Such was the state of affairs when the Gospodar Rupert threw himself
into the pursuit with fiery zeal and the Berserk passion which he
inherited from Viking ancestors, whence of old came "The Sword of
Freedom" himself.
But at that very time was another possibility which the Gospodar was
himself the first to realize. Failing the getting the Voivodin safe
to Turkish soil, the ravishers might kill her! This would be
entirely in accord with the base traditions and history of the
Moslems. So, too, it would accord with Turkish customs and the
Sultan's present desires. It would, in its way, benefit the ultimate
strategetic ends of Turkey. For were once the Vissarion race at an
end, the subjection of the Land of the Blue Mountains might, in their
view, be an easier task than it had yet been found to be.
Such, illustrious lady, were the conditions of affairs when the
Gospodar Rupert first drew his handjar for the Blue Mountains and
what it held most dear.
PALEALOGUE,
Archbishop of the Eastern Church, in the Land of the Blue Mountains.
RUPERT'S JOURNAL--Continued.
July 8, 1907.
I wonder if ever in the long, strange history of the world had there
come to any other such glad tidings as came to me--and even then
rather inferentially than directly--from the Archimandrite's answers
to my questioning. Happily I was able to restrain myself, or I
should have created some strange confusion which might have evoked
distrust, and would certainly have hampered us in our pursuit. For a
little I could hardly accept the truth which wove itself through my
brain as the true inwardness of each fact came home to me and took
its place in the whole fabric. But even the most welcome truth has
to be accepted some time by even a doubting heart. My heart,
whatever it may have been, was not then a doubting heart, but a very,
very grateful one. It was only the splendid magnitude of the truth
which forbade its immediate acceptance. I could have shouted for
joy, and only stilled myself by keeping my thoughts fixed on the
danger which my wife was in. My wife! My wife! Not a Vampire; not
a poor harassed creature doomed to terrible woe, but a splendid
woman, brave beyond belief, patriotic in a way which has but few
peers even in the wide history of bravery! I began to understand the
true meaning of the strange occurrences that have come into my life.
Even the origin and purpose of that first strange visit to my room
became clear. No wonder that the girl could move about the Castle in
so mysterious a manner. She had lived there all her life, and was
familiar with the secret ways of entrance and exit. I had always
believed that the place must have been honeycombed with secret
passages. No wonder that she could find a way to the battlements,
mysterious to everybody else. No wonder that she could meet me at
the Flagstaff when she so desired.
To say that I was in a tumult would be to but faintly express my
condition. I was rapt into a heaven of delight which had no measure
in all my adventurous life--the lifting of the veil which showed that
my wife--mine--won in all sincerity in the very teeth of appalling
difficulties and dangers--was no Vampire, no corpse, no ghost or
phantom, but a real woman of flesh and blood, of affection, and love,
and passion. Now at last would my love be crowned indeed when,
having rescued her from the marauders, I should bear her to my own
home, where she would live and reign in peace and comfort and honour,
and in love and wifely happiness if I could achieve such a blessing
for her--and for myself.
But here a dreadful thought flashed across me, which in an instant
turned my joy to despair, my throbbing heart to ice:
"As she is a real woman, she is in greater danger than ever in the
hands of Turkish ruffians. To them a woman is in any case no more
than a sheep; and if they cannot bring her to the harem of the
Sultan, they may deem it the next wisest step to kill her. In that
way, too, they might find a better chance of escape. Once rid of her
the party could separate, and there might be a chance of some of them
finding escape as individuals that would not exist for a party. But
even if they did not kill her, to escape with her would be to condemn
her to the worst fate of all the harem of the Turk! Lifelong misery
and despair--however long that life might be--must be the lot of a
Christian woman doomed to such a lot. And to her, just happily
wedded, and after she had served her country in such a noble way as
she had done, that dreadful life of shameful slavery would be a
misery beyond belief.
"She must be rescued--and quickly! The marauders must be caught
soon, and suddenly, so that they may have neither time nor
opportunity to harm her, as they would be certain to do if they have
warning of immediate danger.
"On! on!"
And "on" it was all through that terrible night as well as we could
through the forest.
It was a race between the mountaineers and myself as to who should be
first. I understood now the feeling that animated them, and which
singled them out even from amongst their fiery comrades, when the
danger of the Voivodin became known. These men were no mean
contestants even in such a race, and, strong as I am, it took my
utmost effort to keep ahead of them. They were keen as leopards, and
as swift. Their lives had been spent among the mountains, and their
hearts and souls on were in the chase. I doubt not that if the death
of any one of us could have through any means effected my wife's
release, we should, if necessary, have fought amongst ourselves for
the honour.
From the nature of the work before us our party had to keep to the
top of the hills. We had not only to keep observation on the flying
party whom we followed, and to prevent them making discovery of us,
but we had to be always in a position to receive and answer signals
made to us from the Castle, or sent to us from other eminences.
Letter from Petrof Vlastimir, Archimandrite of Spazac, to the Lady
Janet MacKelpie, of Vissarion.
Written July 8, 1907.
GREAT LADY,
I am asked to write by the Vladika, and have permission of the
Archbishop. I have the honour of transmitting to you the record of
the pursuit of the Turkish spies who carried off the Voivodin Teuta,
of the noble House of Vissarion. The pursuit was undertaken by the
Gospodar Rupert, who asked that I would come with his party, since
what he was so good as to call my "great knowledge of the country and
its people" might serve much. It is true that I have had much
knowledge of the Land of the Blue Mountains and its people, amongst
which and whom my whole life has been passed. But in such a cause no
reason was required. There was not a man in the Blue Mountains who
would not have given his life for the Voivodin Teuta, and when they
heard that she had not been dead, as they thought, but only in a
trance, and that it was she whom the marauders had carried off, they
were in a frenzy. So why should I--to whom has been given the great
trust of the Monastery of Spazac--hesitate at such a time? For
myself, I wanted to hurry on, and to come at once to the fight with
my country's foes; and well I knew that the Gospodar Rupert, with a
lion's heart meet for his giant body, would press on with a matchless
speed. We of the Blue Mountains do not lag when our foes are in
front of us; most of all do we of the Eastern Church press on when
the Crescent wars against the Cross!
We took with us no gear or hamper of any kind; no coverings except
what we stood in; no food--nothing but our handjars and our rifles,
with a sufficiency of ammunition. Before starting, the Gospodar gave
hurried orders by signal from the Castle to have food and ammunition
sent to us (as we might signal) by the nearest hamlet.
It was high noon when we started, only ten strong--for our leader
would take none but approved runners who could shoot straight and use
the handjar as it should be used. So as we went light, we expected
to go fast. By this time we knew from the reports signalled to
Vissarion that the enemies were chosen men of no despicable prowess.
The Keeper of the Green Flag of Islam is well served, and as though
the Turk is an infidel and a dog, he is sometimes brave and strong.
Indeed, except when he passes the confines of the Blue Mountains, he
has been known to do stirring deeds. But as none who have dared to
wander in amongst our hills ever return to their own land, we may not
know of how they speak at home of their battles here. Still, these
men were evidently not to be despised; and our Gospodar, who is a
wise man as well as a valiant, warned us to be prudent, and not to
despise our foes over much. We did as he counselled, and in proof we
only took ten men, as we had only twenty against us. But then there
was at stake much beyond life, and we took no risks. So, as the
great clock at Vissarion clanged of noon, the eight fastest runners
of the Blue Mountains, together with the Gospodar Rupert and myself,
swept out on our journey. It had been signalled to us that the
course which the marauders had as yet taken in their flight was a
zigzag one, running eccentrically at all sorts of angles in all sorts
of directions. But our leader had marked out a course where we might
intercept our foes across the main line of their flight; and till we
had reached that region we paused not a second, but went as fast as
we could all night long. Indeed, it was amongst us a race as was the
Olympic race of old Greece, each one vying with his fellows, though
not in jealous emulation, but in high spirit, to best serve his
country and the Voivodin Teuta. Foremost amongst us went the
Gospodar, bearing himself as a Paladin of old, his mighty form
pausing for no obstacle. Perpetually did he urge us on. He would
not stop or pause for a moment, but often as he and I ran together--
for, lady, in my youth I was the fleetest of all in the race, and
even that now can head a battalion when duty calls--he would ask me
certain questions as to the Lady Teuta and of the strange manner of
her reputed death, as it was gradually unfolded in my answers to his
questioning. And as each new phase of knowledge came to him, he
would rush on as one possessed of fiends: whereat our mountaineers,
who seem to respect even fiends for their thoroughness, would strive
to keep pace with him till they too seemed worked into diabolic
possession. And I myself, left alone in the calmness of sacerdotal
office, forgot even that. With surging ears and eyes that saw blood,
I rushed along with best of them.
Then truly the spirit of a great captain showed itself in the
Gospodar, for when others were charged with fury he began to force
himself into calm, so that out of his present self-command and the
memory of his exalted position came a worthy strategy and thought for
every contingency that might arise. So that when some new direction
was required for our guidance, there was no hesitation in its coming.
We, nine men of varying kinds, all felt that we had a master; and so,
being willing to limit ourselves to strict obedience, we were free to
use such thoughts as well as such powers as we had to the best
advantage of the doing.
We came across the trail of the flying marauders on the second
morning after the abduction, a little before noon. It was easy
enough to see, for by this time the miscreants were all together, and
our people, who were woodlanders, were able to tell much of the party
that passed. These were evidently in a terrified hurry, for they had
taken no precautions such as are necessary baffle pursuit, and all of
which take time. Our foresters said that two went ahead and two
behind. In the centre went the mass, moving close together, as
though surrounding their prisoner. We caught not even a single
glimpse her--could not have, they encompassed her so closely. But
our foresters saw other than the mass; the ground that had been
passed was before them. They knew that the prisoner had gone
unwillingly--nay, more: one of them said as he rose from his knees,
where he had been examining of the ground:
"The misbegotten dogs have been urging her on with their yataghans!
There are drops of blood, though there are no blood-marks on her
feet."
Whereupon the Gospodar flamed with passion. His teeth ground
together, and with a deep-breathed "On, on!" he sprang off again,
handjar in hand, on the track.
Before long we saw the party in the distance. They this were far
below us in a deep valley, although the track of their going passed
away to the right hand. They were making for the base of the great
cliff, which rose before us all. Their reason was twofold, as we
soon knew. Far off down the valley which they were crossing we saw
signs of persons coming in haste, who must be of the search party
coming from the north. Though the trees hid them, we could not
mistake the signs. I was myself forester enough to have no doubt.
Again, it was evident that the young Voivodin could travel no longer
at the dreadful pace at which they had been going. Those blood-marks
told their own tale! They meant to make a last stand here in case
they should be discovered.
Then it was that he, who amongst us all had been most fierce and most
bent on rapid pursuit, became the most the calm. Raising his hand
for silence--though, God knows, we were and had been silent enough
during that long rush through the forest--he said, in a low, keen
whisper which cut the silence like a knife:
"My friends, the time is come for action. God be thanked, who has
now brought us face to face with our foes! But we must be careful
here--not on our own account, for we wish nothing more than to rush
on and conquer or die--but for the sake of her whom you love, and
whom I, too, love. She is in danger from anything which may give
warning to those fiends. If they know or even suspect for an instant
that we are near, they will murder her . . . "
Here his voice broke for an instant with the extremity of his passion
or the depth of his feeling--I hardly know which; I think both acted
on him.
"We know from those blood-marks what they can do--even to her." His
teeth ground together again, but he went on without stopping further:
"Let us arrange the battle. Though we are but little distance from
them as the crow flies, the way is far to travel. There is, I can
see, but one path down to the valley from this side. That they have
gone by, and that they will sure to guard--to watch, at any rate.
Let us divide, as to surround them. The cliff towards which they
make runs far to the left without a break. That to the right we
cannot see from this spot; but from the nature of the ground it is
not unlikely that it turns round in this direction, making the hither
end of the valley like a vast pocket or amphitheatre. As they have
studied the ground in other places, they may have done so in this,
and have come hither as to a known refuge. Let one man, a marksman,
stay here."
As he spoke a man stepped to the front. He was, I knew, an excellent
shot.
"Let two others go to the left and try to find a way down the cliff
before us. When they have descended to the level of the valley--path
or no path--let them advance cautiously and secretly, keeping their
guns in readiness. But they must not fire till need. Remember, my
brothers," said, turning to those who stepped out a pace or two to
the left, "that the first shot gives the warning which will be the
signal for the Voivodin's death. These men will not hesitate. You
must judge yourselves of the time to shoot. The others of us will
move to the right and try to find a path on that side. If the valley
be indeed a pocket between the cliffs, we must find a way down that
is not a path!"
As he spoke thus there was a blaze in his eyes that betokened no good
to aught that might stand in his way. I ran by his side as we moved
to the right.
It was as he surmised about the cliff. When we got a little on our
way we saw how the rocky formation trended to our right, till,
finally, with a wide curve, it came round to the other side.
It was a fearful valley that, with its narrow girth and its towering
walls that seemed to topple over. On the farther side from us the
great trees that clothed the slope of the mountain over it grew down
to the very edge of the rock, so that their spreading branches hung
far over the chasm. And, so far as we could understand, the same
condition existed on our own side. Below us the valley was dark even
in the daylight. We could best tell the movement of the flying
marauders by the flashes of the white shroud of their captive in the
midst of them.
From where we were grouped, amid the great tree-trunks on the very
brow of the cliff, we could, when our eyes were accustomed to the
shadow, see them quite well. In great haste, and half dragging, half
carrying the Voivodin, they crossed the open space and took refuge in
a little grassy alcove surrounded, save for its tortuous entrance, by
undergrowth. From the valley level it was manifestly impossible to
see them, though we from our altitude could see over the stunted
undergrowth. When within the glade, they took their hands from her.
She, shuddering instinctively, withdrew to a remote corner of the
dell.
And then, oh, shame on their manhood!--Turks and heathens though they
were--we could see that they had submitted her to the indignity of
gagging her and binding her hands!
Our Voivodin Teuta bound! To one and all of us it was like lashing
us across the face. I heard the Gospodar's teeth grind again. But
once more he schooled himself to calmness ere he said:
"It is, perhaps, as well, great though the indignity be. They are
seeking their own doom, which is coming quickly . . . Moreover, they
are thwarting their own base plans. Now that she is bound they will
trust to their binding, so that they will delay their murderous
alternative to the very last moment. Such is our chance of rescuing
her alive!"
For a few moments he stood as still as a stone, as though revolving
something in his mind whilst he watched. I could see that some grim
resolution was forming in his mind, for his eyes ranged to the top of
the trees above cliff, and down again, very slowly this time, as
though measuring and studying the detail of what was in front of him.
Then he spoke:
"They are in hopes that the other pursuing party may not come across
them. To know that, they are waiting. If those others do not come
up the valley, they will proceed on their way. They will return up
the path the way they came. There we can wait them, charge into the
middle of them when she is opposite, and cut down those around her.
Then the others will open fire, and we shall be rid of them!
Whilst he was speaking, two of the men of our party, who I knew to be
good sharpshooters, and who had just before lain on their faces and
had steadied their rifles to shoot, rose to their feet.
"Command us, Gospodar!" they said simply, as they stood to attention.
"Shall we go to the head of the ravine road and there take hiding?"
He thought for perhaps a minute, whilst we all stood as silent as
images. I could hear our hearts beating. Then he said:
"No, not yet. There is time for that yet. They will not--cannot
stir or make plans in any way till they know whether the other party
is coming towards them or not. From our height here we can see what
course the others are taking long before those villains do. Then we
can make our plans and be ready in time.
We waited many minutes, but could see no further signs the other
pursuing party. These had evidently adopted greater caution in their
movements as they came closer to where they expected to find the
enemy. The marauders began to grow anxious. Even at our distance we
could gather as much from their attitude and movements.
Presently, when the suspense of their ignorance grew too much for
them, they drew to the entrance of the glade, which was the farthest
place to which, without exposing themselves to anyone who might come
to the valley, they could withdraw from their captive. Here they
consulted together. We could follow from their gestures what they
were saying, for as they did not wish their prisoner to hear, their
gesticulation was enlightening to us as to each other. Our people,
like all mountaineers, have good eyes, and the Gospodar is himself an
eagle in this as in other ways. Three men stood back from the rest.
They stacked their rifles so that they could seize them easily. Then
they drew their scimitars, and stood ready, as though on guard.
These were evidently the appointed murderers. Well they knew their
work; for though they stood in a desert place with none within long
distance except the pursuing party, of whose approach they would have
good notice, they stood so close to their prisoner that no marksman
in the world--now or that ever had been; not William Tell himself--
could have harmed any of them without at least endangering her. Two
of them turned the Voivodin round so that her face was towards the
precipice--in which position she could not see what was going on--
whilst he who was evidently leader of the gang explained, in gesture,
that the others were going to spy upon the pursuing party. When they
had located them he, or one of his men, would come out of the opening
of the wood wherein they had had evidence of them, and hold up his
hand.
That was to be the signal for the cutting of the victim's throat--
such being the chosen method (villainous even for heathen murderers)
of her death. There was not one of our men who did not grind his
teeth when we witnessed the grim action, only too expressive, of the
Turk as he drew his right hand, clenched as though he held a yataghan
in it, across his throat.
At the opening of the glade all the spying party halted whilst the
leader appointed to each his place of entry of the wood, the front of
which extended in an almost straight across the valley from cliff to
cliff.
The men, stooping low when in the open, and taking instant advantage
of every little obstacle on the ground, seemed to fade like spectres
with incredible swiftness across the level mead, and were swallowed
up in the wood.
When they had disappeared the Gospodar Rupert revealed to us the
details of the plan of action which he had revolving in his mind. He
motioned us to follow him: we threaded a way between the tree-
trunks, keeping all the while on the very edge of the cliff, so that
the space below was all visible to us. When we had got round the
curve sufficiently to see the whole of the wood on the valley level,
without losing sight of the Voivodin and her appointed assassins, we
halted under his direction. There was an added advantage of this
point over the other, for we could see directly the rising of the
hill-road, up which farther side ran the continuation of the mountain
path which the marauders had followed. It was somewhere on that path
that the other pursuing party had hoped to intercept the fugitives.
The Gospodar spoke quickly, though in a voice of command which true
soldiers love to hear:
"Brothers, the time has come when we can strike a blow for Teuta and
the Land. Do you two, marksmen, take position here facing the wood."
The two men here lay down and got their rifles ready. "Divide the
frontage of the wood between you; arrange between yourselves the
limits of your positions. The very instant one of the marauders
appears, cover him; drop him before he emerges from the wood. Even
then still watch and treat similarly whoever else may take his place.
Do this if they come singly till not a man is left. Remember,
brothers, that brave hearts alone will not suffice at this grim
crisis. In this hour the best safety of the Voivodin is in the calm
spirit and the steady eye!" Then he turned to the rest of us, and
spoke to me:
"Archimandrite of Plazac, you who are interpreter to God of the
prayers of so many souls, my own hour has come. If I do not return,
convey my love to my Aunt Janet--Miss MacKelpie, at Vissarion. There
is but one thing left to us if we wish to save the Voivodin. Do you,
when the time comes, take these men and join the watcher at the top
of the ravine road. When the shots are fired, do you out handjar,
and rush the ravine and across the valley. Brothers, you may be in
time to avenge the Voivodin, if you cannot save her. For me there
must be a quicker way, and to it I go. As there is not, and will not
be, time to traverse the path, I must take a quicker way. Nature
finds me a path that man has made it necessary for me to travel. See
that giant beech-tree that towers above the glade where the Voivodin
is held? There is my path! When you from here have marked the
return of the spies, give me a signal with your hat--do not use a
handkerchief, as others might see its white, and take warning. Then
rush that ravine. I shall take that as the signal for my descent by
the leafy road. If I can do naught else, I can crush the murderers
with my falling weight, even if I have to kill her too. At least we
shall die together--and free. Lay us together in the tomb at St.
Sava's. Farewell, if it be the last!"
He threw down the scabbard in which he carried his handjar, adjusted
the naked weapon in his belt behind his back, and was gone!
