"Why not?" he asked soberly, arising and coming quite close to her side.
"You are beautiful. If they should take you alive, it would be a very simple matter for any one of these men to purchase you from the others.
You might easily be kept on this island for the rest of your days, and the world would be none the wiser. Or you could be sold into Persia, or Arabia, or Turkey. I am not surprised that you shudder. Forgive me for alarming you, perhaps needlessly. Nevertheless, it is a thing to consider. I have learned all of the plans from Selim"s wife. They do not contemplate the connubial traffic, "tis true, but that would be a natural consequence. Von Blitz and Rasula mean to destroy all of us. We are to disappear from the face of the earth. When our friends come to look for us, we will have died from the plague and our bodies will have been burned, as they always are in j.a.pat. There will be no one left to deny the story. All outsiders are to be destroyed--even the Persian and Turkish women, who hate their liege lords too well. After to-morrow, no ship is due to put in here for three weeks. They will see to it that none of us get out to that ship; nor will the ship"s officers know of our peril. The word will go forth that the plague has come to the island. That is the first step, your highness. But there is one obstacle they have overlooked," he concluded. She looked up inquiringly.
"My warships," he said, the whimsical smile broadening.
CHAPTER XXI
THE PLAGUE IS ANNOUNCED
The next morning, a steamship flying the English flag came to anchor off Aratat, delivered and received mail bags, and after an hour"s stay steamed away in the drift of the southeast trade winds, Bombay to Cape Colony. The men at the chateau gazed longingly, helplessly through their gla.s.ses at this black hulled visitor from the world they loved; they watched it until nothing was left to be seen except the faint cloud of smoke that went to a pin point in the horizon. There had been absolutely no opportunity to communicate with the officers of the ship; they sailed away hurriedly, as if in alarm. Their haste was significant.
"I guess we"d better not tell the women," said Bobby Browne, heaving a deep sigh. "It won"t add to their cheerfulness if they hear that a ship has called here."
"It couldn"t matter in any event," said Deppingham. "We"ve got to stick here two weeks longer, no matter how many ships call. I"m demmed if I"ll funk now, after all these rotten months."
"Perhaps Bowles succeeded in getting a word with the officer who came ash.o.r.e," said Browne hopefully. "He knows the danger we are in."
"My dear Browne, Bowles hadn"t the ghost of a chance to communicate with the ship," said Chase. "He can"t bully "em any longer with his Tommy Atkins coat. They"ve outgrown it, just as he has. It was splendid while it lasted, but they"re no more afraid of it now than they are of my warships. I wish there was some way to get him and his English a.s.sistants into the chateau. It"s awful to think of what is coming to them, sooner or later."
"Good G.o.d, Chase, is there no way to help them?" groaned Deppingham.
"I"ll never forget poor Bowles, the first time I saw him in his d.i.n.ky red jacket and that Hooligan cap of his," reflected Chase, as if he had not heard Deppingham"s remark. "He put them on and tried to overawe the crowd that night when I was threatened in the market-place. He did his best, poor chap, and I----"
"Look!" exclaimed Britt suddenly, pointing toward one of the big gates in the upper end of the park. "I believe they"re making an attack!"
The next instant the men in the balcony were leaving it pell-mell, picking up the ever-ready rifles as they dashed off through the halls and out into the park. What they had seen at the gate--which was one rarely used--was sufficient to demand immediate action on their part; a demonstration of some sort was in progress at this particular entrance to the grounds. Saunders was left behind with instructions to guard the chateau against a.s.sault from other sources. Headed by Chase, the four men hurried across the park, prepared for an encounter at the gate. They kept themselves as well covered as possible by the boxed trees, although up to this time there had been no shooting.
Chase, in advance, suddenly gave vent to a loud cry and boldly dashed out into the open, disregarding all shelter. Two of the native park patrol were hastening toward the gate from another direction. Outside the huge, barred gate a throng of men and women were congregated. Some of the men were vigorously slashing away at the bars with sledges and crow-bars; others were crouching with rifles levelled--in the other direction!
"It"s Bowles!" shouted Chase eagerly.
The situation at once became clear to those inside the walls. Bowles and his friends, a score all told, had managed to reach the upper gate and were now clamouring for admission, beset on all sides by the pickets who were watching the chateau. Bowles, with his pathetic red jacket, could be distinguished in the midst of his huddled followers, shouting frantically for haste on the part of those inside. Some one was waving a white flag of truce. A couple of shots were fired from the forest above, and there were screams from the frightened women, shouts from the men, who had ceased battering the gates at the signs of rescue from within.
"For G.o.d"s sake, be quick," shouted Bowles. "There"s a thousand of them coming up the mines" road!"
The gates were unlocked by the patrol and the panic-stricken throng tumbled through them and scattered like sheep behind the high, sheltering walls. Once more the ma.s.sive gates were closed and the bolts thrown down, just in time to avoid a fusillade of bullets from the outside. It was all over in a minute. A hundred throats emitted shouts of rage, curses and threats, and then, as if by magic, the forest became as still as death.
Once inside the chateau, the fugitives, shivering with terror, fairly collapsed. There were three Englishmen in the party besides Bowles, scrubby, sickly chaps, but men after all. It was with unfeigned surprise that Chase recognised the Persian wives of Jacob von Blitz among the women who had been obliged to cast their lot with the refugees from Aratat. The sister of Neenah and five or six other women who had been sold into the island made up the remainder of the little group of trembling females. Their faces were veiled; their persons were bedecked with all of the gaudy raiment and jewels that their charms had won from their liege lords. They were slaves, these Persians and Turks and Egyptians, but they came out of bondage with the trophies of queens stuck in their hair, in their ears, on their hands and arms and about their waists and throats.
The remainder of the men in the party, fourteen or fifteen in all, were of many castes and nationalities, and of various ages. There were brown-skinned fellows from Calcutta, a couple of st.u.r.dy Greeks, an Egyptian and a Persian, three or four a.s.syrians and as many Maori. As to their walks in life: among them were clerks and guards from the bank, members of the native constabulary, Indian fakirs and showmen, and venders of foreign gewgaws.
Bowles, his thin legs still shaking perceptibly, although he strove mightily to hold them at strict "attention," was the spokesman. A valiant heart thumped once more against the seams of the little red jacket; if his hand trembled and his voice shook, it was because of the unwonted exertion to which both had been put in that stirring flight at dawn. He had eager, anxious listeners about him, too--and of the n.o.bility. Small wonder that his knees were intractable.
"For some time we have been preparing for the outbreak," he said, fingering the gla.s.s of brandy that Britt had poured for him. "Ever since Chase began to go in so noticeably for the ladies--ahem!"
Chase glared at him. The others t.i.ttered.
"I don"t mean the old story, sir, of the Persians--and I"m saying, sir, what"s more, there wasn"t a word of truth in it--I mean the ladies of the chateau, begging pardon, too. Von Blitz came to me often with complaints that you were being made a fool of by a pretty face or two, and that you were going over to the enemy, body and soul. Of course, I stood out for you, sir. It wasn"t any use. They"d made up their minds to get rid of you. When I heard that they tried to kill you the night before last, I made up my mind that no white man was to be left to tell the tale. Last night we locked all the company"s books in the vaults, got together all the banknotes and gold we had on hand, and made preparations to go on board the steamer when she called this morning. My plan was to tell them of the trouble here and try to save you. We were all expected to die of the plague, that"s what we were, and I realised that Tommy Atkins was off the boards forever.
"We hadn"t any more than got the cash and valuables ready to smuggle aboard, when down came Rasula upon us. Ten o"clock last night, your lordship. That"s what it was--ten P.M. He had a dozen men with him and he told every mother"s son of us that our presence in the town was not desired until after the ship had sailed away. We were ordered to leave the town and go up into the hills under guard. There wasn"t any chance to fight or argue. We said we"d go, but we"d have the government on them for the outrage. We left the rooms in the bank building, carrying away what money we could well conceal. Later we were joined by the other men you found with us, all of whom had refused to join in the outrage.
"We were taken up into the hills by a squad of men. There wasn"t a man among us that didn"t know that we were to be killed as soon as the ship had gone. With our own eyes, we saw the mail bags rifled, and nearly all of the mail destroyed. The pouches from the chateau were burned. Rasula politely informed us that the plague had broken out among the chateau servants and that no mail could be sent out from that place. He said he intended to warn the ship"s officer of the danger in landing and--well, that explains the short stay of the ship and the absence of nearly all mail from the island. We had no means of communicating with the officers. There won"t be another boat for three weeks, and they won"t land because of the plague. They will get word, however, that every one in the chateau has died of the disease, and that scores of natives are dying every day.
"Well, we decided to break away from the guard and try to get to the chateau. It was our only chance. It was their intention to take some of us back to the bank this morning to open the vault and the safes. That was to be our last act, I fancy. I think it was about four this morning when a dozen of the women came up to where we were being held. They were flying from the town and ran into the arms of our guard before they knew of their presence. It seems that those devils down there had set out to kill their women because it was known that one of them had warned Mr.
Chase of his danger. According to the women who came with us, at least a score of these unlucky wives were strangled. Von Blitz"s wives succeeded in getting word to a few of their friends and they fled.
"During the excitement brought about by their arrival in our camp, we made a sudden attack upon our guards. They were not expecting it and we had seized their rifles before they could recover from their surprise. I regret to say that we were obliged to kill a few of them in the row that followed. But that is neither here nor there. We struck off for the lower park as lively as possible. The sun was well up, and we had no time to lose. We found the gates barred and went on to the upper gates.
You let us in just in time. The alarm had gone back to the town and we could see the mob coming up the mines" road. My word, it was a close shave."
He mopped his brow with trembling hand and smiled feebly at his countrymen for support. The colour was coming back into their faces and they could smile with the usual British indifference.
"A very close shave, my crimes!" vouchsafed the stumpy gentleman who kept the books at the bank.
"It"s an ill wind that blows all evil," said Deppingham. "Mr. Bowles, you are most welcome. We were a bit short of able-bodied soldiers. May we count on you and the men who came with you?"
"To the end, my lord," said Bowles, almost bursting his jacket by inflation. The others slapped their legs staunchly.
"Then, we"ll all have breakfast," announced Lord Deppingham. "Mr.
Saunders, will you be good enough to conduct the recruits to quarters?"
The arrival of the refugees from Aratat gave the chateau a staunch little garrison, not counting the servants, whose loyalty was an uncertain quant.i.ty. The stable men in the dungeon below served as ill.u.s.trations of what might be expected of the others, despite their profession of fidelity. Including the house servants, who, perforce, were loyal, there was an able-bodied garrison of sixty men. After luncheon, Deppingham called his forces together. He gave fresh instructions, exacted staunch promises, and heard reports from all of his aides. The chateau by this time had been made practically impregnable to attack from the outside.
"For the time being we are as snug as bugs in a rug," said Deppingham, when all was over. "Shall we rejoin the ladies, gentlemen?" He was as calm as a May morning.
The three leaders found the ladies in the shaded balcony, lounging lazily as if no such thing as danger existed. Below them in the gra.s.sy courtyard, a dozen indolent, sensuous Persians were congregated, lying about in the shade with all the abandon of absolute security. The three women in the balcony had been watching them for an hour, commenting freely upon these creatures from another world. Neenah, the youngest and prettiest of them all, had wafted kisses to the proud dames above. She had danced for their amus.e.m.e.nt. Her companions sat staring at the ladies at the railing, dark eyes peering with disdain above the veils which hid their faces.
Lady Agnes waved her hand lazily toward the group below, sending a mocking smile to Chase. "The Asiatic plague," she said cheerfully.
"The deuce," broke in her husband, not catching her meaning. "Has it really broken out--"
"Deppy, you are the dumbest creature I know," exclaimed his wife.
Chase smiled broadly. "She refers to the newly acquired harem, Lord Deppingham. We"re supposed to die with the Asiatic plague, not to--not to--"
"Not to live with it! Ho, ho, I see, by Jove!" roared Deppingham amiably. "Splendid! Harem! I get the point. Ripping!"
"They"re not so bad, are they, Bobby?" asked Lady Agnes coolly, going to Browne"s side at the railing. Chase hesitated a moment and then walked over to Drusilla Browne, who was looking pensively into the courtyard below. He was sorry for her. She laughed and chatted with him for ten minutes, but there was a strained note in her voice that did not escape his notice. It may not have been true that Browne was in love with Lady Deppingham, but it was more than evident that his wife felt convinced that he was.
"Splendid!" was the sudden exclamation of Drusilla"s vagrant lord. The others looked up, interested. "Say, everybody, Lady Agnes and I have hit upon a ripping scheme. It"s great!"
"To better our position?" asked Deppingham.
"Position? What--oh, I see. Not exactly. What do you say to a charity ball, the proceeds to go to the survivors of the plague we"re expected to have?"
The Princess gave a quick, involuntary look at Chase"s face. Browne"s tall fellow-countryman was now leaning against the rail beside her chair. She saw a look of surprised amus.e.m.e.nt flit across his face, succeeded almost instantly by a hard, dark frown of displeasure. He waited a moment and then looked down at her with unmistakable shame and disapproval in his eyes. Bobby Browne was going on volubly about the charity ball, Deppingham listening with a fair show of tolerance.