The Baron's Sons Part 23

Then for the first time Jeno remembered the pa.s.sport. "This pa.s.sport,"

said he, producing it, "was all in readiness for you had you come yesterday; and you can still make use of it."

"Who gave it to you?" asked the mother.

"An old friend of the family, the same who procured me my appointment."

"And do you think I will accept any favour from him?" Therewith the baroness tore up the pa.s.sport and threw the fragments on the floor, among those of the destroyed certificate.

"Oh, what have you done?" exclaimed Jeno in alarm. "How will you make your escape? Every outlet is barred."

The other merely raised her head in scorn and triumph. "As if I could not put all their precautions to shame!" she exclaimed. "Get your cloak, my son; I will take you by such a way that no man will venture to follow us."

The next day Rideghvary waited in vain for the young secretary, in order to escort him to the place where he was to take the oath of office. In vain, too, did the bride and her mother, and all the invited guests, wait for the bridegroom to join them. He failed to appear. Surely that dreaded mother of his must have seduced him!

Whither he had vanished, and how he had made his way through the lines, remained an unsolved riddle. It never occurred to any one that in times like those the Danube offered an excellent road for such as dared trust their lives to a frail boat, in the mist and darkness of the night, with two stout-hearted fishermen at the oars.

CHAPTER XVI.

THROUGH FIRE AND WATER.

And now whither? That was the anxious query of the deserting squadron of hussars.

On one side was the whole army, from among whose banners they had wrested their own; on the other were two rivers, the Danube and the March, and beyond them a mountain range, the Carpathians.

For an hour and a half they followed a bridle-path through the fields, knowing only that they were riding toward the Danube. Then the sky began to clear, and they were able to determine their position more exactly. On the right lay the river like a dark mirror under the scurrying clouds.

"Now, boys," said Richard, when he had his men all before him, "we have begun a march which will take us either home or to destruction. I have to warn you--what you know well enough already--that we are about to face every sort of peril and hardship. We must ride day and night without a halt, swim rivers, climb mountains, bear hunger, thirst, and want of sleep, and be prepared to fight for our lives at every step. He who faints by the way is lost; he will be taken prisoner and shot. I ask no man to follow me. I shall go ahead without turning back to see how many of my two hundred and twenty men are behind me. I require no oath of you. It is dark, and whoever chooses to turn back may do so when I start to lead the way; but when the sun rises, let all who are with me then understand that they are thenceforward under military discipline, and bound to obey my orders without murmur or complaint. Now then, follow me who will! This is the first test."

The first test was calculated to make the faint-hearted, if such there were, shrink with fear. The Danube was to be forded. Richard was familiar with the region from his earlier military manuvres, and he knew the river's shoals and bars. For him and his old hussars it was mere play to cross the stream without bridge or ferry; but the less experienced might well fear to breast its waters in the dark, enc.u.mbered as they were with their arms.

A young poplar grove received the hors.e.m.e.n on the farther side, and here their leader caused them to be counted by the sergeant-major.

"Two hundred and twenty," reported that officer, after completing the count.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Richard; "we left two men behind as sentinels."

"Here we are!" sounded a familiar ba.s.s, which was at once recognised as old Paul's.

"That you, Paul? How did you overtake us so soon, and what news from the camp?"

"The cuira.s.siers broke camp and made for the city, as if on purpose to leave us a clear field; and so I said: 'What's the use of standing guard here any longer? Come, brother, let's after the rest!'"

"And was there no sign of an alarm?"

"No, sir; everything was as still as a mouse."

"Good! Now all form a square around me."

The hussars obeyed the order, falling in about their captain in closed ranks. In the east a faint light was beginning to mark the horizon line.

Two hundred and twenty men, gathered together in that quiet grove, swore blind obedience to their commander and fearless execution of his orders until they should see their homes once more. When the sun showed itself like a fiery dome on the horizon, they saw that the standard they were to follow was the familiar tricolour.

"We have half a day's start of our pursuers," said Richard to his men.

"The first to discover our flight will be Otto Palvicz, the cuira.s.sier major. When he has followed our trail so far, he will see that we have crossed the river. He can't cross here with his heavy cavalry, but will be obliged to turn back to the floating bridge. By pushing on until late to-night, we shall escape all danger of his overtaking us.

So much for our first day's work."

Richard then divided his store of ready money among his followers, and impressed upon them that they were not, under any circ.u.mstances, to plunder and rob, but were to pay for all provisions consumed.

Emerging from the poplar grove, the hussars struck into a bridle-path which led them to a castle owned by a Czechic magnate, who was at that time away from home; but his wife gave Richard an audience, with the result that his men received each a drink of brandy, with some bread and smoked meat, while hay and oats were furnished for their horses.

Richard also obtained from the good lady a map which showed every road and bridle-path as far as the Moravian and Hungarian borders. This map proved afterward indispensable to the fugitives.

They rested at the Czechic magnate's castle for two hours, when a guide conducted them to the next forest and left them to pursue their way farther. In the depth of the woods the shades of an autumn afternoon closed in on the riders at an early hour. Richard led the way through ravines and over mountains. Reaching an elevated spot of ground that commanded a view of the surrounding country, he had his attention called by old Paul to the beacon-fires visible in the gathering darkness on the distant mountain-tops.

"Those are for our benefit," said Captain Baradlay.

The fires were warning signals of the fugitives' flight, and they soon began to appear not only in the rear, but also on the summits ahead of the riders. Thus the whole country as far as the border was aroused to intercept them. By the light of a newly kindled beacon in their rear Richard could see, through his field-gla.s.s, that a body of hors.e.m.e.n was already in hot pursuit.

"They are on our trail much sooner than I expected," said he, "and we have not a moment to waste."

Hoping to elude pursuit, he chose a path leading through a deep ravine which he well remembered from his hunting expeditions. It formed a part of an Austrian n.o.ble's estate. A mountain stream flowed through this ravine, its waters being dammed at one place to form a large mill-pond and a fishing basin, and also to supply necessary irrigation at certain seasons. Richard's hastily formed plan was to push on past the mill and open the sluices on his way, thus flooding the narrow valley and cutting off his pursuers, who were seen to be Otto Palvicz's heavy cavalry.

One contingency, however, had not occurred to him, namely, that the trick he intended to play on Otto Palvicz might be played by some one else on himself. At a turn in the ravine not far from the mill, Paul came galloping back with the advance-guard and reported that the whole valley ahead was under water. The miller had told him that the dam had been opened only a short time before by the forester. It had evidently been done to cut off the hussars.

Richard spurred forward to the mill. Only a narrow dike offered a pa.s.sage across the ravine, and even this dike had been destroyed for a s.p.a.ce of several yards, leaving only the piles projecting from the water.

"Never mind," said Richard, nothing dismayed by the prospect; "go and bring two or three doors from the mill and lay them on the piles to form a bridge."

The order was promptly executed, but the horses refused to cross on this improvised structure.

"They are afraid because it is white," said Paul.

"Cover it with mud," commanded Richard.

"That won't do," objected the old hussar, "because then we can't burn it behind us."

"Right, Paul; we must set it on fire as soon as we are over. Perhaps we can find some tar in the mill."

A whole barrel of tar was discovered after some search, and a portion of it poured over the bridge. Now, however, the horses were more recalcitrant than before; their hoofs slipped on the tarred boards, and the hollow sound given back by the frail bridge served to increase their fear.

Old Paul swore like a heathen. "Here we are caught in a pretty trap,"

said he.

"Oh, no," replied Richard, rea.s.suringly. "We two must dismount, and one of us lead the horses by the bridle while the other urges them on from behind. The riders will stay in their saddles."