The Count of the Saxon Shore; or The Villa in Vectis.

by Alfred John Church

  CHAPTER XIII.

  WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

  It was some time before the prolonged absence of Carna caused any alarm atthe villa. When she was on one of her errands of kindness among the sick,it was difficult to say when she would return. But in the course of theafternoon the old physician returned, not a little wrath that he had beensent on a fool's errand. He had been told that an old farmer, living closeto the north-west of the island some seven or eight miles from the villawas lying dangerously ill, and he had found the supposed patient invigorous health, and not a little angry at being supposed to be anythingelse. This seemed to make things look somewhat serious. It was easy toguess that the trick played upon the physician had something to do withthe message brought to Carna. It was remembered that the stranger hadasked that he should accompany the girl; it was at least possible that sheknew him to be out of the way, and that she would not have made therequest had she not known it.

  While the Count, who had just returned from an inspection of his crews,was talking the matter over with his daughter and two of his officers whohappened to be present, a new cause for suspicion and alarm presenteditself. Carna's pet dog had found its way back with a bit of broken cordround its neck, and refused to be comforted, tearing and pulling at thedresses of the attendant, and saying, as plainly as a dog could say it,that there was something wrong, that it must be attended to at once, andthat he would show them how to do it, if they would only follow him. Whenthe rope round his neck was examined more closely, it was found that ithad been gnawed in two. "He has been tied up and has broken away," saidthe Count, when this was pointed out to him. "And if I know the dearlittle thing," broke in AElia, "he would not have left his mistress as longas he could be near her. I am sure that some mischief has happened toher." And this was the general impression, though, who could have venturedon so audacious an outrage it was impossible to guess.

  What had happened, as the reader may possibly guess, was this. The dog hadremained with Carna, showing his love, not by fierce resistance like thatmade by his powerful companion, for which he had the sagacity to know hehad not sufficient strength, but by keeping as close to her as he could.After she had been made a prisoner, and while the party were preparing fora start, he had been tied to a tree. It had been intended that he shouldgo with his mistress, for whom, as has been said, her captors showedthroughout a certain consideration, but it so happened that in the bustleof departure he was forgotten. When he saw her go and found himself leftbehind, he set himself with all his might to gnaw the rope which fastenedhim to the tree. This task took him a long time, for he was an old dog,and his teeth were not as good as they had been. Finding himself free hestarted in headlong pursuit, easily tracking the party by the scent, butafter a while he halted; a happy thought--is it possible that, in the teethof all accumulated evidences, any one can deny that dogs can think?--ahappy _thought_ then struck his mind, quickened to its utmost capacity ofintelligence by love and grief. We may translate it into human languagethus: "If I follow her and overtake her, what good can I do? but if I goback and make the people at home understand that something has happened toher, then I can help her to some purpose." This was his conclusion,anyhow. How he arrived at it only He knows who makes all things great andsmall, and "divideth to all severally as He will." He turned back, ranwith breathless speed to the villa, and did all that could be done, shortof speaking, to show that his dear mistress was in trouble.

  Meanwhile, however, much time had been lost, and the day was already faradvanced. Anxious as was the Count to set out, he could not but perceivethat haste might defeat the object of his journey. To start when the lightwas failing would probably be to miss important signs of what hadhappened, and, very possibly, to risk success. All preparations, however,were made. The men who were to form the pursuing party were chosen. As itmay be supposed, there was no lack of volunteers. There was not a singlebeing at the villa or its dependencies that would not have given a greatdeal and borne a great deal to see Carna again in safety. But it would bepossible to take only a small number, if the pursuit was to be rapid andeffective. Some of the most active of the crews of the war-shipsaccordingly were chosen, sailors having then as now a cheerful activitythat makes them particularly valuable members of a land expedition. TheCount added others from his own establishment, and he determined toconduct the party himself. It was arranged that it should start thefollowing day, as soon as it should be sufficiently light.

  One of the slaves who was early astir on the following morning found fixedto an outside gate of the villa a document, rudely written and roughlyfolded, which bore the Count's address. It was found, when opened, tocontain the following message, expressed in ungrammatical Latin, mingledwith one or two British words:

  "_She whom you seek is not far off, and may be recovered by you if you arewise. If you attempt to regain her by force, she will be lost to youaltogether. But if you wish to have her again with you safely and withouttrouble, send one whom you can trust with a hundred gold pieces atmidnight three days after the receiving of this letter to the place towhich she was yesterday fetched. Let your messenger go alone, and ask noquestions then or afterwards._"

  "So she is held to ransom by a set of brigands," cried the Count, when hehad read this document. "I should not have thought that such a thing hadbeen possible in Britain. But the times have been getting worse and worse.We have long been weakening our hold upon the province, and we had betterclear out altogether, if we cannot do better than this. But I suppose wehave no choice. We must not endanger the dear girl's life. But now thequestion is about the money. I do not think that I have so much in gold inthe house; but we can borrow somewhere what is wanted."

  "Perhaps," said the Count's secretary, whom he had summoned to consultwith him, "the peddler can help you. He has the reputation of being richerthan he looks."

  "Well," replied the Count, "that would be a simple way out of thedifficulty, if it can be managed. Meanwhile, let me see what I have got ofmy own at hand."

  It was found that eighty gold pieces were forthcoming, and the peddler wassummoned and asked whether he could make up the balance.

  "My Lord," said the man when he was brought into the Count's presence andhad heard the story, "I will make no idle pretence of poverty. I have whatyou want, and it is entirely at your lordship's service. But will you letme see the letter in which this demand for ransom is made?"

  The Count handed him the document, and he examined it long and carefully.

  "My lord," he said, "the more I look at this, the more I am confirmed incertain suspicions which have been growing up in my mind. I have beenthinking of this matter, and of other matters which seem to me to beconnected with it all the night. It will take long to explain, and, ofcourse, after all I may be wrong; still, I think you would do well to hearwhat I have got to say."

  The Count, who had previously had reasons for thinking well of thepeddler's intelligence, bade him proceed.

  "In the first place," continued the man, "I think this letter is a blind.It is made to look like the work of some very rude and ignorant person.But the pretence is not well kept up. You will see, if you look at thehandwriting a little more closely, that it is feigned. The writer wasperfectly able to make it a great deal better than it is, if he had sochosen, and he has sometimes forgotten his part. Some of the letters, someeven of the words, particularly of the small words, about which he wouldnaturally be less careful, are quite well-formed. Now a really bad writer,I mean one who writes badly because he does not know how to write well, isalways bad; every letter he forms is misshapen."

  The Count examined the document and acknowledged that this comment upon itwas just. And he began to see too what was naturally more apparent to him,as an educated man, than it was to the peddler, that the style was hardlywhat would have been expected from an ignorant scribe.

  "What, then, is your conclusion?" he asked.

  "About that," returned the other, "I am not s
o certain. That this is ablind, as I said, I am sure; and this talk about the ransom consequentlyis a deception. 'Three days,' you see it says. That would be three dayslost. No, my lord, it is not by robbers that this has been planned."

  "What then?" cried the Count, flushing a fiery red as a sudden thoughtoccurred to him. "Carna is very beautiful. Do you think----"

  "No," said the peddler, "I think not. A lover would not lay so elaborate aplot as I fancy I can see here. I think the Lady Carna is a hostage, or----"

  He paused, and continued after a few minutes of silence. "I have much topiece together, and it would take long, and lose much precious time. Thatis the last thing that we should do. They have got too much start already.We must not let them improve it more than we can help. You will let me gowith you, and I shall have leisure to put all I have got to say togetherwithout hindering you. But the sooner we are on their track the better."

  To this the Count readily agreed, and preparations for immediate departurewere made. It was with difficulty that AElia could be persuaded that shemust be left behind. But when it was pointed out to her that her presencemust inevitably make the progress of the party more slow, and increasetheir anxieties, she reluctantly gave way. At the last moment anunexpected addition was made to the party in the person of the Saxonprisoner.

  "My lord," said the peddler, to whom the young man had communicated hisearnest desire to be allowed to go; "it may seem a strange thing for me tosay, but you cannot have a better helper in this matter than this youngfellow. He is as strong as any horse, and as keen and intelligent a youthas I ever saw. And in this case too his wits will be doubly sharp, and hisarm doubly strong, for he worships the very ground that the Lady Carnatreads upon."

  "Very well," replied the Count, with a smile, "let him go. After all, itis quite as safe to take a lion about with one, as to leave him at home."

  The pet dog was, of course, a valued member of the expedition.