A Modern Mercenary Read online

  A MODERN MERCENARY

  by

  K. AND HESKETH PRICHARD

  [E. AND H. HERON]

  New York Doubleday, Page & Co. 1902

  Copyright, 1899, byDoubleday & McClure Co.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. A LIEUTENANT OF FRONTIER CAVALRY 1

  II. A GENTLEMAN OF THE GUARD 14

  III. THE GENTLEMEN OF THE GUARD 28

  IV. DANGER SIGNALS 41

  V. GOOD LUCK AND A FIREFLY 48

  VI. THE CLOISTER OF ST. ANTHONY 62

  VII. ONE WOMAN'S DIPLOMACY 79

  VIII. A QUESTION OF THE GUARD 94

  IX. THE CASTLE OF SAGAN 106

  X. COUNT SIMON OF SAGAN 120

  XI. A COUNSEL OF EXPEDIENCY 130

  XII. ANTHONY UNZIAR 136

  XIII. LOVE IN TWO SHADES 144

  XIV. HALF A PROMISE 153

  XV. COLENDORP 159

  XVI. 'WITH YOUR LIPS TO THE HURT' 170

  XVII. IRIS 177

  XVIII. THE SWORD OF UNZIAR 186

  XIX. IN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS 195

  XX. UNDER THE PINES 202

  XXI. LOVE'S BEGGAR 210

  XXII. IN LOVE WITH HONOUR 222

  XXIII. HOW RALLYWOOD HAD HIS ORDERS 233

  XXIV. ON THE FRONTIER 239

  XXV. A QUESTION OF TWO MORALITIES 246

  XXVI. LOVE'S HANDICAP 258

  XXVII. THE MAN OF THE HOUR 267

  XXVIII. THE ARREST 277

  XXIX. THE COURT-MARTIAL 282

  XXX. 'UPON THE GREAT WORLD'S ALTAR-STAIRS' 292

  XXXI. DUKE GUSTAVE 300

  XXXII. FOR A SEASON 307

  A MODERN MERCENARY

  CHAPTER I.

  A LIEUTENANT OF FRONTIER CAVALRY.

  During four months of the year the independent State of Maasau,' we willcall it--which is not very noticeable even on the largest sized map ofEurope--is tormented by a dry and weary north-east wind. And nowhere isits influence more unpleasantly felt than in the capital, Revonde, whichstands shoulder-on to the hustling gales, its stately frontages andnoble quays stretching out westwards along the shores of the Kofn almostto where the yellow waters of the river spread fan-wise into agrey-green sea.

  The _tsa_ was blowing strongly on a certain November afternoon, eddyingand whistling about the wide spaces of the Grand Square as JohnRallywood, a tall figure in a military cloak, turned the corner of aside street and met its full blast. He faced it for some yards along theempty pavements, then ran up the steps of his club. A few minutes laterhe passed through a lofty corridor and entered a door over which is seta quaint invitation to smokers, which may not be written down here, forit is the jealously guarded copyright of the club.

  It chanced that the room for the moment had but one occupant, who sat ina roomy armchair by the white stove. This gentleman did not raise hishead, but continued to gaze thoughtfully at his well shaped thoughsquare and comfortable boots.

  Rallywood paused almost imperceptibly in his stride.

  'Hullo, Major! Glad to see you,' he said, as he dropped into an armchairopposite.

  Major Counsellor stood up with his back to the stove, thereby giving aview of a red, challenging face, heavy eyebrows, and a huge white droopof moustache. He looked down at Rallywood consideringly before he spoke.'So you're here. I imagined they kept you pretty closely on thefrontier. The world been kicking you?'

  Rallywood laughed.

  'No, but it would do me good to kick the world,' he answered as hehelped himself from the Major's cigar case. 'Five years, almost six,spent on the frontier, with nothing to show for it, isn't good enough.I've come up to send in my papers.'

  'Then you'll be a fool,' returned the Major with decision.

  Rallywood was busy lighting his cigar; when that was arranged to hissatisfaction he said easily--

  'Just so. History repeats itself.'

  Counsellor stood squarely upright with his hands behind him.

  'Any other reasons?' he asked.

  'Plenty.'

  'Pity! Are they serious or--otherwise?'

  Rallywood pulled his moustache.

  'Why is it a pity?' he asked slowly.

  'Because there is going to be trouble here, and with trouble comes achance.'

  Rallywood smoked on in silence. He was a big, shallow-flanked man withthe marks of the world upon him, and that indescribable air which comesto one who has passed a good portion of his time in laughing at thearbitrary handicaps arranged by Fate in the race of life.

  'Where do you propose to go?' asked Counsellor after an interval.

  'Back to Africa, I think--Buluwayo, Johannesburg, anywhere. SouthAfrica's still in the bud, you see.'

  'Yes, but it is a biggish bud and will take time to blow. You can affordto wait and--it may be worth your while.'

  Rallywood threw a swift glance at Counsellor's inscrutable face.

  'Seven years ago,' he said in a deliberate manner, 'you told me it wasworth while, but life has not grown more interesting since then.'

  'Ah!' Counsellor paused, then went on with a grim smile, 'At your age,John, there are possibilities. Think over it. After hanging on here formore than five years why lose your chance now? Look at those fellows.'He pointed out into the square.

  Rallywood rose lazily and gazed out also. The prospect was not cheering.A few troopers, their cloaks flapping in the wind, were galloping acrossthe square on the way to relieve guard at the Palace, and under thestatue of the late Grand Duke on horseback three men in tall hats stoodtalking together; then they turned and walked towards the club.

  'Know them?' asked Counsellor.

  Rallywood shook his head.

  'The man with the beard is Stokes of the 'Times:' next him is Bradley;he's on another big daily. Their being here speaks for itself. Maasau isgoing to take up people's attention shortly. The Grand Duke is in atight place, and there will be a flare-up sooner or later.'

  'And you advise me to stop and see it through?' said Rallywoodmeditatively from the window; then he lounged back to his chair. 'Howwill it end?'

  Counsellor shook the ash from his cigar.

  'Selpdorf is the man of the hour,' he said.

  On the autumn evening when these two men were talking at the club theDuchy of Maasau was, in the opinion of Maasaun patriots, going as fastas it could to the devil. With them, it may be added, the devil waspersonified and bore the name of a neighbouring nation. The one personwho ignored this fact was the Grand Duke. With an inset, stubborn pridehe believed that his country must remain for ever, as the long centurieshad known her, Maasau the Free. This being the case, he felt himself atliberty to spend his time in cursing the fate that had refused blue seasand skies to wintry Revonde, thus depriving it of these sources ofrevenue which depend upon climate, and which are enjoyed by places farless naturally beautiful than the capital of Maasau.

  The Duke, prematurely aged, by the manner of hi
s life, made it his chiefbusiness to devise schemes for raising money whereby he might carry onthe staling pleasures of his youth. Beyond this the administration ofpublic affairs was left entirely in the supple hands of the Chancellor,M. Selpdorf, while the Duke, with those who surrounded him, plunged intothe newest excitement of the hour, for who knew what a day might bringforth? The Court was like a stage lit by lurid light, on which theactors laughed and loved, danced and fought to the music of a wildfinale, that whirled and maddened before the crash of the coming end.

  Once upon a time Maasau was accounted of no particular importance orvalue amongst its bigger neighbours; but of late, for various reasons,its fortunes had become the subject of attention and discussion in atleast three foreign chancelleries, where old maps were being looked upand new ones bought and painted different colours, according as seemedmost desirable by the bearded men, who sat in council to apportion themarsh, rock, dune, and forest of which the now absorbingly interestingpigmy State was composed.

  In fact, Maasau, with its twenty miles or so of seaboard, containing oneexcellent port _in esse_ and two others _in posse_, had become aNaboth's vineyard to a country almost land-bound and yet dreaming of thesupremacy of the four seas. On this ambition and its possibleconsequences the other Great Powers looked, to speak diplomatically,with coldness.

  It was generally understood that the English Foreign Office desired themaintenance of the _status quo_; France was supposed to be ready to clapa young republic on the back and to accord it her protection, whileRussia played her own dumb and blinding game, of which none coulddefinitely pronounce the issue. The political world thus stood at gaze,watching every change and prepared to take advantage of any chance thatoffered. The honours of the game so far had lain with M. Selpdorf, whoscored each trick with the same bland smile. Whenever the Treasury ofMaasau was at a low ebb Selpdorf usually had a thirteenth card to layupon the table, and as the nations cautiously proceeded to frustrateeach other's purposes royal remittances from Heaven knows where flowedin abundantly to replenish the bankrupt exchequer of the State.

  When Major Counsellor expressed his emphatic disapproval of theintended resignation of Rallywood a new development was in the air.Hitherto the lead had mostly devolved upon Selpdorf; on this occasion hewas known to be hanging back, and the question of who would take theinitiative was the question of the day. The fact that Germany had latelyaccredited a new representative, a certain Baron von Elmur, to the Courtof Maasau,--an able man whose reputation rested mainly on the successfulperformance of missions of a delicate nature,--added to the tension ofthe moment.

  'So you say they are getting up steam in Maasau?' said Rallywood again.'I have been out in the wilds for the last six months, and don't know somuch about events as I might.'

  'Steam?' growled Counsellor. 'Steam enough to wreck Europe! I almostwish I'd never godfathered you into this blessed little stoke-hole. Whythe deuce didn't you enlist at home instead of coming here?'

  'That was out of the question, of course.'

  'Why? Isn't our army good enough for you to fight in?'

  'If it was only that!--I could fight in the ranks, God knows, but Icouldn't parade in them! Besides, the life here suited me--then.'

  'What's gone wrong with it now? I should have thought you would have gotused to it by this time,' observed Counsellor with the air of the olderman. It was not the first occasion on which he had played the part ofelderly relative towards Rallywood during the course of their queer,rough-grained friendship--a friendship of a type which exists onlybetween man and man, and even then is sufficiently rare.

  'Precisely, I'm too infernally used to it! It was not half bad as longas the newness lasted, but I can't stand it any longer! I'm sick of themonotony. Do you know old Fitzadams's criticism on the service here?"Dust and drill, drill and dust, and fill in the chinks with homicidalmanoeuvres."'

  'Maasau only apes its betters. These Continental armies devotethemselves very assiduously to rehearsals, and there is no end of wasteabout the process,' remarked Counsellor. 'They rehearse in summer andget sunstroke; then they rehearse in winter with rheumatisms and lungtroubles growing on every bush. The bill for blank cartridges alone isenormous! And all because they have no India and no Africa, as we have,where we can give our fellows a taste of the real thing any day in theweek. We carry on a small war with a regiment, or despatch a youngsterwith half a company to teach manners and honesty to twenty thousandniggers. The peculiarity of our army is that it is always at war. Inthis way we escape the dangers of theory, and get practice withsomething for our money into the bargain.'

  'Our plan has its advantages,' agreed Rallywood lazily. 'I saw in SouthAfrica what a little active service does for a man. The first time heis under fire he is persuaded that he is going to be killed, and thatevery shot must hit him. But after a trial or two he begins to think theodds are in his favour and he becomes a much more effective fightingmachine.'

  'Necessarily he does. We don't half realise the value of our coloniesyet--as a training ground for our soldiers. The British army is thesmallest in Europe, but it remains to be seen what account it will giveof itself if it is ever brought into contact with these huge,peace-trained conscript monsters.'

  'When the Duke dies----' began Rallywood, harking back to the formertopic of conversation.

  The door was softly opened, and a waiter advanced into the room, bearinga letter for Rallywood, who took it and laid it down on the table besidehim, then looked at Counsellor for an answer to his half spokenquestion. Counsellor shrugged his shoulders.

  'Who can tell?' he replied. 'Meanwhile take the gifts the gods have sentyou to-day,' and he pointed to the long, heavily sealed envelope thatlay at Rallywood's elbow. 'Selpdorf, I see, already has his finger uponyou.'

  Rallywood broke the great seals, and, having read, he tossed the paperinto the other's hands.

  'He wishes to see me at 9.30. What can he want with me?' he asked.

  'Probably he has heard you intend to cut the service. It appears to me,Rallywood, that your chance has come out to meet you.'

  'How could he have heard that I meant to go? And what can it matter toany one if I do?' went on Rallywood incredulously.

  Counsellor shook his head, but made no other reply.

  'A lieutenant of the Frontier Cavalry,' resumed Rallywood, 'is merely asuperior make of excise officer!'

  'You will be something more or something else before 10, I expect. Asfor what he wants with you, that is for you to find out--if you can.'

  'It is to be hoped he may feel moved to let me have my arrears of pay,'said Rallywood, relapsing into his usual tone of indifference; 'that isthe chief consideration with us on the frontier just now.'

  'He probably will if it suits him--or rather perhaps if you suit him.Come over and dine with me presently at the Continental. There'sgenerally a decent dinner to be had there.'

  John Rallywood, one of the old Lincolnshire Rallywoods, had been born toa fortune, and moreover with an immense capacity for enjoying it after awholesome fashion. Queens Fain had fallen to him while still an infantupon the death of a great-uncle, and with the old place were connectedall those hundred untranslatable ties and associations which go to makeup a boy's dreams. He was a man of suppressed, perhaps half unconscious,but nevertheless deep-rooted enthusiasms; hence when the blow fellwhich deprived him not only of his inheritance, but also cut short thelife of his mother, the unexpected, almost intolerable anguish hesilently endured had left a deep, defacing scar upon his personality.

  Up to twenty-two the record of his life, if not striking, had been cleanand manly. He had passed through Sandhurst, and joined a dragoonregiment for something over a year, when an older branch of the family,supposed for a quarter of a century to be extinct, suddenly presenteditself very much alive in the person of a middle-aged, middle-classAmerican. Within three months the man's claim was substantiated, andestate, fortune, position, and home--as far as John Rallywood wasconcerned--had melted into thin air.

 
During this period of disruption and trouble Counsellor, who happened tobe distantly connected with him, came into his life. They did not meetvery often and spoke little when together, but mutual knowledge andliking resulted. Friendship is a living thing: it cannot be made; itgrows.

  Rallywood, when he turned to seek the means of a livelihood, foundhimself, as he said long afterwards, standing in the corridor of lifewith all the doors shut and no key to open them.

  His tastes and training alike led in the direction of a military career,and presently he went out to the Cape, where he spent a year or two in apolice force which was in time disbanded, and he returned to Englandonce more at a loose end.

  At this juncture Major Counsellor suggested to him the possibility ofobtaining a commission in the little army of the Duchy of Maasau. Thishint set him on the right track. The regiments of Maasau, though few innumber, carried splendid traditions. Their ranks were drawn from astolid, silent peasantry, and officered by a wire-strung, high temperedaristocracy, born of a mixed race, it is true, but none the lessfrantically devoted to the freedom and independence of their shred of afatherland.

  In compliance with a private request on the part of Major Counsellor theBritish Minister at Revonde bestirred himself to procure a commissionfor Rallywood, who thus became a lieutenant in the Frontier Cavalry, andfor more than five years had taken his share in riding and keeping themarches of Maasau gaining much experience in capturing smugglers and insuperintending the digging out of snowed up trains. But life on thefrontier, though crammed with physical activity and routine work, was inevery other respect monotonously empty, and breaks in the shape offurlough were few and far between. Half liked, wholly respected, and alittle feared amongst his comrades, but always remaining a lieutenant towhom now, the State owed eighteen months' arrears of pay, Rallywood, inreturn, owed to Maasau only the qualified service of an unpaid man, butgave it the full devotion of a capable officer.

  As to Counsellor, no one could quite account for his presence at Revondeat the present moment. He was supposed to be attached in some indefiniteway to the Legation, but he described himself as a bird of passage,whose appearance in the European capital simply meant whim or pleasure,for he was growing old and lazy and could not be brought to account forhis wanderings, which he assured those who ventured to enquire werechiefly undertaken in search of health. Nevertheless wherever he went orcame something interesting in a political sense--and more often thannot, in favour of British interests--was almost sure to happen.

  In former days he had filled the position of military attache to two orthree of the more important embassies, and was said to be the best knownman in Europe. He had, moreover, the right to carry upon his breast theribbon and decoration of more than one exclusive and distinguishedOrder. Of the many rumours associated with him this saying was certainlytrue: that one could never enter the smoking-room of any diplomatic clubin any city in Europe without standing a fair chance of encounteringMajor Counsellor warming himself beside the stove.

  Therefore he had naturally an enormous circle of acquaintance, eachindividual knowing very little about him, though he always formed aninteresting subject of conversation, and a political opinion backed byhis name became at once important.