A Dash for a Throne

by Arthur W. Marchmont

  CHAPTER VII

  AT MUNICH

  When we started for Munich it required very little observation to seethat von Nauheim was striving sedulously to conceal the fact that heattached such critical importance to my accompanying him. Indeed, had Ihad no prior knowledge of him, I think his demeanor would have roused mysuspicions.

  "I suppose you will tell me what passed between you and Minnayesterday," he said when we were in the train. "You've produced aconsiderable change in her, for I found her much more willing to go onwith us than she was before."

  "I gave her to understand that very much must depend on the result ofthis journey. If I am satisfied that there is reason to hope forsuccess, it will be at least an impartial opinion--for at present I havenot much faith. And I suppose she attaches a great deal of importance tothat."

  "Did you urge her not to throw us over? I presume you did."

  "Why should I? I am not convinced myself."

  "Well, here are signs enough of the popular indignation, at any rate,"he said as he tossed me a morning paper with some very strong commentson the lunatic King's acts.

  "Discontent is one thing, rebellion another," I replied as I opened thepaper to read what he pointed out. I had no wish to talk, but to think,and I made as though I were engrossed in the paper.

  My companion took another journal and played at reading it; but I sawhim watching me every now and then, until the paper fell on his lap, andhe stared out of the window obviously buried in his thoughts. I knew thetenor of them later when his face changed, and he turned to speak.

  "You will stay with me, of course, Prince?" he said.

  "Certainly," I replied readily, although half a hundred suspicions werestarted of his probably sinister motive for the invitation.

  "It will be so much more convenient for our purpose than your going tothe Gramberg town-house," he said. "I've been thinking of the bestcourse to take. What sort of proof do you wish to have that measures areripe?"

  "An interview with those who are to carry them out, of course."

  "That will be best; and fortunately most of them are in Munich. Then Ipresume you will be prepared to do what all the rest of us havedone--take an oath of allegiance to the new Queen?"

  "When I join you, I will do whatever the rest do."

  "We are all pledged to the hilt. Every man of us has made the oath andsigned a declaration to uphold the good cause."

  "Signed a declaration? That seems a strong step," I said, though allforms were pretty much the same thing to me.

  "But a necessary one. There is no drawing back then," he answered.

  "Well, I will sign what I see others sign and do what others do," Ireplied firmly. "But, understand, I must see these things done before myeyes." I said this because of an idea that flashed into my thoughts atthat moment.

  "You are disposed to be cautious to the verge of timidity, eh?" hesneered.

  "I am resolved to satisfy myself," I returned; and for a reason that Ikept to myself I rather liked the idea of what he had said.

  After a pause he continued:

  "Roughly, what I propose is this: I will take you round to introduce youto the more prominent men--in particular to Baron Heckscher, who isreally the leader of us; and then we will have a meeting at my rooms,where everything can be explained and settled. What say you?"

  "I agree; but of course I reserve my right to take any other step I maythink necessary that suggests itself to me."

  "Naturally, naturally!" he exclaimed. "Now that the Prince has gone weare only too glad to have a cautious, calculating head to take hispart."

  The words were as false as the man. I read it in his tone and manner;and he was far more ready to curse me, had he dared, for my professionof caution. But I pressed it, because I knew that this exaggeratedcarefulness was the best evidence of my seeming sincerity.

  A long silence followed, during which I weighed carefully all he hadsaid. His manner in speaking of these details was tinged by a singularnervousness; he blurted out his points like a man who has been given atask which has overweighted him. And he suggested to me the condition ofa poor actor who has had his part drilled into him by a subtler hand,and says his lesson badly.

  Presently he began again:

  "Of course you'll understand we are all putting ourselves into yourhands and in your power in this matter; and the more so with everyadditional step we take." He was coming to another point in his lesson,I thought. "You will give me your solemn pledge not to divulge a singlename you hear, nor a single fact that is told to you. If you'll do thatnow, I'll give you an outline of our plans at once."

  "You can tell me as much or as little as you please. I pledge my honorto use nothing, except as the interest of my cousin may require--andthat, I presume, is the intention of all concerned."

  He frowned and bit his lips and thought a moment.

  "Of course that's the intention; what else could it be?"

  "Then if you want me to join you you must trust me; otherwise I may aswell go back to Gramberg at once. But, of course, my return will be thesignal for throwing the whole thing up at once. It is for you tochoose."

  "I had better tell you," he said after another pause. "Things are nearlyripe; almost as forward as when that hot-headed fellow Gustav wreckedeverything by losing his temper and getting involved in that duel. Wehave resolved to take up the Prince's scheme pretty much where it wasdropped. In a fortnight's time there will be an excellent time forstriking the final blow. We have friends in all the public offices;several of the Ministers themselves are ready to welcome the change; thewhole bodyguard of the King at the palace is practically composed of ourmen; and everything promises success. The King will be at the palace,and we have arranged that a great fancy-dress ball shall be given on acertain night. His lunatic Majesty is, as perhaps you know, rathermadder on that subject than on any other; and he delights in dressinghimself up in half a dozen different costumes in the course of a singlenight to perplex, as he thinks, all who are present, and get at the realsentiments of his people about him. But his attendants always arrangethat his costume shall bear a certain mark by which he will be known. Inthis way the ass of a King is fooled to the top of his bent, and insteadof hearing genuine opinions about himself hears only those which arecarefully tuned for his ears. Well, our scheme is to have this royalmark worn by some one who is not the King; to have the King himselfseized and placed under restraint; to let Minna be at hand at the ball,and as soon as it is known that the King has gone to proclaim her thereand then."

  "An ingenious scheme, so far as the easy part of abducting the King isconcerned," I replied. "But the difficulties only begin when he is outof the way. What are you going to do with him--kill him?"

  "No, there will be no bloodshed. There is no need. The whole country isready for the abdication; nine-tenths of the best men are on ourside--and the other tenth will come in; and to give the thingplausibility we are going to have a sort of drama at the ball, in whichthe King--the sham one, of course--will announce his abdication andappoint his successor--Minna. That act of abdication will be written,and on examination will be found to be actually in the handwriting ofthe King himself. The whole scene will be described to the country as anactual occurrence; and this will be on the authority of the foremostmen in Bavaria--a sort of informal Council of State. It will be adefinite and formal abdication. That of itself will silence oppositionand carry the people, who are, indeed, only too eager to need muchargument."

  "And the King himself?"

  "He will simply be put where he ought to have been long enoughago--under restraint."

  It was a clever plot, and, given the power behind those carrying it out,as likely to be successful as any that human wit could have devised.

  "But what of the Ostenburg interest?" I rapped out the question sharply,with a keen, quick glance, and for a moment it seemed to disconcert himslightly.

  "We do not put their power very high," he said then. "They think ourchances ended with Gustav's death, and
that, now the old Prince hasgone, there is no one to carry the thing a step farther. But we must, ofcourse, lose no time, and must strike before they even think we arecontemplating any action at all. We shall catch them utterly unprepared;and, in a thing of this kind, to be unprepared is to lose."

  "Do you mean you think they will surrender their claim to the thronewithout a struggle of any sort?"

  "No; but they can do nothing when once we are in possession."

  "But the Imperial authorities at Berlin, man?"

  "The one consideration there is the _de facto_ argument. Let us getpossession, backed by formal abdication and the actual documentappointing Minna to the succession, and Berlin may do what it likes.They will think twice before risking a civil war in the country tomaintain the rights of a lunatic. At least so longer heads than minehold, and I agree with them."

  "Well, I shall see," and I was bound to confess to myself that, ifeverything was genuine, the inference he drew was right. I knew enoughof the sort of argument that weighs at Berlin to be sure of this.

  But was it genuine? If not, where was the flaw? And all the rest of thejourney I sat pondering this part of the problem, and reviewing againand again all he had said.

  I was much impressed by it.

  Two points in particular stood out boldly in my thoughts: If this plotcould be carried through--and I was half inclined to believe itpossible--Minna could make far better terms, if she still wished torecede, when success had been attained than she could at present. Ifthere were at the back of the scheme all this influence of which vonNauheim had spoken, it would be a dangerous thing for her to throw overthose who had supported her without securing, at least, their safety aswell as her own. That would be dishonorable and cowardly, and I knew shewould not consent to such a course. If these representations werecorrect, therefore, I began to fear that Minna had been too far pledgedto be able to draw back at this juncture. We must go forward until thebest terms could be made.

  But against this I knew that the man who was giving me the informationwas as false as hell itself; and, even while I sat meditating andbrooding over what he had said, I caught the swift, searching, cunningglances which he darted every now and then at me as if to see how far hehad fooled me.

  It was in this mood of fresh doubt that I arrived at Munich, and drovewith him to his rooms. The sumptuous comfort and costly appointments ofthese surprised me. When I had known him years before, he had had butscanty means, and his family were comparatively poor. Yet these rooms ofhis were fit for a man of the largest fortune. Even this circumstanceadded to my suspicions. If he was a traitor, he was being well paid forhis treachery.

  The journey with me in the train and the fact that he was now in his ownhouse seemed to put him more at his ease.

  "I shall have to leave you for a considerable time, Prince, while Iprepare our friends for your visits," he said; "but you will of courseconsider this quite as your own house. This evening, or probablyto-morrow, we can get to work. In the mean time, if you do not alreadyknow Munich, you will find no lack of interesting sights."

  For the rest of that day I was left to my own devices, and we did notmeet until late in the evening, when he told me his plans for the nextday, and that he had arranged for a round of interviews with the leadingmen on our side.

  The result of them was only to increase my perplexity. Wherever I went Iwas welcomed cordially, my co-operation requested, my caution approved,and the most complete assurances given to me on all points. Had thesuccess of the scheme depended entirely upon my joining in it, I couldnot have been more warmly welcomed.

  I could not understand it in the least. Every question I asked wasanswered, as it seemed, quite fully and frankly; and every investigationI made only convinced me that the ramifications of the plot were vastlywider than I imagined, and that the prospects of success were enough toforce me to believe in it.

  And yet I could not shake off my suspicions. I could find no ground forthem other than my knowledge of von Nauheim. There was nothing but thatto warrant them. But the more closely I watched him the more uneasy Ibecame, and the more convinced that he at least had some double motive.

  I was in the position of a man who is being persuaded to a course hedislikes against every prejudice and instinct of his nature, and despitehis earnest desire to trust his instinct. I did not wish to find theaffair genuine, but I could find no flaw anywhere, probe, search,suspect, and investigate as I would.

  At the end of the fourth day I could not deny they had a right to askfor a definite decision for me to throw in my lot with them, and, whileI was dead against doing so, I could not suggest a single reason ofvalue and force for my opinion. The meeting to receive my decision wasfixed for the sixth evening, and I looked forward to it withconsiderable apprehension.

  The previous day I resolved to use for a purpose that was almost ascritical as the object of the visit to Munich. It was an inquiry that Ialone could make as to von Nauheim's past.

  I knew that in the days when he had dealt his dastardly injury on myfamily he had a wife, whom he had married secretly, living in Thuringia.I was almost alone in the knowledge, which I had gained by accident, andmy purpose now was to ascertain if she was still alive.

  Fortune favored my investigation. The wife was still in the town, livingin a humble way as a shop-keeper, and still ignorant of the realposition and character of her husband. I had no difficulty in findingher, and using part of my knowledge of years before. I had someconversation with her and her two children, eliciting the fact that shehad not seen von Nauheim for years, did not know whether he was alive ordead, and did not care. She was earning her own living and educating herchildren, and prayed only that she might be troubled by the man no more.

  It was not my cue to stir muddy waters. All I needed was to know whereto put my hand upon her at any moment that it might be necessary tospoil the scoundrel's schemes.

  The villain meant to deceive Minna von Gramberg as he had deceived mysister years before, and my thoughts about him were bitter and black andwrathful as the train whirled me back through the summer night toMunich. But I was jubilant too; for I held the knowledge that mustinevitably frustrate his scheme, and I resolved that I would use it atthe forthcoming meeting, if no other cause suggested itself, to refuseto go forward any farther. It was, of course, an ample reason for suchrefusal; and as I had the proofs so fresh in my hands, there was not aman of honor in the affair who would not say I was doing right. Butevents were to happen destined to change all this current of mythoughts.

  When I reached Munich it was late, but a mild, soft night, and Iloitered through the deserted streets on my way to von Nauheim's house,enjoying the walk. I had to pass through one of the outlying parts ofthe city, and I was walking very slowly, thinking and smoking, when Iwas startled by a loud and sudden cry for help that came from somedistance ahead of me. I am a swift runner, and I set off at my fastestpace, the cry, which was repeated, being my guide. I passed two or threestreets, crossed a broad, dark square, and then I heard the cry for thethird time, and with it the sound of men struggling and fighting, andthe clash of steel. I had no weapon with me save a stout oak stick; butI gave no thought to my own danger as I rushed on, and set up ananswering shout to let it be known that I was at hand. As I reached theother side of the square I came suddenly in full view of thedisturbance.

  Four men, two armed with swords and two having knives, were attackingone man, who, with his back to the wall, was fighting for his life likea demon, parrying, lunging, and thrusting with amazing dexterity andskill. He had been wounded, however, I could tell, and although he hadwounded more than one of his assailants, he was in a very fair way ofcoming badly out of the fight.

  Fired by the infernal cowardice of the four men in setting on one, I letout an oath, and, grasping my stick with both hands, I clenched myteeth, and rushed upon the villains from behind. I brought the heavyknob of my stick down with crushing force upon the arm of the mannearest me, making the arm drop nerveless by his side, and se
nding hissword clattering down on the stones; and then I turned and smashed itwith all my force right into the face of a second man who made as if toattack me. At the same instant he who had been assailed in the firstinstance drove his sword through a third; and, seeing this unexpectedturn given to matters, the fourth ran away--an example which the restfollowed.

  GRASPING MY STICK WITH BOTH HANDS, I CLENCHED MY TEETH,AND RUSHED UPON THE VILLAINS FROM BEHIND.]

  "You came in the nick of time, friend," said the man coolly, comingtoward me. "Another two minutes or so and these beasts would havedone----What! Heinrich Fischer!" he cried, in a tone of the greatestastonishment, holding out his hand. "This is well met indeed."

  I did not think so; for it was with something akin to dismay that Irecognized a French fencing-master, named Guion, with none too savory areputation, from whom, in the days of my play-acting, I had lessons instage fencing. I gave him my hand, but I could not make the claspcordial.

  "How came you in this plight, M. Guion?"

  He laughed.

  "Guion? Was that my name then? French, I suppose. By the body of thedevil, I have such a lot of names and countries I can't remember themall. But I only use one at a time, and now, my good sir, I am aCorsican, and my name is Praga--Juan Praga, at your service, and notashamed to own that I owe you my life. But what's the matter with you?"

  "Praga!" I cried. "So it's you, is it, who fought the young Count vonGramberg and killed him?"

  "Ho, and what in the name of the devil's skin do you know about that?But it's true, and it's equally true that to-night's business is part ofthe result. But, by the blood!"--and his face snarled like an angrydog's--"I'll make them pay."

  "I can help you to your revenge," I said impulsively. "Let's go where wecan be alone."

  He stared at me as if in the greatest astonishment, then shrugged hisshoulders, laughed, swore copiously, and then laughed again and said:

  "You? Well, you've saved my life, so it's only fair you should do whatyou please with it. Come along with me."

  And he led me away, vowing and protesting, by all the saints in and outof the calendar, that all he had in the world, whether purse, sword, orlife itself, was at my absolute disposal.