Chapter III

The camp on the bank of the Rabcza was shared by the troop from Fertöszeg and by a militia company of infantry from Wieselburg.

The parole had been given out for the night. Count Vavel had completed his round of the outposts, and had returned to the officers' tent. Here he found awaiting him two old acquaintances--the vice-palatine and the young attorney from Pest, each of them wearing the light-blue dolman.

The youthful attorney, whose letters to the count had voiced the national discontent, had at once girded on his sword when the call to arms had sounded throughout the land, and was now of one mind with his quondam patron: if he got near enough to a Frenchman to strike him, the result would certainly be disastrous--for the Frenchman. Bernat bácsi also found himself at last in his element, with ample time and opportunity for anecdotes. Seated on a clump of sod the root side up, with both hands clasping the hilt of his sword, the point of which rested on the ground, he repeated what he had heard from the palatine's own lips, while dining with that exalted personage in the camp by the Raab.

At a very interesting point in his recital he was unceremoniously interrupted by the challenging call of the outposts:

"Halt! who comes there?"

Vavel hastened from the tent, flung himself on his horse, and galloped in the direction of the call. The patrol had stopped an armed man who would not give the password, but insisted that he had a right to enter the camp.

Vavel recognized Satan Laczi, and said to the guard:

"Release him; he is a friend of mine." Then to the ex-robber: "Come with me."

He led the way to his own private tent, where he bade his companion rest himself on a pallet of straw.

"I dare say you are tired, my good fellow."

"Not very," was the reply. "I have come only from Kapuvar to-day."

"On foot?"

"Part of the way, and part of the way swimming."

"What news do you bring?"

"We captured a French courier in the marshes near Vitnyed just as he was about to ride into the stream."

"Where is he?"

"Well, you see, one of my fellows happened to grasp him a little too tightly by the collar, because he resisted so obstinately--and, besides, it must have been a very weak cord that fastened his soul to his body."

"You have not done well, Satan Laczi," reproved the count. "Another time you must bring the prisoner to me alive, for I may learn something of importance from him. Did not I tell you that I would pay a reward for a living captive?"

"Yes, your lordship, and we shall lose our reward this time. But we did n't capture the fellow for nothing, after all. We searched his pockets, and found this sealed letter addressed to a general in the enemy's army."

Vavel took the letter, and said: "Rest here until I return. You will find something to eat and drink in the corner there. I may want you to ride farther to-night."

"If I am to go on a horse, that will rest me sufficiently," was the response.

Vavel quitted the tent to read the letter by the nearest watch-fire. It was addressed to "General Guillaume."

That the general commanded a brigade of the viceroy of Italy's troops, Vavel knew.

The letter was a long one--four closely written pages. Before reading it Vavel glanced at the signature: "Marquis de Fervlans." The name seemed familiar, but he could not remember where he had heard it. He was fully informed when he read the contents:

"M. GENERAL: The intrigue has been successfully carried out.
Themire has found the fugitives! They are hidden in a secluded nook
on the shore of Lake Neusiedl in Hungary, where their extreme
caution has attracted much attention. Themire's first move was to
take up her abode in the same neighborhood, which she did in a
masterly manner. The estate she bought belonged to a Viennese baron
who had ruined himself by extravagance. Themire bought the
property, paying one hundred thousand guilders for it, on condition
that she might also assume the baron's name; such transfers are
possible, I believe, in Austria. In this wise Themire became the
Baroness Katharina Landsknechtsschild, and, as she thoroughly
understands the art of transformation, became a perfect German
woman before she took possession of her purchase. In order not to
arouse suspicion on the part of the fugitives, she carefully
avoided meeting either of them, and played to perfection the rôle
of a lady that had been jilted by her lover.

"Themire learned that our fugitive owned a powerful telescope with
which he kept himself informed of everything that happened in the
neighborhood, and this prompted her to adopt a very amusing plan of
action. _I_ wanted to put an end at once to the matter, and had
gone to Vienna for the purpose of so doing. I entered the Austrian
army as Count Leon Barthelmy, in order to be near my chosen
emissary. But my scheme was without result. I had planned that a
notorious robber of that region should steal the girl and the
documents from the Nameless Castle,--as the abode of the fugitives
is called,--but my robber proved unequal to the task. Consequently
I was forced to accept Themire's more tedious but successful plan.
The difficulty was for Themire to become acquainted with our
fugitive without arousing his suspicions. An opportunity offered.
One night, when we knew to a certainty that the hermit in the
Nameless Castle would be in his observatory because of an eclipse
of the moon, Themire put her plan into operation. The hermit, who
is only a man, after all, found a lovely woman more attractive than
all the planets in the universe; he was captured in the net laid
for him! When the moon entered the shadow, four masked robbers
(Jocrisse was their leader!) climbed into the Baroness
Landsknechtsschild's windows. The hermit in his observatory beheld
this incursion, and, being a knight as well as a recluse, what else
could he do but rush to the rescue of his fair neighbor? His
telescope had told him she was fair. Jocrisse played his part
admirably. At the approach of the deliverer the "robbers" took to
their heels, and the brave knight unbound the fettered and charming
lady he had delivered from the ruffians. As Themire had prepared
herself for the meeting, you may guess the result: the hermit was
captured!"

Oh, how every drop of blood in Vavel's veins boiled and seethed! His face was crimsoned with shame and rage. He read further:

"Themire was perfectly certain that the mysterious hermit of the
Nameless Castle had fallen in love with her; and _I_ am not so sure
but Themire has ended by falling in love with the knight! Women's
hearts are so impressionable.

"I managed to have my regiment sent to her neighborhood, and took
up my quarters in her house. I sought by every means to lure the
hermit from his den; but he is a cunning fox, is this protector of
fair ladies! I could not get a sight of him. I decided at last to
waylay him (when he would be out driving with the veiled lady), to
pretend that I was a betrayed husband in search of his errant wife,
and ask to see the face of his veiled companion. This, naturally,
he would refuse. A duel would be the result; and as he has not for
years had a weapon in his hand, and as I am a dead shot, you can
guess the result--a hermit against a Spadassin! With a bullet in
his brain, the mysterious maid would become my property."

Here an icy chill shook Vavel's frame. He read on:

"That was my intention. But something on which I had not counted
prevented me from carrying it out. When I insisted on seeing the
face of the veiled lady, after telling him I believed her to be my
wife, Ange Barthelmy (I need not tell you that that entire story
was an invention of my own; I published it in a provincial
newspaper, whence it spread all over Europe), my brave hermit
showed a very bold front, and we were on the point of exchanging
blows, when the lady suddenly flung back her veil and revealed the
face of--Themire! You may believe that I was dumfounded for an
instant; then I began to believe that my faith in this woman had
been misplaced. Could it be possible that she had been caught in
her own trap--that she had found this Vavel's eyes more alluring
than the fortune we promised her, and that instead of betraying him
to us she would do the very opposite--betray us to him? It may be
that she has woven a more delicate web than I can detect with which
to entangle her romantic victim the more securely. At all events,
when I asked Vavel what relation the lady at his side bore to him,
he replied: 'She is my betrothed wife.'

"I confess I am puzzled. But I have the means of compelling Themire
to keep her promise. Her daughter is in my power!"

("Her daughter?" gasped Vavel. "Her daughter? Then Katharina is a married woman!")

"But," he continued to read, "it might happen that a woman who is
in love would sacrifice her child. So soon as this war broke out,
Vavel threw off his hermit's mask, and is now leading a company of
troopers--which he equipped at his own expense--against us.

"From Jocrisse's letters I learn that Vavel's treasures are now in
Themire's hands. That which our fair emissary was commissioned to
find is in her possession. Now, however, the question is, What will
she do with it?

"Jocrisse also informs me that Themire is quite bewitched with the
amiability of the maid who has been intrusted to her care. If this
be true, then matters are in a bad way. If this is not another of
Themire's schemes, but actual sympathy, if this girl, whose
remarkable loveliness of character (even Jocrisse is compelled to
praise her) has won the piquant little Amélie's place in her
mother's heart, then it will be more difficult to separate Themire
from the girl than to win her from her lover."

This was a solitary ray of sunshine amid the threatening clouds which enveloped Ludwig. He continued to read with rapidly beating heart:

"I must know to a certainty what Themire proposes to do. To-day I
sent her a message by a trusty courier, informing her that I should
be at a certain place at an appointed time--that I wanted her to
meet me and deliver into my hands the treasures she now holds. She
will have an excellent excuse for leaving the manor. Our troops are
approaching Steiermark, and have already crossed the Hungarian
border. Thus it will seem as if she fell by accident into the hands
of the enemy.

Vavel's heart almost ceased to beat. The letter shook in his trembling hands.

"I shall not, however," he continued to read, "depend on the fickle
mood of a woman, who may be swayed by a tear or a love-letter. If
Themire does not appear with the maid and the documents at the
designated spot to-morrow evening, then I shall ride with my troop
to the manor. My troop, as you know, belongs to the 'Legion of
Demons,' and they do not know the definition of the word
'impossible'! If Themire of her own free will delivers the
treasures into my hands, I shall thank her becomingly. If, however,
she fails to meet me, I shall take the maid and the documents by
force."

Vavel did not notice that the firelight by which he was reading the letter had begun to grow dim; he believed the characters on the page before him were swimming in a blood-red mist.

"And now," the letter went on, "I come to my instructions to you,
general. You will move with your division toward the southern
shore of Lake Neusiedl, and cut off the way of our fugitives toward
the Tyrol. There is also another task which you must undertake. The
mysterious maid, once she is in our hands, must be treated with the
utmost courtesy and respect. A remarkable destiny awaits her. You
know the emperor is going to separate from Josephine. A new palace
will be built for the new empress. Who is the fortunate lady? As
yet, no one can tell. A royal maid who can bring as her dowry the
crown of a sovereign. A marriage that would unite the imperial
crown with the crown of Hugo Capet would firmly establish
Napoleon's throne. The legitimate dynasty would then be satisfied
with the sovereign chosen by the people. This fugitive maid is, I
hear, lovely, amiable, generous, pure, as only the ideal of a
sovereign can be."

Vavel stamped his foot in a paroxysm of fury. Had this miscreant written that Marie was to be imprisoned in a convent, he could have borne it. But to suggest that his idol, his pure, adored image of a saint, might become the consort of the man on whom all the savage hatred of his nature was concentrated--this was more horrible than all the torments of hell. But he must calm himself and read the letter to the end.

"With this probability in view, I request that you send your wife
and daughter, with a proper escort, of course, to meet me in one of
the border cities, say Friedberg, where the ladies will be prepared
to take charge of the maid. You will understand that a lady of her
exalted position must travel only in company with distinguished
persons. Countess Themire Dealba's rôle is concluded. She must not
be allowed, in any character, to accompany our presumptive
sovereign to Paris. She will receive her five millions of francs,
as promised, and that will conclude our business transactions with
her. Pray communicate my desire to your wife and daughter, and bid
them prepare for the journey.

"Very truly,

"MARQUIS DE FERVLANS."

Not for one instant did Ludwig Vavel deliberate as to his course of action.

He could not leave his post. For a soldier to quit his post before the enemy is treason. He hurried back to his tent. Satan Laczi was stretched on the bare ground, sleeping soundly.

Ludwig shook him vigorously.

"Awake--awake! You must depart at once."

Satan Laczi sprang to his feet.

"Take my own horse, and ride for your life the shortest way to Fertöszeg."

"And what am I to do there?"

"Do you remember that an officer once asked you to steal the treasure I kept concealed in the Nameless Castle?"

"Yes; but I did n't do it."

"Well, I want you to do it now for me."

"Which do you want, the maid or the casket?"

"Both, if possible; the maid in any case. But you must be sure that she is alone when you approach her. Then say merely the name 'Sophie Botta,' and she will listen quietly to what you have to say. Then show her this ring,--here, put it on your left thumb"--he drew the steel ring from his own thumb and slipped it on to Satan Laczi's,--"and say, 'The person who wears this ring sent me to fetch you away from here. You are to come with me at once.'"

"And where am I to take her?"

"You will have a carriage with four swift horses at the park gate nearest the cemetery, and must drive with the maid to Raab.--Don't stop on any account until you get there. In Raab you will inquire for the house of Dr. Tromfszky, who is our army physician. He will have been advised of your coming, and will take charge of the maid. Then you will return to me here, and report what you have done. Here is a passport; if you are stopped at our lines show it to the guard. And here is a purse; don't spare the contents. And do not speak to a living soul about your mission."

"Your orders shall be obeyed," responded Satan Laczi, as he turned to leave the tent.

Vavel did not go back to the officers' tent. He went out into the night, and stood with folded arms, gazing with unseeing eyes into the darkness.