Part 30 (1/2)
”I did,” replied Rollo, whose examination had been concluded before Kenneth had been brought before the court.
”And you also”--to Kenneth--”made a similar rash statement.”
”Not rash, sir; but a candid statement.”
”Very good. You will both find that you are in error. Now, this is my offer. You will not be shot straight away. You will be kept in close confinement. As soon as Paris is taken--as it will be in about a fortnight--your sentence will be put into execution. If within thirty days from now our armies should by some unprecedented accident fail to reach Paris, your lives will be spared and your sentences commuted to ten years' imprisonment in a fortress. You comprehend?”
Von Koenik broke off to exchange a few words in German with the major.
Then he resumed:
”Major Hoffmann here will be answerable for your custody. So long as you give no trouble, and make no attempt to escape--such attempt will be bound to be a failure, let me add--you will be treated with as much consideration as it is possible to accord to convicted spies.”
Again the president conferred with the major. Then, stiffly saluting, Major Hoffmann gave an order. The soldiers closed around the two prisoners.
With their heads held erect, Kenneth and Rollo were about to be marched from the presence of the grim Colonel von Koenik, when the latter rapped the desk with an ivory mallet.
”Of course,” he added, ”when our armies enter Paris--about the 1st of September--you will accept the decree of fate? Perhaps. But it is not pleasant to be confronted by the muzzles of a dozen rifles of a firing-party. There is one more chance. If you give us true and full information concerning certain points which will be raised later, the full penalty will be mitigated. You understand?”
Both Kenneth and Rollo began to protest, but von Koenik silenced them.
”You English are too fond of acting and thinking rashly on the spur of the moment,” he exclaimed. ”Think it over--carefully. It is worth your calm deliberation.”
On being removed from the court, Kenneth and Rollo were placed in the same cell--the room in which the former had been kept pending his appearance at the farcical trial.
Colonel von Koenik had no intention of carrying his threat into execution. He was one of those men who are firm believers in the application of methods of tyranny to gain their ends. Kenneth Everest had been denounced as a spy by the tobacconist of the Rue de la Tribune--himself a German secret agent. The information had to be acted upon, and Rollo, living in the same house as the accused, had also been arrested.
Von Koenik would not condemn a prisoner without conclusive evidence.
He was convinced, mainly on the testimony of Madame Hirondelle, that neither Kenneth nor Rollo was a spy; at the same time they were Englishmen, and that was sufficient to merit their detention. Again, by intimidation or cajoling they might be able to furnish valuable information to the German authorities. Since the informal sentence of death did not move the accused to beg for mercy, a slower and constantly terrifying method must be applied.
The firm expressions on the forthcoming failure on the part of the Germans to enter Paris--an expression that both lads made independently of each other--gave von Koenik an idea. On his part he was absolutely certain that no mortal power could arrest the victorious march of the Kaiser's legions; and such was his obsession that he imagined both Kenneth and Rollo could have no inmost doubts on the matter. By proposing a ”sporting offer”, von Koenik knew that his methods to terrorize would have time to work and undermine the resolution of the English lads. In a very few days, he decided, they would be willing to save themselves from a haunting dread by offering the information he desired.
It was by no means a new experiment on the part of Colonel von Koenik.
During his tenure of office in command of a line regiment in an Alsatian town, he had frequently terrorized civilians who had fallen under his displeasure, by the application of methods based upon the legendary sword of Damocles. Hitherto this form of the tyranny of the Mailed Fist had been most successful; but it was different in the case of Kenneth Everest and Rollo Barrington.
”What was that swashbuckler driving at, I wonder?” asked Rollo, when the two chums found themselves alone in their cell. ”Do you think that he really intends to have us shot?”
”I should say yes; only I don't understand why the sentence was not carried out at once. It is a low-down trick keeping us on tenterhooks; but from what we have already seen and heard, these Germans--the Prussians especially--do not draw the line at anything.”
”Anyhow, the fellow thinks he's on a dead cert. on the Paris trip. I don't; so if he's as good as his word on the month's grace we'll escape the firing-party. As for the ten years, that's nothing. We'll be liberated at the end of the war.”
”Unless we 'break bounds' at the first opportunity,” added Kenneth.
”We both seem to have been born under a lucky star, and having given those fellows the slip once, there is no reason why we shouldn't be equally successful the next time.”
The two following days the lads pa.s.sed in uneventful captivity in the cell. Straw had been provided for bedding, while their meals consisted of rye bread and water, and, once a day, a bowl of soup. For half an hour they were allowed to take exercise in an enclosed courtyard, four soldiers, carrying loaded rifles, having been told off to prevent any attempt at escape.
On the morning of Tuesday, the 25th of August, the prisoners were ordered to leave their cell. Guided by the same four soldiers, they were marched into the courtyard, where a dozen Belgian civilians were formed up under an armed guard. In a doorway opening into the quadrangle stood Major Hoffmann, watching the proceedings with a supercilious air.
”Are they going to shoot the crowd of us?” whispered Kenneth; but before Rollo could reply, a sergeant gave the speaker a violent blow and sternly ordered him in French to be silent.