Chapter XII: Part 12

"Come in, gentlemen. What are your commands? I will bring a light in a moment."

Returning with a candle, he now saw who the first of his visitors was, and looked very uncomfortable.

"I have very little in the house, Excellency----" he began deprecatingly. Harry cut him short.

"Pray don't be distressed. I left hurriedly--you remember me, landlord?--and we have a little reckoning to make together. It need not take long.--Max, stand at the door, and see that our good host and I are not disturbed.--Now, landlord, we will have a little talk." The kitchen door was open and the room empty. "This will do quite well; I repeat, we shall not remain long."

The man looked relieved, Harry thought; but he said nothing, merely brushing a chair for his visitor. Harry sat down, removed his hat, and leant back, stretching his legs for comfort after his ride.

"Yes, landlord, I left your house somewhat hurriedly, I fear, and at an unseemly hour."

The man shot a quick glance at him; but, having now had time to collect his wits, assumed an air of friendly concern, and began to speak with great volubility.

"The noble Herr had indeed a miraculous escape. Your excellency will remember--I told you of the marauders. They are dangerous knaves; they stick at nothing; only the other day they sacked and burnt a farmhouse in the hills, and killed all the inmates--man, wife, three children, and a dozen servants. Glad indeed was I to find that your excellency had eluded them. They must have spied upon your coming; yes, dangerous villains, I say. We should have had troops to protect us, but his highness Prince Louis--whom God defend!--cannot spare a man, it is said, so hard is he pressed by the French; and we poor Swabians are at the mercy of these robbers, the offscourings of all the armies. Ah, your excellency, these are bad times for us poor folk, bad times indeed; not that it becomes me to complain when our noble rulers think it necessary to make war; but it is the poor who suffer. It is we who are taxed to keep the soldiers afoot; the bread is taken out of our children's mouths; we are murdered and robbed, our houses are plundered and burned----"

"Except in your case, mein Wirth," said Harry, interrupting the man's hurried, nervous, inconsequent speech. "You seem very comfortable here; I see no signs of plunder or burning."

"No, your excellency, they--they--they were disturbed."

"Disturbed!"

"Did I say disturbed? I meant alarmed--alarmed, mein Herr. Your excellency's escape--for which Heaven be thanked!--caused them to hurry off;--yes, to hurry off, for, of course, they feared the guard from Urach; that is how it was: your excellency understands?"

"Perfectly. And which way did they go?"

"Which way, your excellency?" The man's tone was expressive of the greatest surprise: he was gaining confidence. "How should I know? They galloped away; that was all I knew----"

"Ah! And where did they get the horses?"

"The horses! the horses! Ah yes! the horses." Mine host was now floundering desperately. "Why, of course, they caught the horses and then galloped away--you understand?"

"Excellently. And my horse--you have that in your stable still?"

"Your horse! Yes, of course; it must be there; I will go and saddle it myself for your excellency."

"Not so fast. There is no hurry, my friend. They caught the horses and galloped away. And where are they now?"

"What strange questions, Excellency! Where are they now? How should I know! It is announced they went away towards Ulm: one can never tell with such wretches: they are here to-day and gone to-morrow. To look for them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"That's a pity, landlord; I fear you must make up your mind for a long search."

"A search! I, Excellency?"

"Yes, you. And we will, if you please, start at once."

Harry said this in the same quiet matter-of-fact tone in which he might have said, "I will have breakfast at eight". The landlord looked dumbfounded, his head hanging forward, his eyes fixed in a wild stare upon the face of the visitor. Harry sat up in his chair and spoke very slowly and distinctly, leaving time for the words to sink in.

"I have come, landlord, either to find our midnight disturbers, or to deliver you in their stead to the magistrates of Urach. Which it is to be depends entirely on you. No; it is useless to protest"--the man was rubbing his hands nervously together, and stammering an expostulation--"I have the strongest proof that you were associated with the villains in the trap set for me three nights ago. You can make your choice between returning with me to Urach, where there is plenty of rope and a serviceable gallows-frame in the market square; and yielding me sincere and instant help in the little enquiry I am about to make. I do not wish to hurry you: you shall have a few minutes to think it over. Bring me a cup of wine."

The man moved to the cupboard as in a dream. Harry took the cup he offered, and as he sipped it, watched the landlord return the bottle mechanically to its place on the shelf, take up a plate and put it down again, cut half through a loaf of bread and leave the knife in it, flick imaginary crumbs from the clear table. He looked like a rat in a trap. He glanced at the window, then at the door, and appeared for a moment to measure his chances in a struggle. But Harry's air of confident self-possession, and the knowledge that a sturdy henchman held the door within a few feet of him, daunted any impulse to active resistance. At length, drawing a napkin nervously through his fingers, and trying to assume an air of dignified forbearance, he said:

"I am in your excellency's hands. I protest; but since you doubt me, I am willing to accompany your excellency to Urach, and prove my innocence to the magistrates. I am well known in Urach, and permit me to say, I shall require good compensation when you are forced to admit your mistake."

"Your expectation shall not be disappointed," said Harry quietly. "We will, then, start at once."

"But it will be near midnight when we arrive, your excellency being on foot----"

"You have my horse in your stable, I thought?"

"I was mistaken,--a moment's forgetfulness, mein Herr. The horse--the other day--I mean----"

"Yes, I understand. Nevertheless, we will start at once."

"But, Excellency, nothing can be done until the morning. If you will wait----"

"For another visit from your friends? no."

"Not my friends, Excellency. I am an honest man. But as you will. I will awaken the ostler and leave him in charge of the inn."

He made quickly towards the door, but Harry, who had seen through all his attempts to gain time and make an opportunity to get away, interposed.

"Ring your bell there: that will waken him. But you will not leave him in charge of the house: he will come with us, and your servant also. The inn shall be shut up, and I doubt not your good fortune in escaping the attentions of the marauders will still hold. I will give you five minutes to get ready."

The landlord, seeing that his last hope of communicating with his friends was gone, recognized that the game was up. His assurance collapsed; he became merely sullen.

"What is it that your excellency wishes me to do?"

"As I said: first to choose between complying with my demands and facing a public trial for treason at Urach."

"What are your excellency's demands?"

"First make your choice."

"Your excellency will guarantee my safety if I comply?"

"I cannot answer for that; but I will do what I can."

The man's face gave signs of a final mental struggle; then he said:

"I will do as your excellency wishes."

"A wise choice: it gives you a chance of saving your neck; there is none at all the other way. A few questions first. How many travellers--let us say officers of the English army--have you trapped as you tried to trap me?"

The man hesitated.

"Quick!" cried Harry, "no paltering now. You know the alternative."

"One, your excellency," was the reluctant, sullen admission.

"And what became of the other?"

"He was waylaid on the road."

"The first, or the second?"

"The second."

"And the officer captured here--what was he like? Was he tall or short?"

"He was tall, Excellency, with fair hair and blue eyes. He was always whistling."

"These officers--where were they taken to?"

"To the hills."

"In what direction?"

"Towards Geislingen."

"Where are they now?"

The man dropped his eyes and fidgeted. He had been growing restive under this examination; his tone had become more and more sullen.

"I--I don't know, Excellency," he stammered.

"Come, refresh your memory. Remember--they have to be found; I must have an answer, and an exact description of the spot: out with it!"

The landlord could hardly have looked more uncomfortable if a thumb-screw had been applied. For a few moments he strove with himself; then muttered:

"I don't know: the castle of Rauhstein--when I last heard."

"And when was that?"

"Yesterday."

"The castle will not have moved, eh? Where is it?"

"About ten miles away."

"Who owns it?"

"Nobody: it is a ruin. The land belongs to the Graf von Rauhstein."

"But it is not so much a ruin that it cannot shelter your friends. How many do they number?"

"Two hundred or more."

"What are they?"

"All kinds: soldiers, outlaws--French, Bavarian, Swabian."

"And who commands them?"

"A Bavarian captain: by his speech, a foreigner born."

"That is enough, I think. We will prepare to start."

"To start, Excellency! Whither?"

"For the castle."

"But--but, Excellency," stammered the man, "you do not mean it? You would not venture there, you and I and two men? You--we--they would murder us all."

"We must risk that. As for you, your risk will be equally great, or greater, if you stay here: if the two officers are not safe in Urach by to-morrow night, a detachment will be sent to arrest you. You understand?"

The landlord was chapfallen and pallid with mingled fears. On the one hand, the vengeance of the associates he had been constrained to betray; on the other, the retribution of the burghers of Urach.

"Excellency," he said falteringly, "I have given you information. You have promised to guarantee my safety----"

"No," interrupted Harry; "I said I would do what I could."

"I trust to you, Excellency: you will have mercy upon a poor man; in these days it is hard to live; I did not mean any harm to the officers; I insisted their persons should not be injured: I was under compulsion, fearing----"

"Enough!" said Harry, to whom the man's cringing and whining were more distasteful than his former attitude. "Give my man the key of your stable: he will saddle your horse. We shall not need to awaken your servant, after all. You will lead the way to the castle. And one word before we start: try to mislead us or play us false, and you will be immediately shot. I give you my word for that. Now, put on your hat."

*CHAPTER XX*

*The Castle of Rauhstein*

The Hidden Way--In the Fosse--Below the Dungeons--Out of the Depths--A Sleeping Castle--The Stairway in the Keep--Counting the Chickens--The Battlements--A Breakneck Descent--A Friendly Shower--A Narrow Margin--Eugene Laughs--A Bold Stroke--Eugene's Double--"Our Good Prince Eugene"--Mein Wirth as Postilion--An Empty Pistol

It was about nine o'clock, and a dark night, when Harry with his two companions set off on horseback towards the castle of Rauhstein. When Harry mentioned their destination to Max, the man said that he had known the district from boyhood, and was well acquainted with the castle and its precincts, so that it was unnecessary to take the landlord as guide. But the latter could not be left to himself except under lock and key, and Harry decided that it would be at once safer and more convenient to have him with them. Max led the way along a horse-track that zigzagged over the limestone hills, Harry followed with the landlord, their horses being securely linked together. Harry had unbuttoned his holsters, displaying two pistols; the sight of them, he felt, would keep the landlord on his good behaviour.

The track was tortuous, skirting rugged spurs of rock, crossing narrow ravines, and here and there a mountain brook, passing through black clumps of beech forest that dotted the slope. The riders were surrounded by a vast silence, broken only by the cries of night birds and the croak of frogs in the pools. The horses' shoes clicked on the hard ground; it would clearly not be safe to approach too close to the castle on horseback, and as they rode Harry quietly asked the landlord how the ruin was situated, and whether there was any cover within a secure distance. He learnt that the castle was built against the hill-side, so that it was inaccessible from the rear; it was almost wholly in ruins, but the keep and one or two adjacent parts had been recently made habitable by the marauders. There was a fosse, now dry; the drawbridge had disappeared, and was replaced by a rough bridge of planks. The landlord knew of no entrance but this; it was guarded day and night, but no watch was kept on any other part of the building. There were no trees in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle, but about half a mile before it was reached an extensive plantation of beech covered a valley to the right of the track, and in this the horses could be left.

It was past eleven before the three riders reached the beech plantation. There alighting, they tied their horses to trees well within the clump, and proceeded on foot. It occurred to Harry that if the animals chanced to whinny they might be heard by any member of the garrison who happened to be without the walls; but Max told him that the two tracks leading to the castle from the Urach highroad were both a considerable distance to right and left of the hill path by which they had come, so that there was little fear of such an untoward accident.

They climbed up the path in silence, the darkness being so deep that they could not distinguish the outline of anything more than a few yards away. It was therefore almost unawares that Max himself, for all his knowledge of the country, came upon the main road into which the track ran, about a quarter of a mile from the castle. Here he stopped.

"Monsieur," he said, "I heard what the landlord said to you. It is all true; but though he speaks only of the entrance by the plank bridge, I know, and he may know too, of another--one that I discovered by chance, rambling here with some comrades many years ago. It is a small broken doorway opening from the fosse, much overgrown with bush and trees, and indeed so well hidden that I almost doubt whether I could find it after this long time."

"Well, Max, you must try. I don't want you to go into the castle yourself: I suppose you have not seen it since the marauders have sheltered there?"

"No, Monsieur."

"Then I must go myself. The fosse is dry, you say?"

"Yes, Monsieur."

"Then we can all three go down into it, and the landlord and I will remain hidden while you search for the secret entrance. Whither does it lead?"

"To a tunnel that rises gradually up the hill, and enters the castle near the dungeons below the keep."

"Lead on, then. We will go to the left, and walk warily to escape the ears of the sentry at the gate."

In a few minutes they came to the edge of the fosse. They clambered carefully down, assisting their steps by the young trees which thickly covered the steep side. When they reached the bottom, Max went forward by himself to explore. His movements caused a rustle, but being followed by the scurrying of rabbits disturbed in the brake, such slight customary noises were not likely to alarm the sentry, even if he should near them.

Harry had his hand on the landlord's wrist as they waited minute after minute. Max was gone a long time. All was silent now save for the murmurs of birds and the chirping of insects. At length, after what seemed to Harry's impatience hours of delay, the man groped his way back, and whispered:

"I have found it, Monsieur."

"That is well. Now lead us to it."

"You will not take me into the castle, Excellency?" murmured the landlord in affright.

"Have no fear. Be silent."

The three went into the tangled mass of tree and shrub, and Max had no difficulty now in taking a pretty direct path to the opening of the tunnel. When the bushes were pulled aside, they revealed to the touch--for to see was impossible--an arch of crumbling brickwork not more than five feet high. Evidently a man could not walk upright through the tunnel.

"Did you ever get into the castle this way?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Monsieur, but it was fifteen years ago."

"So that the tunnel may be blocked now?"

"Certainly."

"Or it may be the haunt of wild beasts?"

"Nothing wilder than rabbits, I should think."

"Well, it is not too pleasant a task to crawl through there in the dark, but it must be done. Now, Max, you will return to the place where we left our horses; the landlord will go with you. Here is one of my pistols; you know what to do with it if need be. Wait for me there: if I do not come to you within say a couple of hours, ride to Urach, and tell the lieutenant of the guard what has happened."

Max hesitated.

"Let me go, Monsieur," he said. "Why should you run into the jaws of danger? They are desperate men, these brigands."

"Thank you, Max! but it is my task. Do my bidding, my good fellow; I have counted the cost."

He waited until the two men had crept away; then, crushing the feeling of eeriness that affected him in spite of himself, he bent his head and went forward into the tunnel. There was at once a scurry of animals past his legs; he felt the furry coats and tails of rabbits brush his hands; but he went slowly forward, touching the wall at his right to guide himself, and wondering how long the tunnel was, and whether there was enough air to carry him through to the end. The atmosphere was stuffy, with mingled smells so nauseating that Harry quickened his pace, eager to escape into purer air again. He had not thought to count his steps when he first entered the tunnel, but began to do so after taking about a dozen. At the fortieth of his counting the wall to his right came to an end. He stopped, and, raising his hand above his head, found that it was not obstructed by the roof: he had evidently come to the end of the passage. He stood upright and listened; he could hear nothing.

Extending his arms, he found that he was in a narrow passage. Max had said that the tunnel led below the keep: there must, then, be a staircase somewhere. Harry went cautiously forward, stopping at every few steps to listen, and placing his feet with great care to avoid coming unawares upon some obstacle. At length his foot touched what felt like a stone step in front of him; another moment, and he was sure he had come to the expected staircase. It was pitch dark; he mounted carefully, and found that the stairs wound round and round. He had just counted fifteen steps, when his head came into violent contact with something above. The blow brought tears to his eyes, and he rubbed his head vigorously, as he had been wont to do after a knock in his childish days.

Feeling with his hands, he discovered that the staircase was roofed over with stone. It appeared to be a slab let down into sockets; yet no, on the left side there was a space of about a finger-width between the stone and the wall, on the right there was no such space. He paused; the stone was so broad that to lift it was clearly impossible; it had never been intended to be moved from below. He bent his head, hitched his left shoulder, and shoved hard against the stone. It did not yield by the smallest interval. For a moment he was puzzled. Then a possible explanation of the space between the stone and the wall at the left occurred to him. Perhaps the stone moved on a pivot? He went to the other side and set his right shoulder to it. At first he felt no yielding; but exerting all his strength he shoved again, the stone slowly gave, and with continued pressure moved over until it came to a vertical position, leaving space enough for his body to pass through. He ascended, keeping his hand on the stone to prevent it from falling back noisily into its place, clambered on to the floor above, let the stone carefully down, and stood up to collect himself before proceeding farther.

Now that he had come thus far, he felt a chill shrinking from what lay before him. He was alone in a strange place, within a few feet of desperate and unscrupulous ruffians, who would kill him with no more compunction than they would spit a hare. The unknown peril might well give the bravest pause. But a thought of his duty stilled his tremors. He had a duty of service to Marlborough, and a duty of friendship to Fanshawe; remembering them, he steeled his soul.

If his hazardous visit was to prove of any service he must discover the nature and position of the defences. He knew little about the construction of castles, but Max had said that the entrance led to the keep, which was the only part of the ruin still habitable. The inmates must therefore be somewhere near him, and it behoved him to move warily. He was apparently in a stone-flagged passage. He took off his boots and slung them round his neck; then went forward a few steps, and came upon another passage at right angles, the farther end being faintly lit as from a distance. Stealing down this, he saw on his right hand the arched entrance to what was clearly the great hall of the keep, a long bare chamber illuminated by two or three smoky candles. Along the walls lay a number of men, sleeping on mattresses, cloaks, bundles of straw. At the farther end was a large table, at which two men were seated, bending forward with heads on their crossed arms, as though dozing. The table was covered with pots and tankards and metal plates. Taking this in at one swift glance, Harry turned to see what lay in the other direction.

A few feet from him was the bottom of another winding stair, which, he conjectured, led to the top of the keep. In the wall to his right there was a narrow opening giving on the courtyard, where he heard the movements of many horses. He was wondering whether, finding the doorway into the courtyard, he might venture to steal across it and explore the other side, when he heard voices from the hall behind him. Quick as thought he slipped back into the dark passage he had first entered, and waited there with beating heart. Peeping round the corner, he saw two men--doubtless the two who had been bending over the table--pass as if towards the staircase. He heard their spurred boots ringing on the stones, and knew by the sounds that they were ascending the stairs, to relieve guard, he guessed, at the top of the keep. There was evidently nothing to be discovered by remaining where he was; if he followed the men he might find a means of exploring the upper part of the fortress. He ran lightly along the passage, and began the ascent of the winding stair, finding himself soon in total darkness. But after about a dozen steps the staircase began to be faintly illuminated from above. Harry paused for a moment to listen. He heard nothing but the footsteps of the men who had preceded him, and was just going on when, through a loophole in the wall to his right, he heard the clatter of a horse's hoofs and the shout of a man. He held his breath and stood still. The horse had evidently just come over the bridge and through the archway into the courtyard. There were now sounds of many voices below; the hoof-beats suddenly ceased, and shortly afterwards Harry heard hurried footsteps on the stone passage he had lately left, and voices growing in volume and echoing in the circular space of the winding stair. Several men were ascending. If he remained where he was he must inevitably be detected; his only course was to continue his ascent. But he had not taken three steps before he heard footsteps above him; the sentry who had been relieved was coming down. His heart was in his mouth. But the men below were the nearer; there was just a chance that if he went higher he might come upon some temporary hiding-place, and in his stocking feet he made no sound that would betray him.

Up then he went; the light was becoming stronger; and a turn of the staircase brought him opposite the doorway through which it shone. The door was gone. He hesitated but for a moment; below and above him the footsteps were perilously near; on the wall of the room he saw two long military cloaks hanging to the floor; they would conceal him. Peeping into the room, he noted with one rapid glance a smoky guttering candle and a figure recumbent on a mattress. He went in on tiptoe, and slipped behind the cloaks. The slight rustle he made disturbed the slumbering man.

"Qui va la?" came the sleepy question.

Harry stood still as a stone, and felt his heart thumping against his ribs.

"Qui va la?" repeated the voice in a louder tone, and by the increased light in the narrow crack between the cloak and the wall Harry guessed that the man had risen on his elbow and snuffed the candle. An answering voice came from the doorway.

"Sebald Schummel, mon capitaine."

"Ah! Bien! Donnez-moi de vos nouvelles."

Harry felt a cold shiver down his back, and an impulse to pull aside the cloak and confirm by sight the evidence of his hearing. The voice was the voice of Captain Aglionby. Here was a discovery indeed. But he had scarcely time even to be surprised, for he was listening intently to a conversation that absorbed all his thought.

"The prince has arrived in Urach," said the new-comer. "He leaves at five in the morning on his way to Stuttgart. He travels by coach."

"Ah! what is his escort?"

"Two aides-de-camp and thirty dragoons, mon capitaine."

"A bagatelle! The game is ours!"

"Yes, mon capitaine," said another voice; "he will not easily escape us."

"Parbleu! He shall not. You are sure of the hour, Sebald?"

"Yes, Monsieur; and I have left a trusty man to send us word if it is altered."

"He is not likely to change his route?"

"There is no reason for it, mon capitaine, and our men are watching every road."

"Good! Your news is welcome, Sebald. Go and eat; I will consult with Monsieur le Lieutenant here; you shall have your orders by and by."

Two or three men left the room, and the captain was alone with his lieutenant and Harry. The latter had already heard enough to set all his wits on the alert. The conversation that ensued, though carried on by both the speakers in continuance of a former discussion, gave Harry little trouble to understand. It was evident that the marauders under Captain Aglionby's lead were planning to intercept Prince Eugene on his way to meet Marlborough, and Harry listened with a flutter at the heart as all the details were arranged. The ambuscaders, divided into three bands, were to station themselves at a point about two miles north of the wayside inn, where the road narrowed. Two of the bands were to conceal themselves in the woods on either side of the road, the third some distance behind them, towards the inn, to cut off any escape rearwards.

"Monsieur le Prince will sleep hard to-morrow," said Aglionby with a chuckle, when he had arranged the composition of the bands. "Now, as we must start in an hour or two, do you go down and rouse the men; I will follow in a minute and give them their orders. What sort of night is it?"

"Dull, with a threat of rain."

"Ah! we shall want our cloaks. Well, rouse the men; our bird will have his feathers clipped long ere this to-morrow."

Harry had gone cold at the mention of the cloaks, and gripped his pistol. But the lieutenant went from the room without disturbing him, and Aglionby shortly afterwards followed. Harry heaved a silent sigh of relief, waited until the sound of his footsteps had quite died away, then left his hiding-place and hastened to the staircase.

He was in no doubt what to do. To descend, now that the garrison was awakened, would be to court instant detection. The alternative was to go higher up the keep, and endeavour to find some way of escape over the ruined battlements. He mounted a few steps; the moon had risen, and her light, fitfully shining between masses of flying scud in the sky, lit up the staircase through the narrow openings at intervals in the wall. A few steps more, and on his right Harry saw a low doorway, this also without a door, leading directly on to the battlements. He peered up the outer wall of the keep, and saw that a sentinel at the top must almost certainly descry a figure moving along below. But escape he must; Prince Eugene must be warned in time, and Urach was several miles away. He longed for a friendly cloud to obscure the moon while he made a dash; and, pat to his wish, a dark mass of thunderous density cut off every gleam. Without another moment's delay Harry sprang on to the broken masonry, and, taking sure foothold in his stocking feet, ran towards a tower at the left-hand corner of the enceinte, hoping there to find an exit. The upper part of the tower was almost wholly in ruins, but the lower part was in good preservation, and to his disappointment Harry found that the only doorway led into the courtyard, in which he already heard the bustle of preparation. There was nothing for it but to pursue his way along the battlements to the tower at the right-hand rear corner. Entering this, he discovered a postern on the outer wall. It was twenty feet above the summit of a steep slope leading to the level ground a hundred yards away. Harry looked out, and saw that below the postern the masonry had crumbled and fallen, and was now covered with undergrowth and ivy clinging to the tower wall. To make his descent here he would have to risk a broken limb, perhaps a broken neck, but there was no other means of exit that he could discover, and it was necessary that he should get quickly away with Max and the landlord before the marauding band rode out. Clinging to a strong tendril of ivy, he leapt on to a precarious corner of broken brickwork, lost his footing, checked his fall by clutching at a shrub, found a firmer foothold a little below, and so made the complete descent to the edge of the slope, where he stayed his progress by again grasping the ivy.

The air was warm and close, foreboding thunder, and by this time Harry was bathed in sweat. He rested for a few moments at the foot of the wall. The jagged masonry had cut holes in his stockings and made his feet bleed. Between him and level ground was a steep declivity of almost bare rock, so precipitous that to walk down it was impossible, to run dangerous. He pulled on his boots, lay on his back, and slid down feet foremost, with some bumps and bruises, but with more serious injury to his apparel. As he reached the level a loud rumble of thunder broke above him, and he felt the first large spots of a shower. He was far from the place where he had left his companions, and to reach it he would have to cross the direct road to the castle gate. To avoid discovery it seemed best to creep down into the dry overgrown fosse, and steal his way along until he gained the spot on the other side of the plank bridge where he had descended to find the tunnel. Even under the bridge the vegetation was rank and thick enough to conceal him, and he had no fear of his movements being heard, for the rain was now pattering fast. This, then, he did; in a few minutes he came to the place where he had parted with Max, and, scrambling up the side of the fosse, struck into the road and hastened towards the trees. He wandered for some time among them without finding the men of whom he was in search, and at length risked a low call.

"Is that you, Monsieur?" came the reply in Max's voice from near at hand.

"Ah! I was afraid I had lost you. Have you the landlord safe?"

"Yes, Monsieur. I had almost given you up."

"Lead out the horses. We must get to Urach as quickly as possible. And not by the road: do you know a way across the hills?"

"Yes, but it will be difficult to find in the dark, and hark to the rain!"

"Yes, it is raining hard, but you must try to find the way; I dare not risk the road. Lead on, Max; I will follow you with the landlord."

Max led his horse through the wood, the others close behind him. Crossing the road, he entered a narrow ravine, left this at a cleft on the right, and taking a tortuous course, rising continually, he came after some twenty minutes to the crest of a rocky hill.

"It is all right, Monsieur," he said. "The way is easier now and we can mount. The rain is over, too."

"Well for us! Now, Max, at your best pace, provided it is not neck-breaking."

The three set off, the landlord uttering many groans and lamentations as he jolted in his saddle. Harry did not address him; he had too much to think of. If, as Aglionby's messenger had said, there were spies in Urach and around, it was likely that the entrance of three riders into the town at so late an hour would be noticed, and might awaken suspicion. Harry's wish was not merely to foil the ambuscade, but to turn the tables on the ambuscaders. As he rode he decided what to do.

"Max," he said, riding alongside of the man where a difficult part of the track caused a slackening of the pace; "Max, tell me when we come within about half a mile of the town; we will halt there."

"We leave the hills and strike the road at that distance, Monsieur."

"Very well; we will stop before we reach the road."

It was two o'clock in the morning when the three riders came to a halt within a little dell concealed from the road by an intervening hillock.

"Remain here with the landlord and my horse, Max," said Harry. "I am going on foot to the town."

At the gate-house he gave the password and was at once admitted. He went to the lodging of the lieutenant of the guard, woke him, and told him in a few words what he had discovered.

"Mon Dieu!" cried the lieutenant, "you are just in time. The prince decided last night to hasten his going; he sets off at four. He will have to remain here, or go back, for his escort are no match for these brigands, even with our burgher guard, who in any case are not permitted to leave the town. The prince must either wait here until he can get a force from Prince Louis of Baden, or try another road."

"The roads are watched. But I think the prince had better carry out his original intention and leave here at five."

"But he will certainly be captured."

"Not certainly. I should like to see him. I left Max and that rascal of a landlord half a mile out. The town is quiet; do you think it will be safe to send for them?"

"Oh yes! I will do that. You will find the prince at the Rathhaus."

"Will you lend me a change of things while mine are drying?"

"Of course! The sleeves of my coat will be short for you, I fear, but you will not need it long."

To change was but the work of a few minutes; then Harry hastened to the Rathhaus. The guard made some demur to admitting him at such an hour, but yielded when he assured them that his message was urgent, and he was conducted to an aide-de-camp, who on hearing his story in outline did not scruple to awaken the prince. Harry was not prepared for the reception his news met with. The prince broke into a roar of laughter.

"A right tit-for-tat for the Duke de Vendome," he said. "Two can play at coney-catching! You are surprised at my levity, young sir; but the truth is, I tried to play the same game on the duke two years ago: attempted to seize him in his house at Rivalto on the banks of the Lake of Mantua. I sent fifty men in boats to capture him; but they killed the sentinel instead of carrying him off, as I intended; the noise drew the guard to the spot, and my men had to re-embark to save their skins. Well, in war let him trick the other who can: I am obliged to you for your warning. Un homme averti en vaut deux: we'll be even with the tricksters. What shall we do, lieutenant?"

"It would seem that we must take another road, Monsieur le Prince," said the aide-de-camp.

"Ma foi, non; we'll cut our way through them. I never turned back on my enemy yet."

"They are too many, your highness. Your thirty men could not cut their way through two hundred."

"Then we must go another way."

"They have spies on the roads, Monsieur," said Harry. "Your highness would have to make a wide detour, and that would give the brigands plenty of time to sweep round and intercept you. If I might suggest a plan that occurred to me----"

"Go on."

"It is that your highness's coach should set off at the time arranged, attended by a portion of your escort----"

"Empty?"

"Not so, Monsieur. A man might take your highness's place. The brigands would imagine their scheme was prospering; the scouts would be drawn off; and after an interval your highness with the remainder of the escort could safely take the western road and be well on the way to Stuttgart before the trick was discovered."

"Aha! And who is to personate me? Not yourself? You have too great an advantage of me in inches."

"My ambition is less, your highness. I have a man of about your height; if you would deign to let him wear your wig, hat, and cloak for a few hours, I think he would make a personable copy of your highness."

The prince laughed.

"Well, you have a ready wit, my lad. But it would be running into the jaws of the wolves; I should lose half my escort and my coach, and you and your man your lives. They would not spare you when they learnt how you had tricked them."

"It would be a cheap purchase of your highness's safety. Besides, I think we might manage to escape the wolves, as your highness is pleased to call them."

"Indeed! Come, you are a young strategist; what have you in your mind?"

"To get into the castle, Monsieur le Prince, while the greater part of the brigands are absent, and to hold it until a force can be sent from Stuttgart to our assistance."

"A bold scheme, by my faith! What reason have you to suppose you could surprise the castle? It will not be left unguarded."

Then Harry gave a rapid narrative of what had happened since his adventure at the inn. Prince Eugene listened with close attention, his eyes lighting up with excitement and pleasure as he heard the details of the plan Harry had thought out as he rode from the castle.

"Parbleu!" he exclaimed at the end, "a bold scheme indeed, one after my own heart; I should like of all things to be with you in it. And you think my cousin Marlborough's two messengers are now in the castle?"

"I have no doubt of it, your highness; and as one of them is an old friend of my own, I have a strong personal reason for making the attempt."

"Well, I will not stay you. Rather I will say, Good luck to you! You deserve to succeed. I make no doubt that I shall be able to send you from Stuttgart a squadron or two of Prince Louis of Baden's horse, and if you and they can annihilate this pestilent band of outlaws you will do a service to the Emperor--a service that I shall take care is not forgotten. Time is pressing; my valet shall give you the suit I wore yesterday; I shall not need to trouble your man to lend me his in exchange, as I have another with me--a plain costume that will tell no tales. Ma foi! I could wish that for the next twelve hours he were Eugene of Savoy and I--what is his name?"

"Max Berens, Monsieur."

"Write his name, Lieutenant; if he were a courtier he would doubtless be content with the bare honour of filling my clothes for the nonce, but being a sensible man he will prefer a more tangible recompense. I shall see to it. Well, you have woke me from sleep, Monsieur; now I will ask you to leave me while I dress. And as we must be secret about this disguise, lest there be spies in the town, I shall not see you again until I meet you, as I hope to do, in my lord Marlborough's camp. Send your man here; I will take care that he is treated with the deference becoming his rank. Ha! ha! it is an excellent joke."

Harry went away delighted with the readiness with which the prince had entered into the spirit of his scheme. It was full of danger; he was under no illusion as to that; but this lent an additional zest to the adventure; he had thought out his plan carefully, and reckoned on finding an invaluable coadjutor in the landlord.

At five o'clock, in the cool of a fine morning, the prince's gilded coach drew up at the door of the Rathhaus, with fifteen dragoons in full riding trim. A carpet was spread from the entrance across the path to the coach, and one of the town officials stood in waiting to show the great man to his seat. By and by a figure in cocked hat, full wig, laced coat, and corslet came out with a fair counterfeit of Eugene's active gait; he gave a somewhat stiff acknowledgment of the salutes of the soldiers and the respectful obeisance of the local magnates and the crowd of interested townspeople, and stepped quickly into the coach. Harry followed him. The door was shut, the word given to the two postilions, and amid the cheers of all Urach the vehicle rattled over the stones, out at the gate, into the open highway. No one but the principals in the little drama, and the fifteen picked men of the escort, knew that the man to whom they had just shown such deference was not Eugene of Savoy, a prince of a sovereign house, but Max Berens, the simple son of a shoemaker.

Harry had been at the pains to drill his companions in the part they were to play. He had learnt from Max that there were two roads leading from the main highway to the castle. Of these the one nearest to Urach was the better; it branched off about a mile on the town side of the inn. The other was a more circuitous and difficult track across the hills, leaving the highroad at a point rather more distant from the inn on the farther side, and only a few yards from the spot chosen for the ambuscade. Between the two cross-roads the highway took a somewhat irregular course, and while it was visible from point to point, only a few yards of the intervening portion could be seen from either of the by-roads, owing to its windings and the undulations of the ground. When the coach, therefore, should arrive at the first road it would be descried by the ambuscaders, but would then disappear from their view, not becoming visible again until a short distance before it reached them. On this fact Harry reckoned for the successful accomplishment of the first part of his scheme.

A mile out of Urach, Harry found the landlord awaiting him in charge of one of the town guard. He was taken into the coach, which then drove rapidly on. On arriving at the cross-road, instead of going straight forward towards the inn and the ambush, it swung round to the right, and at Harry's orders the postilions whipped up the horses and drove at a headlong pace towards the castle. The actual turning could not be seen from the place of the ambuscade, and Harry confidently expected that the brigands, having caught sight of the coach the moment before it left the road, would await its coming without suspicion. Its non-appearance after a time would surprise them; they might suppose it had stopped at the inn to bait the horses; they would allow for this, and a considerable time would elapse before they discovered the truth. This interval would, he hoped, give him so long a start that he would have ample time to play his trick upon the garrison.

About half a mile from the castle, Harry ordered the postilions and escort to halt at a spot where they were hidden from the garrison by a stretch of rising ground. He then dismounted four of the dragoons, bade them get into the coach, and made the landlord change places with the postilion on one of the sear horses. In his hand he placed an empty pistol.

"When we drive on," he said, "you will point that at the back of the postilion in front of you, and look as grim as you please. When we come within earshot of the sentry at the bridge--I will give the word--you will shout to him to let us through quickly: 'Here we are!' you will cry. I have let down the window, you observe; Berens will be a few feet behind you with a loaded pistol: you understand?"

Then turning to the eleven dragoons who were still on horseback, he said:

"Now, men, you know your part. Wait till we are over the bridge, then gallop up at full speed with sabres drawn and pistols cocked, ready for anything."

"What about the four horses, Herr Capitan?" asked one of the troopers.

"We must leave them. Tie their heads together and string them to that tree yonder: we may get them by and by; if not, the coach horses will serve. Now; all ready! Drive on, landlord."

The two postilions--the foremost a stalwart dragoon--whipped up the horses, which dashed forward at a furious gallop towards the castle. It was a tight squeeze in the coach--Harry, Max, and the four big troopers jammed together in a narrow space.

"Level your pistol, landlord!" cried Harry.

The pale perspiring landlord held his harmless weapon in his left hand, covered by the loaded pistol of Max in the coach. On they drove, ploughing up the soil heavy with last night's rain, the horses straining at the traces. They were within thirty yards of the bridge.

"Shout, landlord!" said Harry in a loud whisper through the open window.

"Here we are! here we are!" cried the man.

"Louder!"

"Here we are!" He almost shrieked the words.

"The others are behind!" prompted Harry.

"The others are behind!" cried the landlord.

The sentry at the farther end of the bridge gave an answering shout; the boards that served for a gate were removed; the coach clattered and rumbled over the rocking creaking planks, and the postilions pulled up their reeking horses in the courtyard of the castle.

*CHAPTER XXI*

*Across the Fosse*

Shoulder to Shoulder--Wrecking the Bridge--Well Found--The Dungeons of Rauhstein--The Castle Cook--The Enemy's Plan--Unwilling Help--A Parley--The Bridge Builders--At Short Range--Supper--Counsel--Fireworks--Long Odds--A Rush--From a Sling--A Covered Way--Firing the Train--Shambles

The shouting and the clatter of the coach had drawn the garrison into the courtyard. From these twenty men, the remnant of the brigand band, a great cheer went up, and they pressed forward eagerly to see the princely captive. Two or three of them were unarmed, but the rest, with the habit of seasoned warriors, had their swords in their belts and carbines slung at their shoulders.

"Well done, Otto!" cried one, slapping the landlord on the back.

But at that moment both doors of the coach were flung open, and out of each sprang a man with a pistol in the left hand and a sword in the right. These were followed by others, and before the astonished garrison realized the situation, six fully armed men were among them, and one, a tall, dark, lissom young fellow, all fire and energy, was calling on them to surrender. A few, cowed by the pistols pointed within a foot of their heads, and taken utterly aback by this astounding change of scene, flung down their carbines from sheer inability to think; but the more nimble-witted, and those on the outskirts of the little group, scurried away, under cover of their comrades, out of range, unslinging their carbines and drawing their swords as they ran.

Meanwhile the foremost postilion, in obedience to orders previously given by Harry, whipped up his horses and drove them at a gallop round the courtyard, narrowly escaping a bullet from the carbine of one of the garrison, until he came opposite the gateway, where he drew up so as to present the side of the coach to the opening, and cut the traces. The garrison, having by this time perceived by how small a body they were confronted, came forward in a compact mass against the little band. Carbines cracked, pistols flashed, steel rang on steel, and with shouts and oaths the two bands engaged. Harry was not in this mellay, for in the confusion he had slipped away and rushed through the archway, just in time to see the sentry striving with might and main to hurl the planks of the bridge into the fosse. He had caught sight of eleven dragoons in Austrian uniform galloping up from the valley half a mile away. The man turned as he heard Harry's approach, snatched up his sword, which he had dropped for his work with the planks, and threw himself into his guard in the nick of time to meet the attack. Harry felt that it was not a moment for fine sword-play; the man was a burly fellow, clumsy, and to appearance dull of wits. Running a risk which would be fatal if his opponent were a keen swordsman, Harry gave him an opening. It was instantly accepted, but the thrust was parried with lightning rapidity, and before the man could recover himself Harry's sword had ploughed a deep furrow in his forearm, and with a yell of pain he let his own weapon fall to the ground. Stepping back at the same moment with the instinct of self-preservation, he tumbled headlong into the fosse.