The Lady of the Shroud, Bram Stoker [most life changing books .txt] 📗
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earnestness. They made but one request—that the Queen should, on
the great occasion of the Balkan Federation, wear as robes of State
the Shroud that they loved to see her in. The spokesman, addressing
the Queen, said in tones of rugged eloquence:
“This is a matter, Your Majesty, that the women naturally have a say
in, so we have, of course, consulted them. They have discussed the
matter by themselves, and then with us, and they are agreed without a
flaw that it will be good for the Nation and for Womankind that you
do this thing. You have shown to them, and to the world at large,
what women should do, what they can do, and they want to make, in
memory of your great act, the Shroud a garment of pride and honour
for women who have deserved well of their country. In the future it
can be a garment to be worn only by privileged women who have earned
the right. But they hope, and we hope with them, that on this
occasion of our Nation taking the lead before the eyes of the world,
all our women may wear it on that day as a means of showing overtly
their willingness to do their duty, even to the death. And so”—here
he turned to the King—“Rupert, we trust that Her Majesty Queen Teuta
will understand that in doing as the women of the Blue Mountains
wish, she will bind afresh to the Queen the loyal devotion which she
won from them as Voivodin. Henceforth and for all time the Shroud
shall be a dress of honour in our Land.”
Teuta looked all ablaze with love and pride and devotion. Stars in
her eyes shone like white fire as she assured them of the granting of
their request. She finished her little speech:
“I feared that if I carried out my own wish, it might look arrogant,
but Rupert has expressed the same wish, and now I feel that I am free
to wear that dress which brought me to you and to Rupert”—here she
beamed on him, and took his hand—“fortified as I am by your wishes
and the command of my lord the King.”
Rupert took her in his arms and kissed her fondly before them all,
saying:
“Tell your wives, my brothers, and the rest of the Blue Mountain
women, that that is the answer of the husband who loves and honours
his wife. All the world shall see at the ceremony of the Federation
of Balka that we men love and honour the women who are loyal and can
die for duty. And, men of the Blue Mountains, some day before long
we shall organize that great idea, and make it a permanent thing—
that the Order of the Shroud is the highest guerdon that a noble-hearted woman can wear.”
Teuta disappeared for a few moments, and came back with the Crown
Prince in her arms. Everyone present asked to be allowed to kiss
him, which they did kneeling.
THE FEDERATION BALKA.
By the Correspondents of “Free America.”
The Editors of Free America have thought it well to put in
consecutive order the reports and descriptions of their Special
Correspondents, of whom there were present no less than eight. Not a
word they wrote is omitted, but the various parts of their reports
are placed in different order, so that, whilst nothing which any of
them recorded is left out, the reader may be able to follow the
proceedings from the various points of view of the writers who had
the most favourable opportunity of moment. In so large an assemblage
of journalists—there were present over a thousand—they could not
all be present in one place; so our men, in consultation amongst
themselves, arranged to scatter, so as to cover the whole proceeding
from the various “coigns of vantage,” using their skill and
experience in selecting these points. One was situated on the summit
of the steel-clad tower in the entrance to the Blue Mouth; another on
the “Press-boat,” which was moored alongside King Rupert’s armoured
yacht, The Lady, whereon were gathered the various Kings and rulers
of the Balkan States, all of whom were in the Federation; another was
in a swift torpedo-boat, with a roving commission to cruise round the
harbour as desired; another took his place on the top of the great
mountain which overlooks Plazac, and so had a bird’s-eye view of the
whole scene of operations; two others were on the forts to right and
left of the Blue Mouth; another was posted at the entrance to the
Great Tunnel which runs from the water level right up through the
mountains to the plateau, where the mines and factories are situate;
another had the privilege of a place on an aeroplane, which went
everywhere and saw everything. This aeroplane was driven by an old
Special Correspondent of Free America, who had been a chum of our
Special in the Japanese and Russian War, and who has taken service on
the Blue Mountain Official Gazette.
PLAZAC,
June 30, 1909.
Two days before the time appointed for the ceremony the guests of the
Land of the Blue Mountains began to arrive. The earlier comers were
mostly the journalists who had come from almost over the whole
inhabited world. King Rupert, who does things well, had made a camp
for their exclusive use. There was a separate tent for each—of
course, a small one, as there were over a thousand journalists—but
there were big tents for general use scattered about—refectories,
reading and writing rooms, a library, idle rooms for rest, etc. In
the rooms for reading and writing, which were the work-rooms for
general use, were newspapers, the latest attainable from all over the
world, Blue-Books, guides, directories, and all such aids to work as
forethought could arrange. There was for this special service a body
of some hundreds of capable servants in special dress and bearing
identification numbers—in fact, King Rupert “did us fine,” to use a
slang phrase of pregnant meaning.
There were other camps for special service, all of them well
arranged, and with plenty of facility for transport. Each of the
Federating Monarchs had a camp of his own, in which he had erected a
magnificent pavilion. For the Western King, who had acted as
Arbitrator in the matter of the Federation, a veritable palace had
been built by King Rupert—a sort of Aladdin’s palace it must have
been, for only a few weeks ago the place it occupied was, I was told,
only primeval wilderness. King Rupert and his Queen, Teuta, had a
pavilion like the rest of the Federators of Balka, but infinitely
more modest, both in size and adornments.
Everywhere were guards of the Blue Mountains, armed only with the
“handjar,” which is the national weapon. They wore the national
dress, but so arranged in colour and accoutrement that the general
air of uniformity took the place of a rigid uniform. There must have
been at least seventy or eighty thousand of them.
The first day was one of investigation of details by the visitors.
During the second day the retinues of the great Federators came.
Some of these retinues were vast. For instance, the Soldan (though
only just become a Federator) sent of one kind or another more than a
thousand men. A brave show they made, for they are fine men, and
drilled to perfection. As they swaggered along, singly or in mass,
with their gay jackets and baggy trousers, their helmets surmounted
by the golden crescent, they looked a foe not to be despised.
Landreck Martin, the Nestor of journalists, said to me, as we stood
together looking at them:
“To-day we witness a new departure in Blue Mountain history. This is
the first occasion for a thousand years that so large a Turkish body
has entered the Blue Mountains with a reasonable prospect of ever
getting out again.”
July 1, 1909.
To-day, the day appointed for the ceremony, was auspiciously fine,
even for the Blue Mountains, where at this time of year the weather
is nearly always fine. They are early folk in the Blue Mountains,
but to-day things began to hum before daybreak. There were bugle-calls all over the place—everything here is arranged by calls of
musical instruments—trumpets, or bugles, or drums (if, indeed, the
drum can be called a musical instrument)—or by lights, if it be
after dark. We journalists were all ready; coffee and bread-and-butter had been thoughtfully served early in our sleeping-tents, and
an elaborate breakfast was going on all the time in the refectory
pavilions. We had a preliminary look round, and then there was a
sort of general pause for breakfast. We took advantage of it, and
attacked the sumptuous—indeed, memorable—meal which was served for
us.
The ceremony was to commence at noon, but at ten o’clock the whole
place was astir—not merely beginning to move, but actually moving;
everybody taking their places for the great ceremony. As noon drew
near, the excitement was intense and prolonged. One by one the
various signatories to the Federation began to assemble. They all
came by sea; such of them as had seaboards of their own having their
fleets around them. Such as had no fleets of their own were attended
by at least one of the Blue Mountain ironclads. And I am bound to
say that I never in my life saw more dangerous craft than these
little warships of King Rupert of the Blue Mountains. As they
entered the Blue Mouth each ship took her appointed station, those
which carried the signatories being close together in an isolated
group in a little bay almost surrounded by high cliffs in the
farthest recesses of the mighty harbour. King Rupert’s armoured
yacht all the time lay close inshore, hard by the mouth of the Great
Tunnel which runs straight into the mountain from a wide plateau,
partly natural rock, partly built up with mighty blocks of stone.
Here it is, I am told, that the inland products are brought down to
the modern town of Plazac. Just as the clocks were chiming the half-hour before noon this yacht glided out into the expanse of the”
Mouth.” Behind her came twelve great barges, royally decked, and
draped each in the colour of the signatory nation. On each of these
the ruler entered with his guard, and was carried to Rupert’s yacht,
he going on the bridge, whilst his suite remained on the lower deck.
In the meantime whole fleets had been appearing on the southern
horizon; the nations were sending their maritime quota to the
christening of “Balka”! In such wonderful order as can only be seen
with squadrons of fighting ships, the mighty throng swept into the
Blue Mouth, and took up their stations in groups. The only armament
of a Great Power now missing was that of the Western King. But there
was time. Indeed, as the crowd everywhere began to look at their
watches a long line of ships began to spread up northward from the
Italian coast. They came at great speed—nearly twenty knots. It
was a really wonderful sight—fifty of the finest ships in the world;
the very latest expression of naval giants, each seemingly typical of
its class—Dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers. They came in a wedge,
with the King’s yacht flying the Royal Standard the apex. Every ship
of the squadron bore a red ensign long enough to float from the
masthead to the water. From the armoured tower in the waterway one
could see the myriad of faces—white stars on both land and sea—for
the great harbour was now alive with ships and each and all of them
alive with men.
Suddenly, without any direct cause, the white masses became eclipsed-
-everyone had turned round, and was looking the other way.
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