Part 65 (1/2)
”If it were decided,” said he, ”that an actual invasion of England were advisable, I have three separate plans now forming in my head, all equally feasible and promising, and all capable of being put into operation at one and the same time. Each one, in fact, would serve to divert attention from the others.”
It may be noted that at this point Professor Teller suddenly ceased to be amused; his look of half-quizzical detachment becoming changed to one of gravity, almost of distress; his Majesty's ”pace” had apparently become too much for him.
”We know, for instance,” pursued the King, ”that if we succeeded in effecting a landing the German waiters would rise as one man and join us as volunteers. Germany would, of course, officially disown them, while for the purposes of the war we should give them letters of Jingalese naturalization on their enlistment; these, which they would carry in their knapsacks, would prevent them from being shot in the event of their being taken prisoners. Our own army of twenty thousand picked Jingalese sharp-shooters would go to England disguised as tourists. Each in his bag would carry a complete military outfit; our new uniforms are so like those of the English territorials that they would arouse no suspicion at the Customs House, and even when worn only experts would know the difference. At a given signal----”
There the Prime Minister, having extracted a look of despairing encouragement from the Council, got upon his feet.
”I have to ask your Majesty,” he said very resolutely, ”that we may now be allowed to proceed to the business for which we have been called together.”
”At a given signal----” went on the King.
”I must protest, your Majesty.”
It was quite useless.
”At a given signal--I will give you your signal, Mr. Prime Minister, when you may throw your bomb; yes, for I have seen you preparing it!--at a given signal when the King and his Parliament were a.s.sembled together in one place, some of our forces would mingle with the crowd; others emerging from places of concealment would form into ranks and advance from various quarters upon Westminster. Then, before any one was aware, we would cable our declaration of war, rush the House, seize the heads of the Government, carry them off to the topmost story of the clock tower, garrison it from bas.e.m.e.nt to roof, and there, with the King and his whole Cabinet in our hands, stand siege till the rest of the nation sued for peace.”
Once more the Prime Minister endeavored to interpose; he was borne down.
”They could not blow us up,” went on the King, ”without blowing our prisoners up also; they could not starve us out, for the King and his Cabinet would perforce have to share our privations. We should have in our possession not only the whole personnel of the Government, but that supreme symbol and safeguard of the popular will which crowns their const.i.tutional edifice. And, gentlemen, you may think me as mad as you like--you may arrest me, you may take me to the police-station, you may rob me of all the evidence of conspiracy I have against you, and you may call me Jack--jack-of-all-trades, master of none--Jack, plain Jack----”
The Prime Minister and Council sprang to their feet. Consternation was upon the faces of all.
”But nothing! nothing!” he went on, ”no power on earth--except it were a whole army of steeplejacks----”
At that word the flow of his eloquence ceased; his mouth remained open but no sound came from it. Suddenly his staring eyes puckered and closed, wincing as from a blow; and his face flushed to a fiery red, then paled.
He gave a short cry, threw out an arm feebly; wavered, toppled, crumpled like a thing without bone, and fell back into his chair.
”My G.o.d!” muttered the Prime Minister. ”Oh, great Heaven!”
Some one, more nimble of wit than the rest, dashed out of the room to seek aid. All the others, impressed with a true sense of incompetence, stood looking at their fallen King. Not one of them knew how to handle him, whether it were best to lay him down or leave him alone. First aid--even to their sovereign lord--had formed no part in the education of these his counselors.
The Prime Minister did the one thing which he knew to be correct--and which could not possibly do harm; he felt the King's heart. But n.o.body for a moment supposed him to be dead; unconscious though he lay, his heavy breathings could be seen and heard.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE VOICE OF THANKSGIVING
I
For three whole weeks thereafter--if the papers were to be believed--the entire nation hung upon the bulletins which were issued hourly from the royal palace. The King's illness gave the finis.h.i.+ng touch to his popularity; devotion to affairs of State had brought on brain-fever, and the more desperate the symptoms of the illness could be made to appear, the more sublime became the moral character of its august victim, and the more deeply-rooted the affection of his people.
Professional vanity had also to be flattered; and during those fierce fluctuations of hope and despair, Jingalo's topmost place in the world of medical science became vindicated to the meanest intelligence. If by a scientific miracle the King's life was to be saved, Jingalese doctoring, and no other doctoring in the world would do it.
n.o.bly the press performed its task of giving to every factor in the situation its due prominence; even the Church got its share; and when favorable bulletins became the order of the day, their origin was generously ascribed, even by the ministerial press, almost as much to the prayers of the people publicly offered as to the skill of the six best medical authorities. But when all was said and done it was to the King's marvelous const.i.tution, his patient courage, and his quiet submission to the hands of his nurses (foremost of whom was her Majesty the Queen), that the praise was chiefly due; for it was necessary, in order to complete the situation, that the loyalty so n.o.bly tendered should be n.o.bly earned.
And n.o.bly tendered it certainly was. Never could the nation have had so good an opinion of itself as during those dark weeks when, taught by its press the meanings of the various symptoms, it sat by the King's bed feeling his pulse, holding his breath, and scarcely daring to raise any voice above a whisper. Various sections of the public were informed in their daily journals how they and other sections were behaving themselves; how business men went to office almost apologetically, and only because they could not help themselves; how nursemaids hushed the voices of their charges as they wheeled them past the precincts of the palace for their morning's airing in the royal park; and how Jingalo only consented to its accustomed portion of beer in order that it might drink to the King's health and his quick recovery.