Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
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but these so-called wise men of the world have eaten away thewalls of society in a thousand places, to the thinness oftissue-paper, and the great ocean is about to pour in at everyaperture. And still they hoot and laugh their insolent laugh ofsafety and triumph above the roar of the greedy and boundless waters,just ready to overwhelm them forever.
Full of these thoughts, which will not permit me to sleep at night,and which haunt my waking hours, I have gone about, for some days,accompanied by Maximilian, and have attended meetings of theworkingmen in all parts of the city. The ruling class long sincedenied them the privilege of free speech, under the pretense that thesafety of society required it. In doing so they have screwed down thesafety-valve, while the steam continues to generate. Hence the menmeet to discuss their wrongs and their remedies in undergroundcellars, under old ruined breweries and warehouses; and there, inlarge, low-roofed apartments, lighted by tallow candles, flaringagainst the dark, damp, smoky walls, the swarming masses assemble, toinflame each other mutually against their oppressors, and to lookforward, with many a secret hint and innuendo, to that great day ofwrath and revenge which they know to be near at hand--
"And with pale lips men say, To-morrow, perchance to-day, Enceladus may arise!"
But as any member is permitted to bring in a friend--for these arenot meetings of the Brotherhood itself, but simply voluntarygatherings of workmen,--and as any man may prove a traitor, theirutterances are guarded and enigmatical.
More than once I have spoken to them in these dim halls; and whilefull of sympathy for their sufferings, and indignant as theythemselves can be against their oppressors, I have pleaded with themto stay their hands, to seek not to destroy, but to reform. I preachto them of the glories of civilization; I trace its history backwardthrough a dozen eras and many nations; I show them how slowly itgrew, and by what small and gradual accretions; I tell them howradiantly it has burst forth in these latter centuries, with suchmagnificent effulgence, until today man has all nature at his feet,shackled and gyved, his patient logman. I tell them that a ruffian,with one blow of his club, can destroy the life of a man; and thatall the doctors and scientists and philosophers of the world, workingtogether for ages, could not restore that which he has so rudelyextinguished. And so, I say to them, the civilization which it hastaken ten thousand years to create may be swept away in an hour; andthere shall be no power in the wit or wisdom of man to reestablish it.
Most of them have listened respectfully; a few have tried to answerme; some have mocked me. But it is as if one came where groupedconvicts stood, long imprisoned, who heard--with knives in theirhands--the thunderous blows of their friends as they battered downthe doors of their prison-house, and he should beg them not to goforth, lest they should do harm to society! They will out, though theheavens and the earth came together! One might as well whisper toNiagara to cease falling, or counsel the resistless cyclone, in itsgyrating and terrible advance, to have a care of the rose-bushes.
CHAPTER IX.
THE POISONED KNIFE
When we returned home, on Sunday evening, Max found the receptacle inthe wall which communicated with the pneumatic-tube system standingopen. In it he found a long communication in cipher. He read a fewlines with a startled look and then said:
"Here is important news, Gabriel. It is written in one of the ciphersof the Brotherhood, which I will translate to you. The number is thatof Rudolph--the number it is addressed to is my own. We know eachother in the Brotherhood, not by our names, but by the numbers givenus when we became members. Listen:
"From number 28,263 M 2, to No. 160,053 P 4. Dated this 7:9, from thehouse of the condemned, No. 826 B."
"That," said Maximilian, "means the Prince Cabano." He continued toread:
"Startling events have occurred since I saw you. The former favoritemistress of 826 B, who was displaced by Frederika, is a French girl,Celestine d'Aublay. She resented her downfall bitterly, and she hatesFrederika with the characteristic vehemence of her race. She learnedfrom the talk of the servants that a new victim--Estella--had beenbrought into the house, a girl of great beauty; and that Frederikawas trying to prevent 826 B from seeing her. A sudden thought tookpossession of her mind; she would overthrow Frederika just as sheherself had been overthrown. Yesterday, Saturday afternoon, shewatched for 826 B in the hallways and chambers. The snuffling oldwretch has a fashion of prying around in all parts of the house,under the fear that he is being robbed by the servants; and it wasnot long until Celestine encountered him. She threw herself in hisway.
"'Well, little one,' he said, chucking her under the chin, 'how haveyou been? I have not seen your pretty face for a long time.'
"'Indeed,' said she, 'you care very little now for my pretty face, orthat of any one else, since you have your new toy, Estella.'
"'Estella!' he repeated, 'who is Estella?'
"'Come, come,' she said laughing; 'that will not do! Master Rudolphbrings into the house a young girl of ravishing beauty, and weeksafterwards you ask me who she is! I am not to be deceived that way. Iknow you too well.'
"'But really,' he replied, 'I have not seen her. This is the first Ihave ever heard of her. Who is she?'
"'Her name is Estella Washington,' replied Celestine; 'she is abouteighteen years old.'
"'Estella Washington,' he said respectfully; 'that is a great name.What is she like?'
"'I have told you already,' was the reply, 'that she is ofmagnificent beauty, tall, fair, stately, graceful and innocent.,
"'Indeed, I must see her.'
"He hurried to his library and rang my bell.
"'Rudolph,' he said, when I appeared, 'who is this Estella Washingtonthat you brought into the house some weeks since? Celestine has beentelling me about her. How comes it I have never seen her?'
"My heart came into my mouth with a great leap; but I controlled myexcitement and replied:
"'My lord, I reported to you the fact of the purchase some timesince, and the payment of $5,000 to an aunt of Estella.'
"'True,' he said, 'I remember it now; but I was much occupied at thetime. How comes it, however, that she has been in the house and Ihave never seen her?'
"I determined not to betray Frederika, and so I replied:
"'It must have been by accident, your lordship; and, moreover,Estella is of a very quiet, retiring disposition, and has kept herroom a great part of the time since she came here.'
"'Go to her and bring her here,' he said.
"There was no help for it; so I proceeded to Estella's room.
"'Miss Washington,' I said, 'I have bad news for you. The Princedesires to see you!'
"She rose up, very pale.
'''My God,' she said, 'what shall I do?'
"And then she began to fumble in the folds of her dress for the knifeyour friend gave her.
"'Be calm and patient,' I said; 'do nothing desperate. On the nightafter next your friend will come for you. We must delay matters allwe can. Keep your room, and I will tell the Prince that you are toosick to leave your bed, but hope to be well enough to pay yourrespects to him to-morrow afternoon. We will thus gain twenty-fourhours' delay, and we may be able to use the same device againto-morrow.'
"But she was very much excited, and paced the room with hurriedsteps, wringing her hands. To calm her I said:
"'You are in no danger. You can lock your door. And see, come here,'I said, and, advancing to one of the window sills, I lifted it up anddisclosed, neatly coiled within it, a ladder of cords, with stoutbamboo rounds. 'As a last resort,' I continued, 'you can drop thisout of the window and fly. All the rooms in this older part of thepalace are furnished with similar fire-escapes. You see that yellowpath below us; and there beyond the trees you may perceive a part ofthe wall of the gardens; that path terminates at a little gate, andhere is a key that will unlock it. Study the ground well from yourwindows. Your escape would, however, have to be made by night; but asyou would run some risk in crossing the grounds, and, when
you passedthe gate, would find yourself in the midst of a strange world,without a friend, you must only think of flight as your last resourcein the most desperate extremity. We must resort to cunning, untilyour friends come for you, on Monday night. But be patient andcourageous. Remember, I am your friend, and my life is pledged toyour service.'
"She turned upon me, and her penetrating eyes seemed to read my verysoul.
"'How,' she said, 'can I trust you? You are a stranger to me. Worsethan that, you are the hired instrument of that monster--that dealerin flesh and blood. You bought me and brought me here; and who areyour friends? They too are