CHAPTER XXV.
IN GATRINA’S HOUSE.
In the moment of crisis Karasch took his cue from me and neither resisted nor protested against the soldiers’ conduct. I knew, however, that he would watch me closely and be prepared to help the moment I had decided what to do.
“I don’t know why you’ve done this,” I said to the man who held me and had given the orders. “I kept faith with you and you arrest me in return for it.” I was on fire with anxiety, but I spoke coolly.
“We can do without you now; and mean to see you give no trouble,” was the answer.
“Very well; but if you cross the garden in a body like this, there’ll be no call for me to give it you; you’ll find it for yourself. You’ll be seen; the alarm will be given, and you may look out for resistance.”
“Who is there to resist, fool-head? There are only three men in the house, and we’ve got two of you here,” he growled with a chuckle at his own cunning. “You come with us to the house; that’s all you’ve got to do; and come quietly, or maybe you won’t reach it. This is the army’s night, and we’re not in a mood to be soft to those who resist us.”
With that we moved on along the garden and I was in a fever of apprehension lest we should be seen by someone in the house. But the inmates were apparently fast asleep, and we reached the entrance without being observed.
This increased my captors’ suspicions.
“I thought your caution was overdone, friend spy,” he said.
“Then you’re a fool,” I answered, bluntly. “There’s a dog about and if he scents you, he’ll soon let everyone know. You’d better let me keep him quiet.” I had told Chris to stay, and knew he would remain till I called him.
We had entered the house then and stood in the broad, stone-flagged passage; and I spoke loud enough to warn our men in the cellars beyond. I and the two men holding me were in advance and Karasch and the others close behind.
“You hold your tongue. I’m in command here,” said the soldier in a bullying tone.
“You’ve made prisoners of us; so you must do as you will. But I won’t stand this treatment.”
“Where are my two men?”
“I left them close here. I suppose they’ve gone on into the house.”
“It’s as dark as hell,” growled the fellow. “Can you see anything, Andreas?” he asked his companion.
“Nothing but the dark,” was the answer with an oath.
“You can get a light in the room first door to the right,” I said. This was where I had left Chris, and if he went to it I knew the dog would put him out of the reckoning. But he smelt a trick and would not.
“No, thank you, Mr. Spy. Where we go, you come too. I can’t make out where the devil the others are. What does it mean?” and he called the men by name.
“Hadn’t you better ring the alarm bell, while you’re about it?” I sneered. “You’ll rouse everyone more quickly.”
“Curse the dark. Lead to where I can get a light,” he muttered. “No tricks, mind, or you’ll regret it.”
His grip tightened on my arm and we moved forward abreast. But the door was too narrow to admit us all at once and he entered the room first.
“Seize him, Chris,” I said in English; and out of the gloom the huge black form sprang at him with a fierce growl. In his consternation the soldier loosed his hold of me to battle with the dog, and in a moment my hand was on his companion’s throat, while I called to the men in the cellars to go to the help of Karasch who was now fighting and struggling with his two guards.
We were six to three, for Chris kept the leader busy; and the desperate struggle in the darkness was soon over. The soldiers fought gamely enough; but they had no chance against such odds. We overpowered them, but it was not until some hard blows had been given and taken on both sides.
I was most afraid for the man whom Chris had attacked; but when I went to him was relieved to find that no serious harm had been done. He was terribly frightened; as well might be, for Chris was an antagonist few men would care to fight. But having got him down the good dog had not mauled him. The soldier lay flat on the ground, with Chris standing guard over him and growling fiercely whenever the man made the slightest movement.
“Call this brute off for God’s sake,” he said, in a frightened voice as I approached, lantern in hand. I was glad to hear him speak.
“It serves you right for the trick you played me,” I answered. “Are you hurt?” and I called Chris away.
“I thought he’d kill me.”
“Wouldn’t have been much loss if he had,” said I, as he sat up and began to feel himself all over.
“I’d like to shoot the brute. What does this all mean?”
“That you’re my prisoner instead of my being yours. If you have any weapons put ’em out—or I’ll let the dog find them.”
He glanced round fearsomely at Chris, who snarled.
“I have none.”
“Then we’ll tie you up like the rest of your men,” I answered; and tied up he was. “I shall leave you here,” I told him. “The dog will be on watch if you try any tricks; and you know whether you want another round with him.”
Our victory was complete; and it remained to see how we should use it. Karasch and the others set to work to take the soldiers’ uniforms and put them on, while I tried to think what step to take next. I was in possession of the house; but it seemed as if the real difficulties of the business were only at the beginning.
The noise made during the struggle was so great that I knew the household must have been roused, and while the men were getting into the soldiers’ uniforms, I listened with considerable anxiety for someone to come down to us. No one came, however; and I concluded that those who had been aroused had also been so frightened that they preferred to stop where they were.
The difficulty of the position was increased by my reluctance to see Gatrina or be seen by her, if that could be in any way prevented. My plan was to play his burlesque of arresting her, and not to shew my hand until she was housed safely in the care of the American Minister. To do that I intended one of the four men whom Karasch had brought to act the part of leader; and I trusted that in the confusion and alarm of the arrest, both Karasch and I might manage to pass unnoticed.
I was revolving all this in my thoughts when I heard a movement above stairs, and presently a man’s voice called:
“Is that you, Michel? What’s the matter?”
“Come down,” I called in response; but my voice startled him.
“Who are you?”
“Michel wants you. There is trouble. Come down;” but he would not. Instead of coming he went away; and I heard the low murmur of voices as he spoke with someone else.
Lights shewed then, and I heard people moving about. But I did not want the house to be lighted up, for fear of its attracting too much notice outside; and I therefore called to my men to make haste with their dressing.
When they came I led the way upstairs to find the servants huddled together looking very scared; the two men in front of them armed. At the sight of so many of us in uniform they uttered cries of surprise and alarm.
“Put those guns down,” I said, in a tone of command. “We are too strong for you to resist; and if you make any attempt, it will only lead to trouble. Do as I say, and no harm will come to you.”
The two men hesitated. “What do you want?” asked one of them.
“Cover them,” I said, stepping to one side, and up went my men’s guns to their shoulders.
One of the women screamed and they all huddled back, while the men laid their weapons on the ground with discreet speed. At a sign from me the muskets were lowered.
“Put out most of those lights,” I said next; and the order was obeyed with a celerity that spoke volumes for the impression we had created. “Where is your mistress, the Princess Gatrina?”
“In her rooms, sir,” said one of the women servants.
“Tell her to dress at once. She is to come with us. Impress upon her that only her safety is being considered. Strange things are doing in the city, and she cannot remain here. She must be ready to go with us in five minutes.”
The girl sped away up the broad stairs and I turned to Karasch to tell him my plan.
“The Princess will probably demand to see us; and as neither you nor I can go to her without being recognised, two of these must go. Pick them out.”
He chose two, and I told them what to say. That we had been selected to protect the Princess and take her to a place where she would be safe until the trouble in the city had passed.
The maid came back and her message was pretty much what I had anticipated.
“Her highness will see you in a minute, sir. She wishes to know from whom you come; and declares she will not leave the house.”
“Our orders are peremptory. In five minutes she must go with us,” I replied, and she carried the message.
While we waited for the reply I went into the room where I had once before been, and saw that my fears as to the unguarded window were only too well justified. I called Karasch’s attention to it.
“If we have to remain in the house that window must be barricaded, or we may as well throw open the front door,” I said; and we were discussing it when I heard one of the maids say to the other servants that the street in the front of the house was getting full of people.
We went and looked out. It was only too true; and that it probably had a very sinister meaning for us all I knew to my infinite concern.
The city was indeed awaking to a knowledge of the dread doings of the night of terror, and the crowd was beginning to gather here in expectation that the house would become the scene of some stirring and exciting act of the tragedy.
I noticed with relief, however, that no troops were present. None had been sent yet under the belief that Gatrina would be made prisoner by the handful of men whose parts we were now playing. But how long this belief would continue it was impossible to conjecture.
Someone somewhere was waiting to receive the Princess from the hands of the men; and when they did not arrive with her, the sands of patience would be few and would soon run out, and a fresh guard sent to know the reason. When they came, they would bring a heap of trouble with them; unless I could hurry Gatrina from the house in time.
The need for haste was thus imperative; and I fretted and worried at the delay she made, all unconscious as she was of the peril it meant to her and all.
The instant the five minutes’ grace had expired, I sent the two men upstairs to bring her down, despatching one of the scared maid-servants to shew them her room.
At that moment we heard sounds below and Chris growled and barked. Karasch and I, followed by the two men, ran down instantly and found trouble; one of the soldiers, carelessly bound, had wriggled out of his cords and liberated a companion; and as we reached the bottom of the stairs, the two were in the passage with the dog blocking the way to the door and snarling fiercely.
We rushed toward them, but they slipped into the room where Chris had had the fight with the leader; and slamming the door in our faces, set up a clatter loud enough to wake the dead.
Karasch and I dashed ourselves against the door and as we strained to force it, we heard the crash of glass.
“The garden, Karasch,” I cried; and we unfastened the door and rushed out. Chris darted out with a growl and in a moment had brought one of the men to bay. The other fled toward the stable and we ran in pursuit of him. But he was a quick, agile fellow, and using the little door at the end as a means of escape, he sprang up it, mounted the wall and disappeared—to carry the news of our doings heaven alone knew where.
“Back to the house, Karasch. We must get away before that man can bring help.” We took back his comrade, thrust him into a room, turned the key upon him, and hurried again up the stairs.
Matters were going against me in the house also; and I was beginning to realise that I had grievously bungled matters in choosing such a method to serve Gatrina.
She had done precisely what, if I had not been a dolt, I might have known a girl of her courage and resolution would do. She had used the minutes of grace to barricade herself into the room.
The men were waiting for me with the story.
“She has fastened herself into her room, she and her maids, and we could hear them piling things against the door to keep us out. We tried to call your message through the door, but at first she wouldn’t answer; and then she said she was quite safe where she was and would yield to nothing but force. We didn’t like to force the door without your orders.”
I clenched my hands in impotent chagrin. Had we been the soldiers whose part we were playing, there would have been little enough difficulty, of course; and a few minutes would have sufficed to break a way in and take her prisoner.
But force was out of the question for me; and I felt like a flustered fool as the infinitely precious moments slipped away one after another bringing perilously nearer the troops who would come hurrying to the house the instant the man who had escaped got his story to headquarters.
To add to the strain of the situation, cries and calls began to be heard from the crowd in the street. Presently a stone was flung through one of the windows; and the crash of the glass sent a shiver of fear through the clustered servants and was followed by a loud cheer from the crowd and a cry of “Down with the Obrenovics!”
“Shew me the Princess’s room,” I said, and followed by the men I ran upstairs and knocked on the panel of the door.
There was no answer.
I knocked again.
“For God’s sake open the door and come out,” I said, eagerly.
Still there was no reply; and while we waited more stones were flung and more windows broken, followed as before by the shouts and hoarse cries of the mob.
But not a sign would Gatrina make in response to my knocking and appeal.
Every second was bringing the danger nearer—and it was growing to a double peril now; for Karasch brought me word that the mob was increasing fast in numbers and were growing so angry that it looked as though they would attack the house.
I clamoured again at the door and called out that there was imminent danger; but either she did not hear my voice because of the clamour of the people without, or hearing it, did not recognise the tone; and held it to be a ruse of the soldiers to induce her to open the door.
I felt just mad as I cursed my stupidity for having planned this soldier business, which had thus driven Gatrina to regard these desperate efforts of ours to save her as the violence of her enemies bent upon her destruction.
Meanwhile the temper of the populace without was rising so fast that it seemed as if a few minutes would make escape from the house impracticable for us all, even if more troops did not arrive.
I hammered again at the door and called her in my loudest tones; I told the servants of the peril in which she stood if we could not get her away, and urged them to join with me in appealing to her to yield. But it was all to no purpose. Not a word would she answer either to them or to me.
“Get me paper quickly,” I told them; and when one, a white-faced girl, rushed away on the errand, I whistled up Chris and set him barking in the hope that she would hear him and know by the sound who was there.
Chris succeeded where I had failed.
“What is that?” It was Gatrina’s voice; and hearing it the dog whined and barked joyfully.
“It is Chris,” I called. “We are here to save you. Open the door for the love of God at once.”
“Who is that speaking?”
“It is I, Bourgwan,” I replied, my voice unsteady in my excitement. “There is not a moment to lose.”
“Where are the soldiers?”
“I will explain all. For God’s sake come or it will be too late. Every second is precious.”
We heard them drag away something they had placed before the door; and burning with impatience called again to them to make haste.
At that moment a loud knocking came at the front door of the house; and one of Karasch’s men came running to say that the soldiers were in the street.
“We daren’t stay to be caught in these uniforms. We shall be shot off-hand at a time like this,” he said; and the others agreed.
“You’ll be shot by me if you attempt to desert me now,” I answered desperately. “Before anyone can get in, we shall be away. Stop them, Karasch. In a few moments we shall all be away.”
Again there came the loud knocking and clanging of the bell, followed by the cries of the mob and another shower of stones at the house.
Unable to hold their courage longer my men turned and ran down the stairs helter-skelter.
There was a moment’s calm without and in the silence the room door unlocked and Gatrina came out.
Not recognising me for an instant in the surprise at seeing my officer’s uniform, and Karasch by me dressed also as a soldier, she started back as if fearing treachery; but Chris rushed up to her and disarmed her fear.
“Would God you had come out before,” I cried.
Before she could reply we heard the sound of a scuffle and two of the men came running back.
“We are too late. The soldiers are already in the house below,” cried one, breathlessly. “We are as good as dead men.”
Even Karasch changed colour at the news.