The Lady of the Shroud, Bram Stoker [most life changing books .txt] 📗

>in silence and as swiftly as possible. The Vladika and I will wait

here till we have received the news and have sent some instructions,

when we shall follow, and, if we can, overtake you. One thing: be

absolutely silent on what has been. Be secret of every detail—even

as to the rescue of the Voivodin—except what I send.”

 

Without a word—thus showing immeasurable trust—the whole body—not

a very large one, it is true—moved on, and the Gospodar began

signalling. As I was myself expert in the code, I did not require

any explanation, but followed question and answer on either side.

The first words the Gospodar Rupert signalled were:

 

“Silence, absolute and profound, as to everything which has been.”

Then he asked for details of the capture of the Voivode. The answer

ran:

 

“He was followed from Flushing, and his enemies advised by the spies

all along the route. At Ragusa quite a number of strangers—

travellers seemingly—went on board the packet. When he got out, the

strangers debarked too, and evidently followed him, though, as yet,

we have no details. He disappeared at Ilsin from the Hotel Reo,

whither he had gone. All possible steps are being taken to trace his

movements, and strictest silence and secrecy are observed.”

 

His answer was:

 

“Good! Keep silent and secret. Am hurrying back. Signal request to

Archbishop and all members of National Council to come to Gadaar with

all speed. There the yacht will meet him. Tell Rooke take yacht all

speed to Gadaar; there meet Archbishop and Council—give him list of

names—and return full speed. Have ready plenty arms, six flying

artillery. Two hundred men, provisions three days. Silence,

silence. All depends on that. All to go on as usual at Castle,

except to those in secret.”

 

When the receipt of his message had been signalled, we three—for, of

course, the Voivodin was with us; she had refused to leave the

Gospodar—set out hot-foot after our comrades. But by the time we

had descended the hill it was evident that the Voivodin could not

keep up the terrific pace at which we were going. She struggled

heroically, but the long journey she had already taken, and the

hardship and anxiety she had suffered, had told on her. The Gospodar

stopped, and said that it would be better that he should press on—it

was, perhaps, her father’s life—and said he would carry her.

 

“No, no!” she answered. “Go on! I shall follow with the Vladika.

And then you can have things ready to get on soon after the

Archbishop and Council arrive.” They kissed each other after, on her

part, a shy glance at me; and he went on the track of our comrades at

a great pace. I could see him shortly after catch them up,—though

they, too, were going fast. For a few minutes they ran together, he

speaking—I could note it from the way they kept turning their heads

towards him. Then he broke away from them hurriedly. He went like a

stag breaking covert, and was soon out of sight. They halted a

moment or two. Then some few ran on, and all the rest came back

towards us. Quickly they improvised a litter with cords and

branches, and insisted that the Voivodin should use it. In an

incredibly short time we were under way again, and proceeding with

great rapidity towards Vissarion. The men took it in turns to help

with the litter; I had the honour of taking a hand in the work

myself.

 

About a third of the way out from Vissarion a number of our people

met us. They were fresh, and as they carried the litter, we who were

relieved were free for speed. So we soon arrived at the Castle.

 

Here we found all humming like a hive of bees. The yacht, which

Captain Rooke had kept fired ever since the pursuing party under the

Gospodar had left Vissarion, was already away, and tearing up the

coast at a fearful rate. The rifles and ammunition were stacked on

the quay. The field-guns, too, were equipped, and the cases of

ammunition ready to ship. The men, two hundred of them, were paraded

in full kit, ready to start at a moment’s notice. The provision for

three days was all ready to put aboard, and barrels of fresh water to

trundle aboard when the yacht should return. At one end of the quay,

ready to lift on board, stood also the Gospodar’s aeroplane, fully

equipped, and ready, if need were, for immediate flight.

 

I was glad to see that the Voivodin seemed none the worse for her

terrible experience. She still wore her shroud; but no one seemed to

notice it as anything strange. The whisper had evidently gone round

of what had been. But discretion ruled the day. She and the

Gospodar met as two who had served and suffered in common; but I was

glad to notice that both kept themselves under such control that none

of those not already in the secret even suspected that there was any

love between them, let alone marriage.

 

We all waited with what patience we could till word was signalled

from the Castle tower that the yacht had appeared over the northern

horizon, and was coming down fast, keeping inshore as she came.

 

When she arrived, we heard to our joy that all concerned had done

their work well. The Archbishop was aboard, and of the National

Council not one was missing. The Gospodar hurried them all into the

great hall of the Castle, which had in the meantime been got ready.

I, too, went with him, but the Voivodin remained without.

 

When all were seated, he rose and said:

 

“My Lord Archbishop, Vladika, and Lords of the Council all, I have

dared to summon you in this way because time presses, and the life of

one you all love—the Voivode Vissarion—is at stake. This audacious

attempt of the Turk is the old aggression under a new form. It is a

new and more daring step than ever to try to capture your chief and

his daughter, the Voivodin, whom you love. Happily, the latter part

of the scheme is frustrated. The Voivodin is safe and amongst us.

But the Voivode is held prisoner—if, indeed, he be still alive. He

must be somewhere near Ilsin—but where exactly we know not as yet.

We have an expedition ready to start the moment we receive your

sanction—your commands. We shall obey your wishes with our lives.

But as the matter is instant, I would venture to ask one question,

and one only: ‘Shall we rescue the Voivode at any cost that may

present itself?’ I ask this, for the matter has now become an

international one, and, if our enemies are as earnest as we are, the

issue is war!

 

Having so spoken, and with a dignity and force which is

inexpressible, he withdrew; and the Council, having appointed a

scribe—the monk Cristoferos, whom I had suggested—began its work.

 

The Archbishop spoke:

 

“Lords of the Council of the Blue Mountains, I venture to ask you

that the answer to the Gospodar Rupert be an instant ‘Yes!’ together

with thanks and honour to that gallant Englisher, who has made our

cause his own, and who has so valiantly rescued our beloved Voivodin

from the ruthless hands of our enemies.” Forthwith the oldest member

of the Council—Nicolos of Volok—rose, and, after throwing a

searching look round the faces of all, and seeing grave nods of

assent—for not a word was spoken—said to him who held the door:

“Summon the Gospodar Rupert forthwith!” When Rupert entered, he

spoke to him:

 

“Gospodar Rupert, the Council of the Blue Mountains has only one

answer to give: Proceed! Rescue the Voivode Vissarion, whatever the

cost may be! You hold henceforth in your hand the handjar of our

nation, as already, for what you have done in your valiant rescue of

our beloved Voivodin, your breast holds the heart of our people.

Proceed at once! We give you, I fear, little time; but we know that

such is your own wish. Later, we shall issue formal authorization,

so that if war may ensue, our allies may understand that you have

acted for the nation, and also such letters credential as may be

required by you in this exceptional service. These shall follow you

within an hour. For our enemies we take no account. See, we draw

the handjar that we offer you.” As one man all in the hall drew

their handjars, which flashed as a blaze of lightning.

 

There did not seem to be an instant’s delay. The Council broke up,

and its members, mingling with the people without, took active part

in the preparations. Not many minutes had elapsed when the yacht,

manned and armed and stored as arranged, was rushing out of the

creek. On the bridge, beside Captain Rooke, stood the Gospodar

Rupert and the still-shrouded form of the Voivodin Teuta. I myself

was on the lower deck with the soldiers, explaining to certain of

them the special duties which they might be called on to fulfil. I

held the list which the Gospodar Rupert had prepared whilst we were

waiting for the yacht to arrive from Gadaar.

 

PETROF VLASTIMIR.

 

FROM RUPERT’S JOURNAL—Continued.

July 9, 1907.

 

We went at a terrific pace down the coast, keeping well inshore so as

to avoid, if possible, being seen from the south. Just north of

Ilsin a rocky headland juts out, and that was our cover. On the

north of the peninsula is a small land-locked bay, with deep water.

It is large enough to take the yacht, though a much larger vessel

could not safely enter. We ran in, and anchored close to the shore,

which has a rocky frontage—a natural shelf of rock, which is

practically the same as a quay. Here we met the men who had come

from Ilsin and the neighbourhood in answer to our signalling earlier

in the day. They gave us the latest information regarding the

kidnapping of the Voivode, and informed us that every man in that

section of the country was simply aflame about it. They assured us

that we could rely on them, not merely to fight to the death, but to

keep silence absolutely. Whilst the seamen, under the direction of

Rooke, took the aeroplane on shore and found a suitable place for it,

where it was hidden from casual view, but from which it could be

easily launched, the Vladika and I—and, of course, my wife—were

hearing such details as were known of the disappearance of her

father.

 

It seems that he travelled secretly in order to avoid just such a

possibility as has happened. No one knew of his coming till he came

to Fiume, whence he sent a guarded message to the Archbishop, which

the latter alone would understand. But this Turkish agents were

evidently on his track all the time, and doubtless the Bureau of

Spies was kept well advised. He landed at Ilsin from a coasting

steamer from Ragusa to the Levant.

 

For two days before his coming there had been quite an unusual number

of arrivals at the little port, at which arrivals are rare. And it

turned out that the little hotel—the only fairly good one in Ilsin—

was almost filled up. Indeed, only one room was left, which the

Voivode took for the night. The innkeeper did not know the Voivode

in his disguise, but suspected who it was from the description. He

dined quietly, and went to bed. His room was at the back, on the

ground-floor, looking out on the bank of the little River Silva,

which here runs into the harbour. No disturbance was heard in the

night. Late in the morning, when the elderly stranger