Beverly of Graustark

by George Barr McCutcheon

  CHAPTER XX

  GOSSIP OF SOME CONSEQUENCE

  "There is no time to be lost," exclaimed Count Marlanx. "Ask ColonelBraze to report to me at the eastern gate with a detail of pickedtroopers--a hundred of them. I will meet him there in half an hour." Hegave other sharp, imperative commands, and in the twinkling of an eyethe peaceful atmosphere was transformed into the turbulent, excitingrush of activity. The significance of the fires seen in the hills couldnot be cheaply held. Instant action was demanded. The city was filledwith the commotion of alarm; the army was brought to its feet with ajerk that startled even the most ambitious.

  The first thing that General Marlanx did was to instruct Quinnox to seta vigilant watch over Baldos. He was not to be arrested, but it wasunderstood that the surveillance should be but little short ofincarceration. He was found at the barracks shortly after the reportconcerning the signal fires, and told in plain words that GeneralMarlanx had ordered a guard placed over him for the time being, pendingthe result of an investigation. Baldos had confidently expected to bethrown into a dungeon for his affront. He did not know that GrenfallLorry stood firm in his conviction that Baldos was no spy, and wassupported by others in high authority.

  Marlanx was bottling his wrath and holding back his revenge for adistinct purpose. Apart from the existence of a strong, healthyprejudice in the guard's favor, what the old general believed and whathe could prove were two distinct propositions. He was crafty enough,however, to take advantage of a condition unknown to Beverly Calhoun,the innocent cause of all his bitterness toward Baldos.

  As he hastened from the council chamber, his eyes swept the crowd ofeager, excited women in the grand hall. From among them he pickedBeverly and advanced upon her without regard for time and consequence.Despite her animation he was keen enough to see that she was sorelytroubled. She did not shrink from him as he had half expected, but methim with bold disdain in her eyes.

  "This is the work of your champion," he said in tones that did not reachears other than her own. "I prophesied it, you must remember. Are yousatisfied now that you have been deceived in him?"

  "I have implicit confidence in him. I suppose you have ordered hisarrest?" she asked with quiet scorn.

  "He is under surveillance, at my suggestion. For your sake, and yoursalone, I am giving him a chance. He is your protege; you are responsiblefor his conduct. To accuse him would be to place you in an embarrassingposition. There is a sickening rumor in court circles that you have morethan a merely kind and friendly interest in the rascal. If I believedthat, Miss Calhoun, I fear my heart could not be kind to him. But I knowit is not true. You have a loftier love to give. He is a cleverscoundrel, and there is no telling how much harm he has already done toGraustark. His every move is to be watched and reported to me. It willbe impossible for him to escape. To save him from the vengeance of thearmy, I am permitting him to remain in your service, ostensibly, atleast. His hours of duty have been changed, however. Henceforth he is inthe night guard, from midnight till dawn. I am telling you this, MissCalhoun, because I want you to know that in spite of all the indignity Ihave suffered, you are more to me than any other being in the world,more to me even than my loyalty to Graustark. Do me the honor andjustice to remember this. I have suffered much for you. I am a rough,hardened soldier, and you have misconstrued my devotion. Forgive theharsh words my passion may have inspired. Farewell! I must off to undothe damage we all lay at the door of the man you and I are protecting."

  He was too wise to give her the chance to reply. A moment later he wasmounted and off for the eastern gates, there to direct the movements ofColonel Braze and his scouts. Beverly flew at once to Yetive with herplea for Baldos. She was confronted by a rather sober-faced sovereign.The news of the hour was not comforting to the princess and herministers.

  "You don't believe he is a spy?" cried Beverly, stopping just inside thedoor, presuming selfishly that Baldos alone was the cause for worry. Sheresolved to tell Yetive of the conflict in the park.

  "Dear me, Beverly, I am not thinking of him. We've discussed him jointlyand severally and every other way and he has been settled for the timebeing. You are the only one who is thinking of him, my dear child. Wehave weightier things to annoy us."

  "Goodness, how you talk! He isn't annoying. Oh, forgive me, Yetive, forI am the silliest, addle-patedest goose in the kingdom. And you are sotroubled. But do you know that he is being watched? They suspecthim. So did I, at first, I'll admit it. But I don't--now. Have you readthe note I gave to you out there?"

  "Yes, dear. It's just as I expected. He has known from the beginning. Heknew when he caught Dagmar and me spying behind that abominable curtain.But don't worry me any longer about him, please. Wait here with me untilwe have reports from the troops. I shall not sleep until I know whatthose fires meant. Forget Baldos for an hour or two, for my sake."

  "You dear old princess, I'm an awful brute, sure 'nough. I'll forget himforever for your sake. It won't be hard, either. He's just a mere guard.Pooh! He's no prince."

  Whereupon, reinforced by Mrs. Anguish and the Countess Halfont, sheproceeded to devote herself to the task of soothing and amusing thedistressed princess while the soldiers of Graustark ransacked themoonlit hills. The night passed, and the next day was far on its way tosunset before the scouts came in with tidings. No trace of themysterious signalers had been found. The embers of the half-dozen fireswere discovered, but their builders were gone. The search took in milesof territory, but it was unavailing. Not even a straggler was found. Theso-called troupe of actors, around whom suspicion centered, had beenswallowed by the capacious solitude of the hills. Riders from thefrontier posts to the south came in with the report that all was quietin the threatened district. Dawsbergen was lying quiescent, but with thereadiness of a skulking dog.

  There was absolutely no solution to the mystery connected with the fireson the mountain sides. Baldos was questioned privately and earnestly byLorry and Dangloss. His reply was simple, but it furnished food forreflection and, at the same time, no little relief to the troubledleaders.

  "It is my belief, Mr. Lorry, that the fires were built by brigands andnot by your military foes. I have seen these fires in the north, nearAxphain, and they were invariably meant to establish communicationbetween separated squads of robbers, all belonging to one band. Myfriends and I on more than one occasion narrowly escaped disaster byprying into the affairs of these signalers. I take it that the squadshave been operating in the south and were brought together last night bymeans of the fires. Doubtless they have some big project of their ownsort on foot."

  That night the city looked for a repetition of the fires, but themountains were black from dusk till dawn. Word reached the castle latein the evening, from Ganlook, that an Axphainian nobleman and hisfollowers would reach Edelweiss the next day. The visit was a friendlybut an important one. The nobleman was no other than the young Duke ofMizrox, intimate friend of the unfortunate Prince Lorenz who met hisdeath at the hand of Prince Gabriel, and was the leader of the partywhich opposed the vengeful plans of Princess Volga. His arrival inEdelweiss was awaited with deep anxiety, for it was suspected that hisnews would be of the most important character.

  Beverly Calhoun sat on the balcony with the princess long aftermidnight. The sky was black with the clouds of an approaching storm; theair was heavy with foreboding silence. Twice, from their darkened cornernear the pillar, they saw Baldos as he paced steadily past the castle onpatrol, with Haddan at his side. Dreamily the watchers in the coolbalcony looked down upon the somber park and its occasionalguardsman. Neither was in the mood to talk. As they rose at last to goto their rooms, something whizzed through the air and dropped with aslight thud in the center of the balcony. The two young women startedback in alarm. A faint light from Beverly's window filtered across thestone floor.

  "Don't touch it, Beverly," cried the princess, as the girl startedforward with an eager exclamation. But Beverly had been thinking of thevery object that now quivered before her in the dull li
ght, saucy,aggressive and jaunty as it was the night when she saw it for the firsttime.

  A long, slim red feather bobbed to and fro as if saluting her withsoldierly fidelity. Its base was an orange, into which it had been stuckby the hand that tossed it from below. Beverly grasped it with moreecstasy than wisdom and then rushed to the stone railing, Yetive lookingon in amazement. Diligently she searched the ground below for the manwho had sent the red message, but he was nowhere in sight. Then came thesudden realization that she was revealing a most unmaidenly eagerness,to him as well as to the princess, for she did not doubt that he waswatching from the shadows below. She withdrew from the rail in confusionand fled to her bed-chamber, followed by her curious companion. Therewere explanations--none of which struck speaker or listener aslogical--and there were giggles which completely simplified thesituation. Beverly thrust the slim red feather into her hair, and struckan attitude that would have set Baldos wild with joy if he could haveseen it. The next day, when she appeared in the park, the feather stoodup defiantly from the band of her sailor hat, though womanlyperverseness impelled her to ignore Baldos when he passed her on his wayto mess.

  The Duke of Mizrox came into the city hours after the time set for hisarrival. It was quite dark when the escort sent by Colonel Quinnox drewup at the castle gates with the visitor. The duke and his party had beenrobbed by brigands in the broad daylight and at a point not more thanfive miles from Edelweiss! And thus the mystery of the signal fires wasexplained. Count Marlanx did not soon forget the triumphant look hereceived from Beverly Calhoun when the duke's misfortunes wereannounced. Shameless as it may seem, she rejoiced exceedingly over theacts of the robbers.

  Mizrox announced to the princess and her friends that he was not anemissary from the Axphainian government. Instead, he was but little lessthan a fugitive from the wrath of Volga and the crown adherents.Earlier in the week he had been summoned before Volga and informed thathis absence for a few months, at least, from the principality wasdesirable. The privilege was allowed him of selecting the country whichhe desired to visit during that period, and he coolly choseGraustark. He was known to have friendly feelings for that state; but noobjections were raised. This friendship also gave him a welcome inEdelweiss. Mizrox plainly stated his position to Yetive and the primeminister. He asked for protection, but declined to reveal any of theplans then maturing in his home country. This reluctance to become atraitor, even though he was not in sympathy with his sovereign, wasrespected by the princess. He announced his willingness to take up armsagainst Dawsbergen, but would in no way antagonize Axphain from anenemy's camp.

  The duke admitted that the feeling in Axphain's upper circles wasextremely bitter toward Graustark. The old-time war spirit had not dieddown. Axphain despised her progressive neighbor.

  "I may as well inform your highness that the regent holds another and adeeper grudge against Graustark," he said, in the audience chamber wherewere assembled many of the nobles of the state, late on the night of hisarrival. "She insists that you are harboring and even shielding thepretender to our throne, Prince Frederic. It is known that he is inGraustark and, moreover, it is asserted that he is in direct touch withyour government."

  Yetive and her companions looked at one another with glances ofComprehension. He spoke in English now for the benefit of BeverlyCalhoun, an interested spectator, who felt her heart leap suddenly andswiftly into violent insurrection.

  "Nothing could be more ridiculous," said Yetive after a pause. "We donot know Frederic, and we are not harboring him."

  "I am only saying what is believed to be true by Axphain, yourhighness. It is reported that he joined you in the mountains in June andsince has held a position of trust in your army."

  "Would you know Prince Frederic if you were to see him?" quietly askedLorry.

  "I have not seen him since he was a very small boy, and then but for amoment--on the day when he and his mother were driven through thestreets on their way to exile."

  "We have a new man in the Castle Guard and there is a mystery attachedto him. Would you mind looking at him and telling us if he is whatFrederic might be in his manhood?" Lorry put the question and everyonepresent drew a deep breath of interest.

  Mizrox readily consented and Baldos, intercepted on his rounds, was ledunsuspecting into an outer chamber. The duke, accompanied by Lorry andBaron Dangloss, entered the room. They were gone from the assemblage buta few minutes, returning with smiles of uncertainty on their faces.

  "It is impossible, your highness, for me to say whether or not it isFrederic," said the duke frankly. "He is what I imagine the pretendermight be at his age, but it would be sheer folly for me to speculate. Ido not know the man."

  Beverly squeezed the Countess Dagmar's arm convulsively.

  "Hurrah!" she whispered, in great relief. Dagmar looked at her inastonishment. She could not fathom the whimsical American.

  "They have been keeping an incessant watch over the home of Frederic'scousin. He is to marry her when the time is propitious," volunteered theyoung duke. "She is the most beautiful girl in Axphain, and the familyis one of the wealthiest. Her parents bitterly oppose the match. Theywere to have been secretly married some months ago, and there is a rumorto the effect that they did succeed in evading the vigilance of herpeople."

  "You mean that they may be married?" asked Yetive, casting a quickglance at Beverly.

  "It is not improbable, your highness. He is known to be a daring youngfellow, and he has never failed in a siege against the heart ofwoman. Report has it that he is the most invincible Lothario that everdonned love's armor." Beverly was conscious of furtive glances in herdirection, and a faint pink stole into her temples. "Our fugitiveprinces are lucky in neither love nor war," went on the duke. "PoorDantan, who is hiding from Gabriel, is betrothed to the daughter of thepresent prime minister of Dawsbergen, the beautiful Iolanda, I have seenher. She is glorious, your highness."

  "I, too, have seen her," said Yetive, more gravely than shethought. "The report of their betrothal is true, then?"

  "His sudden overthrow prevented the nuptials which were to have takenplace in a month had not Gabriel returned. Her father, the Duke of Matz,wisely accepted the inevitable and became prime minister toGabriel. Iolanda, it is said, remains true to him and sends messages tohim as he wanders through the mountains."

  Beverly's mind instantly reverted to the confessions of Baldos. He hadadmitted the sending and receiving of messages through Franz. Try as shewould, she could not drive the thought from her mind that he was Dantanand now came the distressing fear that his secret messages were words oflove from Iolanda. The audience lasted until late in the night, but shewas so occupied with her own thoughts that she knew of but little thattranspired.

  Of one thing she was sure. She could not go to sleep that night.