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

a manifest

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.