GLOI 
 
 jyyT 
 
 C 'Frederic Turner

 
 GLORIA 
 
 OF CA1JF. LIBRARY. U>9
 
 "I've got some sort of an idea," he said at length 
 
 (page 122)
 
 GLORIA 
 
 BY 
 
 G. FREDERIC TURNER, M.A. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR 
 BY C. M. RELYEA 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 
 1910
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY 
 DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 
 
 Published, March, 1910
 
 CHAPTER FACE 
 
 I THE PATIENT AND His DOCTOR ... 1 
 
 II THE CITY OP THE PLAIN 13 
 
 III A PROPOSITION 23 
 
 IV THE THIERGARTEN 32 
 
 V THE KING'S CUP 40 
 
 VI " WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG " . 52 
 
 VII CONFIDENCES IN A WINE-SHOP .... 69 
 
 VIII THE BARGAIN 81 
 
 IX THE KING'S BREAKFAST 90 
 
 X A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 97 
 
 XI THE IRON MAIDEN Ill 
 
 XII THE SIMPLE POLICY 127 
 
 XIII ON THE WARPATH ....... 140 
 
 XIV MUSIC AND THE MOB 147 
 
 XV THE TEMPTATION OF ULRICH . . .158 
 
 XVI KING AND CANAILLE 163 
 
 XVII " CAPTAIN " TRAFFORD 176 
 
 XVIII THE FIRST COUNCIL 186 
 
 XIX THE CHAPEL ROYAL 197 
 
 XX BERNHARDT DISTURBED 207 
 
 XXI DREAMS 213 
 
 XXII THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP . . . 220 
 
 XXIII THE " BOB " RUN 233 
 
 2133166
 
 vi CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIV RIVAL INFLUENCES 249 
 
 XXV THE OPENING BARS 265 
 
 XXVI THE PARLEY 273 
 
 XXVII TRAFFORD AND THE TRENCH .... 280 
 
 XXVIII MEYER AT WORK 288 
 
 XXIX NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL 299 
 
 XXX RECRUITS 312 
 
 XXXI "A SURPRISE" ,., , 322 
 
 XXXII THE CONQUERING KING 332 
 
 XXXIII THE LOST SHEEP 345 
 
 EPILOGUE ... ,., 352
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " I've got some sort of an idea," he said 
 
 at length (page 122) .... Frontispiece 
 
 " The lady wants to be seen home 
 
 and I'm going to do it if I swing 
 
 for it ! " facing page 66 
 
 " If I see so much as an inch of blade, 
 
 this little hand-grenade of mine 
 
 will play havoc with your hand- 
 some features " 182 
 
 " I drink to our success to-night, I 
 
 drink to the devil in the devil's own 
 
 tipple" " "308
 
 CHAPTER ONE 
 
 THE PATIENT AND HIS DOCTOR 
 
 CHRISTMAS Eve in New York ! Broadway crowded with 
 happy playgoers, gay promenaders, and belated shop- 
 pers ! Fifth Avenue resplendent with an abundance of 
 commercially-conceived festivity in the overstocked 
 windows of its fashionable shops! In other and less 
 pretentious localities, gaunt lines of assassinated tur- 
 keys exhibiting their sallow nudities in indecent pro- 
 fusion to a steady stream of ever-changing' faces ! In 
 short, everywhere throughout the big city, the people 
 holding high carnival even cynicism forgetting itself 
 in the prospect of gallinaceous food and crude sweet- 
 meats. And Central Park West and the Circle, in par- 
 ticular, scintillating with electrical display and wreaths 
 of red-ribboned holly. 
 
 In the New Theatre a gala performance of Antony 
 and Cleopatra was nearly over; the last lines of the 
 tragedy were being spoken. Yet, notwithstanding the 
 fact that in another moment the folds of the red velvet 
 curtains would descend on the Egyptian scene, an 
 occupant of one of the stalls, no longer able to control 
 his impatience, hastily left his seat and started up the 
 adjoining aisle. 
 
 To say that this young man gave every phy- 
 siognomical indication of being a soul in distress would
 
 2 GLORIA 
 
 be putting it not a bit too strongly. Nor would it have 
 required exceptionally brilliant intuitive faculties to 
 conjecture that someone presumably in a box across 
 the theatre, on which, all through the evening, his eyes 
 had been riveted had shamelessly robbed him of his 
 heart. Moreover, judging from his evident haste and 
 the keen anxiety with which all the way up the aisle 
 he followed every movement of the parties in the box, 
 it would seem that he had determined to intercept them 
 on their way out. And, indeed, such was his deter- 
 mination. Life had concentrated itself into a question, 
 of hearing from the lips of the woman, the woman 
 to whom he had offered, and who had refused, the wor- 
 ship of a life, a word that he could interpret as 
 meaning that there was still a faint possibility of her 
 changing her mind. 
 
 To his vexation, however, he found that others like- 
 wise had left their seats. In fact, the general exodus 
 had already set in before, even, he had reached the top 
 of the aisle. And yet, despite his being thoroughly 
 aware that any attempt to pass from one side of the 
 house to the other was sure to be resented, so de- 
 lirious is the haste in which a metropolitan audience 
 takes leave of the theatre for the invariable restaurant- 
 supper after the play, he continued to make strenuous 
 efforts to cut his way through, until realising, finally, 
 that it was useless, he let himself be borne along by 
 the crowd. But his chance came when the carriage- 
 vestibule on Sixty-Fifth Street was reached. And 
 there, quick to take advantage of an almost impercep- 
 tible cessation of the onward movement consequent
 
 THE PATIENT AND HIS DOCTOR 3 
 
 upon the people searching the ingeniously-devised 
 board to ascertain whether the desired motors or car- 
 riages headed the long line he again started in to 
 elbow his way through the crush; and so successfully 
 this time that presently comparatively few persons 
 separated him from an undeniably blond and dashing 
 young woman, in a magnificent opera-cloak of Russian 
 sables, who was laughing and chatting with half a 
 dozen or more vapid youths while following the lead 
 of a portly and somewhat red-faced old gentleman. 
 
 Now, though unusual for want of a better word 
 as was the young man's behaviour, few people in this 
 scene of orderly confusion, babel of voices and distant 
 humming of motors, gave more than momentary at- 
 tention to it except the young woman's escort. To 
 these wondrous wise young gentlemen, however, the 
 meaning of his frantic exertions to reach her side was 
 all too plain, no less her feelings towards him; and, 
 exchanging significant glances, they began to nudge 
 one another to watch for the denouement of the little 
 comedy which was rapidly developing before their eyes. 
 
 But alas for the futility of his brave resolu- 
 tions . . ,.: i! 
 
 So far his task had been easy enough. But at the 
 fateful moment, face to face with his divinity, and 
 doubtless for the first time perceiving that no relent- 
 ing glance softened the faultless contours of her carven 
 features, that no spark of warmth glinted in her big, 
 blue eyes, eyes that, on the contrary, were brimful of 
 scornful laughter, his indomitable spirit failed him 
 utterly, was crushed, for once, at least, and he stood
 
 4 GLORIA 
 
 gaping at her, to everyone's surprise, more like a coun- 
 try yokel than the man-of-the-world that he undoubt- 
 edly was. For the briefest of intervals he remained 
 thus. And then, apparently pulling himself together, 
 he suddenly wheeled round on his heel, and shouldering 
 his way through the press, heedless alike of a friendly 
 hail, which came in an unmistakably English accent 
 from someone back in the crowd, and of the protesting 
 looks, if not words, of the people he jostled, he left 
 an ostentatiously, almost vulgarly, ornate limousine to 
 slam its door and move rapidly away with its fair oc- 
 cupant and her admirers. 
 
 Into Central Park West the young man turned and 
 walked north. Despite a heavy fur overcoat, his gait 
 was extraordinarily fast, and his face appeared white, 
 almost ghastly, in the thin, yellow fog that was push- 
 ing its way under his eyelids, into the penetralia of 
 nose and ears, and depositing superfluous matter on 
 his lungs, larynx, and reckless expanse of linen. A few 
 blocks above the theatre he came to a small apartment- 
 hotel, mounted at a run to the first floor, and quickly 
 entering the sitting-room of the suite, he carelessly 
 tossed his irreproachable high hat on to a lounge. 
 Then he went over to a window and stood gazing out at 
 the sea of fog before drawing the curtain against the 
 gamboge of the December evening. And his coun- 
 tenance was at once savage and inexpressibly sad. 
 
 This savageness was habitual, the resultant of bold 
 features: a straight nose which made a sharp angle 
 with the steep brow, bushy eyebrows and a wiry, brush- 
 backed moustache that sprouted aggressively from his
 
 THE PATIENT AND HIS DOCTOR 5 
 
 upper lip. Strictly speaking it was not a handsome 
 face, though, perhaps, a striking one. Nor in other 
 respects was there anything remarkable about George 
 Trafford " Nervy " Trafford they had called him at 
 Harvard, and the appellation had always clung to him. 
 As to occupation he had none. Inheriting a modest 
 fortune at an early age, his life had differed little from 
 that of the majority of young Americans in like cir- 
 cumstances, if we except the fact that before he took 
 up the difficult task of killing time he had added an 
 Oxford degree to that of Harvard. 
 
 Throwing off his coat, Trafford fumbled in his waist- 
 coat for a key. A moment later he was opening a 
 small mahogany medicine-cupboard that was fixed 
 against the wall over his book-case. His searching 
 hand groped about in its recesses and then brought 
 out something. For a second he held this " some- 
 thing " at arms length, conning it with curious eyes, 
 as a dilettante might study a precious cameo, or a bit 
 of rare porcelain. 
 
 Then he put it carefully on the table. The electric 
 light shone on a small, compact object, dark of colour 
 and sinister of shape a revolver! 
 
 Nervy Trafford took pen and paper and wrote ; and 
 as he wrote the curious light grew in his wild eyes, and 
 a sad smile played about his sensitive mouth. 
 
 " Dearest" he began : " You say you can never 
 love me. I say that I can never cease to love you. 
 You have spoken a lie, even as I have spoken the truth, 
 for when the mists of life are dispelled by the glorious 
 radiance beyond the grave, you itM love me as I love
 
 6 GLORIA 
 
 you, perfectly, entirely, with the triple majesty of soul, 
 mind and spirit. Till then, farewell. 
 
 Yours, as you are mine, 
 
 GEORGE TRAFFORD." 
 
 Having read this curious epistle twice, he put it in 
 an envelope and addressed it to Miss Angela Knox, 
 St. Regis Hotel. A moment later he took up the 
 object from the table, looking into vacancy as he 
 did so. 
 
 So this was to be his end ! an ending, he well knew, 
 that none of his friends had ever dreamed of. A man 
 on whom advice was thrown away, who seldom if ever 
 thought twice, in other words, a creature of impulse, 
 yes they would admit all that ; but on the other hand 
 would they not recall many instances of his extricating 
 himself from tight places through nothing else but this 
 very impulsiveness and nerve of his? Inevitably, then, 
 they would refuse to believe that a man like that, how- 
 ever hopeless his infatuation, would take his own life. 
 All of which merely goes to show how ridiculous it is 
 for our best friends to scoff at the notion that an affair 
 of the heart may be taken seriously. 
 
 Trafford's face was literally bloodless; his pupils 
 infinitesimal black dots, gazing searchingly through 
 the walls of his room into the great beyond, where all 
 questions are answered, all doubts set at rest. For a 
 moment he stood thus in vibrant silence. Then, as 
 if his mute searching had received its dumb response, 
 ' his lips breathed a woman's name, the muzzle of the 
 revolver was raised head high, there was a click and 
 nothing more than a click! 
 
 Trafford's arm fell limp to his side, and a look of
 
 THE PATIENT AND HIS DOCTOR 7 
 
 sick pain shuddered across his face. Then, an idea, a 
 wafted air of recollection, fanned the light of under- 
 standing into his dull eyes. A ghost of a smile hovered 
 at the corner of his lips, and again the cold hand raised 
 the deadly mechanism to his pulsing temple. Even as 
 it did so the door of his room was opened, and with 
 a gesture of annoyance Trafford tossed the unused 
 weapon on to the table and facing the intruder burst 
 out with: 
 
 " Who on earth " 
 
 " Hullo, Nervy, old chap ! " was the familiar greet- 
 ing that came from a big and genial man, clean-shaved, 
 about thirty years of age, and dressed seasonably in a 
 Idark, astrachan-trimmed overcoat. In a word, the 
 speaker was a faultlessly attired Englishman, whose 
 great frame and smiling features seemed to bring into 
 the tragic atmosphere a most desirable air of com- 
 monplace. 
 
 "Bob Saunders!" ejaculated Trafford. 
 
 " The same," affirmed the other, throwing off his 
 overcoat and sinking lazily into the most comfort- 
 able chair he could find ; " Robert Saunders, old 
 cricket blue, devoted husband of a peerless wife, the 
 friend of kings and the king of friends voila! " 
 
 By this time Trafford had composed himself suf- 
 ficiently to ask : 
 
 " What in the deuce are you doing over here? How 
 did you find " 
 
 " Been camping on your trail, old man, as you 
 Yankees say," interrupted the Englishman. " In the 
 first place, the wife and I have been doing the States. 
 To-night, as we were leaving the New Theatre, I
 
 8 GLORIA 
 
 caught sight of you sung out to you but you were 
 off like a shot. I put Mrs. Saunders divine crea- 
 ture! into a taxi and sent her to the hotel. Then I 
 gave chase. I tracked you here, and your door being 
 open, took the liberty to walk in. But you don't look 
 well, old chap ! " he went on, noticing at length the 
 exceptional pallor of his friend's face. " You look 
 rotten! What's up, Nervy? Liver? Money?" 
 
 Trafford pointed silently to the table; at the sight 
 of the revolver Saunders' face grew grave. 
 
 " As bad as that ? " he asked. He was genuinely 
 shocked, but his tone was commonplace, almost casual. 
 
 " As bad as that," breathed Trafford. 
 
 Saunders caught sight of the envelope, glanced at 
 the address and at once proceeded to open it. 
 
 " Stop ! " cried Trafford imperiously. " That is not 
 for your eyes." 
 
 " Oh, yes it is," returned Saunders bluntly, extract- 
 ing the letter from its envelope. " Sit down, sick man, 
 and wait until I have diagnosed your case." 
 
 Trafford watched the Englishman with fascinated 
 eyes. In his hour of deep darkness this smiling, con- 
 fident, almost too well-dressed embodiment of pros- 
 perity seemed strangely comforting and reposeful. For 
 the briefest of moments his present surroundings were 
 blotted out, and his mind rushed back through the 
 intervening years to the glorious days when they were 
 both undergraduates at Oxford. But the illusion was 
 of short duration, the awakening bitter. For as Saun- 
 ders read, a smile eloquent of contemptuous astonish- 
 ment spread over his face.
 
 THE PATIENT AND HIS DOCTOR 9 
 
 " Angela Knox ! " he exclaimed. " My dear, de- 
 mented friend, what a betisse! " 
 
 " The purest, most perfect specimen of woman- 
 hood " 
 
 " Angela Knox ! " repeated Saunders cruelly. " Ye 
 gods ! Oh, yes, I know the lady. We met her at 
 Newport a big, buxom blonde, with the intellect of 
 a sparrow. Tissue, tissue, my boy, and no soul ! Fea- 
 tures, millions also, I concede, but no sense of humour. 
 In six weeks she would bore you; in six months you 
 would bore her; in a year the machinery of the law > 
 your obliging American divorce courts " 
 
 " Silence ! " roared Trafford. " You would poke fun 
 at the holiest corner of a man's heart. I tell you, Bob, 
 I so love this woman that had it not been for a mir- 
 acle, I should have died five minutes ago with her name 
 on my lips." 
 
 "And I'm the miracle?" questioned Saunders, tap- 
 ping himself lightly on his faultless waistcoat. 
 
 " Miracle number two," replied the American, sink- 
 ing into a chair. " That gun was kept for burglars. 
 To preclude the possibility of an accident through 
 some fool of a servant's mishandling, I kept the first 
 chamber empty. Idiot that I am! I forgot the pre- 
 caution. But a second and doubtless more conclusive 
 attempt would have been made had not you butted 
 in " 
 
 *' And for Angela Knox ! " cried Saunders with an 
 unfeeling grin. " Now had it been a brunette " 
 
 ** This is no joking matter. For Heaven's sake, do 
 be serious ! "
 
 10 GLORIA 
 
 Saunders brushed a speck of mud off his patent- 
 leather boots. 
 
 " So I'm to take you seriously, Nervy? Well, then, 
 listen, my dear, irresponsible, melodramatic friend. 
 Love is a wonderful thing. It is rightly considered 
 the beginning and the end of all things. I say so, 
 moi qui vous parle, though I've been married nearly 
 two years. But this infatuation this calf-love of 
 yours for a hypertrophied blonde with the conversa- 
 tional powers of a turnip, is, ipso facto, ridiculous. 
 You will love some day, friend of my youth, but if 
 your love is unrequited you will not turn to the re- 
 volver for solace." 
 
 "What are you letting me in for?" asked the be- 
 wildered Trafford. A powerful reaction had left him 
 weak weak in voice and weak in spirit. 
 
 " I mean," went on Saunders with slow emphasis, 
 " that if you demand what your heart really desires 
 and the response is ' no,' you will, in the words of the 
 prehistoric doggerel, try, try again. Love that accepts 
 defeat is an unhealthy passion ; Love that tries to find 
 relief in death is a disease. You are diseased, cher ami. 
 Buck up ! and listen to the words of your good doctor." 
 
 " I'm listening," said Trafford somewhat sheepishly. 
 
 " Good ! To begin with, you are sound physically. 
 Muscles firm, energy splendid, and your tongue would 
 probably shame a hot-house geranium. But your 
 psychic self is out of gear. Wheels are racing in your 
 poor old brain! Little troubles become great trag- 
 edies ! Vital things seem small and insignificant ! You 
 need a potent remedy."
 
 THE PATIENT AND HIS DOCTOR 11 
 
 " Let it come over speedy then ! " the American re- 
 plied with some show of interest. 
 
 For a moment the Englishman looked mystified. 
 Presently he answered: 
 
 "You need to live in the open plenty of sunshine 
 and perfect air." 
 
 " All kibosh buncombe ! " broke forth Trafford pet- 
 ulantly. 
 
 " No, not buncombe, but Grimland a little coun- 
 try on the borders of Austria and Russia. Visit it," 
 went on Saunders in rousing tones. " Its highlands 
 furnish the finest scenery in Europe. The air of its 
 mountains is sparkling champagne! Its skies are 
 purest sapphire, its snows whiter than sheets of finest 
 lawn! To dwell there is to be a giant refreshed with 
 wine, a sane man with a sane mind, and a proper con- 
 tempt for amorous contretemps. Come, pack up your 
 traps to-night and catch the Lusitania to-morrow. 
 What's more, I do not advise, I command." 
 
 The American appeared half persuaded by the 
 other's mastery. He sat upright, and looked more or 
 less alive again. 
 
 " But I should be bored to death," he objected 
 feebly. 
 
 " Not a bit of it ! Why, old man, you'll forget the 
 very meaning of the word boredom. You're a skater? 
 well, then, why not enter for the King's Cup which 
 is skated for on the King's birthday the second Sat- 
 urday of the New Year at Weidenbruck. If you're 
 beaten, as is probable, for the Grimlanders are a na- 
 tion of skaters, there is tobogganing, curling, ski-ing
 
 12 GLORIA 
 
 and hockey-on-the-ice to engross your mind. All are 
 exhilarating, most are dangerous. Furthermore, you 
 will have my society as my wife and I will be guests 
 of King Karl at the Neptunberg. However, for you, 
 since you have not my advantages, I recommend the 
 Hotel Concordia. You will sail with us to-morrow? " 
 he wound up confidently. 
 
 Trafford made a gesture of impatience. 
 
 " Honestly," he said, ignoring the question, " when 
 the hammer of that gun clicked against my forehead, 
 something also seemed to click inside my brain. Up 
 to that point I had love framed up as all there was 
 to this world and the next. Now I feel there is no 
 meaning in anything." 
 
 " Wait till you've got a pair of skates on your feet 
 and the breath of zero air in your nostrils ! Wait till 
 you've had a toss or two ski-ing, and a spill on the 
 * Kastel ' toboggan run ! There will be meaning enough 
 in things then." 
 
 "It's a go, then!" declared Trafford, but without 
 enthusiasm. " I'll make a getaway." 
 
 Saunders rose, a look of genuine relief on his face. 
 
 " The Lusitania to-morrow," he said in far heartier 
 
 tones than he had yet employed. " Till then " 
 
 He held the other's hand in a long grip. 
 
 "And you don't balk at leaving me with that?" 
 Trafford pointed with a pale smile at the revolver on 
 the table. 
 
 " Not in the least," laughed Saunders. " Take it 
 abroad with you. Only, get out of the habit of leav- 
 ing the first chamber empty. Such a practice might 
 be fatal in Grimland."
 
 CHAPTER TWO 
 
 THE CITY OF THE PLAIN 
 
 " I CAN'T see that this is such a vast improvement on 
 little old New York ! " was Traff ord's growling com- 
 ment as he strolled the streets of Weidenbruck the 
 evening of his arrival. 
 
 " Ah, but Weidenbruck is the city of the plain ! " 
 returned Saunders, who was accompanying him in his 
 perambulations. " As soon as this skating competi- 
 tion is over " 
 
 " It will be back to Broadway for mine, I think! " 
 interrupted the American, and then went on with de- 
 spondent logic : " If it is cold here, what will it be 
 five thousand feet higher up?" 
 
 " Hot," retorted the other. " At Weissheim the sun 
 shines unobscured by mist. The air there is dry and 
 bracing. The thermometer may stand at zero, but 
 your warm gloves will be a mockery, your great coat 
 an offence." 
 
 A gust from a side street blew a whirl of powdered 
 snow in the faces of the two men. Trafford buried his 
 chin in the warm collar of his overcoat ; he swore, but 
 without undue bitterness. The cold indeed was poig- 
 nant, for the unfrozen flood of the Niederkessel lent the 
 atmosphere a touch of moisture that gave malice to the 
 shrill frost, a penetrating venom to the spiteful breeze 
 
 13
 
 14 GLORIA 
 
 that swept the long length and broad breadth of the 
 straight, prosaic Bahnofstrasse. The trams that rushed 
 noisily up and down this thoroughfare were the only 
 things that still moved on wheels. Cabs, carriages, 
 omnibuses, perambulators even, had discarded wheels 
 in favour of runners ; and arc-lamps shone coldly from 
 an interminable line of iron masts, while a cheerier glow 
 blazed from the windows of innumerable shops which still 
 displayed their attractive wares for the benefit of the 
 good citizens of Weidenbruck, who have raised the sci- 
 ence of wrapping up to the level of a fine art. 
 
 " But then why come to this cellar of a town ? " 
 grunted Trafford. 
 
 Saunders shot a glance at his companion. He was 
 genuinely fond of Trafford, had been genuinely shocked 
 at the narrowness of his escape from tragic ruin, and 
 was genuinely glad when his morbid companion began 
 to take intelligent interest in his surroundings, even 
 though that interest manifested itself in irritable com- 
 ments and deprecatory grunts. The Englishman had 
 chaffed the would-be suicide, had poured cruel scorn 
 on his inamorata, and preached the cold gospel of 
 worldliness and selfish pleasure; but if he had spoken 
 cynically it had been because cynicism had seemed the 
 right remedy, rather than because his own nature was 
 bitter. Beyond having a rather high opinion of his 
 own abilities and a predilection for new clothes, Saun- 
 ders was a man of much merit. 
 
 " Because this skating competition happens to be 
 held here," he answered, " and the King's Cup is the 
 important event in the sporting calendar of Grimland.
 
 THE CITY OF THE PLAIN 15 
 
 The winner who may be yourself is looked upon as 
 a king among men, a demi-god to be honoured with 
 the burnt offerings of the rich and the bright glances- 
 of the fair." 
 
 " The latter I can dispense with. Cut it out ! " the 
 American exclaimed with much bitternes, and then went 
 on : "I did not come to Grimland merely for sport, 
 as you well know, but because you hinted at political 
 troubles. Moreover, I have taken your advice literally, 
 and have brought my gun along." 
 
 " Keep it loaded then," said Saunders curtly. " I 
 hear Father Bernhardt has returned." 
 
 " Who in thunder is Father Bernhardt ? " 
 
 " A renegade priest. In the troubles of 1904 he 
 eloped with the Queen, who had been plotting her hus- 
 band's downfall with the Schattenbergs." 
 
 " His Majesty's opposition," put in Trafford, who 
 knew something of the country's turbid history. 
 
 " Yes, kinsmen of King Karl's who have always 
 cherished a secret claim to the throne. They very 
 nearly made their claim good, too, in 1904." 
 
 " Only one Robert Saunders intervened," interjected 
 Trafford with an envious glance at his companion. 
 
 " Providence upheld the ruling dynasty with a firm 
 hand," Saunders went on to explain, " and the rebel- 
 lious family, the Schattenbergs, were pretty well wiped 
 out in the process. Two alone survived: Prince 
 Stephan, who was too young to participate in the 
 trouble, and who subsequently died of diphtheria at 
 Weissheim, and the Princess Gloria, a girl of one- 
 and-twenty, who escaped over the Austrian frontier.'*
 
 16 GLORIA 
 
 " And what is she doing? " inquired Trafford with 
 some approach to curiosity. 
 
 " No one exactly knows. Unless she has altered in 
 three years, she is a beautiful young woman. She lives 
 in the public imagination partly because she is a pos- 
 sible alternative to King Karl, who has the demerit of 
 being a respectable middle-aged man. If, as is ru- 
 moured, she is in alliance with Father Bernhardt, 
 there will certainly be trouble, for the ex-priest is a 
 man of energy and resource. Moreover, he was once 
 a religious man, and believed himself damned when he 
 ran away with King Karl's fickle consort ; and a man 
 who is looking forward to eternal damnation is as 
 dangerous in his way as a Moslem fanatic seeking 
 Paradise." 
 
 Trafford said nothing, but breathed a silent prayer 
 that the renegade priest might indeed be in 'Grimland. 
 For Trafford was one of those curiously constituted 
 people rarer now than they used to be who value 
 excitement without counting the cost. At Oxford he 
 had always regarded Saunders with a deep, if unma- 
 licious envy. The Englishman had captured the high- 
 est honours, had won his cricket blue, performing prod- 
 igies at Lord's before enthusiastic men and women; 
 and, later, had played a conspicuous, almost heroic, 
 part in the Grimland troubles of 1904. On the other 
 hand, he, Trafford Nervy Trafford had to be con- 
 tent both at Harvard and Oxford with only limited ath- 
 letic successes, these being achieved by sheer pluck and 
 infectious energy. But men had always loved him, for 
 he could sing a rousing song, dance a spirited war-
 
 THE CITY OF THE PLAIN 17 
 
 dance, and kindle bonfires in unexpected places with the 
 most expensive furniture. In a word, his was an ar- 
 dent, effervescent nature, and now that the tragedy of 
 a tumultuous but misplaced passion had robbed life of 
 its normal interest and savour, his ideas of a diverting 
 holiday were of a distinctly reckless nature. 
 
 Wandering down the Bahnhofstrasse they purchased 
 a few picture-postcards at a stationer's, a meerschaum 
 pipe at an elegant tobacconist's where they sold Ham- 
 burg cigars in Havana boxes, and finally halted be- 
 fore a big corner shop 'where all the paraphernalia 
 appertaining to winter sports were displayed in inter- 
 esting and attractive profusion. 
 
 " I thought you had a good pair of skates," said 
 Saunders. 
 
 " So I have," returned the other. " But there are 
 two styles of skating, the English and the continental; 
 and I am one of those rarely gifted Americans who can 
 skate both styles equally well, a fact I intend to take 
 advantage of at this competition. But I need a differ- 
 ent pair of skates for each style." 
 
 "Do you think you're really any good?" asked 
 Saunders, smiling. He was accustomed to refer to 
 his own abilities in eulogistic terms, but was not used 
 to his companion doing so. 
 
 " If you were to ask that question in Onondaga, 
 New York, U. S. A., where I was born and bred, 
 they'd laugh at you," was Trafford's serious reply. 
 
 " All right, let's go in and buy something from 
 Frau Krabb," said Saunders, leading the way into the 
 shop.
 
 18 GLORIA 
 
 Within was a jumble of wooden luges, steel-framed 
 toboggans, and granite curling stones; from the low 
 ceiling hung numberless pairs of skis, like stalactites 
 from a cavern roof; while bunches of skates adorned 
 the balusters of the deep staircase leading to the upper 
 floor. 
 
 Frau Krabb, the proprietress, was being accosted by 
 another customer. The customer in question was a 
 young officer in the shiny shako and a fine fur-trimmed 
 sur-coat of grey-blue, frogged with black. He was a 
 sufficiently attractive object in his picturesque uniform, 
 but though his carriage was energetic and manly, the 
 face that showed beneath the military headgear was 
 by no means that of a typical soldier. It was a dark, 
 oval face with a wisp of a black moustache, big lustrous 
 eyes, and a small, pretty mouth, adorned with the whit- 
 est and most regular of teeth. It was a proud, sensi- 
 tive face, more remarkable for its beauty than its 
 strength, but for all that, good to behold for its 
 intelligence, refinement, and glow of youthful health. 
 
 " Good-evening, Frau Krabb," began the soldier, 
 genially saluting. " Are my skates ready yet ? " 
 
 " They were ready at four o'clock, as promised, Herr 
 Captain," replied the woman, a plump person with 
 more fat than features. 
 
 The Captain passed his finger critically along the 
 edge of the newly-ground blades, and expressed him- 
 self satisfied. 
 
 " And you will win the King's Cup, Herr Captain, 
 of course? " continued Frau Krabb, smiling a fat smile 
 into her customer's face.
 
 THE CITY OF THE PLAIN 19 
 
 " I'm going to have a good try at it," was the 
 guarded reply. " I'd sooner win the King's Cup than 
 the Colonelcy of the Guides. No one has practised 
 his ' rocking turns ' and * counters ' so assiduously as 
 I, and I'm feeling as fit as a fiddle which counts for 
 more than a little in a skating competition." 
 
 " You look it," said the woman admiringly. 
 
 I've got to meet Franz Schmolder of Wurzdorf ," 
 went on the soldier musingly, " and Captain Einstein 
 of the 14th, so it does not do to be too confident. 
 There's an American, too, competing; but I don't fear 
 him. He doubtless skates only in the English fashion, 
 and their style of skating is too stiff and stilted to be 
 of any use in elaborate figures, though it is pretty 
 enough for big, simple movements and combined skat- 
 ing. Schmolder's the man I fear, though Einstein's a 
 big and powerful skater, with the nerve of a de- 
 mon." 
 
 " Herr Schmolder has a strained knee," said the 
 woman, " and Captain Einstein's nerve is not so good 
 as it was. He is too fond of Rhine wine and Kirsch- 
 wasser, and though he has a big frame it is not full 
 of the best stuffing." 
 
 " I'd like to win better than anything in the world," 
 said the young officer in tones of the deepest earnest- 
 ness, his eyes lighting up wonderfully at the golden 
 prospect. 
 
 " You will win," said Frau Krabb simply ; " I have 
 two kronen with my man on you, and you have my 
 prayers." 
 
 " God answer them ! " said the soldier piously. Then
 
 20 GLORIA 
 
 in a moment of enthusiasm he bent down and kissed the 
 comical upturned face of the old shopwoman. " Pray 
 for me with all your soul," he said, " for I want that 
 cup, Mother of Heaven ! I must have that cup." And, 
 slinging his skates over his shoulder the officer was 
 about to leave the shop, when Saunders accosted him. 
 
 " Hullo, Von Hiigelweiler ! " said the latter. 
 
 The soldier's eyes brightened with recognition. He 
 had met the Englishman at Weissheim a few years 
 previously, and was proud of the acquaintance, for 
 Saunders was a name to conjure with in ,Grimland. 
 
 " Herr Saunders ! " he cried, " I am charmed to meet 
 you again. You are his Majesty's guest, I presume." 
 
 " I am at the Neptunburg, yes. Permit me to pre- 
 sent my friend, Herr Trafford, of New York. Trafford, 
 my friend, Ulrich Salvator von Hiigelweiler, Captain 
 in his Majesty's third regiment of Guides." 
 
 The two shook hands. 
 
 " Delighted to make your acquaintance," said the 
 Grimlander. " But what are you requiring at Frau 
 Krabb's?" 
 
 " Some skates for to-morrow's competition," replied 
 Trafford. 
 
 "Himmel!" ejaculated Hiigelweiler, "so you are 
 the American competitor. You had better not ask me 
 to choose your skates, or I should certainly select a 
 faulty pair." 
 
 Trafford laughed. 
 
 "You are indeed a dangerous rival," he said. 
 
 ** I wish to succeed," said the soldier simply. " Per-
 
 THE CITY OF THE PLAIN 21 
 
 haps success means more to me than to you; but I 
 don't think I am a bad sportsman." 
 
 " I will not tempt your probity," said Trafford. 
 " I will select my own wares." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler waited till the purchase was com- 
 plete, expressing his approval of the other's choice, 
 and then the three men sallied forth into the nipping 
 air of the Bahnhofstrasse. 
 
 " Where are you going ? " asked Saunders of the 
 Grimlander. 
 
 " Back to barracks," replied the Captain. " Will 
 you accompany me? 35 
 
 Saunders consulted his watch. 
 
 " Trafford and I are dining in an hour's time," he 
 said, " but we will walk part of the way with you. 
 I wish to show my friend a bit of the town." 
 
 Turning to the left, they entered one of the numer- 
 ous lanes which proclaim the city's antiquity with 
 gabled front and mullioned window. Hi-lit, ill-paved 
 under the trampled snow, and smelling noticeably of 
 garlic, bouillon, and worse, thfe thoroughfare the 
 Schugasse led to the spacious Soldatenplatz, wherein 
 was situated the fine barracks of the King's Guides. 
 They had been walking but a few minutes, when a tall 
 figure, heavily muffled in a black coat, strode rapidly 
 past them. Trafford had a brief vision of piercing 
 eyes shifting furtively under a woollen cap, as the man 
 cast a lightning glance behind him. Then as the figure 
 vanished abruptly into a mean doorway, Saunders and 
 Von Hiigelweiler exchanged glances.
 
 2% GLORIA 
 
 " So he is back," said the former. " Then there is 
 certain to be trouble." 
 
 " Nothing is more certain," said the Captain calmly* 
 " Who is back ? " demanded the puzzled Trafford. 
 " Father Bernhardt," replied his friend. 
 And the American heaved a sigh of thankfulness.
 
 CHAPTER THREE 
 
 A PROPOSITION 
 
 WHEN the two friends left him, Captain von Htigel- 
 weiler fell into something of a reverie. He had told 
 Frau Krabb that he desired to win the King's Cup 
 more than anything on earth. That was not, strictly 
 speaking, the case, for there was one thing that he 
 desired even more than the coveted trophy of the skat- 
 ing rink. Yet that thing was so remote from reach 
 that it was more of a regret now than a desire. Years 
 ago, when he was a sub-lieutenant stationed at Weiss- 
 heim, he had fallen desperately in love with the youth- 
 ful Princess Gloria von Schattenberg. Her high spirits 
 and ever-ready laughter had captivated his poetic but 
 somewhat gloomy temperament, and he had paid her 
 a devotion which had been by no means unreciprocated 
 by the romantic young Princess. And the courtship 
 was not so impossible as might appear, for Ulrich von 
 Hiigelweiler belonged to the old aristocracy of Grim- 
 land, and his father owned an ancient Schloss of con- 
 siderable pretensions, and a goodly slice of valley, vine- 
 yards, and pine forests fifty miles northwest of Weiden- 
 bruck. But the Princess's father, the Grand Duke 
 Fritz, was an ambitious man, already seeing himself 
 on the throne of Grimland, and poor Hugelweiler had 
 been sent about his business with great celerity and 
 little tact. To the young officer the blow had been a 
 crushing one, for his whole heart had been given, his 
 
 23
 
 24 GLORIA 
 
 whole soul pledged, to the vivacious Princess, and, 
 though years had rolled by, time had done little to 
 soften the bitterness of his deprivation. To his credit, 
 be it said, that he had never sought consolation else- 
 where ; to his discredit, that he regarded his misfortune 
 as a personal slight on the part of a malicious and ill- 
 natured fate. For his was a self-centred nature that 
 brooded over trouble, never suffering a bruise to fade 
 or a healthy scar to form over an old wound. Even 
 now his excitement at the glorious prospect of winning 
 success and fame on the skating rink was marred and 
 clouded by the hideous possibility of defeat. He de- 
 sired, with the intense desire of an egotistical mind, 
 to win the Cup, but he feared to lose almost more 
 than he hoped to win. 
 
 On arriving at his modest quarters in the huge 
 building in the Soldatenplatz, the Captain was sur- 
 prised at seeing a visitor seated and awaiting his ar- 
 rival. A man of medium height was reclining comfort- 
 ably in his big armchair; his legs, high-booted and 
 spurred, were thrust out in negligent repose, an eye- 
 glass was firmly fixed in his right eye, a half-consumed 
 cigarette smouldered beneath his coldly smiling lips. 
 Von Hiigelweiler drew himself up to the salute. His 
 visitor was no less a personage than the Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Army of Grimland, General Meyer, the 
 most intimate friend of his Majesty King Karl. 
 
 " Your cigarettes are excellent, Captain," began the 
 General. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler regarded the cynical Jewish face in 
 silence. General Meyer was a man whom few under-
 
 A PROPOSITION 25 
 
 stood and many feared. The greatcoat, thrown open 
 at the breast, half revealed a number of famous Or- 
 ders, none of them won by prowess on the field of 
 battle. The spurred boots and the riding whip that 
 occasionally flicked them suggested the horseman, 
 though all knew that General Meyer was never so ill 
 at ease as when on horseback. The dreamy eye, the 
 slothful pose, the drawled speech, suggested anything 
 but the ruler of a fiery soldiery, but for all that Meyer 
 had won his way and held his post by something more 
 formidable than a courtly tongue and a capacity for 
 epigrammatic badinage. Those who served Meyer well 
 were served well in return ; those who flouted the Jew, 
 even in secret, had a curious habit of being super- 
 annuated at an early period in their career. 
 
 " Pray be seated, Captain," pursued the visitor 
 suavely. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler drew up a chair, and sat stiffly 
 thereon, awaiting developments. 
 
 " You are competing for the King's prize on the 
 Rundsee to-morrow? " 
 
 " Yes, General." 
 
 "Ah! I happen to be judge of the competition." 
 
 To this the Captain offered no comment. He was 
 wondering what on earth was coming. 
 
 " You are exceedingly keen, of course, on winning 
 this very important trophy ? " pursued the elder man, 
 with a swift glance. 
 
 " Yes, General exceedingly keen," admitted Von 
 Hiigelweiler. 
 
 " As a lad," went on the Commander-in-Chief
 
 26 GLORIA 
 
 dreamily, " I once entered an examination for horse- 
 manship at the military school at Gleis. My uncle 
 knew the officer who was examining the candidates, 
 and thoughtfully sent him a dozen of champagne and 
 a box of cigars on the eve of the examination. The 
 champagne was, if I mistake not, Perrier Jouet of 
 a vintage year, and the cigars the finest that are 
 grown in the island of Cuba. I was not a particularly 
 good horseman in those days, but I passed the examina- 
 tion with honours." 
 
 The Captain received the information in stolid si- 
 lence. The history of the remote and somewhat dis- 
 graceful episode did not particularly interest him. The 
 General deposited his finished cigarette in a porcelain 
 tray, and extracted a fresh one from a tin box on the 
 table. 
 
 " Your cigarettes are really excellent, Captain," he 
 mused. " Pray keep me company." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler acceded to the invitation. 
 
 " You draw, I presume, certain inferences from the 
 incident I have just mentioned?" the Commander-in- 
 Chief went on. 
 
 "No, General." 
 
 " None whatever? '* 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler smiled. 
 
 " None," he said, " unless you suggest that I should 
 be wise to send you a ,dozen of champagne and a box 
 of cigars." 
 
 The General vouchsafed no answering smile to his 
 subordinate's facetious suggestion. He merely shook 
 his head in pensive silence.
 
 A PROPOSITION 2T 
 
 " I am a rich man," he said insinuatingly, " and my 
 cellars are the best stocked in Weidenbruck not ex- 
 cepting his Majesty's. You cannot help me that way." 
 
 Again there was silence, and slowly it was borne in 
 on Von Hiigelweiler that he was being tempted. The 
 situation horrified him. However much he desired to 
 win the King's Cup, he desired to win it fairly. On 
 the other hand, he neither wished to offend his Com- 
 mander-in-Chief nor ruin his prospects of success in 
 the competition. He began to be angry with Fate for 
 placing him in a dilemma, before he knew exactly what 
 the dilemma was. 
 
 Suddenly the Commander-in-Chief sat bolt upright, 
 and in a voice of great earnestness demanded : 
 
 " Von Hiigelweiler, do you know that there is a fire- 
 brand in Weidenbruck? " 
 
 " Weidenbruck is a cold place, General, but it usu- 
 ally contains a firebrand or two." 
 
 " I know ; but I speak of no common incendiary. 
 Father Bernhardt is here." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler nodded. 
 
 " At number 42, Schugasse," he supplemented. 
 
 "You know that?" demanded the General eagerly. 
 
 " He passed me a quarter of an hour since. He 
 was being followed, I think." 
 
 " Good! " ejaculated General Meyer. "I want him. 
 Captain, I asked you just now if you wanted to win 
 the King's prize. I learn that you are the most prom- 
 ising competitor for this important affair. The winner 
 of the King's prize is sure of the personal interest of 
 his Majesty. Grimland, especially female Grimland,
 
 28 GLORIA 
 
 loves the successful athlete. Official Grimland smiles 
 on him. Skating may not be the most useful accom- 
 plishment for a soldier, but proficiency in sport con- 
 notes, at any rate, physical fitness and a temperate 
 life. There is no reason why you should not gain this 
 trophy, and there is no reason why the gainer should 
 not go far." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's dark eyes flamed at the words, 
 and his handsome, sombre face glowed involuntarily at 
 the other's suggestion. 
 
 " As I am to be the judge," continued the General 
 calmly, " there is no reason why your victory should 
 not be a foregone conclusion." 
 
 Slowly the Captain's face hardened to a mask, and 
 his eyes became points of steel. 
 
 " I do not follow, General," he said stiffly. 
 
 " You are a shade dense, my young friend," said 
 Meyer, leaning forward and tapping the other's knee. 
 "You want the King's prize; I want the King's en- 
 emy." 
 
 " But I cannot give him to you," protested the Cap- 
 tain. 
 
 " You know where he is housed ; you have a sword." 
 
 "You wish me to effect his arrest, General? You 
 have but to command." 
 
 " I do not desire his arrest in the least," said Gen- 
 eral Meyer, sighing wearily at the other's non-com- 
 prehension, and reclining again in the depths of his 
 arm-chair. " If I wished his arrest I should go to Ser- 
 geant Kummer of our estimable police force. Father 
 Bernhardt is a dangerous man, and a more dangerous
 
 29 
 
 man arrested than at large. He has the fatal gift of 
 touching the popular imagination. The ex-Queen is a 
 woman of no strength, the exiled Princess Gloria is but 
 a figure-head, a very charming figure-head it is true, 
 but still only a figure-head. Father Bernhardt is a 
 soldier, statesman, and priest in one inflammatory 
 whole. He has a tongue of fire, a genius for organisa- 
 tion, the reckless devotion of an ame damnee. His ex- 
 istence is a menace to my royal master and the peace 
 of Grimland. He had the misfortune to cause me a 
 sleepless night last night. Captain von Hiigelweiler, I 
 must sleep sound to-night." 
 
 The Captain rose to his feet. 
 
 " If you give your orders, General, they shall be 
 obeyed," he said, in a voice that bespoke suppressed 
 emotion. 
 
 The General yawned slightly, and then contemplated 
 his companion with an ingratiating smile. 
 
 " My dear young man," he remarked blandly, " for 
 the moment I'm not a general, and I am giving no 
 orders. I am the judge of the skating competition 
 which is to be held to-morrow, and in order that I 
 shall be able to do full justice to your merits it is 
 necessary that I should sleep well to-night. Do I 
 make my meaning clear? " 
 
 " Diabolically so," the words slipped out almost in- 
 voluntarily. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said the Commander-in-Chief 
 stiffly. 
 
 But Von Hiigelweiler's temper was roused. He had 
 been prepared, if necessary, to compromise with his
 
 30 GLORIA 
 
 conscience. He had argued, with the easy morality 
 of the egotist, that he probably desired the King's 
 prize more than any of his competitors, and probably 
 deserved it more. Had Meyer demanded a little thing 
 he might have granted it. But the thing asked was 
 not little to a sensitive man with certain honourable 
 instincts. 
 
 " I am a soldier, General," he declared, " and I am 
 accustomed to accepting orders, not suggestions. If 
 you order me to arrest this man I will take him dead 
 or alive. If you suggest that I should murder him as 
 a bribe to the judge of this skating competition, I 
 refuse." 
 
 Von Hugelweiler's words rang high, and it was plain 
 that his indignation was perilously near mastering his 
 sense of discipline. But General Meyer's cynical smile 
 never varied a hair's breadth, his pose never lost a 
 particle of its recumbent indolence. 
 
 " Very well, Captain," he said at length. " Then I 
 must take other means. Only do me the justice of 
 confessing that I asked a favour when I might have 
 commanded a service. Remember that all Grimlanders 
 are not so dainty as yourself, and remember that mur- 
 der is an ugly word. and hardly applicable to the de- 
 struction of vermin. If this cursed priest is brought 
 to trial there will be trouble in the city, street-fighting 
 perhaps, in the narrow lanes round the cattle-market; 
 any way, more bloodshed and misery than would be 
 caused by an infantry sword through a renegade's 
 breast-bone." 
 
 " But is an open trial a necessity ? " demanded the
 
 A PROPOSITION 31 
 
 Captain, his anger vanishing in the chilling certainty 
 that the King's prize would never be his. 
 
 But the Commander-in-Chief had had his say. 
 
 " Well," he said, rising to his feet, " if you will not 
 do what is required, someone else must. No, don't 
 salute me. I'm only an old Jew. Permit me to honour 
 myself by shaking the hand of an honest man." 
 
 For a half-moment the generosity of the words re- 
 kindled the dying hopes in the Captain's breast. Gen- 
 eral Meyer was a strange man was it possible that 
 he respected scruples he did not himself possess? But 
 as Von Hiigelweiler gazed into the old Jew's face, and 
 scanned the mocking light in the cold eyes, the cynical 
 smile about the mobile lips, his rising hopes were suc- 
 ceeded by a deeper, deadlier chill. With a slight shrug 
 of the shoulders and a smooth-spoken " Good-night, 
 Captain," the Commander-in-Chief left the room. 
 
 Von H'iigelweiler stood gazing at the closed door in 
 silence. Then his face grew dark, and he shook his 
 fist after his departed visitor with a gesture of un- 
 controlled rage. His lips twitched, his features worked, 
 and then covering his face dramatically with his hands, 
 he sank into a chair. For a bitterness, totally dispro- 
 portionate to his worst fears, had entered his childish 
 heart.
 
 CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 THE THIERGARTEN 
 
 THE competition for the King's Cup had no terror for 
 Nervy Trafford, nor did the fact that he was lament- 
 ably short of practice affect his peace of mind. When 
 a man has lost his heart's desire, has faced the barrel 
 of his own revolver, the prospect of gyrating on skates 
 before a critical audience becomes a matter of casual 
 importance. When he left Harvard to the vast re- 
 gret of his fellow-undergraduates and the infinite relief 
 of the much-enduring dean he had not known in what 
 direction to bend his superabundant energies. To one 
 who had an innate craving for an electrically-charged 
 atmosphere and the employment of explosives, and who 
 was not of the dollar-hunting kind, office work was out 
 of the question. So he had gone to Oxford. But 
 sport there the sport of the English shires was too 
 stereotyped and too little dangerous to appeal to his 
 ardent spirit. Back again in the United States, he had 
 commenced a military career, but it is a platitude that 
 a soldier must learn to obey before he can command; 
 and Trafford had stumbled badly on the lowest rung of 
 the military ladder. After that he had wandered. He 
 had seen men and cities, and had come to the con- 
 clusion that there was only one city, and in that city 
 but one person. Whither that conclusion had led him 
 we have already seen. Briefly, he was an unsettled and 
 rather a dangerous person in such an inflammatory 
 
 32
 
 THE THIERGARTEN 33 
 
 country as he was now visiting. It is little wonder, 
 therefore, that the competition on the Rundsee caused 
 him little anxiety, either as a trial of nerves or as a 
 matter of vital importance in his cosmic outlook. 
 
 The Rundsee, where the contest was to take place, 
 was an artificial piece of water, circular of shape, situ- 
 ated in the Thiergarten, the public park on the out- 
 skirts of Weidenbruck. At half-past two in the after- 
 noon its frozen surface was crowded with a vast num- 
 ber of human beings, who had come to see the great 
 annual competition for the King's prize. On one side 
 a big pavilion, garnished with small flags and red 
 cloth, had been erected for the benefit of the King 
 and the favoured few. The majority of the throng 
 were crowded behind ropes, leaving a sufficient area for 
 the evolutions of the competitors. There was no ques- 
 tion of the ice bearing so great a crowd, for the ice 
 of the Rundsee was as hard as a London pavement, 
 and many times as thick. A battery of elephant guns 
 would have traversed it without inflicting a crack on 
 its adamantine surface. 
 
 The scene was a gay one, for the winter sun had 
 sucked up the morning mist and turned the dull grey 
 sky to turquoise, and the snowy covering of the great 
 trees into a bejewelled mantle of sparkling purity. A 
 feeling of pent expectancy held the well-wrapped 
 throng, a feeling which found outlet in rousing cheers 
 when, with a cracking of whips and jingling of bells, 
 a sleigh and four horses came rapidly down a broad 
 avenue and halted at the back of the wooden pavilion. 
 
 It was the King King Karl XXII., fat, smiling,
 
 34 GLORIA 
 
 smoking, wrapped luxuriously in magnificent furs, and 
 accompanied by his favourites, General Meyer and 
 Robert Saunders. 
 
 The Grimlanders, to do them justice, never re- 
 ceived their monarch without noise. They might hoot 
 or they might cheer, they might throw garlands of 
 flowers or nitre-glycerine bombs, but royalty is roy- 
 alty, whether its representative be hero or villain, and 
 it was never received in the silence of indifference. And 
 at the present moment the throng was benevolent. The 
 day was fine, the occasion interesting, and in the love 
 of sport the Grimland public forgot its antipathy to 
 permanent institutions. 
 
 " By the way," asked the King of General Meyer, 
 when they had found their way to the royal enclosure 
 overlooking the Rundsee, " did you secure our friend 
 Bernhardt last night ? " 
 
 General Meyer shook his head. 
 
 " We had a failure," he replied, " another failure." 
 
 The King received the news without any outward 
 sign of displeasure. Only one who knew him well 
 would have read the deep disappointment of his placid 
 silence. 
 
 " I thought you had discovered where he lodged," 
 he said at length. 
 
 " I had discovered the fox's earth," said Meyer, 
 " but my hounds had not strong enough teeth to in- 
 convenience him. I approached a certain Captain of 
 the Guides, a young man of good family and approved 
 courage. I offered substantial rewards, but the work 
 was too dirty for his aristocratic fingers."
 
 THE THIERGARTEN 35 
 
 " Perhaps it would have been wiser to have ap- 
 proached someone of humbler birth," said the King 
 drily. 
 
 " I was forced to that conclusion myself," sneered 
 the General, " and I requisitioned the services of two 
 of the biggest scoundrels who enjoy the privilege of 
 being your Majesty's subjects. Their consciences were 
 un-tender, but they failed, as canaille will, when they 
 come to hand-grips with a brave man." 
 
 " In other words," said the King, " two armed ruf- 
 fians are incapable of tackling one priest. Next time 
 I should try four." 
 
 - " That is what I propose doing to-night, sire," said 
 the General impassively. 
 
 The King turned to Saunders, who was seated on 
 his left. 
 
 "What does the Englishman advise?" he asked. 
 
 " A company of Guards and a squadron of Dra- 
 goons," said Saunders curtly. 
 
 "An open arrest? " demanded his Majesty. 
 
 ** Yes, and an open trial," affirmed Saunders. " After 
 all, simplicity has its charms, and Father Bernhardt's 
 popularity is so great that it can hardly be enhanced 
 by a visit to the picturesque prison in the Cathedral 
 Square." 
 
 " The Straf eburg ! " said Meyer, naming the prison 
 in question. " I fear the good citizens might essay a 
 rescue." 
 
 " They certainly would," conceded Saunders, " but 
 the Strafeburg was not erected by a speculative builder. 
 It is made of stone, not papier-mache, and the gentle-
 
 36 GLORIA 
 
 men who keep guard over it are not armed with pea- 
 shooters." 
 
 The General nodded sagely. 
 
 "You mean you would risk bringing things to a 
 head? " he said. 
 
 " That is my advice," said Saunders. " I have only 
 been in Weidenbruck twenty-four hours, but have been 
 here long enough to see the need of strong measures." 
 
 " You are right," said the King with some bitter- 
 ness ; " the woman who was once my wife and who 
 hates me more than anything on earth, is seen at large 
 unmolested in my capital. The Princess Gloria, a 
 charming young lady, who would like to see me guil- 
 lotined in order that she may sit more comfortably 
 in my seat, is waiting her opportunity to cross the 
 frontier and take up her quarters here, if she has not 
 done so already. The music-halls resound with incen- 
 , diary ditties ! There is one in particular, the Roth- 
 lied, a catchy melody with a niost inspiriting refrain, 
 which frankly and courageously advocates my re- 
 moval to a better world. I am a patient man, God 
 knows, and I desire peace at almost any price; but 
 there are limits to my forbearance. Yet, when I put 
 in a plea for action, I am told that a rash step would 
 precipitate a revolution. I am beginning to think that 
 my friend Saunders here is my best counsellor, and that 
 simplicity is the best policy." 
 
 A roar of cheering from the crowd betokened the 
 presence of the competitors on the ice. General Meyer 
 rose from his seat. 
 
 " The best policy is generally simple," he said, " and
 
 THE THIERGARTEN 3? 
 
 so is the worst. But with your Majesty's permission 
 I will withdraw. My services are required below." 
 
 Hardly had Meyer left when Mrs. Saunders was 
 ushered into the royal enclosure. She was a tall, fair 
 woman with a cold, correct profile and unemotional grey 
 eyes. Her manner was usually reserved, and her speech 
 mocking. She possessed, however, a keen, if caustic, 
 sense of humour, and those few people who were 
 privileged to know her well were wisely proud of the 
 privilege. The King rose from his chair, his gaze 
 resting admirably on the tall, athletic figure in its neat 
 Chinchilla coat and smart fur toque. 
 
 "Enter the Ice Queen!" said his Majesty, offering 
 her the chair vacated by the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 " Has the skating begun? " the lady thus addressed 
 inquired animatedly. 
 
 " Not yet," her husband answered, " the competitors 
 are having a little preliminary exercise while Meyer is 
 putting on his skates. But you come at an opportune 
 moment, my dear. We were indulging in a political 
 discussion. I was advocating bold measures ; Meyer, 
 masterly inactivity. I desire your support for my 
 arguments." 
 
 " Meyer says we can't trust the army," put in the 
 King. 
 
 "Of course you can't trust the army," said Mrs. 
 Saunders ; " for it is not commanded by a soldier. Gen- 
 eral Meyer is an excellent judge of skating and cham- 
 pagne, but he is more of a policeman than a warrior. 
 I should send him on a diplomatic mission to a remote 
 country."
 
 38 GLORIA 
 
 " And whom would you make Commander-in-Chief 
 in his place ? " asked the King smiling. 
 
 " One of the competitors to-day." 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed the King, mystified. " Who? " 
 
 " Why, my husband's friend George Trafford, the 
 American ! " 
 
 The King roared with laughter. 
 
 " Why not appoint your husband to the post? " he 
 demanded. 
 
 " Because my husband has a young and beautiful 
 wife," retorted Mrs. Saunders smilingly. 
 
 "Whereas this Mr. Trafford ?" 
 
 " Is a broken-hearted bachelor. He is prepared to 
 seek the bubble reputation even at the cannon's mouth. 
 He has more imagination than Robert. Besides, I 
 don't mind so much his being killed." 
 
 Saunders laughed loudly, while the King's sunburned 
 face beamed with genuine amusement. 
 
 " I have to thank Mrs. Saunders for a cheerful mo- 
 ment," he said, " a rare thing these troublous times. 
 I'm forty-five years of age, my dear lady," he went 
 on, " and I've been on the throne fifteen years. Some- 
 times I feel as if I had reigned as long as Rameses II., 
 and sometimes I feel every bit as old and dried-up as 
 that mummied old gentleman in the British Museum. 
 At the same time, as you see, I have my cheerful mo- 
 ments, and in those cheerful moments I see Father 
 Bernhardt in one cell of the Strafeburg and the ex- 
 Queen in another the latter in a particularly damp 
 cell, by the way." 
 
 " And the Princess Gloria von Schattenberg? " asked 
 Saunders.
 
 THE THIERGARTEN 39 
 
 " Is too young and pretty for a cell," replied the 
 King with a smile. " She is popular and dangerous, 
 but I have a soft corner in my heart for her. I must 
 fight her, of course, if she persists, but I've certain 
 sunny memories of a little girl at Weissheim, all fun 
 and laughter and enthusiasm for winter games, and I 
 find it hard to take her seriously or wish her harm. 
 But for the others," he went on, hardening his voice, 
 " I'd have no mercy. They are playing with fire, and 
 they are old enough to know that fire burns. Arrest 
 them openly, I say, try them openly, I say, and if the 
 proletariat objects shoot them openly." 
 
 " Hear, hear," said Mrs. Saunders impassively, put- 
 ting up her glasses and studying the faces of the dif- 
 ferent competitors on the Rundsee. 
 
 " Meyer wants one more chance of nobbling Father 
 Bernhardt," said Saunders in a low voice. 
 
 " He shall have it," said the King ; " and I hope 
 and pray he will succeed. That priest's the heart and 
 soul of the whole trouble. Once he is safe under lock 
 and key, where can the Princess Gloria find another 
 with such cunning, such resource, such heedless daring, 
 to fight her battles and build her up a throne? Hullo, 
 more cheering! What's that for? Ah, one of the 
 competitors doing a bit of fancy skating to keep him- 
 self warm. A fine skater, too, by St. Liedwi,* a pow- 
 erful skater, but a shade reckless, eh ? " 
 
 " That is our friend, George Trafford," said Saun- 
 ders ; " a fine skater, a powerful skater, but, as you 
 say, distinctly reckless." 
 *The patron saint of skating.
 
 CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 THE KING'S CUP 
 
 As the cheers which greeted the American's essay on 
 the Rundsee died down, General Meyer, shod with a 
 pair of high-laced boots fitted with fine steel blades, sal- 
 lied forth to the ice, and shook each of the competitors 
 in turn by the hand. Von Hiigelweiler fancied he read 
 malice in the Commander-in-Chiefs eye, but his spirits 
 had sunk too low to be further depressed by such omens 
 of his imagination. He had determined to go through 
 with the contest, trusting dimly that his merits might 
 so far exceed those of his rivals that it would be morally 
 impossible to withhold the prize from him. But he was 
 anything but sanguine, for though he believed himself 
 the best skater present, he felt sure that both his coun- 
 trymen would run him close, and that Meyer would 
 award the prize to anyone but himself, if he could 
 reasbnably do so. 
 
 The competition, like most skating competitions, 
 was divided into two parts. In t^e first, the per- 
 formers had to skate in turn a number of set figures; 
 in the second they had to skate for a period of five 
 minutes any figures of their own choosing. In one im- 
 portant respect the competition differed from others 
 held on the Continent it was not held under the aus- 
 pices of the International Skating Union. 
 
 It is generally accepted that there are two styles of 
 skating, the English style and the Continental, or, as 
 
 40
 
 it is sometimes termed, the International style. The 
 characteristics of the English school are an upright 
 carriage, a straight knee, and a general restraint and 
 rigidity of pose, discountenancing any unnecessary 
 movement of the arms or the unemployed leg. The 
 Continental style is skated with a slightly bent knee, 
 with the unemployed leg trailing behind the body, and 
 considerable gesticulation of the arms. The expo- 
 nents of the latter claim a greater gracefulness of 
 execution, a freer and more beneficial exercise of the 
 muscles, and a wider scope of possible 'evolutions. The 
 [English stylists claim dignity, severity, and the ca- 
 pacity of doing difficult things without apparent effort. 
 Both have their merits and their advocates, but it is 
 generally accepted that to skate at all one must em- 
 ploy one of these two distinct methods, and prac- 
 tically all skating competitions are held under the aus- 
 pices of one or the other school. In Grimland, how- 
 ever, under General Meyer's influence, a third school 
 had arisen. In this an effort had been made to com- 
 bine the speed and steadiness of the English skaters 
 with the wonderful scope for brilliant and daring evo- 
 lutions afforded by the Continental method. In Grim- 
 land competitions, therefore, marks were awarded for 
 the scale on which figures were described, and the pace 
 at which they were performed ; while, at the same time, 
 reward was offered for those exhilarating tours de 
 force which are impossible of execution under English 
 methods. To put it differently, no marks were awarded 
 for style qua style, but for such things as accuracy, 
 speed, boldness, and elegance, quite apart from the
 
 42 GLORIA 
 
 mechanical methods by which such excellences were at- 
 tained. 
 
 The first competitor to attempt the set figures was 
 Herr Franz Schmolder, a lithe little athlete, who 
 skated with great power and- elegance. On one or two 
 occasions, however, he failed to hold his edge firmly 
 after a difficult turn, and it was obvious to Von Hiigel- 
 weiler that the strained knee which Frau Krabb had 
 made mention of was bothering him more than a little. 
 
 Captain Einstein was the second of the four as- 
 pirants, and if, as Frau Krabb had insinuated, his 
 big frame was filled with an undue proportion of alco- 
 holic nourishment, it did not seem to have impaired 
 his " back brackets " or spoiled his " rocking turns." 
 
 " There's a dash about that fellow that's fine ! " re- 
 marked Trafford to Von Hiigelweiler, who was stand- 
 ing near him, wrapped during inaction in a big mili- 
 tary ulster. 
 
 The Captain of the Guides had already in his own 
 mind ruled Schmolder out of the competition, exag- 
 gerating his faults to himself with egotistical over- 
 keenness. Einstein, however, was skating so brilliantly 
 that Von Hiigelweiler was beginning to experience the 
 deepest anxiety lest he should prove the ultimate win- 
 ner of the coveted trophy. The anxiety indeed was so 
 deep that he refused to admit it even to himself. 
 
 " Wait till we come to the second part of the com- 
 petition the free-skating," he retorted. " Free-skat- 
 ing requires great nerve, great endurance, and absolute 
 fitness. It is there that Einstein will fail." 
 
 When Einstein had finished his compulsory figures
 
 THE KING'S CUP 43 
 
 amid a round of applause, Von Hiigelweiler slipped off 
 his long ulster. For a moment a bad attack of stage- 
 fright assailed him, for there is nothing quite so nerve- 
 racking as a skating competition before a critical judge 
 and an equally critical audience, and his heart was 
 turned to water and his knees trembled with a veritable 
 ague ; but a cheer of encouragement restored him to 
 himself, and he struck out for glory. With head erect, 
 expanded chest, arms gracefully disposed, and knee 
 slightly bent, he was about as pretty an exponent of 
 Continental skating as one could wish to see. He 
 travelled rapidly and easily on a firm edge, his turns 
 were crispness itself, the elegance of his methods was 
 patent to the least initiated. 
 
 General Meyer following slowly with note-book in 
 hand, smiled appreciatively, as he jotted down the 
 marks gained from time to time by his brilliant " coun- 
 ters," " brackets," and " rocking turns." The crowd 
 roared their applause, and in the music of their cheers, 
 Von Hiigelweiler's depression vanished, and his heart 
 sang an answering paean of jubilee. Like most nervous, 
 self-centred men, he most excelled before an audience 
 when once the initial fear had worn off. And now he 
 was skating as he had never skated before, with a dash, 
 energy, and precision that drew redoubled cheers from 
 the spectators and audible applause from the royal 
 box. Even Meyer, he reflected, with all his malice, 
 could hardly dare to give another the prize now; to 
 do so would be not merely to violate justice, but to 
 insult the intelligence of every man and woman on 
 the ice.
 
 44 GLORIA 
 
 At the conclusion of his effort, Trafford congratu- 
 lated the Captain warmly on his performance. Von 
 Hiigelweiler's dark eyes shone bright with pleasure. 
 Already he saw himself crowned with the invisible 
 laurels of undying fame, receiving the massive silver 
 trophy from the royal hands. 
 
 " Thanks, my American friend," he said, heartily, 
 " go on and prosper." 
 
 With a few bold strokes Trafford started on his 
 attempt to do superbly what others had done fault- 
 lessly. His style instantly arrested attention. Here 
 was no lithe figure full of lissom vitality and vibrant 
 suppleness; no graceful athlete whose arms and legs 
 seemed ever ready to adopt fresh and more elegant 
 poses. But here was an exponent of the ultra-English 
 school, a rigid, braced figure travelling over the ice 
 like an automaton on skates, an upright, inflexible 
 form, sailing along on a perfect edge at an amazing 
 speed, with a look of easy contempt on his face alike 
 for the difficulties of his art and the opinion of his 
 watchers. 
 
 Ever and again there was an almost imperceptible 
 flick of the ankle, a slight shifting of the angle of the 
 shoulders, and some difficult turn had been performed, 
 and he was travelling away in a slightly different di- 
 rection at a slightly increased rate of speed. The 
 crowd watched intently, but with little applause. They 
 felt that it was wonderful, but they did not particularly 
 admire. 
 
 To Von Hiigelweiler, trained as he was in the 
 theory and practice of the " Continental " school, 
 (the performance seemed stiff and ugly.
 
 THE KING'S CUP 45 
 
 " Mein Gott," cried Einstein, " at what a speed he 
 travels ! " 
 
 " He wants a bigger rink than the Rundsee ! " ex- 
 claimed Schmolder. " A man like that should have the 
 Arctic Ocean swept for him." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler was less complimentary. 
 
 " I don't think we need fear the American, my 
 friends," he said. " He skates his figures fast and big, 
 but with the grace of a dummy. Such stiffness is an 
 insult to the Rundsee, which is the home of elegant 
 skating. See with what a frowning face General 
 Meyer follows this American about ! " 
 
 " If you can learn anything from Meyer's face," 
 said Captain Einstein drily, "you should give up the 
 army and go in for diplomacy." 
 
 " Wait till he comes to the free-skating ! " went on 
 Von Hiigelweiler. " That needs a man with joints and 
 ligaments not a poker. Our friend will find himself 
 placed last, I fear ; and I am sorry, for he has come a 
 long way for his skating, and he seems an excellent 
 fellow. I will say a few words of encouragement to 
 him." 
 
 But Trafford had just then momentarily retired 
 from the rink. He was changing his skates for the 
 pair he had bought at Frau Krabb's the previous 
 evening. 
 
 At the free-skating, which followed, Franz Schmol- 
 der broke down altogether. His knee failed him when 
 he had performed for three minutes instead of the 
 necessary five. Einstein, who followed, did well up to 
 a point. But five minutes' free-skating is a fairly 
 severe test of condition, and the big, burly soldier did
 
 46 GLORIA 
 
 not finish with quite the dash and energy he had begun 
 with. Von Hiigelweiler, however, gave another splen- 
 did display of effective elegance, and again drew re- 
 sounding cheers for his vigorous and attractive per- 
 formance. He himself made no doubt now that he was 
 virtually the winner of the King's Cup. He had 
 worked hard for his success, and was already begin- 
 ning to feel the glow that comes from honourable ef- 
 fort generously rewarded. Meyer would doubtless be 
 sorry to have to place him first, but in the face of Ein- 
 stein's and Schmolder's comparative failure, and the 
 American's stiffness, no other course would be open to 
 him. Von Hiigelweiler, however, watched Trafford's 
 free-skating with interest, dreading, with an honest 
 and generous dread, lest his amiable rival should dis- 
 grace himself. To his astonishment, Trafford was no 
 longer a petrified piece of anatomy skating with frozen 
 arms and arthritic legs. He beheld instead an ex- 
 ponent of the Continental school, who seemed to have 
 in his repertoire a whole armoury of fanciful figures 
 and astounding tours de force. Trafford was as free 
 and unrestrained now as he had been severe and digni- 
 fied before. Graceful, lissom, filled with an inexhaus- 
 tible, superabundant energy, he performed prodigies 
 of whirling intricacy, dainty pirouettings, sudden bold 
 leaps, swift changes of edge, all with such masterful 
 daring and complete success that the whole ring of 
 spectators cheered itself hoarse with enthusiasm. 
 
 " Bravo ! bravo ! " cried Von Hiigelweiler, clapping 
 him heartily on the back at the conclusion of his ef- 
 fort. " It is good to see skating like that ! If you had
 
 THE KING'S CUP 4T 
 
 skated the preliminary figures with the same zeal you 
 have displayed just now, we Grimlanders would have 
 to deplore the departure of a national trophy from our 
 native land." 
 
 Trafford accepted the left-handed compliment in 
 silence, lighting a cigarette while General Meyer totted 
 up the amount of marks he had awarded to the several 
 competitors. After a few minutes' calculation, and 
 after his figures had been checked by a secretary, 
 the General skated back to the front of the royal box 
 and announced his decision to the King. Then, at a 
 word from his Majesty, a gentleman in a blue and yel- 
 low uniform placed a gigantic megaphone to his lips, 
 and turning it to the various sections of the crowd, 
 announced : 
 
 " The King's Prize : the winner is Herr George 
 Trafford; second, Captain Ulrich Salvator von 
 Hiigelweiler." 
 
 The American received the announcement with com- 
 plete outward calmness. And yet those hoarsely spoken 
 words had touched a chord in his heart that he had 
 believed snapped and irrevocably broken. For a mo- 
 ment he lived, for a moment the cheers of his fellow 
 men had galvanised into healthy activity the dead brain 
 that had lost interest in all things under the sun. The 
 success itself was a trivial affair, yet in a magic mo- 
 ment he had become reconciled to life and its burden, 
 vaguely thankful that he had kept the first barrel of 
 his revolver free from powder and ball. 
 
 " Congratulations, Herr Trafford," said General 
 Meyer, who now approached him with proffered hand.
 
 48 GLORIA 
 
 " Escort me, I beg, to his Majesty, who will present 
 you with the cup. You will also receive a royal com- 
 mand to dine to-morrow night at the Palace." 
 
 " Congratulations, Herr Trafford," said another 
 voice. 
 
 Trafford looked round and beheld the competitor 
 who had been placed second. The tone of the felicita- 
 tion was one of undisguised bitterness, the face of the 
 speaker was the ashen face of a cruelly disappointed 
 man. And Von Hiigelweiler, honestly believing him- 
 self cheated of his due, and not bearing to see an- 
 other receive the prize which he felt should have been 
 his, slunk from the scene with hate and misery and all 
 uncharitableness in his tortured soul. Then, as he took 
 off his skates, the cheering broke out again, and told 
 that the American was receiving the trophy from the 
 King's hand. An ejaculation of bitterness and wrath 
 burst from his lips. 
 
 Hardly had he breathed his angry word into the 
 frosty air when a small hand plucked at his fur-lined 
 coat, and looking round he perceived a charming little 
 face gazing into his own. 
 
 " Why so cross, Captain ? " asked the interrupter 
 of his execration. 
 
 Captain von Hiigelweiler's hand went up to the 
 salute. 
 
 "Your Royal High " 
 
 " Hush ! you tactless man," said the Princess Gloria, 
 for it was no other. " Do you want to have me ar- 
 rested? For the sake of old times," she went on, put- 
 ting her arm in his, " I claim your protection."
 
 THE KING'S CUP 49 
 
 But Hiigelweiler had not thought of delivering the 
 exiled Princess to the authorities ! For one thing, his 
 mind was too occupied with self-pity to have room for 
 State interests ; secondly, he was still in love with the 
 fascinating creature who looked up at him so appeal- 
 ingly, that he would sooner have killed himself than 
 betrayed the appeal of those wondrous eyes. 
 
 They were strolling away from the Rundsee in the 
 direction of the town, and a straggling multitude of 
 the spectators was streaming behind them in the snowy 
 Thiergarten. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's lips trembled a little. 
 
 " It is good to see you again, Princess," he whis- 
 pered. " It is comforting, just when I need comfort." 
 
 " Comfort ! " echoed his companion with a grimace. 
 " You were swearing, Ulrich ! You are a good sports- 
 man, you should take defeat with better grace." 
 
 " I can accept open defeat, Princess, like a man, 
 though I had set my heart on the prize. But I was 
 not fairly beaten. The American skated his figures 
 as ungracefully as they could be skated." 
 
 " Why, he skated marvellously," declared the Prin- 
 cess enthusiastically. " I never saw such speed and dar- 
 ing on the ice. The man must have been born with 
 skates on. I never saw a finer " 
 
 " Nonsense ! " broke in the irate Captain, forgetting 
 both manners and affection in the extremity of his 
 wrath. " He won because General Meyer had a grudge 
 against me. He asked me last night to do a dirty piece 
 of work. In the name of loyalty he wished me to mur- 
 der a civilian ; but I am a Von Hiigelweiler, not an
 
 50 GLORIA 
 
 assassin, and I refused, though I knew that by so doing 
 I was ruining my chances of success to-day." 
 
 The Princess Gloria pressed his arm sympathetically. 
 
 " The King's service frequently involves dirty work," 
 she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. 
 
 " So it appears ! " 
 
 " Why not embrace a service that calls for deeds of 
 valour, and leads to high honour? " 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler looked at the bright young face 
 that now was gazing into his so hopefully. A thousand 
 memories of a youthful ardour, born amidst the suns 
 and snows of Weissheim, rushed into his kindling 
 heart. He had lost the King's Cup ; might he not wipe 
 out the bitter memory of defeat by winning something 
 of incomparably greater value? There was a price, of 
 course ; there always was, it seemed. Last night it was 
 _ the honour of a clean man ; to-day it was loyalty to his 
 King. But how much greater the present bribe than 
 that offered by the Commander-in-Chief ! The intoxi- 
 cation of desire tempted him, tempted him all the more 
 shrewdly because of his recent depression. What had 
 he to do with a career that was tainted with such a head 
 as the scheming Jew, Meyer? What loyalty did he 
 owe to a man served by such officers and such method 
 as was Karl? The Princess's eyes repeated their ques- 
 tion, and their silent pleading shook him as no words 
 could have done. 
 
 " What service ? " he asked f alteringly. 
 
 " My service," was the hushed retort. 
 
 " And the reward? " he demanded. 
 
 " Honour."
 
 THE KING'S CUP 51 
 
 "And love?" 
 
 There was silence momentary, but long enough for 
 the forging of a lie. 
 
 " Perhaps," she breathed, looking down coquettishly. 
 
 A great light shone in the Captain's eyes, and the 
 sombre beauty of his face was illumined by a mighty 
 
 " Princess Gloria ? " he cried, " I am yours to the 
 death!"
 
 CHAPTER SIXTH 
 
 " WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG " 
 
 THAT evening Mr. and Mrs. Robert Saunders were 
 George Trafford's guests in a private room of the 
 Hotel Concordia. In the centre of the dining table 
 stood a big silver trophy of considerable value and 
 questionable design. As soon as the soup had been 
 served, Trafford solemnly poured out the contents of 
 a champagne bottle into its capacious depths. He then 
 handed it to Mrs. Saunders. 
 
 " Felicitations," she said, taking the trophy in both 
 hands. " I drink to St. Liedwi, the patron saint of 
 skaters, coupled with the name of George Trafford, 
 winner of the King's Cup." 
 
 Saunders was the next to take the prize in his hands. 
 
 "I drink a health unto their Majesties, King Ed- 
 ward of England and King Karl of Grimland, and to 
 the President of the United States," he said; and then 
 bowing to his host, " Also to another good sportsman, 
 one Nervy Trafford. God bless 'em all ! " 
 
 Trafford received the cup from Saunders, his lips 
 muttered something inaudible, and tossing back his 
 head he drank deep. 
 
 "What was your toast, Mr. Trafford?" demanded 
 Mrs. Saunders quietly. 
 
 The winner of the cup shook his head sagely. 
 
 " That is a secret," he replied.
 
 WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG" 53 
 
 " A secret ! But I insist upon knowing," returned 
 the lady. " Tell me, what was your toast? " 
 
 Trafford hesitated a moment. 
 
 " I toasted ' Wein, Weib, und GesangS " he an- 
 nounced at length. 
 
 " Wine, woman, and song ! " repeated Mrs. Saun- 
 ders. " A mere abstract toast, which you would have 
 confessed to at once. Please particularise? " 
 
 " The ' wine,' " said Trafford, " is the wine of cham- 
 pagne, which we drink to-night, '89 Cliquot. ' Woman,' 
 is Eve in all her aspects and in all countries Venus 
 victrix, sea-born Aphrodite, Astarte of the Assyrians, 
 Kali of the Hindoos. God bless her! God bless all 
 whom she loves and all who love her ! " 
 
 " And the song ? " demanded Saunders. 
 
 " The song is the one I have heard one hundred and 
 fifty times since I have been here," replied Trafford. 
 " Its title is unknown to me, but the waiters hum it in 
 the passages, the cabmen chant it from their box seats, 
 the street-boys whistle it with variations in the Bahn- 
 hofstrasse." 
 
 " That sounds like the Rothlied," said Saunders. 
 " It is a revolutionary air." 
 
 " I like it enormously," said Trafford. 
 
 " Of course you would," said Saunders. " You have 
 the true Grimlander's love of anarchy. But if you 
 wish', we will subsequently adjourn to the Eden Theatre 
 of Varieties in the Karlstrasse. I am told that the 
 Rothlied is being sung there by a beautiful damsel of 
 the aristocratic name of Schmitt." 
 
 " I have seen her posters," said Trafford, " and I
 
 54 GLORIA 
 
 should like, I confess, to see the original. But what 
 of Mrs. Saunders ? Is the ' Eden ' a respectable place 
 of entertainment? " 
 
 " It is an Eden of more Adams than Eves," said 
 Mrs. Saunders. " No, I do not propose to follow you 
 into its smoky, beer-laden atmosphere. I am going to 
 accompany Frau generalin von Bilderbaum to the 
 opera to hear ' La Boheme.' But before I leave I want 
 further enlightenment on the subject of your toast. 
 * Wein ' is all right, and * Gesang ' is all right, but 
 what about 'Weib'? I thought you had sworn off 
 the sex." 
 
 " Sworn off the sex ! Never ! True, I offered to one 
 individual my heart, and hand, and soul ; but the indi- 
 vidual deemed the offering unsatisfactory. I now offer 
 to the whole female race what I once offered to one 
 member of it." 
 
 " Polygamist ! " laughed Saunders. 
 
 " No," explained Trafford, " it's a case of first 
 come, first served." 
 
 " You are offering your heart and hand and soul 
 to the first eligible maiden who crosses your pathP " 
 asked Mrs. Saunders, with upraised brows. 
 
 " My heart and hand," corrected Trafford with 
 great dignity. 
 
 " Come, come," Saunders broke forth, " it's time we 
 were off!" 
 
 The auditorium of the Eden Theatre was a long 
 oblong chamber, with a crude scheme of decoration, 
 and no scheme of ventilation worth speaking about.
 
 "WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG " 55 
 
 It possessed, however, a good orchestra, an excellent 
 brew of lager beer, and usually presented a tolerably 
 attractive show to the public of Weidenbruck. For the 
 sum of four kronen per head Saunders and Trafford 
 obtained the best seats in the building. For the ex- 
 penditure of a further trivial sum they obtained long 
 tumblers of the world-famed tigerbrdu. 
 
 " A promising show this," said Trafford, lighting a 
 large cigar. An exceedingly plump lady in magenta 
 tights, was warbling a patriotic ditty to the tune of 
 " Won't you come home, Bill Bailey? " 
 
 " More quantity than quality," commented Saun- 
 ders cynically. " Personally, not being possessed of 
 your all-embracing enthusiasm for womanhood at large, 
 . I find myself looking forward to the next item on 
 the programme." 
 
 " What's that ? The * Rothlied ' ? " 
 
 No, Midgets." 
 
 Trafford uttered an exclamation of disgust. 
 
 " Little things amuse little minds," he said rudely. 
 " Give me a strong man or a giant, and I will watch 
 with interest." 
 
 At this point the curtain descended on the plump 
 warbler, and a powdered attendant in plush knicker- 
 bockers removed the number 7 from the wings, and sub- 
 stituted the number 9. 
 
 " Oh, it isn't the midgets yet, after all," said Saun- 
 ders, consulting his programme. " It's the Schone 
 Fraulein Schmitt the beautiful Miss Smith. I won- 
 der if she's as lovely as her posters." 
 
 As the curtain drew up again, a young girl tripped
 
 66 GLORIA 
 
 lightly on to the middle of the stage, and it was at 
 once manifest that the epithet *' schone " was no mere 
 advertising euphemism. 
 
 Her black skirt was short, her black bodice low, and 
 her black picture hat exceedingly large, but her limbs 
 were shapely, her eyes marvellously bright though 
 small, and there was a vivacity and grace in her move- 
 ments that put her predecessor to shame. When she 
 sang, her voice proved to be a singularly pure soprano, 
 and, what was more remarkable, gave evidence of 
 considerable taste and sound training. The song was 
 a dainty one, all about a young lady called Nanette, 
 who conquered all hearts till she met someone who con- 
 quered hers. And then, of course, Nanette lost her 
 art, as well as her heart, and could make no impression 
 on the only man who had really touched the deeps of 
 her poor little soul. The last verse, naturally, was 
 a tragedy, the usual tragedy of the smiling face and 
 the aching bosom. The idea was not exactly a novel 
 one, but the air was pretty, and the singer's person- 
 ality won a big success from the commonplace theme. 
 Anyway, the audience rose to her, and there was much 
 clapping of hands, clinking of beer glasses, and gut- 
 tural exclamations of enthusiasm. 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried Trafford ecstatically, " Bravo ! 
 Bravissimo! Behold an artist among artistes, a fairy 
 of the footlights! Bravo! Well done, beautiful Miss 
 Schmitt!" 
 
 " Charming," agreed Saunders more calmly, " and, 
 strangely enough, extraordinarily like a young lady I 
 met a few years ago."
 
 "WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG" 57 
 
 " Perhaps it is the young lady," suggested Trafford. 
 '* I noticed she fixed her beady black eyes on you dur- 
 ing the last verse." 
 
 " I think not," said Saunders drily. " The young 
 lady I was referring to was a somewhat more exalted 
 personage than Fraulein Schmitt." 
 
 The fascinating songstress re-appeared for her en- 
 core, and this time the orchestra struck up a martial 
 air with a good deal of rolling drums in it. 
 
 " My * Gesang,' " whispered Trafford excitedly. 
 
 " The Rothlied,' " said Saunders. 
 
 Again the Fraulein sang, and now the burthen of 
 her song was of battlefields and war's alarms. The 
 tune was vastly inspiriting, and the audience knew it 
 well, taking up the chorus with infectious enthusiasm. 
 
 " It's great ! " muttered Trafford, twirling excitedly 
 at his moustaches. " By the living Jingo, it's great ! " 
 
 And of a truth the air was an intoxicating one. 
 There was gunpowder in it, musketry and cold steel, 
 reckless charges and stern movements of advance. One 
 caught the thunder of hoofs and the blare of bugles. 
 Its infection became imperious, maddening even, for 
 the audience forgot their pipes and their tigerbrau, 
 and beat time to the insistent rhythm, till the chorus 
 gave them a chance of imparting their enthusiasm to 
 the roaring refrain. The girl herself seemed the em- 
 bodiment of martial ardour. She trod the stage like 
 a little war-horse, her eye sought the gallery and 
 struck fire from the beer-loving bourgeoisie. For a sec- 
 ond her gaze seemed to fall upon Saunders mockingly, 
 and with an air of challenge. Then she glanced round
 
 58 GLORIA 
 
 the crowded house, held it spellbound, lifted it up, car- 
 ried it to high regions of carnage, self-sacrifice, and 
 glory. The audience roared, clapped, screamed with 
 exuberant acclaim. Their state was frenetique no 
 other word, French, English, or German, well de- 
 scribes it. 
 
 " By George, she's a witch! " said Trafford. " She's 
 as dangerous as a time fuse. I'll be hanged if I don't 
 want to fight someone!" 
 
 The encore verse was more pointed, more sinister, 
 less general in its application. It spoke of wrongs to 
 be righted, tyranny to be overcome, freedom to be 
 gained. It hinted of an uplifting of the proletariat, 
 of armed citizens and frenzied women, of tumult in 
 square and street; it breathed of barricades and civic 
 strife, the vast upheaval of a discontented people de- 
 termined to assert their rights. Men looked at each 
 other and stirred uneasily in their seats, and then 
 glanced round in apprehension, as if expecting the 
 entrance of the police. The song was a veritable " Mar- 
 seillaise," a trumpet call to revolution, a match in a 
 barrel of gunpowder ; and with the final chorus and the 
 stirring swing of the refrain, all remnants of prudence 
 and restraint were cast to the winds. The house rose 
 en masse; men mounted their seats and waved sticks 
 and umbrellas aloft ; a party of young officers drew 
 their swords and brandished them with wild insurgent 
 cries. Forbidden names were spoken, cheers were raised 
 for popular outlaws and suspects, groans for unpop- 
 ular bureaucrats and the King's favourites. It was an 
 intoxicating moment, whatever one's sympathies
 
 WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG " 59 
 
 might be, and it was obvious enough that the temper 
 of the people was frankly revolutionary, and that the 
 authorities would be quite justified, from their point 
 of view, in arresting the audience and the manage- 
 ment en bloc. 
 
 " We'd better clear out," suggested Saunders ; 
 " there's going to be trouble." 
 
 " If there's a row," announced Trafford grimly, " I'm 
 going to be in it. You've seen stirring times over here 
 before, but I'm a novice at it, and I want blooding. 
 Shall we raise three cheers for Karl and fight our way 
 out?" 
 
 " Not if you want to keep your thick skull weather- 
 proof," was the sensible retort. " There's always dis- 
 content in Grimland, but there's a big sea running just 
 now, and it isn't wise to fight the elements. Sit tight, 
 my friend, and you'll live to see more exciting things 
 than a noisy night at the Eden Music-Hall." 
 
 The curtain was down again now, but the audience 
 still roared for the re-appearance of their favourite, 
 still clamoured for another verse of the intoxicating 
 song. 
 
 " Hullo ! what's this? " cried Trafford. An attend- 
 ant had edged her way up to Saunders, and was offer- 
 ing him a folded note on a tray. " // you have any 
 pleasant memories of the winter of 1904, come round to 
 the stage door and ask for Fraulein Schmitt." That 
 was the purport of the note, and after reading it, 
 Saunders handed it to Trafford. 
 
 " Then it must be your lady friend, after all," main- 
 tained the latter, smiling at his friend.
 
 60 GLORIA 
 
 " It must indeed," acquiesced Saunders with a frown. 
 " Come round with me now." 
 
 " Why not go by yourself? " 
 
 " Because I am a married man," replied Saunders, 
 " and I want a chaperon." And together the two 
 men left the still noisy house and made their way to 
 the stage door. 
 
 Under the guidance of a pale youth in a shabby 
 pony coat, they entered a gloomy passage, ascended a 
 steep flight of stone steps, and halted before a door, 
 which had once been painted green. 
 
 The pale one knocked, and a clear musical voice 
 gave the necessary permission to enter. 
 
 A naturally bare and ugly room had been rendered 
 attractive by a big stove, several comfortable chairs, 
 and an abundance of photographs, unframed sketches 
 and artistic knick-knacks. It had been rendered still 
 more attractive by the presence of a charming young 
 lady, who was engaged with the assistance of her 
 dresser in removing all traces of " make-up " from 
 her comely lips and cheeks. 
 
 The lady in question came forward with an air of 
 pleasurable excitement, and smiling a warm welcome to 
 the Englishman, cried: 
 
 " So you Tia've come, Herr Saunders ! You have 
 not, then, altogether forgotten the winter of 1904?" 
 
 Saunders took the small hand which had been ex- 
 tended to him and bowed low over it. 
 
 " Heaven forbid, my dear Princess or must I call 
 you Fraulein Schmitt, now? No, indeed, so long as I 
 have memory cells and the power to consult them, I
 
 "WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG" 61 
 
 shall never forget the winter of 1904. It gave me an 
 angel for a wife, a king for a friend, and must I say 
 it a princess for an enemy. That fierce enmity! It 
 is by no means my least pleasurable remembrance. 
 There was so much fun in it, such irresponsible laugh- 
 ter, that it all seems now more like the struggle of 
 children for a toy castle than anything else." 
 
 " Ah, but you forget that I lost a dear father and 
 a loved brother in the struggle for that toy castle ! " 
 There was almost a life-time of sorrow in the young 
 girl's voice. 
 
 Again Saunders bent his head. 
 
 " Pardon me, Princess," he said, " I did not forget 
 that, nor the fact that you nearly lost your life, and 
 I mine. But my memory loves rather to linger on the 
 bob-sleighing excursions, the tea-fights at Frau Men- 
 gler's, the frivolous disputations and serious frivolities 
 all with such a delicious substratum of intrigue." 
 
 " You have a convenient memory, mine Herr," she 
 said quietly. " You remember the bright things, you 
 half remember the grey, the black you entirely forget." 
 
 Saunders' smile faded, for there was still a touch of 
 sadness in the girl's words. Under the circumstances 
 it was not unnatural, but he thought it more consid- 
 erate to keep the interview from developing on serious 
 lines. 
 
 " The art of living is to choose one's memories," he 
 said lightly. " He who has- conquered his thoughts, 
 has conquered a more wonderful country than Grim- 
 land." 
 
 "And so marriage has made of you a philosopher,
 
 62 GLORIA 
 
 Herr Saunders ? " she returned, her soft lips curling a 
 trifle contemptuously. " Well, perhaps you are right 
 if we take life as a jest, death, then, is only the 
 peal of laughter that follows the jest." And then, 
 turning to the American, she chided Saunders with: 
 " But you have not presented your friend ! " 
 
 " I must again crave pardon I had quite forgotten 
 him," apologised Saunders. " Your Highness, may I 
 present my very good friend, Mr. George Trafford of 
 New York the winner of the King's Cup." 
 
 The American bowed low before this exquisite crea- 
 ture; then uplifting his head and shoulders and twirl- 
 ing his moustache a habit he had when his emotions 
 were at all stirred he asked with true American di- 
 rectness : 
 
 " Am I speaking to a princess of the blood royal 
 or to a princess of song? " 
 
 The princess and the Englishman quickly exchanged 
 amused glances, and a moment later there came from 
 the girl a ringing laugh, a delightful laugh bubbling 
 over with humour, with not a hint of the sorrow or 
 the bitterness of a few moments before, while Saunders 
 hastened to say: 
 
 " Both, my American friend ! You are addressing 
 the high-born Princess Gloria von Schattenberg, cousin 
 to his Majesty King Karl of Grimland!" 
 
 " Then I congratulate the high-born princess less 
 on her high birth than on her inimitable gift of song," 
 said the American gallantly. 
 
 The Princess acknowledged the felicitation with a 
 bewitching smile.
 
 "WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG" 63 
 
 " Thank you, Herr TrafFord," she said simply. " It 
 is better to be a music-hall star in the ascendant than 
 a princess in exile it is far more profitable, isn't it? " 
 No answer was expected, and in a trice her mood 
 changed again. " When I fled the country three years 
 ago, Herr TrafFord," she continued, " I was penniless 
 my father dead, and his estates confiscated. True, 
 an allowance a mere pittance might have been mine 
 had I returned and bowed the knee to Karl." She 
 stopped, her feelings seemingly too much for her; in 
 a moment, however, she had mastered them. " But I 
 was a Schattenberg ! " she cried, with a little toss of 
 her head. " And the Schattenbergs as Herr Saun- 
 ders will testify are a stiff-necked race. There was 
 nothing to be done," she went on, " but develop the 
 gifts God had given me. Under an humble nom de 
 guerre I have achieved notoriety and a large salary. 
 Germany, France, Belgium, I have toured them all 
 and my incognito has never been pierced. So when 
 I got hold of a splendid song I lost no time in has- 
 tening to Weidenbruck, for I knew it would go like 
 wildfire here." 
 
 " A most dangerous step." The comment came 
 from the American, but there was a light of frank 
 admiration in his eye. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " she protested, a faint touch of colour 
 in her cheek, denoting that his approving glance had 
 not escaped her. " It is years since I was in this 
 place." And smiling at the Englishman, now, she added 
 naively : " My features are little likely to be recog- 
 nised."
 
 64 GLORIA 
 
 " Indeed ! " voiced Saunders, a touch of satire in his 
 tone. " Photographs of the exiled Princess Gloria are 
 in all the shop-windows, her personality is more than a 
 tolerably popular one. When they are placed in con- 
 junction with those of the equally popular Fraulein 
 Schmitt, will not people talk? " 
 
 " I hope they will do more than that," confessed 
 the Princess, growing excited. 
 
 " You want ? 
 
 " I want Grimland," interrupted the Princess ; and 
 added loftily : " nothing more and nothing less. You 
 will have me arrested? " 
 
 " Not yet ! " declared Saunders with his brightest 
 smile. " The night is cold your dressing-room is cosy. 
 No, my fascinating, and revolutionary young lady, the 
 truce between us has been so long unbroken that I 
 cannot rush into hostilities in this way. Besides, we 
 are not now in 1904, and " 
 
 " Oh, for 1904 ! " cried the Princess, her eyes ablaze 
 with the light of enthusiasm. " Oh, for the sweets of 
 popularity, the ecstasy of rousing brave men and turn- 
 ing their blood to wine and their brains to fire! I 
 want to live, to rule, to be obeyed and loved as a 
 queen ! " 
 
 In an instant Trafford felt a responsive glow; he 
 started to speak but Saunders already was speaking. 
 
 " Princess," the Englishman was saying coldly, 
 "popularity is champagne with a dash of brandy in 
 it. It is a splendid pick-me-up. It dispels ennui, 
 migraine, and all the other troubles of a highly-strung, 
 nervous system. Only, it is not what medical folk call
 
 "WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG " 65 
 
 a * food.' It does not do for breakfast, luncheon and 
 dinner. After a time it sickens." 
 
 " Popularity the adulation of my people would 
 never pall on me," returned the Princess, gazing off 
 for the moment, absorbed in a realm of dreams. 
 
 " No, but the police might take a hand," intimated 
 Saunders grimly. " There is a castle at Weidenbruck 
 called the Strafeburg. As its name implies, it is in- 
 tended otherwise than as a pleasure residence. It is 
 a picturesque old pile, but, curiously enough, the archi- 
 tect seems to have neglected the important require- 
 ments of light and air. You would get very tired of 
 the Strafeburg, my Princess ! " 
 
 " The people of Paris got very tired of the Bastile," 
 retorted the Princess hotly and flashing a defiant look 
 at the Englishman. Trafford's hand clinched in sym- 
 pathy for her. Never was maid so splendidly daring 
 and reckless and fascinating ! " They got very tired 
 of Louis XVI.," the voice was still going on, " and the 
 people of Weidenbruck are very tired of the Strafe- 
 burg." 
 
 To Trafford's astonishment the Princess's eyes 
 showed danger of filling upon uttering these last words. 
 Her perfect mouth quivered, and of a sudden, she 
 seemed to him younger certainly not more than nine- 
 teen. Again he was tempted to interfere in her behalf, 
 but again Saunders was before him. 
 
 " They got tired of a good many people in Paris," 
 the Englishman said slowly. " Ultimately, even of 
 Mere Guillotine. But supposing this country rose, 
 pulled down the Strafeburg and other interesting relics,
 
 66 GLORIA 
 
 and decapitated my excellent friend, the King; sup- 
 posing after much cutting of throats, burning of build- 
 ings, and shootings against the wall, a certain young 
 lady became Gloria the First of Grimland, do you im- 
 agine she would be happy? No in twelve months she 
 would be bored to death with court etiquette, with con- 
 flicting advice, and the servile flattery of interested 
 intriguers. Believe me, she is far happier enchanting 
 the audiences of Belgium and Germany than she would 
 be in velvet and ermine and a gold crown that fell off 
 every time she indulged in one of her irresponsible fits 
 of merriment." 
 
 " I might forget to laugh," said the Princess sadly. 
 " But no, I cannot, will not, take your advice ! Do 
 you not suppose that nature intended me to fill a loftier 
 position than even the high firmament of the CafS 
 Chantant? No, a thousand times no, Herr Saunders 
 I am a Schattenberg and I mean to fight ! " 
 
 The American could not restrain himself an instant 
 longer, 
 
 " Bravo ! " burst out Trafford enthusiastically. 
 " There's a ring in that statement that warms my heart 
 tremendously ! " 
 
 A swift frown clouded Saunders' brow. It was plain 
 to see that the Englishman was much annoyed at the 
 American's outspoken approval of the Princess's pur- 
 pose; but she broke into the laughter of a mischief- 
 loving child. 
 
 " And you are not you a friend of King Karl ? " 
 she inquired of Trafford, while a new light shone in her 
 eyes.
 
 LI 
 
 "The lady wants to be seen home and I'm going 
 to do it if I swing for it!"
 
 "WEIN, WEIB, UND GESANG " 6T 
 
 The American gave a furious twist to his moustache 
 before answering. 
 
 "Mrs. Saunders, I believe, has recommended me as 
 
 'his Commander-in-Chief," he said with mock gravity, 
 
 " but the appointment has not yet been confirmed. 'Till 
 
 then my services are at the disposal of the highest 
 
 bidder." 
 
 " My American friend's services are of problematic 
 value," put in Saunders, recovering his temper. " He 
 is an excellent skater, but a questionable general. He 
 has had an exciting day and a superb dinner. With 
 your permission I will take him back to his bed at the 
 Hotel Concordia." 
 
 The Princess had not taken her eyes off of the 
 American since he had last spoken. 
 
 " He has energy," she mused, looking into space 
 now, " also the capacity for inspiring enthusiasm, and 
 I am not at all sure that he has not the instinct of a 
 born tactician." 
 
 " But I am," Saunders broke in bluntly. " Princess, 
 we have the honour of wishing you good-night ! " 
 
 The Princess laid a delicate hand on the English- 
 man's arm. 
 
 " Herr Saunders," she said, " I will ask you to see 
 me home." 
 
 Saunders shook his head. 
 
 " You must excuse me," he said. " To-night, I am 
 neutral, but neutral only. I am the King's guest and 
 must not aid the King's enemies." 
 
 " Good loyal man ! " exclaimed the Princess. " Plus 
 royalist que le roil " And then turning to the Ameri-
 
 68 GLORIA 
 
 can: "And Herr Trafford? He will not refuse to 
 perform a small act of courtesy ? " 
 
 " Trafford accompanies me ! " declared Saunders 
 firmly. 
 
 " I'm hanged if he does ! " spoke up Trafford. " The 
 lady wants to be seen home and I'm going to do it if 
 I swing for it ! " 
 
 The Princess transferred her hand to Trafford's arm. 
 
 " Thank you," she said with a bewilderingly grateful 
 look up into his face. 
 
 " Nervy, you're a fool a bigger fool than ever I 
 believed you to be ! " exploded Saunders. 
 
 Trafford's only answer was a most complacent grin. 
 
 " Good-night, Herr Saunders ! " said the Princess 
 in the sweetest of accents. " Remember me kindly to 
 your wife and other Royalists. We may meet again 
 or not my impression is that we shall. ... If 
 so, remember that laughter is not always a symptom 
 of child's play." 
 
 " Good-night, Princess ! " returned Saunders with 
 an exaggerated low bow. " Forgive me, won't you, if 
 I take the threatened revolution lightly? The pos- 
 sibility of your sitting on the throne of Grimland," he 
 went on with another obeisance, " opens up such de- 
 lightful prospect that I shall fight against it with only 
 half a heart. Still, I shall fight against it. Good- 
 night, Prin Your Majesty ! "
 
 CONFIDENCES IN A WINE SHOP 
 
 NERVY TRAFFORD comfortably covered by a warm 
 rug, seated in an open sleigh next to a young lady of 
 exalted birth, romantic temperament, and unimpeach- 
 able comeliness was almost a happy man. It was 
 not that he had fallen in love at first sight, that he had 
 found swift consolation for his recent disappointment in 
 a rapidly-engendered passion for the fascinating claim- 
 ant to the throne of Grimland, that he was capable of 
 offering any woman the fine spiritual worship he had 
 accorded to the adorable Angela Knox ; but to his tem- 
 perament admiration came easily and he had dined 
 well. He had been the auditor of a wildly exciting song, 
 had made the acquaintance of the inimitable singer, 
 and because there was wine and music in his blood, and 
 much beauty by his side, the nightmare of his past de- 
 pression vanished into the biting air, and his pulses 
 stirred to a lilt of amazing exhilaration. 
 
 " By Jove ! " he exclaimed to himself, stealing a side 
 glance at his companion's bewitching profile, " Saunders 
 is right life is too valuable an asset to fling away in 
 a moment's madness. There is a beauty of the body 
 and a beauty of the soul, and if the two are perfectly 
 combined in only one woman in the universe, is that any 
 reason why I should not admire a tip-tilted nose or a
 
 70 GLORIA 
 
 curved mouth when Fate puts them within a hand's 
 breadth of my own scrubby cheek? " 
 
 " Do you know Weidenbruck, Herr Trafford? " the 
 Princess broke in on his silent philosophising. 
 
 " Little beyond the Hotel Concordia," he replied. 
 ** Where are we now ? " 
 
 "The Domkircheplatz. That is the Cathedral." 
 
 They were crossing a big open space, well lit, planted 
 with trees, and adorned in its centre by a big group 
 of statuary. To their right was a huge gothic build- 
 ing a high ridged intricate structure of red sandstone 
 with a tangle of fretted pinnacles and flying but- 
 tresses, and a couple of lofty towers that stood out 
 black against the starry heaven. 
 
 " A fine building ! " commented the American. 
 
 " That is where I am going to be crowned," said 
 the Princess, and she laughed a fine, free, silvery laugh 
 that thrilled her companion with admiration. 
 
 " That's the right spirit," he said gaily ; ** and 
 what's this depressing-looking place in front of 
 us?" 
 
 " That's where I shall probably be confined," was 
 the cheerful retort. 
 
 The building in question occupied the entire side of 
 the square, and was as gloomy as it was vast. It was 
 a plain rectangular structure totally devoid of orna- 
 ment, and constructed of enormous blocks of rough 
 hewn stone ; irregularly spaced windows broke its som- 
 bre front with narrow slits and iron gratings, and a 
 high-pitched roof of ruddy tiles crowned the grim 
 precipice of enduring masonry.
 
 CONFIDENCES IN A WINE SHOP 71 
 
 " That's the Strafeburg," concluded the Princess, 
 " the Bastile of Weidenbruck ! " 
 
 " I see myself rescuing you from that topmost win- 
 dow," ventured Trafford. 
 
 The Princess turned half round and looked at him 
 curiously. 
 
 " Thanks," she murmured, " but I shall keep out- 
 side as long as I can. As a foreigner you should visit 
 it as a sight-seer. It is a most depressing place, but 
 there is a very valuable collection of armour and a 
 collection of instruments of torture without its equal 
 in Europe." 
 
 " Is it still used as a prison ? " asked Trafford. 
 
 " They say not." There was a meaning behind her 
 qualified denial and Trafford demanded it. " Between 
 official statements and actual facts there is apt to be a 
 serious discrepancy in this unfortunate land," she re- 
 plied. " Officially, no one resides in the Strafeburg 
 but the caretaker and his daughter. As a matter of 
 fact, I am told that several political prisoners are still 
 rotting in its dungeons." 
 
 Trafford shuddered. He was a very humane man, 
 despite his explosive temperament. His companion 
 noted keenly the effect of her words, and went on: 
 
 " Officially, also, the instruments of torture went out 
 of use one hundred and fifty years ago." 
 
 " You mean " 
 
 " I mean," she continued, " that our dear humane 
 monarch does not stick at trifles when his interests are 
 threatened." 
 
 Trafford opened his eyes wide, and regarded his
 
 72 GLORIA 
 
 companion with amazement. In his curious, excitable 
 brain was a largely developed loathing of cruelty. 
 Hard knocks he was prepared to give or receive in the 
 world's battle, big risks to life and limb he was pre- 
 pared to incur or inflict with heedless impartiality, but 
 deliberate cruelty, the malicious and intentional in- 
 fliction of pain on man or brute, always roused him 
 to a frenzy of wrath. The Princess read his look and 
 silence. 
 
 " The Archbishop of Weidenbruclc, a political op- 
 ponent of King Karl's, is said to have met a peculiarly 
 terrible end," she said meaningly. 
 
 " Impossible ! " muttered Traff ord. 
 
 " Impossible things happen in Grimland. It is im- 
 possible, of course, that you should side against your 
 friend, Herr Saunders, and your prospective friend, 
 King Karl " and she touched his hand with an un- 
 conscious impulsive movement, " and help me in my 
 legitimate ambitions." 
 
 Her words were in the nature of a suggestion, almost 
 a question. 
 
 Trafford. answered them between his teeth. 
 
 " That is the sort of impossibility that comes off," 
 he muttered. 
 
 " You mean it? " demanded his fair companion, and 
 her eyes were pleading as they had pleaded with Cap- 
 tain von H'iigelweiler in the Thiergarten. 
 
 Trafford drank deep of their glance, and it intoxi- 
 cated him. 
 
 " When I see these picturesque buildings," he re- 
 turned, " with their garlands of snow and cornices of
 
 CONFIDENCES IN A WINE SHOP 73 
 
 icicles, I feel I am in fairyland. And in fairyland, you 1 
 know, the poor beast is changed into a handsome young 
 man and marries the beautiful Princess." He was not 
 insensible of his boldness, and carried it off with a 
 laugh. " I feel the transmogrifying effects of this 
 fairy kingdom already." 
 
 " And you are beginning to feel a handsome young 
 man ? " asked the Princess gaily. 
 
 " I have felt it this past quarter of an hour, Prin- 
 cess," he answered, twirling at his frozen moustache. 
 " Already wild hopes are stirring in my bosom." 
 
 "You are not going to propose, are you?" she 
 asked calmly, but with a most delicious quiver of the 
 lips. 
 
 Trafford looked at his fair interrogator steadily 
 a few seconds before replying. If ever encouragement 
 was legible in bright eyes and challenging smile, it was 
 writ clear in the facile features of the Princess von 
 Schattenberg. Again he drank deep of beauty and 
 his brain reeled among the stars. 
 
 " Not exactly a proposal, but I'll make you a prop- 
 osition," he said in a voice typically American in its* 
 business-like tone. 
 
 They had entered a narrow side street, and the driver 
 was pulling up his horse before a disreputable-looking; 
 wine shop. Dismissing the sleigh the Princess led the 
 way into the building through a low, malodorous 
 room where a number of men were swilling beeiy 
 smoking, and playing dominoes and penetrated to an 
 inner chamber. 
 
 "And is this your home?" inquired Trafford.
 
 74 GLORIA 
 
 " One of them," was the reply. " An outlaw must 
 sleep where she can it's wise to vary one's abode." 
 
 An old man in shirt-sleeves and apron entered the 
 room and demanded their pleasure. 
 
 " We want nothing except solitude," said the Prin- 
 cess. " May we have that, Herr Krantz ? " 
 
 " Most certainly, your High , gracious lady. 
 
 You will not be interrupted unless " 
 
 " Thanks, good Herr Krantz, I understand." 
 
 The old landlord inclined his bald head and quitted 
 the shabby apartment. The Princess motioned to her 
 companion to be seated, pointing to a chair at a small 
 table, then taking a seat opposite him, she rested her 
 pretty head on her hands, her elbows resting on the 
 table, and surprised him by suddenly popping out: 
 
 " And now about that proposition of yours -" 
 
 Trafford's countenance indicated that he thought 
 that the bantering note in her voice and words was dis- 
 tinctly out-of-place, but notwithstanding he drew his 
 chair closer and began: 
 
 " Princess, we have not known each other long ' 
 
 " We have not known each other at all," she quickly 
 interrupted. 
 
 " Pardon me," corrected Traff ord, with a fierce 
 energy that always possessed him at a crisis. " You 
 diagnosed me admirably in your dressing-room at the 
 Eden Theatre. With equal perspicacity I have 
 diagnosed you on our frosty drive hither. Shall I 
 tell it? yes? Well, then, a nature ardent but pure, 
 fierce without being cruel, simple without being foolish. 
 I see youth, birth and beauty blended into one ex-
 
 75 
 
 hilarating whole and I bow down and worship. To 
 a heart like yours, nothing is impossible not even the 
 capacity of falling in love with an adventurous Ameri- 
 can. I do not make you a proposal of marriage, but 
 a matrimonial proposition." He paused to note the 
 effect of his words before concluding with : " Now 
 then, if by my efforts I can secure for you the throne 
 of Grimland, will you reward me with your heart and 
 hand?" 
 
 The Princess drew in a long breath, half-astonish- 
 ment, half-admiration. 
 
 " That is one of the impossibilities that does not 
 come off even in Grimland," she told him at last. 
 
 " Listen," Trafford went on impetuously, " I shall 
 only ask for my reward in the event of your being 
 crowned in the Cathedral of Weidenbruck, and in the 
 event of your acknowledging of your own free will 
 that I have been mainly instrumental in winning you 
 your sovereignty." 
 
 The Princess bit her lips and nodded silently, as if 
 weighing his words. Something, however, impelled her 
 to make the obvious objection. 
 
 " In the event of my being crowned Queen of Grim- 
 land," she reminded him, " I shall not be permitted to 
 marry whom I will. If I married you without the 
 consent of my counsellors and Parliament the mar- 
 riage would be, ipso facto, null and void." 
 
 " All I ask is your promise to go through the cere- 
 mony with the necessary legal and religious forms." 
 
 The Princess remained a moment in silent thought. 
 Then she broke out into her merriest laugh.
 
 76 GLORIA 
 
 " We are building castles in the air," she hastened 
 to say. " Yes, I promise on those conditions. But 
 you perceive the badness of the bargain you are mak- 
 ing? A marriage that will be no marriage a con- 
 tract that will not be worth the paper it is written 
 on?" 
 
 " I will chance its validity." 
 
 " In that event and on those conditions you shall 
 have my hand." 
 
 The Princess stretched forth her right hand. 
 
 Trafford took it and pressed his lips to it. 
 
 '* And heart ? " he demanded. 
 
 As in the Thiergarten with Von Hiigelweiler, the 
 Princess Gloria hesitated momentarily, but long 
 enough for the framing of a lie. But this time some- 
 thing strangled the conceived falsehood before it passed 
 her lips. 
 
 " Alas ! " she faltered. " Nature forgot to give me a 
 heart." The words were seriously enough spoken, but 
 somehow they did not ring true to him. 
 
 " You are incapable of love ? " he asked. 
 
 The Princess flushed deeply as slowly she scanned 
 the man who faced her. It was patent that a battle 
 was raging in her heaving bosom. For a full half- 
 minute silence reigned, a silence broken only by faint 
 murmurs and the clink of beer glasses from the outer 
 room. And all the time Trafford's face preserved an 
 expressionless immobility, his eyes a gleam of stern 
 directness. The Princess heaved a deep sigh. The 
 battle was over; something was lost, something was 
 won.
 
 CONFIDENCES IN A WINE SHOP 77 
 
 " Herr Trafford," she began in a mechanical voice, 
 " I want to tell you the history of my maiden fancies. 
 At the age of seventeen when staying at Weissheim, 
 at my father's schloss, the Marienkastel I fell in love 
 with a young officer in the Guides. He was handsome, 
 aristocratic, a gallant man with a refined nature and 
 a superb athlete as well. He loved me dearly was 
 more to me than my father, mother or anyone or any- 
 thing in the kingdom of Grimland. But my infatua- 
 tion was divined, and we were separated. I wept, 
 I stormed, I vowed nothing would ever comfort me. 
 Nevertheless, in six months I was a happy, laughing 
 girl again with an intense love of life, and only an 
 occasional stab of regret for a heart I had sworn to call 
 my own." 
 
 Trafford's face showed his sympathy, but he did 
 not speak. 
 
 " Then came the winter of 1904," the Princess went 
 on with the same unemotional tone. " In our unsuc- 
 cessful rebellion of that fatal winter an Englishman 
 performed prodigies of valor. It was mainly owing 
 to his foresight and daring that King Karl saved his 
 throne and my father and brother met death instead 
 of the crown that was within their grasp. Later, it is 
 true, this same Englishman saved my life and pro- 
 cured my escape from Grimland. But, even so, would 
 any girl not dowered by Providence with a fickle dis- 
 position permit any feeling to dwell in her heart other 
 than hate and horror for such a man? And yet, I was 
 on the point of experiencing something more than ad- 
 miration for this fearless Englishman, a second con-
 
 78 GLORIA 
 
 quest of my heart was imminent " she paused to 
 scrutinise the face of the man at her side, watching 
 keenly for some signs of disapproval " when it was 
 nipped in the bud, strangled in its infancy, if ever 
 there, by his choosing a mate elsewhere. So, once 
 again I was fancy free. What then is love my love ? " 
 she exclaimed wistfully. " A gust that blusters and 
 dies down, a swift passing thunder-storm, a mocking 
 dream," her voice quavered and sank, " a false 
 vision of a sun that never rose on plain or on moun- 
 tain." 
 
 Trafford met the sadness of her gaze with eyes that 
 twinkled with a strange kindliness. The story of her 
 life had moved him strongly. At the beginning of their 
 interview he had felt like a seafarer listening to the 
 voice of the siren. He had been bartering his strength 
 and manhood for the silken joys of a woman's allure- 
 ments. His native shrewdness had told him that he 
 was being enticed less for himself than the usufruct 
 of his brain and muscles; but the bait was so sweet 
 that his exalted senses had deemed it more than worthy 
 of the price he paid. Had the Princess Gloria avowed 
 a deep and spontaneous passion for him, he would not 
 have believed her; but he would have been content, 
 and well content, with the agreeable lie. But she had 
 been honest with him, honest to the detriment of her 
 own interest. 
 
 "You don't dislike me, do you? " he blurted out, at 
 length. 
 
 " On the contrary," she responded frankly, " I like 
 you well, Herr Trafford."
 
 CONFIDENCES IN A WINE SHOP 79 s 
 
 " It would be sad otherwise," he sighed, " for I like 
 you exceedingly well." 
 
 And at that she put her hand bravely on his shoulder 
 and smiled at him. 
 
 " Never mind, comrade," she told him, " your heart 
 is big enough and warm enough for two." 
 
 " My heart ! " he exclaimed in a most lugubrious 
 way, " my heart is several degrees colder than the ice 
 on the Rundsee ; " and added with terrible lack of tact : 
 "whatever of warmth and fire it possessed was extin- 
 guished last Christmas Eve." 
 
 The Princess removed her hand from his shoulder 
 in a manner that should have left no doubt in his mind 
 of the thought behind it. 
 
 " Princess," he went blindly on, " you have told 
 me your story, let me tell you mine it is brevity 
 itself." 
 
 The Princess inclined her head. 
 
 " I fell in love with a young lady named Angela 
 Khox an American;'* and his tone was fully as 
 responsible as his words for bringing his companion's 
 eyes back to his with something of the scorn his clumsy 
 love-making deserved ; " the young lady, Angela 
 Knox, refused me. I tried to blow my brains out, but 
 Fate and Saunders willed otherwise. The latter ad- 
 vised Grimland as a hygienic antidote to felo de se. 
 " Behold, then," he concluded with a sigh, " an able- 
 bodied man with an icicle in his breast ! " 
 
 Trafford spread out his hands in an explanatory 
 gesture, and then for the first time he noted the height- 
 ened colour in the Princess's cheek, that her eyes were
 
 r80 GLORO 
 
 aflame, and that an explosion of some kind was 
 imminent. 
 
 " And you had the impudence to make love to me ! " 
 she cried in that wonderful voice that had captivated 
 audiences with every intonation, from the angry tones 
 of a jealous grisette to the caressing notes of the 
 ingenue. " To amuse yourself by feigning a pure 
 
 devotion " But the Princess's words failed her, 
 
 and the hand of a Schattenberg was raised so threat- 
 eningly, at any rate, so it seemed to Trafford 
 that in surprise and consternation he rose from his 
 chair, and as he did so, his head came in contact with 
 the electric light, which hung low from the dingy ceil- 
 ing. Simultaneously the white fire in the glass bulb 
 was extinguished to a thin, dull red line, and in two 
 seconds they were in total darkness.
 
 CHAPTER EIGHT 
 
 THE BARGAIN 
 
 FOR several seconds Trafford stood silent in the dark- 
 ness, thinking furiously. What was the correct thing 
 to say or do in such an unusual, almost painful, situa- 
 tion, he had not the faintest idea. But before speech 
 suggested itself to his puzzled brain, his companion 
 not wholly successful in smothering the merriment that 
 had instantly replaced her affectation of anger had 
 checked him with a warning " hush ! " 
 
 Noiselessly the Princess tiptoed to the glazed parti- 
 tion that separated the inner chamber from the wine- 
 shop, and drawing back a curtain gazed cautiously 
 through the chink. 
 
 A couple of men as indigent in appearance as the 
 rest of the throng had entered the shop and were 
 talking to the landlord. The latter was all civility 
 and smiles, but his customers were regarding the new- 
 comers with glances of deep suspicion and resentment. 
 
 After gazing a few seconds, the Princess returned to 
 Trafford, and taking him by the hand led him rapidly 
 through another door into a street at the back. 
 
 " Krantz extinguished the light," she whispered. 
 " It was not your head, stupid, that did it ! It was 
 the danger-signal agreed upon between us there are 
 a couple of police agents in the shop." 
 
 The touch of melodrama delighted Trafford, and 
 
 81
 
 82 GLORIA 
 
 the presence of danger destroyed much of his em- 
 barrassment. They were in a narrow lane, lighted at 
 rare intervals, and half choked with snow. A bitter 
 wind blew cheerlessly between lofty houses, but the 
 stars burned clearly in the deep violet of the heavens. 
 
 " Where now ? " he asked briefly. 
 
 " Home," answered the Princess curtly. " I'm going 
 home good-night ! " 
 
 Trafford stood irresolute. A hand was offered him 
 in farewell. It might be tactless to enforce his society 
 any longer, but there were reasons the hour and the 
 gloom of the street if nothing else why he could not 
 leave her alone. 
 
 " I promised to see you home," he protested stub- 
 bornly. " I keep my promises." 
 
 " You are foolish," she returned, accepting the sit- 
 uation and walking briskly down the street. " This 
 quarter of Weidenbruck is anything but a safe one, 
 despite its present tranquillity. There are queer folk 
 dwelling in these gabled old houses men who live by 
 the knife and the garote! You would be wise to re- 
 seek the civilisation of the Hotel Concordia." 
 
 " Is it necessary to insult me ? " bristling. 
 
 " Ah, but you found it necessary to insult me ! " she 
 retorted. 
 
 61 In what way ? " staring at her in astonishment. 
 
 " By making love such love ! You nearly blow 
 your brains out for a silly American girl, and then have 
 the impertinence to ask me me, the Princess Gloria 
 von Schattenberg to marry you, informing me 
 casually that your heart is dead and cold."
 
 THE BARGAIN 83 
 
 " But your heart is dead and cold, too," he argued 
 fatuously. " And you were not willing to accept me. 
 It seems that we are in the same boat. We offered 
 too little, and we asked too much." 
 
 The Princess was momentarily silenced by his logic ; 
 womanlike, however, she refused to let things end in a 
 logical conclusion. 
 
 " I am terribly angry with you," she persisted, nev- 
 . ertheless, with what Trafford could have sworn was a 
 veritable wink. 
 
 " So I was led to suppose," he replied, rubbing his 
 head. 
 
 His words and their accompanying action, tickled 
 the Princess's risibilities, always lying just beneath the 
 surface. She bit her lips in a desperate effort to con- 
 trol, but in a moment her fine, fearless laugh rang out 
 merrily in the deserted street. Trafford gazed in 
 amazement at his volatile companion, and then he 
 laughed, too. 
 
 " Don't imagine that I am not angry because I'm 
 laughing," declared the Princess. " I have unfor- 
 tunately, perhaps a painfully acute sense of hu- 
 mour. I very often laugh when I am feeling most 
 deeply." 
 
 But Trafford having commenced to laugh, gave 
 way to roars of laughter. He had been accorded such 
 varied treatment, such swiftly-changing moods, that 
 he was quite uncertain as to what the next moment 
 would bring forth ; and the atmosphere of political 
 intrigue and romantic adventure with its picturesque 
 setting of ancient houses and deep snow lifted him
 
 84 GLORIA' 
 
 Into such regions of pure unreality that he laughed 
 for very joy at the exhilarating absurdity of it all. 
 
 " Great Scott ! To think I have lived eight-and- 
 twenty years without discovering Grimland ! " he ex- 
 claimed when able to catch his breath. " Princess, 
 you must indeed forgive me. ... It seems, be- 
 sides dead hearts, we have in common a most lively 
 sense of the ridiculous." 
 
 " I'll forgive you when you have seen me home," she 
 replied. " But I absolutely repudiate the bargain we 
 made at Herr Krantz's wine shop. We may have 
 much in common . . . but surely you don't sup- 
 pose that I would marry a man with a dead heart? " 
 
 " As to the bargain, I surmised as much when you 
 
 raised your hand to " he broke off suddenly, and 
 
 then added : " I suppose the deal is off, then ? Well, 
 perhaps it's just as well for both of us. May I ask 
 where your home is ? " 
 
 " My home my home for to-night is there," said 
 the Princess, pointing across the street to an entrance, 
 which bore the number forty-two. 
 
 Trafford looked up at a venerable structure, which 
 raised its steep gable somewhat higher than its 
 neighbours. 
 
 Light shone from a window on the second story. 
 Otherwise the fa9ade showed a blank front of closed 
 shutters. Just as they were crossing the snow- 
 encumbered road, a couple of men halted before the 
 door in question, and one of them knocked loudly. 
 The Princess and Trafford stopped automatically. 
 Both scented danger, one from experience, the other
 
 THE BARGAIN 85 
 
 from instinct. A friendly archway afforded complete 
 concealment, and there, sheltered alike from gaze and 
 the bitter wind, they awaited developments. 
 
 Trafford felt his arm gripped tight by a little hand, 
 either from excitement or from a desire for protection. 
 
 " Those are Meyer's men," whispered the Princess. 
 
 Trafford nodded in reply. He was humming the 
 Rothlied softly between his teeth. They watched 
 for a silent moment, and then a woman answered the 
 door. After a moment's palaver, the men went in. 
 Simultaneously two more men glided into view from 
 some invisible hiding-place, and took up their posi- 
 tions one on each side of the doorway. 
 
 " Are you armed ? " asked the Princess in a whisper. 
 
 Trafford's eyes were like stars for brightness. 
 
 " I have my fists," he answered. 
 
 The Princess produced a tiny revolver from a satin 
 handbag, which she pressed on her companion. 
 
 Trafford declined it curtly. 
 
 " I have my fists," he repeated. 
 
 The Princess regarded him with astonishment and 
 a recrudescence of anger. 
 
 " They are trying to take my friend," she ex- 
 postulated in low tones. " They will probably murder 
 him. It is essential to my success that he escapes 
 their clutches." 
 
 " He'll escape all right," said Trafford, with the 
 unreasoning confidence of the born optimist; but the 
 Princess stamped with annoyance at his folly. 
 
 Suddenly sounds of a struggle were heard from the 
 direction of the lighted window on the second floor
 
 86 GLORIA 
 
 sounds of shifting feet and reeling furniture, but no 
 cry of human throat or crack of firearm. 
 
 " I must investigate this," said Tr afford, but before 
 he could take action there was a great crash of riven 
 glass, and a dark form fell rolling and clutching from 
 the shattered window into the street. The fall was 
 considerable, but the snow broke its force, and the 
 man stirred where he lay. 
 
 " Is it he? " asked the Princess breathlessly. " No, 
 thank God ! " she answered herself as the man raised 
 a bearded face from the snow, and groaned in agony. 
 
 " Look out ! " said TrafFord, for there were sounds 
 of men descending a staircase at breakneck speed, and 
 as he spoke a dark form issued from the doorway. 
 As it did so, one of the two men who were waiting 
 without, threw a cloak over the head and arms of the 
 emerging man. Simultaneously the other raised a 
 weapon and struck. A half-second later and another 
 man issued from the house, and leaped like a wild 
 beast on the back of the enmeshed and stricken man. 
 
 This was too much for Trafford's tingling nerves. 
 Leaving the Princess where she stood in the archway, 
 he darted across the road with the speed of a football 
 end going down the field under a punt to tackle the 
 opposing fullback. His passage was rendered noise- 
 less by the soft carpet of thick snow, and he arrived 
 unseen and unheard at the scene of the melee. The 
 man with the dagger was just about to strike again. 
 He had been making desperate efforts to do so for 
 several moments, but his would-be victim was struggling 
 like a trapped tiger, and the heaving, writhing mass
 
 THE BARGAIN 87 
 
 of humanity, wherein aggressors and quarry were in- 
 extricably entangled, offered no safe mark for the 
 assassin's steel. However, just as his point was raised 
 aloft with desperate intent, Trafford anticipated his 
 action with a swinging blow on the side of the head. 
 The man fell, dazed and stunned, against the wall. 
 Trafford, with his fighting lust now thoroughly in- 
 flamed, turned his instant attention to the other ag- 
 gressors. Now, however, he had no unprepared vic- 
 tim for his vigorous arm. A vile-looking ruffian, with 
 low brow and matted hair, had extricated himself from 
 the involved struggle, and was feeling for a broad 
 knife that lay ready to hand in his leather belt. 
 
 With the swift acumen born of pressing danger, 
 Trafford stooped down, and picking up a lump of 
 frozen snow, dashed it in his enemy's face. A shrewd 
 blow in the midriff followed this tactical success, and 
 further punishment would have befallen the unhappy 
 man had not his original victim, freed from two of 
 his three aggressors, gained his feet, and in his effort 
 to escape, cannoned so violently and unexpectedly into 
 Trafford, that the enterprising American lost his bal- 
 ance and fell precipitately into the soft snow. When 
 he regained his feet he saw a tall form flying rapidly 
 down the street, with two assailants in hot pursuit. 
 
 " You've begun well ! " said a soft voice in his ear. 
 Trafford turned and faced the Princess. 
 
 " Begun well? " he repeated, brushing the snow from 
 his person. 
 
 " A good beginning for your work of winning me 
 a throne."
 
 88 GLORIA 
 
 " I don't understand." 
 
 " Our bargain is on again," she declared, with sup- 
 pressed enthusiasm, " unless you wish it otherwise? " 
 
 He looked into her fearless eyes, which fell at length 
 before his own. 
 
 " We will let it stand," he agreed curtly. " But 
 what of your friend? " he went on, " will he get 
 away ? " 
 
 " If he wishes," answered the Princess easily. " It 
 would take more than two men to capture Father Bern- 
 hardt. I have no further anxiety on his account, but 
 what about me poor me? " 
 
 " About you? " he repeated, without understanding. 
 
 " Where am I to spend the night? " 
 
 Trafford passed his hand through his ruffled locks, 
 dislodging therefrom several pieces of frozen snow. 
 Then he looked at the man who had staggered under 
 his blow against the wall, and who was eyeing them 
 with a malignancy that bespoke rapid recuperation. 
 The man who had fallen into the street had risen to 
 his knees and was muttering something a curse or 
 a prayer and might speedily exchange speech for 
 action. The two pursuers of Father Bernhardt might 
 return, baffled of their prey and breathing threaten- 
 ings and slaughter, at any moment. 
 
 Trafford grasped the Princess's hand and dragged 
 her across the street. 
 
 " Herr Krantz's wine shop," he insisted. 
 
 " Is in the occupation of spies," retorted the Prin- 
 cess. 
 
 " Then what ? "
 
 THE BARGAIN 89 
 
 " The Hotel Concordia," proposed the Princess 
 calmly. 
 
 " The Hotel Concordia ! " he -echoed. 
 
 "Yes. Your sister has just arrived from England 
 and wants a small room at the top of the house. Her 
 luggage, naturally, has gone astray. You are a friend 
 of Herr Saunders, and consequently above suspicion, 
 Do not be alarmed, my friend, I shall leave early and 
 I will pay for my bed and breakfast." 
 
 Trafford tugged each moustache violently in turn. 
 
 " So be it," he said at length. " It is all part of 
 the bargain. Come, little new-found sister, let us find 
 a sleigh to drive us to the Hotel Concordia."
 
 CHAPTER NINE 
 
 THE KING'S BREAKFAST 
 
 TJKE most members of the kingly caste, Karl XXII. 
 was a big eater and an early riser. On the morning 
 following Trafford's adventures in the slums of Weid- 
 enbruck, the genial monarch was breakfasting on in- 
 numerable fried eggs and abundant grilled ham at 
 the early hour of seven. He was dressed in high, white 
 leggings, stout boots, and a dark brown woollen jersey ; 
 And the reason of his athletic attire was a suggested 
 ski-ing expedition in the neighbourhood of Nussheim, 
 a small village some ten miles distant from the capital. 
 His Majesty was breakfasting alone save for his faith- 
 ful major-domo, Herr Bomcke, an old gentleman of 
 great dignity and superb whiskers. Bomcke moved 
 noiselessly about the room, with one eye on his royal 
 master's needs, and the other on the doorway, which 
 was guarded by a young officer in a snow-white uniform 
 and glistening steel cuirass. The apartment itself was 
 the moderate-sized chamber where Karl was wont to 
 conduct his private affairs. In one corner stood a sat- 
 inwood bureau strewn thick with papers ; in another a 
 marble bust of his father on a malachite pedestal. Two 
 entire sides of the room were devoted to book-shelves, 
 which contained such diverse treasures as fifteenth-cen- 
 tury bestiaries, " Alice in Wonderland," " Moltke's 
 History of the Franco-Prussian War," and the Bad- 
 minton volume on " Winter Sports." The whole of 
 
 90
 
 THE KING'S BREAKFAST 91 
 
 the apartment had a mellow golden tinge, a soft at- 
 mosphere of affluent homeliness and regal respectability. 
 
 Just as his Majesty was consuming his fourth roll 
 and honey, there was a whispeiing in the doorway and 
 Saunders' name was announced in the mellifluous tones 
 of the major-domo. 
 
 " Good-morning," began the King. " You are ready 
 for our expedition, I perceive." 
 
 " My family motto is semper paratus always 
 ready," replied Saunders lightly. " But I understand 
 our train does not start for Nussheim till 8 A. M. I 
 came early because I wished to talk over a delicate sit- 
 uation with you." 
 
 " Talk away," said the King, attacking another roll, 
 and draining his coffee cup. 
 
 " The Princess Gloria is in Weidenbruck." 
 
 Karl nodded thoughtfully. 
 
 " And her address ? " he asked. 
 
 " I don't know. I did not want to know, so I re- 
 fused to see her home last night." 
 
 Again the King nodded. He understood his 
 friend's position perfectly. 
 
 " The Princess Gloria " he began, producing 
 
 an enormous meerschaum pipe, and proceeding to stuff 
 it with some dark tobacco. 
 
 " Is being very closely watched," said a voice from 
 the doorway. It was General Meyer, who had entered 
 unannounced, as was his privilege. 
 
 " And how about Father Bernhardt ? " grunted the 
 King, puffing at his pipe without looking up. " He 
 has been closely watched for some time."
 
 92 GLORIA 
 
 " It was about him that I came to speak," said the 
 General, walking into the middle of the room. 
 
 " You have taken him, of course," said the King. 
 " I told you to employ four men." 
 
 " I followed your Majesty's advice," said Meyer. 
 " I was wrong. I should have followed Herr Saunders'. 
 He advised, if I remember rightly, a battalion of 
 Guards and a squadron of Dragoons." 
 
 " Do you mean to say," demanded the King, with 
 some warmth, " that four armed men were incapable 
 of dealing with one priest ? " 
 
 " So it appears," returned Meyer calmly. " They 
 say there was some sort of a rescue. That, of course, 
 may be a lie to excuse their failure. Any way, one 
 of them is suffering from a broken thigh, the result of 
 a fall from a window. Another has a dislocated jaw. 
 Two others, who pursued our friend down the Sichel- 
 gasse were foolish enough to follow him along the 
 banks of the Niederkessel. Fortunately they could 
 both swim." 
 
 The King turned with a gesture of impatient weari- 
 ness to Saunders. 
 
 "What do you say? " he demanded. 
 
 "Yes, what do you say?" said Meyer, putting up 
 his eyeglass and fixing his glance on the Englishman. 
 
 Saunders shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Oh, I say, that there evidently must have been 
 some sort of a rescue." 
 
 " A most determined rescue," added Meyer. 
 
 " A most determined and reckless rescue," affirmed 
 Saunders, meeting Meyer's glance without flinching.
 
 THE KING'S BREAKFAST 93 
 
 " But your advice, Saunders," said the King. 
 
 " I gave it you yesterday, sire. Act ! Hitherto 
 we have schemed. We have been patting the mad dog 
 on the head, but as he still shows his teeth, shoot 
 him!" 
 
 "Who is the 'him'?" demanded Meyer. "The 
 sort of person who rescues rebels when they are being 
 arrested? " 
 
 " By mad dog," explained Saunders, " I meant the 
 snarling, discontented, dangerous element in Weiden- 
 bruck. We have had plenty of clever schemes for 
 pacification. What we want is a little stupid 
 brutality." 
 
 " Saunders is right," said the King. " In theory 
 I am a Democrat, a Socialist, a believer in the divinity 
 of the vox populi. In practice I am a believer in 
 platoon firing and lettres de cachet. There are only 
 two nations in Europe who are genuinely capable of 
 self-government, and Grimland is not one of them. We 
 have tried the velvet glove, and we must show that it 
 contains a hand of steel, and not a palsied member." 
 
 " So be it," said Meyer, with a slight inclination of 
 his head. " We will give the policy of open repression 
 a trial, a fair trial and a full trial, and may the God 
 of Jews and Gentiles teach the loyalists to shoot ' 
 straight." 
 
 Saunders scanned Meyer's face critically. There 
 was no colour in his sunken cheek, no fire in his heavy 
 eye. The man had no stomach for fighting, and his 
 complex nature abhorred straightforward measures. 
 Yet he had proved himself a faithful servant before.
 
 94 GLORIA 
 
 and though life meant more to him than to most 
 soldiers, he was not one to purchase personal safety by 
 the betrayal of his sovereign. 
 
 Again Herr Bomcke upraised his honeyed tones. 
 
 " Captain von Hiigelweiler," he announced. 
 
 The Captain bowed, and then stood at the salute. 
 
 "Good-morning, Captain," said his Majesty. "To 
 what am I indebted for this honour? " 
 
 " I wish to send in my papers, sire." 
 
 " You wish to resign ? What is it ? Money 
 troubles ? " 
 
 The Captain hesitated. 
 
 " I am thinking of getting married, sire," he an- 
 swered at length. 
 
 " Young and a bachelor," said the King, " of course 
 you are thinking of getting married. That is very 
 right and proper, but hardly a reason for sending in 
 your papers." 
 
 Again Von Hiigelweiler was at a loss for words, 
 and a tinge of colour mounted to his olive cheeks. 
 
 " I am tired of soldiering," he said, after a long 
 struggle for thought. 
 
 " Meyer," said the King, turning to his Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, " is not this man a Von Hiigelweiler? " 
 
 " Yes, your Majesty. A member of one of the oldest 
 and most distinguished families in your kingdom ? " 
 
 " The son of Heinrich Salvator von Hiigelweiler, 
 who fought in the trenches in '84? " persisted the 
 monarch. 
 
 Again the Commander-in-Chief replied in the 
 affirmative.
 
 THE KING'S BREAKFAST 95 
 
 " He is tired of my service, Meyer," went on the 
 King in a low voice. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's head sank onto his breast, as if 
 weighed down with shame. 
 
 "Your Majesty can be served in more ways than 
 one," he murmured. 
 
 " But in none so well as by the sword," returned the 
 King. " When an officer resigns his commission on 
 the eve of war we call him by an ugly name, Cap- 
 tain." 
 
 " But we are not on the eve of war, sire," expostu- 
 lated the poor Captain. 
 
 " Pardon me," said Karl, " I think otherwise." 
 
 " If there is fighting, sire, my sword is at your 
 service." 
 
 " There is fighting and fighting," mused the Kingv 
 " Fighting in the long-drawn firing-line with your 
 nearest comrade ten yards distant, and your nearest 
 foe a mile off ; and there is fighting in the narrow street 
 with your company shoulder to shoulder, and the 
 enemy at the end of your swordpoint. The former 
 needs courage, but the latter needs courage and a loyal 
 heart. Do I make myself clear, Captain von 
 Hiigelweiler? " 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler straightened himself. Life's prob- 
 lems seemed very puzzling just now. He had acted 
 from the best motives in tendering his resignation, for 
 if he decided to aid and abet the King's enemies, he 
 preferred not to do so in the King's uniform. But the 
 instincts of a soldier and certain splendid traditions 
 of his family warred hard with his desires.
 
 96 GLORIA 
 
 " I understand my resignation is not acceptable, 
 jour Majesty," he said at length. 
 
 " I neither refuse it nor accept it," said Karl. 
 " This morning I am going ski-ing to Nussheim. I 
 need protection these troublous times, and I am taking 
 my Commander-in-Chief with me. I am taking Herr 
 Saunders, who is a deadly revolver shot; I am also 
 taking Mrs. Saunders, who has nerves of steel and the 
 heart of an Amazon. Will you make assurance doubly 
 sure and form part of my body-guard to Nussheim? " 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's eyes flashed proudly at the 
 honour, and his hand went to the hilt of his sword. 
 
 " Your Majesty's safety shall be on my head," he 
 said.
 
 CHAPTER TEN 
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 
 
 WEIDENBRUCK lies in the wildest part of the valley of 
 the Niederkessel. On either side, at the distance of 
 several miles rise mountains of picturesque outline and 
 considerable eminence. Prominent among these stands 
 the Piz Schadel, a grim giant with a fatal fascination 
 for those who affect dangerous rock-climbing. It is on 
 the lower slopes of the Piz Schadel, snug among its 
 pinewoods, and facing southwards to the sun, that 
 the tiny village of Nussheim is situated. The little 
 train that plies between the capital and this sunny 
 hamlet was fairly crowded, despite the earliness of 
 the hour for ski-running is a favourite amusement 
 of Grimlanders, and the slopes of Nussheim offer an 
 ideal ground for the exercise of that exhilarating 
 pastime. The royal party had a carriage to them- 
 selves, and in due course they steamed through the 
 outskirts of Weidenbruck, across the flat, snow-covered 
 plains of the valley, and then mounted by means of a 
 cog-wheel and a centre rail, to the little yellow station 
 that was their objective. A party of tourists in blue 
 glasses and check ulsters Americans, to judge from 
 the accent and phraseology of their leader, a tall black- 
 bearded man with a Baedeker got out at Nussheim 
 and proceeded to the local hostelry. The King and his 
 companions repaired to a small chalet, where their skis 
 were awaiting them. Having shod themselves with 
 
 97
 
 98 GLORIA 
 
 their long footgear, they sallied forth on to the snow. 
 The sun was just rising above the opposite mountains, 
 and the scene was one of quite extraordinary beauty. 
 The air was still and crisp and invigorating, but so 
 dry on this elevated plateau that there was no sensa- 
 tion of cold, though the thermometer gave a far lower 
 reading than at Weidenbruck. The sky was purest 
 ultra-marine, and in the perfect air every detail of the 
 surrounding hills, forest, crag, and hamlet, stood out 
 with soft distinctness. And everywhere was snow and 
 the silence of the snows ; white fields of sparkling 
 purity swelling and falling in smooth stretches of shim- 
 mering argent. Above were dun precipices and dark 
 green woods of larch and fir, and above, again, fairy 
 snow-peaks, showing like dabs of Chinese white against 
 the cloudless glory of the sky. It was a day to live 
 and be thankful for life; a day for deep breath and 
 noble thoughts, a day to take one's troubles to Nature 
 and lose them in the splendid silence of her hills and the 
 vastness of her immaculate snows. 
 
 The royal party of five shuffled along on their wooden 
 footgear till they came to a long dip with a gentle rise 
 at the end of it. Karl was the first to essay the descent. 
 With knees slightly bent, one foot slightly in front 
 of the other, his burly body noticeably inclined for- 
 ward, he started on his downward course. For a second 
 or two he moved slowly. Then the pace increased till 
 he was travelling at a sharp speed ; then, as the momen- 
 tum grew, and the angle of the hillside sharpened, he 
 fairly flew through the air in the swift, smooth rush 
 that brings joy to the heart of the ski-runner. At the
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 99 
 
 bottom he got into some soft snow, and after a fruit- 
 less struggle with the laws of gravity, the royal 
 equipoise was overcome, and Karl lay prone and buried 
 in the gleaming crystals. A roar of delight burst 
 from his companions above, and a ski-shod foot was 
 waved answeringly in the air in plaintive rebuke at 
 their merriment. 
 
 Mrs. Saunders was the next to come down. With 
 perfect balance, relying not at all on her guiding 
 stick, she swept down the mountain-side like a 
 Valkyrie. With grey eyes shining with pleasure, 
 wisps of fair hair streaming from under her woollen 
 beret, she seemed the embodiment of graceful and 
 athletic young womanhood. Her course was taking 
 her direct on to the prostrate monarch, but at the 
 critical moment she swung round with a superb Tele- 
 mark turn, and halted to watch Karl's desperate efforts 
 to regain an upright position. 
 
 The others descended in turn with varying elegance 
 but without serious mishap, Von Hiigelweiler bringing 
 up the rear and nearly injuring his sovereign whom 
 he had sworn so solemnly to defend. Onward they 
 went again, shuffling along levels, gliding down de- 
 scents, mounting laboriously sideways, like crabs, when 
 it was necessary to reach higher ground. In the pleas- 
 urable absorption of their sport they wandered far, 
 ever gaining fresh joys of swift descent or harmless 
 fall, and winning fresh views of plain and wood and 
 mountain. 
 
 " There go the Americans," said the King to Mrs. 
 Saunders. " They have been travelling parallel to us."
 
 100 GLORIA 
 
 ,-% 
 
 The King's party had collected under a mutual de- 
 sire for rest, by a crop of boulders which broke through 
 the level surface of the snows. 
 
 " Parallel to us," agreed Meyer, mopping his humid 
 face, " but I notice that they always manoeuvre for the 
 upper ground." 
 
 The King frowned at the General's speech. He was 
 enjoying the morning's relaxation from his usual 
 worries, and Meyer's words, if they had any meaning 
 at all, suggested personal danger to himself and his 
 friends. 
 
 " They are excellent ski-runners," said Mrs. Saunders, 
 watching them as they moved rapidly to a point of the 
 hill above them. 
 
 But Meyer was whispering something in the King's 
 ear, and a vague sense of apprehension had taken the 
 party. 
 
 Karl nodded, as one convinced against his will, and 
 spoke briefly to the company. 
 
 " General Meyer suggests that those people may 
 not be quite so harmless as they seem," he said. " Per- 
 sonally, I think he is over-suspicious, but in order to 
 be on the safe side, I propose doubling back down the 
 hill, and if they turn, too, and follow us, we will assume 
 the worst." 
 
 The others received the statement in silence. 
 
 The gorgeous splendour of the day and the un- 
 matched loveliness of the scene seemed to mock the 
 timidity of the Commander-in-Chief's imaginings. But 
 all present were too familiar with Grimland politics to 
 question the prudence of the King's decision ; and with
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 101 
 
 scarce a backward glance they turned round and fol- 
 lowed General Meyer down the hillside. Presently they 
 reached a cliff of brown rock which broke the slope 
 of the mountain with a precipitous drop of some twenty 
 feet. Beneath this and parallel to it Meyer decided 
 to proceed, till the King called a halt for purposes of 
 reconnoitering. 
 
 Far below them lay the valley of the Niederkessel, 
 and plainly discernible were the tiny houses and toy 
 churches of the capital. But above them it was im- 
 possible to see anything except the golden-brown wall 
 of rock which they were following. 
 
 As swiftly as the operation permitted, Meyer slipped 
 off his skis, bidding Von Hiigelweiler do the same. 
 The Captain was then told to stand leaning against 
 the cliff, whereupon the Commander-in-Chief clambered 
 bravely on to his shoulders. Then with an agility 
 remarkable for his years, he drew himself up to the 
 ledge of rock from which it was possible to overlook 
 the top of the cliff. He gazed for a moment with 
 peering eyes, the others watching with silent interest. 
 Then he came down in a flash. " Skis on again, Cap- 
 tain," he said, kneeling down and inserting his foot 
 in the shoe of his own ski. " We must run for 
 it." 
 
 " Who are they ? " demanded the King. 
 
 " There are six of them, sire," answered the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, tugging viciously at a refractory 
 strap. " They are about five hundred yards up the 
 hillside, and the man in the beard is Father 
 Bernhardt ! "
 
 102 GLORIA 
 
 "Father Bernhardt in the beard!" ejaculated the 
 others. 
 
 " In a false beard," affirmed Meyer. " He has had 
 a fall, and one side has come unhooked. It's the ex- 
 priest, sure enough, and full of vengeance for his last 
 night's inconvenience. We'd better move at once." 
 
 Karl hesitated a moment. 
 
 " I don't like running away," he said, glancing at 
 Saunders and Von Hiigelweiler. 
 
 " I do," retorted Meyer, " when it's six to four in 
 their favour. Come sire, we shall never get a better 
 chance than this. They can't follow us direct, be- 
 cause of this cliff, and while they are making a detour 
 we will push on to some spot on the railway, and hold 
 up a train to take us back to Weidenbruck." 
 
 " The General's right," said Saunders, seeing the 
 King hesitate. " We have a lady with us." 
 
 " Who is not in the least afraid," added the lady 
 in question. 
 
 " That is precisely the trouble," said Saunders. 
 
 " Forward, sire ! " urged Meyer, making a move. 
 " I will lead the way, and you and Mrs. Saunders will 
 accompany me. Von Hiigelweiler and Herr Saunders 
 will bring up the rear." 
 
 "The post of honour!" commented the King. 
 
 " If you will," said Meyer with a shrug. " I go first 
 because I know the countryside. I am more useful so. 
 Saunders stays behind because he is the best shot." 
 
 " A gallant fellow, our Commander-in-Chief," 
 sneered Von Hiigelweiler to Saunders, as the three 
 others glided rapidly away down the snow-slope. The
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 103 
 
 crack of a rifle punctuated the Captain's remark. 
 Saunders waited to make sure that neither his wife nor 
 her escort was touched, and then produced a revolver. 
 
 " I am glad Meyer has gone on with them," he said. 
 " He is a clever old fox, and he knows every cliff and 
 cranny in the countryside." 
 
 Another shot rang out, but this too failed to take 
 effect, and in a twinkling the fugitives had disappeared 
 into the friendly shelter of a pine wood. 
 
 Saunders wore a pensive air, in marked contrast 
 to Von Hiigelweiler, who was betraying signs of strong 
 excitement. 
 
 " Of what are you thinking? " demanded the latter. 
 
 " I am thinking that if we follow the others we 
 shall most certainly be shot," replied Saunders. 
 
 *' That is true," agreed the Captain. " Our enemies 
 must be quite close now. It would be madness to 
 venture out into the open." 
 
 " Precisely," said Saunders* " IWe ale Heft here 
 as a rear-guard, and it is our duty to cheek the pur- 
 suit, not to be killed. Here we are under cover, and 
 here I propose to remain." 
 
 " The enemy will make a detour to avoid this cliff," 
 said Von Hiigelweiler, *' then will come our oppor- 
 tunity to move out." 
 
 Saunders shook his head. 
 
 " This cliff stretches half a mile at least, in either 
 direction," he said, " and there is broken ground be- 
 yond that. No, they won't make a detour, not if 
 they're the good ski-runners I take them for. To a 
 clever ski-laufer, a jump over a cliff like this is no
 
 104 GLORIA 
 
 very desperate affair, and it's their only chance of 
 nabbing Karl before he gets back to Weidenbruck." 
 
 " Then we wait here and fire at them from behind ? " 
 demanded the Captain excitedly, taking his orders from 
 the distinguished Englishman as a matter of course. 
 
 " We pot them as they come over like pheasants," 
 said Saunders. 
 
 There was a smile on his face, not at the prospect 
 of taking human life, still less at the chance of losing 
 his own; for Saunders was not one to welcome danger 
 for its own sake, though he could always meet it with 
 coolness and resource. He was thinking, just then, 
 of Trafford, and how willingly his excitable friend 
 would have changed places with them, how jealous and 
 annoyed he would be at learning that he, Saunders, 
 had again the luck to be in the thick of a desperate 
 affair. Von Hiigelweiler noted the smile with admira- 
 tion. Saunders was one who had a big hold on the 
 popular imagination of Grimland, and the Captain 
 was proud to be associated with him in an enterprise 
 of this sort. His divided loyalty to the King and 
 Princess was quite forgotten in the exigencies of the 
 situation. He had a plain duty to perform, and he 
 hoped to perform it creditably in the eyes of the cool, 
 smiling Englishman who had won such fame in the 
 stirring winter of 1904?. 
 
 Suddenly there was a slight scuffling sound in the 
 snow above, and a second later something dark came 
 over their heads like an enormous bird. It was one 
 of their pursuers, a braced, rigid figure travelling 
 through the air with the grace and poise of a skilled
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 105 
 
 ski- jumper. Saunders raised a steady hand and fired. 
 Simultaneously the human projectile collapsed into a 
 limp and shapeless mass and fell with a dead plump 
 into a cloud of snow. A second later and another ski- 
 jumper had darkened the heavens above them. He 
 had heard the crack and seen his comrade fall, but it 
 was too late to stop his progress. He turned a 
 swarthy face with black eyes full of terror, and again 
 Saunders' revolver spoke, and with a dull groan the 
 man fell spread-eagled in the snow within a yard of his 
 companion. 
 
 ** Bravo ! Englander," muttered Von Hiigelweiler, 
 his eyes bright with excitement, his fingers nervously 
 clutching the butt of his own weapon. 
 
 But Saunders' eyes were cast upwards at the jagged 
 edge of the cliff above their heads. After a wait of 
 some moments the face of a man peered over the sky- 
 line. Instantaneously Saunders covered it with his 
 revolver. But the face remained, and a voice the 
 yoice of Father Bernhardt spoke. 
 
 " Don't fire, Herr Saunders ! " 
 
 Saunders remained fixed and tranquil as a statue. 
 
 " You have killed two of my men, Englishman," went 
 on the ex-priest. 
 
 " I think not," returned Saunders calmly. " The 
 second man was only wounded in the thigh." 
 
 " I should be justified in taking your life for this," 
 continued Father Bernhardt. 
 
 " Perfectly," agreed Saunders with composure, " but 
 you will find the proceeding difficult and rather 
 dangerous."
 
 106 GLORIA 
 
 A low laugh followed Saunders' words. 
 
 " That's the sjnrit I admire !" cried the outlaw. 
 " There's a dash of the devil about that and the 
 devil, you know, is a particular friend of mine." 
 
 " So I have been led to understand," said Saunders 
 drily. 
 
 Again the outlaw laughed. 
 
 " Come," he said, " will you make a truce with us ? 
 We could probably kill you and your friend there, 
 but we should lose a man or two in the killing. Make 
 truce, and we give you a free return to Weidenbruck, 
 or wherever you choose to go. Your friend Karl has 
 got away safely now, thanks to your infernal coolness, 
 so you can make peace with honour." 
 
 Saunders shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " If my friend, Captain von Hiigelweiler, agrees," 
 he said, " I consent. Only there must be no further 
 pursuit of us or the royal party." 
 
 " I give my word," said Bernhardt. 
 
 " Can we trust it ? " whispered Von Hiigelweiler. 
 But the ex-priest overheard, and for answer clambered 
 down the cliff beside them. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler was no coward, but something 
 made him give ground before the strange individual 
 who confronted him. A man of medium height and 
 compact build, there was a suggestion of great mus- 
 cularity about the outlaw's person. But it was the 
 face rather than the body which compelled attention. 
 The clean-carved, aquiline features, the black, bushy 
 eyebrows, the piercing eyes, and the strange, restless
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 107 
 
 light that played in them, made up a personality that 
 set the turbulent rebel as a man apart from his fellows. 
 
 " Now, then," he said, thrusting his face into Von 
 Hiigelweiler's, " shoot me, and earn the eternal grati- 
 tude of your sovereign." 
 
 Again the Captain gave ground, though his timidity 
 shamed and irritated him. 
 
 " I am not a murderer," he said, flushing. " You 
 come to parley, I imagine." 
 
 " I come to shake Saunders by the hand," said the 
 outlaw, turning and stretching out a sudden hand to 
 the Englishman. " He is a man, a stubborn fellow, 
 with a brain of ice and nerves of tested steel. I would 
 sooner have him on my side than a pack of artillery 
 and the whole brigade of Guards." 
 
 " You flatter me," said Saunders, taking the prof- 
 fered hand. " I am a man of peace." 
 
 '* How lovely are the feet of them that bring us 
 good tidings of peace," said the outlaw with a scornful 
 laugh. " Behold Satin also can quote the Scriptures ! 
 When I sold my soul three years ago to the Father 
 of Lies I drove a fine bargain. I took a Queen to wife 
 such a Queen, such a wife! And my good friends 
 Ahriman, the Prince of Darkness, and Archmedai, the 
 Demon of Lust, have given me strength and health 
 and cunning beyond my fellows, so that no man can 
 bind me or prevail against me. They never leave me 
 long, these good fiends. It was one of them who 
 warned me not to lead the pursuit of Karl over this bit 
 of cliff."
 
 108 GLORIA 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler shuddered, but Saunders looked the 
 outlaw steadily in the face. 
 
 " Your nerves are out of gear, Bernhardt," he said. 
 " Did you ever try bromide ? " 
 
 "I've tried asceticism and I've tried debauchery," 
 was the leering answer, " and they both vouchsafe 
 visions of the evil one. When I was a priest I lived as 
 a priest : I scourged myself and fasted ; but the Prince 
 of Power of the Air was never far from me. And now 
 that I am of the world, worldly, a sinner of strange 
 sins, a blasphemer, and a wine-bibber, Diabolus and his 
 satellites are in even more constant attendance on me. 
 Perhaps I am mad, or perhaps they are there for such 
 as me to see." 
 
 " I'd chance the former alternative and see a brain 
 specialist," suggested Saunders. " It might save a 
 deal of wasted blood and treasure to Grimland." 
 
 " There is no healing for a damned soul," said Bern- 
 hardt fiercely. " I saw strange things before I drank 
 the libidinous cup of Tobit. I see them now. Saint or 
 sinner, my eyes have been opened to the unclean hosts 
 of Beelzebub." 
 
 Saunders offered the unhappy man a cigarette. 
 
 " Saints and sinners generally do see things," he 
 said dispassionately. " I am neither, and my vision 
 is normal. If you would live a reasonable life for six 
 months you might become a useful member of society 
 instead of a devil-ridden firebrand. Fasting is bad 
 and excess is bad. One starves the brain, the other 
 gluts it. Both lead to hallucinations. Take hold of 
 life with both hands and be a man with normal appe-
 
 A SKI-ING EXPEDITION 109 
 
 tites and reasonable relaxations, and you will have men 
 and women for friends, not the unclean spawn of over- 
 stimulated brain-cells." 
 
 A puzzled look crept into Father Bernhardt's eyes. 
 Then he shook his head firmly. 
 
 " I won't talk to you any more," he cried angrily. 
 " I hate talking to you. I hate your cursed English 
 common sense. If I saw much of you I'd lose all the 
 savour of life. I'd be a decent, law-abiding citizen, 
 and miss all the thrills and torments of a man fire- 
 doomed." 
 
 " A good conscience is not a bad thing," said Saun- 
 ciers, " and a man at peace with himself is king of a 
 fine country. You're a youngish man, Bernhardt, and 
 the world's before you. Give up listening to devils, 
 and the devils will give up talking to you. Go on 
 listening to them and the fine balances of sanity will 
 be overthrown for ever." 
 
 " Silence ! " cried the ex-priest, thrusting his fingers 
 in his ears. " Would you rob me even of my remain- 
 ing joys? For such as me there is no peace. I have 
 my mission, and by the devil's aid I must perform it ! " 
 
 " We all have missions," retorted Saunders. " Mine 
 apparently is to preserve Karl from assassination. I 
 don't boast a body-guard of demons, but I'll back my; 
 luck against yours, Father Bernhardt." 
 
 The outlaw smiled again at these words. 
 
 " Good-bye, Englishman," he said, " I love you for 
 your courage. Go in peace," he went on, shaking 
 him by the hand, but ignoring Von Hiigelweiler alto- 
 gether. " But take heed to yourself, for you are
 
 110 GLORIA 
 
 pitting yourself against a man who is neither wholly 
 sane nor wholly mad, and therefore entirely to be 
 feared. Good-bye, and tell the Jew Meyer that to- 
 night I am dwelling in the Goose-market, at the house 
 of Fritz Birnbaum, the cobbler. Let him send to take 
 me and see whether he is stronger than my dear allies, 
 Archmedai and Ahriman." 
 
 " I will make a point of doing so," said Saunders, 
 preparing to depart, " and I will lay a shade of odds 
 on the Jew."
 
 CHAPTER ELEVEN 
 
 THE IEON MAIDEN 
 
 , WHILE the Englishman was ski-running and saving the 
 King's life, the American had spent an uneventful 
 morning seeing the sights of the capital. Acting on 
 his friend's advice he had visited the Reichs Museum, 
 wherein were housed some extremely old Masters, some 
 indifferent modern sculpture, and a wholly admirable 
 collection of engravings by Albrecht Diirer. But 
 Trafford's mind had wandered from pre-Raphaelite 
 anatomy and marble modernities to a pair of dark 
 eyes, a finely chiselled little nose, and a diminutive 
 mouth, that were utterly unlike anything depicted by 
 Botticelli, Fra Angelo, or the great Bavarian engraver. 
 Art had never held an important place in his mind, 
 and on this fine January morning it competed feebly 
 with a certain restless longing that had stolen over his 
 ill-balanced nervous system, to the domination of his 
 thoughts and the destruction of his critical faculties. 
 He desired to be out in the open air, and he desired to 
 see, and touch, and speak with a certain young woman 
 who had passed herself off as his sister at his hotel, 
 but who had disappeared into thin air long before he 
 had tasted his petit dejeuner of coffee and rolls. It 
 was not, he told himself, that he was in love. Love, 
 as he conceived it, was something akin to worship, 
 a regard pure as the snows, passionless almost in its 
 
 111
 
 GLORIA 1 
 
 humility and reverence. For one woman he had felt 
 that marvellous adoration ; he would never feel it again 
 for any woman' in the world. But beauty appeals 
 even to those who have suffered at beauty's hands, and 
 the Princess Gloria was a maiden of such bewildering 
 moods, so compounded of laughter and fierceness, of 
 such human pathos and relentless purpose, that she 
 was bound to have a disturbing effect on so responsive 
 and sensitive a soul as his. He acknowledged the ob- 
 session, for it was patent and paramount. But he 
 told himself that in his regard there were no deeps, 
 certainly no worship ; merely a desire to cultivate an 
 attractive young woman whose habitual behaviour was 
 as heedless of the conventions as his own. 
 
 But this desire took him out of the long galleries 
 of the Reichs Museum into the slums of Weidenbruck, 
 into the purlieus of the Goose-market and the Grass- 
 market, and into the network of narrow alleys round 
 about the Schugasse. But the face and figure that 
 were in his mind's eye refused to grace his bodily sight, 
 and so, having lost himself half a dozen times and 
 gained a magnificent appetite, he took a sleigh and 
 drove back to the Hotel Concordia. 
 
 In the middle of his meal Saunders arrived, and told 
 him at full length of his morning's adventures. And, 
 as Saunders had expected, Trafford's disappointment 
 at having missed the exhilarating rencontre with Father 
 Bernhardt was palpable and forcibly expressed. 
 
 " Confound your beastly luck ! " he said. " And, I 
 suppose, thanks to your brilliant shooting, and tact- 
 ful diplomacy, the King got away."
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 113 
 
 " He got home safely with my wife and General 
 Meyer three-quarters of an hour before I did," re- 
 plied Saunders, ignoring the sarcasm. " They held 
 up a train on the big stone viaduct, and I and Von 
 Hiigelweiler tapped one at a small station called Hen- 
 duck. It is a pity you were not with us, Nervy." 
 
 Trafford ground his teeth. His companion was very 
 irritating. 
 
 1 " What about this afternoon ? " he asked despair- 
 ingly. 
 
 " I'm afraid there won't be any excitements this 
 afternoon," replied Saunders blandly. " I've got to 
 accompany Karl to a bazaar in aid of distressed gentle- 
 women. As you are dining to-night at the palace, we 
 shall, of course, meet. Au revoir till then. You might 
 well have another look at those Diirers." 
 
 " D the Diirers ! " said Trafford angrily, as his 
 
 friend left the dining-room. " And hang Saunders for 
 a selfish brute ! " he added to himself. " He lures me 
 out to this infernal country, and then sends me to 
 picture galleries and museums while he shoots people 
 'ski-jumping over his head." And with the air of an 
 aggrieved man Trafford kindled an enormous cigar 
 and sauntered forth into the hall. 
 
 As he did so, he was approached by the concierge. 
 
 " A letter, mein Herr," said the official : " a mes- 
 senger left it a moment ago." 
 
 Trafford took it, and as he read his eyes opened in 
 astonishment, and his mouth in satisfaction. 
 
 " Dear Herr Trafford" it ran. " This is to thank 
 you for what you did for me last night. You fight as
 
 Ill GBORIA 
 
 well as you skate and that is saying much. If you 
 will meet me at the Collection of Instruments of Tor' 
 ture in the Strafeburg at three o'clock this afternoon, 
 I shall try to be as fascinating as you could wish me 
 and take back any unkind word I may have spoken. 
 
 G. V. S." 
 
 Trafford chuckled to himself. After all, he re- 
 flected, Saunders was not having all the fun. He had 
 not mentioned his adventures of the previous evening 
 to his friend, because he knew that Saunders would 
 disapprove of his action in abetting Karl's enemies. 
 H'e, however, was a free lance, and if he was not per- 
 mitted to save the King's life, he might as well devote 
 his energies to the equally romantic task of protecting 
 the rebel Princess. And in his rapture at the unfold- 
 ing prospect of unlimited fracas, he chuckled audibly. 
 
 Then, turning somewhat abruptly, he bumped into 
 a gentleman, who must have been standing extremely 
 close behind him. Instinctively he thrust his letter 
 into his pocket, realising that the missive was not 
 merely a private but a secret one. H'e half-feared 
 that the person into whom he had cannoned, and 
 whose approach he ought to have heard on the marble- 
 paved hall, might have been covertly reading his 
 letter over his shoulder; nor was he particularly reas- 
 sured at finding that the individual in question was 
 none other than General Meyer. 
 
 " I beg your 'pardon," began the Commander-in~ 
 Chief, " but I was not quite sure that it was you, as I 
 could not see your face while you were reading your 
 letter."
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 115 
 
 " My fault entirely," said Trafford genially. 
 " Were you looking for me? " 
 
 " I was. I came to say that the command which his 
 Majesty graciously issued to you to dine with him to- 
 night is also extended to your sister." 
 
 " My sister ! " repeated Trafford, in dazed accents. 
 
 Meyer smiled at the other's mystification. " I was 
 informed at the bureau that your sister was staying 
 at the hotel with you," he said blandly. 
 
 Instantly the fraud of the previous evening returned 
 to Trafford's memory. 
 
 " She spent last night at the hotel," he said, " but 
 she left early this morning." 
 
 " A brief visit ! " was the General's comment. 
 
 " Extremely ! She is on her way to Vienna. She 
 she took the opportunity of paying me a flying visit 
 to see me compete for the King's Cup on the Rundsee. 
 She went on by the 8 :35 this morning." 
 
 Meyer nodded, as if appreciating the other's 
 glibness. 
 
 " Would you think me very inquisitive," he went 
 on, " if I asked at what hotel she will be staying in 
 Vienna?" 
 
 " She is not going to a hotel," replied Trafford. 
 " She is going to stay with my aunt, my dear Aunt 
 Martha, whose address I cannot for a moment recall. 
 I shall doubtless hear from her in a day or so, when I 
 will communicate her whereabouts to you if you par- 
 ticularly desire it." 
 
 " Please do not trouble," said the General, scrutinis- 
 ing his companion closely through his eye-glass. " But
 
 116 GLORIA 
 
 there is one further question I would put to you. How 
 is it that Saunders does not even know that you have a 
 sister? " Meyer's tones were of the blandest, but there 
 was something in his look and bearing that bespoke 
 suspicions that had become certainties. Trafford read 
 danger in the mocking voice and smiling lips, and he 
 grew wonderfully cool. 
 
 " That's dead easy ! she's only my half-sister," he 
 replied. " We see little of each other. Saunders 
 may well have never chanced to meet her or even hear 
 of her. My half-sister, you know, detests men. In 
 fact, my only fear of her going to Vienna is lest she 
 should at once enter a nunnery and never be seen 
 again." 
 
 Meyer dropped his eye-glass in a facial convulsion 
 of admiration. 
 
 " Au revoir, Herr Trafford !" he said, with a gracious 
 tow. " We meet at eight o'clock at the Palace to- 
 night. But I am desolated at the idea of not seeing 
 your half-sister." 
 
 Shortly after the Commander-in-Chief's departure, 
 Trafford donned his overcoat and sallied forth on foot 
 to the Strafeburg. The beauty of the day was gone. 
 The mist that had been dispelled by the noonday sun 
 Lad settled down again on the city. The penetrating 
 cold, born of a low temperature and a moisture-laden 
 atmosphere, nipped and pinched the extremities, and 
 ate its way behind muscles and joints till Trafford, 
 despite his warm coat, was glad enough to reach the 
 friendly shelter of the ancient prison-house. A half- 
 krone procured him admission to the show-rooms of the
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 117 
 
 famous building, and a young woman, angular of build 
 and exceptionally tall, took him under her bony wing, 
 and commenced to show him the objects of interest. 
 Trafford had come to see something less forbidding 
 than racks and thumb-screws, but for the moment the 
 object of his visit being nowhere to be seen, he de- 
 voted a temporary interest to the quaint and sinister- 
 looking objects displayed on all sides of him. These, 
 as has already been made clear, were mainly the 
 ingenious contrivements of filthy minds for the infliction 
 of the utmost possible suffering on human beings. A 
 judiciously-displayed assortment of racks, wheels, 
 water-funnels, and other abominations, soon had the 
 effect of making Trafford feel physically sick. Nor 
 was his horror lessened by the custodian's monotonous 
 and unemotional recital of the various uses to which the 
 different pieces of mechanism could be put. And as 
 his thoughts travelled back across the centuries to the 
 time when men did devil's work of maiming and mutilat- 
 ing what was made in God's own image, a fearful fas- 
 cination absorbed the American's mind, so that he 
 quite forgot the Princess in a sort of frenzy of horror 
 and wrathful mystification. 
 
 In the third room they visited, a gaunt depart- 
 ment of deeply-recessed windows and heavy cross- 
 beams, was an assortment of especially ferocious con- 
 trivements. 
 
 " This was used for those who made bad money,'* 
 went on the long-limbed maiden, in her droning mono- 
 tone, indicating a gigantic press which was capable of 
 converting the human frame into the semblance of A
 
 118 GLORIA 
 
 pancake. " The coiner lay down here, and the weights 
 were put on his chest " 
 
 "Stop! for heaven's sake," ejaculated Trafford, 
 white with emotion. " If I could get hold of one of 
 those mediaeval torturers I'd give him a good Yankee 
 kick to help him realise what pain meant." 
 
 " I'm sure your kick would be a most enthusiastic 
 one," said a voice at his elbow. A lady in handsome 
 furs and a blue veil a common protection, in Grim- 
 land, against snow-glare was addressing him. De- 
 spite this concealment, however, Trafford did not need 
 to look twice before recognising the Princess Gloria. 
 
 " You can leave us, Martha," commanded the Prin- 
 cess to the angular attendant. " I am quite capable 
 of describing these horrors to this gentleman. I am 
 sufficiently familiar with the Strafeburg, and shall quite 
 possibly become more so." Then, as the obedient 
 Martha withdrew her many inches from the room : 
 
 " I want to thank you for last night's work," she 
 said to Trafford ; " and if I may, to ask " 
 
 " Charmed to have been of service," interrupted the 
 American, and taking the Princess's hand, he bent low 
 and kissed it. As he raised his head again there was 
 a flush in his cheek and a fire in his eye that seemed 
 portents of something warmer than the Platonism of a 
 dead soul. " But don't resume the hospitality of the 
 Concordia," he added. " Meyer suspects, and my lying 
 capacities have been well-nigh exhausted." 
 
 "He has been cross-questioning you?" 
 
 "Most pertinaciously; but I lied with fluency and 
 fervour."
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 119 
 
 The Princess laughed gaily. 
 
 " You are splendid ! " she cried, clapping her hands 
 with girlish excitement. " Do you know," she went on 
 presently, " that the authorities, acting under Herr 
 Saunders' advice, are going to adopt strenuous meas- 
 ures against us ? " 
 
 " Is that anything new ? " 
 
 " Not exactly. But they have decided to leave off 
 trying to murder us, and are going to try and take 
 us openly. The ex-Queen, whose nerves are not very 
 good, has already crossed the frontier into Austria. 
 Father Bernhardt has found several new hiding-places, 
 and a brace of new revolvers." 
 
 "And you?" asked Trafford. 
 
 " Have found you," she answered with a frank smile. 
 
 " Admirable ! " laughed the American. " But tell 
 me, pray, how I can serve you." 
 
 " You will be dining at the Palace to-night. Find 
 out all you can and report to me." 
 
 Trafford was silent. He was about to dine with the 
 King, and he had certain scruples about the sacred- 
 ness of hospitality. Quick as a flash the Princess read 
 his silence, and bit her lip. 
 
 " Now then," she said, as if to change the subject, 
 *' let me play the part of showman. Here we have the 
 famous * Iron Maiden.' ' 
 
 Trafford beheld a weird sarcophagus set upright 
 against the wall, and rudely shaped like a human form. 
 On the head were painted the lineaments of a woman's 
 face, and the mediaeval craftsman had contrived to por- 
 tray a countenance of abominable cruelty, not devoid
 
 120 GLORIA 
 
 of a certain sullen, archaic beauty. A vertical joint 
 ran from the crown of the head to the base, and the 
 thing opened in the middle with twin doors. The Prin- 
 cess inserted a heavy key, which was hanging from a 
 convenient nail, and displayed the interior. 
 
 " Now you see the charm of the thing," she went 
 on, as the inside of the iron doors revealed a number of 
 ferocious spikes. " The poor wretch was put inside, 
 and the doors were slowly shut on him. See, there is 
 a spike for each eye, one for each breast, and several 
 for the legs. The embrace of the Iron Maiden was not 
 a thing to be lightly undertaken." 
 
 " Of all the fiendish, hellish " 
 
 " It was made by one Otto the Hunchback," pur- 
 sued the Princess, " and it was so admired in its day, 
 that the reigning monarch of Bavaria had a duplicate 
 made, and it stands in the castle of Nuremberg to this 
 day." 
 
 "When was this thing last used?" inquired Traf- 
 ford in hoarse tones. 
 
 " It is said that the late Archbishop of Weidenbruck 
 was killed in this way, three years ago," replied the 
 Princess calmly. 
 
 Trafford was white with indignation. 
 
 " Who says so? " he demanded fiercely. 
 
 " Everybody. The King hated him, and he died of 
 cancer officially. I was told and I honestly believe 
 that he was killed by torture, because when the 
 troubles of 1904 were at an end, he openly incited the 
 [people to revolt." 
 
 "If that's true," said Trafford, "I shan't make
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 121 
 
 much bones about siding with you against Karl XXII. 
 [And it won't worry my conscience reporting to you 
 anything I may accidentally overhear at the dinner 
 to-night." 
 
 " We can't fight in kid gloves," said the Princess 
 with a sigh. 
 
 A sudden noise in the street without attracted his 
 attention. Light as a bird, the Princess leaped into 
 the embrasure of the window. Trafford followed suit. 
 A company of soldiers was drawn up outside the build- 
 ing, and facing them was a fair-sized mob jeering and 
 cheering ironically. A number of units were detached 
 under an officer to either side of the building, and it 
 was plain that the Strafeburg was being surrounded by 
 the military. A second later there was the dull sound 
 of hoofs on snow, and a squadron of cavalry entered 
 the platz from another direction. Lined up at right 
 angles to the Strafeburg, carbine on knee, they held 
 the threatening mob in hand with the silent menace of 
 ball and gunpowder. 
 
 Trafford and the Princess looked at each other in 
 blank and silent amazement. 
 
 " This means business," said the latter, pale but 
 composed. " The Guides and the King's Dragoons are 
 not being paraded for nothing. Royalty is going to 
 be arrested with the pomp and circumstance due to 
 the occasion." 
 
 "They have discovered your presence here?" 
 
 " Obviously. I am caught like a rat in a trap." 
 
 Trafford scanned the bloodless but firm countenance, 
 and admired intensely. Here was no hysterical school-
 
 GLORIA 
 
 girl playing at high treason for sheer love of excite- 
 ment, but a young woman who was very much in 
 earnest, very much distressed, and at the same time 
 splendidly self-controlled. He stood a moment think- 
 ing furiously with knitted brows, hoping that his racing 
 thoughts might devise some scheme for averting the 
 impending tragedy. The room they were in was the 
 last of a series, and possessed of but one door. To 
 return that way was to come back inevitably to the 
 entrance hall, a proceeding which would merely ex- 
 pedite the intentions of their enemies. He looked hope- 
 lessly round the chamber, and he dashed across to the 
 great stone fireplace. It would have formed an admi- 
 rable place of concealment had not its smoke aperture 
 been barred with a substantial iron grille. 
 
 " It's no use," sighed the Princess wearily. " I must 
 face my fate. Perhaps the good burghers will effect 
 a rescue." 
 
 " Not if the King's Dragoons do their duty," re- 
 torted Trafford grimly. " Mob-heroism is not much 
 use against ball-cartridges." 
 
 " Then I must yield to the inevitable." 
 
 Trafford shook his head fiercely. 
 
 "That is just what you must not do!" he cried. 
 For a moment he stood irresolute, running his hand 
 through his stiff, up-standing hair. 
 
 " I've got some sort of an idea," he said at length. 
 
 Approaching a table whereon were displayed a num- 
 ber of torture implements, he selected a pair of gigan- 
 tic pinchers that had been specially designed for tam- 
 pering with human anatomy, and applied them vigor-
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 123 
 
 ously to the nuts which fixed the spikes of the Iron 
 Maiden. 
 
 " Otto the Hunchback little knew that his chef 
 d'ceuvre would be put to such a benevolent purpose 
 as a refuge," he said, as he loosened and withdrew the 
 spikes one by one from their rusty environment. 
 " Given ten minutes' respite, and I'll guarantee a 
 hiding-place no one in his senses will dream of search- 
 ing." 
 
 " Quick, quick, quick ! " cried the Princess in a cres- 
 cendo of excitement, transformed again from a pale, 
 hunted creature to a gleeful schoolgirl playing a par- 
 ticularly exciting game of hide-and-seek. " I hear 
 them searching the other rooms. Quick ! " 
 
 Trafford deposited the last spike in the pocket of his 
 overcoat, and motioned to his companion to enter. 
 When she had done so, he closed the doors, locked 
 them, and put the key into his pocket with the spikes. 
 
 " Are you all right ? " he asked. 
 
 " Quite comfy, thanks," answered a muffled voice. 
 
 Trafford contemplated the exterior of the Iron 
 Maiden, and was pleased to note air-holes in the 
 Maiden's ears. It had not been the intention of the 
 mediaeval tormentor that his victims should die of suf- 
 focation. 
 
 A few moments later there was the tread of martial 
 steps along the passage, and the door was thrown 
 open. Trafford buried himself in the contemplation of 
 a water-funnel that had served to inconvenience human 
 stomachs with an intolerable amount of fluid. 
 
 " Herr Trafford once again ! "
 
 GLORIA 
 
 The gentleman addressed looked up and beheld the 
 grey-coated figure of General Meyer. Behind him with 
 drawn swords were two officers of the Guides. 
 
 " Fancy meeting you again," went on the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, putting his eye-glass to his eye, and 
 smiling his most innocent smile. 
 
 " Your presence is really more remarkable than 
 mine," returned Trafford. " I am a stranger seeing 
 the sights of Weidenbruck. You apparently are here 
 on sterner business." 
 
 " I am here to effect an important arrest," drawled 
 the General. " But perhaps you can aid us in our 
 purpose," he went on in his blandest tones. " Have 
 you by any possible chance seen a young woman here- 
 abouts ? " 
 
 " I saw one here only a few minutes back." 
 
 The General produced a note-book the same in 
 which he had jotted down the marks of the skating 
 competition. 
 
 " This is most interesting," he said. " I need hardly 
 ask you to be precise in your information, as your re- 
 marks will be taken down verbatim." 
 
 " I will be accuracy itself," said Trafford with mock 
 seriousness. 
 
 "Good! When did you see this woman?" 
 
 " About a quarter of an hour ago." 
 
 "Her name?" 
 
 " I am ignorant of it." 
 
 "Her age?" 
 
 " I am bad at guessing ladies' ages ; but I should 
 say between twenty and thirty."
 
 THE IRON MAIDEN 125 
 
 "Dark or fair?" 
 
 " Dark." 
 
 " I thought so. Her height approximately ? " 
 
 " Six foot two." 
 
 Meyer stiffened himself indignantly, and the eye- 
 glass dropped from his eye. 
 
 " You are trifling, sir," he said angrily. 
 
 " Perhaps I have exaggerated," said Trafford 
 calmly, " put down six foot one-and-a-half." 
 
 Meyer darted a sidelong glance at the American, 
 and scribbled something in his book. 
 
 " Remember," he said, " that you may be called 
 upon to substantiate that statement, and that false 
 information " 
 
 " He must be referring to Martha," broke in one of 
 the attendant officers. 
 
 "Martha!" cried Trafford delightedly. "Yes, I 
 believe that was her name. In return for half a krone 
 she told me more in five minutes about instruments of 
 torture than my wildest imagination had conceived pos- 
 sible." 
 
 "You have seen no one else? " rapped out the Gen- 
 eral. 
 
 " Till you arrived I have not seen a soul." 
 
 Meyer glanced round the room carefully. He looked 
 under the several tables whereon the exhibits were dis- 
 played ; he put his head up the great stone fireplace ; 
 his glance swept past the Iron Maiden, but it rested 
 on it for a fraction of a second only. 
 
 " She is not here," he announced decisively, " this 
 gentleman has been speaking the truth."
 
 126 GLORIA 
 
 " A foolish habit of mine, but ineradicable," mur- 
 mured Trafford ironically. 
 
 Meyer readjusted his eye-glass and turned, smiling, 
 to the American. 
 
 " You behold in me," he said, " a disappointed man. 
 For the second time in two days I have blundered. It 
 is a coincidence, a strange coincidence. Also it is re- 
 grettable, for I am rapidly dissipating a hard-earned 
 reputation for astuteness. Once again, au revoir, my 
 dear Herr Trafford! We shall meet at dinner to- 
 night, and I hope often. Gentlemen of the Guides, 
 vorivarts! "
 
 CHAPTER TWELVE 
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 
 
 THE royal palace of Weidenbruck the Neptunburg, 
 as it is called, after a leaden statue of the sea god 
 which stands in its central courtyard is a Renais- 
 sance structure of considerable size and dignity. Its 
 main faade, a pompous, Palladian affair of super- 
 imposed pilasters, stone vases and floral swags, fronts 
 the Konigstrasse, a wide thoroughfare joining the 
 northern suburbs with the Cathedral Square. Inter- 
 nally, there is a fine set of state-rooms, a florid chapel, 
 and the famous muschel-saal, an apartment decorated 
 with shells, coral, pieces of amber, marble, and por- 
 phyry, and other semi-precious material. It was into 
 this apartment, scintillating with light and colour, that 
 Trafford found himself ushered on his arrival at the 
 royal domain. 
 
 General Meyer, resplendent in a pale blue and silver 
 uniform and sundry brilliant orders, received him and 
 presented him to his wife, a handsome lady of South- 
 American origin and an ultra-Republican love of finery. 
 Saunders was there, also with his wife, the latter beau- 
 tiful and stately as a statue, in an empire gown of 
 creamy green with red roses at her breast. There was 
 an old gentleman with a billowy white moustache, and 
 a young officer of the Guides. There were the diplo- 
 matic representatives of France and England, and a 
 
 127
 
 128 GLORIA 
 
 bevy of court ladies with the expensive paraphernalia 
 of plumes, egrets, and voluminous trains. The com- 
 pany was a decorative one, and the setting sumptuous, 
 only needing the sun of the royal presence to gild the 
 refined gold of the exhilarating scene. 
 
 Saunders took an early opportunity of drawing 
 Trafford apart. 
 
 " Nervy, my boy," the former began, " the King, 
 Meyer, and myself have been having a little private 
 conversation about you." 
 
 " A most interesting topic, to be sure." 
 
 " Most. The conclusion we arrived at was that you 
 had been making an idiotic ass of yourself." 
 
 " Details, dear flatterer? " demanded Trafford. 
 
 " This sister business ! " expostulated Saunders. 
 *' Why, everybody knows you arrived at the Hotel 
 Concordia by yourself, and without expectation of a 
 visit from any relative." 
 
 " Everybody knows it? " queried Trafford blandly. 
 
 " By everybody, I mean the police, who study most 
 things, and particularly the visitors' list at the * Con- 
 cordia.' The hall-porter of that excellent hotel is one 
 of Meyer's most trusted agents, and there is not the 
 slightest doubt that it was the Princess Gloria who 
 enjoyed the privilege of claiming you as a brother." 
 
 " A half-brother," corrected Trafford. 
 
 " A half-brother, then," growled Saunders. " Any- 
 how, it is established beyond a doubt that you have 
 helped the Princess by every means in your power." 
 
 " Then we will admit what is universally known," 
 said Trafford coolly. " Only, I don't agree with your
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 129 
 
 description of me as an idiotic ass. I came out here 
 for excitement, and as you don't seem willing to pro- 
 vide me with it, I am finding it for myself. Besides, 
 the Princess is a splendid little person, and to cultivate 
 her society is the act not of an ass, but of a philos- 
 opher." 
 
 " That sort of philosophy leads to the Strafeburg," 
 retorted Saunders. " Be warned, old friend. I know 
 more about this charming country than you do. You 
 have won the King's Prize. Wrap it in tissue paper 
 and take it by the midnight express to Vienna. There 
 is excellent skating to be had there and you may come 
 across your half-sister." 
 
 "My dear humourist," said Trafford, smiling and 
 twirling his moustache. " I have no further use for 
 half-sisters." 
 
 Saunders started in amazement, not at the words 
 themselves, but at their tone, and the twinkle that ac- 
 companied them. 
 
 " Nervy, Nervy Trafford," he said solemnly. " Do 
 you suppose a Schattenberg sets her cap at an Amer- 
 ican! If she wins a throne, as she may for all I 
 know, you will be put in a row with other gallant 
 dupes of her witchery, and you will be allowed to kiss 
 her hand every first and second Thursdays. Give it 
 up, man," went on Saunders more heartily. " Give up 
 playing poodle-dog to beauty in distress. You will 
 get plenty of scars and very few lumps of sugar. 
 Moreover, you may take it from me that a sterner 
 policy of suppression is being pursued. There are im- 
 portant arrests impending."
 
 130 GLORIA 
 
 " Important arrests ! " echoed Trafford, laughing 
 softly. " Why, I was the means of spoiling one this 
 afternoon. I was in the Strafeburg with the Princess 
 when Meyer turned up with foot and horse to arrest 
 the poor child. Not wishing to witness a pathetic 
 scene, I unscrewed the spikes of the Iron Maiden, and 
 popped Gloria von Schattenberg inside the barbarous 
 contrivance. Needless to say, no one, not even Meyer, 
 thought of looking in such an impossible hiding-place. 
 So you see, my British friend, important arrests some- 
 times fail to come off." 
 
 " Sometimes, but not invariably," said a voice close 
 by the American's ear. Trafford shuddered rather than 
 started, for he recognised the acid tones of General 
 Meyer, and he was getting used to rinding that gentle- 
 man near him when he believed him far away. But the 
 words depressed him, nevertheless, for they held a note 
 of ruthless certainty that smelled of damp walls and 
 barred windows. He realised that he had made an 
 enemy, a personal enemy, who was not likely to respect 
 the liberty of a young foreigner who baulked his 
 choicest schemes. 
 
 " I stepped across the room to warn you of the 
 King's entrance," went on the General suavely. " His 
 Majesty is on the point of entering the chamber." 
 
 A door was flung open by liveried and powdered 
 menials. The company drew itself into two lines, and 
 between them, smiling, portly, debonnair, walked the 
 big, half-pathetic, half-humorous figure of the King. 
 He bowed to right and left, murmuring conventional 
 terms of greeting to all and sundry.
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 131 
 
 To the American he said: 
 
 " I congratulate you heartily, Herr Trafford, on 
 winning my skating prize. I am a great admirer of 
 the nation to which you have the privilege to belong." 
 
 Trafford bowed, and took the King's hand, which 
 was extended to him. 
 
 " To-morrow," went on the monarch, " I am going 
 to Weissheim, land of clean snow, bright suns, and 
 crisp, invigorating air! Farewell, then, to Weiden- 
 bruck, with its penetrating chilliness, its vile, rheu- 
 matic fogs, and its viler and more deadly intrigues! 
 Then hurrah for ski and skate and toboggan, and the 
 good granite curling-stone that sings its way from 
 crampit to tee over the faultless ice! What say you, 
 Saunders ? " 
 
 " I say hurrah for winter sport, your Majesty, and 
 a curse on fogs, meteorological and political ! " 
 
 Dinner was a meal of splendid dulness. Excellent 
 viands, faultless champagne, and a gorgeous display 
 of plate were not in themselves sufficient to counteract 
 the atmosphere of well-bred boredom that sat heavy 
 on the company. The King made desperate efforts to 
 sustain his role of exuberant geniality, but his wonted 
 spirits flagged visibly as the evening wore on, and it 
 was clear that the events of the morning had left him 
 depressed and heart-weary. Saunders, indeed, chatted 
 volubly to Meyer's better-half, a lady who talked pol- 
 itics with a reckless freedom that was palliated by oc- 
 casional flashes of common sense. Meyer himself, 
 glass in eye, tasting each dish and sipping each wine 
 with the slow gusto of the connoisseur, maintained an 

 
 132 GLORIA 
 
 epigrammatic conversation with Mrs. Saunders, whose 
 ready tongue had nearly as keen an edge as his own. 
 But poor Trafford, despite a healthy appetite and an 
 appreciation of his high honour, was enjoying him- 
 self but little. The lady whom he was privileged to sit 
 next to, the Frau Generalin von Bilderbaum, nee 
 Praulein von Helder, formerly maid of honour to the 
 ex-Queen, was a wife of the General with the snowy 
 moustache, and her sole topic of conversation was her 
 husband. She was a lady of immense proportions and 
 a more than corresponding appetite, and her devotion 
 to her spouse would have been more romantic, had she 
 possessed features as well as contours. During the 
 meal Trafford was much enlightened as to the loyal 
 and devoted career of General von Bilderbaum and the 
 digestive capacities of an ex-maid of honour. 
 
 " The General fought with distinction in the trenches 
 at Offen in '84, and he took part also with great dis- 
 tinction in the hill fighting round about Kurdeburg in 
 
 '86. In '87 " Fortunately for Trafford the flow 
 
 of the worthy lady's recital was checked. A menial, 
 pompous, in plush and yellow braid, put his powdered 
 head between him and his persecutrix, whispering in 
 his ear: "His Majesty will take wine with you, sir." 
 
 Trafford looked up to the end of the table where the 
 King sat. King Karl, with raised glass and a resump- 
 tion of his genial smile, was endeavouring to catch his 
 eye. 
 
 Trafford raised his glass and flushed. It is not 
 given to every man to be toasted by a reigning sov- 
 ereign, and Trafford felt a sense of pride that surged
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 133 
 
 up in his bosom with no little strength. Then the in- 
 congruity of his position struck him. There was he, 
 eating the King's food, and drinking the King's wine, 
 and at the same time pledged to help and abet his most 
 relentless enemy. Nay, more, he had sworn to abuse 
 his hospitality that evening by gleaning any facts 
 which might help the rebellious Princess to continue 1 
 free to work out her ambitious and subversive propa- 
 ganda. And now he was signalled out for especial hon- 
 our, and he blushed, not because the eyes of the ladies 
 regarded him with frank admiration, not because Meyer 
 looked sideways at him with sneering inscrutability, but 
 because his host, the King, regarded him with a glance 
 that was all welcome and good fellowship. And in the 
 emotion and excitement of the moment Trafford re- 
 called Saunders* favourable opinion of King Karl,. 
 rather than the Princess Gloria's sinister suggestion of 
 the torture-chamber. But just as, with mixed feelings 
 and mantled cheek, he threw back his head to empty 
 his glass, a noise from outside attracted his attention. 
 It was a low, humming noise at first, with sharp notes 
 rising from its depths. But it grew louder, and some- 
 thing in its swelling vibrations checked the glass un- 
 tasted in his hand. Men and women looked at each 
 other, and the conversation ceased automatically. 
 Louder the noise grew louder, till it was like the 
 roaring of a great wind or the snarling of innumerable 
 wild beasts. And yet, besides its note of wrath and 
 menace, it held a sub-tone of deep, insistent purpose. 
 Fair cheeks began to blanch, and an air of pained ex- 
 pectancy hung heavy on the throng. For there was
 
 134 GLORIA 
 
 no longer any possibility of mistaking its import. It 
 was the hoarse murmur of a mob, wherein the mad 
 fury of beast and element were blended with human 
 hatred, and dominated by human intelligence. 
 
 Meyer sipped his wine composedly, but his face was 
 a sickly green. General von Bilderbaum flushed peony, 
 and Trafford felt big pulses beating in different parts 
 of his body. The situation was intolerable in its frozen 
 anxiety. With an oath the King rose to his feet, 
 threw back the great purple curtains that masked the 
 windows, and flung open the tall casements. A re- 
 doubled roar of voices flowed in with a stream of icy 
 air. The ladies shuddered in their decollete gowns, but 
 Trafford, heedless alike of frost and etiquette, was 
 on the balcony in an instant by the King's side, look- 
 ing down on the great street. The other men followed 
 suit immediately, and the sight that met their gaze was 
 a stirring one. The broad Konigstrasse, which ran 
 past the palace, was packed with a dense and swaying 
 throng. 
 
 In the midst of a bevy of dark-coated police walked 
 a tall figure, handcuffed, bareheaded, his clothes torn 
 as if he had been taken with violence, yet retaining 
 withal an air of fierce scorn and tameless^ pride. On 
 each side of the police tramped companies of infantry 
 with fixed bayonets. At the head and at the rear of 
 the little procession rode formidable detachments of the 
 King's Dragoons. And surging behind, menacing, fu- 
 rious, determined, yet held in check by the cold logic 
 of steel and bullet, pressed and swayed and shouted 
 a great mass of turbulent humanity.
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 135 
 
 " They are arresting Father Bernhardt," drawled 
 General Meyer, who surveyed the scene through his 
 eye-glass and with a slight smile. " This is an illumi- 
 nating example of the straightforward policy of re- 
 pression." 
 
 " At any rate, he is being arrested," said the King. 
 " Under your system he was always on the point of 
 being arrested. Once inside the Strafeburg, Father 
 Bernhardt will not derive much assistance from his 
 noisy friends out here." 
 
 " Once inside the Strafeburg yes ! " sneered Meyer. 
 " But there is still a quarter of a mile to be traversed ; 
 and unless I mis-read the temper of the good Weiden- 
 bruckers, there will be some sort of attempt at a rescue 
 in a minute or two." 
 
 " Why don't they fire on the mob ? " spluttered out 
 General von Bilderbaum, stifling a fine military oath 
 in his billowy moustache. 
 
 " Because I ordered the Colonel commanding the 
 Dragoons not to fire unless a rescue was actually being 
 attempted," answered Meyer. " Revolutions are stupid 
 things, and are best avoided when possible." 
 
 " I'd fire on the brutes if I were in command," mur- 
 mured the old General with suppressed fierceness, as 
 the crowd pressed close at the heels of the last file of 
 Dragoons. 
 
 Hardly had he spoken when a harsh order rang out 
 above the growling of the mob, the rear rank swung 
 their horses round, and with a click of carbines a vol- 
 ley rang out into the icy air. A bullet struck the 
 stonework of the palace, not far from the King's head,
 
 136 GLORIA 
 
 for the soldiers had fired purposely in the air. Karl 
 never even winced. His features wore a look of pained 
 distress that no personal danger could accentuate. 
 General Meyer quietly took cover behind a friendly 
 pilaster, but Trafford, wildly excited by the novel 
 scene, watched eagerly the quick panic of the mob. 
 Helter-skelter they ran, tumbling over each other in 
 a frenzied effort to avoid the stern reprisal they had 
 so ruthlessly invited. 
 
 " A whiff of grape shot ! " said Saunders. " A little 
 firmness, a little sternness even, and a deal of trouble 
 is saved. Another volley in the air, half a dozen exe- 
 cutions, and a few sharp sentences of imprisonment, 
 and a desperate situation will give way to normal tran- 
 quillity." 
 
 " I believe you are right," sighed the King. 
 
 " I don't," said Meyer ; and as he spoke the crowd 
 came back again, surging and rebellious, shouting with 
 rage and shame and furious determination. 
 
 " See ! a woman is leading them on ! " cried the young 
 officer of the Guides. 
 
 " So I perceive," said Meyer, turning to Trafford, 
 who stood next him. " It is the young lady whose 
 arrest I strove to bring about this afternoon in the 
 Strafeburg. It would perhaps have been better for 
 her if my purpose had been fulfilled." 
 
 Trafford drew in his breath and grasped the hand- 
 rail of the iron balcony with a vise-like grip. 
 
 " They won't fire on her ! " he said in a choked voice. 
 
 " I think so," said Meyer smoothly. " A rescue is 
 certainly being attempted.
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 137 
 
 For a moment it seemed that the torrent of frenzied 
 humanity would bear down and engulf the thin ranks 
 of soldiery; but once again the rear rank swung their 
 horses round, once again there was a precise ripple of 
 small arms, and once again there was the spluttering 
 crack of levelled carbines. 
 
 Trafford, white as a sheet, trembling with suppressed 
 emotion, shut his eyes. When he opened them the 
 compact mass of the crowd had melted into scattered 
 groups fleeing for dear life in every direction. Only, 
 on the trampled snow of the Konigstrasse, lay a num- 
 ber of dark and prostrate objects, some feebly moving, 
 some stark still. Trafford turned violently from the 
 balcony and entered the dining-room with the inten- 
 tion of making an instant departure. Wild-eyed, heed- 
 less of good manners, court conventions, or everything 
 indeed but a dominating desire to break out into the 
 stricken thoroughfare, he dashed madly through the 
 great room. In the doorway a hand, a cool feminine 
 hand, checked him, and he found himself looking into 
 the unemotional grey eyes of Mrs. Robert Saun- 
 ders. 
 
 " Where are you going? " she asked firmly. 
 
 " Into the street." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Murder has been done. Someone may need suc- 
 cour." 
 
 " The wounded will be looked after,*' said Mrs. 
 Saunders calmly, " and by more capable hands than 
 yours. Your departure now without a formal leave- 
 taking of his Majesty would produce the worst impres-
 
 138 GLORIA 
 
 sion. As my husband's friend, your conduct would 
 reflect on him. I must ask you to be prudent." 
 
 Trafford's eyes flamed furiously at the maddening 
 check. His whole system was quivering with the excite- 
 ment of the situation and the intense desire to find re- 
 lief for tortured nerves in vigorous action. There was 
 a strange pain, too, in his heart, a queer, stabbing sen- 
 sation that he neither analysed nor understood. All 
 he knew was that the Palace walls cramped him like a 
 narrow cell, that he needed air, the air of the Konig- 
 strasse. And yet nothing short of rude violence could 
 have brushed aside the well-developed young lady who 
 blocked his exit with such exasperating vis inert ice. 
 With a really fine effort of self-control he mastered 
 himself. 
 
 " I will be prudent," he said bitterly. 
 
 Thank you." 
 
 " It would never do," went on Trafford ironically, 
 " for your husband to fall out of favour with the 
 humane King Karl. He might wake to find himself in 
 the dungeons of the Strafeburg;" and with a polite 
 bow he returned through the dining-room to the bal- 
 cony. 
 
 " Well," he asked of Saunders, " does peace reign at 
 Weidenbruck ? " 
 
 " There seems to be trouble in the direction of the 
 Grass-market," replied Saunders, pointing to a quarter 
 from which distant sounds of shouting were faintly 
 audible. Almost as he spoke, a red glare lit up the 
 heavens with a rosy flickering glow.
 
 THE SIMPLE POLICY 139 
 
 " Incendiarism ! " muttered old General Bilderbaum, 
 feeling instinctively for his sword. 
 
 The King whispered something in General Meyer's 
 ear. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief nodded. 
 
 " I gave the order ten minutes ago, sire," he replied. 
 " The policy of straightforward repression shall be 
 given a full trial."
 
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN 
 
 ON THE WARPATH 
 
 WHILE Trafford was devouring the enticing viands of 
 the Neptunburg, and listening to the inspiriting con- 
 versation of the Frau Generalin von Bilderbaum, a cer- 
 tain captain in the third regiment of Guides was the 
 prey to a whole host of mixed sentiments, divergent 
 ideals, and other troubles of a conscientious egotist. 
 Ulrich von Hiigelweiler was sitting |in his barrack 
 quarters, smoking hard and thinking harder, and occa- 
 sionally kicking the legs of the table in an excess of 
 mental indecision. 
 
 " I am a loyalist by instinct," he murmured to him- 
 self, lighting his fourteenth cigarette. ** But to whom ? 
 Loyalty is a virtue, a grand virtue as a rule, but 
 loyalty to the wrong person is as immoral as worship 
 paid to a false god." And having delivered himself of 
 this platitudinous monologue he kicked another flake of 
 varnish from the leg of his long-suffering table. 
 
 He recalled the post of honour that had been as- 
 signed him that morning on the slopes of Nussheim, 
 and he longed to prove his worth by the solid argu- 
 ments of a soldier's sword. And yet . . . and 
 yet ... it ought to have been he, not the Ameri- 
 can, who was the honoured guest at the Neptunburg, 
 that night. 
 
 For the memory of his disappointment on the Rund- 
 
 140
 
 ON THE WARPATH 141 
 
 see rankled intolerably in his retentive brain. Meyer 
 had offered him a dirty task and had cheated him of 
 fame and glory because he had refused to undertake it. 
 He hated Meyer hated him far more than he loved 
 the King. He hated Trafford, too, for winning the 
 King's Prize. He threw away his last cigarette-end 
 with a gesture of annoyance, and rose impatiently to 
 his feet. He would have liked at that moment to have 
 faced Meyer on even terms with measured swords and 
 stripped body; and having pinked the Jew's bosom, 
 he would like to do the same service to the cursed 
 American, who had come between him and his honour- 
 able ambition. But Karl had played no part, so far as 
 he knew, in the dishonourable intrigue which had pre- 
 vented him being placed first in the skating competi- 
 tion. Karl was a man who had proved his personal 
 courage in the rising of 1904, and who, despite the 
 ugly rumours which flooded the city, had an un- 
 doubted charm of personality. He repented of having 
 tendered his resignation, for the manner in which that 
 resignation had been deferred touched all that was 
 most soldierly and honourable in his heart. And then 
 into the troubled whirlpool of his thoughts came a 
 vision, so calmly dominating, so unconquerably insist- 
 ent, so sweetly imperious, that the dictates alike of hate 
 and loyalty grew faint and indecisive before the splen- 
 did allure seen of his inward eye. A Princess stood 
 before him, bright eyes looked pleadingly into his own, 
 soft hands caressed the lappet of his coat. A breath 
 sweeter than the spices of Araby was in his nostrils. 
 Conscience, maybe, called one way, but something
 
 GLORIA 
 
 stronger than conscience called the other. The call of 
 the one was clear and loud; but the call of the other 
 stirred every fibre in his sensuous being. 
 
 He sat down again in his arm-chair, and buried his 
 face in his hands, and because his eyes were blinded by 
 the action, the vision of Gloria's youthful beauty and 
 smiling lips grew clearer, more tangible, more seduc- 
 tive. His mind harked back to the dismal moment 
 when he was leaving the Rundsee, a defeated, dis- 
 credited candidate for the blue ribbon of the skating 
 world. The Princess had appeared to him at a mo- 
 ment when her bright presence had seemed especially 
 dazzling by contrast with the black thoughts that 
 filled his brain. She had appealed to him for assist- 
 ance, had promised, or at least hinted at, the great re- 
 ward that would bear him rose-crowned to the stars. 
 That was worth much everything perhaps even a 
 soldier's honour. But would his honour inevitably be 
 sacrificed by placing his sword at the Princess's dis- 
 posal? He had reasons for being dissatisfied with his 
 present service, he argued. Karl well, he could not 
 bring himself to dislike Karl, but he was certainly a 
 man of whom much ill was spoken. His Commander- 
 in-Chief, Meyer, he knew for a scheming and unscrupu- 
 lous politician rather than an honest soldier. And so, 
 little by little, desire suborned conscience, till he per- 
 suaded himself, as self-centred men habitually do, 
 that the path of pleasure was the path of duty. 
 
 The blare of a bugle broke rudely on his medita- 
 tions. Rising and looking out of the window, he saw 
 his men hurridly mustering in the barrack-yard. A
 
 ON THE WAKPATH 143 
 
 second later his door burst open and his Colonel en- 
 tered. 
 
 " Captain Hiigelweiler, proceed instantly with a full 
 company and fifty rounds of ball-cartridges to the 
 Domkircheplatz," came the sharp command. " There 
 is trouble outside the Strafeburg, and your orders are 
 to restore tranquillity at all costs." 
 
 . . . . 
 
 When the party at the Neptunburg broke up ab- 
 ruptly, as it did soon after the glare of incendiarism 
 had flushed the sky to a threatening crimson, Trafford 
 paid a hasty leave-taking of his Majesty, and has- 
 tened down the great staircase to the entrance hall. 
 Here stood Saunders in close consultation with Gen- 
 eral Meyer. 
 
 " Nervy," said the former, " if I were you I should 
 stay here. There is no necessity to go, and if you 
 come up to my room we can watch things comfortably 
 from my window." 
 
 " Thanks," said Trafford curtly, " I am not fond of 
 watching things from the window." 
 
 " You really must not leave us," said the Comman- 
 der-in-Chief, with exaggerated politeness. 
 
 " I'm afraid I must, though," said the American de- 
 cisively, buttoning up his coat and putting on his snow 
 boots over his evening shoes. 
 
 " We really cannot allow you to depart," persisted 
 Meyer, walking to the hall-door and ostentatiously 
 shooting a massive bolt. 
 
 A gleam lighted in Trafford's eye, but his response 
 was politeness itself.
 
 144 GLORIA 
 
 " I must insist on tearing myself away," he retorted. 
 
 Saunders and Meyer exchanged glances. 
 
 " Herr Trafford," said the latter, " when I said you 
 must not go, I meant to couch a command in terms of 
 courtesy. The streets of Weidenbruck are in a dan- 
 gerous state to-night, and as the person responsible for 
 the public safety I really cannot sanction your de- 
 parture from the Neptunburg." 
 
 Trafford glanced round him. On either side were 
 flunkeys in powdered wigs, knee breeches, and yellow 
 coats. Between him and the street he desired to gain 
 was an elderly Jew. 
 
 " Is your command based solely on a concern for my 
 personal safety? " he asked. 
 
 " Solely," was Meyer's sarcastic reply. 
 
 " Then I shall disregard it," said Trafford, pro- 
 ducing his gun and flourishing it about in reckless 
 fashion, " for I am quite capable of protecting my- 
 self, dear General, I assure you." 
 
 Meyer flinched violently as the muzzle of the deadly 
 weapon was pointed in all directions, and most fre- 
 quently at his own person. For a half -moment he hesi- 
 tated ; he had been playing a game of bluff, but he had 
 not appreciated the bluffing capabilities of his oppo- 
 nent. He might call the guard, but he had a nerve- 
 destroying idea that if he did so the mad American 
 would have an accident with the revolver and shoot him 
 through the leg. His half-moment's hesitation was 
 fatal to his scheme for retaining Trafford in the Nep- 
 tunburg. The latter brushed past him, threw back the
 
 ON THE WARPATH 145 
 
 bolt, and with a " Good-night, Saunders, Good-night, 
 General," vanished into the street. 
 
 Having gained the open, Trafford's first steps were 
 directed hastily to the scene of the late contest be- 
 tween the mob and the soldiers. The roadway was 
 strangely empty, as though some dominant attrac- 
 tion had lured away all such as could walk or run, 
 leaving only those whom the recent fracas had robbed 
 of their limbs' use. It was these latter to whom Traf- 
 ford paid instant and anxious attention. One by one 
 he bent over the prostrate forms with peering eyes and 
 a nameless dread in his heart. There were about a 
 dozen, some dead, some dying, some merely incapaci- 
 tated. 
 
 At the conclusion of his search Trafford heaved a 
 deep sigh of relief, for they were all men, and what he 
 had feared had not happened. Then, just as he was 
 wondering what he could do to alleviate the sufferings 
 of the stricken ones, he saw a party of friars, black- 
 cloaked and hooded, approaching the scene with chari- 
 table intent. And so, leaving the task of mercy to bet- 
 ter hands than his, he hastened in the direction from 
 which distant sounds of shouting were audible. His 
 ears led him towards the Cathedral Square, and as the 
 noise of turbulence swelled louder and fiercer, and as 
 his own sense of relief at the Princess's escape from 
 danger made itself felt more consciously, a strange 
 exaltation of the spirit took him. His heart sang at 
 the joyous prospect of a disturbance beside which the 
 finest college row on record would seem a small and
 
 146 GLORIA 
 
 trivial thing 1 . He quickened his footsteps to a run, for 
 his nerves were taut and tingling with the shrill joy of 
 anarchy. Houses would be burnt instead of furniture, 
 policemen would be assaulted with genuine ferocity, 
 instead of the half -humorous roughness of his under- 
 graduate days. The war-drum was sounding in his 
 ears. The strange brain, that could pity human suf- 
 fering with a superhuman sympathy, was kindled with 
 the wild flames of primitive pugnacity. The strange 
 heart, that could conceive an ethereal, passionless re- 
 gard for a woman, was a fierce swirl of troubled waters. 
 Trafford, Nervy Trafford, the fire-brand of Caius, 
 was on the warpath.
 
 CHAPTER FOURTEEN 
 
 MUSIC AND THE MOB 
 
 WHEN Trafford reached the Cathedral Square he 
 found a vast number of people, a considerable amount 
 of noise, but nothing very stirring in the way of action. 
 The military and the mob seemed to be watching one 
 another in an equipoise of mutual distrust. The King's 
 Dragoons, who had escorted Father Bernhardt to the 
 Strafeburg, were patrolling a space before the prison- 
 house, while the portal itself was held by a company 
 of Guides under Captain von Hiigelweiler. On one 
 side, indeed, a body of energetic firemen were engaged 
 in pumping exceedingly cold water on to an ignited 
 building, but though the crowd jeered and shouted, the 
 brass-helmets proceeded in their duty, unheeding and 
 unmolested. An air of palpable dejection seemed to 
 oppress the throng, as though they had tried conclu- 
 sions with the military and come off second best. The 
 situation pleased the American not at all. His own 
 enthusiasm was at boiling-point, and it fretted his high 
 spirit to see a promising revolution fizzling out for want 
 of leaders and concerted action. He edged his way 
 into the outskirts of the crowd, in the dim hope of 
 meeting some kindred spirit, perhaps, even if fortune 
 favoured him, of chancing across the Princess. 
 
 " Oh, for five minutes of Father Bernhardt ! " mur- 
 mured a mild-looking individual in spectacles, broad- 
 
 147
 
 148 GLORIA 
 
 cloth, and a high felt hat. Trafford turned and re- 
 garded the gentleman who had voiced that spirited as- 
 piration in such a tone of quiet pathos. He was a very 
 large person, eminently respectable in appearance, 
 and he was seated on a wooden stall intended for the 
 display of merchandise. 
 
 "What would Father Bernhardt do?" asked Traf- 
 ford. 
 
 "Do!" echoed the other. "Why he'd turn these 
 dull logs of people into blazing firebrands in five min- 
 utes." The tone was one of regret and disappoint- 
 ment, slightly bitter and distinctly reproachful. 
 
 " Indeed ! " said Trafford, scenting a character, and 
 drawing him out. 
 
 " Yes," said the other in rising tones, " with a few 
 of his red-hot sentences fresh from heaven or hell, or 
 wherever it is he draws his inspirations, he'd light a 
 flame that would roast Karl and all his pack of venial 
 favourites and hungry courtesans." 
 
 Trafford smiled appreciatively. There were symp- 
 toms of a battle-light in those big, grey eyes, a certain 
 rude force and stubborn vigour on those heavy, bo- 
 vine features. 
 
 " Father Bernhardt's in the Strafeburg," said the 
 American. 
 
 " Alas, yes," admitted the stranger in a voice of in- 
 finite sadness. " He alone held the threads of revolu- 
 tion in his hands. He alone possessed the magic of 
 command, the subtle influence that turns canaille into 
 heroes. Without him we are an army of sheep without 
 a leader."
 
 MUSIC AND THE MOB 149 
 
 "Why not attempt a rescue?" suggested Trafford. 
 
 The other made a gesture of contempt. 
 
 " Look at us," he said, with a wave of his hand. 
 " Do we look the sort of people to pull down six-foot 
 walls in the face of rifle bullets ? We've been peppered 
 once to-night, and we didn't like it. Then the firemen 
 turned their hoses on us, and the cold water was worse 
 than the hot fire. Look at mj hat ! " 
 
 Trafford regarded the high felt head-covering, and 
 could not restrain a smile. Its crown was shiny and 
 cockled, and its brim limp and dripping. 
 
 " I'm wet through," went on the stranger patheti- 
 cally, " and I'm going home. I'm a doctor, and if 
 there's not going to be a revolution, I'm not going to 
 undermine my constitution watching these cowards do 
 nothing." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said Trafford cheerily, " Something 
 must and will be done. Why, my good man, I've come 
 all the way from New York to see a revolution, and do 
 you suppose I'm going back without seeing one ? " 
 
 " You'd better make a speech," suggested the 
 stranger sarcastically. 
 
 " That's not a bad idea," said Trafford, rubbing 
 his chin thoughtfully, "but I think I've got a better 
 one." 
 
 The stranger turned his glance on the American, a 
 spark of interest in his gloomy eye. 
 
 " I heard a song the other night at the Eden 
 Theatre," went on Trafford. " I think it was called 
 the * Rothlied.' Its effect on the audience was remark- 
 able. Old men became boys, women went fighting mad,
 
 150 GLORIA 
 
 and officers in uniforms swore death to all. If we could 
 get the * Rothlied ' going we'd have Father Bernhardt 
 out of the Strafeburg in half an hour." 
 
 " Young man," said the stranger solemnly, " I'm 
 not sure you're not a genius." 
 
 " Neither am I," said Traff ord modestly. " Look 
 here can you sing? " 
 
 " I have a powerful baritone and you ? " 
 
 " Have the voice of a crow," said Trafford. " Also 
 I don't know the words, and I'm not very sure of the 
 tune." 
 
 The other repeated a few lines in Trafford's ear and 
 hummed a few bars of the melody. 
 
 " That's all right," said Trafford. " Now then, as 
 loud as you can. One two three 
 
 " Tremble tyrants, base and callous, 
 Tremble at the people's cry, 
 See the flaming star of freedom 
 Rise blood-red in the sky." 
 
 In a trice the song was taken up by those nearest the 
 two agitators, and in an incredibly short time the whole 
 square was resounding with the swinging chorus of the 
 inflammatory melody. The thing succeeded beyond all 
 expectation. A new temper seemed to come over the 
 entire throng. Wet clothes were forgotten in an access 
 of revolutionary ardour. Men who had seen red 
 wounds and staring death forgot the chill remembrance 
 in the burning music of the " Rothlied." Louder and 
 louder it swelled, fiercer grew the gesticulations of the 
 fermenting mob. The whole mass swayed and surged 
 with the leaven of revived fanaticism.
 
 MUSIC AND THE MOB 151 
 
 "We've got something to work on now," said Traf- 
 ford gleefully. " Give me a pick-a-back, Herr Doctor, 
 and I'll make a speech." 
 
 The doctor bent his massive back, and Trafford 
 climbed up on to the broad shoulders. 
 
 " Into the thick of them, good doctor horse ! " he 
 cried, and the doctor struggled on manfully under his 
 burden, albeit he lost his high felt hat in the press, 
 and the cold wind chilled the perspiration on his be- 
 nevolent brow. And Trafford addressed the populace 
 with fervid words and execrable grammar, and for 
 some inexplicable reason his assurance and manifest 
 energy won him a ready hearing and savage applause. 
 
 " Form barricades ! " he shouted at the conclusion 
 of his wild address. 
 
 " Why ? " whispered the doctor. 
 
 " Don't you know that there is no such thing as a 
 revolution without barricades," replied the American, 
 " they are a necessary part of the game. Form bar- 
 ricades, my brothers ! " he repeated in louder tones. 
 
 " With what? " demanded one. 
 
 "With snow, son of a crossing-sweeper!" replied 
 Trafford. " Work hard, brothers, and form a rampart 
 breast high, and hold it against all comers." 
 
 The tone of command and his imposing position on 
 the big doctor's shoulders, won their way. The doc- 
 tor, too, was recognised as a prominent burgher of 
 " advanced " tendencies, and the crowd set to work 
 with the utmost energy and determination. 
 
 " What on earth are you doing ? " asked a soft 
 voice by his side.
 
 152 GLORIA 
 
 Looking down he perceived the Princess Gloria. 
 The girl was evidently under the stress of great excite- 
 ment ; her eyes were unnaturally bright and her bosom 
 was heaving tumultuously under her coat of sables. 
 But when her eyes met Trafford's she laughed ; it would 
 not have been the Princess Gloria had she not done so. 
 
 " What on earth are you doing on Doctor Matti's 
 shoulders ? " she repeated. 
 
 " Telling the people to make snow-men for the 
 Dragoons to charge against," he replied. 
 
 " But that won't stop them," she objected. 
 
 " Of course it won't," he agreed, " but it keeps these 
 fellows warm and busy. The essence of a revolution 
 is to keep things moving. Inaction is the foe to insur- 
 rection." 
 
 " You talk like a paid agitator," she said, still 
 smiling. 
 
 "I am. The highest-paid agitator that ever was. 
 Have you forgotten the agreed price ? " 
 
 " It will never be earned," said the Princess in a low 
 voice. " Our plans are ruined. Father Bernhardt has 
 been taken, and without him our organisation crumbles 
 to pieces." 
 
 " Nil desperandum Tencro duce et auspice Tencro," 
 quoted Trafford softly. "Substitute Trafford for 
 Tencro, and hope is unvanquished." 
 
 " You are going to lead us ? " asked the Princess, 
 with a note of expectant confidence that ministered 
 strangely to Trafford's pride. 
 
 " Certainly," he replied, " but we want a little more 
 enthusiasm."
 
 MUSIC AND THE MOB 153 
 
 " But the people are frantic," objected the doctor. 
 
 " I was referring to the soldiers," explained Traf- 
 ford drily. " They lack enthusiasm for the popular 
 cause." 
 
 " They are our enemies," said the Princess bitterly ; 
 " they have fired on us several times to-night." 
 
 " They are Grimlanders," retorted Trafford, " and 
 they only want a slight excuse to forget discipline, 
 and remember their national characteristics." 
 
 " I think we shall do well to trust the gentleman on 
 my shoulders," advised Doctor Matti. " It was he 
 who set the * Rothlied ' going, and put fresh courage 
 into the hearts of the people. I believe he possesses a. 
 most magnetic personality." 
 
 " So do I," agreed the Princess heartily. " Ten 
 minutes ago all was despondency and depression. 
 From the time the prison doors were shut on Father 
 Bernhardt all energy and enthusiasm seemed to die. 
 No one appeared to know me. I could not make myself 
 heard. I was lost in a mob of my own partisans. Now 
 the whole throng is in motion. Pressure is put on the 
 soldiers at every point. If this gentleman were to lead 
 a charge all might be won." 
 
 Trafford laughed recklessly. The situation was 
 mending with extraordinary rapidity. There was talk 
 now of charges, instead of returning home, and the 
 touching confidence of the Princess in his generalship 
 put the coping stone on his exhilaration. 
 
 " Will you do exactly what I tell you? " he asked of 
 the Princess. 
 
 " Absolutely," was the sweet reply.
 
 154- GLORIA 
 
 " If the people don't recognise you as the Princess," 
 he went on, " they must recognise you as the Schone 
 Fraulein Schmitt, of the Eden Theatre. From my 
 point of vantage on this good gentleman's shoulders 
 I see a sleigh not far from us, with a couple of horses, 
 blocked in the crowd. Let us annex it in the name of 
 beautiful Miss Smith." 
 
 At Trafford's command the doctor bore him through 
 the surging, singing press towards the sleigh, the Prin- 
 cess following closely in their wake. It was a public 
 vehicle of the cab type, and the driver stood at the 
 horse's head, wondering resignedly when it would be 
 possible to get out of his present impasse. 
 
 " Hi ! coachman," sung out Traff ord ; " are you en- 
 gaged ? " 
 
 " Engaged ! Excellency. I've been here three hours 
 in the midst of these excited gentlemen, and I daren't 
 move, for the temper of the people is none too pleasant 
 to risk an accident." 
 
 "That's all right," said Trafford. "I'll charter 
 your cab for the evening. Here's a twenty krone 
 piece." So saying, Trafford leaped on the box-seat 
 and bade Doctor Matti and the Princess enter the 
 vehicle. With a crack of the whip, and a cry of " Make 
 way there for the beautiful Fraulein Schmitt! Way 
 for the singer of the ' Rothlied ! ' " he forced a slow and 
 dangerous progress through the close-packed multitude. 
 His objective was the neck of the Konigstrasse, and 
 somehow he arrived there without injuring life or limb. 
 Between the cordon of infantry and the mob was an 
 open space, up and down which a number of officers
 
 MUSIC AND THE MOB 155 
 
 walked with drawn swords and a palpable air of nerv- 
 ousness. The crowd was still singing the incendiary 
 song, and the rank and file of the soldiers looked ob- 
 viously bored with their duties, and longing to join in 
 the chorus. Trafford drew up on the verge of the open 
 space. 
 
 " Silence, my friends ! " he called out to the crowd, 
 rising to his feet on the box. " Silence for the Schone 
 Frdulein Schmitt, of the Eden Theatre ! " 
 
 The Princess rose at his gesture of command. Her 
 face was pale, and her twitching hands betokened in- 
 tense nervousness, but there was a twinkle in her eye 
 that showed that she added humour to the proverbial 
 courage of her race. And in the intense silence of ap- 
 preciation her sweet young soprano rang out free and 
 fresh into the cold night air. Confidence came to her 
 with each additional line of the song. The occasion, 
 which had begun by almost overwhelming her, served 
 now but to stimulate her highest powers. She put fire 
 into her melody ; she added gestures appropriate and 
 warlike; she became not merely a singer, but Bellona 
 herself, young and beautiful and ardent. 
 
 " Hurrah for the beautiful Fraulein ! Hurrah for 
 freedom I " shouted the crowd. 
 
 " The chorus, now ! " yelled Trafford, with a special 
 appeal to the soldiers ; and, as he had anticipated, the 
 chorus was sung, not by the mob alone, but by the 
 triple line of infantry holding the neck of the Konig- 
 strasse. Harsh commands were given by frantic offi- 
 cers, but to no avail. The music had got into the 
 men's blood, and curses and entreaties, blows even,
 
 156 GLORIA 
 
 failed signally to check the tide of revolutionary 
 song. 
 
 " Well sung, brothers ! " cried out Trafford as the 
 song died down. " Three cheers for the beautiful 
 Fraulein Schmitt!" 
 
 Three cheers were given by all, and with especial 
 heartiness by the soldiers. 
 
 " Now, listen to what I'm going to say," went on 
 Trafford in stentorian tones. " The lady who just 
 sang that song isn't the beautiful Fraulein Schmitt, 
 for there is no such person. The beautiful Fraulein 
 Schmitt is the most noble and high-born Princess 
 Gloria von Schattenberg, whom you are going to set 
 on the throne of Grimland. Behold your Queen who is 
 to be!" 
 
 At these words a mighty shout rent the air. No one 
 seemed to doubt the truth of the startling denouement; 
 the crowd was drunk with its own singing, drunk with 
 the lust of anarchy, its reasoning faculties dulled in a 
 wild orgy of rebellion. The form and features of the 
 Princess Gloria were practically unknown in Weiden- 
 bruck, but all the Grimlander's innate love of change 
 had grouped itself beneath the aegis of her name. For 
 years she had been the official figure-head of the revolu- 
 tionary party. Wild legends and poetic fantasies had 
 been woven round her little-known existence. And now 
 the present dramatic disclosure of her personality, 
 identified as it was with that of the popular Fraulein 
 Schmitt, the singer of the all-pervading " Rothlied," 
 kindled an enthusiasm no bonds could restrain. 
 
 " Long live the noble and high-born Princess ! "
 
 MUSIC AND THE MOB 157 
 
 shouted Trafford, but his voice was drowned in the wild 
 confusion of cries that shook the air like thunder. The 
 soldiers broke their ranks and mingled with the crowd ; 
 several of the officers joined the swelling stream of in- 
 surrection ; a few, neither wholly false nor wholly 
 brave, slunk off down the Konigstrasse, pursued by 
 the jeers of their late subordinates. 
 
 Trafford, with the instincts of a true leader, struck 
 hard while the iron glowed. 
 
 " To the Strafeburg! " he cried. 
 
 " To the Strafeburg ! " shouted a hundred respon- 
 sive voices. 
 
 Trafford cracked his whip, and set his horse in mo- 
 tion towards the prison house. 
 
 " To the Strafeburg ! Make way there ! way for the 
 Queen ! " he cried. And in a seething unison of strug- 
 gling limbs and straining throats, the vast crowd of 
 men and women, soldiers and civilians, pressed irresist- 
 ibly towards the doomed prison house.
 
 CHAPTER FIFTEEN 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF ULKICH 
 
 VON HUGELWEILER, standing with his paltry hun- 
 dred men facing the wild throng, wondered what this 
 new press and surge of human billows might portend. 
 So far he had done his duty loyally and well : hour after 
 hour he had stood at his post watching the varying 
 temper of the people, as it seethed and cooled and then 
 rose suddenly again to more than boiling heat. Nor 
 did this fresh mood of aggression affright him with its 
 terrifying unanimity and savage outburst of song. He 
 was essentially a man of temperament. Egotist, in 
 the sense that he valued his own happiness and well- 
 being above all things, he was no coward. Egotists, 
 in fact, seldom are, for their swollen self-esteem cannot 
 lightly suffer so humiliating a burden as a suspicion 
 of timidity. Moreover, he was young and virile, a scion 
 of a warlike family, and the vibrant roar of a thousand 
 voices served but to string his nerves to the heroic 
 pitch. Had he foreseen the post that was to be as- 
 signed him that evening his dark cheek might have 
 blanched at the prospect, and his spirit sickened be- 
 fore the appalling ferocity of the hungering mob. 
 But the actual situation, serious beyond all expecta- 
 tion, found him not merely calm and determined, but 
 actually desirous of bringing matters to the touch. 
 Perhaps the " Rothlied's " wild measure had mounted 
 
 158
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF ULRICH 159 
 
 his brain and made him drunk with its pulsing beat, 
 for he almost wished that these wild men and women 
 who surged towards him so threateningly were his com- 
 rades in some task of note or honour. Yet, if they 
 were his foes, he prayed that they would attack at once 
 and give swift scope to his itching sword-arm. So, 
 blade in hand, with bright eye and scornful lip, no 
 mean figure of a soldier in his grey-blue surcoat, he 
 stood at the head of his company before the portals 
 of the Strafeburg. 
 
 But his astonishment was great when, with a sway- 
 ing of the mob and a louder note of acclaim, the sleigh 
 driven by Trafford emerged into the open space held 
 by the patrolling Dragoons. He failed for the mo- 
 ment to recognise in the driver his late rival of the 
 Rundsee, but his eye quickly detected the fur-enveloped 
 figure of the Princess on the back seat. For a mo- 
 ment his heart stood still, for the Dragoons were gal- 
 loping up from the right-hand corner of the building, 
 and he feared that in the shock of the encounter vio- 
 lence or mischance might lay low the fair creature whom 
 he loved more than his honour or his King. But the 
 temper of the people was not to let their new-found 
 heroine be seized or trampled on before their eyes, and 
 a section of the mob, stiffened by the mutinied soldiers, 
 thrust a stout wedge between the Princess and the on- 
 coming cavalry. 
 
 Trafford rose to his feet on the summit of the box. 
 Quicker of perception than Von Hiigelweiler, he recog- 
 nised the latter in an instant. 
 
 " Good-evening, Herr Captain ! " he called out
 
 160 GLORIA 
 
 genially ; " kindly open the door of the Straf eburg, 
 jour Queen desires it." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's eyes wore a daze of wonderment. 
 What on earth was the American doing on the box of 
 the Princess's sleigh? 
 
 " Give your men the order to let us pass," went on 
 Trafford with masterful good humour ; " I want to 
 avoid bloodshed! The people mean entering the 
 Straf eburg ; they mean rescuing Father Bernhardt ! " 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler laughed scornfully, a rising anger 
 in his heart. How dared this mad foreigner address 
 him in such tones of easy condescension, as if he were 
 a dog to be coaxed aside from a door! What was he 
 doing championing the Princess his Princess? 
 
 " You are a very confident fellow, Herr Trafford ! " 
 lie called back ; " but if you mean forcing this door- 
 way you must do it by your own valour. You have no 
 favourable umpire here, as on the Rundsee." 
 
 The allusion passed Trafford by. Nor did he per- 
 ceive that he was face to face with an angry and ex- 
 cited man. 
 
 " Don't waste time, Captain ! " he cried. " You see 
 these soldiers here fraternising with the crowd? Ten 
 minutes ago they were holding the Konigstrasse for 
 TCarl. Do you see those Dragoons over there? Are 
 they forcing a bloody way through the throng to effect 
 our capture ? No ; the troopers are laughing with the 
 crowd ; some of them are singing the * Rothlied ' ; even 
 the officers are resigning themselves to the inevitable, 
 and cheering for the Princess." 
 
 This was anything but a true description of the real
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF ULRICH 161 
 
 state of affairs, as Trafford could see from his exalted 
 position on the box. To Von Hiigelweiler, however, 
 who could see nothing but a confused mass, it 
 sounded probable enough. In reality, a pretty stern 
 struggle was going on, the officer commanding the 
 Dragoons desiring above all things to annex the per- 
 son of the Princess, while at the same time unwilling 
 to embitter the fury of the people by further slaughter. 
 No firearms were used, but the troopers were employ- 
 ing the flats of their swords to considerable purpose, 
 and despite the courage of the people and the support 
 of the mutineers, the protecting wedge between the 
 Princess and the cavalry was being appreciably di- 
 minished. Trafford saw that success must come 
 quickly or not at all. 
 
 " Let us pass, Captain," he went on. " There's been 
 enough bloodshed to-night. I don't want to hurt a 
 good sportsman like yourself." 
 
 But Captain Von Hiigelweiler was in no mood to 
 yield to an implied threat. 
 
 " To the devil with your kindness ! " he cried wildly, 
 brandishing his sword with a defiant gesture. " Drop 
 words and come to hand-grips, scTiweinhund of an 
 American ! " 
 
 These words would doubtless have had their effect 
 on the excitable Trafford had not the Princess grasped 
 the vital danger of the moment. In a twinkling she 
 .had risen to her feet and thrown out her arms ap- 
 pealingly. 
 
 " Ulrich," she implored, " I want your help. The 
 whole city is on my side; will you alone stand between
 
 162 GLORIA 
 
 me and my ambition? Help me now, and I can give 
 you rewards beside which the King's Prize you failed 
 to win yesterday will seem a trivial and empty honour." 
 
 " I want no bribes," said the Captain between his 
 teeth. 
 
 " I will make you captain of my body-guard," pur- 
 sued the Princess in tones of soft entreaty. " It will 
 be your sacred duty to guard my person day and 
 night. Ulrich, for the sake of the old days at Weiss- 
 heim, will you let me pass? " 
 
 An anarchy of tangled emotions rioted through the 
 Captain's brain. He half-closed his eyes, and his 
 whole form tottered like that of a drunken man. 
 
 " Ulrich ! " breathed the Princess. 
 
 There was a moment's silence, a life-time of twenty 
 seconds, during which the blood left the Captain's 
 face and crowded his bursting heart. Theri came the 
 jangling crash of steel on stone. Captain Ulrich von 
 Hiigelweiler had thrown his sword on to the steps of 
 the prison-house. 
 
 " Soldiers, present arms ! " he called out in a hoarse 
 voice; and between the ranks of saluting infantry the 
 Princess and her followers passed into the Strafeburg.
 
 CHAPTER SIXTEEN 
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 
 
 "WHERE is George Trafford?" asked Mrs. Saunders 
 of her husband. 
 
 It was just on ten o'clock, ten minutes, in fact, after 
 Trafford had bluffed an exit from the Neptunburg; 
 and Mrs. Saunders was sitting in the Rubens room in 
 the company of Frau von Bilderbaum. To retire to 
 bed in the present unsettled state of affairs was un- 
 thinkable, and the two women, so unlike in tempera- 
 ment and feature, yet linked by the subtle bond of 
 wifehood, sat, to their mutual comfort, in the great 
 state-room opening on to the palace courtyard. Dis- 
 turbances were common things at Weidenbruck, but to- 
 night there was an extra pressure in the atmosphere. 
 The air was full of fever and unrest, pregnant with 
 some issue of decisive import. A dull anxiety was. 
 written on the women's faces ; their eyes seemed watch- 
 ing, their ears expectantly listening for something. 
 The tension was almost unbearable in its strained 
 silence, and Mrs. Saunders hailed her husband's ad- 
 vent with a sigh of relief. 
 
 " Where is George Trafford? " she asked again. 
 
 " I don't know," replied Saunders, " but he's not 
 where I intended him to be locked in my dressing- 
 room with a brandy and soda, and a pack of cards to 
 play patience with.'* 
 
 Saunders had entered from the courtyard, though 
 163
 
 164 GLORIA 
 
 the chamber possessed two other doors connecting it 
 with the corridors of the Neptunburg. The room it- 
 self was of considerable size, rich in works of art, mel- 
 low with abundant candle-light and the numerous gold 
 frames that housed some choice products of the old 
 Flemish painters. The fireplace, by which the two 
 ladies were seated, was a much carven affair of pale- 
 rose marble with blue-purple markings. The tiles 
 round the huge grate were of old Persian manufacture, 
 holding the rich blue and green tints that modern 
 chemistry strives so unsuccessfully to approximate. 
 In one corner of the room stood a tall, ornate clock, 
 presented to a predecessor of Karl's by the Pompa- 
 dour: on the mantelpiece reposed a pair of porphyry 
 vases, the gift of the late Czar. 
 
 Frau von Bilderbaum was smoking a cigarette in 
 enormous puffs, her wide nostrils dilating spasmodi- 
 cally with the emotion that filled her capacious frame. 
 
 " Then you have no idea where this wretched Ameri- 
 can is ? " she demanded in thick tones of pent wrathful- 
 ness. 
 
 "Not the faintest," replied Saunders. "If I 
 hazarded a guess, I should say in the Strafeburg." 
 
 " A prisoner? " questioned Mrs. Saunders quickly. 
 " I hope so." 
 
 " I hope so, too," said Saunders, " but I have my 
 doubts ; I wish I had never induced the fellow to come 
 to Grimland he is too much in his element. He is just 
 the sort of lunatic to appeal to the average Weiden- 
 brucker. But talking of lunatics, thank goodness 
 Father Bernhardt is safe under lock and key at last ! "
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 165 
 
 "How do you know? " asked Frau von Bilderbaum. 
 
 " A telephone message has just come through from 
 the police-station ; it is good news. With that devil- 
 ridden priest at large, and Nervy Trafford fooling 
 about, it's tough work keeping a sane Government on 
 its legs." 
 
 " I thought you were not going to let Mr. Trafford 
 leave the Palace? " interjected Mrs. Saunders. 
 
 " That was certainly our intention," admitted 
 Saunders, " but he argued otherwise, his argument 
 taking the practical form of a six-chambered revolver, 
 and well " 
 
 "He threatened you?" interrupted Mrs. Saunders 
 indignantly. 
 
 " Not me, perhaps ; but Meyer certainly by impli- 
 cation. Anyway, we let him go to his fate. He will 
 quite probably be shot heading a charge against the 
 military. In anything of a disturbance he sees red, 
 and his thinking powers come automatically to a 
 standstill." 
 
 " I hate this Mr. Trafford ! " exclaimed Frau von 
 Bilderbaum in harsh, guttural tones, and puffing 
 furiously at her cigarette. " Why does not he stay in 
 his own country and wreck that ? I hate him ! " 
 
 " I don't," said Mrs. Saunders quietly ; " I rather 
 like him. But I wish my husband had knocked him on 
 the head rather than let him leave the Neptunburg." 
 
 At this point the door opened and the King entered, 
 accompanied by General von Bilderbaum. The Gen- 
 eral's face was scarlet, contrasting effectively with his 
 snowy hair and moustache and the immaculate white-
 
 166 GLORIA 
 
 ness of his uniform. His manner, like that of his 
 wife, was strongly agitated, and it was evident that 
 the civic tumult had roused his fighting spirit to a 
 point dangerously near apoplexy. The King, in con- 
 trast, looked grey and sad, but his face brightened a 
 little as the ladies rose at his entrance. 
 
 " Things seem to be quieting down a little in the 
 Domkircheplatz," he said. " I have been talking to 
 my Prefect Kummer on the telephone, and he thinks 
 the square will be empty in half an hour." 
 
 " I am glad," said Mrs. Saunders simply. 
 
 " I am very glad," echoed Saunders ; " I feel some 
 responsibility in the matter. It was I who induced 
 Trafford to come to Weidenbruck. The fellow was in 
 trouble, and I wanted to show him sport ; but I did not 
 want him to find his sport at the expense of my 
 host." 
 
 Karl laid a kindly hand on Saunders' shoulder. 
 
 " My very dear friend," he said, " this morning you 
 saved my life. About this time three years ago you 
 saved it under even more dramatic circumstances and 
 at even greater personal risk. There is no room for 
 apologies from you to me." A silence followed his 
 Majesty's words. Then the King went on: " Besides, 
 this mad American friend of yours is a very small part 
 of my troubles. Were my subjects loyal men and true, 
 his capacity for harm would be nil; as it is, I think we 
 over-rate it. With Father Bernhardt in the Strafe- 
 burg we can sleep safe and sound in our beds to- 
 night." His Majesty touched the electric bell. " Let 
 us drink death to anarchy and revolution," he went on,
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 167 
 
 as the ma j or-domo Bomcke appeared. " Bomcke, 
 brandy and cigarettes, if you please." 
 
 In a trice the whiskered and stately Bomcke pro- 
 duced the necessary stimulants from a Buhl cupboard, 
 and set the shining glass and silver on the great cir- 
 cular table of Florentine inlay. 
 
 The men filled their glasses in turn. 
 
 " Death to anarchy, sire ! " cried General von Bil- 
 derbaum ; " and may my sword help to deal its death- 
 blow." 
 
 " Death to traitors, cowards, and " began 
 
 Saunders, but his speech was checked by the appear- 
 ance on the scene of General Meyer. 
 
 " What news? " demanded his Majesty. 
 
 " Good and bad, sire," replied the Commander-in- 
 Chief. 
 
 " The good first, please," said Karl. 
 
 " The Red Hussars have refused to quit their bar- 
 racks." 
 
 The King's face fell. 
 
 " You call that good news? " he said after a pause. 
 
 " Distinctly," returned Meyer. " Had they turned 
 out they would undoubtedly have sided with the rioters. 
 I know their admirable Colonel, and the etat d'ame of 
 his command." 
 
 The King put his brandy and soda down untasted 
 on the table. 
 
 " Now for the bad news," he said firmly. 
 
 " They are singing the * Rothlied ' in front of the 
 Strafeburg, sire," was the Commander-in-Chief's reply. 
 
 " Is that all? " demanded his Majesty.
 
 168 GLORIA 
 
 Meyer shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Your Majesty's subjects are very musical folk," 
 he said drily, " and the * Rothlied ' is a very remark- 
 able melody. I heard it the other day, and it had al- 
 most the effect of making me feel heroic. That speaks 
 volumes for its potency." 
 
 In the silence which followed these words was heard 
 the distant tinkling of the telephone bell. The King 
 made as though to move towards the door, but changed 
 his mind and remained where he was, signalling to 
 Bomcke to take the call. There were three endless 
 minutes during which no one spoke ; on the faces of all 
 might be read in contracted brow and half-open mouth 
 the sharp dominating expectancy that possessed them, 
 the sickening fear of ill-tidings, and the struggling 
 hope of good. Then the major-domo reappeared, and 
 the struggling hope was extinguished. Bomcke's face, 
 always waxen, was deathly pale, and his suave, smug 
 pomposity had given way to a palsy of agitation. 
 
 "Well?" demanded; the King; but no answering 
 speech issued from Bomcke's twitching lips. 
 
 "Speak, man!" interjected General von Bilder- 
 baum wrathfully, but the major-domo merely bowed 
 unctuously and fumbled stupidly with his white hands. 
 
 " What is it, Bomcke? " asked the King, more kindly. 
 
 " The Strafeburg " said the steward, forming 
 
 his words with infinite difficulty. 
 
 " Go on," said Meyer, almost as bloodless as the in- 
 vertebrate major-domo. 
 
 " The Strafeburg," repeated Bomcke stupidly. 
 
 " Yes, yes, yes ! " screamed Frau von Bilderbaum,
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 169 
 
 losing all patience. ** And what about the Strafe- 
 burg? " 
 
 The question was never answered; perhaps it never 
 needed an answer, for the stern faces of the King and 
 his Generals showed that they knew the worst. But 
 there was another reason for postponing their interro- 
 gations. A distant sound of many voices was audible 
 to the inmates of the Rubens room. It was a sound 
 similar to that which had interrupted the dinner-party 
 at the Neptunburg that evening, a snarling roar of 
 malice and insensate fury. Louder it swelled with 
 amazing rapidity, and there was a note of reckless 
 triumph in its depths that had something very terrible 
 and disconcerting in it. 
 
 "Have I your Majesty's permission?" demanded 
 General von Bilderbaum, drawing his sword and hold- 
 ing it in stiff salute. 
 
 " Where is the guard? " asked Karl. 
 
 " In the courtyard, sire," replied Meyer, " Cap- 
 tain Traun-Nelidoff is in command." 
 
 " Have I your Majesty's permission to take over 
 that command? " persisted Von Bilderbaum. 
 
 For a moment the King stood motionless in deep 
 thought. 
 
 " I will usurp that position myself," he said at 
 length, going to the door leading on to the courtyard 
 and flinging it open. The roar of the shrieking rabble 
 burst in through the doorway in waves of terrifying 
 sound. 
 
 Meyer poured himself out a half-tumblerful of neat 
 brandy, thought better of it, and handed it to the col-
 
 170 GLORIA 
 
 lapsing Bomcke. When he looked up the King had 
 disappeared into the courtyard, with General von Bil- 
 derbaum and Saunders in his wake. With a strange 
 grimace and a muttered " Folly ! " he followed, too, 
 with leaden steps. For a moment Mrs. Saunders and 
 Frau von Bilderbaum were left alone. Their eyes met, 
 and then their hands. Both asked a silent question, and 
 both returned a silent answer. Then, throwing softie 
 loose wraps around their shoulders, they also went out 
 to face the grim menace of the night. 
 
 In the courtyard of the Neptunburg a company of 
 soldiers was drawn up before the fountain and leaden 
 statue of the sea-god. On three sides were stone 
 fa9ades of piedmented windows and classic pilasters. 
 On the fourth side, facing the Konigstrasse, were 
 wrought-iron gates between high piers of carved 
 masonry, bearing electric arc lamps. Overhead the 
 stars burned clear in the cold heaven; underfoot was 
 the trampled carpet of semestral snow. 
 
 " Shall we fire on the mob, sire? " demanded Traun- 
 Nelidoff, a tall, lean officer, whose eyes shone as 
 brightly as his drawn sword. 
 
 Karl shook his head. The rabble were pressed 
 against the iron railings in a frenzy of destructive 
 lust. Hands were thrust graspingly. between the bars, 
 curses and jeers issued unceasingly from grinning lips; 
 the analogy to terriers outside a rat-trap was irresis- 
 tible. But Karl was taking stock of the personnel of 
 his enemies. There were low ruffians in abundance, 
 " hooligans," " apaches," " larrikins " (as they are 
 called in different cities), " nightwolves," as they were
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 171 
 
 called in Weidenbruck men with the narrow, receding 
 foreheads that can only house vile thoughts, the ugly, 
 misshapen mouths that can only utter base words, the 
 long, loose arms that are more fitted for garotting than 
 honest work. Yet there were others : men with hot eyes, 
 indeed, and upraised voices, but clothed in decent gar- 
 ments, burghers of some standing in the Stadt, men 
 with a stake in the country who would not welcome 
 anarchy for its own wild sake. There were soldiers, 
 too, in the throng, and here and there a smart uniform 
 that bespoke an officer of the line. Karl watched, and 
 as he watched the lines deepened on his grey face. 
 
 " Traun-Nelidoff," he shouted hoarsely, " open the 
 gates ! " 
 
 "We are to charge, sire?" came the breathless in- 
 quiry. 
 
 " No. These are my people ; I wish to speak with 
 them." 
 
 Traun-Nelidoff protested with a glance, but Karl's 
 face was set like stone. 
 
 With slow steps the Captain of the Guard advanced 
 to the palace gates. He laid his hand on the huge key, 
 but it would not budge. He put the point of his sword 
 into the iron ring and used it as a lever, and with a 
 raucous clang the bolt shot back. There was no need 
 to do more. In a twinkling the twin gates were hurled 
 open by the dense pressure of the closely-packed mob, 
 and in at few seconds the stately courtyard was a mass 
 of revolutionaries. 
 
 The King and his late companions of the Rubensaal 
 were separated from the Guard by the rush of incomers,
 
 172 GLORIA 
 
 but there was no attack made upon their person. For 
 a moment even there was silence; perhaps the unex- 
 pectedness of the situation gave the rebels pause ; per- 
 haps the dignity of the royal presence shamed their 
 violence. And, in that silence, Karl stepped forward 
 as if to speak, but just at that moment there was a 
 sudden cry of 
 
 " Way there ! way for the Queen Gloria ! " and with 
 a crack of a whip a sleigh drove through the open 
 gates into the courtyard. The driver was George 
 Trafford! In the body of the car sat the Princess 
 Gloria, pale and softly weeping, but struggling bravely 
 with her tears. On one side of her was Doctor Matti, 
 and on the other Father Bernhardt. But there was 
 something else in the sleigh, something that was neither 
 man nor woman, and yet had the lineaments of a human 
 being. The Iron Maiden had been taken from the cap- 
 tured Strafeburg, and was being borne in triumph to 
 the home of its owner. Ever since the death of the late 
 Archbishop, and the spreading of the vile legend 
 which ascribed his sudden demise to the embrace of the 
 celebrated Eisenmadchen, the thing had stood as the 
 symbol of the cruelty and despotism of the twenty- 
 second Karl. So when the tide of revolution had swept 
 into the ancient prison-house, rude hands had plucked 
 the maiden from her home, and set her on the sleigh 
 with the leaders of their emancipation. 
 
 The sleigh pulled up before the King. 
 
 " I want to avoid bloodshed," began Trafford in 
 English, but even as he spoke the mob re-found its old 
 temper. Cries and curses ruined all prospect of a par-
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 173 
 
 ley; desperate men and wild women pressed in on the 
 royal party, and clutching hands were thrust even in 
 the King's face. This was too much for General von 
 Bilderbaum. His hand, which had been itching on his 
 sword hilt, flashed the weapon from its sheath and 
 struck down a sallow ruffian who had impinged too 
 recklessly on the King's person. In an instant rough 
 hands were laid on the stout old soldier, and the Gen- 
 eral's honourable career looked to be near its certain 
 termination. But there was one near him as devoted 
 to the General as the General was to his Sovereign. 
 With the quickness of thought Frau von Bilderbaum 
 hurled her ample person between her husband and his 
 assailants. A plump hand was swung, there was a 
 sounding smack of flesh meeting flesh, and a " night 
 wolf " was lying prostrate and smarting in the snow. 
 The sight of the Amazonian fury standing with di- 
 lated nostrils and fiery glance before her lord and 
 master touched the humour of the crowd. 
 
 " Well struck, housewife ! " shouted one ; and for a 
 moment a burst of laughter took the place of fierce 
 cries and yells of derision. But while the incident 
 was taking place, Trafford had descended from his box- 
 seat and engaged in conversation with Saunders. The 
 latter listened with a grave face, looked doubtful, 
 and ultimately nodded. Then, as Trafford remounted 
 to his seat, Saunders in turn whispered earnestly in 
 the King's ear. And almost at once, so quick are 
 the moods of mobs, the comic scene was forgotten 
 and the lust of vengeance came uppermost again in 
 the minds of the insurgents.
 
 174. GLORIA 
 
 " Death to the tyrants ! " shouted some. " Death 
 to Karl! Away with oppressors of the people's lib- 
 erty!" 
 
 It was a moment of crisis. Things had reached a 
 head, and in a minute unless something was done there 
 would be a hideous massacre. 
 
 With upraised hands Karl plunged boldly forward 
 and addressed the crowd. He spoke, but no word was 
 audible. A deafening chorus of jeers and curses stifled 
 his utterance. Pale, leonine, unflinching, he faced the 
 rabid throng. Then suddenly Trafford and Father 
 Bernhardt descended from the sleigh. Between them, 
 and with the help of Doctor Matti, they dragged the 
 Iron Maiden out on to the snow of the courtyard. The 
 Princess bent forward in an agony of entreaty, but 
 the ex-priest silenced her with a word. Then quick as 
 thought Trafford seized the isolated monarch, pushed 
 him inside the Eisenmadchen, and with an apparently 
 great effort shut the doors slowly on his victim. The 
 horror took the crowd by surprise. They had come 
 lusting for blood but not for torture. A low intake 
 of the breath made simultaneously by a hundred 
 throats gave a vast sibilant sound. Men looked at 
 each other in frozen horror. A woman burst into high 
 hysterical laughter. Then with a sudden impulse born 
 of guilty remorse, the huge concourse began to slink 
 away from the scene. At first by twos and threes, 
 then by tens and twenties, then in one universal strug- 
 gling rush. In a few minutes the only occupants of 
 the courtyard were the royal party, the guard and 
 the Iron Maiden.
 
 KING AND CANAILLE 175 
 
 " Close the gates, please, Traun-Nelidoff," ordered 
 Saunders. 
 
 Mechanically the officer did as he was bid. General 
 Meyer was looking at his boots with a vacant stare. 
 Beads of perspiration were standing on his brow. Von 
 Bilderbaum was rubbing snow in an absent-minded way 
 on his wife's face, the lady having swooned in his arms. 
 
 " You let him do it you let him do it," muttered 
 Mrs. Saunders reproachfully to her husband. 
 
 " Yes, I let him do it," he answered. " It was Traf- 
 ford's own idea, and shows how near genius lies to 
 madness. You see, there were no spikes in the Iron 
 Maiden; they were all in Trafford's overcoat pocket."
 
 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 
 
 " CAPTAIN " TRAFFORD 
 
 IN his room in the Hotel Concordia, Nervy Trafford 
 was standing before a long looking-glass, surveying 
 his mirrored image with an ever-recurring smile. Two 
 days had passed since the Strafeburg had fallen, two 
 busy days in the nation's history, and this particular 
 morning found him arrayed in the uniform of a Grim- 
 land Staff-Captain. 
 
 The dark green tunic with its fur trimming and 
 black braiding suited his face and figure admirably. 
 He twirled his moustaches, and disengaged his sword 
 from between his legs, and his smile broadened to . a 
 laugh. 
 
 " I only need a false nose," he said to himself, " and 
 I should make a splendid impersonator of Offenbachian 
 opera." And, drawing his sword, he sang with great 
 spirit and much expression, that inimitable air: " Voici 
 le sabre de mon pere voici le sabre de-e mon pere." 
 
 A knock at the door checked his vibrato. 
 
 " Herein! " he called. 
 
 A boy in a tight brown uniform, adorned with the 
 usual unnecessary buttons, entered. 
 
 " A note, Excellency." 
 
 Trafford took the missive, which bore the royal seal. 
 It read as follows: 
 
 176
 
 "CAPTAIN" TRAFFORD 177 
 
 *' Nepturiburg. 
 '* My Good Friend, 
 
 " The procession Heaves here at mid-day, when you 
 must be in close attendance on the Royal Person. 
 Lunch at 2 p. m. After lunch, an informal Council in 
 the Throne room. After the Council, make your way 
 to the private apartments. I "will give orders for you 
 to be admitted. 
 
 Yours very bewildered, 
 
 G. v. S., I mean G. R." 
 
 Trafford read, and at the conclusion he whistled. 
 What did it mean, what could it mean but one thing? 
 The situation presented itself as a syllogism of amaz- 
 ing but irrefutable argument. The Princess was going 
 to be crowned. It was undeniable that he had con- 
 tributed largely to that consummation. The corollary 
 wqs a ceremony of marriage between himself and the 
 newly-elected sovereign. No wonder the smile gave 
 place to a frown of deep bewilderment. No wonder 
 he passed his fingers repeatedly through his thick and 
 stubborn hair. The compact that was now disturbing 
 his peace of mind had been entered into with the lightest 
 of light hearts. The night he had first met the Princess 
 he had been a soldier of fortune primed with good wine 
 and the spirit of reckless adventure. But since then 
 things had progressed with him, as with the state of 
 Grimland, rapidly. 
 
 The condition of spiritual stagnation in which he 
 had visited Grimland was being slowly but surely over- 
 come by fresh interests and rousing incidents. Three
 
 178 GLORIA 
 
 days ago it would have seemed a capital jest to go 
 through the ceremony of marriage with an exceptionally 
 beautiful girl with a kingdom for her dowry. Now 
 it seemed like a piece of wanton blasphemy in the worst 
 possible taste. 
 
 He put a cigarette between his lips, and took a 
 match from a heavy glass bowl that did duty as match- 
 box. He struck it on the ribbed side of the bowl, but 
 the match burned his fingers before even it made 
 acquaintance with the tobacco. 
 
 Supposing he went through this ceremony, he 
 reasoned, and supposing in this topsy-turvy country 
 the ceremony was approved and ratified by the State 
 what then? A queer thrill ran through him at the 
 supposition, but he shook his head fiercely. The more 
 he saw of the Princess the more he liked her, and the 
 more he realised the difference between liking and loving. 
 There were strange ideals still lurking in the recesses 
 of his unconventional brain, and to wed a woman for any 
 less reason than a deep spiritual devotion seemed to 
 him a prostitution of God's choicest gifts. And he 
 could not honestly call his regard for the high-couraged 
 little Schattenberg a deep spiritual devotion. It was 
 clean and healthy as the north wind, and every whit 
 as wholesome and refreshing but was it even approxi- 
 mately like the sentiment he had entertained for the 
 pedestalled Angela Knox? 
 
 He made a second attempt to light his cigarette, 
 and this time with success. He blew out a great puff 
 of blue smoke and gazed earnestly into its unravelling 
 depths. And for a prolonged minute of self-hypnotism
 
 "CAPTAIN" TRAFFORD 179 
 
 he was dematerialised out of the picturesque uniform of 
 a Grimland officer, and was standing, smug and frock- 
 coated, in a New York drawing-room. Before him was 
 a very tall woman with a wonderfully correct profile 
 and an abundance of honey-coloured hair. This was 
 the creature to whom he had offered the worship of his 
 life, the woman whose refusal of his suit had thrust 
 him to the very brink of the grim precipice of which no 
 man knoweth the bottom. He gazed and gazed and 
 even admired but he was unmoved. Slowly the smoke 
 faded, and the dream in the smoke, and he laughed 
 aloud. 
 
 Self-analysis is a difficult game for all, and to one 
 of his complex temperament an altogether hopeless 
 proceeding. And so, as if to blow the crowded thoughts 
 from his brain, he stepped to his high window over- 
 looking the city, and flung open the casement. The 
 bells of the cathedral were pealing joyous music into the 
 winter air. The city was en fete. The flag of Grim- 
 land was flying from all public and semi-public 
 buildings. 
 
 Shops, private houses, and hotels were gay with 
 bunting and festoons of artificial flowers. And the 
 sun, as if to honour the new dynasty with its more 
 than royal majesty, was gilding men's handiwork till 
 tinsel became silver and gold, and every banner a brave 
 thing of joy and colour and heartfelt holiday. 
 
 Within two days of the supposed death of Karl 
 the new dynasty was to be inaugurated with all the 
 pomp that State and Church could lend the occasion. 
 
 Things had progressed, not at a run, but at a gallop.
 
 180 GLORIA 
 
 And for this Father Bernhardt was responsible. The 
 man was a wonder. He may have been mad, but if so 
 his madness was the distortion of a splendid brain, not 
 the aberration of a weak one. He had gathered the 
 reins of government into his own hands with the skill 
 and confidence of a born ruler. There was no anarchy, 
 no confusion, no hiatus in the city's ordering. Men 
 were conciliated whom it was wise to conciliate. Others 
 were over-awed, a few were suppressed. He seemed to 
 know intuitively everyone's sentiments and every man's 
 abilities. Doctor Matti was made Prefect of Police, 
 Yon Hiigelweiler became Captain of the Guard. Traf- 
 ford was given an official position on the staff of the 
 Queen's army. Generally speaking, there was little re- 
 distribution of existing authorities. The army wel- 
 comed the new regime, believing that a change of 
 dynasty might involve a change from the peaceful 
 policy of the twenty-second Karl. Business men and 
 professional men accepted it even when they did not 
 welcome it. There was no alternative. Karl, so they 
 believed, was dead. His son was far away at Weiss- 
 heim, and was far too young a little person to rule 
 the mad whirlwind of his country's policies. So the 
 fait accompli became the thing accepted, and as the 
 joy bells rang out their message the contagion of their 
 silver tongues turned the hearts, even of the lukewarm, 
 to glad allegiance to the young Queen. 
 
 " Poor little Princess," mused Trafford, as he gazed 
 out at the sparkling panorama of white roofs and snow- 
 crested battlements, " what an ordeal lies before you, 
 to-day and to-morrow, and the day after to-morrow!
 
 "CAPTAIN" TRAFFORD 181 
 
 It is the day after to-morrow one fears in Grimland. 
 The sun does not always shine at Weidenbruck, and 
 the cathedral bells are not always instruments of joy." 
 
 Another knock at the door interrupted his reverie. 
 This time it was Von Hiigelweiler who responded to his 
 " herein." 
 
 "Good-morning," said Trafford genially, extending 
 a hand in greeting. 
 
 But no answering smile showed on the Captain's 
 stern and gloomy countenance, and instead of grasp- 
 ing Trafford's hand, his own went up in a stiff salute. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler was suffering from Trafford on the 
 brain. His natural dislike for the American, born of 
 the latter's triumph on the Rundsee, had been extraor- 
 dinarily deepened by the events of the past few days. 
 It was Trafford to whom all glory for the capture of 
 the Strafeburg redounded; Trafford who had set the 
 " Rothlied " going, suborned the soldiers, " bossed " 
 everything and everybody as if he were a true born 
 patriot instead of a foreign adventurer with the devil's 
 own luck. Why, next to Father Bernhardt this pig 
 of an American was the most popular man in Weiden- 
 bruck! All this, in itself, was a source of considerable 
 annoyance to the sensitive Captain of the Guides ; but 
 what touched him on the raw, was the footing on which 
 Trafford seemed to stand with the Princess Gloria. He 
 knew nothing of the true state of their relations, but 
 he perceived at once an ease and understanding between 
 them, which embittered his spirit and spoilt his whole 
 pleasure in life. He, Von Hiigelweiler, had forfeited 
 his self-respect, risked all his prospects, his soldier's.
 
 182 GLORIA 
 
 honour, for the sake of a half-formulated pledge, for 
 the vague shadow of a promise of things unutterably 
 sweet. Were it to be that this sacrifice had been made 
 in vain, that this hated American was the one who had 
 come between him and the heaven of his desire, there 
 would be a heavy price to be paid, a full price, a reck- 
 oning in something more precious than gold and silver. 
 And so he had come to Trafford's rooms, not with any 
 definite idea either of eliciting information or forcing 
 a quarrel, but because, as has been said, he had 
 Trafford on the brain, and he felt it necessary to keep 
 in touch with him. 
 
 " To what do I owe the honour of this visit ? " the 
 American went on, getting no response to his greeting. 
 
 " I come with commands," said the Captain 
 brusquely. He was mindful of the de haut en bas 
 manner which Trafford had employed towards him that 
 night before the Strafeburg, and he wished to reverse 
 their respective positions once for all. " You have been 
 appointed to the Staff, and I am your superior officer." 
 
 " Salaam ! Sahib," said Trafford with a facetious 
 bow. 
 
 Hiigelweiler flushed, and went on in angry tones. 
 
 " My orders are that you start with the royal pro- 
 cession from the Neptunburg at mid-day. I, as Cap- 
 tain of the Guard, shall be in close attendance on the 
 Queen. You will bring up the rear with a company 
 of the Kurdeburg Volunteers." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's tone was designedly over-bearing, 
 but Trafford kept his temper marvellously well, as he 
 sometimes could, when occasion demanded.
 
 "If I see so much as an inch of blade this little 
 
 hand-grenade of mine will play havoc 
 
 with your handsome features"
 
 "CAPTAIN" TRAFFORD 183 
 
 " Are those your commands or the Queen's " he 
 asked, tossing the glass matchbox a little way into the 
 air and catching it again. His behaviour irritated Von 
 Hiigelweiler inexpressibly. 
 
 " They are commands that is enough for you," he 
 retorted crudely. 
 
 " Not nearly enough, I assure you," responded Traf- 
 ford, with exaggerated blandness. "I have her Maj- 
 esty's orders to be in close attendance on her royal 
 person. Until I get counter-orders from an equally 
 high source I shall perform the pleasant and honour- 
 able duty of being in the closest possible proximity to 
 our dear Sovereign." 
 
 Hiigelweiler's face became livid with rage. 
 
 " Show me your orders ! " he demanded harshly. 
 
 " They were conveyed in a private note, otherwise I 
 should have much pleasure, my superior officer." 
 
 " I command you to show them to me ! " cried the 
 Captain, losing all patience ; " and for heaven's sake 
 cease tossing that infernal matchbox ! " 
 
 This was altogether too much for Trafford's sorely- 
 tried self-control. He had held himself in with incal- 
 culable patience up to now, but he felt that the moment 
 had arrived for letting himself go thoroughly. 
 
 " Von Hiigelweiler," he said in peculiarly distinct 
 tones, " we live in stirring times. A King has just 
 lost his throne, a number of high functionaries have 
 been laid low, a mass of shall I say, scum has come 
 to the surface. No, Captain, don't draw your sword," 
 he said sternly, as the Captain flushed crimson and 
 made a threatening movement with his sword-arm. " I
 
 184. GLORIA 
 
 am not an unarmed man, my brave officer " poising 
 the substantial matchbox in his right hand, in the 
 manner of an athlete about to put the weight " and 
 if I see so much as an inch of blade this little hand- 
 grenade of mine will play havoc with your handsome 
 features. That's better," he went on, as the other 
 shrank back furious but cowed before the strange 
 missile which threatened his physical attractions, 
 *' that's much better, mon brav. Curse and swear and 
 vow vengeance, but don't play any monkey tricks, or 
 the Guards will want a smarter captain to lead them in 
 the procession to-day. And one more word before you 
 withdraw the sunshine of your presence from the room," 
 he continued, as the other made a movement towards 
 the door with mingled fury and disgust on his coun- 
 tenance. " I have taken a hand in the game which is 
 being played in Grimland. I have thrown in my lot 
 with Gloria von Schattenberg, and as her officer I am 
 prepared to obey as well as command in reason. But 
 I won't be bullied, Herr Captain. I'm not built that 
 way." 
 
 " You shall answer for your insolence ! " came vi- 
 ciously through Von Hiigelweiler's white teeth. 
 
 " Maybe, but if you can get the Queen to sanction 
 my arrest you're a cleverer man than you look, Von 
 Hiigelweiler." 
 
 A curse hissed from the Captain's lips, and he half 
 raised his clenched fist in a gesture of intolerable pas- 
 sion. Then his arm dropped limp to his side and a 
 look of suffering came into his eyes, and when he spoke, 
 it was hoarsely and with a break in his voice.
 
 "CAPTAIN" TRAFFORD 185 
 
 " What is Gloria von Schattenberg to you ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " That is the precise question I was asking myself 
 when you came in," was the response. " To answer 
 it I need solitude, and solitude, Captain, as I need 
 not point out, is incompatible with your presence here. 
 Captain von Hiigelweiler, I have the honour of wishing 
 you good-morning."
 
 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 
 
 THE FIRST COUNCIL 
 
 AT noon precisely a cannon was fired from the tower 
 of the Strafeburg. Simultaneously the royal proces- 
 sion started from the Neptunburg, where the Princess 
 Gloria had taken up her official residence as Sovereign 
 of Grimland! It was a brave sight, for the sky was 
 cloudless and the snow-covered city sparkled into a 
 myriad smiles under the kiss of the winter sun. Every 
 roof wore its gleaming mantle, its shimmering festoons 
 of stainless crystals; and the countless icicles which 
 depended from a thousand eaves glistened like huge dia- 
 monds in the vivifying sunlight. 
 
 First marched the Guards, their band playing the 
 " Rothlied," which had now become the national anthem. 
 Then came the Red Hussars with their bright uniforms, 
 bay chargers, and gaily-pennoned lances. Then the 
 Guides on skis a popular contingent, judging from 
 the cheers they drew. Then the Queen's Bodyguard, 
 with Von Hiigelweiler at their head. Then the gilt, 
 lumbering State carriage, with its solitary occupant, 
 a pale little figure, bowing to right and left, smiling, 
 nervous, pathetically isolated, a pearl in a huge gold 
 setting. Next came distinguished personages on horse- 
 back, amongst them Trafford on a great chestnut 
 charger, and Father Bernhardt in dead black, seated on 
 a big mare of the same funereal hue. Then Dragoons, 
 
 186
 
 THE FIRST COUNCIL 187 
 
 then Police with Doctor Matti in dark uniform and 
 cocked hat. More carriages and powdered coachmen ; 
 more Dragoons, more Guards, Guides, and Grenadiers, 
 with a strong contingent of Horse Artillery to wind 
 up with. 
 
 Nothing was lacking either in the splendour of the 
 procession or the enthusiasm of the onlookers. 
 
 Within the cathedral the solemn ceremony of cor- 
 onation was conducted by the Archbishop of Weiden- 
 bruck, who maintained the traditional enmity to Karl 
 exhibited by his predecessor. And the vast Gothic 
 building was crowded with nobles and dignitaries, and 
 a great many others who were very far from being noble 
 or dignified, but who had been admitted lest the many 
 absentees should leave conspicuous gaps on the marble 
 pavement. For there were many of the older families 
 of Grinaland to whom the events of the last few days 
 were abhorrent, and who regarded the haste of the cor- 
 onation as something shameless and indecent. Neither, 
 of course, were there any foreign representatives 
 present. Grimland was not a great power, but its 
 callous condonence of a crime had .shocked the moral 
 sense of Christendom. But Bernhardt had insisted on 
 rapidity of action, and for the moment his word was 
 law. 
 
 After the ceremony came the State luncheon in the 
 Muschelsaal, an interminable affair of many viands 
 and divers vintages. Tr afford, seated between a 
 Grafinn of aristocratic lineaments and a deputy's wife 
 with plebeian features and a shrill scheme of attire, 
 ate little and thought much. His eyes were constantly
 
 188 GLORIA 
 
 on the white-faced girl who sat on the big gilded chair 
 at the head of the centre table. He wondered if he had 
 ever seen anything so pale and sad in his life. The 
 girl who had faced outlawry and risked arrest with a 
 light heart and laughing lips seemed crushed and 
 smothered by the pomp and circumstance of her present 
 dignity. She talked and smiled and tasted food and 
 drink, but the Princessin Gloria was dead, and a poor 
 substitute sat in her gorgeous coronation robes as Grim- 
 land's Queen. 
 
 In time the long repast came to its end, the guests 
 departed, and those who were bidden repaired to the 
 Council in the Throne-room. 
 
 At this the Queen, Father Bernhardt, Dr. Matti, 
 Von Hiigelweiler, and George Trafford were present. 
 The captain of the Guides ignored the American with 
 studied scorn. The latter responded with an almost 
 imperceptible but intensely irritating smile. So far he 
 had triumphed, for he had occupied a post of great 
 honour in the procession, and Von Hiigelweiler felt his 
 enemy's insolence like a galling wound. 
 
 The men in turn proffered formal congratulations to 
 the freshly-crowned Sovereign. Gloria thanked them 
 with a determined effort at graciousness. 
 
 "Most women, my good friends, have one day in 
 their lives," she concluded with the ghost of a smile. 
 " This is mine. I have had my experience. I know 
 what it feels like to drive through a mile and a half 
 of cheering men and women, to sit in a gilded carriage 
 with a myriad eyes focussed on my poor, pale face. 
 I know the solemn moment when the sacred oil is poured
 
 THE FIRST COUNCIL 189 
 
 on my hair and the golden rim of sovereignty set on 
 my brow. I have dreamed of these things, and the 
 dream was at least as real as the reality. It is a 
 wonderful thing to be a Queen but but " 
 
 " But what, madam? " asked Dr. Matti. 
 
 The big doctor looked rather more ridiculous as 
 Chief of Police than as a drenched revolutionary in the 
 Cathedral Square. He was the only one present who 
 seemed out of place in the sumptuous Throne-room. 
 Von Hiigelweiler was an aristocrat, and a handsome 
 one at that. Bernhardt, despite his wild, black eyes, 
 was a man of breeding and palpable distinction. Traf- 
 ford, with his bold features, fierce moustache, and pic- 
 turesque green uniform, might have been a Polish 
 count of bluest blood and innumerable quarterings. 
 But Matti, with his big hands, heavy features, and un- 
 gainly figure, was plebeian from the soles of his enor- 
 mous feet to the tips of his spatulate fingers. The 
 romance of the situation had no appeal for him. He 
 served the Queen, not because she was young and 
 beautiful, but because he honestly believed Karl to have 
 been a cruel and corrupt monarch, and he hoped for a 
 regenerate and better ordered State under his suc- 
 cessor. He represented the prose of the revolution, the 
 grim sense of duty which often makes revolutionaries 
 absolutely callous of individual suffering, so long as 
 their concept of human happiness be furthered. 
 
 So now he had no sympathy with Gloria's mood of 
 weakness. 
 
 " But what, madam? " he repeated. 
 
 She laughed a little hysterically.
 
 190 GLORIA 
 
 " I am not sure it is not better fun to be an exile," 
 she sighed. 
 
 The doctor winced visibly at her words. 
 
 " Life was not meant for fun," he said irritably. 
 
 " Mine was, I think," she retorted. " A certain 
 gentleman, by name Herr Saunders, told me I should 
 soon tire of the routine and regime of Queenhood. I 
 laughed him to scorn, but I am beginning to think he 
 knew me better than I knew myself." 
 
 " Your position has responsibilities as well as pleas- 
 ures," pursued the doctor. " For instance, we shall 
 have a stern fight to win the recognition of the foreign 
 powers. The assassination of poor Karl, a brilliant 
 idea on Herr Trafford's part, and a proceeding of 
 which I thoroughly approve, will take a little swal- 
 lowing by the Chanceries of Europe." 
 
 " Poor Karl ! " Gloria murmured. 
 
 " Moreover," the doctor went on, ignoring the com- 
 ment, " the mere fact of coronation, important though 
 it may be, is not necessarily a guarantee of unop- 
 posed sovereignty. We have reports from the north- 
 east of Grimland that there is considerable dissatisfac- 
 tion with the coup d'etat which has just proved fatal 
 to your Majesty's predecessor. They say that the 
 district of Weissheim is in something very like open 
 revolt." 
 
 Gloria laughed mirthlessly. 
 
 " I am glad to hear of it," she said. " What is the 
 worth to me of the royalty of men who change their 
 allegiance as readily as they change their coats ? Karl 
 was a man. He had his faults, his crimes, if report
 
 THE FIRST COUNCIL 191 
 
 speaks true ; but men licked his hand when he was alive, 
 and I honour them if they fight for his memory when 
 he is dead." 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried Trafford enthusiastically, and heed- 
 less of the black looks his interjection drew from Von 
 Hiigelweiler and Dr. Matti. " Bravo ! That's the 
 spirit I draw my sword for. I liked what I saw of Karl. 
 He seemed to me a gentleman, and a good sportsman. 
 Had I not heard of his cruelty to the late Archbishop, 
 I don't know that I should have cared to take a hand 
 against him." 
 
 " The story of his cruelty to the Archbishop was 
 a lie," put in Father Bernhardt. " I ought to know," 
 he went on, in answer to the astonished looks of his 
 hearers, " for I invented it myself. Karl was a humane 
 man and a moral man. Years ago I loved him. Af- 
 terwards I loved his wife, and that made a differ- 
 ence." 
 
 Dr. Matti looked deep disgust. He was a family 
 man with strong, not to say Puritan, views on morality. 
 He knew who did not? that Bernhardt had eloped 
 some years ago with Karl's consort, but he had al- 
 ways imagined the ex-priest to have been actuated by 
 a disinterested desire to deliver the poor woman from 
 a brutal and 'tyrannical husband. Bernhardt read the 
 doctor's expression, and laughed. 
 
 " The devil tempted me," he went on, with a posi- 
 tive delight in shocking the worthy burgher, " and I 
 fell. The love I had for Karl turned to hatred. I 
 fought against him, I lied against him, I swore to 
 effect his downfall, and I effected it ; but now that he is
 
 192 GLORIA 
 
 dead I wish to clear his memory. Karl was never guilty 
 of inhumanity. He might be stern when occasion war- 
 ranted. He might be unscrupulous in his methods 
 of suppressing sedition ; he would have been a fool had 
 he not been so; but he never stooped to torture. Tell 
 that abroad, my friends. Karl was a clean man, a just 
 man, and if I compassed his ruin it was because that 
 was the price I paid to Satan for the glories of his 
 fellowship." 
 
 All were silent at these words, but Gloria put her 
 hands before her eyes and shuddered. Her pallor be- 
 came, if possible, intensified. She appeared tired out, 
 and as if suffering from a splitting headache. 
 
 " It seems we have been fighting under false pre- 
 tences," she said wearily. 
 
 It was Von Hiigelweiler who answered her. 
 
 " Karl is dead," he said. " I sided against him, not 
 because I hated him, but because I wished to serve the 
 Princessin Gloria von Schattenberg. Long live the 
 Queen ! " 
 
 " Long live the Queen ! " echoed Dr. Matti without 
 enthusiasm. " If Karl was a good man, he is in heaven. 
 Requiescat in pace. We must accept facts, and our 
 first duty is to pacify the country." 
 
 " That means an expedition to Weissheim," put in 
 Father Bernhardt. " The district is in a ferment. 
 However, our friends Von Hiigelweiler and Herr Traf- 
 ford, with a few regiments of sharp-shooters, will put 
 that right in a few days." 
 
 " More bloodshed ! " sighed Gloria. 
 
 " The authority of the new Government must be
 
 THE FIRST COUNCIL 193 
 
 respected," declared Dr. Matti. " We must have no 
 false sentimentality." 
 
 Gloria rose from her seat with a look of a new- 
 born resolution on her ashen face. 
 
 " There must be np more fighting," she said im- 
 periously. " I am a Schattenberg, I know, and come 
 of a race accustomed to hold life as a little thing. I 
 plotted against Karl, because my father and brother 
 met their death at his hands. But Karl is dead, and his 
 death is a horrible and ghastly memory to me. The 
 men of Weissheim are my subjects, and I will not have 
 their blood on my hands. Our Government must be 
 respected, you say? We will win respect by mercy 
 and tolerance, then, not by the cannon and the 
 shambles ! " 
 
 Dr. Matti's countenance was a picture of con- 
 temptuous irritation. Bernhardt's head sank on his 
 breast, as if he were deep in thought. The silence 
 was broken by a loud rap at the door. Von Hiigel- 
 weiler strode across the room and opened it. 
 
 There was a moment's whispered consultation. 
 
 " A messenger with urgent news, your Majesty," said 
 Hiigelweiler at length. 
 
 " Admit him ! " 
 
 A man in plain clothes entered. Trafford recog- 
 nised him as one of the waiters of the Hotel Concordia. 
 
 " Your news, Gottfried, quick," said Bernhardt. 
 " You are interrupting the Council." 
 
 The man bowed low to the Queen. 
 
 " I am head of the Intelligence Department, your 
 Majesty," he began, " and I have just received news
 
 194 GLORIA 
 
 of such import that I felt it necessary to interrupt your 
 Majesty's Council in order to impart it." 
 
 " Proceed," said Gloria with a slight inclination of 
 her head. 
 
 "Your Majesty, there is much trouble at Weiss- 
 heim. The burgherschaft has declared against your 
 sovereignty. The troops refuse to take the oath of 
 allegiance, and the young Prince is cheered wherever 
 seen." 
 
 " We know all this," said Bernhardt in some 
 irritation. 
 
 " Snow forts are being erected at every strategic 
 point," the man went on, " and heavy pieces of 
 ordnance are being put in position." 
 
 " Naturally," said Bernhardt. " We did not im- 
 agine they would conduct civil war with popguns." 
 
 " Is that all? " demanded Von Hiigelweiler. 
 
 " No, excellency. There is a report, a strong re- 
 port, that the King is not dead ; that he escaped with 
 General Meyer and Herr Saunders, and has made his 
 way to the Palace of the Brunvarad at Weissheim. 
 The wires are cut, and the railway has been blown up 
 in three places, including the great viaduct over the 
 Niederkessel at Eselbruck. It is impossible to obtain 
 direct confirmation, but the rumour is gaining ground 
 even here that Karl somehow escaped our clutches and 
 fled to Weissheim." 
 
 At a sign from Bernhardt the man bowed and 
 withdrew. 
 
 " A ridiculous rumour, as we have reason to know," 
 said Dr. Matti, appealing to the others.
 
 THE FIRST COUNCIL 195 
 
 " We cannot produce his corpse," said Trafford. 
 
 " No," said Bernhardt ; " that was an oversight on 
 our part. After consigning Karl to the embrace of 
 the Iron Maiden we left his body to his friends. We 
 should have occupied the Neptunburg there and then, 
 and drowned old Meyer in the Palace fountain. As 
 it was, our consciences got the better of us, we fled 
 from the scene of our handiwork without completing 
 our task." 
 
 " We should never have begun it," cried Gloria. 
 ** I shall never forget the moment when Karl stepped 
 forth and faced the shrieking rabble. The man was a 
 lion among wolves. What followed will haunt me to 
 my grave. And now Father Bernhardt tells us that 
 Karl was a humane man and a moral man, and that 
 it is necessary for us to butcher those of his late sub- 
 jects who are true to his memory." 
 
 " We must forget the past and look to the future," 
 said Dr. Matti sternly. " To display weakness now 
 would only be to increase the sum of human suffering. 
 This expedition must start at once." 
 
 The Queen turned in despair to Bernhardt. 
 
 " You have heard Gottfried's report," said the ex- 
 priest. " There must be no delay. The expedition 
 must start at once." 
 
 " The expedition must start at once," echoed Von 
 Hiigelweiler. 
 
 Gloria turned to Trafford. 
 
 " Yes, yes," said that gentleman absent-mindedly. 
 " By all means let the expedition start at once. I will 
 accompany it."
 
 196 GLORIA 
 
 The Queen rose from the throne. 
 
 " The expedition shall start at once," she said in 
 tones of unutterable bitterness. " I command that it 
 be so. Gentlemen, I leave you, thanking you for your 
 loyal counsel. This is the day of my life, the dreamed- 
 of day on which I call myself, * Gloria, Queen of 
 Grimland.' "
 
 CHAPTER NINETEEN 
 
 THE CHAPEL ROYAL, 
 
 NERVY TRAFFORD left the Council with the dawning- 
 consciousness that he was not a very wise man. There 
 are kings and kings, he reflected, kings to serve, honour 
 and obey, and kings to harass, embarrass and decapi- 
 tate ; but it was best on the whole to leave the choice of 
 treatment to the subjects of the particular monarch 
 to be dealt with. He had sided against Karl from an 
 innate love of excitement and a romantic enthusiasm 
 for the rebel Princess. He had saved Karl from pre- 
 mature death, because he was a well-brought-up 
 American with a sneaking respect for the sixth com- 
 mandment. The result was, that the revolution, 
 which had been by no means bloodless, was likely to 
 be followed by an aftermath of civil war infinitely more 
 sanguinary. Had he not interfered, Karl might still 
 have been on the throne. Had he persisted in his revo- 
 lutionary policy, logically and relentlessly, Grimland 
 might have found peace and tranquillity under the un- 
 opposed banner of Gloria. As it was, Karl was evi- 
 dently in Weissheim, and the good Weissheimers, 
 according to Herr Gottfried, were preparing glacis 
 and grapeshot for those who did not see eye to eye 
 with them in things political. 
 
 He found his way to the Rubens room, and seated 
 himself, wondering how long it was necessary to wait 
 
 197
 
 198 GLORIA 
 
 before demanding access to the private apartments. 
 The short winter day was well-nigh done, and the 
 great, unlit chamber looked vast and ghostly in the 
 failing light. The shadowed corners, the rich still- 
 ness, touched and oppressed his imagination. Great 
 men and proud women had passed in sumptuous 
 pageantry through the walls of that noble chamber; 
 and Trafford felt their presence, and strove to exorcise 
 them with the fumes of a cigarette. But the impalpable 
 dust of centuries seemed to impregnate the air, and by- 
 gone monarchs looked askance at him from their dim 
 gold frames, in a scornful wonder at the American 
 interloper who sat so carelessly in the seat of kings. 
 He rose, impatient of their glances, and walked to the 
 window. Snow was falling. The sun that had graced 
 and greeted the new-crowned Queen had sunk beneath 
 the rugged outline of the encircling mountains ; the 
 sky, which had been of no uncertain blue, was a nonde- 
 script monotone weeping a white haze of crystalline 
 tears. His thoughts harked back to the ashen face 
 and sad eyes of the new-crowned Queen. Why had 
 she not grasped the fact that Karl's immurement in the 
 Eisenmadchen was a humane act of rescue, not a piece 
 of callous cruelty? She herself had experienced the 
 same hiding-place under the same innocuous conditions, 
 and yet it did not seem to have occurred to her that the 
 spikes might still be reposing at the bottom of his 
 overcoat pocket. That the others should have failed 
 to suspect the truth was only natural. That they 
 would be angry on discovering it, was probable but 
 for that he cared not one jot.
 
 THE CHAPEL ROYAL 199 
 
 What troubled his awakening conscience was, that 
 good men and true must go down before peace reigned 
 again in the troubled monarchy of Grimland. 
 
 After a few more minutes of such meditation, he 
 made his way through the Rubens-saal in the direction 
 of the private apartments. In the corridor leading to 
 the Queen's chamber stood the officer on guard, and 
 talking to him was no less a personage than Von 
 Hiigelweiler. 
 
 " My orders are precise," the former was saying. 
 " Her Majesty is resting and will see no one." 
 
 " But have the goodness at least to send in my 
 name," Von Hiigelweiler returned pettishly. 
 
 " It would be no use, Captain," retorted the 
 other. " The Queen is resting and must not be dis- 
 turbed." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's disappointment showed itself 
 plainly in his crestfallen air. 
 
 ** I want access to her Majesty," he said doggedly. 
 " It is true that by admitting me you risk offending 
 the Queen, but by not admitting me you offend me for 
 a certainty." 
 
 " I am very sorry, Captain," said the officer in a 
 conciliatory manner. He was quite a young man, 
 and he was rather alarmed at having to defy so im- 
 portant a person as Von Hiigelweiler had become. 
 Still, he held stoutly to his position in the centre of the 
 corridor. 
 
 " You may be sorrier still, if you persist," said the 
 Captain darkly, detecting, as he fancied, symptoms of 
 wavering on the other's part. " We move in strange
 
 200 GLORIA 
 
 times, Lieutenant, and my goodwill is better worth 
 having than my enmity." 
 
 At this juncture, Trafford, who had overheard this 
 conversation, and whose approach had been inaudible 
 on the thick carpet of the Palace corridor, coughed 
 affectedly, and advanced with admirable swagger. 
 
 " I wish to see her Majesty," he said, addressing 
 the lieutenant on guard, and completely ignoring Von 
 Hugelweiler. 
 
 It was the latter, however, who answered him. 
 
 " The Queen is resting, and will see no one," he said 
 roughly. 
 
 Trafford paid not the slightest attention to the 
 Captain's words. 
 
 " My name is Trafford," he went on, to the officer. 
 
 The Lieutenant's face was a picture of puzzled dis- 
 may. His orders were to conduct Trafford to the 
 royal apartments as soon as he presented himself. To 
 all others he was to give the message that her Majesty 
 was exceedingly fatigued and would on no account see 
 anyone. After a moment's embarrassed indecision, 
 during which he felt Von Hiigelweiler's eyes absolutely 
 scorching him, he bade Trafford follow, and turning 
 his back on the furious Captain, led the way down the 
 long corridor. Arriving at a doorway concealed by a 
 heavy curtain, he pushed open a massive oak portal 
 and signalled Trafford to enter. 
 
 The chamber in which the latter now found himself 
 was lofty, smelling of incense, and lit by lamps hanging 
 from a frescoed ceiling. At the far end was an altar 
 garnished with many candles and a silver crucifix.
 
 THE CHAPEL ROYAL 201 
 
 This undoubtedly was the private chapel of the 
 Neptunburg. 
 
 " We are awaiting you," said the quiet voice of 
 Gloria. 
 
 Trafford advanced towards the new Queen, who was 
 standing before the steps of the altar in the company 
 of a priest. The chapel was dark, for the stained-^ 
 glass windows shut out most of the remaining light y 
 and the hanging lamps were little more than points of 
 ruby flame. And yet he could see that Gloria's face 
 was still of an even pallor, and that her eyes were red 
 from recent tears. 
 
 " I am a woman of my word, you see," she went on 
 in dull tones. " I promised to marry you under certain 
 conditions, and, those conditions being fulfilled, I 
 waste no time." 
 
 " You are carrying out the letter of the contract,** 
 returned Trafford, " but are you observing the spirit ? 
 I did not bargain for a tearful bride." 
 
 " The tears are dried and gone." 
 
 " But not the cause that made them flow. Your 
 wept because you are a woman, and the woman who/ 
 regards even the formula of marriage as a little matter 
 has yet to see the light of day. And you wept be- 
 cause you are not sure which thing conscience com- 
 mands the violation of a contract or the taking of 
 false vows." 
 
 " You are strangely wise to-day," she said with a? 
 faint smile. " I did not know such intuition lurked 
 in that wild brain of yours." 
 
 " I am right, then? "
 
 202 GLORIA 
 
 " I cannot say " she hesitated. " Yes, the mar- 
 riage vow is a serious thing, and this wedding, as I 
 warned you, can be no more than a solemn mockery. 
 I am Queen of Grimland. You are a brave man 
 and a gentleman but you are not a prince of blood 
 royal." 
 
 " The Traffords are not people of particularly 
 humble origin," he retorted drily. 
 
 " Nor would it affect me if they were. But the 
 State would never sanction my marriage with a com- 
 moner." 
 
 " Then is it worth while going through the 
 mockery ? " he demanded. 
 
 " I have asked myself that question, and the answer 
 is that you find me here. My word is pledged." 
 
 " Your word, but not your heart." 
 
 " Ah, but I once told you that I had no heart." 
 
 " Then you uttered a falsehood," he insisted. " Your 
 heart, whose existence you deny, bled at the thought 
 of Karl's suffering. Your heart, which was disposed 
 to entertain some kindly emotion for me, has cooled 
 towards me because I compassed Karl's cruel de- 
 mise." 
 
 " Go on, wise man ! " 
 
 " I will not ask you if I am right," pursued Traf- 
 ford, " for I read acquiescence in those tear-spoiled 
 eyes. But I will say one thing more: as Queen of 
 Grimland your marriage to me will be null and void. 
 What if you are deposed from your sovereignty, and 
 became again Gloria von Schattenberg, the exile? " 
 
 " That will not occur just yet," she replied.
 
 THE CHAPEL ROYAL 203 
 
 " I am not so certain," he mused. " What if those 
 rumours mentioned by Gottfried were true in sub- 
 stance and in fact ? What if Karl really escaped with 
 General Meyer and Saunders and others to Weiss- 
 helm? What if Grimland's King is still in his own 
 country, alive, alert, surrounded by sage counsel and 
 loyal hearts ? Is your position then so very sure ? " 
 
 " But Karl was put into the Eisenmadchen," she pro- 
 tested wonderingly. 
 
 " So were you," was Trafford's retort. 
 
 " I yes. But you had unscrewed all the spikes. 
 The Maiden was as harmless as an unfanged snake." 
 
 " I put those spikes in my overcoat pocket," said 
 Trafford slowly. " They are still in my overcoat 
 pocket." 
 
 For a dazed moment Gloria stood staring at him. 
 Then she reeled literally grasping at the altar rails 
 for support. 
 
 " You put him into the Iron Maiden to save his 
 life ? " she gasped. 
 
 " That was my rough idea. You see, I am an 
 American, and I hate killing things especially brave 
 things. There are plenty of men I would kill in the 
 heat of battle one or two, perhaps, whom I would 
 kill without much heat, but Karl, whatever his deeds 
 or misdeeds, was playing the man that night in the 
 Palace yard, and I would sooner have cut off my right 
 hand then have done him an injury. Forgive me, your 
 Majesty, for I served you badly. Providence, which 
 gave me a fair share of muscle and brute courage, 
 was stinting to me in the matter of logic. I should
 
 204 GLORIA 
 
 have been logical and replaced the spikes in the Eisen- 
 madchen" 
 
 "Herr Trafford!" 
 
 A hand was laid on Traff ord's arm, and in the scanty 
 light of the shadowy chapel the American found him- 
 self looking into eyes bright with tears, but tears not 
 of sorrow or vexation, but of happiness and vast relief. 
 
 " Oh, what a weight you have taken from off my 
 heart it was heavier than I could bear," she mur- 
 mured. " I felt like a murderess, a guilty creature 
 who had risen through blood to the summit of her base 
 ambitions." 
 
 " Then I am forgiven ? " 
 
 " There is nothing to forgive. You have helped me 
 and served me with your splendid impetuosity and your 
 fearless resource. A Grimlander would have slain 
 Karl, and crowned his service with a deed of shame. 
 You were illogical and I I almost love you for your 
 noble lack of logic." 
 
 "You almost love me?" he asked in a trance. 
 
 " At least as much as I have ever loved " 
 
 She broke off suddenly, and smiling upon him one 
 of her rarest smiles, she added : " Yes, George Traf- 
 ford, I will marry you, and if the Queen of Grimland 
 cannot wed an American, then I will no longer be Queen 
 of Grimland." 
 
 Trafford gazed into the pale, brave face as he had 
 never gazed at any living thing. His breath caught 
 with a short gasp. A strange fire had sprung to quiv- 
 ering life in his bosom; a wild march was pealing in 
 his ravished ears. His feet were no longer on the
 
 THE CHAPEL ROYAL 205 
 
 chequered marble pavement of the Chapel Royal, but 
 somewhere in the fine regions of rolling planets and 
 shimmering nebulae. It was no mere human being 
 who bent over that sweet young face and kissed the 
 warm tears from the drooping eyelids as he breathed 
 the one word " Gloria " in an echo of long-drawn 
 sound, but a demi-god, an heroic anachronism with 
 the passions of Phoebus in his kindling soul. 
 
 " I thought love was worship," he said, as he 
 strained the slim form to him. " So it is, and some- 
 thing more something infinitely and deliciously 
 more." 
 
 " We are in church," she remonstrated, gently dis- 
 engaging herself, " and not alone." 
 
 But again he kissed her, and this time gently on the 
 brow. 
 
 " I was forgetting all things save one," he said, 
 " and that is that you love me." 
 
 " Almost love you," she corrected, with a sigh. 
 
 " At least as much as you loved the others," he 
 affirmed. 
 
 " And that contents you ? " she demanded, raising 
 her eyebrows in well-feigned astonishment. 
 
 Her question puzzled him. 
 
 " It ought not to, of course," he said with wrinkled 
 brow. " I ought to want all or nothing. But I would 
 be content if it were even less you gave, for in the dim 
 light of this ancient chamber I seem to see the work- 
 ings of Fate." 
 
 " Then you are willing on such a basis to go on with 
 the ceremony? "
 
 206 GLORIA 
 
 " If you are content to do so," he returned gravely, 
 " knowing that Karl is alive and may prevail, and that 
 in that event no Parliament will trouble to undo what 
 the good priest does this afternoon." 
 
 Gloria looked him frankly in the face. 
 
 " I, too, believe in Fate," she said softly, after a 
 pause;" and then, slipping her arm into his, "Father 
 Ambrose, you have been summoned here for a purpose. 
 Fulfil that purpose."
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY 
 
 BERNHARDT DISTURBED 
 
 WHILE the woman whom he had helped to a throne 
 was being secretly married to George Trafford, Father 
 Bernhardt was sitting alone in his private apartments 
 in the Neptunburg. The room he had chosen for his 
 use was a small chamber on the second floor, overlook- 
 ing the courtyard. The blinds were drawn, the 
 electric light was burning, and the ex-priest was seated 
 in a comfortable arm-chair reading the poems of Paul 
 Verlaine. At his side were a wine-glass and a big 
 carafe containing a pale green viscous fluid. He 
 seemed to be enjoying his relaxation, for a smile con- 
 stantly flitted across his face, and as some mordant line 
 appealed more especially to his grim humour he 
 would repeat it several times out loud in manifest 
 appreciation. From time to time he sipped the fluid 
 at his elbow, and it was remarkable that each time he 
 did so he cast a quick look behind him as if fully ex- 
 pecting to see someone. 
 
 A rap at the door brought a slight frown to his 
 brow, and the knock had to be repeated before he 
 gave the necessary permission to enter. The intruder 
 was Von Hiigelweiler. 
 
 " Well, what is it, Captain ? " asked Bernhardt im- 
 patiently. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler's glance took in the nature of the 
 207
 
 1208 GLORIA 
 
 other man's diversion, and a suspicion of contempt 
 showed itself in his curling lip. 
 
 " I have news, sir," he said. 
 
 "Out with it!" 
 
 *' Karl is alive ! " 
 
 *' So Gottfried said. The Iron Maiden seems to 
 Jiave grown humane in her old age." 
 
 cHiigelweiler studied the man whose influence was 
 then paramount in Weidenbruck, and his contempt 
 grew. In common with others, he had been wont to 
 fear Bernhardt. The burning eyes, the quick, im- 
 perious brain, the general air of reckless strength were 
 things that impressed the well-born soldier, as they 
 Impressed the low-born mob. But Bernhardt sipping 
 absinthe was a different person from the fire-brand 
 of the revolution, and Hiigelweiler realised that the 
 lethargic sensualist of the arm-chair needed strong 
 words to rouse him. 
 
 " The Iron Maiden has not grown humane," he 
 said, " but there is a traitor in our midst." 
 
 Bernhardt sipped pensively. 
 
 *' How very interesting ! " he said. 
 
 " Very ! " echoed Hiigelweiler scornfully. c< Before 
 ICarl was put into the Eisenmadchen someone had 
 removed the spikes. The pretended execution was 
 nothing more nor less than a scheme to save the King's 
 life." 
 
 " A most ingenious scheme." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler banged his fist on the table. 
 
 " That is one piece of news ! " he cried irritably, 
 does not seem to move you very deeply; perhaps
 
 209 
 
 my second item will affect you more. The Queen has 
 just gone through the ceremony of marriage with 
 Traff ord the American ! " 
 
 Again Bernhardt raised his glass. 
 
 " I drink to the happy pair," he said blandly. 
 
 Hiigelweiler almost screamed! with vexation. 
 
 " It is scandalous ! " he protested, almost with tears 
 in his eyes. " The thing must be annulled. The Queen 
 of Grimland must not wed a commoner, a foreign 
 adventurer, a man who at a crisis turns traitor and 
 saves the dethroned King's life." 
 
 A spark of interest glinted into the ex-priest's eye. 
 
 " By the way," he asked, " how did you find all this 
 out? " 
 
 The question let loose a fresh flood of indignation 
 from the Captain. In tones of choking wrath he told 
 how he had been forbidden the royal presence, and how 
 Trafford had been accorded instant admission. 
 
 " That was too much for a man of my kidney," he 
 went on. " I brushed aside the young fool who was 
 doing duty on guard, and I followed this American 
 pig down the corridor. I found myself in the chapel, 
 and I hid myself in the gloom behind a pew. Then 
 I overheard things pretty things, pretty speeches, 
 tales of the American's mercy, how he had saved the 
 King's life because he disliked killing a brave man. 
 Then these two, the Queen of Grimland and the trai- 
 tor who should have been immured in the Strafeburg, 
 kissed each other and were made man and wife by a 
 damned old fool in a cassock." 
 
 " Always speak respectfully of the Church, my son,"
 
 210 GLORIA 
 
 said Bernhardt with exasperating mockery. " I was, 
 myself, one of its most shining ornaments." 
 
 " Can nothing rouse you to the seriousness of the 
 situation ? " demanded the Captain in despair. 
 
 Again Bernhardt sipped. Then he leaned back, 
 and a slow smile spread over his face. 
 
 " You don't drink absinthe, do you, Captain ? " 
 
 " No," replied the other with an expression of dis- 
 gust. 
 
 " It is a strange fluid," went on Bernhardt thought- 
 fully. " Sometimes it clears the brain, so that one 
 sees with extraordinary distinctness. But sometimes 
 it obfuscates the. reasoning powers, so that one can- 
 not distinguish right from wrong. For instance, at 
 the present moment, Herr Trafford's action appears 
 to me not a wicked, but a positively virtuous one. He 
 saved a man from a cruel death and delivers him to 
 freedom instead of torture." 
 
 " But the man was Karl ! " expostulated Von Hiigel- 
 weiler. 
 
 " I loved Karl," returned Bernhardt, unmoved, " I 
 loved and hated him. You, not being an absintheur, 
 cannot understand the curious mental pose that loves 
 and hates the same being at the same time. Also I 
 love Herr Trafford. He got me out of the Strafe- 
 burg." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler made a gesture of despair. He 
 felt he was talking to a madman, one on whom sense 
 and argument were useless and unavailing. 
 
 " But the marriage ! " he said, raising his voice un- 
 consciously to a shout in the desperate effort to drive
 
 BERNHARDT DISTURBED 211 
 
 home his point. " The marriage must be cancelled ! 
 When the truth is known that Trafford helped Karl 
 to escape he will become the most hated man in Weiden- 
 bruck. The Queen must never unite her fortunes with 
 such a creature." 
 
 Bernhardt gaped, as if the matter had begun to 
 bore him. 
 
 " Then the truth must not be known," he said, be- 
 tween his yawns. 
 
 " But it shall be known ! " cried the soldier angrily. 
 " I shall proclaim it myself from the housetops. The 
 mad American must be whipped out of the country." 
 
 " Captain von Hiigelweiler," said the ex-priest 
 solemnly, "just now I was enjoying two things: some 
 deliciously bitter poetry and some deliciously bitter 
 liquid. At the present moment I am incapacitated by 
 your disturbing presence from enjoying either. Do I 
 make myself plain? " 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler turned to go with a stifled oath. 
 
 " A fine time for dissipation ! " he said, as a parting 
 shaft. " The fortunes of the country are at stake, 
 and Bernhardt, Father Bernhardt, the people's leader, 
 the man of the hour, swills absinthe and absorbs the 
 pernicious writings of a decadent poetaster." 
 
 In a flash the ex-priest was on his feet, with blazing 
 eyes and an air of almost terrible menace. Von Hiigel- 
 weiler thought he had been talking to a sodden 
 drunkard. He found himself confronted by the em- 
 bodiment of masterful and savage energy. 
 
 " You fool ! " cried Bernhardt in tones of withering 
 contempt. " May not a man rest? May not a strange
 
 GLORIA 
 
 man rest In a strange way? I do the work of a hun- 
 dred must not the brain be fed and the nerves braced 
 to meet the strain? " 
 
 The Captain shrugged his shoulders weakly. 
 Despite his own strong feelings, the other's imperious- 
 ness cowed him. 
 
 " Go ! " continued Bernhardt, pointing to the door. 
 *' Go, and hold your peace ! Tell nobody this tale of 
 Karl's escape and who contrived it. Tell no one this 
 tale of the secret marriage in the Chapel Royal. I 
 forbid you to speak. The nation's destinies are in my 
 keeping, not yours." 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler went to the door, smarting under 
 the lash of the tongue. 
 
 " Has the American bewitched you, as he has be- 
 witched Gloria von Schattenberg ? " he asked, summon- 
 ing up a spark of courage before quitting the room. 
 
 " Aye," retorted Bernhardt, " he has certain very 
 fascinating qualities. He is a man, Von Hiigelweiler. 
 Pray to your God, if you believe in Him, to make you 
 one." 
 
 And with an oath on his lips, and wrath and rebellion 
 in his heart, Von Hiigelweiler flung himself from the 
 ex-priest's chamber.
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 
 
 DREAMS 
 
 THE following morning George Trafford awoke from 
 sweet dreams to the pleasant consciousness of hot coffee 
 and crisp rolls. He was still occupying apartments 
 in the Hotel Concordia, and it was a waiter in that 
 excellent establishment who roused him from the glories 
 of slumberland at the hour of 8.30. 
 
 " Good-morning, Rudolf," said Traffoi<d, opening 
 a reluctant eye. " I trust you have not forgotten my 
 honey this morning." 
 
 " I have brought the honey, your Excellency ; also a 
 letter." TrafFord glanced at the handwriting on the 
 envelope. 
 
 " Sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb," 
 he murmured. " A letter from dreamland, Rudolf ! 
 Tell me, Rudolf, do waiters dream? " 
 
 The man laughed. 
 
 '* Not often, Excellency. They are too busy by 
 day. Once I dreamed that I was appointed headwaiter 
 at the Concordia." 
 
 "Ah! you are ambitious, Rudolf. My dreams are 
 less exalted. I only dreamed that a certain gnadiges 
 frdulein did more than * almost ' love me ; that she even 
 cared for me * more than the others.' It was not a 
 bad dream, Rudolf," he added, casting his eyes over the 
 missive, " and the letter is not a bad awakening." 
 
 213
 
 214- GLORIA 
 
 " You have read it, Excellency ? " 
 
 " Yes, it is short and sweet. ' Meet me at the con- 
 fectioner's at the corner of the Konlgstrasse and the 
 Ettzabethstrasse at eleven.'' That is all, but the imagi- 
 nation riots at the choice of rendezvous. A sensuous 
 woman would have chosen a restaurant, an extrava- 
 gant one a milliner's. Only a sweet one could have 
 thought of a pastrycook's." 
 
 " I wish your Excellency joy." 
 
 " Thank you, Rudolf ; my small change is reposing 
 on the edge of the mantelpiece ; kindly select a five- 
 krone piece and drink to my good fortune." 
 
 At eleven o'clock Trafford was waiting outside a 
 big corner shop, whose ample windows revealed an 
 alluring wealth of edible magnificence. Hardly had 
 the church clock finished striking when a young woman 
 drew near. The combination of blue veil a.nd Russian 
 sables was one Trafford had seen before, and being in 
 uniform he saluted. 
 
 " Come inside," said Gloria. 
 
 Trafford followed obediently. 
 
 " It's so like you to meet me in a place of this kind," 
 he said. 
 
 " We must meet somewhere," she returned, and there 
 was a half-mischievous glint in the eyes that looked 
 back into his eyes as she added : " after what hap- 
 pened yesterday. It's no good meeting at the Neptun- 
 burg a palace has all the luxuries of an ideal home, 
 except privacy. This is one of the places where I was 
 known in my days of exile, and they will serve us choco- 
 late and eclairs in a private room."
 
 DREAMS 215 
 
 " Do you know I dreamed of you last night," began 
 Trafford, as soon as they were alone in a cosy little 
 room at the back. 
 
 " Naturally," she laughed. 
 
 " And in my dream you were very kind." 
 
 " Again, naturally." 
 
 " I mean," said Trafford tentatively, " you loved 
 me ' more than the others.' ' 
 
 "You are most diverting," she said, smiling. 
 
 Trafford winced. 
 
 " You are not taking me very seriously?" he asked. 
 
 " How can I take anything very seriously? If I did, 
 I should go mad. I am a Queen, and Queens must 
 marry. Custom compels. As an exile I had no diffi- 
 culty in maintaining my spinsterhood. Now, it is dif- 
 ferent. If I do not marry you marry you, mind, not 
 merely go through a marriage form with you I shall 
 be wedded to some young German or Austrian Prince- 
 ling, whose standard of manhood is measured by the 
 number of beer seidles he can empty in an evening." 
 
 " I am flattered. And now for a few practical con- 
 siderations. Supposing you marry me and like you, 
 I am using the word in its fullest sense what will be 
 the result? What will the public say? " 
 
 " The public will say little, but it will do a good 
 deal," said Gloria grimly. " It is true we are moving 
 in a time of great changes ; it is true that for the 
 moment you are a very popular person. But it is also 
 true that I am a Queen and you a commoner, and Grim- 
 landers like their Royalty undiluted. If we proclaimed 
 ourselves man and wife we should be wise to board the
 
 216 GLORIA 
 
 Orient express at Gleis, and steam westward to Dsten'd 
 or eastward to Constantinople." 
 
 " And you would really really object to that 
 course ? " asked Trafford a little sadly. " Yesterday 
 afternoon you said, 'If the Queen of Grimland may 
 not wed an American I will no longer be Queen of Grim- 
 land. 5 " 
 
 " Ah, but I spoke in a moment of enthusiasm," de- 
 clared Gloria unblushingly. " I had been oppressed by 
 the nightmare of Karl's supposed assassination. The 
 fact that he had not really been killed, that it was your 
 ready wit that saved him from a cruel end, warmed 
 my heart wonderfully towards you. But if you had 
 your dream last night, so had I. Mine was less sen- 
 timental but equally pleasant. In it I saw myself 
 Queen of Grimland, Queen of a whole country, with 
 no district in revolt against me. Karl had been de- 
 feated, captured, and exiled. I was the reigning sov- 
 ereign of a loyal and loving people." 
 
 Trafford nodded gravely. 
 
 " That is the dream of a Schattenberg," he said. 
 " It is much the same dream that your father dreamed 
 before he fell into the great sleep where there are no 
 dreams. But it is not the dream of the woman I kissed 
 yesterday afternoon in the Chapel Royal of the Nep- 
 tunburg." 
 
 Gloria's eyes fell before his steadfast gaze. Her 
 face softened; it saddened under a wave of emotion 
 an emotion, the instant expression of which, though 
 easily attributable to her actress- temperament, was 
 nevertheless based on something far deeper.
 
 DREAMS 
 
 " I wonder if I am a hard woman," she began, still 
 looking down. " Years of exile, of earning one's living 
 on the variety stage, striving surely these are not 
 softening influences." She paused for him to add some 
 sympathetic word. Whether he intended to do so or 
 not, he forgot it on meeting the eyes that now were 
 looking him through and through, as she continued: 
 " But I do not unsay what I said yesterday ! I really 
 like you, immensely and perhaps I almost love 
 
 you." 
 
 Trafford took her hand and kissed it rapturously; 
 she almost snatched it away, and there was a ring of 
 steel in the tones that now declared: 
 
 " But I have tasted power, and now that the horror 
 of Karl's death is no longer on my conscience, I wish 
 to be the unopposed ruler of my country." 
 
 " Even though the process of establishing your rule 
 costs the lives of brave men ? " 
 
 Again she dropped her eyes was silenced. She 
 sipped her chocolate. When she spoke, it was quietly; 
 and with absolute conviction. 
 
 " If I had known what Father Bernhardt told us, 
 that Karl was really a humane man and was abso- 
 lutely innocent of the Archbishop's death, I don't be- 
 lieve I should have headed a rebellion against him. But 
 rightly or wrongly the rebellion has succeeded and 
 the seat of government is mine. To falter now would 
 be to cause more misery and bloodshed than to go on. 
 The people have declared against Karl, and Karl they 
 will not have at any price. If I were to abdicate, some 
 other adventurer would take my place. To withdraw
 
 218 GLORIA 
 
 myself from Grimland now would be to leave my friends 
 to the certain reprisals of their enemies." 
 
 " Your argument is flawless," acknowledged Traf- 
 ford. " I am de trop. Ambition, to say nothing of 
 humanity, leaves you but one course. Neither do I 
 complain though I shall return a disappointed man. 
 You are not heartless, far from it, for yesterday in 
 a moment of golden light I caught a glimpse of a 
 great splendour, the gorgeous harmonies of a woman's 
 heart. The vision has faded, and again I say I do not 
 complain. On the contrary, I thank Providence for the 
 vision of what might have been." 
 
 A more prolonged silence followed these words. 
 Trafford busied himself with his eclair, while his com- 
 panion continued to stir her chocolate, till a veritable 
 whirlpool formed in its opaque depths. At last she 
 looked up. 
 
 " Of course, I'm not heartless," she said, and she 
 smiled as a coquette might smile on being told that 
 her flirtations were dangerous, " and of course, I like 
 you very much, only you miss the whole gist of my 
 argument. If we announce our marriage now we shall 
 be drummed out of the country. That might suit 
 you, but it doesn't harmonise with the ideals that have 
 been instilled into me from my earliest years. If you 
 accompany me in this projected expedition to Weiss- 
 heim, not as my husband, but as my officer, if you 
 exert your skill and valour on my behalf and help to 
 capture Karl and win me back my old home the 
 Marienkastel there is no knowing what the enthu- 
 siasm of the Grimlander would not do for you. If we
 
 DREAMS 219 
 
 return as conquerers, what more fitting crown to our 
 pageant than the union of the vindicated Queen and 
 her triumphant General?" 
 
 Trafford gazed at the mantled cheek and the light 
 of expectancy that shone in her eyes now. Certain 
 words of Saunders' came back, ringing in his ears: 
 " When you really fall in love you will refuse to take 
 ' No ' for an answer. In the words of the pre-historic 
 doggerel, you will ' try, try again.' ' 
 
 " I see," he said, " I have done something, but I 
 have not done enough. I will accompay you to Weiss- 
 heim a unit of your force and I will do my best 
 to serve your cause. What has passed between us is 
 nothing, must make no difference in our relations, is 
 merely the burlesque conclusion of a burlesque com- 
 pact. I thought I saw the working of Fate in the in- 
 censed gloom of the Chapel Royal. The next few 
 weeks will prove me an idle visionary or a true seer." 
 He paused. " Which do you wish me to prove? " 
 
 She rose to her feet, opened her sable cloak, and dis- 
 engaged a pearl brooch from her neck. Bending over 
 him so that her breath swept his cheek, she fastened 
 the trinket to the lapel of his green tunic, and finished 
 his subjugation with a long look into his eyes. 
 
 " A true seer," she answered.
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 
 
 THE WAB ON THE WINE-SHOP 
 
 OUTSIDE the confectioner's Gloria let down her veil 
 again, and turned her steps towards the Neptunburg. 
 Trafford, at her request, took the opposite direc- 
 tion. His habitually fierce features wore a grimmer 
 look than ever, for his brows were knit and his teeth 
 set, and there was a dangerous gleam in his grey 
 eyes. He was the prey to a host of indefinable emo- 
 tions, that worked his turbulent spirit to its most 
 aggressive mood. Disappointment, a tinge of bitter- 
 ness, coupled with a wild sense of intoxication, caused 
 by the Princess's last relenting act of grace, had 
 strung his fine nervous system to a point when it de- 
 manded violent action as the only possible relief. Had 
 he been at Harvard he would have kindled a bonfire; 
 had Karl been within a reasonable radius of his activity 
 he would have headed a cutting-out expedition to cap- 
 ture that unhappy monarch. As it was, he walked fast, 
 bending his steps unconsciously towards his hotel. The 
 sky showed a pale blue between the lines of house-tops, 
 for as usual the sun was having its morning duel with 
 the white fog that haunts the streets of Weidenbruck 
 at this period of the year. The sun was winning, too, 
 as it generally did for an hour or so, and even caus- 
 ing the huge icicles that hung from the eaves to drip 
 a little at their sharp and glistening extremities. But 
 Trafford noted none of these things. 
 
 220
 
 THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP 221 
 
 " I am very ill or very much too well," he said to 
 himself, in diagnosis of his own feverish unrest. " If 
 I were an Elizabethan courtier I should write a 
 sonnet; if I were an ordinary American I should play 
 tennis or golf. Being neither, I am suffer- 
 ing the torments of a wild beast in a small cage; 
 my brain is bursting from enforced inaction. Saun- 
 ders, who is always right, calls me a madman, and to 
 justify his opinion I shall probably break a shop win- 
 dow in about two minutes." 
 
 Whether or no he had the slightest intention of 
 putting his insane threat into execution, he looked 
 behind him to see if he were observed. A couple of 
 men were following a few paces in his rear. To his 
 excited fancy there seemed something sinister about 
 their muffled forms. One carried a thick stick, and 
 both seemed to look on him with eyes of malice. 
 
 " As I live, I believe they are going to attack me," 
 he said gleefully to himself. " No," he reflected, " the 
 wish is father to the thought. There is not the 
 slightest reason why they should attack me. They 
 are probably respectable burghers doing a morning's 
 shopping in the Konigstrasse." 
 
 The original idea, however, fascinated him, and 
 he stopped ; the men stopped too. He went on, and " 
 the men went on, and a backward glance told him that 
 they were summoning a third person from across the 
 street, and pointing at him as an object either of curi- 
 osity or offence. He continued his walk with a wild 
 hope in his heart, and in the course of a hundred yards 
 the hope became a certainty. A small crowd was now:
 
 GLORIA 
 
 dogging his footsteps, and such uncomplimentary ref- 
 erences as " traitor," " spy " and " schweinhund " as- 
 sailed his ears. The situation would have alarmed most 
 men, and would have accorded even " Nervy " Traf- 
 ford a certain measure of uneasiness under ordinary 
 conditions. But in his present state of psychical 
 unrest the atmosphere of danger had a marvellously 
 relieving eifect. The fever went out of his bones, his 
 blood slackened to a normal speed, his brain adjusted 
 itself to meet the crisis. He was still spoiling for a 
 fight, but seething pugnacity had given way to ice- 
 cool combativeness. He walked on without quickening 
 his pace, and though he looked neither to right nor 
 left, he felt instinctively that the numbers of his retinue 
 were swelling fast. The hum of muttered execrations 
 rose to a stronger note, and every yard of his prog- 
 ress brought fresh idlers in his wake. From time 
 to time he passed a policeman, but these were gor- 
 geously uniformed officials whose idea of upholding 
 civic dignity was to adopt a pose of statuesque aloof- 
 ness to things human and divine. 
 
 Presently a piece of frozen snow struck him on 
 the nape of his neck. He swung round in a fury, and 
 as he did so the foremost of the pack struck his shako 
 from his head. 
 
 " Von Hiigelweiler ! " he cried, recognising in his 
 roughly-clad assailant the Captain of the Guard; and 
 quick as thought he planted a sledge-hammer blow 
 full in his rival's face. The Captain staggered and 
 fell, and profiting by the diversion, Trafford crossed 
 the wide street and plunged into a narrow alley. He
 
 THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP 
 
 was running now, doubling in and out of the con- 
 gested slums that formed this quarter of the town : and 
 if there was no fear in his heart, there was a growing; 
 appreciation of the fact that his life was in danger, 
 and that a single-handed contest with an infuriated 
 mob was an unsatisfactory way of working off super- 
 flous energy. For a space he threaded his rapid way 
 through the winding alleys round the Goose-market, 
 but the hue and cry was strong, and the neighbourhood 
 seemed momentarily more fit for deeds of violence. 
 
 But Trafford had not lost his head, and there was 
 a motive in his flight that was born of quick thought 
 and prospective vengeance rather than panic fear. At 
 the door of a certain wine-shop he halted breathless; 
 a backward glance showed his nearest pursuer fifty 
 yards distant. 
 
 " Herr Krantz ! " he called, bursting into the 
 brasserie. 
 
 "Mein Herr?" 
 
 " Do you recognise me? " 
 
 The man surveyed him coolly. 
 
 " I never forget a face, Excellency," he answered, 
 
 " Good ! " said TrafFord. " And are you still loyal 
 to the good Queen Gloria ? " 
 
 The man nodded as if the question was unnecessary. 
 
 "Then you will help me," said Trafford; "I am 
 being attacked by her enemies." 
 
 Hardly had he spoken when a wild-looking man. 
 entered the shop with upraised bludgeon and a cry of 
 " Traitor ! " TrafFord picked up a convenient beer- 
 can and floored the intruder with a well-directed blow.
 
 GLORIA 
 
 " Close the door and shut the shutters ! " called out 
 Trafford, drawing his sword and holding at bay a 
 couple of ruffians who had outrun the main body of his 
 pursuers. 
 
 There was little time to spare, but there were one 
 <or two early customers of Herr Krantz, who lent 
 instant and unquestioning aid. These helped Trafford 
 Lold the narrow street till the landlord had set his oaken 
 shutters in front of the glass shop-front. Then, as 
 the increasing pressure threatened to overwhelm them, 
 they darted into the shop, banged the door, and shot 
 the massive bolts. A rattle of blows resounded on the 
 woodwork, and a chorus of fierce cries came in strident 
 chorus from the crowded lane. Krantz switched up 
 the electric light to relieve the darkness. 
 
 "I will telephone for the police," he said. 
 
 *' No," said Trafford, who did not share his host's 
 confidence in the Weidenbruck constabulary. " Ring 
 up the Palace." 
 
 Krantz retired to the telephone in the inner room, 
 and the hammering on door and shutters went on with 
 redoubled violence. 
 
 "What is it that they want?" asked the inmates 
 of the shop of Trafford. 
 
 l " Me," replied the latter. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 Trafford had but the vaguest idea, but he answered 
 
 " Because I am the Queen's friend." 
 " I have given a message that you are here and in 
 -danger," said Herr Krantz, returning.
 
 THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP 225 
 
 " Thanks. Are your shutters sound? " 
 
 " I believe so, Excellency." 
 
 " I am glad to hear it. I think we should be well 
 advised to go to an upper window and survey the 
 prospect." 
 
 Krantz assented, and led the way up a 'dark and 
 narrow stair to a room on the first floor. Opening the 
 double windows, Trafford surveyed a scene of many 
 heads ; the confined thoroughfare was literally crammed 
 with a sea of human beings. All were shouting, 
 and those whose position enabled them to do so were 
 banging against the defences with sticks and fists. 
 
 " I trust Herr Krantz's shutters are as sound as he 
 thinks," he muttered looking down on the surging 
 mass of his enemies. " What an excitable folk these 
 good Weidenbruckers are! I suppose that cross- 
 grained beast, Von Hiigelweiler, has been concocting 
 some evil tale about me, and is egging them on to 
 pull me to pieces in revenge for his defeat on the 
 Rundsee. But he finds me in good fighting trim, and 
 I will follow up that blow on the nose with other atten- 
 tions if I get half a chance." 
 
 He craned his head sideways, to take full stock of 
 his adversaries, and as he did so it came into contact 
 with a huge icicle, one of the many that hung like 
 gigantic dragon's teeth from the over-hanging eaves. 
 The slight shock to his cranium instilled a fresh idea. 
 
 " Have you any snow on your roof, Herr Krantz? " 
 he asked, drawing back into the room. 
 
 " The pitch is steep and throws off the snow, Ex- 
 cellency, but there may be a hundredweight or two."
 
 226 GLORIA 
 
 " And can we get on to the roof? " 
 
 If you will." 
 
 " We might create a diversion," pursued Trafford. 
 " A little snow distributed scientifically on the heads 
 of these good people might have a wonderfully cool- 
 ing effect on their heated tempers." 
 
 Krantz doubted the wisdom of further infuriating 
 the mob, but Trafford's enthusiasm was infectious, and 
 he won his way. 
 
 A steep ladder and a trap-door gave access to the 
 tiled roof. A shovel was procured, and in a few 
 seconds a small avalanche was dislodged on to the more 
 aggressive bombarders of the oak shutters. The 
 effect was excellent, and a desire to edge away from 
 the immediate proximity of the wine-shop manifested 
 itself. Trafford, however, was seen, and his image 
 served to increase the streperous chorus of execra- 
 tion below. He replied with a mocking bow and a 
 shovel-full of snow tossed lightly into the middle of 
 the throng. For the moment he held the advantage: 
 curses were met with jeers; threats with a polite obei- 
 sance; any symptom of action was countered with a 
 swift reprisal of hurtling snow. But the situation was 
 not allowed to remain definitely favourable. Among 
 the crowd was someone with an intelligent brain as well 
 as an excitable nature. Von Hiigelweiler at this time 
 was as full of the sentiment of human hate as an in- 
 sulted and disappointed egotist could be. The blow he 
 had received had been the last straw. A bullet in his 
 breast or a sword through his arm would not have 
 burned with such a fire of shame as the crude, coarse
 
 THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP 227 
 
 shock of his rival's fist. All sense of proportion, all 
 notion of justice, let alone mercy, had long ago been 
 swamped by the bitter tide of maddening disappoint- 
 ment which poisoned his best instincts. And now 
 the lust of vengeance, baulked for the moment by his 
 enemy's resource, led him to do rather a clever thing. 
 There was a small fire-station hard by Krantz's 
 brasserie, and this, with the assistance of his chosen 
 followers, Von Hiigelweiler raided. A few minutes 
 later, helmet on head and axe in hand, he and some 
 half-dozen desperadoes returned hopefully to the 
 attack. 
 
 As the first axe-blow crashed into the oaken wood- 
 work, Trafford sent a mass of snow on to the assailant. 
 The man shook under the weight, but his helmet pro- 
 tected him, and he went on with his work undeterred. 
 
 In vain Trafford and his companions shovelled their 
 crystalline ammunition on to the heads and shoulders 
 of their attackers ; they delayed the work of irruption, 
 but delayed it immaterially. It was the crowd's turn 
 to jeer now, for the axes were playing havoc with the 
 stout shutters, and it seemed a matter of minutes only 
 before oak yielded to steel, and the inevitable rush of 
 furious humanity flooded the beer-house. 
 
 " We are undone," said one of Trafford's com- 
 panions ; " we must try and escape over the roofs." 
 
 " One moment," said Trafford, sprawling at full 
 length on the tiles, his head hanging over the eaves. 
 " Herr Krantz, sit on my legs." 
 
 The proprietor, a man of weight, did as he was bid. 
 
 With the hilt of his sword Trafford banged at the
 
 228 GLORIA 
 
 base of one of the huge icicles that fringed the over- 
 hanging cornice. At the third blow it parted four 
 feet of glistening ice pointed to dagger fineness de- 
 scended like a j avelin on to the back of one of the storm- 
 ing party. The man fell without a sound. A snarl, 
 half horror and half rage, burst from the crowd. His 
 comrades raised his 'limp and lifeless body from the 
 snow, and bore it from the danger zone. 
 
 " Forward 'again ! " cried Von Hugelweiler, furi- 
 ously rushing against the shop and burying his hatchet 
 in the splintering shutter. 
 
 But Trafford was busy dislodging another icicle of 
 even more formidable dimensions, and when that was 
 used there were a score of others. The men drew back ; 
 one traitor's life was not worth the risk, and Von 
 Hugelweiler, finding himself unsupported, withdrew 
 too. 
 
 Whether caution would have prevailed, or whether 
 the spirited harangue which Von Hugelweiler now 
 addressed to his followers would have had its effect, 
 can never be known. A diversion, more serious than 
 hurtling snow or crashing icicle, occurred to change 
 men's moods. A troop of horse, cuirassed, high- 
 booted, armed with naked swords, was making its slow 
 but irresistible way down the congested thoroughfare; 
 and in the midst, with black slouch hat and sable uni- 
 form, rode the grimly smiling person of Father Bern- 
 hardt. A cheer greeted him, for his errand was un- 
 known, and he might have come, for all they knew, to 
 help in taking the traitor. If that was their idea, 
 however, they were soon undeceived. The ex-priest's
 
 THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP 229 
 
 quick eye detected Von Hiigelweiler, and the latter, 
 reading its sinister message, commenced a hasty 
 retreat. 
 
 " Two hundred kronen to the man who brings me 
 Von Hiigelweiler, dead or alive ! " called out Bern- 
 hardt. 
 
 There was a movement in the crowd, and in it the 
 late Captain of the Guard was lost to view. 
 
 " Good-morning, Father Bernhardt ! " cried Traf- 
 ford from the roof. " You arrive at an opportune 
 moment; her Majesty's lieges were getting trouble- 
 some. At first I contented myself with snow-balling 
 them, but they turned nasty and I had to despatch an 
 icicle. I am afraid one liege was rather hurt." 
 
 Bernhardt's smile widened as he took in the situa- 
 tion. 
 
 " A pity it wasn't Von Hiigelweiler," he said. " But 
 you'd better let me escort you to your rooms. For 
 the moment you seem to have fallen out of favour 
 with the plebs." 
 
 " I fear so," replied the American, " and had it 
 not been for good Herr Krantz, I might have fared 
 badly at the hands of these gentlemen." 
 
 " Herr Krantz shall be rewarded," said Bernhardt. 
 " His loyalty is well known and appreciated in the 
 highest quarter. And as for these * gentlemen,' as 
 you call them," he went on, turning to the mob, " I've 
 a good mind to give them an experience of a cavalry 
 charge in a narrow lane." 
 
 The suggestion was taken literally by the mob, and 
 something of a panic began in the neighbourhood of the
 
 230 GLORIA 
 
 steel-clad troopers. But Bernhardt checked the move- 
 ment with a quick shout. 
 
 " Stop, you fools ! " he cried, rising in his stirrups 
 and letting his great voice ring out. " Stop, and listen 
 to me before you go about your business or your 
 idling! What do you mean by this breach of the 
 peace? Has there not been trouble enough in the city 
 of late ? Are you men or wolves, that you hunt a man 
 through the streets, and pull down the doorway of a 
 peaceful citizen ? " 
 
 " He is a traitor ! " cried one. " He freed Karl ! " 
 cried another, and a babel of tongues broke out in an 
 eager flood of accusation. 
 
 For a moment Bernhardt let them speak. Then 
 he raised his hand and won instant silence. 
 
 " He is not a traitor," he said with slow emphasis. 
 " He rescued me from the Strafeburg. Was that the 
 act of a traitor? Had it not been for this brave and 
 resourceful American I should now be rotting in a 
 dungeon, and you still beneath the yoke of Karl. It is 
 true that Karl has fled to Weissheim, but that was a 
 mistake due to no fault of Trafford's. And the fault, 
 whosoever's it was, he will undo, for he accompanies 
 me to Weissheim, sworn to win back the Marienkastel 
 from the Queen's enemies." 
 
 The quiet force of his words carried conviction to his 
 hearers. They feared the grim, black figure as a pack 
 of dogs fears its master, but there was a certain canine 
 affection in their debased regard. Bernhardt was a 
 superior being, one whose word was law. They heard 
 and believed, and even began to feel self-reproachful.
 
 THE WAR ON THE WINE-SHOP 231 
 
 " For shame on you, men of Weidenbruck ! " went 
 on the ex-priest in upraised tones. " Shame on you, 
 I say, compassing harm against the man who delivered 
 you from tyranny! This loyal friend of mine, whose 
 courage and craft you have just experienced to your 
 own hurt, joins an expedition to Weissheim as my 
 right-hand man. A foreigner, he endures hardships 
 and dangers for your sake and that of your noble 
 young Queen. * Traitor/ you called him ! Hero and 
 liberator would be better titles, I think, for such as he. 
 With his help there is no fear but that we shall capture 
 Weissheim from our enemies, and bring back Karl a 
 prisoner to the capital. What reward will you have 
 then for Trafford, the deliverer? Will you hunt him 
 through your streets like a mad dog? Or will you strew 
 garlands in his path, acclaim him from your housetops 
 aye, and give him the highest in your land to wife ! " 
 
 Assuredly if the power of words is a wonderful thing, 
 the power of personality is infinitely greater. Bern- 
 hardt had spoken with a certain ready eloquence, a 
 certain skill of pleading in his client's cause ; but an- 
 other might have spoken with twice his skill and twice 
 his oratory, and have failed completely. It was not 
 that he followed the temper of the mob and adapted 
 himself to their moods; rather, he made their moods 
 for them, and used them to his own sweet will. When 
 he reasoned they followed and were convinced, when 
 he lashed they cringed, when he reproached they suf- 
 fered agonies of shame ; and at the end he raised their 
 enthusiasm for the object of their late malice, 'with the 
 ease of a consummate master of men, and his last ques-
 
 232 
 
 tion was met with a ringing cry of " Long live the 
 American ! Long^ live Gloria of Grimland ! " The ex- 
 priest's smile was more of a sneer than anything so 
 cheap did he hold his triumph over the flaccid minds of 
 the shifty horde ; but his eye wandered to the roof where 
 Trafford stood, shovel in hand, cheering himself and 
 his secretly-married wife. 
 
 " We will escort you to your hotel," Bernhardt called 
 out. 
 
 " It is not necessary," replied the American. 
 " Bernhardt the Magician has effected my meta- 
 morphosis he has changed me from a fox to a lion."
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 
 
 THE " BOB " RUN 
 
 IN the far north of Grimland, seemingly secure in its 
 snow-blocked passes and its improvised fortifications, 
 the mountain town of Weissheim basked serenely in 
 the unclouded sunshine of its exalted plateau. The 
 life of the place went on, little affected outwardly by 
 the rude shocks of a revolution that had unseated a 
 dynasty at Weidenbruck, and incidentally horrified the 
 sober-minded people of Europe. The railway was cut 
 that connected Weissheim with the capital, and the 
 telegraph wires were drooping, limp and useless, from 
 their stark poles. The foreign contingent, the Eng- 
 lish and American "visitors of the " Pariserhof," 
 pursued their life of unadulterated pleasure-seeking as 
 thoroughly and unconcernedly as was their wont. 
 Each morning found the curling rink well filled with 
 knickerbockered mortals, bearing brooms, and hurling 
 granite bowls over the perfect ice, and using weird 
 expressions of Scottish origin tempered with Anglo- 
 Saxon profanity. The snows of the hillsides were 
 scarred with the double-tracked impressions of innumer- 
 able ski-runners, and the great toboggan run the 
 Kastel run found its daily complement of votaries for 
 its dangerous attractions. Each night the thermome- 
 ter showed its zero frost, and each day the winter sun 
 proclaimed its potency with no uncertain ray. Nature
 
 GLORIA 
 
 was as serenely unconscious of politics as the guests of 
 the Pariserhof were of the series of fogs that was at 
 that time choking the streets of London with obfuscat- 
 ing blackness. This winter, indeed, was singularly like 
 other winters at this ideal resort of athletic and con- 
 valescent humanity. It is true that horribe tales of 
 rioting and violence had come through from Weiden- 
 bruck, but similar reports had been transmitted many 
 times previously, and if the present rumours were 
 rather more highly-coloured and substantial than here- 
 tofore, that was no reason why able-bodied men and 
 women should not skate and ski, and play innumerable 
 rubbers of bridge over cups of hot chocolate and cream- 
 stuffed eclairs au cafe. It was true that bands of 
 swarthy men in uniform, and armed with shovels, were 
 perpetually throwing up snow-works on the surround- 
 ing bluffs, but they respected the skating-rinks and the 
 toboggan-runs which was all the visitors cared about. 
 Moreover, they furnished rather a picturesque note 
 as they dragged their grim pieces of ordnance over the 
 steep snow slopes, and slowly hauled them into position 
 in the aforementioned snow-works. What the guests 
 of the Pariserhof failed to appreciate was, that a 
 miracle was taking place. Weissheim was loyal! 
 Weissheim, for years the home of sedition and in- 
 trigue, was all for Karl! Just as in the days of his 
 prosperity it had turned against him, so now in the 
 hour of his discomfiture it rallied to him as one man. 
 The troubles of 1904 had taught the good Weissheimers 
 that they had a man for a Sovereign, that the tall, 
 good-natured, sunburnt gentleman in spectacles had a
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 235 
 
 hard fist inside his fur-lined gloves, and a stout heart 
 under his Jaeger cardigan. And the fact that Weid- 
 enbruck had cast him out was a good enough reason 
 for their taking him in. The men of the mountain 
 despised the dwellers of the plain. Rough, cruel, 
 mutable as they were, there were still certain primitive 
 virtues among the hardy hill-folk, and when one day 
 Karl and the ever-popular Saunders turned up unex- 
 pectedly at Weissheim with their tale of woe, they let 
 loose an enthusiasm that had never yet been accorded 
 to Grimland's legitimate Sovereign. So, contrary to 
 his fears, Meyer's task had been an easy one. A more 
 than capable engineer, he soon put the place on as 
 sound a footing of defence as shovel and energy directed 
 by German book-lore and Jewish brains could put it. 
 Within a week of his arrival the whole plateau was 
 secure in its well-planned redoubts and in the excellent 
 temper of the civil and military population. 
 
 On the twentieth of January, eight days after the 
 King's arrival, the race for the Cobham Cup took place 
 on the bob-sleigh run. For this event bob-sleigh crews 
 had foregathered from far and near, for the Weiss- 
 heim " bob " run is acknowledged to be the fastest, the 
 most difficult, and the most sporting in the world. A 
 bob-sleigh, let me explain for the benefit of the un- 
 initiated, is a very long toboggan capable of holding 
 half a dozen persons. Unlike an ordinary toboggan, it 
 is steered from the front by ropes, or, in the most up- 
 to-date " bobs," by a wheel. The rearmost man manip- 
 ulates a brake with a lever on either hand, and he 
 awaits the commands of the steersman, who sees the
 
 236 GLORIA 
 
 curves coming and realises when the pace must be 
 checked to avert disaster. Originally, the " bobbing " 
 was done along the high road, but this was so dan- 
 gerous to horse-sleighs and pedestrians, and resulted 
 in such fearful accidents, that a special track was con- 
 structed every winter, avoiding the town and ultimately 
 joining the highway somewhere near Riefinsdorf. The 
 winning-post was now at this junction, but for ordinary 
 pleasure " bobbing," crews sometimes continued their 
 course along the road itself, the constant declivity per- 
 mitting the craft to travel at a great speed almost as 
 far as Wallen, ten miles distant, or by branching to the 
 left, to descend the Rylvio Pass into Austria. The 
 difficulty of dragging the " bob " back made these dis- 
 tant expeditions events of some rarity, and, indeed, the 
 first part of the course was so much more exciting 
 than the roadway, that it was mainly on this portion 
 that practising for the cup took place. 
 
 Imagine a track some six feet in width, formed of 
 snow turned to ice by the process of constant watering, 
 and so smooth and slippery that a burnished mirror 
 woud be rough and dull in comparison. Imagine this 
 track inclined at a steep angle, walled in on both sides 
 with low ice-banks, and trailing a long and sinuous 
 course for a length of over a mile! Here we have the 
 potentialities of speed when we remember that racing 
 " bobs " are just low frameworks of wood whose steel 
 runners glide over the polished track with as little 
 friction as a flash of lightning traversing a thunder- 
 cloud. When we add that the bends of the course are 
 sharp, and often flanked by sheer precipices, and that
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 237 
 
 to negotiate these bends at high speed requires the 
 greatest nerve and skill for all concerned, it is hardly 
 necessary to add that the sport is one which appeals 
 to wandering foreigners in search of sensations. 
 
 " It is a pity you have not got a crew," said Karl 
 to Saunders, who, with his wife, General Meyer, and 
 Frau von Bilderbaum, were seated in a wooden shelter 
 erected at one of the most exciting bends of the course. 
 " With your skill at the brake and Mrs. Saunders' skill 
 at the wheel, you would have stood a fine chance of 
 securing Lady Cobham's trophy." 
 
 " It is always a pity when politics interfere with 
 sport," replied Saunders. " We manage these things 
 better in England. When the shooting season com- 
 mences politicians take a rest." 
 
 " Here," said Meyer, " the shooting season com- 
 mences when the politicians are most active. Only we 
 don't shoot grouse in Grimland only kings and coun- 
 cillors." 
 
 Karl laughed. 
 
 " I should like to have seen Saunders take his crew 
 down the run in approved style," he said ; " I'd have 
 wagered my forest lands to a frost-bite that he'd have 
 done the best time." 
 
 " I should have liked nothing better," said Saunders, 
 " but it is impossible to do oneself credit without prac- 
 tice. And I have been busy in other ways: I have 
 been studying Meyer's treatise on Winter War, and I 
 am not sure that the possibilities it holds forth are not 
 more exhilarating even than the competition for Lady 
 Cobham's cup."
 
 238 GLORIA 
 
 " We are likely to have that statement verified, if 
 what I hear is true," said the Commander-in-Chief 
 quietly. 
 
 " And what you hear generally is true," muttered 
 Karl. 
 
 " In this case I have no doubts," said Meyer. " A 
 large military expedition left Weidenbruck the day 
 before yesterday; its destination and object are not 
 difficult to surmise." 
 
 " I am glad," said Frau von Bilderbaum trucu- 
 lently. " If blows are to be struck, the sooner the 
 better ; we are ready for them." 
 
 There was a sound of cheering from the direction 
 of the starting point, signifying that the first crew was 
 launched on its downward course. 
 
 It was morning 10.30 A. M., to be precise for the 
 race had to be run before the sun's power waxed hot 
 enough to affect the surface of the track. And the 
 scene was a gay one: blue and white flags were flying 
 from poles at every hundred yards of the course, and 
 from the crowded stands erected at the several points 
 of vantage. 
 
 And the day was a typical Weissheim day: 
 the sky was of a deep and ever-deepening blue. Not 
 a breath of air stirred over the snow-veiled face of the 
 country. The sun had risen above the shoulder of 
 the mighty Klauigberg, and had turned the myriad 
 crystals into a sparkling ocean of unbelievable white- 
 ness. To draw breath was to fill one's lungs with per- 
 fect air and one's heart with ecstasy. To gaze at the 
 shimmering panorama of towering peaks and snowy
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 
 
 buttresses was to behold the finest view in central 
 Europe. 
 
 "Here they come!" ejaculated Karl excitedly, as 
 a " bob " came into view, accompanied by a slight 
 scraping sound, as the runners slithered over the ada- 
 mantine track. 
 
 All held their breath, for the speed of the descending 
 craft was absolutely terrifying. At the prow was a 
 goggled figure in a white sweater, with a red dragon 
 the badge of his crew worked on his chest. Behind 
 him was a young girl, and behind her again four men, 
 all similarly attired. With the exception of the steers- 
 man, who crouched forward, a tense thing of staring 
 eyes and straining muscles, all were leaning back as 
 far as possible to minimise wind pressure. 
 
 " Too fast ! " was Saunders' comment. 
 
 Suddenly, in response to a hoarse cry from the steers- 
 man, the crew swung their bodies to the left and simul- 
 taneously flung out their arms in the same direction. 
 The manoeuvre was designed to bring the " bob " round 
 the corner without checking the pace by applying the 
 brake. The result was unsatisfactory. The prow of 
 the " bob " struck the counter-bank violently, there was 
 a gasp from a hundred throats, and a feathery cloud 
 of snow rose, in which the limbs of half a dozen human 
 beings were whirling in an intricate and inextricable 
 confusion. No one, fortunately, was damaged, and in 
 a few seconds the crew had sorted themselves and re- 
 sumed their chequered career. 
 
 " Heroism and no brake ! " muttered Karl. " How 
 like our friend the American ! "
 
 240 GLORIA 
 
 " May his fall be as harmless ! " said Saunders. 
 
 Frau Bilderbaum snorted. 
 
 " I should like to see him go over the precipice ! " 
 she exclaimed. 
 
 " You probably will metaphorically speaking," said 
 Meyer. " He is accompanying this expedition against 
 us, and he has outwitted me twice." 
 
 A minute later another " bob " was making its 
 nerve-shattering descent of the lightning run. This 
 time its crew, a well-drilled sextet in blue jerseys 
 bearing the facetious badge of a tortoise, swept round 
 the dangerous bend without mishap. 
 
 " Well done, Miss Reeve-Thompson ! " cried Mrs. 
 Saunders, naming the lady who was steering the suc- 
 cessful craft. 
 
 " That's done me good," sighed Karl in a note of 
 satisfaction. " God's sky and the best of sports ! 
 Clean snow and the champagne air of Weissheim, and 
 what care I for the rabble of the plains." 
 
 And so the morning wore on, with cheers for the 
 skilful, gasps for the rash, and murmurs of pity for 
 the unfortunate. There were more spills, of course, 
 but fortunately no disasters of magnitude, and at mid- 
 day the great competition was over. The " times " 
 were added up and checked, and ultimately Miss Reeve- 
 Thompson's crew were adjudged the winners, and ac- 
 companied by a cheering throng they received the cup 
 from Lady Cobham at the Pariserhof. 
 
 The royal party waited till the crowd of onlookers 
 had dispersed, and then wended their way back to the 
 Brunvarad the Winter Palace on foot. As they
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 
 
 followed the track that bordered the run they fell in 
 with General von Bilderbaum, struggling up the hill 
 in a great grey overcoat, very moist and red of face. 
 
 " Well," said Karl, " how are the new forts looking? " 
 
 " Very workmanlike, sire. We have got two new 
 quick-firers on to the south escarpment of redoubt A, 
 and some old but serviceable vutraileuses in position in 
 the long fosse between redoubts C and D." 
 
 " Excellent," drawled Meyer. " And our dear, loyal 
 gunners are they continuing to make good practice at 
 the ice-targets ? " 
 
 '* I am sorry for anything they get sight of within 
 two kilometres," responded the General. 
 
 " I am well served," said Karl. " Herr Saunders 
 herfe has developed into a student of minor tactics, and 
 I fancy would handle a brigade as well as a Moltke 
 or a Kuroki." 
 
 At this moment they reached the point of the path 
 where it crosses the bob-sleigh run, and the races being 
 over and the track closed, a wooden plank had been laid 
 across the glassy surface to afford secure foothold. 
 The men halted to allow the ladies, Mrs. Saunders and 
 Frau Generalin von Bilderbaum, to pass first. But 
 the latter, a lady, as the reader knows, of somewhat 
 egregious proportions, was not gifted by nature with 
 a rapid gait through trampled snow. Holding high 
 her green skirt, and planting her cumbrous snow-boots 
 with deliberate precision, she advanced puffing and 
 panting like a mountain engine in a snow-drift. Be- 
 fore, however, she had come up with the others, a 
 strange man accosted the royal party from the opposite
 
 direction. The individual in question was wearing skis, 
 and looked fatigued and travel-stained, as though he 
 had come fast and far. A black slouch hat was pressed 
 over his forehead, and it was not till he was quite close 
 that Karl and his companions recognised the features 
 as those of Von H'iigelweiler. 
 
 The Captain's salutation was as abrupt as his 
 appearance. 
 
 " Hail ! King of half a country," he said. 
 
 Quietly, swiftly, and without ostentation, Saunders 
 and Meyer covered the newcomer with their revolvers. 
 
 " Hands up when you speak to his Majesty," said 
 the latter. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler dropped his ski-ing pole and held 
 up his hands. 
 
 " I have a weapon in my breast," he said, " but it 
 is not for any here." 
 
 Meyer quietly inserted his hand into the Captain's 
 breast pocket, and drew out a revolver. It was of the 
 Grimland army pattern, and loaded in all its chambers. 
 He swiftly extracted the cartridges and transferred 
 them to his own person, and then, having satisfied 
 himself that the Captain had no further munitions of 
 war, replaced the unloaded weapon in its original 
 position. 
 
 " Now you may talk without the inconvenience of 
 holding your hands in that fatiguing posture," he said. 
 "What is it?" 
 
 " I come from Weidenbruck," said Von Hiigelweiler, 
 " and I bring news. The day before yesterday an ex- 
 pedition left the capital for Weissheim."
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 243 
 
 Meyer nodded. 
 
 " That is so," he agreed ; " we get to know things, 
 even in this charmingly remote district. Still, details 
 are always agreeable. What does the force con- 
 sist of? " 
 
 " The whole brigade of Guards, two battalions of 
 Guides, and the Kurdeburg Sharpshooters." 
 
 " They do me honour," said the King. " But they 
 will find the railway somewhat disorganised. You see, 
 we have dynamited the principal viaducts, to say noth- 
 ing of the two-mile tunnel under the Kahberg and 
 these things are not easy to repair when the snow is 
 down." 
 
 ** The railway is open as far as Eselbruck," the Cap- 
 tain returned, " and from thence they will come over 
 the passes on skis. They will come quicker than they 
 would in the summer." 
 
 " That is true enough," agreed Meyer. " And who 
 is in command of this imposing force ? " 
 
 " Bernhardt." 
 
 " Indeed ! And the second in command? " 
 
 " A cursed American. 
 
 Meyer smiled. 
 
 " That describes Heir Trafford admirably," he said. 
 *' But how about yourself, Von Hiigelweiler? How is 
 it you are not occupying a distinguished position in 
 this amiable field- force ? " 
 
 " Because there are limits even to my dishonour," 
 retorted Von Hiigelweiler fiercely. " In transferring 
 my services from his Majesty King Karl to her 
 Majesty Queen Gloria, I knew I was sinking, but I
 
 GLORIA 
 
 only learned a little while ago to what great 
 depths." 
 
 " You are the man who was sent to hold the Strafe- 
 burg for me," said Karl sternly, " and who handed it 
 over to the mob rather than risk your skin." 
 
 " I did not yield to fear," retorted the Captain, turn- 
 ing almost savagely on his sovereign. " I yielded to 
 an even more odious thing passion. The Princess 
 pleaded with me, balancing her woman's grace against 
 my loyalty. I could face the fury of the multitude, 
 but I succumbed to the blandishments of a wanton ! " 
 
 The word drew an exclamation of surprise and in- 
 dignation from Saunders. 
 
 " And you had your reward ! " he said with a sneer. 
 
 " Aye, I have had my reward," was the bitter an- 
 swer. " Love such as mine always has its reward. I 
 learned who it was upon whom the fickle Gloria had 
 bestowed her worthless heart. Who was it, do you 
 think? A nobleman, a great soldier, a Prince? No! 
 She was conducting a guilty intrigue with the 
 schweinhund Trafford the man who betrayed his party 
 by immuring the enemy in a spikeless Eisenmadchen. 
 
 "Yes, that's true enough," said Karl. "The 
 schwetrihund Trafford, as you call him, possesses some 
 rudimentary ideas of humanity, despite his absurd 
 predilection for anarchy. I may remember that when 
 my time comes." 
 
 " It was an act of folly and weakness," said the 
 Captain recklessly, " an act of treachery to the side he 
 had espoused. As soon as I heard of it I hastened to 
 Bernhardt's chambers with the news."
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 245 
 
 " And he said? " asked Karl. 
 
 " He said he loved and hated you," replied the 
 Captain. 
 
 Karl nodded thoughtfully. 
 
 " I believe that expresses his mental attitude towards 
 me very well," he said. 
 
 " It was the mad paradox of an absintheur," Von 
 H'iigelweiler interrupted. " He was half drunk and 
 wholly dangerous, and I left him. I roused the people 
 against Trafford, but the scoundrel defended himself 
 cunningly, and in the end the devil-ridden Bernhardt 
 turned up and rescued him with a troop of Dragoons." 
 
 " And why are you here? " asked General Bilder- 
 baum. 
 
 " For one thing, there are two hundred kronen on my 
 head in Weidenbruck," replied Von Hiigelweiler. 
 " That makes the place unhealthy. Neither do I de- 
 sire to serve that delightful trinity, the wanton Queen, 
 the dipsomaniac priest, and the verdomte Ameri- 
 can." 
 
 " But why come here? " persisted Bilderbaum, grow- 
 ing, if possible, still redder in the face. 
 
 Von Hiigelweiler ignored the speaker, and turned to 
 Karl. 
 
 " I have no claim on your trust," he said to his late 
 sovereign, " no claim on your mercy but my services 
 may be useful. I ask no high command, I merely 
 crave to be put somewhere in the firing-line, where I 
 can put a bullet into the heart of the cursed American." 
 
 A silence followed this savage request. Then Karl 
 turned to General Bilderbaum.
 
 246 GLORIA 
 
 " What say you, General ? " he asked. " Do you 
 like the look of your new recruit ? " 
 
 " No, sire," said the old soldier bluntly. " I have 
 some blackguards in my command, but no double-dyed 
 traitor such as this." 
 
 " What ! " Von Hiigelweiler's nerves, never well 
 under control, were raw and ragged from his recent 
 bitter experience, and by no means improved by the 
 forced and hasty journey he had undertaken to W T eiss- 
 heim. With a cry of rage and indignation he swung 
 round on the plain-spoken old General, maddened at 
 the insult, and raising his fist as though to avenge it 
 with a blow. But, as on a previous occasion, the 
 General's wife was near at hand to protect the sacred 
 person of her lord and master. Boiling with indigna- 
 tion, she hurled her ample person at the mutinous cap- 
 tain. Von Hiigelweiler gave ground he would have 
 been a Samson had he not done so. And he stepped, 
 not on to the snow, not on to the plank that crossed 
 the run, but on to the surface of the bob-sleigh track 
 itself. He might have trodden on a cloud or a 
 trembling bog for all the foothold it afforded, and with 
 a cry he fell, the Frau von Bilderbaum falling heavily 
 and incontinently on him. Hands were stretched out, 
 but too late. Before the General could clutch the 
 skirt of his devoted partner, the ill-assorted pair, 
 struggling, writhing, uttering noises of wrath and fear, 
 had commenced the descent of the " bob " run. 
 Nothing could stop their downward progress. Swifter 
 and swifter the terrified twain glided, impotent hands 
 clutched at the frictionless banks, and impotent heels
 
 THE "BOB" RUN 
 
 were pressed fiercely and fruitlessly on to the glassy 
 surface of the track. Down they went, the Captain 
 struggling and swearing, the woman struggling and 
 bellowing. The pace grew. They became disengaged. 
 Von Hiigelweiler slithered swiftly on his side, Frau von 
 Bilderbaum rotated slowly in a sitting posture, descend- 
 ing with ever-growing momentum. Up a banked curve 
 she swung, fat arms were raised frantically, a roar 
 of pathetic discomfort shook the frosty air, and the 
 devoted woman disappeared from view round a bend 
 of the track. 
 
 Much of the colour had left General Bilderbaum's 
 face. No one laughed, for the ludicrous mishap might 
 well be a prelude to a serious, even fatal, accident. 
 Saunders climbed up a high mound of piled snow, from 
 which the further bends of the track might be visible. 
 
 " There are some men at work lower down sweeping 
 the course," he said, speaking clearly for all to hear. 
 " They have heard the cries and they are preparing 
 to stop them. Two have put their brooms across the 
 track but the speed is gathering. They have stopped 
 her no ! the impetus was too great the sweepers are 
 rolling backwards in the snow. Wait ! the pace is 
 checked others are helping. They've got her. Now 
 ah! Hiigelweiler's on the top of them! What a colli- 
 sion! She's up, unhurt! It's all right, General; your 
 good lady is safe and sound of limb. She's had a 
 shaking, but her nerves are good, or I'm no judge of 
 physiology. Go down and look after her." 
 
 " Aye, and after Hiigelweiler, too," spluttered the 
 veteran. " I've a heavy reckoning with that young
 
 248 GLORIA 
 
 scoundrel that will take some paying, or I'm not the 
 son of Karl Bilderbaum the Fierce." 
 
 " I wonder," said Karl, as soon as General Bilder- 
 baum had left to recover his hapless spouse, " I won- 
 der whether this man Von Hiigelweiler might not prove 
 a valuable addition to our force. He seems to have the 
 enemy's discomfiture, if not our interests, very much at 
 heart." 
 
 "Where would you put him?" asked Saunders. 
 
 " I should put him where David put Uriah the Hit- 
 tite," said Meyer. "Where he has himself asked to 
 be put in the firing line."
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 
 
 EFVAL INFLUENCES 
 
 VON HTTGELWEILEB, had spoken true when he said that 
 the expedition had started against Weissheim. Two 
 days after Trafford had so narrowly escaped the vio- 
 lence of the Weidenbruck mob the various regiments 
 were entrained at the great terminus in the Bahnhof- 
 strasse. The sight of men being despatched to kill 
 their fellow-men always rouses enthusiasm in the human 
 breast, and there was abundance of flaunting banners, 
 martial melody, and sounding cheers from the stay- 
 at-homes. And in the rolling of drums and the rever- 
 beration of cheers Gloria herself seemed to have forgot- 
 ten her original prejudice againsf the campaign. And 
 as the engine screeched and the royal train, decked with 
 the green and yellow bunting of her House, moved 
 slowly from the station, she felt a Queen going forth 
 to re-conquer a rebellious province, a just instrument 
 of picturesque vengeance, rather than the player of the 
 unwelcome role of blood-guilty adventuress. She put 
 her head out of the window, and bowed and smiled and 
 waved her hand, a thing of girlish excitement with the 
 minutest appreciation of the underlying grimness of 
 the situation. 
 
 That day they steamed to Eselbruck. At this point 
 the railway was cut. The great stone viaduct that 
 spanned the deep ravine was a thing of shattered piers 
 and broken arches, an interesting problem for the en- 
 
 249
 
 250 GLORIA 
 
 gineer, and an object-lesson in the effective use of de- 
 tonating cartridges. At this point, therefore, the units 
 were derailed, a depot formed, and on the next morn- 
 ing the whole force, shod with skis and in full march- 
 ing order, set itself in motion towards Weissheim. 
 During the march Trafford neither saw nor heard from 
 Gloria. He was not unhappy. The fine air, the healthy 
 exercise, the splendid uplands through which they were 
 passing, won him to a mood of strong content. Some- 
 thing had lit a fire in his heart that no wind of dis- 
 favour or adversity could extinguish. He knew that 
 he was a living man again, moving among creatures of 
 flesh and blood; not a spiritless mechanism in a world- 
 of automata. He had seen, or fancied he had seen, a 
 spark of human love in the young Queen's heart, and 
 that spark he swore to kindle into flame by deeds of 
 reckless heroism. And the great energy that was his 
 birthright, stimulated to its highest capacity by the 
 bracing air of the snow-clad passes and the extraordi- 
 nary beauty of the land, filled his spirit with a vast 
 and comforting hopefulness. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon he found Bernhardt 
 by his side. Trafford began to thank him for his 
 rescue from the mob, but Bernhardt interrupted him. 
 
 " I know about your secret marriage," he said, " and 
 though I think it folly, it is the sort of folly I admire. 
 Von Hiigelweiler told me about it. To the people he 
 told another story, a less respectable story without 
 ring or sacrament." 
 
 " So I gather. But I can fight calumny as I can 
 fight other enemies of my Queen."
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 251 
 
 Bernhardt nodded approvingly. 
 
 " They breed men in your country," he said, and then 
 asked: " Are you tired? " 
 
 " It is impossible to be tired in such air," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " Ski-running is a new sport to you, and you are in 
 love." 
 
 Trafford laughed lightly. 
 
 " I am in love with Grimland," he said. ** Weiden- 
 bruck is a villainous place; but these gorgeous moun- 
 tains, with their great, sombre forests and limitless 
 snow-fields, make up a picture I shall never forget. I 
 should like to be king of such a country." 
 
 " One never knows," said Bernhardt. " A great and 
 striking victory, and your dream may be realised. But 
 for the present, remember that you are a soldier, not 
 a consort. Our friend Von Hiigelweiler has an evil 
 tongue, and he has spread cruel slanders about you 
 and the Queen. Evil things win quick credence in 
 Grimland, and the only way to give them the lie is for 
 you and Gloria to see nothing of each other at pres- 
 ent." 
 
 " That is a little rough on a newly-married man." 
 
 " Your marriage is nothing. The Grimlander, who 
 is fickleness personified, and who would like a change 
 of dynasty once a week, is never a Republican. He 
 would not tolerate the idea of his sovereign mating with 
 a commoner. The only possible chance of such a step 
 being accepted is for you to do something quite out 
 of the ordinary in this campaign. It will hardly be 
 wise even then but we might chance it."
 
 GLORIA 
 
 " I believe in fate," said Trafford stubbornly. 
 
 " Comfort yourself your own way," said Bernhardt. 
 " I, for my part, wish you well. There is a dash of 
 the devil about you that wins my best wishes. But I 
 have no further time to waste discussing your affairs. 
 I am wanted here, there, and everywhere, and the time 
 is one of war, not of love. Only, remember my com- 
 mand, my advice if you prefer it ; keep your mind fixed 
 on your military duties, and avoid her gracious Maj- 
 esty Gloria as you would the plague." 
 
 That night they encamped at Schafers-stadt a 
 quaint old town lying in a sunless valley between pre- 
 cipitous hills. Next day they started early, reaching 
 Wallen, a mountain village within easy striking dis- 
 tance of Weissheim, shortly after sunset. Here accom- 
 modation was somehow found for the considerable force 
 under Bernhardt's command. Shelter .had to be ob- 
 tained for all, for to sleep out of doors at such an alti- 
 tude during the winter months meant awakening in 
 another world. Food had also to be provided on a 
 large scale, for the force was what is called a " flying 
 column " ; that is to say, it was proceeding across 
 country in the most direct line to its objective, and 
 not relying on road or railway for a continuance of 
 supplies. 
 
 The only transport accompanying the force was of 
 a grimmer nature. A number of pieces of ordnance 
 were being conveyed on flat-bottomed sleighs, specially 
 constructed for the purpose. And these had to be 
 drawn, with infinite labour, by men on skis, for the way 
 lay over a countryside many feet deep in snow, and
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 253 
 
 horses would have been absolutely useless for such a 
 purpose. Trafford, therefore, was busy on his arrival 
 unearthing cheeses and loaves, wine-casks and other 
 fascinating objects, from the cellars of the more or less 
 hospitable Walleners. Whilst so employed he was, ap- 
 proached by a private of the Guards with a note. 
 
 " Come to the big house in the Market Square 
 the one with the carved escutcheon over the door at 
 6.30, and I mil give you dinner. Gloria R" 
 
 " I will write an answer," said Trafford. 
 
 " There is no answer, Excellency," said the man, and 
 with a salute he was gone. 
 
 Trafford rubbed his hand thoughtfully up and down 
 the back of his neck. Bernhardt had been quite defi- 
 nite in his command to him not to see the Queen, and 
 though the order was little to his liking, he approved 
 its prudence. But the letter in his hand was also a 
 command, and it came from a higher source than even 
 Bernhardt's dictum. 
 
 Accordingly, at half-past six he presented himself 
 at a big balconied house in the Market Square. A 
 simple meal was spread for two in the dining-room, 
 a low pitched apartment panelled from floor to ceiling 
 in dark pine, and garnished with a wealth of cumbrous, 
 antique furniture. 
 
 He waited alone for a few moments, cheered by a 
 most appetising and savoury odour of cooking, and 
 then Gloria entered, smiling, cordial, eminently com- 
 posed.
 
 GLORIA 
 
 " I am so glad you have come," she began. 
 
 He took her outstretched hand and kissed it. 
 
 " I am a soldier, and I obey," he said. 
 
 " When it pleases you," she laughed. " And I hope 
 it does please you to dine tete-a-tete with me." 
 
 " I can conceive no greater felicity." 
 
 "None?" 
 
 " None," he answered. " I have the excitement of 
 a military campaign, my eyes are continually feasted 
 with magnificent scenery, and my lungs with matchless 
 air. Then, on the top of a day of most exhilarating 
 exercise comes an invitation from the lady who is my 
 wife on paper, and whom I have sworn to make my 
 wife in the sight of all men." 
 
 Gloria looked him fully in the face and pressed a 
 small hand-bell that reposed on the table at her side. 
 
 " Gaspar," she said to the orderly who had entered, 
 " bring in the dinner. You know that our friend Bern- 
 hardt has forbidden us to meet," Gloria continued, 
 after a dish of jungferribraten roast pork and juniper 
 berries had been set before them. 
 
 " I know," said Trafford, " and he was right." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 Trafford hesitated. 
 
 " Von Hiigelweiler seems to have coupled our names 
 in an unpleasant manner," he said at length. 
 
 Gloria flushed. 
 
 " Then you should not have come," she said. 
 
 " You gave me no option. As your husband I might 
 have refused. As your officer I had to obey." 
 
 " You might have exercised your discretion."
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 255 
 
 " I might if I had any," he replied. " But I am a 
 most indiscreet man. To-morrow, so I understand, I 
 am going into action. I may win fame or I may be 
 shot through the head. As the latter alternative is 
 not unlikely, I am anxious to spend what may be 
 my last evening on earth with the one woman whom I 
 really " 
 
 A forcible ring from Gloria interrupted the sentence's 
 conclusion. 
 
 " Gaspar, fill this gentleman's glass. As you were 
 remarking, Captain, Grimland is a very beautiful 
 country." 
 
 " It is a very cold country," Trafford growled, 
 plunging his fork into the steaming viands. 
 
 " To-morrow night I shall be sleeping in, my ances- 
 tral home the Manenkastel," Gloria pursued, as the 
 orderly withdrew. " It is a fine old place, and Karl 
 forfeited it when my father failed to carry out his 
 projects in 1904." 
 
 " That is the place you wish me to win back for 
 you?" 
 
 " If you will be so kind? " 
 
 " And suppose I am killed in the process, will you 
 think kindly of me? " 
 
 " Very." 
 
 The callousness of the affirmation horrified him. 
 
 " I believe you were right when you said you had no 
 heart ! " he cried indignantly. 
 
 " That is what I want you to believe," she returned 
 calmly. 
 
 " And that if I am killed," he went on bitterly,
 
 256 GLORIA 
 
 " you will welcome the termination of an impossible 
 situation." 
 
 Gloria gave an almost imperceptible shrug. 
 
 " You keep harping on death," she protested, 
 " surely you are not afraid ? " 
 
 He turned fiercely on her, but restrained his voice to 
 a level tone. 
 
 " From what you know of me," he asked, " am I 
 the sort of man who is likely to be afraid? " 
 
 "No," she admitted readily. "The night of the 
 revolution you were heroism personified. Also I have 
 heard of your exploit in Herr Krantz's wine-shop, and 
 it it sounded very typical of you." 
 
 " Thank you," he said, meeting her gaze ; and an 
 instant later, he added : " There is no such thing as 
 fear in the world for me." 
 
 "Why?" she asked. 
 
 He answered her question with a reckless bang on 
 the table. 
 
 " Because I have lived ! " he cried. " If a bullet finds 
 its way to my heart it will have warm lodging. I am 
 a happy man, and my happiness stands high above the 
 accidents of life and death. Eternity has no terrors 
 but solitude, and for me there will never be such a thing 
 as solitude again, because I have met my second self." 
 
 A hand was stretched out towards the bell, but Traf- 
 ford intercepted it, and the bell was swept off the table 
 on to the floor. 
 
 Gloria rose with flashing eyes. 
 
 " I asked you here in a spirit of camaraderie," she 
 said haughtily. " Because I owe much to you and
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 257 
 
 am conscious of the debt, I risked angering Bernhardt 
 and smirching my own fair name. But you abuse my 
 confidence. You know, as I know, that the present is 
 
 no time for love-making. And yet " She stopped 
 
 abruptly, for Trafford had risen, and, picking up the 
 bell, he put it on the table before her. 
 
 " Ring," he said. 
 
 "Can I not trust you?" 
 
 " No ! " he retorted. " You gave me the right to 
 love you, not by your promise to go through the cere- 
 mony of marriage with me, not by the fulfilment of that 
 promise, but by a certain light that shone in your eyes 
 for a few brief seconds in the chapel of the Neptun- 
 burg. I am exercising that right to-night." 
 
 She drew in her breath sharply. 
 
 " You said just now that I was heartless," she said. 
 
 " That is the usual lover's lie," he retorted ; " the 
 reproach that is only justified by its manifest untruth. 
 But I am a gentleman, as you vaguely surmise, and 
 I will not persist in an attention which is unwelcome 
 to you. I came to make an appeal. You have but to 
 command, and I will leave without another word." 
 
 "What is the appeal?" 
 
 " Do you wish me to make it ? " he countered. 
 
 " You have said so much you had best go on." 
 
 Trafford drew back the curtain of the mullioned 
 window and gazed at the shining pageantry of the 
 frosty skies. For a full minute he stood gazing, and 
 then he dropped the tapestry and faced his royal 
 hostess. 
 
 " I said I was content with things as they are," he
 
 258 GLORIA 
 
 began, " and to a point that is so, for they are better 
 than they might have been. But with the eye of faith 
 I see something nobler than, this struggle for a king- 
 dom we have no right to possess. Something has made 
 me wise these past few days : something has taught me 
 that the love of excitement can be very cruel, and 
 that the harrying of a brave man is not necessarily a 
 more elevating sport than bull-baiting." 
 
 " You wish me to abandon this expedition against 
 Karl?" 
 
 " Oh, it is an absurd, impossible demand, I know," 
 he said, " and I don't ask you for a moment to con- 
 sider it. There are a hundred reasons why we should 
 go on, and there is only one reason why we should 
 not; and that reason does not seem to weigh with you 
 at all. But I am a madman, a visionary, and, like Bern- 
 hardt, I see things. And in my hallucinations I see a 
 woman who is Queen, not of Grimland, but of an even 
 more delectable country. And the woman I see has 
 but one subject, and she is content with him alone, be- 
 cause her sway over him is so paramount." 
 
 Gloria stood very, very still. Only her fingers 
 moved as they plucked the fur trimming of her 
 dress. 
 
 " If I asked you to give up Grimland and fly with 
 me to America, would you do it? " he cried passionately. 
 
 " No but I should like to hear you ask it." A 
 smile, the slowest smile that ever was, bent the extreme 
 corners of the fascinating lips, and ultimately broke 
 in a burst of sunshine illuminating the whole face. Its 
 arrival found him by her side, his hand on her arm,
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 
 
 and a look in his eyes that sought for something with 
 an almost pathetic intensity. 
 
 " I do ask you to come to America with me," he 
 said. " Will you come come to New York, the great, 
 bright city, where the people do not do the horrible 
 things they do in Grimland and other out-of-the-way 
 corners of Europe?" He waited a moment, and then 
 added : " Of course, we shall always keep this beauti- 
 ful country in our hearts a land of rocky spires and 
 splintered crags, a land of swelling snow-fields and 
 amazingly blue skies ; a land where the air is sweet and 
 keen and pine-laden, and the face of Nature stands bold 
 and true, crisp-cut from the chisel of the Master- 
 mason." 
 
 There was no answer. His hand trembled on her arm 
 like a vibrant note of interrogation; his eyes strained 
 to catch the light he longed for, the light he had seen^ 
 or fancied he had seen, in the gloom of the Chapel 
 Royal. 
 
 " Will you come? " he breathed; and for a pregnant 
 second the world of things material rolled back from 
 his consciousness, and left him standing alone in space 
 with his fate. For the strange brain was playing 
 tricks with him, as big, uncontrolled brains do with 
 impulsive, .ill-balanced people. His five senses were in 
 abeyance, or warped beyond all present usefulness. He 
 saw a pair of eyes as points of light in a world of 
 darkness, but all sense of reality had utterly deserted 
 him. He was as he had been in the Chapel Royal 
 when his bride had made her hesitating avowal of a 
 half-passion. A sheet of flame seemed to be passing
 
 260 GLORIA 
 
 through his body, a roseate glow suffused his vision; 
 he never realised that he was uttering a beloved name 
 in a voice of thunder and grasping a beloved object 
 with no little strength. But ecstatic entrancements, 
 however subliminal, yield ultimately to rude physical 
 shocks, arid dimly and slowly the world of dreams van- 
 ished and he became conscious that someone was hitting 
 him violently on the back. Turning round with half- 
 dazed eyes, he found himself confronted with the stern 
 lineaments of Father Bernhardt. The ex-priest, clad 
 in a military overcoat and high leggings, and powdered 
 with still unmelted snow, carried mingled wrath and 
 astonishment in his countenance. 
 
 " Sunde und Siechheit! " he cried. " Are you, too, 
 an absintheur, Captain Trafford? " 
 
 For the moment Trafford had not the vaguest idea 
 what an absintheur might be, but he replied vaguely 
 in the negative. 
 
 Bernhardt uttered an oath. 
 
 " I called you three times by name," he said, " and 
 I struck you three times on the back before you would 
 condescend to pay me any attention." 
 
 " I apologise," said Trafford ; " I was thinking of 
 other things." 
 
 " You were in a delirium," retorted Bernhardt. 
 " The fiend of Tobit " 
 
 " Oh, hang the fiend of Tobit ! " interrupted Traf- 
 ford hotly. " I may be a lunatic, Bernhardt, but I'm 
 a healthy-minded lunatic, if there is such a thing. I 
 was making love, and we'll leave it at that* if you 
 please, and drop all talk of delirium and fiends."
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 261 
 
 " I was finding an excuse for you." 
 
 " I don't need one, thank you." Trafford, as is the 
 way with interrupted lovers, was in an irritable mood, 
 and being so did not notice that Bernhardt was really 
 angry. 
 
 " Indeed you do ! " retorted the ex-priest. " I for- 
 bade you expressly to see the Queen, and I find you 
 dining alone with her, and making violent love to her 
 in addition." 
 
 '* I received a command to dine." 
 
 "And a command to make love?" sneered Bern- 
 hardt. 
 
 " That is my affair." 
 
 Bernhardt turned from the irate American to the 
 confused Gloria, and there was little deference in his 
 regard. 
 
 " Your Majesty does not value your reputation too 
 highly," he said. " As long as you play at being a 
 maid it is as well to act like a maid." 
 
 " My reputation can look after itself," she retorted 
 with dignity. 
 
 " We are five thousand feet above sea level," put in 
 Trafford, " and at least two thousand above the level 
 of perpetual convention. What was a wise precaution 
 at Weidenbruck becomes sheer timidity at Wallen. 
 But it you still think my presence is infectious to the 
 Queen's honour, I will withdraw. The question I came 
 to ask has been answered, and answered well." 
 
 Bernhardt turned a pair of piercing eyes on the in- 
 trepid American. Trafford met the look without flinch- 
 ing.
 
 262 GLORIA 
 
 " You are a very strange person, Herr Trafford," 
 said the ex-priest slowly ; " you are not afraid of me. 
 I believe you and Saunders are the only two men in 
 Grimland who are capable of standing up to me in 
 my wrath. But tell me before you go, what was this 
 question you put and what was its answer." 
 
 " I asked her Majesty if she wished to continue this 
 expedition against Karl, and she answered, * No.' ' 
 
 " She answered ' No ! ' " Bernhardt gasped. 
 
 " If you do not believe me, ask her yourself." 
 
 Again Bernhardt turned to the young Queen. 
 
 " Is it true? rt he demanded. 
 
 Gloria passed her hand across her forehead, as if she 
 was just recovering from a condition of unconscious- 
 ness. When she spoke it was in jerky, consequent sen- 
 tences. 
 
 " Karl is a brave man ; he is not a bad man. It is 
 cruel to harry people loyal, brave people. He is the 
 lawful sovereign of Grimland. I don't wish to cause 
 suffering. I " 
 
 " There speaks a Schattenberg ! " interrupted Bern- 
 hardt with a mocking laugh. " The man who killed 
 your father is entrenched within two leagues of you. 
 Your house, the historic Marienkastel, home of the 
 Schattenbergs for centuries, is his appanage. You 
 have six thousand men at your back to win you back 
 your heritage; but the old, heroic fire is burning low, 
 the fierce old blood is running thin the Schattenbergs 
 are bred out ! " 
 
 The man's calculated scorn, his splendid insolence, 
 filled Trafford with admiration; and it was plain that
 
 RIVAL INFLUENCES 263 
 
 his caustic speech was not without its effect on the 
 sensitive Gloria. She seemed to be emerging from a 
 stupor which still drugged her senses. 
 
 " I would like the Marienkastel," she conceded ; " it 
 is the home of my childhood; its walls are very dear 
 to me. It should be mine by right." 
 
 " Say rather by might," retorted Bernhardt. " You 
 like the Marienkastel, but you do not like the wither- 
 ing fire that decimates the storming party. Its walls 
 are dear to you, but the forlorn hope, the scaling lad- 
 ders, and the petard are abhorrent to your soul. You 
 wish to possess, but the strong man armed is too for- 
 bidding a person to be ousted." 
 
 " If the expedition were against the Marien- 
 kastel " 
 
 " It is against the Marienkastel," interrupted Bern- 
 hardt. " The Marienkastel is the key to the whole 
 town. If we can hold it for half an hour we can dic- 
 tate what terms we like." 
 
 " Dictate what terms we like ! " Gloria repeated the 
 last words of his sentence with eyes aflame. She was 
 a Schattenberg again, ardent, ambitious, reckless. All 
 trace of weakness had left her. 
 
 "And can we take it can we hold it?" sne went 
 on in tones of eager inquiry. 
 
 Bernhardt stretched out his hand towards Trafford. 
 
 " There is the answer to your question," he said. 
 
 " You will capture the Marienkastel for me ? " she 
 asked, turning to her silent lover. 
 
 Trafford looked at the girl before him long and 
 searchingly before answering.
 
 264* GLORIA 
 
 " The Marienkastel is the key to Weissheim," he 
 said at length ; " it is also, it appears, the key to your 
 heart. I thought there was a nearer way, a better 
 way. Yes," he went on, " I will capture the Marien- 
 kastel, or do all that a man can do to capture it, 
 and then I will claim my reward." 
 
 " You shall have it," said Bernhardt ; " I swear it." 
 
 " And I promise . . ." breathed Gloria. 
 
 Trafford nodded to himself. 
 
 " I am content," he said.
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 
 
 THE OPENING BARS 
 
 MR. AND MRS. SAUNDERS were having breakfast to- 
 gether in the pretty stone villa they had built for 
 themselves at Weissheim, overlooking the Nonnensee. 
 The view of the mountains beyond the lake, the exquis- 
 ite expanse of snow, growing into sparkling life under 
 the touch of the rising sun, furnished a prospect of 
 sufficiently absorbing grandeur. But Saunders' eyes 
 wandered only from an omelette aux fines herbes to a 
 belated copy of the Morning 1 Post. English newspapers 
 had been scarce since the cutting of the railway, and 
 the present specimen had reached its destination by a 
 roundabout way through Vienna, and had cost exactly 
 tenpence. 
 
 "What is the Government doing?" asked Mrs. 
 Saunders, who took an interest in home politics. 
 
 " I don't know. When I am in this delightfully 
 disorganised country the mild animosities of English 
 party strife fill me with contempt. I was reading the 
 * Births, deaths, and marriages ' just to prove to my- 
 self that there are natural tragedies and romances, even 
 in the decently regulated areas of Bayswater and May- 
 fair." 
 
 " Is anyone we know mentioned ? " 
 
 "By Jove!" ejaculated Saunders after a pause. 
 
 965
 
 266 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "By Jove!" 
 
 " Please go on, Robert," said Mrs. Saunders with 
 pardonable impatience. 
 
 " Angela Knox, that American girl, is " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Is going to marry a grouse moor." 
 
 " Pray be explicit." 
 
 " Glengourlie a little man in the Scots Guards. 
 Eldest son of the Marquis of Stratheerie; ten thou- 
 sand a year and the best half of Inverness-shire." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders received this startling information 
 with composure. 
 
 " She'll make a handsome peeress," was her comment. 
 
 " What about George Traff ord ? " asked her hus- 
 band. 
 
 " Grimland is a country of short memories and swift 
 changes," said Mrs. Saunders. " It converted you 
 from a blase bachelor to a happy husband ; and it has 
 converted George Trafford from a broken-hearted des- 
 perado to a lover of an usurping queen." 
 
 " Do you believe Von Hiigelweiler's tale ? " asked 
 Saunders in surprise. 
 
 " Yes, and no ; I believe George has undoubtedly 
 been fascinated by Gloria. With her beauty, high 
 spirit, and fearless temperament, she was bound to 
 attract him. Fresh from a recent disappointment 
 and lacking as he is at all times in all sense of pro- 
 portion he is quite capable of demanding her hand in 
 marriage. But Gloria, though she would like him 
 well enough as a friend, would not dream of stulti-
 
 THE OPENING BARS 267 
 
 fying herself by marrying a plain American; still less 
 would she stoop to the depths Von Hiigelweiler hinted 
 at." 
 
 " I am sorry about it all," said Saunders. " Nervy, 
 with all his faults, is a lovable sort of scoundrel, and 
 he had a pretty severe knock over Vaffaire Angela. If 
 Gloria is fooling him for her own purposes as seems 
 more than certain it will leave him, spiritually and 
 mentally, in a condition of pulp." 
 
 " You mean " 
 
 " Oh, not exactly ; for one thing, he's mad already. 
 He's like a man on a free-wheel bicycle without a 
 brake all right on the level, but in the deuce of a 
 fix if he begins to go downhill." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders looked thoughtful. 
 
 " There is a possibility that he may never live to 
 be disillusioned," she said. " He is said to be accom- 
 panying this force againt us, and he is not the sort 
 of person to cultivate the art of taking cover. How- 
 ever, things will be settled one way or the other soon." 
 
 " Very soon," Saunders agreed. " Meyer's scouts 
 report that the enemy encamped last night at Wallen ; 
 and they don't waste time there. Six thousand able- 
 bodied men in a bracing climate eat a good deal 
 and Wallen is a small place with a limited supply of 
 hams and maize. They will be here to-day or to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders devoted her attention to the omelette 
 which furnished their morning meal. She was a lady 
 who had made a point of hiding her emotions, and the 
 near prospect of her husband being in danger necessi-
 
 268 GLORIA 
 
 tated a strong effort of control. It was some minutes 
 before she spoke again. 
 
 "What are you going to do this morning?" she 
 asked at length. " I should ' curl,' if I were you. 
 You haven't * sent down 'a * stone ' for weeks, and I 
 think a respite from your military preoccupations 
 would do you good." 
 
 Saunders sighed regretfully, and stretched himself. 
 
 " There is a competition to-day," he replied ; 
 " Major Flannel's Cup, and I am not in for it. I may 
 watch for a bit, but things are too critical now to 
 admit of much leisure. You see, I've been told off to 
 hold the Marienkastel, and our good friends the enemy 
 may send us their visiting-cards at any minute." 
 
 "And can you hold the Marienkastel? " asked Mrs. 
 Saunders. 
 
 Saunders smiled. 
 
 " I can hold it for a couple of hours," he replied, 
 " which is all that Meyer requires of me. We are to 
 put as many of the enemy out of action as we can, 
 and then yield possession with a bad grace. After that 
 we have a little surprise for them: a couple of con- 
 cealed mortars, which will blow the historic old fabric 
 and those inside it into several thousand fragments." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders suppressed a shudder. 
 
 "And are they sure to attack the Marienkastel?" 
 she asked. 
 
 " Absolutely certain," he replied, " if they know the 
 rudiments of military science. Besides, there are sen- 
 timental reasons for their doing so, for the old Schloss 
 is the ancestral home of the Schattenbergs."
 
 THE OPENING BARS 269 
 
 Mrs. Saunders was silent for a moment ; then she 
 spoke, hesitatingly, but with a forced calm. 
 
 " And will your position be a very dangerous 
 one? " she asked. 
 
 " Fairly so," he replied lightly. " You see, we shall 
 have to bear the brunt of the main attack, and we 
 shall hang on as long as we can. But it is in the 
 evacuation that we shall probably lose most heavily." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders nodded sagely. 
 
 " And it is in the subsequent bombardment that the 
 enemy will suffer most severely? " she inquired. 
 
 " Precisely. It will mean turning the fine old place 
 into a shambles, but we must strike hard or not at all ; 
 and Karl's blood is up, as it was in 1904." 
 
 A deep, vibrant " boom " broke on their ears, and 
 died with long-drawn echoes amid the encircling moun- 
 tains. 
 
 " The enemy have sent their visiting-card ! " said 
 Mrs. Saunders. 
 
 Saunders rose, and stepped hurriedly out of the long 
 window on to the balcony, his wife following. The 
 former produced a pair of field-glasses, and critically 
 regarded a puff of smoke that hung motionless in the 
 still morning air to the extreme left of the pano- 
 rama. 
 
 " Four-inch Creusot," he said laconically ; " that 
 means that redoubt A has found something to practise 
 at a feint attack, probably. I must go to my post 
 in the Marienkastel. They'll have worked round there 
 in a couple of hours, and then the serious business will 
 begin."
 
 270 GLORIA 
 
 Another sounding roar came pealing along the hill- 
 sides, and then a veritable concert, as the other iron 
 mouths took up the harsh music and shook the thin 
 air with their stern melody. 
 
 From where they stood the actual operations of the 
 attack were invisible by reason of the pine woods that / 
 clothed the plain in that direction. But there was 
 much to see from the commanding site occupied by the 
 Saunders 5 villa. The town itself, with its circle of 
 improvised forts, lay considerably below them to the 
 left. Companies of soldiers were painly discernible de- 
 filing to the various jpoints of defence assigned to them, 
 and the blare of bugles rang shrilly through the stri- 
 dent chorus of the distant cannon. It was plain that 
 the greatest activity prevailed, but an activity well- 
 ordered, thought-out, and purposeful. 
 
 Meyer, with all his unsoldierly distaste for personal 
 danger, was almost perfect as the general of a threat- 
 ened city. Every detail had been thought out, every 
 unit of the defence was ready at a moment's notice to 
 take his appointed place. 
 
 Saunders turned his sweeping gaze to the right, and 
 it lighted upon the private curling-rink belonging to 
 Major Flannel's villa. He smiled, for the contest for 
 the Flannel Cup had already begun, and was going on 
 heedless of the stern symphony that was making the 
 valleys echo with bursts of shattering sound. 
 
 A curling competition demands a whole-hearted ab- 
 sorption from its votaries, and takes little heed of 
 battle, murder, and sudden death, provided the ice is 
 keen and in good order.
 
 THE OPENING BARS 271 
 
 ** What are you smiling at? " demanded Mrs. Saun- 
 ders. 
 
 " British sense of proportion," he replied, and as 
 he spoke a man on skis approached from the street 
 below and called on him by name. 
 
 " Orders from the General, Excellency ! " 
 
 Saunders took the note. It was a hurried scrawl in 
 Meyer's handwriting: 
 
 ** Proceed instantly on receipt of this to the Marien- 
 Jcastel. Hang on till they get within a hundred yards, 
 then bolt for the abatis in the new cemetery! " Saun- 
 ders read it aloud, and then turned to his wife. 
 
 " Farewell, dearest," he said simply. " When I 
 have gone make your way to the Pariserhof. You 
 will be perfectly safe there." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders hung speechless a moment in her hus- 
 band's embrace. When she spoke it was apologetically, 
 as one demanding a difficult favour. 
 
 " Robert," she pleaded, " should I be a great nui- 
 sance in the Marienkastel? I could tend the wounded 
 I might even " 
 
 " To-day is a day of obedience and discipline," he 
 interrupted with firm kindness. " I am ordered to the 
 Marienkastel, you to the Pariserhof. Yours is the post 
 of anxiety, mine of excitement. Man is selfish and 
 woman patient and so the latter always has to bear 
 the crueller burden." 
 
 She bit her lip and nodded, and released herself from 
 his embrace. Strong arms handed him his rifle, and 
 cool, steady hands fastened the cartridge-belt around 
 his waist.
 
 GLORIA 
 
 " You know Karl entreated you not to take part In 
 this stupid war," she said with the suspicion of a break 
 in her voice. " Was it kind to me to refuse him ? " 
 
 " It was infernally cruel," he replied. " Necessity 
 generally is." 
 
 Again she nodded thoughtfully. He was right ; he 
 was bound to help Karl, but it needed a brave woman 
 to admit the necessity. But Mrs. Saunders was no or- 
 dinary woman, and for a minute her hazel eyes fought 
 hard and not unsuccessfully againsjt 'the hot, pent 
 stream that battled for an exit. For a moment she 
 fought the unequal fight; then nature gained the day. 
 
 The tears won through, and the strong, supple form 
 became a clinging thing of naked grief. 
 
 Saunders pressed the bowed head tenderly against 
 his bosom, and intertwined his fingers lovingly in her 
 hair. 
 
 " Good-bye, best beloved," he said. " And whatever 
 comes, defeat or victory, the thrill of triumph or the 
 darkness that is death, there will only be one vision 
 before me the cool, grey eyes that looked into my 
 soul and found something there not wholly unworthy 
 of a woman's love." 
 
 " God who gave you to me, protect you," she sobbed, 
 " and teach me to live through to-day." 
 
 And as Saunders strode through the snow to the 
 Marienkastel there was no fear in his heart; merely a 
 great longing for the reunion which must come to 
 loyal hearts here or hereafter.
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 
 
 THE PARLEY 
 
 THE Pariserhof, whither Mrs. Saunders betook herself 
 at her husband's desire, was sufficiently safe, both from 
 its situation and character, to form a rallying point 
 for non-combatants of both sexes and diverse national- 
 ities. From its upper stories an excellent view of the 
 hostilities could be obtained, and in its cellars there 
 was not only efficient shelter from chance missiles, but 
 a considerable mitigation of the thunder of artillery. 
 The latter apartments, therefore, were crowded with old 
 ladies and young children, with a sprinkling of sensi- 
 tive males who had come to Weissheim to recover nerve- 
 tone rather than to listen to gun-fire. On the flat roof 
 over the great dining-hall Mrs. Saunders was standing, 
 field-glasses in hand, surveying the operations with a 
 steady and critical gaze. Most often her glasses were 
 directed towards the Marienkastel, against which the 
 forces of the invading party were being gradually 
 f ocussed ; but no sound passed her lips, neither did the 
 fine, white fingers that held the field-glasses twitch or 
 tremble in the least degree. Hers was the curious, 
 irrational pride that prefers to hide its suffering, 
 though the suffering be doubled by the effort of con- 
 cealment. 
 
 A few adventurous spirits had sallied forth to other 
 points of vantage, where they could get a better, 
 though less secure, view of the rare spectacle afforded 
 
 273
 
 GLORIA 
 
 by the fateful day. But for once the curling-rink and 
 skating-rink belonging to the hotel were deserted; for 
 once the surface of the ice-runs was unscarred by the 
 iron runners of innumerable toboggans. Only on 
 Major Flannel's private rink, not far from the 
 Marienkastel itself, the contest for the Flannel Cup 
 was proceeding as though the day was a day of sport 
 and not of war. The keenest curlers in Weissheim 
 were there : " Skipper " Fraser, the sandy Scot, whose 
 perky humour lent such spice and piquancy to the most 
 tragic moments of the game; Major Flannel himself, 
 roaring out his commands, reproaches, and encour- 
 agements in a voice which easily made itself heard 
 through the growing din of battle; Strudwick, the gi- 
 gantic American, who could always be relied on when 
 a " knock-out " shot was required ; little Hobbs, the 
 Englishman, who sent down his stones in an unorthodox 
 manner, but always within an inch of where his " skip- 
 per " wanted them, so that a particularly brilliant shot 
 came to be known, not as a " beauty " or a " daisy," 
 but as a " Jimmy Hobbs." 
 
 But all the while Bernhardt had been developing his 
 plans with the deliberate skill of a born general. He 
 had forced the enemy to unmask the batteries that 
 guarded the lower part of the town. These he could 
 have forced at a price, had he willed, for, though cun- 
 ningly constructed, snow ramparts are not an effective 
 protection even against rifle fire. But to have done 
 this would have meant long hours of heavy loss, with 
 the grim prospect of stern street fighting when the last 
 redoubt yielded to his superior forces. Could he cap-
 
 THE PARLEY 275 
 
 ture the Marienkastel and establish the few pieces of 
 artillery he had brought so laboriously with him, the 
 town would be at his mercy, and he could make, as he 
 had said, any terms he wished. By eleven o'clock the 
 movement against the old Schloss commenced in ear- 
 nest. Bernhardt might have brought his guns to bear 
 on the ancient masonry, but there were sentimental 
 reasons for not reducing the historic pile to a heap of 
 rubble; nor was he the man to waste time in an artil- 
 lery duel if the place could possibly be taken by a coup 
 de main. The Marienkastel must be restored intact to- 
 its rightful owner and peace dictated to the dethroned 
 monarch before the sun sank to rest behind the western 
 mountains. 
 
 So Saunders, watching the course of operations 
 from a lofty tower, perceived imposing bodies of In- 
 fantry approaching against him on three sides. On 
 they came on their skis over the soft snow Guides in- 
 extended order to the right, Sharpshooters cresting a- 
 low bluff to the left, and throwing up a hasty en- 
 trenchment of snow with the evident intention of hold- 
 ing the hill against any retaliatory turning movement 
 on the part of the garrison ; and in the centre, cling- 
 ing to the wooded ground, came a powerful force of 
 Guards in their winter fighting garb of white. In 
 the extreme rear was Gloria with the reserve, guard- 
 ing the ammunition sleighs and a battery of field 
 guns. 
 
 Between the invaders and the Schloss lay the bob- 
 sleigh run, and Saunders, expecting a bombardment 
 of the Marienkastel, had filled the track with a strong;
 
 276 GLORIA 
 
 advance guard of his men. The bob-run made an ex- 
 cellent trench, and fortunately at this point had but 
 a very slight declivity, so that the men found no diffi- 
 culty in retaining their position on its glassy surface. 
 The track indeed started high up by the Marienkastel, 
 just above Major Flannel's curling-rink, and began 
 with a tremendously steep S-shaped curve, known as 
 " The Castle Leap " ; then it went straight for a bit 
 and almost level, then wound round again with 
 gradually increasing steepness, and so on in a succes- 
 sion of curves and bends till it joined the main road 
 some thousand feet below, near the hamlet of Riefins- 
 dorf. 
 
 But before a shot was fired against the castle a small 
 party was seen approaching under a white flag. 
 Through his field-glasses Saunders detected the form 
 of his friend Trafford accompanied by a couple of 
 officers, all on skis. Instantly Saunders sent out a cor- 
 responding party, also under the white flag. Trafford, 
 having expressed a desire to see the officer command- 
 ing the Schloss, was blindfolded, together with his two 
 satellites, and conducted through the lines of the de- 
 fence to the enceinte of the Marienkastel. 
 
 " You are in the presence of the Commander," said 
 the officer who had conducted him to the courtyard, 
 where Saunders was awaiting him. " What is it you 
 have to say ? " 
 
 " My message is brief," said Trafford, speaking in 
 German, and saluting his unseen adversary. " It can 
 be framed in one word surrender ! " 
 
 " And it can be answered in one word," replied
 
 THE PARLEY 277 
 
 the Commander of the Marienkastel, also in German. 
 " And in a good English word * No.' " 
 
 " Saunders, by all that's W9nderful!" ejaculated 
 Trafford. 
 
 " The same, dear disturber of the peace." 
 
 " Then that makes things much easier. I am a 
 humane man, as you know, and I have no particular 
 desire to kill or be killed. We are in a position to 
 take this eligible chateau, which belongs of right to the 
 lady I am privileged to call Queen. But in the taking 
 you will probably hurt a few of my loyal and trusty 
 followers, and we shall certainly damage some of 
 yours. My suggestion is, that you should evacuate 
 with the full honours of war, retaining all arms and 
 standards, and playing any drums, bugles, or other in- 
 struments of military music you may chance to 
 possess." 
 
 "And in return for our obliging courtesy?" 
 
 " We will give a free amnesty to all who have taken 
 part against her gracious Majesty Queen Gloria. As 
 for one Karl, styling himself King of Grimland, he 
 can live anywhere he likes outside the territories, pos- 
 sessions, and dependencies of the aforesaid Gloria, and 
 he will be granted a revenue of one hundred thousand 
 kronen per annum from the royal treasury." 
 
 " The proposition is dazzlingly attractive," returned 
 Saunders. " But I regret that I must refuse. My 
 orders leave me no alternative." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said Trafford warmly : " Here are 
 we, two Anglo-Saxons in the middle of a host of be- 
 nighted foreigners ready to fly at each others' throats !
 
 278 GLORIA 
 
 What nobler or more dignified proceeding than to make 
 terms over their heads, prevent bloodshed, establish 
 peace, and inaugurate an era of good-will and pros- 
 perity ? " 
 
 " A most ennobling idea," agreed Saunders, " and 
 .one which can easily be carried out by your renouncing 
 your schemes of robbery and usurpation. If you agree 
 to lay down your arms, and throw yourself on the 
 mercy of my royal master, I will use my influence with 
 him which is considerable to grant a full amnesty 
 to all traitors, rebels, and discontents, including your- 
 rself." 
 
 "Enough jesting!" cried Trafford. "Gloria owns 
 nine-tenths of the country, and we have a sufficient 
 force with us to take Weissheim two or three times 
 over. I want to save life she wants to save life. We 
 have no time to waste. Will you surrender yes or 
 no?" 
 
 No!" 
 
 Trafford stretched out his hand blindly in the di- 
 rection of his friend. 
 
 " Good-bye ! " he said soberly. " In ten minutes we 
 shall be potting at each other. I hope it won't be our 
 misfortune to hit each other." 
 
 " Good-bye ! " replied Saunders, gripping his 
 enemy's hand with a strong pressure. " I share your 
 wish to the full. I regret that circumstances do not 
 find us on the same side, but the fault is none of my 
 making." 
 
 There was a momentary silence and in that silence 
 was audible ,a peculiar humming, grinding roar, the
 
 THE PARLEY 279 
 
 penetrating music of granite bowls gliding over thick 
 ice. 
 
 "What's that? " asked Trafford. 
 
 " Curling," replied Saunders. " A match on Major 
 Flannel's rink." 
 
 "Where's that?" As much of Trafford's face as 
 was visible under the bandage looked thoughtful. 
 
 " Two hundred yards above us in a hollow near the 
 start of the bob-run. Why?" 
 
 "Nothing," said Trafford. "Only they ought to 
 be warned that they are playing a dangerous game. 
 A chance shot might convert a pleasant pastime into 
 a black tragedy." 
 
 " I sent to warn them half an hour ago," replied 
 Saunders, " but the sole reply was that they were hav- 
 ing a most interesting match, and that they hoped I 
 should have equally good sport." 
 
 Trafford laughed and gave his friend a final hand- 
 grip. 
 
 " Good-bye, again," he said. " I respect your de- 
 cision to stick to your post but it is a pity, a great 
 pity."
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 
 
 TRAFFORD AND THE TRENCH 
 
 BERNHARDT himself was directing the movement 
 against the Marienkastel. He dominated the whole 
 force as completely as though he had been trained to 
 the art of war instead of the services of the Church. 
 All felt that success depended on one man, and that 
 man was the keen-eyed enigma who seemed to blend a 
 strain of genius with the taint of madness in his seeth- 
 ing brain. 
 
 "Their answer?" he demanded of Trafford, on the 
 latter's return from his fruitless parley. 
 
 " See us d d first," replied the American. 
 
 " Ha ! That sounds like Saunders," said Bernhardt 
 with a laugh. 
 
 " It was Saunders. I'm sorry we couldn't come to 
 terms, but my friend is a pig-headed gentleman, and 
 he won't shift till we poke our rifles through the castle 
 windows." 
 
 " Dear Saunders ! " exclaimed Bernhardt. " How 
 like him to give us a good fight ! We'll rush a couple 
 of hundred men up for a frontal attack, and see what 
 happens. Let it be the Guards under Captain Zac- 
 chari. Give the order now, if you please." 
 
 The charge sounded, and the men advanced in open 
 order, only to be met with a withering fire from the 
 advance guard entrenched in the bob-sleigh run. A 
 good few dropped, and Bernhardt having learned what 
 
 280
 
 TRAFFORD AND THE TRENCH 281 
 
 he required, gave the command to halt. The men ac- 
 cordingly flung themselves prone in the deep snow, oc- 
 casionally sniping as a head showed itself above the 
 ice bank of the toboggan track. 
 
 ** We must enfilade that trench," said Bernhardt to 
 Traff ord, who had j oined him. " How long will it 
 take to get our guns up to the top of the run? " 
 
 " Two hours, if the enemy don't interfere. Two 
 years, if they do. It's a steep bit of hill, and this sun 
 is making the snow soft on the surface." 
 
 " True," agreed Bernhardt. " Then we must ad- 
 vance all along the line. It will be costly, but we'll 
 give them a hot time when we get to close quarters." 
 
 " We shall lose at least a hundred men," objected 
 Trafford. 
 
 " More, I think," said Bernhardt coolly ; " but we 
 shall take the Marienkastel." 
 
 " I've got an idea," said Trafford musingly. 
 
 " Out with it ! " 
 
 " Give me twenty men and twenty minutes, and I'll 
 turn those fellows out of the bob-run or my name's 
 not George Trafford." 
 
 " Choose your men and choose your moment," he 
 said, flashing a glance at his companion, " but remem- 
 ber that time presses." 
 
 " I am ready now," said Trafford, his face alight 
 with enthusiasm. " Any twenty men will do, provided 
 they are good ski-ers and know which end of a rifle 
 goes off." 
 
 Bernhardt gave the order for twenty men of the 
 Guides to attach themselves under Trafford.
 
 GLORIA 
 
 " When you hear a bugle-call push on with all your 
 strength," said the latter ; " and if you take Saunders 
 prisoner deal gently with him." 
 
 Making a detour in order to take all available 
 cover, Trafford led his men towards the starting point 
 of the bob-sleigh run. His movement, hidden by the 
 configuration of the ground, was unnoted by the gar- 
 rison, nor did he meet with any opposition on his way. 
 The hum of the curling-stones led him on, and as he 
 drew nearer the stentorian shouts of the " skippers," 
 a,s they sung out encouragement to the different mem- 
 bers of their sides. When he reached the top of the 
 Jiill where the run commenced he found himself look- 
 ing down on to a frozen pond, whereon a number of 
 sunburnt men were plying brooms in front of a slither- 
 ing curling-stone. 
 
 "Sweep, boys, sweep!" yelled out Major Flannel. 
 *' Bring it all the way ! It'll be a * Jimmy Hobbs ' 
 when it stops. Up besoms, lads ! It's drawn the port ! 
 Thank you, Hobbs it's a beauty right on the pot 
 lid. Man, you're a curler ! " 
 
 " I beg your pardon," Trafford interrupted, de- 
 scending on to the ice, and saluting. " I am sorry to 
 interrupt your pastime." 
 
 Major Flannel looked up and surveyed the intruder, 
 whose approach had been completely unnoticed by the 
 engrossed enthusiasts. 
 
 Trafford was in a dark-green uniform with a sword 
 at his side. In one hand he bore a bugle, and in the 
 other a ski-ing pole. 
 
 What this warlike figure was doing on the curling-
 
 TRAFFORD AND THE TRENCH 283 
 
 rink, and why it should address him in faultless Eng- 
 lish was a mystery to the worthy Major. Then he 
 noticed that the high snow bank behind the rink was 
 crowned with a score of riflemen. The game was 
 suspended, and the curlers gathered round the in- 
 truder. 
 
 " Are we in the way of the fighting? " asked 
 " Sandy " Fraser. 
 
 " Not in the least," replied Trafford, with a smile : 
 " but all the same it is my painful duty to interrupt 
 your game." 
 
 " But we don't mind war risks," objected the Scot. 
 
 " So I have been told," said Trafford ; " but the fact 
 is we want to borrow your curling-stones." 
 
 Mystification of the profoundest nature showed itself 
 on the faces of the curling fraternity. 
 
 " You're a humourist, sir," said Fraser at length. 
 
 " Among other things, yes," agreed Trafford ; " but 
 at the present moment I'm in deadly, sober earnest. 
 We're trying to take the Marienkastel, but Karl's men 
 are holding the run, and unless we can dislodge them 
 it'll be a bloody business capturing the place. I'm 
 sorry to spoil sport, but I must annex your curling- 
 stones in the name of Queen Gloria you'll see why in 
 a minute." 
 
 And so saying, Trafford gave a command in German 
 to his men. Instantly they jumped down on to the ice. 
 
 " Each man take a stone and carry it up to the top 
 of the toboggan run ! " he called out. 
 
 There were only sixteen stones to the twenty men, 
 so four men were perforce inactive. The others pro-
 
 284 GLORIA 
 
 ceeded to carry out the command with unquestioned 
 discipline. 
 
 " Man, man," expostulated " Sandy " Fraser sor- 
 rowfully, " you're spoiling a gran' match." 
 
 But Major Flannel took a fiercer line of protest. 
 
 " What the blazes are you doing, sir?" he splut- 
 tered, red with indignation. " This is my rink, and 
 these stones are mine and my guests'." 
 
 The four soldiers who had had no stones allotted 
 them began to handle their rifles expectantly. Traf- 
 ford, however, checked any untoward action on their 
 part with a curt gesture and a quick-flung com- 
 mand. 
 
 " Force is an ugly kind of argument, gentlemen," 
 he said, turning to the two " skippers." " It grieves 
 me exceedingly to have to appeal to it. Please do not 
 make my position any harder. It is bad enough to 
 spoil the sport ; it would be cruel if I had to spoil the 
 sportsmen." 
 
 Slowly and dimly, but nevertheless surely, the 
 Major began to perceive the hopelessness of arguing 
 the rights and wrongs of the situation. He had a pro- 
 found contempt for any soldiers except those of his own 
 country, but a saving spark of common sense rescued 
 him from the tragic folly of resistance. 
 
 " I'd never built up a better ' house ' in my life," he 
 said petulantly. " We were lying * two stones ' and 
 with another shot to play might easily have been 
 three." 
 
 " Be careful of the pink stones with the blue ribbon 
 on the handle ! " Fraser called out in exaggerated
 
 TRAFFORD AND THE TRENCH 285 
 
 trepidation. " My mother's just sent them to me as 
 a Christmas present from Aberdeen." 
 
 A laugh followed this fcally good-humour was 
 restored. 
 
 " Gentlemen," called out Trafford, " mount this 
 snow bank here with me, and you will see a sight that 
 will more than recompense you for a ruined game and 
 the possible loss of your curling-stones ! " 
 
 So saying, Trafford himself mounted the snow bank 
 at the commencement of the bob-sleigh run. The 
 curlers followed, one or two grumbling still, others with 
 a belated interest in the fortunes of the day. 
 
 " Now, then," cried Trafford in German, to his com- 
 mand, " when I say ' go,' hurl those stones down the 
 toboggan-run ! All together, now one, two, three, 
 go!" 
 
 The men swung back their granite burdens and then 
 hurled them with all their force on to the shining sur- 
 face of the icy track. Swiftly the stones glided down 
 the sharp incline, gathering pace at every yard of their 
 downward course. Round the first bend they swept, 
 banging against each other in a jostling rush of irre- 
 sistible momentum. 
 
 " That's one way of enfilading a trench," said Traf- 
 ford to the Major, as the last stone, a pink one with 
 a blue ribbon, swept out of sight. " Shrapnel's not 
 in it with Aberdeen granite ; " and raising his bugle 
 to his lips he sounded the " charge," clear and true. 
 
 Then it was that the curlers had compensation for 
 their spoiled sport. The whole line of the attack, 
 Guides, Sharpshooters, and Guards, seemed to spring
 
 286 GLORIA 
 
 into being out of the snow, and hurl themselves in a 
 parallel rush towards the Marienkastel. Bugles blew 
 wild music from their brazen throats ; " Forwards ! " 
 cried officers with drawn swords to their men, and 
 " Forwards ! " the men cried back to them with the 
 deep- throated joy of battle. 
 
 " Forwards ! " shouted Bernhardt, pressing with the 
 van, reckless of personal danger, conscious only of the 
 possible fear of others, and of the supreme impor- 
 tance of pushing home the present attack at all 
 costs. 
 
 A spluttering volley rang out from the enemy's en- 
 trenchment, but scarce a man of the attack dropped. 
 Nor was this to be wondered at: Saunders* men were 
 in confusion. A curling-stone weighs about sixteen 
 pounds, and when it is travelling at a rate of forty 
 miles an hour is almost as deadly as a cannon-ball ; nay, 
 they were more alarming than ordinary shot or shell, 
 for they were visible, and the men who might have 
 faced the unseen death struggled frantically to avoid 
 the visual peril of the granite avalanche. There was 
 much breaking of bones and crushing of ribs, cries of 
 agony and groans of tribulation. Rifles went off at 
 various angles, friends grappled with friends, and 
 many, pushed on by the weight of the accumulated 
 stones and the press of writhing limbs, began to slither 
 down the toboggan track, even as Frau von Bilder- 
 baum and Von Hiigelweiler had done two days before. 
 It was a moment of torment and confusion, a moment 
 when loyalty and discipline were helpless and unavail- 
 ing, a moment, indeed, when a much less determined at-
 
 TRAFFORD AND THE TRENCH 287 
 
 tack would have prevailed against such twisted chaos 
 and dismay. 
 
 " The Kastel's ours ! " cried Trafford enthusiastic- 
 ally, as Bernhardt's force swept irresistibly over the 
 toboggan run and pressed furiously to the walls of the 
 Schloss. 
 
 " Heaven help Saunders now ! " he added, a swift 
 fear crossing his brain. " By gad, they're bolting ! " 
 he cried in glad surprise, as the garrison of the castle 
 streamed out and away with scarce a backward glance, 
 and never a backward shot at the triumphant enemy. 
 
 " That's not like Robert Saunders but I'm glad, 
 devilish glad." 
 
 "Congratulations, sir!" said Major Flannel, shak- 
 ing Trafford warmly by the hand. " I've seen a bit of 
 fighting in my day, and I've seen a bit of sport, but 
 I've never seen the two things blended so harmoniously 
 before in the whole course of my existence." 
 
 Trafford returned the hand-grip, but waited for no 
 further compliments from the enthusiastic Major. 
 Down beneath him, riding on a gun-carriage pulled 
 by a score of soldiers, Gloria van Schattenberg was 
 mounting the slope towards the long-forfeited home of 
 her ancestors. And with bent knees and trailing pole 
 Trafford ski-ed down the incline, to be the first to offer 
 her congratulations on her victory.
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 
 
 MEYEB AT WORK 
 
 MEYER had not disliked the battle quite so much as he 
 had expected. Karl's winter palace, the Brunvarad, 
 where he had taken up his headquarters, was suffi- 
 ciently remote from the danger zone to allow his mind 
 to work coolly and collectedly on his master's behalf. 
 And on the whole he almost enjoyed it. Karl was with 
 him, silent, almost sulky in the enforced inactivity 
 Fate and his councillors assigned him. He would have 
 been happier in the trenches handling a rifle, or sight- 
 ing one of the big Creusot guns that barked defiance 
 at his foes. But for the moment circumstances held 
 him in the little room where Meyer, with a big map 
 spread before him, and a telephone receiver at his ear, 
 issued the brief messages or despatched the brief 
 notes that meant so much to the issues of the day. 
 
 " War has been compared to the game of chess," 
 remarked Meyer during a brief pause when the tele- 
 phone bell was silent, and no aide-de-camp rushed in 
 with his vital message from the front ; " and if the 
 simile is trite and commonplace, it is certainly espe- 
 cially applicable in this case. One sacrifices piece for 
 piece, a pawn for a knight, a knight for a castle, and 
 so forth, and he who ultimately has the best of the 
 exchange has an easy victory at the finish. In our 
 
 288
 
 MEYER AT WORK 289 
 
 case we are sacrificing a castle the Marienkastel 
 for a Queen. When the enemy's Queen is hors-de-com- 
 bat they can make but a poor bid for victory." 
 
 " The simile will bear pressing even closer," said 
 Karl surlily, " for by the rules of the game the king 
 can only move one step in any direction." And with 
 a wave of his hand the discontented monarch indicated 
 the four walls which confined his activities. 
 
 " It is our duty to prevent you from being check- 
 mated, sire," returned the Commander-in-Chief. " Per- 
 sonally, I hold fighting a coarse sport, and am well 
 content to do the intellectual part at the end of the 
 telephone." 
 
 The ringing of the instrument punctuated his re- 
 mark with singular appropriateness. 
 
 " Well, who are you and what is it? " he demanded. 
 
 " I'm Saunders," returned a voice ; " I'm in the 
 abatis in the churchyard." 
 
 Meyer glanced round at the clock. It pointed to the 
 hour of twelve 
 
 " Then you're there half an hour too soon," he re- 
 turned. 
 
 " Not a moment, I assure you," came the reply. 
 " Trafford sent Major Flannel's curling-stones hurt- 
 ling down the bob-run, and spoilt the formation of 
 my advance guard. In the confusion they rushed us, 
 and, as I understood you did not want us to be wiped 
 out, we bolted manfully for the abatis. Here we are, 
 and here we'll remain as long as you wish." 
 
 " And what's happening in the Marienkastel? " 
 asked the Commander-m-Chief.
 
 290 GLORIA 
 
 *' Bernhardt's holding it in force." 
 
 " And his guns ? " 
 
 " Are being slowly dragged up the snow slope." 
 
 " How long will it take to get them in position ? " 
 
 " At least an hour. The sun has made the snow 
 soft." 
 
 " Thank you," said Meyer. " Stay where you are, 
 please, till further orders," and replacing the receiver 
 he rose to his feet. 
 
 " Now, sire," he said, " the King can move more 
 than one step at a time." 
 
 " In what direction ? " 
 
 " The Marienkastel." ' 
 
 They left the Brunvarad, Karl leading, by the great 
 doorway at the base of the armoury tower. Here a 
 couple of horses were awaiting them big, yellow, 
 maize-fed brutes, raw-boned and angular, but service- 
 able steeds on a rough path or a frozen highway. 
 
 " I should feel a little happier if you would take me 
 into your complete confidence," said Karl as they rode 
 out of the palace courtyard. " So far, I have listened 
 to one-sided conversations on the telephone, and brusque 
 orders to breathless aides-de-camp, but I hardly know 
 what portions of Weissheim are still mine and which 
 are Gloria's." 
 
 " The enemy have taken the Marienkastel, as we in- 
 tended' they should, but they have taken ii three- 
 quarters of an hour too soon. The insufferable Traf- 
 ford, who saved your life and rent your kingdom, 
 has the subtlety of the serpent without the harmless- 
 ness of the dove. He enfiladed Saunders 5 trench in
 
 MEYER AT WORK 
 
 the bob-sleigh run with curling-stones, and in the con- 
 fusion Bernhardt rushed the Schloss." 
 
 " Cannot we re-capture it? " asked Karl. " I should 
 not mind leading the forlorn hope." 
 
 " As my place is by my royal master's side," re- 
 sponded Meyer drily, " I must veto the suggestion with 
 all the authority I possess." 
 
 " Then what are we to do ? " 
 
 " Employ the enthusiasm of others, repress our own. 
 Von Hiigelweiler, who hates Trafford and loves Gloria, 
 and therefore would like to destroy them both, ia 
 waiting in Drechler's farm at the top of Sanatorium 
 Hill with a park of howitzers. When he gets the order 
 the mortars will talk. The distances have been care- 
 fully measured, and the Marienkastel may already be 
 numbered among the disappearing relics of old Grim- 
 land." 
 
 "And the Princess Gloria?" asked Karl. 
 
 " Will cease to be an effective factor in Grimland 
 politics." 
 
 Karl frowned. He had been ruthless enough in 
 1904, but then he was fighting against men. He was 
 no sentimentalist, and he meant holding his own, 
 though regiments were decimated in the process, and 
 the snows of his beloved Weissheim were stained scar- 
 let with good blood. But he had ever had a soft cor- 
 ner in his heart for the laughter-loving Princess, and 
 his spirits sank at the prospect of her bright young 
 life being sacrificed to the brutal, senseless Moloch of 
 civil strife. The rough, fierce men who held the up- 
 lands for him were fair game for powder and shot, the
 
 GLORIA 
 
 levies of the plain were chair a cannon, maybe; but 
 Gloria von Schattenberg was a creature of too delicate 
 ilesh to be maimed by live shell or splintering ma- 
 sonry, and his manhood revolted at the gruesome pros- 
 pect. 
 
 " We must try and save the Princess," he said after 
 a minute's silence. 
 
 Meyer said nothing. The nearer they advanced to 
 the scene of action the lower his spirits fell. The sun 
 was high in the cloudless heavens, and the distant 
 mountains reared their snowy crests against a blue that 
 was astounding in its intensity. A purple haze swam 
 in the hollows of the hills ; the buntings twittered in 
 cheerful chorus amidst the dripping pine trees, now 
 that their song was broken no longer by the crude 
 music of the cannons' roar. For the moment Nature 
 spoke of peace, but Meyer knew that there was no 
 peace. There was a pause in the struggle, a lull be- 
 fore the storm, a moment when, by mutual consent, the 
 hand-grip was relaxed, preparatory to the final strug- 
 gle when one combatant or the other would be forced 
 ruthlessly to his knees. And Meyer in his room, di- 
 recting movements from a distance, was a very different 
 person from Meyer within striking distance of a mobile 
 foe. The man had no stomach for fighting. His 
 mouth was dry and his pulses drumming a craven 
 melody in his ears, a He was afraid, and he was pain- 
 fully conscious of his fear ; but although his suffering 
 was acute his brain was working tolerably well behind 
 the half -shut eyes. 
 
 There is a kind of cowardice that never loses its self-
 
 MEYER AT WORK 293 
 
 control at a crisis, just as there is a kind of bravery 
 that never keeps it. 
 
 A turn of their path brought them into the main 
 road running between the town of Weissheim and the 
 Marienkastel ; and if there had been peace in the out- 
 look over the matchless valley of the Niederkessel and 
 amidst the high sanctuaries of the mountains, there 
 was war here in stern evidence and grim reality. Up- 
 ward pressed the troops who had held the redoubts of 
 the lower town, and whose presence was now needed on 
 higher ground. Downward, on sleighs painted with 
 the red cross of mercy, progressed those who had suf- 
 fered in the brief defence of the Marienkastel. Karl 
 and his General saluted, the latter with no softening 
 of his cynical features, but a strange numbness of his 
 breast that was fear tempered, perhaps, with mercy, 
 certainly with horror. A couple of hundred yards up 
 the road they halted; here, within easy range of the 
 Marienkastel, but protected by the banked-up snow 
 at the side of the road, were gathered a considerable 
 number of soldiers under the eye of General von Bilder- 
 baum. The latter advanced and saluted as soon as he 
 saw his Sovereign^ 
 
 "How are matters progressing, General?" asked 
 the King. 
 
 " They are not progressing, sire," replied the Gen- 
 eral bluntly. " We are doing nothing, while the enemy 
 is doing much. In forty minutes their guns will be in 
 position, and the loyal town of Weissheim will be wiped 
 off the map." 
 
 " Meyer does not seem to have bestowed his confi-
 
 GLORIA 
 
 dences very widely," returned Karl. *' I have only just 
 learned that there is a battery of howitzers waiting to 
 pound the Marienkastel into brick-dust. Why they do 
 not commence pounding is known only to my intelligent 
 Commander-in-Chief." 
 
 " When one destroys a wasps' nest," said Meyer 
 smiling, " it is wise to protect oneself against the in- 
 mates. When the castle becomes untenable Bernhardt 
 and his men will buzz out in a thoroughly bad temper. 
 Unless this road, where we now are, is held strongly, 
 there is nothing to prevent them taking their afternoon 
 tea in the Brunvarad." 
 
 Karl nodded; despite his present irritability he had 
 considerable faith in his Commander-in-Chief. Not so 
 old Bilderbaum. 
 
 " What about these howitzers ? " he asked scornfully. 
 ""What is there to prevent Bernhardt rushing them? 
 Where are they ? tf 
 
 " They are in a very safe place," said Meyer with 
 a wave of his hand to the right. " If Bernhardt means 
 to storm them he'll have to face six quick-firers and 
 two hundred riflemen on either flank ; also he'll have to 
 climb a quarter of a mile of soft snow without a stick 
 of cover for his men. Anyone who can reach those 
 howitzers may keep them as a memento of a warm after- 
 noon." 
 
 " And who is in command? " asked the still uncon- 
 vinced General. 
 
 " Von Hiigelweiler," replied Meyer. 
 
 General Bilderbaum uttered a sonorous oath that 
 was more like a roar than an expletive.
 
 MEYER AT WORK 295 
 
 " Hiigelweiler ! " he cried. " I wouldn't trust him 
 with a corporal's guard. He's a liar and a traitor 
 on his own confession." 
 
 " He is probably both," agreed Meyer, " and he is 
 also a bitterly disappointed man. The gentleman for 
 whom his hatred is being nursed is now in the Marien- 
 kastel, and I don't think you need have any anxiety as 
 to the accuracy of Von Hiigelweiler's guns." 
 
 For a moment Meyer's calm assurance won silence. 
 The troops continued to arrive from the lower town 
 and take their appointed positions on the road that 
 led to Weissheim. The Commander-in-Chief might be 
 making mistakes, but if so they were not the errors of 
 a stupid mind. Karl began for the first time to ap- 
 preciate the true merits of the Jew's scheme. When 
 the invaders' position in the castle was rendered un- 
 tenable they would have no path open to them but the 
 one by which they had come. Then, doubtless having 
 frittered away their strength in vain efforts to break 
 through to Weissheim, Meyer would deliver a crushing 
 counter attack as they drew off, spent and shattered, 
 down the hillside. Von Bilderbaum, however, failed to 
 see things with the same eye of faith. 
 
 "Why doesn't Von Hiigelweiler open fire now?" he 
 demanded. 
 
 " Because he has not received the order to do so," 
 Meyer replied. 
 
 " Why not ? " persisted Bilderbaum. 
 
 Meyer's eyes contracted. He had the air of a wise 
 man dealing with a foolish one; and when he spoke it 
 was with more than a touch of impatience.
 
 " The enemy's guns are now half-way up the hill," 
 he said. "When they have kindly brought them the 
 whole way we shall have something to say to them." 
 
 " And they may have something to say to us," re- 
 torted the General. 
 
 Meyer shrugged his shoulders, as if convinced of the 
 hopelessness of trying to instil intelligence into the 
 other's skull. 
 
 " If I were you," went on Bilderbaum, " I should 
 send a couple of regiments full pelt against those 
 guns. We might bring off a very effective ski-charge 
 down the slope." 
 
 " And lose fifty or sixty men," sneered Meyer. 
 
 " It would at any rate be fighting. At the present 
 moment we're lowering the morale of our troops by 
 palsied inaction." 
 
 " If General von Bilderbaum were in supreme com- 
 mand of his Majesty's forces," said Meyer, " I have 
 no doubt that the battle would be short, sharp, and de- 
 cisive only the decision would not be in our favour." 
 
 Von Bilderbaum flushed scarlet. He was essentially 
 a fighting man, with the fighting man's contempt of 
 the Jew, and his calculated inactivity. 
 
 Meyer's gentle gift of rudeness pierced his thick 
 skin with inflaming venom. A sense of discipline and 
 the presence of the enemy alone restrained him from 
 violence. In despair he turned to his Sovereign. 
 
 " Have I your permission to head a charge against 
 the guns, sire? " he asked. 
 
 But Karl's face had taken on a new look of decision. 
 
 " You have not," he replied firmly. " Any fool can
 
 MEYER AT WORK 297 
 
 head a charge. I suggested doing so myself half an 
 hour ago. In theory I am a King and you a General ; 
 in practice we are pawns in Meyer's game. It is wisest 
 to accept our limitations, and only to move when and 
 where we are told. If I can submit, Von Bilderbaum, 
 surely you can, too." 
 
 " Your Majesty's words are very touching," said 
 Meyer in his colourless tones, which might have con- 
 cealed the profoundest contempt or the most genuine 
 feeling. " This is the hour of the savant, of the pro- 
 fessor of 'Kriegspiel,' of the man whose brain is un- 
 affected by the glamour of heroism or the poetry of 
 shock tactics. The hour of the fighting man will come 
 later your hour, Von Bilderbaum the hour of big 
 deeds and little cunning, of personal glory and the 
 primordial joy of destruction. Believe me, General, I 
 envy you your hour more than you grudge me mine. 
 It is better to be a fighting dog than a pusillanimous 
 old fox." 
 
 Bilderbaum looked his superior squarely between the 
 eyes. 
 
 " You were a fighting dog, yourself, in 1904," he 
 retorted. 
 
 " For ten minutes," sneered the Commander-iri- 
 Chief. 
 
 " For ten very useful and strenuous minutes," main- 
 tained the General. " I am not sure that I am not 
 proud of serving under you. I am quite sure that it 
 is a good thing for his Majesty that you are not serv- 
 ing under me.'* 
 
 Meyer ignored the honourable concession. He was
 
 298 GLORIA 
 
 gazing through his field-glasses at the distant guns, 
 which were now three parts of the way up the hill. 
 
 " The secret of military success," he murmured, ex- 
 tracting his notebook and scribbling something in it, 
 " is to strike when the iron's hot not before. Give 
 that to your A.D.C., General," he went on, tearing out 
 the leaf and folding it, " and tell him to take it in- 
 stantly to the officer in command of the howitzer bat- 
 tery on Sanatorium Hill. The moment has arrived for 
 destroying the wasps' nest."
 
 CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 
 
 NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL 
 
 THE battle of Welssheim was a very small affair, 
 viewed from an European standpoint. The forces en- 
 gaged on either side were trivial, and the issues at 
 stake of comparative indifference to all save those di- 
 rectly concerned ; and yet it was not devoid of pictur- 
 esqueness in its incidents, nor even of academic interest 
 to those who study the conduct of military operations 
 in the high regions of deep snow and zero frosts. The 
 bombardment of the Marienkastel was an excellent ex- 
 ample of concentrated artillery fire on a mediaeval 
 building, of the efficacy of modern explosives on ancient 
 masonry, of the superiority of iron and melinite to 
 stone and concrete. Bernhardt's gallant attempt to 
 storm the destructive battery was as noble in its way 
 as the heroic charge at Balaclava ; its failure was even 
 more pronounced. He returned from that spirited en- 
 terprise with half his men and a rifle bullet in his 
 dangling left arm, but with an unbroken spirit and un- 
 tamed energy. 
 
 The Marienkastel existed no longer as a building. 
 Its halls were unroofed, its great tower but dwarf piers 
 of splintered masonry. The position, which had been 
 captured with such skill and gallantry, had been but 
 a bait in the enemy's trap. The Marienkastel, indeed, 
 commanded Weissheim, but Sanatorium Hill com- 
 
 999
 
 300 GLORIA 
 
 manded the Marienkastel. The ex-priest's local knowl- 
 edge had been inferior to Meyer's, and that inferiority 
 spelt the difference between winning and losing the 
 battle. 
 
 During Bernhardt's absence on his desperate effort 
 to spike Von Hiigelweiler's mortars, Trafford had been 
 left in command of the castle. Finding his position un- 
 tenable and his losses increasing at an appalling rate, 
 he drew off to the sheltered ground by Major Flan- 
 nel's curling-rink. Here they were safe from attack, 
 and at the same time powerless for purposes of ag- 
 gression. Gloria was with him, bitter at the destruc- 
 tion of her home, sick at the loss of her followers, 
 anxious to do some desperate action which should win 
 back their lost advantage. 
 
 The day which had opened with triumph seemed des- 
 tined to close in shame. A man's courage was in her 
 heart, a stubborn pride in her vigorous blood, but the 
 sight of the wounded, sufferers for her ambition, 
 won a softer mood, and she hastened to give comfort 
 where she could no longer arouse enthusiasm. At 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon Bernhardt and his 
 remnant entered the hollow, which Trafford had now 
 put in a position of defence. The ex-priest looked 
 round at the entrenched riflemen and the guns in their 
 snow embrasures, and laughed mockingly. 
 
 " On what can you train your guns here ? " he asked, 
 attempting to bind his wounded arm with the aid of 
 his uninjured member and his strong teeth. 
 
 " On anyone who wants to play a game on Major 
 Flannel's rink," Trafford replied, tendering his as-
 
 NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL 301 
 
 sistance for the stricken limb. " Our motto for the 
 moment is * defence not defiance.' We cannot hurt 
 the enemy, and the next best thing is not to let him 
 hurt us." 
 
 " And y ou< are content with that ? " asked Bern- 
 hardt with scorn. 
 
 " I have a beautiful nature," the American replied 
 quietly, " and I accept the decrees of Providence in 
 a chastened spirit. We came to capture a town and 
 a king, and we have captured a curling-rink! Un- 
 fortunately we have sent the curling-stones down the 
 bob-sleigh run, so we are unable to derive much benefit 
 from our achievement." 
 
 Bernhardt looked wonderingly at the other. 
 
 " And men call me mad," he said after a pause. 
 
 " And with reason," retorted Trafford. " You are 
 a Napoleon in parvo, a man who desires big things 
 quite apart from their intrinsic value. You want a 
 kingdom for your playground, and princes for your 
 playthings ; that is what scientists call megalomania, 
 and I, bad taste. There are better things at hand for 
 the normal man : a wife and children and a good con- 
 science." 
 
 " A coward's creed ! " was Bernhardt's comment. 
 
 " Maybe, but mine." 
 
 Bernhardt tossed his head in despairing amazement. 
 
 " To think that you of all men should sink so hope- 
 lessly at our first rebuff! Trafford, the hero of the 
 revolution, is no better than a craven ! " 
 
 " There is more than one kind of cowardice, Bern- 
 hardt," rejoined Trafford without heat; " and I admit
 
 302 GLORIA 
 
 I was a coward in the Marienkastel, when the shells 
 dropped and buried men alive under tottering walls. 
 I don't think I was ever afraid before, but then I had 
 never been in action with with a woman." 
 
 " But ' perfect love casteth out fear,' " mocked 
 Bernhardt. 
 
 " Then is my love very far from perfect," came the 
 ready answer. " I was in a very torment of anxiety. 
 A good man groaning out his life with a lump of lead 
 in his breast, and a broken wall across his legs, is bad 
 enough, but she " and Traff ord pointed to Gloria, 
 who was engaged in tending a poor, disfigured wretch 
 who had been moved from the stricken castle " my 
 God, Bernhardt, I was a coward ! " 
 
 " Women don't feel pain as much as men," said 
 Bernhardt brutally. " Our anxiety on their account is 
 a purely selfish sentiment based on the lowest instincts." 
 
 " Your theory would be preposterous even if we 
 were animals," replied Traff ord. " As applied to 
 humanity it is blasphemy. I fancy your wound hurts 
 you." 
 
 " Aye, my wound hurts me not the wound in my 
 arm I don't feel that but the wound in my spirit. 
 I am not one to sit down under defeat." 
 
 " Then what do you propose to do ? " 
 
 " Push on to the Brunvarad ! " 
 
 " And play Meyer's game for him ! The road is 
 held with every rifle and quick-firer they can cram 
 into it." 
 
 " We can get through at a price," said Bernhardt 
 between his teeth.
 
 NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL 303 
 
 " I don't think we could get through at any price," 
 rejoined Trafford with conviction. "If we go on we 
 are beaten men ; if we stay here we may make a draw 
 of it." 
 
 Bernhardt uttered an exclamation of contempt. 
 
 " There is no such word in Girimland," he said. 
 " We either win victory or we drain the cup of defeat 
 to its dregs. Are we to return to the good loyal town 
 of Weidenbruck and say, ' We have lost three hundred 
 men and a dozen guns; we have not captured Weiss- 
 heim, nor taken Karl, but we have made a draw of it? 
 Strew garlands in our path and deck your houses with 
 bunting, for we have escaped total destruction ! ' 
 
 " I was not suggesting returning to Weidenbruck," - 
 said Trafford. 
 
 "Can we stay here? What are we to eat? Where- 
 are we to sleep? The nights are far from warm at 
 these altitudes. To sleep out of doors at Weissheim. 
 is to sleep the sleep that knows no waking. If we can- 
 not go forward we must fall back on our communica- 
 tions at Wallen. The hospitality of Major Flannel's 
 curling-rink is not one to be accepted permanently. 
 
 Trafford was silenced. Events had landed them in 
 an impasse, and to curse the whole folly of the expedi- 
 tion was alike ignoble and unprofitable. 
 
 It might have been wiser, as he had advocated at 
 Wallen, to have abandoned the scheme of conquest, 
 to have sought the joys of life in quiet retirement 
 from the scene of clashing ambitions and frenzied up- 
 heavals; but the expedition had gone on to its fate 
 and he had gone, consenting, with it. And things be-
 
 804 GLORIA 
 
 Ing as they were, Bernhardt's logic was relentlessly 
 true. To go back with their purpose unfulfilled was 
 to test the brittle fabric of the sullen Weidenbruckers' 
 allegiance with too shrewd a strain. And if they could 
 not go forward they must go back. In grim per- 
 plexity he called to Gloria. 
 
 <e Is it worth while trying to force the road to 
 " Weidenbruck ? " he asked her. 
 
 *' If you had been tending wounded men, you would 
 not ask such a question," she replied quietly. 
 
 " I thought the Schattenbergs rose to great heights 
 in great difficulties," sneered Bernhardt. " If we are 
 to shirk our butcher's bill " 
 
 ** We have made our mistakes," she interrupted. 
 '" Our only chance is for them to make theirs. If we 
 stay here they may attack us." 
 
 " Meyer doesn't make mistakes," said the ex-priest, 
 " and if he did it would not be a mistake of that kind. 
 If we stay here the only foes that will attack us will 
 be General Frost and Brigadier Hunger; against such 
 we have no defence." 
 
 ' " It seems to me," said Traff ord, " that to go for- 
 ward is madness, to go back madness, to stay here is 
 madness ; and as we must do one of these three things, 
 madness is our portion. Now the most effective kind 
 of lunacy seems to me to stay here till night- fall." 
 
 "And then hazard a night attack?" questioned 
 Gloria hopefully. 
 
 "Not an attack," rejoined Trafford. "Meyer has 
 very sound theories of defence, and his searchlights 
 are sure to be in excellent working order. No; we
 
 NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL 305 
 
 must drop the soldier and become burglars. Where 
 a thousand, or even a hundred, would fail, half a dozen 
 may succeed; and the object of our burglary must be 
 Karl. If we can secure his person and return with it 
 to the capital, we shall have done all, or nearly all, 
 we attempted. Weissheim is loyal to an individual not 
 a dynasty, and Karl in the Strafeburg would be a much 
 less attractive person than Karl in the Brunvarad." 
 
 Bernhardt laughed softly. 
 
 " I begin to have hopes of you again," he said. 
 
 Gloria clapped her hands excitedly. 
 
 " I knew you would find some way out of the diffi- 
 culty ! " she cried. " There is no such thing as despair 
 with you in our counsels." 
 
 " I am fighting for a high stake," Trafford replied. 
 " If I can win success out of the tangled disorder of 
 our fortunes you " 
 
 " If you can capture Karl," she interrupted, " I am 
 sure there will be no political objection to your being 
 being my consort." 
 
 " Only personal objections?" he hazarded. 
 
 " There will be none," she said, " I swear it. You 
 .are a most gallant and resourceful gentleman, and 
 I might search my kingdom over for your equal." 
 
 Trafford noted the genuine enthusiasm of her tones, 
 And nodded grimly. 
 
 " You are what they call a * throw-back,' your 
 Majesty," he said. " You should have lived five hun- 
 dred years ago, in the age of joust and tourney, when 
 men won their wives by driving enormous spears 
 through the breastbones of their less muscular rivals."
 
 806 GLORIA 
 
 "And you are of the Middle Ages too," she coun- 
 tered ; " jour ideals, like mine, go back to the early days 
 of chivalry." 
 
 " The days of the rack and the Iron Maiden ? 
 No, I assure you that with all my faults I am more up- 
 to-date than that. Romance is a fine thing on paper, 
 but in my heart of hearts I would win my soul's desire 
 with a gentle wooing. But to return to our moutons: 
 does the plan I have outlined commend itself to my 
 friend Bernhardt ? " 
 
 " If your proposal had been to put a bullet through 
 Karl's cranium I should say that it bordered on sanity," 
 replied Bernhardt. " But even that would be difficult. 
 Meyer stands or falls by Karl's supremacy and the 
 Jew is not a man to let his position be forfeited for 
 want of forethought. He will watch over Karl's sacred 
 person as a mother watches over her first-born. Still, 
 we might scheme an attempt for stalking the royal 
 stag." 
 
 " I suggested turning burglar," said Trafford. " I 
 consider that a sufficient descent in the social scale, 
 without turning murderer." 
 
 '* You have not the advantage of being an 
 absintheur," was Bernhardt's rejoinder. But at this 
 point the conversation was interrupted; an officer of 
 the Guides had approached and was standing at the 
 salute. 
 
 " A man to see your Excellency," he began, to* 
 Bernhardt. 
 
 "Where from?" 
 
 " Weidenbruck."
 
 NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL 307 
 
 "His name?" 
 
 " Dr. Mattl." 
 
 Bernhardt whistled. 
 
 " His business ? " he demanded. 
 
 " Private and confidential." 
 
 *' Hum ! Conduct him here, please." 
 
 A moment later the doctor stood before them. He 
 was arrayed in a woollen jersey, with a Jaeger scarf 
 around his neck. Grey-green knickerbockers and yel- 
 low putties veiled his nether limbs. He was wearing 
 smoked glasses, and his feet were shod with skis. His 
 head was bare, and his hair wet and tangled, as though 
 it had had intimate acquaintance with the snow. 
 
 " What are you doing here ? " demanded the ex- 
 priest. 
 
 " I come as a messenger and a fugitive," replied the 
 doctor. 
 
 "Your news?" 
 
 " Weidenbruck is in a condition of anarchy. You 
 left me as a dictator, but you deprived me of a dicta- 
 tor's only argument force. You drained the city of 
 troops, and you expected me to impose my will on 
 that turbulent and sinful community. My will was 
 to purify the stadt. My men raided the gambling- 
 houses round the Goose-market; they harried the in- 
 famous dens of the H'ahngasse. I closed the Mailand 
 Kurhaus and that other haunt of immorality, the 
 Augustus Cafe. For forty-eight hours virtue tri- 
 umphed, and the worst features of my native town 
 began to disappear with exhilarating rapidity. Then 
 the forces of sin and debauchery put their evil heads
 
 308 GLORIA 
 
 together, and the reaction began. My police were 
 suborned. The cry was raised that a worse tyranny 
 than Karl's had been inaugurated. Rumours that Karl 
 was holding his own and more began to be disseminated 
 in the capital. It was whispered that guilty relations 
 had been established between the young Queen and the 
 accursed American. There was a riot. I called out 
 the soldiers, but they were too few and not over willing. 
 The people who had hounded Karl from his throne 
 cheered his name in the same streets where they had 
 sought his blood. I am no coward, but I was appalled. 
 To calm the tempest would have needed an army 
 corps." 
 
 " Or Father Bernhardt," interrupted Trafford. 
 
 " Anyway, I fled," the doctor resumed, " because I 
 saw how imperative it was that you should return as 
 soon as you had won your victory." 
 
 " And left the city to anarchy ? " put in Gloria. 
 
 " I left the sons of worthlessness to their own 
 confusion." 
 
 " Dr. Matti," said Bernhardt, " you are one of those 
 amiable beings who have theories. If you had amused 
 the Weidenbruckers, or even let them amuse them- 
 selves, all might have been well. Instead, however, 
 you tried to turn them into angels, a role which 
 Providence has not assigned to any community east of 
 Berlin." 
 
 " I meant well " 
 
 " That is what I complain of," interrupted 
 Bernhardt. 
 
 " But the situation is only temporarily serious," in-
 
 "I drink to our success to-night, I drink to the 
 devil in the devil's own tipple"
 
 309 
 
 terposed the hapless doctor. " When you have cap- 
 tured Weissheim " 
 
 " When we have captured Weissheim," said Trafford. 
 " Unfortunately we are about a quarter of a mile fur- 
 ther from Weissheim than we were two hours ago. 
 And two hours hence we shall very probably be further 
 still." 
 
 " Good heavens ! You " 
 
 " We are like you, Dr. Matti," went on Trafford. 
 " We have had a failure ; like you, we over-rated our 
 own skill and under-rated our enemies'. The situation 
 is bad." 
 
 Matti was silent, but his big, plebeian features 
 showed plainly the disappointment and consternation 
 of his mind. The short winter day was winning to its 
 close. Already the sun was falling behind the great 
 wall of the distant mountains ; already the snows of the 
 Klauigberg were flushing rose-pink against the green- 
 ing turquoise of the cloudless sky. A chill had crept 
 into the air, the surface of the curling-rink, which 
 had been wet under the sun's mid-day power, was now 
 as slippery as a polished mirror. In an hour it would 
 be dark, and with the dark would come the intense cold 
 that meant death to all that failed to find a night's 
 shelter. 
 
 " It is time we fell back towards Wallen," said Bern- 
 hardt to Gloria. " I and TrafFord will stay behind 
 with a few trusty spirits. If all goes well we will join 
 you to-morrow morning." 
 
 " I am going to stay behind too," said Gloria 
 quietly. " Colonel Schale can conduct the retreat."
 
 310 GLORIA 
 
 " I too will stay behind," said Dr. Matti. " I am 
 further from Weidenbruck here than at Wallen." 
 
 Bernhardt looked at the doctor's heavy, determined 
 features, and nodded. 
 
 " We four," he muttered. " It is enough ! My 
 wound burns like fire; the cold has got into it, and it 
 will mortify. To-morrow Dr. Matti can remove the 
 gangrened limb." 
 
 Matti's professional instincts were roused by the last 
 words. 
 
 "You are wounded?" he said. "You had best let 
 me remove the bullet at once." He produced from his 
 person a small bottle containing a colourless fluid. " I 
 was prepared for emergencies of this nature. A whiff 
 of chloroform " 
 
 " To the devil with your anaesthetics ! " cried Bern- 
 hardt hotly. " My brain is wanted to-night ; my 
 brain, Herr Doctor, not a fuddled mass of drugged 
 cells and inert tissue ! Take out the bullet if you will, 
 but don't imagine I shall flinch under the knife. There 
 is no pain that I can feel but the pain of disap- 
 pointment." 
 
 " But a mere whiff," began the worthy doctor. 
 
 " Do as he bids," said Trafford, taking the bottle 
 from Matti's hand and putting it for safety into his 
 pocket. " That may come in useful later. But I 
 should take out the bullet, if you can," he whispered; 
 " there is a queer look in his eyes, and I fancy the 
 pain is making him light-headed." 
 
 " Come, cut out the little lump of lead, doctor," said 
 Bernhardt, " the little messenger that meant so much
 
 311 
 
 harm and achieved so little. Cut deep, Matti, and do 
 not stint the knife. Only leave me my right arm and 
 my brain; for to-night there will be great doings be- 
 tween the dusk and the dawn. Aye, Bernhardt," he 
 went on, talking to himself, " you must rise to great 
 heights. There will be friends to help you a mad 
 Yankee, a Puritan doctor, and the last of the Schat- 
 tenbergs. A strange trinity! Nor must I forget my 
 good councillor Archmedai. He must be very near me 
 to-night. Herr Trafford, I have a flask at my belt; 
 it is difficult for me to undo it with one hand. Kindly 
 assist me. A thousand thanks! I drink to our suc- 
 cess to-night, I drink to the devil in the devil's own 
 tipple. Death to Karl! Joy to Trafford and his 
 
 bride! And to Bernhardt " he tossed down a full 
 
 measure of his beloved absinthe " to Bernhardt I 
 drink " his speech thickened and his eyes wandered 
 vaguely over the group. He drank again " To 
 Bernhardt I pledge the great unknown ! "
 
 CHAPTER THIRTY 
 
 BECEUITS 
 
 BY the fireplace of the great hall of the Brunvarad Karl 
 was standing with his two Generals, Meyer and Von 
 Bilderbaum. It was six o'clock, and with the falling 
 of night a thin haze of clouds had swept up from 
 Austria, and a mist of fine snow was descending with 
 silent persistence on hill and roof, rink and run, on the 
 inviolate forts of Meyer's planning, and on the bat- 
 tered remains of the Marienkastel. Within the palace 
 abundant electric light and blazing logs lent cheer- 
 fulness to the great stone walls of the chamber, and the 
 huge dark beams that spanned them. On the men's 
 coats were rapidly diminishing tokens of the storm 
 without. 
 
 " I have to thank you for your congratulations," 
 Karl was saying as he shook the snow from his cap 
 into the spluttering flame, " and to thank you more 
 especially for the efforts which have rendered those 
 congratulations applicable." 
 
 Von Bilderbaum tugged nervously at his huge white 
 moustache. 
 
 " I had so little to do, sire," he protested. " If I 
 had headed a ski charge " 
 
 " You would probably not be here to receive my 
 thanks," interrupted Karl with a kindly laugh and a 
 hand laid roughly on the old General's shoulder. " I'm 
 sure Frau von Bilderbaum will agree with me, that 
 
 312
 
 RECRUITS SIS 
 
 Meyer's tactical passivity was superb. Meyer, again 
 I thank you. You have served me well." 
 
 " My motives for doing so were so obvious," drawled 
 the Commander-in-Chief. " Had Bernhardt won I 
 should probably have been shot; certainly exposed to 
 danger and hardships. As it is, I shall sleep well to- 
 night in a comfortable room, with the pleasing convic- 
 tion that your Majesty's gratitude will ultimately take 
 a tangible form." 
 
 Karl laughed heartily. His eye was very bright, and 
 the burden of many years seemed taken off his wide 
 shoulders. 
 
 " Upon my word," he said, " I sometimes pity my 
 dear cousins of Germany and England, who rule over- 
 united and contented kingdoms. I have my anxieties, 
 God knows, but I also have my compensations. Fair 
 weather is a pleasant thing, but it is the storm that 
 distinguishes the friend from the parasite." 
 
 The great bell of the Brunvarad clanged, and a 
 minute later Bomcke announced Robert Saunders and 
 his wife. 
 
 " We come to offer your Majesty our congratula- 
 tions," said Saunders. 
 
 Karl took the Englishman's hand, and held it in & 
 firm grasp. 
 
 " You are a lucky man," he said with a glance at 
 Mrs. Saunders' radiant cheeks. " You possess the 
 silver of friendship and the gold of love. I have only 
 friendship, and therefore I prize the lesser metal at a 
 great value. If this day is the turning-point of my 
 fortunes, and I become King again of a whole country,,
 
 314 GLORIA 
 
 I shall not esteem my happiness complete unless my 
 friend, Robert Saunders, is my right-hand man." 
 
 " Your Majesty's fortunes are assured," said 
 Saunders. " The enemy is half-way back to Wallen 
 by now." 
 
 "And is being pursued?" asked Karl. 
 
 " Von H'iigelweiler begged leave to harry them," said 
 Meyer, " and he is harrying them to such purpose that 
 they have shed their guns one by one in their flight. 
 Had it not been for the snow-storm he might have cap- 
 tured a hundred or two prisoners." 
 
 " I think," said Karl, " we will not push our victory 
 further. We have won the day, and there has been 
 sufficiency of bloodshed. To-night I am a happy man, 
 and I wish no one ill. Meyer, give orders for Von 
 Hiigelweiler to be recalled. He has done his work well, 
 and he shall have his reward." 
 
 Meyer withdrew with a shrug to the room where the 
 telephone was installed. 
 
 " It is good to see your Majesty happy," said Mrs. 
 Saunders in the silence that followed Meyer's departure. 
 " There has sat a cloud on your brow ever since we 
 have been in Grimland. And to-night for the first time 
 the cloud is gone, and there is sunshine the old sun- 
 shine of 1904 in your face." 
 
 " Aye, I am happy," assented Karl with a smile, 
 " happy in my friends." 
 
 " Here comes another happy person," said Saunders 
 with an upward glance to the staircase, down which the 
 spacious person of Frau von Bilderbaum was slowly 
 descending.
 
 RECRUITS 315 
 
 " Truly spoken," said Karl, for as the ex-maid-of- 
 honour caught sight of her lord and master she quick- 
 ened her footsteps to a bovine canter, and hurled herself 
 enthusiastically on to the General's breast. 
 
 " My brave, brave Heinrich ! " she gasped. 
 
 " Not at all, at all ! " murmured the warrior, disen- 
 gaging himself gently from the overpowering embrace. 
 " I have done literally nothing. Now, if there had been 
 a ski-charge " 
 
 At this moment Meyer returned from the telephone. 
 
 " I have sent to recall Hiigelweiler," he said ; " but 
 I must say I think the policy of mercy is being over- 
 done. My forbears of Palestine were not half so kind 
 when they got the Amalekites on the run." 
 
 " We are not dealing with Amalekites," said Karl, 
 " but with Grimlanders, who happen to be our fellow- 
 countrymen. But come, ladies and gentlemen, let us 
 eat, drink, and be merry, for the storm is over and the 
 sun is already gleaming through the thin edges of the 
 cloud-wrack." 
 
 " I am not a weather prophet," said Meyer, " nor 
 did Providence assign to me a sanguine temperament. 
 We have hit the enemy hard, and we have drawn most 
 of his teeth, but until Bernhardt's dead body is dis- 
 covered stiffening in the snow I have no intention of 
 celebrating a decisive victory." 
 
 " Don't do so, then, dear raven," laughed Karl, " but 
 at least take food for your strength's sake. At any 
 rate, I hear that Bernhardt was wounded in the attack 
 on Sanatorium Hill." 
 
 " A wounded tiger is not a particularly innocuous
 
 316 GLORIA 
 
 beast," returned the Commander-in-Chief, " and there 
 is i a certain friend of Herr Saunders who has the un- 
 pleasant gift of rising superior to difficulties, and whom 
 I fear is not even wounded." 
 
 The meal at the Brunvarad was neither very long 
 nor very festive. Meyer's taciturn refusal to admit 
 premature victory had a distinctly damping effect on 
 the spirits of the company. Noises of revelry and 
 jubilation were audible from the world without, feux de 
 joie, rockets, songs of carousal and bursts of cheering 
 broke in on the desultory conversation that flowed 
 fitfully round the royal dining-table. But these sounds 
 of jubilation only brought a deeper frown to the fea- 
 tures of Von Bilderbaum, an added sneer to the lips 
 of the Commander-in-Chief; even the King began to 
 lose the exaltation that had so illumined his counte- 
 nance. 
 
 " The Weissheimer is in his element to-night," said 
 Meyer. " He believes himself a hero, and will get most 
 heroically drunk. If Bernhardt's retreat is only a ruse, 
 as I suspect, he will return in the small hours and 
 capture a town guarded by fuddled swine." 
 
 " Is there no discipline in my army? " asked Karl 
 irritably. 
 
 *' Very little just at present," was Meyer's cool reply. 
 " Our friends have stood by us at a pinch ; it is too 
 much to expect them to keep sober when the danger is 
 apparently over." 
 
 Karl rose angrily to his feet. 
 
 " And are we to assume," he demanded, " that the 
 garrisons of our redoubts are drunk at their posts ? "
 
 RECRUITS 317 
 
 " Certainly not," said Meyer ; " they are drunk in 
 the streets and taverns of Weissheim." 
 
 " Then I am going where my men ought to be," said 
 Karl. " If we can gather a sufficient body of sober 
 men to hold Redoubt A, we can at least foil any attempt 
 of Bernhardt's to rush the town in the dead of night." 
 
 " An admirable idea," said Meyer rising with the 
 others, " and one which I was going to suggest myself. 
 I can manage a searchlight, and Von Bilderbaum can 
 train a mitrailleuse, and Herr Saunders can order a 
 company of riflemen if he can find them." 
 
 " Come," said Karl, making towards the door, " let 
 us waste no time ! " 
 
 " Your Majesty," said Mrs. Saunders, speaking 
 with some hesitation, " this morning I asked my hus- 
 band to let me accompany him to the Marienkastel. 
 He refused, and with reason. But there is no danger 
 in your quest to-night. I am not asking you to let 
 me help guard the redoubts, but to use a woman's in- 
 fluence in obtaining recruits for your garrison." 
 
 " Bravely spoken ! " said Karl. " Wrap yourself well 
 in furs, dear lady, and come with us. Bilderbaum can 
 swear, and Meyer can sneer, but a beautiful woman can 
 compel by surer means." 
 
 " If Frau Saunders goes, I will go too," said the 
 wife of General Bilderbaum. " I will shake these 
 drunken soldiers into a sense of discipline, or I am not 
 the wife of the bravest soldier in your Majesty's army." 
 
 The party of six sallied forth into the night. The 
 snow had ceased falling, and the haze of clouds had 
 drifted southwards, leaving the black dome of night
 
 318 GLORIA 
 
 clean and clear and jewelled with the steely brilliance 
 of the winter stars. Through the courtyard they 
 strode, over the squeaking snow, past the sentinels in 
 their black and yellow boxes with their charcoal 
 braziers, past the great piers of the entrance with their 
 fantastic caps of overhanging snow, and as they went 
 the sounds of revelry assailed their ears with louder 
 note. 
 
 " Dissipation is the better part of valour," was 
 Meyer's sneering comment, as the refrain of riotous 
 song floated on the thin air. " It is so easy to be 
 brave when the red wine is well within range, and the 
 ammunition of the bier-halle is inexhaustible." 
 
 In the road were groups of men, soldiers and civilians, 
 with linked arms, reeling gait, and a gift for making 
 the night hideous with tuneless song. 
 
 Within fifty yards of the palace a bonfire had been 
 kindled, and round its ruddy flames a wild dance, a 
 veritable carmagnole of drunken triumph, was in prog- 
 ress. Here the royal party stopped to watch, and in 
 a few minutes they were recognised. 
 
 " Hail, Karl the Twenty-second of Grimland ! " 
 cried a big-bearded man in a military overcoat. " Long 
 live our gallant King ! " 
 
 " Three cheers for Karl ! " cried another, a burly 
 form well muffled in a gigantic green ulster. " Death 
 to the revolutionaries ! " 
 
 Karl saluted gravely. 
 
 " Your sentiments are admirable, sirs," he said. " It 
 v.-ould be perhaps even nobler if you put them into 
 practice."
 
 RECRUITS 
 
 " I have been in the firing-line all day," answered the 
 first speaker, " and Bernhardt and his men are two 
 leagues from here by now." 
 
 " They may not be so in the small hours of the 
 morning," said Meyer. " If they take it into their 
 heads to return, they will have an easy task to over- 
 come an army of sots." 
 
 The dance had ceased for the moment. The ma- 
 jority stood at a little distance from the royal party, 
 ashamed to pursue their orgy, but resentful of its in- 
 terruption. Two other figures, however, arm in arm, 
 as if to steady their unruly footsteps, joined the 
 group. One of them, a small man with a big blonde 
 moustache, was clad in the uniform of a private. The 
 other was wrapped in a sheepskin overall and had a 
 woollen helmet pulled down over his ears and chin. 
 The latter raised a guttural voice in husky protest. 
 
 " It is hard if we cannot celebrate your Majesty's 
 victory in our own way ! " he hiccupped. " A glass or 
 two of wine hurts no man on a cold night like this." 
 He steadied himself against the small soldier. 
 
 " Frantz will be all right in half an hour," said the 
 bearded one confidently. " He has had but two or three 
 cups of Kurdesheim, and his head is not over-strong. 
 A few more dances round the bonfire and he will be as 
 sober as any of us." 
 
 " Look here, my merry gentlemen," said Meyer. 
 " You seem to me to be only partially drunk, and a 
 brisk walk down to the forts would probably render 
 you tolerably sober. If you will stand by us to-night 
 and help us guard the town till daylight you shall
 
 320 GLORIA 
 
 be drunk for a week on end at the King's expense 
 J[ swear it on the honour of a Jew." 
 
 " That's well spoken," said the bearded man pen- 
 sively. " I like to get jolly now and again, but I don't 
 
 want to see those d d Weidenbruckers stealing a 
 
 march on us when we're in our cups. I'm for the 
 King, I am, and to the devil with the Schattenbergs ! " 
 
 " But to-morrow there will be no sport afoot," ob- 
 jected the man in the green ulster, " and to-night there 
 will be grand fun in the ' Drei Kronen ' and outside the 
 JVfeierei." 
 
 A murmur of agreement came from the others. 
 
 " They say they're going to burn Father Bernhardt 
 in effigy," said the fellow in the woollen helmet, " and 
 that there will be free beer at the ' Drei Kronen.' The 
 beer at the ' Drei Kronen ' is good very good." 
 
 It was Mrs. Saunders who spoke next. 
 
 ** I think these men are quite right," she said coolly. 
 ** They have probably seen a little fighting from a dis- 
 tance, and are quite satisfied with that. They evidently 
 prefer the smell of beer to the smell of gunpowder, and 
 would be quite useless if there was serious work to do 
 in the forts." 
 
 "What's that?" demanded the bearded man, in a 
 sudden access of indignation. " We afraid ! My 
 father was a soldier, and so was my grandfather, and 
 I have served his Majesty twelve years come Michael- 
 mas, and one doesn't serve twelve years in the army of 
 Grimland without learning something about ball cart- 
 ridges. Afraid! Bah! I'd sooner spend a night in 
 the trenches potting at old Bernhardt and his friends
 
 RECRUITS 321 
 
 than drink the best brandy in the cellars of the 
 Brunvarad." 
 
 " An admirable sentiment," said Meyer, " but one not 
 apparently shared by your comrade in the green 
 ulster." 
 
 " Oh, I like fighting well enough," replied the in- 
 dividual in question, " only it is cold work doing sentry- 
 go when there's no enemy within six miles of you." 
 
 " For shame ! " cried Mrs. Saunders. " Is your idea 
 of military service the mere excitement of fine-weather 
 fighting? Is not duty among your ideals as well as 
 glory? We so far mistrust this retreat of Bernhardt's 
 that we are going to Redoubt A to watch against any 
 return of the rebuffed Weidenbruckers. Must we go 
 alone, four men who are wearied with long hours of 
 anxiety and ceaseless activity, and two women who have 
 never handled a rifle in their existence? Is that your 
 creed of loyalty, your standard of a soldier's honour? " 
 
 " Rudolf," said the man in the ulster to the gen- 
 tleman with the beard, " we must accompany our good 
 sovereign and his friends to the fort. The lady is right. 
 Duty is duty, and the beer of the * Drei Kronen ' can 
 wait. I would have liked a dance outside the Meierei, 
 
 but " here he wiped an eye with the sleeve of his 
 
 ulster " I am a man of honour and the beer will 
 keep." 
 
 " Forward then ! " said Meyer, striking while the iron 
 was hot. " Down the hill to Redoubt A, and gather 
 what recruits we can in the name of duty and post- 
 poned beer."
 
 CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 
 
 " A SURPRISE " 
 
 ONWARD they tramped in silence down the road towards 
 the lower town, and as they went the half-moon pushed 
 its gleaming disc through the melting curtain of cloud, 
 and made of the night a frozen picture of fantastic 
 beauty. To their right the snows of the Trau-altar 
 and Eizenzahn streamed in silver floods towards the 
 glistening plain, where, a full thousand feet below, the 
 village of Riefinsdorf proclaimed itself with cheerful 
 points of golden light. 
 
 The sounds of revelry grew distant, and the silence 
 of the sleeping hills made itself felt. It was a prospect 
 of unreal beauty, a duo-tone of violet-black and fairy 
 silver, an impression of eerie shadows and unearthly 
 light. 
 
 Saunders and his wife walked hand in hand. The 
 day had brought them very close together, and they 
 were well content. Soon a shuffling sound was heard, 
 and a turn of the road disclosed a body of troops on 
 skis ascending the hill from the opposite direction. The 
 King's party halted in the middle of the way, and 
 Meyer accosted the officer at their head. 
 
 "Who are you, sir?" he asked. 
 
 " Fifteenth Light Infantry," was the reply. " I am 
 Captain Lexa, and we are returning from pursuing the 
 enemy, according to orders." 
 
 322
 
 "A SURPRISE" 323 
 
 Meyer cast his eye over the officer's command. 
 There seemed about a hundred and fifty to two hundred 
 riflemen, of whom a good score bore tokens of recent 
 fighting. A few serious cases were covered with rugs, 
 and were being pulled on small sleighs. A further 
 inspection disclosed a number of prisoners in the centre, 
 with hands roped behind their backs. 
 
 " You got into touch, I see," Meyer pursued. 
 
 " We pressed them closely," answered the Captain, 
 " and at first so eager was their retreat that they 
 abandoned all their guns one after another. Further 
 away they rallied, and though they continued to re- 
 treat, they easily held us at bay, and went off at their 
 own pace." 
 
 " Do you think they mean coming back ? " asked 
 Karl. 
 
 " No, sire. When we got orders to retufn they 
 were six or seven kilometres beyond Riefinsdorf; and 
 though we waited and watched them for at least half 
 an hour, they continued to increase the distance, till 
 they were lost to sight in the gloom and the snow." 
 
 " They're not the right stuff, those Weidenbruckers," 
 said Von Bilderbaum. " They can only play a win- 
 ning game. I don't think we shall see their faces again 
 this winter." 
 
 " But what of Von Hiigelweiler? " demanded Meyer. 
 " He was in command of the pursuit. Has he been hit 
 by the enemy ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Then why in heaven's name does he not return 
 with you? " persisted the Commander-in-Chief. " Has
 
 GLORIA 
 
 he been loyal for long enough to one side ? Or does he, 
 like Cato, prefer to espouse the losing side? " 
 
 Captain Lexa hesitated. 
 
 " I think he was mad," he said at length. " When 
 your aide brought the order of recall, Captain Hiigel- 
 weiler swore that he had been sent to pursue and would 
 continue to pursue as long as his legs carried his body, 
 and his arms a rifle. The aide backed his orders with 
 the King's name, but Hiigelweiler harangued his men 
 and bade all such as loved the good game of war follow 
 him to the bitter end. An impossible position was 
 created, and the aide-de-camp ordered Von Hiigel- 
 weiler's arrest. Before, however, the order could be put 
 into execution, the mutinous captain was ski-ing down 
 a steep snow slope in the direction of the enemy." 
 
 " You should have fired on him," said Bilderbaum. 
 
 " I gave the order, sir, but the men hesitated. Some 
 of them had served with him earlier in the day, when he 
 had displayed the most reckless courage. Besides, his 
 refusal to halt, seeming rather an excess of gallantry 
 than an act of mutiny, touched their imagination, and 
 the few shots that rang out left him unscathed. Then 
 the aide-de-camp, losing his patience, snatched a rifle 
 from one of my units, knelt down in the snow, and 
 brought down the Captain with a well-directed shot." 
 
 "And was he killed?" asked Saunders not un- 
 feelingly. 
 
 " I think so. If not, he is dead by now, for he was 
 badly hit, and the frost does not spare a man when he 
 is bleeding from an open wound." 
 
 " Captain Lexa," said Karl, " you seem a capable
 
 "A SURPRISE" 325 
 
 and zealous officer, but your task is not over yet. It 
 may be, as you and General von Bilderbaum think, 
 that the Weidenbruckers have had enough hammering 
 for a season, and have no intention of returning. But 
 Meyer thinks otherwise, nor am I one to leave matters 
 to chance. Bernhardt is a madman who is not subject 
 to the ordinary influences of disaster. His lieutenant, 
 Trafford, is a man of exceptional ability and resource. 
 They are not likely, in my opinion, to acquiesce in a 
 discredited return to the capital." 
 
 " They cannot be back at Weissheim for some hours 
 yet, sire," said the Captain. 
 
 " I know. But our men are debauched with victory. 
 They are out of hand. They have done their day's 
 work, and they want to enjoy the price of their labours. 
 You, Captain, seem a sober, honest soldier with a firm 
 hold over your command. Can I trust you, when you 
 have rested your men and seen to their rations, to 
 return in an hour's time to Redoubt A to watch with 
 us against a surprise attack from our enemies ? " 
 
 " You may trust me to the death, sire," said the 
 young officer with emotion, " and for every man of my 
 command whom I fail to bring to the redoubt I will 
 forfeit a year's promotion." 
 
 " Well spoken, Captain Lexa," said Karl with a 
 smile. " While there are men like you in my army 
 I can never despair of my fortunes." 
 
 The King and his little party stood at the edge of 
 the road while the regiment resumed its upward prog- 
 ress. Lithe, sunburned men, untired by the long day's 
 work, they glided swiftly by, one and all saluting as
 
 326 GLORIA 
 
 they passed the royal presence, and ultimately breaking 
 into a shrill cheer as they vanished up the zig-zagging 
 road. 
 
 " Thank God for brave men ! " said Karl simply, 
 when they had gone. 
 
 " We shall not need our friends here after all," said 
 Saunders, referring to the quartet they had enticed 
 from the festive bonfire. 
 
 " Aye," said the man with the beard. " You may 
 want us yet. They are gallant fellows, those soldier 
 lads, but they will be tempted up yonder, and the true 
 Grimlander ever meets temptation half way." 
 
 " They will not fail me," said Karl, whose optimism 
 seemed to have returned in full force. " My fortunes 
 have turned, and I have no fears of their staunchness." 
 
 " Still it would be prudent to take these gentlemen 
 with us," said Meyer. " Lexa and his men may be 
 late, and there will be plenty for them to do." 
 
 " Oh, we are coming," pursued the bearded man. 
 *' I, too, believe Bernhardt means returning, and I 
 would give ten years of my life to put a bullet through 
 his wicked skull. As for the Princess Gloria, I would 
 not spare that wanton little " 
 
 " Hush, man ! " interrupted Karl. " The Princess is 
 a relative of mine." 
 
 " Aye, and one to be proud of ! " went on the man 
 defiantly. " They say that she and the American 
 Trafford " 
 
 " Never mind what they say," said Karl sternly. 
 " The Princess is a wild, irresponsible girl, but she is 
 as free from grossness as the snows of the Eizenzahn."
 
 "A SURPRISE" 327 
 
 " They say -- " 
 
 " Silence ! " thundered Karl passionately, raising an 
 arm as if to strike the speaker across the mouth. " I 
 have known her since she was a tiny child, and though 
 she has rebel blood in her veins, she is as clean and 
 wholesome as a Weissheim night." 
 
 " Your Majesty is generous," said Von Bilderbaum. 
 
 " Maybe," assented Karl, " but I think we all share 
 the same fault where the Princess Irresponsible is con- 
 cerned. I, who have seen her grow from a beautiful 
 child into a lovely woman, have still a soft corner in my 
 heart for her; even when her schemings were most 
 alarmingly successful I could never summon hate to 
 my aid in my battle against her. And to-night, when 
 fortune smiles upon me, I could wish to take her small 
 hand in mine and read her a lesson on the iniquity 
 of trying to dethrone one's first cousin once re- 
 moved." 
 
 " Your Majesty is sentimental," said Meyer. 
 
 " It is natural to be so on such a night as this," 
 was the Kind's reply. " This still, deep cold should 
 freeze the cynicism even out of your nature. If the 
 Princess fights she must be fought, and she must accept 
 the fortune of war. But when this half-tipsy ruffian 
 casts aspersions on her purity - " 
 
 " Hear, hear ! " broke in the man in the green ulster. 
 " Shoot the Princess if necessary, but spare her good 
 name. I, in my humble way, am a great admirer of 
 the pretty little Gloria. She has an eye that laughs, 
 and as sweet a pair of lips as a poor carpenter like me 
 may dare clap eyes upon. The devil I want to harry
 
 328 GLORIA 
 
 is the American Trafford, who mixes up with matters 
 that don't concern him, and brings fire and sword into 
 a poor country that has plenty of troubles already. 
 We've vermin of our own, goodness knows, but this 
 foreign weasel " 
 
 But Karl was in a mood to hear ill of no man. He 
 was convinced, as he said, that his fortunes had 
 turned. His natural generosity was in the ascendant, 
 and the magic of the glorious night had won him to a 
 temper of broad benevolence. 
 
 " Oh, Trafford," he laughed, " Providence watches 
 over men like that. They take risks and thrive on them. 
 The bullet is not moulded that will pierce his tough 
 American skin; and I rejoice to think it is so, for he is 
 a most fascinating free lance. He saved me from death 
 in the courtyard of the Neptunburg, and I have not 
 forgotten the debt. Given a state of peace, and I 
 would have him as my guest in the Brunvarad to discuss 
 old battles over my best Tokay." 
 
 They had reached the place where the bob-sleigh 
 track crossed the highway, a point of the run much 
 dreaded by the steersmen of racing crews. 
 
 " If we follow the path that borders the run," said 
 the bearded man, " we shall save a quarter of a mile 
 at least." 
 
 " That's true," said Meyer, " but the ladies must be 
 careful where they plant their feet. If they step off 
 the beaten track they will be up to their waists in soft 
 snow." 
 
 " There is a moon," said the man in the ulster 
 curtly, climbing over the snow bank and leading the
 
 "A SURPRISE" 
 
 way along the firm but narrow track. The others 
 followed in single file, and for a time nothing was heard 
 but the crunching of snow beneath their feet. For a 
 space their progress lay among pine-trees, through 
 whose black trunks and freshly-silvered branches the 
 moonlight streamed in rays of elfish light. With its 
 mysterious shadows and sharp silences the wood seemed 
 a vast natural treasure house, wherein the frost jewels 
 gleamed with rich profusion and the strange radiance 
 of an enchanted dreamland. To walk with open eyes 
 in such scenes was to lose touch with reality, to forget 
 the sway^ and swirl of things material, the harsh ab- 
 surdities of Grimland's civic strife. No wonder a silence 
 fell on the pacing line. 
 
 The awakening was rude. As they emerged from 
 the many pillared sanctuary of the forest there was a 
 loud cry of " Now ! " Someone, a man in a woollen 
 helmet, threw a cloak around Karl's head and shoulders ; 
 someone, a man with a thick beard, struck Saunders- 
 heavily in the face, so that he fell back from the firm 
 path into the yielding depth of the untrodden snow- 
 At the same moment Von Bilderbaum, hastening to the 
 King's rescue, was tripped up by the man in the green 
 ulster, and measured his length violently on the hard 
 path. Meyer, quick as thought, whipped out a re- 
 volver and fired point blank between the shoulders 
 of Bilderbaum's assailant. Frau von Bilderbaum 
 screamed, and in her emotion stepped off the firm path 
 and disappeared backwards into a sea of incohesive 
 crystals. Before Meyer had time to fire again a man 
 was at his throat, a man with a beard hanging gro-
 
 330 GLORIA 
 
 tesquely from one ear, a man with mad passion in his 
 eye and a nameless oath on his lips. 
 
 " Bernhardt ! " gasped Meyer, fighting with the 
 frenzy of a terror-stricken man. His assailant was his 
 superior in weight and vigour, but fortunately for the 
 Commander-in-Chief had but the use of -one arm. Nev- 
 ertheless, the arm that fought him was a limb of steel, 
 the fingers of the sound member as relentless as the 
 tentacles of a devil fish. The Jew sweated and strug- 
 gled like a man in a nightmare. For a moment, choked 
 and breathless, he was overborne; then relief came. 
 Bilderbaum had regained his feet; the old soldier's 
 sword was drawn from its scabbard, and the ex-priest 
 hissed his last shuddering blasphemy into the night 
 air. 
 
 " Robert, Robert, are you hurt ? " asked Mrs. Saun- 
 ders, in dire distress, of her struggling spouse, who was 
 making heroic efforts to wade through the waist-deep 
 snow to the terra firma of the trodden path. 
 
 " Karl quick ! " urged the breathless Englishman, 
 at length making his voice heard now that the struggle 
 was terminated. 
 
 They looked where Karl had been and there was 
 no one. The man in the woollen helmet, too, had dis- 
 appeared, and the short individual in the private's uni- 
 form was likewise nowhere to be seen. 
 
 " A bob-sleigh," explained Saunders, still short of 
 breath, regaining with assistance the coveted foothold 
 of the path, " they pushed him on to a bob-sleigh 
 which was anchored to the bough of a fir-tree. The 
 little soldier man took the helm, and the other sat
 
 "A SURPRISE" 331 
 
 guarding the King with a revolver in one hand and the 
 brake-lever in the other." 
 
 " After them ! " cried old Bilderbaura excitedly, let- 
 ting go his wife's hand so that she relapsed again into 
 the treacherous quagmire of mocking powder. " After 
 them!" 
 
 " After them ! " repeated Meyer scornfully, rubbing 
 his bruised throat. " We might do an heroic eight 
 miles an hour down this slippery path. They will be 
 going forty, at least. We might as well chase the 
 moonbeams ! " 
 
 " What are we to do ? " asked Saunders desperately. 
 
 " That is a question that fools always ask them- 
 selves when their folly finds them out," returned Meyer 
 bitterly. " Unfortunately there is no answer to it."
 
 CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 
 
 " BRAKE ! " called a high feminine voice, issuing 
 strangely from the moustached lips of the soldier who 
 steered the abducting bob-sleigh. 
 
 The gentleman in the woollen helmet applied the 
 brake, and a sharp turn in the run was negotiated in 
 safety. 
 
 " How is Karl? " asked the Princess Gloria, for it 
 was she who was manipulating the wheel at the " bob's " 
 prow. 
 
 "Coming to, I think!" Trafford shouted back; 
 " this cold air would restore a corpse." 
 
 They were in the straight now, and the pace was 
 terrific. Downward they tore through realms of icy 
 air, while the night wind pushed at their throats, 
 brought floods of moisture to their eyes, and roared 
 a wild melody in their deafened ears. It was an ex- 
 hilarating experience, and even without the added 
 excitement of their desperate deed would have set the 
 blood racing in their veins. But with the excitement 
 was mingled a very definite sense of shame, in Trafford's 
 case at any rate. Their action had been justified by 
 success, and morally, perhaps, by its absolute necessity 
 in their desperate plight, but it painfully resembled 
 an act of treachery. 
 
 " What became of Father Bernhardt and Doctor 
 Matti ? " asked Gloria presently. 
 
 332
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 333 
 
 Trafford leaned forward and answered at the top of 
 his voice: 
 
 " They must have been killed ! Our weight started 
 the * bob ' before I intended, and we were a hundred 
 yards down the track before I could get my hand to 
 the brake. It was impossible to go back." 
 
 " Will they catch us, do you think? " 
 
 " Impossible ! We are travelling at the rate of an 
 express train. Another twenty minutes of this, and 
 we shall reach the point where Colonel Schale's flying 
 detachment has arranged to wait for us." 
 
 For a while they travelled without further speech, 
 save when an imperious " Brake ! " from the Princess 
 indicated that the pace must be checked in order for 
 a corner to be rounded without mishap. 
 
 Under the stone viaduct of the railway they flew, 
 winding in and out of pine woods, sometimes catching 
 a glimpse of the golden lights of Riefinsdorf, and 
 sometimes of the moonlit ivory of the mighty 
 Klauigberg. 
 
 " You are sure that Father Bernhardt and Dr. Matti 
 must have been killed ? " asked Gloria at length. 
 
 " Without reasonable doubt. They have gone to 
 their long homes, which, according to all theory, should 
 be widely separated. That's as may be. The man 
 I'm sorry for is poor Karl, who was feeling really happy 
 till I clapped the drugged antimacassar over his 
 head." 
 
 Trafford waited to hear his sentiments echoed, but 
 Gloria said nothing. Her silence pained him ; under the 
 circumstances it seemed ungenerous. i
 
 334 GLORIA 
 
 Then occurred something which cannot be verbally 
 described, so far as the sensations of the three human 
 beings were concerned; for, to be suddenly checked in 
 a lightning descent and hurled incontinently into deep 
 snow, produces a complexity of emotions incapable of 
 being recorded through the medium of ink. What 
 happened to the bob-sleigh is a matter of more precise 
 fact. The front part struck violently against some 
 hard object, the steering runners were wrenched round 
 at right angles to the body of the sleigh, the whole 
 thing skidded viciously on the ice, and finally buried 
 its nose in the flanking wall of snow. 
 
 "Are you hurt, Gloria?" called out Trafford from 
 his couch of crystals, as soon as he had sufficient breath 
 to frame the question. 
 
 There was no answer. Within a few yards of him 
 Karl was sitting up with an expression of dazed be- 
 wilderment that was almost comic to behold. Trafford 
 rose and made his way with infinite difficulty to the 
 run. Discovering his revolver lying by the side of the 
 track, he picked it up and examined it. It was unin- 
 jured and the cartridges still undetonated. 
 
 "Gloria!" he called. 
 
 " Yes I'm all right," came a voice somewhere from 
 the neighbourhood of Karl. " I'm only a bit shaken. 
 I couldn't answer before. I hadn't any breath." 
 
 " No bones broken ? " he persisted. 
 
 " None whatever. What happened ? " 
 
 Trafford was peering thoughtfully at the track. 
 
 " Curling-stones," he answered laconically. " When 
 we enfiladed Saunders' trench we sent Major Flannel's
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 335 
 
 stones on a long journey but not long enough, it ap- 
 pears. There has been a small avalanche of snow- 
 across the track, due, I presume, to the vibration of 
 the guns. This held the stones up in the middle of the 
 fair-way. We might have ploughed through the snow, 
 but the granite smashed us." 
 
 " What's to be done? " asked the Princess after a 
 pause. 
 
 Trafford stepped over the snow-bank and examined 
 the " bob." The runners were twisted and half 
 wrenched from the wooden framework. The steering- 
 wheel was jammed, and refused to respond to the most 
 strenuous efforts ; the brake-lever was snapped off short. 
 
 " The midnight express doesn't run any further," he 
 said. 
 
 " What on earth are we to do ? " 
 
 He answered her question with another. 
 
 " How's Karl? " 
 
 The outraged monarch replied in person. 
 
 " I am tolerably well, thank you," he said. " I have 
 been conscious for some time, and have listened with 
 some amusement to your commiserations of my lot. 
 The little catastrophe which has just occurred has dis- 
 pelled the last lingering fumes of the chloroform with 
 which you rendered me Tiors de combat" 
 
 Trafford said nothing, but knitted his brows in per- 
 plexed thought. 
 
 " We are face to face with a very serious problem," 
 he said after a full minute's meditation. " Gloria, are 
 you sufficiently recovered to join me on the path here, 
 or shall I come and help you out of the soft snow? "
 
 S36 GLORIA 
 
 " I will come to you," she answered, suiting the action 
 to the word, and ploughing her deep way to his side. 
 The blonde moustache had parted company with her 
 fair lips, and her fallen shako had released a charming 
 disorder of dark tresses. In her great overcoat, her 
 nether extremities concealed in the snow, she looked once 
 more what she really was, a young girl of singularly- 
 fascinating aspect. 
 
 " We can't stay here all night," she said, when she 
 had won her way to the path, " and we cannot well 
 reach the spot where Colonel Schale is awaiting us." 
 
 Trafford shook his head. 
 
 " Assuming we could walk so far," he said, " and 
 assuming our friend over there would consent to ac- 
 company us, we should be overtaken by the pursuit 
 party they are bound to send after us." 
 
 " It's all hopeless," she said wearily. 
 
 " You have lost confidence in my ability to help you 
 out of difficulties ? " he asked. 
 
 " You are resourceful indomitable almost," she con- 
 ceded, " but you cannot fight Fate." 
 
 " I am not trying to." 
 
 " But I am. Had it not been for this wretched mis- 
 hap everything would have been splendid; we should 
 Jhave returned to Weidenbruck with Karl our prisoner. 
 J should have been firmly established on my throne, and 
 
 you " she broke off suddenly and added a little 
 
 sadly : " As it is, we are checkmated within sight of 
 victory." 
 
 " You do not blame me for your disappointment ? 
 You concede that I did my best ? "
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 337 
 
 His question was dispassionate. She answered it 
 with generous words, but without enthusiasm. 
 
 " You did more than any other man could have done. 
 Indeed, I am not complaining of you; I am complain- 
 ing of Fate." 
 
 " Personally, I have a pathetic and unconquerable 
 confidence in Fate," he retorted. 
 
 " You yes. But what is my position ? Bernhardt 
 is dead, Matti is dead, Karl is our prisoner only so 
 long as he consents to be. You and I are alone, 
 alone in the dead of night, in a land of snow and frost. 
 We must find shelter, or perish. We must creep down 
 to Riefinsdorf for a night's lodging, for the road to' 
 Wallen is long and will be traversed, for a certainty, 
 by our pursuers. Do you not see now why I complain 
 of Fate? Lying slander has coupled our names none 
 too pleasantly before; what will it say when it has 
 visual facts instead of idle gossip to build upon? " 
 
 " Slander will say a good deal," he replied, " but if 
 we wish to give it the lie, the register of the Chapel 
 Royal can always retort with an unanswerable 
 argument." 
 
 Gloria said nothing. Moonlight, which is infinitely 
 more beautifying than sunlight, had put a strange fire 
 into her eyes, and turned her flesh to clearest ivory. 
 Trafford, had he been a heathen, would have bowed 
 down and worshipped, so goddess-like was her still pose, 
 so unearthly the cold, soft shadows that gave roundness 
 to her cheeks. As it was, he held his breath and 
 clenched his hands in a spasm of passionate apprecia- 
 tion. Was ever anything so fair under the stars, he
 
 338 GLORIA 
 
 asked himself? did ever such mystic fire burn in human 
 eyes, or frosty breath issue from such perfectly-shaped 
 lips? 
 
 In another instant, however, Trafford unclasped his 
 hands, and his fingers trembled, for a great wrath had 
 suddenly mastered him and was shaking his frame as a 
 winter tempest shakes the dead bough of a blasted tree. 
 Gloria, his Gloria, who might have loved, who might 
 have fulfilled the mission of her splendid womanhood, 
 had fought down the promptings of her heart and given 
 herself to ambition and the deadening lust of place and 
 power. He felt an almost overpowering desire to seize 
 her roughly in his arms, to break her in his grasp, to 
 crush the supple limbs in an act of ferocious but just 
 retribution. Fortunately his brain steadied itself in 
 time, the mad impulse was checked, and, as was the 
 way with him, the paroxysm gave place to a singu- 
 larly clear and controlled condition of mind. 
 
 " Your Majesty," he called out to Karl, who was 
 still maintaining a recumbent position in the snow, " are 
 you sufficiently recovered from your various mishaps 
 to join us here on the path and discuss the situation? " 
 
 For answer Karl struggled to his feet and made 
 towards them. He appeared very pale in the moon- 
 light, but there was the same look in his eyes as when 
 he had faced the rebel throng in the courtyard of the 
 Neptunburg. 
 
 " You perceive our difficulties, of course," Trafford 
 began. " A week ago we set out from Weidenbruck 
 to accomplish a certain object: that object was, in 
 plain language, to wipe you off the earth, or bring you
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 339 
 
 back bound to the capital. We employed open force, 
 and failed. We employed the gentle arts of abduction, 
 and succeeded up to a point." 
 
 Karl nodded. " I follow you," he said curtly. 
 
 " Our motives were frankly selfish," Trafford went 
 on. " The favour of the good Weidenbruckers had 
 to be retained, and it was necessary to do something 
 notable to obtain permanent possession of their good 
 graces." He paused a moment, toyed with his revolver, 
 and looked fixedly at Gloria and then back again at 
 Karl. Then he went on deliberately : " If we return 
 without having killed or captured one, Karl, styling 
 himself King of Grimland, we shall be returning to a 
 nest of hornets. You see my point? " 
 
 Karl eyed the revolver thoughtfully. 
 
 " Yes, I see your point," he said ; " I saw it long 
 before you put it before me. Having failed to abduct 
 me, only one course is open to you Here I am, un- 
 armed, alone, scarcely recovered from an anaesthetic, 
 shaken by a fall. The moon gives ample light, and 
 your revolver is loaded." 
 
 " Precisely," said Trafford. " My course is so 
 obvious ! A pressure of the first finger, a puff of smoke, 
 and a brave man groaning in the snow ! There are but 
 two objections: firstly, I am not a butcher; secondly, 
 you took it upon you a little while ago to defend the 
 honour of my wife ! " 
 
 "Your wife?" 
 
 " Yes. The lady who is now more or less disguised 
 as a private of the line, did me the honour of bestowing 
 on me her hand in the Chapel Royal of the Neptunburg.
 
 340 GLORIA 
 
 When Bernhardt, playing his part, hinted at her 
 shame, your kingly spirit refused to hear ill even of your 
 enemy. For that, if for no other reason, I am 
 steering clear of regicide." 
 
 Karl passed his hand across his brow, as if the news 
 was too much for his dazed senses. 
 
 " You and Gloria von Schattenberg are man and 
 wife? " he gasped. 
 
 " On paper," Trafford affirmed, " on paper only. In 
 reality we are nothing to each other, and as events are 
 turning out, never will be anything to each other. 
 But_I am a proud man, proud of the secret bond be- 
 tween us, though our vows were meaningless and of no 
 value ; and because you took it upon you to defend the 
 honour of my * paper ' spouse, I give you your life 
 and wish you God-speed." 
 
 Karl's features twitched in the moonlight, and his 
 breath seemed to come with difficulty. 
 
 " You are a generous foeman," he said at length. 
 
 " Not more so than yourself," Trafford retorted. 
 " When I, also playing my part, swore death to ' the 
 cursed American Trafford,' you vowed you would like 
 me for a guest, with whom to fight old battles over old 
 Tokay. I am fond of Tokay," Trafford went on, " and 
 I am fond of reminiscences ; also I know a man when I 
 see one. Karl, King of Grimland, will you give me 
 your hand? " 
 
 Karl stretched out his hand and gripped the other's. 
 He seemed searching for words, but no words came. 
 
 Trafford read many things in the labouring chest 
 and the dimmed eye, and his heart kindled.
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 341 
 
 " You call me generous," he went on, " but I am 
 generous with another's property. Grimland is yours 
 or Gloria's ; mine it never was. Fate has somehow set 
 me as umpire in a great quarrel; and being holder of 
 the scales I must perforce be impartial. Supposing I 
 trample conscience under foot and do a nameless deed 
 under the moon : suppose we return to Weidenbruck 
 triumphant as Queen and consort, what then? Bern- 
 hardt, who understood the temper of the Grimland 
 canaille, who ruled them as a rough huntsman rules a 
 pack of hounds Bernhardt the apostate, the 
 absintheur, the distorted genius whose counsels could 
 alone have kept us in power is no more. Matti is 
 dead Matti who, as city prefect, did more with his 
 reforming zeal to make the name of Schattenberg stink 
 in the nostrils of the citizens than any enemy could 
 have done. Weidenbruck is yours for the asking! 
 The nobility were never against you; the people were 
 ours only in their meaner moments. You left the 
 capital as a fugitive ; you will return as conquerer, and 
 the people will cry, as I cry now : ' Long live Karl the 
 Twenty-second, of Grimland ! " 
 
 Still Karl maintained his frozen silence ; not a muscle 
 of his face moved. Only, there was a gleam in his eyes 
 that seemed to look beyond the stark pine trunks and 
 the barren fields of snow; that seemed to project his 
 vision over forty leagues of hill and plain to the turbu- 
 lent city on the Niederkessel, where a shouting throng 
 acclaimed him as their King. For a moment his whole 
 face lit up with a wonderful glow, and then his emotion 
 seemed to master him. He was a strong man, but he
 
 642 GLORIA 
 
 had been through much, physically and mentally, and 
 the last sudden vicissitude of his fortunes won a sharp 
 reaction. His heart beat in great thuds, and the stiff 
 vertical trunks of the forest pines bent and swayed 
 before his eyes. He leaned against a big tree and 
 covered his face with his hands. 
 
 Trafford turned and faced Gloria. He expected re- 
 proaches, anger, tears of despair. He had given away 
 Tier kingdom to her enemy. The strong plant of her 
 ambition he had cut at the very tap-root. He who, 
 by hardening his heart, might have made her a queen, 
 had preferred by an act of mercy to make her a fugi- 
 tive ! He steeled himself against the expected hurricane 
 of bitterness. He looked, and as he looked he rubbed 
 his eyes in amazement. The face of Gloria von Schat- 
 tenberg was the face he had seen in delirium at the old 
 house at Wallen, the face of a woman with a loving 
 heart and a soul of flame. The eyes that met his were 
 bright with a splendid joy, overflowing with a great 
 tenderness. 
 
 " Gloria ! " 
 
 She advanced towards him with outstretched arms, 
 a smile on her lips. 
 
 He seized her and drew her to him. 
 
 " Have I done right ? " he whispered. 
 
 " Beloved, a thousand times, yes ! " she replied. 
 " To-night I see things truly, and I shall never see them 
 otherwise. You have conquered me, hypnotised me, as 
 you nearly did at Wallen; and now there is no Bern- 
 hardt to wake me from my sweet dream. The glory 
 of a man is his strength and his courage, but the heart
 
 THE CONQUERING KING 343 
 
 of a man is his tenderness and his mercy, and it is these 
 that have prevailed with me." 
 
 " Herr Trafford ! " came a voice from the big pine- 
 tree. 
 
 " Your Majesty." 
 
 " I am going to make my way back to Weissheim. 
 May I ask what you propose doing? " 
 
 Trafford hesitated. 
 
 " About that I must consult the Princess," he said 
 at length. 
 
 " I am going where my husband goes," said Gloria, 
 " and I am doing what my husband decides to do." 
 
 " Then we will make for Riefinsdorf," said Trafford. 
 " To-morrow, early, we will get a smith to mend our 
 shattered ' bob,' and before the sun has climbed above 
 the shoulder of the Klauigberg we will be scudding 
 down the King's highway, * Youth at the prow and 
 pleasure at the helm.' " 
 
 " Towards Wallen? " asked Karl. 
 
 " Towards Austria," corrected Trafford. " The 
 road forks at Winterthurm, and we take the southern 
 branch. The Rylvio Pass is steep, and six hours' 
 coasting should bring us to the frontier." 
 
 " Needless to say, you need fear no pursuit," said 
 Karl, " but when will you return ? You have to be 
 my guest at the Brunvarad and drink my wine. That 
 is part of the bargain." 
 
 Trafford smiled. 
 
 " It may come to that, some day," he said. " Things 
 move quickly in Grimland. But the time is not yet." 
 He paused, and then went on: " Your Majesty has had
 
 344 GLORIA 
 
 an eventful winter. You have lost a throne and re- 
 gained it, I believe, more firmly than before. That is, 
 in allegory, the case with me " he took the Princess's 
 hand in his " and I am well content." 
 
 Karl gazed At the happy pair. Slowly a wonderful 
 smile spread itself over his face, and his eyes shone 
 through a veil of moisture. He seized Trafford's hand 
 and gripped it almost violently. 
 
 " Good-bye, brave and generous enemy ! " he said ; 
 " Good-bye, friend that is to be, that must be, that 
 shall be ! " He turned to the Princess, took her in 
 his big arms, and kissed her on both cheeks. " Good- 
 bye, little cousin ! " he said. " You are wise and happy 
 in your choice. You have abjured a troubled throne 
 for a kingdom of peace and heart's ease. You are my 
 kinswoman in more than blood, for you have given 
 yourself to the man whom I am proud to call friend." 
 
 He turned and walked up the path as one in a dream. 
 For a moment he staggered in his gait ; but he stooped 
 down and rubbed some snow on his forehead, and went 
 on steadily up the hill towards Weissheim. 
 
 Gloria and Trafford stood watching him till he dis- 
 appeared from view. 
 
 A little sob broke from the Princess. Then she put 
 her hand in Trafford's, and together they set out 
 towards Riefinsdorf.
 
 CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 
 
 THE LOST SHEEP 
 
 IN the small hours of the morning, a party of half a 
 dozen men on skis issued from the courtyard of the 
 Brunvarad. They were weary-looking folk, dull-eyed 
 and taciturn, and without a word they set themselves 
 in motion along the road to Riefinsdorf. The remains 
 of a huge bonfire glowed dully by the roadside, and a 
 pillar of black smoke streamed straight up into the 
 windless air. Where the snow had thawed in a circle 
 round the once festive blaze it had frozen again into 
 lumps of discoloured ice. Dark, recumbent forms 
 showed here and there in the snow, heavy breathing 
 wretches who had gone to sleep, warmed with abundant 
 wine and the glowing flames, but who would wake in 
 the morn to the misery of frost-bite and its attendant 
 horrors. But the little group of ski-ers had no thought 
 for such as these, and they passed them by with scarce 
 a glance. Onward they went without a word, till 
 Meyer tripped up over a sleeping form in the roadway, 
 and broke the silence with a bitter curse, as he dragged 
 himself to his feet. 
 
 "Why don't you go home, Meyer?" suggested 
 Saunders, " you are fagged out, and we may have to 
 sprint later on." 
 
 " If Bilderbaum can go on, I can go on," said the 
 Commander-in-Chief irritably. " He is ten years older 
 than I am." 
 
 345
 
 346 GLORIA 
 
 " Five," corrected the General snappishly. 
 
 " The pursuit is farcical," said Meyer. " It would 
 have been useless if we had undertaken it at once. At 
 this hour it is a piece of ludicrous folly." 
 
 "You need not come," snapped Saunders, who, like 
 the others, seemed to be in the worst of humours. 
 
 " Thanks," retorted Meyer. " We must play the 
 game to its weary end. We have shown ourselves fools, 
 and the least part of our penalty is a sleepless night 
 after a restless day." 
 
 " We may overtake them yet," said Captain Lexa, 
 who, with two of his riflemen, made up the little party. 
 
 " Impossibilities seem possibilities only to geniuses 
 and fools," said Meyer rudely. " It is hardly neces- 
 sary to state to which category we belong." 
 
 " While there is life there is hope," maintained Lexa 
 stubbornly. 
 
 Meyer made an exclamation of contempt. 
 
 " Supposing the miracle is realised," he said, " and 
 the slower catches the swifter, even then they will cer- 
 tainly outwit us again. In the proverb the tor- 
 toise caught the hare but then the tortoise had 
 brains." 
 
 Meyer's sarcasm had anything but a cheering effect 
 on the dismal spirits of the company. 
 
 " To think of our never recognising them ! " said 
 Saunders bitterly. " To think of Trafford fooling 
 us " 
 
 " Oh, Trafford has imagination and initiative, in 
 strong contradistinction to ourselves ! " interrupted 
 Meyer. " He has fooled us before and he would fool
 
 THE LOST SHEEP 347 
 
 us again twenty times if twenty opportunities were 
 offered him. We are not very clever people, my dear 
 Saunders." 
 
 " If we are ever to catch them," said Lexa, " it 
 must be by taking every short cut that offers itself. 
 The road to Wallen winds round in and out of the 
 mountains, and our only chance of overtaking the 
 fugitives is to go straight up hill and down dale, no 
 matter how steep and difficult the track." 
 
 Meyer groaned. His legs were aching intolerably, 
 and the thought of breasting a steep ascent on skis 
 almost overwhelmed his flagging spirit. No one, how- 
 ever, answered his groan with another suggestion that 
 he should go back. The Jew had expressed his deter- 
 mination to go on to the bitter end, and nothing 
 but complete physical collapse would stop him. They 
 glissaded swiftly and almost recklessly down the hill- 
 side, and the rush of keen air somewhat quickened 
 their flagging energies. 
 
 " Bend to the left ! " called out Saunders, himself 
 executing a fine " Christiania swing," and thereby just 
 saving himself from charging the snow-wall that banked 
 the bob-sleigh run. The others swung round at his 
 call, and for a time proceeded parallel to the track 
 at a reduced speed. 
 
 " Man ahead ! " called out Saunders presently ; and 
 true enough a dark object was advancing slowly 
 towards them up the path bordering the run. The 
 two soldiers cuddled their rifles suggestively, and the 
 others proceeded at an even pace towards the strange 
 walker of the night.
 
 848 GLORIA 
 
 " A wounded soldier finding his way back," sug- 
 gested Lexa. 
 
 " He may be able to give us information," said Von 
 Bilderbaum. 
 
 " Or he may be going to shoot us," said Meyer, 
 prepared as usual for the worst. " Hands up, man," 
 he called nervously, " or we fire ! " 
 
 The man slowly raised his hands above his head, 
 and continued to plod wearily up the path towards 
 them. In the vague moonlight the newcomer seemed 
 of gigantic stature, and his soundless footsteps sug- 
 gested a being from another world. On he came with 
 upraised arms and bent head, and then suddenly he 
 lifted his face so that the rays of the sinking moon 
 fell full upon it. 
 
 Lexa uttered a cry, but the others stood still in 
 frozen silence, believing they dreamed. Then old Bild- 
 erbaum called out hoarsely to the soldiers, " Present 
 arms ! " and himself stood stiffly at the salute. 
 
 " Must I continue to hold my hands in the air? " 
 asked Karl. " I am very tired." 
 
 "Your Majesty!" gasped Saunders. 
 
 " Good-evening, gentlemen," said the King, at 
 length lowering his arms. " This is an unexpected 
 pleasure. You are indefatigable." 
 
 " Pardon me," said Meyer yawning ; " we are ex- 
 ceedingly tired. But as I have been constantly re- 
 minding my comrades, almost to the point of bore- 
 Bom, we are a pack of fools and must pay for our 
 Sfolly by the inconvenience of a night in the snow." 
 
 " If you are fools," said Karl, " I am the king of
 
 THE LOST SHEEP 349 
 
 fools. But at least there is something noble in your 
 folly, if it leads you from warmth and shelter to a 
 hopeless search over a snow-bound countryside." 
 
 " But you have escaped, sire? " said Bilderbaum. 
 
 " Yes and no," replied Karl. " When the grand 
 coup occurred on the bob-sleigh run I was partially 
 stupefied by the fumes of chloroform. I quickly re- 
 covered, however, from its effects, and was even be- 
 ginning to appreciate the fascinations of a moonlight 
 abduction when an accident occurred to the sleigh." 
 
 " You were hurt ? " inquired Saunders anxiously. 
 
 " No ; I fell on my head which is vastly harder 
 than the snow." 
 
 " What happened, sire? " asked Lexa. 
 
 And then the King went on to tell that when 
 Trafford enfiladed Saunders' trench with curling- 
 stones he had won the first trick in the game and un- 
 wittingly lost the last. That the stones went gaily 
 down the bob-sleigh run en route for Riefinsdorf, and 
 might have gone Heaven knows where had not a sub- 
 sidence of snow, caused doubtless by the reverberation 
 of the guns, blocked the track. " The snow held the 
 stones up," he concluded, " and the Providence, which 
 manages the unstable affairs of kings and tobogganers, 
 arranged that our runners should strike a large pink 
 stone with a blue ribbon on it." 
 
 " Splendid ! " cried Bilderbaum enthusiastically. 
 " The * bob ' was wrecked, and the Princess and Traf- 
 ford being stunned or disabled, you escaped from 
 their clutches." 
 
 " Your imagination does you infinite credit, Gen-
 
 350 GLORIA 
 
 eral," said Karl dryly, " but it outruns fact. No one 
 was stunned or disabled; of the three, I was distinctly 
 the most shaken." 
 
 But how " 
 
 " The situation was simple," said Karl. " The ( bob,' 
 as you surmise, was wrecked. My abduction, there- 
 fore, was rendered abortive. There were only two 
 courses open to my enemies to kill me and make their 
 way on foot to Wallen, where their friends were await- 
 ing them, or to set me free and themselves fly the coun- 
 try. Those of you who know Traff ord and his charm- 
 ing wife " 
 
 " Wife ! " interrupted Saunders. 
 
 " Yes," affirmed Karl ; " the Princess Gloria was 
 secretly married some days ago to your friend Traf- 
 ford in the Chapel Royal of the Neptunburg. They 
 are a healthy-minded couple, and they refused to en- 
 tertain seriously the idea of murder." 
 
 "They set you free!" ejaculated Saunders. "Well 
 done, Nervy Trafford! I am not so ashamed of my 
 friend after all." 
 
 " He is a splendid fellow," said Karl, " and incident- 
 ally, my cousin by marriage. 'I assure you I for my 
 part am not ashamed of the relationship." 
 
 " But where are they now? " asked Meyer. 
 
 " They are where they are. They are free to leave 
 the country without let or hindrance. When things 
 are quieted down and I am firmly in the saddle again, 
 they can come back in their true capacity as my 
 friends." 
 
 " We shall not have to wait long, sire," said Meyer
 
 THE LOST SHEEP 351 
 
 with an unwonted note of jubilation in his voice. " Even 
 before yesterday's battle the tide was running strongly 
 for you at the capital. Henceforth Weidenbruck and 
 the whole country will be loyal. Long live Karl the 
 Twenty-second of Grimland ! " 
 
 " Long live Karl ! " echoed Saunders, Von Bilder- 
 baum, and Lexa. " Long live Karl ! " reiterated the 
 riflemen, raising their shakos aloft on their musket 
 barrels. 
 
 Karl stood still, with eyes that swam. He began 
 to speak, but ended with a shake of his head, as if 
 something had choked him. 
 
 " To-morrow, dear friends," he muttered very low. 
 " To-morrow. To-night I am tired, very tired and 
 very happy. Long live George Trafford and his beau- 
 tiful bride ! " he said in stronger tones. " God bless 
 them! God bless our poor country! God help me to 
 rule " but his voice had sunk again to a whisper and 
 as he spoke he reeled against Saunders. 
 
 The latter held the massive but limp frame from 
 falling, while someone produced brandy from a flask 
 and poured a generous measure down the King's throat. 
 Then the soldiers made a seat of their crossed weapons, 
 and shoulder-high and supported by willing arms, 
 Karl of Grimland was borne, half-fainting with ex- 
 posure and fatigue, but serene of mind, to the winter 
 palace of his beloved Weissheim.
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 DOWN the great, white highway of the Rylvio Pass 
 a bob-sleigh was speeding in the early hours of a 
 perfect morning. The incense of dawn was in the 
 air, and the magic of stupendous scenery uplifted the 
 souls of the two travellers. Fantastic peaks of in- 
 comparable beauty rose up in majesty to meet the 
 amazing turquoise of the heavens. Sparkling cas- 
 cades of dazzling whiteness hung in streams of frozen 
 foam from dun cliffs and larch-crowned boulders. The 
 roadway down which the sleigh was coursing with un- 
 checked speed wound like a silver ribbon at the edge 
 of precipices, sometimes tunnelling through an arch 
 of brown rock, only to give again, after a moment's 
 gloom, a fresh expanse of argent domes and shim- 
 mering declivities. Perched high on perilous crags 
 were ancient castles of grim battlements and enduring 
 masonry, stubborn homes of a stubborn nobility that 
 had levied toll in olden times on all such as passed 
 their inhospitable walls. Below, in the still shadowed 
 valley, were villages of tiny houses, the toy campanili 
 of Lilliputian churches, and a grey-green river rushing 
 over a stony bed to merge itsef in the ampler flood of 
 the Danube. 
 
 " Oh, could anything be more perfect ? " asked 
 Gloria, who, as on the previous night, was doing duty 
 at the wheel. There was a flush on her cheeks that 
 was a tribute to the keen mountain air, and a sparkle 
 
 352
 
 EPILOGUE 355 
 
 in her dark eyes that told of welling happiness and a 
 splendid conscious joy. Radiant as the morn, fra- 
 grant as the pine-laden air, she seemed the embodi- 
 ment of a hundred vitalities crowded into one blithe 
 being. 
 
 " We are on our honeymoon," returned Trafford, 
 " and it would be a cold, dank day that could depress 
 my soaring spirits. As it is, the impossible beauty 
 of our surroundings is so intoxicating my bewildered 
 brain that I am neglecting my duties as brakesman 
 in a most alarming manner. We shall be over a 
 precipice in a minute, if I don't master my exaltation 
 of spirits." 
 
 " Perfect love casteth out fear," laughed Gloria. 
 
 " Is it perfect ? " he asked. 
 
 " Absolutely now, dear," she replied. *' From the 
 first you captured my fancy; that was why I did not 
 lie to you in Herr Krantz's wine-shop. Then, when 
 I thought you had killed Karl in the Iron Maiden, my 
 heart grew sick and cold, for I believed you were, as 
 the others, without ruth or mercy. The news that 
 you had saved his life while pretending to take it, put 
 new fire into my soul ; but there was ever a war in my 
 breast between true tenderness and the lust of power. 
 I had inherited ambition from a long line of callous 
 ancestors ; my whole life had been a tale of scheming, 
 deadening opportunism. And Bernhardt, as we know, 
 with his great domineering personality, was as death 
 to sentiment. And then, last night, well, you took 
 the bit between your teeth and let yourself go. You 
 over-rode my will, you set at nought my interests : you
 
 354, GLORIA 
 
 were master, and I handmaid, and my whole soul went 
 out to you in admiration of your strength, and love 
 of the way you used it." 
 
 Trafford drank in the words as he drank in the 
 clear, sweet air of the mountain-side, and happiness 
 the heroic happiness that befel poets and warriors 
 in the days of the world's youth, when men were demi- 
 gods and gods were demi-mortals took him with 
 golden wings and exalted him, so that the soaring 
 mountain and the wheeling bird and the forest and the 
 crag and the river were as his brothers and sisters, fel- 
 low members of the worshipful company of rejoicing 
 creation. 
 
 Onward and downward they flew, while the beams 
 of the rising sun climbed down the valley walls, ledge 
 by ledge and rock by rock, turning brown cliffs to 
 gold, and snowy slopes to diamond and silver. Already 
 they were far below the supreme height of the Weiss- 
 heim plateau, and the air, dry though it was in reality, 
 seemed almost damp in comparison after the moisture- 
 less atmosphere of the lofty tableland they had quitted. 
 The snow held everywhere, but it was the thin cover- 
 ing of an English hill-side in January, not the sumptu- 
 ous and universal mantle of frost-bound Weissheim. 
 The larch and fir of the uplands were giving gradual 
 place to the stunted oak and the starved chestnut. A 
 thin hedge maintained a scrubby, struggling line at 
 the edge of the roadside, and on the southern slopes 
 the fields were furrowed in endless terraces for the vine. 
 
 " We shall reach the frontier in an hour," said Traf- 
 ford.
 
 EPILOGUE 355 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 w Then we must quit our faithful * bob.' The road 
 ceases to run downhill at Morgenthal, and a bob-sleigh 
 will not defy the laws of gravity even for the happiest 
 couple in Christendom." 
 
 " Then what are our plans ? " asked Gloria. 
 
 " Plans ! " he echoed ; " we have no plans. The poor, 
 the unhappy, and the hungry have plans, for they 
 must scheme to improve their condition. But you and 
 I are rich in every gift, and life will be one delicious 
 and unending bob-sleigh ride through gorgeous scenery 
 and vitalising air." 
 
 The Princes sighed Juxuriously. Then, after a 
 pause 
 
 " We must reach the valley some day," she said. 
 
 " Some day, yes," he acquiesced. " Some day the 
 ride will be done, and the road end in the great shadows 
 which no human eye can pierce. But that day will 
 find us hand in hand, with no fear in our hearts, and 
 ready for a longer, stranger, and even more beautiful 
 journey." 
 
 As he spolce the valley widened out, and the hills on 
 either side receded at a broad angle. The roofs of 
 Morgenthal were plain to their gaze, and the tinkling 
 of goats' bells broke the silence. 
 
 " Austria ! " cried Gloria. 
 
 " Austria, Vienna, Paris, London," he said, " South- 
 ampton, and then the very first boat bound for little 
 old New York. But in our hearts Grimland always 
 Grimland."
 
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