I listened again, and again found she was right.
"Good!" I exclaimed. "It will be Praga. He is following me."
"Praga! The villain who killed Gustav! Oh, Hans, it is true then that you are in league with that terrible man. I would not believe it when they told me." And she moved away from me as she spoke, and stood at a little distance, trembling.
But it was only for an instant. I had not time to reply before she came again to my side and clung to me as before, crying with quick agitation:
"I did not mean that, cousin Hans. I did not mean anything in distrust of you. I trust you altogether with my whole heart and soul. If he is with you, I know it will be not that you help him to do harm, but that he helps you to do good. I know that. Believe and forgive me for shrinking away like that. But I have always had such a dread and loathing at his mere name, for dear Gustav"s sake. Oh, there is so much to be made clear."
"It will all be clear enough to you when I have told you my story," I said in as unmoved a tone as I could command at this fresh proof of her absolute confidence. "And that will be as soon as we can get out of our present plight. Even Praga has been wronged, and in this matter at least he is with us."
After that we stood in silence listening to the now fast approaching gallop of the horse.
Then came to our ears the whinnying of another horse. The galloping stopped. The horse was pulled up short.
"What does that mean?" asked Minna in a whisper of alarm; for all sounds breathed the language of danger in her present agitation.
"I left my horse tied to the hedge some distance behind there, and Praga has found it, I expect."
Almost directly after that Minna started again and cried:
"There is another horseman coming from the opposite direction. That will be the Count von Nauheim."
"It is luck that Praga is close at hand, then," said I, "for I have no arms. It will be a dramatic meeting."
And now Minna was pressing close to my side again; and in this way we stood and listened to the more distant horseman"s approach, and heard also the man I judged to be Praga bring his animal back on to the hard road and set off at a sharp trot toward us.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE MEETING
If Minna was right in her conjecture that the horseman coming up on our right was von Nauheim, it was easy to foresee that the meeting between him and Praga would have an ugly ending. I knew well enough that the Corsican"s fiery hatred of the count would urge him to take his revenge on the spot, and for the moment I was a little at a loss how to act.
Praga was now close to us, riding slowly and peering anxiously on each side of him for any traces of me. Obviously I had better let him know that I was at hand.
Minna and I were standing close under the shadow of a tree whose low branches concealed us effectually.
"Stop here while I go to speak to him," I said in a low tone.
"No, no, don"t leave me," she urged, holding my arm in a nervous clutch.
"Have no fear. It is not you who need to fear now, but that villain von Nauheim, if it is indeed he coming up the hill."
"Don"t go out of sight, then, cousin. I can"t help being afraid--except with you close to me."
I whispered a word of rea.s.surance, and stepped out from the shadow of the tree into the moonlight and went toward Praga.
"Who is there?" he called, stopping his horse.
"It is I, Praga--the Prince."
"Well met, indeed. Is that your horse tied to a tree back there a bit?"
"Yes, he fell and threw me; but I am all right. Quick, bring your horse on to the gra.s.s here, and under this tree," and I led him into the shadow of the tall hedge.
"Have you any traces of them?" he asked impatiently.
"Yes, I have the best news. I have found the Countess Minna. She has escaped from that villain, and I believe that the horseman you can hear coming up the hill now is the man himself coming in pursuit of her."
"Ah!" He drew in his breath. "We are in luck indeed. There is a good light," and he glanced up at the moon, and I heard him swear into his mustache, and mutter, "At last!" Then, after listening a moment, he said: "He is breathing his horse up the hill. He little guesses who"s here to give him a welcome. I"ll go forward and meet him. I hope to G.o.d he has a sword with him. Will you stay here? You can act as second for us both, and see that all is fair, though it would serve the dog right if I were to shoot him down without a chance."
He walked his horse slowly forward on the gra.s.s, making no noise, and keeping out of sight in the shadow of the hedge.
I went back to Minna.
The on-coming horseman was now in full sight of us on the slope of the white hill, the moonlight showing up the figures of both horse and rider, as he turned to look behind him, and sat listening intently. The silence was so intense that we seemed to feel it, and even the creak of the saddle leather, as he turned, reached our ears.
Then we saw him face round quickly and dash his heels into his horse"s ribs as if to gallop forward; but, at the same instant, he caught sight of Praga, and he checked his horse again almost as he was in the very act of urging it forward. The next moment Praga was at his side.
For a second neither spoke. Then through the still night air we heard the Corsican laugh.
"You"re riding late, my lord, the most n.o.ble Count von Nauheim," he said in a mocking tone.
No answer was made, and Praga put in words the thought that flashed upon me.
"Don"t think of trying to escape. You won"t do it this time." He spoke sternly, adding, in the previous mocking tone, "And what brings you out for horse exercise at this uncanny hour, most n.o.ble?"
The reply was sudden and unexpected by me, but not by the Corsican.
Von Nauheim drew a revolver, and fired point-blank at Praga, and then dashed his heels into his horse"s sides, and tried to make off. But the other was fully prepared for the manoeuvre, and when the noise of the shot, which frightened Minna excessively, and woke the echoes of the woods round us, had died away, I saw that the Corsican had grasped the bridle of von Nauheim"s horse in a grip of steel, till the beast swerved round and nearly unhorsed its rider, while with his other hand Praga had struck the revolver from his opponent"s grasp.
Then he laughed again.
"A hand is rarely steady when a man"s shivering with fright," he said in his bantering tone; but he changed it swiftly, and, in a voice deep with pa.s.sion, he cried, "Get off your horse, you coward, or I"ll drag you from your saddle! Do you hear?"
Von Nauheim made no reply, and no effort to dismount.
"Do you hear me? Dismount!" thundered the Corsican, his deep, rolling voice vibrating with wrath; and when von Nauheim still hesitated, Praga bent forward, and, with a strength that surprised me, tore him from his horse, and forced him to the ground.
Von Nauheim seemed helpless with terror.
"What is he going to do?" asked Minna, shivering.
"We must wait," I answered.