"Why, because I don"t want to have things any different. But if I have to be worried and teased so, and if people insist on it so, why, there"s only one that I"ll _ever_ consent to."
"And what is that?" asked Tozer, looking at her with the most affectionate solicitude.
"Why, it"s--it"s--" Minnie paused, and looked a little confused.
"It"s what?" asked Tozer, with still deeper and more anxious interest.
"Why, it"s--it"s--Rufus K. Gunn."
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.
THE IMPATIENT BARON.
The brigands had resisted stubbornly, but finally found themselves without a leader. Girasole had disappeared; and as his voice no longer directed their movements, they began to fall into confusion. The attacking party, on the other hand, was well led, and made a steady advance, driving the enemy before them. At length the brigands lost heart, and took to flight. With a wild cheer the a.s.sailants followed in pursuit. But the fugitives took to the forest, and were soon beyond the reach of their pursuers in its familiar intricacies, and the victors were summoned back by the sound of the trumpet.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE DISCOVERY OF A BODY ON THE Sh.o.r.e OF THE LAKE."]
It was now daylight, and as the conquering party emerged from the forest they showed the uniform of the Papal Zouaves; while their leader, who had shown himself so skillful in forest warfare, proved to be no less a personage than our friend the Baron. Led by him, the party advanced to the old stone house, and here, drawing up his men in front, their leader rushed in, and searched every room. To his amazement, he found the house deserted, its only inmate being that dead brigand whom Girasole had mistaken for Hawbury. This discovery filled the Baron with consternation. He had expected to find the prisoners here, and his dismay and grief were excessive. At first he could not believe in his ill luck; but another search convinced him of it, and reduced him to a state of perfect bewilderment.
But he was not one who could long remain inactive. Feeling confident that the brigands were scattered every where in headlong flight, he sent his men out in different directions, into the woods and along the sh.o.r.e, to see if they could find any traces of the lost ones. He himself remained near the house, so as to direct the search most efficiently. After about an hour they came back, one by one, without being able to find many traces. One had found an empty coffin in a grave, another a woman"s hood, a third had found a scarf. All of these had endeavored to follow up these traces, but without result. Finally a man approached who announced the discovery of a body on the sh.o.r.e of the lake. After him came a party who was carrying the corpse for the inspection of their captain.
The Baron went to look at it. The body showed a great gap in the skull. On questioning the men, he learned that they had found it on the sh.o.r.e, at the bottom of a steep rock, about half-way between the house and the place where they had first emerged from the woods. His head was lying pressed against a sharp rock in such a way that it was evident that he had fallen over the cliff, and had been instantly killed. The Baron looked at the face, and recognized the features of Girasole. He ordered it to be taken away and laid in the empty grave for future burial.
The Baron now became impatient. This was not what he had bargained for at all. At length he thought that they might have fled, and might now be concealed in the woods around; and together with this thought there came to his mind an idea of an effective way to reach them. The trumpeter could send forth a blast which could be heard far and wide.
But what might, could, would, or should the trumpeter sound forth which should give the concealed listeners a certainty that the summons came from friends and not from foes? This the Baron puzzled over for some time. At length he solved this problem also, and triumphantly.
There was one strain which the trumpeter might sound that could not be mistaken. It would at once convey to the concealed hearers all the truth, and gently woo them home. It would be at once a note of victory, a song of joy, a call of love, a sound of peace, and an invitation--"Wanderer, come home!"
Of course there was only one tune that, to the mind of the Baron, was capable of doing this.
And of course that tune was "Yankee Doodle."
Did the trumpeter know it?
Of course he did.
Who does not know it?
All men know that tune. Man is born with an innate knowledge of the strain of "Yankee Doodle." No one can remember when he first learned it. The reason is because he never learned it at all. It was born in him.
So the trumpeter sounded it forth, and wild and high and clear and far the sounds arose; and it was "Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying; and answer, echoes, answer, Yankee Doodle dying."
And while the trumpet sounded the Baron listened and listened, and walked up and down, and fretted and fumed and chafed, and I"m afraid he swore a little too; and at last he was going to tell the trumpeter to stop his infernal noise, when, just at that moment, what should he see all of a sudden emerging from the woods but three figures!
And I"ll leave you to imagine, if you can, the joy and delight which agitated the bosom of our good Baron as he recognized among these three figures the well-known face and form of his friend Hawbury. With Hawbury was a lady whom the Baron remembered having seen once in the upper hall of a certain house in Rome, on a memorable occasion, when he stood on the stairs calling _Min_. The lady was very austere then, but she was very gracious now, and very wonderfully sweet in the expression of her face. And with them was a stranger in the garb of a priest.
Now as soon as the party met the Baron, who rushed to meet them, Hawbury wrung his hand, and stared at him in unbounded astonishment.
"You!" he cried; "yourself, old boy! By Jove!"
"Yes," said the Baron. "You see, the moment we got into that ambush I kept my eye open, and got a chance to spring into the woods. There I was all right, and ran for it. I got into the road again a couple of miles back, got a horse, rode to Civita Castellana, and there I was lucky enough to find a company of Zouaves. Well, Sir, we came here flying, mind, I tell you, and got hold of a chap that we made guide us to the lake. Then we opened on them; and here we are, by thunder! But where"s Min?"
"Who?" asked Hawbury.
"Min," said the Baron, in the most natural tone in the world.
"Oh! Why, isn"t she here?"
"No. We"ve hunted every where. No one"s here at all." And the Baron went on to tell about their search and its results. Hawbury was chiefly struck by the news of Girasole.
"He must have gone mad with terror," said Hawbury, as he told the Baron about his adventure at the grave. "If that"s so," he added, "I don"t see how the ladies could be harmed. I dare say they"ve run off.
Why, we started to run, and got so far off that we couldn"t find our way back, even after the trumpet began to sound. You must keep blowing at it, you know. Play all the national tunes you can--no end. They"ll find their way back if you give them time."
And now they all went back to the house, and the Baron in his anxiety could not talk any more, but began his former occupation of walking up and down, and fuming and fretting and chafing, and, I"m again afraid, swearing--when all of a sudden, on the bank in front of him, on the very top, just emerging from the thick underbrush which had concealed them till that moment, to their utter amazement and indescribable delight, they beheld Scone Dacres and Mrs. Willoughby. Scone Dacres appeared to Hawbury to be in a totally different frame of mind from that in which he had been when he last saw him; and what perplexed him most, yea, and absolutely confounded him, was the sight of Scone Dacres with his demon wife, whom he had been pursuing for the sake of vengeance, and whose frenzy had been so violent that he himself had been drawn with him on purpose to try and restrain him. And now what was the injured husband doing with his demon wife? Doing! why, doing the impa.s.sioned lover most vigorously; sustaining her steps most tenderly; grasping her hand; pushing aside the bushes; a.s.sisting her down the slope; overwhelming her, in short; hovering round her, apparently unconscious that there was in all the wide world any other being than Mrs. Willoughby. And as Hawbury looked upon all this his eyes dilated and his lips parted involuntarily in utter wonder; and finally, as Dacres reached the spot, the only greeting which he could give his friend was,
"By Jove!"
And now, while Mrs. Willoughby and Ethel were embracing with tears of joy, and overwhelming one another with questions, the Baron sought information from Dacres.
Dacres then informed him all about Tozer"s advent and departure.
"Tozer!" cried the Baron, in intense delight. "Good on his darned old head! Hurrah for the parson! He shall marry us for this--he, and no other, by thunder!"
Upon which Mrs. Willoughby and Ethel exchanged glances, but said not a word. Not they.
But in about five minutes, when Mrs. Willoughby had Ethel apart a little by herself, she said,
"Oh, Ethel dear, isn"t it dreadful?"
"What?" asked Ethel.
"Why, poor Minnie."
"Poor Minnie?"
"Yes. Another horrid man. And he"ll be claiming her too. And, oh dear!
what shall I do?"
"Why, you"ll have to let her decide for herself. I think it will be--this person."
Mrs. Willoughby clasped her hands, and looked up with a pretty little expression of horror.
"And do you know, dear," added Ethel, "I"m beginning to think that it wouldn"t be so _very_ bad. He"s Lord Hawbury"s friend, you know, and then he"s very, very brave; and, above all, think what we all owe him."
Mrs. Willoughby gave a resigned sigh.