Volna

“ The two warders threw themselves on me and shouted lustily for help. Others rushed to the cell in a ferment of excitement and clustered between me and the bully, much as though I were a wild beast. He was carried off, and Volna, in a maze of distress and consternation, was taken away at the same time. ”

“ In those hours a deal of happiness is just so much foolishness.
In one thing Volna was wrong. It was no ordeal that awaited her on the journey with the General to Cracow.
At her first glance he fell before her; and by the time we reached Cracow he was almost as much in love with her as I was.
During the journey he shewed such tact, too. He devoted most of his time to Volna’s mother; and having told her he had learnt that Katinka and Paul had left Warsaw and gone to Vienna, he kept her talking most of the time in one corner of the saloon, while Volna and I were alone in another. ”

“ It will be death if we don’t do it and get away.”
The remnants of his courage awoke when he felt the weapon in his hand; and I heard Volna catch her breath at the look which gradually stole into his beady, cruel eyes, as he looked at me.
Goaded by the woman’s taunts and the fear-thoughts which her words had started, he took a couple of stealthy steps toward me while the woman went round the table to reach Volna.
Just as he was raising his weapon to rush at me, I whipped my revolver out and covered him.
“Drop that; you murderous devil,” I cried, in a ringing tone. ”

“ At the hazard of his life another man launched himself on that death slide and, with a courage equalled only by his mountaineering skill, carried a rope to his friend and saved his life just as his feet reached the very brink of the abyss.
I was the clumsy fool who had stupidly jeopardized my life and Ladislas the friend who offered his to save me.
And now Volna was to be the price! He had called for it: had thrown in my teeth the pledge I had given; and had chided me for my unreadiness to redeem it. This the friend whom I had always deemed the type of honour and chivalry! ”

“ Presently Volna came in, looking as neat and natty as if all the events of the past day and a half were a dream.
“How on earth have you managed it?” I cried, gazing at her in sheer admiration.
“That is the dearest old soul in whom nature ever planted the curiosity of a woman. She just fussed over me as though she was a hen and I her one chicken.”
“You look as though you hadn’t had anything to [122] make you turn a hair for the last fortnight. The way you girls manage these renovations always beats me. Twenty miles away you said you wanted to go to bed; and here you are as fresh as paint.” ”

“ An hour past the time at which I was to have met Volna. She would surely have given me up and in all probability had already gone back to the house to which in my fatuous confidence in my own cleverness I had been reckless enough to send Bremenhof.
“Where have the strikers come from?” ”

“ He knows all about the Bremenhof entanglement and all about—er—Volna and myself. He acts entirely at my suggestion and on my behalf as my friend in this matter. You know that if any violence breaks out, the city will be no safe place for Volna or her mother—or any woman.”
“I am not going to run away,” said Katinka, with placid malice. “But of course Volna will jump at such a chance. Until this last deplorable affair, she was accustomed to listen to our advice.”
“I see no necessity for it, Ladislas,” was Paul’s verdict.
“We are of no account, Paul. It is not what we think, of course.” ”

“ I was dead set against the plan: every impulse and instinct protesting, except the desire to help Volna. But that she would be in grievous danger, should there be a rising in the city, was a fact nothing could explain away; and that Ladislas was about the last man in the world to be able to save her in such a crisis appeared no less certain. If anything was to be done, some one capable of taking a practical view of things must do it ”

“ Anstruther!” protested Volna.
“Leave this to me, please,” I said.
“I pledge my honour you will run no risk,” declared Bremenhof.
Volna’s lip curled at this mention of his honour. “You will not trust him? You cannot. You must not.”
“Let me speak to you,” I said. We went outside leaving the door ajar that I could watch Bremenhof. “I can trust myself in this if not him. Let your [284] mother leave the house for some place where she will be safe until you can join her. You must both remain in hiding, prepared to leave the city the instant we can get you away.” ”

“ He turned, paused, appeared to hesitate, and then shook his head. “No, I will be no party to foolishness of this kind. I must not. You are taking a risk you don’t or won’t understand;” and he left me.
I knew that real solicitude for me was at the bottom of my old friend’s anger and I was genuinely sorry for the misunderstanding which had arisen; but I could not listen to his counsel. Find out the truth about Volna’s betrothal I must and would; and short of going to Volna herself for it—an obviously impossible course—to see Ladislas was the only thing to do. ”

“ On the [72] other hand to stop at Solden appeared to be even more risky.
Seeing me thus thoughtful, Volna broke in. “You are not going to keep anything from me, are you. Don’t do that, please? Do you think that man is likely to ride after us from Pulta?”
“That was just in my mind. I should say it will depend upon how soon he learns anything about us. He is more likely to trust to the wires.” ”

“ Come on;” and off we rattled again at a pace we relished a deal better than the scarcely rested horse under me.
“I wonder what has happened at the cottage,” said Volna when we eased up later.
“I have a sort of sneaking hope that the woman got away despite her villainous attempt on us.”
“What a fiend of a woman!”
“Her fiendishness it was that saved us from heaven knows what trouble. I was cudgelling my wits to know how to get out of the mess. She was a cunning devil, too, in her way.”
“And the man, too. A man!” ”

“ John,” said Volna, presently. “That is the house, No. 17, across there. I will leave you here. What will you do?”
“I shall go to Ladislas and let him know what has occurred.”
“Poor Ladislas! What do you think he can do? You will find him with his hands full of more serious matters than even my troubles.”
“Nothing could be more serious in his eyes,” I said. “And you, what will you do?”
[228] “Wait until to-morrow, that is all.” She spoke with a rather weary smile.
“That is not the courage that defied Bremenhof. The people may win in the impending struggle, and then everything will be changed.” ”

“ The bargaining had taken nearly an hour, and I feared the sands of Volna’s patience would be running out fast.
She greeted me with a sigh of relief. “I had begun to fear all sorts of things.”
“You have never had to buy a horse in these parts. It’s an acquired art and can only be accomplished with many lies and much time. But we’ll be off now. You can manage to ride bare-back, I hope?” ”

“ I buried the saddles under a heap of brushwood, and we made our way back to the main road and soon reached the village.
“I feel disgracefully dirty,” said Volna, as one or two of the villagers eyed us curiously.
“They’ll only think we’ve come some distance to mass; and they are accustomed to the sight of dirty people about here.”
Volna laughed. “Thank you. But even here the people wash themselves on Sunday.”
“Here’s the priest’s house, next the church,” I answered irrelevantly. We walked up to it and [120] just as we reached the door it was opened by a woman, bonnetted and prayer book in hand. ”

“ It was a queer turn of the wheel that Volna and I should have to make common cause with the wretches who had attempted our lives. I did not wish them to escape; but our own escape was much more to us than their capture at that moment; and like the chief I was thinking intently what to do.
Glancing round the room his eye fell on the two ropes.
“Hand me those cords,” he said to me, curtly.
“I am no police agent,” I shot back.
“I call on you to help me.”
“You forget; you have arrested me. You must do your own work.”
The old hag’s eyes were on us as she drank in every word ”

“ With dear Prince Jlomec still not on the burning barge which will carry him down the River of Ice on the final journey from which—"
"Please, brother," Volna said a little coldly. "I'm going to grant Retoc his audience. Don't you understand? He thinks me weakened by Jlomec's death. Oh, I loved the Prince, yes. He was always so—so quiet and aloof from affairs of state. But I can be strong if strong I have to be."
"Then you won't change your mind?" Bontarc asked. He was a fighting man by nature. The devious paths of diplomacy he set foot on only with reluctance. ”

“ I set down the cup, untasted, of course, and talked in a fairly loud tone about the kindness of the two and how good the coffee tasted; and Volna taking her cue from me agreed.
Then we all but emptied the two cups into a jug and hid it away, and went on talking unconcernedly. Presently I stole to the door and listened. The two were in the upper part of the house.
Volna, I could see now, was beginning to grow nervous.
“It’s all right. We can act much better than they, and there isn’t a thing to fear.”
Her brow wrinkled. “I think Peggy doesn’t want to be left alone, Bob,” she said. ”

“ But there's still the girl."
"I'll fetch her at once, majesty."
"And if," mused Volna, no longer aware of the seneschal's presence, "we could find another stranger, a man, to accompany the body of Prince Jlomec on the Journey of No Return, not only the palace, but the people as well would love me. A stranger...."
"Take me to your King," Bram Forest told the palace guard.
The guard smirked. "Do you think any stranger in the realm is granted an audience with King Bontarc, fool?"
"It is a matter of life and death." ”

“ I said to Volna as we hurried on after one of these episodes.
“Poor Ladislas! But I am frightened for what will happen to-morrow. I have never seen this temper among the people before. How will it affect my mother’s case? If there should be any popular outbreak, the difficulty of helping her will be infinitely increased. The friends on whom we could rely at any other time will then be helpless. They are all Poles.”
“There is another way to look at it. Bremenhof’s powers will be much greater and he can more safely hold back the evidence against your mother which you said he had. ”

“ Anstruther, upon the disastrous result of your interference.”
“You must not say that, Katinka. This is not Mr. Anstruther’s doing; it is my own act, and mine only. But by all means save yourself.”
“The police may be here at any moment to arrest us all.”
“Then why waste time in staying to reproach me?”
Katinka’s great eyes flashed angrily. “Have you taken leave of your senses?” she cried. “You have never been like this before. It is sheer folly and madness.”
“I told him no more than the truth,” replied Volna; adding after a slight pause: “One of the really delicious moments of my life.” ”

“ Anstruther?”
“Of course he will—for Ladislas’ sake,” said Katinka, turning to deliver her last shot as she went out.
“What does she mean?” asked Volna with a start. “She has so many barbs in her speeches. But it doesn’t matter—nothing matters until we find mother. Where do you think they have taken her? How can we find out? Oh, I feel half distracted.”
“I think Colonel Bremenhof holds the key,” I said, very quietly. ”

“ Pulta by the road was some ten miles, and a rough hilly road it was. Too far and too rough for Volna to attempt to walk. To hire any kind of conveyance was of course out of the question; as it would lay a trail which even a blind policeman could follow. I had a spare horse at the inn; but for the same reason I dared not attempt to take it out of the stable.
In that part of Poland, however, one deal can always be made without exciting any comment or surprise. Any one will trade a horse with you, and at any time of the day or night. ”

“ It is always a good sign when a woman’s care can be traced.”
“She said she was a lone woman, so she can’t have much else to do except look after the place.”
Volna smiled. “Didn’t you see those?” and she pointed to a pair of men’s boots by the chest of drawers. “Probably wood cutter or charcoal [83] burner or something of that sort; often very honest people.” ”

“ As it was, however, my gaze fastened on Colonel Bremenhof.
“It’s you, is it?” I said, and I jumped up and stepped toward him.
He retreated, and the two warders interposed quickly and pushed me back. But the incident had served a purpose. It prevented the bully’s noticing Volna’s start of dismay on recognising me.
“That’s right,” I sneered. “Keep your bulldogs about you. It’s not safe to come near me without some one to take care of you.”
His anger and chagrin were intense. I knew afterwards what he had hoped to gain by bringing Volna to my cell ”

“ Volna’s suggestion was the best if we could do it—to ride all the way to Cracow. But it was no light undertaking. If I had known the way, I should not have hesitated; but the days were short and although the sun was shining brightly enough then, the weather looked as though it were going to change. It was warmer; and when a spell of frost breaks in that country, it generally indicates that rain or snow is coming. To be lost in a rain or snow storm would be a very ugly development indeed. ”

“ Anybody can get lost in the dark.”
“Going far?”
“Out for a ride and got caught in the storm. Will you see to the horses for me?”
“I have. Couple of good ones. One of them is nearly done up. You’ve come far?”
At that moment Volna opened the door of the [86] other room and called me. She burst into a merry laugh at the sight of me and I grinned back at her.
“You look as if you were made up as a peasant for theatricals,” I said.
“I don’t know what you’re like. But I’m dry. Think of it, Bob, dry once more.” ”