"Let me alone, man. I haven"t read anything so amusing for a long while," answered Rupert. Then he burst into a laugh, crying, "Look, look!" and pointing to the foot of the last page of the letter. I was mad with anger; my fury gave me new strength. In his enjoyment of what he read Rupert had grown careless; his knee pressed more lightly on me, and as he showed Rischenheim the pa.s.sage in the letter that caused him so much amus.e.m.e.nt he turned his head away for an instant. My chance had come. With a sudden movement I displaced him, and with a desperate wrench I freed my right hand. Darting it out, I s.n.a.t.c.hed at the letter.
Rupert, alarmed for his treasure, sprang back and off me. I also sprang up on my feet, hurling away the fellow who had gripped my other hand.
For a moment I stood facing Rupert; then I darted on him. He was too quick for me; he dodged behind the man with the lantern and hurled the fellow forward against me. The lantern fell on the ground.
"Give me your stick!" I heard Rupert say. "Where is it? That"s right!"
Then came Rischenheim"s voice again, imploring and timid:
"Rupert, you promised not to kill him."
The only answer was a short, fierce laugh. I hurled away the man who had been thrust into my arms and sprang forward. I saw Rupert of Hentzau; his hand was raised above his head and held a stout club. I do not know what followed; there came--all in a confused blur of instant sequence--an oath from Rupert, a rush from me, a scuffle, as though some one sought to hold him back; then he was on me; I felt a great thud on my forehead, and I felt nothing more. Again I was on my back, with a terrible pain in my head, and a dull, dreamy consciousness of a knot of men standing over me, talking eagerly to one another.
I could not hear what they were saying; I had no great desire to hear. I fancied, somehow, that they were talking about me; they looked at me and moved their hands towards me now and again. I heard Rupert"s laugh, and saw his club poised over me; then Rischenheim caught him by the wrist. I know now that Rischenheim was reminding his cousin that he had promised not to kill me, that Rupert"s oath did not weigh a straw in the scales, but that he was held back only by a doubt whether I alive or my dead body would be more inconvenient to dispose of. Yet then I did not understand, but lay there listless. And presently the talking forms seemed to cease their talking; they grew blurred and dim, running into one another, and all mingling together to form one great shapeless creature that seemed to murmur and gibber over me, some such monster as a man sees in his dreams. I hated to see it, and closed my eyes; its murmurings and gibberings haunted my ears for awhile, making me restless and unhappy; then they died away. Their going made me happy; I sighed in contentment; and everything became as though it were not.
Yet I had one more vision, breaking suddenly across my unconsciousness.
A bold, rich voice rang out, "By G.o.d, I will!"
"No, no," cried another. Then, "What"s that?" There was a rush of feet, the cries of men who met in anger or excitement, the crack of a shot and of another quickly following, oaths, and scuffling. Then came the sound of feet flying. I could not make it out; I grew weary with the puzzle of it. Would they not be quiet? Quiet was what I wanted. At last they grew quiet; I closed my eyes again. The pain was less now; they were quiet; I could sleep.
When a man looks back on the past, reviewing in his mind the chances Fortune has given and the calls she has made, he always torments himself by thinking that he could have done other and better than in fact he did. Even now I lie awake at night sometimes, making clever plans by which I could have thwarted Rupert"s schemes. In these musings I am very acute; Anton von Strofzin"s idle talk furnishes me with many a clue, and I draw inferences sure and swift as a detective in the story books.
Bauer is my tool, I am not his. I lay Rischenheim by the heels, send Rupert howling off with a ball in his arm, and carry my precious burden in triumph to Mr. Ra.s.sendyll. By the time I have played the whole game I am indeed proud of myself. Yet in truth--in daylight truth--I fear that, unless Heaven sent me a fresh set of brains, I should be caught in much the same way again. Though not by that fellow Bauer, I swear! Well, there it was. They had made a fool of me. I lay on the road with a b.l.o.o.d.y head, and Rupert of Hentzau had the queen"s letter.
CHAPTER III. AGAIN TO ZENDA
By Heaven"s care, or--since a man may be over-apt to arrogate to himself great share of such attention--by good luck, I had not to trust for my life to the slender thread of an oath sworn by Rupert of Hentzau. The visions of my dazed brain were trans.m.u.tations of reality; the scuffle, the rush, the retreat were not all dream.
There is an honest fellow now living in Wintenberg comfortably and at his ease by reason that his wagon chanced to come lumbering along with three or four stout lads in it at the moment when Rupert was meditating a second and murderous blow. Seeing the group of us, the good carrier and his lads leapt down and rushed on my a.s.sailants. One of the thieves, they said, was for fighting it out--I could guess who that was--and called on the rest to stand; but they, more prudent, laid hands on him, and, in spite of his oaths, hustled him off along the road towards the station. Open country lay there and the promise of safety. My new friends set off in pursuit; but a couple of revolver shots, heard by me, but not understood, awoke their caution. Good Samaritans, but not men of war, they returned to where I lay senseless on the ground, congratulating themselves and me that an enemy so well armed should run and not stand his ground. They forced a drink of rough wine down my throat, and in a minute or two I opened my eyes. They were for carrying me to a hospital; I would have none of it. As soon as things grew clear to me again and I knew where I was, I did nothing but repeat in urgent tones, "The Golden Lion, The Golden Lion! Twenty crowns to carry me to the Golden Lion."
Perceiving that I knew my own business and where I wished to go, one picked up my hand-bag and the rest hoisted me into their wagon and set out for the hotel where Rudolf Ra.s.sendyll was. The one thought my broken head held was to get to him as soon as might be and tell him how I had been fool enough to let myself be robbed of the queen"s letter.
He was there. He stood on the threshold of the inn, waiting for me, as it seemed, although it was not yet the hour of my appointment. As they drew me up to the door, I saw his tall, straight figure and his red hair by the light of the hall lamps. By Heaven, I felt as a lost child must on sight of his mother! I stretched out my hand to him, over the side of the wagon, murmuring, "I"ve lost it."
He started at the words, and sprang forward to me. Then he turned quickly to the carrier.
"This gentleman is my friend," he said. "Give him to me. I"ll speak to you later." He waited while I was lifted down from the wagon into the arms that he held ready for me, and himself carried me across the threshold. I was quite clear in the head by now and understood all that pa.s.sed. There were one or two people in the hall, but Mr. Ra.s.sendyll took no heed of them. He bore me quickly upstairs and into his sitting-room. There he set me down in an arm-chair, and stood opposite to me. He was smiling, but anxiety was awake in his eyes.
"I"ve lost it," I said again, looking up at him pitifully enough.
"That"s all right," said he, nodding. "Will you wait, or can you tell me?"
"Yes, but give me some brandy," said I.
Rudolf gave me a little brandy mixed in a great deal of water, and then I made shift to tell him. Though faint, I was not confused, and I gave my story in brief, hurried, yet sufficient words. He made no sign till I mentioned the letter. Then his face changed.
"A letter, too?" he exclaimed, in a strange mixture of increased apprehension and unlooked-for joy.
"Yes, a letter, too; she wrote a letter, and I carried that as well as the box. I"ve lost them both, Rudolf. G.o.d help me, I"ve lost them both!
Rupert has the letter too!" I think I must have been weak and unmanned from the blow I had received, for my composure broke down here. Rudolf stepped up to me and wrung me by the hand. I mastered myself again and looked in his face as he stood in thought, his hand caressing the strong curve of his clean-shaven chin. Now that I was with him again it seemed as though I had never lost him; as though we were still together in Strelsau or at Tarlenheim, planning how to hoodwink Black Michael, send Rupert of Hentzau to his own place, and bring the king back to his throne. For Mr. Ra.s.sendyll, as he stood before me now, was changed in nothing since our last meeting, nor indeed since he reigned in Strelsau, save that a few flecks of gray spotted his hair.
My battered head ached most consumedly. Mr. Ra.s.sendyll rang the bell twice, and a short, thickset man of middle age appeared; he wore a suit of tweed, and had the air of smartness and respectability which marks English servants.
"James," said Rudolf, "this gentleman has hurt his head. Look after it."
James went out. In a few minutes he was back, with water, basin, towels, and bandages. Bending over me, he began to wash and tend my wound very deftly. Rudolf was walking up and down.
"Done the head, James?" he asked, after a few moments.
"Yes, sir," answered the servant, gathering together his appliances.
"Telegraph forms, then."
James went out, and was back with the forms in an instant.
"Be ready when I ring," said Rudolf. And he added, turning to me, "Any easier, Fritz?"
"I can listen to you now," I said.
"I see their game," said he. "One or other of them, Rupert or this Rischenheim, will try to get to the king with the letter."
I sprang to my feet.
"They mustn"t," I cried, and I reeled back into my chair, with a feeling as if a red-hot poker were being run through my head.
"Much you can do to stop "em, old fellow," smiled Rudolf, pausing to press my hand as he went by. "They won"t trust the post, you know. One will go. Now which?" He stood facing me with a thoughtful frown on his face.
I did not know, but I thought that Rischenheim would go. It was a great risk for Rupert to trust himself in the kingdom, and he knew that the king would not easily be persuaded to receive him, however startling might be the business he professed as his errand. On the other hand, nothing was known against Rischenheim, while his rank would secure, and indeed ent.i.tle, him to an early audience. Therefore I concluded that Rischenheim would go with the letter, or, if Rupert would not let that out of his possession, with the news of the letter.
"Or a copy," suggested Ra.s.sendyll. "Well, Rischenheim or Rupert will be on his way by to-morrow morning, or is on his way to-night."
Again I tried to rise, for I was on fire to prevent the fatal consequences of my stupidity. Rudolf thrust me back in my chair, saying, "No, no." Then he sat down at the table and took up the telegraph forms.
"You and Sapt arranged a cipher, I suppose?" he asked.
"Yes. You write the message, and I"ll put it into the cipher."
"This is what I"ve written: "Doc.u.ment lost. Let n.o.body see him if possible. Wire who asks." I don"t like to make it plainer: most ciphers can be read, you know."
"Not ours," said I.
"Well, but will that do?" asked Rudolf, with an unconvinced smile.
"Yes, I think he"ll understand it." And I wrote it again in the cipher; it was as much as I could do to hold the pen.
The bell was rung again, and James appeared in an instant.
"Send this," said Rudolf.