Commissioner Kraus, smiling, stepped past him into the anteroom. A door on the opposite side opened, and the tall figure of a man attired in the Austrian uniform appeared.
"Is it really you, my dear Kraus!" he cried. "So you have returned already.
Come, come, I have longed to see you."
Holding out his hand to the visitor, he drew him hastily into the next room.
"You have longed to see me, my dear count," said Kraus, laughing, "and yet I was within an ace of being turned from your door. Since when have you lived in a barricaded apartment, count?"
"Since the spies of the French governor of Vienna, Count Andreossy, have watched my door and pursued my every step," replied the count, smiling.
"But now speak, my dear Kraus. You went to Totis? You talked with the Emperor Francis?"
"I went to Totis and talked with the Emperor Francis."
"Good heavens! you say it with such a gloomy, solemn expression. Has the emperor become irresolute?"
"Yes, that is it. The emperor is surrounded by adherents of the Napoleonic party; they have succeeded in thrusting back the real patriots, the Anti-Bonapartists, and would have rendered them wholly inactive had not the Empress Ludovica tried to support them with all her influence. All is not yet lost, but unless we soon succeed in making a decisive step, our foes will completely gain the ear of the emperor, persuade him to accept the ign.o.ble, humiliating peace which Napoleon offered, and, from his enemy, become his ally."
"It would be horrible if that could be done," cried the count sadly. "It is not possible that the Emperor Francis could resolve upon such humiliation."
"They have alarmed the emperor, intimidated him; told him that his crown, his life, were at stake; that unless he would make himself Napoleon"s ally and accept the proffered peace, the Emperor Napoleon would say of him what he said of the Bourbons in Spain: "The Hapsburg dynasty has ceased to exist." If something does not now happen, if we do not force a decision, everything is lost. Austria will conclude a humiliating peace and, instead of being delivered from the French tyrant"s yoke, we shall be obliged to see Austria sink into a French province, and the Emperor Francis, in spite of his high-sounding t.i.tle, become nothing more than the viceroy of the Emperor Napoleon."
"It must not, it shall not come to that!" exclaimed the count wildly. "We must risk everything to prevent this. We must stake our blood, our lives, to save Austria and Germany!"
"Ah, if you speak and think _thus_, count, you are one of us; you will wish to have a share in our work of liberation."
"Yes, I demand my share, and the greater and more perilous it is, the more welcome it will be."
"We all risk our lives," said Kraus solemnly, "and if we are defeated, we shall all be lost; for the Emperor Francis will not protect us--he will abandon us to Napoleon"s wrath, in order to prove that he had no part in our plans. With this conviction, we must begin our work and arrange our affairs as if we were going into a battle."
"My affairs are arranged, and I am ready," replied the count solemnly.
"Hush! listen! All our friends, like you, are ready, and the conspiracy winds like a great chain through all the countries of Europe. Every one who loves his native land, and therefore hates Napoleon, has laid his brave hand on this chain and will add the link of his manly strength. In France, in England, in Spain and Italy, in Sweden, in Russia and Turkey, everywhere, our friends are waiting for the decisive act which must take place here. In England they have bought arms and ammunition and sent them to Heligoland Thence members of our league have brought them here and distributed them among the brothers. In the harbor of Genoa a Swedish and an English ship lie ready for our service; the English one to aid our escape and convey us to England, if our enterprise fails; the Swedish one to serve as a transport vessel, if we succeed. Everywhere our friends are working, everywhere they are preparing the insurrection; Tyrol is like a well-filled bomb which needs only the application of a spark to burst and scatter confusion around it, and in the minds of individuals patriotism has increased to a fanaticism which deems even murder a justifiable means to rid Europe from the shameful yoke of the tyrant. If we cannot execute our plan, if we do not succeed in abducting Napoleon, perhaps the dagger of an a.s.sa.s.sin will he raised against him--an a.s.sa.s.sin who does not regard his deed as a crime, but as a sacred duty."
"And why are we content with an abduction?" asked the count fiercely. "Why should not the blood of the man who has shed so many torrents of blood, be shed also?"
"Because that would be too light a punishment," said Kraus, with an expression of gloomy hate. "Because it would be an atonement for all his crimes, if he fell beneath the daggers of murderers. Such daggers rendered the tyrant Julius Caesar a hero, a martyr, and they would also transform Napoleon into a demi-G.o.d. No, we will not grant him such a triumph, such a glorious end--we will not allow him a speedy death. He shall ignominiously disappear; he shall die slowly on some barren island in the ocean; die amid the tortures of solitude, of weariness, of powerless rage. This must be the vengeance of Europe; this must be the end of the vampire who has drunk her heart"s blood."
"You are right? it shall, it must be so," cried the count, with sparkling eyes. "Now tell me, what have _I_ to do? What part is a.s.signed to _me_?"
"You will go to Genoa, count. Here is a letter from General Nugent to the captain of the Swedish ship Proserpina, now lying in the harbor."
"But it is not sealed?" asked the count, taking the paper offered.
"Open it, and you will find that it does not contain a single word. I received it so from our messenger, who brought it directly from Count Nugent in Heligoland to me. It is your letter of recommendation, that is all! Written words might compromise, spoken ones die away upon the wind. If you deliver this, addressed in General Nugent"s hand, to the captain of the Proserpina, he will recognize you as the right messenger, and you will then tell him verbally what you have to say."
"What shall I tell him?"
"Tell him to take in his freight, have his ballast on board, and keep everything in readiness for departure. From the day that you reach him the Proserpina must be ready for sea, and a boat must lie in the harbor night and day to receive the members of our league who will come if the plan succeeds."
"But I hope this is not all that I have to do? I shall not be denied a more active part in the great cause?"
"If you wish, no! One of us will accompany Bonaparte to Genoa as his jailer. You can relieve him there, and attend him to his prison."
"I will do so. But where will the prison be?"
"You will put him on some barren island in the ocean, which will serve as his dungeon. Then you will return. But you must name the place to which you conveyed him to no one except the heads of the society: that is, to General Nugent and myself. We will guard it as the most sacred secret of our lives, that no one may learn it--no one can make the attempt to rescue him."
"I thank you," cried the count joyously. "You a.s.sign me an honorable task, which proves that the heads of the society trust me. What else have I to do? Will not a meeting of the conspirators take place? Will you not summon one?"
"No, for I shall go at once to Totis to make the most necessary additional arrangements with General Bubna, and through him with the Empress Ludovica, that, if the plot succeeds, the advantage will be ours and cannot be claimed by the French party. But you, count, must manage to summon such an a.s.sembly of our friends in some unsuspected place. I learn that Baroness de Simonie is to give an entertainment to which, without knowing it, she has invited a number of our friends. You will recognize them by the black enamel ring which every member of our band must wear upon the little finger of his left hand. You will name to each a place of meeting.
"Oh, I already know one," cried the count, "it is--"
"Mention no names," Kraus interrupted quickly. "I shall not be present, so it is not necessary for me to know. Every secret is imperiled by needless communication, and we must compromise no one without cause. Here, count, are some necessary papers in which you will find further instructions. Make your preparations accordingly, and when you have read them and informed the persons concerned, burn them."
"But you tell me nothing about the princ.i.p.al matter," said the count. "Who will accomplish the actual deed? Who will have the heroic daring to take Napoleon captive?"
"Many will be active in that, count. The names are not to be mentioned, but if you lay stress upon it, I will tell you that of the person who has undertaken to lie in ambush for Napoleon, gag him, and carry him away. It is Baron von Moudenfels."
"Von Moudenfels? I don"t know him, but I have heard of him. Was it not Baron von Moudenfels who arranged the secret connection with the conspirators in the French army, and negotiated with Oudet?"
"Yes, the same man. He is a great patriot and a daring fellow. He hates Napoleon, and if he once has him in his grasp, he will die rather than suffer him to escape, though Napoleon should offer a kingdom as a ransom.
Now farewell, count, and may G.o.d grant that we see each other again successful! May the guardian angel of our native land protect us in the perils which we must bravely meet."
"So be it," said the count, cordially pressing in his own Kraus" extended hand. "Go to Totis: I will go to Genoa, to await my prisoner there."
With the same hasty steps as he had come, Commissioner Kraus again hastened down the steps, and once more plunged into the tumult of the street. After a short walk, he again entered a house and ascended the stairs to a door in the fourth story beside which, in a rush-bottomed chair, sat a servant, with his head bowed on his breast, sleeping peacefully.
Baron von Moudenfels or Commissioner Kraus tapped the slumberer lightly on the shoulder.
"Wake up and open the door, Peter!" he said.
The man started up and stared at the person standing before him with dilated eyes.
"Who are you, sir, and what do you want of me?" he exclaimed sulkily.
"Then you don"t know me?" asked Kraus, smiling. "Must I tell you that I am your master?"
"Herr Baron! Is it you? Is it possible that it"s you; that anybody can disguise himself so--and--"
"Hush! you know that you are not to wonder at anything, and must always be prepared to see me in any disguise. True, I should have expected that you would recognize your master"s voice."
"I beg your pardon, sir; I was so very sound asleep. I didn"t sleep all night because I was expecting you, and I"ve been on the watch all day."
"Have many spies been here?" asked the baron as, followed by his servant, he entered his sitting-room.
"Yes, sir, they fairly besieged the door of the house and patrolled the opposite side of the street all day long. Three times, too, gentlemen called to ask for you. They said that they were visitors, but I think they were only spies who wanted to find out whether you were at home."
"Well, now they can come and a.s.sure themselves that I"m here," replied his master, stretching himself comfortably upon the sofa. "True, it won"t last long--we start in an hour. Order post-horses, Peter, two post-horses and a light carriage, and pack the baggage."