lively sense of the power ofmoney for evil; he saw it now in a new light--for he was penniless.After taking my father from the prison and bringing him home, Iarranged as to the other prisoners and then went to the yacht. Iintroduced myself to the Count. I told him that I had deceived hisspies--that I had led a double life; that I had joined theBrotherhood and had become one of its leading spirits, with but twoobjects:--to punish him and his villainous associates and to rescuemy father. That, as they had destroyed my father for money, the sameinstruments should now destroy him, through fear. That they were allprisoners, and should die together a fearful death; but if they had ahundred lives they could not atone for the suffering they had causedone good and great-hearted man. They had compelled him, for years, towork in the society of the basest of his species--at work too hardfor even a young and strong man; they had separated him from hisfamily; they had starved his mind and heart and body; they had beatenand scourged him for the slightest offenses. He had suffered athousand deaths. It would be no equivalent to simply kill them. Theyshould die in prolonged agony. And as he--the Count--had always goneupon the principle that it was right to work upon the weaknesses ofothers to accomplish his purposes, I should imitate him. I should nottouch him myself.
"I then ordered the captain and his men to put him in the boat andcarry him ashore.
"He begged and pleaded and abased himself; he entreated and shrieked;but he addressed hearts as hard as his own.
"On the river-bank were a body of my men. In the midst of them theyhad the other prisoners--the corrupt judge, eight of thejurymen--four had died since the trial--and the four lying witnesses.They were all shackled together. A notary public was present, andthey signed and acknowledged their confessions, that they had beenbribed to swear against my father and convict him; and they evenacknowledged, in their terror, the precise sums which they hadreceived for their dreadful acts.
"'Spare me! spare me!' shrieked the Count, groveling on the ground;'only part of that money came from me. I was but the instrument ofthe government. I was commanded to do as I did.'
"'The others have already gone to their account,' I replied, 'everyman of them. You will overtake them in a little while.'
"I ordered the prisoners to chain him to a stout post which stood inthe middle of one of the wharves. They were unshackled and did sowith alacrity; my men standing around ready to shoot them down ifthey attempted to fly. The Count writhed and shrieked for help, butin a little while he was securely fastened to the post. There was aship loaded with lumber lying beside the next wharf. I ordered themto bring the lumber; they quickly piled it up in great walls aroundhim, within about ten feet of him; and then more and more was heapedaround these walls. The Count began to realize the death that awaitedhim, and his screams were appalling. But I said to him:
"'O Count, be calm. This is not as bad as a sentence of twenty yearsin the penitentiary for an honest and innocent man. And, remember, mydear Count, how you have enjoyed yourself all these years, while mypoor father has been toiling in prison in a striped suit. Think ofthe roast beef you have eaten and the wine you have consumed! And,moreover, the death you are about to die, my dear Count, was oncefashionable and popular in the world; and many a good and holy manwent up to heaven from just such a death-bed as you shall have-adeath-bed of fire and ashes. And see, my good Count, how willinglythese honest men, whom you hired, with your damnable money, todestroy my father--see how willingly they work to prepare yourfuneral pile! What a supple and pliant thing, O Count, is humanbaseness. It has but one defect--it may be turned upon ourselves! Andthen, O my dear Count, it shocks us and hurts our feelings. But sayyour prayers, Count, say your prayers. Call upon God, for He is theonly one likely to listen to you now.'
"'Here,' I said to the judge, 'put a match to the pile.'
"The miserable wretch, trembling and hoping to save his own life byhis superserviceable zeal, got down upon his knees, and lighted amatch, and puffed and blew to make the fire catch. At last it startedbriskly, and in a few minutes the Count was screaming in the centerof a roaring furnace.
"I gave a preconcerted signal to my men. In the twinkling of an eyeeach of the prisoners was manacled hand and foot, shrieking androaring for mercy.
"'It was a splendid joke, gentlemen,' I said to them, 'that youplayed on my father. To send that good man to prison, and to go homewith the price of his honor and his liberty jingling in your pockets.It was a capital joke; and you will now feel the finest point of thewitticism. In with them!'
"And high above the walls of fire they were thrown, and the briberand the bribed--the villain and his instruments--all perished howlingtogether."
I listened, awestruck, to the terrible story. There was a light inMax's eyes which showed that long brooding over the wrongs of hisfather and the sight of his emaciated and wretched form had "workedlike madness in his brain," until he was, as I had feared, amonomaniac, with but one idea--revenge.
"Max, dear Max." I said, "for Heaven's sake never let Christina oryour mother hear that dreadful story. It was a madman's act! Neverthink of it again. You have wiped out the crime in blood; there letit end. And leave these awful scenes, or you will become a maniac."
He did not answer me for a time, but looked down thoughtfully; andthen he glanced at me, furtively, and said:
"Is not revenge right? Is it not simply justice?"
"Perhaps so, in some sense," I replied; "and if you had killed thosebase wretches with your own hand the world could not have much blamedyou. Remember, however, 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and Iwill repay.' But to send them out of life by such dreadful tortures!It is too terrible."
"But death," he said, "is nothing; it is the mere end oflife--perhaps of consciousness; and that is no atonement for years ofsuffering, every day of which was full of more agony than deathitself can wring from the human heart."
"I will not argue with you, Max," I replied, "for you are wrong, andI love you; but do you not see, when a heart, the kindest in theworld, could conceive and execute such a terrible revenge, that thecondition of the mind is abnormal? But let us change the gloomysubject. The dreadful time has put 'tricks of desperation' in yourbrain. And it is not the least of the crimes of the Oligarchy that itcould thus pervert honest and gentle natures, and turn them intosavages. And that is what it has done with millions. It has foughtagainst goodness, and developed wickedness."
CHAPTER XXXVI.
CAESAR ERECTS HIS MONUMENT
"What other news have you?" I asked.
"The strangest you ever heard," replied Max.
"What is it?"
"Caesar," said Max, "has fallen upon a scheme of the most frenzied andextraordinary kind."
"Are the members of the Executive Committee all going crazytogether?" I asked.
"Surely," replied Max, "the terrible events we are passing throughwould be our excuse if we did. But you shall hear. After I hadavenged my father I proceeded to find Caesar. I heard from members ofthe Brotherhood, whom I met on the streets, that he was at PrinceCabano's palace. I hurried there, as it was necessary I should conferwith him on some matters. A crowd had reassembled around thebuilding, which had become in some sort a headquarters; and, in fact,Caesar has confiscated it to his own uses, and intends to keep it ashis home hereafter. I found him in the council-chamber. You never sawsuch a sight. He was so black with dust and blood that he looked likea negro. He was hatless, and his mat of hair rose like a wild beast'smane. He had been drinking; his eyes were wild and rolling; the greatsword he held in his right hand was caked with blood to the hilt. Hewas in a fearful state of excitement, and roared when he spoke. Aking-devil, come fresh out of hell, could scarcely have looked moreterrible. Behind him in one corner, crouching and crying together,were a bevy of young and handsome women. The Sultan had beencollecting his harem. When he caught sight of me he rushed forwardand seized my hand, and shouted out:
"'Hurrah, old fellow! This is better than raising potatoes on theSaskatchewan, or
hiding among the niggers in Louis--hic--iana. Downwith the Oligarchy. To hell with them. Hurrah! This is my palace. Iam a king! Look-a-there,' he said, with a roll and a leer, pointingover his shoulder at the shrinking and terrified women; 'ain't theybeauties,--hic--all mine--every one of 'em.'
"Here one of his principal officers came up, and the followingdialogue occurred:
"'I came, General, to ask you what we are to do with the dead.'
"'Kill 'em,' roared Caesar, 'kill 'em, d--n 'em.'
"'But, General, they are dead already,' replied the officer who was asteady fellow and perfectly sober.
"Well, what's
Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century Page 49
