The Princess Dehra Part 24

They went softly up the steps and into the vestibule; not a sound came from within.

"Are you familiar with this house?" the Archduke whispered.

"Very, sir; I've been in it scores of times-salon on right, dining room and library opposite."

"And the stairs?"

"In the rear, on the left."

"Can you find the electric switch?"

The Colonel drew his revolver and stepped quickly inside; he knew there was a row of b.u.t.tons near the library door, and he found them readily.

With a single motion he pushed them in, and every chandelier and side-light in the entire lower floor sprang to life-illuminating rooms, solitary and undisturbed.

Over the mantel in the library hung a pair of beautiful old duelling rapiers, and the Archduke s.n.a.t.c.hed one down and tried its balance; then took the other and handed it to Bernheim.

"Take it, man," he said, as the Colonel touched his own sword; "take it, it's worth an armory of those; its reach alone may save your life, if we are crowded." He made a pa.s.s in the air and laughed-it was sweet any time to feel the hilt of such a weapon, but now it was doubly sweet, with danger ahead and the odds he knew not what. He pointed upward.

"Come along," he said-"now for the next floor and the clash of steel."

But Bernheim shook his head.

"I pray you, my lord, be prudent," he urged-"remember, to us you are the King."

Faintly, from somewhere above, the cry came-weak and suppressed, but audible.

"Help! oh help!"

"d.a.m.n the woman!" Bernheim exclaimed, das.h.i.+ng forward to go first; and failing, by four steps.

The upper hall was dark, save for the reflection from below, but Armand caught the sheen of a switch plate and pressed the key. Five closed doors confronted him-without hesitation he chose the rear one on the right, and sprang toward it.

As he did so, the lights on the first floor went out, the front doors closed with a bang, and a key turned in the lock and was withdrawn.

Instinctively he stopped and drew back; at the same moment, Bernheim reached over and turned off their lights also, leaving the house in impenetrable darkness.

The Archduke stepped quickly across toward Bernheim, and b.u.mped into him mid-way.

"It's a trap," he whispered; "the locking of the door proves it-these rooms are empty, but we'll have a look and not be caught between two fires."

"d.a.m.n the woman!" said Bernheim.

Armand laughed softly. "Never mind her, we have other work on hand now.

You keep the stairway; put your sword into any one who tries to come up; I'll go through the rooms," and he was gone before the Colonel could protest.

Bernheim tip-toed over to the head of the stairs and, leaning on the rail, listened. He could detect no sound in the hall below; the silence was as utter as the blackness. He stooped and felt the carpet on the stairs; it was soft and very thick, the sort that deadens noise. Behind him, a door closed softly, and he saw the gleam of a faint light along a sill, and, in a moment, along another further toward the front.

Evidently, the Archduke had met no misadventure yet. And so he stood there, tense and expectant, while the darkness pressed hard upon his eyes, and set them burning with the strain of striving to pierce through.

Presently he felt that some one was coming toward him, and then the faintest whisper spoke his name. He reached out, and his fingers touched the Archduke's shoulder.

Armand put his mouth close to his Aide's ear.

"Rooms deserted," he whispered-"what's on the third floor?"

"It's a mere garret; the servants quarters are in a detached building in the rear."

"We'll chance the garret-I laid a chair across the foot of those stairs-and also at the head of the back stairs-anything doing below?"

"Quiet as the grave, sir."

"An apt simile, Bernheim," said the Archduke; "there is going to be a death or two down there to-night, if we can manage it-just as a gentle notice to our cousin of what he may expect."

The old soldier's hand sought impulsively his master's.

"You mean it, my lord?" he asked eagerly.

"I do; I'm--" a stair creaked very faintly-"they're coming," he ended.

Both men bent forward listening ... the seconds pa.s.sed ... no sound came to them. Then Bernheim bethought himself of the rail, and laid his ear upon it. Instantly he was up.

"They are coming," he whispered, "I could hear them distinctly."

"Good," said Armand. "We will give them the steel as soon as they're within reach-be ready-I'll take the right."

The stairway was of more than medium width, and straight-away almost to the lower floor, the turn being at the bottom. While the lights were on, Bernheim had noticed a heavy oak chest against the wall near where they were standing. Now it suddenly occurred to him how it could be used.

Asking the Archduke to bear aside a moment, he seized it in his powerful arms, and carrying it to the head of the stairs hurled it, with all his strength, down into the darkness.

There was a heavy thud as of human bodies struck, wild shrieks of pain and terror, and then a deafening crash, as the chest broke asunder against the wall below, followed directly by moans, and curses, and struggles to get free.

Although Armand had not seen what his Aide had done, he could picture it all now, and he laughed aloud.

"Clear away the debris, gentlemen!" he called. "On to the charge! Don't be a lot of quitters; we've plenty of ammunition left; en avant!"

But only the moans answered him. He drew Bernheim closer.

"What do you suggest," he asked; "shall we go down?"-And the upsetting of the chair at the rear stairs answered him.

"Turn on the lights when I whistle," he ordered, and stole swiftly to the rear of the hall.

Doubtless the purpose had been to attack them simultaneously in front and rear, and here was the chance to give this detachment, also, a surprise.

He heard the chair being set carefully aside, followed by foot-falls such as are made only by shoeless feet. The darkness was impenetrable, but he knew they paused at the door, and then came slowly forward, pa.s.sing him so closely he could have touched them with his hand. The next instant he gave the signal.

As the lights blazed out, disclosing three masked men with drawn swords, the Archduke leaped forward and, with the hilt of his rapier, struck the one nearest him behind the ear. The rogue dropped in his tracks. At the same moment, Bernheim's pistol cracked, and another went down, shot through the head. The third stood irresolute; and him the Archduke addressed.

"It's the pistol, yonder, or the sword, here," he said; "which will you choose?"

The fellow chanced to be almost in line with the front stairs, and for answer he sprang across the hall and dashed down them. Bernheim's gun spoke thrice: the first bullet struck the wall; the second, the newel post; the third, fired into the semi-obscurity below, and as the knave's head was almost on a line with the floor, brought an answering cry; but it did not disable him; they heard him stumble over the broken chest, then the key was thrust into the lock, the front door was flung back, and he crossed the porch at a run.

"He's the last of them, I fancy," said Armand.