Part 18 (2/2)
”You propose that I should don the cloak of the incomer, and that thus we make our escape together. We must be in haste, then, for if the Archbishop releases himself from his bonds, he may produce such an uproar in his cell that suspicion will be aroused.”
”The bonds in which I left the Archbishop of Treves will hold him firm until we are outside this nest of vipers. And now, your Majesty, I beg you to put on this cloak which I have been wearing, which will leave me free speedily to overpower our visitor.”
The Emperor arrayed himself and stood, as he was fully ent.i.tled to do, a fully costumed member of the Fehmgerichte. Wilhelm opened the door and said softly:
”Enter, brother, that I may learn if the arrangements just made are confirmed by your wisdom.”
The light within had been placed at the further end of the cell, and the visitor's own lantern gave but scant illumination. The moment the door was firmly closed Wilhelm sprang upon him and bore him to the ground.
If the a.s.saulted man attempted to make any sound, it was m.u.f.fled by the folds of his own cloak. A moment later, however, Wilhelm got a firm grip on his bare throat, and holding him thus, pulled away his disguise from him, revealing the pallid face of the Archbishop of Mayence. The young man plucked the dagger from the inside of his doublet and placed it at the breast of the prostrate man.
”If you make the slightest sound,” he whispered, ”I shall bury this dagger in your heart. It is the weapon of the Fehmgerichte and you know it will penetrate chain armour.”
It was evident that the stricken Archbishop was much too frightened to do anything to help himself, and Wilhelm unbuckling his own empty sword-belt, proceeded to tie his trembling limbs. The Emperor whispered:
”The cords which bound me are still here, as well as the gag which silenced me.”
Wilhelm put those instruments of tyranny to immediate use, and shortly the Archbishop was a helpless silent heap in the further corner of the room. Wilhelm and the Emperor each with a lantern, and each indistinguishable from other members of the secret organisation, pushed open the door and emerged from the cell. Closing the door again, Wilhelm said to the guard:
”Bolt this portal firmly and allow no one to enter who does not give you this pa.s.sword.”
The young man stooped and whispered into the ear of the guard the word ”Elsa.” The two fugitives then walked slowly along the great hall, the young man peering anxiously to his right for any sign of the stairway by which he had descended. They pa.s.sed numerous doors, all closed, and at last Wilhelm began to wonder if one of these covered the exit which he sought. Finally they came to the end of the large hall without seeing trace of any outlet, and Wilhelm became conscious of the fact that getting free from this labyrinth was like to prove more difficult than the entering had been. Standing puzzled, not knowing where next to turn, aware that precious time was being wasted fruitlessly, Wilhelm saw a man masked and accoutred as a guard approach them.
”Is there anything in which I can pleasure your Lords.h.i.+ps?” he asked deferentially.
”Yes,” said Wilhelm, ”we desire to have a breath of fresh air; where is the exit?”
”If your Lords.h.i.+p has the pa.s.sword, you may go out by the entrance in the city. If you have not the word, then must you use the exit without the wall, which is a long walk from here.”
”That does not matter,” replied Wilhelm, ”it is the country air we wish to breathe.”
”I cannot leave my post, but I shall get one who will guide you.”
So saying, the man left them for several anxious minutes, going into a room that apparently was used as guard-house, and reappearing with a man who rubbed his eyes sleepily, as if newly awakened. Then the first guard drew bolts from a stout door and pulled it open, revealing a dark chasm like the entrance to a cell. Both Wilhelm and the Emperor viewed this black enigma with deep suspicion, but their guide with his lantern plunged into it and they followed, after which the door was closed and barred behind them.
It was, indeed, as the first man had said, a long walk, as Wilhelm knew it must be if it extended under the western gate and out into the country. The pa.s.sage was so narrow that two could not walk abreast, and frequently the arched ceiling was so low that the guide ahead warned them to stoop as they came on. At last he reached the foot of a stairway, and was about to mount when Wilhelm said to him:
”Stand here till we return. Allow no one to pa.s.s who does not give you this word,” and again he whispered the word ”Elsa” in the man's ear.
To the dismay of Wilhelm, the Emperor addressed the guard:
”Are there many prisoners within?”
”There are two only,” replied the man, ”numbers 13 and 14. I helped to carry No. 14 down the stair, and am glad his sword broke beneath him as he fell, for, indeed, we had trouble enough with him as it was.”
Here Wilhelm took the liberty of touching the Emperor on the arm as if to warn him that such discourse was untimely and dangerous. With beating heart the young man led the way up the stairs, and at the top of the second flight, came into what seemed to be the vestibule of a house, in which, on benches round the wall, there sat four men seemingly on guard, who immediately sprang to their feet when they saw the ghostly apparitions before them.
”Unbar the door,” said Wilhelm, quietly, in the tone of one whose authority is not to be disputed. ”Close it after us and allow none to enter or emerge who does not give you the word 'Elsa.'”
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