoubtedly brought them -into imminent peril, though his course had been adopted in utter -desperation. His first appearance at Therma, bearing the story of what -had happened and the demand for a ransom, had been the signal for the -commencement of a wild tragi-comedy of irresponsibility. The Roumi -authorities declared flatly that there were no brigands in Emathia, so -that it was obviously impossible that the travellers could have been -carried off by brigands. The British representatives, to whom Wylie -appealed at the same time, cherished grave doubts as to the wisdom of -paying a ransom, since no British traveller in Emathia would be safe -after such a precedent had been set. Professor Panagiotis, torn by -conflicting emotions, proved almost equally unsatisfactory. He had -found himself of late subjected to a disquieting espionage, which -filled him with fear lest his plans had in some way been divined. In -such a case, it seemed to him that his only chance was to grip his -important secret more tightly than ever. Lest Wylie should make use of -it to bring pressure on any of the Governments concerned, he kept it -even from him, pooh-poohing his reminder of the explanations Maurice -had promised him, and showing an uneasy curiosity on the subject of -Eirene, for whose existence he could not account. He volunteered, -indeed, to write to Maurice’s bankers, asking them to advance the -money for the ransom, with the natural result that they demanded -either a cheque signed by Maurice or an interview with Wylie and a -sight of his authority, and Wylie could not bring himself to leave -Emathia while his friends’ fate hung in the balance. The Professor’s -sole useful contribution to the debate was the conviction that the -outrage had been perpetrated by a band of Thracian marauders, with -which the newspapers in his interest made Europe ring. The Thracian -Government, approached on the subject, replied with virtuous -indignation that its attitude was perfectly correct. It had always -studiously discouraged—in the most official manner—the formation of -such bands, and refused them permission to cross the frontier into -Emathia. If the reprehensible activity of private persons had managed -to organise a band, the authorities viewed it with entire detachment, -and the Roumi Government was welcome to do as it liked with the -members, when it caught them. -</p> - -<p> -This acknowledgment that there might be foreign, though not native, -brigands on the sacred soil of Emathia stirred the Roumi officials to -a pitch of activity positively dangerous. Urged on by Professor -Panagiotis and his adherents, they sent troops into the hills, and -loudly proclaimed their intention of sweeping the miscreants from the -face of the earth, and rescuing the captives without fee or reward. -Into the vortex of this expedition Wylie was whirled, partly by the -demand of the authorities that he should accompany the troops and -behold the vengeance exacted, partly by his own hope that he might be -able to make the measures taken effectual. His friend Palmer, smarting -under the loss of the faithful Haji Ahmad, had willingly joined him in -a bold journey through the heart of the brigands’ country, in the hope -that the luggage so lavishly displayed would prove a bait sufficient -to ensure their being carried off also, when the best trackers in the -country, provided by Professor Panagiotis, would follow them up, and -thus discover the brigands’ stronghold. Demo’s recognition of Wylie in -his disguise had prevented this, but the journey had its fruit in the -discovery of the boot-tracks of the captives, and thus enabled Wylie -to lay his plans for a systematic search. As Maurice had conjectured, -it was the torrent-bed, the use of which as a path he had not -suspected, which had thrown him out when he felt certain that he had -the brigands safe in one particular group of hills, and the -carelessness of the detachment which had been sent on to hold the pass -enabled his prey to slip through his fingers. Thus baffled, he had no -alternative but to hurry back to Therma, in compliance with Maurice’s -earnest request, only to find fresh discouragements awaiting him. -Before leaving for the hills, he had written a full account of the -capture to Maurice’s bankers, enclosing a certified copy of the first -letter signed by the three captives, in the hope that they might be -induced to depart from their attitude of severe correctness. Their -answer had now arrived, making it evident that the worthy country -gentlemen, who had known Maurice and Zoe all their lives, and their -parents and grandparents before them, regarded the intrusion of Eirene -into the letter as evidence of a not very cleverly constructed plot, -concocted, it was to be presumed, by Wylie and Professor Panagiotis, -for the purpose of extorting money. Whether they imagined the -Professor and Wylie were holding the captives in durance, or doubted -their being in durance at all, or what they thought Eirene had to do -with the matter, they did not say, but they wound up a lengthy refusal -to do anything without seeing Wylie, with the coldly sarcastic remark -that the Roumi Government was obviously the proper channel from which -to obtain the ransom. -</p> - -<p> -“Why can’t the old idiots see that it’s a matter of life and death?” -mused Wylie bitterly, as he read the letter on the terrace of his -hotel. “I’m not going cap in hand to them to be treated like a -pickpocket and sent off with a flea in my ear, while the Smiths are -being massacred. I’d rather pay the money myself. I wonder if I could -manage to raise it in the time? I don’t see where it’s to come from. -Or is there any one else I could worry into taking action?” -</p> - -<p> -He thought over the long list of people to whom he had written urgent -letters—every one he had ever heard of who was likely to have -influence with the press or with any of the Governments interested in -Emathia—and realised wrathfully that, though his journalistic appeals -had produced a good deal of frothy rhetoric and bloodthirsty -declamation in the columns of newspapers of the baser sort, the -practical effect appeared to be <i>nil</i>. True, an artist on the staff of -the ‘Plastic,’ who happened to be in the neighbourhood—as distances -go in Eastern Europe—had been ordered to the scene of the capture, -which was now, on the well-established principle of the steed and the -stable-door, kept constantly patrolled by police, and had made many -sketches of the localities concerned, but without stirring the placid -blood of the public to any extraordinary heat. He had moved on to -Therma now, and was staying at the hotel, and as Wylie halted -irresolutely in his anger and perplexity outside the window of the -smoking-room, he came out and joined him. -</p> - -<p> -“I say, you don’t mind my speaking to you, do you?” he asked, in a -pleasant, boyish voice. “I know you’re the man who was captured with -the Smiths, and I want to find out something about them. I’m sick of -sketching a set of rotten roadsides—might as well be a camera at -once—and there’s not a sensation in the whole lot. What I’m thinking -of is a full-page drawing of the outrage itself—call it a fancy -picture if you like, but that’s the sort of thing that tells. Besides, -if I work up the figures from your description, it’s not a fancy -picture. Do you mind?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t mind what I do that’s likely to give the slightest help in -rescuing them,” said Wylie emphatically. -</p> - -<p> -“I know. Horribly rough on them and you too—all this red tape. Let’s -go ahead, then. What sort of a chap is Smith?” -</p> - -<p> -“Cambridge man, usual style, nothing particular about him, but an -awfully good sort. His eldest sister told me that he got a gold medal -for poetry this spring, but you’d never think it to look at him.” -</p> - -<p> -“A gold medal? Not for an English poem? I was there myself, and there -was no Smith in. My young brother got a medal for a Greek epigram, and -he was so keen on my seeing him in all his glory that I ran down for -the day. Took the opportunity to get half a page of sketches for the -‘Daily Plastic,’ too, as the affair isn’t much known. They keep the -date dark lest the men should get in and rag—so my brother told me. -Now what was the chap’s name who got the English medal? It was a St -Saviour’s man, and the Master was so proud he talked of nothing else -for a week.” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Smith told me her brother got it,” said Wylie, in the tone which -implies that there is no more to be said. -</p> - -<p> -“But there must be a mistake somewhere. Look here; I believe I have -that very sketch-book in my room. I’ll get it, and we can see the -fellow’s name.” -</p> - -<p> -He vanished indoors, and presently returned breathless, flicking over -the leaves of a well-filled sketch-book. -</p> - -<p> -“Here it is!” he cried. “Teffany! I knew there was something queer -about the name.” He put the book into his companion’s hands, and Wylie -found himself confronted with an unmistakable portrait of Maurice in -cap and gown, wearing a rather strained smile, and gripping a roll of -paper very tight. In close proximity was a sketch of Professor -Panagiotis, all alert attention, bending forward to listen. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, that’s Smith!” cried Wylie, “and this——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it’s awfully rummy, isn’t it? That’s the old johnny who hangs -out at Kallimeri, close here. It gave me quite a shock when I met him -in the street, but then I remembered that my brother told me he was -some Greek bigwig. Then my man is your man, after all? I say, this is -something like a joke!” -</p> - -<p> -“But what possible reason can he have had for changing his name?” -cried Wylie, trying to recall anything that ought to have prepared him -for the discovery. -</p> - -<p> -“And there’s another thing,” said the artist, who was enjoying himself -hugely. “He’s got a sister too many. Teffany has only one, I know. She -came up to Girtham at the same time that he entered at St Saviour’s, -and they were called ‘The Orphans’ everywhere, because they used to go -about together in deep mourning. It was for their grandfather, though. -Their father was killed in the Soudan years before, and their mother -died from the shock. So where does the other girl come in?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course she is only a half-sister; I knew that.” -</p> - -<p> -“But younger than either of them, you say? Oh, this is -brain-splitting! She must be a cousin.” -</p> - -<p> -“Really,” said Wylie stiffly, “I see no reason for us to trouble about -the matter. No one ever doubted that she was their sister.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, we seem to have come upon a nice little double mystery. Look -here, monsieur,” the artist cried to a man who was standing just -inside the smoking-room, “come and adjudicate. What reason could a man -have, whose name wasn’t Smith, for calling himself Smith, when he was -doing nothing more heinous than coming with his sisters to stay with -Professor Panagiotis?” -</p> - -<p> -“English, of course?” said the stranger, joining them, and speaking -with a slight foreign accent. “Why need one seek a reason, then? The -pseudo-Smith is rich—perhaps noble—at home, and he desires a new -sensation. Therefore he obtains one by travelling <i>incognito</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I suppose Teffany is comfortably off”—the stranger’s eyelid -flickered as the artist spoke—“but there are no titles in the family, -that I know of. Why in the world should he do it?” -</p> - -<p> -“The natural modesty of the British character,” suggested the -stranger. -</p> - -<p> -“And there’s another thing. Why should he call a girl his sister who -isn’t his sister?” -</p> - -<p> -“If you ask me,” said the stranger waggishly, “I should say that it -was some one else’s sister.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but two of them?” cried the artist. “Or, if one was genuine, how -do you account for her tolerating the bogus one?” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Wylie, “that will do. You, and Smith’s—I mean -Teffany’s—bankers, and Professor Panagiotis, all persist that there -can’t be a second sister. I tell you there is, for I have seen her and -talked to her. I have the honour of both the Miss Smiths’—the Miss -Teffanys’, I mean—acquaintance, and whatever stupid mystery you may -manage to cook up, I’m certain there’s the most ordinary explanation -if we only knew it. I don’t want any more jokes on the subject.” -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully sorry,” said the artist hastily, as the stranger withdrew -with a smile; “but it is funny, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“To you, perhaps. Who’s your grinning friend?” -</p> - -<p> -“A Greek—Mitsopoulo his name is—good sort of chap. Knows the ropes, -puts me up to all sorts of things. His sister is married to the -Scythian Consul-General—frightfully handsome woman. But he’s only -staying here.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know why you called him in,” said Wylie uneasily. “We don’t -want Scythia mixed up in this business.” -</p> - -<p> -The artist stared at him. “Oh, I say,” he laughed, “there’s no doubt -where you come from, is there? ‘Keep your powder dry, and hate a -Scythian like the devil’—that’s about the mark of you North-West -Frontier men, isn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you know about the North-West Frontier?” growled Wylie. “I’m -off to Professor Panagiotis to get this thing cleared up. I shall end -by wringing the old blighter’s neck for him, I know.” -</p> - -<p> -“So long!” said the artist pacifically, for he had not yet got all the -information he wanted, and he settled down to a sketch for his -picture, leaving the girls’ faces blank, while Wylie, refusing the -offers of donkey-boys and cab-drivers, tramped off to Kallimeri. The -Professor had learnt to dread his coming, and distinguished on this -occasion in the very sound of his footsteps fresh cause for alarm. -Wylie gave him no opportunity of denying the identification -established by the sketch, but demanded bluntly the reason of the -change of name, and why he had not been told of it before. The only -course was to explain the whole of the circumstances, and this the -Professor took. -</p> - -<p> -“You see, then,” he ended, “that not a breath of this must creep out. -Our young friend stands in the way of both Scythian and -Thraco-Dardanian ambitions, and if it was known who he was, it would -be fatally easy to arrange for his death—at the hands of the -brigands, by a fall in the mountains, by a shot from a Roumi rifle. It -would occur so naturally that there would be no room for inquiry, and -his sister, who would otherwise inherit his claims, would share his -fate. Now do you see why I kept you in the dark? It was for their -sake. I feared that by some inadvertence”—Wylie moved angrily—“Well, -now that you know the truth, and what hangs upon your silence, you -will see that nothing must be said. There is a dangerous man at your -hotel—Nicetas Mitsopoulo, a Greek traitor in Scythian employ—beware -of him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your warning comes a little late. The gentleman you mention was -present when I discovered the truth.” -</p> - -<p> -Professor Panagiotis flung up his hands in despair. “Then Maurice -Teffany and his sister are as good as dead! My hopes are destroyed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t blither about your hopes,” said Wylie savagely, “but think what -we can do. What chance have we of saving them?” -</p> - -<p> -“If we can raise the ransom by the very day stipulated—the brigands -are generally faithful to their word—but if it is an hour late——” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the ransom must be raised, by hook or by crook. Can you advance -it? I will give you my bond for all I am worth, and I am certain Smith -will regard the rest as a debt of honour.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, no! It is not in my power,” groaned the Professor. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense! you are well known to be a rich man. How much can you lay -your hands upon in ten days?” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I must explain to you,” said the Professor diffidently, “that -events have advanced since I had the good fortune to discover Mr -Teffany. In view of the happy prospects of the Greek cause, I have -felt justified in promoting a certain degree of organisation among its -adherents—enabling them to defend their homes against their ruthless -Slavic assailants——” -</p> - -<p> -“And institute reprisals, no doubt?” said Wylie. “This means, of -course, that you have been arming the Emathian Greeks against the -Slavs, by way of improving matters?” -</p> - -<p> -“And the cost has been very heavy,” pursued the Professor, with -humility, “and one large consignment of—defence weapons—fell, -unfortunately, into the hands of one of the Thracian committees, so -that I am actually straitened.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, can you beg, borrow, or steal five thousand pounds by the end -of next week? I think I ought to be able to manage the other fifteen -thousand, by realising everything I have in the world. If not, you -must scrape together the difference. At any cost we must stop Mr -Mitsopoulo’s little games.” -</p> - -<p> -Had Wylie been present at a certain discussion at the Scythian -Consulate that evening, he would have realised that Nicetas Mitsopoulo -was playing even a deeper game than he imagined. The Greek arrived at -a private door, which was opened to him by the Consul-General himself, -a big, fair man, whose bluff exterior concealed a very serviceable -share of diplomatic <i>finesse</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“Welcome, Nikita Feodorovitch!” he said pleasantly. “You will find -Chariclea ready for you. Curiously enough, immediately after your -message arrived, a sudden headache prevented her from going to the -party at the Cimbrian Consul’s.” -</p> - -<p> -M. Mitsopoulo pushed past his brother-in-law rather impatiently, for -the Consul-General was always ready to find amusement, such as the -professional plotter had long since outgrown, in these tricks of the -trade. Much more in sympathy with him was his sister, Madame Ladoguin, -or Chariclea Feodorovna, as she was called by her Scythian -acquaintances. A handsome woman in a loose Levantine dress, with her -dark hair hanging below her waist in two heavy plaits, she awaited him -on a cushioned divan in her boudoir, with cigarettes and the -ever-ready samovar at hand. M. Ladoguin lounged in after him, and sat -down at a little distance, ready to act as friend of the court. -</p> - -<p> -“This has been a day of events and surprises,” said Mitsopoulo, -accepting a glass of tea, with thin slices of lemon floating in it, -from his sister. “I have made such progress that I am almost -bewildered, and I bring the results of my labours to you, Chariclea, -that you may check them and assure me I have not deceived myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will scrutinise them as rigorously as if they were the report of a -Reform Scheme,” she answered, with a lazy smile. -</p> - -<p> -“That is just what I want. You have guessed, I am sure, Chariclea, -that my visit here was in connection with the disappearance, which was -not made known to the public, of a young lady of high rank. All the -indications seemed to point to her having escaped to America, but as -the Greek Panagiotis was known to have tampered with her father, it -was thought well to watch for her here. I placed the amiable -Panagiotis under surveillance, which I fear he has found inconvenient, -but as it did not appear that he was either holding or expecting any -communication with the Princess, I was about to withdraw it. Then, -only a week ago, one of my agents brought word that a breast-ornament -of gold and rubies, of a unique Byzantine design, had been offered for -sale secretly by a Jew in this city. The description corresponded with -that of one of the jewels which had disappeared with the Princess, and -I authorised the man to secure it at any cost, but, alas! at the first -hint of inquiry it disappeared again, and has probably been broken up. -Until to-day, therefore, I thought it probable that the Princess had -eluded my vigilance and was in hiding here, subsisting by the sale of -her jewels until she found it safe to communicate with Panagiotis.” He -paused impressively. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and now?” asked Mme. Ladoguin. -</p> - -<p> -“To-day I was summoned to assist at a conversation between a brainless -artist staying at the hotel, and the English officer who was captured -with the renowned Smiths——” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you quite sure you were not assisting before you were summoned, -Nikita?” laughed the Consul-General. His brother-in-law passed over -the question as unworthy of an answer. -</p> - -<p> -“—And I discovered a very curious fact, vouched for by three separate -authorities, that one of the ladies passing as Miss Smith is not a -Miss Smith at all. Mr and Miss Smith have no sister, and Panagiotis, -with whom they were to stay, did not expect a second lady guest.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” demanded Mme. Ladoguin, her eyes glowing sombrely. -</p> - -<p> -“The idea came to me in a flash, but it was too improbable to accept -without investigation. I went at once to the station, and by great -good fortune succeeded in finding the guard of the train that was -wrecked near Przlepka. Otherwise I might have had to wait two or three -days. He recollected the party perfectly, and described them—the -brother an ordinary, impassive Englishman, one sister vivacious in the -wooden English way, but the other totally different. He said himself -that he would have guessed her to be a Scythian, as also the aunt who -was killed in the accident. With another happy flash, I asked him if -he had happened to visit the aunt’s grave at Przlepka. He had done so, -and the name upon the stone was Evdotia Vladimirovna. That was the -Christian name of Madame Lyofsky, the lady-in-waiting who vanished -with the Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excellent! Well done! Continue, pray!” cried Mme. Ladoguin, clapping -her hands softly. -</p> - -<p> -“I could get no more from the man, for he had, of course, only been -able to observe the Smiths from Tatarjé to Przlepka. To obtain -further information, I must go myself to Tatarjé and question the -car-attendant on the Orient Express, who must have plenty to tell. But -at present, what is your view of the case, my dear Chariclea?” -</p> - -<p> -“There can only be one view,” she responded quickly. “The Princess -fell in with these Smiths in Paris, and either by bribery or entreaty, -induced them to adopt Mme. Lyofsky and herself as members of their -party, flattering herself that she would thus escape discovery.” -</p> - -<p> -“So I should have thought but for something else that I learned -to-day. The man Smith and his sister are in reality no more Smith than -the Princess is. Their true name is Teffany.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” asked the Consul-General curiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Teffany—which is Theophanis,” said M. Mitsopoulo. His sister sprang -up from her cushions. -</p> - -<p> -“What! Nicetas, you don’t mean——” -</p> - -<p> -“I mean that Panagiotis has succeeded, where his predecessors failed, -in unearthing or manufacturing an English representative of the senior -male line of the descendants of John Theophanis.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why then trouble himself with the Princess?” asked M. Ladoguin -helplessly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s clear enough,” was the contemptuous reply of his wife. -“She is to marry the claimant.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now there I can’t agree with you, Chariclea,” said her brother. -“Panagiotis is far too wise for that. The united claims of the two -would be absolutely unassailable, and there would be no room for him. -He might choose to arrange such a marriage by slow degrees, inventing -hindrances and delays so as to make his own services appear -indispensable, but it would be madness to begin by throwing the two -young people together.” -</p> - -<p> -“But we can hardly charge the worthy Professor with the railway -accident and the capture by the brigands, can we?” asked M. Ladoguin, -laughing. “We know better than that.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, that was certainly unforeseen on his part. But why plot so -clumsily as to let them travel by the same train?” -</p> - -<p> -“He must have had some scheme for separating them as soon as they -became interested in one another,” suggested Mme. Ladoguin, without -much conviction. -</p> - -<p> -“Now I am going to propound a common-sense view of the matter, since -you two clever people are at a loss,” said her husband. “What if -Panagiotis has washed his hands of the girl—the Princess, I -mean—since he discovered his male heir; and what if she took the -journey entirely on her own account, enraged at the neglect of her -claims? That would account for his not expecting her. The meeting with -the Smiths would then be a pure coincidence.” -</p> - -<p> -“Absurd!” said Mme. Ladoguin sharply, following the sound Higher -Critical rule of rejecting the obvious. “Do you suggest that these -young people, whose interests are diametrically opposed, fell in love -at first sight, like characters of Shakespeare, and agreed to—to pool -their respective claims?” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly. Isn’t it more reasonable than to suppose that Panagiotis -brought them together and explained the situation, with a view to a -State marriage?” -</p> - -<p> -“Stop!” cried Mitsopoulo suddenly. “Adopting the coincidence theory -provisionally, must we suppose that the situation is explained at all? -In my view, Panagiotis arranged the disappearance of the Princess, but -she was too impatient to await the date he had fixed. He had intended -to produce her a month or so hence, when the young man was entirely in -his power; but naturally he says nothing to either of them. She -escapes sooner than he wished, and falls in with the other claimant -and his sister in Paris. There was the coincidence. Now, is it likely -that either party would even be aware of the other’s existence, since -it is to the interest of Panagiotis to keep them in ignorance for his -own purposes? Therefore, why should they confide in each other at -all?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but everything must have come out since—or at least, half of -everything,” said M. Ladoguin, generalising unwisely on a common-sense -basis. “The man and his sister, who are new to the idea of their -dignity, could not possibly keep silence.” Mitsopoulo nodded, -remembering Zoe’s confidence to Wylie about the gold medal, and his -brother-in-law went on, much encouraged. “With the Princess it is -different. She must be capable of determined secrecy, from the skill -with which she concealed her preparations for escape, and she has long -believed herself the heir of the Eastern Empire. Finding herself -confronted with a claim antagonistic and superior to her own, what -will be her impulse? Will it not be to retain her secret haughtily, -watching for the chance of crushing her rival? I should say that if -you want her back, you will find her thankful to come.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you want her back?” asked Mme. Ladoguin. -</p> - -<p> -“Most certainly,” replied her brother; “she is an invaluable asset, -tracing an uninterrupted Greek and Orthodox descent from John -Theophanis. The Englishman’s claim is the best by the ordinary law of -Europe, but would break down hopelessly when tried by the Imperial -family statutes. She ought to have been married long ago, and her -claim carried into the Scythian Imperial house; but she is in a -troublesome position—too important and yet not important enough. It -is believed that she aspired to an alliance with the Emperor -himself—and if I had had the direction of affairs I fancy I should -have settled it in that way. But it was otherwise decided, and she -rejected with contumely the Grand Duke Ivan Petrovitch, who was -suggested to her as a suitor. She also took matters into her own -hands, or Panagiotis persuaded her that she did.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then she must be taken care of, I suppose,” drawled Mme. Ladoguin, -“which is a pity, or she might have been disposed of with the other -inconveniences. They are merely inconveniences, are they not? A -judicious massacre, now, or an accident with the dynamite which these -reprehensible bands of brigands manage somehow to get hold of?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I think not,” said her brother, after a moment’s reflection. “You -forget Panagiotis, and that blue-eyed swashbuckler who was captured -with them. They will make out that we were anxious to get rid of the -man and his claims, and there will be unpleasantness. What must be -done is to make him confess the baselessness of his pretensions. He -must own that he was tempted by Panagiotis to put himself forward as -a Theophanis, without the slightest ground for the assertion. That -will dispose of both him and his sister. How the details are to be -arranged we must discuss another day.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should recommend the monastery of Hadgi-Antoniou if you want any -one kept out of the way for an indefinite time,” smiled M. Ladoguin. -</p> - -<p> -“Just so; and plenty of palm-oil to obviate any difficulties. I must -get an order for funds from Pavelsburg,” said Mitsopoulo. -</p> - -<p> -Wylie also was seeking funds at that moment. A letter to his lawyers -was directing them to sell out all his securities, and to mortgage to -its utmost value the little Border estate which called him master. -However onerous the conditions, he must have fifteen thousand pounds -in ten days. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch13"> -CHAPTER XIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE FALLING-OUT OF FAITHFUL FRIENDS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Cheerless</span> though the underground prison might be, it offered a -respite from further journeying, and for the moment the captives could -think of nothing else. Exhausted by the long night spent in tramping -through the rain, the girls asked only for rest, and a sack of corn -for pillow, with a rug for coverlet, furnished as luxurious a couch as -they could need. They were asleep in a moment, and Maurice envied -them. He had chosen his own sleeping-place close to the door, but he -could not rest until he had built up the boxes and sacks into a -barricade which might shelter the girls from prying eyes. It seemed to -him that the noise he made would wake anybody, but Zoe and Eirene -never stirred, and he erected a very fair partition, and retired -thankfully to his own sack and rug on the threshold. He was not -allowed to sleep, however, for a beam of light appeared at the other -end of the cellar, and a voice called him. Rising with much -reluctance, he found that a board of the crazy flooring above had been -lifted, and a basket containing writing materials was being lowered -down, while Milosch instructed him through the hole as to the terms of -the letter he was to write to Wylie. The circumstances might excuse a -certain acerbity in the wording, and Maurice was conscious of a savage -satisfaction as he added his postscript, scarcely able to see, so -drowsy was he. Even when he had finished his letter, it was sent down -to him again that the girls might add their signatures, and he was -obliged to wake them in turn, and actually guide their hands over the -paper. Then at last he was left in peace, and lay down and slept for -eight hours without waking. It was the girls’ voices that roused him -at last. He could hear them talking. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you think they mean to starve us?” murmured Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know. I’m <i>frightfully</i> hungry,” returned Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -The suggestion reminded Maurice that he was very conscious of the -pangs of hunger himself, but it was difficult to see how the fact was -to be brought home to the brigands. On testing the door by repeated -knocks, he found that it was still blocked up on the outside, and he -had nothing with which to reach the ceiling, and so disturb the floor -of the room above. In these circumstances, the bright idea seized him -of rolling about some of the empty jars, which made a most -satisfactory noise, and presently the board was lifted again, and -Milosch ordered the prisoners angrily to be quiet. When the state of -things was explained, he deigned to parley, assuring them that it only -wanted half an hour to sunset, and that as soon as it was twilight -they should be released and bountifully fed, but that for the present -they must keep absolute silence, if they valued their lives. The -reason for this became apparent in the course of one of the longest -half-hours they had ever spent, when the boards above rattled with the -not very distant sound of regular tramping. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s Wylie and his army going home,” said Maurice. “Fancy their -being so close to us! I suppose we must have come back quite near the -village we passed through last night. If the old chap only knew!” -</p> - -<p> -The sound of the tramping died away, the dim religious light which -filtered through the chinks between the boards vanished altogether, -and they waited in darkness until there was a welcome noise at the -door. The fodder which had concealed it was being flung away, and they -were ordered to come out. Passing from the noisome stable, they were -hurried through the yard into the house, and while room was made for -Maurice in the jovial circle of brigands who occupied the stone divans -in a large ground-floor room, deeply interested in the extensive -cooking operations going on over and before an enormous fireplace, the -girls were taken up into the tower they had already visited, and -handed over to the women of the family. The grandmother and two or -three elderly dependants were doing the cooking downstairs, where also -were the men of the house, acting as more or less willing hosts to the -brigands, but there were matrons and girls and children enough to make -the household a puzzle in relationships. The women were shy at first, -but when they saw by the rays of their primitive lamp the plight of -their guests they forgot their timidity. They bathed and bound up -their wounded feet, pressed upon them clean head-handkerchiefs and the -loose embroidered shirts they themselves wore on feast-days, and -brought them a plentiful supply of food. After the meal they made them -comfortable with loose sheepskins upon the divans, and sat upon the -floor to make conversation. The girls had picked up something of the -language by this time—Eirene helping herself out with Scythian -words—and an abundant use of gesture helped towards mutual -comprehension. The prisoners were able to indicate the names of their -respective countries, the manner of their capture, and their -wanderings since that event, while the women expressed their pity and -sympathy, together with their unbiassed opinion of the brigands. -</p> - -<p> -That was the first of five nights passed in the tower, the days being -spent underground, and the curious relations of the brigands with the -rural population became manifest. The peasant-farmer had the privilege -of providing the brigand with food, clothes, shelter if he demanded -it, and intelligence of the doings of the authorities, in return for -which he received protection against rival bands, and was secured -against wilful damage to his property, while the brigands winked at -the prompt disappearance of every article of value from the house and -from the dress of the women when a visit from them was expected. There -was no love lost between protectors and protected, guests and hosts, -for the women had much to say of the ruthless demands of the brigands -for food and clothing when the family had barely enough for -themselves, and laughed at their boast of plundering only the rich. -Money they took from the rich alone, certainly, but if the poor man, -who had no money, tried to hide his last sheep to save it from their -clutches, he might be thankful if he escaped with his life. With all -this, the family were discussing—with as little constraint as if the -priesthood had been the career in question—whether the eldest son of -one of its numerous branches should become a brigand instead of -submitting to the vicissitudes of rural life. Brigandage was the best -profession for an active young man, it was generally agreed, and it -was both a protection and a distinction to have a relation in a -well-known band, but it gave the authorities a pretext for additional -exactions, and if the long course of serving two masters should happen -to end unfortunately, it was not desirable for the chief to have at -hand a hostage for the conduct of the family. Not that the authorities -could do much harm to a band like Stoyan’s, declared the grandmother, -who was the chief advocate of brigandage as a career, for Stoyan had -his own agent, receiving a regular salary, among the underlings of the -Vali himself, who sent him early news of any offensive action that -might be contemplated. It was only when troublesome foreigners rushed -things, as Wylie had done, that the arrangement broke down. -</p> - -<p> -All these things Zoe stored up in her mind for Maurice’s benefit, -against the time when he should appear as the Michael who was to -deliver Emathia from oppression on the one side and lawlessness on the -other. It struck her as almost overpoweringly pathetic that when the -women learned that her father and mother were both dead, they should -ask, scarcely waiting for a reply, “The Roumis killed them, of -course?” but the effect was spoilt when she discovered that they -regarded the inhabitants of a Greek-speaking village near them with a -hatred as rancorous as that which they cherished towards the Moslems -whose name they never mentioned without a curse. It was the irony of -fate that the last representatives of Greek ascendency should be -dependent on these fanatical Slavs for the commonest offices of -kindness, but what hope was there of reconciling the divergent -elements? “If one could spend a lifetime travelling about the country, -and getting to know the people personally, there might be some -chance,” thought Zoe; “but even if there was the time to spare, the -jealousy of the Powers would prevent it.” She was sitting on the -divan, wearing the best clothes of one of the women, who was adding a -border of brown homespun to the much-patched grey skirt, and the woman -looked up and smiled at her. Eirene, who had refused any help rather -abruptly, was sitting close to the lamp, mending her own skirt, having -left Zoe to explain, with much futile gesticulation, that her sister -was very independent, and would insist on doing everything for -herself. “I wonder what would happen if I could make them understand -who we are?” thought Zoe, but she did not try it. -</p> - -<p> -The days in the underground dungeon were long and trying, for the -absence of light prevented the girls from having recourse even to -needlework, and much as they needed rest, they could not sleep all day -as well as all night. On the second day they organised a mutual -entertainment society, or rather Zoe did her part without being asked, -and worried the others into doing theirs. She led off, and also filled -up gaps, with a serial story of such length and complexity that there -seemed no reason for it ever to come to an end, of which Maurice -remarked ungratefully that he knew now why no publishers would have -anything to do with her novels; they feared for their reason if they -were once drawn into examining them. Eirene told Scythian folk-tales, -gathered from her nurses in the very early years before she was -afflicted with English, French, and German governesses simultaneously, -and Maurice drew on his store of Cambridge stories, which was running -very low before the imprisonment ended. -</p> - -<p> -It was not until the sixth day after their night of wandering that -they left the farm, and though the Roumi troops had presumably quitted -the district, they were conducted away with as much precaution as had -been observed in reaching it. Zoe suggested that the brigands feared -their eyes might suffer from the daylight after such a long -deprivation of it, and that this was the reason for blindfolding them -afresh, for they actually quitted the place without having seen it, or -the faces of the inhabitants, by any but artificial light. The women -expressed their condolence and pity loudly, and would have loaded them -with more gifts of food and clothes than they could well carry, but -the brigand chief interfered. They had a long march before them, he -said, and no one was going to carry the prisoners’ parcels for them. -The gifts were therefore reduced to their smallest dimensions, and the -start was made, each of the helpless captives walking between two of -the brigands. To their relief, the track was neither so steep nor so -rough as the one they had followed in reaching the farm, and after two -hours’ walking, their guards removed the handkerchiefs from their -eyes. To their weakened sight, all appeared dark even then, and it was -only by degrees they distinguished that they were in a thick forest, -the trees arching over the narrow path on which they stood. They were -allowed little time to accustom themselves to the half-light, for the -march was continued at once, the trend of the path being uniformly -upward, but the ascent fairly gradual. A brief rest at midday was -welcomed by the girls, who were already flagging, much to the -annoyance of the brigands, and a hasty consultation took place between -Stoyan and his lieutenants. As a result, it was evidently decided not -to attempt to push on as far as had been intended, for the pace was -less severe when they started again, and the halt for the night was -called in a small clearing as early as four o’clock in the afternoon. -</p> - -<p> -Adversity had done wonders in teaching the girls to bear their part in -a backwoods life, and Maurice was no longer left to construct the -usual hut by himself. He cut the poles and fixed them in the ground, -but Zoe and Eirene twisted in and out the smaller branches which -formed both roof and sides, and collected leaves and twigs for beds. -Eirene was openly proud of her handiwork, but for Zoe it was -associated with a regretful thought of Wylie. “What a lot of trouble -we used to give him at first!” she mused; “and we never offered to do -anything for ourselves. He must have thought us disgustingly -helpless.” The recollection that if Wylie had thought so, he had, at -any rate, put a good face on the matter, afforded some comfort, and by -a peculiar process of thought she derived consolation also from the -reflection that on the whole it was better he should think so. -</p> - -<p> -There were no kabobs to cook to-night, for the food brought from the -farm supplied a plentiful supper, but the brigands lighted a fire for -the sake of keeping off wild beasts and evil spirits, and sat round it -in great contentment. The prisoners declined the offer of a fire of -their own, and sat on the ground at the upper part of the clearing, -luxuriously propped against tree trunks, to watch the sunset glow -which pierced the black canopy of leaves and branches overhead. To -Eirene it suggested similar sunsets seen through boughs of pine or -birch on the great plains of Scythia, and as though the magic of the -hour had unloosed her tongue, she began to talk of the long summer -evenings, when there was scarcely any actual night, and she had donned -peasant costume, and attended by the governess who happened to be in -favour at the moment, joined in the games and dances of the peasant -girls on her father’s estate. Maurice listened, fascinated, half by -the suggestion of a new side to Eirene’s character, half by the -conviction that in any disguise she would still infallibly be a queen -among subjects. If the subjects were recalcitrant, so much the worse -for them. He drew her on by questions, laughed at her answers, and -owned that he wished he had been there to take part in the revels—a -suggestion which served to jar upon Zoe, who had been sitting silent. -</p> - -<p> -“I do wish,” she said, opening her eyes wearily, “you wouldn’t disturb -my meditations in this frivolous way. You forget the literary -exigencies of the moment.” -</p> - -<p> -“What are they?” asked Maurice. “Is it particularly literary to go to -sleep leaning against a tree?” -</p> - -<p> -“I said I was meditating,” was the severe answer. “You seem to forget -that as all my note-books have been heartlessly reft from me, I have -to store up all our experiences in my head.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ready for the book? Is it to be a plain tale—or a decorated one—or -a novel?” -</p> - -<p> -“Both,” said Zoe decisively. “I find it would be a waste of good -material to lavish it all on one. The plain tale of our adventures and -sufferings will sell like wildfire, and pay for the novel, which will -be all local colour. I shall keep all the choice bits of folklore and -that sort of thing for it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know you said once that people always skipped the local colour in -reading a book,” objected Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“How can they, if it’s all local colour?” -</p> - -<p> -“They needn’t read the book,” said Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s why I shall need the success of the plain tale to pay for it,” -returned Zoe calmly. “I shall have a <i>succès d’estime</i> with the -novel. And after that, I shall never have to trouble about local -colour again all my life.” -</p> - -<p> -“I really believe,” came in accents of considerable irritation from -Eirene, “that you enjoy being imprisoned in underground dungeons, and -climbing up and down these atrocious hills with your skirts in -ribbons, and wearing horrid moccasins because you have no shoes, and -being cursed and threatened if you stop to rest for a moment, just -because you mean to put it into your books.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I can’t say that I enjoy it, certainly—but I can’t help knowing -how well it will look in the book.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are mad upon your books!” said Eirene tartly. “If it was -painting, or music, or anything of that kind, I could understand it, -but mere novel-writing!” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course you can’t understand it yet. Only wait until you have an -object in life, and then you will.” -</p> - -<p> -“How can you say I have not an object in life? Am I not suffering for -it at this very moment?” -</p> - -<p> -“You might have the politeness to say that the suffering isn’t so bad -because we are here,” suggested Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I am not skilful in putting things politely. I am not literary!” -with deep contempt. -</p> - -<p> -“And don’t you wish you were?” asked Maurice lazily. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I am not like Zoe. She says that when she marries, the man must -have fallen in love with her through reading her books.” -</p> - -<p> -“And none of them are written yet? Well, my future brother-in-law has -plenty of time to spare,” chuckled Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene, you are the very meanest——” began Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Maurice hastily, “you’re both tired out, aren’t you? -I was sure the march was too much for you. Let us all meditate if you -think it’ll be restful. Or what do you think of turning in at once?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Eirene, “it is not that we are tired, it is that we are -both cross. I was cross because Zoe always seems to think that if she -has described a thing in suitable language it is all right—and -besides, she said I had no object in life. Why were you cross, Zoe?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know—and,” added Zoe with emphasis, “I never knew that -telling people they were cross made them less so.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it’s part of Eirene’s system,” said Maurice. “Don’t you remember -how we discussed it with Wylie quite a long time ago—her view that -you ought never to mask disagreeable facts for the sake of other -people’s feelings?” -</p> - -<p> -“And you were all against me!” sighed Eirene. Later on, when she and -Zoe had rolled themselves up in their rugs for the night, she recurred -to the question. -</p> - -<p> -“Zoe, why were you so angry? You could hardly speak. Did I say -anything very dreadful?” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe turned upon her with flashing eyes. “A girl who will tell a man -what another girl said to her in private isn’t worthy the name of -girl,” she said tersely. -</p> - -<p> -“But Maurice! I never thought——” -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice is a man, and men don’t understand. You seem to have had -something left out of your composition, Eirene. You ought to know that -sort of thing without thinking.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose it is because I had no brothers and sisters and no friends -of my own rank,” said Eirene, in a choking voice. “I think I would -make almost any sacrifice for you and Maurice, and yet I do these -dreadful things without even knowing they are dreadful.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t cry!” entreated Zoe anxiously. “I suppose it isn’t your -fault, as you say. Lots of people would have an arm cut off for their -relations, though they can’t manage not to say nasty things to them.” -</p> - -<p> -“I would give up everything for you and Maurice—except my object in -life,” repeated Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“How funny it would be if you found yourself called upon to give up -just that!” mused Zoe aloud, and then realised with a shock that she -was approaching dangerous ground. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you mean?” asked Eirene quickly. “How could I be obliged to -give that up for you?” and Zoe embarked hastily upon a lame and -rambling explanation. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you see, it struck me suddenly that some one might make you -choose between giving up—your object, and having us killed. The sort -of thing that happens in a book, don’t you know? I don’t know what -made me think of it; I suppose it was my literary mind, which you -dislike so much. I can’t help it, I’m always like that. Whatever -happens—or even little everyday things which are not happenings at -all, simply chances for things to happen—my mind always jumps forward -to the end, and I think of all sorts of developments, and they work -themselves out on their own lines. You see, this situation is so full -of possibilities——” -</p> - -<p> -“But why that one? Why do you think of such fearful things?” moaned -Eirene. Zoe, who hoped she had guided the conversation into the safe -paths of literary disquisition, was obliged to begin again. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, it was only nonsense. How could such a thing happen? Whatever -your object may be——” -</p> - -<p> -“You shall judge,” said Eirene. “I will tell it you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, no!” cried Zoe, who was by no means anxious to find herself -officially burdened with the secret she had discovered unaided. “Why, -if there was no other reason, don’t you see that it might be safer for -Maurice and me to know nothing if we were questioned? I mean—you -don’t tell me what there is to be afraid of, but you seem to think -there’s something. Surely, as you have kept your mouth shut so long, -you had better do it still?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose so,” agreed Eirene, with considerable hesitation. “But you -understand—you know—that whatever happens, Maurice and you are my -dear brother and sister, and nothing is to come between us?” -</p> - -<p> -“If anything does, it won’t be on our side,” said Zoe heartily, and -immediately wondered whether this was likely to be strictly true. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch14"> -CHAPTER XIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AN EMISSARY.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">It’s</span> a church!” said Eirene, in tones of horror. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I suppose it was a church once, but it’s only a ruin now,” said -Zoe. Another day of climbing had brought them out of the forest, and -up to an isolated building standing on the saddle between two -mountain-peaks, which they were informed was to be their dwelling for -the present. -</p> - -<p> -“But to live in it—it is sacrilege! And they say that we are to sleep -behind the <i>ikonostasis</i>!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I think it’s rather nice of them. It has a roof, at any rate, -and the rest of the church hasn’t much.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is the sanctuary, where no woman may even set foot! Let us -tell them we refuse to enter.” -</p> - -<p> -“And sleep out in the open, I suppose? No, thank you. Why, Eirene, the -brigands wouldn’t do anything that they thought would make the saints -angry, and they belong to the Greek Church just as much as you do.” -</p> - -<p> -“They? They are miserable schismatics—followers of the upstart -heretical church of Thracia, outcasts from Orthodoxy!” cried Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do be quiet!” cried Zoe anxiously. “That new man whom Milosch -brought with him to-day may understand English. I saw him staring hard -at you when you were kissing all those old worn-out saints on the -screen.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what harm could it do if he did? These men know that they are -schismatics.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, but it isn’t natural that a Scythian girl should think them so. -How will you account for your Greek sympathies?” A pause of horror, as -Zoe realised what she had said, then she rallied her forces. “You -know, the time for the ransom is getting so near now that I am feeling -horribly nervous. How dreadful it would be if any of us did anything -that made the brigands suspicious, so that they refused to let us go! -Do be sensible, and let us be thankful we have this nice little place -to ourselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I shall sit outside as long as I can,” said Eirene obstinately. -“I suppose I must come in when it gets dark, but I feel we shall -deserve whatever may happen to us after this.” -</p> - -<p> -Undisturbed by these religious, or superstitious, fears, Zoe went on -with the work of preparing the room, on the threshold of which Eirene -had been standing, declining to enter. It was the chancel, or apse, of -the ruined church, and the half-dome which formed its roof was still -in place, together with the <i>ikonostasis</i>, or wooden screen painted -with figures of saints, which separated it from the body of the -building, though the plates of metal which had formerly represented -haloes and details of clothing had been wrenched away. Beneath the -steps which led up to the sanctuary from the church was an underground -chamber, approached by a door and staircase on one side, and this was -the only place where a fire could be made, lest the light or smoke -should betray that the building was inhabited. The brigands were -already lighting the fire, and the smoke dispersed itself by way of -the staircase into the church, and penetrated through the cracks of -the screen into the sanctuary. It seemed curious that the wild bands -which made the place one of their haunts had not torn down the screen -for firewood, but apparently their sacrilegious impulses had stopped -short after depriving the saints of their haloes. Zoe went to work -methodically, spreading on the stone floor for beds the pine-branches -Maurice had cut, and unrolling the rugs. Maurice would sleep on the -threshold, on the broad topmost step, and Zoe felt an unusual sense of -comfort and security in the fact that this bare little room was to be -their own for some days. The end of the captivity was in sight—for -she entertained not the smallest doubt of the success of Wylie’s -efforts—and from the ruined church they might hope to make their last -journey as prisoners, to the spot where the ransom was to be paid. -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_184"> -<a href="images/img_184.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_184_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“<i>Well, I shall sit outside as long as I can</i>,” <i>said Eirene -obstinately.</i> -</div></div> - -<p> -Her work done, Zoe sat down to rest, too tired even to pass down the -ruined nave and seek Eirene outside. Maurice was helping some of the -brigands to cut firewood in the forest, Zeko and another man were in -charge of the underground kitchen, and the rest were mending their -moccasins or lounging idly in the church. It was not dark yet, and Zoe -had accepted Eirene’s decision as unshakable, so that it was with -surprise she saw her coming up the steps, and entering the sanctuary -without protest or hesitation. Her face was aglow with hope, and she -threw herself down on the rug beside Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Zoe,” she whispered eagerly, “we have a friend. It is Vlasto, the man -who came to-day with Milosch.” -</p> - -<p> -“But have you been talking to him all this time? Oh, Eirene, suppose -he is a spy!” -</p> - -<p> -“No, listen. I was sitting outside, when he came up the hill with a -bundle of wood. He stumbled and nearly fell, and called out in -Scythian—not in the mixed language the others speak. Then he -recollected himself, and looked round to see whether any one had -heard. I thought it was curious, and spoke to him in Scythian, and he -told me Professor Panagiotis had sent him.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Professor? To Maurice?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, to me. He guessed which I was when he saw me venerate the -<i>ikons</i>, and the stumble and the exclamation in Scythian were meant to -draw my attention.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how did the Professor know you were here?” -</p> - -<p> -“I asked him that, but he did not seem to know—seemed to think that -Professor Panagiotis had been expecting me as he had you, but I told -him no. Then he said the Professor must have put two and two together -when he heard I had disappeared, but he had not told him about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope it’s all right,” murmured Zoe doubtfully. -</p> - -<p> -“What could there be wrong about it? He said that he was to warn me of -a plan the Professor hoped to carry out—and that I should not go down -to Therma with you when we are released, lest I should be recognised -by some one belonging to the Scythian colony. But I refused to -contemplate such a thing. I said I would not be separated from my -faithful friends until we were all in safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene, I don’t believe the man came from Professor Panagiotis at -all!” cried Zoe. “I can’t imagine the Professor would choose a -messenger who talked Scythian, and why should he send him to you -instead of to us?” -</p> - -<p> -The question in her mind was, naturally, whether the Professor could -have changed his mind and be playing Maurice false, but to Eirene her -doubt seemed the outcome of self-esteem wounded by an apparent slight. -</p> - -<p> -“I must really explain things to you, Zoe,” she said, with a -gentleness which she did not intend to be patronising. “I am Eirene -Nicolaievna Féofan, and the Professor is intrusted with the -honourable task of restoring to me the throne of my imperial -ancestors.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear, yes, I know that,” said Zoe impatiently; “but why should he -do such a foolish thing as to send messages about it to you now?” -</p> - -<p> -“You knew?” gasped Eirene. “How?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the Professor had told us about you, and it came to me suddenly. -You see, you fitted in with all that I knew of Eirene Féofan, and of -nobody else.” -</p> - -<p> -“Does Maurice know?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I’m sure he doesn’t, and there’s no reason why he should. Let us -keep it to ourselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“I particularly wish Maurice to be told,” said Eirene decisively. “If -you won’t do it, I must.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I will,” cried Zoe quickly. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, then; as soon as possible, please. I am glad to put things -on a right footing at last. If I had known and trusted you as I do now -when we first met, I should have told you then, as I ought.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good gracious, Eirene, don’t talk as if you were suddenly removed -miles above us! We are ourselves, and you are yourself, just as -before. I can promise you that your wonderful news won’t make any -difference to us, and I have respect enough for your character to -trust that it won’t to you.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene smiled in a puzzled way. “Perhaps you would have preferred me -to follow the Professor’s advice, and say nothing to you?” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“Did he tell you to say nothing to us?” -</p> - -<p> -“That was his message by Vlasto, that I was not to reveal this scheme -of his to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you go and do it at once?” -</p> - -<p> -“Professor Panagiotis has no control over my actions,” said Eirene, -with dignity. “He may tender his advice, but it is for me to accept or -reject it as I think well.” -</p> - -<p> -“What could have been his reason?” mused Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“He also asked whether I had told you who I was, and entreated me to -keep the secret if I had not. It made me feel that I was not treating -you fairly—that a peasant should know what my trusted companions had -not been told.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did he cross-question you any more?” asked Zoe, too anxious to care -much about Eirene’s mental perplexities. -</p> - -<p> -“He was very eager to know whether all the family jewels I took with -me when I escaped were hopelessly lost. It seems that the ruby <i>plaque -de corsage</i> was exposed for sale in Therma, and has since been -destroyed—the one with the wings, you know. That made me very sad for -a moment, but I was able to assure him that I had saved the most -important of all.” -</p> - -<p> -It was dark now, but she took Zoe’s hand and guided it over her skirt. -“The girdle of the Empress Isidora,” she said, as Zoe’s fingers came -in contact with something round and hard, once, again, some dozen -times in all. -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene, the weights you put in your skirt! you have had them there -all this time? That was the reason you would never let any one touch -it!” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I sewed them in that day when I made you go out for a walk at -Przlepka. Doesn’t it seem a long time ago? I dared not hide them in my -pockets. The girdle is the most precious thing in the world. It has -been handed down in secret in my father’s family since the fall of -Czarigrad.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Eirene, you had it—on you—when you told the brigands you had -given up everything, and you let Captain Wylie swear that you had? He -believed what you said.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene’s face showed perplexity. “Yes,” she said, “I know. Sometimes I -have wished that I had not done it, when I saw how you and Maurice -thought of such things. But then I remembered that I could not -possibly have let it go, so I felt that there was nothing else to be -done.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are not really sorry,” said Zoe with severity. “If you were, I -suppose you would give it up to the brigands now.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is quite impossible,” said Eirene calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you must have a funny sort of conscience. You are afraid -something will happen to you because you have to sleep in a church, -and yet you tell a deliberate lie without a qualm.” -</p> - -<p> -“We need not have slept in the church. The other could not be -avoided,” said Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I expect the something has happened already, through your -talking to Vlasto. I feel more and more certain he is a spy, and no -doubt he will manage to get the girdle from you somehow. Milosch is -quite capable of having told him what to say.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how should Milosch know who I am?” -</p> - -<p> -“By putting two and two together, I suppose, like the Professor. Oh, -Eirene, if you have kept us from being set free next week, I shall -never—— Well, do you think that we could ever forgive you?” -</p> - -<p> -“But it would be as bad for me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know—perhaps not.” Eirene looked at her in wonder. “At any -rate, you would have only yourself to blame.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here is Maurice,” said Eirene. “Now remember.” -</p> - -<p> -Very unwillingly Zoe obeyed her instructions, and succeeded in -catching Maurice by himself the next morning. -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene is particularly anxious that I should tell you something,” she -said. “She is Eirene Féofan, the girl the Professor told us about, -our very distant cousin, and the next heir after you and me.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice sat in stupefied silence for a moment. “Did you ever?” he -remarked slowly at last. “To think that we have had her with us all -this time without finding it out!” -</p> - -<p> -“I found it out long ago,” said Zoe calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“No, really? How?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, of course, I had been trying to place her ever since we first -met. It was clear she came from Scythia, but I didn’t think she could -belong to the Imperial family, for how could she have got away, and -why should she be wandering about on a solitary mission? Then, one -evening, in the cave, we were talking, do you remember? and it came -out that she knew the Professor, and that she sympathised with the -Greeks against the Slavs, and that she was expecting a kingdom in her -own right. She simply couldn’t be any one but Eirene Féofan.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I heard it all, and never twigged.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you were thinking of other things—of Eirene herself, and of -ameliorating the lot of the brigands. I nearly exploded when she -accused us of trying to find out who she was, and you declared so -indignantly that we were doing nothing of the kind. It was after I had -asked her a leading question.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice frowned. “Well, I suppose you have told her who we are?” he -said. -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not, and I am not going to.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I shall.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, you won’t. It wouldn’t be safe. You know what Eirene is—or, -rather, you can’t tell what she will do. Only yesterday afternoon she -made a confidant of that new brigand, Vlasto, and told him everything -she could tell, just because he said he had been sent to her by -Professor Panagiotis.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just it. If she knew about us, she would realise that the -Professor wouldn’t send to her. It isn’t fair, Zoe. It’s placing her -under a disadvantage for us to know her secret while she doesn’t know -ours.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what difference would it make if she did?” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice appeared to find a difficulty in answering. “Well, I should -think she’d be rather pleased,” he said, after some hesitation, “to -find that we were her equals and relations and that sort of thing, -don’t you know?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear boy!” with superb scorn. “Do you know Eirene as little as -that after all this time? Do you really think she would welcome us as -relations and equals? You seem to forget that we stand for the ruin of -all her schemes. She is simply not wanted if you are recognised as the -heir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I say, but this is vile!” cried Maurice. “To go and rob a poor -girl of what she has always looked forward to as her own——! Look -here, Zoe, let’s chuck it.” -</p> - -<p> -“You forget the Professor,” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, blow the Professor! What did he mean by mixing things up in this -way? Why couldn’t he have left Eirene alone, instead of feeding her up -with the thought that she was the heir, and then bringing her here -only to disappoint her? You don’t seem to see what a low business it -is, or how much worse it makes it that we have got to know her and -find out what it means to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can quite see why the Professor might have brought her into contact -with us, but unfortunately he didn’t. As far as I can make out, he -dropped her father finally because he would do nothing but -shilly-shally instead of taking action, but the father was indiscreet -enough to let Eirene know about the offers that had been made him. She -takes action on her own account, in a way which would have been most -embarrassing for the poor Professor but for the railway accident. In -the meantime he has found you, and thinks no more about Eirene. But if -the train had reached Therma all right, we should probably have -separated at the station only to meet upon the Professor’s doorstep, -and he would have had to decide point-blank between his rival -candidates.” -</p> - -<p> -“You seem to be enjoying the whole thing,” said Maurice indignantly. -“It doesn’t occur to you how much more it is to Eirene than to us. We -have only to go home again if the thing doesn’t come off, but it’s -everything to her. She has cut herself off entirely from her friends -and everybody in Scythia, and she has no money, and even her jewellery -is gone. What is she to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“It all depends on whether you care more for Eirene’s feelings or for -what you felt to be your duty when we started,” said Zoe. “You have -heard her talk; you can imagine what sort of ruler she would make if -any possible concurrence of disasters drove the Powers in desperation -to revive the Empire for her. You know, too, the lines on which you -would work if the task fell to you. Besides, it’s not a question of -feeling, but of right.” -</p> - -<p> -“I always heard that women were hard on women, but I didn’t think you -were like that.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe restrained her anger with an effort. “My dear Maurice,” she said -impatiently, “you compel me to remind you that there is one very -simple and obvious way of reconciling your rights and Eirene’s. It is -still open to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“What are you suggesting?” demanded Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“I suggest nothing,” Zoe replied, with a wooden face. -</p> - -<p> -“You are suggesting that I should be a cad.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I will add the further suggestion that you should not be an -idiot,” said Zoe, thoroughly roused. “I merely want you to leave -things as they are until we get to Therma. Then you can do as you -like, and I fail to see where the caddishness comes in. But if we tell -Eirene who we are now, she will simply regard us as impostors, and she -will be utterly unmanageable. I have a stake in the matter as well as -you, and I absolutely refuse to allow you to tell her. I own I do put -a little value on my life.” -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon. I thought you meant that I was to try and make -sure of her now, when she has no one else to turn to, and can’t get -away from us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why will men always read detestable meanings into the simplest -advice?” cried Zoe, still angry; then, softening, “Dear boy, do be -sensible. What chance do you think you would have with Eirene as -things are? Wait until she knows the truth, and can realise that it is -not quite a case of Queen Cophetua and a beggar-man. But don’t risk -all our lives, just when we are within a week of safety, by giving her -the idea that you are either an impostor or a dangerous rival. I don’t -suppose for a moment that she would mean to harm you, but she acts on -impulse, and that makes her do all sorts of things. Why—I didn’t mean -to tell you, because it seems to reflect on her—but she actually told -this man Vlasto that she has carried about with her a priceless -Byzantine girdle all this time, sewn up in pieces in her skirt.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I thought she gave up everything when we were captured?” said -Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“She said she did,” said Zoe reluctantly. “We were discussing whether -she ought not to give it up to the brigands now. What do you think?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense! It isn’t as if it belonged to the brigands,” said -Maurice contemptuously. “But,” he changed the subject with an effort, -“what about this man Vlasto? Why should he address himself to her?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s exactly what makes me think he doesn’t come from the Professor -at all,” cried Zoe. “He evidently thought the Professor knew she was -coming to Therma, and brought her a message based on that, but the -Professor had no idea of her journey, or that she was with us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did she tell you what the message was?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was to try to get her to separate from us when we are ransomed—on -the plea that she might be recognised in Therma. Happily, she refused, -but—— Maurice, you know it was Milosch who brought this man here. We -thought, when we saw he was not with the band the day before -yesterday, that he had gone to meet some members of his Committee, and -get fresh orders. Suppose it was a Scythian agent he went to meet, and -that Scythia had got the idea that Eirene might be here with us, and -sent Vlasto to make sure? She has given everything away.” -</p> - -<p> -“We mustn’t be seeing Scythians in every bush,” said Maurice gloomily, -“but it looks bad. What can they want to get her away from us for? It -can’t mean any good to her. Zoe, will you do your level best to keep -her firm in sticking to us? You see, she is practically an outlaw, -having cut herself off from Scythian protection, but if anything -happened to you or me the matter would be looked into.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will. And you won’t make any attempt to tell her who we are?” -</p> - -<p> -“No. I see that it’s better not to disturb her mind.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch15"> -CHAPTER XV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE GIRDLE OF ISIDORA.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">It’s</span> a dog’s life!” said Zeko, leaning against one of the columns -of the deserted church, and rolling a cigarette. -</p> - -<p> -“I should have thought you had rather a good time, on the whole,” said -Maurice, who was sitting on the steps below the <i>ikonostasis</i>. The -girls sat on the top step behind him, looking out through the ruined -west doorway, the lower part of which was blocked by the remains of -the narthex. Rain was falling heavily, and they could not go out, but -between the battered columns they could see the wild mountain -landscape like a picture in a frame. Most of the brigands were -luxuriating in the warmth of the underground kitchen, but the chief, -with Milosch and Vlasto, had gone out into the rain some time before, -and Zeko and one other were keeping an eye upon the prisoners. -</p> - -<p> -“A good time!” repeated Zeko scornfully. “It’s hard work, and constant -danger, and no comfort, and what does it lead to? Sometimes we pull -off a good thing, as when we got hold of you, but what good will it do -us? The Committee will take nearly all the money; it isn’t as if we -could retire and settle down upon what we do get. It’s all very well -to swagger through a village with your belt full of weapons, with all -the girls pointing at you, and whispering, ‘There goes the valiant -Zeko of Stoyan’s band,’ and all the lads wanting to join you, but it’s -different when you come to the village, frozen and starving, on a -winter’s night, and want food and shelter. The people dare not refuse -you, but you can see their black looks, and you know they are cursing -you under their breath. We say we don’t rob the poor, but they know, -and we know, that our bags must be filled with bread, though the -children go hungry, and we must have greatcoats, if we take them from -the old grandfathers. Then if the Vali gets to know of our being in -the neighbourhood, and wishes to get a good name for activity with the -foreign consuls, he doesn’t go after us, but down he comes on the poor -souls who have fed us, and robs them of what we have left them. And -they don’t venture to denounce, much less betray us, for they are more -afraid of us than him.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if you are so sorry for the people, why expose them to all this?” -asked Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -Zeko shrugged his shoulders. “We must live,” he said. “And our own -relations are supporting other bands in our own villages in the same -way. We don’t remain in our own neighbourhood, for it would make it -too easy for the Vali. He could destroy our village if he wanted to be -revenged on us. But since we all come from different villages, and -work at long distances from our homes, he knows it would do no good to -destroy any particular village. Of course, it means that we can only -visit our own people by stealth, and with great precautions, perhaps -at intervals of many months.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if the life is so hard, why go on with it?” persisted Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“What else is there to do? There are the taxes, and the troubles with -the police, and the blood-feuds—all the different reasons that made -us take to the hills; how can we go back to them? All you rich people -who grind the faces of the poor shriek loud enough when we make you -taste a little of what our life is, but you drive us to it. Perhaps -you will pity us a little now that you have tried what hunger and cold -and hardship really are.” -</p> - -<p> -“I pitied you long before I came to Emathia,” said Maurice, “but I -pity you less now. Your misfortunes are so much your own fault. -United, you Emathian Christians might have wrung concessions, even -self-government, from Roum, and extorted the respect of Europe, but -you have made yourselves a byword by your dissensions. Village fights -village, and one side of a street the other side. When you should be -all banded together against the Roumis, you Illyrians and Thracians -and Dardanians are murdering Greeks, and the Greeks are preparing for -revenge. Christian hates Christian worse than Roumi.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Zeko, with entire acquiescence. “Are not the -Patriarchists—curse them to the lowest depths of hell!”—he spat on -the ground—“worse than the Roumis? If we could get rid of them we -should have no more trouble.” -</p> - -<p> -“And so you waste and weaken your strength in fighting one another!” -said Maurice. “I tell you, if I were your leader, I would not trouble -about the Roumis, but I would put down with an iron hand these feuds -among Christians.” -</p> - -<p> -He had spoken with more earnestness than he realised, and the brigands -laughed, while Zoe thought of the youthful Pompey in the pirate -stronghold, and Eirene frowned, not approving of this imaginary -encroachment upon her rights. Before any one had taken the trouble to -controvert Maurice’s absurd theories, the talk was interrupted. The -chief and Milosch came up the church, and Stoyan, with a lowering -brow, gripped Eirene by the shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -“Is it true that you still have jewels concealed about you, though you -declared you had given up everything?” he demanded. -</p> - -<p> -Eirene had turned pale, but she answered boldly, “Yes.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you were aware of this?” asked the chief of Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“I did not know——” began Maurice. Then he changed the form of his -sentence. “Yes, I know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t hold me,” said Eirene. “I will give it up.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, you are welcome to it. I hear it brings ill-luck. It has done so -already to you. Keep it, and its ill-luck with it.” -</p> - -<p> -Zeko and his companion, who had begun to murmur, were appeased on -hearing this, and withdrew to discuss the matter with their comrades, -while the chief and Milosch strode out again. Zoe grasped Maurice’s -arm and drew him aside. -</p> - -<p> -“Why didn’t you say you had no idea of it?” she asked indignantly. -</p> - -<p> -“How could I give her away? It sounds so insane of her to have tried -to deceive even us.” -</p> - -<p> -“You think only of her. Don’t you see they believe that Captain Wylie -knew, and deliberately took a false oath?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense! how could they? But I don’t quite see what I could do -now, anyhow. They wouldn’t believe me if I explained.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, you have done the mischief—you and Eirene between you,” said Zoe -bitterly. “I suppose you will both be convinced now that Vlasto was a -spy?” -</p> - -<p> -No further reference was made to the matter, for Eirene, realising -what she had done, shrank painfully from any approach to it, but the -prisoners found themselves regarded with deep suspicion. They were not -allowed to move outside the church unescorted, or to enter the forest -at all, and two additional sentries, with rifles which they loaded -ostentatiously, kept guard on the sanctuary steps at night, one on -each side of Maurice. Zeko and one or two others, who had shown some -approach to friendliness, now scowled whenever their eyes fell on the -captives, and most ominous of all, Milosch went about bubbling over -with malicious and irrepressible glee. Thus a week went by, until it -was the day before that appointed for the ransom and the release. Once -more the prisoners were ordered to collect their belongings for a -march, and they obeyed with fast-beating hearts. Was freedom before -them at last? -</p> - -<p> -Leaving the ruined church, they spent the morning on the rugged tracks -to which they were now becoming accustomed, climbing up and down and -winding round mountain-shoulders in a seemingly purposeless way. At -noon they sheltered in a cave, while two of the brigands went on, -apparently to spy out the land. About an hour later these men -returned, in a state of great excitement, and much talking and -discussion ensued. Finally Stoyan vouchsafed to tell the prisoners -that they would not march again until dark, and this for a -sufficiently disquieting reason. By the road they had been taking it -was necessary to pass through the district terrorised by a rival -chief, of the name of Kayo, and his band, and it had only been chosen -because it was the nearest way, and because Kayo was believed to be -busy besieging a recalcitrant Greek notable at the farther end of his -territory. But it appeared that he had become aware of the fact that -the ransom was about to be paid, and he was on the watch for Stoyan -and his band, intending either to capture the prisoners from him, and -secure the money for himself, or at least to enforce a division of the -spoil. It was necessary, therefore, to turn back and take a more -roundabout way, which would occupy at least two days more than the -other. In spite of his bitter disappointment, Maurice could not but -realise the reasonableness of Stoyan’s contention that if there was a -fight between the two bands, the girls were very likely to come off -badly, while they would not suffer from the extra journey, since he -had succeeded in procuring horses for them. Maurice suggested that -Wylie would be made very anxious by the non-appearance of his friends, -but received the assurance that a message would be despatched to him -through the country people, and that he need not pay over the ransom -until he was satisfied. The girls resigned themselves to the -inevitable, when Maurice brought them the news, with as good grace as -they could, and rested during the afternoon in preparation for the -night journey, having learnt, among other things, to utilise every -opportunity for repose that offered itself while on the march. -</p> - -<p> -At dusk the two men stole out again and brought back the horses, or -rather ponies, and as soon as the girls were mounted the party set -out, proceeding at first very slowly, and with intense caution. By the -time the moon rose they were far enough from Kayo’s boundaries to be -able to move on at a good pace, though the track was so narrow, and -the precipices so steep, that the girls found it more comfortable to -shut their eyes, and leave the guidance of their steeds to the -brigands who led them. They were tired and thoroughly chilled when the -moonlight began to fail them, and welcomed the decision of Stoyan that -he could not find the way in this unfamiliar region in the dark. A -halt was called on a shelf of rock—a mere widening of the track—and -the girls lay down on their rugs on the inner side, sheltered by the -horses from the biting wind, and Maurice and the brigands on the track -itself. Hard rock and sharp stones vied with the cold in making their -resting-place uncomfortable, but they succeeded in getting a little -sleep, and were ready to go on in the morning. It was now necessary, -they were told, for them to be blindfolded again, as they were about -to pass through a passage in the mountains which the brigands were all -pledged not to show to any eyes but their own, and to this they -submitted. But when Milosch produced a cake of beeswax from his bag, -and ordered them to stop their ears as well, they rebelled. -</p> - -<p> -“We spare you fright,” he asserted. “Zere is Roumi garrison in front. -If you hear ze drum, you scream, and zat betray us all. Wiz ears -obstructed, you hear nossing.” -</p> - -<p> -“We shan’t scream,” declared Zoe indignantly. “We won’t make a sound, -whatever we hear.” -</p> - -<p> -Milosch appealed to the chief, who pondered the matter gloomily. -</p> - -<p> -“We owe you no consideration,” he grumbled. “For a whole month we have -clothed and fed you, and provided you with shelter while we lay in the -cold, and you have been deceiving us the whole time. For your sakes we -have been hunted from our usual haunts, have made forced marches, and -wandered about whole nights. You have no gratitude. If you see a -chance of betraying us to the Roumis, you will do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“We are not such fools,” said Maurice. “If it came to a fight we -should be the first to suffer, as you said yesterday. We have promised -not to try to escape, and we don’t mean to.” -</p> - -<p> -“What are your promises worth?” sneered Stoyan; but nothing more was -said about the wax, and the girls rode on in darkness, Maurice being -led between them. They had been marching about two hours when a sudden -tension made itself felt among the brigands. Rifles were cocked, and -there were excited whispers. The horses were turned and made to stand -across the road, with their tails to the rock, and Maurice was placed -between them and ordered to hold the bridles of both, while all the -brigands apparently went forward to reconnoitre. It was some time -before the soft pad of moccasined feet announced their return. -Milosch’s voice said, in a strident whisper, “Utter not one single -word, or ze price is death.” The bridles were taken from Maurice’s -hands, he felt a man on each side of him as before, and the march was -resumed. It was continued, still in absolute silence, for hours, until -the girls were nearly dropping from their horses with fatigue; but at -last those in front stopped, and the handkerchief was removed from -Maurice’s eyes. He stared about him in astonishment. They had halted -in a stony valley, with towering peaks all round it, and the sun was -nearing its setting. A number of men were standing round, leaning on -their rifles, but they wore rough brown clothes instead of the dirty -kilts and long leggings of Stoyan and his band. There was not a -familiar face to be seen. As if by magic, an entirely new set of -brigands had taken the place of the old. -</p> - -<p> -“Do help us down, Maurice,” said Zoe, rather impatiently. “I am too -stiff to move,” and he complied mechanically. But while he fumbled -with the knot of the handkerchief which covered her eyes, he tried to -prepare her. -</p> - -<p> -“Zoe—Eirene—there’s something wrong. None of our brigands are here. -These are all strangers.” -</p> - -<p> -“Our brigands? How funny to call them that!” said Eirene, twisting off -the handkerchief for herself. “Oh!” and she and Zoe stared blankly at -their new companions. -</p> - -<p> -“Ask them what it means, Maurice,” said Zoe, in a rather shaky voice, -and Maurice obeyed. But the strangers proved, or pretended, to be -ignorant of all the languages which their prisoners could muster among -them, though they talked to one another in an unknown tongue which -Eirene thought must be Mœsian. They declined also to understand, or -at any rate to answer, questions asked by means of signs, though when -Maurice pointed the way they had come, and signified that he and the -girls wished to go back, they quickly barred his progress, patting -their rifles meaningly. Baffled and worn out, the prisoners sat down, -whereupon the chief of the new brigands smiled upon them approvingly, -and pointed to the preparations which were being made for the night. A -pole was thrust into a crevice of the rock, and a long piece of rough -canvas hung over it and pegged down at each side to form a tent, a -second piece, fastened to the projecting end of the pole, serving as a -curtain. Maurice advised the girls to take possession, and the chief -beamed approval. A fire had been kindled, and food of some kind was -cooking in a large pot, watched eagerly by the brigands. There was the -usual deficiency of plates, but the captives were accommodated with -their share in the lid, while their guards ate out of the pot, and as, -like them, they now each possessed a wooden spoon, given them by the -women at the farm, they found no difficulty in making a meal. The fare -was a kind of hasty-pudding, made of flour boiled with grape-treacle, -very sweet and sticky, and eminently satisfying. The girls had soon -had enough, and then came the moment Maurice had been dreading. He -advised them to go to bed as soon as they had finished, but neither of -them stirred. -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, what does it mean? We must know,” said Zoe. “Has Kayo’s band -got hold of us after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“How could they, without a fight? One can’t believe that Stoyan and -all his men were wiped out without a shot or a cry. No, I’m afraid it -is that Stoyan has handed us over to some other band.” -</p> - -<p> -“And where are they taking us?” asked Eirene harshly. -</p> - -<p> -Maurice hesitated, then decided that it was no use to attempt -concealment. “As far as I can tell, we ought to have gone south-east -to get to Therma,” he said, “but we seemed to be going south-west, in -the direction of the Morean frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“And no one will know! Perhaps we shall never be rescued,” said Zoe, -with quivering lips. -</p> - -<p> -“And it is all my fault!” cried Eirene. “I have brought you into this -trouble, and I can do nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t!” said Zoe hastily, forcing back her own tears when she saw -Eirene’s. “We have been in worse troubles than this, and have got -through. It’s—it’s just that everything seemed to be all right, and -now we have to begin it all over again. And we’re tired, too. We shall -look at these things more cheerfully in the morning.” -</p> - -<p> -If the girls cried themselves to sleep that night, Maurice was not to -know it, and in the morning they were almost ostentatiously cheerful, -though the line of march still led away from Therma and towards the -unknown. The character of the mountains was changing. The familiar -sloping hillsides and tapering peaks were giving place to -perpendicular or even overhanging cliffs, and stupendous pillars of -rock towering in isolated masses. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s like being at the bottom of a cañon,” said Zoe, late in the -afternoon, looking up at the walls of rock. “How curiously it widens -in front, Maurice! And there is another of those rock columns. Why, -there is a little house at the very top! How do they get up? No, it is -a big one—a castle.” -</p> - -<p> -“It must be a rock monastery,” said Maurice, “though I didn’t know -there were any in Emathia.” -</p> - -<p> -They gazed up into the sky, where the monastery of Hadgi-Antoniou -stood on its pillar like a bud at the end of a long stalk. -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_206"> -<a href="images/img_206.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_206_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“<i>Why, there is a little house at the very top! How do they get up?</i>” -</div></div> - -<p class="spacer"> -* * * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -The day before, Wylie, with his friend Armitage, the artist, who had -insisted on being present at the release of the captives, had made his -way to the spot agreed upon, convoying the ransom, carefully packed -and carried on donkeyback. The rendezvous was a wayside inn, or <i>han</i>, -of doubtful character, providing the same accommodation for man as for -beast, and little enough for either. The brigands had stipulated that -no soldiers or armed men of any kind were to escort the treasure, and -for this reason Wylie and Armitage were obliged to come alone, even -the donkey-drivers declining the last stage, lest they should find -themselves marked men in future. Before they would embark on the -adventure at all, they had insisted that the value of their beasts, -liberally calculated, should be deposited with the British -Consul-General, and they were therefore quite at their ease in the -more attractive <i>han</i> where they remained. Wylie had indulged in a -faint hope that he might be able to pay over the ransom at once, -receive back his friends, and carry them off the same day to these -more desirable quarters, where he had left a large collection of -clothes and other comforts, contributed by Madame Panagiotis, the -ladies at the British Consulate, and other sympathisers; but when he -suggested this to the ill-favoured landlord of the brigands’ inn, the -man only laughed at him. Did the Capitan Bey really expect the band to -be waiting to receive him, without making sure that he had kept his -word and brought no soldiers? he asked. He himself was to send word to -a point farther on in the mountains that the ransom had arrived, and -from thence notice would be sent to the brigands, who would scour the -neighbourhood before trusting themselves in the vicinity of the inn. -Wylie set his teeth doggedly. He had not sacrificed everything to -raise the ransom that it might be stolen from him now, and he and -Armitage carried in the boxes of gold with their own hands, and spread -their carpet over them. All night they relieved each other, one -sleeping above the treasure while the other, armed with sword and -revolver, kept watch. -</p> - -<p> -The early part of the next day passed wearily, for they durst not -leave the boxes unguarded; but at last the innkeeper announced that -Stoyan was awaiting them at the point he had mentioned, and they -loaded the donkeys again and followed him. Stoyan and Milosch came -forward to meet them on the outskirts of a small wood, and led the way -to a clearing in the middle of it. No one else was officially present, -but Wylie was persuaded that the bushes had eyes, and that -rifle-barrels protruded through the underwood. The boxes were lifted -down, the gold counted and tested, and the chief announced that he was -satisfied. -</p> - -<p> -“Then where are our friends?” asked Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“They are already released,” was the answer. -</p> - -<p> -“But why? I thought they were to be given up to us here?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, we know the Capitan of old, that he baits traps for us,” smiled -Stoyan. “If he had his friends safe, what should prevent him from -calling forward soldiers to seize us before we could escape with the -gold? Therefore he will not meet his friends while he is in our -district. They are already on the way to Therma, and he can catch them -up.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why release them before the ransom was paid?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was promised, and we know that an Englishman always keeps his -word. It is so, is it not? An Englishman’s word is never broken?” -</p> - -<p> -“Never. But who is with them?” asked Wylie, puzzled and uneasy, he -knew not why. -</p> - -<p> -“None of us. We despatched them alone, the two women riding on horses. -Hasten after them, lest some other harm befall them. See!” He -whistled, and brigands rose out of every bush, like the clansmen of -Roderick Dhu. “We are all here. The Capitan can count the whole band.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie counted, and found none absent, and he and Armitage withdrew, -awkwardly enough. As they reached the inn, a peasant who was talking -to the landlord turned and looked at them. -</p> - -<p> -“You are the person for whom I had a message,” he said. “I met a man -and two women riding towards Therma, and they bade me watch for a -European gentleman with blue eyes, and tell him that they would reach -the city first.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie flung the man a coin, and shouting to Armitage to pay the -reckoning, rushed indoors to fetch their belongings. These were soon -piled upon the donkeys, and they set out, Wylie keeping the cavalcade -moving at a smart pace, for the desire to see his friends again was -heightened by the anxiety inspired by Stoyan’s words. As they hurried -on, a voice hailed them suddenly from the mountain-side, and, looking -up, they saw Milosch standing on a jutting crag. -</p> - -<p> -“When you not find zat you seek,” he cried, “remember ze perjured -oass!” -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world is a perjured oass?” said Armitage. “Does he mean -oaf?” with vague reminiscences of Kipling. -</p> - -<p> -“From what I know of the gentleman, I should say he meant a broken -oath,” said Wylie. “But I don’t know of any broken oath, unless -they’ve broken theirs. Come on.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch16"> -CHAPTER XVI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">HAGIOS ANTONIOS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> monastery of Hadgi-Antoniou towered aloft on its rocky pillar, -and the prisoners and their guards stood below looking up at it, for -there was no apparent means of reaching the top. Here and there -ladders were visible on the face of the rock, but they ceased in the -most capricious way at the points of greatest danger, and the lowest -was something like a hundred and fifty feet above the ground. But the -brigands did not share the perplexity of their captives, and two or -three of them fired off their rifles. This was evidently the -recognised way of attracting the attention of the inhabitants, for two -heads, with long beards and high square caps, appeared far above -against the sky, and a few words were exchanged, after which a rope, -with something fastened to the end, seemed to come crawling down the -rock from a projecting tower. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, what is going to happen?” whispered Zoe, gazing -fascinated at the slowly moving rope. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose they will draw us up one by one,” he answered. -</p> - -<p> -“One by one? Then we shall be separated,” said Eirene fearfully. -</p> - -<p> -“I hope not, but in any case, let us make a compact together that none -of us will come to any decision, or enter into any promise, without -the other two. If they try to work upon us separately, let us each -demand to be confronted with the others. It’s our only chance.” -</p> - -<p> -The girls promised hastily, eyeing the parcel at the end of the rope, -which had now reached the ground, and revealed itself as a large net, -attached by its four corners to a stout hook. The brigands unhooked -the corners, and laying the net flat, made signs to the prisoners. -</p> - -<p> -“Have we to go up in that?” said Zoe, turning white. -</p> - -<p> -“I had better go first,” said Maurice. “Then you’ll see what it’s -like.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene uttered an inarticulate protest, but he sat down on the net, -the corners were gathered together and hooked above his head, and he -was slowly raised from the ground. The girls watched the ascent with -panting breath and a sick feeling of horror, for the rope moved -jerkily, and at each jerk the net swung backwards and forwards, now -sending Maurice against the rock, from which he was obliged to ward -himself off with his hands, and now out into mid-air. It seemed to -them that they had given him up for lost a hundred times before the -net was grasped by sturdy hands and hauled into the tower, and they -discovered that they were standing with their arms round one another, -locked in a tight grip. A voice shouted something from the tower as -the rope began to descend again, and almost before they had realised -that one of them must make the journey next, the brigand chief was -spreading out the net, and indicating that they might go up together. -But Maurice’s voice called from above, “Not both at once. The rope -isn’t strong enough,” and Zoe pushed Eirene forward. “You next,” she -said, and immediately, after her usual fashion, began to wonder -whether she had really chosen the harder part for herself in watching -a second ascent, or had merely deprived Eirene of the encouragement of -example. -</p> - -<p> -Eirene’s journey was much less exciting than Maurice’s, and Zoe -guessed that her brother was exercising a guiding influence on the -rope, for the terrifying oscillations had almost ceased. Be that as it -might, the ascent was sufficiently awful, and Zoe wished vigorously -that she had not possessed such good sight. Looking resolutely -upwards, when it was her turn to be enclosed in the net, she saw, with -a thrill of horror, that the rope, which cut the clear sky like a -black line, was old and frayed, reduced in some places, as she -persuaded herself, almost to a single strand. Looking down gave her no -comfort, for the ground seemed immeasurably distant, and the swinging -motion, slight as it now was, made her giddy, so that at last she shut -her eyes, and kept them closed until she felt herself seized and -dragged roughly sideways, then deposited upon some sort of floor, and -the net unhooked. -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Zoe, it’s safely over, and you’re all right,” said Maurice, as -she sat trembling in every limb and unable to move. “They want to send -the net down for our things.” -</p> - -<p> -“The rope, Maurice—it’s breaking!” she managed to articulate, -grasping his arm to help herself up. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you noticed that, did you? That was why I wouldn’t let you come -up together. But one of the monks who speaks Thracian says that they -often draw up two men at once, and nothing has ever happened yet. The -rope is only in its fourth year now, and it’s due to last for six.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope I shan’t have to go up by it in its sixth year,” said Zoe, -forcing a smile. “Where’s Eirene?” -</p> - -<p> -“In a state of collapse inside somewhere, being looked after by the -grandmother of all old women. Pull yourself together, Zoe. I think she -wants you. And we might as well get out of the way of these reverend -gentlemen.” -</p> - -<p> -There was little room in the tower for anything but the rude capstan -or windlass which worked the rope and the monks who pushed at its -bars, and Zoe tottered out with the help of Maurice’s arm, to find -herself in a stone-paved court, with Eirene lying on the stones in a -dead faint, and an old woman wailing over her, while a group of monks -wavered at a discreet distance, alternately drawn by curiosity and -withheld by the consciousness that they ought not to be present. -</p> - -<p> -“I say, what’s this?” cried Maurice. “She wasn’t fainting just -now—only rather shaky. Look here, Zoe, can’t you do anything? What’s -the proper thing—brandy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Water,” answered Zoe reprovingly, and Maurice shouted for water in -English, Latin, Greek, French, and Thracian. It was the French that -proved effectual at last, for one of the monks understood sufficiently -to summon another old woman with a water-jar. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Zoe, you are here!” gasped Eirene, when she opened her eyes. -“Stay with me. Don’t let them take me away. I won’t be separated from -you and Maurice.” -</p> - -<p> -The French-speaking monk approached Maurice softly. “Pray reassure her -Royal Highness,” he entreated. “We have prepared for her the best -accommodation in our power, and if she desires to be attended by the -other young woman, there is no difficulty. She is to enjoy every -indulgence suited to her rank, if it is not inconsistent with her -safety.” -</p> - -<p> -Much puzzled, Maurice conveyed the desired assurance to Eirene, who -took in its significance at once, and inquired sharply how he was to -be treated, in reply to which the monk declared that he would be the -guest of the monastery. Satisfied with this answer, Eirene asked to be -shown her room, to which she and Zoe were conducted by one of the -officials of the monastery and the two old women. It was a large, low -chamber, opening from a corridor, with a stone floor, and stone divans -all round it, above which was a decoration of light arcading in -plaster. There was a large fireplace projecting into the room, with a -hearth piled with logs, and three windows, all innocent of glass, but -provided with shutters. From two of these windows views of the -surrounding country far below could be obtained; the other looked out -on a smaller courtyard and across to another of the curiously -irregular buildings which occupied the summit of the rock, and from a -window in this the girls presently saw Maurice looking out. It was too -far to talk, but he signalled to them that he was all right, and they -returned into the room, much comforted, to find that the old women had -lighted the fire and spread a carpet on the divan near it. Presently -they brought in a tray of savoury food, the nature of which was not -evident, save that it contained no meat, and set it on a stool close -to the divan, when the girls were thankful to partake of it. Too tired -even for surmises, they went to bed immediately afterwards, sleeping -so soundly on their hard couch that even the thunder of a mallet on a -board, which summoned the monks to service at midnight, failed to wake -them. -</p> - -<p> -They slept far into the next day, and it was late in the afternoon -when they looked out into the courtyard, to see Maurice, in full Greek -costume, wandering disconsolately about, and gazing up at their -window. They wondered that he had made no attempt to reach them, but -another glance showed one of the old women sitting like Cerberus at -the foot of the steps leading to their corridor, with the evident -purpose of preventing any intrusion. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, how nice and respectable you look!” cried Zoe. “That -kilt suits you beautifully.” -</p> - -<p> -“It doesn’t,” said Eirene indignantly. “He looks as if he was going to -a masked—no, a fancy ball. He ought always to wear English country -clothes.” -</p> - -<p> -“And go to the opera in them, like the proverbial British tourist, I -suppose?” said Zoe. “But why didn’t you get some clothes for us, -Maurice, if they let you go out shopping?” -</p> - -<p> -“They don’t, but there’s a Greek village somewhere near, and the old -monk who looks after me—who is second in command, or prior, or -something—got me these things through a <i>kosmikos</i>, who seems to be a -sort of lay-brother. But the women’s dress round here seems to be -distinctly advanced—rather markedly rational, in fact—and I didn’t -think you’d care to wear it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, tell them to send us two blouses and some stuff, and we’ll -make skirts for ourselves—and scissors and needles and cotton, of -course—and some hairpins. But how are we to pay?” -</p> - -<p> -“With promises, I suppose. The people seem to share Stoyan’s touching -faith in an Englishman’s word—which is rather rudely shaken in his -case now, unfortunately. I told the monk I’d pay when we got back to -civilisation.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why are we here at all?” asked Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“That they either can’t or won’t tell me. It has something to do with -one of the Committees, evidently—trust them to have a finger in the -pie—but I can’t make out how long we are to be kept here, or whether -anything is to happen or not. The monks are not half bad old fellows. -The Hegoumenos—that’s the abbot—has been trotting me round this -morning to show me the church and the library and all the chapels, and -at dinner last night he was full of the most infantile questions. Of -course, he had to ask them all through Papa Athanasios, who is my -particular monk, and what with his French and mine, the abbot must -have amassed some wonderful information.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s all very well their being nice, but will they let us out?” broke -in Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not at present, but I shall work at them patiently. I -haven’t quite got at the state of affairs yet, but there seem to be -two parties among the monks, and one of them may be more pliable than -the other.” -</p> - -<p> -“And are they going to keep us shut up in this room?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you see, you really have no business here at all. Thanks to -Eirene’s greatness, you are in the quarters reserved for lady pilgrims -of the very highest rank, but you can’t be let out while the monks are -about, lest you should distract their minds. I believe that when they -are safely in church you will be allowed to walk about outside, and -then you will have to spend part of your time in sitting under my -window and talking to me, for I shall be locked up. The idea is that -if we were all free at once, we might escape, you see. But there are -little bits of garden mixed up with the buildings, where you may walk, -only you must take care not to go too near the edge of the rock, for -there’s no protection whatever. And of course your wardress, or -duenna, or whatever her capacity is, will chaperon you everywhere. -Isn’t she a caution? I spent ever so long trying to get her to go up -and ask you if I mightn’t come and call, and her only answer to my -blandishments was to threaten to brain me with her keys. Ah, there -goes the <i>semantron</i>—the wooden gong thing that calls the monks to -church. I’ll retire gracefully to my cell, and you will profit by my -self-effacement.” -</p> - -<p> -The exterior of the buildings of Hadgi-Antoniou became well and -wearily known to the two girls during the days that followed, as they -paced from courtyard to garden-patch and back again, to the -accompaniment of the lusty shouts from the church which marked the -monks’ responses to the service. The regularity noticeable in western -monastic edifices was here conspicuous by its absence, for though the -church, the refectory, and the two blocks of rooms devoted to visitors -might be conceived to have been intended to occupy the sides of a -square, all symmetry had been destroyed by the crowd of smaller -chapels, and of cottages occupied by the monks, which seemed to have -been dropped down anywhere and at every angle. There was no encircling -wall, which the impregnable position of the monastery rendered -unnecessary, and though here and there a tower, or the end of a -building, reached the very edge of the plateau, its fringes were -generally occupied by uninteresting pieces of garden, in which the -girls would sit, looking at the cloudy mountains to the north, or the -dim country to the south, until their gaoler would rattle her keys to -intimate that the service was nearing its end, and they must return to -the custody of their room. Once they stood in the narthex, or porch, -of the church, which was decorated in fresco with lively -representations of the Torments of the Lost, and with infinite -precaution, peeped in, to see the monks at worship, leaning on their -crutched staves, and shouting incessant responses, while the metalled -and jewelled figures on the <i>ikonostasis</i> made a blaze of light and -colour in the prevailing dimness. -</p> - -<p> -Permission to see Maurice any nearer than the courtyard was still -rigorously refused, but he spent most of his free time under their -window; and when the difficulties of cutting out with a hopeless pair -of scissors had been overcome, Zoe, congratulating herself on her -diplomacy, announced that the need of clothes was too urgent to allow -of his being entertained by more than one at a time. Accordingly, she -sat working at one of the farther windows while Eirene talked to -Maurice at that looking into the courtyard, but she would have found -it difficult to formulate definite reasons for her altruism. A vague -feeling that the more closely Eirene’s interests were linked with -theirs, the more hope there would be of a satisfactory compromise in -the future, was perhaps her strongest impression. But one afternoon -Eirene called to her excitedly to come, since Maurice had news. Zoe -flew to her side. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, not news from outside,” said Maurice quickly. “Why did you -put it like that, Eirene? It’s only that I have found out what’s wrong -among the monks here. It seems that there are two parties, a Greek and -a Thracian party, as in Emathia generally. The Greeks are in -possession, of course, and the Hegoumenos is a Greek, but the other -lot are pretty strong, and have been gradually ousting the Greeks from -the minor offices of the community. Their idea is to carry the -monastery over to the Exarchist side—what you and Professor -Panagiotis call the schismatics, Eirene—and Scythia is giving them a -helping hand. The poor old Hegoumenos has only one idea—to keep -matters from coming to a crisis; for though he knows the few he can -trust, and the ringleaders on the other side, he doesn’t know how the -main body of the monks would vote, but he fears the worst. It seems to -have been a Scythian emissary who arranged for our being brought here, -on the pretext that Eirene’s life was in danger outside. At least, -that was what they told him, but I should say that the Thracian party -knew something more. At any rate, I have some hope of getting him to -let us go if we are left alone long enough. I’m on the track of the -dodge by which they let the ladders down so as to make a way to the -ground, with a rope-ladder at the bottom, and if they would leave us -unguarded one night we might get down by that, for we could never work -the capstan without half the monks to help. Then we might hide in the -village till we could get a message through to Wylie.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why not send the message at once?” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -Maurice held up empty hands. “Unfortunately, we can only pay in -promises,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“But can’t you get the Hegoumenos to let us go?” -</p> - -<p> -“He daren’t. Only a definite order from the Patriarch would give him -courage to override the opposition of the Thracian monks, and that -would probably mean the loss of the monastery for the Greeks. No, our -only hope is a little calculated carelessness one night, and that I -trust we may be able to arrange.” -</p> - -<p> -But the very next day Maurice appeared with a long face. “I’m afraid -it’s all up,” he said. “I wouldn’t have told you, only I thought you -ought to be prepared. There’s some Scythian official coming here, and -he’s due to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -“It mayn’t be about us,” suggested Zoe, without conviction. -</p> - -<p> -“It is. He’s coming to ascertain Eirene’s wishes, so the Hegoumenos -told me—for the purpose of frustrating them, I should imagine.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what can Captain Wylie be doing?” cried Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, how could he possibly know where we are? Who would think of -looking for us here? If he paid the ransom——” -</p> - -<p> -“But I thought the brigands were honest in a way. Would they take the -ransom without giving us up?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Stoyan thought he had a grievance against us, you see——” -Maurice broke off suddenly. “I only hope he gave poor old Wylie a -safe-conduct. We know that if he’s all right he’ll be moving heaven -and earth to find us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice,” cried Eirene eagerly, “if I gave you the girdle of Isidora -now, would there be time? Could you bribe them to let us go before -this man comes?” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s too late,” he said. “Money -might do it, but a thing like that would be clear evidence that they -had been bribed, and the Hegoumenos would suffer. After all, you can’t -wonder that when the whole future of the monastery is at stake, he -should think more of it than of us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Zoe, with aggressive cheerfulness, “I am going to finish -my work. I won’t face a presumably civilised man—even if he is only a -Tartar underneath—in a skirt like a <i>vivandière’s</i>. You had better -do yours too, instead of going out this morning, Eirene. There’s the -<i>semantron</i>, Maurice. Retire to your cell.” -</p> - -<p> -“How can you be so flippant?” said Eirene indignantly, taking up her -work with languid fingers. -</p> - -<p> -“If I wasn’t, I should cry, which would be both useless and -disgraceful. We seem fated to fall back again every time we think our -troubles are at an end.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you hate me?” said Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, I don’t. We’re all in the same boat, for one thing, and you -didn’t mean to do all the things you have done, you know. It was -Eirene-ism, not deliberate wickedness.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think you are the most absolutely heartless person I ever met!” -cried Eirene, with flashing eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well. I’m sure it’s better to be heartless in our present -circumstances. It will save us loads of misery.” -</p> - -<p> -They worked in silent mutual indignation for some little time, and -then Eirene spoke suddenly, with an obvious effort. -</p> - -<p> -“I have a plan,” she said. “I think I see how to put things right.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then please forget it. It was your last bright idea that got us into -this fix, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know it was, and I will atone for it. When this Scythian comes, I -will announce boldly who I am, and promise to submit in future. Of -course they think that you and Maurice were concerned in my escape; -but I will assure them that you had nothing to do with it—that I -merely seized on you to help me, and that you had no idea who I was -until it was impossible for you to do anything. They would make you -promise to keep all that had happened a secret, no doubt, but I think -they would let you go, and take me back to Scythia. Shouldn’t you be a -little sorry for me, Zoe? We have been so much together—and it would -mean that I had given up my mission. You asked me if I would do even -that for you and Maurice, you know, and now I am going to do it. We -shall never see each other again. If they were to forgive me, I -suppose you might possibly hear that I was married to somebody, but if -not, you would never hear of me any more.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t be tragic!” said Zoe, the more impatiently that she was -feeling rather ashamed of herself. “How can you go on in this way?” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is tragedy. Why won’t you understand, Zoe, that there are some -things in life that can’t be put right by making an epigram, and then -thinking of something else? Some day you will know, perhaps. Have you -ever heard of the Black Nuns?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I didn’t know there were any nuns in Scythia.” -</p> - -<p> -“There are many, and the Black Nuns are particularly useful in taking -charge of people who won’t do what they are told, or who have -committed indiscretions—people of high rank, I mean. I committed an -indiscretion in running away. The disobedient girls return to the -world obedient. The indiscreet ones die, sooner or later, and there is -a grand funeral. A grand funeral can’t hurt any one, can it? And it -shows that the relatives have nothing to conceal.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do stop!” cried Zoe. “You are letting things get upon your mind. -I’m sorry I said that about your having got us into this scrape; I was -a beast to do it. Let us talk about something else.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think I could do it—I am almost sure I could—if it saved you—and -Maurice,” pursued Eirene, lingering over Maurice’s name with the -tenderness that spoke volumes to Maurice’s sister. “But it’s no use -pretending that I don’t know what it would mean, or that I should like -it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do try and have a little sense!” entreated Zoe. “Can you imagine -for a moment that Maurice—or any real man—would let a girl sacrifice -herself to save him? I don’t know what kind of creatures you can have -known, Eirene; you have such hopeless ideas. You may be quite sure -that Maurice would never go away into safety and leave you to be -unkindly treated.” -</p> - -<p> -“He might not have the choice. I should be carried off secretly. But -you and Maurice will think of me sometimes, and talk about me——” -</p> - -<p> -“And come and shed tears on your grave, I suppose? Eirene, will you -have the goodness not to be sentimental? If you were carried off to -Scythia, Maurice and I would go after you and rescue you. I would -pretend to be you and remain in your place, while Maurice got you -away, and then I should appeal to the British Ambassador and get -rescued myself.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch17"> -CHAPTER XVII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">UNMASKED.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">In</span> spite of her optimistic view of the situation, Zoe passed a -disturbed night, which the shouts and the persistent creaking of the -windlass announcing the arrival of the Scythian emissary did not tend -to soothe. She was oppressed by the conviction that she ought to -confide in Eirene, while at the same time she was resolved to do -nothing of the kind. It was unfair, she owned, to receive her -confidence and give her none in return, but the risks were too great. -Eirene might welcome the disclosure, since it would bridge the -infinite gulf she must believe to exist between herself and Maurice, -but it might make her all the more determined to sacrifice herself, if -she realised how important it was that he should not remain in -Scythian hands. And, on the other hand, she might refuse to believe -it, and in her pique insist on acting alone, when common action on the -part of the three was indispensable. Impatiently Zoe wished that it -had been possible to predict what Eirene would do in any given -circumstances. It was the uncertainty that made her so difficult to -deal with, and Zoe almost regretted that she had not done as Maurice -advised, and told her earlier, since things could not well have fallen -out worse than they had done. At last, as she tossed and turned on the -unyielding divan, she decided on a compromise. She would not tell -Eirene before the interview with the Scythian official, lest she -should do anything rash, but as soon as they had some idea what was to -happen she would make the disclosure. -</p> - -<p> -The Scythian was evidently not inclined to waste time, for the girls -had only just breakfasted when a large and imposing letter was brought -in by the old woman. In it M. Boris Constantinovitch Kirileff did -himself the honour to recall himself to her Royal Highness’s -recollection, and craved humbly permission to wait upon her, either in -her own apartments or in the guest-room of the monastery. -</p> - -<p> -“Now comes the tug of war!” said Eirene. “We don’t want him up here, -do we, Zoe? We will see him in the guest-room, then. I remember him at -Pavelsburg. He is in the Imperial Chancellery.” -</p> - -<p> -The old woman had brought a pen and ink, but the only paper available -was the back of M. Kirileff’s beautiful un-folded epistle, on which -the answer was duly written by Zoe. When it had been despatched, she -and Eirene looked at one another rather anxiously. It was undeniable -that their appearance was not distinguished. A badly fitting blouse, a -home-made skirt, moccasins instead of shoes, and a paucity of -hairpins—for none had been obtainable in the village—are drawbacks -which only beauty of a very exceptional order can successfully -surmount. -</p> - -<p> -“I shouldn’t mind a bit, if it wasn’t that we want to look so -particularly dignified,” said Zoe. “Suppose you put on the famous -girdle, Eirene. That ought to make an impression.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hasn’t it brought us enough bad luck already?” asked Eirene, with a -shudder. “No, it shall stay where it is.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Eirene; don’t do anything rash,” Zoe entreated her. “This -man may merely have orders to escort you to Therma, so don’t begin by -making a tragic submission.” -</p> - -<p> -“I assure you I shall be altogether the Princess in my dealings with -M. Kirileff,” returned Eirene, as the old woman appeared on the -threshold and beckoned to them. “I shall resort to brag.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean bluff,” said Zoe, in a stage whisper, as they descended the -stairs. “Shall we see Maurice, I wonder?” -</p> - -<p> -There was no sign of Maurice in the courtyard, but when they mounted -the steps to the guest-room they caught sight of him among a number of -monks, who were gathered round him as though responsible for his -safe-keeping. But they had no time to ask one another what this meant, -for a well-preserved man of uncertain age, in immaculate morning -dress, advanced with every demonstration of respectful delight, and -touched Eirene’s hand with a highly waxed moustache. She had meant to -present him to Zoe, but as though he had divined her intention, he led -her immediately up the room to the divan on which the old Hegoumenos -was seated, a picture of puzzled, anxious willingness to oblige. He -indicated to Eirene the place next him, and M. Kirileff, on her -invitation, also seated himself, but at a respectful distance. Zoe’s -eyes met Maurice’s with keen amusement. -</p> - -<p> -“You are the bearer of some message for me, I suppose?” said Eirene to -the Scythian. He bowed profoundly. -</p> - -<p> -“On the contrary, madame, I have only an apology—an apology on my own -account for the measures taken on your behalf. I know how presumptuous -and uncalled for they must appear, and nothing but the conviction that -they have secured your safety at a moment of imminent danger could -give me courage to appear in your presence.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_226"> -<a href="images/img_226.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_226_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -<i>Touched Eirene’s hand with a highly waxed moustache.</i> -</div></div> - -<p> -“Then I am to attribute my being brought here to your influence?” said -Eirene, with the slightest possible lifting of the eyebrows. “I -confess, monsieur, my own impression would be that you had left me to -pass unaided through a month of incessant danger, and only interposed -to destroy my hopes when I was upon the very verge of safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, the greatness of your mind will quickly set my conduct in the -true light. As a man of honour and the faithful servant of my august -master, whose affection for your illustrious house needs no assurances -from me, I humbly assure you that at the moment you supposed yourself -on the verge of safety you were in more frightful peril than during -the whole month with the brigands.” -</p> - -<p> -“You astonish me, monsieur. From whom was this danger to arise?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was not a matter of the future, madame; it existed already—in -your very <i>entourage</i>. Has your Royal Highness any knowledge of the -true character of the young man and woman who shared your captivity?” -</p> - -<p> -“A month in their company in such circumstances ought to be -conclusive, monsieur. I have the pleasure to be able to assure you -that they have both displayed a fidelity which would be praiseworthy -in dependants of my own, but which must be unique in the case of -strangers united to me only by the bond of a common disaster.” -</p> - -<p> -“You call them strangers, madame. I am to understand they were unknown -to you at the time you undertook your—pilgrimage?” -</p> - -<p> -“At the time I undertook my—pilgrimage,” replied Eirene, with an -intonation which brought an involuntary smile to Zoe’s lips, “I was as -absolutely ignorant of the existence of Mr and Miss Smith as they were -of my identity when chance threw us together on our journey.” -</p> - -<p> -“Chance? Ah, yes, the meeting was casual on your part, no doubt, -madame. But the ignorance of the brother and sister Smith exists only -in your mind, so guileless, so unsuspicious of treachery.” -</p> - -<p> -“I assure you, monsieur, I am by no means unsuspicious by nature,” -said Eirene, with distinct resentment. “So determined was I to -preserve my <i>incognito</i> that I communicated the route and object of -my—pilgrimage to no one but the lady who attended me, and who is -since dead. It was impossible for any one else to be acquainted with -it.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe waited eagerly for the answer. The artistic way in which M. -Kirileff was leading up to his <i>dénouement</i> appealed to her critical -faculty. From a purely literary point of view she could have applauded -the unblushing lie with which he countered Eirene’s declaration. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, madame, these things leak out somehow. If we were acquainted with -your intention—I speak of the office I have the honour to -represent—and were watching over your safety without your knowledge, -if it was known also to the plotter Panagiotis, why should it be -unknown to these tools of his?” -</p> - -<p> -“If you were watching over my safety, monsieur, I can only say that -your measures left something to be desired,” said Eirene smartly. “I -will remind you that you have just applied a very offensive term to a -lady and gentleman whom the events of the past month have taught me to -hold in the highest esteem.” -</p> - -<p> -“I could wish, madame, that they had betrayed themselves in their true -colours, since that would have released me from the sad duty of -acquainting you with their worthlessness. They are the creatures of -the arch-conspirator Panagiotis in an attempt to deprive you of the -rights bequeathed to you by your imperial ancestors.” -</p> - -<p> -“Monsieur, you speak in riddles. The thing is too absurd.” -</p> - -<p> -“Precisely, madame. It is too absurd. But if you ask this man, this -woman”—he pointed an accusing finger at Maurice, who was laboriously -endeavouring to follow the rapidly spoken French, and succeeding at -intervals, and at the deeply interested Zoe—“who they really are, -they will assure you that their true name is not Smith, but Teffany, -and that they are descended from Basil, the elder brother of your -ancestor Leo, son of the Emperor John Theophanis.” -</p> - -<p> -“But this is preposterous!” cried Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Madame, you have chosen the only word that fits the situation. It is -preposterous. They were brought up by their grandfather, a respectable -landed proprietor named Smith, who became possessed, late in life, -with the delusion that he was a descendant of the last Christian -Emperor. The delusion would, no doubt, have died with him, but, -unfortunately, it came to the ears of the firebrand Panagiotis in one -of his visits to England for the purpose of stirring up support for -his incendiary propaganda. He had been repulsed by your illustrious -father, who preferred to await in dignified passivity the results of -the diplomacy of his august friend the Emperor of Scythia, rather than -put himself forward as the figurehead of a revolutionary conspiracy. -Thus deprived of a <i>raison d’être</i> for his schemes, this man -Panagiotis finds himself confronted with the means at once of -forwarding his plots and of revenging himself upon your father’s -daughter. He will produce a nearer heir. Now, madame, mark the course -of events. Your impetuous resolution to proceed on pilgrimage to the -shrines most nearly associated with the devotion of your illustrious -race has the effect of bringing you within the range of the -conspiracy, which has been so deftly engineered that even we, who are -secretly protecting your movements, are unacquainted with its full -purpose. The fiend Panagiotis sees his opportunity, and instructs his -tools to worm themselves by insidious means into your confidence——” -</p> - -<p> -“You are mistaken, monsieur,” with a last effort of dignity. “It was I -who addressed myself to Miss Smith.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, madame! must I point out that this apparent reserve was but a -means of piquing the curiosity of a young lady who had just -emancipated herself from the safeguards of her rank, and might be -supposed to possess an innocent curiosity as to the concerns of her -<i>bourgeois</i> fellow-travellers?” Eirene grew scarlet, and Zoe, -remembering their early acquaintance, could not repress a smile. “The -ruse was successful. By the time the Roumi frontier was crossed, the -conspirators, with a confederate who poses as an officer of the -British Army, were in possession of your Royal Highness’s confidence. -I tell you frankly, with a full sense of the seriousness of my words, -that but for the accident to the bridge, which I cannot help regarding -as providential—I am no atheist, thank the saints!—I do not know -what the result would have been. Whether you would ever have been -permitted to reach Therma I cannot tell. It was the apparently -commonplace and innocuous character of your companions that baffled -all suspicion, and I doubt if our agents would have penetrated their -true nature in time. But if you had once reached Therma, and accepted -the treacherous hospitality of Panagiotis at his country villa, there -can be no doubt that you would never have left it alive and free. You -were an obstacle to his plans. Only your death, or your acceptance of -an alternative, too degrading to you as a Princess and a woman for me -to do more than hint at it, would have made his schemes safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Zoe,” broke in Maurice, as Eirene changed colour again when her eyes, -vainly seeking a resting-place, met his, “what is this blackguard -saying? Tell him to talk English, or if he can’t, to let you -interpret. I can’t understand what he says, but he is making Eirene -miserable.” -</p> - -<p> -“He says that we are impostors, and that we made up to her on the -journey that we might decoy her to the Professor’s and kill her,” said -Zoe succinctly. -</p> - -<p> -“Rubbish!” said Maurice. “Eirene, how can you listen to such nonsense? -You know us too well to believe it, I should hope. Zoe and I will -explain the whole thing to you in five minutes, if you will see us -somewhere without this man, who seems to be mixing himself up in -things which don’t concern him in the least.” -</p> - -<p> -“I do not speak English,” observed M. Kirileff mildly, and—so Zoe -averred afterwards—untruthfully, “but it appears to me that this -young man is presuming upon the confidence with which you have -honoured him, madame. He has to learn that you are no longer -unprotected, but that the shield of Scythia is interposed between your -royal person and his presumptuous designs. I cannot sufficiently -admire the way in which Providence has utilised the atrocious crime of -the brigands to preserve you from actual danger to your life and -peace. The impostor durst not announce himself in his pretended -character, knowing the devotion of the miscreants—however -misdirected—to the Slavic and Exarchist idea, and the necessity of -retaining your confidence forced him to treat you with respect and -reserve. It was when the ransom was paid, and you were once more at -his mercy, that you would have been again in extreme danger. That -danger I had the happiness to avert by bringing you here. My measures -were hasty, even violent, I confess—I had no choice—but they were -successful.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your fidelity calls for my highest gratitude, monsieur,” said Eirene, -rallying her forces. “I do not mind confessing that I am overwhelmed -by the news you have brought me. Such treachery—such duplicity—where -I saw only loyalty and respect, is almost incredible. This impudent -assertion, which touches my rights—what course is to be taken -respecting it?” -</p> - -<p> -“In my opinion, madame—which is not without weight, if I may -respectfully say so, with my superiors—there could be no more -suitable place for the detention of the culprits than this. It is the -most humane, as well as the most convenient, view of the case to -regard them as suffering from hereditary mania, but they cannot be -allowed to impose their wild hallucinations upon the world. We must -have from each of them a definite confession of the imposture, and of -the steps by which they were induced to acquiesce in it, as well as of -their motives in forcing themselves upon you. Until that confession is -signed, they may well remain here in safety, carefully looked after by -the good monks, and causing scandal to no one.” -</p> - -<p> -“The idea is excellent,” said Eirene. “Tell me,” she added harshly, -turning to Maurice, “are you willing to sign a confession of the -imposture of which you have been guilty, and to entreat my pardon for -your treachery?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not going to sign anything that isn’t true,” returned Maurice. “I -don’t carry all my family papers about with me, but I have them safe -at home. It’s as certain that we are descended from the elder son of -John Theophanis as that you are from the younger.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene raised her head disdainfully. “The comparison shows your state -of mind,” she said. “You are undoubtedly labouring under a delusion, -and it is only charity to see that you are kept in safety until it has -passed away.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well. Tell the first British Consul you come across your -idea of charity, and see what he will say.” -</p> - -<p> -“The British Consul would do nothing,” she said sharply. “You seem to -forget that by alleging a Greek descent you have deliberately -renounced your British citizenship, and placed yourself among my -subjects—mine.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry to appear to contradict you, but when you come to think of -it, isn’t it just the other way about?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, this is too much!” cried Eirene, rising from her seat. “Am I to -endure these insults—to be defied to my very face? And this from one -whom I trusted!” -</p> - -<p> -“Calm yourself, madame,” said M. Kirileff, seizing the opportunity to -point a judicious moral. “All your friends must regret that your -impatience of restraint, your love of the bizarre, led you into such a -situation, but you will not be left to cope with it alone. My -instructions are to inquire your wishes for the future?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, to go anywhere, away from here!” She sank upon the divan again. -</p> - -<p> -“I fear”—M. Kirileff’s tone was slightly severe—“that your Royal -Highness can hardly expect to be received at Court as before, at any -rate until your reputation for—shall I say eccentricity of -behaviour?—has been in some degree forgotten. You would not care to -remain here?” -</p> - -<p> -“Here?” Eirene shuddered. “I detest every stone of the place. No, -monsieur, I must be in a town. My health, my nerves, have suffered -cruelly from the miseries of the past month, and from this crowning -trial. I need medical care, female attendance.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can well understand your feelings, madame. As I came here, Madame -Ladoguin, the wife of our Consul-General at Therma, begged me to place -her house and her services at your disposal for as long as you -required them. She is a charming and accomplished woman, and her -society will cheer and refresh you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well,” said Eirene, rising. “I hardly dare indulge hope for the -future, after what I have suffered to-day. You will pardon me if I -leave you now, monsieur. I can endure no more.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am grieved to have been the means of inflicting this pain upon you, -madame.” M. Kirileff escorted her to the door, noticing the stony -glance of disdain she bestowed upon Maurice as she swept past him, and -returned to his seat with a complete change of manner, while the monks -pushed forward to listen. -</p> - -<p> -“I need not waste much time on you,” he said contemptuously to Maurice -and Zoe. “You know why you are here, and the step you must take to -obtain your release. Until you take that step, you may be very sure -you will remain in safe custody. Understand that you are prisoners, no -longer guests. We do not propose to furnish troublesome people like -you with the luxuries of a first-class hotel. You will see that the -man is placed in one of your dungeons,” he added authoritatively to -Papa Athanasios, “and the woman in one of the less commodious cells -reserved for female pilgrims.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, lord, the dungeons have not been used for hundreds of years!” -protested the monk in his bad French. -</p> - -<p> -“Then have one cleared for the prisoner. If there are rats, so much -the better. It is unnecessary for me to use threats,” he addressed -Maurice again; “your own mind—dull-witted Englishman though you -are—will paint the truth for you. Here you are, and here you stay -until you write out and sign the confession I shall leave you. No one -knows where you are, or would think of looking for you here, and even -if your prison was known, an army could not rescue you. Her Royal -Highness is not vindictive, but we allow no tampering with the -heritage of a princess under Scythian protection. I may as well tell -you that your accomplice, the alleged British officer, is on the point -of leaving Emathia, on the plea that he is summoned back to his -military duties.” -</p> - -<p> -“He doesn’t know Wylie, does he, Zoe?” said Maurice, as they were left -standing together for a moment while M. Kirileff conversed with the -Hegoumenos, and Papa Athanasios was absent preparing the dungeon. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course not. Oh, Maurice, do you believe now what I said to you -about Eirene? I knew she would take it like this.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s only for the first few minutes,” said Maurice, unruffled. “When -she gets by herself, and this fellow isn’t by to make vile -suggestions, she’ll remember all we’ve been through together, and -she’ll know we simply couldn’t have meant any harm to her. Of course, -it was bound to give her a shock, but she’ll be frightfully sorry when -she realises the things she has said.” -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, you would contentedly lie down and let Eirene trample on -you! She is—no, I won’t say it.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s awfully hard on you, I know,” said Maurice. “I wish you could -dissociate yourself from me in some way.” -</p> - -<p> -“As if I would ever give away your case! Why, it’s mine as much as -yours. No, we will stick to each other, Maurice, if all the Eirenes in -the world turn against us. I shall set to work on a novel at -once—making it up in my mind, of course. I have never been able to -find time to get to work absolutely undisturbed before. And you will -frame a plan for governing Emathia, no doubt. Dear boy, keep up -heart!” -</p> - -<p> -The tears were in Zoe’s eyes as she spoke, and her cheerful voice -shook. Maurice patted her on the shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -“All right, Zoe. Papa Athanasios will look after me, you may be sure. -Don’t get dismal. Wylie will be here before long, trust him. And don’t -think too hardly of Eirene.” -</p> - -<p> -“Always Eirene!” Zoe stamped her foot as Maurice was led away. He -turned and nodded gaily to her, and a curious thought came into her -mind. “Could it be?” she asked of herself. “Shall I suggest it to -Maurice? No, it would be worse for him if it turned out not to be -true. I wish it might be that, for his sake—and hers and mine, too, -for the matter of that. But I don’t believe she could do it.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch18"> -CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“SPLENDIDE MENDAX.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">It</span> seemed to Zoe that, save for the fact that Maurice’s place of -confinement was called a dungeon and hers a cell, the change in the -state of affairs pressed rather more hardly on her than on him. Her -new room was very small, very dirty, absolutely devoid of furniture, -and almost destitute of light, a small grated aperture just under the -ceiling offering the only approach to a window. Moreover, Maurice had -the friendly Papa Athanasios to look after him, while the old woman -who acted as Zoe’s gaoler seemed positively to gloat over her -humiliation. This attitude was in itself a challenge, and before Zoe -had been in her new quarters half an hour she had bullied old Marigo -into providing a broom and fetching her rug and other possessions from -the room she had occupied with Eirene. The cell looked much less -hopeless when a certain amount of the dust of ages had been removed, -the rug spread on the stone divan, and Zoe’s few clothes neatly rolled -up as cushions. In the homely work of tidying up, moreover, she wore -off some of her indignation against Eirene, and was able to turn her -mind to other subjects. Her words to Maurice had not been idle, or -designed merely to console him. The idea for a story had come into her -mind, and was working itself out all the more vividly for her removal -during the past month from her usual surroundings and pursuits. It was -going to be splendid, she felt, with the curious leaping of heart -which the self-development of a new theme always caused in her. If -only she had her note-books at hand! But since they were not to be -had, she must work more carefully than usual, more by rule and line, -so as to be able to reproduce the story from memory when she regained -her freedom. The whitewashed walls of her cell offered a ready-made -tablet for memoranda, and a rusty nail she had discovered in the -course of her sweepings would serve as a stylus. In marked contrast -with the excitement of the morning, she passed a quiet and perfectly -happy afternoon absorbed in blocking out her chapters, raising -horrible suspicions in the mind of her gaoler, who could only imagine -that the mysterious signs on the wall were some kind of sorcery -directed against the welfare of the monastery. -</p> - -<p> -The next morning Zoe was at work again as soon as she had put her room -tidy, and it was with unconcealed impatience that she found herself -summoned by old Marigo to follow her. “Come, O girl, quickly!” she -could understand this, at any rate, though neither now nor at any -other time could she extract any rational information from the -wardress, as Maurice called her. Following her down the steep -time-worn stairs, she found Eirene, escorted by M. Kirileff, awaiting -her in the courtyard, and she was not too much engrossed with her -story to derive some pleasure from noticing that Eirene looked pale -and ill at ease. It was M. Kirileff who spoke, after receiving an -imperious gesture. -</p> - -<p> -“Her Royal Highness is anxious even now to save you from the penalty -due to your brother’s obstinacy,” he said. “If you choose to sign the -confession I have drawn out, you will be permitted to attend her to -Therma, and she will graciously see that you are sent home from -there.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, I prefer to be here,” returned Zoe briskly. “You don’t -know what a kindness you are doing me by keeping me where there are no -visitors. I have not had an idle moment yet, and my time is fully -occupied far ahead.” -</p> - -<p> -M. Kirileff looked unaffectedly astonished, and Eirene interposed, in -the languid tones of one weary of the subject. -</p> - -<p> -“I regard you with compassion,” she said, “for I know that your facile -imagination can make the wildest dreams appear realities to you. Your -brother I cannot trust myself to see, for he has not the same excuse. -If it was you who suggested the imposture, and induced him to -acquiesce in it, I can only advise you to undo the harm you have done -in leading astray an otherwise worthy young man. The good Father -Athanasios will convey to him any message from you advising him to -submit, but no others.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sorry you took the trouble to make such an arrangement, for it -won’t be wanted,” said Zoe. “And when you have had time to think -things over, and realise what you have done, I shall be sorry for you, -Eirene.” -</p> - -<p> -“There is no use in prolonging this discussion, I think,” said Eirene -to M. Kirileff. “We are not likely to meet again,” she added, over her -shoulder, to Zoe, “but should you return to a better mind, I shall -have pleasure in extending my patronage to you.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe returned to her cell fuming, and it was some time before she was -sufficiently calm to resume her work, while Eirene turned away to -begin her journey to Therma in M. Kirileff’s company. He had horses, -servants and tents awaiting him below the rock, and a girl from the -village had been impressed to wait upon her. She was treated with the -utmost deference; her tent was pitched apart from the rest; her -pleasure was consulted as to the hours of halting or starting again; -but she was kept perpetually under surveillance. In her tent her maid -watched her; if she wandered outside it, two <i>cavasses</i> kept her -faithfully in sight; on the march M. Kirileff, riding beside her, at -precisely the right distance to the rear, divided his attention -between her face and the track. He had a way of leading the -conversation round to Maurice and Zoe, or to her experiences in the -brigands’ camp, but her replies baffled him. They told so little that -he could draw no conclusions, and they expressed still less. It was -with a mixture of resentment and relief that he handed her over at -last to the care of Madame Ladoguin, and gave his final instructions -to that lady in private. -</p> - -<p> -“I hope you may have better success with our charming Princess than I -have had,” he said. “I no longer wonder that she was able to plan and -effect her escape from Scythia as she did.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you could hardly expect her, after her late experiences, to -confide in so youthful and <i>débonnaire</i> a person as yourself, could -you?” smiled his hostess. “But with a woman, and one who has seen -something of her world, it may be different.” -</p> - -<p> -“If there is any one in the world who can win her confidence, it is -Chariclea Feodorovna,” said M. Kirileff, with every appearance of -fervent conviction; “and I only trust she may.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” the quick note of alarm in the lady’s voice showed that she -scented danger. “You don’t imagine that she has any sympathy with the -impostor?” -</p> - -<p> -“None whatever—at present; but with a woman one always fears a change -of mind. There is something most wearisomely convincing about the -youth Smith. A man of any other nation, convicted of base treachery in -the presence of a lady whose good opinion he must surely prize, would -have protested, entreated, asseverated his innocence. But this stolid -Englishman does not even give himself the trouble to offer a -statement. He contents himself with asserting that he is in the right, -in a tone which implies that it signifies nothing whether she believes -it or not, and proceeds to drive her to frenzy by insisting on his -pretensions. There is something impressive in this brutal simplicity.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so,” said Mme. Ladoguin. “And you think it impressed her, or -will yet succeed in doing so?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am trusting to your influence that it may not. I will own that I -have had moments of alarm. I imagined that I distinguished on her face -a look resembling relief when I first revealed to her the nature of -the deception. But it passed quickly when I pointed out its sordid -motive, and the <i>bourgeois</i> origin of the plotters. A peasant would -have been infinitely more welcome as a rival than a respectable youth -of the middle class.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I had the idea that these Teffanys—these Smiths, I should -say—belonged to the <i>petite noblesse</i>, what the English call -‘gentry,’” said Mme. Ladoguin. M. Kirileff smiled meaningly. -</p> - -<p> -“That is an idea I must beg you to banish from your mind. For the -purposes of conversation with the Princess, they are of a superior -order of agriculturists. I brought the thing home to her when I -pointed out that she would have been offered a marriage with young -Smith as the price of her life had she fallen into the hands of -Panagiotis.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have prepared the ground well, Boris Constantinovitch. She -exhibited disgust?” -</p> - -<p> -“More than disgust—agony. And thereupon the innocent Monsieur Smith -spoils the effect by demanding with fury what I have been saying to -make her unhappy!” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, these unrehearsed effects—how they ruin our best scenes! But the -young man is certainly impossible. I suppose”—with sudden -keenness—“it has not struck you to hint to the young lady that in -case of any further escapades on her part, Scythia might be driven to -abandon her claim, and take up that of this pretender instead? That -would make it easier to manage her.” -</p> - -<p> -“You terrify me!” cried M. Kirileff, with genuine alarm. “Is it -possible you do not see that our only hold over her is to maintain her -in the assurance that hers is the only claim worth considering? The -merest suggestion that the youth might conceivably have right on his -side would ruin everything. Down would go the barrier of disgust I -have erected with so much pains, she would see herself as the usurper -instead of him, and even if we continued to support her, the moral -support of her own whole-hearted confidence in her rights would be -gone.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said Mme. Ladoguin slowly. “Well, frankly, if that is the -case, I wonder at your bringing her here. I will keep a careful watch -over her, of course; but in a place like this there are endless -opportunities for mischief. Panagiotis is always at hand, and that -Captain Wylie is a perfect terror. Since he was tricked into paying -the ransom without rescuing his friends, he has given the city no -peace. The consular body are just as tired of him as the authorities -are, and he is bringing the Ambassadors at Czarigrad into the matter. -He is certain to insist on seeing the Princess when he finds out she -is here, to try and discover from her where the Smiths are, and he may -persuade her of the truth of their claims.” -</p> - -<p> -“He must not see her,” was the prompt reply. “Do you think I should -have entrusted her to your care if I had not had full confidence in -you? You must manage—somehow—anyhow—to keep them apart. A word to -the doctor will ensure a certain amount of quiet and retirement for -the Princess—she sees only your very intimate friends, and no -foreigners, you perceive? Your brother will keep you informed of -Captain Wylie’s movements, and when he is in the city you will go to -no place where you would be likely to meet him, and you will take care -that the direction of your drives does not leak out through the -servants. He will scarcely force his way into the Consulate, or if he -did, I have no doubt your husband would repel force with force, and -public opinion would justify him. If he should obtain an entrance by -any stratagem, I can trust you to deal with him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I’m not afraid of that. It is the scandal, the unpleasantness. -The man is so atrociously persistent.” -</p> - -<p> -“I understand. I don’t mind telling you that I dislike this delay in -Therma as much as you can. But what is to be done? It is all very well -to give out that the Princess went on pilgrimage, but every one in the -Court circle knows the real state of the case, and she cannot be -received as if nothing had happened. Their Imperial Majesties are -deeply incensed. I shall represent as strongly as I can the expediency -of bringing her back quickly, and you must prevail upon her to write a -letter of penitence and submission, which will help matters on. Short -of a convent—and I should not care to trust her in one outside -Scythia—she is safer with you than she could be anywhere else.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose a letter signed by her would not be sufficient?” -</p> - -<p> -M. Kirileff shook his head. “It would appear too casual. No, the -writing must be her own throughout. But I hope much from your -persuasions. You will keep constantly before her, of course, the peril -and disgrace from which she has been rescued, and point out that her -only hope for the future lies in a return to Court favour. One warning -I must give you. Don’t attempt to represent the young man Smith as a -plotter, or as intending anything but the most honourable and -<i>bourgeois</i> of marriages. One glance at his face shows you that he is -absolutely incapable of the slightest approach to art or <i>finesse</i> of -any kind. Remember that he is a mere tool in the hands of the -remorseless Panagiotis, who spares no one who comes in the way of his -schemes.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will remember,” laughed the lady. “It is a comfort that you think -the Princess is willing to be persuaded.” -</p> - -<p> -“I do, but I think she needs to be kept in the same mind. I saw signs -of wavering myself, on the morning we left Hadgi-Antoniou, when she -expressed a wish to see Smith’s sister in private. I pointed out that -the girl—who is endowed with more vivacity than her brother—might -very probably, in her rage at the discovery of their plot, attempt -some violence, and she agreed at once that I had better be present. -That is the sort of assistance I hope for from you—an unobtrusive -influence constantly exerted, both to protect her from intrusion and -to turn her thoughts in the right direction.” -</p> - -<p> -This conference put Eirene’s two guardians into a state of the highest -mutual appreciation, and M. Kirileff went on his way to Scythia with -an easy mind, leaving his confederate to make Eirene’s life a burden -to her. The next few weeks were the most absolutely miserable the girl -had ever experienced, for she knew exactly what Maurice and Zoe must -think of her, and she had no means of fulfilling the task she had set -herself. The realisation of the part she must play had come to her in -a flash as she sat beside the Hegoumenos on the divan, and listened to -the measured periods of M. Kirileff. Her first feeling had been -something more than the relief he had read in her face—positive -triumph. She had been right, after all, when she suspected Maurice of -being a prince in disguise. But even as the thought crossed her mind, -she read in the Scythian’s expression that she had betrayed herself, -and she saw her course clear before her. To remain at Hadgi-Antoniou, -throwing in her lot with that of Maurice and Zoe, would do no good. -The monastery which had guarded the faith for centuries could guard -secrets as well. The prisoners might remain in a living death, -unsuspected by the outside world, while it would be announced to -Europe that they had met their fate at the hands of the brigands. The -Embassies would demand an indemnity and the punishment of the -murderers, and Scythia would supply the Roumi Government with the -necessary money, while the crime would be added to the record of the -next few criminals who had not the wherewithal to grease the palms of -justice. Even Wylie would be deceived by a circumstantial story, -perhaps by the production of relics of his friends, and would return -sorrowfully to India, taking away their last hope. Eirene saw it all, -even while she called up the look of resentment and disgust which had -assured M. Kirileff of the success of his rearrangement of facts. She -must efface from his mind the memory of her momentary slip, she must -deceive even Maurice and Zoe, lest he should see in their faces that -he was being played with. She must return to civilisation, and in some -way communicate with Wylie, and that she might do this, she must throw -dust in the eyes of friend and foe alike. -</p> - -<p> -It was a curious feature of her state of mind that the momentous news -which she had heard from M. Kirileff scarcely occurred to her, except -as a cogent reason why Maurice and Zoe would not be allowed to go free -save as discredited and self-confessed impostors. She did not ask -herself what its effect might be on her own future, for the exigencies -of the present occupied all her thoughts. The magnitude of her task -kept her sleepless during her last night at the monastery, and led her -to the desperate attempt, which M. Kirileff had frustrated, to secure -Zoe as a confederate. It would be so much easier to communicate with -Wylie, or with some British representative, if there were two to watch -for opportunities instead of one, that she conceived the idea of -inducing Zoe to make an apparent submission and accompany her. The -envoy’s watchfulness had not only destroyed this hope, but had obliged -her to deepen the bitterness with which Zoe must regard her, and she -entered on the journey with feelings almost of despair. Without -protest she acquiesced in M. Kirileff’s suggestion that it should be -announced that her Royal Highness had returned from a pilgrimage to -the shrine of Hadgi-Antoniou, and was resting at Therma after the -hardships she had undergone, while the friends who had shared with her -the experience of being captured by brigands were making a more -extended tour among the rock monasteries near the Morean frontier. The -announcement would, at any rate, give Wylie some idea of the -whereabouts of his friends, and surely, surely, it must lead him to -insist on seeing her, and learning from her the true state of the -case. -</p> - -<p> -But in this forecast Eirene had reckoned without Chariclea Feodorovna, -and the very capable staff of assistants she had gathered round her. -The Princess was received with the tenderest affection and respect, -and promptly bound hand and foot with bonds too imperceptible to -resent, too strong to break. The doctor who was called in to prescribe -for her shattered nerves ordered quiet and retirement, with a very -little society of a cheerful and familiar kind. What could be more in -accordance with the prescription than to limit Eirene’s visitors to -selected members of the Scythian colony and a few favoured -representatives of those other Powers which were in sympathy with -Scythian aims? At the same time, Madame Ladoguin, whose own appearance -was a testimony to her skill, took in hand the restoration of her -guest’s complexion, which had suffered from a month’s exposure to all -kinds of weather, without the protection of hat or veil. It was clear -that Eirene could not appear at the Scythian Court—whither she was so -soon to return—with a brown face and red hands, and her adviser acted -the beneficent tyrant to the life, forbidding her to go out on days -when a particular wind—or any wind—was blowing, and applying healing -balms which required, in order to produce their full effect, that the -patient should spend a day in bed. Resistance was useless, and Eirene -acquiesced helplessly for fear of arousing suspicion, but in one thing -she would not yield. All Madame Ladoguin’s persuasions and -encouragements could not induce her to write the desired letter of -penitence to the Scythian Court. To such expedients was she driven -that she would spend whole mornings in writing out drafts of the -letter and making beginnings, which were all torn up. “I will not -leave Therma until I have done something to help Maurice and Zoe,” she -said to herself. “After that, it doesn’t signify what happens to me. I -suppose I must go back to Pavelsburg, but I won’t write what isn’t -true to make them treat me better. Maurice wouldn’t, and I won’t.” -</p> - -<p> -All this time Wylie made no sign. As soon as she reached Therma, -Eirene had asked her hostess about him, saying frankly that she wished -to thank him for his efforts in procuring her ransom; but she was told -that he had returned to India, satisfied that his friends were safe. -She did not believe this, but she thought it very probable that he -wished it to be believed, in order that he might have more freedom to -act, and in her drives she looked narrowly among the crowd of many -nationalities that thronged the streets for the tell-tale eyes which -no disguise could hide. But she never saw them. Once or twice she -ventured casually to inquire of Madame Ladoguin’s guests if they knew -anything of Captain Wylie, and was always assured, with a look of -astonishment, that he had made himself only too well known in the city -while he remained there, but that he had now, happily, left it. Still, -this did not necessarily prove that he had not returned to it, and -Eirene began to wonder whether she could not write to him, as he -seemed so strangely slow in seeking her. She did not know his address, -but the British Consul-General would certainly forward a letter. Would -it be best to send it by post or by one of the servants? So far as she -knew, she was free to correspond with any one she would, and it was -merely the feeling that she had very careful and subtle adversaries to -deal with that made her hesitate. She could not afford unsuccessful -experiments. If it was discovered that she was attempting to -communicate with Wylie, the fact would give the lie to the attitude -she had so resolutely maintained, and even if it were only discovered -that she had written to him, it would enable the Ladoguins to -anticipate any step he might take. -</p> - -<p> -Curiously enough, the danger attending both the means of communication -she had contemplated was made clear to her on the same day. She was -well supplied with money, and had been occupied in the very necessary -task of getting some new clothes. One of her orders had been sent to a -British firm in Vindobona. It was written in Eirene’s name by Madame -Ladoguin, who acted as a kind of unofficial lady-in-waiting, but it -chanced that she was called out of the room before it was finished, -and Eirene addressed and fastened the envelope in a hurry, in order to -catch the post. The answer arrived in due time, but the tradesman -begged to know whether there had been more than one enclosure, as the -letter had been skilfully unclosed and refastened before it reached -him. The incident spoke volumes as to the safety of letters confided -to the Consulate post-bag, and Eirene realised that, though she had -not discovered it, she was under as strict surveillance as that which -had proved so irksome on the journey. Was it safe to attempt to bribe -the servants, she wondered? They all seemed anxious to oblige—even, -so it struck her, to be bribed—especially Madame Ladoguin’s French -maid, whose services she shared. Were they also spies, eager to tempt -her to employ them, that they might carry a report to their mistress? -An impulse, for which she could not account, prompted her to look at -the money with which she had been furnished. It was all in gold, and -every coin was marked with a tiny scratch in exactly the same place. -Eirene gave up the idea of bribing the servants. -</p> - -<p> -One attempt she did actually make, which might have ended more -disastrously than it did. She was driving with Madame Ladoguin, and -the latter had stopped the carriage at a shop in order to leave a -message. Before the <i>cavass</i> had time to return, she caught sight of a -lady advancing towards the carriage. -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon, dearest Princess!” she said, stepping out hastily, “but that -is the Pannonian Consul-General’s wife, who has not been presented to -you. I won’t inflict her on you, if you will permit me to go to her, -for she is a sad bore.” -</p> - -<p> -Not guessing that the lady in question was really the wife of the -British Consul-General, and one of the persons in all Therma whom -Madame Ladoguin least wished her to meet, Eirene looked round for some -means of utilising this opportunity. The programme of a concert which -was to take place for some charity lay on the seat opposite her, and -she snatched it up and wrote on it in pencil:— -</p> - -<p> -“The Princess Eirene Féofan will be glad to receive Captain Wylie at -any time convenient to him. Let him see that his name is taken to her -direct.” -</p> - -<p> -She folded the paper, addressed it to the care of the British -Consul-General, and beckoned to a beggar whom the absence of the -<i>cavass</i> had tempted to draw near the carriage. In her hand she held a -gold piece. -</p> - -<p> -“For Sir Frank Francis, at the Consulate of Great Britain,” she -whispered in French. “This is for you, if you will take it to him.” -</p> - -<p> -He looked up at her with greedy, uncomprehending eyes, and she waved -him hastily away as Madame Ladoguin turned round. “The British -Consul-General!” she repeated, in an agony, and saw that he understood -her; but he shambled away down an alley in the opposite direction to -that in which the British Consulate lay. Eirene never heard anything -more of him or her message, but she realised gradually that she ought -to be thankful she had lighted on a rogue too unsophisticated to -double his gains by carrying it to the Scythian instead of the British -Consul-General. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch19"> -CHAPTER XIX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">ART WITH A PURPOSE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Akin</span> to Eirene’s feelings at this time were those of Wylie. As soon -as he heard of her arrival in Therma he tried to see her, but was -assured that she was too ill to receive visitors. Losing no time, he -took ship with Armitage for Morea, and paid a sufficiently exhaustive -visit to the rock monasteries on that side of the frontier to make -sure that his friends were not and had not been at any of them. There -remained only Hadgi-Antoniou, but on trying to penetrate to it he was -promptly turned back by the frontier guards, who asserted that he was -attempting to lead a Greek band into Emathian territory. Returning to -Therma, with the intention of reaching the monastery from thence, he -found himself confronted with obstacles of every description. The Vali -had become intolerably solicitous for his safety, and refused to let -him go without an escort, while declining either to provide the escort -or to allow Wylie to raise one for himself. It was the same with the -purveyors of guides, horses, servants, all the necessaries of a -traveller, but Wylie was stolidly combating one objection after -another, when the distant sight one day of Eirene in the Ladoguins’ -carriage gave a new direction to his thoughts. His determination to -see her was, however, only the prelude to a fresh series of -disappointments. Once, and only once, he obtained an entrance into the -Scythian Consulate, where he was received by Madame Ladoguin, who in -honeyed accents conveyed to him her Royal Highness’s thanks for his -past services, and regret that she was unable to see him. Entreaties, -arguments, threats, fell powerless against the armour of her suave -impenetrability, and though Wylie retired with the determination to -try his luck another day, he was not admitted again. -</p> - -<p> -After this, he tried writing to Eirene. His first letter was answered -in her name by Madame Ladoguin, and conveyed the same message that he -had already received from her lips, but couched in more formal terms, -as though to rebuke his presumptuous importunity. Two or three -succeeding letters remained unanswered, and those that followed were -returned unopened. Bribery was the next resort, and he found many -itching palms among the servants and underlings of the Consulate; but -it was not long before he was forced to the conclusion that none of -his messages had been allowed to reach their destination. -</p> - -<p> -There was a certain obstinacy in Wylie that refused to be baffled. He -watched the doors of the Consulate, he laid ambushes at spots which -Madame Ladoguin and her guest were likely to pass in their drives. But -his adversaries were equally obstinate, and far more subtle. Nicetas -Mitsopoulo dogged his movements with unfailing watchfulness, and -reported daily, sometimes hourly, to his sister. False information as -to the direction to be taken by the ladies in their drives was -liberally supplied, and the carriage never issued from the Consulate -when Wylie was on the watch. And yet his persistence was not without -its effect at last. An Englishwoman would have said that it got upon -Madame Ladoguin’s nerves. If this wretched Englishman continued to -picket the approaches to her house in this way, some accident must at -length give him the interview which he sought, for she could not -always be on the watch everywhere. After mature consideration, and -consultation with her brother, she took one of those bold steps which -are possible only to great minds. She called on the wife of the -British Consul-General and requested a private interview, in the -course of which she complained to her with deep regret of the -ungentlemanly conduct of one of her husband’s nationals. This person -had been one of the party captured by brigands at the same time as -Madame Ladoguin’s royal guest, and had so far presumed upon the -circumstance as to fall violently in love with the Princess, and to -persecute her, even now that she had returned to civilisation, with -attentions that were as insulting as they were undesired. He waylaid -her daily, bribed servants to convey amorous notes to her, and had -filled her with such terror and disgust that she could scarcely bring -herself to venture beyond the precincts of the Consulate. -</p> - -<p> -To Lady Francis this revelation supplied at once a key to Wylie’s -persistent efforts, and a new and intense interest in life. In all -innocence she lent herself to Madame Ladoguin’s manipulation, moved by -a sincere pity for him, coupled with a gratifying sense of personal -importance in thus becoming involved in the love affairs of a royal -personage. She conveyed Madame Ladoguin’s appeal to her husband, and -Sir Frank, who liked Wylie and was now doubly sorry for him, requested -his presence, and talked to him like a father. -</p> - -<p> -“No discredit to you—most natural, I’m sure—but you see, in the case -of a young lady of such high rank, this sort of thing won’t do,” was -the burden of his song, and the impossibility of convincing him of the -truth drove Wylie nearly frantic. Sir Frank persisted in regarding his -solemn denials as attempts not to compromise the lady, and sturdily -demanded why he laid wait for her and annoyed her with letters if he -was not in love with her. -</p> - -<p> -“But don’t you see, sir,” cried Wylie at last, “that the Princess is -the last person who saw the Smiths? I only want to know from her the -truth about them.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you have heard that they are exploring among the monasteries. Why -should you wish to discredit the Princess’s word and that of M. -Kirileff?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why haven’t the Smiths written to me? Why can I find out nothing -about them? They must want clothes and things—and money. How can they -go exploring without it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said Sir Frank, beginning for the first time to regard the -mystery as something more than a figment of Wylie’s brain. “But what -exactly do you want to find out from the Princess?” -</p> - -<p> -“I want to ask her where she left them, and in what circumstances, and -how they proposed to manage.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you don’t need a private interview for that.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have never asked for a private interview, sir. I shall be delighted -to ask her the questions in the presence of yourself and Ladoguin and -the full staff of both Consulates.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, perhaps Lady Francis and Madame Ladoguin would be sufficient -for the purpose, and less alarming to the young lady,” chuckled Sir -Frank. “I’ll see about it, then. You leave the matter in my hands, and -don’t hang about the Scythian Consulate meanwhile—you understand?” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie acquiesced and departed, to rage furiously over the matter in -the hearing of Armitage, who was still waiting at Therma to see him -through his troubles, and incidentally to make Emathian sketches for -the ‘Plastic.’ He listened placidly to Wylie’s wrathful -declaration—when his fury at the absolute injustice and stupidity of -the accusation allowed him intelligible utterance—that he had been -made to look a fool before the whole city. Not even the suggestion of -ungentlemanly behaviour appeared to sting him so deeply as the charge -of having fallen in love with Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“Calm yourself,” said the artist coolly, when Wylie had anathematised -all concerned to an extent that seemed to him sufficient. “You are the -lion in the net; well, will you allow me the honour of being the -mouse?” -</p> - -<p> -“What’s this?” growled Wylie, taking up the large envelope addressed -to Eirene which his friend placed before him. -</p> - -<p> -“That is a letter from Princess Florence, Duchess of Inverness, -introducing an English artist of the name of Armitage to the Princess -Eirene Féofan, whom H.R.H. met in France in the spring.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how in the world did you get to know the Duchess of Inverness?” -</p> - -<p> -“I really don’t know, unless I say like the old Italian chap, ‘I also -am a painter.’ I had the cheek to ask for a letter in her own writing, -lest the Ladoguins should suppress it and answer it themselves, like -yours. Of course, I didn’t say why I was so anxious to see Princess -Eirene, but the lady-in-waiting says that the Duchess has suggested -she should let me wait upon her with my sketches, and perhaps paint -her portrait if she happens to want it done. So I suppose she thinks -I’m hard up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and am I to go instead of you?” demanded Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, blessed innocence! Do you think you would ever be admitted into -the Scythian Consulate if you brought a letter from the Emperor of -Scythia himself? or that your appearance, and especially your eyes, -aren’t known to every bootboy about the place? Of course I shall go. -You don’t catch me abusing the Duchess’s kindness by sending an -objectionable fire-eater like you—objectionable to Scythia, I -mean—to represent me. But I shall have a try at doing your business. -What is it you want exactly?” -</p> - -<p> -“To see her, to know from her own lips what has become of them!” cried -Wylie. “Tell her that if I still hear nothing of them I shall follow -her wherever she goes until I get the truth out of her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Gently. This is eminently a case for the use of guile. Now let us -devise a scheme. You must remember that it’s quite possible you won’t -be allowed to see her even now. Let us try if we can’t arrange it so -that I may manage to get hold of the needed information in any case.” -</p> - -<p> -They laid their plans, and in due time Armitage delivered his letter -at the Consulate, where it caused great searchings of heart. As he had -anticipated, it proved impossible to treat an introduction from the -art-loving British Princess in the cavalier fashion which was good -enough for Wylie’s notes, and he was gratified by an intimation that -the Princess Eirene would receive him the next day. When he presented -himself with his portfolio of sketches, it was no surprise to him to -be received first by Madame Ladoguin, who desired to impress upon him, -with an unspeakably frank air of taking him into her inmost -confidence, that he must not mention in her Royal Highness’s hearing -the name of Captain Wylie. He had probably learnt from the rumours of -the city of that person’s extraordinary behaviour with regard to the -Princess, but he could not possibly guess what pain it had given her. -Armitage faced the ambassador with a mien as open as her own. -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks so much for telling me,” he said, in his boyish way. “I don’t -suppose I should, in any case, have mentioned him unless the Princess -had done it first, but now I’ll be extra careful.” -</p> - -<p> -When he was ushered into Eirene’s presence, he caught a momentary look -of disappointment on her face, a glance to see whether any one was -following him, which told him in a moment that she had been cherishing -the wild hope of seeing Wylie in disguise. The discovery took away -half the difficulty of his task, by resolving at once the question -whether she was or was not a willing accomplice in the conspiracy of -silence. The weary languor of her tones when she asked him where he -had studied, and how the Duchess had become acquainted with him, was -welcome, as calculated to lull the suspicions of Mme. Ladoguin. It was -quickly evident, however, that no temporary assurance was to be -allowed to blind that lady’s vigilance. She stood between Eirene and -Armitage, and handed to the former each sketch as it was taken from -the portfolio. It was not until the entire contents had passed through -her hands that she retreated to the end of the table, and sat down -with some fancy work. Armitage observed that the work was not of a -very engrossing nature, for while her hands were busy with it, her -eyes were free to roam as before. Eirene was still looking through the -sketches, now guaranteed harmless by her guardian herself. -</p> - -<p> -“It has been a great pleasure to me to see your work,” she said -graciously to the painter. “I only wish you had brought more -portraits. The Duchess of Inverness says you have painted a -half-length of the Duke for her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have a photograph of it here, ma’am,” and Armitage took the card -from a pocket in the portfolio, contriving rather ostentatiously to -exhibit first one side and then the other to the vigilant gaze of Mme. -Ladoguin, somewhat in the manner of the conjurer who desires to assure -his audience that there is no deception. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I like that very much,” said Eirene, after studying the -photograph carefully; “but I have never seen the Duke—or indeed any -of the people you have shown me. Have you no portrait of any one I -know?” -</p> - -<p> -“Only one, I’m afraid, ma’am—a sketch of Captain Wylie,” with a -deprecating glance at Madame Ladoguin. -</p> - -<p> -“I must have missed that. Let me see it, please.” Armitage produced -the portrait from under the others, where Madame Ladoguin had -dexterously slipped it instead of passing it on to Eirene. It was a -pencil sketch, worked up with a good deal of care. One foot -impatiently advanced, Wylie seemed almost to be stepping out of the -picture, with a look of reckless resolution on his face. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, this is lifelike. How well I know that expression!” said Eirene, -with a smile and a sigh over the memories called up by the portrait. -“But the picture should be coloured. Nothing can do justice to Captain -Wylie that does not show the colour of his eyes.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is merely a rough sketch, ma’am. I happened to catch him in an -attitude I liked. I tell him I shall work it up into a picture of him -terrorising an army with a riding-whip, <i>à la</i> General Gordon.” -</p> - -<p> -“You will be obliged to alter the background, then. Why place a -soldier in such sylvan surroundings?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that was a bit of woodland I wanted to get in somewhere,” said -the artist frankly. “I was rather proud of it, because I thought I had -got the look of that particular kind of bush rather well. You don’t -like it, ma’am?” with some disappointment. “Perhaps if you saw it in a -better light——?” He moved towards the window, and Eirene turned in -her chair. -</p> - -<p> -“I see you have made him sign it. What a bold hand he writes!” she -observed easily. “Yes, Mr Armitage, I think I did you an injustice. -The growth of that particular shrub must be very difficult to render. -It is the sweet-scented plant that grows in thickets, is it not?” -</p> - -<p> -She spoke lightly, almost at random, for Armitage had placed the -sketch in her hands upside-down, and all the shading of the bushes was -discernible as writing. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“You must manage to receive me. When can I see you? Where are the -Smiths? I am certain there has been foul play. I have been trying in -every possible way for weeks to get an interview with you, but have -been assured that you refused it. Only tell me where Smith and his -sister are, and how to help them, and I will give you no more trouble. -You cannot be so heartless as to abandon them to no one knows what -fate.—<span class="sc">James Graham Wylie</span>.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“When was this taken? Captain Wylie looks thinner than when I saw -him,” Eirene went on. -</p> - -<p> -“Two days ago, ma’am.” -</p> - -<p> -“Two days ago? but not here? He is not in Therma? I have several times -said that I wished to receive Captain Wylie, to thank him for his -services to me, but I was always assured he had returned to India. -What does this mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is staying at my hotel, ma’am, and I know he is most anxious to -wait on you.” Armitage cast a glance at Madame Ladoguin which blended -cleverly perplexity and a request for pardon, and she responded to it. -</p> - -<p> -“I am grieved to tell you, madame, that since Captain Wylie’s return -to Therma, his conduct has been such as to call down the reprobation -even of his own Consul. The kindest thing is to attribute it to a -disordered brain. I can’t enter into the details, but it is absolutely -impossible for you to receive him.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said Eirene, with a slight frown. “I must ask you, Mr -Armitage, to inform Captain Wylie that it is not convenient to me to -receive him.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is not for me to question your decision, ma’am,” said the artist, -“but I think I could explain things to your satisfaction if you would -allow it?” She made no sign, and he continued bluntly, “I fancy, -ma’am, that my friend could dispense with paying his respects if you -would be good enough to send him the information he wants about Mr and -Miss Smith.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene raised her eyebrows. “I thought it was understood that when I -parted from them they were in perfect health?” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“And cheerfulness, madame,” put in Madame Ladoguin. “You have -mentioned to me more than once Miss Smith’s extreme cheerfulness when -you quitted her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Eirene, with a little smile, “I rather resented her -cheerfulness, for I did not like her staying behind, and had exhausted -all my powers of persuasion to induce her to return with me to Therma, -but in vain. I am afraid that is all I can tell you, Mr Armitage. And -now about your own work. Could you undertake a portrait of me—now, -while I am still here?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should be highly honoured, ma’am.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then let us decide——” began Eirene, but Madame Ladoguin interposed. -</p> - -<p> -“Dearest Princess, pardon me, but what will Dr Simovics say? He -ordered you complete rest from anything that might try the nerves, and -you have no idea of the strain of sitting for a portrait. If you like, -I can send and ask his advice, but I fear I know what his answer will -be.” -</p> - -<p> -“So do I,” said Eirene resentfully. “This means that I must give up my -portrait, then. But I must have a picture of yours,” turning to -Armitage. “I wonder”—she took up some of the sketches—“whether you -would object to try a view of Hadgi-Antoniou from my description -merely? I like the pictures of the Morean monasteries extremely, but -as I have never seen them they do not appeal to me as Hadgi-Antoniou -does.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will try my best, ma’am; but I fear the picture would not be very -satisfactory. If you could give me just a rough sketch of your -own——?” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately I can’t draw at all. But I suppose I could show you -roughly what it is like. I should like a picture of the church, but I -know it would be hopeless for me to try to do that. The view must be -from the ground below. Now you must not laugh at my crude efforts,” as -Armitage supplied her with a pencil and an unused sheet of paper. “The -rock goes up, up, nearly straight, like this, and the monastery is at -the very top, hanging over in some places. This is the rope and net by -which visitors are drawn up. These things which look like caterpillars -on the face of the rock are ladders. The monks must have some more to -bridge the gaps, but I never saw them in use, and I don’t know where -they keep them. Here at the edge of the summit are the monks’ gardens. -Don’t expect me to draw bushes as you do.” She was scribbling with -intense energy, and Armitage, looking over her, read— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“They are here—Z. in pilgrims’ rooms, M. in underground dungeon. -Monks are divided into two parties, Greek and Thracian. Hegoumenos and -Greeks friendly but timid. Thracians under Scythian orders. Greeks -will yield to definite order from Œcumenical Patriarch for release of -prisoners. Be prepared to bribe Thracians heavily, and to threaten, or -even use, force. Be secret, or prisoners may be removed.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“This is an overhanging forest, ma’am, I presume?” asked Armitage. -Eirene laughed consciously. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, only bushes, and in some places grass.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then—pardon me—I think, perhaps, this kind of touch would express -it better.” He took the pencil, and wrote— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“Are you in danger? Can we help you first?” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“I think I shall get you to give me some drawing lessons,” said Eirene -admiringly. “Is this it?” and she wrote— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“You can do nothing for me. I shall be taken back to Scythia. Show -disappointment about the portrait.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -“If I might venture to offer a suggestion, ma’am, bushes don’t -generally wear their branches on the outside,” said Armitage drily, -taking the pencil again, and covering Eirene’s writing with light and -dark shading bearing a sufficient resemblance to foliage. -</p> - -<p> -“I really must have some lessons,” said she, with renewed admiration. -“Chariclea, you are not to tell me that Dr Simovics would object to -that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Alas, dearest Princess!” lamented Mme. Ladoguin, who was firm in a -not unnatural determination to save herself the wear and tear of the -perpetual surveillance any further visits from the artist would -entail. “The doctor was most particular in ordering complete rest for -mind and eye and hand.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I might have the honour of painting your portrait, ma’am,” -ventured Armitage, “I am sure I could manage so that you would find -the sittings very little strain. Once we had settled on a -characteristic attitude, you could move about as you liked.” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew it wouldn’t be so bad,” said Eirene triumphantly. “You hear, -Chariclea?” -</p> - -<p> -“How unfortunate I am, compelled to represent the doctor, and bear the -odium of his measures!” cried Mme. Ladoguin distractedly. “I can only -say as I did before, let us ask him, madame.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know what that means,” said Eirene, with a pout. “A princess in -disgrace is a very helpless person, Mr Armitage.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t know what a disappointment it is to me, ma’am,” he -answered, while Madame Ladoguin made a deprecating movement. “I had -hoped so much from the Duchess’s introduction.” -</p> - -<p> -“When you see her you must tell her that it was not my fault,” said -Eirene, scribbling vigorously. “The rock is grey, the walls are white, -the roofs red tiles, the bushes grey-green, the sky very blue. I have -written the colour on each, so that you may remember. There, -Chariclea, what do you think of it?” -</p> - -<p> -Madame Ladoguin viewed the work of art with a caustic eye. -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, madame, I fear I should hardly recognise Hadgi-Antoniou from -your picture of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you must make it right, Mr Armitage,” said Eirene, rising. “Cure -its defects instead of mine, if you please.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch20"> -CHAPTER XX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Now</span> that you have your information,” said Armitage, when he had -recounted to Wylie what had passed during his audience of Eirene, -“what do you think of doing?” -</p> - -<p> -“There can’t be much doubt about that. We must go to Czarigrad and get -hold of the Patriarch. Panagiotis must go, I suppose, as he is the -only one likely to have influence in that quarter, and I must go to -keep him up to the mark when he gets discouraged.” -</p> - -<p> -“You won’t exactly publish abroad the object of your journey, I -suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you take me for? We go to Czarigrad to stir up the Embassy, -of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what is my part in the programme?” -</p> - -<p> -“To stay here and keep an eye on Princess Eirene, I presume. She may -manage to send us some further particulars. You are sure she is -staunch?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a doubt of it, and wild to give what help she can, I should say. -All right, I’ll look out. But how if at the same time I make -unostentatious preparations for a visit to Hadgi-Antoniou, for the -purpose of painting a picture of it for the devout and orthodox -Imperial Princess Eirene Theophanis? She gave me a commission for the -outside, and said she would like one of the church as well. They will -probably grant me a passport all right, if you are known to be safe at -Czarigrad, for it won’t do to keep all Europeans away from -Hadgi-Antoniou, or people will begin to think there’s something wrong -there. Sir Frank will back me up, too, when he has got you off his -mind. Then you must cover up your tracks at Czarigrad, and come -across, preferably by sea, and join me without passing through Therma. -There’s a little port called Myriaki where we could rendezvous -comfortably, and at the worst I can leave one of my servants behind -and take you in his place.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must have done a good deal of thinking between the Scythian -Consulate and here,” said Wylie drily. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you don’t know how my brain works when it’s put to it. I’m bound -to see this thing through now. How are you off for the wherewithal?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the Professor has just come into another quarter’s income, and -he’s quite chirpy.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s all right for Czarigrad, but at Hadgi-Antoniou we may have to -outbid the Scythian agent. I can raise anything up to a -thousand—shall I do it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose it would be as well,” said Wylie unwillingly. “It sounds -awfully odd to hear you talking about ‘we,’” he explained, rather -ashamed of his coldness. “I seem to have let you in for a good deal, -when you remember that the Smiths have nothing to do with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, for the matter of that, they have nothing to do with you -either, have they? It was a mere accident of association that brought -you together. Of course, you went through a lot in their company, but -I hope I may do what little I can to help an English lady in distress, -though I haven’t had the honour of being introduced to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Right you are! You must think me a surly brute. I’m glad you have -pulled me up—honestly I am. I suppose I might have gone on to wish -the Smiths not to be rescued unless I had the chief hand in it.” -</p> - -<p> -“You shall have the chief hand in it, so far as it depends on me,” -said Armitage heartily. “After all you have done, it would be a black -shame to rob you of the honour. I’m under your orders, remember, and -you may be sure I shall say so. I’ll get things ready here, while you -do the Czarigrad part of the business, and then we’ll meet and achieve -our final <i>coup</i> in company.” -</p> - -<p> -There was no hesitation in Wylie’s agreement, but during the next week -or two he was inclined to consider that Armitage had chosen -conspicuously the easier task. Nothing but iron resolution on his part -would have dragged the Professor to Czarigrad, and kept him there when -he had arrived. His dislike of approaching the Patriarch was so marked -that Wylie began to suspect that the tales he had heard of the secret -organisation of Greek bands in Emathia were true, and that the -Professor intended to employ them to rescue Maurice by force, thus -committing him to their cause, and them to his. But since the -Professor vouchsafed no account of his plans, Wylie could only proceed -with his own, which were not rendered easier of execution by the -reluctance of the Patriarch and his <i>entourage</i> to do their part. -There could be little doubt that Scythian agents had been beforehand -with him, for it required weary days of waiting, and persistent -refusals to depart, before he could gain a sight of any one in -authority. By this time Professor Panagiotis seemed to have made up -his mind to work heartily with him, and they went together to the -Patriarchal palace, where they were received by a kind of domestic -chaplain, or clerical private secretary, a dark-robed, high-capped -monk with a keen, astute face. Having heard their request, the -secretary addressed himself to the Professor, apparently regarding him -as the more reasonable being of the two. -</p> - -<p> -“If you realised the state of the community at Hadgi-Antoniou, you -would know that what you ask is impossible,” he said. “Since the first -Thracian monks were unfortunately admitted, under an agreement that -their number was never to exceed one-fourth of the whole, they have -steadily aimed at dominating the monastery. The agreement is still -nominally in force, but certainly half the brethren must be Thracian, -and in a year or two they will swamp the Greek element altogether. At -present the community remains faithful to the Patriarchate because the -Hegoumenos and other officials are Greeks, but should anything -precipitate a collision between the two bodies, it is almost certain -that they would be out-voted. To avoid such a collision is our -perpetual aim. How, then, can you expect us, for the sake of a couple -of unknown English tourists, to bring about the loss of an important -outpost?” -</p> - -<p> -“You would wink at murder, if you might keep your monastery?” asked -Wylie. The monk shrugged his shoulders. -</p> - -<p> -“Why don’t you apply to your Embassy?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Because we know that before any demand for the release of the -prisoners could be made effective, they would be carried away -somewhere else, or handed over to one of the brigand bands to be -murdered.” -</p> - -<p> -“We are alike, then,” smiled the secretary. “You will not do what you -might, for fear of the consequences. Neither will we. There is no -question of any immediate danger to your friends, I believe? Why -trouble about them, then?” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie rose angrily, but Professor Panagiotis laid a hand upon his -sleeve. “We have not taken into consideration the fact that the -prisoners are not unknown English tourists, but the heirs of the -blessed John Theophanis,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“The fact is curious, but no more,” said the secretary, with a wooden -face. “Living, as we do, under the tolerant and enlightened rule of -the Grand Seignior, survivals of the kind you mention have no interest -for us.” -</p> - -<p> -“In certain eventualities, it might be inconvenient for the -Patriarchate if the heir of John Theophanis had a just cause of -resentment against it,” pursued the Professor. -</p> - -<p> -“It is not for us to consider possible eventualities, but to maintain -truth and loyalty in the present,” was the answer, which filled Wylie -with helpless fury. The Professor remained calm. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well: we will consider the present alone. The only other heir is -in the hands of the Scythians, pledged supporters of the schismatical -Exarchate. Is it or is it not a matter of importance that a nearer -heir should exist, attached by bonds of gratitude and affection to the -Patriarchate, and capable of being brought forward whenever Scythia -shows signs of asserting the claims of her candidate?” -</p> - -<p> -“This sounds more businesslike,” said the secretary approvingly. “You -can answer for the young man’s strict Orthodoxy?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have myself instructed him, and the experiences he has since -undergone at the hands of the schismatics can hardly have attracted -him to their cause. If the Patriarch intervened to rescue him, it -would bind the youth to him indissolubly.” -</p> - -<p> -“The idea is good, but there are difficulties in the way of carrying -it out. To give you an order directing the release of the prisoners -would probably lead to their disappearance—we are surrounded by -spies—and would certainly lose us the monastery. It must be in -general terms. But even then you are too well known,” to the -Professor, “and I have been warned against this English gentleman, -your companion, so that he also will be watched for. You must find -some trustworthy agent, who may receive the Patriarchal letter, and do -your business by its aid.” -</p> - -<p> -“Make it out in the name of Harold Armitage, an English painter, who -is commissioned to obtain views of the monastery for the Princess -Eirene Theophanis,” said Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“The Scythian candidate? You are ingenious, monsieur, to make the -devout purpose of the Princess contribute to her undoing. Well, the -letter shall be prepared, and all possible assistance desired for Mr -Armitage in his pious task. The rest of the business you must manage -for yourselves.” -</p> - -<p> -He bowed them out, and as soon as they had crossed the threshold Wylie -expressed his candid opinion of the Patriarchal surroundings. The -Professor smiled grimly. -</p> - -<p> -“When the Morean insurrection broke out, the Patriarch of the day was -hanged at his own church door,” he said. “We are not all ready to be -martyrs nowadays.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie said nothing, for the explanation was evidently all-sufficient -in the Professor’s eyes, but he wondered how much affection and -gratitude Maurice was expected to feel towards the Patriarchate, and -whether too much had not been promised in his name. -</p> - -<p> -The Patriarchal letter arrived next day, its preparation having been -quickened by a discreet distribution of gifts among the persons -concerned, and Wylie was able to carry out his plans. The Professor -was to remain some days in Czarigrad, visiting the British Embassy -daily, and apparently devoting all his energies to obtaining the -release of the prisoners by its means, while Wylie took his departure -in a small fast sailing-vessel for Myriaki. The boat was chartered by -the Professor exclusively for this service, and Wylie suspected that -it was not the first time he had employed it on secret errands, so -knowing did the captain show himself with respect to ships and -customs-stations which it was advisable to avoid. Arriving off Myriaki -late one evening, Wylie, standing in the bows, raised and dipped a -light three times. The signal was answered from the shore, and -presently Armitage came off, brimming over with excitement. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s all right,” he said. “You are my <i>cavass</i>, Spiridion Istriotis, -and I have brought you a suit of his clothes. The real Spiro is -remaining in the seclusion of the paternal mansion, on full wages, -until I send him word. You had better get the things on before coming -on shore, hadn’t you? Your cabin is large enough to allow of that, -though it certainly wouldn’t hold us both at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“What about the passport?” demanded Wylie, as he made the change -rapidly in his little shelter under the half-deck, while Armitage -leaned against the bulkhead outside. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s the greatest joke! The <i>teskereh</i> they’ve given me would -apply to you, or your friend Smith, or any mortal man, just as well as -to me. I believe they keep a form in stock with the description of an -ideal Englishman—tall, fair hair, blue eyes, and so on—and simply -copy it. It will really fit you best, for the eyes will be right, at -any rate. What coloured eyes has Smith?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know—ordinary, I suppose,” growled Wylie, with whom the -point was a sore one. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it can’t be more unlike him than it is to me, so we ought all -to be able to use the same passport, if we can bribe the police to -look away while we pass it from one to the other. But you’ll go as -Spiro, of course, so you won’t want it. Ready? I sculled myself off, -to the great disapproval of the seafaring population on the quay, -because I had something I wanted to say without eavesdroppers.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie’s possessions were transferred to the boat, and he bade farewell -to the captain of the vessel, arranging with him to lie off Myriaki -for the next fortnight. In the boat he took the oars, and Armitage -pushed off. When they were about half-way to the shore, the artist -produced a small but weighty parcel contained in a chamois-leather -bag. -</p> - -<p> -“Put that in the safest and best-hidden pocket you can find in Spiro’s -garments,” he said. “It has two hundred and fifty pounds in English -gold in it, and I have another just the same. I have scarcely dared to -sleep since I left Therma. The rest of my money is in notes and cash -of various fancy currencies peculiar to this delectable peninsula, and -is contained in an imposing cash-box, which all my servants have been -taught to regard with profound respect. But I thought it might be -desirable to have a secret store in an attractive form, and I’m -thankful to shift half the responsibility—and weight—off on you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good man!” said Wylie, concealing the bag inside his shirt, and -securing it with his girdle, and they rowed to the quay, where -Armitage was quartered in a villainous little Greek inn, having chosen -it that he might be able to keep watch for the vessel. He had allowed -it to become known that he was expecting the arrival of a special -messenger with a letter from the Patriarch to assist him in his work -at Hadgi-Antoniou, and Wylie was an object of intense veneration to -the Greeks of the port as he swaggered in front of Armitage, clearing -the way as the absent Spiro would have done. A number of the notables -of the place visited them after supper, anxious to enjoy the honour of -beholding the outside of the Patriarchal letter, and one or two of the -chief of them were allowed the supreme distinction of kissing it. In -the morning they escorted the letter and its bearers some distance on -their way, and parted from them the best of friends, amid much festive -firing of guns. -</p> - -<p> -Armitage had neglected no precaution for ensuring the success of his -journey that the wisdom of many advisers in Therma could suggest to -him. The four men whom he called servants were really guards, -Mohammedan Illyrians, armed to the teeth, and faithful unto death -until the job for which they were engaged was over, after which they -would be quite ready to murder their late employer at the bidding of a -new one. Their presence ensured a friendly reception whenever Roumis -were met with, and the unofficial rulers of the country were -recognised by a letter to the principal brigand chief in the district, -who rejoiced in the name of Fido—a letter of safe-conduct obtained, -for a consideration, from Fido’s accredited agent in Therma. Armitage -had not ventured to make any preparations that might suggest his -intention of rescuing the prisoners, but he calculated that by the -time they reached Hadgi-Antoniou the stores would have diminished so -much that there would be a mule for Zoe to ride coming back, and he -had laid in a lavish provision of scented soap, handkerchiefs, and -other minor luxuries, ostensibly for his own benefit. -</p> - -<p> -The journey proved to be uneventful, for such trifling incidents as -the frequent stopping of the cavalcade by bands of armed men could not -be considered events when the exhibition—with due discrimination—of -the Patriarchal letter, the brigand’s safe-conduct, or the Roumi -passport, according to circumstances, sufficed to close them. One of -Armitage’s precautions had been to provide a large store of -sugar-candy and other sweets, and the unfriendliness of the most -ferocious brigand or densest commissary of police was never proof -against a gift from it. The arrival at Hadgi-Antoniou was the close of -a triumphal progress, and Armitage and Wylie looked up at the -monastery on its pillar of rock, and wondered whether the rest of -their work was to be as easy. -</p> - -<p> -The firing of the rifles of the escort brought the monks, as usual, to -their watch-tower, and questions and answers were bellowed up and down -the cliff. The news that the English lord was the bearer of a letter -from the Œcumenical Patriarch caused great excitement, and the net -was let down at once. Wylie went up in it, lest the monks should -refuse to admit him if Armitage went first. He was grabbed and hauled -in as the prisoners had been, and while he waited for his friend to -make the ascent he examined the tower and capstan with a keen eye. -Armitage having been landed, rather pale and uncomfortable-looking, -they were led first into the church, where the monks bowed to the -ikons and chanted with extreme rapidity a very brief service, which -might have been intended either as a welcome to the visitors or a -thanksgiving for their safe arrival. Wylie accepted it gratefully as -the latter. He was once more within a few yards of his friends, after -their long separation. -</p> - -<p> -The old Hegoumenos, who had sent an apology for not welcoming the -strangers immediately, was awaiting them in the guest-room, with his -monks assembled round him. Armitage presented the Patriarch’s letter, -which the Hegoumenos kissed and laid to his forehead, and handed to -Papa Athanasios to read. The artist’s devout intention of painting -pictures of the monastery for the illustrious Princess who had so -lately been their guest was announced to the brethren with high -commendation, and after the letter had been handed round for them to -kiss, they retired. The last, and apparently the most reluctant to -quit the room, was a grey-bearded man with a look of authority, who -had been watching Wylie narrowly. When he had gone, a young and rather -foolish-looking monk came back furtively and peered at the visitors, -and they heard him saying something to his fellows outside. Papa -Athanasios looked annoyed, but he also cast an inquisitive glance at -Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“What are they saying?” asked Armitage. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, our younger brethren are foolish—they are like children, -unaccustomed to strangers—there is a silly saying among them——” -said the monk incoherently. “They do not often see any one like the -English lord’s <i>cavass</i>.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is the saying? Is it an old one?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, not very—in fact, it is only a few weeks old. The Scythian lord -who came to escort the Princess to Therma bade one of our brethren -beware of the man with blue eyes, and they think they have found him. -But this is foolishness. The Lord Hegoumenos desires to know what else -he can do for you, since the sacred letter of the Universal Patriarch -orders him to pleasure you not only in your devout purpose, but in -other matters which you will confide to his ear.” -</p> - -<p> -But when Armitage had asked for the release of the two English -prisoners, Papa Athanasios and the Hegoumenos looked at one another, -puzzled, timid, and anxious. Then they began to explain in low tones -that if it had depended on them, the prisoners would never have been -detained, but that M. Kirileff had arranged matters with Papa Demetri, -the treasurer of the monastery, and the only Thracian who had as yet -attained office. Papa Demetri was a most wonderful treasurer, his two -superiors confessed reluctantly; everything he touched seemed to turn -to gold, and the monastic revenues had never been so elastic. The -church was being entirely redecorated—this merely meant that the -frescoes and ikons were being painted over in exactly the same forms -and colours as before—and even the Greek brethren would support him -through thick and thin for making such a thing possible. The reason -for the wonderful advance of the Thracian element in the monastery was -now clear to the listeners, but they could not bring themselves to -point out to the two old monks that they were—however delicately the -transaction might be disguised—selling their nationality for Scythian -gold. -</p> - -<p> -“Papa Demetri must be getting something out of Kirileff for this -business,” said Armitage to Wylie. “We must outbid him. Did the -Scythian traveller make any gift to the monastery?” he asked of Papa -Athanasios. -</p> - -<p> -“He promised a very great gift, through Brother Demetri”—the monk -named a sum which worked out at about four hundred pounds. “The -brethren have all been rejoicing because it will restore the -<i>ikonostasis</i>, and complete the renewing of the church.” -</p> - -<p> -“If he only promised it, whether it was through prudence or because he -hadn’t it with him, it’s a most lucky thing for us,” said Wylie. -“Offer them the five hundred down if they’ll give the prisoners up at -once.” -</p> - -<p> -But this was much too summary a suggestion. The matter must be laid -before the monks in full conclave, it appeared, and they must choose -between five hundred pounds certain and a possible four hundred. Wylie -suggested that it might make the choice easier if they were not asked -actually to release the prisoners, but only to leave their cells -unlocked and unguarded, and the ladders on the face of the rock -available for use. The capstan he did not venture to advise, since no -one in the monastery could remain ignorant when it was being used. The -idea seemed to remove much of the two old men’s alarm, and the -Hegoumenos announced quite cheerfully that he would call a conclave -for the next day to consider the generous offer of the English lord. -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t you show us where the prisoners are?” asked Wylie of Papa -Athanasios, as they paused in the courtyard, after leaving the -guest-room, to allow Armitage to make a hasty sketch of a corner of -the church. The old monk had already shepherded back the supposed -<i>cavass</i>, gently but firmly, from so many unauthorised excursions into -other buildings and courtyards, that he began to think M. Kirileff’s -warning not uncalled for, and he answered with some asperity— -</p> - -<p> -“The lodging of the monastery’s guests is no concern of yours.” -</p> - -<p> -“At least tell us how they are,” entreated Wylie, and Papa Athanasios -answered more gently— -</p> - -<p> -“They are both in good health. I myself have allowed the youth to walk -in the courtyard at hours when Brother Demetri thought him safely -locked unto his cell, so eagerly did he entreat leave to smell the -air, and I have talked much with him at other times. The girl is left -to the charge of a devout woman, who has been much edified to behold -her continually rapt in contemplation, so that, had she been Orthodox, -she would have imagined her to be a seer of holy visions. One thing -perturbed our sister greatly—that her prisoner made many strange -signs on her wall with a nail, which she feared might be unholy -spells. So much was she troubled, that on a certain feast-day—was it -Holy Trinity or Holy John? I forget— I allowed the girl also to walk -in the garden, and examined the marks for myself. But there was -nothing evil in them; they were such foolish and meaningless scrawls -as might be made by one distraught, and I quieted our sister’s mind -with this assurance.” -</p> - -<p> -Armitage was laughing involuntarily, but to Wylie the thought of Zoe -enjoying a glimpse of liberty on Trinity Sunday, unconscious that her -scribbles were being scrutinised for evidences of witchcraft, was pure -pathos, and he turned away abruptly. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch21"> -CHAPTER XXI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“THERE’S MANY A SLIP——”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> conclave was held, and despite the strenuous efforts of Papa -Demetri, the monks decided by a large majority to accept Armitage’s -offer, and wink at the escape of the prisoners. Had M. Kirileff paid -down his two thousand five hundred roubles, the monastery would have -been bound in honour to fulfil his conditions, as the aged Papa -Apostolos pertinently observed, but since he had merely promised it, -and had not so far fulfilled his promise, it would be folly to refuse -an additional sum which would allow the silver-gilt haloes of the -saints on the <i>ikonostasis</i> to be replaced by plates of pure gold. -And, after all, they were not asked to promote the prisoners’ escape; -it was merely a matter of leaving the ladders down for a few nights -instead of drawing them up, and of a temporary mislaying of his keys -by Papa Athanasios. It was also arranged—the suggestion came from -Brother Nikola, the vacuous-faced young monk who had identified -Wylie—that the escape should not take place until Armitage had -finished his picture of the church, lest the Princess Eirene should be -disappointed of her devout desires. The good news was carried by Papa -Athanasios to Armitage, who was diligently at work in the courtyard, -and he conveyed it to Wylie, whose indiscreet behaviour the day -before, coupled with M. Kirileff’s warning, had caused him to be -denied further admittance. He bore the monks no ill-will for his -exclusion, since Brother Evangelos, who was in charge of the ladders, -was authorised to show him how they were managed, and he spent the -afternoon of the day of the conclave in crawling up and down the -cliff-face like a fly on a wall. The next evening, however, when -Armitage descended in the net after a long day’s work, Wylie met him -and drew him aside from their camp. -</p> - -<p> -“Those venerable frauds at the top there are up to some mischief,” he -said. -</p> - -<p> -“How? what do you mean?” asked Armitage. -</p> - -<p> -“Fellow came down the ladders this morning with a basket—apparently a -lay-brother going to the village for provisions. It struck me he -seemed to look about him a good deal, as if he was afraid of being -followed, so I promptly followed him, stalking him through the -brushwood on hands and knees. It was just as I expected. When he had -got well out of sight of our camp, he put down his basket, tucked up -his gown, and scampered off as hard as he could in the opposite -direction from the village. I tried to follow him, but as I didn’t -dare to stand upright he distanced me easily, so I took cover near his -basket to see when he came back. He was about an hour gone, then he -came and picked up his basket again, and went off to the village as -jauntily as you please.” -</p> - -<p> -“But where do you think he went?” -</p> - -<p> -“Clearly to some one who acts as go-between for Papa Demetri and the -Scythians—probably a brigand. The village is Greek, you see, so they -would have to look elsewhere. Of course, the plan is to fetch Kirileff -back with larger offers before we can get away. I distrusted that -stipulation about your finishing the picture, you know. When are you -likely to get it done?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not for a good many years, if the monks are to be the judges. They -expect a regular Byzantine arrangement, showing every stone in the -walls and every tile that’s missing from the roof. They aren’t -educated up to modern methods, you see, and I’m putting as much detail -into it as I conscientiously can, just to please them. Still, with -another day’s work I ought to be able to produce a daub that will -pass, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s all right. We couldn’t start to-night, anyhow. I am going up -the ladders when it’s dark, so as to know my way about them. I -couldn’t undertake to get Miss Smith down without. It’s a bad enough -climb to take a woman anyhow, and in the dark——! But perhaps that’s -just as well, since she won’t see what it’s like.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I had your cool head. I suffer agonies every time I go up and -down in the net, even. By the bye, to avoid further artistic -controversy with the brethren, can you make a drawing, roughly to -scale, of the place for me to-morrow, from the ground, and jot down -the colours, so that I can paint from it afterwards? They’re so full -of the church that they haven’t remembered the outside view yet, but -Papa Demetri is quite capable of making use of it to delay us.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right. It’ll be very rough, but that won’t signify. Meanwhile, -you tip the wink to Papa Athanasios to lose his keys before locking-up -time to-morrow night, will you?” -</p> - -<p class="spacer"> -* * * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -Only one incident occurred to trouble the conspirators during the -following day, and this was a mishap to Brother Evangelos, who, in -passing through a dark passage, tripped over one of the crutches on -which the monks supported themselves during the long services, and -sprained his ankle so severely that he could not leave his cell. But -Wylie had ascended and descended the ladders safely during the night, -and was confident that he knew his way from one to the other, so that -there seemed no reason for delay. Papa Athanasios had warned Maurice -to be ready when the <i>semantron</i> sounded for midnight service, and the -judicious gift of a rosary from the Holy Mountain had induced old -Marigo to convey the same message to Zoe. A dark robe and high cap, -such as were worn by the monks, had also been smuggled into the cell -of each, in case any belated brother, hurrying into church, should run -across the two strangers. -</p> - -<p> -Wylie was half-way up the ladders when the clangour of the <i>semantron</i> -smote upon his ear, and he climbed the rest of the way in entire -forgetfulness of the perilous nature of his path. The sound was still -reverberating through the monastery when he reached the tower to which -the ladders led, and he could see the last-awakened among the monks -scurrying through the courtyard. Presently the noise died away, the -brother who had been wielding the mallet followed the rest into -church, and Wylie went softly across to the quarters of the Hegoumenos -and laid upon his divan the second packet containing two hundred and -fifty pounds, the first having been handed over as soon as the result -of the conclave was declared. Then he returned to the shelter of his -tower, and waited with beating heart, not daring to make his presence -known, even when two figures appeared round the end of the church, for -in the monkish garb it was impossible to distinguish who they were. -But they came unhesitatingly straight to the tower, and stepping out -from the doorway to meet them, he grasped a hand of each and led the -way to the ladder, sternly silencing their eager questions. Without -giving them time to consider the means by which they were to descend, -he went a few steps down, with his face to the ladder, then told Zoe -to follow him, and guided her feet to the steps, which were by no -means evenly placed. Maurice came last, well behind Zoe, that she -might have full liberty to cling to the sides of the ladder, and thus -they worked their way down, the cold sweat standing on Wylie’s brow. -The camp fire looked so small and so distant below—almost as distant -as the great clear stars, which seemed unnaturally bright in that -cloudless atmosphere. Had Maurice alone been in question, he would -have faced the adventure with a laugh, but that Zoe should be hanging -between heaven and earth on that rickety ladder, with the night-wind -whistling round her, was something unspeakably horrible. His feet -seemed like lead, and he could hardly feel the next rung as he moved -down to it, but Zoe distinguished no trembling as he guided her slowly -lower and lower. She followed his muttered directions as if in a -dream, for the imaginary world in which she had spent the greater part -of her captivity still lay about her, and it was as though her mind -received and her body obeyed his orders, while her real self was not -there at all. -</p> - -<p> -At last they came to a ledge of rock, on which Wylie allowed a rest -from sheer necessity, for he found himself forced to cling to the -ladder even when standing on firm ground. But no sooner had Zoe’s feet -touched the rock than an exclamation from her turned his nerves to -iron again. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s that?” she cried. “There’s some one here! Something high and -dark went round the corner.” -</p> - -<p> -Neither Wylie nor Maurice, with their faces to the ladder, had seen -anything, but she had turned her head to see where Wylie was, and she -persisted that in that moment some one who had been standing close to -him had vanished. Peering round the corner, they could see nothing, -but Wylie drew a revolver as he led the way along the path which -formed the link between this ladder and the next. Still there was no -one to be seen, and he returned the weapon to his sash before stooping -to feel for the head of the ladder. All along the brink he groped -without success before the truth dawned upon him. The ladder was not -there. It was not a very long one, but it crossed slantwise a deep -chasm in the rock, which offered an insurmountable obstacle to any one -trying to ascend the cliff without it. -</p> - -<p> -“The ladder is gone,” he said, turning to the other two, and hoping -that his voice did not betray his feelings. “We must let ourselves -down. Take off those monks’ gowns you have on. They will have to do -for ropes.” -</p> - -<p> -They obeyed, and Wylie slit the long shapeless garments in two from -neck to hem with his dagger, then tied the halves together by their -huge sleeves, and the two gowns to one another. “I’ll go first,” he -said, “and you had better both hang on to the rope, for it’ll be a big -strain.” -</p> - -<p> -They obeyed, not understanding how he meant to get across; but to -their horror, when he had let himself down over the edge, the rope -began to oscillate violently. He had fastened the end round his waist, -so as to leave his hands free, and he was doing his utmost to swing -across the chasm. Again and again his efforts fell short, and he swung -back bruised; but at last, with a wild clutch, he caught hold of the -bushes growing on the other side, and hauled himself up. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Miss Smith,” he said breathlessly, “recall your gym. days at -school. Do you think you can come down this rope hand over hand?” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe would have died sooner than confess to inability or fear at that -moment, though the clumsy knotted cable had little resemblance to a -gymnasium-rope. “Rather!” she said promptly, and Wylie twisted the end -he held round and round, so as to make the bridge as strong as -possible. Sliding down it was out of the question, on account of the -knots, and she saw that she must work her way along. Maurice put his -end of the rope under the largest stone he could find, as an added -security against slipping, then, bracing himself firmly, held it as -taut as he could. Zoe gripped it with hands and feet, thankful for the -flexible moccasins, which were so much more serviceable than shoes, -and dropped slowly from knot to knot, descending diagonally until -Wylie, standing on his end of the rope, was able to catch her in his -arms. She stood aside, panting, while he asked Maurice whether the -stone was large enough to balance his weight. -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing like,” was the reply. “I shall jump. In case I miss, I shall -tie the rope round my waist, and you must pull me up. Zoe had better -hold on to it as well, for fear the jerk might drag you over. Stand -clear.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie and Zoe stood well back, and waited for the shock, but Maurice -had judged his distance so well that though he did not land on the -rock where they were standing, he was able to grasp the bushes which -grew below it, and before they could give way, Wylie had him by the -hand. The bushes afforded sufficient foothold to enable him to raise -himself over the edge of the rock, and winding the rope round him in -case it should be needed again, he followed the other two to the head -of the next ladder. This was duly in place, and they began to descend -it in the same order as before, but about midway Wylie’s heart stood -still. What if the unknown enemy who had removed the second ladder -should have sawn through the supports of this one? He said nothing to -his friends, and they went on steadily until they reached the foot of -this ladder, and passed through a hole cut in the rock to the head of -a fourth. This also was passed in safety, and they stood on a rocky -platform, extending some way into the rock in the form of a cave. This -was only some hundred and fifty feet above the ground, and the -rope-ladder was hanging from its two iron stanchions ready for their -descent. -</p> - -<p> -“I say,” said Maurice, “I don’t like the look of this cave. We can’t -very well search it without a light, for any one hiding in it could -see us against the stars, but if Zoe’s phantom is there, he might -think it rather a good dodge to cut the ladder while we were all on -it. You take Zoe down first, Wylie, and I’ll stay on guard until you -are safe down.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” said Wylie. “Take my revolver, and don’t hesitate to -shoot. I wonder if Armitage is down below?” -</p> - -<p> -He whistled softly, and an answering whistle came up, while the limp, -dangling ladder became firm. Once again Zoe was thankful for her -moccasins, for it was much more nervous work descending the loose -rungs of rope than those of the wooden ladders. Wylie guided her feet -as before, and slowly and steadily they came nearer to the darkness -which meant firm ground. She had kept up valiantly hitherto, but when -it came to the last step she could not induce herself to take it. She -seemed to have been crawling down shaking ladders for unnumbered -hours, and she clung shivering to the ropes, utterly unable to quit -her hold. Wylie unclasped her hands gently at last, and lifted her -down, saying, in a commonplace, society voice which dried up her -threatening tears, “I want to introduce my friend Armitage, Miss -Smith. You have to thank him for getting you out, for he wasn’t -suspected as I was.” -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully glad to see you safe on firm ground,” said Armitage. “I’m -afraid you’ll find things rather rough, but if you’ll kindly put up -with it——” -</p> - -<p> -“We should like to have brought a whole outfit, and a lady’s-maid, and -all sorts of Eastern luxuries for you,” said Wylie, who was holding -the ladder steady for Maurice to descend; “but we were afraid of -rousing suspicion. As your sister—I mean Princess Eirene—isn’t here, -may I say that you must think you are on active service?” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe had been laughing rather nervously, but the question roused her to -recollection. “Oh,” she cried, “have you brought me any note-books?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, really, I’m afraid not,” said Wylie, dismayed. “Why?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I have been living the most splendid story all the time I have -been in the monastery, and I wanted to write it down before I forget. -I know it will all fade when I get with other people.” -</p> - -<p> -Her tone spoke of such complete absorption in the story that Wylie was -conscious of a jealous feeling that the absence of the note-books was -not an unmixed misfortune. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m awfully sorry,” he said hypocritically. “We’ll bring you -cartloads of note-books as soon as we get to Th——” -</p> - -<p> -An exclamation from Armitage broke into his sentence. Above, on the -edge of the rocky platform, a high cap and a bearded face were -momentarily outlined against the starry sky, and something shining -caught the light. One side of the ladder seemed to drop, and the rungs -hung drooping. Wylie felt for his revolver, but it was in Maurice’s -sash as he clung half-way down the ladder, and before Armitage could -thrust his into his hand, the remaining side-rope parted with a sound -like the report of a gun, and Maurice seemed to fly outwards through -the air. He came to the ground with a thud which drew an agonised -shriek from Zoe, and Wylie scarcely doubted that he must be killed. He -was unconscious when they reached him, but as they were anxiously -feeling his limbs, he opened his eyes for a moment. -</p> - -<p> -“Broken, I think,” he said, as Armitage touched his right arm, and -Wylie confirmed the opinion. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, better than a leg,” said Maurice feebly. “You’d have had to -leave me here if it had been that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, we’d have rigged you up a cacolet, and carried you on a -baggage-mule,” said Wylie, examining into the extent of the injury by -the light of the vestas which Armitage struck. “You may think yourself -jolly lucky if this is all that’s wrong with you, Smith. I can -manufacture some splints and strap it up, but if it had been an elbow, -or a compound fracture of any sort, it would have been beyond me. Now, -can you get to the camp if we help you along?” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice set his teeth, and submitted to be helped up and supported as -far as the tents, where Zoe, much to her indignation, was ruthlessly -ordered to rest for an hour or so, on the ground of having gone -through quite enough already. In vain she recalled her possession of -First Aid certificates, Wylie was adamant, and even the ungrateful -Maurice entreated her to go and lie down and not make a fuss. When she -was called, in the early morning, the arm was set, and Maurice, though -pale and in considerable pain, was quite ready to start. Wylie gave up -his horse to him and walked at his side, and Zoe was mounted, as had -been arranged, on the mule. What the guards thought of the additions -to the party no one knew, for they asked no questions and made no -remarks, and all went smoothly. There was one disagreeable moment -during the day, when a peripatetic police official, travelling with an -escort, was encountered. He accepted with enthusiasm the assurance -that Maurice and Zoe were the two famous Europeans whose capture and -detention by brigands had produced such a stir, and immediately -afterwards declared his intention of arresting them for travelling in -the interior of the country without a passport. Asked what he intended -to do with them, he replied that it was his duty to conduct them -immediately to the nearest port, whereupon he was assured that they -were going thither as fast as they could. To this he rejoined that he -felt it right to escort them there, and as his room, and that of his -ragged regiment, was infinitely to be preferred to his company, it was -clear that an attempt must be made to overcome his sense of duty. The -means of doing this was simple, but expensive, and to the last it was -doubtful whether his affection for the travellers would not lead him -to attach himself to them as long as they had anything left that -commended itself to his fancy. They succeeded in freeing themselves -from him, however, and the rest of the return journey was as -uneventful as that from the coast had been. Maurice bore the -travelling well, and he and Zoe took unfeigned delight in the open-air -life after four weeks within stone walls. -</p> - -<p> -The only person who was not satisfied was Wylie. He had accomplished -the object to which all his efforts had been bent, he had the society -of his friends again, but the reality was not equal to the -anticipation. Zoe and he were not close comrades, as they had been in -the early days of their captivity. Sometimes he tried to look at the -fact from a common-sense point of view, deciding that Maurice’s -accident was enough to account for the change, but at other times he -told himself bitterly that it was all his own fault for forgetting the -note-books. Of course, Zoe must think that he was utterly and wilfully -indifferent to the things that interested her. It was so unfair, too, -for though, like most men of his type, he had little fancy for any -woman with whom he had to do “mixing herself up with writing,” he was -sure that Zoe could not have discovered this. He had acquiesced in the -jesting, matter-of-fact way in which she chose to allude to her -literary efforts, and had even congratulated himself that the taste -could not be very deep-rooted. And now this wretched story of hers was -coming between them, he was sure of it. When she rode for an hour in -silence, and had to be recalled to her present surroundings with a -start, he knew she was living in that world of hers in which he had no -part. It did not affect his feelings towards her. If she chose to -write novels all day and every day, he would accept the fact, and -prize the results, however little he could enter into them, because -they were hers, but the sense of aloofness came from her side. As she -had put it to herself after their parting in the forest, she had been -learning to do without him, and with her mind preoccupied with her -story, she had found it easy. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch22"> -CHAPTER XXII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">I am</span> so dreadfully worried about Maurice,” said Zoe, meeting Wylie -in the courtyard of the Professor’s villa at Kallimeri, to which they -had come immediately on reaching Therma by sea from Myriaki. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, is the arm worse? I thought that Greek doctor was too -complimentary to my surgery. Shall I ride in and find a European -surgeon and bring him out?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I don’t think it’s that. I can’t help fancying Maurice must have -got a touch of fever the night we lay off the harbour. He is worrying -about Eirene, and says that he feels she’s in some great danger. That -sort of thing is so unlike Maurice—thought-transference and things of -that kind, I mean—and I think he must be ill. He talks of going into -Therma himself and insisting on seeing her, and you know the doctor -said he was to keep perfectly quiet. I suppose they may be carrying -Eirene off to Scythia, but I don’t see how he knows about it. At any -rate I’m sure he’s not fit to go and contend with all the obstacles -they would put in his way at the Scythian Consulate.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I’m not exactly a favoured visitor there myself, and it’s -pretty clear that Armitage isn’t either, since they have sent back his -pictures without even undoing them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I hadn’t heard that,” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“They arrived this morning, with a note from Mme. Ladoguin to say that -the duplicity of Armitage’s behaviour since his audience of her had so -shocked the Princess that she considered herself released from any -obligation to him. They have found out what happened at -Hadgi-Antoniou, you see. I suppose Papa Demetri’s messenger got -through just too late for them to stop us.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wonder if it would be any good my going?” mused Zoe. “I scarcely -like leaving Maurice for a whole day, but——” -</p> - -<p> -“You musn’t think of it. You don’t imagine that if they let you in it -would be for any good? The next thing we should find out would be that -you were smuggled away to Scythia, and we should have to begin the -hunt all over again.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe laughed. “Perhaps if I wrote a note to Eirene, they would let her -answer it,” she said. “I suppose Maurice would be satisfied if he knew -she was well, and not utterly miserable. You don’t think she has -started already, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“There was nothing of that kind in the note, and they could just as -well have said that the pictures had arrived too late, if they wanted -to snub Armitage. Well, shall I ride in with the note, and do my best -to get it into the Princess’s hands? More I can’t promise, but it’s -just possible that they won’t be looking out for me now, and I may -manage to see her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t like giving you so much trouble——” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s no trouble. In fact, I must have gone in to-day or to-morrow to -report to Sir Frank Francis, who has done what he could for us all -along, in a blundering, slow-coach, civilian sort of way. He’s a good -old chap. The Professor has been talking of going in too, to see the -Vali. He believes he’s on the track of a Thraco-Dardanian conspiracy -to destroy all the Greek and Roumis in Emathia at one fell swoop, so -he’s naturally excited, and thinks he’ll make the Vali so too.” Wylie -spoke lightly, for his pride had imposed upon him the expediency of -treating Zoe as she treated him. If she did not care to remember the -days in which they had faced death and hardship together, he was quite -willing to behave as a mere ordinary acquaintance. He would serve her -in any possible way—that much his love for her demanded of him—but -he would not court rebuff by exhibiting his feelings. The natural -result of this course of conduct was that Zoe, missing something in -his manner which she liked, while objecting to what it implied, began -to make delicate experiments for the purpose of ascertaining how far -she could go. She declined now to be drawn aside from the topic she -had started. -</p> - -<p> -“It doesn’t seem fair that you should always be running errands for -us. We seem to have annexed you altogether. How is it you haven’t had -to go back to India yet?” -</p> - -<p> -“Got an extension of leave,” said Wylie, unmoved. “Always glad to make -myself useful when I can, you know. Well, if you will write that note, -I’ll find out whether the Professor is going into town, and go without -him if he isn’t. I should think we shall spend the night at his house, -and come out to-morrow, which will give me a little more time to -besiege the Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know how I shall keep Maurice quiet all day,” sighed Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, he’ll be all right when he knows some one is trying to see her. -Are you going to ask her to come out?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, not in the note. They would never let it reach her. But if you -see her, you might suggest that she should spend a day here. The -Professor knew her father, you know. Of course, Madame Ladoguin must -come too, but I’ll manage her.” -</p> - -<p> -“You will be the first person that ever did that,” said Wylie, as he -went off to find his host. -</p> - -<p> -Professor Panagiotis was quite willing to accept him as a companion, -and they rode off early in the afternoon. At the Professor’s house in -the town they separated, the Professor going to the Konak to seek an -interview with the Roumi Governor, and Wylie to the British Consulate. -Sir Frank was busy, but asked him to come to dinner that evening and -tell his story afterwards, and he went on at once to the Scythian -Consulate, where the comedy of which he had formerly grown so tired -recommenced. Servant after servant poured forth floods of eloquence in -the attempt to convince him that the Princess was indisposed, that she -received no one, that she was out driving, that she was preparing for -her journey to Scythia, that he might safely leave the note to be -delivered to her. This Wylie declined, and asked for an interview with -Madame Ladoguin, which was denied him, and he put the note back into -his pocket, and took up his old position opposite the Consulate. Here -he remained until it was very nearly dark, without seeing the ladies -return, so that it became pretty clear that one of the excuses, at any -rate, was false. He quitted his post reluctantly, and finding that he -had barely left himself sufficient time to go back and dress for -dinner, called a cab to take him to the Professor’s house. -</p> - -<p> -He had scarcely departed when the great gates were thrown open, and -Madame Ladoguin and Eirene drove out. They were going to dine at the -Hercynian Consulate, one of the “safe” houses where there was no fear -of meeting any meddling English people. Even in cases like this, -however, Madame Ladoguin insisted on the list of guests being -submitted to her beforehand, representing that the Princess was very -strict on such points of etiquette, and refused to waive them even -when paying visits, as at present, under a partial <i>incognito</i>. There -was a cloud on Madame Ladoguin’s brow. Wylie’s unexpected reappearance -had much perturbed her, and she scented a deep-laid scheme for -carrying off Eirene before she could be safely removed to Scythia. She -had sent anxious messages to her husband and brother to ask them to -come to her before starting, but M. Ladoguin had been out all the -afternoon, discussing with his fellow-Consuls the alarming rumours -which were prevalent in the town of impending revolutionary movements, -and Nicetas Mitsopoulo was still away on one of his mysterious -errands. As a last resource, Madame Ladoguin ordered her coachman to -stop at a club much frequented by the European representatives, in the -hope of finding her husband there, intending to send him to complain -to Sir Frank Francis that his troublesome fellow-countryman was -renewing his intolerable persecution of the Princess. -</p> - -<p> -M. Ladoguin was at the club, but his wife would not have him summoned -to speak to her. Apologising to Eirene, she left the victoria and went -into the hall, where her charge could not hear what was said. Eirene, -left alone, looked out indifferently down the brightly lighted street. -Here, in the European quarter, thanks to the efforts of the consular -body, paving and lighting conformed to Western rather than Eastern -standards. Next door to the club towered the dark bulk of a building, -which she knew to be the Seignorial Bank, now closed for the night, -but something moving on its steps attracted her attention. It was -difficult to see what it was in the shadow, but she thought that a -porter must be laying down his burden there while he rested. At this -moment her thoughts were distracted by a cab, which drove up -furiously, its wheels almost grazing those of the carriage, and by the -bad language which ensued between the driver and the consular -<i>cavass</i>. Then—it all happened in a moment—the houses seemed to -reel, she was thrown violently forward, and the air was filled with -the sound of a tremendous explosion. The frightened horses went off -like the wind, further terrified by the crash of falling fragments of -masonry which came hurtling through the air. Eirene crouched dazed at -the bottom of the carriage, face and shoulders cut and bruised by the -stony shower. The sound of fresh explosions showed her that she was -not deafened, but she could not hear the coachman’s voice calling to -his horses, and guessed that he had been thrown from the box. At the -same moment she became aware that she was in pitch darkness. Her first -horrified thought was that she had been struck blind, but as she -looked up through the tattered hood of the carriage she saw a jet of -flame soar into the sky, and realised that whoever had caused the -explosions must also have cut off the gas supply of the town. The -horses had now turned out of the foreign quarter into one of the -native streets, as she could tell by the way the carriage swayed and -bumped over the cobbles, and it was a marvel to her that it was not -every moment upset, as the wheels now collided with a post and now -grazed a projecting shop-front. -</p> - -<p> -The air was full of shrieks and cries, still punctuated by an -occasional explosion, and there was a distant sound which she thought -must be firing. Sitting helpless, as the maddened horses tore along, -she analysed probabilities with a calmness that surprised herself, and -wondered whether the wild race would end in the waters of the harbour -or in one comprehensive smash. Then there happened something that -struck her with greater horror than all that had gone before. She had -raised herself to the front seat, and kneeling, was trying to look out -ahead to see where she was going, when a black figure gained the box -with a mad spring, and seizing the whip, lashed the horses on. By the -glare in the sky she could see that it wore the high cap and flowing -robes of a monk, with unkempt hair and beard. They dashed on into -another street, which Eirene had a vague idea belonged to the Moslem -quarter, and peering out she saw a dark mass of people in front. She -shrieked to them to stop the horses, but they did not understand, and -scattered to let the carriage through. This brought it opposite a -large building, and the man on the box, dropping the whip, stood -upright and hurled something with all his strength. The explosion that -followed was no surprise to Eirene; it seemed to her that she waited -for the sound. The building appeared to crumple up, and the horses -sprang forward again with a jerk, which threw the monk from the box; -but a minaret at the side fell across the street, and they could not -face the ruin which came crashing down. Driven on by the shouts from -behind, they dashed at the obstacle formed by the heap, turned when -they found themselves thwarted, and dragged the carriage violently -round, with one wheel high on the stones. Eirene had just sufficient -presence of mind to spring clear as it went over, and to crouch -against the houses on one side while the horses kicked and struggled -furiously to free themselves. One succeeded, and rushed wildly down -the street, but the other, which had fallen and was entangled in the -harness, tried in vain to raise itself from the ground. -</p> - -<p> -Seeing that the danger was past, the people behind came running up, -and Eirene found herself dragged from her shelter. The monk had -disappeared, and, to her horror, she perceived that the mob evidently -took her for the person who had destroyed their mosque. They were all -Moslems, armed with knives and daggers, and they poured blood-curdling -imprecations upon her as she stood surrounded by a ring of steel. In -every language she knew she entreated them to take her back to the -Consulate, or merely to let her go, but no one would listen, or seemed -to understand. She tore off her rings and the diamond stars from her -hair and threw them among them, then her pearl necklace—not the -historic necklace which had been given up to the brigands, but a less -valuable one which had been sent on into safety in the jewel-case -after the railway accident. The string snapped as she pulled it off, -and she caught the pearls in her hands and offered them to the mob if -they would let her go, but in vain. They forced her hands open, and -fought for the pearls, but never so eagerly as to leave a gap by which -she could escape. She would have given even the girdle of Isidora as -the price of her life if she had had it with her, but it was reposing -safely at the Consulate. -</p> - -<p> -After the first moment it gave her no comfort that she was not cut to -pieces at once, for she guessed from the gestures of her assailants -that while some of them advocated this course, others were proposing -to take her into one of the houses and torture her in order to -discover her accomplices. In another moment she must have fainted from -sheer horror, when the prostrate horse, which every one had forgotten, -created a diversion by struggling to its feet and lashing out -furiously, clearing a space round it. Seeing her chance, she tore -herself from the men who held her, leaving her cloak in their hands, -and sprang up the heap of rubbish which blocked the road. She could -never have crossed it in cold blood, for the foothold was insecure, -and the projecting pieces of rough stone and jagged wood caught her -clothes and tore her hands; but she descended like a thunderbolt into -a second crowd which had collected on the farther side, and burst -through them before they could understand the agonised shouts which -reached them from her defrauded captors. -</p> - -<p> -Gathering her long skirt over her arm that it might not impede her -movements, she ran headlong down the street, slipping on the horrible -cobbles. Very soon she heard the hue and cry after her, and knew she -must quickly be overtaken, for her high-heeled shoes caught in the -treacherous interstices between the stones and nearly threw her down. -Passing the mouth of another street, a desperate expedient suggested -itself. The door of the first house stood open, and she slipped -inside, hearing her pursuers rage by. As soon as the last was past the -door, she crept out, and ran down the side street, more slowly now, -for one shoe had lost its heel, and she could only get on with -difficulty. Before she reached the end of the street she heard the -shouts of the mob growing nearer again, and knew that they must have -discovered her evasion. Two narrow passages between overhanging houses -were before her, and she darted down the nearest, which was unsavoury -to a degree. It ended at last, and she came out on a wide open space, -surrounded by squalid hovels, the outlines of which were just -discernible by the dull glare in the sky. Panting, she paused for a -moment, took off the shoe which still possessed a heel, and tried -vainly to hammer it off with a stone. It was beyond her efforts, and -she pushed back her hair, tied her handkerchief across her face below -the eyes, so that it hung down like an Egyptian face-veil, and turned -the skirt of her evening gown over her head, hoping that she might -pass for a Roumi woman, whose veil would be a safeguard to her in the -event of meeting any Moslem. Happily for her peace of mind, it did not -occur to her that the frills of silk and lace at the edge of the -lining would betray her at once, and she began to limp across the open -space, which she recognised as the remains of a Roman amphitheatre -which forms one of the sights of Therma. -</p> - -<p> -She had scarcely emerged from the shadow of the houses when she heard -footsteps behind her. She stopped, but they came on, and she broke -into a feeble run, hearing the footsteps following and coming nearer. -She thought she heard a voice, but she drew the skirt more closely -over her head and tottered on, until the treacherous heel caught in -something and she fell. The footsteps approached at a run, and she -shut her eyes and waited for death. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m awfully sorry I frightened you,” said a voice in English. “Can I -help you in any way?” -</p> - -<p> -The revulsion of feeling was so great that Eirene crouched helplessly -where she had fallen, and looked up at her questioner. With a gasp of -relief, such as she had never expected to feel in the circumstances, -she recognised the blue eyes bent upon her. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Captain Wylie!” she sobbed. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, who is it?” he asked, helping her up. “Is it possible—not Miss -Eirene?—I mean the Princess.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, yes,” she cried, pulling off the handkerchief; “and there is a -crowd trying to kill me, and I can’t get away. Oh, what shall I do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Gently,” said Wylie, drawing her back into the shadow of the houses. -“Are you hurt? You seemed to walk lame.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s my shoes. I have only one heel left.” She took off the shoe, and -he amputated the offending heel with his knife. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t promise to get you back to the Consulate,” he said, steering -her across the corner of the open space, “for most of the outrages -have taken place in the foreign quarter, and the troops are out, and -firing wild. I like the Roumis generally, but to-night I must confess -I would as soon meet a mob as soldiers. It’s natural enough after what -has happened.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what has happened?” cried Eirene. “Did some one blow up the -Seignorial Bank?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and a good many other places as well. I gave up trying to count -the explosions at last. I am staying with Professor Panagiotis, and -was driving back to his house when the first explosion came and the -gas failed. My driver refused to take me any farther, saying the -Professor’s house would certainly be one of those blown up. I tried to -get there the nearest way on foot, but there were troops pursuing -imaginary revolutionists in all the foreign streets, and too many -bullets were flying about for the atmosphere to be healthy.” -</p> - -<p> -“But are we going to the Professor’s house now? What is the good, if -it’s blown up?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have no reason to think that it is. As far as I can see, the -outrages have been mostly directed against foreign buildings. I -suppose the malcontents are displaying their disgust and contempt for -the reforms forced on the Grand Seignior by the Powers. At any rate, -as the Professor’s guest, I should be more likely to find shelter in -the Greek quarter than elsewhere.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why do you say the troops are shooting imaginary revolutionists? -Who do you think threw the bombs? There was a monk who jumped up on -the carriage—oh, it was terrible!” -</p> - -<p> -“Agents of the Thraco-Dardanian Committees, certainly, but I don’t -think they will wait to be shot. They will have provided for their -escape, and it’s only poor wretched passers-by, who have nothing to do -with the outrages, and are too terrified to get away, that will suffer -in this moment of panic.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can I go to the Professor’s?” asked Eirene, her thoughts -returning to her own situation, as, clinging to Wylie’s arm, she -traversed the deserted streets. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I should think it was better than staying out of doors,” -returned Wylie grimly. “I shall be thankful if we can get there.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a significance in his tone which she did not at first -understand, for his trained ear had caught sooner than she did the -regular tramp of soldiers, disentangling it from the confusion of -sounds which still filled the air—not close at hand, for the -shuttered houses might have been the abodes of the dead, but coming -from the quarter they were approaching. Reaching the corner of a -street, Wylie peered round it cautiously, and drew Eirene back with an -exclamation. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a detachment of the troops who are clearing the streets -coming this way. There! they’ve got some poor devil,” as the sound of -a volley and a piercing shriek rent the air. “Stand in this doorway. -They may go straight on and not see us.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene shrank as far into the shelter of the doorway as she could, and -Wylie stood in front of her, concealing her as much as possible. -</p> - -<p> -“They’ve got the jumps badly, and are firing at everything they see. -That’s the worst of it,” he said over his shoulder. “If I go down, you -must try to make them understand what an enormity they’ve committed in -firing on a European, and invoke Sir Frank Francis till all is blue.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch23"> -CHAPTER XXIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A FUSION OF INTERESTS.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> soldiers came down the street talking loudly and excitedly, for -the bonds of discipline were evidently relaxed. Every now and then a -stray shot told that one of them thought he had seen a figure lurking -in the shadow, and was taking the surest way of making things safe. -The fitful beams of an old and inefficient lantern wavered from side -to side as the leading man swung it towards each doorway in turn, but -the light was so feeble that Wylie, standing rigid in his corner, -almost hoped not to be seen. But his tweed clothes stood out against -the dark and greasy stonework of the porch, and as the beam fluttered -over him a voice called, “There’s a man hiding in that door!” -Instantly the ready rifles were focussed upon him, and even before he -could step forward two or three random shots struck the stonework and -spattered up the dust at his feet, but these were only due to nervous -men with twitching fingers. Before the order could be given to fire, -his voice rang out, “Cease firing!” in Roumi, and, taken by surprise, -the soldiers obeyed. He seized his opportunity, and called out that he -was English, and demanded their protection as far as the British -Consulate. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, it is a dog of a Christian, after all!” said one. -</p> - -<p> -“If he did not throw the bombs, he stirred up the rascals to do it,” -said another. -</p> - -<p> -“And what is he doing here, anyhow?” demanded a third. -</p> - -<p> -“Discovered under suspicious circumstances,” growled the sergeant. “He -can’t do any harm dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“He can do you a lot of harm when his body is found, you old fool!” -said Wylie vigorously. The sergeant jumped. -</p> - -<p> -“Here! give me the lantern,” he said, and taking it from the man who -held it, swung it so that the light fell on Wylie’s face. “Why, it is -the Bimbashi Bey with the cruel eyes, who gave us cigarettes when we -were up in the north three months ago!” he cried. “He is a good man, -Christian or not. Let there be no more talk of shooting him. What does -the Bimbashi Bey desire?” -</p> - -<p> -“Can you get us to the Consulate?” asked Wylie, moving aside. The -men’s eyes grew round as they distinguished Eirene crouching in the -shadow behind him. -</p> - -<p> -“It will be very difficult to take the lady such a long way through -the streets,” mused the sergeant. “Has the Bimbashi Bey no friends in -the Greek quarter?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am staying with Professor Panagiotis,” said Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the chief of the Greeks! That is well, unless his house is one of -those destroyed. We can soon see.” -</p> - -<p> -The soldiers opened out, and Wylie and Eirene took their places in the -midst. The sergeant, stalking just ahead, conversed with Wylie over -his shoulder. Ever since their meeting in the north, he and his men -had been sent hither and thither to places where outbreaks were -expected, but the outbreaks always occurred in the districts they had -just left, or, as now, had been allowed to come to a head instead of -being nipped in the bud. Every one had been expecting this particular -outbreak for days, or even weeks, he declared. It might have been -entirely prevented, but some one must have been heavily bribed. -Undoubtedly it was all due to the representatives of the Powers, who -with one hand egged on the revolutionists to their outrages, and with -the other held back the Roumis from punishing them as they deserved. -</p> - -<p> -Argument of this kind did not admit of much reply, and Wylie attempted -no defence of the action of the Powers, which had certainly not been -marked by any particular success. They were now in the Greek quarter, -and scared faces peeped at them from upper windows, while every door -was fast shut. Arrived at the end of the street in which Professor -Panagiotis lived, they found a cordon of soldiers drawn across it, -guarding a carriage which was waiting ready to start. About the middle -of the street, a gap in the row of houses dark against the sky showed -where the Professor’s dwelling had stood. The sergeant questioned his -colleague in charge of the guard, and found that they had been -detailed by the Vali to escort the Professor home, as his life was -considered to be in danger, but on arriving they discovered from the -neighbours that the house had been destroyed almost simultaneously -with the first explosion—that at the Seignorial Bank. The Professor -was now examining the ruins, to see whether any of his property could -be saved, but in a few minutes he was to be escorted to the city gate, -and set safely on his way to Kallimeri. -</p> - -<p> -“This is most fortunate,” said Wylie to Eirene. “I will make bold to -offer you the shelter of the Professor’s villa instead of his house -here, and you will meet the Teffanys again. They are longing to see -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Teffany? Oh, you mean Maurice and Zoe. I always think of them as -Smith. I should rejoice to meet them again, but not—not like this.” -Eirene looked down at her torn clothes and ruined shoes. “It would not -be proper—becoming. We are not now in the mountains.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie laughed involuntarily. “They must have seen you in much worse -trim often in the mountains,” he said. “Why is it improper now, if it -wasn’t then?” -</p> - -<p> -“The circumstances are different,” she said, flushing. “They know now -who I am. I cannot thrust myself upon them and ask help. At least we -were all in the same plight in the mountains.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can relieve your mind on one point, at any rate. There’s no -question of thrusting yourself upon them, for they are most anxious to -see you. I have a letter from Miss Teffany for you here, if you can -see to read it, and I was charged in addition to use all the arts of -diplomacy to persuade you to visit Kallimeri, if only for a day, and -even if you had to be accompanied by Madame Ladoguin.” -</p> - -<p> -“You really mean it?” she asked, looking up at him doubtfully. “You -are not saying it merely to make me willing to come? You may not quite -understand, but it is a tremendous step for me to take. I mean, if the -Ladoguins choose, they may say—things about me, and I may be cast off -entirely—if I don’t go back to the Consulate at once, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie cut short her halting utterances. “Don’t be afraid,” he said -kindly. “You shall go back to the Consulate as early as you like -to-morrow. To-night you simply can’t get there. Slander itself could -say nothing against your accepting a night’s shelter from your -father’s old friend and his wife. Now, will you get into the carriage -and read your letter, while I go and look for the Professor? You will -promise me to wait here until I come back?” -</p> - -<p> -Much to his relief, Eirene uttered no protest, and the idea which had -occurred to him that she might slip away when his back was turned, and -lose herself in the mazes and dangers of the streets, had evidently -not entered her mind. She was too much exhausted by all she had -undergone to have energy left to make plans for herself, and it was an -untold relief to find her movements settled for her. Gratefully she -accepted Wylie’s help, and entered the carriage, receiving Zoe’s -letter from him with a word of thanks, and leaning forward eagerly to -read it by the light of the sergeant’s lantern. Her piteous little -white face, as she looked up at him in utter bewilderment of fatigue, -was in Wylie’s thoughts as he passed the cordon to find the Professor, -and it made him very determined to obtain success in a task which he -foresaw, though without exactly knowing why, would have its -difficulties. He met the Professor returning to the carriage, and -condoled with him on his losses. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, it was only to be expected,” was the philosophical reply. “It -would have been something of a slight if I had been left unmolested on -such an occasion. Of course, the miscreants hoped to benefit -themselves,—I hear there were a dozen Jews raking over the ruins -almost before the fire had ceased, under pretence of helping to save -my possessions,—but I need not tell you they found nothing. We shall -save nothing of the furniture or contents of the house, unfortunately; -the destruction was too thorough. Two or three bombs must have been -used, I should say, and remarkably well placed. The caretaker’s wife, -who escaped, tells me she noticed a very tall woman, whom she -suspected to be a man in disguise, hanging about just at dusk. Well, -we had better get back to Kallimeri. I am sorry it is no use looking -for your bag, if that was your reason for coming down here.” -</p> - -<p> -“Never once thought of it,” said Wylie, detaining him. “No, I have -picked up a European lady in distress, and I want to take her back -with us. There’s nothing else to be done.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who is the lady?” asked the Professor sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“The Princess Eirene Féofan.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suspected as much. No; let her go back to the Scythian Consulate. I -have no responsibility for her.” -</p> - -<p> -“She can’t. The streets are impassable. You knew her father; you can’t -refuse her shelter.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will have nothing to do with her. Do you realise that she is a -Scythian tool, the only person whose right to the Greek Imperial crown -approaches—in some eyes even overshadows—that of Maurice Teffany? -Let Scythia look after her own candidate; my interests are -diametrically opposed to hers.” -</p> - -<p> -“Professor,” said Wylie, a bright idea seizing him, and enabling him -to choke down his indignation, “you can’t deceive me. Don’t try to -tell me that the same thought isn’t in your head as in mine. The game -is in your hands, and it’s no use trying to persuade me that you think -of throwing away your advantage. If you can get the Princess to -Kallimeri, and marry her to Teffany, you and he are both made men.” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor drew in his breath with a hissing sound. “He might be,” -he said. “I should be left out.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense! when both of them would owe you a debt of gratitude -ever after for having brought them together? Why, it would give you -the strongest possible influence at once.” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor considered the matter, and it was evident to Wylie that -he was weighing the merits of various courses in his mind. Like -Maurice, the soldier had the unpleasant feeling that in the -Professor’s cogitations his wishes or arguments had little part. The -issue would be decided by considerations far less obvious. -</p> - -<p> -“Your idea is excellent,” he heard at last, with sensible relief. -“Such a marriage would at once checkmate Scythia, and strengthen -enormously Mr Teffany’s position. I will represent the propriety of it -to him as soon as we reach Kallimeri, and there need be no difficulty -with the lady. She will be in our hands.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you mad?” demanded Wylie, seizing him again by the arm as he -turned quickly towards the carriage. “You can’t be serious in -proposing to put pressure upon the Princess. Why, Teffany would become -your enemy for life. The Princess comes to Kallimeri purely for -refuge, and incidentally to see her old friends before returning to -Scythia. If Teffany can induce her to stay, it’s all right. Otherwise, -we must take her back to the Consulate to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“That will be too late,” muttered the Professor. “The streets will be -clear again, and she will pass safely.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Wylie; “let me give you a word of advice. You and I -are men of the world, and know exactly how much and how little you -mean when you say things like that. But it would not sound well to the -Teffanys, and they might believe you meant it. Do you see?” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor signified reluctantly that he did, and asked, “Then what -is the good of taking the Princess to Kallimeri?” -</p> - -<p> -“Simply to bring them together. If Teffany wants her, he won’t let her -go again, after his sister and I have piled up the agony about endless -separation and the dangers that will surround the Princess in -Scythia.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, and what interest have you and Miss Teffany in the affair?” -demanded the Professor, severely. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Teffany hopes to gratify her brother, who would have come into -Therma to-day to try and see the Princess, if I had not insisted on -coming instead. My only interest is to gratify a wish expressed by -Miss Teffany.” -</p> - -<p> -Baffled by the unmoved tone, Professor Panagiotis went on towards the -carriage, where Eirene, tired out, had fallen asleep in her corner. -Wylie presented the Professor to her, and gave what money he had with -him to the friendly sergeant, to distribute among his men, before -taking his seat. The soldiers who had formed the cordon surrounded the -carriage, and they drove slowly towards the gate nearest Kallimeri. -Many streets were blocked with the ruins of houses which had been -destroyed, in others fires were raging and troops forbade passage, in -others the search for revolutionists was still being carried on, to -the accompaniment of shots and shrieks, others again were empty, save -for rigid forms prone in the shadow of the houses. At the gate, the -Vali’s seal, exhibited by the officer of the escort, obtained them a -speedy passage, and the soldiers convoyed them through the environs of -the town until they were safely on the upland road leading to -Kallimeri. Then the escort was dismissed, the driver was at length -allowed to whip up his horses, and in the wild, headlong style dear to -him and his tribe they rattled up to the villa. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what has been happening?” cried Zoe, rushing down from a point of -vantage beside the gate. “We have seen explosions, and the most -dreadful fires—not the ordinary kind that happen every night, but -whole streets must have been burnt. We were all so frightened. I have -been watching here for hours.” -</p> - -<p> -“That was very dangerous,” said Wylie, his heart leaping, -nevertheless. He had jumped out of the carriage to meet her, and the -Professor and Eirene, the latter still slumbering, had driven on. “If -a revolutionist had been hanging about ready to blow up the villa, he -would have killed you, lest you should give the alarm.” -</p> - -<p> -“But in that case I shouldn’t have been much better off in the house,” -said Zoe flippantly. “It was revolutionists, then—who have been -blowing up the town, I mean? So you were not able to deliver my note, -I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“Wasn’t I?” said Wylie triumphantly. “Why, I’ve brought the Princess -back. She’s in the carriage.” -</p> - -<p> -“In the carriage? Eirene? and you have kept me walking slowly here! -What will she think of me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait one minute,” said Wylie, as Zoe quickened her pace to a run; -“I’m very proud of myself for the way in which I did your errand, for -I have had to employ all the resources of diplomacy to overcome the -Princess’s objections to coming here, and the Professor’s objections -to having her. But we must manage to rush things a bit to-morrow -morning, for she means to go back.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if she does, we may as well give it up, for she will be out of -our reach,” said Zoe. “Clearly we must precipitate matters. Oh, but -how did you know what I was hoping for?” she cried suddenly. “I never -told you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guessed, from what you told me about your brother, and then it came -to me in a flash that we might get things settled at once, thanks to -all this affair in the city. Nobody knows where the Princess is, you -see, and it’ll take some time to track her.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean they could get married before she is found? Oh, how -splendid! We must manage it. I will think about it to-night, and you -must play up to me to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Trust me!” said Wylie, as they arrived at the door, where Madame -Panagiotis, a very correct German lady of commanding proportions, was -looking with evident suspicion at Eirene, with her bare shoulders and -tattered evening gown. With a cry of delight the two girls rushed into -each other’s arms, and on Zoe’s guarantee, Madame Panagiotis consented -to receive the dishevelled-looking stranger. There was a room next to -Zoe’s she could have, she said, and she herself would lend her decent -clothes, unless Miss Teffany cared to do so. Zoe declared joyfully -that no one else should look after her friend, and carried her off -upstairs at once, pausing only to say aside to Wylie— -</p> - -<p> -“Just tell Maurice, as you pass, that she is here. Then perhaps he -will be able to sleep.” -</p> - -<p> -Returning to Eirene, she found the Professor saying pointedly how glad -he was to receive under his roof a younger branch of the illustrious -house to which his honoured guests belonged, and she swept her off at -once, afraid that he might go on to say something that would spoil her -plans. -</p> - -<p> -“Isn’t Madame Panagiotis funny?” she asked of Eirene, when they were -by themselves. “Maurice and I used to wonder whether she would sit on -the floor and eat with her fingers, and you can imagine our feelings -when we found her such a monument of propriety. Do you know, the -Professor called her at first ‘the Mrs Professor’ when he talked -English—<i>die Frau Professorin</i>, you know—but he must have seen it -sounded queer, and he gave it up.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene sat listening passively while Zoe took down her hair and -brushed it. “Oh, Zoe,” she broke out suddenly, “it is such a rest to -be here. I don’t mind any one else—Professor or Professorin—if I can -be near you and Maurice. You can’t guess how I have longed for you!” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s awfully sweet of you to say it,” said Zoe, penitently. “I know I -was perfectly horrid to you often.” -</p> - -<p> -“You weren’t!” was the indignant reply. “You and Maurice were always -just the same to me, whether you thought I was Miss Smith or a -Princess. You were quite right to scold me when I said silly things. -And, Zoe, you were right about Vlasto, and I was too silly. He was -Nicetas Mitsopoulo, Chariclea Ladoguin’s brother, in disguise. I -recognised him as soon as he was presented to me, and I thought how -you would triumph. I deserved it.” -</p> - -<p> -“At any rate, it’s quite new for us to be paying each other -compliments. And have you brought the girdle of Isidora with you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, how could I? I did not dare to carry it in my dress any -longer, because of the maid. Do you know, Zoe, they were so anxious -that I should send it as a peace-offering to the Empress? Chariclea -and her brother both hinted at it. But I would not do it. It seemed -like buying back her favour by giving up my rights—your rights, too. -I found out a hiding-place for it, but I don’t know whether it’s safe. -Perhaps they will discover it this evening while I am away, and send -it to Pavelsburg, pretending that it comes from me!” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if they do, you can’t help it,” said Zoe. “Let it alone for -to-night. Are you frightfully tired, Eirene? There are such a lot of -things I want to ask you. Look here, let us bring your bed into my -room, and then we can talk without disturbing any one till we go to -sleep. I know Maurice will want you all the morning.” -</p> - -<p> -Loss of sleep, and her adventures of the evening, did not seem to have -told on Eirene’s spirits when she appeared the next day. Zoe had -dressed her hair low to hide the cuts and bruises received in the -explosion, and she looked very pretty in a white gown, which Zoe -surrendered to her heroically, though she had just had it made for -herself to replace the horrible German ready-made garments with which -she had been obliged to content herself on reaching Therma. The two -girls were sitting in the verandah looking into the inner courtyard of -the house, when Wylie, already primed for his part, brought up the -steps first an armful of cushions, and then Maurice, and established -him in a long chair. -</p> - -<p> -“Could I speak to you a minute?” he said to Zoe, as they had agreed, -and she went to the other end of the verandah with him. -</p> - -<p> -“I really have something to say,” he said. “It’s quite impossible for -the Princess to get back this morning. Firing is still going on in the -town, and they don’t think things will quiet down until fresh troops -arrive, which won’t be till to-night. What do you think of my riding -in and asking the Ladoguins to send a proper escort for her?” -</p> - -<p> -“It would provide the necessity for decision, which is what we want,” -said Zoe gravely. “I will call her away to write a letter to Madame -Ladoguin when it is time for you to start. Perhaps they will have -settled things before that. I shall leave them to themselves for the -morning, as soon as I have explained to Eirene that she must stay here -till she is sent for.” -</p> - -<p> -“Won’t that be rather pointed—leaving them to themselves, I mean?” -asked Wylie solicitously. -</p> - -<p> -Zoe gave him a look of pity. “I shall stay here,” she said. “If they -talk loud, I can hear them, and join in, but if they choose to talk -low, I shall work quietly.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose I mayn’t come and share your vigil?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, your company would be too distracting. I must be unobtrusively on -the watch, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie departed without a murmur, possibly a little to Zoe’s -disappointment, and only returned, equipped for riding, about two -hours later. -</p> - -<p> -“Now for it!” said Zoe. “I must take my courage in both hands. Shall I -save the situation, or shall I ruin it?” -</p> - -<p> -“But don’t you think it’s all right by this time?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit. Every now and then I have heard what they said, and it was -always ‘Do you remember?’ like children talking over a Sunday-school -treat. I might have sat with them the whole time. Well, now to -interrupt them. Doesn’t it make you feel a brute?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not in the least, nor you either. You know perfectly well that you -feel like a whole three-volume novel, or a goddess out of a machine, -or anything else that annihilates time and space to make two lovers -happy.” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe looked at him critically. “You mustn’t thought-read to such an -extent,” she said, “or I shall be afraid of you. It’s uncanny. Now I -am going to make the plunge. Eirene, are you ready? Captain Wylie is -waiting to start.” -</p> - -<p> -“Start? Where to?” demanded Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“For Therma, of course, to take Eirene’s letter. If she is to get back -to-night, she must be sent for.” -</p> - -<p> -“With these outrages still going on, when she has barely escaped with -her life already? Nonsense! she can’t go back.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t stay away any longer,” said Eirene. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s awfully hard that you should just get this one glimpse of us, -like a condemned man saying good-bye to his friends, and then go away -for ever,” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Why should she go away at all?” said Maurice suddenly. “Zoe, give us -two minutes more. And just tell Wylie, will you? Eirene,” as Zoe -vanished, “do you want to go back?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must,” she said, smiling at him bravely. -</p> - -<p> -“Can you bear to go back? I can’t bear you to go.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I must,” she murmured, trying to draw away her hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, you needn’t, if—Eirene, I know it will sound frightful cheek -to you, but I must say it—if you would marry me.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are sorry for me,” she said quickly, “because you know I am no -longer the heir.” -</p> - -<p> -“I never thought of it. I am sorry for you, but only because it’s so -rough on you to give you the alternative of taking me or going back to -a life you dread.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_318"> -<a href="images/img_318.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_318_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“<i>I can’t bear you to go</i>.” “<i>But I must</i>,” <i>she murmured.</i> -</div></div> - -<p> -“I suppose you understand,” said Eirene with energy, “that if I went -back to Scythia I should be replaced in my old position, and be rich -and received at Court?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I know, and I can only offer you a country life in England—for -certain. Anything else is mere possibility.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you imagine I am thinking of that? I want to be sure you do not -say this out of pity.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I do. I want you to take pity on me.” -</p> - -<p> -Sunshine succeeded momentary dismay on Eirene’s face. -</p> - -<p> -“You know,” she said softly, “there was a condition to be fulfilled -before I could be received at Court again?” -</p> - -<p> -“That you should marry some one, I suppose? Who is the brute?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, they would not say that in words. The condition was that I -should write to ask forgiveness, and say I was sorry for running -away.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and did you do it?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I would not—because I am glad, glad, glad, that I ran away. If I -had not——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes?” Maurice had her hand fast by this time. -</p> - -<p> -“I should still have been a rebel, opposing the head of my house,” -said Eirene demurely. -</p> - -<p> -“We might even have been pitted against one another,” said Maurice, -with equal solemnity. “By the bye, have you gone into my claims at -all?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, they are yours, and you believe they are just—that is enough,” -said Eirene. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch24"> -CHAPTER XXIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THROUGH ANOTHER MAN’S EYES.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Well</span>, did I play up to you?” asked Wylie, finding Zoe in the -verandah the next day. -</p> - -<p> -“You did, indeed. Your booted and spurred impatience was most telling. -I’m sure it woke Maurice to a sense of the desperate nature of the -situation, and so brought about the happy result. Don’t you feel proud -of your first attempt at match-making? I do.” -</p> - -<p> -“You were the match-maker; I only acted under your orders. What am I -to have for it?” demanded Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“A promise of further employment if your services should at any time -be needed,” said Zoe, with unnatural coolness, looking round -desperately for a way of escape. “Oh, here are Maurice and Eirene, -released at last from their conference with the Professor!” she cried, -with real relief. “Well, what have you settled?” as they came up the -steps, Maurice obviously quivering with excitement, Eirene reluctant -and blushing. -</p> - -<p> -“Everything!” cried Maurice triumphantly. “No, Eirene, I’m not going -to shout or chortle, or do anything I promised you not to, but I must -tell these two, because they’ll have to know, and we want Wylie’s -help. Where are you off to, Wylie? Come back at once. You are our -stand-by, our victim, our resource, as you have been all along.” -</p> - -<p> -“Didn’t know you’d want me,” muttered Wylie, returning, and Maurice -perceived that they had arrived at an inopportune moment, but was wise -enough to take no notice. -</p> - -<p> -“We want you tremendously,” he said. “I must tell you that Eirene is -behaving like a brick. She is willing to marry me as soon as ever it -can be arranged. It’s a proof of confidence I should never have -ventured to ask of her, and if ever I fail to justify it, I hope you -two will just talk to me as I deserve.” He took Eirene’s hand gently -in his, and she gave him a smile which was not far removed from tears, -and then drew back into the shadow behind him, unable to meet the eyes -of the others. “You see,” he went on, “it will save us no end of -bother if we can only get married before the Ladoguins can track -Eirene. It seems that the Professor made it right with the soldiers -who escorted you here, and the gate-keepers, so that no one will know -there was a lady with you, and most happily, no one will dare to make -inquiries openly, lest it should be asked why Madame Ladoguin didn’t -take better care of her charge. The Professor thinks that when they -find no trace of Eirene near the wrecked carriage—for, of course, the -Roumis who attacked her will say nothing, for their own sakes—they -will give out boldly that she was killed in the first explosion. We -can’t let that remain uncontradicted, for the sake of her claims, but -it will be much safer if she only comes forward again as my wife.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Wylie, “I don’t want to spoil your pleasant -arrangement, but where is the danger from Scythia now? The Princess is -of age; how can any one prevent her from marrying you if she likes?” -</p> - -<p> -“What’s to keep them from saying that she’s under age, or mad, or -anything?” demanded Maurice. “We could call for an inquiry, but she -wouldn’t be allowed to remain with us, and you ought to know, if any -one does, how hard it would be to get at her if they once got her into -their hands again. And besides, they could bring such pressure to bear -that no Greek priest in the world would dare to marry us.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should like to join Maurice’s Church,” explained Eirene softly to -Zoe, “but he thinks it would be such a good example for the Emathians -if they saw that people of different creeds needn’t necessarily -quarrel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor thing! Is he offering you up as a political sacrifice already?” -said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“But, I say,” said Wylie hastily, “you seem to forget that a religious -marriage isn’t enough. You’ll certainly need a civil ceremony as well, -if not two. Do you propose to drive up to the Scythian Consulate and -request Ladoguin to perform his duties as registrar?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely,” said Maurice, “though for a long time we couldn’t make out -how we were to manage without his services. A declaration that we were -Sovereign Princes and could legislate for ourselves would hardly meet -the case. But, happily, Eirene has remembered that her father never -surrendered his Dacian nationality. When he went to Scythia he held on -to his estate in Dacia—I suppose to have something to fall back upon -if things went wrong—and now it belongs to her. The simplest thing -would be for us all to migrate there, and be married by the village -pope and at the British Legation, but the trains are sure to be -watched, however unobtrusively. So we must take advantage of the -nearest spot of Dacian ground, which is their Consulate in Therma. The -Professor is on the best of terms with the Consul, for Dacia has not -so far joined in the scramble for influence in Emathia, and sides -rather with the Greeks than any one else. No doubt she hopes to have -her reward some day, but that doesn’t signify now. There’s a church -quite close to the Consulate which is regarded as their special -preserve, so we can have both ceremonies complete.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Princess will be married fast enough, but I’m pretty sure you -won’t,” objected Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“I shall be if the British Consul or acting-Consul is present, and -registers the marriage,” said Maurice. “The Professor has been looking -it up. Now, Wylie, this is where you come in. We want you to get round -your friend Sir Frank Francis. The best of it is”—Maurice’s voice -became unsteady—“that if the Ladoguins have told him anything about -Eirene’s disappearance, he’ll suspect <i>you</i> of having carried her off, -and of wanting his kind offices for yourself. So the first thing -you’ll have to do will be to disabuse his mind on that point. Then you -must swear him to secrecy, and tell him the real state of the case. -Tell him nothing would have induced us to patronise the rival -establishment if we hadn’t felt certain that, if we came to him, his -conscience would have driven him to give Ladoguin an opportunity of -forbidding the banns. As it is, he is only asked to attend at the -Dacian church and Consulate, and register the marriage of a British -subject in the usual way. If he feels that even that is too much, ask -him to take a day off, and appoint his chief clerk acting-Consul for -the occasion.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if he won’t, what is to happen?” said Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, we should have to escape in a half-married condition, and find a -less Scythia-ridden British Consul. But Wylie must put things so -movingly that he won’t have the heart to refuse. After all, I am the -head of Eirene’s family, and who has the right to arrange for her -marriage if I haven’t? And if I choose to marry her myself, instead of -handing her over to some one else, and she doesn’t object, who has any -right to prevent me?” -</p> - -<p> -“All very well,” said Wylie. “It sounds most logical and convincing, -but you know there are a good many people who both could and would -prevent you. Don’t be afraid; I’ll exhaust my eloquence on Sir Frank, -and if nothing else will bring him, I’ll persuade him it’s his duty to -be present to make sure that I am not marrying the Princess after all. -Well, consider the ceremony safely accomplished. What next?” -</p> - -<p> -“Next we are to be very snobbish, and send detailed announcements of -our marriage—showing that it means the union of the elder and younger -branches of the descendants of John Theophanis—to the principal -papers of the world. Also, Eirene is to announce it to the various -royalties whose acquaintance she enjoys.” -</p> - -<p> -“And where are you to be when the announcement bursts upon the -universe?” -</p> - -<p> -“At home, I hope, for our honeymoon. The Professor seems inclined to -allow us a breathing-space. I can’t quite make out what he’s up to, -but apparently he thinks of nothing at present but getting the wedding -over. I fancy winter is a close time in Emathia, too. I should like to -show Stone Acton to Eirene, and we should be out of the way until the -fuss had blown over.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I hope you mean to apply for police protection,” growled Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“Or import a detachment of Pinkerton men from America to garrison the -house, with instructions to shoot at sight any foreigner who appears -in the village,” suggested Zoe. -</p> - -<p> -“And what next?” persisted Wylie. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s what I can’t quite make out. Eirene’s got an idea that the -Professor has in his mind’s eye—or even in his actual -possession—some fortified island in the Archipelago, where we might -practise sovereignty, so to speak; but that makes him a sort of -benevolent magician, and I can’t quite fit it in with the other things -I know of him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but it’s such a delightful idea!” cried Zoe. “You would stay -quietly in your island when nothing particular was going on, and when -adventures were going to begin, you would be close at hand. But you -must be sure and let me know whenever that is, and I shall come from -the ends of the earth.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what are you proposing to do?” demanded Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Maurice, allow me a little liberty. You didn’t expect me to -trail about after you and Eirene, did you? I have so many plans that I -don’t know which to carry out first. I am going to write my great -book, and to pose as a Balkan expert in literary society, and to -travel all over the world.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, I daresay circumstances will make the decision for you,” -said Maurice, with a significance which Zoe recognised and resented. -There was a touch of defiance in her rejoinder. -</p> - -<p> -“On the whole, I think I shall choose the literary part first. I shall -shut myself up, and write and write; but every now and then I shall -pounce out on unhappy people who think that the Emathian problem is a -simple one, or who make mistakes in spelling Balkan names.” -</p> - -<p> -“But who is going to accept you as a critic?” asked Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Every one,” triumphantly. “I have the one great qualification. I have -failed in literature.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I thought you were going to succeed now. You’ll find yourself in -a glass house—a mark for all the other critics.” -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice, I have had to tell you before that you were dense, but I am -sorry to have to repeat it in Eirene’s presence. When my success has -come—as soon as ever I am sure of it—I shall start upon my travels. -In Tibet or the Sahara I shan’t be bothered by what people are saying -about me. I shall have quite enough to do with taking care of myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry to break in on these blissful dreams of the future,” said -Wylie, in rather a forced voice, “but the fact is, my extended leave -is nearly out, and my time here is limited. How soon am I to intimate -to Sir Frank that his presence will be required at the Dacian -Consulate?” -</p> - -<p> -“This day week,” returned Maurice promptly. “Eirene is pledged not to -protest, and the Professor has promised to get her the Patriarch’s -blessing as a reward.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I shall just have time to see you through. I sail in the -afternoon.” -</p> - -<p> -“If there’s any risk, we’ll put the wedding earlier,” said Maurice. -“Don’t mind my feelings; tell me if it’s necessary. I must have you to -support me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you’ll have Armitage.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall have Armitage anyhow. The Professor says two best men are -necessary. But you I must have—as better best man, I suppose. So let -me know the worst, or I’ll keep you back by force, and get you -cashiered.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’ll be all right,” said Wylie, compassionating Eirene’s -blushes. “I hope you realise what a lucky fellow you are, and that the -Princess won’t let you forget it.” -</p> - -<p> -“How could I forget it, when I have got her?” demanded Maurice. “He -talks treason, doesn’t he, Eirene? Let us depart in dudgeon, and leave -him and Zoe to plot the subjugation of Sir Frank. No, Zoe, we don’t -want you. I am surprised that a person of your discernment should try -to make a third in the walks of an engaged couple. <i>You’re not the -only one in the family to take up match-making</i>,” he added in a -whisper, as Zoe sat down again, somewhat discomposed. But the -emergency put her on her mettle, and she turned to Wylie with smiling -coolness as Maurice and Eirene went down the steps into the garden. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s delicious to see them looking so happy, isn’t it?” she remarked. -“It makes one feel quite choky.” -</p> - -<p> -“Doesn’t it make you feel that such perfect bliss ought to be -infectious? Don’t you think you and I——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, please don’t!” she cried. -</p> - -<p> -“What am I not to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t say it. I like you tremendously, of course, and I think you are -the most splendid friend any one ever had, but I want to travel about -for ever so long, just as I like, and write, and be <i>in</i> things, you -know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you haven’t been in things enough the last three months?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should think not! It has only whetted my appetite for more. Things -are so frightfully interesting. I should like to plunge right into the -midst of life.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it absolutely necessary to take the plunge alone?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I know what you are going to say. But don’t you see that I want -to be without responsibilities for a time? I have always had Maurice -on my mind, but now I can hand the dear boy over with an easy -conscience to Eirene, and do just as I like. I want to be able to shut -myself up and write, or start off on my travels, and go on, or come -back, or break my journey, just as the fancy takes me—not to have to -feel that I ought to be doing anything whatever.” -</p> - -<p> -“You would soon get tired of that sort of life.” -</p> - -<p> -“So everybody would say, but I want to try it. But you are better than -most people. You are the only man I ever met who wouldn’t have been -scandalised at what I have said, and done everything to keep me back.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps I know better than to say all I feel. Or perhaps I am trying -to allure you by a deceptive show of sympathy. Honestly, Zoe, your -life shouldn’t be a dull one if I could help it—with me, I mean,” he -added lamely. “And you can’t think I should try to stop your writing. -I should be awfully proud of your books.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know. It’s very nice of you to say it, but you don’t understand. -Think of me stuck down in a small Indian station——” Wylie opened his -lips, but closed them again. “You told me long ago you were to be -stationed in a horrid, humdrum little place when you went back. -Nothing would happen, there would be the same dull, deadly monotony of -duties every day—and yet I couldn’t have a writing fit in peace. It -isn’t even as if you were still on the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s rather a good thing I’m not, if your feelings would be liable to -change the moment I was transferred anywhere else. But I should have -thought a quiet, regular life would have been the best possible thing -for your writing.” -</p> - -<p> -“For manufacturing books, not for writing. Why, just think, if I woke -up one day with a perfectly splendid idea, and wanted simply to sit -down and work it out—not to bother about meals or anything, except -coffee and biscuits, or something of that kind, which I could eat -without thinking about it. You would come—I know you would—and sweep -my books away ruthlessly, and insist upon my taking proper food, and -expect me to be grateful to you for doing it!” -</p> - -<p> -“And I should be disappointed? Well, I will try to moderate my -expectations. It might come to our both having scratch meals, -surrounded by books, at opposite corners of the table.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, you would never get like that, and it’s quite right you -shouldn’t. You would have your duties, demanding punctuality and -regularity, and all the things I want to escape from for a time, and -you would insist on them. It would be different if you were more -easy-going.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid the woman who marries me will have to take me as I -am—unless she can change me. Zoe, take me in hand, won’t you? I’ll -give you a free hand to make all the alterations and improvements you -like.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it’s just those very qualities that I like in you. No, you won’t -see. When—I mean if—I marry, I shall really do my duty and settle -down. If I went back with you now, I should sink my own life in yours. -I should think of nothing but seeing that your meals were in time and -as you liked them, and that the house and everything did you credit, -and you would congratulate yourself on having driven all my foolish -aspirations out of my head. And then one day I should wake up to find -that I was growing old, and had done nothing, and the visions had -faded, and I should—<i>hate</i> you. No, I shall never be young again, I -shan’t always feel my heart leap up with a great idea coming -suddenly—I must follow the gleam while I can. It will be different in -a few years, but at present I have such lots of interests, and I can’t -narrow them all down to——” -</p> - -<p> -“To one man and his career? Well, put it that you spend these years as -you suggest. What then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, whether I succeed or fail, I shall have tried my wings, ‘proved -my soul,’ like Paracelsus. Perhaps the visions will fade naturally, -perhaps they will be more under control. Then I shall have time for -the other side of life.” -</p> - -<p> -“In other words, you might be willing then to turn to the man who -loved you and had spent his best years waiting for you?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are trying to make me out perfectly horrid! I—I——” Zoe blushed -and stammered—“I shouldn’t mind very much being engaged, if it was -quite certain that the engagement was a long one.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I should. Do you really expect me to go on working quietly, not -knowing where you were, or in what wild scrapes you might be involving -yourself? Suppose you were again in circumstances like this summer’s. -Another man is thrown with you, as I have been, falls in love with -you, as I have done; you discourage him steadily, as you have -discouraged me, but he forces an explanation—also like me. You plead -that you are already engaged. ‘Why, what kind of double-distilled fool -can the fellow be, to let you run about by yourself like this? He -can’t care for you much!’ And it would be perfectly just.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have said more to you than I could ever have imagined I should say -to any man on earth,” said Zoe resolutely, but with a tremor in her -voice. “If you won’t wait, it is not for me to offer concessions. Why -are you so impatient?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because life is short and apt to end suddenly, I suppose. What’s the -good of talking, Zoe? I want you, and you don’t want me, and that’s -all about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh,” said Zoe impulsively, “when you talk like that, I have a feeling -as if I saw your real self for a moment. The rest of the time you seem -not to be putting forth all your strength. If you did, I—— What is -it?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is just that. I believe that if I looked you straight in the eyes, -and said, ‘Come,’ you would come. I could make you listen to me, but I -won’t. I don’t want my will merely to triumph over yours; I want your -sober judgment to decide that you care for me enough to give up -everything else, no matter what, for my sake, and not regret it.” -</p> - -<p> -Her puzzled face was a mute request to him to go on. -</p> - -<p> -“Remember what I have learnt, since I knew you first, about your -brother’s future prospects. The Professor has been rubbing it in -diligently. If Teffany’s claims were once recognised, or even -influentially taken up, think of the gulf between you and me. Married -to a poor and undistinguished soldier, you would be heavily -handicapped; free, you could aspire to almost any position. Unless you -really loved me, heart and soul, you must feel that I was a drag on -you, and resent it, and I—I could stand anything but seeing you -repent that you had married me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how unkind you are!” cried Zoe. “As if anything that could -possibly happen could make me change! Why, if I were a princess, and -you came in as a stranger, I should step down to you and hold out my -hand.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I should kiss it and pass on.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are cruel. Don’t you see how terribly I should be wanting you if -I did such a thing as that? Oh, promise, promise, that if I ever do it -you won’t pass on!” -</p> - -<p> -Wylie laughed bitterly. “What a queer girl you are!” he said. “Your -eyes are full of tears at the mere thought that you may want me some -day, and yet you won’t take me now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I was feeling it as if it was in a book,” murmured Zoe shamefacedly. -“But you will promise?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I won’t, because I shouldn’t do it. I shall do my level best to -forget you from the day I leave this.” -</p> - -<p> -This was high treason, and cried aloud for condign punishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Can you forget when you like?” asked Zoe incisively. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I wish I could! It won’t be much comfort for me, away in the -Soudan, to think of you wandering about the world and getting into all -sorts of difficulties.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Soudan? But aren’t you going back to India?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I am to be lent to the Egyptian Government for special work in -the Soudan. That was how I got longer leave.” -</p> - -<p> -He went away abruptly, and Zoe gazed after him with mingled feelings. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course we shall meet again,” she said to herself. “It’s all -nonsense about forgetting. He can’t forget if he really cares. And we -shall be older then, and more tolerant, and get into one another’s -ways better.” A vision crossed her mind of herself and Wylie placed -farther apart by the passage of years, both more fixed in their own -ways and opinions, each finding it more difficult to understand the -other, but she brushed it aside. “I have a right to live my own life, -just as he has a right to try and get me to live his, if he can. I -wonder whether he could have made me marry him, as he said? It would -be hard to refuse, I know, if he had looked at me. I—I almost wish he -had tried. And why didn’t he tell me about the Soudan until just at -the end?” -</p> - -<p> -She wondered in vain, but Wylie vouchsafed enlightenment later to -Eirene, who felt that her own engagement supplied a vantage-ground -from which to stretch out helping hands to those who were less -fortunate in their love affairs. With the gracious little air of -condescension which she had now laid aside in Maurice’s case, she took -Wylie to task. -</p> - -<p> -“The Soudan is just what Zoe would love,” she said. “You should have -told her about it sooner—quite at the beginning. Why didn’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I didn’t want her to marry me merely as a purveyor of -adventures.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are a very rude man,” said Eirene, with dignity. -</p> - -<p> -“Sorry,” said Wylie. “It’s not the first time you’ve had that against -me, is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“But it makes me unhappy that you should manage things so badly, for -you are the very person for Zoe.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mustn’t flatter my self-conceit by agreeing with me. She doesn’t -think so, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but she will, some day. Don’t think me meddling, prying”—she -blushed—“but you won’t suddenly marry some one else in despair, will -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“There won’t be much chance of marrying any one where I shall be,” he -said, looking down at her kindly, “so I can reassure your mind by -saying that it’s in my work I hope to forget all this.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch25"> -CHAPTER XXV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“POUR MIEUX SAUTER.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Maurice</span> and Eirene were married. In the little church of Hagios -Gerasimos, Maurice the servant of God had been crowned for Eirene the -handmaid of God, and Eirene the handmaid of God for Maurice the -servant of God. They had drunk of the Common Cup, walked in procession -round the church with the crowns held over their heads by the -groomsmen, exchanged wedding-rings, to Maurice’s surprise and -gratification, and they had been dismissed with the blessing of -Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. Sir Frank -Francis was duly present to register the marriage. Wylie had again -displayed his diplomatic powers by laying siege first to Lady Francis, -whose fertile imagination, defying probabilities and dates, swept her, -as soon as she heard his story, to the wild conclusion that he had -been wooing Eirene for his friend during those trying weeks when he -had maintained so assiduous a watch on the Scythian Consulate. Even -when approached through the person who might be presumed to know his -weak points best, Sir Frank was not easy to persuade. His promise of -secrecy prevented his revealing everything at once to M. Ladoguin, but -he declared long and loudly that he would have nothing to do with any -clandestine, hole-and-corner business. It was by working on his -feelings of sympathy for Eirene that his wife at length extorted his -consent. The poor girl would be indubitably married; was it to be -thought of that her bridegroom should be bound only by honour? Once -away from Therma, he might or might not repeat the ceremony before a -British Consul, and was it just to subject the bride to such a risk? -Maurice would certainly not have recognised his own character had he -heard Lady Francis expatiating on the danger of Eirene’s too probably -finding herself a deserted wife, and Wylie was filled with grim -amusement when the injustice of it occurred to him; but the natural -desire of an honest man to see that a young fellow did honestly by the -girl who trusted him carried the day over Sir Frank’s sense of his -duty to his colleague. Two stipulations he made, which were promptly -accepted, namely, that he should see Eirene alone before the ceremony, -in order to ascertain her true wishes and make sure that she was not -breaking any former contract of betrothal, and that on the day after -the wedding he should be allowed to make a clean breast of the matter -to M. Ladoguin. -</p> - -<p> -The arrangements of the wedding-day were curious, for though the -wedding itself was obliged to take place in the morning to allow Wylie -to be present, the ship in which the bridal pair and Zoe had taken -their passage for England did not sail till the evening. Accordingly, -after the ceremony Armitage escorted Wylie to his steamer, and the -rest of the party returned to Kallimeri, Eirene wearing Greek peasant -costume and passing as the maid of Madame Panagiotis, for there was to -be no relaxation of vigilance until they were safely at sea. Zoe was -in specially high spirits, accusing the bride and bridegroom of -sharing the sense of depression which is usually believed to settle -down upon a wedding-party after the departure on their honeymoon of -the chief actors. -</p> - -<p> -“Stuff!” said Maurice. “Why, my wedding-ring alone would keep me from -being depressed,” regarding his hand proudly. “It’s really awfully -swagger. Makes a man feel so undeniably married, don’t you know?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s all very well,” said Zoe. “It’s no use trying to wear a -mask before me. You forget that I have an advantage which no other -living bridesmaid possesses. I am like the Infant Phenomenon, going -away with Mr and Mrs Lillyvick on their wedding tour. Have you read -‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ Eirene? Not? What a lot of things we have to -teach her, haven’t we, Maurice?” -</p> - -<p> -“There’s one thing I should like to teach you, and that is to know a -good man when you see one,” growled Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -Zoe turned upon him. “If you think you are doing Captain Wylie any -good by the way you have behaved to me all this week, you are very -much mistaken,” she said. “Any one would think I was a child who -didn’t know her own mind, instead of a reasonable being, acting -deliberately. I told him exactly how I felt, and he understands. He -doesn’t wish to marry me while I feel as I do; he said so. And now I -hope you will leave off treating me in this absurd way, as if I was in -disgrace, and allow me the liberty I allow you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Zoe, Maurice didn’t mean that!” cried Eirene anxiously. “He was -only so sorry for Captain Wylie.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope, Maurice,” said Zoe, unappeased, “that you realise how -detestably you have behaved, when you see that it’s necessary for -Eirene to interpret your intentions to me.” -</p> - -<p> -She left the verandah with great dignity, but found herself confronted -by Armitage on the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, are you back already?” she cried. “Well, did you see him off?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, the steamer was actually punctual; we had barely time, in fact. -He begged me to give his farewells and good wishes all over again. I -only stayed to watch him out of the harbour, and hurried back here, -because I thought Mrs Teffany might let me make a sketch of her in -that Greek dress. It’s awfully fetching, and I shan’t have another -chance.” -</p> - -<p> -Armitage was to wait until the next steamer, so as to cover the -retreat of the rest, or rather, to find out if any measures were -likely to be taken against them. What his paper thought of his long -delay at Therma he did not inquire, trusting to be able to placate it -with a terrific double-page drawing of the city on the night of the -dynamite outrages, as seen from Kallimeri, as well as by a whole -supplement illustrating the adventures of his friends, whose capture -by the brigands had first brought him south. -</p> - -<p> -“If you would stand just as you are now, leaning against that pillar, -Mrs Teffany,” he continued persuasively. “You see, I have your husband -in Greek dress already, and I could work up the two sketches into a -tremendously telling portrait.” -</p> - -<p> -“I bag it, then,” said Maurice. “All right, Eirene, let him do it if -he’s taken that way. It’s only like being photographed at an ordinary -wedding.” -</p> - -<p> -“It ought to have been a group,” objected Zoe, whose anger had -evaporated before the duty of arranging Eirene so that her costume -showed to the best advantage. With skilful fingers she pulled out here -and patted down there, until Armitage begged her not to make the -effect too studied. -</p> - -<p> -“Talking about groups, we really ought to have had one taken before -Wylie left,” said Maurice. “Just the four of us who were captured -together. He always seems rather left out, and yet he worked so -tremendously for us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that reminds me,” said Armitage. “I can’t help thinking”—he went -on, with some embarrassment—“at least, I know I should like to be -reminded if it was my case. It doesn’t seem quite fair to Wylie—— -You know he paid your ransom?” -</p> - -<p> -“No!” cried Maurice. “I thought my bankers did it. Why, this explains -the apologetic, self-congratulatory letter they wrote to me this week. -I was too busy to bother about it, but I was going to ask for an -explanation when I got home. Wylie paid, you say?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe the Professor raised some of it. But I know Wylie scraped -together fifteen thousand, by selling out every shilling of his -investments, and mortgaging the little place he has in the north. You -see, your bankers had refused to advance the money, and the brigands -had sworn to kill you if it wasn’t forthcoming.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why in the world has he said nothing about it? What a set of -ungrateful brutes he must think us! Oh, I say, this is the rankest -thing I ever heard!” cried Maurice, tramping about the verandah in his -perturbation. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you see, the money didn’t actually ransom you. The brigands -bagged it all right, but Scythia had been beforehand with us, and we -might as well have chucked it into the sea. I only found out Wylie’s -feeling about it just now. He forbade me to say a word to you—said -his pay gave him enough for his wants, and his place would do as well -with a mortgage on it as without—but I thought you ought to know.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m jolly glad you did!” cried Maurice. “I feel a perfect hound. -After all Wylie has done for us—and everything——” -</p> - -<p> -Zoe had risen suddenly and gone down the steps, her face resolutely -turned from the rest, her hands clenched until the nails made deep -marks in the palms. A rush of overwhelming shame, unavailing regret, -had swept over her. Stiffly she walked along the garden paths, guiding -herself instinctively, her head held rigidly, her eyes seeing nothing. -Presently, in the shelter of a clump of bushes, out of sight of the -verandah, Eirene caught her up. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Zoe, don’t look so dreadful!” she entreated. “He must know you -didn’t know.” -</p> - -<p> -“‘There are strange punishments for such,’” came harshly from Zoe’s -lips. “It’s only what I deserve.” -</p> - -<p> -“But,” suggested Eirene timidly, “Maurice will pay him back. He won’t -really suffer.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not that. It is that he could do it, and say nothing, even -when—— Oh, Eirene, you don’t understand, you can’t understand. Be -thankful you can’t. You didn’t shut your heart against love; you took -it and were thankful. I chose to live my own life, and I have got it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if he really cares——” ventured Eirene, with increasing -nervousness. “Oh, Zoe, I don’t like to say it, but if I could do -anything——?” An angry flush rose to Zoe’s face, but faded quickly. -</p> - -<p> -“No, you can’t. He knows me now as I am, you see, and it would be no -use. You understand, Eirene, there is nothing to be done—nothing -whatever. Swear that you won’t try anything.” Eirene promised hastily. -“Just let me alone for a little. I should like to go out somewhere and -howl, but that would attract attention. Leave me alone here and go -back to the others. I shall be all right presently.” -</p> - -<p> -Eirene obeyed, the more readily that the sight of Zoe in this mood -frightened her horribly. A sense of duty had made her follow her, but -she ran back gladly to the verandah and Maurice. He met her below the -steps, and she nestled close to him. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Maurice, I am so glad I have you!” she whispered. “It is horrible -to be a woman alone, even if you can’t help it.” -</p> - -<p> -Into the meaning of this cryptic utterance Maurice did not inquire, -but it was some little time before he rearranged the floating odds and -ends of the Greek dress, and led her up the steps into the field of -view of the patient Armitage, demanding sternly what she meant by -running away when she was sitting for her portrait. She was posed -afresh against the pillar, and Armitage went on with his sketch, but -it seemed that fate was warring against its completion. Only a few -strokes had been added when Professor Panagiotis appeared on the -verandah and invited Maurice’s attention. -</p> - -<p> -“It is rather a serious matter, though the cause is a trifling one,” -he said. “Perhaps you would prefer to discuss it privately?” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew we were not married enough!” groaned Maurice. “Wylie always -said we ought to have four weddings at least, and we have only had two -and a half—counting Sir Frank’s presence as the half. Well, Eirene, -you’re just as much concerned as I am, so you had better come. Put in -some background or something, can’t you, Armitage, while we’re gone?” -</p> - -<p> -The Professor ushered them into his private room with some ceremony, -as though to remind them of the position they held in his plans for -the future. On the table lay a document written on parchment in Greek -characters. -</p> - -<p> -“It was about this that the slight difficulty arose,” said the -Professor. “I thought it well to draw up a brief statement of the -circumstances of your marriage, with the signatures of the witnesses, -in view of possible developments. One copy you would take to England -and place among your family papers, the other I would either entrust -to the custody of the Œcumenical Patriarch or put in a safe place of -my own, as you prefer. In these days of dynamite, one can never be -sure that some night the British and Dacian Consulates will not be -blown up simultaneously, and both the original registers destroyed. I -have the signatures of the Consuls, you see, but unfortunately Papa -Sotirios, the old priest whom we chose to perform the ceremony on -account of the simplicity of his character and his detachment from -politics, makes a difficulty. You noticed, of course”—turning -suddenly to Maurice—“that you were described in the service as ‘the -Orthodox Prince Maurice, son of Theodore,’ just as your bride was -termed ‘the Orthodox Princess Eirene, daughter of Nicholas’?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not I,” said Maurice. “I knew it was Greek he was reading, and of -course I grasped the general drift, but I couldn’t follow his -pronunciation a bit.” Eirene’s eyes were anxious. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it is really very troublesome and absurd,” said the Professor, -in hearty, paternal tones, “but it seems Papa Sotirios observed that -you did not venerate the ikons on leaving the church, and when I saw -him afterwards, he insisted on knowing whether you were truly -Orthodox. It sounds ridiculous, but actually, in the hurry of -arranging for the wedding, and the difficulty of doing so without -arousing notice, I never thought of mentioning that you had not yet -joined the Greek Church. Your name disarmed suspicion, and the -Patriarch sent his blessing, as Papa Sotirios performed his office, in -ignorance of your schismatical standpoint.” -</p> - -<p> -“But does that vitiate the marriage?” cried Maurice. “Nonsense! of -course it can’t. The civil ceremony in the presence of the two Consuls -can never be upset.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, quite so,” said the Professor hurriedly. “Nothing can touch -the validity of the marriage. But in the eyes of the people, you -see—well, any informality about the religious ceremony——” -</p> - -<p> -“Would the marriage not have been allowed to take place if it had been -known that I was not a Greek?” demanded Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it is true that, strictly speaking, mixed marriages are -forbidden. Of course, the prohibition often yields to special -circumstances. And as the marriage has taken place, I don’t see that -its religious validity could be questioned. It is merely that we ought -to avoid the slightest suspicion of any informality in your case. You -must remember that Prince Christodoridi will be on the watch for any -flaw in your title from the moment you come into the public eye.” -</p> - -<p> -“But according to him, my title is nothing but a series of flaws, by -what you told me at first. You said he would declare every foreign and -non-Orthodox marriage in my family a bar to my succeeding.” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly, but—there is a further consideration. From that point of -view, the Princess, your wife, has now contracted a heterodox -marriage, and therefore loses her right of succession, the only one -incontestably superior to Prince Christodoridi’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, but what’s to be done?” cried Maurice, after a pause of dismay. -“We must be married over again, I suppose. But no, that would be no -good, and you say they wouldn’t allow the wedding to take place. I -have always known that my rights were not worth much if the bigots got -the upper hand, but I can’t let my wife lose her rights through me. I -suppose you have something to suggest?” -</p> - -<p> -“A very simple and practicable expedient, happily. You have only to -announce your adhesion to the Orthodox Church at once. A brief -renunciation of the errors of your former schismatical creed, and a -profession of faith—equally short—uttered in the presence of Papa -Sotirios and other accredited witnesses, will put everything right.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how? I don’t see——” began Maurice. -</p> - -<p> -“The conversion and the marriage will have taken place on the same -day,” said the Professor, patiently and impressively, “and it will -naturally be accepted that the conversion came first. The priest will -be glad to fall in with the wishes of so distinguished a convert, the -Consuls can say nothing either way, as the subject was not broached in -their presence, my silence may be relied on. The Princess’s claims are -safe, while yours are infinitely strengthened.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I have no intention——” -</p> - -<p> -“It will merely be anticipating a step which you must have taken -eventually, and which will come from you now with a much better grace. -No one not belonging to the Orthodox Church could be considered as a -serious candidate for the heritage of John Theophanis.” -</p> - -<p> -“And yet you have invited me to consider myself a serious candidate -without saying a word about this?” -</p> - -<p> -“The thing was so obvious that no mention was needed. It was certain -that the necessity would force itself upon you as soon as you -considered the question at your leisure.” The Professor’s tone was -bold, but his eyes were shifty. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it hasn’t. What’s more, the exact opposite has. If I had felt -any drawing towards the Greek Church before I came to Emathia, what I -have seen would have altered my views. My object is to unite the -Emathian Christians, not to accentuate their divisions. To throw -myself on the side of the Patriarchists would make every Slav in -Emathia my bitter enemy. Why, I would almost rather turn Exarchist, as -my wife is already enlisted on the Greek side.” -</p> - -<p> -“A heterodox Emperor is no Emperor,” said the Professor, with deadly -meaning. -</p> - -<p> -“A good many of my ancestors were not particularly Orthodox,” said -Maurice drily. -</p> - -<p> -“All the Christians in Emathia—Greeks and Slavs alike—would unite -against the heretic who dared to aspire to——” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m very glad to hear it,” Maurice broke in. “First time in their -history they ever united for or against anything. I should have -achieved a triumph. But I don’t believe they would. If they have never -united against the Moslem they would scarcely do it against me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you so false to your race that you could bring yourself to adopt -a neutral, even a hostile, attitude towards it?” cried the Professor. -“Are our sufferings, our sacrifices, our efforts towards emancipation, -clogged by the dead weight of the sullen indifference of the Slavs, -nothing to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think the Greeks are getting hard measure at present, undoubtedly, -but it’s only what they have given in the past. Your ignorant, -avaricious priests and self-seeking Bishops and Patriarchs have much -to answer for in alienating the people upon whom they were forced. -Your men of letters have stifled all culture but their own, and they -have their reward in a population bitterly hostile to Greek and -ignorant of everything else.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Teffany,” said the Professor angrily, “this is very fine, but it -is not business. It is absurd to think that the party I represent will -consent to throw its influence on the side of a candidate who derides -its most cherished institutions and ideals. I ask you plainly, are you -prepared to join the Orthodox Church and accept whole-heartedly the -Hellenising programme of the Greek party in Emathia, as the price—if -you choose to call it so—of its support of your claims?” -</p> - -<p> -“And I answer you plainly—I am not.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t decide hastily,” urged the Professor. “You may not be aware -that since your rescue I have made some progress in sounding the -representatives of the Powers on the subject of your claims. Sick of -the clamour for reform, and the slight success of the steps already -achieved, they did not turn an unfriendly ear. A Christian -Governor-General, with the support of the most influential section of -the population assured to him, ought to succeed, and the neutral -Powers seemed to think so. There remain Scythia and Pannonia. Scythia -never fights against the inevitable; you are far more likely to suffer -from her patronage than her hostility. Pannonia cannot afford to be -outdone in unselfish magnanimity by Scythia. In fact, the signs are so -favourable that we cannot pause. If you desert us, we must press the -claims of Prince Christodoridi, whose way will be cleared by your -destruction of the claims of the Princess, your wife.” -</p> - -<p> -“Eirene,” said Maurice, “do you want me to secure your rights at the -Professor’s price?” His tone was harsh, and Eirene knew the reason. He -could not be sure which side she would take. She responded to the -unuttered appeal. -</p> - -<p> -“Not at the price of your conscience. Do what you feel is right. Our -claims remain as just as they ever were.” -</p> - -<p> -Maurice’s hand sought hers in the joyful assurance of confidence not -misplaced. “My wife and I are agreed,” he said. “We maintain our -independence.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry to hear it, but there is no more to be said. You have -chosen your own course, and you know the consequences——” The -sentences shot out venomously. -</p> - -<p> -“Most certainly, but we hold ourselves at liberty to take any steps -that may commend themselves to us in support of our rights. We are -still the heirs of John Theophanis, and both the common law of Europe -and actual Byzantine usage are on our side. Come, Eirene.” -</p> - -<p> -They left the Professor moodily gnawing the end of a penholder at his -table, and once outside the room, Maurice put his arm round his wife. -“You know I would rather have cut off my right hand than married you -if I had known what you would lose by it,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“Maurice,” she said quickly, “you know I don’t mind. If you had -yielded to him, it would have destroyed all my faith in you. I was -afraid—oh, dreadfully afraid for a moment, that you would do it for -my sake, but something seemed to keep me from saying a word. And now -I am glad. But you don’t see”—she broke into something very like -hysterics—“that even what he wanted you to do would not have put -things right. It would only have been a trick, a dishonest compact -between you and him and the priest. I should have married a schismatic -after all!” -</p> - -<p> -“By Jove, so you would!” cried Maurice. “The Professor’s too deep for -me. Why, he would have had us completely under his thumb. If we had -kicked, he would only have had to hint that the priest’s conscience -was becoming uneasy about his share in the business, or that he -himself could give Prince Christodoridi an important piece of -information if he liked, and we should have had to cave in. Little -girl, we have not only told the truth, but shamed the—tempter!” -</p> - -<p class="spacer"> -* * * * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -“‘My native land—good night’!” said Maurice impressively, looking -back from the deck of the steamer at the semicircle of twinkling -lights which represented Therma. -</p> - -<p> -“‘A long, a last adieu’!” said Zoe, not without regret. -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit of it!” said Maurice. “We’re only going to recruit our -strength for further efforts.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear boy,” said Zoe solemnly, “Cambridge ought to reject you with -ignominy, and Oxford gather you to her bosom with tears of joy. You -are a lost cause in yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m a made man,” declared Maurice, feeling Eirene’s hand creep -sympathetically into his. “I came out with an open mind and a sense of -duty. Now I have a wife whom I have robbed of her rights. Clearly I am -bound in honour to recover them for her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Men always say that it’s women who lose sight of a cause in an -individual,” said Zoe sententiously. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t quite follow you, Zoe. I am the cause—the lost cause—you -said so just this minute; and Eirene is the individual. Oh, I see—and -we are one. That’s all right.” -</p> - -<p class="end"> -THE END. -</p> - - -<h2> -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES. -</h2> - -<p> -Sydney C. Grier was the pseudonym of Hilda Caroline Gregg. -</p> - -<p> -This book is part of the author’s “Balkan Series II.” The series, in -order, being: <i>The Heir</i>, <i>The Heritage</i>, and <i>The Prize</i>. -</p> - -<p> -The second image was missing from the PDF I used to prepare this book, -so I had to use a secondary source of inferior quality. A quality copy -will be substituted if it ever becomes available. If you can provide a -better copy of this image please contact Project Gutenberg support. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<b>Alterations to the text</b>: -</p> - -<p> -Punctuation corrections: quotation mark pairing. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Title Page] -</p> - -<p> -Add illustrator’s credit and brief note indicating this novel’s -position in the series. See above. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Images] -</p> - -<p> -Images that divided a paragraph were moved to either the beginning or -end of said paragraph. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter II] -</p> - -<p> -Change “Don’t be <i>estatic</i>, Zoe” to <i>ecstatic</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter VII] -</p> - -<p> -“said Zoe <i>thoughfully</i>” to <i>thoughtfully</i>. -</p> - -<p class="end"> -[End of Text] -</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEIR ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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