Truxton King: A Story of Graustark Read online

  CHAPTER II

  A MEETING OF THE CABINET

  At this time, the principality of Graustark was in a most prosperouscondition. Its affairs were under the control of an able ministry,headed by the venerable Count Halfont. The Duke of Perse, for years aresident of St. Petersburg, and a financier of high standing, hadreturned to Edelweiss soon after the distressing death of the latePrincess Yetive and her American husband, and to him was entrusted thetreasury portfolio. He at once proceeded to endear himself to the commonpeople by the advocacy of a lower rate of taxation; this meant thereduction of the standing army. He secured new and advantageous treatieswith old and historic foes, putting Graustark's financial credit upon ahigh footing in the European capitals. The people smugly regardedthemselves as safe in the hands of the miserly but honest old financier.If he accomplished many things by way of office to enhance his ownparticular fortune, no one looked askance, for he made no effort toblind or deceive his people. Of his honesty there could be no question;of his financial operations, it is enough to say that the people weresatisfied to have their affairs linked with his.

  The financing of the great railroad project by which Edelweiss was to beconnected with the Siberian line in the north, fell to his lot at a timewhen no one else could have saved the little government from heavylosses or even bankruptcy. The new line traversed the country fromSerros, capital of Dawsbergen, through the mountains and canyons ofGraustark, across Axphain's broad steppes and lowlands, to a point atwhich Russia stood ready to begin a connecting branch for junction withher great line to the Pacific. All told, it was a stupendous undertakingfor a small government to finance; it is well known that Graustark ownsand controls her public utility institutions. The road, now about halfcompleted, was to be nearly two hundred miles in length, fullytwo-thirds of which was on Graustark territory. The preponderance ofcost of construction fell upon that principality, Dawsbergen and Axphainescaping with comparatively small obligations owing to the fact thatthey had few mountains to contend with. As a matter of fact, theDawsbergen and Axphain ends of the railroad were now virtually built andwaiting for the completion of the extensive work in the Graustarkhighlands.

  The opening of this narrative finds the ministry preparing to float anew five million gavvo issue of bonds for construction and equipmentpurposes. Agents of the government were ready to depart for London andParis to take up the matter with the great banking houses. St.Petersburg and Berlin were not to be given the opportunity to gobble upthese extremely fine securities. This seemingly extraordinary exclusionof Russian and German bidders was the result of vigorous objectionsraised by an utter outsider, the American, John Tullis, long time friendand companion of Grenfall Lorry, consort to the late Princess.

  Tullis was a strange man in many particulars. He was under forty yearsof age, but even at that rather immature time of life he had come to berecognised as a shrewd, successful financial power in his home city, NewYork. At the very zenith of his power he suddenly and with Quixoticdisregard for consequences gave up his own business and came toGraustark for residence, following a promise made to Grenfall Lorrywhen the latter lay dying in a little inn near Brussels.

  They had been lifelong friends. Tullis jestingly called himself thelittle Prince's "morganatic godfather." For two years he had been aconstant resident of Graustark, living contentedly, even indolently, inthe picturesque old Castle, his rooms just across the corridor fromthose occupied by the little Prince. To this small but important bit ofroyalty he was "Uncle Jack"; in that capacity he was the most belovedand at the same time the most abused gentleman in all Graustark. As manyas ten times a week he was signally banished from the domain by theloving, headstrong little ruler, only to be recalled with grave dignityand a few tears when he went so far as to talk of packing his "duds" inobedience to the edict.

  John Tullis, strong character though he was, found this lazy, _dolce farniente_ life much to his liking. He was devoted to the boy; he wasinterested in the life at this tiny court. The days of public and courtmourning for the lamented Princess and her husband wearing away after anestablished period, he found himself eagerly delving into the gaietiesthat followed. Life at the Castle and in the homes of the nobilityprovided a new and sharp contrast to the busy, sordid existence he hadknown at home. It was like a fine, wholesome, endless dream to him. Hedrifted on the joyous, smiling tide of pleasure that swept Edelweisswith its careless waves night and day. Clever, handsome, sincere in hisattitude of loyalty toward these people of the topmost east, he was notlong in becoming a popular idol.

  His wide-awake, resourceful brain, attuned by nature to the difficultiesof administration, lent itself capably to the solving of many knottyfinancial puzzles; the ministry was never loth to call on him foradvice and seldom disposed to disregard it. An outsider, he neveroffered a suggestion or plan unasked; to this single qualification heowed much of the popularity and esteem in which he was held by theclasses and the masses. Socially, he was a great favourite. He enjoyedthe freedom of the most exclusive homes in Edelweiss. He had enjoyed thedistinction of more than one informal visit to old Princess Volga ofAxphain, just across the border, to say nothing of shooting expeditionswith young Prince Dantan of Dawsbergen, whose American wife, formerlyMiss Calhoun of Washington, was a friend of long standing.

  John Tullis was, beyond question, the most conspicuous and the mostadmired man in Edelweiss in these serene days of mentorship to theadored Prince Robin.

  There was but one man connected with the government to whom hispopularity and his influence proved distasteful. That man was the Dukeof Perse. On more than one occasion the cabinet had chosen to be guidedby the sagacity of John Tullis in preference to following the lines laiddown by the astute minister of finance. The decision to offer the newbond issue in London and Paris was due to the earnest, forceful argumentof John Tullis--outside the cabinet chamber, to be sure. This was butone instance in which the plan of the treasurer was overridden. Heresented the plain though delicate influence of the former Wall Streetman. Tullis had made it plain to the ministry that Graustark could notafford to place itself in debt to the Russians, into whose hands, sooneror later, the destinies of the railroad might be expected to fall. Thewise men of Graustark saw his point without force of argument, and voteddown, in the parliament, the Duke's proposition to place the loan in St.Petersburg and Berlin. For this particular act of trespass upon theDuke's official preserves he won the hatred of the worthy treasurer andhis no inconsiderable following among the deputies.

  But John Tullis was not in Edelweiss for the purpose of meddling withstate affairs. He was there because he elected to stand mentor to theson of his life-long friend, even though that son was a prince of theblood and controlled by the will of three regents chosen by his ownsubjects. He was there to watch over the doughty little chap, who oneday would be ruler unrestrained, but who now was a boy to be loved andcoddled and reprimanded in the general process of man-making.

  To say that the tiny Prince loved his big, adoring mentor would beputting it too gently: he idolised him. Tullis was father, mother andbig brother to the little fellow in knickers.

  The American was a big, broad shouldered man, reddish haired and ruddycheeked, with cool grey eyes; his sandy mustache was closely cropped andturned up ever so slightly at the corners of his mouth. Despite hiscolouring, his face was somewhat sombre--even stern--when in repose. Itwas his fine, enveloping smile that made friends for him wherever helisted, with men and with women. More frequently than otherwise it mademore than friends of the latter.

  One woman in Graustark was the source of never-ending and constantlyincreasing interest to this stalwart companion to the Prince. That womanwas, alas! the wife of another man. Moreover, she was the daughter ofthe Duke of Perse.

  The young and witty Countess of Marlanx came often to Edelweiss. She wasa favourite at the Castle, notwithstanding the unhealthy record of herancient and discredited husband, the Iron Count. Tullis had not seenthe Count, but he had heard such tales of him that he coul
d not butpity this glorious young creature who called him husband. There is anold saying about the kinship of pity. Not that John Tullis was actuallyin love with the charming Countess. He was, to be perfectly candid, verymuch interested in her and very much distressed by the fact that she wasbound to a venerable reprobate who dared not put his foot on Graustarksoil because once he had defiled it atrociously.

  But of the Countess and her visits to Edelweiss, more anon--with theindulgence of the reader.

  At present we are permitted to attend a meeting of the cabinet, whichsits occasionally in solemn collectiveness just off the throne roomwithin the tapestried walls of a dark little antechamber, known to theoutside world as the "Room of Wrangles." It is ten o'clock of themorning on which the Prince is to review the troops from the fortress.The question under discussion relates to the loan of 5,000,000 gavvos,before mentioned. At the head of the long table, perched upon anaugmentary pile of law books surmounted by a little red cushion, sitsthe Prince, almost lost in the hugh old walnut chair of his forefathers.Down the table sit the ten ministers of the departments of state, all ofthem loving the handsome little fellow on the necessary pile ofstatutes, but all of them more or less indifferent to his significantyawns and perplexed frowns.

  The Prince was a sturdy, curly-haired lad, with big brown eyes and alamentably noticeable scratch on his nose--acquired in less stately butmore profitable pursuits. (It seems that he had peeled his nose whilesliding to second base in a certain American game that he was teachingthe juvenile aristocracy how to play.) His wavy hair was brown andrebellious. No end of royal nursing could keep it looking sleek andproper. He had the merit of being a very bad little boy at times; thatis why he was loved by every one. Although it was considered next tohigh treason to strike a prince of the royal blood, I could, if I hadthe space, recount the details of numerous fisticuffs behind the statestables in which, sad to relate, the Prince just as often as not cameoff with a battered dignity and a chastened opinion of certain small frywho could not have been more than dukes or barons at best. But he tookhis defeats manfully: he did not whimper _lese majeste_. John Tullis,his "Uncle Jack," had proclaimed his scorn for a boy who could not "takehis medicine." And so Prince Robin took it gracefully because he wasprince.

  To-day he was--for him--rather oppressively dignified and imperial. Hemay have blinked his weary eyes a time or two, but in the main he wasvery attentive, very circumspect and very much puzzled. Custom requiredthat the ruling prince or princess should preside over the meetings ofthe cabinet. It is needless to observe that the present ruler's dutyended when he repeated (after Count Halfont): "My lords, we are now insession." The school-room, he confessed, was a "picnic" compared to the"Room of Wrangles": a fellow got a recess once in a while there, buthere--well, the only recess he got was when he fell asleep. To-day hewas determined to maintain a very dignified mien. It appears that at thelast meeting he had created considerable havoc by upsetting the ink wellwhile trying to fill his fountain pen without an injector. Moreover,nearly half a pint of the fluid had splashed upon the Duke of Perse'strousers--and they were grey, at that. Whereupon the Duke announced inopen conclave that His Highness needed a rattling good spanking--aremark which distinctly hurt the young ruler's pride and made him wishthat there had been enough ink to drown the Duke instead of merelywetting him.

  About the table sat the three regents and the other men high in theadministration of affairs, among them General Braze of the Army, BaronPultz of the Mines, Roslon of Agriculture. The Duke of Perse wasdiscussing the great loan question. The Prince was watching his gaunt,saturnine face with more than usual interest.

  "Of course, it is not too late to rescind the order promulgated at ourlast sitting. There are five bankers in St. Petersburg who will financethe loan without delay. We need not delay the interminable length oftime necessary to secure the attention and co-operation of bankers inFrance and England. It is all nonsense to say that Russia has sinistermotives in the matter. It is a business proposition--not an affair ofstate. We need the money before the winter opens. The railroad is nowwithin fifteen miles of Edelweiss. The bridges and tunnels are wellalong toward completion. Our funds are diminishing, simply because wehave delayed so long in preparing for this loan. There has been too muchbickering and too much inane politics. I still maintain that we havemade a mistake in refusing to take up the matter with St. Petersburg orBerlin. Why should we prefer England? Why France?"

  For some unaccountable reason he struck the table violently with hisfist and directed his glare upon the astonished Prince. The explosivedemand caught the ruler by surprise. He gasped and his lips fell apart.Then it must have occurred to him that the question could be answered byno one save the person to whom it was so plainly addressed. He liftedhis chin and piped up shrilly, and with a fervour that startled eventhe intense Perse:

  "Because Uncle Jack said we should, that's why."

  We have no record of what immediately followed this abrupt declaration;there are some things that never leak out, no matter how prying thechronicler may be. When one stops to consider that this was the firsttime a question had been put directly to the Prince--and one that hecould understand, at that--we may be inclined to overlook his reply, butwe cannot answer for certain members of the cabinet. Unconsciously, theboy in knickers had uttered a truth that no one else had dared tovoice. John Tullis _was_ the joint stepping-stone and stumbling-block inthe deliberations of the cabinet.

  It goes without saying that the innocent rejoinder opened the way to anacrid discussion of John Tullis. If that gentleman's ears burned inresponse to the sarcastic comments of the Duke of Perse and Baron Pultz,they probably tingled pleasantly as the result of the stout defence putup by Halfont, Dangloss and others. Moreover, his most devoted friend,the Prince, whose lips were sullenly closed after his unlucky maideneffort, was finding it exceedingly difficult to hold his tongue and histears at the same time. The lad's lip trembled but his brown eyesglowered; he sat abashed and heard the no uncertain arraignment of hisdearest friend, feeling all the while that the manly thing for him to dowould be to go over and kick the Duke of Perse, miserably conscious thatsuch an act was impossible. His little body trembled with childish rage;he never took his gaze from the face of the gaunt traducer. How he hatedthe Duke of Perse!

  The Duke's impassioned plea was of no avail. His _confreres_ saw thewisdom of keeping Russia's greedy hand out of the country's affairs--atleast for the present--and reiterated their decision to seek the loansin England and France. The question, therefore, would not be taken toParliament for reconsideration. The Duke sat down, pale in defeat; hisheart was more bitter than ever against the shrewd American who hadinduced all these men to see through his eyes.

  "I suppose there is no use in kicking against the pricks," he saidsourly as he resumed his seat. "I shall send our representatives toLondon and Paris next month. I trust, my lords, that we may have notrouble in placing the loans there." There was a deep significance thedry tone which he assumed.

  "I do not apprehend trouble," said Count Halfont. "Our credit is stillgood, your Grace. Russia is not the only country that is ready to trustus for a few millions. Have no fear, your Grace."

  "It is the delay that I am apprehensive of, your Excellency."

  At this juncture the Prince, gathering from the manner of his ministersthat the question was settled to his liking, leaned forward andannounced to his uncle, the premier:

  "I'm tired, Uncle Caspar. How much longer is it?"

  Count Halfont coughed. "Ahem! Just a few minutes, your Highness. Pray bepatient--er--my little man."

  Prince Bobby flushed. He always knew that he was being patronised whenany one addressed him as "my little man."

  "I have an engagement," he said, with a stiffening of his back.

  "Indeed?" said the Duke dryly.

  "Yes, your Grace--a very important one. Of course, I'll stay if I haveto, but--what time is it, Uncle Caspar?"

  "It is half past eleven, your Highness."

  "
Goodness, I had a date for eleven. I mean a engagement--an engagement."He glanced helplessly, appealingly from Count Halfont to Baron Dangloss,his known allies.

  The Duke of Perse smiled grimly. In his most polite manner he arose toaddress the now harassed Princeling, who shifted uneasily on the pile oflaw books.

  "May your most humble subject presume to inquire into the nature of yourHighness's engagement?"

  "You may, your Grace," said the Prince.

  The Duke waited. A smile crept into the eyes of the others. "Well, whatis the engagement?"

  "I had a date to ride with Uncle Jack at eleven."

  "And you imagine that 'Uncle Jack' will be annoyed if he is kept waitingby such a trivial matter as a cabinet meeting, unfortunately prolonged?"

  "I don't know just what that means," murmured the Prince. Then his facebrightened. "But I don't think he'll be sore after I tell him how busywe've been."

  The Duke put his hand over his mouth. "I don't think he'll mind half anhour's wait, do you?"

  "He likes me to be very prompt."

  Count Halfont interposed, good-humouredly. "There is nothing more tocome before us to-day, your Grace, so I fancy we may as well close themeeting. To my mind, it is rather a silly custom which compels us tokeep the Prince with us--er--after the opening of the session. Ofcourse, your Highness, we don't mean to say that you are not interestedin our grave deliberations."

  Prince Bobby broke in eagerly: "Uncle Jack says I've just _got_ to beinterested in 'em, whether I want to or not. He says it's the only wayto catch onto things and become a regular prince. You see, Uncle Caspar,I've got a lot to learn."

  "Yes, your Highness, you have," solemnly admitted the premier. "But I amsure you _will_ learn."

  "Under such an able instructor as Uncle Jack you may soon know more thanthe wisest man in the realm," added the Duke of Perse.

  "Thank you, your Grace," said the Prince, so politely that the Duke wasconfounded; "I know Uncle Jack will be glad to hear that. He's--he'safraid people may think he's butting in too much."

  "Butting in?" gasped the premier.

  At this the Duke of Perse came to his feet again, an angry gleam in hiseyes. "My lords," he began hastily, "it must certainly have occurred toyou before this that our beloved Prince's English, which seems after allto be his mother tongue, is not what it should be. Butting in! YesterdayI overheard him advising your son, Pultz, to 'go chase' himself. Andwhen your boy tried to chase himself--'pon my word, he did--what did ourPrince say? What _did_ you say, Prince Robin?"

  "I--I forget," stammered Prince Bobby.

  "You said 'Mice!' Or was it--er--"

  "No, your Grace. Rats. I remember. That's what I said. That's what allof us boys used to say in Washington."

  "God deliver us! Has it come to this, that a Prince of Graustark shouldgrow up with such language on his lips? I fancy, my lords, you will allagree that something should be done about it. It is too serious amatter. We are all more or less responsible to the people he is togovern. We cannot, in justice to them, allow him to continue underthe--er--influences that now seem to surround him. He'll--he'll grow upto be a barbarian. For Heaven's sake, my lords, let us consider thePrince's future--let us deal promptly with the situation."

  "What's he saying, Uncle Caspar?" whispered the Prince fiercely.

  "Sh!" cautioned Count Halfont.

  "I won't sh! I am the Prince. And I'll say 'chase yourself' whenever Iplease. It's good English. I'll pronounce it for you in our ownlanguage, so's you can see how it works that way. It goes like--"

  "You need not illustrate, your Highness," the Premier hastened to say.Turning to the Duke, he said coldly: "I acknowledge the wisdom in yourremarks, your Grace, but--you will pardon me, I am sure--would it not bebetter to discuss the conditions privately among ourselves before takingthem up officially?"

  "That confounded American has every one hypnotised," exploded the Duke."His influence over this boy is a menace to our country. He is making onoaf of him--a slangy, impudent little--"

  "Your Grace!" interrupted Baron Dangloss sharply.

  "Uncle Jack's all right," declared the Prince, vaguely realising that adefence should be forthcoming.

  "He is, eh?" rasped the exasperated Duke, mopping his brow.

  "He sure is," pronounced the Prince with a finality that left no roomfor doubt. They say that fierce little Baron Dangloss, in striving tosuppress a guffaw, choked so impressively that there was a momentarydoubt as to his ever getting over it alive.

  "He is a mountebank--a meddler, that's what he is. The sooner we come torealise it, the better," exclaimed the over-heated Duke. "He has greaterinfluence over our beloved Prince than any one else in the royalhousehold. He has no business here--none whatsoever. His presence andhis meddling is an affront to the intelligence of--"

  But the Prince had slid down from his pile of books and planted himselfbeside him so suddenly that the bitter words died away on the old man'slips. Robin's face was white with rage, his little fists were clenchedin desperate anger, his voice was half choked with the tears ofindignation.

  "You awful old man!" he cried, trembling all over, his eyes blazing."Don't you say anything against Uncle Jack. I'll--I'll banish you--yes,sir--banish you like my mother fired Count Marlanx out of the country. Iwon't let you come back here ever--never. And before you go I'll haveUncle Jack give you a good licking. Oh, he can do it all right. I--Ihate you!"

  The Duke looked down in amazement into the flushed, writhing face of hislittle master. For a moment he was stunned by the vigorous outburst.Then the hard lines in his face relaxed and a softer expression cameinto his eyes--there was something like pride in them, too. The Duke, beit said, was an honest fighter and a loyal Graustarkian; he loved hisPrince and, therefore, he gloried in his courage. His own smile ofamusement, which broke in spite of his inordinate vanity, was the signthat brought relief to the hearts of his scandalised _confreres_.

  "Your Highness does well in defending a friend and counsellor," he saidgently. "I am sorry to have forgotten myself in your presence. It shallnot occur again. Pray forgive me."

  Prince Bobby was still unappeased. "I _could_ have you beheaded," hesaid stubbornly. "Couldn't I, Uncle Caspar?"

  Count Halfont gravely informed him that it was not customary to beheadgentlemen except for the most heinous offences against the Crown.

  The Duke of Perse suddenly bent forward and placed his bony hand uponthe unshrinking shoulder of the Prince, his eyes gleaming kindly, hisvoice strangely free from its usual harshness. "You are a splendidlittle man, Prince Robin," he said. "I glory in you. I shall not forgetthe lesson in loyalty that you have taught me."

  Bobby's eyes filled with tears. The genuine humility of the hard old mantouched his tempestuous little heart.

  "It's--it's all right, Du--your Grace. I'm sorry I spoke that way, too."

  Baron Dangloss twisted his imperial vigorously. "My lords, I suggestthat we adjourn. The Prince must have his ride and return in time forthe review at one o'clock."

  As the Prince strode soberly from the Room of Wrangles, every eye wasupon his sturdy little back and there was a kindly light in each ofthem, bar none. The Duke, following close behind with Halfont, saidquietly:

  "I love him, Caspar. But I have no love for the man he loves so muchbetter than he loves any of us. Tullis is a meddler--but, for Heaven'ssake, my friend, don't let; Bobby know that I have repeated myself."

  Later on, the Prince in his khaki riding suit loped gaily down the broadmountain road toward Ganlook, beside the black mare which carried JohnTullis. Behind them rode three picked troopers from the House Guard. Hehad told Tullis of his vainglorious defence in the antechamber.

  "And I told him, Uncle Jack, that you could lick him. You can, can'tyou?"

  The American's face was clouded for a second; then, to please the boy, awarm smile succeeded the frown.

  "Why, Bobby, you dear little beggar, he could thresh me with one hand."

  "What?" almost shrieked Pri
nce Bobby, utterly dismayed.

  "He's a better swordsman than I, don't you see. Gentlemen over herefight with swords. I know nothing about duelling. He'd get at me in twothrusts."

  "I--I think you'd better take some lessons from Colonel Quinnox. Itwon't do to be caught napping."

  "I daresay you're right."

  "Say, Uncle Jack, when are you going to take me to the witch's hovel?"The new thought abruptly banished all else from his eager little brain.

  "Some day, soon," said Tullis. "You see, I'm not sure that she'sreceiving visitors these days. A witch is a very arbitrary person. Evenprinces have to send up their cards."

  "Let's telegraph her," in an inspired tone.

  "I'll arrange to go up with you very soon, Bobby. It's a hard ridethrough the pass and--and there may be a lot of goblins up there wherethe old woman keeps herself."

  The witch's hovel was in the mountain across the most rugged of thecanyons, and was to be reached only after the most hazardous of rides.The old woman of the hills was an ancient character about whom clung athousand spookish traditions, but who, in the opinion of John Tuilis,was nothing more than a wise fortune-teller and necromancer who knewevery trick in the trade of hoodwinking the superstitious. He had seenher and he had been properly impressed. Somehow, he did not like thethought of taking the Prince to the cabin among the mists and crags.

  "They say she eats boys, now and then," he added, as if suddenlyremembering it.

  "Gee! Do you suppose we could get there some day when she's eating one?"

  As they rode back to the Castle after an hour, coming down throughCastle Avenue from the monastery road, they passed a tall, bronzed youngman whom Tullis at once knew to be an American. He was seated on a bigboulder at the roadside, enjoying the shade, and was evidently on hisway by foot to the Castle gates to watch the _beau monde_ assembling forthe review. At his side was the fussy, well-known figure of Cook'sinterpreter, eagerly pointing out certain important personages to bun asthey passed. Of course, the approach of the Prince was the excuse forconsiderable agitation and fervour on the part of the man from Cook's.He mounted the boulder and took off his cap to wave it frantically.

  "It's the Prince!" he called out to Truxton King. "Stand up! Hurray!Long live the Prince!"

  Tullis had already lifted his hand in salute to his countryman, and bothhad smiled the free, easy smile of men who know each other by instinct.

  The man from Cook's came to grief. He slipped from his perch on the rockand came floundering to the ground below, considerably crushed indignity, but quite intact in other respects.

  The spirited pony that the Prince was riding shied and reared in quickaffright. The boy dropped his crop and clung valiantly to the reins. Aguardsman was at the pony's head in an instant, and there was nopossible chance for disaster.

  Truxton King unbent his long frame, picked up the riding crop with adeliberateness that astonished the man from Cook's, strode out into theroadway and handed it up to the boy in the saddle.

  "Thank you," said Prince Bobby.

  "Don't mention it," said Truxton King with his most engaging smile. "Notrouble at all."