The Web of the Golden Spider

by Frederick Orin Bartlett

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  _A Dash for Port_

  The Queen of Carlina, after a restless night, rose one fair morningearly in October and dressed herself long before the appearance of hermaids. There had been much to disturb her sleep, rumor upon rumor andarrest after arrest during the last few days, and last night a longconference with her advisers. Before she retired she had turnedwearily to Otaballo, who remained a few minutes after the othersdeparted.

  "My General," she said, "I'm tired of it all. Let them do as theywill."

  "Not so long as there is a loyal man to carry a gun," he answeredstubbornly.

  "You are old, General; it is time you had peace."

  "I am as young as my queen."

  "She is very old to-night," she answered, with a weary smile. "Ifear I am not a real queen,--just a woman. And women grow oldquickly--without love."

  The General bit his moustache. He had long seen that it was more thisthan the plotting of the Revolutionists which was undermining hispower. He did not know how to answer.

  "You have the love of your people."

  "Not even that. The sentiment of love for their queen is dead. That isthe root of the whole matter. There is but one thing, then, for me todo: to retire gracefully--to anticipate their wishes--to listen totheir cry and declare a republic. Then you and I will go back to thecottage together and drink our tea in peace."

  "You are wrong. That is not the wish of the people; it is the wishonly of a few hundred blackguards led on by those devils brought herefrom over the sea."

  "You mean Dick's men?"

  "The devil's men. If you give me authority, I'll have every mother'sson of them shot before morning."

  She shook her head.

  "Not even to please my bloodthirsty general. They have played us falsebut--still they are countrymen of his."

  "You insult him. They belong to no country."

  "Why," she asked thoughtfully, "why should I expect them to fight forme? Perhaps they think I played Dicky false. They have reason--he isnot here where he won his right to be."

  "Then for the love of God, bring him here," he answered, forgettinghimself. She started at that.

  "No! No!" she cried hastily, as though fearing he might make theattempt to find him; "not to save the kingdom. You should listen to meto-night, General; I am very wise. The reports which have come in arewithout exception bad. You arrest here, you arrest there, but stillthe people gather and still they state their wishes. I know how it is;at first they were amused to have their queen,--it was like a holiday.Especially when Dicky talked to them. But freedom is in the blood andit is as foolish to fight against it as against the foreign ships weonce tried to keep out of our harbor. Carlina--the old Carlina, yourCarlina and mine, is no more."

  She paused at the look of horror which had crept over his witheredface. She dropped her hand to his arm.

  "Do I sound disloyal? It is only because the kingdom remains as itused to be in your dear heart and yours alone. I am your queen,General, because you are still in the past. But the others are not.They are of the present and to them I am only a tradition. If theywere all like you, my heart and soul, my life and love would all betheirs. It is to save what is left of the former things--to save youand the few others of that old kingdom--to have our dear Carlina as weused to have it out there in the sunshine of the garden--that I wouldleave this turmoil before it is too late."

  The white head drooped as she spoke,--drooped low over the wrinkledhands clasped upon the jeweled sword handle. Dreams--dreams that hadseemed about to come true in these his later years now faded beforehis misty eyes. He had thought to see, before he died, the glory ofthe former times returned; and now his queen was the first to callthem dead. For the moment he felt himself as solitary as one returnedfrom the grave. But, as she had said, if there were more likeOtaballo, the kingdom would still be, without all this strife. Hisstubborn thoughts refused to march into the present. He raised hishead again, still a general of Carlina.

  "Your Majesty," he said, "there is but one way in which a servant ofthe house of Montferaldo may save himself."

  And clicking his heels together, he had turned with military precisionand left her. Then she had tossed the night long, dreaming horriblethings. Now she sat in her private apartments staring with troubledeyes over the sunlit grounds. So an hour passed, when without warning,the door snapped open, closed, and she looked up, startled, to seeDanbury himself.

  Her breath was cut off as though her heart had been stopped, as whenone thrusts in a finger and halts a clock. There was the same deadsilence that closes in upon the cessation of the long-continuedticking--a silence as though the whole world paused a moment tolisten. He limped across the room to her side. She saw that his hairwas dishevelled, his coat torn, as though he had been in a struggle.Then his arms closed about her and she felt a great sense of safety,of relief, as though everything had suddenly been settled for her.There was no kingdom, no throne, no Otaballo, no cityful ofmalcontents,--nothing but Dicky. She felt as much at peace as whenthey used to sit in the garden together. All this other confusion hadbeen only some story which he had told her. But in a minute he drewback from her and thrust the present in again.

  "Come," he whispered, "we must hurry."

  "But Dicky--what is it?"

  "The city is up in arms. We haven't a second to spare."

  "And Otaballo--my general?"

  He clenched his fists at the memory.

  "Dead. They killed him and a handful of men at his side."

  "Dead--my general dead?"

  "Like the brave general he was."

  She put her hands to her face. He drew her to his shoulder where helet her weep a moment, his own throat big.

  "Oh, but they shall answer for it!" he cried. "Hush, dear. I'm comingback with a thousand men and make 'em sweat for that."

  His quick senses caught a sound without.

  "Come," he commanded, "we shall be cut off here." He took her arm andhurried her along. They scurried down the stairs and across the palacegrounds to a small gate in the rear. Here a carriage was waiting forthem. Danbury helped her in and stooped to kiss her lips before hejumped up beside the driver.

  "Now drive for your life!" he commanded.

  The whip fell across the quivering flanks of the nervous animals andthey leaped forward. The driver kept to the deserted side streetswhere they raced along unchallenged, but soon it became necessary toturn into the main thoroughfare in order to reach the water front andthe boat. In the four minutes it would require to go those dozenblocks their fate would be decided. If the army had not yet advancedthat far, they would be safe; otherwise he must depend upon a dash forit, covering the mob with the two revolvers he had. Eight shots toward off the attack of a thousand men!

  Danbury leaned far out over the box as the horses took the turn at aspeed which almost swung the rear wheels clear of the ground. Theanimals had become panic-stricken now and were bolting madly aheadlike horses from a burning stable.

  But though the road looked clear they had not advanced a block beforemen sprang up as though from the ground. The populace had heard of theadvancing column and such as had not already joined it prepared tomeet it here. In order to avoid immediate suspicion, they were forcedto steady the horses down to something like a walk. To Danbury itseemed as though they had stopped stock-still. He was not a good manin such a position as this; he was all for dashing action. He couldhardly sit still. They received many side glances from the excitedgroups, but they passed merely as a carriage full of nervousforeigners. Danbury himself was not recognized. So they crept alongand Danbury gained hope, until they were within two hundred yards ofthe turn which would take them out of the line of march. Then withhoarse shouting, the advance line of the revolutionists swept around acorner and directly towards them.

  They were a yelling horde of half-drunken maniacs,--a disordered hordeeager for the noisy excitement their Southern blood craved. With halfof them it was more the frenzied love of flags and noise t
hat hadbrought them out than any deep-seated conviction of right. But thething that brought Danbury to attention was the sight of Splinter withforty of his fellows from the boat leading the crowd. In an instant hewas off the box and inside the carriage. He realized what it wouldmean to be recognized by him. He had but one thought--to guard thesafety of her within.

  The driver advanced at a walk, keeping as close as possible to thecurbing. There was just one chance in a thousand that the crowd mightbe too intent upon their goal to bother with passing vehicles. Theywere not after the Queen herself, for they looked upon her as a meregirl influenced by Otaballo. Should they chance upon her, undoubtedlythey would feel obliged to arrest her, but she was not at the momentof such supreme importance as to make them alert to prevent herescape. Danbury knew this. The danger lay in the impudent curiosity ofsome one of the soldiers. Each felt the license of the law breaker. Itwas the spirit that led them to destroy property for the sheer joy ofdestroying that he had to fear. He held his weapon ready, sitting farback. The girl was white and calm. They watched the first fewstragglers pass in dead silence; they heard the clattering confusionyet to pass.

  Then a soldier thrust his musket through the glass with a coarselaugh. He peered within, but the girl's face was shielded so that themost he saw was that she was a girl. The muzzle of Danbury's revolverwas within a foot of his head and a finger trembled upon the hairtrigger. Still he forced himself to wait a second longer.

  "Get out, my pretty lady--get out an' join us," he shouted.

  "What have you there?" shouted his comrade.

  Then someone started the cry:

  "The Queen! It may be the Queen!"

  There was a rush towards the carriage. Danbury fired through thebottom--a signal to the driver to dash for it. The horses sprang butwere brought back upon their haunches. Beatrice spoke to Danbury.

  "Wait. Not yet," she pleaded as he raised his weapon.

  It was almost like Providence; a shout from across the street whichgrew in volume until it drowned out all other cries. Then a rush inthat direction which was followed blindly by every man of them. In afew seconds the carriage was deserted. Danbury rose to his feet andlooked out. He almost lost his breath as he saw Stubbs, Wilson, and agirl, the center of a thousand excited men. The girl, white-cheeked,turned a moment in his direction. He was dumbfounded. Then he caughtthe cry, "Down with the traitors!"

  The cry was taken up and voiced by a hundred throats. He saw Stubbsthrust his fists in the faces of the crowding men,--saw him fight themback until his own blood boiled with the desire to stand by his side.But the driver had whipped up the horses again and the carriage wastaking him away--out of danger to her. In spite of the look of quickrelief he saw in the face of Beatrice, he felt almost like adeserter.

  It was what Stubbs took to be a return of the bad luck which hadpursued him from childhood--this chance which led the three into thecity at such a time as this. They had thought of nothing when theyrose early that morning but of pushing through as soon as possible toBogova. Wilson felt that it was high time that the girl reachedcivilization even as crude as it was in that city, with some of itscomforts. The hardships were beginning to show in her thin cheeks andin dark rings below her eyes. The outskirts of the city told themnothing and so they trudged along with joyous hearts intent only uponfinding decent lodgings. They had not even the warning of a shout forwhat was awaiting them. The upper street had been empty and they hadturned sharply into this riot as though it were a trap set to awaitthem.

  Both men were quick to understand the situation and both realized thatit meant danger. But Stubbs was the first to shake himself free. Herecognized the crew at the head of the motley army. It roused his ireas nothing else could. Instantly he felt himself again their master.They were still only so many mutinous sailors. He turned upon themwith the same fierceness which once had sent them cowering into thehold.

  "Ye yaller dogs," he roared. "Get back! Get back!"

  They obeyed--even though they stood at the head of a thousand men,they obeyed. Once these fellows admitted a man their master, heremained so for all time. They shrank before his fists and dodged themuzzle of his revolver as though they were once again within theconfines of a ship. In a minute he had cleared a circle.

  "Now," shouted Stubbs, "tell 'em we're through with their two-centrevolution. Tell 'em we're 'Mericans--jus' plain 'Mericans. Tell 'emthet and thet I'll put a bullet through the first man that lays a handon one of us. Splinter, ye blackguard,--tell 'em that! Tell 'emthat!"

  Through a Carlinian lieutenant who understood English, Splinter madethe leaders understand something of what Stubbs had said. Theydemurred and growled and shouted their protests. But Splinter added afew words of his own and they became quieter.

  "Huh?" exploded Stubbs, impatiently; "perhaps some of 'em 'members me.Tell 'em we're goin' home, an' tell 'em thet when a 'Merican is boundfer home it don't pay fer ter try ter stop him. Tell 'em we ain'tgoneter wait--we're goin' now."

  He turned to Wilson.

  "Come on," he commanded. Throwing up his arms he pressed back the menbefore him as a policeman brushes aside so many small boys. Whether itwas the sheer assurance of the man, whether it was his evidentcontrol over their allies, or whether it was all over before they hadtime to think, they retreated and left a clear path for him.

  "You boys guard our rear," he shouted back to Splinter, "and whenwe're outer sight ye can go ter hell."

  Obedient to the command, the small band of mercenaries took theirplace behind the three retreating figures. The latter made their wayacross the street without hurrying and without sign of fear. Theyturned a corner and so disappeared from sight. The army paused amoment. Then someone raised a new cry and it moved on, in threeminutes forgetting the episode.

  Stubbs at the corner found himself in the arms of an excited man, who,revolver in hand, had run back to meet him.

  "Lord!" exclaimed Danbury, "I was afraid I was too late."

  Without further parley he hurried the girl into the closed carriageand with a yell over his shoulder for the two men to follow, clamberedback upon the box.

  "The boat's at the dock," he shouted. "Steam all up. Get on behind!"

  The two men had their hands full to keep pace on foot with those wildhorses, but the distance was short. In less than an hour the group wasall on board the yacht which had her nose pointed straight for theopen sea.